Dharma Reflections

FOUR TRUTHS OF THE NOBLE ONES

(often simplified as the Four Noble Truths)

These four truths of the noble ones (a precise translation) constitute a primary interest for those living a wise and noble way of life. These four truths summarise the heart of the Buddha’s teachings.  …

FOUR TRUTHS OF THE NOBLE ONES (often simplified as the Four Noble Truths)Read More »

Summary of opening talk for experienced meditators at

Retreat at En dor, northern Israel, September 6, 2015

The Seeker

For a long, long time, human beings have engaged in a search. People have felt their limits, their mortality and sense of finiteness – a feeling of being small, vulnerable creatures on this Earth. …

The SeekerRead More »

I recall more than 30 years ago asking Gaia House, the much loved meditation centre, a few miles north of Totnes, south Devon, England, to display only beautiful plants and flowers in the front of the meditation hall rather than a Buddha image. Trustees and co-Dharma teachers kindly agreed. I also requested that we name the meditation centre as Gaia House. Gaia, a Greek goddess, means ‘Living Earth’ and, coincidentally, has the same pronunciation as (Bodh) Gaya, the place of the Buddha’s awakening. Co-teachers and trustees also kindly agreed to this proposal. …

Secular Buddhism. – Has a new Buddhist sect been formed in the West?Read More »

84 Questions to last a Lifetime

Dear Readers,

Here are four questions leading into 80 questions to encourage an exploration of our phenomenal existence. We waste our life if we sleep walk through it. Let us exercise the quiet inner power of consciousness to inquire into our relationship to this field of human being and  human activity. If you wish, read through the 80 questions. There is no single answer to any question.  The genuine answer makes a real difference to your life. …

84 Questions to last a LifetimeRead More »

Lewis Thompson, an English poet and sage, spent 18 years in India from the age of 22 until his death in Varanasi in 1949, aged 40. He devoted these years to the exploration of consciousness, experience and truth. Aphorisms, carefully filed away in boxes, were found after his death. Here is a selection of his aphorisms. Clear, sharp and direct, his aphorisms serve as an important resource for reflection for sincere people committed to the exploration of the human experience.

Still largely unknown more than 60 years after his death, Lewis Thompson has much to offer in his expression of numerous timeless truths. His aphorisms certainly deserve a wider audience. (see review of Mirror to the Light  in the blog of July 13, 2015). …

Lewis Thompson (1909 – 1949). A Selection of Aphorisms from Mirror to the LightRead More »