I thought I would start telling you about my growing relationship with buddhism which is proving of great interest to me and something that I can see going a lot further. As is clear from the name on this blog I practise yoga and have done for sometime and buddhism is something that has always been of interest to me, probably because my dad studied with the Dalai Lama when he was a teenager. Well after living within walking distance of the North London Buddhist Centre for a few years I finally got round to attending the meditation sessions there. This is something I have found very inspiring and continue to meditate everyday, alternating between the mindfulness of breathing and meta bhavana to bring some clarity. I have also signed up for a course there to expand my knowledge of Buddhism and how to apply it to modern life. I will certainly keep you updated on how that is going and where it takes me, which is something I am very excited about.
In the meantime I have reading “The Art of Happiness” by Matthieu Ricard and there is so much in it that it is quite hard to take in and for me to put in a blog how it is affecting the way I think but here goes! Basically it is having the effect of making me question everything I am and the way in which I think about things. Having said that I feel like there is so much more investigation that I need to do to understand how to use meditation effectively but also how to achieve genuine peace of mind. It raises a lot of issues about how we accept our lives being, in terms of how we judge ourselves and how we judge others. There is an interesting quote in the book that says “For the lover, a beautiful woman is an object of desire; for the hermit, a distraction; for the wolf, a good meal”. So basically the value of something is just the value we give it and someone else will give it a completely different value. Do I think it would be easy to unlearn all of the confines of society, I doubt it and think it is something that will be a life long journey.
So I guess I would say I am just beginning my journey with Buddhism and over time I am sure it will develop and I will have a lot more to share with you.
