Un profeta nel deserto
mi sto sediendo e mangiando il mio pane quotidiano
mentre le locuste consumano il mondo.
Il sole splende alla mia finestra
come brillerà quando siamo andati,
quando finestre essiste non di più.
È una vita semplice qui in campagna,
una
In this piece I would like to briefly restate my understanding of the Four Truths. This is already set out in my books The Feeling Buddha and Not Everything is Impermanent and will be familiar to those of my students who follow my work closely. It wi
Read more…Seduto sotto il noce
Guardo la luna piena che sale
Il sole è tramontato, gli uccelli si sistemano,
la notte è in arrivo.
Una grande pace avvolge.
Sotto l'albero i narcisi brillano
in mezzo a un tappeto di fiori primaverili selvaggi.
Sorseggio il mio tè e ri
Sitting under the walnut tree
I watch the full moon rising.
The sun has set, the birds are settling,
night is on the way.
A great peace enfolds.
Under the tree, daffodils shine
amidst a carpet of wild spring flowers.
I sip my tea and ponder.
Yesterda
OUTLINE
The medical metaphor is used a lot in Buddhist studies. The Buddha is sometimes referred to as “the great physician” curing the dis-eases of the world. The Four Truths which are fundamental to Buddhism - dukkha, samudaya, nirodha and marga -
Read more…I do find myself feeling very suspicious of the UK actions around the poisoning of Skripal. Of course, there is no way to know the truth of the matter, but it feels like a put up job. Methinks the lady doth protest too much. There seems to be no actu
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So what, now, is the colour of your soul
Does it change? Will it flaunt a gaudy frock?
Is it young, yet with a lining old as gold?
Does it rhyme like the ticking of a clock?
Do you ever wear a rainbow as a shirt
when you really should have kept things mo
Today I did not set eyes upon another human being all day. That is not an unusual occurrence here. Life as a hermit is quiet. Sometimes my mind become very quiet in the midst of ll this tranquility. Nonetheless, I do like to keep abreast opf what is
Read more…THE ARRIVAL OF HYPERSONIC MISSILES
Russia, it seems, now has missiles that can penetrate the North American defense shield. Deterrence is defense. Russia cannot afford a defense shields so it has developed new offensive weapons instead - a cheaer and
Currently, the idea of “being in the here and now” is à la mode. and I find it a truly interesting matter to reflect upon.
Here and now I am sitting in the middle room in my house in France. The walls are white. The wood stove is black. Observations
Read more…After two months in Italy, teaching and learning, it was good to get back to La Ville au Roi and see that the walls and roof were still in place and nature had not completely taken over. Then, almost immediately, I had a trip to Belgium and Netherlan
Read more…A few years ago I predicted that Turkey would seek to occupy the Sunni parts of Syria. I am, therefore, interested to see what happens with the current Turkish incursion and capture of Afrin. When examining these international conflicts one has to av
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Negative thoughts and feelings are a bane of human life. They are the downside of the great gift of imagination. A person insults one in some way and one finds oneself riling with unwanted emotions. Thoughts of vengance, or bitterness, or guilt, or m
I am at Vajra’s. Here the day starts with meditation. I sit. How does one meditate? I have been doing it for decades. I must have sat thousands of hours now - but how really should one meditate? I feel even more ignorant now than when I started all t
Read more…Here is a scenario. What do you think is going on here? What do you think may happen next? What would you say to Tom or to Mary? Do you think this scenario is common or unusual? How? Why?
Mary was, like many girls, rather frightened of sex as an adol
Read more…There is a strong tradition in Buddhism of reciting large numbers of mantras or other holy texts and invocations. These accumulate quantities of merit. Thus, some members of the Amida Shu undertake to recite a million nembutsu in the course of a year
Read more…When we read about Chinese or Japanese Buddhism we come across passages that say such things as that the master “eats when hungry, drinks when thirsty, sleeps when tired.” and the like. We might then think, “what is so different about that?” or we mi
Read more…The most famous classic of Chan Buddhism (Chinese Zen) is the Platform Sutra 六祖壇經. The sutra presents the teachings of Huineng 慧能 (638-713) [However, the text went through many revisions and the ten chapter edition that is currently taken as authorit
Read more…The following is my understanding of the main thrust of early Buddhism.
If we start from the “three signs”, I read them as saying that all samskaras are impermanent and troublesome whereas all Dharmas are non-self. The meaning here is that self, (i.e
Read more…Question : "Le bouddhisme est la croyance que des êtres deviennent éclairés, les arhats et les Bouddhas existent". Comment pouvons-nous vraiment savoir cela? J’ignore si j'ai déjà rencontré un Arhat ou un Bouddha. Et si c’est le cas, suis-je même cap
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