Today is the birthday of one of my early Buddhist teachers, Ajahn Sucitto, who was the abbot of Cittaviveka monastery in East Sussex when I visited there. He still lives and teaches there, and you can find out more at his website ajahnsucitto.org. Back in 2013, I bumped into him on the way to Lisbon, where […]
“Far from idleness being the root of all evil, it is rather the only true good.” Soren Kierkegaard This is a very old book review from the back catalogue of my blog but seems still spot-on. Tom’s book was published in 2005, and 16 years on, the fearsome pace of life has only been a […]
This is an article I wrote almost 10 years ago but it still seems to hit the right note. COMING OUT IS GOOD FOR YOU. This article was written in response to several emails I received from young men around the world who had read an interview I gave to Gay Times in the summer […]
On the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, I was thinking about how we relate to those events – both at the time and after the event. We have our experience – traumatically close or vicariously distant – and then there is the “World’s experience” conjured up by a thousand newscasts, […]
This is a transcript from a Mindsprings Practice Space session. You can join our practice sessions for free by signing up here. I’ve got a great question from one of our community, who submitted it in the chat, which I’d quite like to take the time to answer. She was talking about a great sense […]
Another scoop from the archives. Funnily enough, I may have changed my mind from the rather Puritan stance voiced in this blog in the intervening decade. I visited Avebury on my own a few week’s back and did enjoy the simple deliciousness of an English summer’s evening amongst those striking and majestic stones. I didn’t […]
From the date on the cartoon, this blog was originally written in 2008. An almost mythically long time ago. But the thoughts on caring still seem relevant. Perhaps even more so in this Instagram age where everyone cares so very much if people ‘like’ them. It’s worth persevering to the end for the very funny […]
I was on a powerful retreat in the Devon countryside a few weeks back and I had a startling flash of memory from my childhood. I recalled a phrase that my mother used to say to me: “Ask Doesn’t Get”. And by that, I assume, she meant that children who ask for things , don’t […]
A blog piece refurbished from the archives. But no one tires of hearing about amazing teenagers and the vast sweep of the future that lies before them. I spoke to the young men and women of St. James back at the time of the Arab Spring. A lot has happened since then. Not least the […]
This is another blog fished out of the annals. I probably wrote it about 10 years ago. I have subsequently read Joyce’s magnum opus for the third time. Not to crow but just as a triple advert for its brilliance. Perhaps it might tempt you to dive in! Just finished James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ for the […]
