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A PARTNER AND A SPIRITUAL TEACHER

Communications / /

The next dharma e-news comes out in early August. I have written 21 tips, plus a PS (remember Anicca – Impermanence etc) to remember in an intimate relationship. The tips are glaringly obvious but small reminders won’t do us any harm.

I have been reflecting a little on my love life over the past 30 years. Roughly, I have been in a relationship more of this time than not in one. I have spent years and years exploring the synthesis of the role of partner and role of spiritual teacher. I don’t even call myself a spiritual teacher, but you know what I mean. …

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‘I NEED TO LISTEN TO MYSELF.’ Are you sure?

Dharma Reflections / /

‘I NEED TO LISTEN TO MYSELF.’ Are you sure?

A woman friend and I had a lengthy exploration together of the issue involving ‘self and other.’

Her voice had echoes of very similar voices that I hear frequently.

In a nutshell, here is what she said to me: “I have spent years listening to others. I have made so many sacrifices for my relationship and family.  …

‘I NEED TO LISTEN TO MYSELF.’ Are you sure?Read More »

‘I NEED TO LISTEN TO MYSELF.’ Are you sure? Read More »

THE GUEST HOUSE – the Buddha probably inspired Rumi’s great poem

Dharma Reflections, Poems and Prose / /

THE GUEST HOUSE –

BY RUMI AND THE BUDDHA

Rumi, the 13th century Muslim poet from a Persian family, has deservedly won a place in our hearts for his sublime capacity to nourish the depth of our being with his perceptive insights into love, sensuality, spirituality and intimacy with the immediate world.

His poems strike a chord in the depths of our meditative being. Not surprisingly, insight meditation teachers delight to read Rumi’s poems to spiritual practitioners. One of his best loved poems is The Guest House. The Buddha used the same analogy around 1700 years earlier in two talks entitled The Guest House.

The words of the Buddha probably inspired Rumi to write The Guest House.

THE GUEST HOUSE
by Rumi

This being human is a guest house. …

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THE GUEST HOUSE – the Buddha probably inspired Rumi’s great poem Read More »

LOVE IS STRONGER THAN DEATH

Poems and Prose / /

 

Love is stronger than death,

and empty gaps in the years

and the grooves of personal history,

so the kaleidoscope of countless perceptions

rest in an enduring fragrance that fills our being

while upholding a precious dedication.

 

Love is stronger than the fears, …

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LOVE IS STRONGER THAN DEATH Read More »

THE LIMITS OF SITTING MEDITATION

The Buddha, Spiritual / /

The Limits of Sitting Meditation

 

I was having a cafe latte with Reza in the funky Barrel coffee shop in the top end of Totnes high street, just a few minutes walk from my home. For years, I sat in the corner window seat reading beloved French philosophers, Nagarjuna, a continental novel, scribbling down a poem, people watching or having a lengthy conversation on every issue under the sun with people who dropped in to share a seat at the same table. …

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THE LIMITS OF SITTING MEDITATION Read More »

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