Ian Johnson (born 1961),[1] known by his Dharma name Maitreyabandhu, is a British Buddhist writer and poet who lives and works at the London Buddhist Centre.[2] He has written a number of books on Buddhism. His poetry has been published by Bloodaxe and awarded the Keats-Shelley Prize[3] and the Geoffrey Dearmer Award.[1]

Life and work

Johnson was born in Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire.[1] In the 1980s, he trained as a nurse at Walsgrave Hospital in Coventry[2][4] then studied fine art at Goldsmiths College in London.[4][5][6]

He has said he was an "habitual misery" who eventually found "something you might call happiness" after being introduced to meditation and Buddhism.[2] He began attending classes at the London Buddhist Centre (LBC) in 1986, and moved into a residential community there in 1987, where he remains.[4] He was ordained into The Triratna Buddhist Order in 1990,[3][4] is now a senior teacher at the LBC[7] and is the former director of Breathing Space, a well-being centre there.[2][8]

Life With Full Attention: a Practical Course in Mindfulness (2009) is an eight-week course "steeped in ancient spiritual teachings, but aimed squarely at modern, secular readers, who are contending with complicated lives."[7]

Reviewing The Crumb Road (2013) in The Guardian, Sean O'Brien wrote that "Maitreyabandhu is interesting for being one who notices, and for the care he brings to his observations of people, events, places and memories. But unlike Hardy and most other poets, he is inclined to be self-effacing, even when writing about himself."[9] Also in The Guardian, Carol Rumens described "The Man" from The Crumb Road as "Typically, it's a poem which seems to present a reassuringly ordinary and familiar scenario, while slowly making the reader aware that something unusual is going on."[10]

Reviewing Yarn (2015) in the Times Literary Supplement, Frank Lawton wrote: "Composed of four discrete but symbolically linked sections, Yarn embraces the spirit, if not the strict form, of Japanese renga poetry. [. . . ] The book displays an accomplished formal variety, taking in free verse, sonnets, blank verse, dramatic monologues and a series of rather less successful prose poems."[11]

After Cézanne (2019) examines the life and work of the post-impressionist painter Paul Cézanne. A sequence of lyric poems by Maitreyabandhu "written in different voices to, about and "as" Cézanne", in chronological order, is interleaved with reproductions of Cezanne's paintings.[5]

Publications

Books about Buddhism by Maitreyabandhu

  • Thicker than Blood (Friendship on the Buddhist Path) Cambridge: Windhorse, 2001. ISBN 978-1899579396.
  • Life With Full Attention: a Practical Course in Mindfulness. Cambridge: Windhorse, 2009. ISBN 9781899579983.
  • The Journey and the Guide: a Practical Course in Enlightenment. Cambridge: Windhorse, 2015. ISBN 9781909314092.

Pamphlets of poetry by Maitreyabandhu

  • The Bond. Smith/Doorstop, 2011. ISBN 978-1906613488.
  • Vita Brevis. Matlock: Templar Poetry, 2012. ISBN 978-1906285876.

Books of poetry by Maitreyabandhu

  • The Crumb Road. Hexham, UK: Bloodaxe, 2013. ISBN 9781852249748.[9]
  • Yarn. Hexham, UK: Bloodaxe, 2015. ISBN 9781780372624.[11]
  • After Cézanne. Hexham, UK: Bloodaxe, 2019. ISBN 9781780374826. Poems by Maitreyabandhu and reproductions of paintings by Paul Cézanne. With an introduction by Christopher Lloyd.[6][5]
  • A Cézanne Haibun. Sheffield: The Poetry Business, 2019. ISBN 978-1912196241.[12]

Books with contributions by Maitreyabandhu

  • Queer Dharma: Voices of Gay Buddhists. San Francisco: Gay Sunshine, 1997. ISBN 978-0940567221.

Awards and recognition

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Visitation – The Poetry Society". Poetry Society. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Meditation or medication?". Financial Times. 7 April 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 "Keats-Shelley prize goes to Buddhist poet". The Guardian. 28 October 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Maitreyabandhu". Bloodaxe Books. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 "The best recent poetry – review roundup". The Guardian. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  6. 1 2 "After Cézanne by Maitreyabandhu book review". Times Literary Supplement. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  7. 1 2 "The best books for frazzled parents – and their children". The Guardian. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  8. ↑ "Breathing Space London – Maitreyabandhu". www.breathingspacelondon.org.uk. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  9. 1 2 "The Crumb Road by Maitreyabandhu – review". The Guardian. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "Poem of the week: The Man by Maitreyabandhu". The Guardian. 1 July 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  11. 1 2 3 "Repair the day - Poetry". Times Literary Supplement. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  12. ↑ "Sierra Aitana To Aix-En-Provence: A Cézanne Haibun By Maitreyabandhu". Yorkshire Times. Archived from the original on 20 February 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2021. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
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