Thank you, Sensei, for the invitation to write about anything on our minds. So we have total freedom to roam around the Buddhist landscape. The format of our Wednesday meetings has come down to us from time immemorial. The Zen tradition appeals to me because it’s radically different from any other strand of Buddhism. The […]
Read more…Keizan Sensei has invited us to write about any subject within the Buddhist tradition that, within the realm of our own life, feels meaningful, problematical, puzzling or all three. Here Maurice Shokatsu George reflects on the profound relief and freedom he found in discovering Buddhist ethics. “I’m going to flashback to the moment when I became a Buddhist. […]
Read more…
In my youth, a long long time ago, I must have been searching for the ‘meaning of life’ or at least an arrow pointing in the right direction. I knew one thing: that the belief in a creator god was primitive and superstitious. This I had learned from my readings of Voltaire and other luminaries […]
Read more…
Here are some reflections from Maurice on his perspective on faith and religion: At the grammar school which I attended from the age of 11 to 18, every day started in the hall with a religious ceremony. We recited the Lord’s Prayer and sang a hymn. Then the head teacher gave a talk on a […]
Read more…
I need to walk in the fresh air. Every Monday I go walking with my good friend Ian. He never tells me in advance where we’re going; it could be a trip round our home town; or the local university; or far away in the open countryside. It will always be a proper walk – […]
Read more…
A reflection by Maurice Shokatsu George ‘A human mind is an unfathomable entity. Nobody knows what it is. Nobody. Consciousness? Awareness? A by-product of the brain? A non-entity? A facet of the imagination? It’s no use consulting the experts. The only expert to manage my mind is me. No-one else. Nothing else. No Buddhas. Only […]
Read more…‘Having reached my ninth decade, I’ve passed through many phases and experiences. It would be surprising if I as a Zen practitioner had given no thought to death and its implications. In my youth I thought I’d ‘dance forever and a day’. Years passed and nothing changed; death was for old people. In my life […]
Read more…Indra’s Net When reading this, please be patient. I’m trying, rather helplessly, to clarify my own mind. My reality is not the same as your reality. All sentient beings have different realities. Billions of beings experience billions of realities. Existence is not the same as reality. Our understanding of reality is at the mercy of […]
Read more…My mind feels free. I think I can make up my own mind. I believe that I have freewill. And I would resent it if you told me that my freedom was non-existent; so be careful what you say to me ! So let me say right now that ‘freedom’ is a fraud. What shall […]
Read more…‘Only fools try to find order in chaos’ by Maurice George (Warning : Some non-Buddhist content) For some time I’ve been arguing that the U.K.’s political system is so totally corrupt and unrepresentative that the only option is to turn the system upside-down. At the moment all the power is concentrated at the ‘top’ in […]
Read more…