Whatever You Say, Say Nothing

Well I’ve had a cold for a couple of days now.. find it interesting to see how such a little virus can affect my states of mind.  Last night we watched a film I’ve had for ages but had never got round to watching before - Ian McKellen as Richard III, a spectacularly unethical individual (well, as portrayed by Shakespeare anyway).  Very strong visually, fantastically menacing from the shocking opening scene to the very end.  I was reflecting that a lot of my views of this period of history are probably shaped by repeated readings as a child of the Ladybird Book of Kings and Queens (Vol 1).  This contained uncompromising character summaries such as "Richard was a weak and vain man" (actually I think this might have been Richard II) (or possibly some other unfortunate monarch altogether..), accompanied by slightly lurid pictures of some historical event or facet of life at that time.  For some reason it was totally fascinating.  It would be interesting to have our more recent monarchs written about in the same cursory style…..or what about ourselves ?? Now there’s a scary thought… my life summed up in one page of the Ladybird Book of Brecon Buddhists…

Today we held a day at Tiratanaloka offering meditation teaching to people who live in the local area.  It was the first time we’ve done this at the retreat centre, although we did run a similar day in the village hall in July.  It was fantastic to have 14 people turn up and to be able to introduce - or re-introduce - them to samatha practices.  Although I had a cold and felt a bit under the weather, I enjoyed the day and really appreciated the positive atmosphere created by those who came along.  Once again I found it really helpful looking through Jinananda’s little book on meditation (simply entitled Meditating) which I find contains a lovely mix of the very poetic and the really practical in introducing these practices.  Here’s some information on the book: Windhorse Publications: Books on Buddhism, Dharma, meditation from an FWBO Right Livelihood business.  It also felt good to let others enjoy the space of the retreat centre.  On a personal level, one thing I’ve been aware of feeling since I moved here is a slight sense of loss at not being connected with the wider local community, and today also felt like a step towards making that connection.

Here are some pictures of where I went walking last weekend.  The building is Llanthony Priory (looking a bit romantic in the mist!) which is about 6 miles off the main road between Abergavenny and Hereford. We walked on the most easterly ridge of the Black Mountains which marks the border between England and Wales.  It was a really warm day, though there was low cloud on the top of the ridge which meant the views weren’t clear for most of the time.  Still, it was very atmospheric!

. .. at Tiratanaloka, a Buddhist retreat centre in Wales where I have lived for the last 10 months. This is a photo of me taken recently for our new programme of retreats…It’s taken me a bit of time to get the hang of this blog stuff so I’ll just say that I will try to keep it updated, at least weekly - maybe more often if things get exciting here in the countryside.