A digital dharma notebook
This digital notebook is where I capture momentary insights into modern dharma themes; the meaning of Buddhist teachings for our everyday lives and the connections between the dharma, art and culture.
Below is an archive of posts, search for any themes that might interest you.
Realisations can only be understood backwards
A realisation recently came into focus. It’s that I now see, in a way that I haven’t before, that everything that’s happened in my life, everything I’ve done, couldn’t have been any other way.
How you know you married the right person
My wife went to the corner shop to pick up a few bits and came back with a gift for me, a squashed tin can. That’s odd, you might think, but not remarkable, that is till you hear the next part of the story…
The aesthetics of work
I love the aesthetics of work, even desk work. It's even better with manual work. Clearing the table for baking bread, the leather apron, sprinkling flour onto the board…
Forget interesting, be interested
Why don’t I do this more often, I thought, go to a rock concert with a crowd of pensioners?
How much dana should I give?
Dana means ‘giving’. But deciding how much we want to give isn’t always easy! Here’s how I decide how much dana to give.
Institutions
When we talk of ‘being in service’, are we in service to living beings? Or to an abstract ideal?
Playing our part
You make more of a difference than you think. Why we should gather in big numbers.
Marina Abramović on Talk Art
Notes from an interview with Marina Abramović on the Talk Art Podcast
During the laundry, the ecstacy
Moments of insight can arise at anytime. Often in the middle of the most mundane activity
Why I adore the night
At this time each year I read this piece by Jeanette Winterson. It’s about the night and darkness, but also about winter, the season of ‘nighttime’.
The girl chewing gum
John Smith illustrates the Buddhist insight that there isn’t any essential ‘me’ running the show.
Being stuck in an in between place
What is it like to have an insight and then to lose it? How do we root out the tendency to delusion?
Optimise your phone for a creative dharma life
How I stopped my phone from grabbing my attention.
What is klesharama?
When you start practicing Buddhism, you expect to become a nicer person, and you usually do. But what happens when you don’t?
Let your favourite problems guide you
Assignment: Make a list of burning questions that can show you where you want to go.
How I use social media
The secret to consuming content online is to have very strict limits on how much I subscribe to.
