MY BUDDHIST BLOG NUMBER 76

Hi Everybody,

Well we're into Chapter 10, Buddhism and Anger. Quite a tough chapter because it involves getting to grips with a aspect of ourselves that is unattractive at best, and at worst very destructive. Anyway,here goes.

' Buddhism has always had a very clear-eyed view of anger. Although it is only too well aware of the powerfully destructive potential of this emotion, that can wreak all kinds of havoc in human affairs, it doesn't simply lament its presence and condemn its damaging effects. Rather it accepts it precisely for what it is, an integral part of what it is to be human, a deeply embedded part of the human psychethat will always be with usWe simply have to learn how to live with it and how to limit the damage that it can cause in our lives. As one Buddhist mentor put it to me very early on in my practice, ' anger is very much like cow pats...best handled when cold!'

Homespun wisdom perhaps, but nevertheless, very wise, and what is perhaps more surprising, its truth is amply borne out by modern social research. So Buddhism tells us, we need to recognise that it will be there in our lives, and it's only being prudent to learn more about what kind of emotion it is, where it comes from, and how best to set about handling it. And modern psychology takes very much the same long view of anger, namely that it is very much part of our common humanity. As Martin Seligman writes,

Your anger has a long history, one that goes back before your childhood and before your parents' childhoods. It goes back to the life-and-death struggles of your early human ancestors, and further still to our primate ancestors, and their forebears...the human capacity for anger is one of the principal reasons why we...and not some other primate line...are the dominant species on earth.'

So there it is, buried deep in our primitive evolutionary roots, with a positive role to play, and now we have to learn how to handle its destructive potential in our ever more crowded, fast-moving, shoulder-to-shoulder modern societies. But Seligman's insight helps us to embrace our anger if I may put it that way, because we do need to embrace it as an integral part of our lives, if we are going to understand it more completely, and avoid, or overcome the damage it can cause. It also helps I think, to understand what psychologists tell us is one of the most frequent triggers for outbursts of anger; the feeling, rightly or wrongly, that ' I am being trespassed against!' Trespass that is in all sorts of ways, being treated unjustly or rudely or being insulted, or very often just a feeling that one's space, or self-esteem, is being threatened.

With anger as we know, things can get out of hand so quickly that we may not have any conscious realisation of that thought, but, we are told, the thought of trespass is surely lurking there somewhere, and the anger is a sort of counter-attack, to bring the trespass to an end. And simply understanding that point, that this might well be a perceived rather than a real to our self-esteem, can really help us to control our response.'

That's it for starters. It's an interesting subject, and Buddhism has a lot of interesting things to say about it that chime closely with modern psychology. See you next time.
William
PS, hope you have an enjoyable Christmas. If you are stuck for present ideas...you could just possibly change someone's life for the better with a gift of The Reluctant Buddhist, or Buddhism and the Science of Happiness, or indeed ths one, The Case for Buddhism! Have a great time.

my buddhist blog number 75

Hi Everybody,

Really wintry run in the park this morning with Gatsby. The wind tossing the trees around and the clouds scudding across the sky. But one more day closer to spring! Last time I was talking about getting over my cancer and being surprised that somehow getting to grips with the challenge rather than being frightened of it, helped to increase my optimism, and my conviction that I could beat it. And optimism has been shown to be a very powerful factor in boosting our immune system ( see the new book I'm writing!)

But that is a theme that has been taken up by, among others, psychology professor Tal Ben Shahar from Harvard who talks about trying to find ' the seeds of the positive ' in the negative events that occur in all our lives. Being optimistic, he argues, certainly isn't about being eternally, smilingly cheerful. That would be totally unreal, and optimism is essentially about getting real; it's about turning towards and embracing our pains and our problems as a normal part of our life, rather than running away from them.

What is remarkable I think is just how closely that advice from a modern psychologist mirrors the sentiment expressed by Nichiren Daishonin in one of his down-to-earth letters to his followers, so long ago;

' Suffer what there is to suffer,' he writes, ' enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Nam Myoho renge kyo, no matter what happens.'

So we learn, it's only by getting up close to our problems that we can truly understand them. And only by trying to look for the seeds of the positive, even in things that go badly wrong, rather than being eaten up by the negative effects, that we can transform them. As I've mentioned on several,occasions, because it made such a strong impression on me, one of the things that struck me when I first began to go to Buddhist seminars and meetings, was the powerful sense of optimism, even when people were talking about all kinds of everyday hassles and problems. Life for these people was clearly about getting real. About seeing the problems for what they were, and challenging them, rather than being cast down by them. Ordinary people that is, with ordinary everyday problems, learning to see life differently, through the focusing lens of a Buddhist practice. And you can see how that approach makes it possible to establish a sort of self-reinforcing win-win process in our lives; the more we recognise and overcome the negativity, the weaker it becomes, and the stronger becomes our optimism and hope.

And the greatness of a Buddhist practice, in my experience, is precisely that, it's immense practicality. It delivers into our hands a method that has enabled all sorts of ordinary people, from every possible walk of life, and personality type, and background, to achieve just a slight shift in perspective...from negative to positive. Not a revolution, just that slight shift in perspective, and strange as it may seem, that is all that is needed. It may only be a slight change, but time and time again, it proves to be enough to help us embrace the problem, or handle the anxiety, with an optimistic outlook, that then leads on to positive outcomes.

But what does Buddhism have to say about that extreme form of negativity that  breaks into all our lives, all too frequently...that we know as anger?

That's where we go next.
See you then.
William
Buy the book! It can only help to be able to go back and refer to it. Amazon about £950 I think or Kindle about £5.

my buddhist blog number 74

Hi Everybody,

It's just 5 o'clock in Kew. Dark and cold and windy and wintry outside. I've been sitting over a hot keyboard writing all afternnon so I'm itching to be off to the gym for a workout. Just time to write the blog. We were talking last time about this intriguing concept the Losada ratio, a measure of negativity in relationships, and that's where we pick it up.

' Most of us I'm sure won't have been aware of anything so specific as the Losada Ratio, but if we think about it even briefly, we can all recallsome experience of how this kind of subliminal negativity can affect us in everyday life. As we've mentioned, we can all recognise at once the huge difference that exists between the positive, optimistic, hope-filled colleague we happen to know at work who gets things done, and inspires others to get things done, even in the most challenging circumstances, and the opposite, the destructive, paralysing effect even a single, negatively-inclined colleague can have.

So too, our own negativity, when it is not recognised and resisted and overcome, can have a powerfully destructive effect, not just on our own lives, but on the lives of all those around us, al those whom  our life touches. And as we now know, from the social research, the ripples of that effect do spread further afield, to touch the lives of their friends and colleagues too. And that word 'recognised ' is obviously crucial, because as Buddhism argues, it is the recognition above all else, our growing awareness if you like, of what is going on, that leads us to take positive action. It is only by being constantly vigilant and mindful of the reality of our negativity, and it's potential influence on our life state, that we are able to go into battle against it, and so begin the process of change, to establish control over the negative side of our nature.

It's not easy of course. Nor ever wholly won. As I've mentioned, Buddhism often presents the battle against negativity as a daily encounter, one of the main reasons for the discipline of the daily practice, to help us summon up our optimistic an dpositive spirit, and to drive out the negativity. And it's important to be clear, that being optimistic definitely doesn't mean unrealistic. So it does not mean denying the existence of the negative, or just pushing away any unfavourable information that comes at us. It doesn't mean constantly trying to control situations that simply cannot be controlled; we can never hope to establish complete control over the circumstances of our lives. It does mean applying effort, making a conscious effort to make that difficult positive choice, rather than that easier negative one. Our optimism that is, has to be broad enough and deep enough to embrace the sad, and the painful, and the suffering, as well as the joyful.

However hard it may be to achieve, it is undoubtedly a strategy that works. As I wrote that passage originally I had just emerged from a battle with cancer that had gone on over three years. I was able, joyfully, to use thepast tense because I'd come through to the other side. I had just been signed off by my consultant. So I can now say it was a battle, that involved me in a fair bit of physical and mental pain. But the key point I want to make is that as soon as I became aware of the cancer's existence, so too I became aware of my ability to embrace it as part of my life. an unwelcome part, but nonetheless part of me, and by embracing it I felt enabled to fight it positively, rather than be fearful of it. And all the time I was  keenly aware that my stable optimism about my life, my overall sense of well-being was not dependent on only good things happening to me.

And that surprised me. '

Well that's it for today again. I'm off through the wintry gloom to the gym.
I hope your'e off to somewhere pleasing as well.
See you next time.
PS Just the usual reminder, you can get the book in an instant from Amazon, either as a pretty looking paper back or as a download for your Kindle. Both fantastic value!! And good Xmas presents for anybody whose life you might want to enhance!!

my buddhist blog number 73

Hi Everybody,

wow, blog number 73. Getting a bit old as a bloggist! This one is slightly longer that normal I'm afraid. It's just it introduces something called the Losada Ratio, which is basically about daily negativity, and once I start into it, it doesn't seem to make sense to stop half way. I may be wrong, but let's see how it goes.

So the key point towards which this discussion is heading is greater clarity. That's where we started out you may remember in this chapter. The  crucial importance of clarity or self-awareness; a much clearer understanding and awareness of something that may sit right out on the margins of our consciousness. Because however prevalent it is, we don't spend much time talking about the negative side of our make-up do we? But Buddhism argues that in order to recognise it, and combat it effectively, we need to be absolutely clear-eyed about just how powerful and damaging an influence in our lives this negativity can be. Indeed it talks about our being involved in combating it on a daily basis, hence the daily-ness  of the practice.

Negativity that is is real, it's as real as rocks, it's just made of different stuff.

And just to underline how real that point is, in case you find it hard to believe, I came across something in the research recently that really took my breath away. That something is called the Losada Ratio, named after a psychologist, Marcel Losada, who apparently established the underlying facts. Basically it is the ratio between the negative words or phrases, and thenpositive ones, that occur in the regular communications between individuals or groups of people. What took my breath away was that when researchers wentn into the field and actually looked at the implications of this ratio the results were astounding.

The Losada ratio
One research group for example was allowed into business meetings across a wide range of 60 or so companies. What they did was, on the face of it. quite simple, quite mechanical even. They transcribed everything that was said at a series of business meetings. Everything. They then worked out the ratio of thenegative words and phrases to the positive ones. And the implications were startling even to them, because they found that there was a sharp cut off point. Inthose companies where there was a clear majority of positive comments over negative ones betwen the managers, to get precise about it, about three positive comments to to every negative one, those companies were flourishing. At anything below that ratio, that is less than three positive comments to every negative one, those companies were ailing in various ways. They were floundering. That ratio is now used at a number of management training courses. If that surprises you as much as it surprised me, it doesn't end there.

John Gottman fro example is one of America's leading researchers into marriage, exploring and explaining what it is that leads to a successful marriage or partnership, and what leads to a marriage or partnership breaking up. So important to a lot of people's lives. He can spend whole weekends with couple sobserving how they talk and relate to each other. He has applied the same Losada ratio in studying how partners communicate with each other. And..wait for it...he has come up with almost exactly the same observation. He has found that where there are less than about three positive communications for every negative one, then that relationship is heading for trouble. In fact he argues that you need at least five positive comments to every negative one, to be confident of having a strong and enduring relationship. ( Dear Sarah I love you to bits! )

I said that you might findn this piece of research astounding, and it surely is. But what it illustrates above all I suggest is just how unaware we can be of the negative elements in our behaviour and our conversations, and just how powerful the implications of that mindless negativity can be for our relationships.

Well that's it. There is a summing up paragraph to this story, but I'll tack it onto the next episode. This si long enough for anyone.
Best wishes,
William
PS If you feel you can bounce this blog onto anyone else, or encourage them to have a look at it, please do so. I'll be eternally grateful.

my buddhist blog number 72

Hi Everybody,

Well when I look out of the window here in Kew this morning it's superbly autumnal. Grey gloomy clouds as far as I can see. A grey mist in the tress and damp and dripping everywhere. Which kind of fits in neatly with where we start today. The sub heading of this passage in the book is...

Feeling a bit low seems to be a common experience.
Many people talk about their negativity getting up with them in the morning, because that's when it can so often occur. People often say for example that early mornings are a kind of low point for them, when they have to struggle to lift themselves out of a hole. Hence perhaps the global addiction to the regular morning pick-me-up fix of caffeine. But it's not just in the mornings is it? There are many times when it can stick around all day. Indded it seems that to feel generally ' a bit low,' is quite a common experience for many of us these days. Psychologists talk for example about a general, low-level, background anxiety as being one of the features of our time. The psychologist Daniel Goleman for example has dubbed our time, the age of melancholy, because there seems to be more sepression about than in previous generations.

Even Martin Seligman, the boundlessly optimistic, bouyantly smiling founding father of the positive psychology movement in the US, comments strongly on this particular aspect of modern society in the West;
' Why do anxiety, anger and sadness pervade so much of our lives...concurrent with so much success, wealth and the absence of biological need in the lives of privileged Americans?'

For Americans in that passage you can of course include all of us who happen to live in the ultra-privileged western-way-of-life parts of the world. He goes on to explain,

' People by and large are astonishingly attracted to the catastrophic  ( that is to say the negative ) interpretation of things. Not just neurotics, not just depressives...but most of us much of the time.'

Those are indeed broadly inclusive phrases he chooses to use, ' People by and large, ' and ' most of us much of the time.' But if we take them at face value, it would seem that lots of people share in this generalised low-level anxiety we've been talking about. It is I believe a very significant perception that is being passed on to us, almost you might say, as a wake-up call.

And if we dig a bit deeper, and ask ourselves why this might be the case, why we are so inclined to interpret event sin a negative way, at least part of the explanation might lie in the fact that this negative voice knows us infinitely well.  We have no hiding place. It knows all our weaknesses and our vulnerabilities...because of course it is us. So it can frame the arguments it whispers into, our ear, to match precisely those weaknesses and vulnerabilities. And if we let it, it can go on sniping and whittling away at our self-confidecne and our courage for much of the day, constantly taking advantage of those half-formed inner stirrings of doubt and fear and uncertainty that we scarcely admit to ourselves. So it knows precisely for example why we won't succeed in this or that endeavour, why we won't get the job, or the praise, or the promotion, or those exam grades we desperately want, or whatever it is that happens to be uppermost in our thoughts.

When we are strong and with a high life state, or when we've just had a victory we can often just brush this web of insidious sniping aside. and laught at it, or ignore it into silence. But when we are down, with a low life state, or we've just had a rejection, and particularly when we know full well that what we are reaching for this time is a real stretch, then it can often be all tha tis needed to tip us into a negative or defeatist frame of mind.

And that can be truly life-changing in a negative way. Life can become, ' there's no point in even trying,' rather than, ' I really think I can make a go of this. '

So it is crucial that we learn how to combat this kind of negativity. And that's where we go in the next episode. See you then. I'm on my way out into the woods with Gatsby!!

Best wishes, William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available as a neat, good looking paperback from Amazon or as a Kindle download onto your

my buddhist blog number 71

Hi Everybody,

Hope all is well with you. It's always a bit harder isn't it, to lift yourself in the morning when it's so dark and gloomy. If you can summon up the will to force yourself out of that warm and comfortable bed just half an hour or so earlier, that time spent on daimoku works wonders. It never ceases to amaze me, just how expressing gratitude for the day in front of the gohonzon lifts the spirits. And it means that you can smile at people as you walk to the station or get on the bus. all those gloomy faces! Give them a smile, and they'll almost certainly smile back. I picked up my daughter Jessica from the station late last night, and there was a guy bedding down obviously for the night, on the bench by the entrance. When I went up to him and asked him if he would like a hot drink, he flashed me a wonderful smile, that was the greatest reward you could ever ask for for just giving someone a cup of coffee!

Ayway, where were we? In the last episode we were talking about the power of daimoku to lift the spirits, to create hope, when we are faced with a problem that we don't know how to handle. That's where we pick up the story, with a sub heading...But what about doubts and negativity?

' That's all very well I can hear you say, for those who are fortunate enough to have profound conviction in the practice, but what about those who have doubts? There are many Buddhist commentaries that tell us we should never have doubts. But I don't personally see how that is possible, since doubts are a normal part of all our lives, just as negativity is inherent in all our lives. Although it is very important to recognise that they are not at all the same thing. We need to examine the cause of doubt of course, but doubts breed caution, and there's nothing wrong with a bit of caution in a dangerous world. As I've written elsewhere, we might want to call it prudence, if that were not such a desperately un-cool word in the 21st century lexicon! But negativity is awholly different matter. Negativity can disarm us, or render us completely incapable of action. It can tell us for example that a Buddhist practice may well be able to deal with other people's problems, but not this one, not the one that happens to have broken its way into our life. Because, our negativity tells us, because this one's totally different, or particularly deep-rooted, or because it involves a particularly intractable situation. Our own problems always seem to have a uniquely difficult twist to them. There is never any shortage of costumes for us to dress our negativity in.

We all have a negative voice.
The psychologists tell us that we all talk to ourselves pretty much all the time. In a sort of on-going dialogue of reasoning with ourselves, and rehearsing and working things over in our mind, we hold this constant, inner, ruminating, conversation with ourselves. In fact it is so much a part of our lives that we tend to take this inner whispering voice or voices completely for granted. But one of those voices is a negative one, a powerful advocate for not doing things, for not challenging our situation, for not making the effort, because...well, what's the point...we can't win this time.

That modern psychological understanding is very much in keeping with the Buddhist perception of human nature , that we all have this negative side to our personality, to some degree, even those of us who are blessed with the sunniest and most positive of temperaments. Indeed Buddhism teaches that we will always have it as a fundamental part of our humanity, however positive the spirit we learn to develop and maintain. And as we know from our personal experience, let alone from Buddhist teachings, it is indeed one of our potential life states, lurking there if you like always ready to take over if we have a low life state. Although we don't tend to describe it openly as our negativity. We talk instead about being a bit low, or a bit down, as I did this grey morning, or feeling a bit less confident and capable at this particular moment, or uncertain or unwilling to challenge this particular situation.

So how do we recognise it, and how do we tackle it? '

Answers in the next episode!!
Hope to see you then.
Best wishes,
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available as a paper back from Amazon and as a download from Kindle.
Great Xmas present you might think. Could change someone's life.

my buddhist blog number 70

Hi Everybody,

I missed the second postingthis past week. Been particularly busy, finishing a script and lo and behold I've started another book. Came to me in the middle of the night... theidea that is...and it's always tricky starting. your brain keeps presenting different alternatives, and you just have to stick with one that seems promising and get on  with it. I often have in mind that metaphor that is so frequently used to describe sculptors at work. They are faced with a block of stone, and somewhere locked inside it is the shape or the image that they set out to release. Anyway, we've just started Chapter Nine, Buddhism and Negativity, and we were talking last time about the increasing clarity of view that the practice can bring. That's where we pick up the story.

' There can be a profound change too in terms of hopes and ambitions and expectations, what we are prepared to demand from our lives. It's frequently the case for example that we have allowed ourselves to make huge compromises, to come to terms with a situation or a set of circumstances, despite the fact that deep down we know that the situation is unsatisfactory, or even the cause of a great deal of stress or unhappiness in our lives. It might be a job that offers no real opportunity for our talents, or for advancement, a relationship that we have neglected, or a family situation tha thas become filled with conflict. Through fear or apathy or lack of courage, or simply because we can't think how to initiate change without causing a rupture, we swallow it, we learn to live with these sorts of situations dominating our lives, often for year after year.

As we all know few things are quite as difficult as bringing about real, enduring change in our behaviour or attitudes. it has taken a lifetime to build them up. So mit's bound to take real energy and determination and courage to set out to change them. Above all perhaps we need hope, a real sense that things can be changed. And that is precisely the role that the Buddhist practice can play. One of the statements most commonly made about it for example, and one that embedded itself in my mind very early on in practice, was that when you are faced with a profoundly difficult situation, and have no real idea where to turn, when you start to chant about it, as if out of nowhere...comes hope.

Of course it isn't out of nowhere, it's from within. And it does indeed come when you disengage yourself from the immediate situation or crisis, and just allow yourself the space to chant and to rethink. And so often it delivers to us the initial energy and the courage that we need to to take decisive action to begin that process of change.'

That's it for today.
Hope it helps.
And if you think anybody else might be interested, bouncing it on, or giving somebody the blog addres would be fantastically gratefully received. Every little helps as Tesco keeps reminding us!
See you next time.
William

my buddhist blog number 69

Hi Everybody,

Here we go into Chapter Nine. Buddhism and Negativity. So we look at what it is, where it comes from and what we can do about it to stop it inhibiting and curtailing our lives.

' In taking up this practice we are in a sense being invited to take part in what could be described as a huge on-going experiment. We are the focus of the experiment you might say, and our life is the test bed. Practice we are told without being begrudging or half-hearted about it. Give it a sincere and committed trial. And then look for the changes in your life. Put simply the change we are seeking is to shift our whole life towards the positive end of the spectrum. And as we do that, so the promise is, we are also changing our environment. As we change, as we move away from a basically self-centred life state say, with its concentration on our own needs and our own ego, towards a more compassionate and responsive approach towards others...which was I like to think very much my own progression...so we find those qualities reflected back at us from our environment. The challenges and the problems are no less frequent or severe; why should they be, since Buddhism is real life, not magic? It cannot simply sweep life's normal flow of problems away. The fundamental change lies in the clarity with which we perceive them, and the strengthened ability to respond to them positively.

The clarity is an important factor. Indeed Nichiren describes one of the main benefits of the practice as being the greater clarity of perception it brings; what he describes as a purification of the senses. But what does that mean exactly? Th fact is that many utterly feet-on-the-ground people who practice , talk for example of seeing opportunities in their environment that they hadn't previously noticed, or of seeing problems arising at an earlier stage when they can more easily be resolved. They often talk of their life seeming to run more smoothly for them, or of being in the right place at the right time. Pure coincidence you might say? Possibly. Of course there's nothing resembling research to prove anything either way, nor could we reasonably expect there to be. But that's not really the point is it? We're talking about how people feel about their lives. The fact is that many people express this sense of greater stability in their lives, no longer so frequently blown off course by the tough stuff that comes out of left field, able to make positive choices and decisions more readily, because they had a clearer sense of an  objective or direction.

All those and more are are the kinds of feelings that people express as they gain confidence in the practice. So not a revolution, but a steady evolution towards a generally more positive life state. And it's that steady evolution that encourages them to continue. '

That's it for today. I'm pleased to say that I've had some very positive feed back this week about this book. People saying it's so practical and down-to-earth and yet inspiring! That can't be bad can it?
Anyway, see you next time I hope, andlet me express the wish that I've expressed before, if you feel that you can bounce this on to any friend or acquaintance, Buddhist or not, you have my heartfelt thank.
Best wishes, William

my buddhist blog number 68

Hi Everybody,

I had a great day yesterday that I must share with you. In the morning I received an e-mail telling me that a young lady in North Bogota ( got that...North Bogota!) had bought the Spanish version of one of my books a few monthsa go, and she is now goingto receive Gohonzon this saturday, and wanted to thank me. And in the afternoon I received a euro cheque posted in Bratislava ( Bratislava!!) for 102 books bought there. Obviously in English because none of the books has been translated into Czech...yet. To say that I am amazed whenever this happens is an understatement. That the books should reach into so many corners and touch so many people's lives just blows me away. Every time. So there, I've shared it.

Today we round off chapter 8, so we're really motoring through the book, and this passage has the sub heading, The great vision.

' So the Buddhist vision is one of growing numbers of people seizing the opportunity...and that word seizing is important because it does express that element of positively taking hold of something that you have come across in your life, rather than simply letting it pass you by...growing numbers of people seizing the opportunity to create this transformation in their own lives, not simply for their own sake, but for the good sake of their families and friends and colleagues and all those in the wider circle of their lives. Then indeed we could come to see a cumulative change, in the way groups and communities and societies and eventually nations function. It is of course a journey of great vision, andn its distant objective is immense...nothing less than peace and harmony in our oh so troubled world.

But the constant Buddhist argument is that it is not a journey that is in any way remote or inaccessible. We can all choose to join it, since it starts really at our own feet. Peace...as Buddhism puts it...begins with me. And as bold as that sounds, it happens to be a view that has been shared by many great and inspirational leaders down the years, from Ghandi and Martin Luther King to Nelson Mandela and John F. Kennedy. Kennedy chose deliberately in his Commencement Address at the very beginning of his presidency, to make clear his personal vision of what a bold and positive approach to conflict might deliver. He declared then,

' First examine our attitude towards peace itself. Too many of us think it impossible, too many think it unreal, but that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable, that mankind is doomed, that we are gripped by forces we cannot control. We need not accept that view. Our problems are man-made, therefore they can be solved by man, and man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly impossible, and we believe we can do so again.'

It is a vision and a message that unquestionably continues to resonate in all our lives today. Buddhism too would argue that, 'We need not accept that view. Our problems are man made therefore they can be solved by man...' with each one of us making the determination to create peace in his or her own sphere. '

I still find that speech so inspiring no matter how many times I read it. I hope you do too.
So it's goodbye to chapter eight and on to chapter nine, next tiem, Buddhism and Negativity.

Hope to see you then,
Many thanks for reading to here.
William

my buddhist blog number 67

Hi Everybody,

We've been talking about the ways in which we influence, create even, our own environment. Obviously there's going to be the odd hiccup and break in continuity when a book is split up into segments like this, but nothing major I hope, to detract from the meaning of any episode. This one is best read as a straight follow-on from 65, but it makes complete sense on its own. Ok so here we go.

' The Buddhist argument is that this understanding that we do, in large measure, create our own environment, essentially holds good even when it is scaled up to the level of society, and beyond, to the society of nations. Although at first glance that might seem a somewhat difficult position to accept, we only have to cast around in recent history, in Europe for example, or in the Middle East, to find count less examples to suggest that something very similar is taking place; that a nation will find reflected back from its environment the aggression for example, that it projects.

One could certainly argue that the past 100 years has been a clear demonstration of just such a circumstance. It has been the described as the bloodiest century in human history, as the cycles of aggression and revenge among nations have been reflected back time and time again. Over 70 million people have been killed in wars of one kind or another, estimated by historians as being a greater number than in all previous centuries put together. And yet, despite the world wide suffering and massive destruction, it's quite clear that history, in the sense of human experience, has provided precious few strategies to break this cycle. Certainly not diplomacy, and sadly it seems not the United Nations. At least not yet. There have been over 200 wars since the last great global conflagration, and today the world bristles with more and vastly more powerful death-dealing weapons than ever before.

If you take into account also the emergence of the 24 hour news machine, that wakes us up and puts us to bed, with stories of violence and disaster from one corner of the globe or another, then you can clearly see the reason for the sense of powerlessness and impotence that can affect the lives of so many of us. We can grieve in sympathy, or we can give a few pounds to this charity or to that relief organisation, but what else can we do.

Buddhism's immediate response is that we should look at the environs of our own lives, because that is where we can have an effect. Change Buddhism argues, starts with countless individuals determining to to take responsibility for their own lives, and setting out to develop the optimism and the courage...because it does take real courage...the compassion and the wisdom to have a value-creating and positve effect upon the lives of those around them.

As Daisaku Ikeda once again reminds us with absolute clarity of vision, 'no one was born hating others.'

That is such an amazing statement. It's like suddenly having one's eyes opened.
That's all for today.
See you next time.
Thank you for reading.
William
PS just learned that The Case for Buddhism is being translated into Spanish, as The Reluctant Buddhist and Buddhism and the Science of Happiness have been

my buddhist blog number 66

Hi Everybody,

So we ended the last episode with the thought that it can only be immensely confirming, immensely heartening to any practising Buddhist to learn that the kinds of answers that modern sociologists are coming up with, are so close to the kinds of values and principles and modes of behaviour that lie at the very heart of a Buddhist approach to life. So today we try to answer the question, What difference does it make?

So in many ways that remarkable conjunction of views between modern social scientists and Buddhist teachings reminds us of the thoughtful dictum offered to us by Einstein so many years a go.

' Science without religion, ' he observed, 'is lame, religion without science is blind.'

Even today that statement represents perhaps the most concise and the most powerful expression of the fact that we all need contributions from both. Science that is, can provide the objective discipline and the method to observe aspects of human behaviour and motivation,right across societies. Religion, Buddhism in this case, with its great body of understanding of human nature built up over many centuries, can gain not just encouragement and support, but wholly new perspectives from the insights that science can now provide. So it is potentially, a very rich and fruitful combination of views. And by no means is it just of theoretical or academic significance. far from it. It has, I would argue, huge implications for the future of society. Why do I say that?

We are all deeply concerned, fearful even, about the fact that we live in a time of great turbulence and turmoil, and much of that turmoil is down to violence across religious boundaries. Indeed the violence of inter-religious conflict is, without doubt, one of the greatest and most challenging issues of our age. And no one seems to be able to offer any meaningful way forward, let alone anything resembling a resolution. It might seem somewhat fanciful to suggest that Buddhism can offer a strategy for tackling these widespread and seemingly insuperable problems, but that is precisely the promisethat Buddhism holds out. It represents in a very real sense the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice. Since Buddhism is not attached to any definition of divinity, it doesn't have any boundaries. As we've seen, nothing and no one is excluded. It doesn't have that is the boundaries across which so much of modern conflict takes place. The only qualification is to be a meber of the human race.

The Charter of UNESCO contaisn a sentiment that echoes to the very heartbeat of the Buddhist vision of a world, firmly in the grip of peace. The Charter reads;

'...since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.'

Buddhism might well aff the words, individual by individual, because that it argues, is how it must begin, in the minds of countless individuals. Put simply, Buddhism teaches that at any particular time, the environment we find ourselves in is, in very large measure, a reflection of our subjective life state at that time. If we are in an angry, destructive, aggressive frame of mind, that will be reflected back at us from the reactions of those around us, and from the situations that follow. If on the other hand our life state is high and our approach is consistently optimistic and welcoming and value-creating, then, Buddhism argues, that will flow out into,our environment and have an influence on the people we encounter, and the way that situations around us evolve.

Try it! Not the angry bit but the positive one. I have many many times, in all sorts of situations, and it holds true.

So just to pull this particualr argument to a close, I would argue that the Buddhist claim, huge as it no doubt is, fits in with our common experience. Even without the recent research we discussed in earlier instalments of this blog, we are aware that both optimism and pessimism are highly infectious. We all prefer to live our lives surrounded by positive, optimistic people. We all find that our energies are sapped and our enthusiasms are extinguished by being amongst those who are persistently pessimistic. And similarly, we are commonly disturbed and can get worked up in all sorts of way, by being among those who are persistently aggressive or combative. S

So Buddhism argues...we can make a big differecne to our environment...if we choose to do so.

And that's where we go next time.
Hope to see you then.
Thank you for reading thus far.
I'd be imensely grateful if you felt able to bounce this blog onto someone else who might be interested, or perhaps point them in its direction.

Best wishes,
William
The Case for Buddhism is available at a knock- down- drag- out price on Amazon or on Kindle.

my buddhist blog number 65

Hi Everybody,

What we've been doing over the past 6 to 7 episodes is to look at the kind of understanding and learning that has come out of a huge amount of sociological and psychological research over the past ten to fifteen years say, about the qualities and the behaviours that help us to build a meaningful and satisfying and creative life, for ourselves and those around us. So it's not remote and academic stuff. it's real and everyday, and affects every one of us. In fact it's worth pausing I think, to enable us to be absolutely clear what we have here. We have modern social scientists, defining in great detail, the kinds of values, the kinds of choices, the kinds of behaviour that they now have not the slightest doubt, can enhance and improve people's lives. They also make it clear that their work represents a very considerable addition to our understanding of what it is that makes people feel good about their own lives, and what kinds of values and modes of behaviour help people and societies work harmoniously and creatively together.

And that's what we all want don't we, when it comes down to, it? We want to live in peaceful, cooperative and supportive societies, in which people genuinely care about what happens to their neighbour, and fully respect the lives of others.

The key point I would want to make, indeed then key reason for looking at this work, is the sheer extent of the overlap, the similarities and the echoes between what buddhism has been teaching for so long, and the findings of these modern sociologists and psychologists. As I've said before, we shouldn't seek to adopt the research as a sort of scientific scaffolding around any particular Buddhist perception, because it patentlky isn't.

What the research does it seems to me however, is to open up a whole series of immensely illuminating and interesting new perspectives, when we are discussing things of the very greatest moment to all of us: what do we really mean when we are talking about happiness in this life, or about creating value in our relationships? Or when we are trying to answer that profound question, how should I live?

It can only be immensely heartening, immensely confirming I suggest, to any practising Buddhist, to learn that the kinds of answers that modern sociologists are coming up with, are so close to the kinds of values and principles and modes of behaviour that lie at the very heart of a Buddhist approach to life.

That's enough for today I think.
Thanks so much for reading it.
If you know any one else who might be interested it would be great if you could bounce it on.
And if you do you have my heartfelt gratitude.

See you next time around.
William
The case for Buddhism is available from Amazon and can be downloaded from Kindle, as can my other books, The Reluctant Buddhist and Buddhism and the Science of Happiness, in English and Spanish.

my buddhist blog number 64

Hi Everybody,

This episode brings us to the last and undoubtedly one of the most significant of this little clutch of life-strategies we have been discussing, we might perhaps call it the connected life, because that is the very strong theme that comes out of much of the social research we have been referring to. What does it mean? It means a real sense of connectedness or engagement. a real sense of involvement in the lives of family and friends and colleagues and communities, as a constant reminder of our wider humanity. This turns out to be in many ways the fundamental constituent in a well-balanced and happy life. The evolutionary biologists tell us that we are in our deepest nature a co-operating animal, that we survive and flourish because of our ability to live and work and co-operate in family and social groups. As Sam Harris puts it in The Moral Landscape,

' There may be nothing more important than human co-operation...Co-operation is the stuff of which meaningful human lives and viable societies are made.'

Then positive psychologists tell us something very similar;

'The centrality of social connections to our health and well-being cannot be overstressed.'

What they are telling us is that hwen we do manage to build or experience these harmonious relationships they don't simply make us feel good about our lives, they seem to buttress and reinforce all our creative energies, so that we feel released or set free so to speak, and empowered to pursue many other fulfilling activities and objectivesin our lives.

And it is even greater than that. The strength of our social connections, the levels of altruism and compassion and willingness to support others, are absolutely decisive factors in how whole communities function. In some of their most recent research for example, sociologists such as Robert Sampson from Harvard have identified a quality that they have labelled the ' enduring neighbourhood effect,' which determines not simply how communities are able surmount and recover from major crises such as the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 2011, and the perfect storm that struck New York in 2012, but how neighbourhoods are able to deal with what he calls, ' everyday challenges,' such as anti-social behaviour.

So our level of connectedness, our level of engagement is in no way a marginal factor, it is clearly crucial in the quality of our everyday life. '

How ' connected ' are you is a big question. And it's interesting that this is a question that has moved from social theory you might say, to front and centre political debate, in terms of  ' The Big Society ' for example, which is being debated on both sides of the Atlantic.

The key question of course is what has all this got to do with Buddhism? Good question. And that's where we go in the next episode.

Thanks for reading. And if you feel you can pass it on to someone else, double thanks!!
See you next time.
William

my buddhist blog number 63

Hi Everybody,

Just the most beautiful autumn day in Kew today. Bright blue skies after yesterday's rain, brilliant sunshine and that autumnal crispness in the air. The run in the park with Gatsby this morning was a gift.

Were' in the middle of this account of many ways in which the results of recent sociological research chime with age-old Buddhist teachings, on how we go about building a rich and meaningful life out of the stuff of everyday. So we've looked at altruism and gratitude, both of them playing such an important role. We've discussed focusing on our strengthts rather than constantly being anxious about our weaknesses. Everybody has weaknesses. They're normal! And we've talked about trying to focus on the now. Today we're talking about having meaningful goals.

' We all need meaningful goals or directions that are bigger and wider than the simple daily progression of our lives. Things that we have to put real effort and energy into trying to achieve, so that we are completely aware that this activity is stretching us, and lifting us up out of our normal comfort zone. Settling down into that comfort zone can become a powerfully restricting habit, to the extent that we develop not just a strong resistance to setting higher goals ortargets for ourselves, but even a kind of fear, a fear of failure or rejection, that becomes strong enough to prevent us from attempting anything vaguely challenging.

There's plenty of research to show that if we can build this desire, this willingness, to set goals and targets for ourselves, to the extent that it becomes part and parcel of our lives, with real commitment in making the determination, and real resolution in sticking to it, and putting it into effect, then it can spill over into many other areas of our lives, even if they are completely unrelated areas, such as our social and partner relationships and career succes and so on. It seems that the sheer discipline of setting the goal, and the perseverance required to making something of it, act as a sort of catalyst to trigger these beneficial spill-over effects into other areas of our lives.

What has all that to do with Buddhism you might ask? Well a Buddhist practice is precisely about stretching people and lifting them up, encouraging and challenging ourselves to set goals and determinations for what we really want to achieve out of life. That's an easy thing to say of course, it rolls smoothly enough off the tongue, but it takes reall commitment and real application to achieve it. The daily practice is there to help us get better at summoning up that application and that effort. In one sense that is its very point, it is a structured discipline, a structured training programme to help us achieve more.'

That's it for today. Hope your day is a good one. As beautiful as it is here in Kew.
With my best wishes,
William
PS if you can think of anyone today's episode might help, inspire, encourage, be good for, please fire it off to them, with my best wishes.

my buddhist blog number 62

Hi Everybody,

I try to make sure that all the episodes stand alone, and I think this one does, but it makes much more sense I think if 59-62 are read together, since they are all dealing with these studies by the sociologists that chime so closely with Buddhist teachings, on the kind of value systems and behaviour that lead most clearly to a profound sense of well-being in our lives. Which we all want don't we? So much. Who wants not-well-being? Nobody!! So this episode is about living in the now.

' When you think about it, all these qualities that the sociologists describe as being fundamental to a stable sens eof well-being, are all closely relate: altruism and compassion, being compassionate to ourselves in the sense of focusing on our strengths rather than beating ourselves up over our weaknesses, and this, trying to grasp the value of the moment.

You might think at first glance that we have Buddhist teachers talking, but they are social scientists and they talk at some length and in great detail, about the importance for all of us learning to live in the now, making the very most of this moment, this piece of work, this moment of relaxtion in a summer garden, this conversation...the person who is standing in front of you now is for this moment, the most important person in your life. Rather than, as is so often the case just passing though this activity we're involved in, sometimes almost oblivious of it, far too busy or too anxious to grasp it or to savour it, because we're on the way to something else. We find ourselves so often wrapped up in anxieties about something that has happened already, which we allow to go on spinning around inside our head, or thinking in anticipation of something that will happen later on, or tomorrow, or the next day.

When you think about it even momentarily, what you choose to notice, what you choose to pay attention to, is what you experience, that is to say, it is your life. Or as Eckhart Tolle has expressed it,

' Do I want the present moment to be my friend or my enemy. The present moment is so inseparable from life, so you are really deciding what kind of relationship you want to have with life. '

It takes us back directly to the lessonthat lies at the heart of a Buddhist practice, that we have the choice. The cause that we make in paying attention to the now of our lives, delivers the effect of an altogether richer life experience.

Try it. I'm an extremely active person, indeed overactive, always in too much of a hurry. But I've made real efforts in the past half dozen or so years to slow down, which is the way I express it to myself, in order to experience whatever I'm doing from moment to moment. It's difficultof course. With our hugely active and restless minds it's not a skill that comes easily. There's so much stuff coming at us from all directions with our adrenaline-fuelled modern lifestyles. And we can feel considerable guilt if we don't go on thinking about that list of uncompleted jobs, or the difficult e-mail we haven't yet responded to, or the up-coming interview, or that errand we promised to run.

But then, lots of things of value are difficult to fold into our lives. Once we are aware of it, we can undoubtedly learn how to get better at it, and the reward is huge, and growing. It is a genuine life skill. In fact it is interesting that in his book Flourish which is devoted precisely to this issue of how we can enrich and deepen our sense of well-being, Martin Seligman writes on what he calls, ' the virtue of slowness.'

' Mental speed comes at a cost. I found myself missing nuances and taking short cuts when I ahould have taken the mental equivalent of a deep breath. I found myself skimming and scanning when I should have been reading every word. I found myself listening poorly to others. I would figure out where they were headed after their first few sentences and then interuppt. And I was anxious for a lot of the time,- speed and anxiety go together. '

I think we can all immediately recognise the essential truth of that. We've all taken those shortcuts, and given only half our attention to what's being siad. And having been there, I'm sure we can all recognise the benefit we would gain from an increased awareness that where we are right now, is a pretty good place to be focused on.'

 A bit longer than normal today but I think it goes better as a s ingle piece.
Next time we focus on having meaningful goals.

Hope to see you then.
Best wishes,
William
The Case for Buddhism is available from Amazon and can be donwloaded from Kindle

my buddhist blog number 61

Hi Everybody,

Really busy today so I'm going to leap straight into it. We're looking at some of the latest ' guidance,' understanding, knowledge, perceptions....call it what you will...that has emerged from really interesting sociological studies over the past couple of decades, about how we can create a consistent sense of well-being in our lives, and how closely, amazingly closely, that understanding chimes with what we learn from Buddhist teachings. so we've looked briefly at altruism and gratitude, and today we look at the importance of focusing on our strengths, rather than being misled by our weakness. The book takes up the story...

' The researchers talk of the immense value of coming to know more clearly what our real strengths are, and being completely honest to ourselves about our weaknesses, which is essential they argue, in developing  a far more effective life strategy. far better they say, to focus our energies and our plans around our strengths, rather than being constantly anxious about our weaknesses, or beating ourselves up over them, or worse, trying to paper over them as if they didn't exist!

That rings true doesn't it? We know full well that we often devote so much time and energy,worrying about and somehow trying to compensate for our weaknesses, that it deflects us from what we really want to achieve for ourselves. Whereas we are much better placed in building our lives around what we know we are good at, and where we have a strong base of self-confidence. This immensely practical kind of self-knowledge is one of the things that Buddhism is referring to when it talks about our innate wisdom, or being true to ourselves. It's our honesty with ourselves that enables us to respond more capably and more creatively to the events we encounter in all the various sectors of our life. It can certainly have the most powerful underlying effect on our sense of confidence and self-worth, since we all want to be seen and valued as capable and resourceful people.

Professor Ruut Veenhoven for example, from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, one of the most highly res[ected teachers in this field, talks of the immense value of this kind of utterly practical, down-to-earth self-awareness. He argues that one of the least talked-about secrets of a sense of well-being, is learning to be comfortable with who we really are, and what our qualities are; as he puts it, learning to love the life we have.

It's a view that ties in so closely with what we have just been talking about, in relation to gratitude, and appreciation for what we have, as opposed to spending our energies yearning for what we simply want.

That's it for this episode. Next time around we talk about the crucial importance to our sense of well-being of really trying to live in the now.

Keep reading! Keep smiling!
See you next time.

William

my buddhist blog number 60

Hi Everybody,

Walking in the park with Gatsby this morning it was the most beautiful autumnal morning, slightly cool, low sun slanting through the trees, lots of people and dogs and walkers and cyclists making the most of this lovely September. To requote the poem, oh to be in England now that Autumn is here!! We have a lot to be grateful for in our climate. which brings me neatly to todays theme...last time we did altruism. This time we do gratitude!

' Altruism is close to gratitude and there is much discussion in the research findings of the remarkable transforming power of a spirit of gratitude, unlocking as it has been described, a whole basketful of positive and beneficial effects for the giver as well as the receiver, and indeed for anyone who happens to be within earshot. It's clear that building a strong dimension of gratitude in our lives is very good news indeed. Just going out of our way to express our gratitude to someone has been shown to have a positive effect on our sense of well-being for days after the event itself. But it's important, the researchers point out, to recognise that gratitude goes well beyond simply saying thank you to someone for help or support. They talk about it as a much broader, whole-life attitude to the way we take each day; about having for example a keen and lively sense of appreciation for all the ordinary things of life, ( takes me back to my walk this morning!) not taking things for granted, recognising all that we have, as opposed to focusing on on what we don't happen to have. Gratitude if you like as an essential element in the way we everything that happens to us.

And it's in that sense I would argue that it chimes most closely with the Buddhist description of gratitude, as being absolutely fundamental to a positive life state. A sense of gratitude if you like literally drives out negative thoughts. you can't be grateful and negative at the same time. Indeed the social scientists make a great deal of this idea in their work, talking of gratitude being incompatible with negative emotions such as anger and resentfulness. One psychologist describes it very much in that vein, ' gratitude helps people cope with stress and trauma, ' she writes.

So clearly gratitude is a hugely powerful and valuable quality to nurture in our lives, which once again, is a powerful conjunction of views between the scientist and the Buddhist. '

That's it for today. I think it helps to deal with just one quality per episode.
See you next time,
William
PS The Case for Buddhism is available for not a lot from Amazon and for even less from Kindle. I can only express my gratitude for the warmth with which it has been received by readers from all over. Can't thank them enough.

my buddhist blog number 59

Hi Everybody

I happen to think that this bit we're coming to is a particularly interesting bit of the book. Why do I say that? Well because I spent a long time looking at all kinds of studies in sociology and psychology particularly, as well as one or two other fields, and in many ways that was one of the main triggers for writing the book,  when these social scientists set out to describe the kinds of values and behaviour that they have identified as the source of a profound sense of well-being and confidence and stability in people; the sorts of qualities that enable people, and indeed societies, to live and work harmoniously and productively, it is staggering just how closely the things they write and talk about echo and mirror the kinds of values and behaviour that that lie at the very heart of Buddhist teachings. The kind of values and behaviour that that a Buddhist practice indeed seeks to encourage and nurture. The similarities as I've said are remarkable.

So over the next few episodes I will be writing specifically about this clutch of values and behaviours that are so important to us if we're trying to build the nmost satisfying and fulfilling and value-creating life of which we are capable. And we start with the altruism

Altruism
They write about the powerful happiness-effect of a compassionate and altruistic approach to life; developing a fundamentally contributing and giving approach, rather than a taking and consuming one. So many studies show that even quite small altruistic gestures, simply offering a smile for example, or a helping hand, or a word of encouragement on the spur of the moment, they all bring a sense of warmth and connectedness that has been shown to last well beyond the fleeting moment of the event itself. Everybody benefits. When we go further and give freely of our time and energy in concerning ourselves more deeply with the needs and anxieties of others, rather than concentrating, as we so easily tend to do, on our own current problems, it's been shown repeatedly that this level of altruism can change fundamentally the way we feel about our own lives. It delivers a huge boost to our own sense of self-worth and the ultimate value of our lives.

Buddhism of course has always taught that exerting ourselves in this way, focusing outwards, rather than inwards, on other people's needs rather than our own, can lead to the most rapid growth in our own inner strength and resourcefulness. Now, as the sociologists describe it, such an outward-looking, contributing approach to life, triggers a cascade of positive effects.

So even though evolutionary biologists have a really hard time of it, trying to put together a meaningful evolutionary explanation for the operation of altruism among human beings, today's psychologists don't have the slightest doubt about the powerfully enriching, harmonising,value-creating contribution it can make to all ourlives.

And an immensely valuable aspect of altruism is of course giving up our need to criticise, criticising people, things, events, anything that we just don't happen to like, or that is in some way different from our view of the world. Just giving up the need to criticise, to devalue, to run down has an immensely positive and liberating effect. We immediately become more contributing, more valuable members of our family, or office, or our community. Try it! An apparently small change has an immensely powerful life-changing effect. '

Right so thats altruism. In the next few episodes we look at the powerful life-enhancing effects of qualities such as gratitude, or learning to focus on our strengths rather than our weaknesses, or focusing fully on this moment we are in, rather than being tied up in knots over past events or anxious about future ones.
Hope you'e enjoying the read. as I've said several times already, if you can think of anyone who might just be interested in reading bits of The Case for Buddhism it would really make my day if you were to bounce the address on to them. That's the whole point really of doing the blog, to reach a wider audience.

Best wishes,
William

my buddhist blog number 58

Hi Everybody,

just back from blue and sun-kissed Antibes. Wonderful time. It's a small, slightly scruffy French town that has the sea at it s feet and the hills and mountains behind, and it's full of character. I've been going there for 30 years. Used to own a house there. Anyway, we had just a wonderful time fishing and snorkling and tennis and windsurfing, and just being together. Sarah loves it too. And we met and chanted with the local Buddhist leaders to renew our relationship with them. And some nice things were said about The Case for Buddhism!

So where did I leave off last time? I was talking about one of the central themes of the book, namely that when I spent many months looking at relatively recent studies in sociology and psychology, one of the most striking things that emerged was that the issues that the scientists and the sociologists were writing about , not the language or the phraseology that is used of course, but the basic issues themselves, would be very familiar to anyone who regularly atends Buddhist discussion meetings or seminars, since these are the very issues that are discussed at such meetings. Buddhist teachings that is, and these sociological studies are walking across the same ground, our daily lives, and expressing very similar ideas about how we might enhance them.

A second observation that is I think equally significant is that many of the papers emphasise a point that is so often made in Buddhist teachings, that many of us, Buddhists or not, find very hard to grasp or believe in. Namely that we can create for ourselves a profound and stable sense of well-being in our lives, almost regardless of the actual circumstances and events that we happen to be living through. That is, as I've said, something that is very hard for most of us to believe in, and the sociologists clearly understand and accept that enduring difficulty. But nevertheless, as they make clear, study after study reinforces the conclusion that the actual circumstances and events in our lives, however major they might seem, in fact have only a relatively small impact on our overall sense of well-being. It seems clear tha tit is our basic attitude or our approach to those circumstances that has the dominant role to play in our on-going life state. In fact so sure are they of their ground that the scientists are actually prepared to put a figure on it.

And before you exclaim in pure exasperation at such a thought, just hear this passage from the research psychologist we've just quoted from, very  highly regarded in her field;

' As significant as our major life events are to each of us, studies suggest that they actually determine a tiny ( sic!) percentage of our happiness...many past investigations reveal that all life circumstances  and events put together account for only about 10 percent of how happy different people are...although you may find it hard to believe.'

Indeed! I have to say at once that I am not in any way personally attached to that ten percent figure, and I'm not asking you to become attached to it either. I quote that passage simply to make the point that there clearly are grounds both from long-established Buddhist teachings, and now from objectively managed modern studies, to encourage us to challenge our deeply held assumptions and convictions that our life circumstances play the major role in our sense of well-being or not. They don't.

As another renowned social scientist puts it boldly;

'We are not simply victims of our situation, or indeed of our past. '

We have to work really hard to understand that the idea we continue to hang onto, that our circumstances are the dominant aspects of our lives, is a major delusion or misperception on our part. We are free to rise above our circumstances, as soon as we choose to do so. And the sociologists and the psychologists believe firmly that they now have a much firmer grasp on the values and the behaviours that will most readily enable us to achieve that.'

And that's where we go next, what do the sociologists have to tell us that will really help us to enhance our sense of well-being, and how does that relate to those long-established Buddhist teachings that we are talking about.

So see you then. later in the week.
It was great to be away. It's great to be back!

Best wishes,
William
The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon and can be downloaded on Kindle.
And if you were to mention this blog to a single friend, I would be totally grateful!

'

my buddhist blog number 57

Hi Everybody,

One of the main reasons for writing this book was to see how classical Buddhist teachings about how to live a fulfilling and value-creating life  stand up in relation to the really facinating and illuminating  findings that are coming out of the latest social and psychological research. My view basically is that it's important  not to have our head inside the box so to speak, but to measure what we learn from Buddhism against what else we know about the world and the way life, as indeed both Shakyamuni and Nichiren asked us to do. Don't accept our teachings on face value they made clear, question and debate them to ensure that they make sense in relation to your life. And that's basically what the Case for Buddhism does. It looks at Buddhist teaching in relation to the vastly increased understanding we now have of the way people function. That's why this next sub heading is...

A brief sideways look at the research
' It is remarkable just how much research there has been over the past decade or so, seeking to define what kinds of things make people feel good about themselves and their lives and their relationships, what kinds of things people have in their minds when they talk about a sense of stability, or a general sense of completeness and well-being, when they look across the totality of their lives. And that is of course an important point to emphasise, that we are talking about the totality of people's lives, the average sense of stability and well-being, rather than the inevitable short-term fluctuations from day to day or week to week.

This sort of research has steadily grown from a trickle a decade or so ago, to a veritable avalanche. And I have to say straightaway that it's a great pity that many of these findings never or rarely see the light of day, beyond publication in some...for most of us...remote and inaccessible journal such as the Journal of Behaviour and Social Psychology, or the Journal of Applied Psychology or the American Journal of Sociology, to be read by professionals in the field and quoted in their equally erudite papers, later to be published in the same relatively inaccessible journals! It's a great pity because the plain fact is that this research is opening up for us a whole new world of insights into what it is that can really make people's lives sing; make them places of joy and satisfactionand fulfilment. Really important stuff therefore for all of us.

Take for example something as seemingly simple as getting people to keep a gratitude journal. That means just taking the time once or twice a week to actually write down a handful of things that you feel truly grateful for in the current week. Pretty simple yes? But several studies reveal that something that simple and easy to do can give a genuinely powerful and enduring boost to your sense of well-being. And what's more, this highly desirable result seems to hold true, whatever your actual life circumstances happen to be at the time. If you think about it, all thse people are doing is actually taking the trouble to express their gratitude, even if only to themselves!

Another group of findings relates to the fact that quite clearly, positive changes in our own life state, as Buddhists might express it, an increase in our general sense of well-being, is not in any way limited to our emotional or mental activities, inside our heads so to speak, it is undoubtedly a whole body or whole life experience. As one of the most respected and most prominent researchers in the filed has expressed it recently, when we have a deeper and more stable sense of well-being in our lives...

' we also improve other aspects of our lives...our energy levels, our immune systems, our engagement with work, and with other people, and our physical and mental health. In becoming happier we also bolster our feelings of self-confidence and self-esteem, we come truly to believe that we are worthy human beings, worthy of respect. A final and perhaps least appreciated plus is that if we become happier we benefit not only ourselves, but also our partners, families, communities and even society at large.'

Now those are all qualities we would dearly wish to achieve for ourselves and others aren't they? So clearly these findings are not dealing with some marginal stuff lying somewhere out on the edges of our experience. They touch upon issues that lie right at the centre of our lives from day to day, our ordinary daily lives.

And the key point that I would ask you to grasp is that the issues that the scientists and sociologists are talking about, not the language or the phraseology that is used of course, but the basic issues themselves, would be immediately familiar to anyone who regularly attends Buddhist discussion meetings or seminars, since these are the very issues that are discussed at such meetings. These are the very qualities that a Buddhist practice is seeking to to initiate and nurture in our lives. Buddhist teachings that is, and these sociological studies are walking across the same ground..our daily lives...and expressing very similar ideas about enhancing them.

Now I find that very exciting. I hope you do too!

That's it for today. Tomorrow I'm off to Antibes in the South of  France. I love the place. I used to have a house there and I've been going there every year for longer than I care to admit to. So the next episode won't be until mid September.

I look forward truly to seeing you again then. And again I express my gratitude if you find it possible to introduce anyone else to the blog. It takes a fair bit of effort to stick at it, and that effort would be doubly rewarded if you managed to introduce another person.
Best wishes,
William

my buddhist blog number 56

Hi Everybody,

As I think I mentioned a couple of episodes ago, I'm off on my hols again next weekend...I have to say it's been a great year for holidays, three so far!!...but I am hoping to squeeze in three episodes this week to make up. And I'll be taking the SGI study notes away with me so that I can start study sessions when I get back. I love the fact that during the study sessions I can smell the sun tan cream on the notes and see the salt stains, it's a great memory of the summer. Anyway we're in chapter 8, and we're talking naboout Buddhahood, what is it? And we ended up saying that the Buddha Nature we are told in Nichiren Buddhism, is a universal quality that we can all learn to draw upon or harness in our daily life.

' Once again it is unquestionably a huge life-changing idea, nothing less than a revolution in the spiritual history of mankind. It was central to Shakyamuni's enlightenment, and was revolutionary when it was first made clear in the Lotus Sutra. It was no less revolutionary when Nichiren spent so much of his life explaining its implications in 13th Century Japan. And I suggest, it remains revolutionary today, in the sense of being a very difficult idea to grasp hold of and to act upon, as the central inspiration for living through all the mundane muddle of our daily lives.

And as we've seen, that in essence is what the daily practice is about, helping us to move along that path of understanding, and to fold that understanding into the detail of our lives. It's a cooking word of course, folding, but it is precisely right it seems to me, for what we are trying to express here. It means taking this bold and utterly uncompromising but somewhat alien teaching, an blending it into the very texture of our lives so that it becomes indistinguishable from the rest. From my experience that is by no means an easy thing to do. It takes real commitment and above all constant perseverance. But the rewards in terms of a deep and enduring sense of gratitude and well-being...again in my experience...are unequalled. Otherwise I wouldn't be writing this!

Human scale qualities
So what do we mean then by Budha nature? How should we come to terms with it and represent it to ourselves so that it makes everyday sense to us. The somewhat surprising fact is that it is defined quite simply in terms of ordinary and above all, human scale qualities or characteristics. There is nothing even vaguely superhuman or other-wordly about them. Indeed they are all qualities that we can all make very good use of in the turbulence of our daily lives; a powerful inner resource of courage and resilience no matter what challenges we encounter, that's immensely valuable isn't it? A sense of wisdom or judgement that enables us to understand more clearly where and how we can create value. And a strongly developed sense of compassion that enables us always to go towards people warmly and supportively.

Of course we're all ordinary human beings so achieving these qualities is in no way a static state, a place you arrive at. It is, like life itself, dynamic and constantly changing, hence the daily-ness of the practice. But perhaps the key point to hang onto is the essential down-to-earth humanity of the idea. Thus all the historically recorded Buddhas, were ordinary human beings. It's crucially important to remember that; immensely wise and perceptive and deeply compassionate but still ordinarily human, with their share of the basic human qualities that we would all recognise, as an essential part of their lives, never to be got rid of. Buddhahood that is, has got nothing to do with an aspiration towards perfection, nothing to do with superhuman abilities, or transcendental powers.

Just as Buddhism is about daily life, so Buddhahood we learn, can only reveal itself in the lives of ordinary people, like us, going about their daily life.

Courage, wisdom and compassion
So the courage does not mean the soldier's bravery. It's not the absence of fear so much as the courage to overcome the fear and the negativity that we all have experience of in our lives, sometims to the point of paralysis; fear of so many things, fear of failure, of rejection, of isolation, of inadequacy. Winning over our own negative road blocks is often the toughest part of any challenge. We need this everyday type of courage to confront problems as they arise, rather than denying them until they loom so large they threaten to overwhelm us. As we all know it takes real courage to face up to our own greatest weaknesses.

The wisdom is not about the profound perceptions of the philosopher, but rather a greater awareness of what is really going on in any situation, and an alert and lively common sense as to what action is appropriate. It's also a deeper and closer knowledge of ourselves, our strengths and our weaknesses, and the ability to see the repeated patterns in our own behaviour that can cause so much suffering, so that we can set about changing them.

The compassion is not so much concern for those less fortunate than ourselves, but the ability to see and comprehend the true nature of our life and its relationship to the lives of those around us. It is much more about profound respect and understanding for ourselves of course as well as others, we can often be all too hard on our own failings. But above all we find it immensely difficult to see situations from the other person's point of view, whether it's in a disagreement with our closest partner, or a fierce argument with a colleague. It is compassion that breeds the desire to understand the other person's point of view, even when it is diametrically opposed to our own. I think we could argue that compassion is always in short supply in today's world.

But knowing about thses qualities isn't the same as having them, or experiencing them is it? I fully accept that those are just verbal descriptions, just abunch of words you might say. They mean something on the page of course, but inevitably they convey little of the challenge of putting them into practice, of living them rather than knowing them. And still less of the richness of the personal experience as you come to realise that these qualities are informing more and more of your life.

But let's hang onto that brief sketch of the Buddha nature, and look sideways now at the sort of parallel understanding that is coming out of world of social research, on the same issue, how to go about our daily lives most efectively and most creatively. '

That's more than enough for today I'm sure. I've gone on a bit.
Thank you for reading thus far.
See you next time I hope.
William
The Case for Buddhism is available on Amazon, and on Kindle.

my buddhist blog number 55

Hi Everybody,

We ended the last session talking about the importance of establishing a steady, regular daily practice, because it is that structure, that discipline if you like, that steady progression towards the positive that enables us to become more capable, more effective, more contributing, in all the multiple, overlapping roles that we all have to fulfil, as parents and as partners, as teachers and colleagues at work and as friends at play. And of course as responsible people living in society. And one must add, with a greater sense of well-being; a claim that is amply borne out in the vast body of social research we now have on what kinds of things contribute to a stable sense of well-being. It's clear that our awareness of our own improved self confidence and our own increased ability to contribute to others, both play play a huge role in what constitutes happiness in this life.

We all want fundamentally to be capable people, in all the roles we inhabit. No one wants ever to be thought incapable!!

As we've seen, Buddhism chooses to call that resilient, life-enhancing inner strength that we learn how to grow, Buddhahood. And it chooses to call the confident awareness of its existence enlightenment. Those are of course unusual and infrequently used words in our western vocabulary, but when it comes down to it, they are just names! We shouldn't allow their unusual-ness and unfamiliarity to deflect us the central fact that the qualities that they represent are not in any way other-worldly or esoteric; they are demonstrably part of our everyday, down-to-earth reality. But before we dip into someof the important and immensely revealing social research I've mentioned, let's briefly tackle this central concept of Buddhahood.

So, what do we really mean by Buddhahood? I don't think we'll be able to squeeze the whole of the answer to that question into this episode, but we'll get a fair way.

So we are wholly accustomed in the western world to thinking of the ' the Buddha ' as being the great historical figure of Shakyamuni. There have of course been many other men who have been given the title Buddha down the intervening centuries, but when we attach that definite article, we are undoubtedly referring to Shakyamuni himself. As we discussed earlier, he made no claims to divinity or to divine inspiration during his long lifetime. Indeed he specifically forbade his followers from making any such connection. However it is unquestionably the case that in western minds he clearly occupies a place alongside the other great founders of religions such as jesus and Mohammed, who did of course claim a divine connection. Indeed that was the very basis of their life on this Earth, they claimed to be the only channel through which God's or Allah's purpose was transmitted to mankind.

As a result of this parallel status, if I may put it that way, in the West, we are accustomed to attributing to the title Buddha, if not the very special qualities of divinity, at least something very close to it. For all intents and purposes, the Buddha has become god-like. Indeed across much of South East Asia Shakyamuni has been virtually deified, with huge gilded statues in Buddhist temples, and since it was this form of Buddhism that was first encountered and described by western travellers, this sense if deification very much colours the western response to the word Buddha. It is certainly fundamental in my personal response.

It therefore comes a ssomething of a shock when we first encounter the central teaching of the Lotus Sutra and of Nichiren Buddhism, which is that Buddhahood, or the Buddha Nature as it is often called, is not a quality possessed only by one very special man in history, or even by a handful of special men down the centuries. Buddhahood we are told, is a potential inherent in everyone, everyone without exception. Part of our essential humanity. Whether we accept it or not, whether we believe it or not, or have the slightest interest in understanding the implications of it, Buddhism argues that we all have that potential in our lives. Everyoner you sit beside on the train, or ride up the escalator with, the man you buy your newspaper from, all the colleagues you encounter on a daily basis at work, those you like and those you don't!

The Buddha nature we are told is a universal quality, that we can all learn to draw upon or to harness in our daily lives.

Well that is aundoubtedly a huge, life-changing idea isn't it? Nothing less than a revolution in the spiritual history of mankind.

And we gon on to look at the implications of that idea in the next episode.

Thanks for reading to here. It's much appreciated. Hope you are enjoying it enough to tell other people about it.

Best wishes,
William

my buddhist blog number 54

Hi Everybody,

Here we are at chapter 8, Buddhism and Daily Life. And we dive straight in.

' One of the things that struck me most forciby when I first started to go to Buddhist discussion meetings and seminars, long before I felt ready to take up the practice myself in steady or meaningful way, was the immensely positive way that people spoke about the influence of the practice in their daily lives. So they would talk for example about having a clearer sense of purpose and direction, and a value structure that helped them to think constructively about their lives. They would frequently say that they felt more focused somehow, even if they couldn't define precisely why. Or that they no longer felt so blown off course by random events. Or that they could make choices and decisions more readily, because they had a clearer sense of who they were, and what they wanted in their lives. That's a lot of positives isn't it? Nothing remarkable or amazing. But a clear sense of ordinary people feeling in some way better about the way they were dealing with the relationships and the events in their lives and...and this is perhaps the most important thing...creating value as a result.

Moreover all the qualities they chose to mention, a clearer sense of, purpose and direction, more focus, more decisiveness, all appear prominently in the work of sociologists when they are writing about how we set about establishing a stable and consistent sense of well-being in our own lives, and equally important, how we contribute to the lives of those close around us.

To squeze it absolutely into a nutshell, Buddhism essentially presents the flow of life as a constant series of choices that come towards us, all of them  lying somewhere on this continuum between the negative and the positive. So that every day, every week, countless times, we are called upon to make this choice between being positive, and value-creating, or being negative and in some measure...great or small...destructive. And what it seeks to do, as illustrated by those people at those meetings, is to bring to us a greater awareness, that in all those countless situations we are the ones making the choice. We have that capability. As I've mentioned several times, Buddhism reminds us that life doesn't just happen to us, as we so often tend to see it, we make it happen.

So instead of just drifting along, or being carried along by our habit energy, we steadily acquire a sense of shaping it, and directing its course. Or, as the people at those meetings described it, they had a clearer sense of values and purpose, and indeed stability, underlying the inevitable daily flux of events.

And all Buddhist practice, at its heart, is about that heightened awareness. About helping us to grow and nurture it, rather as we might grow and nurture a skill at sport, or at music, or some other skill, as a conscious act. That's the key point, as a conscious act, a conscious process of change, in which we invest real time and effort and energy in order to develop this awareness as an inner strength. Because it is that inner strength, that emotional muscle you might say, that enables us more often to recognise and reject the negativechoice, however persuasive and attractive it might be, and more and more often make the positive choice, however challenging it might be.

And of course it is only more often, rather than always. We all have negativity as a constant presence in our lives and it is prety skilled at slipping in under our defences.

But this is the key point to hang onto, it is that steady progression, that growth, towards the positive, that enables us to become more capable, more effective, more contributing, in all the multiple overlapping roles that we all have to fulfil, as parents and as partners, as teachers and colleagues at work and as friends at play. And of course, as responsible people living in society. which is essentially what we are talking about in this chapter. And have no doubt about it...we all want to be capable and contributing people, even those of us who would seem to be most dysfunctional in society. A Buddhist practice opens up that possibility.'

Enough to be going on with I think. The great news is that we are about half way through the book!!
Could I just remind you of that request I made a while back. If you like this blog, and think that it creates value, I would be over the moon with gratitude if you would bounce on the link to other people. Anybody. They don't have to be practising Buddhists, not at all. I like to think the values expressed would enhance anyone's life.

See you next time,
William

my buddhist blog number 53

Hi Everybody,

Back from Lemnos. Had a great great time. And the great news is that my busted ankle hasn't forgotten how to windsurf. It was just so good to be on the water again. I find windsurfing is very much like skiing, all your focus is on the next turn, so that your mind is completely cleared of all the stuff that we have to deal with every day. In that sense it's very liberating. Very much living in the now. And i came back to find a really surprising e-mail from Tiziana, the very generous lady in Colombia who has done all the Spanish translations of the books. She sent me a clip from an article written by a Jesuit priest. And to my complete and utter surprise, he had quoted a passage from one of my books. It was  a passage about the importance to our lives of our attitude towards pain and suffering. Do we allow it to knock us down, or do we try to grasp it as an opportunity for creating change. But isn't it interesting,  that a Jesuit priest should choose to read, and actually quote from a book on Nichiren Buddhism. I find it absolutely fascinating.

Anyway, today's passage closes off chapter 7, which is about the practice, and it's headed Seeking actual proof.

' A Buddhist practice is too extensive, too multi-layered to admit of a meaniungful summing up. As the late historian and philosopher Arnold Toynbee, who was deeply interested in Buddhist teachings has expressed it,

'  The Buddhist analysis of the dynamics of life is more detailed and subtle than any western analysis I know of.'

But if I had to isolate a single thought that conveys the essence of its meaning and purpose, it would be perhaps that it enables us to understand altogether more clearly and more vividly, that life doesn't just happen to us, we make it happen. This combination of discipline and self-belief that lie at its heart, help us to summon up the determination and the effort and perseverance that can be truly life-changing, both for ourselves and for those around us.

But it's crucially important to add, that at no stage are we asked to accept the benefits of the practice that we have been talking about, as a matter of blind faith. From the outset Nichiren Buddhism asks us to regard actual, demonstrable proof of the benefits or the effects of the practice as the crucial test of its validity. Indeed the term ' actual proof ' is used to make this point clear, and if you think about it even for a moment, it is the fundamental question isn't it? Does it work? Does it genuinely help us with things like overcoming our problems and facing up to our challenges? Does it enhance our daily lives? Does it help us to live in a more positive, value-creating way despite all the difficulties we are bound to encounter as human beings? Those are the kinds of questions that this practice invites you to ask. As i've said, it requires nothing that might be described as blind faith. It does require the commitment and the determination in order to give it a reasonable chance to bring about change in your life.

And if i look back, that was certainly my own position all thos eyears ago, hanging on to that key question does it work? And in answerinng it I would say that you take note of the doubts and the misgivings that undoubtedly arise, particularly in the early days, but they can arise at any time. Why not?And you ask questions and read more widely in order to seek some resolution of them. But in the final analysis, it will not in my view be what you read, or what you are told about Buddhism that will convince you of its value, although of course they both have an important role to play, particularly at the outset.

In the end, it has to be the gradual accumulation of your own experience that prove to you that it makes sense in terms of your own life. Or not indeed. Both options are clearly valid. The practice is too demanding to be continued on the basis of what somebody else tells you about it. The deepening belief and the joy, in the life-changing power of a Buddhist practice have to come...can only come, from within. '

That's chapter 7 under our belt. Next time chapter 8. Buddhism and Daily Life.
see you then.
Best wishes,
William
Good to be back.