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Author name: Christopher

Christopher Titmuss, a former Buddhist monk in Thailand and India, teaches Awakening and Insight Meditation around the world. He is the founder and director of the Dharma Facilitators Programme and the Living Dharma programme, an online mentor programme for Dharma practitioners. He gives retreats, participates in pilgrimages (yatras) and leads Dharma gatherings. Christopher has been teaching annual retreats in Bodh Gaya, India since 1975 and leads an annual Dharma Gathering in Sarnath since 1999. A senior Dharma teacher in the West, he is the author of numerous books including Light on Enlightenment, An Awakened Life and Transforming Our Terror. A campaigner for peace and other global issues, Christopher is a member of the international advisory council of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. . Poet and writer, he is the co-founder of Gaia House, an international retreat centre in Devon, England. He lives in Totnes, Devon, England.

Dharma Dancing Guidelines. Dancing Your Way to Liberation

Articles, Books, Photos and Music / /

Dharma* Dancing includes an extra feature – to be mindful of what arises in the mind. …

Dharma Dancing Guidelines. Dancing Your Way to LiberationRead More »

Dharma Dancing Guidelines. Dancing Your Way to Liberation Read More »

What does ‘Spirituality’ mean to you? A Response

Articles, Communications / /

I have a Facebook Group titled Christopher Titmuss Teachings with around 780 members so far. I invite members to respond to my weekly question. I wish to give a voice to others to share in the space of a line or few lines their reflections on core questions in daily life. …

What does ‘Spirituality’ mean to you? A ResponseRead More »

What does ‘Spirituality’ mean to you? A Response Read More »

A Nose and a Hand-kerchief. Cultural Differences. Different Strokes for Different Folks

Articles / /
While teaching a residential course last week in the Pauenhof Buddhist Zentrum, in Germany, I heard a graphic example of differences in culture. I have expanded on it to make a point.
A person went to India and witnessed Indians blowing their nose with head pointing down to the ground – one finger on one nostril and then the other nostril.
The Westerner said to her travelling companion: “That’s disgusting.”
A little while later, a Westerner in India blew his nose into their handkerchief and then put their handkerchief back into their pocket.
An Indian turned to his companion and said: ” She put her handkerchief back into her pocket. That’s disgusting.”
To summarise: We easily jump to conclusions about the behaviour of another with no idea how our behaviour may appear to others.
From The Ballad of East and West by poet Rudyard Kiplin (1865-1936)
Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth! |
Do you have an example of cultural differences?

A Nose and a Hand-kerchief. Cultural Differences. Different Strokes for Different Folks Read More »

Do I have the right to be angry? No. But….

Communications / /

No word has an independent, self-existent meaning. The meaning of every word depends upon the general agreement of those who use it.

Take the word Anger for example. See its meaning in the Buddha’s teaching, which has a similar meaning in widespread public use.

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Do I have the right to be angry? No. But….Read More »

Do I have the right to be angry? No. But…. Read More »

17 Koans. A Monk to the Zen Master. Introduction. Examples and Replies. Brief Comment on each Koan

Dharma Reflections / /

In the Buddhist tradition, Zen employs koans to rattle the cage of the mind in meditation. Koans come in the form of a question, story, dialogue or an event in history. Koans developed in the 13th century in Chinese monasteries, then Japan and Korea. …

17 Koans. A Monk to the Zen Master. Introduction. Examples and Replies. Brief Comment on each KoanRead More »

17 Koans. A Monk to the Zen Master. Introduction. Examples and Replies. Brief Comment on each Koan Read More »

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