Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies. Nelson Mandela I recently revisited the sufi shrines of the saints Nizamuddin (Delhi) and Christi (Ajmer) and was again mindful of the obscene attempts of the Taliban in Pakistan and elsewhere to destroy sufism by blowing up such shrines. This is a campaign by fundamentalists/ Islamic puritans to try and eradicate what they see as blasphemous practice within Islam. In the five years 2005 to 2010, 209 people were killed and 560 injured in 29 different terrorist attacks targeting shrines devoted to Sufi saints in Pakistan. Sufism expresses the inner mystical dimension of Islam, and possibly pre-dates all religion, finding a home within Islam. Sufis consider themselves as the original true proponents of a pure original form of Islam and sufism may be ... read more

Old man look at my life, I'm a lot like you were Muni Baba was said by the locals to be at least 120 years old. I needed to see this. There was a festival of celebration and devotion being held over several days in the remote little village temple where he resided in a small dark room with a duni (fire place) in the middle, which exuded far too much smoke than one might think healthy for anyone let alone a man of 120. We went, the four of us, on two bikes to the place – about 10 kms from Pushkar. A nice ride on a good road mostly, and the countryside was looking wonderful and fresh on this winter morning. The other three were locals who had seen Muni Baba before and were ... read more

Awakening is Emptiness awakening to Emptiness. Zen: Ancient and Modern, Ama Samy, 2010, Vaigarai Publishing House Do not dwell on what has passed away, or what is yet to be Leonard Cohen, ANTHEM So as with the passing of things impermanent (all things), it's time to leave Himachal Pradesh after two months. The last month has been spent living alone in the most beautiful and serene house high on a mountainside on the edge of the village of Solhanu. But it's just getting too cold now for comfort – as soon as the sun is gone the drop in temperature is dramatic. My legs are pretty toned now from all the walking up and down from the house to Jibhi below – every third or fourth day became an excitement for me – to go to ... read more

His first experience of the emptiness was as a child (he can’t remember at what age, probably around 6 or 7). He lay at night waiting for sleep to come, and would see the bouncing lines of balls, in slow motion with the image of each ball leaving a trail behind, bouncing on and on and on …….. Years later he would hear people on radio talk-back recall what they called their ‘eternity dream’, and be reminded of this experience of nothingness, as if it represented some commonly held vision all people got from time to time. Still, it was unique to him when that child. It left him in awe of the space and silence of outer existence…. somewhere. Nothingness, emptiness, silence. They who have no riches, … who have perceived the void and unconditioned ... read more

These days are slipping right through my hands These days turn out nothing like I had planned Powderfinger “These Days” Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in Leonard Cohen “Anthem” I am living in a beautiful space (a house) on the outskirts of a village called Solahnu (population 123), an hour by walking track (no road) up a steep mountainside from the town of Jibhi in Bangar Valley Kullu (Himachal Pradesh India). How I got to be offered this opportunity is a long story, but suffice to say this is my fourth time in this valley since 2009 and my mind's eye has fancied being able to do just this kind of thing since that fist visit. I am doing nothing and everything. My days are empty ... read more