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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Sangha Live have kindly invited me to lead a LIVE online, interactive Day of Practice on Saturday, 7 March 2026.

is 3-hour online event will include guided meditation, Dharma teachings, interactive Q&A and more.

Theme

The Buddha. The Elements. The Trees. The Birds

View of distant Totnes dwelling in the foot of rolling countryside

Explore the Buddha’s teachings on coming into living relationship with the natural world

Dharma teachings and practice emphasise a deep engagement with elemental life. We come alive – a feature of the process towards full awakening.

The Buddha’s path wasn’t formed in monasteries alone. Practitioners experience the great outdoors, under trees, among birds and open spaces.

The Buddha was born under a tree, realised enlightenment under a tree and died under a tree. He said that devas (divine beings, angels) of the elements, trees and birds speak to us, implying a deep interaction between a presence in nature and our consciousness.

He said birds were symbols of freedom as they fly through the sky – “leaving no trace, unattached and free from worldly issues.”

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

Cost is sliding scale-based (suggested: $35).

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

sangha.events/Christopher07Mar

Read more about Sangha Live on their website:

https://sangha.live

Bio

A former Buddhist monk in Thailand, Christopher spent much of the time in these years practising/sleeping outdoors, In his love of the outdoors, he hitchiked, took buses and trains in his 20s through 25 countries in Europe, Asia and Australia. 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). His original family surname is Wood. Titmuss derives from titmouse, a family of birds in the UK, such as the great tit and blue tit. He lives in rural Totnes, Devon, England.

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The spiritual journey often begins outwardly. Through reflection and meditation, we observe how life unfolds and how we relate to it. Gradually, understanding arises. Trust and understanding support each other. In such trust, the mind frees up to look more deeply into life.

We look at the major fields of activity in our life. These areas include relationships, work and responsibilities. Through reflection and meditation, we observe the unfolding of our existence and our engagement with life. We come to an understanding of our activity in these major areas. This is a way to know their benefits and their limits. As we become established in this understanding, we develop a growing capacity to explore the mutual infuences of the inner and outer.

In most areas of our life, if we decide we want something (within reason) and we have energy, drive, discipline, knowledge and supporting conditions, we may achieve the goal. Nobody becomes a self‑made success story. That is a social myth, a fabrication of ego. Without this recognition of beneficial influences outside of our self, the ego can become full of itself.

We may strive and push our way towards a very desirable end and accomplish what we want. Yet success may not produce happiness, peace of mind or any depth of insight into fulfilling our potential as human beings. Our desires and achievements then push us on to the next goal, often an extension of the last one. We go around and around without knowing it.

Way to the beyond. Five minutes walk from home in Totnes, Devon, England.

As we turn our attention inward, we may face the gross forms of mind states – problematic desires, anger, pride, fears, confusion, anxiousness and more. Some of these states arise repeatedly through feelings, thoughts and emotions. Subtle forms of mental action that we usually do not notice – judgemental mind, comparisons, opinions – reveal themselves. These subtle activities fuel gross states of mind.

Meditation practice reveals an area of life where the usual drive to accomplish goals does not apply. We can relate to life in another way. This is an important lesson. Striving to reach somewhere reinforces the sense of I, me and mine. Willpower puts pressure on consciousness. Striving intensifies mental activity with expectation of success and fear of failure. The power of the will creates an upheaval within, affecting what is around us, near and far. In the end, the fruit of striving ends up far removed from inner peace, clarity and stability.

Mindfulness of the inner leads to refined levels of observation. Depth supports our capacity to abide in conscious ways, alert and decisive in our actions. We begin to realise that the seemingly endless array of choices, and the confusion that follows, reveal an unsettled mind, not freedom of choice. This state of mind has little to do with our real issues or our real interests.

As the mind settles, choices reduce in range and intensity. Stability comes to the forefront of our being with a sense of calm and purposefulness due to this natural reduction. Tensions, gross or subtle, caused by compressed feelings and sensations, will start to fade. We can breathe. We love the space. This is a sign of being fit to receive.

See-saws of the mind

We develop a direct relationship with the present. The mind often see‑saws from present to past, from present to future. Spiritual practice does not deny the past and future. It recognises that the present relates to both. Past, present and future support each other. As the present becomes more central in our lives, we reflect on the past and future in fresh ways.

This subtle shift has more significance in our spiritual life than we might imagine. Going more deeply into ourselves – and into the very nature of existence – brings a fundamental change in how we think about personal achievements. Are we prepared for this?

Meditation practice reveals an area of life where the usual drive to accomplish goals does not apply. We can relate to life in another way. This is an important lesson worth remembering.

In moving from the outer to the inner, from the gross to the subtle, we discover even deeper and more refined levels within. Sometimes the urgency of forcing and striving towards a particular spiritual end can produce an experience that seems remarkably different from all we have known before.

We may then affix a mental label to that exceptional experience and conclude, “I have arrived,” “I have found God” or “I have realised Nirvana or liberation. There is a thrill in experiencing what we wanted and strove for, perhaps for years. We had an experience that seemed to match what we desired. Then effort arises to reproduce or prolong that experience. This kind of desire and clinging leads the mind astray.

As we observe the various mind states that dominate us, we might put strong effort into becoming free of them – getting rid of, stopping, letting go, or whatever words we use inwardly. This can become a major priority in our practice. If we put too much emphasis here, we can lose sight of the deep significance of inner life.

The old way of pushing ourselves towards a goal obstructs the natural, organic movement into depth. Pushing is one extreme; passively waiting for something to happen is the other. A desire to dissolve gradually or get rid immediadtely can perpetuate desire. Ongoing effort can become a blind spot. Are we fit to receive what we have already received? Spiritual practice includes respect, patience and humility.

The belief that truth is hidden reveals another subtle deception of the ego. There is nowhere for truth to hide.

The practice of observation/bare attention reduces our identification with a wide range of states of mind. From a healthy spiritual standpoint, stepping back loosens our grip on all that we fix ourselves on namely body, mind and decades of conditioning, The known defines who and what “I” am.

We question the best-known one-liner in Western philosophy - cogito ergo sum. The common translation from Latin is, “I think, therefore I am” rather than the precise, “I am thinking, therefore I exist.” This questionable view seized upon in the West helped bring about dependency on thought, the rational mind, education, science and culture of individualism. Despite a modest value, cogito ergo sum reveals a contracted view of reality through subordination to thought.

René Descartes, a 17th-century French philosopher and mathematician, entered the phrase in Discourse on the Method, a book published in 1637. It would appear Descartes did not have the method for a transformative way of discovering reality, unlike the tradition of Dharma with its diverse range of methods for change, inner and outer.

Benefits of stepping back

We might feel stepping back brings about a life‑denying approach through being less involved with the drama of the inner and outer world – its beauty and ugliness. We forget that as we step back, we move towards seeing more clearly.

If you hold the palm of your hand close to your face, all you can see is your hand. If it is too close, even that becomes blurred, and you are in darkness. Stepping back allows you to see your hand more clearly. It works the same way with our mental states. With the movement of stepping back for clear observation and equanimity, we can witness the condition of the mind with clear comprehension.

Stepping back allows us to see not only the hand clearly but also the surrounding space. ‘I think therefore I am’ seems a lightweight view compared to the Four Noble Truths, dependent arising and the emptiness of the ego. Being identified with a thought to confirm existence and an individual life, we indulge in more thoughts, views and images that become our ‘reality.’ Reality does not belong to the changeable and the insubstantial.

Spell of consciousness and its content

We often have a bias in our minds. It leans towards the pleasant or unpleasant, the emotional or the conceptual. This bias can shift over time. Blinded by preoccupation with troubling mental states, we can also become caught up in states we enjoy. We then risk becoming infatuated with the relationship between consciousness and its content – with how “I” feel, what “I” see, what “I” understand.

The pursuit of special experiences, including spiritual highs, has a modest place on the path. The spiritual life does not depend on any experience, however refined or sacred it may appear. Experiences arise and pass according to conditions. They cannot provide an ultimate discovery.

Awareness reveals the calm, the agitated, spiritual or worldly mind. If we cling to experiences, we continue to orbit in circles around “me and my experiences.”

Clarity diminishes our preoccupation with experiences and objects of interest. The movements of the mind and its formations take second place to the simple power of witnessing. In this shift, clarity, calmness and a quiet well‑being come to the foreground. We feel less defined by the experiences we once organised our life around.

Yet even the witness is not the end. Witnessing remains a subtle relationship between an apparent observer and what is observed. Being fit to receive does not arise from any object, nor from the witness, nor from having or not having spiritual practice. It points to a depth where the drive to secure experiences falls silent, and where consciousness is free to move without being bound to what appears in it.

In that depth, innocence and receptivity replace the search for special states. Experiences still come and go – pleasant, unpleasant, profound or ordinary – but they no longer define the heart of the spiritual life. What matters is revealed in the freedom to allow whatever arises and passes without ownership, without fear and without clinging.

If heavily involved in the content of consciousness, we become confined by it. Then it is difficult to sense what is truly transcendent. In such confinement, the subject (you), the witness and the object (whatever appears in consciousness, whether via the senses or from inner constructions) remain locked in a tight circle, a closed duality of self and other.

In our practice of equanimity and witnessing, we realise stepping back also means a step towards something else. At this juncture, one also becomes fit to receive. Insights and realisations come out of the blue. We can speak of a human being in a state of innocence, a primary mode that the unexpected reveals far more than defined limits of the chooser and choice, the self and the object to find or gain.

If effort appears, it creates a goal, a desirable end, which distorts the receptivity of innocence. For consciousness to evolve in the way referred to here, it expands without effort, revealing transcendent discoveries that support action and service in the world, not out of pressure or duty but out of the release of love.

The direction in which consciousness moves varies from person to person. Devotion may be a feature or not of a real or mythical figure, but deep devotion reveals in the felt sense of the transcendent, of something that embraces inner and outer. For others, devotion bears no relevance. Thought falls into silence or shows on the periphery of consciousness or as a subtle, pure intimation of “something else” At this point, in this clear seeing, thought often falls silent.

The power of standing back from the grip of the world of name and form, mentality and materiality confirms the truth of the capacity of being fit to receive transcendent realisations.

A precious realisation can reveal expansive freedom with insights into every area of our existence, including body, feeling tones, perceptions, thoughts and consciousness. Realisations reveal insights not tied to the condition of the so-called self. This confirms the reality of freedom beyond measurement.

Life reveals itself anew and timeless. Empathy and care for life become the norm. Naurally.

www.thebuddhawallah.org

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The coldness of political views and the wars, the genocide, in this world and the merciless use of bombs and shelling must have disturbed the inner beings of the Asian monks sitting in their Vipassana (Insight Meditation) monastery in Fort Worth, Texas, USA.

The Sangha of the ordained sat together, listening to their hearts with a willingness to respond to the ongoing tragedy of conflict, violence and hate.

The victors become the ones who inflict the most suffering and the defeated become the ones who endure the most suffering with lifelong consequences on both sides.

Trained in the Buddhist tradition of the middle way, the monks probably had little interest in joining political demonstrations or to settle for sending loving kindness meditations to the victims of wars, as helpful as such approaches might be.

Between 19-24 Theravada Buddhist monks from Vietnam, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, and elsewhere agreed to start a walk for peace for 3600 kilometres (2300 miles) from Fort Worth to Washington DC. The Thai Buddhist tradition refers to such pilgrimages as thudong, derived from dhutanga. Pali - language of the Buddha.

Dhutanga means ascetic practice, an apt description for the numerous steps ahead for the next 108 days. Ascetic practices aptly describes the endurance and hardship of such a pilgrimage. Hard core monks of vipassana develop an exceptional resilience in their practice without losing sight of their humanity.

Rather than hang around until warm weather arrived in April, they set off on 26 October 2025, the approach of winter without hiking boots and tough winter clothing from outdoor stores. They wore thin cotton saffron or maroon robes, pullovers, jogging footwear, sandals, socks and sometimes barefooted. They carried their begging bowl, an extra robe and other items.

Their quiet determination to gently remind American citizens of the suffering of war, of violent street rebellions and domestic violence, not through preaching, not through songs for peace or door knocking. The monks let their feet do much of the talking while sharing their concerns when invited.

In conversation with local citizens, they reminded Americans of the value of mindfulness, dissolving the noise in the mind, learning meditation and the power of metta (love, loving kindness and deep friendship).

Leader of the Walk, Bhikkhu (Monk) Pannakara (Wisdom of Action) said they encouraged people to slow down, to spread friendship and to be willing to let go of clinging to make space in their heart for another way of experiencing life.

The monks had no idea what reception, if any, they would receive. USA has more than its fair share of mistrust and aversion towards those who appear different or foreign. That didn’t deter the monks. They set off quietly with little organisation and even less fuss.

As the days and weeks passed by, citizens stopped and watched this oddly dressed single line of monks focussed on mindfulness, step by step - accompanied by an Indian dog. Curiosity triggered citizens’ attention rather than the judgemental mind. Parents brought their kids to see this silent, single file. Nshorna (my daughter) emailed to me links about the Walk for Peace. Many others forwarded links to loved ones.

Named Aloka (Light), the dog known as the Peace Dog, has a story. Some monks took part in a dhutanga in India, where a wild dog living on scraps joined at the back of the single line of monks a year or so before. The monks did not invite nor encourage the animal. As the days and weeks went by, they adopted him. After all, the Buddha taught love and respect for all sentient beings. Buddhists in America raised the money to bring Aloka (means Light) to the Fort Worth monastery.

Above, Aloka, the Peace Dog, a veteran of dhutanga.

Below. Photo taken in 1973 near the cave where I spent most of that year in the hills on Koh Pha Ngan island. I named him Number One, the Meditator, Every morning, I walked down the track to the village with the begging bowl for alms. Number One followed me back up to the cave. After eating the rather spicy leftovers and drinking water, we abided outside the cave or inside it. We often meditated together looking over the coconut tree grove to the blue sea melting into the blue sky. He then quietly left until the next day. Aloka and Number One seem to be from the same family.

At times, the roads to Washington were caked with patches of ice, merciless winds and temperatures below zero. Undeterred, the monks and Aloka kept walking. Understandably, citizens preferred the warmth of home with central heating and logs burning on the woodstove. The monks were Walking for Peace not Walking to Impress people with their Ascetic Practice. Despite the fierce wintry weather and the falling snow, people by the thousands started to come out of their homes to thank the monks, to let them know of their deep appreciation and renewal in their being for for meaningful change. People joined them for a day, days or weeks.

Social media became a resource during the Walk for Peace. Numbers grew until millions had gone online to see dhutanga in action for a noble purpose. Buddhists in Asian countries experienced a glow in the heart to see the ordained Sangha engaged in such an action in a chilly climate far removed from the tender weather often experienced in South Asia.

Details of the Dhuthong and March for Peace

Monks walked 30 to 40 kilometres per day, mostly barefoot. They ate one meal per day in the morning hours and slept outside. Phew. Tough cookies.

The route took them through nine states. Texas. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and into the District of Columbia. The monks stopped in state capitols, churches, community centres and historic sites.

The journey lasted for 108 days, a significant number in the Buddhist tradition. Here’s why.

There are six senses sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. The Buddha said the mind is a sense as it is also an object in consciousness.

There are three kinds of feeling tones/sensations - painful, pleasant or neutral. There are three periods of time, past, present and future. 6 x 3 x 3 = 54.

Experiences arise in two ways - due to impact /impressions from outside of ourselves and from within ourselves. 54 x 2 = 108.

The number 108 represents all the possible experiences available to a human being. That means all of us –without a single exception from Buddhas to those trapped in spell of conditioning.

Truck accidentally crashes into escort vehicle

A car hit the escort vehicle, injuring several people. One monk lost his leg below his knee. He had the operation in Huston, Texas. The monks continued their walk for peace while the public expressed much sympathy for what happened.

Aloka, named the Peace Dog, needed a small operation in Charlottesville, Virginia. Many dog lovers and children came to see the dog walking alongside the monks and laypeople.

People worldwide could track the walk in real time, read the dedicated Facebook page, see live maps and get brief updates. The audience expanded worldwide.

National media reported on the Peace Walk including Reuters, USA Today, PBS, NPR and Fox News, which gave reports. By January, more than a million people followed the walk on different platforms. European countries mostly ignored the event, changing hearts and minds of people.

Civic and Religious Institutions come together

In times of much social division, polarisation and mistrust, civic and religious institutions in cities and towns came together to support the Peace March.

• Coverage by local outlets along the route, followed by national media such as NPR, PBS, AP, Reuters, Fox News, and USA Today, amplified awareness far beyond Buddhist circles.

• By January 2026, the Walk’s social channels had attracted more than a million followers across platforms, plus posts about Aloka’s injury and surgery in Charlotte, North Carolina, went viral, turning the dog into a symbol of vulnerable, nonviolent courage.

• Organizers and reporters consistently describe “thousands” greeting the monks in different states and “millions” inspired or following online, with crowds thickening as they approached Virginia and the D.C. area.

Several state and local officials described the Walk as a rare, hopeful focal point amid headlines dominated by polarisation. The simplicity of the monks walking in silence— no fundraising on the road, and acceptance of whatever food and lodging appeared — touched people.

Lay supporters, including nuns and local clergy of other faiths, periodically joined segments of the walk, though the formal core group remained the monks in their burnt‑orange robes and Aloka the dog.

The Walk, the monk’s aesthetic practices and ongoing metta touched the hearts of citizens recognising ethical integrity, humane values and humble presence, a cornerstone of a Buddhist way of life.

Five Seconds of Mindfulness

Upon arrival in Washington DC, Venerable Paññākāra thanked the police, fire departments, doctors, and families who supported them along the way.

He then invited the audience to practice “5 Seconds of Mindfulness”:

• Second 1–Loving Kindness: Stop before causing harm and soften before speaking.

• Second 2–Compassion: Understand that we do not know what pain others carry.

• Second 3–Love: Truly love yourself and the person in front of you.

• Second 4–Harmony: Choose living together over winning.

• Second 5—Hope: Believe that violence is not the final answer.

Joining him on stage was the Venerable Phra Ajarnh Maha Dam Phommasan, who lost part of his leg.

“At that moment, I thought maybe I was going to die. But practicing mindfulness meditation during our walks was really helpful when I faced death. I invite all of you to practice as well.”

Final Word

Sadhu. Sadhu. Sadhu (Well Said, Well Said, Well Said).

May all beings live in peace

May all beings live in harmony

May all beings live in peace and harmony.

www.thebuddhawallah.org

www.mindfulnesstrainingcourse.org

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Snow fell down on earth,
unexpectedly
burying exquisite flower
in a vulnerable state 
with tree as witness
a thing of newness, 
freshness then cut off
from its potential
to bloom, to reveal
a thing of beauty.

Crushed from footsteps
of a winter's episode
leaving a strangeness 
in the air of missed colours
and dancing petals
having gone to ground
withered away in 
cold light and dark chill 
crisis in the burial 
ground without a prayer
beneath blanket of ice
and attendant consequence.

In spite of this moment
stuck in the passage
of crushed events
a measure of bleakness
and death of fragile flower
Spring comes
Unstoppable.

As so a new cycle 
gets underway ...

www.anengagedlife.org

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I’m pleased to announce that I will offer teachings, via Sangha Live, a global online platform for interactive dharma classes and courses.

Sangha Live has invited me to lead one-hour Daily Meditation sessions for the mornings of Monday, 2 February through Friday, 6 February 2026.

Times: 7 am GMT/8 am CET.

Replays will be posted in Sangha Live’s dharma library for viewers in other time zones.

Offered on dana/donation basis, these 60 minute sessions include a daily guided meditation and dharma talk. Sangha Live and this wallah invite all meditators and those interested in the theme around the globe to tune in.

It only takes a single phrase from another or an unexpected insight from within to change our life for renewal or release.

We explore daily a different aspect of the central theme.

Such a change confirms the new.

Title for the five sessions. Release First. If Not, Then Explore Re-newal

Theme: Release means knowing an incomparable freedom. Confinement to problemetic history has come to an end. Our being knows a full engagement with life. With release, regular renewal comes naturally, such as entering deep sleep and waking up with renewed energy.

We get stuck in our stories, habits and thinking. Practice includes exploration of re-newal so we become unstuck. That means to become a new being. Other traditions refer to being ‘born again.’

Exploration of renewal supports release. Release?

Release of freedom, wisdom and love to benefit the world.

The Best

See you soon

Love

Christopher

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER WITH THIS LINK BELOW:

sangha.events/Christopher02Feb

Visit Sangha Live’s website: sangha.live

Dear Global Sangha

I believe the sessions are worth waking up for!

love.

Christopher

www.thebuddhawallah.org

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NEW YEAR SEEMS UNDERWAY. WHERE DOES IT HIDE?

2026. New Year has come
Not through back door
i can’t find indoors
not among leaves 
swirling in garden
nor felt in chill of
winter’s wily ways
nor in cat’s meow.

'Announcing midnight' to start 'New Year' in Sydney, Australia

How can I believe in 
new year hidden from wild
and wintry skies buried
in two woolly gloves
worn for old time’s sake?

New Year made in thought
bought and sold in thought
tell me where in the world
is real of midnight 
announcing the new 
auld lang sine hymn to
2025’s forgotten dreams.

Who in our world agrees
time zones wily constructs?
aukland, sydney, bangkok
london, greenland, moscow, 
washington and tehran?
fireworks fix the views
for the better off 
in unfounded stories.

Oh, fireworks to witness
of those flashing colours
in midnight’s mystery
oh wow, with such big eyes
exploding light and sound
once in a lifetime views
as kids crouch in terror
in palestine, ukraine
under explicit skies.

Big clock strikes midnight
a singing bell rings out
to confirm emptiness
stay a moment and ends
yes, between grand gong 
you will find the real 
to wake you up from
the blink of a  moment
forming this year in days
with mind's pull to numbers.

What a precious joy
not bound up with events
no reason to reveal
you can find joy nearby
after end of a breath
and before start of next.

That’s close
Wowsers.

www.mindfulnesstrainingcourse.org

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I’m pleased to announce that I will offer teachings, via Sangha Live, a global online platform for interactive dharma classes and courses.

Sangha Live has invited me to lead one-hour Daily Meditation sessions for the mornings of Monday, 2 February through Friday, 6 February 2026.

Times: 7 am GMT/8 am CET

Replays will be posted in Sangha Live’s dharma library for viewers in other time zones.

Offered on dana/donation basis, these classes include a daily guided meditation and dharma talk. Sangha Live and this wallah invite all meditators and those interested in the theme around the globe to tune in. It only takes a single phrase from another or an unexpected insight from within to change our life.

Such a change confirms the new.

Title for the five sessions. Release First. If Not, Then Explore Re-newal

Theme: Release means knowing an incomparable freedom. Confinement to problemetic history has finally come to an end. Our being knows a full engagement with life. With release, regular renewal comes naturally, such as entering deep sleep and waking up with renewed energy.

We get stuck in our stories, habits and thinking. Practice includes exploration of re-newal. That means to become a new being. Other traditions refer to being ‘born again.’

Exploration of renewal supports release. Release?

Release of freedom, wisdom and love to benefit the world.

—

Monday 2 February 2026

What did we fail to see. As a result, we need re-newal?

Tuesday 3 February

What are the steps for re-newal?

Wednesday 4 February

What else does re-newal mean besides energy?

Thursday 5 February

What shows the benefits of re-newal?

Friday 6 February

What is the ultimate difference between release and re-newal?

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER WITH THIS LINK BELOW:

sangha.events/Christopher02Feb

Visit Sangha Live’s website: sangha.live

Dear Global Sangha

I believe the sessions are worth waking up for!

love.

Christopher

www.thebuddhawallah.org

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I recently received this link below available on YouTube. In January 2009, I gave teachings on a hotel rooftop, a few minutes walk from the ashram. I have paid several visits to Tiru over the decades. John David, a spiritual teacher, kindly invited me to respond to deep spiritual questions. We held the interview on the rooftop. Go to YouTube: John David interviews Christopher Titmuss. Or click below.

Ramana Maharshi (Ramana the Great Sage)

John David’s First Five Questions to Christopher

1. In the context of the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, which reflects the ancient Indian wisdom, there is the fundamental question, Who am I? Who are you?

2. What is enlightenment?

3. Could you say something more about freedom of being? (mentioned in previous response)

4. So would it (freedom of being) be words like spontaneous, innocence and presence?

5. Are there any qualifications for enlightenment? Is practice necessary?

John David is an English spiritual teacher, author, filmmaker, and painter whose work is rooted in the Advaita, or nondual, tradition. He is the author of European Masters: Blueprints for Awakening: Unique Dialogues with 14 European Masters on the Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi.

www.thebuddhawallah.org

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We offer a professional mindfulness and teacher training with a depth of exploration and ongoing support.

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 focuses on developing and deepening your mindfulness/ meditation practice.

• Module 2 offers teacher training, ongoing practice and detailed guidance in sharing mindfulness with others.

The Course offers thorough practices in teaching mindfulness/meditation, giving public talks, facilitating groups and adapting the material to your current skills and context.

Upon completion of the 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.

Until the end of April 2026, we offer a super early‑bird discount.

Trainees usually come from around 15 countries worldwide. You will learn a great deal from each other so the Course develops into a community of practitioners producing some long‑standing friendships.

MTTC provides two senior teachers, a senior assistant teacher and five assistant teachers, with coordination and administration from Jude Butler. Participants also receive professional training in Safeguards, Ethics, Duty of Care and Working Conditions.

MTTC is suitable for those who wish to offer a valuable service to others. You will find also find the MTTC a precious support for your current committments. You may be making a fresh start. Perhaps you are an experienced practitioner, therapist, educator, community worker, retired, self-employed or working in the public or private sector.

We base the cost of our Course on a registration payment, plus donations, and have endeavoured to make the training as affordable as possible. Places are limited.

Mindfulness Training Course (MTC) began in 2011 and evolved in 2016 into the MTTC. Our website contains comprehensive information including registration cost, dates, monthly themes, Q&A and more.

Find out more and register

• Website: mindfulnesstrainingcourse.org

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

• Email: mttcglobal@gmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you.

With love,
Christopher and Nshorna

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Sadly, the truth remains hidden from view.

A UK government report in 2025 found cancer-linked pesticides in common UK fruits and vegetables. People shopping for food in supermarkets and elsewhere may well have purchased some of the 3,482 food and drink samples with pesticide residues.

Meanwhile, TV chefs prepare dinners, salads and desserts to stimulate the taste buds of viewers. Major competitions, such as The Great British Bake Off, attract large audiences where food experts taste the culinary delights of cooks to see who goes into the next round.

• Is there any mention of ethics on these shows?

• Do the chefs or their audience share knowledge of food-related life-threatening illnesses?

• Is there any mention of ‘forever chemicals’ in any of these shows?

• Do our TV chefs speak about the terrible harm caused by daily consumption of UPFs?

• Do TV chefs refer to treatment on farms/abattoirs involving animals, birds and fish?

These TV shows rely on the sensations of pleasure in watching and listening. It seems taste matters far above cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease due to diet.

What about the elephant in the TV studio?

Report of PAN to Government Report

Campaigners from the Pesticide Action Network UK (Pan UK), who analysed the quarterly test results, said they detected 123 different chemicals across 17 types of fruit and vegetables. There were substances linked to cancer, neurotoxicity and hormone disruption

For example, much-loved succulent grapes can carry residues of up to sixteen pesticides, including so‑called forever chemicals that linger throughout our lives in the body and for centuries in the ground. Built up in soil and water, these chemicals end up in our bodies.

Alongside UPFs (ultra-processed), food such as grapefruit, limes, bananas, sweet peppers, melons and broccoli can form a cocktail of chemicals affecting our health in the long term.

Some of our TV chefs have earned a household name for their creative approach for food while not mentioning the elephant in our kitchen.

Some of the chefs have become household names in the UK such as

• Gordon Ramsay (Hell’s Kitchen, MasterChef, Kitchen Nightmares).

• Jamie Oliver (The Naked Chef, Jamie’s 30-Minute Meals).

• Nigella Lawson (Nigella Bites, Nigella Express).

• Mary Berry (The Great British Bake Off).

• Delia Smith (How to Cook, Delia’s How to Cheat at Cooking).

• Rick Stein (Rick Stein’s Seafood Odyssey and travel–food series).

Amonst our food celebrities, who will come forward and speak in their shows about real food and real issues facing shoppers?

It is not easy trying to live a conscious and caring life when the food and drink industry uses plastic to wrap up food in, selling billions of bottles made of plastic due to pollution of tap water.

Officials reassure us that the amount of chemicals sits below the threshold. How can food scientists measure the diversity of food/ drink, plus all the forever chemicals in pesticides, additives affecting the health of millions of people with various vulnerabilities and genetic influences? The physical organism does not seem resilient to constant abuse.

Doctors and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Doctors work as employees of the pharmaceutical industry. Many received little education about diet and health in their five years of training. In the UK, a study of 853 medical students and doctors found that over 70% had received less than two hours nutrition training while at medical school. A few trainees receive a total of up to 20 hours in the course of their studies. It is a bit like a householder consulting a trained electrician to cure the dry root runing thrfough ther home.

You are sick, so you go to see your doctor. Does your doctor go into any depth in the causes and conditions of your sickness? Even if the doctor has the knowledge and insights, the same physician does not have the time if a patient only gets seven minutes or with a doctor.

There is an elephant in the room where we see our doctor.

So, you get a prescription of more chemicals while carrying on much the same old way. What chance do you have of staving off a present or future health crisis if we continue putting the same harmful substances in our mouth?

Changing the causes and conditions for sickness and suffering matter. Really matter. The pharmaceutical industry has no real interest in changing causes for widespread illhealth. There is another elephant in much of the food industry.

Pesticides can become more toxic when combined. Food scientists know little about the way chemicals in the body interact with each other.

What is the proof of the above? Apart from accidents, genetic vulnerabilities, viruses and ageing, most citizens find themselves sick in hospital due to food, drink, cigarettes, drugs, prescription and recreational.

Farmers in the UK and the rest of the world put chemicals into the ground annually, so the soil becomes increasingly polluted. Each step towards clean, organic fruit and vegetables means a movement towards safety for farm workers, right to life for farm animals, clean rivers and a respectful inheritance for the current and future generations.

We eat to live, not to die a long, lingering death.

The government needs to pass laws to stop pesticides infecting our food.

Let us point out the elephant in our midst.

www.thebuddhawallah.org

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