Manjusvara - poet, musician, fundraiser - died while leading at retreat at Dhanakosa in 2011. Here he is, in 2007, giving a talk marking the twentieth anniversary of his ordination.

He explores the history of his engagement with the Triratna Buddhist Order (previously the Western Buddhist Centre), starting with his first encounter with the London Buddhist Centre and taking in many significant learnings along the way including the vital importance of friendship, the loneliness of not being able to talk about the most precious things in life and the beauty of the ethical precepts.

By turns humorous and lyrical, Manjusvara shares his story (and the occasional poem) and thereby illuminates what it means to live a Dharmically-inspired life.

(This is part one of a two part series on Manjusvara. Listen to part two)

Extracts from this talk were used for the 50 Years, 50 Voices project - visit the dedicated space on The Buddhist Centre Online for more.