I am thrilled to be revealing the chosen cover of the fourth Dalai Lama’s Cat book! My sincere thanks to each and every one of you who voted, commented and offered insights on the different options I shared a month ago. Although most people liked this cover, a number of you will have voted for...
If you had to choose the single quality most closely associated with Tibetan Buddhism, it would probably be compassion. In the words of my precious teacher, Geshe Acharya Thubten Loden: ‘If you were to ask: “What is the essence of the Buddha’s teachings?” the answer must be great compassion, because that is the foundation of...
I was brought up in a church-going Presbyterian family, and during my formative years I developed a view of Jesus which remained pretty much constant. Until recently. It’s only late in life that I’ve come to discover how a number of important messages, which I took to be core to Christianity, may actually be much...
INTRODUCTION I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavour. Henry David Thoreau Yes, it’s a deliberately provocative title. After all, being in a hurry is the opposite of meditating, isn’t it? If we have a lot going on in our lives,...
This is a time of year when stress levels peak. Yes, we have parties, holidays and festivities to look forward to. But there are all those other things we need to get done before year end. Project deadlines, work assignments, and around the home perhaps, all sorts of jobs to complete in readiness for Christmas...
Mindful Safari is all about being here and now, among some of the most extraordinary vistas in Africa. And spending time with iconic wildlife in their own habitat. Even though the emphasis of these special visits is non-conceptual – that is, simply being present – in recent years a number of excellent books have been published...
When we set out on our first Mindful Safari it was with a sense of curiosity: what would a week of twice daily meditation sessions, combined with twice daily game drives, feel like? What changes might we sense by the end of it? Since then, the experience of dozens in the ever-extending Mindful Safari family...
One of the most predictable outcomes of any meditation program is that several months afterwards, most people who attended will not be meditating. This may seem a bleak assessment. And although it’s based on personal experience, it is by no means my experience alone. According to Joshua Smythe, a biobehavioral scientist at Pennsylvania State University,...
My heartfelt thanks to every single one of you who voted on the range of book covers I shared in my blog about six weeks ago. And also thanks to each one of you who provided feedback, analysis and suggestions. It was all way beyond anything I had expected! That blog was the most commented...
I’d like to share an excerpt from my book, Enlightenment to Go, which deals with exactly this question. How better than to illustrate with the example of an Englishwoman who spent twelve years meditating alone in a cave in the Himalayas? A concern I’ve heard expressed is that too much time spent meditating, or developing...
