W/ Alan Clements

Alan’s international sales and marketing career span 55 years with companies that include Wiggins Teape, Alcan, and Unilever. As an entrepreneur, he has also built up businesses as diverse as printing, packaging, advertising, and online marketing. Alan has visited over 30 countries, had an office in China, and his knowledge of international marketing is extensive.

A Buddhist for more than 30 years Alan has taken instruction in meditation and dharma in both the Gelug Tibetan Buddhist and Japanese Soto Zen traditions.

An early grounding in Christianity and a degree that included Philosophy and Physics sparked off an interest in the deeper questions of life. His first of several private meetings with His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1992 was to ask the question “what is the meaning of life” and this led him to become the Chairman and later Vice President of the Tibet Society and Relief Fund of the UK. He has also been greatly influenced by the teachings, videos, and books about Lao Tzu, Gandhi, Father Bede Griffiths, Alan Watts, and Fritjof Capra.

Alan is particularly interested in the comparison of east-west philosophies and the remarkable cross-relation between the scientific findings of quantum physics, Buddhism, and Taoism. A lifetime of being in awe of nature, a love of the world’s great landscapes, and his passion for gardening have led him to create his own four-acre meditation garden, Cascades Gardens in Bonsall, Derbyshire. He has a strong belief in the therapeutic and spiritual value of beautiful landscapes and the concept of being “one with nature”.