Nothing much

  • Five Remembrances

    Vietnamese Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh paraphrased the Five Remembrances (found in the Upajjhatthana Sutta) like this: On a first reading, the Five Remembrances can seem very bleak statements that describe unavoidable human suffering. They certainly challenge our tendency to live in denial of ageing and death. We don’t feel very comfortable facing our own…

  • Truths

    Buddhism’s ‘Two Truths’ doctrine sounds like a summation of its highest-level insights – a realisation reserved for the end of a life spent in practice, perhaps. Yet, the doctrine is introduced very early on, almost as a foundational teaching, not a final or ultimate one. There is a profound irony here: the doctrine teaches us…

  • Practice

    Whether you look upon Buddhism as a religion or as a way of life underpinned by a philosophy – which is my way – you will probably take the ‘Four Noble Truths’ and the ‘Noble Eightfold Path’ as the foundations of your practice. By way of analogy, the Noble Truths are often presented as the medical diagnosis of an…