I went to see a Chines song and dance spectacular at the Royal Festival Hall in London which was rather fun, I must say, and I was surprised to learn that the Chinese government had tried to have it banned. Maybe that's why the hall was packed out; the British don't like to be told what they can watch; they believe in freedom of choice. Anyway, I wondered why? Well, when I saw the show, the eulogising of Falun Gong and the criticism of the Chinese government as told in some of the storylines, I realised that it was a New York based Chinese company full of overseas Chinese who hate some of what is happening in their motherland, the Inner Kingdom. In fact, the whole show was a front for Falun Gong and its protests against its persecuted members back home as well as the degradation of Chinese culture that it sees as happening in China at the moment. A very political show!
Which brings me to the Beijing Olympics and talks of boycott and protest. Personally, I agree that the International Olympic Committee should not have awarded the Games to Beijing as it is not worthy of holding them. But then, the Olympics today have little to do with the high ideals of Baron De Coubertin. Instead, they are the plaything of those who control world politics and international trade and the athletes are merely pawns in a game far bigger than the noble Baron ever dreamed of. Talk of a boycott of the Games, though, at this late stage is naive as the powers that be want it to go ahead. Gordon Brown and George Bush want their trips to the Olympics. Instead, the Games should be used in a positive way to register protest at inhuman Chinese policy both at home and abroad and to guide the Chinese authorities to improve their politics and their humanity. Darfor, Burma and Tibet, as well as Falun Gong practitioners, are all suffering from Chinese callousness, but then look at the killing of innocents in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere. No country today can honestly preach "I'm holier than thou". Protest yes, boycott no.
In my humble opinion, the Olympics have been hijacked by the politicians and money-spinners and the original aim of the Games, a coming together and sporting celebration of the world's young people, has largely been lost. We need to revert to the idea of a permanent site for the Olympic Games, probably in Greece, and every Olympic country would contribute to its maintenance and upkeep. And then there would be none of this sad and corrupt nonsense of cities competing for Olympiads. It could become again what it was originally intended to be, simply, a world festival of sport, freed of the vulgarity of politics and big business and of any sort of connection with the unsavoury activities of inadequate and undemocratic governments. Let's get back to healthy, wholesome, undefiled enjoyment where the taking part, and not the winning, really does become the be-all and end-all. Idealistic? Yes. But what's wrong with that, in this cynical, unsavoury age we live it? Let's go for undefiled purity for once in a while.
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
Monday, 18 February 2008
The beauty of a nation is its countryside
I have been champing at the bit staying in drab, colourless, ostentatiously wealthy London which I do not like as there is something horribly unreal about it. So, it was a joy last week to escape London's clutches and take the train out into the countryside of Sussex to meet up with both my webmaster and my financial adviser on the South Coast by the sea. Hectic and noisy, of course, there is also something joyless about London. It is exhorbitantly expensive (for example, to buy fresh cut fruit costs me 10 times what it costs me in Chiang Mai), a sort of selfish and self-centred consumerist temple that seems to force the smile out of people's faces. In contrast, in the countryside, there is nature's kingdom full of colour, of greens, blues, browns... earth colours and sea and sky. And the air is fresh and breathable. With nature, there is no stress, no pressure as everything functions at its own, knowing pace without the help of humans. It feels so much the right place to be, no neurosis and filled with dormant life waiting for the coming of spring when it will awaken again and surge into full bloom. And that time is almost now. In fact, the first daffodils and narcissi are already waving their yellow heads at us in greeting. Winter is waning, spring is coming.
Yes, this is a different Britain, ancient, acceptable, offering stability and a grounded base out of which to forge a life of meaning. It is gives me a sense of belonging which London can never do. It is this that is my home country although I have to say I would never live here now as the cost of everything is too high to make for even a reasonable quality of life. For me, my own country of bith has priced me out of the possibility or even the desire for residence. Yet the countryside of Britain remains in my very bones.
One thing about London that exercises my mind is the inability of people to look you in the eye and smile. People here don't seem to want to connect. They appear to be cut off from each other and so there is no great sense of that deep, innate interconnectness which is the reality of our natural state of being. Maybe this is why there is a sense of joylessness in the city. People feel cut off and therefore lacking in identity. There is a crisis of identity in Britain. As a country it no longer knows its role in the world and, worse, it no longer knows who it is at home. As one man said, after some idiot minister had talked about "punching above our weight", "I have no wish to fight at all. We are just a small but prosperous country which needs to realise its place in a peaceful Europe. That is enough". And he is right. You get a feeling that the British people are being forced into a role that they don't wish to be in and it is creating great stresses and strains in our culture. Personally, in London, I find Britain no longer a comfortable country to be in, although it becomes much more pleasant when you get out into the countryside.
Yes, this is a different Britain, ancient, acceptable, offering stability and a grounded base out of which to forge a life of meaning. It is gives me a sense of belonging which London can never do. It is this that is my home country although I have to say I would never live here now as the cost of everything is too high to make for even a reasonable quality of life. For me, my own country of bith has priced me out of the possibility or even the desire for residence. Yet the countryside of Britain remains in my very bones.
One thing about London that exercises my mind is the inability of people to look you in the eye and smile. People here don't seem to want to connect. They appear to be cut off from each other and so there is no great sense of that deep, innate interconnectness which is the reality of our natural state of being. Maybe this is why there is a sense of joylessness in the city. People feel cut off and therefore lacking in identity. There is a crisis of identity in Britain. As a country it no longer knows its role in the world and, worse, it no longer knows who it is at home. As one man said, after some idiot minister had talked about "punching above our weight", "I have no wish to fight at all. We are just a small but prosperous country which needs to realise its place in a peaceful Europe. That is enough". And he is right. You get a feeling that the British people are being forced into a role that they don't wish to be in and it is creating great stresses and strains in our culture. Personally, in London, I find Britain no longer a comfortable country to be in, although it becomes much more pleasant when you get out into the countryside.
Friday, 8 February 2008
Belonging
I am not sure where I belong but I long to belong somewhere. I long to put my roots down and to be able to settle into my own armchair and read a book whilst sipping a cup of green tea, knowing that it is my own place on my own chosen turf and it is the place where people know they can find me. I long to have a home.
At present I am spending some time in my own home country of Britain, the country where I was born and largely brought up, and to some extent I am enjoying being here because of the familiarity and the lovely people I know. But I no longer have a home here, nor do I want one as it is all too expensive and not worth the money. The house prices, food prices, transport costs, it all costs too much to live here and, blanketing the whole place, is a great cloud of gloom and despondency which seems so unjustified when you consider how wealthy the nation is supposed to be. There is a dark mood here. Whereas in Thailand, where I have been spending the past three months, there is a much greater sense of joy, even though it is a much poorer country. For a person with ordinary funds like me, the quality of life in Thailand is superior to Britain. However, that is not where I plan to create my home base. There is an even better place... Italy. For there, I can set up a centre of therapy and well-being and happily pursue my livelihood in a beautiful place and be immersed in European culture and a way of life that is conducive to longevity. What a great opportunity. But I won't forget Thailand; it will still see me in the winter months.
In April, I will return to Italy and follow my heart in the search for the perfect location for a home, where there are mountain streams, green meadows, pure undefiled air to breathe, and wonderful walks to be had. Yes, I long to belong and to find the right piece of turf. And I know that I am blessed with an opportunity to achieve this and finally to be able to say, "this is where I live and where I will die". Not only that, but there I can create a place of welcome where all can come and find peace and inspiration.
Now starts the Chinese Year of the Rat and I wish everyone peace and prospering. And I certainly know what my New Year's resolution is: to find the place where I belong.
At present I am spending some time in my own home country of Britain, the country where I was born and largely brought up, and to some extent I am enjoying being here because of the familiarity and the lovely people I know. But I no longer have a home here, nor do I want one as it is all too expensive and not worth the money. The house prices, food prices, transport costs, it all costs too much to live here and, blanketing the whole place, is a great cloud of gloom and despondency which seems so unjustified when you consider how wealthy the nation is supposed to be. There is a dark mood here. Whereas in Thailand, where I have been spending the past three months, there is a much greater sense of joy, even though it is a much poorer country. For a person with ordinary funds like me, the quality of life in Thailand is superior to Britain. However, that is not where I plan to create my home base. There is an even better place... Italy. For there, I can set up a centre of therapy and well-being and happily pursue my livelihood in a beautiful place and be immersed in European culture and a way of life that is conducive to longevity. What a great opportunity. But I won't forget Thailand; it will still see me in the winter months.
In April, I will return to Italy and follow my heart in the search for the perfect location for a home, where there are mountain streams, green meadows, pure undefiled air to breathe, and wonderful walks to be had. Yes, I long to belong and to find the right piece of turf. And I know that I am blessed with an opportunity to achieve this and finally to be able to say, "this is where I live and where I will die". Not only that, but there I can create a place of welcome where all can come and find peace and inspiration.
Now starts the Chinese Year of the Rat and I wish everyone peace and prospering. And I certainly know what my New Year's resolution is: to find the place where I belong.
Sunday, 3 February 2008
Events unfolding
Our lives are like books, full of chapters with beginnings and endings. For me, another short chapter has just ended as my winter visit to Thailand is now over and I am returning to Europe. A new chapter is starting to unfold and it is a very important chapter which could signpost where the rest of my life goes, for it is geared towards seeking my Shangri La in Italy wherein I can finally put down my roots and create both a beautiful home and a place of peace and inspiration for teachings and treatments. This has been a dream of mine for more than five years but which has failed to materialise before now as the time was not right.
As the Buddhist saying goes, "When the apple is right it falls of itself from the tree". I sense that now the apple is ripe and it is the time to realise the dream. Events are conspiring to make it possible and, now, I must grasp the opportunity. Sometimes we do have a dream but the time is not right for us to realise it and we end up batting our heads against endless obstacles which make for a rocky path. We cannot force the pace if the universe is not ready for us and sometimes it is better just to tread water until the time is right. Patience. There seems to be a natural order to how and when we can realise our dreams. We need to allow ourselves to be guided by our intuition.
Often we don't have enough patience. Or, you can say, we are driven by desire to realise a wish or a dream instantly, rather than allowing time for the dream to unfold naturally. Misplaced desire is the enemy of natural order. I know this, for in the past I have been guilty of it. It is like a loving relationship that cannot be cemented into permanence because of the incompatible commitments of the two lovers. In that case, you have a choice, either to say this isn't going to work and end the relationship and move on, or, to give it time and see if the commitments can unravel themselves and allow the two lovers to come together on a permanent basis. For much of the time we live in a mist of uncertainty and it is only when the mist lifts that we can see clearly the way ahead. And for this we need patience and a clear and open mind. Without them we are doomed to frustration and suffering.
As the Buddhist saying goes, "When the apple is right it falls of itself from the tree". I sense that now the apple is ripe and it is the time to realise the dream. Events are conspiring to make it possible and, now, I must grasp the opportunity. Sometimes we do have a dream but the time is not right for us to realise it and we end up batting our heads against endless obstacles which make for a rocky path. We cannot force the pace if the universe is not ready for us and sometimes it is better just to tread water until the time is right. Patience. There seems to be a natural order to how and when we can realise our dreams. We need to allow ourselves to be guided by our intuition.
Often we don't have enough patience. Or, you can say, we are driven by desire to realise a wish or a dream instantly, rather than allowing time for the dream to unfold naturally. Misplaced desire is the enemy of natural order. I know this, for in the past I have been guilty of it. It is like a loving relationship that cannot be cemented into permanence because of the incompatible commitments of the two lovers. In that case, you have a choice, either to say this isn't going to work and end the relationship and move on, or, to give it time and see if the commitments can unravel themselves and allow the two lovers to come together on a permanent basis. For much of the time we live in a mist of uncertainty and it is only when the mist lifts that we can see clearly the way ahead. And for this we need patience and a clear and open mind. Without them we are doomed to frustration and suffering.
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