I am currently visiting Britain. I spent Christmas with dear friends near London, my birthday with my daughter and grand-daughter, and am visiting the Amida Mandala Temple in Malvern which is splendidly situated with a panoramic view across the vale
Read more…Seventy circuits round the sun,
although it seems she circuits me,
each day with nothing still to lack,
her face arises... I bow low.
From this illusion springs our woe,
so natural the illusion is
to think one does not budge one jot
as all revolve
Read more…Spent this afternoon bringing to the surface a rock estimated to weigh about 350 lb to incorporate in the crazy paving path we are laying. Once that is in place it should be pretty stable.
In the evening in honour of the full moon we had a fire to th
Read more…TEXT: Thus we know in experience that we are foolish beings of wayward passion.
COMMENTARY:
The expression “foolish beings of wayward passion” refers to our bombu nature. As human beings dwelling in samsara we are prone to many errors, both practical a
QUESTION: From the three poisons, I understand the concepts of greed and hate very well, but find delusion or ignorance more difficult to make sense of. Could you say something about it?
SHORT ANSWER: Delusion is pride.
LONGER ANSWER: Delusion is the
Read more…This is the season for remembering the enlightenment of Buddha. Traditionally, in the far east, Bodhi Day is December 8th. Yesterday, the 8th, we did some chanting and today, 9th, we did continuous prostrations at Oasis and talked about the path of f
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After you have gone for a long walk all around the property, climbed to the top of the beech tree, investigated the inside and outside of the cold frame, found a way of getting to a new window sill, inspected the excavations and the stones dug up by
Here is a picture of one of our little projects. The path is made mostly from slabs of limestone dug up on the site and maneuvered into place. This is work in progress. We still have quite a way to go. The doctor says that I need to stay active and g
Read more…Good Medical News
I have recently had some medical tests and today saw my own doctor to review the results. She is pleased with my progress. The best news is that the deep vein thrombosis in my legs which was one of the major elements of the conditio
Read more…We are in the middle of a cold spell here. The temperature has hardly risen above zero all day. As we were driving to Oasis this morning the car thermometer was indicating the outside temperature as below minus three degree centigrade and at night it
Read more…WINTER MORNING
the blinding silver eastern sun,
dawn metal in the frost,
pull back the curtain, day has begun,
the tattered dreams of night are lost
the empty day begins to fill,
the frost to fade in hours ahead,
the cat upon the window sill,
the old man tur
Summary of Faith & Practice Part 30
TEXT: we would be as the vow-body of Buddha
The term ‘vow’ here is a translation of the Japanese term ‘gan’. It could also be rendered as ‘prayer’ or ‘deep intention’. ‘Vow’ is perhaps too strong and ‘prayer’ too
TEXT: without which we would already perceive the land of love and bliss
Perception of the land is a foundational religious experience. Religious form is substantially grounded in it and much of it can be considered to be a kind of theatrical re-
In politics things tend to remain much the same for a good length of time even though conditions are gradually changing until those changes accumulate the edge of a 'tipping point' and then many things change quite quickly until a new stability is ar
Read more…TEXT: By our daily difficulty in the preceptual life, we awaken to the presence of the myriad karmic obstacles
The preceptual life refers to the attempt to live according to the moral precepts and karmic obstacles refers to the complications and mess
Today we have had extraordinary weather. This morning was like a summer's day. Balmy. Then thunder. Then heavy clouds rolled in and brought a torrent of rain. Sitting in the refectory at such times is a remarkable experience - inside and outside at t
Read more…A day's work in pictures
Very nice stairway. I don't know how much it weighs, but I can't lift it. It needs to go in the wellhole that you can just see at the top of the picture.
I decided to sleep on it.
The next day I put up some scaffolding and s
Read more…QUESTION: Here is a quotation from Cesare Pavese. "We are all capable of evil thoughts, but only very rarely of evil deeds; we can all do good deeds, but few of us can think good thoughts." Is this true? If so, what are the implications for the relat
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