Wise Attention Blog
The writing on this site explores what it means to practice Buddhism, mindfulness and ethics in the modern world. You'll find reviews, , talks, interviews, broadcasts and reflection on the arts as well as reflections on the Buddha and Buddhist teachings
Thought for the Day
Arts
Buddhism in the Modern World
Book Reviews
Ending the Middle East Cycle of Violence
As the war in Gaza threatens to spiral into a regional conflict, what light does Buddhist wisdom shed on cycles of violence? After the Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus and Iran’s missile strike against Israel, now what? Troubled voices are urging...
AI Struggles Show We’re all Biased, but Mindfulness Can Help
When AI Systems Try to deal with bias they encounter an underlying truth: no one's perceptions are wholly true. Tackling that starts with ourselves Think of a doctor or a lawyer. If what comes to mind is the image of a white man, does that show your unconscious bias...
Extreme Weather Shows How Conditionality Works
Extreme weather is disconcerting because climate change shows how far our responsibility extends Here in Wales people say: ‘When you can see the hills, it's going to rain; when you can't see them, it’s already raining!’ The weather in the UK is a constant, but these...
Staying alive to ambiguity in a media storm
Thought for the Day BBC Radio 4 14.07.23 When a storm blows up in the media we get drawn in. Milan Kundera and the Buddha can help us stay alive to humans realities behind the news. One of the many lessons the Czech novelist Milan Kundera, who died this week, urged on...
How to Make Peace in the Culture Wars
Trans debates are just one battleground in the Culture Wars. Learning fromthe Buddha, how can we make peace? Thought for the Day, BBC Radio 4 19.05.2023 Andrew,’ I said. ‘You look … different.’ My old friend was wearing a dress and makeup and his hair had grown. ‘I am...
Here’s how a Buddhist relates to the Coronation
I’ll watch the Coronation this weekend, but how can I say ‘God Save the King’ when I don’t believe in God? King Charles philosophy of 'Harmony' could make a connection Thought for the Day BBC Radio 4, 4 May 2023 I think I’ll watch the Coronation this weekend, but I...
Seeing Into the Life of Things Retreat
On Retreat with Wordsworth & ColeridgeWilliam and Dorothy Wordsworth lived at Alfoxton in 1797–8, near their friend Samuel Coleridge, who lived with his family in nearby Nether Stowey. In that year each of them wrote some of their finest work – the volume of poems...
Sentient AI is Possible. Let’s Make it Compassionate
Sentient AI is making us ask: what is consciousness? For Buddhism, the real issue is what consciousness is for, and the answer involves compassion Can Artificial Intelligence systems be sentient? Philosophers call consciousness ‘the hard problem’ because we can’t...
Mindfulness & Imagination Online Retreat
Entering the Mandala: Mindfulness & Imagination Online Retreat Seven days of meditation, creativity and ritual in a spirit of mindfulness and inquiry Led by Vishvapani and Vidyamala Friday September 1 - Thursday September 7, 2023Mindfulness is the ground....
Seeing It Better: a Review of ‘After Cezanne’ by Maiteyabandhu
After Cézanne,By Maitreyabandhu,Bloodaxe, 2019 Maitreyabandhu’s most recent poetry collection reflects on Cézanne’s paintings and is a subtle meditation on the possibilities of art and perception The epigraph of Maitreyabandhu’s most recent collection After Cézanne is...
How to Survive Being Everything, Everywhere, All at Once
The Oscar Winning movie, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once is a parable of life and survival in the age of infinite possibilities Thought for the Day, BBC Radio 4 16/03/2023 Blinking my way out of the movie that this week won seven Oscars, I knew it was...
The Dark Side of the Moon: Still Powerful at Fifty
As the classic Pink Floyd Album turns fifty it still resonates as a search for meaning in a hostile world BBC Radio 4, Thought for the Day, 10/03/2023 I’m sixteen years old, far from sober, gazing up at the star-filled sky and a soundtrack starts in my head. Ba-boom,...
Macbeth is a Ritual. What happens when its demonic energy leaks into the world beyond the play?
Shakespeare's Macbeth is a ritualised drama that summons demonic forces in the hero and the world the play creates. What happens when a production refuses to close the ritual when the play ends? A few years ago I wrote an essay on Macbeth and Karma, calling the play a...
‘The Escape Artist’: Powerful Holocaust Lesson for the Post-Truth World
An account of escaping Auschwitz with a sobering reflection on how deeply we repress knowledge of death: a Holocaust lesson for the post-truth world The usual question the Holocaust raises is: 'How could this happen, how could people act so inhumanely'. In fact, for...
The Secret of Public Ethics is Ethical Training
As the government and public bodies in the UK face ethical scrutiny, we need to see ethics as Buddhists do: starting with individuals and matter of training Thought for the Day, BBC Radio 4 26.01.2023 The Committee for Standards in Public Life, which reported again...
The Karma of Banking in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
I sat down on Christmas Eve to watch ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ – it’s been a while – expecting a comforting serving of Christmas sentimentality with extra cheese. What I saw was a polemic about banking and a parable about karma and interconnectedness. You may be...
To protect biodiversity we need the Bodhisattva’s compassion
The UN Biodiversity Conference is a last ditch effort to safeguard the living world. We shouldrespond with the spirit of the Bodhisattva Thought for the Day, BBC Radio 4. .7.10.2022 What are animals for? Or plants, fish and insects? The utilitarian answer is...
The Queen’s death is a powerful reminder to reflect on impermanence
The Queen's funeral is a reminder that everything we experience is subject to change. Buddhists reflect on impermanence to focus on what's most important Thought for the Day, 21.09.2022 Autumn has come quickly this year. Three weeks out of August, it’s still harvest...
How to Teach Wellbeing in the Curriculum for Wales
Wales' new school curriculum places wellbeing and emotional intelligence at the heart of education. It's a big challenge, but Buddhist perspectives are helping Weekend Word, BBC Radio Wales 26th August 2020 GCSE results are out, and before long it will be a new school...
Cherish Water in a Drought
We're in a drought, and caring for our water supply means feeling it's importance. We need to get wet Thought For The Day 23.08.2022 Across the country record low rainfall and high temperatures have depleted reservoirs and dried up rivers. We’ve seen hosepipe bans in...
Tackling The Food Crisis Means Changing How We Think
As food prices rise, we need to question the system that created it. Systems thinking and the Buddhist teaching of Dependent Arising can help Thought for the Day, BBC Radio 4 13.07.2022 As food prices rise, many people here in Wales, as elsewhere, are skipping meals...
Peter Brook Created Holy Theatre in an Empty Space
Visionary theatre director Peter Brook created Holy Theatre in an 'Empty Space', echoing the Buddhist teaching of Emptiness and Tibetan Buddhist meditation Thought for the Day, BBC Radio 4, 06 July 2022 When I was a theatre student in the 1980s Peter Book, who died...
Skilful Communication Lessons for Social Media
A battle is under way between governments wanting to rein in social media, and advocates of unfettered free speech. We need to reconsider what skilful communication looks like, and the Buddha is an outstanding exemplar Thought for the Day BBC Radio 4, 12.05.2022...
Zen lessons for the important inner dimension of Climate Change
Climate change is often presented as a technical issue that needs a technical fix, but as the IPCC recognise, it has an 'inner dimension' that aligns with Buddhist teachings Thought for the Day, BBC Radio 4 07.05.2022 My son turns thirteen today and it seems quite a...
‘The Sound of One Hand’. Why You’ll Love this Funny, Moving Triratna Memoir
The Sound of One HandBy SatyadasaWindhorse Publications, 2022 Like Satyadasa I’ve been a part of the Triratna Buddhist Community for the whole of my adult life. He’s about a decade younger than me, but many of the Triratna experiences he describes in The Sound of One...
The Endurance has been found. But how can we develop endurance for ourselves?
Ernest Shackleton's lost ship, Endurance, has been discovered. From Shackleton to President Zelensky, endurance is a profound virtue. So how can we develop it? Thought for the Day, 10/03/2022 In the profound silence of the deep ocean, three thousand feet below the...
Buddhists Respond to the Invasion of Ukraine
Thought for the Day, BBC Radio 4 03 March 2022 – Vishvapani As the Russian Tanks roll into Ukraine, how relevant is the Buddhist teaching of non-violence? Each week I meet with local members of my Buddhist Order for a chapter meeting, and we talk about what’s...
How to Stop Climate Change: Less Stuff and More Contentment
Ho can we find things we love that enhance the quality of our lives without increasing the quantity of our stuff?
Buddhism & Vaccine Equity: the Wise Way is Generosity
The case for a fair and equitable roll out of Covid vaccines is clear, but the developed world is failing to heed it. Buddhism teaches that a generous response is also a wise one Thought for the Day 08.10.2021 The case for global vaccine equity seems straightforward....
Buddhist Wisdom in a World Where the News Never Stops
As the pandemic drags on, and the news never seems to stop, Buddhists are celebrating Dharma Day and reflecting on the Buddha's teaching of the Four Noble Truths Thought for the Day 23/07/2021 It never stops. Some of the Covid restrictions may be ending, but not the...