Priority goes to the deep and what comes from the deep. Pali language has a key term yoniso manasikāro. Yoniso means womb or source. Mana means mind; sikaro implies action. We bring mindfulness steadfastly to bear on an object. We wait patiently to see what action/movement comes to the mind from the womb, from the depth of our being.

The teachings emphasise awakening of the heart-mind due what arises from the source.

Here is a photo of items on my desk. This desk sits next to my desk with a computer and a couple of loudspeakers.

If you see the desktop as untidy, you have an ordinary mind.

If you only see office items on a desk, you have a mundane response

If you see it as tidy, you are deluded.

What is it?

Clever answers confirm absence of depth.

Establish an unwavering and focussed mindfulness of what you see or carry the image of it to meditate on.

Meditate on it until you see what you did not see before.

The deep might release a single word or two.

If the awakened mind speaks to you, don’t hesitate to enter in space below for subscribers at foot of this item.

You will know you have explored mindfulness/meditation to the extent necessary on the photo.

I will respond in a week to any submissions

Love

the Buddha Wallah

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Around 670,000 students, aged around 16 years, take their GCSE’s this year in preparation to go to college to study for their A-levels.

Teachers, parents and students may regard successful exam results as the doorway to a happy and successful life. Exam results cannot guarantee that. Life may unfold in ways that bear little or no relationship to the results of exams.

Ten Limits of Study

1. Other interests may shape your working life more than years of study.

2. Top grades and credentials may still lead you toward a different but fulfilling path.

3. Parental pressure can provoke a resolve to live differently from them.

4. Leaving school early can still lead to a happy, meaningful, adventurous life.

5. High achievers may succeed outwardly while struggling deeply in personal lives.

6. Know yourself, trust inwardly, and develop understanding of others everywhere.

7. Live simply with integrity, grounded in values beyond external expectations.

8. Authorities claim to know what is best; often, they do not, not even for themselves.

9. Reflect deeply on what matters beyond grades, status, and financial success.

10. Love, peace, health, friendship, service, and freedom matter far more.

PS. Live the adventure.

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Love

Christopher

www.anengagedlife.org

Jesus offering teachings at edge of Sea of Galilee

Despite the Roman military occupation and the daily fears that beset the lives of the Palestinians, they were desperate to listen to profound teachings from a man among them who spoke from his direct experience. No wonder such large and small groups listened to the man from Nazareth.

Born to a homeless, single mother, Jesus probably never went to school, never learnt to read and write. Jesus spoke with a depth that astounded the rabbis, Pharisees and scribes, as well as the rich, the poor, the sick and those with mental health issues.

He enthralled his followers with his stories, lucid explanations of Ultimate Truth (Kingdom of Heaven) and his powerful use of family metaphors, such as God the Father. Jesus made his primary focus to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth - a non-dual teaching of the trancendence and daily life through realisation of liberation and love.

Meaning of the Prayer of Jesus, the hub of his teachings

I have picked out from the gospels a few lines known in Christendom as the Lord’s Prayer (Luke 11.2), the most beloved of all his words a short, poetic statements on ultimate and relative truth.

The Lord’s Prayer captures in a succinct way the heart of his teachings. God represents the ultimate truth and we develop limitless love to bridge the gap between transcendence and daiy life. Not surprisingly, the entire Christian tradition, Catholic or Protestant, liberal or fundamentalist, knows by heart the Lord’s Prayer. Prayer – the Aramaic word is shela – means to ‘incline towards while abiding in a sublime inner space.’ Jesus calls upon us to lead a a meditative and mindful life using the power of prayer.

Like the Buddha and other sages of India, Jesus offered open air satsang (sat – truth and sang, a sangha, a gathering of the ones who love truth). On a hill in Galilee, he offered his listeners a reflective prayer consisting of 52 words, which became known in Christendom as the Lord’s Prayer.

This is the Prayer

“Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be your name,

Your kingdom come
your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our trespasses,

As we also forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil.”

Jesus taught people how to pray but in a way different from what they had known. He told his audience: ‘Go into your room, pray to your Father who is unseen.’

For Jesus, prayer primarily expresses the silent repose, the contemplative state of being. In true prayer, there is nothing to ask for. “Do not keep babbling on” said Jesus. Jesus had little regard for long prayers, hymns, religious services, recitations and mantras. “You won’t be heard” because of many words, he warns.

If our prayers fill our minds with words, requests and supplications to God, then the heart is blocked off. “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” Jesus said.

In our aloneness, we can forget ourselves; we are not trying to impress others with our presence at a religious service. Our anonymity and our silence provide the open doorway for the deepest truths to come to us. God ‘speaks’ to us in such an inner space. The Lord’s Prayer is essentially a short and powerful meditative reflection into Ultimate Truth and the conventional world, a reminder to realise non-duality in the apparent duality of God and humanity.

Our Father in heaven

The word for Father is Abba in Aramaic (the language the Nazarene rabbi spoke). It means Foundation based on AB – meaning where all movements come to an end, to a completion. Abba is the basis for everything and the completion of everything – in the same way that all waves rise and fall in the Ocean. Jesus fully embodied his teaching right until his last breath on the cross.

Heaven – shem-aya –implies ‘that without limits. It is the Limitless, the Infinite, the Immeasurable, the All (Allah), One in the Many (Eolohim). Truth is one without a second, is immeasurable, out of which the ‘measurable’ emerges, like waves out of the Ocean. The plight of humans is to grasp onto the measurable, onto the waves, and become blinded to the Ocean that is the foundation for the waves. Jesus reminded his listeners of the Ocean.

hallowed be your name

Jesus told his students to make sure they never forget the Father of all things, the unconstructed reality, the Kingdom of God. Let us realise the Sacred, indestructible, without beginning, middle or end, free from characteristic features while making everything possible.

your kingdom come

He encouraged his students to focus their lives on realising the Kingdom of God that lies in the immediate heart of all things. We live in the conventional world of the nation state; kingdoms that endeavour to co-exist or dwell in conflict with each other. Jesus pointed to the borderless Kingdom.

your will be done

In this fourth line, Jesus introduced non-duality into his prayer as a statement of deepest intimacy with liberating truth. It is the inseparability of ultimate truth and relative truth, of the transcendent and the ordinary. In family language, the prayer integrates God the Father and God the Son.

Jesus reminded everyone that our spirit matters. In the Gospels, there are more than 100 references to the spirit – ruha – the word also means breath, air, wind. Jesus told his audience the importance of breath as a vehicle to bridge the link between God and ourselves.

on Earth as it is in Heaven

Jesus warmed even more to his noble theme by ending the gap between heaven and earth, between Nirvana and samsara.

Give us today our daily bread

At a deeper level, bread means that which nourishes us. When we abide in inner silence, we can turn towards the transcendent principle. We make ourselves available daily for ultimate insights and revelations, uplifting our spirit and releasing joy and deep inner peace. This is the bread of life.

Forgive us our trespasses

Forgiveness enables a return to our true nature of depth of integrity, free from selfishness and blame.

As we forgive those who trespass against us

Again, Jesus called upon us to dissolve the differences between each other. We blame ourselves for the way we engage in unwise actions. We inflict anguish and sorrow on others. Jesus reminds us of our capacity to love even to those who trespass against us, harm us. With presence and love, we take away their power to make us fearful, angry, and burn up within.

And lead us not into temptation

Jesus and Buddha reminded us that even when established in the foundation of all things, temptations may still arise.

And deliver us from evil

Evil includes the deliberate intent to inflict suffering upon others. The Lord’s Prayer makes us available for the most profound of realisations. In the space of about 50 words, Jesus captured with exquisite sensitivity the heart of all spiritual teachings.

It is one of the greatest statements of truth ever uttered ranking alongside the precious, brief statements of the Buddha.

In 10,000 discourses, the Buddha made a single reference to the next Buddha who would be known as Maitreya Buddha - the Buddha of Love. of Friendship, of Kindness.

The name of the Buddha of love would spread throughout the world. 500 years later, Jesus was born.

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I received this week an appreciative response on my WordPress blog about the upcoming retreat.

The response:

“Thank you for sharing this inspiring announcement for the summer retreat with Christopher Titmuss. The retreat beautifully reflects the spirit of authentic Buddhist practice by bringing together mindfulness, insight meditation, silence, inquiry, and liberating wisdom within a supportive and contemplative environment.

“I especially appreciate the emphasis on moving beyond mindfulness as a technique toward a deeper liberating understanding of life and mind. The combination of meditation practice, daily teachings, personal inquiry, and silent reflection creates a powerful space for inner clarity, insight, and transformation.

“The retreat’s structure also sounds deeply supportive for both beginners and experienced practitioners. The inclusion of meditation in different postures, guided practice, one-on-one meetings, and opportunities for reflection highlights a balanced and grounded approach to spiritual development.

“I also value the emphasis on silence and simplicity. In a fast-moving and distracted world, retreats like this offer a rare opportunity to reconnect with stillness, awareness, and the deeper dimensions of practice. Such environments can help cultivate mindfulness, compassion, wisdom, and a more direct understanding of ourselves and reality.

“Thank you for sharing this meaningful opportunity for practice and reflection. Retreats like these continue to support sincere seekers on the path toward greater peace, insight, and liberation.”

Regards,
Antique Buddhas
https://www.buddhashop.net/

Course language: English

Seminarhaus Engl e.V. (one hour from Munich)

Engl 1. Phone +49-(0)8728-616

84339 Unterdietfurt, Germany

www.seminarhaus-engl.de

Email: info@seminarhaus-engl.de

Love

Christopher

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One of our participants from Germany posted in the Chat column yesterday her “favourite quotations” from talks and responses to questions. The quotes will give you a flavour of the teachings for their application to daily life. Nshorna and I offer teachings and practices, sometimes intentionally challenging, pointing to awakening the mind and service to others.

12 Quotes from Talks and Responses to Questions on the MTTC

1. The gap between freedom and my current state of being might be small. If I use the mindfulness resources I have and use to detach from the story, see sensations, feelings and perceptions as sensations, feelings and perceptions, and focus on the freedom and wellbeing, that´s there.

2. I am not here to please people.

3. What do I need to develop, what needs to change, so that I won´t be a prisoner to that emotion with that story?

4. The freedom to enjoy. And the freedom not to be dependent on.

5. Pleasure is wanting something and getting it. Happiness is not depending on getting something.

6. Friendship with the voice of authority – put these two together and you´ll be fine.

7. The “person” is a manifestation of the environment lived in.

8. Reactivity: Repeating of the old with something problematic.

9. What are you doing? How is it affecting you? Where is it leading?

10. Love is not about a feeling. It is in the action.

11. What genuinely supports people´s growth? - that might not be what makes me feel good, or what makes me feel I am a good teacher.

12. What am I willing to let go of, so that this which is important really becomes a priority?

Joining the MTTC

Held once a month, our weekend consists of five 75-minute sessions. Sessions include breakout rooms on Zoom for small groups to explore the theme of the session. Besides a 20 minute talk and 20 minute guided meditation, we have a full group session with responses and questions in the Chat Box or using audio. Particpans are offered to put in Chat column names of websites, books, podcasts and on YouTube to support the training.

Consider joining the MTTC next January. You need significant quality - a firm intention to attend the first module of six months - mindfulness training. You do not need any history of attending mindfulness courses or retreats.

In the weeks before the end of Module 1, you can join Module 2. For Module 2, you need a second quality. A genuine wish to offer a service, to be an agent for change. You receive a professional accreditation certificate upon full completion.

The majority of our trainees join for the 12 month. MTTC develops a community of worldwide friendships with opporunity to continue after the contact finishes.

We launched the Online Minfulness Training Course (MTC) in 2011 and the MTTC in 2016. There are two senior teachers, co-ordinator/administrator and six assistant teachers, who are graduates of previous MTTCs.

Checkout our website.

www.mindfulnesstrainingcourse.org

You will see a wealth of information. We endeavour to keep the cost as afforable as we can. A full year works out cheaper than a cup of coffee per day.

Kindly pass the word on.

Much love

Christopher and Nshorna

(father-daughter team)

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You can pay super early-bird discount for both modules or pay for first module of mindfulness training and pay same early-bird discount for second module in month before start of second module.

Second module consists of teacher training. In this module, trainees give short talks, offer guided meditations, Q&A, instructions in mindfulness and facilitation skills.

Listeners are invited to give their response. Opportunity to join small mid week group once or twice a month.

A small taster of our mindfulness teacher training

We provide a Lesson Plan at the start of each month with a fresh theme for each month.

Month 1. Mindfulness of Stress.

Intensive online weekend once a month. Three sessions on a Saturday for 75 minutes per session. Two sessions on a Sunday for same length of time.

Short talk, guided meditation, Q&A, sharing experiences and breakout rooms for small groups on theme of the month. Usually 10-20 nationalities.

FIVE LESSON PLANS FOR THE WEEKEND in pdf format

1. What is Mindfulness?

2. 21 Signs of Stress and Anxiety

3. Exploration of Stress

4. Practices for Working with Stress in Daily Life

Month 2. Mindfulness of Sitting, Walking, Standing and Reclining

Month 3. Mindfulness of the Body, Body Image and Sexual Energy

MTTC provides two senior teachers, a senior assistant teacher and five assistant teachers, plus an administrator/coordinator.

Find out more and register and registration cost in the website.

• Website: mindfulnesstrainingcourse.org

• Link to 20 Q&A. mindfulnesstrainingcourse.org/faq

• Email: mttcglobal@gmail.com

Become an agent for change.

We look forward to hearing from you.

With love,
Christopher and Nshorna

Mindfulness Training Course. 2011-2016

Mindfulness Teacher Training Course 2016 -

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After this short introduction, let there be a short pause between sentences.

You can write a loving kindness meditation or prayers for the welfare of all.

In this guided meditation, we can experience access to a warm, caring and loving heart. Kindness extends itself in all directions. And that includes ourselves.

A seven minute audio Guided Loving Kindness Meditation of text below.

In the experience of love and friendship, there is the absence of ill will, self-blame or negativity towards others.

We stop giving ourselves a hard time.

We practice moving on from hard and reactive feelings to the past.

We develop a steadiness in the heart despite challenges which come to us and once came to us.

GUIDED LOVING KINDNESS MEDITATION

May my mother and father be free from suffering and pain

May my brothers, sisters and relatives be free from suffering and pain

May my children and grandchildren be free from suffering and pain

May all my family members live in peace and harmony

May my friends, colleagues and contacts care for each other

Let us appreciate life and give support to each other

Let our hearts stay open, receptive and clear about the needs of others

May we appreciate our connection with each other

May our kindness connect with the animal kingdom

Let us show kindness to the creatures on the ground, under the ground, in the plants, trees, in the air and in the water

May all creatures, domestic, wild and on farms live in safety and security

May our kindness connect with the natural world, including the night sky above, earth below and all that reveals between

May our loving kindness meditation expand and extend itself to the three kinds of people in the world, namely the friendly, the strangers and the unfriendly

Let us offer love and hospitality to people regardless of their nation, culture or history

May I abide with a warm heart, a clear mind with the capacity to offer kindness in any direction

May my daily activities revealed in body, speech and mind contribute to contentment, healing and insight

May I find the resources for the welfare of others.

Let us be willing to take risks for the well-being of those in need

Let us be willing to step into the unknown for the welfare of others.

May all beings know inner peace

May all beings know love.

May all beings be free.

www.mindfulnesstrainingcourse.org

Website Content invites you to:

Join our 12 month online Mindfulness Teacher Training Course (MTTC) starting in January 2027. Modest cost. Two teachers, administrator, six assistant teachers. Professional qualification recognised worldwide.

Join our Mindfulness Ten-Step Course. See Ten-Step Challenge link on home page.

Love

Christopher

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The teachings point to a liberating wisdom.

Meditation hall, dining and sleeping rooms

Start of a beautiful walk from garden of retreat centre

The teacher offers comprehensive meditation instructions, guided meditations, a daily talk, inquiry and 1-1 meetings with Christopher.

The clearly structured daily routine supports the practice in sitting, walking, standing and reclining postures.

The course is held in silence. The retreat is suitable for both beginners and experienced participants.

Modest cost for retreat expenses with request for donations (dana) for Christopher at end of retreat.

Course language: English

Seminarhaus Engl e.V. (one hour from Munich)

Engl 1. Phone +49-(0)8728-616

84339 Unterdietfurt, Germany

www.seminarhaus-engl.de

Email: info@seminarhaus-engl.de

Love

Christopher

Websites

www.thebuddhawallah.org

www.mindfulnesstrainingcourse.org

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Sub-title. Depth, Grounding, and knowing an integrated life.

Part Two. I invite readers to live deep questions and to recognise the web of life alongside liberation from suffering.

Mindfulness of breathing functions as a training. Like any training, it unfolds with fluctuations: two steps forward, one step back; sometimes two steps forward, three steps back. At times, we calmly experience connection with one breath after the next at other times mind wanders. This is normal.

As the connection with the breath deepens, we often sense:

• Being grounded

• Depth of extensive unfoldment including flow of breath and flow of the day

• Abiding in the expanse.

In this way, mindfulness of breathing contributes to experiencing life as it actually unfolds, rather than through our usual self-image, projections and narratives. The breath meditation does not stand alone – many other practices exist – but it provides a powerful foundation, as well as a companion through the ageing process.

from Kho Phangan to Paignton (near Totnes, Devon). From 20s to 80s.

As a Dharma teacher for five decades that in people’s lived experience, life frequently feels it passes very quickly. One day we look in the mirror and realise we have reached an age we once associated with “old people.” The number can provoke reflection:

• “What am I doing with my life?”

• “How much time might remain?

• “What really matters now?”

Sometimes a small incident triggers this awareness. In India, for example, people often refer to the moment of discovering one’s first grey hair. That single hair quietly announces: “The end has begun to move closer.” I appreciate this reminder. My own grey hairs turned white long ago, so that threshold lies far behind me while death gently whispers in the ear.

Such little signals, when we become conscious of them, make our vulnerability visible. They invite reflection not in a morbid way, but in a clarifying way:

“Given the time I have, however long or short, what do I wish to offer?”

This question can feel profoundly significant. It may unsettle us; it may generate a wave of thoughts and emotions. Yet, rather than dismiss it, we can live the question.

The poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote in his Letters to a Young Poet that some questions cannot be answered quickly. Instead, we must live the question, carry it with us like a kind of mantra, and let it work on us over time. In doing so, something deep within may begin to move, often in unexpected ways.

When we have developed training in mindfulness of breathing – a capacity to focus, to remain steady – we can apply that steadiness to these existential questions. Then the old formula “I think, therefore I am” opens into something more alive:

“I think, therefore I am… what?”

We do not stop at the thought; we let the question penetrate more deeply into what it means to be human.

Expansive Consciousness and the Mystical Sense

Consciousness, when given full value, stands on equal footing with the material world. Often, through practice or through life’s unexpected grace, we encounter experiences that transcend the purely material. Many of you, in your own ways, have probably known such moments.

Ordinarily, we say, “I’m conscious of you, of this talk, of this room, of these people.” Consciousness seems focused on immediate sensory experience – sight, sound, smell, taste, touch – and on our thoughts and feelings about all of that.

Consciousness reveals far more potential than that.

Sometimes, in meditation or in nature – walking in the mountains, silently along a long beach, sitting under a tree in the countryside – something shifts. The sense of self and world opens. Consciousness and rest of life rests in a vastness far greater than what the five senses reveal.

I should probably add that some encounter an expansion, via ayahuasca, magic mushrooms, and so on. I am not recommending them, but I recognise that people report powerful experiences with them.

In these moments of expansion, there might arise a mystical sense of things, such as a feeling of oneness or a mysterium tremendum.

Going deeper, there is a seeing and knowing of a kind of perception that everything belongs to a single, seamless field. Ultimately we discover a realm without limits.

This does not come as a projection or fantasy. It feels as authentic as the nose that sits between your forehead and your chin. It registers as a direct, vivid, trustworthy realisation..

Yes, the intensity fades. That is the nature of all experiences. Yet something deathless, free and accessible stays steady.

One of the enduring values of such awakening lies in the influence on our sense of proportion. We know the nature of our modest life.

We begin to see:

• My life unfolds within something much bigger.

• My successes and failures, while important, do not define the great expanse.

• Ageing, dying, and death appear less fearsome when seen from that expanded view.

People sometimes say, “I’m not afraid of death.” It sounds very bold when we feel healthy and alive. That view may or may not hold when we face death directly. Others say, “I’m not afraid of death, but I fear the process of dying.” Is the fearlessness true or a conceit of the mind! What is the evidence for the fear or fearlessness?

In any case, insights soften our fear. They show that life moves within a range of conditions and change. They remind us that our individual story, while precious, remains small compared to the immensity of existence. This recognition can bring humility, ease, and a sublime joy.

A Story from Thailand: Birth, Ageing, Pain, Death

Let me share a story from my time in Thailand to illustrate how simple wisdom in ordinary communities can hold these realities.

In 1973, long before the full-moon parties, I spent several months on the island of Koh Phangan, off the coast of Thailand, as a monk. At that time, the island had no proper roads, only tracks. It functioned mainly as a fishing community. I spent nine months living in a cave up in the hills and did not make contact with Westerners during that time.

One day, a young Thai man visited the cave. He worked in Bangkok and had fallen in love with a young woman from New Zealand. She invited him to come to New Zealand, so he sought advice on how to secure a visa and arrange the trip. That conversation did not occupy my usual thoughts in meditation, but we spoke as best we could.

Some time later, while visiting his family on the island, he rode his small motorbike along one of those rough tracks. For reasons that never became entirely clear, he ended up at the local police station and got into an argument with the officer behind the desk.

The policeman pulled out his revolver and fired five bullets into the young man. He died on the spot.

His father, heartbroken, came up to see me with a schoolteacher who acted as translator. The father’s grief poured out in sobs and tears – a devastation beyond words. He asked me to attend the cremation.

Buddhist monks and villagers gathered together. What they did next moved me deeply. In a quiet, respectful chant, they repeated a simple phrase:

Thai - English

• Gèrt - Birth

• Gàe -Ageing

• Jèp - Pain/Illness

• Dtaai - Death

They recognised the cycle of birth, ageing, pain and death. Their chanting did not deny the tragedy; it did not avoid the circumstances. The villagers placed the killing in a wider understanding.

The chant resonated. It conveyed a simple wisdom that has lived in those villages for generations. After the ceremony, I listened to the reflections of the villagers and returned to my cave. The consequences for the family and the community continued beyond that day until integrated into the web of existence.

Some weeks later, the father came again to the cave. I asked him, “What happened to the policeman?”

He shuddered. He had seen his son’s body, the bullet holes in the chest and arm. “The senior police officer moved the officer to another police station on the mainland. “The police did not hold the officer accountable, nor met with the family, nor sought justice.”

Mindfulness of the Small and the Vast

When we look closely at life, we encounter both small, intimate experiences and large, dramatic events. An exploration of consciousness invites us to be present with both:

• Subtle details of a single breath,

• Catastrophe of sudden death,

• Beauty of a plant on the windowsill,

• Turbulence of global politics.

With awareness and mindfulness, we learn to look carefully at the details – the breath, the heartbeat, a feeling in the body, the shape of a leaf, the expression on someone’s face. In doing so, we do not drift into narrowness; rather, we discover that each small thing contains the whole.

Take a plant at home. We might go for years barely seeing it. We water it, trim it occasionally, move it to the light, but rarely give it full attention. If we sit with it in meditation, really look at the plant – its shape, colour, texture, its response to light and water – something changes.

We feel closer to the plant, and, through that, closer to:

• The earth that nourishes the plant,

• Water it drinks

• Air it breathes

• Realm of plant life

• Ecosystem in which it participates

• Expansive all-embracing reality.

We take one small manifestation of life and discover that it embodies the vast. The one stands for the all.

“Do Not Blame the Lettuce”

In the Buddhist tradition, a simple line has endured for centuries. I try to remember it whenever I hear the name Donald Trump, along with the flood of analysis, opinions, and judgements that many express. That line goes:

“Do not blame the lettuce for not growing.”

If a lettuce does not thrive, we do not react against it. We look instead at the conditions: the soil, water, sunlight, temperature and care given. The lettuce does not represent the problem. The conditions or neglect of them do.

This teaching invites us to adopt the same spirit toward ourselves, toward others, and toward the state of our societies and world. Instead of blaming, we examine the conditions that shape behaviour, institutions, and outcomes. We respond by working to transform those conditions where we can.

A Closing Reflection

Consciousness, when cultivated and respected, reveals our shared life in all its vulnerability and beauty. It reminds us that we participate in something far larger than our individual concerns, and it invites us to respond with wisdom, compassion, and clarity.

Let us take a quiet minute together.

May all beings know the power of consciousness
May all beings appreciate the interconnectedness of all things.
May all beings know a free and expansive view.

www.thebuddhawallah.org

oops. typo in part one. Kant not Kan.

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A talk at a retreat at Waldhaus Buddhist Zentrum,

Andernach, near Koblenz, Germany.

28 April 2026. Transcribed, edited and adapted into written form.

Part 1. Reviewing Science, Education, and the Primacy of Thought

Summary: A society that trains the intellect while neglecting other primary areas of application of consciousness inhibits the evolution of the whole person. We need to take bold steps to see the limits of conceptual of knowledge, and what comes across often as biological/neurological determinism. We have the potential to know limitless reality.

In this two-part reflection, I explore consciousness not as a minor by-product of the brain, but as a powerhouse that shapes how we live, love, and understand our place in the world. This essay questions the dominance of biological science and education based on passing exams. What happens when we neglect ethics, empathy, and the whole person?

This afternoon I want to explore Consciousness with you. Let me begin with a brief overview.

I hope the scientists among you will not find what follows too irritating. In recent years, while researching for a book and for other projects, I immersed myself in a considerable amount of scientific literature. Again and again, I encountered the same underlying orientation: science focuses primarily on the material world – on matter, energy, subatomic particles, measurable processes. Within that framework, consciousness appears quite often as little more than an extension of the brain, a by-product or emergent property of neurological activity.

I appreciate the importance of the whole human organism and the immense work of neuroscience and related disciplines. Yet, as someone who happily left school aged 15, sometimes I have to look up the terminology to understand what scientists mean in their articles.

What strikes me when I scan the indexes and glossaries at the back of science books reveals what I do not find. I often look for the words such as ethics, feelings and compassion. I look for anything that acknowledges a human beings potential for transcendence of suffering and limits of identity. These words rarely appear in the Word Index at the end of the book. A scientist may mention consciousness perhaps on a couple times in a science book, even though the author cannot write about the science without the reality of consciousness.

This omission amounts to a serious distortion. In the reality I know and the reality that people worldwide know contains a major range of experiences. We experience a world of consciousness, mind and matter. Reality does not confine itself to the matter.

Our reality includes our heart, our feelings, our emotions, our sense of being, our relationships and connections. Insights and wisdom emerge from a holistic view of reality. Any account of a life that sidelines or omits these dimensions makes a profound error of judgment.

To understand what it means to be fully human, we require an embrace of the whole:

• Our inner world

• Our outer world

• The relationship between them.

Scientific inquiry cannot adequately define reality, particularly not one that relies solely on what can be measured, counted, and determined by thought. When one approach dominates at the expense of the rest, we all lose something essential such as an expansive view of reality.

Western Philosophy and the Primacy of Thought

When I reflect on this, I recall some of the major philosophers of the West. A classic example: “Cogito ergo sum” – “I think, therefore I am.”

René Descartes undertook a radical project. He set out to doubt everything, to question every assumption he could find. After exhausting his doubts, he concluded that only one thing remained certain: he thought. From that conclusion, he declared “I am.”

On that basis – the primacy of thought – he built his philosophy.

From a Dharma perspective, his conclusion remains kindergarten. Not because he lacked intelligence, but because the conclusion “I think, therefore I am” does not resolve the deeper questions; it simply asserts a starting point rooted in thinking itself. The Dharma would not take “what I think” as the foundation for “what I am.” We would ask ourselves

• I think therefore I am what?

• What do I think about?

• What is this I?

• Who is this “I”?

• What ways does matter influence consciousness?

• What ways does consciousness influence matter?

Regarded as the father of Western philosopher, Rene Descartes of France made logic his primary source for philosophy. Another intellectual giant, Immanuel Kant from Germany shaped much of the intellectual culture of the West and now worldwide. Their influence penetrated into educational systems, institutional frameworks and formed analytical assumptions about reality.

The result? We are conditioned into an educational culture grounded in reason, analysis, knowledge, concepts, and examinations. Students learn that the highest value lies in the thinking mind. A system of ongoing competition harms sensititive children and adults and breeds arrogance among the clever.

This conceptual education excludes the whole person. It leaves little room for emotional intelligence, ethical inquiry, spiritual exploration, or the cultivation of wisdom and compassion. When the whole person does not receive nourishment, another dynamic inevitably appears, namely competition between people of different qualities.

Education and the Wound of Competition

Once you adopt an examination-driven system that primarily measures conceptual reasoning, you inevitably divide children and young people into categories:

• “Clever” ones,

• “Not so clever,”

• Some feel stupid, inadequate, or useless because they fail to meet academic standards.

I would call this approach a form of child abuse with a long-lasting impact, resulting in views of superiority and inferiority and all the arrogance and anger that goes with such views.

When education refuses to recognise and nourish the full range of human capacities – emotional, relational, aesthetic, practical, intuitive – it injures children. It judges them almost entirely on their exam performance. From the age of five or six, they start to internalise the belief: “If I pass, I am a success. If I fail, I am a failure.” That belief can remain lodged in the psyche for decades, for the rest of their lives. In other words, it results in a lifelong trauma.

Consider a 15-year-old teenager in my town. He struggles with formal exams, carrying a heavy sense of failure. Yet he possesses remarkable gifts: he has a a precious capacity for empathy and creativity. He can repair cars with great skill. Neighbours come to him regularly because he fixes their cars far more cheaply than the local garage. He shares his gifts with neighbours in his community, a contribution which car owners appreciate. In the eyes of the exam system, he registers as a failure.

No wonder our societies grow so competitive and, sometimes, brutal. This competitive tension spills into sports, the workplace and the media. We even design television shows in which people compete relentlessly against one another for the entertainment of those gloating at the screen.

At the same time, we yearn for togetherness. We speak of community, belonging, and connection. We feel the absence of sharing experiences and learning from each other. Instead, we build structures that deepen separation.

An exploration of consciousness invites us to look beyond this gulf between people, so we examine what we share, what we have in common, rather than always measuring who wins and who loses.

Consciousness as a Powerhouse

From the perspective of the Dharma, consciousness does not simply trail behind the biological world as its servant. Consciousness does not merely flicker on when neurons fire. Consciousness functions as a powerhouse. It shapes worlds, opening wise possibilities and dissolving unhealthy possibilities.

Perhaps at one time, for early human beings, consciousness confined itself largely to the immediate material needs of survival. But now, as a species, we stand in a very different situation. Our conscious capacities have evolved into something vast and complex.

A simple but powerful question we can ask ourselves – here on retreat or at home – goes:

“What do I need to be more conscious of?”

Human beings possess the extraordinary capacity to step back, to place attention on something – a sensation, a thought, a relationship, a memory, a pattern in society – and attend to it.

When we do this wholeheartedly, not only with the head, but with the whole being, we begin to see far more than we saw before. Consciousness reveals and uncovers, opening the doors to insights and realisations.

Literature and the Early Stages of Expression

Someone remarked to me some months ago, “Why write books? Everything that needs to be said already exists in books.”

I declined to agree with that. As a writer and poet, I see literature as still in its early stages. Human beings have barely begun to explore and express the full range of our conscious experience. There remains an immense amount to discover, share, and articulate.

In my country, the UK, an opinion poll reported that around 40% of the public had not read a single book in the previous year. Among young people, the percentage climbs even higher. This strikes me as a genuine loss – not only culturally, but in terms of personal and collective development.

Books, including non-fiction, fiction, poetry, short stories and essays. invite us into sustained, conscious exploration. They encourage us to go deeper, to reflect, to apply themes and stories to daily life, inviting imagination and engagement. To neglect in depth reading means neglecting of one of the powerful tools for the evolution of consciousness.

One major factor in this decline lies in the attention span shaped by digital media. Reels, ten-second clips, constant scrolling, rapid entertainment – all of these fragments the mind. It makes it more difficult for people, especially the young, to give full attention to anything for long. This trend undermines our capacity to explore deeply heart opening literature, meditation, relationships and bold action.

The Question: What do I need to be conscious of?

Let us return to the present and to our retreat. Ironically, although I often discourage you from reading books while you are here, I deeply value the role of literature in conscious exploration. For now, our shared inquiry focuses on something else: direct experience.

We return to the simple yet profound question:

“What do I need to be conscious of?”

In meditation, we often begin with something apparently very ordinary: the breath. Many people initially consider this the dullest possible object of attention. “It just goes in and out. Why bother? It’s boring.”

Someone said exactly this to me on a treat in India:

He asked for my view, so I suggested.

“Just go outside; you’ll find a bucket. Fill the bucket with water. Put your head in the bucket. After a minute or two, ask yourself: Do I have any interest in breathing? Do you find it boring? And then come back and ask me your question again.”

There is nothing like experience and practice to reveal the truth. Concepts and the judgemental mind about the breath vanish the moment you cannot breathe.

Benefits of Mindfulness of Breathing

Sometimes, a little reflection supports our meditation. The Buddha regarded mindfulness of breathing as an extraordinarily beneficial practice. He said he could not think of another meditation practice that offered so many diverse benefits to the practitioner. When asked for examples, he provided ten. I can recall eight of them; I consider that an accomplishment.

• 1. Training to stay focussed on an object
  Mindfulness of breathing trains the mind to stay with an object. We cultivate calmness, steadiness, and continuity of attention.

  2. Direct experience of impermanence
     As we observe the breath, we recognise that everything we experience arises, remains, and passes. The breath embodies impermanence, breath by breath.

  3. Bridge between mind and body
     Mindfulness of breathing forms a bridge between the heart-mind and body. We experience the two as intimately connected rather than separate domains.

  4. Relaxation and reduced stress
     Attentive breathing contributes to the relaxation of the whole body. Tension softens; stress diminishes.

  5. Reduction of unnecessary thinking
     Staying with the breath cuts through much repetitive, unhelpful thinking. Mental noise gradually decreases.

  6. Support for dealing with pain
     Mindfulness of breathing provides invaluable support when facing pain. Many women, for instance, use conscious breathing during childbirth to meet intense sensations with more balance and less fear.

  7. Awareness of interdependence with the world
     Every breath reminds us of our inseparable relationship with the environment. We draw the air element into the body; we release it back. We literally live in continuous exchange with the world.

  8. Enlivening the cells
     With breathing – especially in sustained practice or in aerobic activity – oxygen enters deeply into the cells, enlivening them. Sometimes, in stillness, we can feel the whole body as if it breathes, the cells lighting up with life.

  9. A reminder of non-clinging.

     Breath comes and goes. We cannot cling to a single breath. The same principle applies to all objects of attention. Clinging ends in suffering.

This list does not exhaust the benefits. Others exist. But even these few reveal the multi-dimensional value of such a simple, direct practice.

Part 2. Mindfulness, Mortality, and an Expansive View of Life.

www.thebuddhawallah.org

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I invited you to nominate a cover suitable for my new book, titled QUESTIONING OUR VIEWS, a 360 page text addressing major issues of our time.

You kindly sent in nominations, via Substack, emails, texts and conversations. The EYE cover received the most votes with the Night Sky one vote behind. All three remaining proposed covers received votes.

One person pointed out some words in the text on the back cover of the Night Sky were not easy to read due to strips of yellow. Jude (adminstrator, book designer) will add a fresh night sky, so I can use this cover for an upcoming book of poems.

Here is the book jacket. I added a couple more chapters to the book. Text on back of the jacket refers to several of the themes.

I trust the book will be available, via Amazon worldwide, in May 2026 . You will see a report with details, ISBN, cost, on Substack and other social media at that time.

Thank you for taking the time to choose a cover. I plan to use the other covers for the reprint of books.

Love

Christopher

www.thebuddhawallah.org

www.mindfulnesstrainingcourse.org

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Below you will see five proposed covers. See content of back jacket for some of the themes in the 32 chapters.

The book addresses a range of major issues, personal, social, political and global.

In these troubling times, we might feel overwhelmed with the torrent of opinions in circulation.

The text points to ending this unrest and sometimes suffering over amount of input..

We can go beyond daily onslaught of opinions, misinformation, fake news, echo chambers, lies, deceptions, and distortions of reality.

Let us not become mind weary.

Title Tweak Tuesday 14 April

Stephen F, senior Dharma teacher in Israel, kindly sent me a suggestion - to make a modest change to book title. Title is now QUESTIONING OUR VIEWS instead of Questioning of Views. New title fits in with theme and tone of the book.

Extract from the book. Instagram has two billion active users and TikTok has 1.99 billion users. Without a specific purpose, many engage daily in doomscrolling - a daily addiction to looking at negative and distressing content of endless 10 second video clips. This leads to low moods, anxiety and lack of self-worth.

A request with two motivations

1. To let you know: a new book will come out in May 2026. We can go deeper into a subject through reading a book. A UK poll reported that 40% of the public had not read a book in the past year.

2. We (Jude, designer/coordinator and I) created four proposed covers, plus another suggested by Nshorna (my daughter). Please choose one cover which you find most suitable for Questioning of Views.

   Let us explore and know a depth of clarity and insights showing a wise response to what we face in daily life.

   Book cover 1. Bell

   

Book Cover 2. Night Sky

Book Cover 3 The Eye

Book Cover 4. Head and Shoulders statue

Book Cover 5. Classic Style

I published several books independently in recent years making them available with Amazon worldwide and Lulu Publishers. All book title etc were printed on white cover. Some covers above will provide a book cover for some of these books to be reprinted.

An invite for one response. Please send over Book Cover and number/description by midnight (UK time), Friday 17 April 2026.

See Leave a comment or Message Christopher Titmuss below to write your preference.

I will let you know the outcome next week.

Thank you.

Love

Christopher

www.thebuddhawallah.org

thebuddhawallah@gmail.com

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You do not have to create special times for mindfulness.

You apply the practice where you are.

• Sitting on the bus

• Walking to the shops

• Standing in a queue

• Reclining on your bed

We have established our 12 month course as probably the most affordable course available.

The online course provides a comprehensive training in mindfulness, meditation and compassionate action, grounded in daily life.

Our 12‑month programme consists of two six‑month modules

• Module 1 Mindfulness/meditation practice.

• Module 2 Further Mindfulness/meditation plus comprehensive training to become a teacher.

The Course offers training in giving talks, facilitating groups, Q&A and guided meditations. You can adapt the training to your current skills and context.

Upon completing MTTC requirements, you will receive an MTTC Certificate and internationally recognised CPD, a professional development certificate.

We meet five times over a weekend once a month, with regular small‑group meetings in between.

MTTC gives consideration to time zones in sessions and small group meetings. Sessions are recorded if a trainee cannot attend live.

Trainees usually come from 10 - 20 countries worldwide. The Course develops a community of practitioners producing some long‑standing friendships.

MTTC provides two senior teachers, a senior assistant teacher and five assistant teachers, plus an administrator/coordinator.

Find out more and register

• Website: mindfulnesstrainingcourse.org

• Link to 20 Q&A. mindfulnesstrainingcourse.org/faq

• Email: mttcglobal@gmail.com

Become and agent for change.

We look forward to hearing from you.

With love,
Christopher and Nshorna

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No special times. You apply the practice where you are.

• Sitting on the bus

• Walking to the shops

• Standing in a queue

• Reclining on your bed

Go to 10 Step Challenge

Each session includes:

• A text and audio recording with a guided meditation

• A fresh theme, new audio, and new image every two steps

• A meditative photograph (of people, animals, or nature) to inspire reflection.

Clear guidance and practical tips.

Themes for reflection and inquiry.

Suitable for complete beginners and mindfulness practitioners.

Love

Christopher

Subscribe now

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Go to https://www.parkrun.org.uk/sharphamestate/ for information and to register. You get a bar code so you can receive an email later in the day with your name and time along with the list of names and times of everybody else.

It is not a race. Mind you, several fly with the wind along the beautiful pathway on the Sharpham Estate with glorious views of the River Dart. Others jog or jog/walk or a take a good morning walk.

Sometimes eyes down for oldies, as its a bit hilly if looking up.

The run starts at 9 am at the beginning of the Estate, several minutes walk from the edge of Totnes. Our beloved Marshalls provide at 8.40 am or so all the details for an enjoyable run. We run 2.5K and turn around and run back.

There are usually around 100 – 150 in the Park Run depending a bit on the weather and season. All ages are welcome from little ones in strollers to seasoned citizens. The Estate requests no dogs as sometimes sheep or cows are visible as we jog.

On the personal

Forgive me, this might sound like showing off. I know it might look impressive but it’s not. So far, I have come first in my age group for all 50 plus park runs on the Estate.

The reason? There is nobody else in my age group! I could walk backwards the entire length of the park run and still come in first. Takes me around 30 to 36 minutes for the jog.

Do join tomorrow (Saturday). See you there.

It’s a great start to the weekend.

Love

Christopher

www.thebuddhawallah.org

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We may live in fear of loss of money, loss of income or not being able to pay off debts. The pratice of calmness, clarity and a sense of quiet purpose in all financial matters provides peace of mind to make wise decisions.

There is no point of gold at the end of the rainbow. View taken from upstairs room in Totnes, Devon UK

Let us make time to review regularly our relationship to desire around money and wealth.

1. ​Is there an absence of personal or family extravagance?

2. What is your relationship to lifestyle?

3. How do you use surplus income?

4. What do you retain for use in daily life?

5. What do you donate to the less fortunate?

6. What are you able to keep in reserve for unforeseen circumstances?

7. What are precious experiences that money cannot buy?

Reflect. Meditate on. Live wisely around views of money.

Text found on www.anengagedlife.org.

This website contains around 100 lists or bullet points focused on daily life issues. I gave a major update to this website in 2025.

Be an agent for change.

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'I ONLY LOSE WHAT I THINK I HAVE' 

It started in heat of summer
such passion, intimacy
never such feelings before
not like this, not this deep
sharing, whispers, thrills, touch
midnight calls, full days
eros of nights, oh the nights
sensations, desires, deep breaths
coffee, exchanges, emails, texts, 
all in the name of love
precious love, forever love
or so they thought.

In her worn-out condition
she thought she lost him
his fading footprints
along tracks in woods
where tired leaves dropped
to earth, to rot next
to tree, a fall from grace
she thought she had lost
what she thought she had.

A ring bound to finger
wrapped round her life
in their power struggle
a supreme wish to rule
to salvage their worth
in heated words and
long toil of emotions
or so they thought.

The ring slipped between 
cracks in old floorboards 
she fought for her breath
when door slammed as
man fled beyond her reach
only his back in her sight
she felt sobs, relief, failure, 
or so she thought.

Nothing of value stayed
to give comfort from storms
all swept away in the
intangible of what 
forever she had no longer
except collapsed dreams 
tears, haphazard clouds

One thing she knew stuck
he left behind her ‘father’ 
in the shadows of her mind
her made up reality
hailed as a painful truth
why do such thoughts arise
or so she thought.

She stretched her arms 
to touch one she had
but felt only thin air,
season of discontent
empty echoes having 
to feel the unwanted
yet not knowing what
she wanted, so futile
or so she thought.

To have, possess or take
a theft - one from another
until fresh thought emerges
snowdrops in icy chill
a flash of lightning on the
edge of a long, hard day
'I only lose what I think I have.'

She could never have this man 
not even if transformed
she saw his direction of 
travel along winding path
of his stormy life journey.

Flower offers fragrance
until taken hold of
to ensure its fading light
not getting what she wants
noone can, nor does she 
have what men want
and this she realised.

Curse of compound thoughts
shows pointless patterns
sliding into love’s loss
Oh, she mistook love for
fireflies in the whisper
of the dark night, flickers
offer momentary light
she thought of as love.

Does she believe in two
horns on a rabbit’s head or
cow flies with hidden wings?
belief beggars belief
she let the drama drain
from her heart that once
held on, until she realised
love is not what she thought.

He failed to deposit
what he owed, no credit
left in account,  she had
nothing to bank
except her resilience
preserved for chilly days
she no longer plays these games
he needs to find his way
they were no longer together
and no longer apart
a relief beyond measure

Her story fell among
leaves to become compost
when she realised.
what she never had
she never needed
she never thought this possible.

'I cannot lose what I think I had'
'I cannot lose what I never had'
such a flash of awakening
dissolves her old beliefs 
with no exception about 
anyone, anything, anywhere
spell gone, having - losing
after he left in search of
himself in a pile of leaves

Nothing left to takeaway
and thus she realised 
with a smile reaching 
far beyond the stars
free, free, free at last
love revealed itself
unbound to thought
profound and deep.

She was ready to love.

www.thebuddhawallah.org

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7-10 am PST / 10 am-1 pm EST / 3-6 pm GMT / 4-7 pm CET

This 3-hour online event will include short talks, guided meditation and questions from the chat column or spoken.

We will share experiences and what motivates us to get outdoors.

See link to Sangha Live below.

Theme

The Buddha. The Elements. The Trees. The Birds

View of distant Totnes (Devon, UK) dwelling in the foot of rolling countryside

Two ways of going for a walk in the park, along a track, in the woods, on a beach and more.

1. Going for a MINDFUL WALK

2. Going for a walk.

There is a significant difference between 1 and 2.

1. A Mindful Walk includes focus, purpose and inquiry. Such a walk ensures contact with the elements - earth, air, earth, temperature, water (rain, river, drinking water) and space. You give your full attention to a tree or a bird. What are features of nature telling you? Are you listening? Experience the aliveness of life.

2. Lacks passionate interest in the immediacy of what surrounds you.

Dharma teachings and practice emphasise a deep engagement with elemental life - an indispensable feature of the process towards full awakening.

Our Day of Practice invites a regular return to our intimacy with the living world, for renewal, wellbeing and emergence out of worldly pressures.

No one turned away for lack of funds.Learn more & register here:

LINKS

sangha.events/Christopher07Mar

Read more about Sangha Live on their website:

https://sangha.live

Remember the great one line in the Buddhist tradition.

“You don’t blame the lettuce if it doesn’t grow.”

Do join.

Lots of Love

Christopher

Bio

A former Buddhist monk in Thailand, Christopher spent much of the time in these years practising/sleeping outdoors, He led around 35 annual yatras (walking/camping pilgrimages in Europe. Poet, blogger and social critic, Christopher is a senior Dharma teacher, author of 25 books and founder of the 12 months online, Mindfulness Teacher Training Course (MTTC). He lives in rural Totnes, Devon, England.

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Let us cultivate what we might call a quiet power to know release from problems.

Our interest in release from clinging is a precious freedom: freedom enables us to turn attention

• To what has arisen,

• To what is arising,

• To what may arise.

This does not mean forcing ourselves to be in the here and now in a rigid way, nor does it mean being detached from the here and now.

Slapton Sands, near Totnes, South Devon, England.

To be grounded in the present supports calmness, depth of experience, and insights. At times, here and now can become a prison—another ideal we try to live up to or fail at. To be detached from the here and now can become a confirmation of being out of touch, disconnected and numb.

We develop the power of reflection:

• Looking at what has occurred.

• Being mindful of how the past influences the present.

• Seeing if a healthy or unhealthy state of mind influences the present.

We are free to explore:

• What was,

• What is,

• What will be or might be.

In this reflective space, renewal can arise—through inspiration, insight, and fresh understanding.

A narrow view of being in the here and now can sometimes inhibit this freedom to explore. It can make us feel that reflecting on the past and future distracts us from the reality of the present. We experience all three fields of time, as all three reveal a significance. All three have a place for clarity and insight.

Let us abide in an expansive way—not confined to anything, but sensitive to the whole movement of life. We cannot control much of what did happen, is happending or will or might happen. The practice of mindfulness and reflection supports a wise and responsive relationship to the three fields of time.

We abide vulnerable to certain words and ideas—one example is the word hope. Politicians, religious leaders, environ-mentalists, the healthy, the sick and many others turn to hope for comfort or live in hope. We place our hope in a better future that has not yet come. The shadow of hope shows itself in disappointment, frustration, and unhappiness when things don’t match our hopes. If we spend too much time in the future, our life becomes contracted around special experiences we long for or fear will happen.

Be specific about and hope you cherish and the steps you take to bring hope to the real, otherwise it is fantasy land, living in Narnia.

Authentic Release

Authentic release reveals a freedom not dependent on events or experiences in the field of time. Release is timeless, not relying on positive mental activity that constantly runs through what was, what is, and what might be.

Freedom from dependency releases love, which gives us direction, purpose and expresses a depth of renewal in our being. The innocence and purity of love engage with the immediacy of seeing and sensing. Love shows itself closer than breath and closer than thought. Experiences of expressions of love, such as empathy, joy, and compassion, nourish an engagement with daily life. It manifests through connection, community and intimacy with the natural world.

In release, issues, global or personal, do not overwhelm us. Challenges still appear. Judgements and reactions emerge. We train the mind to view them as opportunities to meet issues head - on and to squeeze out insights. Freedom to explore and make errors of judgement also confirms an expression of release.

Dharma teachings and practice serve as the backbone for exploring human experience. We share contact with the Sangha of practitioners, including beautiful worldwide networks in monasteries, communities, cities and homes. If one other person contributes to your understanding, clarity, and love, that person confirms the Sangha. Others can bring the best out of us.

Exploration of freedom can take place:

• Alone or with another or others

• Indoors or outdoors

• In formal practice or in a range of circumstances.

Freedom can become as clear and obvious as seeing your hand or the taste of water. You know the truth of the presence of the hand and the taste of fresh water. You experience being awake, conscious and connected. Doubters can’t persuade you to change your mind about the location of your hand or the benefits of drinking pure water.

Wise Application of Attention

Your clarity brings ease to inner experiences and ease with who and what’s around you. Sometimes these moments come spontaneously, without any plan or technique. There is a sense of being free, joyful and spacious. Sometimes you apply methods and techniques to support the experience of wise application of your attention. Freedom applies in all directions.

Thinking may arise in connection with that. You might say to yourself or another, I feel free. That is fine. That view does not have to be a problem. Thinking about the experience reveals the phenomenon of thoughts arising and passing within that freedom.

We experience drama, tension, and self‑concern. Release means a loosening of such contracted states of mind. We remember liberation does not depend on any particular period, state of mind or stream of thought. An expansive view matters. With ongoing exploration, release emerges from our reflections and practices, nourishing our potential for a liberated way of life.

Spiritual traditions often use a metaphor for freedom — for instance, the blue sky or the vast ocean. Sometimes we catch a glimpse of a clear, open sky. At other times, clouds cover it, yet the sky is still there. In the same way, release is like the open sky or a vast ocean—wide, free, unobstructed. Out of that expanse, unexpectedly, things emerge. New insights, new discoveries.

New responses

These are not forced, planned, or constructed out of our usual mental habits. They are fresh, revealing an aliveness. Old habits lose their power to dominate our lives.

Experiences can confirm an infinite variety of expressions of release, but they share one quality: they arise from freedom.

We do not need to push everything into an ideal of perfection. The word perfection is limited; it doesn’t represent the Dharma accurately. The teaching does not say we must reach a perfect state. This is a way too high expectation. Out of the expanse of release, issues will still arise, like clouds passing in front of the sky. Some of what arises needs:

• Attention,

• Exploration

• Reflection

• Insight

• Understanding

A human being who knows release cannot hide the undesired from themselves or from others. The Sangha cooperates to release practitioners from suffering. Support comes through one‑to‑one contact with a teacher or practitioners. We share experiences within a group. We address issues, develop fresh views, and support others, the natural world, and ourselves.

We give attention to these steps as a path and worthwhile goal—dissolving problems, bringing benefit in different directions. In release, there is also a sense of freedom to explore: Liberation is so expansive that it can still improve things when necessary. It is not rigid or static. We may use the metaphors of path and goal as helpful tools within this body of teaching. The danger is when one declares:

“This is it. I am liberated. I am in the Now. Anyone still on the path to a goal is trapped in duality.”

Oh dear, is the person trapped in the duality of the now and the path to the the goal? Ego appears to adopt a position with a discriminatory tone. That leads to conceit, rejecting natural movement of learning as a confirmation of an expansive view in all directions. An expansive view of the here and now, three fields of time and the path and goal.

We respect those who walk a path, contribute to the welfare of others and feel a gap from full release. We recognise the value and contribution people make through their practice and service on the way to a liberated life. Wisdom offers a practical path for the welfare of one and all.

Freedom to be and freedom to respond confirm the best of a noble human being.

Let us sit quietly together for a moment.

www.thebuddhawallah.org

https://sangha.live/dharma-library/daily-meditation-recordings-with-christopher-titmuss-week-of-02-february-2026/

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We need your support for our beloved inter-faith school for around 450 children from poor families in Bodh Gaya, India.

Please think of making a financial gift for our interfaith school for poor children for ongoing costs through the year.

Morning Meditation at Prajna Vihar School during assembly

To go direct to Prajna Vihar School website: Click Here

You can make a real difference. See at the top of website’s home page our link to easy to use Donation page. You can offer a donation either with PayPal or a credit/debit card.

Every donation helps to keep the school running. All donations from you go directly to support the children’s education.

Some of our children were barefooted beggars for their families pleading for rupees from pilgrims worldwide in Bodh Gaya. Some of these same children now go to university and have found well paid careers to support their family.

Our schoolchildren love going to school with its dedication to care and kindness for all girls and boys, aged from five years to 16 years.

With its progressive vision, Prajna Vihar School cultivates mutual respect between faiths and secular values, equal opportunity, diversity, the arts from dance to painting and mindfulness/meditation/prayer/yoga.

Cost per pupil for a full year of education.

​Exchange rates can fluctuate

• Indian rupees 8500

• A$ 133.00

• Euros €80.00

• UK £70..00

• US $94.00

That’s about €38,000 - €42,000 (US $45,000 -$50,000) per year for running costs.

Do take a look at the texts, 120 photos, large, medium and small, plus six videos on our website created in October 2024.

The school provides a full secular education with excellent teachers showing the way to fulfillment and wellbeing.

Let us know your impression of the school from the website or from a visit - so we can pass on to the school.

Send your email to: support@prajnaviharschool.org

www.prajnaviharschool.org

Pass the appeal on.

Lots of love from the children, teachers and trustees in India.

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