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 […]
Tag Archives: freedom
One of the aspects of searching for truth that contains any number of potential stumbling blocks is our expectations. Thoughts can arise such as, ‘If I see there’s no separate self, will I become like a Buddha? Will I be enlightenened? Will all suffering cease? Will I get rid of all my hang-ups? Will I […]
The realisation of no-self leads inexorably to the realisation of no selves. Empty boats, as Chuang Tzu called them. So all around we see patterns of behaviour, forms through which these arise, no selves. All is arising supported by its causes. There is no purpose in this, no higher Self directing it. To search for […]
Sometimes it can seem like that; we look at our lives and we instinctively want to fix, repair or change it around to make it all better. In our society there are a number of industry sectors that profit from just this desire. They try to sell us self help solutions to change your life […]
We have a chance in this life, don’t we? A chance for freedom, for understanding to awaken, a chance to fully realise truth. It’s worth spending a moment to reflect on that. It’s said that 80% of the resources of the world are held by just 20% of us. So do you feel you might […]
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 […]
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 […]
