A friend of mine has recently been on TV competing in the Great British Bake Off. Well, of course I’ve been watching the show and getting drawn into baking. Maybe it’s my age, but in the past few years I have become more drawn into cookery, and baking is an area where my skills have been admittedly woeful. Like most things in life I have approached baking from the ground up. As much as I would love to get stuck [...]
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Would you do this on faith alone?
Once upon a time there was a wise man. He wanted to escape the suffering of walking upon the sharp rocks that covered the ground. He realised that he could avoid the pain of walking upon the sharp rocks by rising above them. He thought about it a great deal and took himself off into a far land where he would not be disturbed. There he observed birds very closely, and after a great deal of thought and concentration he [...]
The difficulty of middle way thought
The challenge of walking the middle way is that extremists on both sides only see their enemy behind you This thought came to me while taking a shower – not sure why, but probably as a result of being misunderstood and misrepresented by both sides in recent discussions I have had regarding Science vs Faith. Zealots on both sides have been so bound up in their own points of view that in each case, I have been perceived as representing the opposition. [...]
Springstein’s microphone cable cut by the Blade Wheel
In an article about turning poison into medicine I recently wrote about the Blade Wheel (Or Wheel of Sharp Weapons), an ancient buddhist text of apology and renunciation. In it, the reader is effectively chastised, or reminded that all of the sufferings that befall him are the actions of the Blade Wheel (once thrown against others) returning to cut away at the ignorance of wrong thoughts, views, words and actions. The musicians, the “Boss” himself, and predictably, London mayor, Boris Johnson [...]
Engelbert Humperdinck Eurovision Victory
OK, so maybe the UK came second from last. In fact, if you pay any attention to the media then that’s pretty much all you’re going to hear about the UK entry into last night’s Eurovision Song Contest. i.e. Negativity. People like Piers Morgan (who’s interview the Dalai Lama was like watching my dad try to understand a computer manual) who’s negative wit I won’t repeat here predictably do little more than score points off the failure of other’s – behind the faces of [...]
The Emptiness of the Vase
When is a door not a door? When it’s a jar… Get it? a jar… ajar – oh never mind. I think that joke could have been written by Chih-i. Emptiness is one of the hardest things I’ve ever tried to get my head around. Even at the most mundane level, trying to grasp its ramifications in our daily life is a struggle to comprehend, let alone explain to anyone. While working the other day I came across a customer’s [...]
Impermanence and clinging in Olympic Proportions
While eating breakfast yesterday I came across a newspaper article highlighting the security frenzy surrounding the London 2012 Olympic Games. My initial reaction was to shake my head at the pictures of the security forces tackling an innocent but enthusiastic photographer into the gutter to avoid a potential threat to the olympic torch. It caused me to question the nature of the torch, or more specifically, the flame – and what it was the security forces are actually trying to [...]
On being realistic
It is sometimes necessary to be realistic when setting goals. However, it is all too easy to cite realism as an excuse for not striving for greatness. When realism is used in this context, it becomes a fear driven philosophy that denies the greatness of the human spirit.
Understanding the life state of Anger
Taken from Buddhism Day by Day – that was given to me as a gift from my district on the day I received the Gohonzon. NGER is fundamentally an arrogant state of mind. People in the state of anger are attached to the illusory assumption that they are better then others and direct their energy toward sustaining and embracing this image. To ensure that others think of them in similarly glowing terms, they can never reveal their true feelings. Instead, [...]
Religion should not negate rationality
I have been listening to reports recently of how some mainstream religions are feeling marginalised by “militant secularists”. People are refusing to accept religious overtones in any state facilities. I have to agree with the sentiment that religion and state should not be confused. However, when one considers the gross errors in the teachings of certain religions, it is hardly surprising that people are now rejecting them. Daisaku Ikeda has said: A higher religion does not negate rationality. No religion [...]
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