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Tag Archives: Buddhism
The ultimate StairMaster.
From the comfortable flatness of London, Alpine trekking evokes images of paths meandering towards isolated peaks and a soft mattress of pine needles covering a path running through the woods. Not in the mountains surrounding my hometown, though. Boulders make … Continue reading
Posted in Italy, Piemonte
Tagged Alps, Animals, Bee, Black, Bovine, Buddhism, Cable car, Clouds, Cow, Dublin, Dubliners, Flat, Flower, Hiking, Insect, Italy, Madonna, Mary, Matterhorn, Monte Rosa, Oropa, Paddy, Piedmont, Piemonte, Prealpi, Rice, Rock, Rocky road, Ropeway, Sanctuary, Shepherd, Summer, Trekking, Yellow
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After the daytrippers have gone.
It never ceases to amaze me how much a place can change depending on the weather. Take, for instance, Nuwara Eliya: I arrive under a glorious sunshine and an air so gleaming with light that you’d be excused for trying … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Sri Lanka
Tagged Asia, Britain, Buddhism, Ceylon, Colonialism, Glorious dead, Hill country, Horse, Nuwara Eliya, Poverty, Sri Lanka, Tea, Tea Plantation
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The sacred and the profane, or an afternoon at Fushimi Inari Taisha.
The Japanese approach to religion sounds odd and unfamiliar to those, like yours truly, grown up in the shadow of the clear-cut divisions operated by monotheistic cults. Folks, over here in the archipelago, can be Shinto, and Buddhist, at the same … Continue reading
Posted in All things food, Asia, Japan, Kyoto
Tagged Asia, Buddhism, Dango, Eels, Faith, Fox, Fushimi Inari, Gion, Inari, Japan, Kyoto, Okonomiyaki, Shintō, Street food, Takoyaki, Torii, Yakitori
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“To a Mountain in Tibet’, by Colin Thubron, Vintage
Courtesy Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9571766-to-a-mountain-in-tibet There’s an expression that Stephen King seemingly likes to use when describing the rapture of writing or reading, the feeling of concentrating on the task at hand so much that we end up being oblivious to the passing … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Books review, Faith
Tagged Buddhism, Colin Thubron, death, Hindu, Hinduism, Kailas, Nepal, Tibet, To a Mountain in Tibet, Trekking, Vintage Press
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Faithful London – Buddhapadipa Temple, Wimbledon
This is part 2 of my journey to discover if, and how, Londoners still practice religion. After visiting Chiswick’s Russian Orthodox Cathedral I made my way to Wimbledon where, hidden among the multi-million pound villas dotting the hill around the … Continue reading
Posted in Europe, Faith, London, Random memories, UK
Tagged Buddha, Buddhapadipa Temple, Buddhism, Faith, Is faith alive in London?, London, Thai, UK, Wimbledon
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An ode to Kyoto part 3. Faith.
Almost exactly five years ago a friend and a younger, happier and more idealistic version of myself visited Japan, spending 10 days in Kyoto. I have since come back twice to the archipelago, but never to Kyoto. These are my … Continue reading
Posted in Asia, Japan, Kyoto, Overlooked locations, Random memories
Tagged Asia, Buddhism, Fushimi Inari, Japan, Kyoto, Religion, Shintō, Temple
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