Strangely Perfect

French Resistance: de Gaulle in London. (This posting originally released on 16 Dec 2007.  Reposted and edited because of the subject’s death.) This is a BBC News article on the women of the French Resistance who worked with De Gaulle in London and then went to Paris with him for the Liberation. Claire is one [...]

The Hell of Incessant Suffering and the Land of Tranquil Light Note: This was originally published here http://buddhastate.co.uk/blog/?p=30 on Sunday, September 24th, 2006 at 4:28 pm and filed under Buddhism..  The link has been dead for quite some time, looks unlikely to re-appear,  so I’m showing the words here as they are so wonderful because [...]

—- DAILY ENCOURAGEMENT —- “Of course, you’re free to live your lives how you like, but don’t forget the fundamental path of life. “The Soka Gakkai teaches us this fundamental path–a path for accumulating good fortune, helping others, and working for peace. That’s why we now have so many members around the world, and why [...]

I woke up this morning ……and read two small passages, both written by Buddhists, one of which quotes one of “The Buddha’s” last works, the Lotus Sutra. What struck me, was that sometimes, this Buddhism that I do can get a bit confusing, and then suddenly – suddenly someone says something that brings everything right [...]

Similarly to the previous post, What is Health?, Daisaku Ikeda’s words last week encapsulated individual, respectful, freedom perfectly, and warns against the abuses of power that can so easily lead to doom and painful sufferings for people.  Eternal vigilance coupled to openness and discussion is the only way! Shakabuku – to spread knowledge of the [...]

Exploring the Simultaneous Nature of Cause & Effect Star Trek: The Next Generation: Finale, Episode – “All Good Things…” I’ve just watched the double episode finale to the TNG Picard series just after the cyclists finished their ascent of Mont Ventoux in this years Tour de France.  It was “All Good Things…”(see link, link & [...]

Belle and Sebastien (Belle et Sebastien) This is the signature tune of a French show which appeared on UK TV in the late 60s.  For some interconnected reason, I stumbled on it and realised that I still whistle it now and again when it pops in my head.  I have to whistle it as there’s [...]

I’m off for a few days of Buddhist activity in delightful Devon.  So no posting, wahay! “Worthy persons deserve to be called so because they are not carried away by the eight winds: prosperity, decline, disgrace, honour, praise, censure, suffering, and pleasure.” – The Eight Winds – The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, Vol.1, page 794

I’ve been thinking about the perilous mentality of the 52% of Americans who think torture is all fine and dandy.  And then I saw a neat little video piece on the BBC this morning which casts a few French people in the exact same spots in June 1944 and now.  It’s here: D-Day in France: [...]

I am the Dragon King – Part Two In actual fact, the reason for my theme change and it’s reversion to the Dragon one is due to some inspirational hits on the website (the hits all targetted this post, Never Seek this Gohonzon Outside Yourself), where people have been looking for the phrase; “Hell is [...]

The Next Dalai Lama Rejects Buddhism and Hero Worship, that is! Way back in 1986, the next Dalai Lama, a little Spanish boy, was chosen.  Apparently, Osel Hita Torres can’t take it, a life deprived of television, movies (save one), football and girls. He’s now a film student in Madrid. He rejects all that his status [...]

Man with Black Hat Blames Everyone Else! Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts in Iran who has a black hat, has said that the fingertips of the West are definitely on the ghastly bombing in the south-east Iranian city of Zahedan on Thursday.  So it’s all my fault then…? Interestingly, within two [...]

FYI: Two Things About Nichiren One: While fishing around back-links to this website, I came across two pages on the BBC website that explain Nichiren’s Buddhism and the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) quite well.  Go for it Robert!! http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/buddhism/subdivisions/nichiren_1.shtml http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire/content/articles/2005/03/17/sgi_uk_feature.shtml Two: I’ve just seen this ridiculous rat with a Nichiren t-Shirt on the Amazon website. [...]

Buddhism is concerned with the essential nature of humanity. Buddhism is not found somewhere else, separate from such beautiful expressions of humanity as appreciation towards one’s mother and courtesy to others. As Nichiren Daishonin teaches in the Gosho, “behaviour as a human being” that perfectly accords with reason is what constitutes the heart of Buddhism. [...]