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The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot. The Full Poem. Published 100 years ago in October 1922.

The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot (1888 – 1965). Regarded as perhaps the finest poem in the English language in the 20th century, the poet won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Born in the USA, he lived in Britain from the age of 25 until his death in London aged 76. …

The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot. The Full Poem. Published 100 years ago in October 1922. Read More »

Introduction to ‘Uninhabitable.’ A Long Poem on the Fate of the Earth.

Background to writing the poem UNINHABITABLE

I spent three weeks in Germany in the last two weeks of October and the first week of November 2022. I taught two five-day retreats at the Waldhaus Zentrum, 15 minutes from Andernach, about an hour or so from Bonn. I offered the final session of the Mindfulness Teacher Training Course (MTTC) at the Pauenhof Zetnrum, about an hour from Dusseldorf in northwest Germany. …

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Dharma Dancing Guidelines. Dancing Your Way to Liberation

Dharma Dancing Guidelines. Dancing Your Way to Liberation Read More »

What does ‘Spirituality’ mean to you? A Response

I have a Facebook Group titled Christopher Titmuss Teachings with around 780 members so far. I invite members to respond to my weekly question. I wish to give a voice to others to share in the space of a line or few lines their reflections on core questions in daily life. …

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A Nose and a Hand-kerchief. Cultural Differences. Different Strokes for Different Folks

While teaching a residential course last week in the Pauenhof Buddhist Zentrum, in Germany, I heard a graphic example of differences in culture. I have expanded on it to make a point.
A person went to India and witnessed Indians blowing their nose with head pointing down to the ground – one finger on one nostril and then the other nostril.
The Westerner said to her travelling companion: “That’s disgusting.”
A little while later, a Westerner in India blew his nose into their handkerchief and then put their handkerchief back into their pocket.
An Indian turned to his companion and said: ” She put her handkerchief back into her pocket. That’s disgusting.”
To summarise: We easily jump to conclusions about the behaviour of another with no idea how our behaviour may appear to others.
From The Ballad of East and West by poet Rudyard Kiplin (1865-1936)
Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth! |
Do you have an example of cultural differences?

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