I wasn't getting as much done as I intended to or 'needed' to in my previous mode of moving between lots of different activities, so I decided to devote one day a week to a particular activity, and this week I'm doing a Buddhism day. I've finally managed to get started on Vow 22, then I did some online research and catching up with mostly Buddhist emails, then I wrote a dharma talk. I plan to do a service run-through later. It's certainly easier for me to get things done this way. Namo Amida…
ContinueAdded by Andrew Ralph Cheffings on March 28, 2018 at 15:46 — 1 Comment
Wrong
I am about to do, or have already done, something wrong,
Which will cause me to be responsible for something terrible.
How can I prevent this from happening, or undo what is already done?
I even feel responsible for others' atrocities I don't even know.
Lamb
There are accidents,
There are mistakes,
And there is deliberately doing wrong.
Why do I feel responsible for others'…
ContinueAdded by Andrew Ralph Cheffings on April 12, 2017 at 21:28 — 4 Comments
As I walked up and down the Strand,
I glimpsed Saint Thomas White
On the other side of the street.
Shamefully, I glanced at him.
He smiled.
In shame, I looked away and walked on.
A second time I saw him,
And found my eyes drawn to him-
So pretty, so slight, so masculine.
He winked at me.
In shame I looked away
And walked on.
A third time I saw him.
My eyes moved to…
ContinueAdded by Andrew Ralph Cheffings on September 14, 2016 at 17:36 — 1 Comment
I've sent this hymn to a person who has been fairly central in the recent storms in my life. It's something of an ending, I hope:
Foolish Beings
I do not blame you for being you;
I do not blame me for being me;
To Amida, we are both foolish beings,
But we can entrust ourselves to Him
And let him transform
Our foolish, vulnerable selves into Gold.
You carefully appreciate what you…
ContinueAdded by Andrew Ralph Cheffings on May 4, 2016 at 18:36 — 2 Comments
Here is the hymn I wrote which helped me resign from a job which I have been struggling with for many years:
Two Trees
A culture of bullying is like a tree:
If bullying is in the trunk,
It spreads through every branch and twig,
Until we all become bullies or colluders.
Amitabha reaches out to rescue me;
I stretch out my arm, and take His hand.
He is the trunk of a different…
ContinueAdded by Andrew Ralph Cheffings on April 21, 2016 at 17:41 — No Comments
I came back from my retreat at Amida Mandala in Malvern, knowing that I would have to face my problems at work which are a mirror and continuation of problems I have faced since age five (and probably had karmic forbears as well). I am writing hymns which reflect this but I try to use the Nembutsu to turn the feelings around and come up with new responses, rather than old, counterproductive ones. Here's a hymn:
Say No
I have been…
ContinueAdded by Andrew Ralph Cheffings on April 20, 2016 at 11:00 — 7 Comments
Posted by David Brazier on January 11, 2019 at 9:43 3 Comments 1 Like
I’ve always been interested in groupwork. Recently I’ve been facilitating a rather challenging group. It includes an older man who is enjoying his retirement, an outdoor type who does not say so much but clearly regards the other members as wimps, a writer who has an irritating obsession with etymology, one I think of as the wanderer whose life problem seems to be that of never having learnt to settle down, who tells endless entertaining stories of travels, love affairs and so on, and I was…
ContinuePosted by Geeta Chari on December 16, 2018 at 18:51 0 Comments 0 Likes
https://news.liverpool.ac.uk/2018/12/13/full-speech-sir-ivan-rogers-on-brexit/
I found this piece tremendously sensible, well-reasoned, and above all, realistic.
Posted by David Brazier on December 14, 2018 at 18:52 6 Comments 1 Like
Carol drove me into Ottawa at midday on Wednesday 12th. I had spent the morning being interviewed and making a short film. In Ottawa we had lunch at the vegetarian restaurant and then went on to the airport where she dropped me off. I was to take a local plane to Montreal then fly to Paris and on to Bilbao in Spain with Air France, due to arrive at nine in the morning local time the following day. F would meet me in Spain and take me back to stay with him in a village near Vittoria.…
ContinuePosted by David Brazier on December 8, 2018 at 15:00 4 Comments 3 Likes
I'd like to try to say something about real life, which is the only thing that is really interesting.
I have been a bookworm ever since I learnt to read, which was not until I was seven years old. By that time I had already had important spiritual experiences. I was a rather odd child. Many ideas went through my head that tended to set me apart from other children.
Now,…
Continue
© 2019 Created by David Brazier.
Powered by