From years back, when I was still wearing the soles of my shoes out on street photo walks, I've found the idea of anonymising people and merging them into the urban landscape intriguing. I have some sympathy with people who question whether it's right to take photos of people without asking first. As much as I think candid... Continue Reading →
If you contemplate the miracle we call sight, what we actually see is light reflecting off "stuff" that is received by the sensory organs of the eyes and processed by the brain for the mind to make sense of. So, in a way, our mind is a house of mirrors from which we create meaning, our "lives" and... Continue Reading →
Please take a look at the "about" page to see the circumstances that have encouraged me to start blogging again. There's a saying: "Instead of trying to coat the world with leather, get yourself a pair of shoes". It comes from the 8th century Indian Buddhist monk Śāntideva who said - “Where would I find enough leather To cover... Continue Reading →
Please take a look at the "about" page to see the circumstances that have encouraged me to start blogging again. Did you know you have a different body to the one you had seven years ago? I don't just mean that you've aged and might have put some weight on; your physical body has been replaced with virtually a completely... Continue Reading →
Please take a look at the "about" page to see the circumstances that have encouraged me to start blogging again. It might sound strange, but for me there are benefits to only being able to walk at a snails pace. I've practiced walking meditation in mindfulness groups for years but rarely had the confidence to walk really... Continue Reading →
Please take a look at the "about" page to see the circumstances that have encouraged me to start blogging again. There's a very simple theory explaining how mindfulness reduces the suffering of physical and mental ailments - If we reduce as much as possible all of the "secondary suffering" that we pile on top of any health issues we have,... Continue Reading →
At the top of the first chapter of meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg's book Loving Kindness are two words - "only connect". Taken from the epitaph of E. M. Forster's famous novel Howards End, they sum up just what mindfulness practice and Loving Kindness are all about. It's also what any half decent photographer tries to do as well, but I often... Continue Reading →
"There is no path to happiness, happiness is the path" ...is a phrase I heard Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh use when I was on retreat with his sangha. If you have not come across Thay (meaning teacher in his native Vietnamese, and the term affectionately used for him by his followers), then I suggest it's a very worthwhile Google search. His "engaged buddhism" suggests... Continue Reading →
