March 27, 2023
Eh. Coffee by the harbour and a good book. Can’t be bad. I was going to slow down with the reading but a Buddhist teacher kindly gave me a copy of This Being, That Becomes: The Buddha’s Teaching on Conditionality by Dhivan Thomas Jones and I found myself gently exploring it rather than voraciously devouring […]
November 4, 2022
I wonder if there’s a placebo effect on meditation retreats that helps the mind gather and calm. Equally, if you approach a silent retreat thinking, “Argh, I can’t talk or have fun for days” maybe you’ll have a bumpier start. To be clear, I think the placebo effect is something real that we should take […]
tags: buddhism, expectations, meditation, meditation retreat, mindfulness, peace, placebo, refuge, retreat, seclusion, solitude
October 7, 2022
This point is of considerable relevance to an understanding of the nature of absorption. The issue at stake, simply stated, is whether the first absorption is a deep state of concentration, achieved only after a prolonged period of practice and seclusion, or a stage of relaxed happy reflection within easy reach of anyone and without […]
September 21, 2022
I’ve been messing around with the Stable Diffusion AI image generator via Dream Studio. It’s quite mind-blowing. The image above was generated with the keywords, “One red eye cyborg concept art.” It creeps me out a bit, and I don’t actually like using it here that much. For better sci-fi pieces, check this algorithm-generated art. […]
tags: AI, art, artificial intelligence, buddhism, creativity, love, personal development, reality, rise of the machines, sci-fi, science fiction
August 29, 2022
On a ruined bridge high above the desolate Lands Between, Margit, the Fell Omen, stood between me and Stormveil Castle once again. The stakes were high: I’d spent £50 on a game months ago and a 20ft death-dealing guardian had seriously diverted my progress away from the main path. I had bounced off Dark Souls […]
tags: buddhism, computer games, Elden Ring, From Software, gaming, learning, Margit the Fell Omen, meditation, philosophy, skills, stoicism, video games, wisdom