Dharma Glimpse by Maria Chumak A colleague of mine once said that everybody was entitled to one big phobia in their lives. My husband Steve is petrified of snakes. My phobia is deep waters. I can’t swim (not properly anyway) and I’m absolutely terrified of drowning. My parents say this has actually nothing to do […]
Dharma Glimpse by Paul Riley ‘God, I offer myself to thee.. Relieve me of the bondage of self’ These lines from the 12 step, step 3 prayer, move me deeply. It recently occurred to me that when I say the nembutsu, the essence of this prayer shines through. Namo… I surrender myself… Amida… to a
Dharma Glimpse by Angie ‘When life brings you to your knees, you are in the perfect position to pray’ (Rumi) is something I’ve found to be completely true. Every depth that I’ve been to has been necessary to enable me to surrender. To surrender my view that I can control life, to surrender who I
I was in a small supermarket with my partner – I wanted a sandwich before I headed off for an evening study group and he was getting food for him and our son to have dinner. I had a very small amount of money left in my bank account before payday. I wanted to buy
by Chris Earle-Storey I’ve been feeling a bit low in spirits for the past couple of weeks. I’ve done something to my knee – or perhaps I haven’t done anything in particular and maybe it’s just an age thing – and it’s been really sore and uncomfortable, which has meant I haven’t been able to
By Dayamay Dunsby Somebody asked me recently about the nature of enlightenment. I had to think quite hard before I answered. Because it’s quite a complicated question and the answer has layers and nuances. Of course, what I associate most strongly with enlightenment is the image of Shakyamuni Buddha, deep in meditation, underneath a tree,
By Dave Smith My partner and I have been living at the Buddhist temple in Malvern for about a year and a half now. It has been our home and our place of refuge, and we have benefited greatly from living at the heart of this wonderful Buddhist community. Several weeks ago, we unexpectedly had
A Dharma Glimpse by Dayamay Dunsby Interestingly, just as I began working with elderly people and studying ‘end of life care’, I happened upon a spiritual teacher called Stephen Jenkinson. He’s known as a sort of death guru, who attempts to penetrate the wall of denial and avoidance that constitutes what he calls our collective
I was thinking about location and ‘being’ before a recent trip to the temple for a mindfulness retreat stay. The idea and knowledge of having a planned trip back to the temple always fills me with warmth. To be reconnected with templemates, the Sangha, a sense of action and purpose through the Earth vigils, and
Watching the news recently, the tensions between Russia and the West, the bickering in parliament over corruption and immoral conduct and other equally contentious issues, made me think about how all of these problems that we face originate within us, the human race, in our deeply wounded and fragmented hearts and minds. The television is
