Dayasagara began meditating in the mid-1990s and within a few years was attending retreats of the Triratna Buddhist Order and joining in meditation each weekday morning at the Dublin Buddhist Centre. He became a member of the Order in 2018.

A devotee of the arts since his teenage years, he says that his interest in music, literature etc. now seems to have prepared the way for his discovery of the Buddha’s teaching. ‘I already knew there were finer things in life’, he says, ‘and I had experienced my share of them. In fact, there was more: a finer life to be lived. And I might have missed it.’

He continues to be deeply interested in art and myth as aspects of the spiritual life, and meditation continues to be a mainstay of his practice. What is more of a surprise to him is the support and enjoyment he derives from a network of Buddhist friends that stretches from Co. Tipperary to New South Wales – all living and sharing the finer life, with the intention that more and more people can benefit from the awareness, wisdom and compassion taught by the Buddha.

Dayasagara never dreamed his life would turn out like this, it is ‘a great and unexpected blessing’.