There is this profound play between application of effort, and letting go. Sometimes, and in some ways, one has to galvanise ones energy, enlist ones desire, focus aspiration, and strive for the goal. Whether that is in terms of life overall, or a particular moment within it, there is the need to make an effort. […]
Effort and Letting Go Read Post »
I was sitting next to our bath last night, with my toddler playing with his bubbles. And I was reflecting that for many years, when I first came to practice, and first had children, I used to feel very strongly that my goal in life, the goal of spiritual life, was ‘somewhere else’, ‘something else’,
Is This All There Is? Read Post »
One of the nice things about being ill is that the circumstances of your life are rather different from ‘normal’, and as a result, it gives you a different vantage point from which to view how things are. Instead of the usual routine, you are forced into a different one, one which may well disrupt
Sometimes you are faced with decisions which seem to have massive consequences, whichever choice you take. Sometimes that choice seems to lead to very mixed results, whichever choice you take. How can you see which choice to take? Life is so surprising in how it plays out. It’s so hard to ‘guess’ the future, to
Driving in to work this morning, it really struck me how close to death we all are. Flying along the road, I was continually inches away from crashing into another car. One momentary misjudgement, on anyone of a hundred different drivers part, and the result would have been dramatic. More than that …. how many
How tempting it is for the mind to grasp onto what is directly perceived, and to ossify it into necessarily rigid and falsifying concepts. The raft of skilful use of conceptual understanding is a tricky one to ride, and one which seems to hold much potential for misuse. The Buddha described the Dharma as being
Two nights ago I watched the final episode of Michael Palin’s new TV series – ‘Himalaya’, a series which followed his trek through that extraordinary region. Most of this last episode was set in Bhutan, and showed wonderful views of the environment there, the mountains, the valleys, and life in villages and monasteries. Calling me
Calling Me Back Home Read Post »
There are some beautiful changes in my meditation at present which I thought I’d share. A month or so ago I switched to doing my daily meditation out in the open again, having spent much of the last 6 months meditating indoors. It’s been such a joy to meditate under the open sky, regardless of
The Blessings of Meditation Read Post »
One thing which has come to me over and over again in recent days is the profound ‘is-ness’ of things. By this, I don’t mean the ‘suchness’, to use Buddhist terminology. What I mean is that when I look at a leaf, it is extraordinary how ‘leafy’ it is …. the texture ripples with extraordinary
The ‘Is-ness’ of Things Read Post »
I have been thinking a lot this last few days about how pretty much any statement you make about approaches to Dharma can be contradicted. I was reflecting on Al’s post the other day: Seated meditation is the arena in which the meditator practices his own fundamental skills. The game the meditator is playing is
Never Absolutely So … Read Post »
