By LACHLAN MOORHEAD AND TANIA PHILLIPS
A PRISON is the last place to expect a Buddhist chaplain but the world is full of surprises.
Dharma teacher Andrew Williams can attest to this adage, having spent the last three years visiting Fulham Correctional Centre near Sale, teaching the prisoners about the ways of Buddhism.
Andrew, who calls Endeavour Hills home when he isn’t globetrotting on his Buddhist missions, said he was motivated to “bring some joy through words and actions” to the prisoners at Fulham through the Buddhist Council of Victoria’s prison program.
“It’s a minimum and medium security prison, so these people are fairly close to being released. It’s an added motivation, these people are about to be released into society and I want to help give them the tools to integrate,” the prolific musician said.
“About a year ago, I recommended that the prisoners should get to know each other and do meditation together.
“I didn’t even think about it until fairly recently and then I walked into the units and saw about 20 people sitting on the floor meditating.”
It is this dedication to helping others and to Buddhism itself that will see Andrew travel to Vietnam next month to celebrate Vesak – the holy day observed traditionally by Buddhists around the world.
“My month begins in Vietnam, the event runs from 7 to 11 May. I’m actually the delegate for the Buddhist Federation of Australia,” Andrew said.
“I’ve got a friend of mine to translate three of my own songs into Vietnamese for the celebrations, so I’ll sing it in Vietnamese as well as English.
“It’s (Vesak) a different way of celebrating, but it is pretty close to Christmas or Easter. It’s humongous; you have no idea the amount of people that attend.”
A Vesak event will also be held in Melbourne on 24 May at Melbourne town hall where Andrew is organising a musical performance with local Buddhist temples Sakyamuni Sambuddha and Dhammarasana as well as others.
Always drawn to Buddhism, Andrew became a teacher in 1998 while in the US after pursuing a career in acting. On returning to Australia to be closer to his family, he continues to volunteer as a Dharma teacher and pursue his music interests.
Andrew has since gone on to study teachings in all of the three major Buddhist traditions — Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana. He said he held Buddhist beliefs long before he discovered Buddhism, and took to the philosophy in his 20s. He is now a resident teacher at the Yung Yang Buddhist Temple in Narre Warren and Sakyamuni Sambuddha Temple in Berwick. He is also heavily involved with the Casey Multifaith Network and co-hosts a Voice of Faith radio program.
Visit Andrew’s blog at dhammatalks.wordpress.com, and for more information on the Vesak celebrations visit www.unvesak.org
