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Gentle Buddhism

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Select a Category Activism Aiko the Dog Beauty Being kind to ourselves Bombu nature Buddhist knowledge Buddhist women Climate Emergency Climate Grief Community Daily Practice Death Dharma Dharma Glimpse Dharma Study Dilemmas Gentle Buddhism Gentleness Helping others Indulgence Internal Family Systems Introvert Journalling Knowing our limits Magic Managing stress Meditation Money Parts Questions Ralph the Dog Relationships Relax Rest Self-criticism Self-reflection Social Media Spiritual practice Uncategorized Word of the Year Writing

Select a Month March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017

March 2023

March 03, 2023

Meeting Suffering With Gentleness

I have had a hard week. Not a ‘my cat died’ week, a ‘dealing with...

February 2023

February 15, 2023

How to Handle our Internal Cookie Monster

(or, does gentleness lead to indulgence?) Last night I had a big pasta dinner followed...

February 07, 2023

The Secret to Unlocking All Dharma Books

One of the things I really love is when an improbably random trail of breadcrumbs...

January 2023

January 31, 2023

The Buddhist Police Inside My Head

I have been working as a psychotherapist for twenty five years, and for the first...

January 24, 2023

Did The Buddha Want Us To Go Gently?

Sometimes I worry that ‘Gentle Buddhism’ is an oxymoron. When I think of the Pali...

January 19, 2023

Should We Help Ourselves Or Others First?

My dream last night was vivid and spooky. I was walking around a pond with...

January 17, 2023

A Gentle Approach to a Daily Buddhist Practice

One hundred and fifty four days in a row. This was how long I had...

January 10, 2023

What If This Year Is My Last?

As my first day of work in 2023 approached, I got myself into a painful...

December 2022

December 22, 2022

Why Soft is More Powerful Than Shove

She was curled into a furry ball on the green chair, her tail pumping weakly...

December 20, 2022

Your Word For 2023 Will Work Magic

I couldn’t remember my Word of the Year for 2022. 'This is not a good...

December 15, 2022

How To Change Grief Into Joy

I only Googled his name on a whim. He was a talented poet, and many...

December 12, 2022

Can Introverts Live In Community?

If you’d told to me ten years ago that I’d be living in a community,...

December 08, 2022

Is It Time To Leave Your Relationship?

About a year ago I moved banks. I’d been with the same bank for twenty...

December 05, 2022

Money: Blessing or Sin?

I have a confession to make. As a good Buddhist, I am aware that I...

December 01, 2022

I Got This Advice From A Voice From The Past…

A few months ago we took a deep breath and tackled the chaotic boiler room...

November 2022

November 29, 2022

Why Giving Up Meditation Was Good For Me

Do you plan to meditate every day and then struggle to keep going? Do you...

November 26, 2022

How To See Through The Buddha’s Eyes

A gang of long-tailed tits are skipping from branch to branch in the magnolia tree....

November 25, 2022

Wisdom From Ralph The Dog: A Kick Up The Butt

Before I share Ralph’s wisdom with you, there’s something you need to know about him....

November 24, 2022

Should I Go To Prison?

This weekend I attended a protest with fellow climate activists in London and since my...

November 22, 2022

How To Rest When You Don’t Have Any Time

Ideally, we would all have space in our diaries to rest, recover and replenish our...

November 19, 2022

Where Should I Be Going?

A flock of birds swim across the sky from left to right. There are maybe...

November 17, 2022

More Broken, More Beautiful

There is a Japanese word in the tradition of Pure Land Buddhism, ‘bombu’, which I...

November 15, 2022

How Much is Enough Knowledge?

Once a month book a retreat day into my diary – a Friday with no...

November 10, 2022

Something Delicious & a Breath Between Each Task

A breath between each task For a whole month now I have managed to find...

November 08, 2022

What is Gentle Buddhism?

What's it all about? What is gentle Buddhism, and what qualifies me to speak about...

December 2017

December 25, 2017

Happy Christmas!

I'm taking a break until the 9th of Jan, but that doesn't stop me from...

December 22, 2017

Feeling naked

I'm feeling naked this morning, as my new novel 'Some Kind of Freak' has just...

December 20, 2017

Sutta Study: Self-control is difficult

Should I be training others? This is the question I'm asking myself as I study...

December 18, 2017

Arguing with myself

I had a heated argument with myself this morning. This is our first free weekend...

December 14, 2017

On luxury

Just now I snapped off a square of dark coffee chocolate and savoured the sweet...