The term ego does not occur in Buddhist texts but it is a useful shorthand for many Buddhist ideas. What does occur is the notion of the skandhas. These are rupa (riveting or iconic appearance), vedana (response thereto), samjna (the resulting trance
Read more…QUESTION: Can you tell something more on the verse “Bring help and happiness to all other beings, and secretly take upon myself, all their harm and suffering” (The eight verses off Geshe Langri Thangpa in the Nien Fo book off Amida order): People say
Read more…It has been a post-travel day. I have been occupied with recharging the car battery (the car is an electric-petrol hybrid), bringing in the rest of the things from the car (not so easy with a gammy leg), unpacking, organising the things I brought ba
Read more…I'm back.
My visit to UK has been full and joyous, but it is lovely to be back at Eleusis. Today I travelled from the snow in the north back to gentle rain here. My injured leg is still giving me trouble so unloading the car was a challenge. I had bo
Read more…In 2014 there were 33,599 gun deaths in the USA and in Japan, just six.
I was not able to find data for the question "How many people around the world were killed by US and/or Japanese munitions in the same period," but your guess is probably as good
Read more…This afternoon the Amida Sangha had arranged a celebration event to mark my 70th birthday. It was a lovely occasion. Many people came including some I had not seen for a long time. My English children and grandchildren were also present. There was a
Read more…An interesting quote:
Read more…There is no mystery to happiness.
Unhappy men are all alike. Some wound they suffered long ago, some wish denied, some blow to pride, some kindling spark of love put out by scorn - or worse, indifference - cleaves to them, or th
QUESTION: I wanted to know how I could deal with the bad karma and delusions which cause me great pain in this life, whether or not there are practices or ways of chanting to receive benefits within this life.
SHORT ANSWER: Nembutsu brings measureles
Read more…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
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