ABSTRACT
The Samatha Trust, like the Forest Sangha, springs from Thai Theravada Buddhism, but it is a wholly lay organization, with no formal links to any branch of the monastic sakgha. While some highly traditional elements have been retained, other areas have been consciously adapted for use in Britain. Boonman Poonyathiro (b.1932), known as Nai Boonman, a Thai layman who had spent 15 years as a monk, helped to establish the first Thai temple in London in the early 1960s (Denison, 2001: 46). English Sangha Trust (EST) members heard of his experience and understanding of samatha meditation, and at their invitation he began teaching in 1963 at the Hampstead Buddhist Vihara, and subsequently at Cambridge University Buddhist Society (Boonman, 2004: 50, 52).
