Wise Attention Blog
Wise Attention includes 20 years of writing exploring 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
The Edible is Ethical
Eating meat increases global warming and causes animals to suffer. That's why Buddhism sides with vegetarians and vegans in seeing food as a moral issue. It’s a little awkward for a vegetarian to talk about food at breakfast-time. But this week...
Climate Change and The Four Reminders
We know that climate change is happening, but our politics focuses elsewhere and our lifestyles remain the same. Real change means engaging our deepest values, and the Buddhist reflections on mortality, the world's imperfection karma and the precious...
The Ethics of Communication
As a society we constantly confront questions around how we should speak to each other about difficult issues. The Buddhist speech precepts offer a framework for ethical reflection on how we communicate Last week it was antisemitism in the...
The Call of the Forest
Creating a vast new forest inn Central England will help offset climate change, but it also appeals to the imagination. And that’s what we need we are to turn our environmental aspirations into reality
Healing Trauma With Gratitude
The Thai boys who were lost in a cave are spending time as novice Buddhist monks. Does gratitude offer an alternative way to recover from trauma?
‘East West Street’, by Philippe Sands – Review
East West Street is about the Nuremberg War Crimes trials, Sands’ family history and the law. It weaves its many threads into a powerful meditation on interconnectedness and its meaning for our lives and our ethics
Guilt and Remorse After Grenfell Tower
If you are caught up in a disaster and blamed for the consequences, even if you aren’t responsible, how can you cope with the feelings of guilt that are likely to arise?
What is the connection between mindfulness and ethics, and how does mindfulness fit into the Buddhist Path? In this talk, Vishvapani places mindfulness in an ethical context and explains what ethics means within Buddhism.
Climate Change and the Burning House
As climate change talks falter, the Parable of the Burning House from The Lotus Sutra has a new relevance. The need to change is clear enough, but what will inspire us to act on it? The 2015 Paris Climate Change agreement was an inspiring...
After 1968: Inner or Outer Revolution?
1968 saw riots in Paris and the start of western Buddhist movements. But who was right: the political or the spiritual revolutionaries? Thought for the Day 01/05/18 For anyone like me who didn't live through it, the images of workers and...
Mindfulness and Depression
Behind Dale Winton's breezy persona lay years of secret depression. Can mindfulness help people in his situation? Weekend Word, BBC Radio Wales 20.04.18 The news that Dale Winton died on Wednesday, aged 62, has shone a light on the troubled...
Mindfulness and Depression
Dale Winton suffered from depression for many years. Can mindfulness help people in his situation? Weekend Word, BBC Radio Wales, 20.04.18 The news that Dale Winton died on Wednesday, aged 62, has shone a light on the troubled life behind his...
Faith in the Buddha
Buddhists often talk about Enlightenment, but what does it mean? The Buddha is the object of faith in Buddhism, so in what are we placing our faith? Vishvapani (who has written a book about the Buddha) explores these questions and talks about what faith in...
The Meaning of Faith
Faith is 'the first of the five spiritual faculties’ taught by the Buddha; but in English it has many associations - ‘blind faith’, ‘leaps of faith’, faith as the alternative to ‘reason’ and so on. Vishvapani speaks about what faith means for Buddhists in...
The Skill of Ethics
Education focuses more and more on learning skills. The Buddhist idea of ethics as skilfulness makes a link between ordinary skills and he rely of ethics and spiritual life. On yesterday's programme we heard from apprentices at Sheffield...
Poverty Safari – Review
Poverty Safari is an eloquent account of poverty and the dangers and delusions that await people who emerge from it into a media spotlight. Change, he suggests, needs start with people.
Rediscovering the Buddha in Thailand
What did the Buddha look like? And why does it matter? At the Rediscovering the Buddha Seminar in Bangkok Vishvapani joined leading scholars to advise a Thai artist on the Buddha's appearance. 23-28 November 2017 I have just returned from...
Can We Create A Mindful Society?
Society faces an array of challenges that require us to attend to our minds and mental states. The mental health crisis, the wellbeing agenda, the attention economy and the Fourth Industrial Revolution all challenge our capacity to cope with - let alone...