Category Archives: Blogs
Mindful Morning with a Monk Ajahn Tiradhammo
MINDFUL MORNING WITH A MONK
Ajahn Tiradhammo is a Canadian born Buddhist Monk of the Theravada Forest Tradition.
With over 40 years of monastic life he is one of the Venerable Ajahn Chah’s most senior Western Students.
Ajahn Tiradhammo and John have been friends for nearly 30 years, meeting in 1989 at Amaravati Monastery in England. Together they were Abbot and Vice Abbot of Dhammapala Monastery in Switzerland until John left Monastic Life in late 1992.
Ajahn Tiradhammo has regularly given teachings at...
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Fully arriving in every step is the destination
Dear Friends
Now in the fourth month of our year; why not take some time to pause and be present, contemplate and consider how we are pacing and progressing on this journey through life this year?
Consider my reflections below and arrive fully right where you are!
Kind Regards
John B.
FULLY ARRIVING IN EVERY STEP IS THE DESTINATION
How do we Walk through the World and Live through our Life?
Do we walk like we are trying to get somewhere, living our life ahead of...
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Make Meditation the Mindful Life
MAKE MEDITATION THE MINDFUL LIFE
Don’t be caught into self-doubt and deprecation,
Sit down and practice some Meditation.
Why agitate or cogitate?
Just bring your mind to Meditate.
Move beyond grief and despair,
Focus on Compassion Joy and Self-Care.
Beware of negative thoughts that creep by stealth,
Resource your Mind-Hearts strength and wealth.
Don’t be caught into worry and mental strife,
Make Clarity and Peace the focus of your life.
Meditation makes Well and Good,
This needs to be appreciated and Understood.
Let-Go of being caught into self-centred ‘I and me’,
Become Wise...
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The Three Way To Wisdom
THE THREE WAYS TO WISDOM
Much of our activities and engagements in life are purposed to towards the experience of Happiness.
Whilst we may wish, want or even will Happiness to happen; we can wisely appreciate that Happiness generally is the result of living in a certain way.
The opposite of Happiness is stress, distress, upset, discontent and suffering. Certainly, much of this unhappiness occurs when we do not act wisely and live with Wisdom.
The wiser we are, then it is likely...
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For the Contemplatives, Without and Within
For the Contemplatives – Without and Within
We need to rediscover and reclaim Spirituality for the Contemplatives.
The Contemplatives that are around us; in quiet corners of silent rooms, in dim lit caves in foreign lands; in green moist jungles and in cathedrals of forest groves.
Yet we also need to rediscover and reclaim Spirituality for the Contemplative that is within us; dwelling deeply beyond the surface level surging of worldly issues and concerns, fears and frustrations, fictions and fantasies.
If we leave...
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The Science of the Self – Three Levels
The whole experience of life, the experience of our life, is referenced from, back and to the self – our self.
It is well worth, wondering, what is this reference point, what is the form and function of this phenomena that we call the self – ATTA?
Accommodating a scientific, psychological and spiritual perspective; a personal and trans-personal appreciation; the self maybe seen to find form and function on three interrelated levels.
These Three Levels of the Self are:
The ‘Psychological Self’
...
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AUTUMN, FIND YOUR WAY TO THE MIDDLE WAY
Dear Friends
Welcome to Autumn.
As we know extremes are exciting!
Extreme sports, extreme seasons, extreme places, extreme people, extreme practices; all distract us from the norm and attract us to the exciting.
Yet such extremes can also be unpleasant and even painful.
However, that which is in between the extreme, that which is the moderate , the middle, can be much more manageable, bearable, even pleasant and pleasing.
Such is our new Season of Autumn, here in the Southern Hemisphere of our Planet Earth.
Autumn...
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Renovate our real home with meditative mind training
RENOVATE OUR REAL HOME WITH MEDITATIVE MIND TRAINING
Of all the varieties of practices and processes, psychologies and psychotherapies for ‘self-improvement’; there is however no adequate replacement or alternative for Mindfulness based Meditation.
Mindfulness based Meditation is the main way to exercise, develop and enhance the fundamental functioning of the ‘hard ware’ of the brain for enabling and engaging the resultant mind and functioning ‘self’. Many of the life- long unhelpful habits of self can be brought into the calm and...
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The Freedom Gift of Forgiveness
We are all seeking Freedom in some form or another.
One special form of Freedom is through the gift of Forgiveness.
Have you noticed that in giving the great gift of Forgiveness it offers Freedom on various levels.
1. Forgiveness firstly frees our own mind from the psychological poison and prison of anger, resentment and self- centered concern.
2. Forgiveness frees the perpetrator from our directed anger, resentment and disconnection.
3. Forgiveness frees the troubled relationship from distress and fear, allowing understanding,...
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Neutral Knowing
Have you ever noticed how easily it is for our mind to become caught up and caught out; reacting, resisting, denying and distracting from just noticing and noting what is, with Calm, Clarity and Peace!
With SATI PANNA- mindfulness and wisdom, we can understand and see the ways and workings of SAMSARA – the rounds of rebirth into existence.
The energy that perpetuates SAMSARA is life energy, the universe’s energy, manifesting through the ‘Three Ills’ or defilements – KILESA, of Greed,...
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