Another bright chilly day. In the morning we went to two street markets in different local villages. We did not stay long at either because of the cold. After an unusually mild winter we are having an unusually chilly spring. The first market was dev
Read more…It rained all day and continues to be cold for the time of year. I expect it will brighten up soon.We had a lazy day. I spent most of my time reading and writing and some simply doing nothing, watching the rain. Very pleasant to have such a day from
Read more…A Big Family
This morning we visited Oasis to see Annette who is not very well. It was a lovely visit and we had some good discussion and many laughs together. Annette wanted to know how it was for Adam and I living together at La Ville au Roi since
Read more…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…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…A flax flower meadow
Cowslips all over the place.
And the borage that my mother planted years ago has spread all round.
Three Poisons
In Buddhist psychology, we classify mental maladaptation into the so called three poisons of greed, hate and delusion. This is a rough and ready idea since in most cases there is some mixture and the cut off points are not that clear. No
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
In the Buddha Hall
Suddenly we have clear sky which means frost at night. last night the moon and stars were brilliant. It was chilly in morning service, but then the sun got up and it was delightful feeling a beam of it fall on my shoulder and extend
Q: How is Amida-Shu different from typical Western Buddhism?
A: In many ways. The emphasis on other power, on the bombu paradigm, and on the Pure Land all come immediately to mind. Our perception of Buddhism as religion and willingness to deal with q
Following my usual routine, I spent the morning writing and the afternoon outdoors. Today I went to cut blackthorn in the Aphrodite field. This remote part of the land is one of the most lovely spots in the whole of the magical world of Eleusis and i
Read more…QUESTION: What exactly is the teaching/doctrine of no-birth? I can only come at that through the idea that there is no-thing to be born ... only causes and conditions out of which a transient reality emerges. And that reality is ultimately all of th
Read more…People-watching in Paris
Yesterday i travelled by train from France to Holland. I enjoyed my journey. Especially the part i have to travel from Paris Austerlitz to Gare Du Nord. You can taste a bit of the spirit of this capital city when you travel
Read more…Here is my work on translating and commenting on Chapter Five of the Tao Te Ching.You can see the earlier chapters here.
Chapter Five is partly controversial for its inclusion of the image of "straw dogs" which came to public attention through the 19
Read more…This morning Elja caught a train north. She is going to see a doctor at a hospital in Netherlands and is hoping that he will agree to operate on her hip. If she can get onto his waiting list that will be a big step forward. I saw her off at the stati
Read more…Faith is Part of What We Are
Spirituality requires us to have faith in faith. This faith-in-faith is well-founded because without faith we could do almost nothing and we would certainly be a great deal the less. We have to have faith in faith. On the
I'm afraid that this Daily is a bit of a hotch-potch of my current happy and sad feelings.
My regime these days is simple enough. Some mornings we have a service and some we don't. After that we have breakfast - outside if weather permits. Then I wri
