Posted in All Posts, Sense Desire, tagged sustainable energy on 18 February, 2008 | 1 Comment »
[Summary: final blog on the topic of wealth and money, in advance of tomorrow's talk on this subject. Having a small footprint.]
The Quakers have forty-two suggestions, known as ‘Advices and Queries’, which they draw inspiration from. Number forty-one goes like this:
Try to live simply. A simple lifestyle freely chosen is a source of strength.
[Thanks Marcus [...]
Posted in All Posts, Sense Desire on 17 February, 2008 | 2 Comments »
[Summary: is wealth or money the antithesis of the meditative life? Further look at the role of money in Buddhism in anticipation of the Dhamma Talk on Tuesday by Ven U Vamsa]
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Arunachala is a famous ‘mountain’ in India - more of a hill actually, but a significant bump in the otherwise flat landscape of Tamil Nadu. There it [...]
Posted in All Posts, Sense Desire, tagged money on 14 February, 2008 | 5 Comments »
[Summary: First of several blogs on the nature of money and wealth to a meditator - in anticipation of Tuesday 19 Dhamma Talk on this topic]
Harder it is for a rich man to enter the gates of heaven
than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
.. says the bible. In Christianity [...]
Posted in All Posts, Sense Desire, tagged greed on 30 January, 2008 | No Comments »
The newspapers are always full of stories of just what lengths people will will go to under the power of greed (lobha). In New York last week two men wheeled a dead friend to a store and tried to cash one of his cheques, getting arrested for their efforts:
Two men have been arrested in New [...]
Posted in All Posts, Sense Desire on 6 November, 2007 | No Comments »
Ananova, an endless source of amusing stories, often reports winners of various eating contests. This is prime fillet of lobha - pure greed. Not for the items that are eaten, but for the obscene effort involved in entering these competitions:
A Californian man ate 103 burgers in just eight minutes to set a new world record.
Officials [...]
Posted in All Posts, Sense Desire on 1 November, 2007 | No Comments »
Interesting that when Mick Jagger sang “You can’t always get what you want” in Brazil in 2006, there were one million people listening to him. One million people - we Buddhists have been saying the same thing for 2500 years …. but the crowds we draw in Bangkok have not reached a million, not even [...]
Posted in All Posts, Sense Desire on 8 October, 2007 | 1 Comment »
People often ask me how often I go ‘home’ to England. Which tickles me somewhat, as it might be more productive to ask how often I leave my room …. We monks like to hide away and be alone. In fact, the opportunity to be alone is the main reason I remain a monk. However, [...]
Posted in All Posts, Sense Desire on 5 September, 2007 | No Comments »
[Summary: Professional theives in temples - things people do for money]
I warn all visitors, especially Westerners, to our temple here to carry their shoes with them all the time. Even a 300 baht pair of shoes I once got new, got stolen from outside my door. The reaction seems to be “even in a Temple?” [...]
