Street Wise: Bernie Glassman in Yonkers
In the 1990s the American Zen teacher Bernie Glassman ditched traditional forms of practice and plunged into the poor, black community that surrounded his Center in Yonkers, New York. In 1997 I travelled there to witness this remarkable experiment in Buddhist social action and ask Bernie Glassman: is it working? and is it Buddhist?
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The Buddha and The Scream
Edward Munch's The Scream has just become the most expensive painting ever sold at auction. Meanwhile, Buddhists around the world are celebrating the Buddha's Enlightenment by contemplating images of the Buddha. What is the mysterious power that images have over us? What do the express? And which should we choose to dwell on?
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Visiting Auschwitz: Pilgrimage or ‘Dark Tourism’?
When I spent a week at Auschwitz Concentration Camp with a Buddhist-led interfaith group, I confronted the question, is such a visit meaningful or morbid? We may not be able to make sense of such places, but 'bearing witness' to their horrors has a mysterious power
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Buddhist Rebels & Buddhist Despots in the Burmese Spring
Burma's struggle isn’t between Buddhists and their opponents but between different kinds of Buddhists. The monastic establishment's complicity with the generals' Buddhist tyranny shows the need to reform Buddhism, freeing it from ancient practices that obscure its essential teachings
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Learning From Mindfulness Based Approaches: the State We’re In
Buddhists are often wary of secular mindfulness training. But Mindfulness Based Approaches are a meeting ground between meditation and modern psychology and we can learn much about the psychological issues people face and how do they produce suffering. The first of two posts.
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Buddhism & the Mindfulness Movement: Friends or Foes?
We’re in the middle of the Mindfulness Boom as Buddhist-derived meditation practices enter the cultural mainstream. But is this the Dharma touching and transforming western society, or is Buddhism being turned into a self-help technique and a consumer product? Its time for Buddhists to start reflecting seriously on the mindfulness movement and to learn its lessons.
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Don’t Rely on Lineage
Many Buddhist traditions claim that they are reliable and authoritative because they inherit a lineage of realised masters dating back to prestigious teachers of the ancient past. That sounds impressive and appealing but the Buddha advised us to check out the truth of a teaching in our own experience. Perhaps the whole notion of lineage is a beguiling diversion from what Buddhist practice is really about.
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Discovering the Buddha
What’s left to say about the Buddha? Everything, I discovered in writing my biography: Gautama Buddha: The Life and Teaching of the Awakened One. And the funny, original, surprising Buddha of history is more relevant than ever
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About Wise Attention
Welcome to Wise Attention: exploring what it means to practice Buddhism, mindfulness and ethics in the modern world. There are reviews, talks, broadcasts, interviews and reflections on the arts and current events as well as background material to my book on the Buddha and the opportunity to learn mindfulness. I'd love to hear your comments
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Thich Nhat Hanh in Stormont
Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh recently visited Northern Ireland and addressed members of the Northern Ireland Assembly where former enemies work together in the Power-Sharing Executive. They listened respectfully to ideas that were influential in the province's Peace Process.
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Street Wise: Bernie Glassman in Yonkers
In the 1990s the American Zen teacher Bernie Glassman ditched traditional forms of practice and plunged into the poor, black community that surrounded his Center in Yonkers, New York. In 1997 I travelled there to witness this remarkable experiment in Buddhist social action and ask Bernie Glassman: is it working? and is it Buddhist?
Read More
The Buddha and The Scream
Edward Munch's The Scream has just become the most expensive painting ever sold at auction. Meanwhile, Buddhists around the world are celebrating the Buddha's Enlightenment by contemplating images of the Buddha. What is the mysterious power that images have over us? What do the express? And which should we choose to dwell on?
Read More
Transforming our Terror: A Meeting With Christopher Titmuss
As the Iraq war waged meditation teacher Christopher Titmuss wrote Transforming our Terror, exploring the response to 9/11 and the drive to war: 'They decided that the way to combat their fear was to hit out.' Vishvapani met him in Totnes to discuss the book and Buddhist responses in a time of war
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Visiting Auschwitz: Pilgrimage or ‘Dark Tourism’?
When I spent a week at Auschwitz Concentration Camp with a Buddhist-led interfaith group, I confronted the question, is such a visit meaningful or morbid? We may not be able to make sense of such places, but 'bearing witness' to their horrors has a mysterious power
Read More
‘It’s Not Power That Corrupts But Fear’: Aung San Suu Kyi’s Buddhist Politics (2)
Aung San Suu Kyi's political philosophy is a serious attempt to act from Buddhist principles. Under her leadership, the goal of the democracy movement has not been defeating military but restoring harmony and she has refused to endorse unethical means to achieve her political ends
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Aung San Suu Kyi’s Buddhist Politics (1)
Burma’s inspiring opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi has waged a decades long campaign against the country’s military dictatorship. Her approach and her non-violent principles both stem from her understanding of Buddhism and her Buddhist practice. Pt 1 of 2: Who is Aung San Suu Kyi
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Mindfulness in Action: Summer 2012 Programme
Here's the programme of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction courses I'll be running through Mindfulness in Action this summer
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Buddhist Rebels & Buddhist Despots in the Burmese Spring
Burma's struggle isn’t between Buddhists and their opponents but between different kinds of Buddhists. The monastic establishment's complicity with the generals' Buddhist tyranny shows the need to reform Buddhism, freeing it from ancient practices that obscure its essential teachings
Read More
Responding to Suffering: Learning from Mindfulness Based Approaches Pt 2
Mindfulness based approaches use Buddhist methods to address psychological difficulties. But they adapt them to the needs modern society by emphasising acceptance or moving towards the difficult; being nonjudgmental; and being kind to yourself
Read MoreVishvapani
I’m a writer and teacher of Buddhism, mindfulness & meditation based in Cardiff and a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order. I contribute to Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4 and my biography, Gautama Buddha: the Life and teachings of the Awakened One is published by Quercus 