Pure Land Etchings

Other-Centred Therapy Published

2009-10-05T17:58:00.002Z

Other-Centred Therapy came out this week. Producing three books in one year becomes quite an adventure. The writing is only half the story, and probably the easier half. The real challenge is keeping on top of all the various production and marketing deadlines. Now when I feel myself to be reaching the end, I once again have the task of contacting people about this latest book, trying to get reviews into journals and generally trying to get the word out. If you can help it would be much appreciated!

Bean Balls and Cones

2009-09-26T18:55:00.002Z

Bean Balls and Cones this link takes you to my friend Cathy's site. We saw these decorations when we visited her in the summer, as well as her art work. (look at earlier entries in this blog)

Book Review Therapy Today

2009-05-18T16:39:00.001Z

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

2009-05-17T18:08:00.002Z

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

2009-05-09T19:37:00.003Z

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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

2009-04-07T11:55:00.003Z

Two interviews are now up on Conscious TV:

Caroline Brazier on GUILT:

David & Caroline on Pureland Buddhism

On-Line Discussion

2009-03-16T13:14:00.003Z

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

2009-03-06T09:34:00.000Z

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

2009-03-02T22:28:00.000Z

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

2009-03-02T11:01:00.004Z

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

2009-02-27T13:47:00.000Z

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

2009-02-26T22:15:00.001Z

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

2009-02-20T10:36:00.002Z

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

2009-02-20T09:31:00.002Z

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

2009-02-20T08:52:00.003Z

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

2009-01-31T00:53:00.002Z

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

2008-12-21T09:04:00.001Z

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

2008-11-10T18:02:00.001Z

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

Morning

2008-11-10T17:58:00.000Z

Misty morning with dewy grass, November can be delightful

Autumn in France

2008-11-10T17:56:00.000Z

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

European Buddhist Union Meeting

2008-10-07T16:40:00.000Z

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

Return to England

2008-09-11T15:36:00.001Z

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

Arrived in Narborough around 1.30am

Summer Project

2008-09-09T19:20:00.000Z

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

2008-08-09T20:03:00.001Z

a fairy tale castle with wonderful Russian dance groups

llama walking in local paper

2008-08-09T14:16:00.003Z

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

2008-08-05T20:47:00.000Z

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

Afternoon at Pirot Lake

2008-08-05T20:28:00.001Z

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

2008-08-03T19:21:00.003Z

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

2008-08-02T14:23:00.003Z

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

2008-08-01T15:30:00.003Z

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

2008-07-29T17:40:00.005Z

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

2008-07-27T20:42:00.000Z

My tile mosaic is progressing in shower

New Window

2008-07-27T20:34:00.003Z

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

2008-07-26T20:30:00.000Z

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

2008-07-26T20:21:00.002Z

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

2008-07-21T06:00:00.002Z

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

2008-07-20T18:00:00.003Z

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

2008-07-17T15:52:00.005Z

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

2008-07-13T17:37:00.004Z

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

2008-07-12T14:59:00.003Z

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

2008-07-12T11:32:00.003Z

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

2008-07-07T09:58:00.004Z

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

2008-07-06T07:39:00.003Z

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

2008-05-18T08:26:00.002Z

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

2008-05-18T08:15:00.002Z

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

2007-12-20T18:53:00.001Z

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

2007-12-10T08:56:00.000Z

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

2007-12-09T11:41:00.000Z

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

2007-12-09T11:35:00.001Z

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

2007-12-04T21:53:00.000Z

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

24 Hour Nembutsu

2007-12-02T19:53:00.000Z

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

2007-11-28T14:44:00.000Z

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

2007-11-20T21:20:00.000Z

Late November

2007-11-20T13:55:00.000Z

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

2007-11-20T13:02:00.000Z

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

2007-11-13T11:35:00.000Z

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

Silver Sangha Blog

2007-11-13T11:32:00.000Z

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

2007-11-10T21:43:00.000Z

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

2007-11-02T18:32:00.000Z

Our new Buddhist house baby, Jake, with his Dad

AUTUMN LEAVES

2007-10-29T16:05:00.000Z

Autumn

2007-10-11T12:41:00.000Z

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

2007-10-11T12:17:00.000Z

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

2007-10-11T11:57:00.000Z

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

2007-10-09T16:31:00.000Z

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

2007-10-09T16:23:00.000Z

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

2007-10-04T18:15:00.000Z

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

2007-09-30T15:35:00.001Z

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

2007-09-28T17:49:00.000Z

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

2007-09-23T18:47:00.000Z

Book signing in Waterstones, Leicester

LONDON EVENTS

2007-09-17T18:09:00.000Z

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

2007-09-12T13:43:00.001Z

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

2007-09-12T13:40:00.000Z

Coming up this weekend, events in London

Hawaii pictures

2007-09-10T21:20:00.000Z

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

2007-09-10T20:56:00.000Z

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

2007-09-08T19:18:00.000Z

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

2007-08-22T18:51:00.000Z

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

2007-08-20T05:06:00.000Z

Hawaii Photos click here for my recent photos

France Photos

2007-08-20T04:32:00.000Z

Pictures of France on my facebook account

Cult of the GI continues

2007-02-17T21:38:00.000Z

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

2007-02-04T06:16:00.000Z

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.
read more

More Amida-shu admissions

2007-01-31T20:49:00.000Z

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

2007-01-31T20:28:00.000Z

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

2006-10-28T16:55:00.000Z

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

2006-10-07T20:48:00.000Z

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

2006-10-07T20:43:00.000Z

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

2006-10-07T20:38:00.000Z

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

2006-10-07T20:34:00.000Z

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

Amida France - everything is growing!

2006-09-13T11:10:00.000Z

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

Verneuil

2006-09-13T11:07:00.000Z

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

Saint Suzanne

2006-09-13T11:05:00.000Z

This fiftennth century carving is one of many in Conches church

Travelling

2006-09-13T11:03:00.000Z

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

2006-09-13T11:00:00.000Z

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!

2006-09-13T10:58:00.000Z

Rutland Water

2006-08-29T18:17:00.000Z

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

Troncais Walk

2006-08-29T18:15:00.000Z

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

2006-08-29T18:14:00.000Z

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

Climbing Bourges Cathedral

2006-08-29T18:12:00.000Z

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

Fireworks at St Bonnet

2006-08-28T20:18:00.000Z

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

2006-08-28T20:15:00.000Z

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

2006-08-28T20:12:00.000Z

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