Finally I have had my operation, but once again life is full of suprises. Because I have had operations twice as a young child the anathomy of my hip has changed. This was not apparent on the x-ray, so the surgeons where surprised during their operat
Read more…We had a happy breakfast outside in the sunshine, then Modgala, Adam and Elja went to Emmaus leaving me at La Ville au Roi. Car journeys do not seem to be very good for me at the moment so what is a pleasant outing for the others is an endurance test
Read more…Oasis
Today started overcast, but the sun soon came out. In the morning we went to Oasis and had a very nice service with our friends there. I try to give my Dharma talk partly in French so as to be understood by everybody. Sometimes I am struggling t
Second Hive of Bees
Yesterday evening Robert arrived with the news that he had been phoned buy a family that had a bee swarm in their garden in a neighbouring village. Did I want to go with him? This was certainly an experience I did not want to miss
Read more…What has this last month held? Images of life at La Ville au Roi come to me…
When I first came spring had barely arrived, most trees and bushes were starkly black only some showing a glimmer of green.
Slowly but surely the green spreads and a haze
Today I went to the hospital in Cleremont Ferrand. Adam drove me there and back. It was nice to have a chauffeur. We stopped quite a number of times. I found the journey tiring but manageable. The journey back was greatly helped by some strong coffee
Read more…It has been a very wet and windy day. I therefore spent most of it indoors working on writing projects. However, in the afternoon the weather eased a little so I took advantage of the inclement conditions to go out and cut the grass in proximity to t
Read more…When I had completed the first draft of my new book about Dogen, I sent it to three friends asking them to read it and give me feedback. Now the feedback has started to arrive, much of it really helpful. Some is the correction of small mistakes, but
Read more…It has been a sunny day here and we have been outside as much as possible, sometimes working, sometimes relaxing, often talking about the events in Brussels and the state of the world. Elja was gardening and cooking. Adam and Josephine did more work
Discussing the results of a good day's work. Adam has been using the strimmer to cut grass and I have been cutting ivy from oak trees. I enjoy this work, as much because one develops a more intimate knowledge of the trees, especially the large o
This afternoon one of the women of the monastery, Els asked me to go with her to the cafe Voltaire, in the center of Den Bosch, for a cup of coffee. Yes, good idea. From the moment I arrived at the monastery Els and I have felt connected and we talk
Read more…Yesterday was already completely in the spirit of today. Yesterday morning I started by making flower pieces for the shrine hall and in the afternoon we were all working in the hall, cleaning carpets, moving furniture and arranging the different shri
Read more…Wednesday is market day in Sancoins. We went in and did some shopping and errands.Adam tried out his French in the supermarket while I tried out mine in the insurance office.
Back at the house there are always a number of projects on the go. This mea
Read more…Eleusis Daily
It was good join the small community at Eleusis again, Peter and I last visited in 2002.
We both felt welcomed and after a nourishing lunch which included home made bread, humous and mushroom pate made by Adam the postulant and 'tenzo'
Departure
Josephine departed this morning. It has been a lovely visit. She stayed a day longer than she had originally planned and we were all sorry to see her go. We shall look forward to future visits.
Doctor
Elja and I went into town and called i
Sunny Dharma Morning
Annette from Oasis joined us for our Sunday morning service. I gave a Dharma talk about the bodhisattva and the sravaka - the bodhisattva who goes through the world singing of the Buddha, literally or metaphorically and the srava
Read more…We are becoming conscious that Modgala is only with us here at La Ville au Roi (Eleusis) for a few more days and during the last 24 hours we have also become aware that Elja will not be coming back for another ten weeks.
Modgala
It has been a great pl
Today has felt like the first spring day. We have had periods of warm sunshine and it has been he first day of the year in which we have had our coffee break outdoors and have not lit a fire in our bedroom. The warmer weather has brought new activity
Read more…Some photos I took this lunchtime walking around here. The cherry blossom reminds me of times in Japan. The bluebells of woods in the south of England. It is a lovely time of year to be here.
