There’s a British TV series from the 1970s called Dad’s Army. It depicted a group of men who formed the Home Guard during the Second World War. They served to protect communities whilst so many men were away at war. It was a really funny comedy with strongly depicted characters. Two of these characters came … Read more
We are taught by the mindfulness movement that meditation is about stilling the mind, but that is only one type of meditation. This one is known as single-point meditation (sometimes also referred to as samatha), focusing on one object (which could be the breath) to train the mind to still and quieten. This is the … Read more
That moment when we realise something is not as it seemed for every living second of our lives before then. And in that shift comes a completely different way to view reality. Up to that moment, everything made sense because of this founding principle by which we lived. Then, when the light shines through, we … Read more
We get out of life what we put into it, (so we are told). From experience, I know that I am happiest when I am focused on others rather than on my own needs. We spend childhood and early adulthood searching for happiness. We look for it in things, in possessions, in others, in experiences … Read more
One of my writing projects that I am currently working on is a ‘Retreat Diary’ from the week-long retreat I did back in April. Here is a short extract from it: From Shantideva’s “The Way of the Bodhisattva” Just as the awakened ones of the past Aroused an awakened mind And progressively established themselves In the practices … Read more
There’s a plane that can be seen in the sky near where I live every few weeks. It belongs to Airbus and is used to fly aircraft wings from one of its factories near Preston to another in North Wales. The first time I saw this plane I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The … Read more
In Tibetan Buddhism, it is the heart that is seen as the place where the mind resides. This struck me as odd when I was first talking to a Tibetan person and they talked about knowing something in their mind – and pointed at their chest as they spoke. I was mystified… why point there, … Read more
This is a guest post from Taravandana as promised last week. Enjoy: So why am I spending this Sunday evening composing my first blog? Good question. I have been thinking about having a go for months but convinced myself that for one reason or another I wasn’t able to. Of course it’s just been unhelpful … Read more
After two days of posts about beauty, that made me curious to see if I could find a poem which would keep the theme going. The poem I chose is from “the alice conversations” which I wrote back in 2004. It is a collection of poems about the archetype of the anima (the inner feminine … Read more
We need to look closely in the present moment. It’s so easy to just walk past, head full of cloudy thoughts of past and future. But… stop for a moment and really look. Then we can see the beauty in front of us. Walking with a camera helps with this. If we have a hammer … Read more