Author name: Christopher

Christopher Titmuss, a former Buddhist monk in Thailand and India, teaches Awakening and Insight Meditation around the world. He is the founder and director of the Dharma Facilitators Programme and the Living Dharma programme, an online mentor programme for Dharma practitioners. He gives retreats, participates in pilgrimages (yatras) and leads Dharma gatherings. Christopher has been teaching annual retreats in Bodh Gaya, India since 1975 and leads an annual Dharma Gathering in Sarnath since 1999. A senior Dharma teacher in the West, he is the author of numerous books including Light on Enlightenment, An Awakened Life and Transforming Our Terror. A campaigner for peace and other global issues, Christopher is a member of the international advisory council of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. . Poet and writer, he is the co-founder of Gaia House, an international retreat centre in Devon, England. He lives in Totnes, Devon, England.

LOVE IS STRONGER THAN DEATH

 

Love is stronger than death,

and empty gaps in the years

and the grooves of personal history,

so the kaleidoscope of countless perceptions

rest in an enduring fragrance that fills our being

while upholding a precious dedication.

 

Love is stronger than the fears, …

LOVE IS STRONGER THAN DEATH Read More »

THE LIMITS OF SITTING MEDITATION

The Limits of Sitting Meditation

 

I was having a cafe latte with Reza in the funky Barrel coffee shop in the top end of Totnes high street, just a few minutes walk from my home. For years, I sat in the corner window seat reading beloved French philosophers, Nagarjuna, a continental novel, scribbling down a poem, people watching or having a lengthy conversation on every issue under the sun with people who dropped in to share a seat at the same table. …

THE LIMITS OF SITTING MEDITATION Read More »

THREE SHORT REFLECTIONS AFTER VISITING ISRAEL

 

1. Last month, I got back from Israel. I’ve been going there for 15 years, and twice a year for several years. Along with Stephen Fulder, Tovana (the Israeli dharma organisation) and a growing network of people dedicated to the dharma, we have been and continue to be part of a dharma journey together. …

THREE SHORT REFLECTIONS AFTER VISITING ISRAEL Read More »

APPLAUSE FOR REPORTERS

 

I regularly watch television documentaries especially on international issues. I experience a level of interest much stronger when I have walked the earth of that country, felt its presence through my senses and listened to the voices of the people. In some places, such as Jerusalem and Nablus, the main Palestinian town of the West Bank. I know the streets and shops. There is a certain intimacy when watching a television documentary filmed in such places. …

APPLAUSE FOR REPORTERS Read More »

A CHECKLIST FOR A RELATIONSHIP

 

I wrote on the blog a few days ago about Naikan Therapy that asks three core questions to resolve inner issues about somebody else. Remember there is no 4th question in the Naikan approach!

 

I reflected on the value of this approach and came up with six questions for people in an intimate relationship. The questions can serve as a simple checklist. They are down to earth, practical and not idealistic.

 

  1. Is there trust when we are together and when we are apart?
  2. Is there a deep friendship between us?
  3. Do I enjoy the different levels of intimacy we share?
  4. Am I willing to acknowledge and explore the different expressions of my partner’s love?
  5. Am I willing to acknowledge and explore the different expressions of my partner’s hindrances to love?
  6. Am I willing to acknowledge and explore in myself further expressions of love and examine my hindrances to love?

 

If you say YES to all six, then you are blessed with a loving, deepening and expanding relationship.
What if one or more of these questions remain unresolved, rather than just temporary blips?
If you say NO to one or two, then your relationship certainly needs some reflection, and a change of attitude.
If you to say NO to three, four or five questions, then there is a lot of inner work ahead.
If you say NO over a period of time to all six questions? Forget it. Start a new life.

 

A CHECKLIST FOR A RELATIONSHIP Read More »

Scroll to Top