Today when I woke up

Today when I woke up
it had snowed and
from my warm, soft cocoon
I could see an unexpected
world of beauty and delight.
The beauty of the snow and the
light in the sky
often surprises me.
Each time I forget how
lovely it is, how joyous
to see the flakes softly falling
its gentleness and quiet.
A blanket of ice nourishing the earth
and my soul.

Then I heard the news and
my heart broke!
I wallowed with others in grief
despair, hopelessness and anger.
But that little voice inside me
that I trust said
“this is not the way”.

I turned off the news and turned
away from social media until
I could find the words that
weren’t fuelled by hate and divisiveness.
Someone I trust said
“be the change you want to see
in the world”.
Of a sudden I knew what this meant.
Practise generosity, kindness, love.
Send out good wishes to all beings
known and unknown.
Turn away from news designed
to inflame the emotions.
Embrace the beauty and love
right at the end of your fingertips.

With each looking and noticing
my broken heart began to mend
forming a new whole
born from understanding and
the need to openly express
our love for the good and the true and
for one another.

If the world ends today
I will know with every fibre
of my being
it has been a good day
because it snowed
and I noticed!

© 9 Nov 16

Why ride the boat?

Why ride the boat and risk
being tossed out in any
turbulent storms
when you can swim
in the ocean of bliss and
bathe in your own oneness?

Why ride the boat that requires
sails, oars and all kinds of
accoutrements
when you can swim
in the ocean of bliss
free and free and free?

Why ride the boat that needs
much upkeep and maintenance
when you can swim
in the ocean of bliss and
be with your own essence?

© 26 Oct 16

Peace by peace

The heart knows
The mind vacillates
between this and that
“shall I stay here?”
“shall I go there?”
Doubt conjures up
a fog of illusion.
No more clarity.
Fortunately
we have been given a gift
of meditation.
Cleansing
quieting
clearing.
Piece by piece
disentangling mind from heart.
Piece by piece
relaxing mind’s vice-like grip.
Piece by piece
reducing mind’s volume control.
Peace by peace
allowing heart to know
what it knows and
space enough
to hear it.

© 24Oct 16

What remains?

What remains?
When the senses rest and
are no longer pulled out by
every interesting article.
When I am no longer affected
by time or age.
When I am freed from the
limiting or incorrect perceptions
of the mind.
When ‘I’ is no longer bound in a body
no longer subject to birth and death.
What remains?
When light and dark
are no longer differentiated.
When old and new,
me and you lose their meaning.

What remains?
I remain
free to dance with the wind
soar with the stars
roll with the waves on the ocean
as free as the autumn leaf
to let go of all limiting concepts.
I remain
an indescribable being
light and bright as
a raindrop bathed in sunlight.
I remain
a boundless heart
with wings to fly and circle the moon.
I remain.

© 25 Oct 16

In the Tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh

I'm delighted to say that, at last, my Ph.D. thesis is published as a book and available on Wordery, Lulu.com or Amazon, or you can get the paperback version from me directly.
In the Tradition of TNH

You can get it as paperback or ebook. 

It's been a long journey since I started my Ph.D. in December 2008 and one that has deepened my practice of mindfulness as well. It's been a very enriching and joyful journey (for the most part!) and I feel this is just another stepping stone on the way, rather than the final destination. I can hardly believe I have got to this point!

The blurb!

Explore the relationship between two aspects of Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings, Mindfulness and Engaged Buddhism. Mindfulness is a key Buddhist teaching, and involves paying attention on purpose to what is taking place in mind and body by bringing the awareness to focus on the present moment. Engaged Buddhism is a global phenomenon associated with Thich Nhat Hanh as its originator and brings Buddhism out of the meditation hall to engage deeply with social, political and environmental issues. The book follows Thich Nhat Hanh's journey from a monk in Vietnam, deeply protesting about the War, through exile and displacement, to becoming a world-renowned Mindfulness teacher living in France at Plum Village Monastery. Thich Nhat Hanh's unique teaching of Mindfulness has nonviolence and compassion at its heart. Although he has written many books himself none offer such detail as this on the biographical elements of his life.

Look deeply

Light shifts through the day
colours change as summer
proceeds to autumn
growth becomes decay as
the busyness of spring
becomes the rest and hibernation
of winter.
We are bound to an
ever-moving cycle of change
so where is the stillness?

If you look deeply
into each moment
any moment
there is stillness
there is oneness
there is all knowledge and truth.

Life is an ever-changing dance of
coming and going
transformation and impermanence
moving, interacting
flowing round the rim of a wheel.
The hub of the wheel is still.

If a bird stays still
it gets ensnared in the cat’s teeth.
If I do not rest in stillness
I get ensnared in the changing dance
of life
believing each moment to be real
forgetting it is but a shadow cast
by one steady light that shines
from within.

Look deeply into each moment
any moment
there is stillness
there is life
pulsing as one great heartbeat
throughout the universe.

© 16 Oct 16

The train of thought

A single engine moving
sedately along the track
taking in the landscape
sliding by.

Suddenly
a whole collection of carriages
attach themselves
magnetically
like my son’s toy train set.

The journey becomes
effortful and laboured
pulling along so many
unwanted extras
keeping in line the carriages
that bump and jostle for position.

The landscape is blurred and forgotten
all effort goes into
maintaining order
with the clamouring carriages.

The track becomes circular
- how did that happen? –
The engine chugging round and round
no means to break out.
Round and round
getting nowhere
the noise from the carriages
louder and louder
a familiar track
I didn’t choose to be on.

Stop at the station.
Really stop!
No matter how much
noise and bluster
the carriages create.

Stop and wait
till the carriages quieten down
lost their magnetic grip
slowly disappear back into the ether.

Stop and wait.
A single engine moving
sedately along the track
taking in the landscape
sliding by.

© 13 Oct 16