A Dharma friend, Klaus in Germany, kindly wrote a comment to my blog on The Outsider by Albert Camus. He sent me a link to a song written by Warren Zevon (1947-2003), an American singer-songwriter, who died from cancer. Continue reading
Christopher Titmuss Dharma Blog
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A Pop Musical, Fantastically Great Women, highlights the amazing stories of women in history. A wow of a live performance.
A pop musical, Fantastically Great Women who Changed the World, highlights the amazing stories of women in history who continue to give inspiration to girls and teenagers to be bold and imaginative. Continue reading
First Five Sonnets by William Shakespeare – the Buddha of the Heart. With a brief explanation of the meaning of these Sonnets on beauty and love
At the age of 14, I played in the class at school the part of Brutus in Caesar, one of the 37 plays of William Shakespeare. It was my first introduction to the playwright making a long-lasting impression. Brutus, a politician and orator, engaged in the plot to assassinate Caesar. The following year, I quit the John Fisher Roman Catholic School in Purley, Surrey, England to get a job and taste a new kind of independence. I never missed school except for the English literature class studying the bard of Britain. Continue reading
Alison Wright. The Compassionate Photographer. 1961 – 23 March 2022. An Obituary.
One of the most adventurous and fearless women in the global Sangha, Alison Wright, aged 61, a National Geographic photographer, died last month (23 March 2022) while scuba diving on Sao Miguel island, one of the Portuguese Azores Islands. Continue reading
A Zoom Talk on Thursday 7 April 2022 at 19.00 – 20.30 Thai time. (14.00 – 15.30 CET) on the new book of Ajahn Buddhadasa of Thailand.
Ajahn Buddhadasa has a new book out Seeing with the Eye of Dhamma.
Click on Photo.
If you love the Buddha-Dharma and know the value of meditation/reflection, then do secure a copy of the Seeing with the Eye of Dhamma. This new book covers the comprehensive teachings of Ajahn Buddhadasa of Wat Suanmoke (Monastery of the Garden of Liberation) outside Chai Ya in southern Thailand.
Translated by Dhammavidu and Santikaro, you can hear the Ajahn’s voice in the text as book consists of a translation of a selection of his public talks. The book addresses the core teachings of the Buddha in a language for the 21st century – a radical, insightful teaching with a depth respecting the human potential for profound realisations.
Zoom Talk Info. No registration required
Link to the information: https:/
I will speak about some of the important features of the book along with anecdotes of my time with the Ajahn during my years as a Buddhist monk in Thailand.
Do lend an ear.
19.00 – 20.30 Thai time (14.00 -15.30 CET). Thursday 7 April 2022
JOIN ZOOM MEETING
https://bit.ly/3JDZsdW
Meeting ID: 487 652 6053
Passcode: 12345
The Buddha inspired a Buddhist tradition of more than 2000 years. The tradition includes responses to the Dhamma from illustrious teachers, including Buddhaghosa, Nagarjuna and Dogan. Ajahn Buddhadasa (1907 – 1993) stands in the same company as these masters.
Probably the most outspoken Thai teacher of the 20th century, Ajahn Buddhadasa called upon a radical change in priorities to make Buddhism fit for the 20th and 21st century. He addressed governments, religious leaders, educators, secular culture and spiritual seekers offering a diverse range of teachings.
He endorsed meditation, reflection, inquiry, research and public discussion to develop ethics and wisdom in daily life. His teachings regularly irritated conservative and liberal wings of the Buddha-Dharma with his determination to forge a middle way requiring boldness, realisations and vision. He does not fit into any kind of box.
Seeing with the Eye of Dhamma (Pali spelling. Sanskrit spelling: Dharma) embraces the expanse of his teachings, rich with insights, suitable for daily life. Readers will find in the pages a body of teachings to open the mind to the depth of the human experience. The book offers teachings/reflections on cultivation of the mind, inquiry into the self/ego, superstitious beliefs and the importance of the observation of life.
You will find explanations of the core Buddha’s teachings on mental suffering, conditionality, dependent arising, emptiness of self, the elements, mental concoctions, emptiness, the goal and Nirvana. As with the Buddha, the Ajahn steers away from identification with the religious features of Buddhism and its secular features, such as reliance on mindfulness. He has a truly expansive view of liberating insights.
There is a wealth of Buddhist academic books, Buddhist self-help books and books on specific Buddhist themes. Readers will benefit through contact with a wide range of important points, reflecting on them and applying into daily life. Grounded in direct experience, his teachings contain countless jewels in this straightforward text backed up with the deep teachings of the Buddha.
Ajahn Buddhadasa spent more than 60 years in the forest in southern Thailand engaged in meditations, reflections, study of the words of the Buddha, living close to the elements and teaching. He revealed an exceptional range of realisations throughout his life.
Translated by Dhammavidu and Santikaro, the text captures in English the teachings of Buddhadasa often given in a clearing under the trees to monks, nuns and householders.
Note to Readers: Ajahn means Teacher. Buddhadasa means Servant of the Buddha. Dhamma is the Pali (language of the Buddha) for the Sanskrit word Dharma – meaning teachings/practices and the nature of things.
A profound book provides a mid-opening reading experience. Seeing with the Eye of Dhamma falls into this category.
Seeing with the Eye of Dhamma
Ajahn Buddhadasa
translated by Bhikkhu Dhammavidu and Santikaro
Published 2022 by Shambala Inc, USA.
310 pages.
$22.95
Christopher Titmuss, a senior Dharma teacher in the West, offers retreats, facilitates pilgrimages and gives Zoom teachings worldwide. His teachings focus on insight meditation (vipassana), the expansive heart and enquiry into emptiness and liberation. Poet, blogger and social critic, he is the author of numerous books including Light on Enlightenment, The Political Buddha and Poems from the Edge of Time. Christopher is a former Buddhist monk in Thailand and India. His primary teachers were Ajahn Buddhadasa at Wat Suanmoke and Ajahn Dhammadharo at Wat Chai Na, Nakornsridhammaraj, Thailand. He lives in Totnes, Devon, England.