Hi Everybody,
Just time for one more episode before I'm off to the sun sand and blue sea!
A brief piece that seems to me to be particularly relevant to today's society.
' We have become accustomed in the West to seeking our solutions not so much in individual change but through political manoeuvring or through the promises of science and technology. But it's quite clear that both have severe limitations when it comes to achieving profound social change. Inevitably societies are made up of individuals, and in essence, Buddhism is about transforming society in the only way that profound social change can be sustained, from the bottom up, by transforming individual lives. It talks indeed of human revolution, individual by individual. We could certainly argue I think that rarely in human history has there been a greater need for a philosophy of society based upon individual responsibility, and profound respect for the welfare of others.
Both describe what Buddhism is about. '
Thats it!
See you when I get back.
Best wishes,
William
Thursday 23 June 2016
Wednesday 22 June 2016
my buddhist blog number 136
Hi Everybody,
Just about to escape to Antibes in the south of France with Sarah for a couple of weeks of sun and sea and windsurfing, but I thought it would be good to get in an episode before I go. So here goes.
The Case for Buddhism page 9.
'...without wishing to push the analogy too far Buddhism might be said to provide a significant bridge between s living spiritual philosophy and the ever-increasing lines of books in the self-help section of your local bookshop, with their various forms of instant advice on how we might get better at the game of life, because Buddhism in a sense has a foot in both camps. It has the bedrock of a profound and all-embracing philosophy that touches upon every aspect of human life, and which has truly stood the test of time. But it is also just as genuinely about self-help and about self-belief. The very heart of Buddhism is about our learning how to handle the daily business of living more confidently and more bouyantly.
As Daisaku Ikeda, one of the greatest living authorities on Buddhism has expressed it, ' Buddhism is a movement emphasising self-education.'
That is to say Buddhism is about learning how to accept total responsibility for all the determinations and all the causes that we make as we go about our daily lives. '
Best wishes.
Hopefully see you next time.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available as a paperback from Amazon and as a download from Kindle.
Just about to escape to Antibes in the south of France with Sarah for a couple of weeks of sun and sea and windsurfing, but I thought it would be good to get in an episode before I go. So here goes.
The Case for Buddhism page 9.
'...without wishing to push the analogy too far Buddhism might be said to provide a significant bridge between s living spiritual philosophy and the ever-increasing lines of books in the self-help section of your local bookshop, with their various forms of instant advice on how we might get better at the game of life, because Buddhism in a sense has a foot in both camps. It has the bedrock of a profound and all-embracing philosophy that touches upon every aspect of human life, and which has truly stood the test of time. But it is also just as genuinely about self-help and about self-belief. The very heart of Buddhism is about our learning how to handle the daily business of living more confidently and more bouyantly.
As Daisaku Ikeda, one of the greatest living authorities on Buddhism has expressed it, ' Buddhism is a movement emphasising self-education.'
That is to say Buddhism is about learning how to accept total responsibility for all the determinations and all the causes that we make as we go about our daily lives. '
Best wishes.
Hopefully see you next time.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available as a paperback from Amazon and as a download from Kindle.
Monday 6 June 2016
my buddhist blog number 135
Hi Everybody,
On this brilliant summers day in London. Literally azure blue skies from horizon to horizon. So i'm sitting in the garden in the slanting rays of the hot evening sun, listening to a blackbird singing its heart out at the top of a nearby tree. One of the ancillary purposes of writing The Case for Buddhism was to clear away some of the many stereotypes that obscure the western view of what Buddhism is about.
One of the many such stereotypes for example, that obscures the general perception of Buddhism in the west is that it is very much about giving things up, or, at the very least, about introducng a kind of spare asceticism into our lives, in pursuit of spirituality. The plain fact is that Buddhism is very much focused on increasing the richness of our experience of our lives, and in the here and now, rather than inn some heavenly hereafter. In the process it talks to us a great deal; about what we mean by happiness or well-being. In fact it is alone among the major world religions in proposing the extraordinary idea that happiness isn't a matter of chance or accident as we commonly believe, something that comes to us if we just happen to be particularly lucky or fortunate, but essentially a matter of choice. Indeed Buddhism goes further and argues that we can all without exception, learn how to make that choice. The learning process, it declares, is neither particularly difficult, nor exclusive, nor, most important of all, it is not dependant upon our external life circumstances. Again that is a truly life-changing idea, and one that is clearly worth discussing at any time, since what we all want, one way or another, is a greater measure of this stuff called well-being in our lives!
But it is, I would suggest, an idea of particular relevance at this time we happen to be living through. Why do I say that? Because for the very first time in its history, science too seems to have become keenly interested in the idea of happiness and how it might be achieved. So, it could be argued, we are privileged to live in very unusual times when very considerable and genuinely scientific energy is focused on understanding precisely what it is that makes people feel good about their lives and their relationships, in all kinds of circumstances, not just in wealthy or well-heeled or fortunate ones.
Some knowledgeable observers even sugges that we might be looking at the beginning of a whole new science, a science of happiness indeed. Perhaps. But at the very least we are being offered a wholly new way of looking at so many things about our motivation and behaviour that Buddhism has been talking to us about for many many years. That is one of the central themes of this book.'
Enough for today.
Thanks for reading.
See you next time.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available in English and Spanish! on Amazon or as a download on Kindle.
On this brilliant summers day in London. Literally azure blue skies from horizon to horizon. So i'm sitting in the garden in the slanting rays of the hot evening sun, listening to a blackbird singing its heart out at the top of a nearby tree. One of the ancillary purposes of writing The Case for Buddhism was to clear away some of the many stereotypes that obscure the western view of what Buddhism is about.
One of the many such stereotypes for example, that obscures the general perception of Buddhism in the west is that it is very much about giving things up, or, at the very least, about introducng a kind of spare asceticism into our lives, in pursuit of spirituality. The plain fact is that Buddhism is very much focused on increasing the richness of our experience of our lives, and in the here and now, rather than inn some heavenly hereafter. In the process it talks to us a great deal; about what we mean by happiness or well-being. In fact it is alone among the major world religions in proposing the extraordinary idea that happiness isn't a matter of chance or accident as we commonly believe, something that comes to us if we just happen to be particularly lucky or fortunate, but essentially a matter of choice. Indeed Buddhism goes further and argues that we can all without exception, learn how to make that choice. The learning process, it declares, is neither particularly difficult, nor exclusive, nor, most important of all, it is not dependant upon our external life circumstances. Again that is a truly life-changing idea, and one that is clearly worth discussing at any time, since what we all want, one way or another, is a greater measure of this stuff called well-being in our lives!
But it is, I would suggest, an idea of particular relevance at this time we happen to be living through. Why do I say that? Because for the very first time in its history, science too seems to have become keenly interested in the idea of happiness and how it might be achieved. So, it could be argued, we are privileged to live in very unusual times when very considerable and genuinely scientific energy is focused on understanding precisely what it is that makes people feel good about their lives and their relationships, in all kinds of circumstances, not just in wealthy or well-heeled or fortunate ones.
Some knowledgeable observers even sugges that we might be looking at the beginning of a whole new science, a science of happiness indeed. Perhaps. But at the very least we are being offered a wholly new way of looking at so many things about our motivation and behaviour that Buddhism has been talking to us about for many many years. That is one of the central themes of this book.'
Enough for today.
Thanks for reading.
See you next time.
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available in English and Spanish! on Amazon or as a download on Kindle.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)