(A retreat gathering at Dharmagiri, Kwa-Zula Natal, South Africa) If there’s one word of Zulu that you know it’s probably ‘ubuntu’– ‘interconnectivity’. 'Ubuntu' is a grounding sense in Zulu communities, and in any tribal or familial collective the world over: it’s the ‘we’ sense. That is, my relative autonomy is balanced within a view that I am part of a greater whole which has brought me into life, offers me value, guidance and support – and to which I am therefore responsible. The ‘we’ sense is fundamental to human intelligence: if our ancestors hadn’t cooperated on the plains o ..read more

I’m currently spending a month on self-retreat at the Buddhist Retreat Centre in Ixopo, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. It’s off the beaten Dhamma track of America, Europe and Asia, but that’s one of the reasons I come here. The Centre occupies about 300 acres of hill in the rural backcountry and is the most beautiful retreat centre I have come across in over 40 years of teaching. One admirable touch is the way that the centre honours the location, with its traditional thatch-roofed 'rondavels', and by offering work to local villagers - as well as through the support it gives to a social welf ..read more

If you're in the historic centre of Berlin, and you stroll through the beautiful Tiergarten park you're bound to notice a landmark statue, a golden figure on top of a  column called  Siegessäule (The Victory Column). The figure is called 'Victory' but local people call her 'Goldelse' – 'Golden Lizzie'. Lizzie was put on her plinth in 1873, to commemorate the series of military victories by the Prussian kingdom that culminated in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1. This caused the end of the French Second Empire and unified the German states under Prussian leadership. At that time, th ..read more

Questions and Answers: In and Out of the Ego-tunnel These are questions taken from my Dhamma Tracks page. The responses may back up the ongoing reflections around Dependent Origination.   ***  Why is our experience inextricably linked to our body and its place in the world?   * Well, we’re alive. What does that mean? Animate, sensitive, growing, moving, participating in a context whereby we breathe what’s around us, consume it and are made conscious by it. Consciousness is an intelligence that serves the animate being (me) by reporting on what’s happening around and within it ..read more

This is a section of a map of the London Underground rail network. It will show you how to get from Notting Hill Gate to Holborn along straight lines (with two easy bends) without hindrance. Of course, it’s a fantasy. The actual rail line snakes through the mud, shale and rock underneath the city. But even if you expected to walk between those two points along unobstructed straight streets, you’d be disappointed. The city is a multi-layered tangle of physical constructions that support and shape the centuries’-long process of human interactions; there are no straight lines. But it’s a useful ..read more

It was a normal day in the monastery.  At the meal time a group of Sri Lankan donors turned up to offer dana – the daily meal. The group comprised about six adults and four children. One of the adults explained that the group consisted of three generations – grandparents, parents, children; maybe an aunt or two, it wasn’t that clear. Everyone mingled together and helped to offer the food, then we went into the sala, the main meeting/dining hall. They paid their respects to the shrine and to me, with the children – two girls and two boys – coming up to me individually to offer their form ..read more

    Of all the deaths that this year has brought, I found the decease of Queen Elizabeth II to be cause for reflection on what it takes to hold things together. As the Head of State, icon of traditional British-ness, place-marker for history and belonging, she was carrying weight. This was because of what the monarchy represents – its current role is to carry the myth and ethos of a nation through the turbulence of political and economic circumstances. By presiding with calm and a sense of 'all will be well' over the end of Britain's empire and its steady decline as a globa ..read more

Currently I’m spending the three months of the Rains Retreat at Sunyata Buddhist Centre in Ireland. Sunyata runs retreats, but its committee has also been interested in it becoming a monastery for the last few years …. Several of our teachers, including myself, have taught retreats here and on occasion stop by for visits, and they seem so glad to have a monk in residence … so I had an idea …. I had been planning on spending the Rains in solitude in a cabin in Italian Alps under the supervision of Santacittarama Monastery; however, owing to the post-Brexit business of getting a visa and of th ..read more

Here are some extracts from a forthcoming book on standing meditation: On Your Own Two Feet.  Establish Ground With practice, standing can feel balanced, steady and comfortable; then you feel grounded but relaxed. That’s essential when the winds of turmoil and trouble start blowing, but it’s also a quietly pleasant way to get to know yourself in terms of body, heart and mind. This is the aim of meditation. And of all meditation postures, standing gives you the easiest way into a steady state, because it establishes a firm but easeful connection to the ground beneath you. Here’s how ..read more

In the last couple of weeks, the war in Ukraine has grabbed the headlines, and the hearts of many people. There is the flood of images and stories: of the destruction of cities, and of ragged lines of refugees struggling for safety – and being received with open arms, food, and shelter. European countries have thrown open their borders (with the shameful exception of post-Brexit Britain) and people are moving forward by the thousands with helping hands. This is inspiring. It states the truth of right social order: the people act according to values – and the government facilitates. And the op ..read more