Tag: spirituality

Ancient Church Full of Spirits!

North Devon: Ghost-Hunting at St Peter’s Church – Bratton Fleming! (26.8.2025)

Of course, if there is some type of residual leftover following death – then I will be more than willing to experience its presence. No problem – no resistance. I am free – so I choose to sit here. There is a sense of profound peace about it all – but at the beginning there was a mixture of sweat and coldness happening all at once. Many ghost-hunters find this significant – but these things can be experienced in many places. Whatever the case, my body has now adapted to its environment and I habitually wrap a blanket around me – like robe.

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The Buddha's Enlightenment is Secular!

The Buddha & Secular Enlightenment! (3.7.2025)

If this was the case, why did the Buddha reject Brahmanism? Why did the Buddha bite the hand that fed him? Well, he practiced all the available meditative paths, mastered them all, and realised none of them expressed the ultimate truth. He carried-on training in meditation as the Upanishads advised – and saw through all the conditioning of his mind, body, and environment. He gave up caste privilege and all work for money. He knew that this would lead to starvation, homelessness, and nakedness. He resolved these issues by dressing himself in rags found in the charnel grounds (the clothing of dead who were to poor to be cremated), he acquired the skull-cap of a dead person and used it as a begging bowl as he walked from village to village quietly requesting waste-food on a daily basis, and he sat under the foot of a tree when he meditated. The Buddha left society and lived on the forested outskirts of Hindu society. Of course, the Buddha still physically lived in India, and interfaced with Hindu society, but he did this under a completely new contract of understanding.

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The Mind is a Sliver of the Material Brain!

And a Mind Does Not Understand it is a Mind…(30.6.2025)

Again, another paradox. The brain-mind is the reality it confronts. The brain-mind is the division of reality it must generate to understand itself. Out of this evolves science. Science is the endless division that sustains itself and continues forever and without end. Knowledge emerges that is unstoppable once properly mastered. Science returns full-circle – or at least it seem to return full-circle. Material reality cannot resolve its own division. Herein lies yet another paradox. Material reality is a total reality that cannot be altered from its intrinsic reality. What is “inside” of matter? If religion is understood to be a mistake of human perception – then the answer to this question must be another type of science – not a theological (and childish) delusion. At the moment there is Quantum Theory. Here, science has sliced itself into a different type of sliver. It may be that Qiantum Theory will be discredited in some way – or researched into a pointless oblivion. It may be that Quantum Theory will look inside material reality and discover something “new” – but will it? Can it?

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God and Jesus Do Not Exist!

The Objective Study of Religion Through Logic and Reason! (26.3.2025)

Needless to say, the learned Benedictine Brothers were not impressed with my missive – and certainly refused to print it in a Christian academic journal. One Brother took me to one side and explained that the Catholic concept of “Interfaith” was a misnomer – as its true purpose was to have the minds of Buddhists infiltrated by Catholic dogma – and for these Buddhists to “convert” to Christianity as a means to stop their heathen (non-White) souls descending into the fires of hell following their physical death. So far – so good. In military terms – this type of unscripted and quite often messy advance to gain intelligence about the enemy is termed “reconnaissance under fire”. The vehicle through which these Brothers delivered their condescending attitudes was one of racism and discrimination – disguised as religious piety (even those non-Whites who convert – are inferior to White Christians regardless of strength of belief). I was also informed that Asian Buddhists were invariably “Socialistic” – an ideology rejected by the Catholic Church.

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Old Ch'an Dao Gongfu

Ch’an Dao: Confucian Lineage! (8.11.2024)

Of course, the modern world is a very different place to the ancient (feudal) world from which Confucius lived, but nevertheless, so much of modern Chinese culture is premised on just this type of social organisation and spiritual coordination. This is true even when gongfu Styles are accessed through “money” – rather than through “virtue”. This attitude of “Respect” and “Harmony” has permeated the culture of Korea, Japan, and Okinawa – with the latter once being a distant part of the Chinese Empire. By issuing his “Hamon” – Sensei Higaonna is proving that his Style of Goju Ryu Karate-Do is “Chinese” in origination – as indeed it is (premised upon the White Crane gongfu of Fujian province).

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Buddhapadipa Temple - Wimbledon

Wimbledon: Buddhapadipa Temple & the Family of Geese! (29.5.2024)

It possesses a modest park with a small body of water, a mansion house and a temple complex. Indeed, we have visited here many times in the past. As with all such temples – it is free to enter – and no-one interferes with acts of private meditation. On occasion, the robed-clad monks (Bhikkhu-Beggar) might be seen walking through the grounds. As all animal cruelty is strictly forbidden, the local wildlife tends to behave in a much more relaxed and content manner – as if each animals perceives the “Dhamma” (Teaching) that is being practiced. Whatever the case, such an environment allows children to develop a caring attitude of respect for all animals – just one of the reasons we take our children to such places!

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