Waking Up to Everyday Life
“Life is stressful, uncomfortable, uncertain, insecure, disappointing, painful.
Life is complicated, boring, impersonal, difficult, distressing, challenging, unfair.
Life isn’t just stressful; in many ways it is traumatic…
…but, on the other hand, life can be a wonderful adventure.” ~ Vince Cullen
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Concrete Beds and Wooden Pillows… Waking Up the Hard Way… or Finding Insight but not much Serenity.
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“Addiction & the Hell Realm…” A Buddhist perspective on Trauma, Craving, Addiction and Recovery in the Early Buddhist Suttas.
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“Life is not fair…” A Buddhist perspective on Trauma, Craving, Addiction and Recovery in the Early Buddhist Suttas.
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“In terms of addictions and compulsions,
there is a liberating difference between ‘abstinence’ and ‘abandonment’.”
~ Vince Cullen
In 2003 I took my first one-month temporary ordination at Wat Thamkrabok, a unique monastery in central Thailand. My intention on that occasion was to explore Buddhism and meditation, but what I got was not what I expected. I was given a ‘Sajja’ or a ‘truth’ to practice for 4-hours per day for the next 2-years.
My Sajja – “No one can do it for me, I must do it for myself”.
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Sajja is not just for those individuals trying to overcome manifest addictions, because when we look closely and honestly at ourselves, we might just see that we are all ‘in recovery’ from cravings, aversions and confusion.
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After the retreat… “I feel more informed and ‘lighter’. It was a very compassionate space”. “Clearly extremely knowledgeable, it was delivered with authenticity and human relatable.” “And interestingly poignant and personal life stories, to coincide with teachings, made it human – as was the name of retreat – Being Human.” After the retreat… “Feeling amazing! At peace, excited, energised and […]
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The Pearl in Sorrow’s Hand… “22-years ago when I was at my lowest point, overwhelmed with sadness and self-loathing, as I drank my last beer, I was oblivious to the gift that was being offered to me; the Pearl in Sorrow’s hand was the chance of sobriety, the chance to see things as they really are.” A poem by Rumi, […]
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I am continuously inspired by some of the images that the Buddha offers us of ‘Sati’ or ‘Mindfulness’. My talk for Worldwide Insight (now known as Sangha.Live) on Sunday, December 2nd, was an exploration of some the many aspects of mindfulness – or in my case a lack of mindfulness – that continue to play themselves out in my life. […]
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