Author: Kaspa
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Letting go, unravelling and something new
There is a time and a place for most things. When I started teaching mindfulness classes when we moved to Malvern I was excited to offer them, and I’ve always enjoyed the energy of the groups. Back in late spring/early summer I took a break from teaching. At the time I imagined this would be…
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What about desire?
I’ve just returned from a weekend of silent walking on the Malvern Hills. We walked nine miles south, and camped overnight, and nine miles back the next day. It was in the middle of the heat wave. Walking up to the top of Black Hill, where there is no shade, in the hottest part of…
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When things are out of control
Remember when it snowed in February? The temperature dived below zero. On the Wednesday evening of the cold weather the temperature inside the temple started to fall as well. Minutes before our public service I noticed the boiler had cut out. The condensate pip was frozen solid. Whilst Satya led the service, I spent the…
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Great Gratitude – Great Peace
A few days ago my thoughts were wondering all over the place. I was remembering things to do, making lists and composing emails. I was in the middle of walking meditation, where the aim is to remain grounded in the present moment, and instead my mind was jumping wildly from one thought to another. In…
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Great Mindfulness – Great Gratitude
By five o clock it was already dark. Snow was gently falling. I couldn’t tell if it was settling or not. I looked out at the night, through my own reflection, and wondered if everyone would make the class I was teaching that evening. They all turned up, and we spent an hour together. We…
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The Importance of Being Yourself
You can hear a lot about selflessness in psychological and spiritual circles “just do what is needed for the other person” or “selflessness means putting your own feelings aside”. There is a danger in all of this that we disappear. Not in the good way that the ‘extinguishing’ of nirvana implies, but that we hide…
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To more creative living
This year I have been noticing when and how I keep myself from the world. I bury my head in a science fiction novel, or binge watch Marvel series on Netflix. I scroll through news headlines or my Facebook feed. It’s a habit that keeps me safe. It keeps me out of the possibility of…
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The Dharma of the sliced thumb
A post shared by Kaspalita (@kaspalita) on Dec 12, 2017 at 12:51am PST It was Thursday evening. I was still recovering from a heavy cold. It had lodged itself in my chest, and although my head was clear and my voice returned I had developed a cough which a friend euphemistically called ‘productive’… I was…
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What are you paying attention to?
Perhaps half your attention is on what you are doing right now, and the rest is worrying about something that may or may not happen in the future, or something that happened in the past that doesn’t sit well with you. If I pause for a moment and notice what my mind is doing, I…
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How to move forward and take positive action
This article first appeared in the Autumn edition of All About Malvern. In our small town, nestled safely into the side of these ancient hills, the sun is shining. In other parts of the world the weather is not so kind. As I write this people are assessing the damage from two hurricanes that moved…