RED LADDER STUDIO NEWSLETTER

Dear Subscriber First Name,

A couple of weeks ago, I ran a small workshop on how to design your own Dharma study system. It’s something I’ve been developing over the past year or so and sharing more recently. Admittedly, it’s a bit on the nerdy side—built on software called Obsidian, which lets you connect your notes in all sorts of creative ways.

One response I've heard a few times is, “I find your system inspiring, but also kind of intimidating.” Maybe at first glance it seems a bit complex or overly intellectual?

At the start of the workshop, as people were sharing their own experience of Dharma study, many of them said some variation of: “When I did my degree, I was really organised—but not with Dharma study.” That made me smile. I never did a degree—in fact, I left school at 15 with a couple of O-levels, and that was the end of any formal education for me. I went on to train as a hairdresser.

For me, study has always meant Dharma study—I’ve never associated it with universities, exams, or grades. My way into the Dharma was through the Triratna Community, founded by Sangharakshita, where there was a strong emphasis on Dharma study—perhaps even to a fault. I’d say his Dharma teaching was more developed than his meditation teaching. Over the years, that imbalance has been addressed, with excellent teachers like Tejananda and Vajradevi (among others) developing and deepening the meditation tradition within Triratna. Perhaps we've even overcorrected, to the point where Dharma study has become a little neglected?

There’s a common view—very much present today, but also in Tsongkhapa’s time in the 14th century—that you can’t reach insight, a non-conceptual realisation, through concepts. Tsongkhapa, a famous Tibetan Buddhist teacher, disagreed. He argued that a deep engagement with Dharma teaching could, in fact, lead to a direct, non-conceptual realisation of reality. I think his perspective is well worth considering.

Continue reading, ‘Can Dharma study lead to insight’.

On my radar this month

Newsletter - Philippa Perry’s Substack:
You might know my favourite agony aunt, Philippa Perry, from her Sunday column in The Observer. She's now left The Observer and is writing her own Substack.

In our house, we have a Sunday breakfast ritual of reading aloud her response to that week’s letter. My favourites are the ones where someone writes in to complain about their spouse, kids, or parents—and her response is invariably: "It’s not them, it’s you!" She has a remarkable way of calling people out with deep compassion. A truly inspiring role model.

Her Sunday post is free, or you can choose to support her and get access to more.

Book - How to Read a Tree:
This one had been on my ‘to read’ pile for a while—I was waiting for the right moment to read it among trees. Last week, we had the chance to stay in our new house, which is surrounded by old oaks, birch, poplars, and beech trees—so it was the perfect setting for How to Read a Tree.

Tristan Gooley is such an entertaining educator. He’s made me realise how little I know about something so familiar. It’s perfect reading for a holiday or countryside retreat.

Dharma Talk - In Praise of Restlessness:
In Praise of Restlessness is actually the third talk in a series by Rob Burbea. I haven’t yet listened to the first two—I’m going backwards. One thread running through this talk (and there are many) is the question: What is the myth of your Dharma path? The way we view the path will, of course, shape how we practise. And yet these myths often remain unconscious. At the end of the talk, Rob unpacks one such myth at length: Dharma as art. What if we saw Dharma in the same way that we see art? What kind of path would we create then?

Lecture - Gareth Southgate:
A friend recommended this year’s Richard Dimbleby Lecture on the BBC, delivered by Gareth Southgate, the former manager of the England men’s football team. I’m not particularly interested in football, but the lecture wasn’t really about that. It was about young men—and how much they’re struggling right now.

Southgate spoke powerfully about role models. He pointed out how the steady, real-life presence of coaches, teachers, and mentors is being replaced by online figures who often promote narrow and harmful ideas about masculinity. As the bonus mum of two young men, I found his words both troubling and deeply moving. What stayed with me most was his call for adult men to step up and step in as positive role models.

A quote I’m thinking about:

“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”

- Albert Einstein