‘Rotten to the Core’

A friend advised me the other day to look at the Greenpeace report on computers. He asked me if I owned an Apple Mac. I said “no.” I told him that I have a four-year-old Toshiba laptop and a two-year-old Dell desktop. I had a look at the Greenpeace report on the Net.

I did not find the report an easy read because of the technical jargon but it made clear that some of the worst known toxic chemicals, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic and brominated flame-retardants (BFRs) are found in laptops Greenpeace said that Apple computers contained the highest level of contamination among the computers they tested in Danish laboratories – followed by Hewlett Packard. …

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The Hammer and Chisel Buddha Statue

In a generation, the Lord Abbot of the Thai Monastery in Sarnath has transformed the monastery into a beautiful garden of trees, flowers, shrubs and pathways. There is a lovely, quiet meditation centre at the back of the monastery and ample area for our dharma discussion groups to meet in the shade of the temple or under trees. The Abbot of the Thai Monastery in Bodh Gaya shares the same dedication. …

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The Rise and Fall of US Citizens in Bodh Gaya

In January 2007, I was speaking to Chad, our Bodh Gaya manager, about the shortage of participants in the Bodh Gaya retreat of US citizens.

If we had 120 on a retreat, we would have very roughly 40% from Europe and Israel, 35% from the USA and the 25% from the rest of the world – Australia, Canada, South America, India, Thailand, New Zealand etc. That would mean around 35 to 40 US citizens. …

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Her Silent Retreat

I do smile when I hear that some people prefer the partner of a teacher to sit retreats with other teachers rather than with their partner. It is a well intentioned thought. There is the possibility of mixing roles up roles. I regard the two roles of teacher and partner sitting the retreat as grist for the mill, raw material for practice. The two partners should agree together whether it is suitable for one partner to be the teacher and the other partner to be the practitioner. In my experience, this agreement and application works very well. Love is powerful – effortlessly embracing perceived differences. …

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