Episode 25: Christopher Titmuss - The Political Buddha

In this Episode, I spoke with Christopher Titmuss, who is perhaps the most senior teacher of Vipassana and Insight Meditation in the Western modern world.

Christopher Titmuss left England to travel Asia in 1967. After three years, he became a monk spending six years in Thailand and India from 1970 to 1976. During that time, he resided for three years in a monastery with Ajahn Dhammadharo, his Vipassana (Insight Meditation teacher) and Ajahn Buddhadasa.   He completed a full journey around the Earth and arrived back in England after 10 years in 1977.

We focused primarily on the themes in his insightful book, The Political Buddha, which offers a deep exploration of Christopher’s lifelong dedication to transform society. Even at the age of 14 years old, Christopher had radical political leanings having joined the labor party. He twice stood for the Green Party in general elections in 1987 and 1992, where he got the highest vote of any Green candidate in Britain for his constituency.

We explored a wide range of themes including the just how central the role of critical inquiry is in the Dharma, Buddha’s position on wealth and war, the privatization of spirituality, corporate mindfulness, ethics and institutional change, and the importance of the community.

Christopher is especially known for being a steadfast exponent of socially-engaged Buddhism in fact, that is how I first discovered his work when I read his book The Green Buddha back in the early 1990s. After I published Beyond McMindfulness essay in the Huffington Post seven years ago, Christopher actually reached out to me on email and we have continued having vigorous conversations regarding the Dharma and the problems with contemporary mindfulness. This interview is the first time Christopher and I had a chance to actually speak with each other, and it was delightful and penetrating.

It was a real privilege to be able to talk to Christopher  who has been teaching annual retreats in the Thai Monastery in Bodh Gaya since 1975 and in Sarnath, India, where the Buddha gave his first teachings after his enlightenment. His teachings focus on insight meditation (vipassana), the expansive heart and inquiry into emptiness and liberation. He encourages participants to be Agents of Change. He travels every year to Australia, India, Israel and Germany. He has made numerous trips to Palestine since 1993.