Alf Vial

Forum for discussion of Tibetan Buddhism. Questions specific to one school are best posted in the appropriate sub-forum.
Locked
User avatar
Lingpupa
Posts: 761
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:13 am
Location: Lunigiana (Tuscany)

Alf Vial

Post by Lingpupa »

Does anyone know what happened to Alf Vial? Just curious - I met him a few times in the 70s.
All best wishes

"The profundity of your devotion to your lama is not measured by your ability to turn a blind eye."
udawa
Posts: 151
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2010 1:10 pm

Re: Alf Vial

Post by udawa »

Alf passed away 10 years ago. Funnily enough, the anniversary was last Saturday.

He was 89 years old.

Thought you might like this, from an article Alf wrote in 1967.
"I remember that when I first became interested in Buddhism I made friends with a young man who was then a student at London University. He is now a professor at Wisconsin State University, and his name is Richard Robinson. In those days, in the company of one or two other enthusiasts, we used to meet frequently and discuss Buddhism at great length, but when any statements or comments about the Dharma were made we could always be sure that Richard would question practically every word with the phrase "well, it all depends upon what you mean by........." and we frequently found this question rather disconcerting, especially if, when asked to clarify some word used, we were forced to admit we didn't really know what we were talking about.

It was only much later that I came to realise what a debt of gratitude I owed him for bringing home to me in those early days, the importance of always clarifying one's terms. If only everyone would do this, a great deal of the misunderstanding that occurs between Buddhists would never come about. We all tend to interpret certain words in our own way, and when we hear these words used by someone else we tend to assume they mean the same thing by them that we do. But this is not necessarily the case and thus a situation can arise where you have different people who, although using the same terminology, do not mean the same thing; no wonder there are misunderstandings, and in some instances, confusion. It is essential that when technical terms are being used, they are clarified.. This not only prevents confusion but also obviates a lot of 'woolly' thinking.

Many people would think twice before using a word if they knew they were expected to explain exactly what they meant by it."
Edwards: You are a philosopher. Dr Johnson: I have tried too in my time to be a philosopher; but, I don't know how, cheerfulness was always breaking in.
User avatar
Lingpupa
Posts: 761
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:13 am
Location: Lunigiana (Tuscany)

Re: Alf Vial

Post by Lingpupa »

Thanks, Udawa. I'm glad he had a good innings. I remember him sitting on a stool, laughing in that wheezing way of his that made his face colour up, thinking that he was likely to fall off his perch soon! How nice to have been wrong about that. Did he stay as cheerful as he was then, do you know?
All best wishes

"The profundity of your devotion to your lama is not measured by your ability to turn a blind eye."
udawa
Posts: 151
Joined: Thu Dec 16, 2010 1:10 pm

Re: Alf Vial

Post by udawa »

Alf had an iron constitution and he remained in remarkably good health all things (diet etc!) considering, right up to the end of his life. Whenever I phoned up to see how he was doing, health-wise, the reply was invariably 'Better than the alternative!'

Alf moved to Kent when he retired at the end of the 1970's. He spent the latter part of his life living the life (as he said himself) of an 'isolated eccentric' in an old boathouse in Whitstable. For many years he held regular ganacakras for a small group of Dharma friends who lived locally. He died peacefully at home, cared for by his family and a good dharma friend who was also a retired nurse.

As I'm sure you remember, Alf had a tremendous sense of humour. This remained an essential part of his life, literally right up to the end.

He was a remarkable man.
Edwards: You are a philosopher. Dr Johnson: I have tried too in my time to be a philosopher; but, I don't know how, cheerfulness was always breaking in.
User avatar
Lingpupa
Posts: 761
Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:13 am
Location: Lunigiana (Tuscany)

Re: Alf Vial

Post by Lingpupa »

That's lovely to hear. Thanks.
All best wishes

"The profundity of your devotion to your lama is not measured by your ability to turn a blind eye."
tropicalrob
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jul 03, 2020 11:56 am

Re: Alf Vial

Post by tropicalrob »

I remember him for his role at the Buddhist Society in the 1970s. He used to act as a support to Mike Hookham during their Longchen Foundation sessions. He always had a great sense of humour and remained very much a westerner. He never tried to ape Tibetan culture, which I really admired him for. One quote of his that stands out in my mind in particular is, "a good guru tries to make you independent of him as soon as possible".
User avatar
Ayu
Global Moderator
Posts: 13257
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2012 8:25 am
Location: Europe

Re: Alf Vial

Post by Ayu »

Now I realize this topic is very old. In accordance with out ToS, please start a new topic referring to this old topic with a link. This avoids discussing with members who are not active here anymore.
Locked

Return to “Tibetan Buddhism”