Mischief

Today I had some pre operation research appointments. I was in hospital from 12.30 till 15.30. Everything went smoothly and with care

My first appointment was with physiotherapy. We where in a small group and we were taught how to walk with crutches. I felt very…

Here is the hymn I wrote which helped me resign from a job which I have been struggling with for many years:

Two Trees

A culture of bullying is like a tree:

If bullying is in the trunk,

It spreads through every branch and twig,

Until we all become bullies or colluders.

Amitabha reaches out to rescue me;

I stretch out my arm, and take His hand.

He is the trunk of a different…

The BBC site has the following (my emphasis)

In the evening the Queen will be accompanied by Prince Philip, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, as she lights the first of more than 900 beacons across the UK and the world to mark her birthday.

Members of the Army cadet force will take beacons to the top of the highest peaks of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Some of the beacons will be specially-built gas-fuelled structures, while…

Here at La Ville au Roi recently we have been a group of three or four all of whom are amitaryas in the Amida sangha or people interested in pursuing this possibility. This raises the question whether we can, in fact, develop a training programme here as one of the dimensions of what we do, so that the sense of this being a place where one can pursue and develop a vocation in the bodhisattva spirit could become a recognised element of the life here. In practice, this is already the case, but…

I came back from my retreat at Amida Mandala in Malvern, knowing that I would have to face my problems at work which are a mirror and continuation of problems I have faced since age five (and probably had karmic forbears as well). I am writing hymns which reflect this but I try to use the Nembutsu to turn the feelings around and come up with new responses, rather than old, counterproductive ones. Here's a hymn:

Say No

I have been…

Reading the news these days one cannot be unaware of the American election. On the one hand it is quite entertaining with several larger than life characters. On the other hand, I have a sense that something of a tragedy is also unfolding as neither of the two political parties seems that happy in itself. This is especially true of the Republicans who seem to be tearing themselves apart. Beyond all the rhetoric and histrionics, one tries to discern deeper trends. Is it really America itself…