All Discussions (334)
TUESDAY 9 feb; On Parole
David is on parole for this night. Officially he will be allowed to leave the hospital tomorrow afternoon. However, yesterday he got a new roommate, a patient who shouts all day and all night. The poor man is clearly in much distress. Of course, it a
Read more…SATURDAY 26 Dec: Poly Morning, Solitary Afternoon & Chatty Evening
When i came down to make breakfast this morning i checked my mail and a former lover messaged me on Facebook. It was lovely to hear from here. I felt all soft inside. She told me that when we had last met, a while back, her feelings for me had been r
Read more…SATURDAY 23 JAN ~ Full Moon Welcomes Us Home
We drove away after a a good breakfast with our friends Gerald and Margreet in Valkenburg. We arrived home at Eleusis around 8pm after a 10 hours driving. We had the wonderful welcome of a beautiful bright full moon.
Good to be home. The temperature
Read more…TUESDAY 24 NOV: Closer to Brussels
More visits to friends and more close up information about the lock-down situation in Brussels plus discussions.
Read more…TUESDAY 1 DEC 2015 - Arrival at Amida Mandala Buddhist Temple
Today we spent the morning in Watford having discussions with our friend Susthama mostly on the topic of what it is like living outside of or on the edge of conventional society, and the compromises that one has to make in order to participate or sur
Read more…MONDAY 30 NOV 2015: Beyond Carl Rogers
Today I led a day workshop at the Metanoia Institute in London on the theme "Beyond Carl Rogers".
COURSE TOPIC: Carl Rogers advanced a highly influential theory of counselling and psychotherapy and was himself an exemplar of his own method. On the on
FRIDAY 15 JAN; Weekend in 's-Hertogenbosch
Today we travelled from Mons to 's-Hertogenbosch. During the trip the landscape changed from a grey and wet environment into a winter wonderland... but only briefly. The driving conditions through Belgium became quite challenging with melting snow on
Read more…SATURDAY 14 NOV 2015: Adios a la Culpa
Today we are in Bilbao leading a course called Adios a la Culpa which means "Goodbye to Guilt" but which carries (in Spanish) an undertone of giving the guilt to God since goodbye in Spanish is adios which is "to God". We are staying in an old monast
Read more…THURSDAY 21 JAN; One Man in the Nunnery
David is stuck in the traffic jam while I am writing this Daily. He is traveling from Gent to Den Bosch and after three and a half hours has still not passed Antwerp. Usually that distance takes less than an hour. The original plan was to collect me
Read more…MONDAY 7 DEC 2015 the day before the retreat
These days the Malvern temple is as busy as a beehive. Everywhere are people working and preparing all kinds of things for the upcoming Bodhi retreat. Like repairing toilets, baking chocolate chip cookies, cleaning, shopping, taking care of fresh f
Read more…Just as you are.
Our week is over. It felt strange to arrive after Dharmavidya had left hospital, a lot like fixing the barn door after the horse has come home.
By now you wouldn't know he had been unwell. At the start of our week he was calm and present, but with s
SUNDAY 7 Feb; Daily from Elja and Emma
At around 2am Emma and Mike arrived at Eleusis. We saw each other at breakfast. We left for the hospital and arrived around noon. We spent three hours together. David is doing better everyday! He is starting to feel bored, so that is a very good sign
Read more…FRIDAY 1 Jan: Remembering the day I brought the roof down
I've been cleaning out my room - a slow job in which it gets worse before it gets better. The trouble is that one finds interesting things and spends time browsing them rather than getting on with the job - but then, that is half the fun. Enjoy life.
Read more…MONDAY 21 Dec 2015: Welcome from Gods and Mice
The Journey
We were up soon after 5am today. It was pouring with rain so packing the car was a bit of an operation, especially as we are carrying quite a quantity of stuff - much of it food, books and tools that we acquired in UK and elsewhere along
TUESDAY 12 Jan
This morning, over breakfast, we had a discussion of relationships and community and the idea of recreating tribes, in general, and, more specifically, around Eleusis, a tribe being, essentially, a network of relationships that cross a certain thresh
Read more…SATURDAY 28 NOV 2015: arriving in England
Today i realized that I arrived at Eleusis 6 weeks ago and in this 6 weeks I have been to visit six countries; France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Holland and today, England…
It says something about the big changes in my life.
Every day is new, completel
Read more…MONDAY 11 JAN; Faith, Practice, and a liberated mouse
Today's morning ritual started with my first lesson about 'The Summary of Faith and Practice'. The Summary is an essential text of the Amida Order. It was raining all day except during this lesson. The sun started to shine through the clouds the minu
Read more…FRIDAY 27 NOV 2015 Speaking in Antwerp
This evening I am speaking on the topic Buddhism & the Brain.
Currently there is considerable interest in the dialogue between Buddhism and science, a dialogue that was originally begun by the Dalai Lama and has led to a number of very popular inte
SUNDAY 20 Dec 2015
It is hard to believe we are so close to Christmas and the end of the year, the weather is so mild. Around the area where we are staying there are buttercups flowering - they should not be out until February. We have enjoyed our stay with Maitrisimha
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