Book Review Therapy Today

Immersive story of childhood guilt (review from Therap y Today, May 2009)
Guilt: an exploration
Caroline Brazier
O Books 2009,
£11.99ISBN 978-1846941603

Reviewed by Sue Rowe
This book feels like a guilty pleasure in its own right! I forgot I was reviewing a professional book and became completely immersed in the characters and story. Reading it was like curling up on the sofa with a good novel.Caroline Brazier explores the huge subject of guilt by telling the story of a group of children growing up inthe 60s, in a London I recognise well from personal experience. Her descriptions of the daily lives, experiences and emotions of the main characters are so vivid I could almost smell and taste the school playground again as I read, and relived, the childhood terror of getting into trouble with teachersand parents.

Mostly, the children’s guilt does not occur as a result of heinous acts. The story is more about the kind of guilt, shame and fearful feelings that arise following relatively minor misdemeanoursthat become blown out of proportion by young minds which can only understand part of a whole picture.Although entitled Guilt: An Exploration, it goes further than that. It looks at all the other emotions that accompany guilt: shame, secrecy, regret, envy, and the painful journey from childhood through adolescence, where sexuality rears its ugly head (and it is ugly to these children when they first discover what adults actually do).

The first two thirds or so of the book are set in the 60s and the last part jumps forward to when the maincharacter is almost 30 years old and returns to her old haunts to look back. In so doing, almost by chance, she discovers the momentous outcome of a decision she made back then. Every so often the narrative is paused for commentary on what is happening in the story and to explore the wider issues. Itkeeps you guessing right until the end.Free from theoretical jargon and academic language, this book is a delight to read, very thought provoking and hard to put down. Ordinary lives, written about in ordinary language, make for an extraordinary book which offers its reader professional or lay, a valuable insight into human nature.

Sue Rowe is a trainer,supervisor and BACP accredited counsellor
review published in Therapy Today: May 2009

Book Review in Therapy Today

today I received a review in the May edition of Therapy Today, the journal of BACP. The journal is currently off line, but I'll put a link just in case! Pity, as it was a very nice review...

Book Review WildMind

The following review was published on Wildmind
“Guilt: An Exploration” by Caroline Brazier
review by Vajradevi (April 30, 2009)

A leading Buddhist teacher writes about the knotty problem of guilt, but chooses to do so through a blend of fictional narrative, autobiography, and commentary. Vajradevi reveals all.

Caroline Brazier is a Buddhist practitioner and a psychotherapist of many years standing. She is a course leader of the Amida Psychotherapy training program and lives in a Buddhist community in England. She brings these two aspects of training and experience to bear in her book, Guilt: An Exploration. The Buddhist aspect is implicit in the kindness and perceptiveness Caroline Brazier brings to her subject. You will find this book in the “Psychology” section of your bookstore and it is this perspective that frames the story she tells.

Title: Guilt: An Exploration
Author: Caroline Brazier
Publisher: O-Books
ISBN: 978-1-84694-160-3
Available from: Amazon.com.
Unusually, Brazier has decided to approach this nebulous and pervasive topic through a blend of fiction, autobiography, and commentary. She deliberately relegates theoretical ideas to the far margins of her book. There is not a study or survey result to be seen. We don’t get to hear anything of how guilt generally affects human beings or who is most susceptible to its influence. Instead she focuses down on a group of young children and, to a lesser extent, their parents and tells their fictional story letting us witness the complex emotions that form part of growing into adolescence and adulthood.

She places her characters in south London of the 1960’s. Not the England of the Beatles and mini-skirts and beehives but “a time of transition where traditions were still respected and radical new ways of thinking had yet to reach the majority of the general population.” A world characterized by freedom for children to roam away from familiar adults and create a realm of their own.

Brazier brings to rich and colorful life many of the ordinary events that provoke guilty feelings.
Through these characters and particularly “Joanne,” a spirited 10 year old tomboy when we first meet her, Brazier shows the nuances and subtleties of the feeling of guilt. When feelings, thoughts and actions conflict how does a child make sense of them? What affects the decisions we make to act? How do we feel when we want to act in a way we think is wrong and will be disapproved of by those we love or are scared of? How do we grow and explore our world when it means pushing against the boundaries of those who love us, or keeping secrets from them? Brazier explores Joanne and her friends’ responses of guilt in relation to ethics. How does a child work out what is the “right” or “wrong” thing to do? What of the “moral uncertainty” of different value systems a child is exposed to? Or, she asks, does the child have a deeply felt sense of what is the correct way to be?

Some of these questions Brazier leaves open while she answers others by painting a picture of great delicacy. What I appreciated most about her book is that guilt is not made into a heavy, static entity but something that arises in the intersections of emotions and impulses to act, and that guilt can be seen as almost a natural part of maturing.

The book captures the fear, doubt, anger and sheer uncomfortableness of many moments of a child’s everyday life. It is in these moments that guilt seems to lurk as well as in times that thrill and fascinate with new experiences. Through the story Caroline Brazier brings to rich and colorful life many of the ordinary events that provoke such feelings. A boy who loses an expensive new coat is thrown into agonies of confusion and guilt by the unexpected forgiveness from his strict mother. A girl unable to understand her new desire for intimacy is unkind to a school friend. Another child feels “different” and ashamed because of family secrets about her mother’s affair and her own racial background. Parents’ religious values conflict with each other and their child is caught in the middle, guilty at his ability to play one parent against the other. Sexual exploration is one of the main themes in the book evoking a whole cocktail of strong emotions — especially guilt — for the pre-adolescent Joanne to get to grips with.

The book captures the fear, doubt, anger and sheer uncomfortableness of many moments of a child’s everyday life
Often these occasions are a doorway to a new freedom, a new step in understanding and maturity that enrich a child’s life. Caroline Brazier’s story paints a powerful picture of the complexities of growing up. I am of a similar age to the author and brought up in the UK so there were many parallels to our experience as children. She evokes the world of a child in this period very well. I found many of my own memories and feelings re-surfacing, of times spent with my brothers and sisters building dens in the local woods and playing vivid adventure fantasy games alongside a meandering stream, coming home wet, muddy and happy.

The life of a child and teenager in 2009 is radically different to that of a child growing up in the 60’s and 70’s. Multiculturalism has given rise to many different ways of child-rearing within one society. Society itself is a more complex organism and children are at the same time more protected by parents but more exposed to danger especially from other young people. I have a question in my mind as to how well this book would translate to a reader from a different generation or culture. I suspect something would be lost but perhaps the central exploration would remain clear.

At times I would have appreciated a little more theory which would have helped to give the book more of a framework. As it stands, without many “hooks” from which a structure could hang, a cursory reading might lead to underestimating the value of “Joanne’s” story. This would be a shame as many areas such as independence, projections, conscience, choosing and testing loyalties are woven in to the book in a natural and informative way.


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Vajradevi has been a member of the Western Buddhist Order since 1995, and meditating since 1985. Recently she spent three months in 2007 in Burma practicing under Sayadaw U Tejaniya whose emphasis is on observing the mind and its objects directly while maintaining a continuity of awareness in daily life. During the last three years she has co-led an annual intensive meditation retreat at Taraloka retreat centre introducing the main areas of the Satipatthana Sutta. She teaches at Dharmapala

TWO TV INTERVIEWS NOW ON-LINE

Two interviews are now up on Conscious TV:

Caroline Brazier on GUILT:

David & Caroline on Pureland Buddhism

On-Line Discussion

Just set up an on-line discussion as the first of a series working through issues in the book. This first discussion looks at the sense of conscience and right and wrong as it develops in childhood through illustrations taken from chapter one.

You will need to have a facebook account to participate.

Forthcoming Travels

In the next month or so I'll be travelling quite a bit and giving talks and workshops related to my new book, Guilt. This is the current schedule - I'm always open to extra offers!

Caroline Brazier
Guilt: an exploration
Public Talk
Northampton University
12th March 7.30pm
more details please contact susthama@amidatrust.com


BEYOND GUILT
A Day Retreat
with Caroline Brazier
14 MARCH 2009
10am - 4pm
Venue: Walton on the Naze, Essex, CO14 8PW

Spaces limited so please contact susthama@amidatrust.com to book.

Do you frequently feel guilty? Do you feel anxious and uncomfortable about things which you have done? Do you feel a gnawing sense of shame without really knowing why? Many of us suffer from feelings of guilt and shame which sap our confidence and reduce our capacity to live happily. In extreme cases, feelings of guilt can hamper a person's life, leaving them restricted and defensive. Other people may be reassuring, encouraging us to discount such feelings and build our self-esteem, but such measures can be counter-productive as they may simply drive the feelings of guilt underground. We start to feel guilty about our guilt, adding new layers of shame as we cannot change the fact that we know we have not always acted for the best reasons.

In Western culture Guilt has become a subject of shame and is seen as something to be got rid of or denied, but the Buddhist paradigm offers a different perspective. Pureland Buddhism has a particular view of the person which is radically acceptant of our ordinary nature. Within this paradigm, knowledge of our complexity and fallibility becomes a source of spiritual process. Recognition that we are acceptable just as we are is both challenging and deeply releasing

This day of practice and discussion will focus on exploration of the topic through personal sharing, meditative reflection and Buddhist practice. In it Caroline Brazier will share some of the ideas from her new book, Guilt. We will look at ways of moving beyond the taboos of guilt feelings into a more productive relationship with our past and present experience


BEYOND GUILT
A Day Workshop in London
with Caroline Brazier
Sunday 22nd March 10am – 4pm

What makes you feel guilty? Do you feel anxious and uncomfortable about things which you have done? Do you feel a gnawing sense of shame without really knowing why? Many of us suffer from feelings of guilt and shame. Feeling like this sap our confidence and reduce our capacity to live happily. In extreme cases, they can be a blight on a person's life. People may be reassuring, encouraging us to discount such feelings and build our self-esteem, but this doesn't really work. Often we just end up feeling guilty about our feelings of guilt. We add layers of shame to our guilty feeling because we know we have sometimes got thing wrong or not always acted for the best reasons. This day workshop will give you a chance to explore the topic of guilt. We will use discussion, personal sharing, and meditative exercises to look at different aspects of this complex and troubling topic. and look at ways of moving beyond the taboo of guilt into a more productive relationship with our past and present experience. A light vegetarian lunch will be provided.

Caroline Brazier is the author of Guilt: an exploration published by O-Books February 2009. Her other books are Buddhist Psychology and The Other Buddhism. Caroline is a full time member of the Amida Order and leader of its psychotherapy training programme


SEMINAR FOR THERAPISTS & COUNSELLORS:
The workshop will be followed by a seminar (5 – 7pm) for counsellors and therapists who have attended the day workshop and wish to discuss the application of ideas in their work A light snack will be provided.


Public Talk Friday 20th March:
Caroline will be giving a public talk and book reading at Sukhavati at 7.30 (Suggested donation £5/£3)

Venue: Sukhavati, 21 Sussex Way, London N7 6RT
To book please telephone: 0207 2632183 or email: modgala@amidatrust.com

Cost of Workshop £15 waged/£10 unwaged; Seminar £10.
____________________________________________________________________

Borders Fosse Park, Leicester
Book signing 5.00pm
and Reading 7.00pm followed by coffee with author
March 26th
___________________________________________________________________

Monday March 30th 2009
Informal buffet from 6pm
Talk and discussion 7pm
118, Broomspring Lane,
Sheffield
S10 2FD
0114 272 4290
Email: amidasheffield@blueyonder.co.uk

You are warmly invited to
an informal evening with
Prasada Caroline Brazier
who will talk about and read from her new book
Guilt: an exploration

Caroline Brazier is a writer with a life-long interest in psychology, spirituality, creativity and ethics; threads which have woven together in many different ways through a richly varied career. She has spent many years working as a psychotherapist and in a variety of educational and community based work. She now spends her time organising and teaching on the Amida training programme for therapists, travelling, writing and supporting other aspects of the work of the Amida community. Caroline is a founder member of Amida Order and has lived for the past few years in its spiritual community in Leicester. She is married with three adult children. See www.amidatrust.com
_____________________________________________________________________
Amitayus Wellbeing
presents an
evening with author Caroline Brazier.

Caroline will be reading from her latest
book entitled ‘Guilt’.
Thursday 2nd April 2009
at Amitayus Wellbeing
189 Long Street Atherstone CV9 1AH
7pm -9pm.

Suggested donation of £5.00 towards the work of the Amida Trust.

_____________________________________________________

Other

London workshop

BEYOND GUILT
A Day Workshop with Caroline Brazier
Sunday 22nd March 10am – 4pm

What makes you feel guilty? Do you feel anxious and uncomfortable about things which you have done? Do you feel a gnawing sense of shame without really knowing why? Many of us suffer from feelings of guilt and shame. Feeling like this sap our confidence and reduce our capacity to live happily. In extreme cases, they can be a blight on a person's life. People may be reassuring, encouraging us to discount such feelings and build our self-esteem, but this doesn't really work. Often we just end up feeling guilty about our feelings of guilt. We add layers of shame to our guilty feeling because we know we have sometimes got thing wrong or not always acted for the best reasons. This day workshop will give you a chance to explore the topic of guilt. We will use discussion, personal sharing, and meditative exercises to look at different aspects of this complex and troubling topic. and look at ways of moving beyond the taboo of guilt into a more productive relationship with our past and present experience. A light vegetarian lunch will be provided.

Caroline Brazier is the author of Guilt: an exploration published by O-Books February 2009. Her other books are Buddhist Psychology and The Other Buddhism. Caroline is a full time member of the Amida Order and leader of its psychotherapy training programme

SEMINAR FOR THERAPISTS & COUNSELLORS:
The workshop will be followed by a seminar (5 – 7pm) for counsellors and therapists who have attended the day workshop and wish to discuss the application of ideas in their work A light snack will be provided.

Public Talk Friday 20th March:
Caroline will be giving a public talk and book reading at Sukhavati at 7.30 (Suggested donation £5/£3)

Venue: Sukhavati, 21 Sussex Way, London N7 6RT
To book please telephone: 0207 2632183 or email: modgala@amidatrust.com

Cost of Workshop £15 waged/£10 unwaged; Seminar £10.

BOOK READINGS

You can still view the broadcast of Friday's talk on U-Stream

Today David and I will be giving a book reading at DeMontfort University cultural exchanges.

Reading

Caroline is doing a book reading from her new book guilt tonight to be broadcast on http://amidatrust.ning.com at 7.00pm

On Writing

Well, Guilt is finally to be launched this week end.

Writing a book is a long process, which does not stop when the manuscript is complete. I began to write Guilt in the summer of 2007 at our retreat centre in France.

Starting out on a book is always a little surreal. The first words on the first page seem so small, one hardly believes they will grow into a full book length piece, and yet experience breeds faith. With time and determination, the words grow and pages spread and sometime around 30,000 words one starts to believe this one is really going to happen this time.

The process is absorbing too. Once launched, the content starts to draw one in. In this case, as a storyline emerged within the wider context of the exploration, I began to live and breathe the characters.

The second half of the book was written on one intensive week this time last year. Staying alone in a small cottage in the Peak District, I wrote and wrote from the moment my eyes opened until they closed at night. Each afternoon I took a walk - an hour and ten minutes exactly - up the farm road, down through the woods, along the reservoir and back along the hillside. With me walked Joanne and Wendy and Simon. By the end I could hardly put the story down - at the end of chapter fifteen, late at night I was very tempted just to write on - wanting so much to know what would become of them all.

People ask if the book is a novel or theoretical. The truth is it is both and neither. It is what it says, an exploration. John, my publisher's, first comment was it's well written but it doesn't fit easily into a genre. Well' I don't neatly fit categories, so this is probably par for the course!
The book began with a question which I had been mulling for a while - that and a left over sense of interest in the subject from 'The Other Buddhism', which came out that same summer.
The question really arose out of my therapy work. For years I had been a little troubled by the popular responses to guilt, and particularly to childhood guilt, which I heard bandied around in the therapy profession. A child was not responsible, could not know... was a commonly offered response to childhood experiences. To me it felt simplistic and even partonising. It seemed to underestimate the quality of childhood thought. To diminish children to incapable followers of adult whims. At the same time, I also recognised how often children were at the mercy of forces which they did not understand, could not control, and had no choice in.

Recalling my own childhood, I saw a complex web of half knowing, a time of curiosity and conscience, experimentation and risk taking; of pushing boundaries and of living according to codes of honour and respect which did not necessarily coincide with adult expectations, but nevertheless had their own logic.

From such muddy waters feelings of guilt might rise or indeed be buried. I was fascinated by the things which I remembered friends and aquaintances saying and how these related to the memories which cients struggled over in my therapy room.

Against this background, then, I began to create an illustration. I invented a character - Joanne - and her gang of friends and set them back in my childhood time and place: ninteen sixties London. The people are fictitious, as is the location, but they might well have been the sort of kids I played with then. The story grew in the telling. Had I set out to write a novel, I might have written it differently, but, as it was, it unfolded, event on event until it naturally became to account which is published this week.

So it was that the illustration which I had begun with had taken life and was growing. Originally my plan was for a short example, but immediately I saw that to do justice to the exploration I could not skimp on the detail, sinceto do so simply raised stereotypes and brief scenarios which lacked the context to really illustrate anything. Instead, then, I found the text inter-weaving the fictional account with my reflections on the subject. I found the multi-layered storyline offered a far richer source than the bare statements which a theoretical book might offer.

The other source of the book was, as I suggested, a theme which stood out for me in writing The Other Buddhism. There I saw how Pureland offers a particular perspective on guilt, which is both deeply honest and freeing - a position of radical non-judgementalism and recognition of ordinariness.

TALK IN NARBOROUGH NEXT WEEK

AMIDA TRUST PRESENTS
AN EVENING WITH CAROLINE BRAZIER
AUTHOR OF GUILT: an exploration
This informal evening will include a talk and book reading on the topic of Guilt to coincide with the publication this weekend of the book of the same title. There will be opportunities for questions and discussion of this lively topic.
FRIDAY 27th February 2009 Starting at 7.00pm
12 Coventry RoadNarborough LE19 2GR
Contact Susthama
0116.286.7476
susthama@amidatrust.com

(this will be broadcast on http://amidatrust.ning.com)

Guilt: An exploration

This book is a journey; an exploration into those areas of life which both fascinate and repel us. Through the weaving together of an account of a group of young people, fine grained analysis of the emotional and ethical basis of guilt, and illustration draw from a variety of life circumstances, the reader is drawn into the complexity of a subject which troubles many people in the modern world. At times both humorous and emotive, Guilt reveals the beauty of the everyday and the pathos of the ordinary. A book that crosses boundaries, this is one of the few books on the topic which will have you reading into the small hours of the morning, eager to discover the secret worlds of the characters whose lives illustrate its themes.

This gentle, sensitive and yet ruthlessly honest book combines the gifts of the talented story-teller, the insightful therapist and the wise spiritual traveller. It will make you laugh and weep. Brian Thorne, Emeritus Professor of Counselling, University of East Anglia; Lay Canon, Norwich Cathedral

An amazing dissection and re-weaving of guilt and all its pained relatives. Dr Gay Barfield, educator, author & family psychotherapist, Center For Studies of the Person and Carl Rogers Institute for Peace.

Caroline Brazier has been a psychotherapist for twenty years, and is course leader of the Amida Psychotherapy Training Programme. A resident member of a Buddhist community, she divides her time between travelling, writing and teaching.

GUILT: BOOK LAUNCHED

This week, my new book, Guilt will be launched at last. It is a long process from the first works hitting the computer screen to the boxes of books arriving on the door step, but the books are finally here!

To follow discussion on the themes in the book, you can join the group on facebook or order your copy from amazon

GUILT COPIES ARRIVED

Finally got first copies of Guilt yesterday. It looks good. Its a strange process seeing one's book in print - kind of detached yet also so intimate. In all the prcess of writing one comes to love the characters and know them with an intensity like that with which we know our closest friends. Letting them go at the last page, not knowing what will become of them is like a kind of bereavement, yet one without a corpse. Now, here they are again in the strange garb of a bound volume, the firm print of a paperback. Phrases over which I aginised are not set in stone - or at least in paper, unchangeable and defined. The only way forwrd is on to the next. No looking back, this book is launched for better or worse.

Exploring your Eating - a new on-line course

We are launching a month long course looking at attitudes to food, eating and body image. The programme includes exploratory exercises, guided meditations, and theoretical material based in the insights derived from Buddhist psychology. Participants join a supported peer group. Enrolment will be ongoing, with the first participants starting after Christmas.

This month long programme helps you to look at your eating behaviour and your relationship with your body in new ways. Through daily activities and reflections it helps you to understand some of the factors behind compulsive or restricted patterns of eating and to develop strategies to change your behaviour around food. The multi-media course uses meditations, work charts, guided fantasy exercises and practical experiments. It also contains theoretical and inspirational material related to the subject. Participants join an on-line support group and are given access to many resources. They remain registered after completion of the programme thus having access to an ongoing community of peers.

Check out details and register through the web page on: http://www.buddhistpsychology.info/eatingonline.html

Guilt: an exploration

My next book, out in February. This cover was not in fact used because the photo was not up to scratch

Morning

Misty morning with dewy grass, November can be delightful

Autumn in France

Evening light on the oaks in Champ du Ville au Roi shows off their colours

European Buddhist Union Meeting

Attended EBU meeting last week - delightful setting in a Tibetan centre, Kushi Ling, at North end of Lake Garda

Return to England

Sailing into the sunset, the late night ferry from Dunkirk brought us home.

Arrived in Narborough around 1.30am

Summer Project

Work on the ecurie is pretty much finished. A new window with glass, white wall, and Kaspa's drago to finish things off!

Ainay le Vieil

a fairy tale castle with wonderful Russian dance groups

llama walking in local paper

enlarge the sideways picture to read all about our friend Robert and the llamas in our local paper. Picture shows us en famille, walking the llamas in their field.

Face Painting

Besides making the circular hangings (in background of picture) Kaspa was a dab hand with face paints

Afternoon at Pirot Lake

After a morning making circular wall hangings with Kaspa we all went to Pirot lake for a picnic. The lake was idyllic, quiet and peaceful. It is deeply burried in Troncais forest, a wonderful space for relaxing and picnicing. Second picture - homeward preparations at the end of a full day.

Souvigny Medieval Festival

visited the annual medieval festival at Souvigny. Highlight was an amazing performance by Luc Arbogast do click here to watch a performance of his trecorded last year and posted on u-tube. This one shows how he changes pitch mid-song. It was quite the most powerful music I've heard in a long time

Listening to the Other

Just when I thought I'd got the Guilt book off my hands, an email arrives third morning with the latest version of Listening to the Other from the copy editor. A joy to edit after the last experence as this time the changes are clearly visible thanks to word's tracking facility being turned on. Fantastic! A deadline of the end of the month should be possible, but Other Centred Therapy hits the back burner again. So much for writing three books in a year!

A little visitor

Alena went to wash her brushes in the sink and found a little visitor. This baby dormouse couldn't believe his luck when we rescued him in an old bran flakes box (which still had a few flakes in it). Afterwards he became my friend for life, finding a way in through the drain hole to visit me in the kitchen! So adorable - I felt very mean shooing him out again.

Continued work

Since our visit to Ygrand last week here we learned about traditional ways of restoring walls of these old buildings using limewash. We have now done about a third of the room in two days. Its hard work and we've been experimenting with different consistencies of lime mix. Sometime thin seems to work best other times its more like painting with plaster. Mostly its a bit like painting clay slip onto pottery. Its grey when painted on, but white once dry - hence mottled effect on walls at present. Meanwhile, David is getting on with the window frame. Quite a challenge as the hole is not square!

Tile mosaic

My tile mosaic is progressing in shower

New Window

After dinner we decided the ecurie could do with a bit more light! Having cleared it in order to put limewash on the walls we decided one good mess deserved another! An old brick arch which was once been a doorway has always cried out to be opened up as a window so despite some tepidation David took a chisel and hammer to it.

Visit to Ygrande

Visited friends of Lama Wangmo and Cedric at Ygrand. Here are Marie-Nicle and Wangmo with Amelie (Wangmo's daughter) in Marie-Nicole's studio where they were running an art workshop.

Tour de France

Spent this morning watching Tour de France at Ainay le Chateau. Without knowing who anyone was, the morning was sufficient to get a flavour and enjoy the spectacle of the crowd.

Ping Pong with Derek

A ping pong party with Derek in the middle of Troncais. We spent a good afternoon visitng our friend Derek Goldby and playing pingpong in his garden. Derek goes back to England this week, so it was nice o see hm. Also discussed ideas for a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in the grounds of a Chateau near Cerilly next summer. David and I to play Oberon and Tatania... it would be wonderful if it comes off!

llama walking

Walking llamas with Robert yesterday. The white llama with a brown bottom being walked by Robert (in blue shirt) was my charge, Bowie. He didn't like flies and became very frisky every time we went into a lane with trees where flies tend to hide in the shade, dancing round me in circles. Hence Robert kept having to take over. A circling llama is a big animal! They're strong too - as we found out when they stopped in the middle of the main road in Bessais and refused to budge, stopping the traffic.

Trip to Auverne

Had a lovely trip down to Auverne where we had lunch with Cathy Savels and her partner Joe. They have a lovely place with a view of the volcans at the end of a long lane in tranquil country. After lunch we went to look at Cathy's exhibition in Giat. She does very interesting artwork based on natural forms - flowers, fruit, vegetable, wood, using different media. We originally met Cathy through a ning network so it was good to meet in person.

Personal retreats web page

After a bit of a glitch going to collect Madrakara from the station three days early (Bombu nature!) I've been working on web pages and have found a good way to create pictiorial pages faster by making one j-peg on Corel Draw first. In particular I've done one on personal retreats and one on Amida staff and another on the learning community. On which subject, do check out our France site too. --- Colder today, but we are promised better weather tomorrow for Bastille Day. Two visitors did arrive today, one from Israel and one from New Zealand, and our friend Robert came for brunch with Dudley the large dog. He is going to be helping out with celebrations at Etang de Goule tomorrow so we'll be calling down there.

Summer Days

The summer programme carries on. Today we are working on site. After the seminar, David and Anne spend much of the day cutting the path across the champ d'avoine, cutting back bramble and thorn among the young trees. Kaspa and Alena have gone to visit Robert, our neighbour to help with the lamas. I am working through my manuscript for the book on Guilt, a slow job as this is the last chance to find mistakes before publication. Nice to get out and walk across the fields to take "the workers" a drink.

Creativity, Death, Love & Truth

this essay is a response to Dharmavidya (part of the summer teachings at Amida France)
Looking in the mirror of art, we see reflected the world; a world. Do we see the world that is, the world the artist saw, or yet, perhaps, the world which lies beyond the mirage of the seen, a transcendent reality distilled in the created image. Does art bring depth of insight, or decorate the surface of appearance?
Art at its best is multi-layered. The general is manifested in the particular, the global in the detail, the abstract in the concrete. Lightly held, its metaphors are uninterpreted, drawing our mental process into relationship with the universal questions for which there are no answers and not even language. The simple object becomes the container for the divine, the sound of a frame of words encompasses the dance of time.
Both of the artist, and yet unowned, the hand of creativity is guided by unseen forces which we attempt to name at our peril. Personal yet universal, the artefact speaks with as many facets as a diamond, catching light reflected from a myriad directions. Its voice is heard according to our need as much as through the will of the creator. Unpredictable, its power must rest in the perceiver to be appreciated and much as in its author.
An act of faith, the interaction between artist and audience is mediated by grace. In the creation of art there is always an element of the uncontrollable, the other. We invite the muse but cannot force her to appear. Untamed, the flames of creativity are not our own. Mysterious as a misted peak, they hide within the clouds of the invisible, a presence which we may come to trust but not to possess.
Like the prophet and the oracle, the power of creativity is not in the artist’s sway, but from afar. Clinging too tightly to the script, the process dies. The artefact becomes a fossil, cast in stone. The measureless becomes a shrunken shell. Only by opening to the other does the artefact find birth.
In another sense, all that we see and hear and speak and create is in the circle – nothing new. The artist, gathering the colours of life’s fabric, simply redistributes threads already spun. Shapes and hues jostle and re-convene across the canvas. Phrases regroup, metamorphosing into new tunes, which yet are drawn from earlier notes. As the great web of life recycles cell on cell, molecule on wheeling molecule, star dust becomes creatures, plants become soil; the bug becomes the butterfly, the child becomes the crone. In such primeval turmoil is the artefact born, a new assemblage of the old, a juxtaposing of the familiar with a fresh interpretation.
Old elements in a stark configuration, stripped down by honesty and providence to the bones of experience. Nothing new, the image in the camera reflects the scene in raw precision. Nothing new, the novel parades its characters in gritty scenes of love and conflict, grief and confusion which we recognise immediately and personally for their human familiarity. Nothing new, our ears perceive the gentle fragility of a melody that follows the common scale, recoiling with its discords and enjoying its harmony.
So does the artist convey to us the world, sharpened, heightened, accented or perhaps simply conveyed in its unadulterated truth. Presented in shades which are borrowed from the common stock, the revelation is powerful for lacking our contaminating interpretation. Prised from our habitual stance, we are offered loan of the artist’s different view. We are shown a new vision, which, being new, has the capacity to break through our preconceptions.
For mostly we languish in the bubble of our thoughts, our view conditioned by the furrow long since made. We circle samsara, seeking confirmation in our identity and world view. We cling desperately to our constructed reality, though it is but projected perceptions. We hide from discomforting truths in our familiar dream. Only occasionally a point breaks through. Only rarely is our air-tight membrane pierced. Then usually it is the knowledge of impermanence which breaks the seal of our delusion, that cracks open our false assumption of continuation. Death is of this kind.
That which we fend off offers the greatest hope: dukkha, affliction, in its many forms. Death and its many imitations force our hand, shaking our grandiose defences, and showing us that we are not self-sufficient. Each rend an opening, these moments proffer opportunity. Engage or retreat, we may choose to grasp life or deny it, to live or kill, to love or to reject. Only such unadulterated otherness, beyond our capacity to manipulate or control, reveals the truth.
But only when the seal is broken can we love. Only the force of otherness, whether the inevitability of death or the stirring magnificence of a symphony, the poignancy of a personal story or the stark representation of a squalid truth, can wake us from our self-obsessive loop. In this the role of death or art or love becomes the same, the power of intervention which is strong enough to bring awakening. We see, we meet, we are changed.
And in the art transaction, artist, world and audience crystallise positions around the artefact. Each is a stranger to the other, engaging in silent dialogue. Each plays its part in an ever changing drama of perception. This drama is on the one hand conditioned by all three elements, and on the other unbounded, arbitrary and expansive, a dance in which participants draw closer, finding new interpretations of one another. Participating, do we learn to love?How much derives from straight reflection, channelled directly? What is expression of the artist’s soul, the deeper, darker reaches of human mind? How much interpretation? All play their part, and all are present in varying degrees. Sometime the channel, other times the origin, the artist is gatekeeper to experience.
And so, the artist offers succour to our curiosity. Sometimes baring his own process to the world, other times a neutral commentator, orchestrating communication between ourselves and the world. Importantly, art is communication, a dialogue in which we are invited to participate with the artist in a shared regard.
Our place already marked by open space, a platform created for the viewer of the image, hearer of the words, prescribed in its direction of view if not its interpretation. The artist may be communicant, but more often the interpreter, the medium, the embroiderer or the lens. Thus we have choice and yet do not have choice, are free and yet directed.
In entering the dance perhaps we learn to love the artist and to love his objects of love, to appreciate the beauty in the ugly and the fascination in the plain. Certainly we learn to engage, to meet the others in the dance, to know the artist and to know his world. Can one have such engagement without love?Art, that is art, lives in its technicolour capacity to break us out of our complacency. It shouts to us across the divide of our pre-conceptions and tears down the barriers of our mental filters. It transcends our habitual interpretations.Good art, like death, shocks us. It breaks us out of dormancy by its uncompromising otherness.
Poor art mimics our nature, creating bland wallpaper for our lives; the pastel image that matches the colour co-ordinated room, the muzac which lulls us into extravagant indulgence in the supermarket: these are designed to soothe the cravings of self and support our slumbering nature. They throw a blanket across our mental activity, and cocoon us in familiarity. They do not disrupt.
The artist, trickster, calls to question our life scripts and our expectations; blasts through the niceties of social convention with a fresh wind of perception. The alchemist of the modern age, the soothsayer, the seer, bringing to us the messages of the gods, the artist straddles worlds and offers through the gift of second sight, perspectives beyond convention. He cracks the social mirror.Good art, like death, intrudes. It upsets our illusions of permanence and predictability. It shows us we are not in charge and that experience is not amenable to our dictation. Whether through beauty or through horrific imagery, its raw reality throws out a lifeline across the straights of Mara. It melts our defensive assumptions with emotion and invites us to relate. Is this love?
Art draws us into encounter. Such meeting is crucible of spiritual discovery. Only in truly meeting can we discover love. In truly meeting can we avoid its pull? To know another is to deeply understand; to understand without the hesitancy of self-interest is to embrace. From such encounter wisdom and compassion rise, shaping the flow of response but not confining it and by this means the meeting may be consummated.

Sunshine and Showers

Days continue to unfold under an ever changing sky. This morning bright, then as we eat breakfast out of doors, black clouds rolling in. Soon rain is falling, substantial drops, each wetting us as we stand, taking photos in front of the house. This is departure time. We have had two Dutch families visiting, Ardi who came last year and some friends of hers. They camped in our newly cut field. It was fun having four youngsters running about the place, playing ball or badminton.

Last night we sat around the camp fire in the woods - a new clearing David had made by felling a large erable (field maple) which was competing with a walnut. We toasted marshmallows and sang old songs to Kaspa's Ukelele. Walking back, a crescent moon ascending over the yard heralded a new cycle of teaching starting this week.

This morning the Dutch families depart and we will once more be a small community. The flow of people come and go, the energy changes like dappling shadows on the surface of water. The place, its continuing spiritual ground unchanging as the bed of a river across which the stream of life flows.

Arrived in France

Now back in Amida France. It never ceases to amaze me how this place affects me. The pace of life, the quality of impressions - the wonderful constant presence of the natural world draw me immediately into relationship with dimensions of life which are usually buried beneath the details of everyday tasks. Last night we sat in the woods around a small fire, clearing the remains of the thorn bushes and bramble which had been cleared from the paths across the champs d'avoine. Earlier we had swum in the lake under blue skies. This morning our meditation was accompanied by the soft patter of rain on the roof of our open meditation space as through the open doorway we glimpsed the green folliage of the garden and beyond soaking up the welcome water. Birds sang from the roof tiles, insistently caling to one another despite the damp. And on the pond outside the water lilly has put up more flowers than ever before.

FRANCE THIS SUMMER

I've been working on our France Information site. Do check it out. Just sent this message out to various contacts

Amida France is now open for the summer. Susthama, Alena and Walter drove out to central France on Wednesday and found the house in good shape after the winter, the garden full of flowers, and weather clement. They are working on the gardens and getting things ship-shape for the summer.

Meanwhile I've been getting the France information on the web ship-shape too. You will find all the latest information about this year's teachings, and general booking and travel info, as well as lots of photos. You can see the fruits of my labours on http://amidatrust.typepad.com/france/a10_front_page/index.html Do check it out!

Do get in touch if you need more information on this or anything else
Caroline

NEW WRITINGS

This spring I have been writing - two new books. "Guilt" and "Listening to the Other". The first is an exploration of themes around Guilt, through the medium of alternating sections of a fictional account of young people growing up in London in the sixties and facing various events and dilemmas, inter-posed with more theoretical discussion. (the cover design for Guilt is still in negotiation!)

The second is based on a course programme I designed in the autumn, and teaches basic listening skills. The methods are grounded in the approach we teach, itself based on Buddhist Psychology, but the book is intended for a general reader so avoids direct references to Buddhist theory. I am about to start writing a "level 2" which will be more overtly teaching counselling/therapy skills from an object related /other-centred approach.

Had some nice endorsements of the Guilt book:
ENDORSEMENTS AND REVIEWS:
Caroline Brazier has produced a ‘tour de force’. Her book is part novel, part autobiography, part commentary but, above all, it is a deeply spiritual exploration of perhaps the most elusive and yet most universal of all states of being. Guilt feelings, appropriate and inappropriate, afflict us all and in these pages we see how they can cripple lives and lead to self-deception and gross self-denigration. This gentle, sensitive and yet ruthlessly honest book combines the gifts of the talented story-teller, the insightful therapist and the wise spiritual traveller. It will make you laugh and weep and it will also compel you to re-visit much of your own experience with heightened awareness and awakened conscience. It is a spiritual thriller which defies categorisation and is compulsively readable. Brian Thorne, Emeritus Professor of Counselling, University of East Anglia; Lay Canon, Norwich Cathedral


Caroline Brazier has written an amazing dissection and re-weaving of guilt and all its pained relatives. It is perhaps the most complete "anthology" of the permutations of guilt that I have ever seen, subtle, complex, multi-faceted and nuanced, layer upon layer of yet another meaning of the effects of guilt, as experienced by children with no such rich language or comprehension to define all of this as this author does for them and us. Such language now provided through the eyes and heart and intellect of a very astute and brilliant adult author, psychologist, spiritual companion and human observer, makes it as rich a tapestry of guilt as a finely elaborated needlepoint on a wall at Versailles. I was truly amazed. I shall surely never see guilt in the same way again, and I will listen with even more compassion to those so suffering from its stings. Dr Gay Barfield, educator, author & person-centred marriage and family psychotherapist, and former founder and co-director with Carl Rogers of the Carl Rogers Institute for Peace

A WEEK IN DELHI

Just got back from a week in Delhi visiting our project there. The project is in its fourth year and offers English classes to some of the poorer communities in the East of the city. This year Amida chaplain, Sahishnu has two volunteers with her. Kaspalita and I travelled out on Monday a week ago. We spent most of our time visiting the different classes, held in different Buddhist temples around the area. Some were for children, some for young women, and others for mixed adults. They tended to be very interactive with lots of word games and singing. On Sunday the visit culminated with a school admission ceremony for ten people in Shanti Nagar, a very poor district just over the border in Uttar Pradesh. This group has been meeting with Sahishnu for a couple years to practice Buddhism and its members have become particularly interested in our form of Pureland and wanted to become part of our group. You can see photos of our visit on my facebook site

AMIDA CHRISTMAS TREE

This year, once again, The Buddhist House community took part in the Christmas Tree festival in Narborough Parish Church. All the groups in the village contributed trees. Ours had a theme of the Pureland, with home-made "jewels" and descriptions of trees from the sutra. Here Ray and Sundari admire our tree.

AS SEEN ON TV: BUDDHISTS AT CHRISTMAS

Do look at the film item which our local TV did on The Buddhist House at Christmas. We were very pleased with this item which gave 4 minutes of air time and raised a number of important issues as well as being very human.
http://www.itvlocal.com/central/news/?player=CEN_News_26&void=127037

NEMBUTSU CHANTING

We have been creating chanting videos on u-tube Do view this one and let us know what you think.

Nembutsu is our central practice, so finding ways that express our religious experience through different forms is both a creative exploration and an act of going into the heart of our Buddhist life. Some of this chanting was done as an accompaniment to walking meditation.

24 HOURS

Stop Press: The edited 24hour Nembutsu video is now on U-Tube

24 Hour Nembutsu

Just finished the annual 24 hour nembutsu. This clip shows us at 9.15am this morning, twenty one and a quarter hours into the practice. I took a few pieces of video so that we could share the event with friends who could not be present. In time I will edit them together later but for now, here is a sample. You can see Dharmavidya rocking baby Jake to the chanting on the left hand side, with Mudita sitting beside him

Who Loves Dies Well

A nice review of Dharmavidya's book on Echoes of the Name blog

Late November

Grey stillness
Seeping in the chillness of my mind
Fingers the stark November twigs of thoughts
That score aimless lines across the sky.

No bird
Or creature scurrying the branches
Breaks the monotony
Of isolation, sliding into winter

And in the sombre light
Of day that hardly stirs
To throw off comforters of cloud

Comfortless
My inclination yearns
Toward that lair, oblivion,
The dark caves of imagination
Deep beneath the earth
To sleep, Hadean, till the spring

My Grandmother's House

I could take you to a house
Tall as a ship on the hillside
With red gables
And seagulls crying in the sky above

And we could enter by the side
Through a door that's never locked
To a kitchen, big with laughter
With a stove that's always lit
And a kettle on the hob

I could take you through the hall, muffled in deep carpet

There would be a fire in the grate
And faded satin cushions on the chairs,
Brocaded curtains
And treasures on the shelf:
A cardboard cut-out boat, a plastic dancer
An egg cup, present from the china shop
Remembered childhoods

We would climb the stairs and find
The bedroom with its high black bed
Where winter gales rattle dead fingers on the panes
In the darkness
And seem to rock the walls
to the sounds of distant waves.

But no -
The building stands
Not quite so tall upon the hill
But all the rest
Is gone
Like the ripples on a pond
After a leaf has fallen

This poem was written in October 1987, twenty years ago now, just after my grandmother died. I found it in a box when looking for poems to read in our poetry gathering this morning

Autumn photos from our walk in the Leicester Arboretum yesterday. Would that today were as fine and dry!

Silver Sangha Blog

Had an email from Dennis Sibley about his new blog, a lighthearted Buddhist escapade into retirement. Its called www.thesilversangha.blogspot.com Do check it out!

Spiritual Facilitation

A day exploring spiritual faclitation. Mainly in house, we were nine altogether in the group. After an introductory exploration of settings, definitions and purposes - where does one do spiritual facilitating? The answer everywhere becomes complex when you start to look sat different modes and needs and boundaries. Then topics: I talked about facililtating spiritual experience, about ethical dilemmas and about contrition and confession - good topics for lively discussion!

Jake

Our new Buddhist house baby, Jake, with his Dad

AUTUMN LEAVES

Autumn

Listless trees
Shivering their leaves in autumn sunshine
Temperate mists hanging
Tightly bound to sky and meadows
Far out across the heartland of damp grassy spaces
Towards the waning of the year
In every falling leaf
A moment tumbles

SHARPHAM TALK

I will be talking at Sharpham on November 6th

The Other Buddhism
Caroline Brazier
Tuesday, November 6th 2007 at 19:30 Sharpham Centre.

Pureland Buddhism, with its devotional practice, based upon our relationship with the measureless, Amida, offers a new, other-centred perspective on our lives and our world.
Caroline Brazier, author of newly published The Other Buddhism: Amida Comes West (O-Books 2007) is a senior member of the Amida Order, a Pureland Buddhist sangha based in the UK. Besides teaching Buddhism, she is also leads the Amida Training Programme in counselling and psychotherapy from a Buddhist perspective, and is the author of Buddhist Psychology (Robinson 2003).
Donation.

Seeing Saille off

Today Saille left to return to Canada. She has gone back to be with her sister who is sick. Her departure was somewhat dramatic. At 8.00 after a farewell breakfast with delicious scones cooked by Alex, we set out to drive her to Bedford from where she can get a direct train to Gatwick. We had plenty of time as her train was at 10.00 and her flight at 2.00. Hardly had we turned onto the motorway, however, than the car engine just died. I pulled onto the hard shoulder whence we assessed the situation. Dharmavidya went to phone from the emergency phone whilst Susthama climbed down the embankment onto an ordinary road and set out to find someone with a mobile who'd let her ring the Buddhist House. To cut a long story short, Alex came to the rescue and picked up Saille and took her to the station. We have yet to hear but hope she made it to Gatwick in time. We meanwhile were eventually rescued by a nice RAC man who brought me and the car home (Susthama and Dharmavidya walked because there was not room in his van: they got back first!) Car awaiting possible repair, or we'll be looking for a replacement! Namo Amida Bu

Inaugeration of the Three Wheels Stupa

On Sunday we attended the inaugeration of the new stupa in Brookwood Cemetry. This Stupa was built by Three Wheels Temple with a bequest they received from a Zen monk. It is sited in Brookwood because four young Japanese were buried there in the nineteenth century - the first Japanese to come to England to study Western technology. The cenetry is very old a beautiful, with old trees and decaying Victorian monuments. Traditional Japanese music added to the poignancy of the occasion.

Daughter's Cats

Cath's kitten Sam meets Jenny's young cat, Billy for the first time (at Jenny's house) Sam was keen to be friends but Billy wasn't to sure. Sam was being brave - as you can see from his tail, but was very keen to befriend Billy

Jodo-shu statement on Burma

Statement on the Buddhist Channel website from the Jodo (Pure Land) Shu Buddhist Denomination on Bringing Peace to Burma
October 2, 2007
We at Jodo Shu profess our belief in non-violence and deny any warlike or military means for resolving problems, no matter the reason.
At this time, we would like to address the situation in Burma of the peaceful demonstrations by the general citizens and monastic sangha, which was formed through the Buddha’s Way. We have come to be informed that the government has used violence in response and created numerous fatalities, including one Japanese citizen. Furthermore, they have imprisoned many citizens and monks as well as looting and destroying Buddhist temples. We would like to express our indignation and deep regret about these actions. From prehistoric times up to today, humans have continued to conflict with each other. Not only has this injured and deprived many people of their lives, but has given rise to the despair and hatred of the mourning families. Peace cannot be established through violent force. Violent force gives rise to enmity as well being the trigger to an endless cycle of revenge. Shakyamuni Buddha once taught, “Everyone fears violence. Everyone cherishes life. Seeing others as oneself, one should neither kill nor allow others to be killed.” Dhammapada 130. Burma is a country with a deep Buddhist history. 90% of its citizens are devout Buddhist followers. We are shocked and cannot help being gravely concerned that Burma is now trying to resolve its problems through violence.It is our heartfelt wish that the Government of Myanmar immediately free those detained monks and citizens, and demonstrate a policy of resolving this conflict peacefully through dialogue. It is also our hope that the Japanese government and various related bodies will continue to make efforts to resolve the situation. We Jodo Shu priests and followers will not cease to pray for the rapid establishment of a world of co-existence in which humans non-violently trust, love and help one another. Sincerely In the Dharma, Rev. Kojun Inaoka Secretary General of Jodo Shu

VIGIL LEICESTER

Report from BBC Radio (referring to Susthama)
Last Updated: Saturday, 29 September 2007, 13:28 GMT 14:28 UK
Demo to support Burmese protests
Buddhists in Leicester are to hold a silent vigil to show solidarity with pro-democracy protesters in Burma.
Organisers Amida Trust said the peaceful event was being held at the clock tower on Sunday afternoon.
A spokeswoman for the group said she had been sent an e-mail telling of human rights abuses from inside Burma.
She said: "We fully support what the Burmese monks and civilians are doing because they are doing it in a very peaceful way."

distressing news from Burma

REceived this terrible ccount (I have removed email addresses)

We just got phone call with our sister living in Yangon about a > few hours ago.>> We saw on BBC world, saying that 200 monks were arrested. The true> picture is far worse!!!!!!!!!>> For one instance, the monastery at an obscure neighborhood of > Yangon, called Ngwe Kyar Yan (on Wei-za-yan-tar Road, Yangon) had> been raided early this morning.>> A troop of lone-tein (riot police comprised of paid thugs) protected> by the military trucks, raided the monastery with 200 studying monks. They systematically ordered all the monks to line up and> banged and crushed each one's head against the brick wall of the> monastery. One by one, the peaceful, non resisting monks, fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Then, they tore off the red robes and threw them all in the military trucks (like rice bags) and took the bodies away. The head monk of the monastery, was tied up in the middle of the monastery, tortured , bludgeoned, and later died the same day, today. Tens of thousands of people gathered outside the monastery, warded off by troops with bayoneted rifles, unable to help their > helpless monks being slaughtered inside the monastery. Their every> try to forge ahead was met with the bayonets. When all is done, only 10 out of 200 remained alive, hiding in the monastery. Blood stained everywhere on the walls and floors of the> monastery. Please tell your audience of the full extent of the fate of the monks please please !!!!!!!!!!!! 'Arrested' is not enough expression. They have been bludgeoned to death !!!!!!
Aye Aye>

WATERSTONES

Book signing in Waterstones, Leicester

LONDON EVENTS

Book launch events this weekend. Saturday we spent much of the day in Waterstones, Leceister signing books (well a few of them) It was pretty quiet but we did meet some old friends. Then we drove down to London. Yesterday we had an open day at Sukhavati, the London Amida centre. It was a very nice occasion, with a steady stream of visitors all day and some very nice conversations. A quiet day today, then tomorrow we'll be doing an event at St James Picadilly

Other Buddhism Book Review on Amazon

Engaged and engaging Pureland Buddhism, 5 Sep 2007

By Peter M. Schogol (Lexington, KY USA) (from Amazon site)

The number of books written in English on Pure Land Buddhism is steadily increasing, as is the number of translations on the subject from Japanese and other languages. Still, we get the impression that the readership for these books continues to be those already interested in or committed to one or other of the Pure Land schools. For those who've not encountered Pure Land Buddhism, it holds that self-perfectibility through meditation, the keeping of precepts, or tantric practices, is beyond the reach of most ordinary men and women because of our accrued karmic bonds and limitations. Pure Land emphasizes instead the transfer of the vast storehouse of merits accumulated by the Buddhas to the individual to bring her or him to Pure Land, which is -- depending on the interpretation -- either a 'place' where there are no hindrances to enlightenment, or enlightenment itself. It's perhaps inevitable, though a shame nevertheless, that THE OTHER BUDDHISM: AMIDA COMES WEST isn't any more likely to catch the eye of those for whom Buddhism is synonymous with arduous disciplines. This excellent book likely will become known only to a few, but those few may find their previous appreciation of Pure Land Buddhism transformed by it. Caroline Brazier is a psychotherapist, an ordained religious in the Amida Order and a priest in the Amida-shu which is a contemporary presentation in the West of Jodo Buddhism, the oldest Pure Land school in Japan. Centered on nembutsu practice, self-examination and contrition, and social engagement, Amida-shu is -- arguably -- the form of Pure Land Buddhism best integrated with progressive Western religious and social sensibilities. Rev. Brazier makes a compelling and ultimately persuasive case for Amida Pureland Buddhism by rooting its message in a clear Buddhist psychology. While at times chewy, THE OTHER BUDDHISM is never pedantic or erudite for its own sake. On the contrary, Rev. Brazier writes as a poet with an acute sensitivity to the bittersweet quality of the impermanent and interdependent. All in all, a highly recommendable book.

LONDON EVENTS

Coming up this weekend, events in London

Hawaii pictures

The summit of Mauna Kea. One of the most amazing places I visited this year.


More photos of our recent visit are on my facebook page

Honen

A full weekend, culminating in Sunday service.

I shared the account of Honen's conversion to Pureland, reflected on that alternation of effort and of revelation, or self-power and other-power. Honen was studious and learned. He received accolades from his contemporaries for his prowess, yet he saw the shallowness of such worldly achievement. He abandoned his mountain seat of honour for a more private search, a struggle to break through the received knowledge to something truer, with more integrity. He struggled and strove in his quest for a way. Then the breakthrough came, a simple realisation of the power of faith, of nembutsu.

So often it is only when we have fought with our ambitions and desires, have striven to reach peaks of knowledge and skill that we come to simplicity. We need that struggle in order to let go, just as the muscle is flexed before it can relax. In the end, though, learning comes to us. It surprises us just when we are at the point of breaking in our effort. It comes from the measureless.

Then we can go out. Honen walked out after his breakthrough, going from place to place, evangelising to the ordinary man. open handed he shared his insight through his example and became an inspiration to all.

Autumn Term begins

September, and the time when term starts to get into gear. Autumn in the air the the freshness of early morning as I walk from our sleeping quarters up the road to The Buddhist House. Lots of people. Today, our first weekend of studies, an introductory programme for would-be volunteers and others.

This afternoon the Cosby airshow. Our neighbouring village held its festivities and we were treated to a display of wheeling planes, second world war veterans, propeller driven, skimming the tree tops and wheeling over the roof top, engines whining plaintively. How scary for older people with memories of war, I think. Even though I never experienced such times, I feel my stomach lurching with each turn above the house.

And in the community, the household full, excited, awaiting the new term and Mudita's baby.

Amida This Week - Gareth

Amida FranceI left Amida France on a rainy day, leaving Susthama to finish her bamboo sculpture of Quan Yin, and, with the others, to tie up any loose ends, before returning home on Thursday.We had a wonderful finish to the Arts period, Liz and Gemma were our guests in the final week, who transformed the old well into a thing of beauty. On the final day, Kate a neighbour, who works as a play therapist in the UK, came and led us through an art workshop in which we jointly created an amazing piece. You can see photo's of this, and of the other pieces of art on the French weblog: http://amidatrust.com/france We had spent the previous evening at Kate's house, for dinner and a twilight walk to an old abandoned water mill - spooky.The weather has been mixed but te rain didn't dampen our spirits which were lifted, in the company of each other and by Amida.The Buddhist HouseHello from The Buddhist House
Summer passes quickly this year. Only a few days of warm sun and fortunately the two days out we had with Catherine to Lincoln cathedral and Bradgate Park fell on two of the sunniest. What a wondeful cathedral and an excellent tour that introduced Sudhana to some of our history.
The wet weather has led to the juiciest plums I have seen from our tree, plump early raspberries and rapid growing courgette/marrows!
We had a very rewarding retreat studying the Four Noble Truths, facing our dukkha and finding new visions.
The retreat carried on into a day at Sukhavati where our own paths and the needs of the world came together in dharma discussions and focussed around Quan Shi Yin and the meaning of compassion.
The retreat also linked to an earlier intensive evening of practice with a question and answer session at Sukhavati.
We have enjoyed the company of our Bangladeshi friends, especially little Dip who has grown rapidly in her time here and joins in most of our sessions and delights our neighbours by waving at her window. We look forward very much to Mudita and Ian's baby arriving.
Yesterday Modgala felt privileged to go to our Maitri project in Leicester where she met with visitors and volunteers in intense discussions over tea and biscuits. Fun ideas came up too, one was for a minibus trip to the seaside!
Modgala has also enjoyed travelling around with Sudhana. At the Buddhafield festival we gave many talks and workshops, linking up with FWBO and NEB friends and meeting new people interested in our courses, volunteering and Amida practice. We went to a lovely evening at a nature reserve in Brighton and met with our London friends at Sukhavati. There was also time for a couple of days at Weymouth where Modgala's mother's family came from.
We have also had a number of visitors and today await Ha Ok Ran from Korea who will be living with us for a few months.
In sutra study we have been reading about the early nuns and sharing their enlightenment poems in the Therigatha. They are wondefrully down to earth and inspiring.

Photos of Hawaii

Hawaii Photos click here for my recent photos

France Photos

Pictures of France on my facebook account

Cult of the GI continues

This fascinating story from the BBC we site maybe tells something of how beliefs grow up:

Cargo cult lives on in South Pacific By Phil Mercer BBC News, Tanna, Vanuatu
At the base of a sacred volcano in an isolated corner of the South Pacific young men play the "Star Spangled Banner" on bamboo flutes.

Islanders have celebrated John Frum's generosity for 50 years Every February they parade in old US army uniforms with wooden weapons.
Others go bare-chested with the letters "USA" painted in bright red letters on their bodies.
Nearby, a giant Stars and Stripes flutters in the breeze from the main flagpole.
This is the heart of John Frum country on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu.
Villagers at Sulphur Bay worship a mystical figure who they believe will one day bring them wealth and happiness.
Time of upheaval
"John is our god," declares village chief Isaac Wan, who beats his fists into the ground to emphasise his words.

"One day he will come back," he says.
Believers are convinced that John Frum was an American.
The name could well have come from war-time GIs who introduced themselves as "Jon from America."
read more

genetic inheritance

I was fascinated by this item on the BBC new site today. Quite amazing how strong the instinct about our genetic origins is. Not only did both father and son sense the mistake that had been made, despite there apparently being no evidence other than their own intuition for the swap having happened. Also, the sister became convinced by the appearance of the young stranger of her lost brother's relationship, to the point where she initiated conversation that led to the uncovering of the mistake.
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More Amida-shu admissions

Here are Saille and Terran with Dharmavidya after their admissions ceremony at the retreat day last Sunday. This was a very special day, as Terran joined the school, having been a good friend of all of our for many years. It was wonderful that she could make it and that we were able to arrange the ceremony at short notice. Terran lives in Seatle and had travelled up for the retreat. It was so imprompu that she had to borrow Saille's wagessa till we can get her her own!

Wonderful too to confirm Saille's membership. She has had such a rough year, battling with cancer and it is wonderful to see her well and out of treatment. 

The Other Buddhism

Just got the information about the publication dates of my next book through. This is The Other Buddhism . I'm really please with the cover that O-Books have produced, which includes a photo of Allouette Lake, Vancouver which I took last January.

Fitting that this has come through when we are once more visiting Vancouver.

Visiting Tim & Jenny

 A trip up to the North East this wek. I visited Sujatin's group in Newcastle, seeing her and Colin, and also had a chance to see Tim, Jenny and Sonna (here in Tim's house) 

Walnut harvest

 
Returning to Amida France, we have a few days to catch up on emails and to harvest walnuts (3 big tubs) and collect woods for the winter. 

Walking in the mountains

 The weather was not always at its sunniest but the views were still spectacular as here, at Oo (yes that's not a typo, it really is spelt Oo)The lake was a good climb up and we went on to a higher lake above - well over 2000ft in total. 

camping in the pyrenees

  on our way to Barcelona, we enjoyed a quiet few days camping in the Pyrenees and walking in the mountains. We had four days in an areas known as les Baronnais, a little south east of Lourdes, then moved on to Luchon, a spa town in the next valley. A very nice rest 

Eurpean Buddhist Union Meeting

 This took place at Sakya Tashi Ling, a wonderful and very impressive Tibetan Monestary near Barcelona 

Amida France - everything is growing!

  Everything growing well here n France. Leo is making chutneys with the prolific marrows. 

Verneuil

  Verneuil is south of Conches with an even finer church (in my opinion!) 

Saint Suzanne

  This fiftennth century carving is one of many in Conches church 

Travelling

 We passed through Conches, just south of Rouen and on the PIlgrimage route. This area has many beautiful fifteenth century chr=urches with very interesting carvings of saints from the same dates. 

Travels to Spain

 We set out for a couple of weeks traveling to Spain. Tuesday: left Dover on 11.00a ferry after a night in London. The day was warm and misty and being out on deck was pleasant and relaxing. 

Look what we grew!

  

Rutland Water

  Back in England, a trip to Rutland Water with my parents who are visiting 

Troncais Walk

  A walk in the oak forest of Troncais. We enjoy a finer day, walking to some of the specimin trees and on to Troncais lake. 

BOURGES

 
Leo and Sally sit in the gardens beside the Cathedral after our picnic. 

Climbing Bourges Cathedral

 
A day out, we climb Bourges Cathedral tower. Lots of steps but a magnificent view. 

Fireworks at St Bonnet

 
At St Bonnet Lake there is always a spectacular firework display on Augut 15th, a French bank holiday. This year a heavy rain storm hit us just before the fireworks started but the display was still wonderful. 

Visit to Noyan

  Visited the VIetnamese temple at Noyan. This is our friend Derek Goldby in front of their largest Buddha. At Noyan there is a spectacular aray of Buddha figures. The temple is about an hour's drive south of us.

Garden produce

  Lots of good vegetables this year. The root vegetables did especially well this year but we also had courgettes, tomatoes, beans, leeks, and lettuce. 

Picnic in Toncais Forest

 
The forest of Troncais lies to the south of our centre, and stretches some ten killometers across. It is a wonderful place for walks and in wet weather the picnic shelters still give good access for enjoying its beauty whilst we ate. Here, we met to share a picnic in the middle of the forest tracks at Rond de la Cave. 

Visit to Noirlac

  Enjoying the peace and tranqility of Noirlac Abbey, a cistercian abbey in the Cher valley, near to our centre. Noirlac is host to music festivals and art exhibitions.

Arts in August

  During August we have three weeks of arts activities - a kind of gentle "Buddhist holiday" with opportunities to join in a range of ats activities as well as to enjoy good company, go off site for visits to various places in the locality, and to walk and swim in the forests, lakes and rivers nearby. We share in nembutsu practice and enjoy community time. 

July Heatwave

 
July was hot. 37 degrees sometimes. Keeping cool was a challenge, but the hose pipe helped 

Sun Set in France

  Namo Amida Bu 

Big Skies and sunsets

 Amida France is a place where we always have amazing sun sets. Different each day, sometimes we watch in silence, other times chanting to Amitabha.

Wood ants on an old tree trunk

  Watching the ants progress along an old tree trunk is fascinating. The way these insects carry pieces of twing, leaf and their cocoons; the way they follow one another in long lines across quite large saces and utilise fallen trees as "motorways" carrying vast traffic longer distances is so interesting one can watch them for hours. 

Retreat in the Woods

  In July I enjoyed five days retreat in the woods. Our little retreat hut is a wonderful space for practicing. Between times it is wonderful to spend time watching squirrels and woodpeckers, nuthatches and butterflies and all the other life of the forrest. 

Good company

  Joining together at meal tims is an important aspect of life in Amida France. We ate together out of doors most of the summer, despite more unsettled weather in August. Home grown vegetables and fruit and our own freshly baked bread make mealtimes a pleasure. 

The Amida Hall

  Lavender grows outside the Amida Hall, wafting a beautiful scent in when the wind is in the right direction. Birds fly in and out as we chant nembutsu. Namo Amida Bu. 

July in France

 
July is our main teaching season in France. Dharmavidya gives teachings on the Larger Pureland Sutra and we have talks on ministry and liturgy for Amida trainees. A time for exploring the meaning of nembutsu practice and its many forms - from formal ritual in the Amida Hall to informal house sessions and introductory groups. A wonderful oportunity to practice together with other members of the Order and School 

FRANCE

Enjoying the arts period in France. Summer continues.

SUSTHAMA'S BIRTHDAY

Click here to watch Susthama blow out her candles! (takes a minute or two to download)

Coventry Peace House

  We have been reflecting on community for the past nine day block. On Friday evening we visited the community at Coventry Peace House 

Susthama to Hawaii, John to Zambia

 
This picture of Susthama and John bathing Zen's wound reminds me of the last few weeks. Zen has recovered at last and is allowed out now. Susthama left fir Hawaii yesterday. John has returned to Zambia. 

courses and prospectuses

 
Its nearly a month since my last entry! I have been very busy getting course prospectuses, leaflets and a short "video" together. You can see the results at
www.buddhistpsychology.info. 

Irene Day

 
Yesterday we visted Irene's grave and planted some stocks. The
Natural Burial Site was very green and May blossom was out. Today is the second aniversary of her death. 

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | New US alligator killings feared

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | New US alligator killings feared: "New US alligator killings feared

Alligators are becoming more active as the weather heats up
The bodies of two more women have been found in Florida having suffered apparent attacks by alligators.
The finds follow a fatal attack last week, only the 18th confirmed alligator killing in Florida since 1948.
In the latest cases, a 23-year-old woman was pronounced dead after being pulled from the jaws of an alligator in the Lake George area.
The body of another woman who had apparently suffered alligator bites was found in a canal near St Petersburg.
Residents have been warned not to swim in vegetated areas or walk pets near water, particularly at night. "

Lettuces

  The lettuces I planted in the green house have grown amazingly quickly. yesterday we harvested the first crop - enough to feed eleven of us at the NBO meeting without depleting the plants over much. John has been enjoying gardening and has planted rows of potatoes earlier in the wekk that are already showing leaves above ground. Also sun flowers, pumpkins and other seeds.

Birmingham

 

Last Tuesday went up to Manchester to take part in a pre-series trial of the Heaven and Earth Show, to be interviewed by Gloria Hunniford. An interesting experience, seeing how a TV studio works etc. I feel I learned a lot about the process even though the show was not to be broadcast. En route back missed my train and so got stranded in Birmingham for an hour - an opportunity to see the newly developed Bull Ring and to listen to the church bells from this parapet (concrete sun loungers provided!)

zen the cat injures himself

 
In the midst of the conference Zen reappeared with a bad cut on the inside of his leg. An operation later he is now recovering and investigating his war wounds. Keeping him indoors for ten days will be quite a challenge.

Amida Conference Narborough

 
The tenth aniversary Amida Conference, Learning Freedom took place this weekend here in Narborough. Here Dharmavidya and Mary Midgley presenting, chaired by David Bray.

Visit to the Peak District

A short break in the Peak District. David and I spent a night in a B&B getting a little recuperation before the run up to the conference starts.

I helped this toad across the road. We had just got back into the car when I looked up and saw him hopping across the tarmac. A lorry was just coming down the hill, so I lept out of the car and grabbed him. The two men in the lorry were very amused as I showed them what I'd just picked up! the pic was taken after I'd put him safely in the grass in the hedgerow. Guess he'd better remember me when he gets to be a prince!

visitors from India

Lalita and Perumal visited from Pondicherry. They are two of the people Modgala met in Tamil Nadu this year. Lalita is involved in alternative education through the group Adecom, teaching people who have missed out through the conventional systems. Perumal works with street theatre. Lalita is next to Dharmavidya at the back of the group. Perumal is on the other side. Next to him is Lauren, a student from Bath Spa University who has been with us all week on placement.
 

Caring for animals

Last Saturday, April 1st, we took part in a multi-faith procession through Oxford which Susthama had organised in support of the campaign against the building of animal laboratories for Oxford University. Led by Catherine in her wheel chair, representatives from different groups carried animal sized coffins through the town centre to the site of the new labs, where we held a service then laid them in front of the building.

AMRITA OBITUARY: Guardian Unlimited

Guardian Unlimited | Obituaries | Obituary: The Rev Linda Amrita Dhammika: "Obituary


The Rev Linda Amrita Dhammika

Caroline Brazier
Friday April 7, 2006
The Guardian


The Rev Linda Amrita Dhammika, who has died aged 50 from an asthma attack, spent her life working for the destitute, the sick, and for animals, principally in Africa.
Her mission culminated in the founding of the Tithandizane primary health care project at Kamulaza, Zambia, which she built from 1997 onwards into a thriving centre serving 72 villages. Five hectares of land were made available; charity grants were found; villagers contributed labour; and five buildings were constructed. Today, the centre provides medical care, training, counselling and community services.
Article continues

Amrita's Funeral and Memorial Service

You can read an account of Amrita's funeral on the Amida Order blog. It begins: "We, here at The Buddhist House, have just been communicating via Skype with our friends in Zambia. The funeral of Reverend Amrita Dhammika took place yesterday morning. She was buried with full ceremony. For two nights prior to the ceremony there was dancing around her coffin and lamentation. The ceremonial which took several hours was a mix of Buddhist and local custom. Sr Modgala and Willemien Hoogendoorn took a central role in the proceedings which were appropriate in all respects. Well over one thousand people attended. Amrita was dressed in her Ngoni costume and her Buddhist robe when her body was laid to rest. The inspiration that Amrita has given to the people of this afflicted part of Africa is immense. She was an indefatigable worker for compassion to all sentient beings - a true bodhisattva - and she gave her life for them. It now seems that the cause of death was in fact malaria rather than asthma as originally reported. "

volunteer radio

Before they left for India, the volunteers recorded a interview with some young people from a mult-faith media group. This is now on the Radio Leicester site. So you can hear about their hopes and expectations prior to the trip to India.

Sad News

Yesterday... can it really only be one days ago?.. we heard the awful news that Amrita has died in Zambia. We are all shocked. Sujatin writes:
"there is one less bodhisattva on the earth tonight
Within ten minutes of me posting this my phone rang. It was Sudana, Amrita's partner, to tell me that she died in Zambia this morning of an asthma attack, with no inhaler - she had either run out or, quite likely, had given her supply away to others she deemed needed them more. This would have been in character. "lotusinthemud: Amrita, in shorts, is on far right in this picture, taken last summer. Others, from left, Willemien, Sujatin and myself.

Hans Haenlein Architects - Tithandizane, Primary Health Care Centre, Mortuary

Willemien is currently in Zambia. One of the things the project there is doing is building a mortuary because there is a lot of difficulty storing bodies in the heat, and many people cannot afford to pay hospitals to store them after the death of a loved one. Obviously this causes great distress. This is one of the many ways Thitandizane is helping people in the villages it serves. Do help us support this and other projects - donations always welcome.

"Tithandizane, Primary Health Care Centre, Mortuary, Chipata, Zambia
The aim of Tithandizane is to try to alleviate the problems of HIV/AIDS in Kamulaza and the surrounding community of 72 villages in the rural eastern province of Zambia. Hans Haenlein Architects were asked to advise on the design of a mortuary in September 2005 by Rev. Linda Dhammika.
The most effective method to cool a building is to keep the heat from building up in the first place. The primary source of heat gain is sunlight absorbed by a building through the roof, walls and windows. Light coloured exterior surfaces (roof and walls) effectivly reflect most of the heat. Roughly 40% of the unwanted heat that builds up in buildings comes in through windows therefore the area of any openings is to be reduced to a minimum. Natural ventilation can reduce indoor temperatures and help remove heat.

REad more about the design for Tithandizane's Mortuary:

Mum & Dad

  We spent a few days with my Mum & Dad in Ilfracombe on Sunday and Monday this week. This photo was taken on a walk up over the hills - they are great walkers! Also enjoyed a service at the local Parish Church where my Dad had been invited to preach (he's a retired Methodist minister) Hope I stay as fit as my Mum!

Yaakov and Orna join the Amida School

  

walk by the lake

  yesterday, a beautiful walk on the lake shore. today, rain. writing enabled, we do not move far from the fireside 

Staying at Sundari's cottage

 A few days away, staying in the Peak District 

Pull the other one, Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola warned the education secretary it might withdraw its vending machines network from schools over her ban on "junk food", letters show.

...according to the BBC... Coca Cola's threat to Ruth Kelly included the almost unbelievable suggestion that children's health would be compromised by the removal of these vending machines!

Coca-Cola's letter argued that many soft drinks provided 'significant nutritional and functional benefits'.
As an example, one 'no added sugar' product - which contains two artificial sweeteners - was fortified with vitamins and minerals.
The fruit and water mixture, it said, provided one of the recommended 'five a day' servings of fruit and vegetables.
BBC NEWS PAGE

Walking meditation, Thorpe Meadows

 This morning, bright and frosty, we did walking meditation in Thorpe Meadows, just across the river from The Buddhist House. Chanted Amitabha's name, as we walked on crisp frozen grass, then, standing in a circle we sang Ippen's hymn. Finally we stood, holding hands, thinking of Saille and sending her good wishes as she faces another operation.
More pictures on Dharmavidya's site

John and Susthama in the snow

 

Its snowing today. A new experience for John Zulu, having lived all his life in Zambia. More familiar to Susthama, from Canada, but still fun 

The Future of Writing

Went to De Montford University workshop
THE FUTURE OF WRITING
The death of the book has been falsely foretold many times; in this age of proliferating media it is clear that the book will not disappear but will have to fight for its place. What are the challenges for writers today? What does the new media have to offer writers? And, vitally, what does the new media have to offer readers? Seminar featuring Kate Pullinger , Sue Thomas (Professor of New Media at De Montfort University), Christina Patterson (Deputy Literary Editor of The Independent) and Michael Powell, (Course Leader for Game Art, De Montfort University). Chaired by Professor Andy Hugill, (De Montfort University, Music Technology).

Kate Pullinger was talking about her on line story Inanimate Alice, which is well worth looking at

Sandfantasy.com

relax!

Snow

 Snow this morning; my view always changing 

Chimps Use Tool Kit

"Remarkable video clips of wild chimpanzees using 'tool kits' to dig out termites from an underground nest have been recorded by scientists, who believe it is the most sophisticated culture yet observed in great apes.

Although chimps are known to use long twigs as simple tools to fish for termites - a nutritious delicacy - it is the first time that a far more complex behaviour involving two different kinds of tools has been observed in the wild.

They filmed the chimps, who were using a thick stick which they had prepared by stripping its leaves, to push a tunnel a foot deep in to the heart of the nest. Once they had removed the stick, they pushed a far more delicate twig that had been deliberately frayed at one end down the tunnel and into the heart of the nest, said Professor Andrew Whiten, of Edinburgh University."

Read more in: Independent Online Edition :

Delhi life

"Genuine advice from the DOs and DONTs section of the Guide to the Delhi Metro (bear in mind about 60% of it is underground):
DON'T Ride on the roof.

Genuine announcement on the Delhi Metro (in near-perfect-English female voice):
'Please do not leave your luggage unattended at any time. Someone may put a bomb in it.'"

Choice quotes from Andy's blog. Andy is volunteering in Delhi with Amida volunteers

Dharmavidya Web: Covrovian Chronicles

Not quite science fiction....

Covro 12 lies on the margin of a notorious black hole known as the Sou Cavity. Most mortals find it a kind of Shangri La in which they cannot remain for very long - 'A delightful mad house' one expert commented, during a routine inspection visit - since to survive there one needs an immunity to gravity. Some, indeed do go there with a view to learning the lightening way that confers this immunity, but three out of four find the process of shedding karmic mass too much of a challenge

. read more:

Teaching in Tamil Nadu

 
Modgala sent pictures of the volunteers teaching in Tamil Nadu. This is Alison with her class. 

Walk by the river Soar

 
A day out. After the course block David and I enjoyed a walk by the river Soar at Mount Sorrel.
There are lovely walks on both sides of the river and a nice tea shop in the village. David met some ponies and tried to photograph a rather assertive swan

Student centred education

 

Found this cartoon on an old note pad 

Morning in Narborough

A bright frosty morning, with a slight haze. View from my window.

Zen, the cat, enjoys the garden in the morning.

Sewing

 
Spent the evening making new shoulder bags.

Larger Pureland Sutra

Thus the Tathagata takes pity on the threefold world with a great inexhaustible compassion. The Tathagata appears in the world in order to reveal the teaching of the Way everywhere, so that the multitude of living beings all reap the benefit of the true Dharma. Even in a myriad kalpas it is difficult to encounter and see the Tathagata. It is like the udumbara tree that blooms only after a long interval of time. But now that you have asked this question, numerous blessings will be bestowed on all living beings celestial and human. They will be guided and transformed.

From the Larger Pureland Sutra

Somalis die of thirst in drought

Many more children will die without help, says Oxfam. People in southern Somalia are starting to die from thirst in the worst drought in over 40 years in some parts of the country, says aid agency Oxfam. Oxfam says assessment teams found seven people who died of dehydration, and that tens of thousands are now at risk. People are surviving on the equivalent of three glasses of water a day, in temperatures of over 40C (100F). Oxfam reports an almost unprecedented situation, where people beg for water along the sides of the road. All surface water has gone, boreholes are running dry, and people are walking up to 70km (45 miles) in search of water. The 830 ml available per person per day has to be used for drinking, cooking and washing.
BBC news

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Today we are in the middle of a group:

In A Midsummer Nights Dream, Shakespeare explores a number of themes dear to Buddhist psychology: the inter-relation between perception and passion, the magical quality of irrational desire, the search for meaning through attachment to suitable and unsuitable relationships that then govern our lives, and the uncertainty of the boundaries between dream, drama and reality. The phenomenon of infatuation involves an experience of being under the spell of a mesmerising object. This is an apt description of the conditioning factor that Buddha called avidya to which he attributed "the arising of all this mass of woe". The resulting complexities turn life into theatre within theatre – a favourite Shakespearian motif. It is not difficult to equate the mischief played by the play's fairies with the dynamic blind passion exposed by Buddhist psychology, nor equate the night in the woods passed by Shakespeare's characters with the samsara of Buddhist theory, at the end of which one wonders whether or not it was all a dream. On this workshop we will, with the aid of psychodrama, improvisation and expressive therapy methods, employ the bard's plots and devices to bring these fundamental themes to life and explore some of our own labyrinths of perception, folly and awakening. This workshop is the latest in our on-going series of "myth workshops" in which we have used a theme from legend to enhance personal growth, explore psychological principles, and further therapeutic skills. It will be useful, though not essential, for participants to familiarise themselves with the play in advance of the course.

This four day group is wonderful training on so many dimensions. The interplay of personal reactions, group processes and dynamics and the subject matter... Even our dreams seem to reflect the themes of the drama. We are all mirrors for one another, yet each locked in our individual world of perceptions. Feelings flow, are amplified, get expressed or not. For the trainee therapist the process hones the ability to flow with and yet be separate the other, to observe the subtle nuances of reactivity and to join in the dance, observing the fields of persnalprocess, other process, group process, visual, verbal and action based. It is a growing into awareness, not a cognitive learning process. Indeed, the complexity of the group confounds the individual learning outcome and confuses the over grasping mind into submission and wonderment.

New York hit by heaviest snowfall on record

New York New York has recorded its heaviest snowfall since records began, as storms hit the north-eastern United States. Thousands of Americans have been left without power, while 26.9in (68.3cm) of snow had falled in Central Park by last night. The previous record was 26.4in, which fell in December 1947.

Yet another sign of climate change? Read more in article by Andrew Buncombe in todays'Independent on line

World as Other

Last night's service, I was giving the talk, so took as my theme the environmental catastrophe which hangs over us. Reading from Joanna Macy's book "World as Lover, World as Self", I looked at the four images which she identifies as characteristic of human views of the world. These images are: World as battlefield, World as trap, World as lover, World as self.

Against this, we can look at James Lovelock's image: World as Gaia, which, I think, offer more to the Pureland way of understanding the earth. Macy's "world as Self" is presented in the context of the inter-being paradigm, but in Pureland, it is our respect for the separate nature of Amida, and indeed of other beings, that creates the focus of religious exprience. The image of Gaia is presented as an organism, a subject of wonder, full of complexity, and the epitomy of otherness. Gaia does not need us, but we need Gaia.

This image is concurrent with the Pureland idea of our own smallness (and foolishness) and of Amida’s greatness. We could indeed talk of the world as Amida. Yet Gaia may not survive out foolish behaviour and may not continue to offer the ever present love. Our sense of Amida must be different.

So our experience of Amida must be bigger. Facing an uncertain future, we can ask ourselvs, where is our faith? Is it big enough to go beyond the limited perspectives of this life and embrace a universe and universes that do not include our present world?

And what is our role, what our mission? How do we pass on the message in the dark times to come? THis is our task. If humans hang on by any means, the future will be bleak - maybe new dark ages, maybe an end of any semblence of civilisation. Just as dark age monastries carried the religion of their day, so too, those of us who practice the faith now need to prepare to carry our message on to future generations through our life of practice. Namo Amida Bu.

In due course I will tidy this talk nto an article that will appear in Running Tide. You can also get CDs of Amida Dharma Talks from Sujatin

Volunteers in Delhi

 
Another photo from Jenny - Sarah and Sonna with a group of people - I think one of the street classes, but will have to check this out. details of volunteering are on the Amida web site 

Jenny & Sonna in India

 
Jenny, my daughter sent some photos this morning. Love this one of her with boyfriend, Sonna. 

Off Duty

Sometimes its nice to relax. Susthama, Lisa and Zen join me in my room after a hard day

Walk to Cosby

A walk to Cosby with Leo. Today was brilliantly sunny, so we enjoyed the half hour walk across fields to one of our favourite tea shops. The picture above should the view back towards Narborough. (The Buddhist House is visible slightly to left of centre if you enlarge the image). Spent a good time chatting with Lynette, the owner, about the Moody Blues, with who she has a mysterious close connection.

Life at The Buddhist House

A week back, and life is gradually settling back into its uncertain roller coaster here at The Buddhist House. The early part of the week was taken up with sewing - an invitation to dine with the Lord Mayor of London on Tuesday evening, along with all the Bishops and Archbishops crystalised the already pressing need for new "uniforms" - our mid range garments (the old ones being somewhat battered from a year of travelling and speaking engagements). I was very glad to have spent the three days at the sewing machine when we arrived, as the event was a very fine occasion. We had good conversation with a number of people - mostly Aldermen of the City but some with Bishops and their wives too, of whom there were a great many. We were delighted to met the Bishop of Leicester , Tim Stevens, and his wife, who are good friends, as we were going in. The Mansion House where the dinner was held is a very fine 17th Century building - I particularly enjoyed the (older) Dutch masters on the stairs. We dined in the grand Egyptian Room which, as the site describes, is not at all Egyptian in style. To my fascination, you can read the Lord Mayor's speech on the web.

Yesterday, having slept in to recover from our drive back (arrived in at 2.00am!) we had a day of seminars in The Buddhist House. In the morning I presented a seminar on "Creating a Group" in the pastoral care series. In the Afternoon, Dharmavidya presented a seminar continuing his teachings on the precepts. In between, we had a house gathering. Today Dharmavidya and Susthama have gone to Oxford to meet with the police and plan a protest against the animal laboritories planned by the university.

Eshinni's Letters

Tonights service, Dharmavidya talked about a reading from Eshinni's letters. Eshinni was wife of Shinran, founder of Jodoshinshu tradition. In particular tonight we heard her letter to her daughter after Shinran's death. Eshinnii reassures her daughter that Shinran will indeed be reborn in the Pureland. She also shares her dream in which Shinran appeared as the bodhisattva Kannon. Services at The Buddhist House every Sunday at 5.00pm

On The Road

Just back from a whistle stop drive round Northern England (well southern Northern England)Last night, Manchester University Buddhist Group. Today Leeds Metropolitan for a meeting with Prof Simon Robinson. Back via Sheffield where we caught up with news with Sundari and Bhaktika. It really is quite an amazing life! The Amida Order is just so active at present - hearing everyone's news.


Tam sent another chatty newsletterfrom India, with her photos of Delhi. The photo above shows all the crew there.

Return to UK

Arrived at Gatwick this morning at 7.00 am. An uneventful flight. Caught the bus up to Leicester. Good to be back at The Buddhist House Now for some much needed sleep!

Namo Quan Shi Yin

 
Had a delightful last evening in Tallahassee visiting Paul's friend Michael, who has a very impressive collection of Quan Yin statues. With current events, Quan Yin has a great deal of work on bringing love and kindness into the world 

Death Penalty last minute hold again in Florida

Having just returned from Florida, we heard in an email from Paul saying that Mr. A.D. Rutherford got a last minute “stay of execution” from the US Supreme Court. His execution was scheduled for 6 pm. They received a call at 6:15 notifying them of the stay. Having seen two cases, this seems to be a pattern - they seem to wait till the last minute - with the guy last week they had him strapped down and the lines inserted in their arm before the stay came through - it sounds as if this one was the same. Of course this is not clemency or a reprieve, so they are still on death row, so this will happen again probably. If this isn't torture.... Many people give up in the end and become "volunteers" to get it over with, choosing execution rather than pursuing the endless legal process (picture from press conference last week)
to read more on this issue see Dharmavidya's comments

Climate Change Report

Rising concentrations of greenhouse gases may have more serious impacts than previously believed, a major scientific report has said.

The report, published by the UK government, says there is only a small chance of greenhouse gas emissions being kept below "dangerous" levels.

It fears the Greenland ice sheet is likely to melt, leading sea levels to rise by seven metres over 1,000 years.

The poorest countries will be most vulnerable to these effects, it adds.

read more

Weekend retreat, Lotus Lake

 
Relaxing in the garden at Lotus Lake during the weekend retreat.

Family Day

 
Yesterday we had great fun making dragon masks at the family day at Lotus Lake Buddhist Centre, Tallahassee, to mark the Chinese New Year.  

Prison visit and hospice workshop

Visited Paul's meditation group at the archaically named Wakulla Correctional Institution. If you look at the web link you will see a picture of the entry where we spent 40 minutes waiting for clearance to enter. Well worth the wait though as we spent the morning with a delightful group of men, sharing practice and discussing the spiritual dimension of life. A very moving experience. I really felt for those we left behind as we drove out of the door - to imagine being confined to suc a small space for so many years....
Afternoon, we visit Big Bend Hospice where Paul also volunteers. Here we gave a workshop on Buddhist Psychology . Quite a challenge to give the basics in an hour and a half!

Death penalty - last minute hold on this weeks execution

On Wednesday we attended a press conference held to support the plea for clemency for the man due to be executed next week. Meanwhile, drama unfolding as the execution die to occur yesterday was held at the last minute on a human rights plea (the method of execution, it was argued, caused unnecessary pain) so there is a stay of execution for a short while at least. What crazy inhumanity. I stood in the small crowd that assembled to show solidarity at the press conference. Members of the condemned man's family were there - his daughters, ordinary young women, yet so strong and brave in their willingness to spea up for their Dad. The whole situation quite surreal - how can these people really be pleading with thier own country's authorities not to kill their father. What do they tell their kids. It cut me up when the older daughter described telling her son this might be the last time he saw his grandad. Judy has been working on this case all week- a tough job. She is moderately hopeful of getting clemency on this one.

Read more about this case

India Volunteers in Tamil Nadu

So here I am in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. All new to me, never been in South India before. It's an utterly different world, As different to Delhi as London is to the Mediterranian. The heat slows everyone right down, and everyone smiles at you and is friendly. Genuinely friendly, not "I'm smiling at you 'cause I want you to buy my stuff" as happens regularly in the Big Smoke.

to read more from Tam's most recent message go to Amida Volunteers

St Marks Nature Reserve

 


Sunday evening we visited St marks . Baby aligators at The Nature Reserve

Paul & Judy

 

enjoying time with Paul & Judy 

Radical Buddhism

This weekend we were running a retreat retreat at Lotus Lake Buddhist Community

Snake 'befriends' snack hamster

Aochan, the snake 'seems to enjoy' being with Gohan, the hamster
A rodent-eating snake and a hamster have developed an unusual bond at a zoo in the Japanese capital, Tokyo.
Their relationship began in October last year, when zookeepers presented the hamster to the snake as a meal.

The rat snake, however, refused to eat the rodent. The two now share a cage, and the hamster sometimes falls asleep sitting on top of his natural foe.

from BBC website

Arrival in Tallahassee

Arrived in Talahassee last night. Amida arranged a beautiful sunset as we landed. Its a beautiful tree lined city. This is the view from Paul's window.
This morning we visited Lotus Lake Buddhist Centre where we will be running events.This spider lives on Paul's window - a banana spider I am told - impressive.
Great to spend time with Judy and Paul again. The Dogs, Bishop and Asta, are pleased to see us.

Last year's class in Delhi

 

This is last year's class in Delhi celebrating their achievements at the end of term. Amida will be looking for new volunteers to start training September 2006.

News from volunteers

Got an email this morning from one of our Amida volunteers, Tam.
What an extraordinary week! My learning curve has been pushed so hard and reached such new levels that it's no longer a curve but a bullet straight line reaching up several hundred metres onto the air. Okay, occasionally it has a few wobbles and wiggles, and even crumples up into a little heap on the floor and goes "I don't know what I'm doing, HELP!" But essentially it's keeping straight and true, and being added to every minute. I've even started to learn just a smidgen about the science of the English language. That's the toughest part for me (and for many of the other volunteers with no official teacher training/TEFL as we're from the generation that never had to learn "this is a noun, this is a pronoun, this is the past participial tense".) Fortunately I don't need to worry too much, since in grammar classes I play assistant to the more experienced teachers, and my strengths are more in guiding discussions in conversation classes, and bouncing about doing nursery rhymes with the little 'uns. Also I will be doing movement and song and drama and art stuff when I go down to Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, as those Tsunami orphans need learning through fun and relaxation and gentleness more than anything else by the sound of things Tam writes on the Amida volunteers blog site

Parrot squawks on woman's affair

African Greys are often considered the best speakers among parrots. A parrot owner was alerted to his girlfriend's infidelity when his talkative pet let the cat out of the bag by squawking "I love you Gary". Suzy Collins had been meeting ex-work colleague "Gary" for four months in the Leeds flat she shared with her partner Chris Taylor, according to reports.

Mr Taylor apparently became suspicious after Ziggy croaked "Hiya Gary" when Ms Collins answered her mobile phone. The parrot also made smooching sounds whenever the name Gary was said on TV.

Mr Taylor, 30, a computer programmer, confronted the woman he had lived with for a year who admitted the affair and moved out, several newspapers reported. He also gave up his eight-year-old African Grey parrot after the bird continued to call out Gary's name and refused to stop squawking the phrases in his ex-girlfriend's voice.

"I wasn't sorry to see the back of Suzy after what she did, but it really broke my heart to let Ziggy go," he said.

This story came from the BBC NEWS PAGE

Women in Religion

A Church of England group has devised a compromise designed to allow the ordination of women bishops without causing a split in the Church.

A report suggests a group of male bishops - so called "flying bishops" - could work in parishes unwilling to accept the authority of a woman. BBC News

So frequent in religion, the struggle to change attitudes to women are thwarted or subverted by past protocols. Would a similar concession be made if parishes didn't like a black bishop? Surely it is for them to consider their prejudices... thankfully in the Amida Order we are not tied to outdated outrages.

Meantime, Gus has had enough

 


Goodnight Gus 

Bennett and Dharmavidya at the end of discussions

 


A good day of talks. Saying goodbye and see you in Kohala... 

Saigyo Poem

Saigyo the twelth century Japanese poet writes

My heart
I have held back a while
And so,
The snipes' wing-beats
Are hard to bear, this morning

Hawaii Planning Day

Spent today with Bennett discussing plans for this summer's teachings at Amida Hawaii. These will be based at New Moon Foundation's beautiful site at the North End of Big Island, Hawaii

Shinran Memorial day

Shinran day. The aniversary of Shinran's death is tomorrow. Shinran Shonin (1173-1262) was born at the close of the Heian period, when political power was passing from the imperial court into the hands of warrior clans. It was during this era when the old order was crumbling, however, that Japanese Buddhism, which had been declining into formalism for several centuries, underwent intense renewal, giving birth to new paths to enlightenment and spreading to every level of society..... read more on Shinran by following this link

Meeting with Vancouver Amida group

 


One of the delights this visit has been to meet with friends from the Vancouver Amida group. Today we joined with some of them visiting The Buddhist Church of Vancouver where we very much enjoyed joining in the Jodoshinshu service and then having good conversation over a meal. 

Talk at Vancouver Public Library

 

Last Thursday we were talking at Vancouver Public Library on David's book The Feeling Buddha

This book was seminal in our thinking on Buddhist approaches to psychlogy, paving the way for our later development of an integrated model.  

A Walk in Vancouver

Walking along the waterfront to Granville Island.
A view of Vancouver

 

Pidgeons circle as children feed them on the deck beside the market 

 

A walk to Granville Island. Sitting, we are spied by voracious seagulls 

Volunteers in India

Received phots from Modgala showing the volunteers in Tamil Nadu great to see them looking so enthusiastic, and to see all the youngsters they are working with.

Paradigms workshop at UBC

Today a full day workshop at UBC on the theme of paradigms. A chance to explore contradictions and connundrums of mental process.

The collective mind-sets that shape our view and the hidden assumptions on which we build our delusion. Plenty of bompu nature here to rustle through

A few days in the mountains of British Columbia

Staying at Maple Ridge we visit neighbouring lakes. Here Pitt Lake, a great expanse of water, bounded to the south by marshes

Lake Alouette, a stretch of water that draws the spirit out.




In the foreground, a stump from a tree felled early in the twentieth century before the park became protected

Walking in rain forest, everything green and moss covered

Looking after Gus

Dharmavidya and Gus have a good working relationship....

Gus is not really what you would call a cuddly cat.....

Vancouver for New Year

Gus the cat keeps us company. Vancouver again. The weather dull and damp.

Staying in Mike's house, we are very comfortable, and grateful for his kindness. Gus keeps us busy - a huge cat with a big personality.

mist and mystery

Spider's web
bridging the grass
field in France
Autumn

Amida
between worlds
Skein of love
nembutsu
Namo Amida Bu

Autumn Leaves

Autumn already, and a long time since I wrote. Busy times. The Russ in the garden blazes with red and this morning bright sun pours through my curtains. Jodo, the kitten is now a big cat, peering mischievously through the flowers on my desk as she tries to sip water from the vase. She sees me and departs. Forbidden pleasures are shortlived.

This week our volunteers head off to India. Five young people going to join Modgala and Joy already there. Among them, Jenny my daughter and her boyfirend Sonna. What a mix of delight and anxiety. Six weeks of intensive training over. The prospect of five months teaching and working with communities ahead. Delhi, maybe Tamil Nadu.

Life buzzes on. So much to do. For big reports to write this month and a whole lot of other duties. Being a Buddhist is certainly not the recipe for quietude.

More pictures - Tallahassee

Here is a picture of the group who took part in the recent retreat at Tallahassee in the Dharma Centre there.



The streets in Talahassee are amazingly green - who would believe this is a city street! Paul and Judy live on the corner to the right of the picture.



Paul (who organised my trip) with Judy, his wife, and their two dogs, Asta and Bishop. I nearly lost Bishop one day when he darted out of the door, but happily we found him wandering by the road side.

Proud Mum

Here is my son, Tim, at his graduation last July



And here are all three of my youngsters - Cath, Tim and Jenny

.

Aren't they great?

Site Back

Glad to see this site has sorted itself out. Something very strange happened when I tried to delete an old post! Namo Amida Bu

How a Buddhist Looks at the Election

I was asked to write a piece for the Leicester Mercury on the elections. With limited wordage, this was my piece (in the event the first two paragraphs were cut):

Once more we are caught up in the excitement of the pre-election road-show. The parties have launched their manifestos and the media are picking over the carcasses with alacrity. We face regular opinion poll reports, and follow the election soap with varying degrees of compulsion and boredom.

So, how does a Buddhist regard this election process? How do we decide which way to vote?

Buddhists see the troubles of humanity as being rooted in three poisons. These are greed, hate and delusion. All problems grow from our compulsion to grasp or reject things out of the delusion of self-interest. Reading current election discussions in the media, one could be forgiven for thinking that voting decisions are based on at least one of the three poisons; greed, hate and delusion are everywhere. Who offers the best tax deal for me? Whose legislation will infringe my privileges? Or, who will be toughest on unwanted people – stopping immigration, or locking up criminals? Most people, it seems, vote on the basis of self-interest.

Buddhists believe in non-harm. We work actively for a peaceful, compassionate society. This includes being a world presence as a facilitator of peace and promoter of economic fairness. A high priority, then, is a party that commits to avoiding war. Also, as residents of a rich nation, few Buddhists desire to live on the exploitation of poorer countries. Foreign policy, then, is a matter of grave concern.

As a Buddhist, I look for policies that may create the foundations of a compassionate world. Buddhism teaches that change comes about through causes and conditions and that creating compassionate conditions, we enable a better future. This is not naïve. It means looking at the ultimate consequences of legislation. Law and order is a big issue in elections. Too often debate focuses on retribution rather than re-education and restorative measures. Tough policies are popular, but in the long term simply sow seeds for future crime and violence. In the past our country prided itself on offering safe haven to refugees, but modern trends in politics have changed. Is this really in our interests? Such policies come home to roost in surprising ways. History has taught that countries that welcomed refugees in the past often benefited greatly from the skills and wealth that such people brought with them. Those that shun others, become friendless.

Political one-liners focus on individual benefit, but a position based on collectivism and compassion need not mean deprivation. One only has to visit a hospital or ride on a train in France to realise that higher taxes linked to better services can bring benefits to everyone, and especially the underprivileged.

Religion is about society. It is collective. As with most faiths, Buddhism is concerned with the common good, not individual benefit. Religion offers a critique of political policy for its social and ethical implications. So, this election, vote ethically.

Buddhism: Growth or decline?

Having launched, perhaps a little unwisely, into a head on debate on an engaged Buddhist loop, I retire to lick my wounds and consider. Is Buddhism growing or in decline at present? Hard to answer such a general question, but in response to an account of the current age of growth (are we really 30 years into a 100 year growth phase in the West as Ayya Khema is quoted to have said?) I felt the need to flag up concerns I have shared with others in some quarters of the Buddhist world that Buddhism in the West has perhaps already passed its peak - at least in its current form - and has reached a point of stasis or even some decline. Can we really still claim to be the fastest growing religion as we did five or ten years ago? I am not pessimistic, but I do feel we need to take an honest look at what is happening and take steps to do something about it. It does seem to me that many groups are struggling to maintain numbers even at current levels. Also we are an aging population. For the most part we are a generation of baby boomers continuing to practice as we have for twenty or more years but maybe not attracting the numbers of young people required to further the Dharma in the future. Of course there are exceptions (many examples of groups attracting young people were pointed out to me) but overall there are not many. Religion is having a hard time generally in the modern world, and especially among the young, so it may not be Buddhists alone who should be worried, but I do think we need to address the critiques leveled at us if we are to re-activate our previous growth levels. How much real social engagement do Buddhist groups engage in? Are we just offering "stress reduction methods" for secular audiences? Are Buddhist groups too withdrawn from ordinary life? Are we too concerned with legitimacy and preserving old forms to adapt to the needs of the west - and the world?

There is a danger that we are perceived as "nice people" practicing peaceful and quietistic methods in quaint monastic settings. There is a danger we are respected but not involved. There is a danger we withdraw ourselves into non-participatory retreat and do not return. Comments please....

Jenny visiting

My daughter, Jenny, visiting today. A chance to catch up and to discuss her plans to volunteer with Amida next autumn in India

Snow in April

Last week it was Florida in hot sunshine. Blue sky and heat like the hotest English summer day. The week before we steamed in thunder storms and 90% humidity. Today, back in England it snowed. Spanning the world, times and climates change with the speed of trafic lights. World together and worlds apart, we share our insights and our differences

experiments in technology

just trying my new computer... oh the joy, the confusion

IDENTITY CARDS

I have just been reading a report on faith communities' responses on forthcoming plans for the government to introduce identity cards. The report makes a fascinating read. A lot of concerns are raised, particularly about the use the cards will be put to and what information is to be stored on them. What is not raised at all, however, but which I think is a faith communities issue, is the whole ethic of introducing the cards at all. (I wonder if this was outlawed by the way the enquiry was set up) It seems to me that the introduction of identity cards is all part of the current climate of clamping down on borders and services, which, on a global level, is so pernicious and oppressive of people in real need. Faith groups have in the past been upholders of human rights and supporters of refugees. Now the whole climate of opinion is shifting towards deep suspicion of anyone outside our own communities. They are labelled as problematic "asylum seekers". This term has become a dirty word these days, but surely those who sought asylum in our churches and other religious buildings were subjects of sympathy and succour in the past. I am now old enough to remember the days when Britain prided itself on welcoming refugees and offering them a haven from more opporessive regimes elsewhere in the world. The purpose of these cards is to stop people who are "not entitled" from receiving services - such as hospital care (I actually heard Blunket say this in a radio interview a few months back). Are they really intending to turn away anyone without ID and leave them to die on the door step? What ever sort of world are we coming to?

Saigyo poetry

In reaped fields
where quail cry,
rice stubble puts up new shoots,
rays of a crescent moon
lighting them dimly

Poem by the twelfth century Japanese poet, Saigyo. Saigyo was born into a warrior family, but in his early twenties ordained as a proest. He lived much of his time alone in the mountains. His poetry reflects the landscape of the universal, mirrored in the natural world.

Saigyo's hut

Snow

This light white morning
Snow muffled in the garden trees
Squirrel shakes the fir fronds
Black crows cluttering the sky
Call the pink dawn to account

Four-year-old's late-night drive

from BBC NEWS
A boy of four drove his mother's car on a late-night trip to a video shop in the US state of Michigan, police say. Although too small to reach the accelerator, he put the car in gear and the idling engine took him to the shut shop, 400m (437yds) away in Sand Lake. On its return journey the car's weaving attracted a policeman - who followed the apparently driverless vehicle. The youngster hit two parked cars and reversed into the police car before he was stopped.The unnamed boy had been driving without headlights. He will not face charges. The policeman who discovered exactly who was behind the wheel, Sgt Jay Osga, said: 'He knew how to go from forward to reverse,' Sgt Osga said. The mother said she taught him how to drive while he was sitting on her lap. No charges will be brought against the boy or his mother for Friday's incident. 'He's four-years-old. His mom didn't even know he was up,' Sand Lake police chief Doug Heugel told The Grand Rapids Press newspaper. 'I don't think he even realises what he did.'

Small miracles

a blue tit comes to eat seed from the bag which I have hung by my window, not six feet from my desk. Soon he is joined by a second. Small miracles.

News from Dharmavidya

Great to hear from Dharmavidya in Kyoto. His account begins:

MONDAY: Honen Walk
I arrived on Monday evening to be met at Kansai airport, Osaka, taken to Kyoto and then instantly whisked off to join the Honen Walk. To read more go to Namo Amida Bu

How can Buddhist psychotherapy aid the dying?

(Written for Buddhist Hospice Trust, UK)

Facing death is probably the deepest challenge which each of us faces in our spiritual lives. It can also be the greatest opportunity. The inevitability of death lies behind our living at all times, but for the most part we are able to avoid its reality through preoccupation with day to day activities and pleasures. Yet it was the sight of death that set the Buddha on his spiritual journey and became the heart of his insight. It can be the source of spiritual growth for all of us.

The Buddhist understanding of death, affliction and impermanence underlies a Buddhist approach to psychotherapy. Habitually we distract ourselves from the recognition of our own impermanent state, but in doing so we create compulsive and mind-dulling patterns of behaviour. This is what Buddhists refer to as avidya or ignorance. It is not seeing. In avoiding death we learn to avoid life. We do not see the beauty or love that surround us.

When death is near, whether it is our own or that of someone to whom we are close, some of these layers of avoidance may slip away. At this time, we may have an opportunity to see things more clearly. People going through the experience of closeness to death will often describe feeling more fully alive at this time than they have at any other point in their lives.

Buddhist psychotherapy is grounded in an understanding that aliveness comes, not through seeking ordinary comforts in life, but in facing our existential position with courage and faith. A Buddhist psychotherapist can be a source of strength and support at such a time, a midwife to the process. The familiar may be comforting, but if we can enter the space in which there are no certainties with confidence, we will live the time we have fully.

So we step into the unknown, holding no more than our faith, whatever this may be. In death we discover life.
(item from Buddhist Psychology blogsite)

Good news for foxes

BBC NEWS | News Front Page: " High Court upholds ban on hunting. Pro-hunt campaigners lose their High Court challenge to the law banning hunting with dogs in England and Wales."

Pictures from Vietnam

Just received photos of the new building at Nirvana Pagoda. It is very heartening to hear that this is now complete. When we visited last year the boys were sleeping on the temple terraces, but now they have bunk beds with mosquito nets in this nice airy building, financed by Amida friends in Hawaii through Amida West.

Travelling: Fear of Flying

Back in England. The travel, fifteen hours on planes. Two flights - Honollulu to LA; LA to London. The journeys lightened by conversation with my companions.

As it happened both people who sat next to me were nervous of flying. I remembered how I used to be nervous and now am not. How the mind plays games with us. When I first went in an aeroplane I found the experience exciting, and could not understand how anyone could be scared. Then suddenly I developed quite a phobia and used to worry for months before I had to take a flight - and avoided doing so at all when I could. Then more recently I found my anxiety had suddenly completely evaporated.

Looking back, I now suspect the fear was displaced anxiety for other things in my life. It started at a time when I was in the midst of many transitions. It is possible that its disappearance may have been due to resolution of the various uncertainties that arose at this time, or may have been due to cognitive effort on my part. Certainly I did work hard to reason myself out of the fear, watching planes whenever I could to convince myself they did not fall out of the sky regularly and working when I was on the plane to understand the various bumps and manoeuvres it made. But really I have no idea how it changed. It all seemed rather miraculous. One day I sat on a plane and realised that as it took off I did not feel fear, but instead felt excitement - just as I had when I was young.

Really the whole experience has been one of discovering, once again, that primarily change comes through "other power". I could not control my fear, try as I might. I felt embarassed by it. After all, as a Buddhist I was supposed to be calm and untroubled by the certainty of death. But each time I flew, my heart would race and I would sit contemplating the certainty of death. I would watch other passengers and wonder why they were putting themselves at such risk. I would imagine them watching me and seeing my nervousness. Then suddenly, it all changed. The cloud lifted and my perception was completely different. What joy. Amida is at work.

So what do I say to my fellow passengers? How do I help? I have no idea. Sit under the runway at Heathrow and dare a plane to miss the tarmac until you get bored? Perhaps ten or more years of watching planes land every half minute would cure anyone through sheer boredom. But no. fifteen years or more as a therapist and I really don't have the answer as to how to create change of this kind. Its simply Namo Amida Bu.

Memories of Hawaii

Memories of Hawaii - Dharmavidya and I with Rev Narashiba

Hawaii

After four and a half hours of pacific and cloud, a faint elipse on the skyline. The island guarded by small puffs of cloud. Then, rising above the land, perfect, the smooth outline of Mauna Laua, the crest white with a dusting of snow. In front, Mauna Kea, craggier, with snow dimpled and rippled into the ravines, patterning the summit.

The plane passes out over the emerald water on the far side of the island. Even from this height we see the waves cutting the shoreline and out to sea flecks of white horses (could these be whales or simply the wind?)

A change of gear and the engines strike up for the final descent over lava fields, brown and rippled, and in onto the runway of Kona airport. People jostle to leave, suddenly summer clad in strappy tops and shorts. We descend the stairway onto the tarmac. No articulated tubewalk here. Just a stroll across the heat soaked parking to the terminal huts with the scent of tropical flowers drifting from the ley-stalls.

Humming bird

Today.
Outside the window.
Against a bright red maple.
Which only had two or three leaves left.
Yet shone in the sunlight.
Vivid against the green leaves of the larger tree and the deep blue of the sky.
For a moment a humming bird flew in.
Then darted away.

California: Eagle on a pine

On the sparse pine tree
Surveying mountains and lake
The eagle, black winged, sits
Only when I leave the car
Deigning to fly, soars downward


Drove to Redding yesterday. The sky deep, surreal blue, contrasts with the snow capped peaks of volcanoes. Mount St Helens, a cone of rock rises from the cloud, a faint stream of vapour rising from her summit. Mount Hood, sharp, classically angular. Mount Shasta, magestic. On our descent we take detour round Shasta lake. water levels low revealing orange rocky margins. On a nend i the road David ays, "Look at that bird". We stop the car and watch an eagle perched on a branch closeby for ten minutes or more. Only when I get out of the car does he strectch thise huge wings and fly.

Vancouver events

See details of particular events in Vancouver at http://namoamidabu.blogspot.com

End of time in Vancouver

Our week in Vancouver comes to an end. The snow still lies all around and the front garden here sports a magnificent snow rabbit and snow bear, courtesy of Martha. It has been a whirl wind week of events - daytime and evening each day for the last four days. Today the skies were clear and we finished our day retreat chanting as we watched the setting sun illuminate the mountains beyond the city. An amazing back drop and a miracle of the light.

Snow in Vancouver

Last night the air was so sharp you could cut your teeth on it. It smells of snow said Claire.

This morning we crawl from the darkness to see snow falling hard and thick on the lawns and conifers outside. The road is blanketed. Few cars. Venturing out seems superfluous. And still, white flakes fall relentlessly.

Next week we have to drive south - conflicting advice. Some say no problem, others that we should travel another way. Not easy to decide when one doesn't know the terrain and there are 750 miles to cover.

Vancouver

A crisp, frosted morning. Our second day here in Vancouver. a walk down to the shore to clear the fogginess of changed time zones - mid day here - evening in England - night time in Delhi - time is an illusion of light and dark and strange body sensations.

The view over the bay is awesome - a flat expanse of water with ripples reverborating off a washed up log. Ships lying at anchor across the water, high on the surface and bedded in their reflections. The mountains beyond, dusted with snow on their peaks, against a clear, ice blue sky.

time to ponder and enjoy this space.

Happy New Year

a hundred and eight bells - the traditional end to the old year. We sit in the meditation hall, first sharing our reflections and memories of the old year in our traditional gathering, then walking and chanting nembutsu - Namo Amida Bu. Then, sitting circling the shrine we ring the bell. There are six of us, so first we each strike it nine times, passing it on round the circle. Then we each ring it six times. Finally three times. As the last bell rings we chant Namandabu ten times to be greeted by fireworks that mask the new year's arrival from many of the neighbouring gardens.

Engaged Life; busy life: Sri Lanka relief work

This morning David phone Amrita, our Amida chaplain in Manchester, to see how her plans were developing. Amrita has been planning to visit a village in Sri Lanka at the invitation of IBRO (the International Buddhist Relief Organisation; a small Buddhist charity based in UK) Having talked with members of the Sri Lankan community she decided to bring her visit forward. As a result she is current fund raising and collecting goods that can be sent our by the Sri Lankan High Commission. This morning she appeared on TV making the appeal and she has also been doing radio broadcasts. Next Tuesday she will go to Sri Lanka by air, paid for by supportive Sri Lankan families.

With her experience setting up a health centre that now serves 70 villages in rural Zambia on a shoestring and a lot of ingenuity, she will no doubt be a great help in working with people to rebuild shattered lives.

Tsunami in India - news from Modgala

This morning I received an email from Modgala who is running the Amida project in Delhi:

Today I heard from our Amida friend in Tamil Nadu - Mr Ponnu Durai. He had organised a tour for me to Chennai, Pondicherry and Madurai. Two of these areas have been badly hit by the Tsunami at least 6,000 dead in Tamil Nadu alone and many more missing. Homes businesses are destroyed, water supplies contaminated by sea water, corpses still unburied and putrifieing. Already there is one severe outbreak of dhiarrhoea in one of the camps and there is much fear of diseases and these will make the death toll rise even further.

Ponnu Durai wants my tour to continue so I hope Amida can give me some donations so that I can offer help to the communities we visit. I leave Delhi on 15th January. Ponnu Durai is in Chennai at the moment helping with the rescue, fortunately his family live inland so he has not personally suffered. However the groups he worked with - young people from the slum and very poor areas and with Hiv/Aids groups will have suffered. I will know more their needs when he comes to collect me in delhi on 13th January. I think it would be a good idea to have cash available in order to purchase some of the most needed things - at present it is food and water, disinfectants and medicine, but in two weeks time the need will maybe be more for shelters and clothing - I will see nearer the time.

We are inundated with students and they have been talking much about this disaster. There is a sense of loss not only of the people but of part of the land of India itself, many islands will be lost forever. They also feel very deeply for the people of Sri Lanka, worst hit by the diaster. They feel mostly powerless to help much but also want to help donate to the survivors who have lost so much. We debated whether to cancel the New Year party, but decided that is necessary to also be aware of the good things in life as well as the suffering anf to pray for the bereaved and concretely offer some aid.

The papers each day show the increasing magnitude of loss and destruction.
The death toll overall is expected to be 100,000 and possibly even more
Smaller stories get lost when something of this magnitude occers. Yet some bring other griefs close to home. Priyajyoti is grieving for his Chakma friends and relatives in arunachal Pradesh where they are barricaded into their homes and unable to tend their crops and where 20 of their homes have been burnt and young people almost beaten to death in troubles there.

And yet too they laugh and enjoy life despite sleepless nights. It is a joy living with them and this project offers so much to them and the local communities. We now have over 100 students and to see both their English and their confidence increasing is a joy. They take great delight in teaching us too.

Buddhist Psychology Questions

Have set up a new blog site for questions relating to Buddhist Psychology and Amida courses at buddhistpsychology.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday Lynn

A very Happy Birthday to Lynn, one of my oldest friends.
We have known each other since school days. I saw Lynn a few weeks ago and we had a delightful walk, remembering many walking holidays we had as teenagers. This picture is of a stream in France, but it reminds me of walks we have had together. Have a good day Lynn!

Bradgate Park

Went for walk in Bradgate park today. A magnificant area North of Leicester. Full of people enjoying the winter sunshine, the ground frozen crisp and white underfoot. The park rises to high crags from which one can view the city of Leicester and a huge panorama of Leicestershire out to the South and East.

On the hill top, a memorial. Remembering soldiers lost in battle. A small bronze plaque says "remember you are on holy ground". Is not all ground holy? I will take this plaque as my moto today.

Primeaval forms of rocks and old twisted trees. Oaks and pines, clinging to sparse soil between the rocks. These remind me of the eternal. This is the land of Vairochana, the ultimate or cosmic Buddha, the Dharmakaya. I am reminded of a poem I wrote two years ago and my sense of connection to the spiritual heart that inspired it. I rather think I was somewhere near that monument when I wrote it.

Bradgate Park

Dark volcanic crags
Erupting from the bracken
Break the winter sky
In cold air rising, my heart,
Embracing the sunlight, leaps

Amida Trust Poetry: Bradgate Park:

Jenny's graduation

My daughter Jenny had her graduation last week at Plymouth University. You can find her photos at http://www.amidatrust.com/graduation/

MORNING

Crisp bright morning. Sun on frost. Easy to see Amida in a million diamonds today

Getting Started

First words in an open space...