Within each faith tradition we don’t have to look far before we come across rules. Within Buddhism there are five precepts for the lay community, and 227 for the monastic sangha. A question can arise for us around some of these these rules – are they really of any value? At times it may not […]
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The only diamonds I need, Are the sparkles of sunlight on the lake. Its light through evening cloud, My only gold. Pearls and rubies from the earth, I will not take, My only truth, That which silence never told.
What is a wave? We see them, so many of them, rolling across the sea, arising and falling, breaking on the shore. We give it a name, create it as a separate thing in thought, but we see a wave is not separate is it? It never leaves the sea. When the wave arose the […]
It’s that time of year where most of us are thinking about reigning back in the excesses of the festive season and considering some healthier options. When I was young I heard on several occasions someone say, ‘You are what you eat.’ Of course, I didn’t pay much attention, it’s just a throw away comment […]
Last November I sat in the Dhamma hall at Harnham Buddhist Monastery and heard Ajahn Sucitto give a talk all about dana (giving). I was inspired by the openness of heart he spoke of and the importance of this aspect of our spiritual practice and so I’ve been meaning to write something on this for […]
Two of the qualities that help us greatly on our journey, our spiritual path, are honesty and courage. It takes real honesty to admit the truth to ourselves and great courage to explore our own hearts. This reflection arose for me when I first came across the Buddhist Three Jewels. Ideally these are held to […]
Searching for truth presents us with a paradox. Surely we must begin our search with the realisation that truth is simply ‘what is’. That being the case the question is then, ‘Why do I not fully feel a part of this truth?’ The question itself is a clue to the dilemma. The question arises from […]
There are different ways to look at life, so many different perspectives we can take. But we so often get trapped into just one – we focus all our attention on the content of our life, re-visiting our memories or living imagined future events over and over. It can become a constant treadmill of inner […]
Are you sure time exists? Might sound silly, but are you really sure? We talk about time as though it’s real don’t we? In fact many of us, and I include myself in this, are ruled by the clock, so we naturally assume time exists. But what if we’re looking at it the wrong way […]
I was at my local Buddhist monastery last week and one of the anagarikas (one who hs gone forth – a sort of probationary stage in Western Theravada Buddhism) told me he had decided not to take Pabbajja ordination and become a samanera but to return to lay life. He explained, ‘You’re expected to continually […]
