This is a list of articles, poems and reflections I have written for the Dharma e-News in the 14 issues since the first issue in January 2004.

To locate the article, copy and paste the key word of title of the article into the Find and enter.
The articles are in consecutive order for every Dharma e-News. 

1. Living In Fear: A 2001 Report On A Visit To Israel And Palestine
2. A Religion For The Third Millennium
3. Six New Poems
4. Is It Unethical To Define Ethics As The Five Precepts?
5. An Outline Of The Buddha’s Discourse On The All-Embracing Net Of Views
6. Appearance In Court -The Practice Of Mindfulness
7. Prime Minister Tony Blair And Gaia House 
8. Nine of the Best Books
9.  Has the Dalai Lama Left 'History to determine the Validity of War?
10. Vehicles for Insight
11. The Buddha on Dana
12. Two Guided Meditations
13. A Warning To Buddhists: Keep Your Eye On The Goal
14. Are We Really Challenging The Force Of Desire or Adapting It To Western Consumerism?
15. What Are the Major Differences Between Buddhist Teachers and Satsang teachers?
16. Seven More Poems
17. The Buddha's Charter For Inquiry: Analysis Of The Kalama Sutta
18. The Day The Earth Shook. The Tide Of Suffering And Death In Asian Tsunami
19. Choice? What Choice? An Inquiry Into A Contemporary Myth
20. How To Prepare A Dharma Talk and How to Give a Dharma Talk
21. Points To Remember For Those Who Work For Peace And Justice
22. Are You A Noble One?
23. Nine Favourite Poets And Poems
24. Obituary Of Venerable Ajahn Dhammadaro (1913 -2005)
25. Working With Anxiety: 10 Areas To Explore
26. The Terror Of Sounding Judgemental
27. A Government Health Warning To Meditators
28. Has Vipassana Reached The End Of The Road?
29. God? What God?
30. The Religion Of Popular Science
31. Who Is A Dharma Teacher?
32. What Are You Doing With Your Money?
33. The Buddha’s Dreams And Reflections On The Dream World
34. The End of Faith. Book Review
35. Mindfulness Of Management In the Office at Home And Work
36. Four Commemorative Stamps To Ajahn Buddhadasa
37. Why Are Americans Afraid Of Bodh Gaya? An Open Letter
38. Are Scientists Promoting A Delusion?
39. Is The ‘Now’ A Lot Of Hype?
40. Tips On A Relationship
41. What The Buddha Did Not Teach
42. Has the Theravada Buddhist Tradition Overlooked The Power Of Love?
43. More of An Uncomfortable Truth About The State Of Our Earth
44. Noble Eightfold Path For The Earth
45. Is Psychotherapy A Distant Cousin Of The Dharma?

Dharma e-News 1
January 2004

LIVING IN FEAR:
A 2001 REPORT ON A VISIT
TO ISRAEL AND PALESTINE


"I want to kill every Palestinian. I wake up with this thought every morning. This is the only solution" said the 40 year-old Tel Aviv office worker.

"The Final Solution?" I asked.

"Yes, I know it is a terrible thing to say but this is what I’m thinking everyday."

The woman expressed her suppressed anger and despair at one of two five day Buddhist retreats for around 160 people that I was leading at a Kibbutz, an hour north of Tel Aviv late last month (late July, 2001). I had invited participants in the retreat to come to the front of the hall to inquire into anything that affected their lives. In a 40-minute dialogue, the woman and I made a dark journey into her inner world charged with concentrated blame upon a stateless people.

She expressed her thoughts while others suppressed them. Expressed or unexpressed, I reminded the retreatants that such thoughts manifest as pervasive resentment and sudden bursts of rage in the circumstances of daily life. As one participant said after the inquiry session, "Israel is falling apart. We have become a dysfunctional nation. We think things can’t get worse but they do."

Some Israelis cried listening to the session, others sobbed and left the hall – mirroring the feelings of helplessness of ordinary Israelis to change their daily nightmare. Despair and frustration haunt Israel, even among thoughtful people seeking to resolve the crisis. You cannot sit in a restaurant, walk the streets, get on a bus or go to club without thinking about terrorism. I sat having a coffee in a crowded restaurant when two Arab Israelis, one carried a shopping bag, walked in to buy a coffee. Some apprehensive customers watched the man closely when his hand went to his bag.

The Chosen People seem to have chosen a nightmare daily existence as the effect of trying to resolve their problems over The Land through denying the rights of Palestinians. Instead of a wise prophet to guide them out of this wilderness of fear and distrust, the Israelis have Prime Minister Sharon.
VISIT TO NABLUS
Two days after the retreat, Mohammed, a Palestinian taxi driver married to an Israeli Arab, picked me up from the outskirts of Tel Aviv to make the 75 minute drive through the heavily guarded Israeli control points ending on the very edge of the largest Palestinian town of Nablus. The town nestles in a deep valley with a population of around 110,000 and famed throughout the Arab world as a centre of resistance against the Israel military forces.

I first came on my annual visits to Israel in 1992 to teach retreats emphasising ethics, meditation, wisdom and compassion. About three years later, Palestinians and Israelis invited me to facilitate dialogue groups in Nablus. About 15-20 Israelis – doctors, psychologists, lawyers, army officers, students, rabbis etc – met with Palestinians for two or three days, stayed in their homes and discussed their conflicts. We called these meetings "Face to Face" with funding from the Oslo Agreement. Until last October when the current waves of violence and recrimination began, friends in both communities held such dialogue groups with the support of Israeli Dharma teacher, Stephen Fulder. The groups met several times a year in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Participants reported that these meetings changed their lives. Israelis and Palestinians realised they have far more in common than what separates them including a deep love of the land and a desire for this cauldron of fear and mistrust to end. The current re-occupation and control over the Palestinian territories ended the dialogue groups. Yet, during my recent brief 24-hour visit to Nablus, I never heard a word of condemnation of Israelis only of the Israeli government and military occupation.

Our Face to Face meetings took place until 1999 in a large room used as a clinic at the top of a narrow five storey building a few hundred metres from the centre of Nablus. Families with children lived in the rooms below. Meetings began taking place every other month at the clinic and elsewhere in the Palestinian territories. This time I travelled to Nablus alone after my Palestinian hosts secured the approval of the (Palestinian) Governor of Nablus for my visit.

On Tuesday (July 31, 2001), the Israeli military fired several missiles from a helicopter into the same room of the same building killing eight people, including two children standing on the pavement outside waiting for their parents to collect them. Israeli government officials dismissed numerous international protests at such acts of state terrorism.

As Mohammed, a good humoured Palestinian, who kindly drove me into Nablus, we took the road on July 24 past the Jewish Settlement perched near Mount Gerazhim, a holy mountain for a Jewish sect, and then weaved our way down the valley into Nablus for a day-long meeting in a nearby building. Mohammed told the soldiers at the checkpoint that I was a religious teacher visiting as a tourist this holy mountain. It was true. To a degree.

In Nablus, I spent the whole day giving a workshop titled Transformation of Suffering to a group of about 20 Palestinian social workers who visit the homes of families directly affected by the current military occupation. In the space of a year, more than 650 Palestinians have died and 25,000 injured through live and rubber bullet wounds, military attacks, beatings, tear gas as the Israeli military attempt to control the lives of 2,000,000 Palestinians. The death toll for innocent Israeli citizens continues to rise to around 200 victims through acts of terrorism in the state of Israel.

Young social workers - men and women, mostly aged in their 20’s – visit homes in Nablus and surrounding small towns and villages giving comfort, support and advice. Risking their lives as they travel along pathways and tracks to villages, always fearful of running across Israel soldiers, they only have time to spend one hour at a time with a distressed family. They listen daily to such reports as:

The mother whose lost her children following an Israel ground to ground missile attack. .
The father who has gone missing for weeks.
The little girl who bursts into tears every time an Israeli fighter plane races through the skies.
The teenager who wakes up screaming every night and wets his bed.
The families whose homes have been demolished..
The women who walk up to the soldiers daily are begging them to stop the killings.
The mother unable to get urgent hospital treatment in Jerusalem for her little girl suffering with cancer. .

In such a workshop, there is no time for theory, nor time for analysis. There is attention to suffering, traumatic, unresolved and intense suffering. I have only a day to try to give some insight and inspiration to these young people. Elsewhere in a Palestinian village outside Bethlehem, a very short drive from Jerusalem, an Israeli Dharma friend, Neta, lives with her husband. Along with Palestinian women and international peace activists, she risks her life daily pleading with tank commanders and soldiers not to kill, maim or beat up Palestinians, or bulldoze their homes, shops and roads. These courageous people find themselves doing the job that the United Nations Peace Keeping Force should be doing. There are probably more non-violent demonstrations taking place in Palestine than anywhere else in the world.

A month before the Israeli soldiers grabbed Neta, dragged her by her hair along the ground, interrogated her, and twisted her arm up her back until it broke. The officer and soldiers were trying to force to her sign a piece of paper stating that she would not return back into the occupied territories. She refused. Her husband is Palestinian. I telephoned Neta on her mobile phone. "What’s all the background noise? I asked. "We are trying to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes," she yelled down the phone. "Everybody is shouting including the journalists who want us activists to get nearer to the tanks to get better pictures. It’s crazy here."

Meanwhile in Nablus, I placed two chairs in the centre of the room. I said to the group: "Imagine that I am a mother. I was told yesterday that a soldier took careful aim and shot my son dead. I am in grief. I can’t stop crying. I don’t want to live any longer. What are you are going to tell me? How can you help me?"
A beautiful Muslim woman, aged about 22, wearing a long, narrow cut, thin cotton coat and Muslim veil around her face, comes to sit in the chair opposite me. She leans forward and confidently speaks to me gently while my Palestinian translator also speaks in a soft tone. I reply as the mother continuing to share my distress with the social worker. Then I say that I am a 12-year-old boy frozen with fear. What you can you say or do? A young man aged around 27 comes forward to sit in a chair.

After such exchanges, I then give my response in terms of the importance of eye contact, touch, words, tone and the amount of reference to the past, present and future. We work hard together all day with the participants, who took many notes, asked many questions as we discussed the plight of families in grief. I am usually hardened to the world of suffering but during a short break in the session, I had tears in my eyes having listened to one distressingly painful situation after another. I knew the social workers were not exaggerating or giving a distorted picture, not in front of twenty of their colleagues

As these conversations with my Palestinian hosts continue into the night, I can hear gunfire. On the top of the two hills surrounding Nablus stand Israeli military camps used to direct missiles at the homes, offices and cars of suspected terrorists. One Palestinian told me: They can shoot anybody in the town any time they like." The following morning around the time I left Nablus, the Israelis fired five ground to ground missiles killing an alleged Hamas representative, Saleh Darwazeh, 38, as he drove his car in the town.
Despite the nightmare of military occupation, there is a general resilience, even cheerfulness, as well as sense of community, among the Palestinians in Nablus. I walked around the town with my hosts seeing for myself the social life. I didn’t see another Westerner in the town during my brief stay.

One of my hosts in Nablus, the saintly Rawda Basir, a recipient of an Italian peace prize, told me: "At the present time, we cannot use the word ‘peace’ here. We use the word "patience" instead. In the space of nine months all the work of reconciliation between the Israeli and Palestinian community has been destroyed.

"We cannot invite our Israeli friends for dialogue in Nablus. The Israel government has blocked off all contact between Israeli and Palestinian citizens. There are also some very angry people in this town who have their lost their loved ones. We cannot risk inviting our beloved Israeli friends here such as Stephen Fulder. We also cannot go to Israel."

Rawda, who spent eight years in Israel jails as a political activist in the late 1970’s, told me she feels she has only recently recovered from the trauma of the beatings and interrogation from that period. Palestinians agree unanimously that this current occupation is far worse than any period since the formation of the nation of Israel. She added: "We have to be patient. We keep telling each other this. We need patience more than anything else. The moral authority rests with us. We have the right to live our own lives free from such a brutal occupation.

One university lecturer in Nablus said to me: "The Israeli army on our land is terrorising us. So some angry Palestinians will kick back against Israeli citizens."

Sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians, as well as the fears of fellow Israelis, Israeli friends gave me an envelope to pay Mohammed for his petrol and time for the journey from Tel Aviv to Nablus that he took at some risk to himself. I handed over the envelope and said "salaam," then disappeared into my friend’s Tel Aviv home leaving him to drive back to Nablus through the control points.

Twenty minutes later, Mohammed is back hooting on his car horn outside my friend’s home. "Your Israeli friends gave you too much money to give me for your ‘taxi’ to Nablus, " he smiles, and hands me back half of the money in the envelope. Human goodness is still to be found there in both communities. The two communities must build on such goodness.

For further information about the remarkable work of the Israeli Sangha to build bridges for peace and reconciliation between the Israeli and Palestinian community, see www.middleway.org
---------------------
A RELIGION FOR THE THIRD MILLENNIUM


Deep meditation to open consciousness beyond mind’s conditioning and restricted perceptions. Love much and want little.

Enlighten and liberate our life. Realise the Web of Inter-Connection and relationship of all forms of life with each other. Give protection to bio-diversity and a holistic view rather than a reductionist view as science often advocates. See science as a mixture of theories and facts.

Use education to develop the heart as well as the mind. Explore the resources of ancient and contemporary spiritual traditions. Develop awareness and insights to end suffering and bring happiness and security for everyone.

Commitment to Right Livelihood (through love for others and environment as much as oneself) rather than selfish pursuit of a career.

End the mind-set of ‘us and them’ and the dualism of separation. Admit as a species, we cannot control our fate, nor are masters of our destiny.

Cultivate the sense of community and collective friendship instead of living in self-obsession and self-hate.

Develop mindfulness and reflection about lifestyle, diet and worthwhile commitments. Develop constructive engagement and facilitation processes to resolve conflict whether personal, social or international.

Prioritise wisdom over knowledge, compassion over cleverness, humility over arrogance. Take power away from centralised authority, such as politics, science and religion, and develop networks of wisdom. Seek the counsel of the wise.

Replace competition with co-operation. Develop sharing of knowledge and goods and skilful use of resources instead of exploitation.

Develop a vision of a sustainable world through respect for all species and protection of land, water and air. Acknowledge issues, events and things arise owing to causes and conditions.

End the manufacture and dealing in arms and convert all such factories and laboratories for constructive use.

Remember to reflect on what we are going to do with our free and precious life!
Instructions for Mindfulness of Breathing

In the sitting posture be mindful of the full breath experience. Experience the body expanding with the inhalation and contracting with the exhalation.

It is not necessary to focus on a particular location in the body but simply be mindful of breathing in and breathing out.

If tired, keep the eyes open. If restless, breathe long and deep and relax with the outbreath.

Allow the breath to flow in and out of the body, whether the breath is rough or smooth, shallow or deep.

Be aware of any moment(s) of stillness before the next in-breath.

Be aware of changes in the breath, of impermanence of every breath.

Experience the air element stimulating the cells of the body.

Relax gently with the outbreath when the mind easily wanders.

Let the brain cells become quiet.

Mindfulness of breathing contributes to harmony of body and mind and direct experience of organic life.

The air element confirms our intimacy and inter-dependence with the surrounding world.

Feel the freedom of simply breathing in and breathing out.

PS. Remember you don’t need a zafu (meditation cushion) nor a shrine room to sit in meditation! Any seat. Anywhere....

SIX NEW POEMS


THE MATRIX

Is the prisoner the sullen man behind the bars,
or the one who wants to escape his mind-numbing job
or the creative housewife trapped in domestic troubles
or the tired passenger fed up with a long haul flight
or the adventurous teenager who hates college
or the obese woman trapped in a body she hates
or the elderly widower unable to escape fading eyesight
or the hard working man unemployed and stuck at home,
or a lonely child bound to an abusive household
or an oppressed family wanting to escape their country
or the new immigrant harassed by the authorities
or a wounded soul struggling with depression
or an inmate holding to the bars in desperate frustration?

Do we not have more in common than we realise?
Do we not share the walls of our life in strange ways?

Can we be free to attend to what is,
to see the bars as metal, not as a cell suffocating dignity,
to see the cell as a room in a crowded motel
to see wardens as personal attendants,
to listen and respond to the anguish of others and ourselves
and see the prison as a metaphor for humanity?

For that would increase our awareness,
for we would look beyond the walls of our interpretation
and the constructed prisons of our own mind.
We would be free to be at ease with the unfolding day
dissolving our rage against life
and the darkness of the desire to escape ourselves.

Then we could be content to enjoy the mansion of our daily life,
feel free to know our existence
and free to forget the world out there,
for when the voice of our anguish is truly heard
the fires raging in the heart begin to cool.
.
We would then all be ourselves, outside our caged life,
knowing freedom of the spirit,
and abiding out of the shell
of our mental resistance to ourselves
and each other,
putting an end to troubled days,
here and now.

A NATURAL EMBRACE

Male and female,
Younger and older,
Rooted and global
Capital city and small village
Parent and non- parent
Exploring into the heart of things and
Going beyond the edges of the universe
Whether at one end of Mother Earth
or at the other end
One is back home with Mother and so is the other
Back home experiencing the impact of
mother's milk, of daily nourishment,
and familiar perceptions.

One is in the northern hemisphere
One is in the southern hemisphere
One is experiencing early winter
One is experiencing early summer
Right now is Monday evening for one
Right now is Tuesday morning for the other
One wears warm , woollen clothes
and the other wears thin, cotton clothes
One goes to bed and one gets up
Our environment makes our day.

One heart takes a risk and proposes
and the other heart is challenged
May our hands reach around the world and touch.
Love is wide.
As wide as time and space
Love ensures that when nothing adds up
then everything adds up.
The universe is wide
But small in the Immensity of all things,
the wondrous galaxy in the heavens here
reveals itself in the falling snowflakes there.

NO PAST

I have fled from this moment
into something has gone by.
a moment of nostalgia,
a regret in the flush of passion.

I make these forays into
what happened,
these impressions and storylines
arise as triumphs and regrets.
they show exposures of the self
in its unfolding form.

I claim the present is the fruit of
yesterday and today seems to have
becomes the outcome of what was.

Can I really dwell on what was.
Can I go back in time?

I cannot separate my past
from my impression of it.
what past is there to go back to?
I am left with this randomly selected
collection of impressions
masquerading as what was.

There is no past to go back into
leaving me nothing to face,
to work on, work out or work with,
there is a relief in all of this.

I have seen through the mythology
of having to deal with this and that
that i claim is my past coming
from the dredges of my unconscious
or with the sweet smell of my successes.

I do not have to be free from the past
I do not have to be infatuated with the past
there is no past that I can get to.
there is no past that can get to me
there is no past to be free from.

At last, I am no longer impressionable.

HOMAGE TO THE MIDDLE WAY TREATISE

Who is walking?
Is the walker separate from the walking?
Is there one activity going on,
namely just walking,
or are there two activities – walking and walker?

If there are two,
do they collide with each other or stay apart?
If there is only walking,
then who says it is walking?

Does the walker walk or not walk?
Can the walker go anywhere?
Since the walker is not the walk,
then is the walker left behind?

Does the walker start before the walking
or start when the foot first moves?
Does the walker start with the walking?
Or does the walking start with the walker?
Or do they start together?

Can you find the beginning of walking?
Can you find the beginning of the walker?
if you cannot find the moment that begins walking
then is it appropriate to refer to ‘walking?’
If you cannot pinpoint the walker
then is it appropriate to refer to one?

I believe I know that when i walk
I see the body is moving.
Am I also moving?

Does walking depend upon the
walker for walking?
If the walker is not walking
what has happened to the walker?

If there is no substance to the walker,
then there is no substance to the walking,
for only the walker can make walking significant.

There is no measurement to the liberating relief
of going beyond the walker and walking.

Having inquired into all that, I give up.
‘I’ must go out for a ‘walk.’

A POEM TO ETTY HILLESUM

I sat in that cafe off 6 Gabriel Metsustraat
with a cafe latte with the mind’s eye
turning to the ‘Angel of Amsterdam’
amidst the downpour of the September rain
and the weekday rush of humanity,
huddling in doorways in Amsterdam,
amidst raincoats and umbrellas.

I drifted back some 60 years,
to passionate Etty, 27, Jewish, diarist,
hurrying home dodging the jackboots
of an occupying army in 1942-43
- an invasion into the hearts, minds and bodies
of ordinary people trying to live ordinary lives..

Then, suddenly, I was pulled back into the present
to the rain, to the umbrellas and the hurrying commuters.
when out of the cafe’s radio came a soprano singing.
Con Te Partino.
it was sung as an angel sings to my soul.
tears came out of my eyes]
like sweet raindrops,
a response to the wonder of it all.

I felt the presence of Etty,
she was as close as the breath in my body.
and as the song came to its close
it stopped raining.
people no longer hurried in their freedom;
the jackboot was confined to the dustbin of history
while what remained was the spirit
of a triumphant young woman
who sang on her farewell journey to Auschwitz
having single-handedly defeated
the entire Fascist army.

Strongly recommended reading
‘An Interrupted Life and Letters from Westerbork’
by Etty Hillesum. Published by Henry Holt. NY.
Etty was born January 15, 1914
(Kye, Christopher’s grandson, was born January 15, 2001)

WAKE UP!

Wake up! this extraordinary morning
ever fresh, while a stranger to myself
I have been born again into this mystery.
I am enveloped in this aurora of existence.

I am alive! I am happy!
not a creature of time and tasks
an innocent abroad in this mystical land,
I have woken up! The mystery has pulled me
into its wakefulness.
This sky! this world! this unformed tour de force!
I arise into your embrace; this immensity.

Wake up! This morning
let the eyelids flicker upon this silent sound,
while Vishnu rests in this milky world.
This darkness travels afar,
while this new day
searching my eyelids
giving shape to this strange world

I have been born anew
out of the innocence of my old existence
I cannot explain this happiness
that envelopes me
in this unbroken unfoldment.
Dharma e-News 2
April 2004

IS IT UNETHICAL TO DEFINE ETHICS
AS THE FIVE PRECEPTS? 

Christopher Titmuss

If you are reading this article, it is probable that you have participated in a Buddhist meditation retreat. You will have probably received instructions at the start of the retreat to observe the five precepts. You may have got the impression that the Buddha has decreed that five precepts is THE definition of Ethics (Sila in Buddhist language). 
     You may believe you observe the Sila or that that you rarely require to give real attention to a precept since you don’t 1. Kill 2. Steal 3. Sexually violate others 4. Lie. 5. nor are addicted to intoxicants. You may place the priority of your spiritual practice on greater meditative depth or finding wisdom.
Did the Buddha mean exclusively the five precepts when he referred to ethics? The answer to that question is an unequivocal NO. It could even be considered unethical to define and limit the five precepts (panca sila) to ethics. Panca sila serves primarily as a basic practice for those who engage in the most destructive forms of human behaviour.
We can count on one hand the number of times where the Buddha listed together the five precepts in his 5000 or more recorded discourses. Yet the Buddha made frequent references to ethics –showing his determination to place sila at the forefront of his concerns for humanity. He said that inquiry into our ethics on a wide-ranging number of mattes serves as the basis for depth of meditation, and knowing true reality.
He refused to settle for five precepts as THE definition of ethics. There is no remorse for those who live an ethical life, he declared. Here are some examples of the Buddha’s teachings on ethics. In the Noble Eightfold Path, he stated that ethics consisted of not only Right Action and Right Speech (usually translated as ‘right,’ samma literally means to be ‘properly connected to’ the Dharma), but also Right Livelihood. The Buddha firmly places our livelihood in the field of ethics, namely forms of skilful employment clearly in accordance with wise intention, deep values and beneficial results for one an all.

The Buddha also taught sila as
a) restraint of the senses (indriya-samvara-sila),
b) wise use of food, clothing, shelter and dwelling place (paccaya sannissita sila).
c) wholesome action (kusala sila) of body, speech, mind and livelihood.
d) not clinging to ethics, codes of morality, rules, methods of practice and rituals (silabbata-paramasa). He regarded such clinging as a major block to realisation of Noble Truths.
If we break out of our limited view of ethics as precepts, it would open our minds to an exploration of sila in its wider sense. We would then inquire into
a) the ego of desire for sense satisfaction and impact of suppression on our consciousness
b) obsessive behaviour around basic needs; pursuit and ownership of more requisites, as well as the time, money and energy devoted to acquisition, c) neglect of a lifestyle in accordance with deep Dharma values
d) private and public moralising around precepts, behaviour, practices and rituals.

We would not end our inquiry into ethics at that point either. Consciously or unconsciously, our ethics influence our thinking, beliefs and actions. Buddhists, whether laypeople or ordained, have often treated ethics simply as a code of personal morality. Since many issues do not fall strictly into the mental construct of the five precepts, it easily leads to neglect of exploration of other ethical issues.
We introduce precepts, laws, commandments, legislation, born of the view that what we perceive as ‘bad’, ‘wrong; or ‘evil’ must be stopped. Adopting a narrow view of ethics from some texts from another millennium, such as the Five Precepts in Buddhism, the 10 Commandments in Judaism or the American Constitution, we gain a bizarre self-assurance to our claims to morality.
Why is that precepts, commandments and constitutions, that seem universally good, become an instrument for self-righteousness or worse? Grasping onto rules generate rules within the rules, and rules within those rules. “Trifling and insignificant are the minor details of ethics” the Buddha said. No wonder he rarely reiterated the Five Precepts in 45 years of solid teaching. None is able to keep rules, and amendments perfectly, nor able to observe such a high moral standard. Being subjected to precepts and rules, they act like a shadow over our humanity. The culture of the time often determines which rules matter more than the others, what rules generates more personal and public wrath then others.
The priority for our ethics can become based upon our projected interpretation of events. The accusers can violate ethical issues as much as the accused. The one who points the accusing finger can forget that he or she has three fingers pointing towards themselves. Ethics examines our intentions in the treatment of others. In religious and secular life, the concept of what is right also becomes an instrument to slag off individuals, to adopt a name and shame policy, to initiate control over others. Hardly ethical. Are more rules an ethical or unethical response to difficult issues?
People’s lives are changed through awareness, making personal and public issues more conscious in a skilful way, and deep insights. That is the heart of the Buddha’s message.
We transmit the authority for ethics to the Book, the Tradition, the Law, the Founder of the religion or the Constitution. The subsequent interpretation is then imposed upon others and ourselves. Perhaps the time has come for us to live with a radical non-acceptance of narrow identification with this box of precepts, commandments and constitutions. Inspired by the Buddha, we need to open our mind to the profound significance of ethics in daily life. The Buddha said that wisdom makes conduct shine and conduct makes wisdom shine.

POLITICAL ETHICS
In a major conflict, we may endeavour to respond through wise action as a public statement of our ethical standpoint. Or we may ignore such a situation. That unwillingness to respond also reveals our ethical values since other matters have our priority. If so, what are they?
We may not know how to attend to conflict between human beings. Right View, the first link in the Noble Path , then means sitting on the fence fearing to be decisive. Right View then becomes Right Indecision. Some Buddhist teachers believe in the notion of armed intervention (a euphemism for making war and supporting acts of terror by the nation state). Some Buddhists believe it might be necessary to take military action in some situations, such as after 9/ll. Of course, others, namely soldiers and pilots, acting under orders from their senior officers and politicians, have to do the killing and maiming. Is that ethical?
We have often adopted the view that ethics focuses on right and wrong, good and not good or good and evil. Conventionally speaking, we would probably agree there is what is not good going on in the world. There are acts of evil. There is terror. There is war To keep labelling individuals, organisations or leaders of nation states as ‘evil’ blocks the inquiry into causes and conditions that trigger expressions of ‘evil. Are ethics absolutely inseparable from our mind’s constructs of good and evil? Is such a view an oversimplification? At a deeper level, are ethics free from belief in good and evil?
Carrying the arrogance of claims to Western civilization, we bring to bear on others around the world our ideology of liberal democracy, secular culture and consumer values as the only fitting way to live. Imposing our version of what is good for others, we act upon the belief in differences between ourselves and others, as if differences revealed true reality. We believe we know what is good for an individual, a community and a non-Westernised nation. That is an ethic. We split our inner life into two, namely self and other or us and them and act on the belief. When we attack others do we also attack ourselves? When we act to defend ourselves do we also act to defend others (standpoints)?
We can barely see each other since people or their traditions, religions and cultures have become so highly politicised. Take words like American, Arab, asylum seeker, black person, Christian, European, Jew, immigrant, Muslim, white person. We can’t see clearly the person or group of people since we have placed them in the category of other. To put it bluntly, an American is not an American. A Muslim is not a Muslim. A black person is not black and a white person is not white. These labels are inventions of the mind. ‘They’ are not who we think ‘they’ are. ‘We’ are not who they think ‘we’ are. Labels are not true reality. Those who believe in labels do not live in the real world.
The media hides behind the self-delusion that it is only reporting the facts rather than openly revealing it uses language to define the world. Seeing clearly what we all have in common generates a different ethic.

ETHICS BEYOND GOOD AND EVIL
That is not the end either to an inquiry into ethics. The Buddha states ‘Having abandoned formal practice and actions both ‘good and evil’, neither longing for ‘purity nor ‘impurity,’ one wanders without adhering to either extreme.’ Not a statement that is music to the ears of conventional Buddhists! The radical voice of the Buddha here reveals our primary ethic is an inquiry into the nature of non-difference and non-duality (self and other). It is a single pointed concentration (samadhi) that keeps the focus on such a noble truth without compromise.
With formal practice, we can become bogged down in notions of purity, good or right. Depending on our belief in what is good., we have to fix what is not good. Identification with the mental construct of the ‘good ‘precedes’ the ‘not good’, the ‘not right.’ In other words, evil emerges from belief and identification with the good. Living in fear, we build up our mental construction in order to attack others and/or to defend ourselves, either verbally and/or militarily. ‘You have hurt me (us) now I (we) are going to make you suffer to stop you hurting me (us).’ Is that good? Is that right? Is what is perceived to be good and right ethical? Can fear and hate of others really serve as the basis for ethics? Or do ethics begin when we step outside of our conditioned and reactive mind
Truth cuts through the conditioned and divisive inner world. In true reality, there is no ‘other. Ethics means the willingness to stay true to what we perceive as real, authentic and free from subordination to beliefs in separation of self and other. Realisation (i.e. making real) of noble truths transforms our lives, all the rest in our mind is mere opinion. Our primary ethic is full engagement with what is real, stripped of differences, projections and socialised layers of opinion.
Let us abide free from any constricted, fragmented and defined sense of the world. Our ethics challenge us to the very roots of our remarkable existence. WAKE UP!

Appreciation to Schlomzion for
introducing me to the writings of Alain Badiou,
the contemporary French philosopher

AN OUTLINE OF THE BUDDHA’S DISCOURSE
ON THE ALL-EMBRACING NET OF VIEWS
Christopher Titmuss

It would be understandable if you have overlooked the first Discourse of the Long Discourse of the Buddha. In this discourse, the All-Embracing New of Views, the Buddha identified a total of 62 views that people get caught up in like fish in a net. Despite its paramount importance, this discourse is one of the hardest discourses to comprehend, as well being one of longest - running to 23 pages in the English translation and more than 8000 words. Those who compiled the Buddha’s discourses clearly regarded it very highly to make it the first discourse of the 34 long discourses.
Even with its complexity and sometimes obscure differences of view, the All-Embracing Net of Views is worth meditating on since it address a wide range of religious, spiritual, philosophical and scientific standpoints. The Buddha treated all these views with an equal eye, regardless of how much reverence we treat any of them. In other words, he perceived them as views about ourselves and our relationship to the world and the universe.
In this pivotal discourse, the Buddha also reminded us that our procrastination around views is just another view. He stated that we cling to fixed views, speculative views, views about self and views about the world. The discourse acts as a methodical overview of the range of perceptions, views and opinion through a simple classification of each one.
I remember when I was a monk living in the forest of southern Thailand, under the wise stewardship of Ajahn Buddhadassa, with much time on my hands to meditate on such obscure texts until the wisdom of a discourse shone through – transforming a text from an intellectual exercise into an intuitive depth of realisation. The discourse, the Brahmajala Sutta (Brahma – Divine or All Embracing; jala - net, Sutta – Discourse), was a particularly hard one to comprehend but well worth persevering with. To use a well known analogy of the Buddha, I have tried to squeeze the pure honey’ out of this discourse since countless millions of people today still hold to one or more of these 62 views
At the beginning of the discourse, it states that the Buddha was travelling along the road between Rajgir and Nalanda in Bihar, India. In the area was another teacher, Suppiya who kept finding fault with the Buddha. Rather than react to praise and blame, the Buddha spoke about ethics encouraging citizens to give support to life, live simply, speak the truth and protect plants. He warned against the 'base arts,' such as ‘making arms, earning a living out of predictions, using animals for sport and mimicking disabled people.’ He said he regarded all of the above as ‘elementary matters of ethics’ that ‘worldly people praise him for’.
Then he made it clear to his audience that what he was about to speak would be ‘hard to see, hard to understand, beyond mere thoughts, subtle, to be experienced by the wise.’ It was a kind of sharp reminder to listen (or in our case read) with total attention.
Warming up to his theme for the day, the Buddha then examined the 62 primary views that he realised obsessed human beings. First he turned his attention to the way we look at the past, and beliefs that we or others cherish, then he turned his attention to view about the future and then the present.
I have summarised the essential views; kept essentially to the spirit and letter of what is stated in the discourse. We may have strongly expressed some of these views ourselves or recognise that many of the views are still commonly held as truth among authorities in the religious, philosophical and scientific communities.

THE PAST
The universe and the self are eternal (indicating that the appearance of change is an illusion)
Eternity through becoming, change and evolution. We are one with Eternity, even while passing away and re-arising, and so we remain forever.
There are those who are eternalists and also non-eternalists. God is eternal, the stable, the permanent, the Creator, the father of all that has been and will be, and we experience mortal lives and appeared after God.
Some beings proclaim themselves as one with God, said the Buddha.
Some beings believe they were originally one with God in heaven but then think ‘oh, if only some other beings would come here” and so come down from heaven as they want others to enter into heaven as well.”
Others have the view that the Eternal is forgotten so we have become addicted to play and pleasure and so have become unstable, shortlived and fated to fall away.
For some whose ‘mindfulness has not dissipated, not addicted to merriment’, believe they ‘will always remain stable and steady, not fated to fall away.
Others, said the Buddha, argue that only the Self is permanent and stable, even though the senses are impermanent.
There are those who believe the universe is infinite, and there are others who believe the universe is finite, while others believe the universe is both infinite and finite.
There are those who are ‘eel wrigglers.’ The Buddha said: “When asked about this or that matter, they resort to evasive statements and wriggle like eels. 'I do not know if this is good or bad,’ they say.
Fearing to make a mistakes, some resort to evasive statements. ‘I don’t say this. I don’t say that. I don’t say otherwise.”

Or they fear being cross-examined and might not be able to reply. Fearing debate, again some resort to evasive statements.
There are those who believe they arose in this world by chance. It is by chance that I now exist. Before I was born I didn’t exist. I have gone from non-being to being. And the same thing happened for the world, too. It was by chance that the world came into being.
Having examined predominant views about the past, the Buddha then turns his attention to the future and especially the views about what happens to us when we die. Some specify that the self exists after we die – either in a material form, immaterial, both or neither, commented the Buddha.

Others deny the continuity of the self. who proclaim our destruction and non-existence after death. The self is annihilated with the break up of the body.

Others say some of the self dissolves with death and something continues that enters a realm of infinite and formless space, infinite consciousness, infinite no-thingness or a realm of neither perception nor non-perception.

Having examined such religious, philosophical and scientific viewpoints about the past and future, the Buddha then turns his attention to those who believe in the power of now.

There are those, he says, who proclaim Nirvana here and now for an existent being. By becoming detached from sense desire and unhealthy states of mind, one abides in different deep absorptions ranging from happiness to deep inner peace and with every deep experience some proclaim it as ‘Nirvana here and now for the self.’

The net of views that humans proclaim involve the past, present or future whether fixed views, speculative ones or evasive.

‘These views grasped and adhered to bring their consequences’ said the Buddha. ‘Having understood the arising and passing away of feelings (and the views that go with them), one sees the attraction, danger and liberation from all views.

He concluded that the eternalists, eternalists and non-eternalists, the infinitists and the non-infinitists, the eel wrigglers, the believers in chance, the self existing or not existing after death, the proclaimers of Nirvana for the self here and now are expressing ‘merely the feeling of those who do not know and see. There will be agitation for those immersed in their desire’ (to hold onto their views), said the Buddha.

As forthright as ever, he concluded: ‘They are all trapped in the net with its 62 divisions.
Just as a skilled fisherman or his apprentice might cover a small piece of water with a fine mesh net, thinking ‘whatever large creature there may be in this water, they are all trapped in the net.’

In meditating on this discourse, we see that these views arise about the past, present and future partly due to belief in the self, and use it as the reference point. Having made contact with thoughts and believing in the self, the range of views arise. For the awakened ones, there is no such reference point, said the Buddha. Standpoints, speculation or equivocation have no meaning.

In other words, a view is a view, an interpretation of the way things are. The description is not the described. No view is worth clinging to. It is said that at the end of this discourse, there was a major earth tremor. Hardly surprising!


Long Discourses of the Buddha (hardback, 648 pages)
A Translation by Maurice Walshe of the Digha Nikaya
Published by Wisdom Publications, Boston. USA.

Discourse on the All Embracing New of Ivews
The Sutta and Its Commentaries
Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi
Buddhist Publication Society
Kandy
Sri Lanka

APPEARANCE IN COURT -THE PRACTICE OF MINDFULNESS
Christopher Titmuss

Have you ever found yourself in court? A witness for the prosecution? A witness for the defence?
On trial? .Facing a tribunal? Or in a difficult committee meeting? Or speaking in an Inquiry. Here is a list of pointers for calm and clear communication when under sustained pressure.

Most important point to remember of all – Speak that which you genuinely perceive is in accordance with the facts and is useful to state.

If you are in court, remember the following:

1.BODY LANGUAGE

Do not wear garish, bright clothing but toned down clothes. Too much colour could give impression of being untrustworthy.

Keep the body upright; with back straight and hips moved gently forward to expand stomach for easier natural breathing

Keep the hands still (movement distracts and gives impression of excitement or agitation).

Keep both feet flat on the floor to keep centred and grounded

Don’t drop the head. It gives the impression of defeat.

Drink water regularly – also gives a little breathing space in difficult periods

2. SKILFUL SPEECH

Never raise the voice. It always sounds like denial, avoidance or simply losing the argument

Speak 10% quieter than normal. It makes the lawyers listen with more care and respect

Speak from your heart, not from your mind

Avoid ums and aghs. It sounds as if you experiencing self-doubt in what you say

Keep the sentences short, to the point, free from exaggerated or flowery language.

Answer every question politely. Their lawyer will try to rattle you. Don’t grab onto their barbs.

If it is a difficult question, or you sense a trap, ask their lawyer to rephrase the question. E.g. ‘Could you explain that question, please?’

Under undue pressure, turn to the judge, arbitrator or chairperson for help. Explain the difficulty. Perhaps you feel their lawyer ignored your earlier answers. The judge will appreciate your turning to him/her for advice.

Don’t hesitate to repeat yourself regularly in a calm and clear voice. ‘As I said previously...’

Always take your time to answer difficult questions. It is better to wait a few seconds than answer rapidly and regret it later.

There are several ways to answer a question

1. Yes
2. No
3. Both
4. Neither
5. Ask a question black. Could you rephrase the question? or Do you mean...?
6. Silence
7. If a question is general, answer in a specific example
8. If specific, answer in the general
9. State in a couple of sentences a point that you have not been asked and wish to make.

Keep referring to any earlier written statement. Remember their lawyer may be trying to set traps – namely what you say in the witness box is in conflict with any written statement. Keep your answers to the point.

If you need breathing space, ask for it, especially in a difficult period!

If you get angry with their lawyer, make a short apology, referring to the pressure of the situation.

Don’t hesitate to ask for a question to be put in a different way.

Make use of simple statements so the judge can empathise and understand you.

Try to speak in the positive. I.e. I do say that....rather than I don’t.

Try to finish on a strong note. “I am glad I have had the opportunity to clarify all the important questions that you have raised!’

PS. Never forget that the courtroom is not necessarily about uncovering and revealing truth. It is often about winning and losing, victory and defeat. Speak what you know for yourself is factual and useful without attachment to results.

PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR AND GAIA HOUSE

In a question time in Parliament on February 25, 2004, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Totnes, Mr Anthony Steen asked the Prime Minister Tony Blair if he would be visiting Gaia House. The Prime Minister told Parliament that Gaia House offers insight meditation throughout the year and so he would keep question of a visit there under review.

Mr Steen replied that if the prime minister attended a retreat at Gaia House he would have the time to reflect on how to protect council taxpayers from the spending of Liberal Democrat councils. The PM said he would have time to reflect on that and added: “I would gain another insight as well – the huge increase of money given to Devon Council. He then said: “The insight I would gain after this retreat would be “Vote Labour.” The comment brought laughter from both sides of the House.

Two years ago, Christopher, who lives in the Totnes constituency, took Mr. Anthony Steen on a tour of Gaia House. He asked Mr Steen to encourage the Prime Minister to come to Gaia House to meditate on both his foreign policy and internal policy. Christopher said he felt the Prime Minister looked overstressed, overworked and overpaid.

Following the Prime Minister’s mention of Gaia House, Christopher, co-founder of Gaia House, has written to Mr Blair to encourage him to come to Gaia House for a retreat for other insights as well such as:

constructive engagement rather than destructive engagement with Arab nations,
resolution of the walled-in plight of the Palestinian community
to establish a Ministry for Peace in the UK government to end our long history of going to war
a compassionate view towards immigrants and asylum seekers,
new taxes on the rich and shameless to help Britain’s poor and marginalised
strict implementation of the Kyoto Agreement to protect Mother Earth,
examination of the cost of globalisation to poor nations
integration of conventional and complementary medicine
comprehensive education for heart, mind, body and spirit
pointing the way to a post consumer goods obsessed society
seeing the emptiness of the pursuit of power and a place in history
experiencing ways to know natural happiness, non-duality and natural freedom
and realisation of immeasurable reality free from the mind’s determining of reality.

Christopher wrote that the managers and guiding teachers of Gaia House would offer Mr Blair a single room, excellent vegetarian meals, selfless service, spiritual guidance and an opportunity for deep insights into the human condition and the forces that shape consciousness. He said that the palpable silence and stillness of Gaia House, along with the disciplines of insight meditation, have a transformative impact on the inner life. Christopher says the power of such practices and profound Dharma teachings would not only benefit the Prime Minister but also indirectly prove beneficial to countless others. We all need time to stop and take a deep look at ourselves, Christopher wrote. He added that Gaia House offers forms of scholarship for those in need.

Christopher is awaiting a reply from the Prime Minister. He also e-mailed Mr Steen to thank him for his reference to Gaia House.

Dharma e-News 3

September 2003

NINE OF THE BEST BOOKS

My nine favourite spiritual books serving as a regular source
for insight and inspiration.

In Alphabetical Order

1. An Interrupted Life and Letters from Westerbork by Etty Hillesum
Published 1984 by Henry Holt and Company, New York 376 pages

2. Bhagavad Gita translated by S. Radhakrishnan
Published 1948 by George Allen and Unwin, London. 388 pages

3. Catholic Study Bible
Published 1990 by Oxford University Press, London and New York 476 pages

4. Ethics: An Essay on the Understanding of Evil by Alain Badiou
Published 2002 by Verso, London and New York. 166 pages

5. Freedom from the Known by J. Krishnamurti
Published 1992 by Krishnamurti Foundation, Madras, India. 124 pages

6. I am That by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Published 1973 by Chetana, Bombay 550 pages

7. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
Published 1987 by Vintage Books, Random House, NY 109 pages

8. Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha
Published 1995 by Wisdom Publications, Boston, USA 1412 pages

9. Mulamadhyamakakarika by Nargarjuna
(Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way)
Translation and commentary by Jay. L. Garfield
Published 1995 by Oxford University Press, Oxford and NY. 372 pages

In my library in my home in Totnes, Devon, England, I keep around 1500 non-fiction books addressing a range of ecological, global, philosophical, political, social, psychological, religious and spiritual issues. I bought many of the books and many were kindly given to me to read. I gave away about 20% of the collection some three years ago. My library includes all 5000 discourses the Buddha found in the Pali Suttas, several translations of the Bible and a shelf full of commentaries on the teachings of the Buddha, Jesus and Nagarjuna. From my bookshelves, I picked out the books that I love the most.

Here is a brief review of each book.

1). AN INTERRUPTED LIFE AND
LETTERS FROM WESTERBORK
by Etty Hillesum

Nothing, not a brutal and barbaric military occupation, not the death squads, not the savage incarceration of an entire nation, nor a community, nor daily humiliations, nor the absolute obscenity of concentration camps, nor extermination, can quench and destroy the human spirit.
Etty Hillesum, a remarkable Jewish woman, embodies the free spirit of humanity to an extraordinary degree. She is a true goddess of the 20th century. Passionate, loving, sensual, fearless and at times a ‘frightened creature,’ Etty remained steadfastly committed to live her life out fully from one day to the next refusing to ’burden today with cares about tomorrow.’(page 178).
Writing from the age of 27, Etty kept her diaries from 1941-43 in her room in 6 Gabriel Metsustraat in central South Amsterdam while the jackboot of the German Fascist Army and the interrogations of the Gestapo ruled outside. Some years ago, I made a short pilgrimage to her house at number 6 and also to Westerbork, the transition camp before she was sent on a train to Auschwitz. I have given talks on Etty and written love poems about her.
On the 27th February, 1942 she was called before the Gestapo, who yelled at her, then the Gestapo officer told her he ‘would deal with her later.’ She said she felt ‘real compassion’ him. ‘The terrifying thing is that systems grow too big for men and hold them in a satanic grip, the builder no less than the victims of the system.’ she wrote in her diary that night.
She refused to hate the Germans since she regarded hate as a ‘sickness of the soul.’ ‘I had a liberating thought’ she wrote’ if there were only one decent German then he should be cherished despite that whole barbaric gang. ‘One moment it is Hitler, the next it is Ivan the Terrible,…pestilence, earthquake or famine. Ultimately what mattes most is to bear the pain, to cope with it, and to keep a small corner of one’s soul unsullied, come what may.”(page 172)
Etty, brave and beautiful, made sure that despite the daily nightmares, the threats, the growing reports of the deportations to the gas chamber, she lived a full daily life with her friends and loved ones remembering to celebrate the ordinary and every day. She developed her erotic, passionate and transforming relationship with Julius Spier, her Jungian psychoanalyst and palm reader (such form of intimacy, of course, is ‘verboten’ in today’s society). She wrote that Julius ‘blames analysts for their lack of real love.’
She ‘soaked up’ the poetic words of Rainer Maria Rilke’ especially Letters To a Young Poet. ‘Let it all soak in, to let it mature slowly inside. (Page 102). Wise advice.
She wrote, ‘Life is a passage from one deliverance to the next. (page 76) ‘We carry everything within us – God and Heaven and Hell and Earth and Life and Death and all of history. The externals are so many props, everything we need is within us.’
When Etty was arrested and sent to Westerbork camp, she displayed her greatest courage through her dedication to all the imprisoned families there rather than avoid the Westerbork by hiding in a ‘safe house.’ She became known as the “Angel of Westerbork.” When she was put into carriage number 12 on the train to Auschwitz, she pushed a postcard card out of the narrow slats of the carriage for a friend, Christina van Nooten in Amsterdam. A farmer found it and had it delivered.. The card said: ”We left the camp singing.” Etty died in Auschwitz on November 30, 1943.
A personal footnote: Beloved Etty was born on January 15, 1914. My grandson. Kye, Christopher Allwood, was born on January 15, 2001. Naturally, I feel a glow of delight about Etty and Kye sharing the same birthday.

2) BHAGAVAD GITA

In the 700 verses of the Bhavagad Gita, Krishna explained to Arjuna on the battlefield of life the way to liberation. A much-loved text in the Hindu tradition, the Bhagavad Gita (Song of God) is a practical manual for the sincere spiritual seeker who thirsts for truth, transforming knowledge and awakening of the mind.
Krisnha tells a confused and tormented Arjuna that there are fiver primary vehicles for finding the Supreme, namely karma yoga - service to others (chapter three), knowledge (chapter four), renunciation (chapter five) and devotion and meditation (chapter 6). Krishna truly ensured that yoga stays true to its original meaning, namely to be yoked to God, to Truth. Yoga is a way of life, not confined to a series of health giving exercises.
As with many great works of art and religious literature, the author of the Gita is unknown. Nor is it important in the Hindu tradition whether Krishna lived or not. The seeker never concerns himself or herself with the need to validate or invalidate individuals of the past but endeavours to reveal what matters in a sacred text in terms of living today.
Addressing the hesitancy and despondency of Arjuna, Krishna from Chapter 2, verse 11, starts to give his teachings encouraging Arjuna from the outset to turn his mind to ‘know That by which all this is pervaded is indestructible, no one can bring about the destruction.’
He then goes onto speak about the Path (chapter Two, verse 40). ‘In this path, no effort is ever lost, and no obstacle prevails, even a little of this dharma saves from great fear.’
In terms of work and service, Krishna said: ‘Without attachment, perform always the work that has to be done, for one attains to the highest by doing work without attachment.(Chapter Three, verse 19). He encouraged any form of work to be engaged in ‘without seeking for fruits.’ Krishna says this is the sign of a yogi.
Dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Radhakrishnan translated the Gita in 1948 along with a brief commentary on each verse. My well-used copy of this edition (published in 1970) contains my numerous notes and translations of key words when I went through every verse under the guidance of a Sanskrit scholar/yogi in India in the 1970’s.
The depth of practical down to earth wisdom found in the Gita reminds me that truly valid knowledge enables us to respond insightfully to situations we find ourselves in. Throughout the text, Krishna speaks simultaneously as a friend to Arjuna and as Ultimate Truth.
The power of the Gita reveals itself in the embrace of the Indivisible through realising action in non-action and non-action in action. To read and understand the Gita is to place our life in alignment with the way of the Cosmos. What more could we ask for?

3) CATHOLIC STUDY BIBLE

The weight of religious tradition, endless beliefs and views whether Jewish, Christian or otherwise, continues to block access to the profound and fearless message of Jesus of love and liberation. We have to put aside all of this religious baggage surrounding his name and read sensitively and respectfully what the rabbi from Nazareth is telling us about ourselves, each other and Ultimate Truth (which he called the Kingdom of Heaven).
When one of his students asked Jesus how to pray, he gave the students a reflection, known today throughout Christendom as the Lord’s Prayer. Meditate on every word of this prayer. You will be hard pressed to find such a beautiful statement of Non-Duality. Jesus takes the power of love and selflessness to a completely different level that demands the sacrifice of all self-interest.
My regular visits to Israel and Palestine have helped me understand why Jesus used regularly but not frequently family metaphors – the Father, son, children etc. Mediterranean culture places strong emphasis on family connections. In one village, Beit Sahour, in Palestine that I stayed in one young activist told me he had more than 900 relatives in his village of 4000 people.
Jesus’ breathtaking teachings, stories and metaphors on freeing the spirit (the word ‘spirit’ in Aramaic also means ‘breath’) have as much relevance today as 2000 years ago. He referred to the Spirit or the breath more than 100 times in the four Gospels. He refused to differentiate between himself and others, particularly those who suffered, while having little regard for the hypocrisy and puritanism of authority-burdened religion. The value of the Catholic Study Bible is the wealth of comprehensive references, and cross references, with a glossary of specialised terms, maps and explanations.
Jesus brilliantly interprets the prophets and sages of the Jewish tradition and challenges religious dogma in order to free the spirit for one and all. When Jesus said (John chapter 14, verse 6). “None comes to the Father (Ultimate Truth) except by me, ” he meant every word he said. We have to go through the ‘me,’- that is the self, the ego to reach the Father, (Abba in Aramaic meaning the unshakeable foundation of all things). As he said a few sentences later (John 14.39): “The Father is greater than I”
The Buddha predicted that the next Buddha would be the Buddha of Love (Maitreya Buddha). Was he referring to Jesus’ arrival on earth 500 years later? Sadly, the Church substituted belief in the name of Jesus to achieve salvation instead of encouraging Christians to apply directly the full breadth and depth of his teachings to daily life to release unwavering love until it goes beyond all boundaries.
Jesus emphasised liberation through utter selflessness, regardless of personal consequences. It was a tough message and still is. We need the words of Jesus to remind us of the power of love for all humanity, individually and collectively, and the importance of love for our vulnerable Mother Earth. Through abiding in the true nature of things (Kingdom of Heaven), irrepressible love emerges that is unstoppable. Jesus keeps coming back to his point again and again. He brought the Kingdom of Heaven down to Earth. So must we.
If you wish to read only the words of Jesus, then get a copy of the beautifully bound “Holy Bible” – new international version, red letter edition, with all the words of Jesus in red typeface. Zondervan Bible Publishers, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.

4). ETHICS: AN ESSAY ON THE UNDERSTANDING OF EVIL
by Alain Badiou

Outspoken and original contemporary French philosopher, Alain Badiou has written a challenging series of essays on the duality of good and evil with his persistence analysis that evil emerges out of identification with the mental construction of what we believe is good. Badiou advocates a radical dissatisfaction not only with the established order of politics and the nation state, but rightly dismisses the ethics that gets us to rally behind what we believe is good and thereby create the sense of the ’other,’ who are the not good, the wrong, the evil. This view goes on in our personal lives, social lives, in our institutions as well as in the murky and brutal world of politics. Ethics then becomes based on the identity of self and other, effectively splitting the mind into two. We are on the side of what is right and they are on the side of wrong. Hence terror. Both sides believe that absolutely.
In the past year, I have carried this small book with its appropriately black cover around the world – to read and re-read four or five times, as well as take frequent notes to get a handle on Badiou’s complicated analysis that perceives terror as imposing one’s beliefs on others while truth, free from the clinging to concepts to define it, emerges as that which breaks free from this constructed reality, and all the measurement of good and evil that accompanies it. The more I read the more I feel there is something ‘spiritual’ about his analysis. We should sit up and take serious notice of what he is saying
Evil arises through seizing upon the notion of ‘other.’ To label others as ‘evil’ means they have been defined as ‘sub-human,’ said Badiou. Evil exists but the location is not necessarily where we think it is. Authentic inquiry breaks up this seizing upon the notion of ‘other’ so that truth belongs to a living ethic, free from the sense of other.
Badiou feels concern about the betrayal of truth through taking up an ideology, left, right or centre. He criticises – and deservedly so - indecisive Western liberal politics as much, if not more, than the ideologues of the political right with their rigid mind states. In other words, Western democracy, market forces and the belief in consumer choice belongs to the banal mediocrity of our political/corporate establishment, who remain ruthlessly determined to impose theses values on the rest of the world. The pathetic rhetoric of ‘freedom’ employed by our political masters gets short thrift from Badiou. To that, I say AMEN.
Echoing some of the Buddha’s deeper teachings, probably without realising it, Badiou’s inquiry explores transcendent ethics, investigation into views shaping human existence and the liberating force of truth I can’t find anything currently in contemporary Anglo-American philosophy that cuts to the bone in such a way some of the major questions of our time, despite all the analysis since 9/11 on wrong, evil, terror and pain. I have not met Alain Badiou but I regard him as a mentor.

5). Freedom from the Known
by J. Krishnamurti

During the 1980’s. I used to go from time to time to Brockwood Park School, southern England founded by the late J. Krishnamurti and also would attend his annual outdoor summer held in a large marquee in the grounds of the school. A remarkable speaker on spiritual issues, Krishnamurti touched his audience deeply on matters of awareness, love, life, meditation, thought, death and intelligence. Speaking with dignity and eloquence, Krishnamurti communicated great truths that his audience could comprehend or at least start to comprehend. He tended to dismiss formal spiritual practices, methods and techniques as a product of the mind, born of effort and desire.
I had listened to his tapes and read his books since 1968. If I may say, I once travelled 50 hours on a train in India to listen to him give a single talk. It was worth it. Not surprisingly many teachers, gurus, scientists and academics sought him out. I had lunch with him a couple of times at Brockwood Park and interviewed him for one of my books. Gwanwyn (my daughter’s mother) reminded me recently that we had to wait for the interview because he liked to watch cowboy films in the afternoon at Brockwood Park. It was about 18 months before he died at around 90 years of age. When he left to travel to any part of the world, he simply picked up his toothbrush while his supporters took care of everything else.
Krishnamurti never wrote books but his students transcribed his talks and made numerous books out of them. It is generally regarded that Freedom from the Known is the classic. He points out in numerous ways the significance of seeing things clearly – whether it is the constructs of the mind, the appearance of fear, the thought of pleasure or the conflicts that beset our life.
“To be free of all authority, of your own and that of another, is to die to everything of yesterday, so your mind is always fresh, always young, innocent, full of vigour and passion.” page 19
Trying to become like somebody else, or like your ideal, is one of the main causes of contradiction, confusion and conflict.” (page 66).
‘Time is the interval between the observer and the observed (page 75)
‘When you lose someone you love you shed tears. Are your tears for yourself or for the one who is dead?’
When desire and pleasure are not associated with love, then love is intense. It is like beauty, something totally new everyday. It (love) has no yesterday and no tomorrow. (page 91).

6). I AM THAT
by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

In 1974, I walked up the narrow flight of stairs in his home in the middle of the red light district of Bombay for my first meeting with Sri. Nisargadatta. I had been a Buddhist monk for about four years. There were perhaps 15 or 20 of us in the room. Sri Nisargadatta pointed his finger over to me, wanting to know in a rather dismissive tone what I had got from becoming a Buddhist monk and engaging in meditation practices.
Eyeball to eyeball, I replied by asking how could “I” possibly get something from a shaved head, robes and meditation techniques? Only a fool believes the “I” can get something from becoming somebody or from meditation. Nisargadatta laughed walked over to me sitting on the floor at the back and insisted I sit in the front row. It was the first of several meetings with him.
Uncompromising and fearless, Sri Nisargadatta pointed in an unwavering manner to That beyond the realm of body- mind that is only discoverable here and now. This book, probably the unsurpassable classic book of Satsang (sat – Truth or Reality, sang – Sangha) consists of 101 chapters of questions and answers, addressing the profound significance of consciousness and the depth of realisation of the Non-Dual.
For example: Q. Can you touch the inner life of people?
Maharaj: I am the people (page 159).
Q. All I see is a very interesting old man.
M.. You are the old the interesting old man. I was never born. How can I grow old? What I appear to be to you exists only in your mind (page 181).
Q. Was your realization sudden or gradual? Neither. One is what one is timelessly (page 223)
Q. I can only act according to my will.
M. You know your will only after you have acted.
Q. I am free to choose my limitations.
M. You must be free first. To be free in the world, you must be free of the world (page 356).

7). Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke

Translated by Stephen Mitchell, these letter of the Rainer Maria Rilke to a 19 year-old military student, named Franz Kappus encouraged the young man to pursue solitude as a vehicle for inner transformation, even when in love with another. His 10 letters remind Franz to dig deep into himself to see if he is really wanting to write and then to write about his desires, thoughts, sorrows with “humble sincerity.”
Rilke says a work of art is good ‘if it is written out of necessity.’ He then goes on to tell Kappus to ‘wait for the hour when a new clarity is born: this alone is what it means to lives an artist: in understanding as in creating. In response to the questions concerning Franz, Rilke wrote that he should ‘try to love the questions themselves. The point is to live everything. Live the questions now.” (page 42).
Rilke writes one of the most memorable and powerful statements about authenticity in human relationships which all lovers, friends and family members can take to heart. ‘The love that consists in this: that two solitudes protect and border and greet each other.’ In other words, true love also protects the solitude of the other.
It is as if within the human being there is endless exploration of the lover and the monk within – enjoying the passion and intimacy of togetherness while recognising and not neglecting the passion for aloneness, for experiencing silence, for the intimacy of our existence between sky above and earth below.
In a simple, thoughtful and nourishing way, Rilke’s advice to the young man reached across the generations so that we feel the value of his message in our lives. To read any biography of Rilke, to dwell on his poems, you realise he walked his talk, never letting fears of the vulnerability of love inhibit him. Etty Hill sum loved this book of letters and Rilke’s poetry, especially The Hours.
Letters to a Young Poet serves as a source for inner nourishment so that we treat life as an adventure, an inquiry and a challenge to consciousness. You can pick up this little book and open any page and find an invaluable truth revealed in the words. It is a masterpiece of insightful writing.

8) Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha

I recall first picking up this book in 1970 – an earlier translation by I.B. Horner. Middle Length Discourses consists of 152 discourses of the Buddha and around 1000 pages. Initially, I found it virtually unreadable. Words, words, words. No wonder my Vipassana teacher, Ajahn Dhammadaro, forbade reading in the monastery and only permitted practice. I then met Bhikkhu Vimalo who navigated me through the book. Then I started to find the needles in the haystack. What a thrill!. I read a discourse every night by candlelight in my hut in the monastery. It was also mildly subversive given Ajahn’s dismissal of books. (He never wrote one himself).
How can I make clear the importance of this early text, and other Pali suttas? Well, every Buddhist book ever published is in some way a commentary on these Pali discourses of the Buddha. In the past 30 years, I have probably read this book or sections of it, more than any other book. The book sings of the way to liberation and the understanding of the composite of body, feelings, states of mind and Dharma. It is a profound manual for spiritual teachers, meditators, yogis, seekers, psychotherapists and those inquiring into the nature of things not wishing to be caught up in religion, science or secularism.
Superbly translated, edited and revised by Bhikkhu Bodhi, the Middle Length Discourses will serve in time in the same way as the Koran for Muslims. Torah for Jews or Bible for Christians – with one major difference. The reader of Middle Length Discourses has the freedom to explore these discourses and find out for oneself what is insightful and inspirational for daily life and ignore or dismiss what one wishes.
My students in the Dharma Facilitators Programme inquire in depth into a number of the discourses. Initially, you may have the same response as I did, namely that this book is a hard nut to crack. So Insight Meditation teacher, Sharda Rogell, has written an excellent 150-page study guide, a readable and accessible summary of many of the discourses called Pressing out Pure Honey. Available from Barre Centre for Buddhist Studies, Barre, MA, USA.
If was a hermit on a desert island, I would take Middle Length Discourses, if I only had access to a single book.

9). Mulamadhyamakakarika by Nagarjuna

In the past 30 years, Buddhist writers and scholars have engaged in translation of the “Mulakarika” – as it is often known in Buddhist circles, or given commentary on the text, or both, including K. Venkata Ramanan, T.R.V. Murti, Jeffrey Hopkins, David Kallupahana, Chr. Lindtne, C.W. Huintington and Stephen Batchelor. I have all these versions and commentaries and there is much to applaud. But J.L. Garfields’ translation and commentary in his Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way has become the yardstick.
Nagarjuna examines around 60 aspects of familiar dharma teachings including suffering, karma, senses, time, Four Noble Truths, Nirvana, conditions desire, self, elements, notion of same and different about things. With resolute determination, he investigates a theme. For example, let’s take motion. He shows in the space of a handful of four lined verses the emptiness of belief in the notion of a mover and movement. To paraphrase Nagarjuna:
Is the one who moves different from the movement?
If the mover and the movement is the same, I could not know the difference.
If the mover and the movement are different, there would be a mover without a movement..
Inspired by the Buddha, and especially Middle Length Discourses, Nagarjuna, a 2nd century monk-scholar, demolishes our whole mental construct of views about the way we think things are.
He reveals that Emptiness makes everything possible; he demolishes the notion of any ‘thing’ or ‘view’ as self-existent or self-evident. ‘Subject’ and ‘object’ is merely an interpretation of the mind.
For many centuries, the Buddhist tradition has revered Nagarjuna for his liberating destruction of all standpoints. A view in the mind is only a view in the mind. Nagarjuna gives a remarkable teaching of liberation without allowing any resting on the notion or mental construction of ‘liberation.’ Very, very few meditators let alone pundits, can read Nagarjuna and understand his obtuse verses. You have to be ready to spend years reading and reflecting on these verses. Read a verse or chapter out loud. Then again, And again. Then perhaps the penny will drop and the door into the nature of things will swing open. Be patient. I still cannot comprehend some of his analysis after 30 years, even at an intellectual level, let alone for insight. That’s the challenge. It is worthwhile to persist with exploring his fundamental wisdom.
If Nagarjuna seems far too remote and abstract in the Garfield translation, then initially read the lighter, shorter, reader friendly translation by Stephen Batchelor called Verses from the Centre. Also read The Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree by Ajahn Buddhadasa. (Wisdom Publications, Boston, USA). Sensitively edited by Bhikkhu Santikaro, this book consists of transcribed talks on Emptiness. I can hear Ajahn Buddhadasa’s voice when I read the book. Ajahn Buddhadasa, one of my Thai teachers, who spent more than 60 years in the Thai forest, used the word Voidness, instead of Emptiness, of I’ and ‘my.’ We spent many hours discussing Emptiness. Ajahn Buddhadasa told me to offer in the West only teachings on Emptiness and the nature of things. It was the last thing he said to me. I haven’t forgotten.
In Chapter One on the Examination of Conditions of the Mulakarika, read carefully the indispensable first verse. It is just for starters.

Neither from itself nor from another
Nor from both
Nor without a cause
Does anything whatever, anywhere arise.

That opening verse out of a total of more than 400 verses in 54 short chapters gives a taste of the meditative focussed attention and reflection that Nagarjuna demands so that readers uncover insights into the true nature of ’things.’ Good luck. 

TWO GUIDED MEDITATIONS

Meditation on Equanimity

I have been hurt by what took place
The experience has left its pain and its wounds
There has been an anguish and distress over past events
I am not ready to forgive because of what happened
I cannot turn around my emotions that easy
Yet I do not want to keep burning up inside
That means that the past still dominates my present.
So let me try to get on with my life today
Let me develop equanimity to what was
In order to keep steady with what is
There is no reason to place pressure on myself to forgive
But I will keep the intention to move on from the past
To maximise my contact with the present.
In time, I may come to forgive as a way of
Transcending the situation. It will show that the events
No longer have control over my life.
Equanimity also shows a true wisdom of the heart
As does forgiveness.
Meditation on the Sangha
The word Sangha literally means "gathering." It refers to two or more people gathered together to explore the Dharma, that is teachings and practices to enlighten our life. The three jewels - the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha - have more value than possession of all the jewels of all the world’s royal families. .
I regard the Sangha as supportive friends
I place my trust and confidence in the Sangha
I regard the Sangha as worthy of deepest respect
I take my inspiration from the Sangha
So that I can let go of what I need to let go of
Renounce what I need to renounce
Develop what I need to develop
And overcome what I need to overcome.
Through my commitment to the Sangha
I pay respect to the Sangha.
Without the Sangha, I fall back on my self,
With its unwise and unskilful tendencies.
With the support of the Sangha, I can see clearly
So that I fall back on wisdom within
And truly act in a noble way.
I know that my teachers belong to the Sangha
Support the Sangha and nourish the Sangha.
And that my teachers and seniors in the Sangha
Welcome the wisdom of the Sangha so that they
Remain true to a noble way of life.
The Sangha is worthy of attention, worthy of merit,
Worthy of support, worthy of commitment.
May I be willing to give support to the Sangha
Through time, energy, work, practice, offerings, sums of money
And frequent presence so that the Sangha abides
In unity, in love and in harmony while
Always remaining respectful to the Noble Ones, and their love of
Liberation and an Enlightened Life.

HAS THE DALAI LAMA LEFT “HISTORY”
TO DETERMINE THE VALIDITY OF WAR? 
August 2004

Christopher Titmuss
International Advisory Board Member
of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship


In February 2004, the kindly Indian Abbot of the Thai Monastery in Sarnath, India, the village where the Buddha gave his first teachings on the Middle Way and Right action, called me into his room. The Abbot, a sprightly 84 year-old, who had worked with Mahatma Gandhi, the great apostle of non-violence, had cut a small newspaper item out of The Times of India. It consisted of a few paragraphs. The news item stated that the Dalai Lama and President George Bush had met in the White House where George Bush had assured the Dalai Lama that “Tibetan culture must be protected” and the Dalai Lama responded by telling the President that the “war in Afghanistan may have been justified.”

It sounded like the kind of statement world leaders notoriously engage in - a “you pat my back and I’ll pat your back” posture - that sadly features in international political life. I took little notice of the report, suspecting that it was probably a journalistic interpretation rather than factual. The Abbot declined to comment, though I felt that by showing me the news item he revealed a concern.

The next day in Sarnath, where we were conducting our annual 15-day Open Dharma Gathering, another newspaper cutting appeared stuck on the wall of the chai shop near the Tibetan Monastery also stating that the Dalai Lama had spoken again in Washington, DC of possible justification for the war. The item generated some discussion among the international dharma community attending our gathering with the general assumption that the report came from an international news agency for the India press. “We can’t believe what we read in the newspapers” was the general conclusion.

In April of 2004, the Dalai Lama paid a visit to Scotland to give teachings, where a senior reporter from BBC Television interviewed him I watched the interview on television at home. I heard the Dalai Lama repeat his earlier remarks. He said, “I think history will tell whether the war on Afghanistan was justified.” He added that World War 11 and the Korean War helped “protect the rest of civilisation and democracy.”

The Dalai Lama has repeated such views, also with regard to Iraq, on several occasions in the past couple of years in different parts of the world. A view that “history will tell” sounds ominously like the claims of the President of the American Empire, George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair, sometimes referred to here in Britain as the America’s First Consul for the European Union. In expressing these questionable views, the Dalai Lama seems to ignore the resolution against the Iraqi war of the UN, and of the international community, forgotten that no weapons of mass destruction were ever found and the US-led wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, two Islamic nations, have brought about a degree of fear and mistrust between the Western and Arab world, not seen since the Crusades.

In Afghanistan, there may have been much repugnant under the Taliban regime but since the US invaded the country, the Afghani warlords are virtually back in control outside Kabul. Western newspaper report that drug trafficking from Afghanistan to the West has increased several fold since late 2001 with all the subsequent impact on our streets, and there is no resolution in sight to the military occupation of Iraq and the daily terror for its citizens.

Nobel Prize winner in 1989, one of the world’s foremost advocates of a civilised approach to conflict, the Dalai Lama, has appeared to have made a massive u-turn, and lost faith in the process of constructive engagement to resolve acts of terror implemented by the nation state or political organisation. Sadly more and more Buddhists and peace activists have had their faith shaken in the Dalai Lama and his current position that “in the condemnation for terrorists, some using some violence, yes, in particular circumstances, yes it could be justified. However this is the not full answer for the long run.” (CBC National, April 2004).

In an interview with an Associated Press reporter, the Dalai Lama said that the US led “war in Afghanistan may have been necessary to win a larger peace…In principle I always believe non-violence is the right thing’ and added that the war on Vietnam increased suffering and so was a “failure.”
A representative of the Dalai Lama sent a letter to the New York Times claiming that a report in that newspaper gave the “misleading impression His Holiness is endorsing violence as a way to confront terrorism.” There is now confusion about the Dalai Lama’s position amongst Buddhists and those who work for peace and justice in terms. I am left asking the question: Has the Dalai Lama adopted the Christian theological argument for the Just War?
1. It must be winnable
2. It must be just
3. It must be in self defence
4. It must be to destroy evil.
There are few people on the planet who carry such moral stature so his views are important and deserve a response.
In Melbourne, Australia, (May 17, 2003), the Dalai Lama said that counter violence did little to solve the original problem. He then went onto say: that “World War 2 protected Western democracy and the Korean War protected South Korea’s prosperity and freedom.”
“(With) the Afghanistan scene, it seems as if the majority of local people seem to welcome the new situation, so you may have some justifications,” commented the Dalai Lama                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Not surprisingly, one seasoned journalist wrote at the end of an article on the Dalai Lama’s current views: “I remain perplexed. I can’t help but wonder: Would Gandhi or Martin Luther King waver at this crucial historic juncture. Please enlighten me, my Buddhist friends.”
In a direct transcript, a journalist asked the Dalai Lama about terror and war.
Hans Gartner:. “The violence (referring war on Iraq) under certain circumstances you could see as justified?
Dalai Lama: Possible, Look, First World War, Second World War. War is some kind of legalised maximum violence… Only time will tell whether the war in Iraq was justifiable.”
Assuming that reporters and news agencies around the world interviewing the Dalai Lama or covering his public lectures have not misquoted him, then it would appear that the Dalai Lama has shifted away from offering uncompromising teachings on the Buddhist tradition of constructive engagement to resolve issues of terror and war. Instead, he seems to have adopted views that would be acceptable to George Bush, Tony Blair and Christian theology on war.  

Like Jesus and Gandhi, the Buddha remained unwavering in his opposition to war, steadfastly declared the Four Noble Truths, that there is suffering, there are caused and conditions for it, there is the utter resolution, and there are skilful means for that the resolution. If it is accurate reporting then, in the past two years, the Dalai Lama has justified three wars (World War 1, World War 2 and the Korean Wars, called the Vietnam War a “failure” and adopted a “maybe” position on the war on Afghanistan and Iraq. It is hardly in accordance with the Buddha’s maxim “hatred (including terror) does not cease with hatred but through non-hatred. This is an eternal truth.” To kill and brutalise others for political purposes is the unleashing of hate.

Since 1950 the US government has sent in the armed forces to 19 countries around the world, as well as engineered the downfall of vafrious governments in central and South America, Asia and Africa, and economically and militarily supported regimes that systematically violate human rights of its citizens and/or its ethnic communities or its neighbours. Since 900 AD, the British government has been engaged in war on average for around 56 years out of 100 years, more than any other country on Earth, apart from Spain.
Is it really so necessary to give the Dalai Lama and other world leaders reminders of what war is all about – bombing, killing, maiming, brutalising, raping, torture, malnutrition, denial of basic rights to life of soldiers, prisoners and citizens. There are neither lists of the dead, wounded, and suicidal nor lists of adults and children permanently traumatised by war. There are endless lies, deceits and propaganda that our so-called democratic leaders feed us.

An Associated Press reporter wrote: “I was taken back by his (Dalai Lama’s) remarks because they sounded more like a secular liberal seeking office, than a holy warrior for peace. Has his viewpoint shifted or does he shift his viewpoint according to his audience.
In another interview with Amy Goodman in New York, the Dalai Lama said: “You can’t blame America. Some of kind of use of force by dictatorship, authoritarian or democratically elected, at least use of force by elected government is much better.”

Resolution of differences

Prior to the war on Iraq, the Dalai Lama had issued a statement showing his opposition to the invasion The current views of the Dalai Lama seem a far cry from what he told the Tibetan People in March 2003 in Dharamsala, India on Tibetan Prayer Day: “ The real losers will be the poor and defenceless; ones who are completely innocent, and those who lead a hand to mouth existence…The only sensible and intelligent way to resolve differences and clash for interests today, whether between individuals, communities or nations, is through dialogue in the spirit of compromise and reconciliation. “
Instead of questionable personal opinions on justifiable wars and the view of ‘history,’ I believe it would be far better for the Dalai Lama to use his considerable influence to speak publicly about the causes and conditions for war – the arms trade, exploitation of natural resources, the claims of the nation state, abuse of power, fundamentalist beliefs in all the major religions, desire to punish and humiliate ‘others’, rhetoric about peace and democracy, leaders desire for a place in ‘history,’ etc.
In the 1980’s, voices in the peace movement in the UK murmured about trying to establish a Ministry for Peace in the heart of government. In the last couple of years, there has been positive movement in this direction with a small but growing campaign to establish a future Department for Peace in the White House and a Ministry for Peace in Downing Street. This would act as a counter force to war-making that is such a feature of the history of the US and British governments.
As one British Member of Parliament told me in a committee meeting in Parliament about our proposal for the Ministry for Peace: “We have to catch the wind. The people of the world demand an end to war. We have an opportunity to make a fundamental change in the very early years of the new millennium.” In February 2003, more than 30,000,000 people in 600 cities around the world marched on the streets to protest against the impending war on the Iraqi nation by the USA and United Kingdom. Has the Dalai Lama compromised his position? To put it diplomatically as possible, the Dalai Lama’s current views are “unhelpful.” He is at risk of losing his credibility as a moral force in the world, and that would be a great pity.
Countless numbers have immense love and respect for the Dalai Lama and feel deep concern for the plight of the Tibetan people. I believe his current views not only reduce his standing as one of the senior voices for compassion in the international community but also send a disheartening message to Buddhists and dedicated peace workers, who believe that we, as people on the Earth, must resolve our conflicts through international dialogue, end to production of arms and develop a fair and equitable world trade, rather than wait to rely on ‘history’ to justify the murderous destruction of people’s lives and their environment.

The Buddha addressed this issue of war. A professional soldier went to the Buddha deeply concerned about his involvement in killing and wounding others on the battlefield. He said that his religious leaders told him that if he died in battle, he would go to heaven..
‘What do you say about that?’ he asked the Buddha. The Buddha seemed reluctant to answer the worried soldier. The soldier asked him the same question three times before the Buddha responded. Looking at him directly, the Buddha said that those who strive in war have a mind that is ‘low, depraved and misdirected.’ ‘Upon dying in a battle, the soldier will find himself in hell,’ the Buddha added. The soldier burst into tears.
The Buddha said he knew this would be very distressing to hear which is why he had hesitated to say anything. ‘I’m not crying because of what you said’ replied the soldier ‘but because I have been tricked, cheated and deceived for a long time by other soldiers and religious leaders.’ (Samutta Nikaya Volume 11, page 1134)
In Rajgir, an angry Brahmin, a holders of religious authority, tried to find a way to put down the Buddha and his teachings when a woman, named Dhananjani, praised the Buddha in front of the Brahmin. The angry Brahmin asked the Buddha: “What is the one thing whose killing you approve?”
The Buddha replied: ‘The killing of anger. This is the killing the Noble Ones praise.” (SN. 1.255)
May all beings live in peace.

VEHICLES FOR INSIGHT

A genuine insight frees the mind up, opens the heart and transforms perceptions. Insights can run very deep affecting the very cells of our being. One sentence in a book can change our lives.  

Insights contribute to living with wisdom in the face of daily life.
MAJOR SOURCES FOR INSIGHT INCLUDE:

1. discussion
2. inquiry
3. focussed attention
4. meditation
5. mindful living
6. nature
7. listening
8. reading
9. reflection
10. receptivity
11. speaking
12. spontaneous arising
Invaluable insights can come from experience, both beautiful and ugly, pleasurable and painful and through the most mundane of events. Benefits from insights may come immediately or much, much later.

Insights open our consciousness to wake us up from the sleep of mundane existence and habitual and restricted patterns.

Changes of consciousness or perception can shake our worldview making available fresh insights into our participation in life.
To know others and ourselves includes knowing the nature of suffering, its causes and conditions, liberation and the way to liberation.

The Buddha on Dana (gifts, acts of giving)

The Buddha encouraged a lifestyle of easy maintenance for the Sangha and dharmasalas (dharma centres) to keep such environments simple and sustainable. He advocated dana to serve as an antidote to desire. In the 45 years that the Buddha walked the length and breadth of the Sakya kingdom and neighbouring countries, his students were often referred to as ‘savakas’ – meaning ‘the one’s who listen’ (to the Dharma). Upasaka is the Pali word for householders who follow the Dharma. - upa – up close’ ‘as’ – ‘to sit’) Upasakas are men and women who sit up close and listen to the Dharma teachings..
Through the act of listening, men and women explored the Dharma. The insights that emerged from the act of listening found expression in dana, including the understanding of the importance of acts of giving between from the donor to the donee (receiver). The teachers gave the teachings as a dana and the listeners gave as a dana various forms of practical support for the teachings.
Dana belongs to the Buddha’s practical strategy to encourage letting go, loving kindness and compassion thus ensuring giving and service a pre-eminent place in the Dharma.
The Buddha spoke of saddaya danam deti – to give with confidence. He made it abundantly clear that the Sangha of noble men and women of practice are truly worthy of acts of support, hospitality and generosity while the giver of dana makes merit – meaning there are personal beneficial result through acts of giving. ‘A deed of merit brings one happiness’ said the Buddha.
Since dana relates directly to ethics, practice, values and social justice (available for one and all regardless of financial circumstances) then it will demand from one and all in the Sangha both teaches and students, a determination to ensure this tradition sustains itself through commitment, taking risks and a love of unmeasured giving. The Buddha said:

“Some provide from the little they have
Others who are affluent don’t like to give
An offering given from what little one has
Is worth a thousand times its value (SN 1.107)

In his typical free spirited way, the Buddha urges Upali to give dana to the Jains, since the Buddha regarded the act of giving as so significant, even if it meant to those following a point of religions view that the Buddha did not altogether feel comfortable with (M.1.371) in every aspect. When rumours went around that the Buddha expected only dana to go to him, he told people that they should give dana to those they ‘have confidence in,’ to those of ‘upright character.’ In his encouragement to examine our intentions, since motives can be healthy, unhealthy or mixed, the Buddha explained there are eight ways of giving (A.8)

1. Spontaneously
2. Out of fear
3. S/he has given me a gift so I must give one in return
4. It feels good to give
5. I serve but they (spiritual seekers, meditators) don’t
6. To develop a reputation
7. To adorn the mind
8. To ennoble the mind

The Buddha said that dana ranked alongside truth, self-control and patience in terms of its importance for humanity. While praising those who give ‘a dharma residence as giving a great deal’, he said the one who’ teaches the Dharma is the giver of the Deathless.’ (SN.121). 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Dharma e-News 4
January 2004


A WARNING TO BUDDHISTS:
KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE GOAL

Christopher Titmuss

There is a single responsibility with Dharma practice and that is to keep an unyielding eye on the supreme goal, namely a recognition of our total liberation from being stuck anywhere. There is no measurement to this realisation.

There is an indescribable joy for a life free from the desire to cling to anything. In the depths of our being, there is access to a core wisdom that embraces the dualities of pleasure and pain, life and death, without fear or favour. To settle for anything less than full realisation is a compromise. We can end up making an effort to sustain or preserve forms, practices or lifestyle that have no inherent value.

It cannot be over emphasised how important it is to keep the priority of waking up from the dream of an enslaved existence, so that we have broken out of a defined way of life. It is this determination to discover natural freedom of being where nothing whatsoever is given the power to weigh us down. This realisation reveals a noble consciousness. We are always in danger in selling out to the comfort zone of spirituality where eclectic views, repetitive practices, secure lifestyle and habitual standpoints become shadows over any liberating realisations. Dharma practice then becomes a kind of hobby.

All in all, we shouldn’t forget that the Buddhist tradition, East and West, is very conservative in its approach to authentic emancipation. Its emphasis on preservation of the past - forms, techniques, rituals and the religion – frequently end up as another shadow over the power of the realisation to wake us up. For all of its promotion of free inquiry, Buddhism is not a radical religion. Sadly, it keeps itself locked into a handful of defined forms. Instead of a force for liberation, the forms become a controlling and defining influence over consciousness. At best, Buddhism is a kind of pod for the peas. Throw away the pod. You want to taste the peas.

There is a strong desire among numerous Buddhist teachers to promote the ego of broadmindedness while other Buddhist teachers adopt the ego of narrow mindedness. Broadmindedness shows itself in the compelling need to quote frequently from numerous religious traditions, as if there were no significant differences between the faiths. It shows itself in the fear of showing any critical attitude towards religion, philosophy, science or spiritual practices. Narrow mindness feeds arrogance and clinging and frequently hides unresolved aggression, as well as contributing to living in a dualistic world of believing in what is superior and inferior as truth.

There is a desire of the broadminded to merge everything into the soup of oneness so nothing that is said or written that might upset the great majority of people. Eclectic and new age thinking bears little relationship to the radical and cutting edge analysis of the Buddha. Sharing sweet stories from different religions are generally pleasing to the ear, briefly uplifting, but, frankly, have little to do with keeping the mind single pointed on the realisation of Emptiness. The Buddha preferred to challenge questionable views rather than get lost in the hubris of the unitive view, so frequently adhered to among the spiritual establishment.

Serious practitioners need to get a clear sense from the outset that the Dharma is a body of teachings directly pointing to total letting go and seeing the superficiality of all desire and clinging. If you forget the goal, you may well find your intention settles for preservation of the self, including the lightweight eclectic self, rather than its dissolution.

In settling for something less than the best, namely liberation, the self will also identify with and advocate various spiritual practices. Students may spend years engaged in the endless repetition of much the same methods and techniques, out of loyalty to the instructions of the teacher or through clinging to past experiences.

It takes a single pointed intention to realise truth, the emptiness of clinging and freedom of the heart. Otherwise, the past, blindly preserved through method and technique, rather than being a servant to the present becomes the master over the present. Meditation techniques serve as scaffolding to be disposed of so that consciousness can stand naked, upright and empty of content.

The passion for meditation, awareness, inquiry and shifts of consciousness is an inner adventure, a willingness to let go of one thing, explore and develop something else, and let go of that too. Ultimately, there is nothing worth being identified with. If one has one’s eye firmly on the goal, you will avoid the extremes of remaining stuck with one set of practices and years of repetition and you will avoid the other extreme of getting totally lost in the spiritual supermarket.

If your heart is truly set on knowing the liberating essence of the Dharma teachings, you will be ruthless in your enthusiasm to understand the truth of things. You won’t get lost in dependency on mindfulness, meditation, listening to gurus, loving kindness, yoga or whatever. You’ve got your heart set on something much more important than these spiritual standpoints; something so extraordinary that it is closer to you than the thoughts in your own mind and the objects of your attention or meditation.

Catholic Buddhists

There are Catholic Buddhists who engage in full prostrations before their spiritual master or acharya, as well as Buddha images, light candles and incense recite mantras and engage in various religious rituals. It is no easy task to find the Dharma amidst this cacophony of the religion called Buddhism. Alongside these forms comes a breathtaking cosmology ranging from heaven and hell realms, belief in various forms of rebirth, the hierarchy of sentient beings, embodied and disembodied, angels and devils and the interpretation of the laws of karma.

Little or none of these beliefs are based upon first hand personal experience but our impressionable egos, tired of the small-minded existence of secular culture, takes up the cosmology with enthusiasm to the point that consciousness becomes clearly immersed in its beliefs. Yet the practitioner experiences inner spiritual benefits, cultivates deep religious feelings about life and can generate much in the way of kindness and compassion towards others.

In meditation, their consciousness may touch realms outside the known and the familiar. There are numerous beautiful benefits for consciousness and only a foolish person totally decries the value for Catholic Buddhists of their practices.

Catholic Buddhist tend to enjoy the immersion in such a religious cosmology that sustains itself through uncritical devotion and the need to believe in something greater than oneself and the rigid operating principles of society.

Protestant Buddhists

The counter to Catholic Buddhists is Protestant Buddhists who feel that the religion of Buddhism with its endless beliefs from rebirth to the various realms needs to be renounced, or at least doubted. Holding to their version of reality, the Protestant Buddhist sees Catholic Buddhism as a distraction to clear thinking.

Protestant Buddhists regard anything dependent on faith as questionable, if not naïve. Generally intellectual, Western educated and rationalistic, Protestant Buddhists do not like being reminded that their views are merely another set of beliefs. They believe primarily in the data arising from the sense doors and sense objects as the only worthwhile reference point. They believe that rational thought can discern the way things really are. This is a form of self-delusion.

Protestant Buddhists forget that Dharma teachings have little or nothing to do with the arguments around theistic, agnostic and atheistic standpoints. Dharma practitioners remain determined to explore what is conducive to end clinging to standpoints rather than taking them up. Despite perhaps years of retreats, protestant Buddhists, whether monks, nuns or laypeople, seem to have little or no experience of altered states of consciousness, the depths of the inner life and the range of mystical experiences.

Protestant Buddhists remain rooted in an anti-mystical, anti-transcendent view of things. They