Some time in his final year, Sangharakshita said that he thought he should educate himself a bit in science and economics. Wilson’s biography of Tolstoy, which he thought quite masterly and Winifred Holtby's Poor Caroline and Mandoa! Mandoa!, both of which he thought excellent. Woodhouse's 'Jeeves' series, which usually made him chuckle Anthony Trollope's Barchester Chronicles A. Over the five-and-a-half years he lived at Adhisthana he listened to a wide variety of material, including P.G. The Royal Institute for Blind People provided him with this Plex CD player on which he could play their discs and those that ‘Calibre’, a free audiobook library for people with a print disability, also regularly supplied. After many experiments that might allow him to continue using his remaining vision, he eventually gave up and settled on listening to audiobooks. The deterioration of his eyesight in the early 2000s was a severe blow.

Reading was always an important part of Sangharakshita's life, an activity from which he derived much enjoyment, inspiration and material for reflection.

Plex audiobook library