Thought for the day: curtain fabric

So we've moved into our new place. There's a lot of DIY-type stuff to be done, but we're settled in. I'm back to going down to Oxford for Zazen regularly. There's a small Buddhist group in town here, which I intend to investigate - Thai Forest tradition - maybe I can alternate.

My practice went pretty much out the window for a few weeks but I'm getting back into it. It's slightly harder to settle the mind when you've not been practicing regularly. Sometimes the moment when the mind quiets can be quite dramatic - like a persistent background noise which you had grown accustomed to suddenly stopping; a powerful stillness and centered-ness - the mind which was darting around just dropping away to leave a powerful silence.

There's a big reorganisation going on with my primary work client and the future of contractors like me seems to be up in the air, so I'm feeling a bit insecure on that front. I've started looking for other jobs. I'm also working on an online application with an ex-colleague. So, I'm quite busy.

No special insights to write about Buddhism at the moment, although I'm still working(slowly) through Nagarjuna's 'Mulamadhyamakakarika', which is now my favouritest Buddhism book ever. And I hope to post the final part of my interpretation of Dogen's 'Genjo Koan' soon. I've started re-publishing a few selected posts from here on the group blog 'Flapping Mouths' to give them a bit more exposure. They seem to be being received quite well.

Emily's brother and his wife have separated, which is sad to hear. They have a young daughter.