Wise Attention Blog

Training in the Middle Way

Dressage Champion Charlotte Dujardin's withdrawal from the Olympics when video footage showed her maltreating a horse raise questions about where the balance lies between discipline and abuse. How can we find the middle way? Thought for the Day, BBC Radio 4, 26 July...

Combating Anger

As society gets angrier, the ancient Buddhist teachings are more relevant than ever Are we getting angrier? A video that went viral last week showed a 60 year-old man pounding the windscreen of a woman who’d honked him. Eyes bulging, spewing profanity, he was seized...

Ending the Middle East Cycle of Violence

As the war in Gaza threatens to spiral into a regional conflict, what light does Buddhist wisdom shed on cycles of violence? After the Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus and Iran’s missile strike against Israel, now what? Troubled voices are urging...

AI Struggles Show We’re all Biased, but Mindfulness Can Help

When AI Systems Try to deal with bias they encounter an underlying truth: no one's perceptions are wholly true. Tackling that starts with ourselves Think of a doctor or a lawyer. If what comes to mind is the image of a white man, does that show your unconscious bias...

Extreme Weather Shows How Conditionality Works

Extreme weather is  disconcerting because climate change shows how far our responsibility extends Here in Wales people say: ‘When you can see the hills, it's going to rain; when you can't see them, it’s already raining!’ The weather in the UK is a constant, but these...

The writing on this site explores what it means to practice Buddhism, mindfulness and ethics in the modern world. You'll find reviews, , talks, interviews, broadcasts and reflection on the arts as well as reflections on the Buddha and Buddhist teachings

Thought for the Day

Reflections on the news from a Buddhist perspective BBC Radio 4 since 2006

Arts

Reflections on the news from a Buddhist perspective BBC Radio 4 since 2006

Buddhism in the Modern World

Translating Buddhism into a form that's effective in the modern world

Book Reviews

Buddhist books across three decades
Dharma Life Magazine

Dharma Life Magazine

For nine years, from 1996 to 2005 I edited Dharma Life magazine, which explored the encounter between Buddhism and the modern world. Most of the articles from issues 15-26 are posted online at www.dharmalife.com, and you can find them...

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Belonging & Identity

Belonging & Identity

There are jobs in the South East, but the regions and deprived areas are losing out as the recession bites. But people South Wales where I live have a sense of identity and belonging that can’t just be transplanted. Thought for the Day 24/12/2012

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The Dharma of Dickens

The Dharma of Dickens

Dickens’ moral vision mirrors the Buddhist teaching of karma: every character is a moral actor, whether they know it or now, inhabiting a fictional world that is imbued with a meaning and where every action has significance.

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Review of Gautama Buddha (AREIAC Newsletter)

Review of Gautama Buddha (AREIAC Newsletter)

“Excellent … thorough, carefully researched and well-written … A very readable and impressive account of one of the world’s most important religious leaders.”
Paul Hopkins reviews “Gautama Buddha” for the Association of Religious Education Inspectors, Advisers and Consultants: AREIAC Newsletter, Autumn, 2011

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Mindfulness in Action – new website

Mindfulness in Action – new website

I’ve made a new website for my mindfulness training work at www.mindfulnessinaction.co.uk. It includes details of my courses, workshops and distance learning, as well as background material on MBSR and how it helps. There are media pieces and videos. Check it out and let me know what you think.

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Guru Trouble

Guru Trouble

Wise men, eccentrics, geniuses and charlatans. Gurus have featured large as Buddhism has come the West. What should we make of them? Reviews of Madame Blavatsky’s Baboon: Theosophy and the Emergence of the Western Guru by Peter Washington; Riding the Tiger by Lama Ole Nydahl; Zen In America by Helen Tworkov

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Memento Mori

Memento Mori

It’s easy to think that Insight, Wisdom and Enlightenment are far beyond the level of our experience. But if we reflect on our experience in the light of teachings such as the Worldly Winds we sometimes find that the deeper truths are present right now

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