Blog#11: The Grand Tour of 2021
Part One
Snap! Oh no. All I did was to stretch over from the bed on which I was lying to meditate and turn on the bedside light. That's all it took. I pretended not to know what it was, and got on with life.
I did know what it was. Within a few days, I could see the tell-tale signs of a soft, fleshy protuberance appearing in . . .
Life Story#11: Hippie
Part One
Hippie. Nobody seems to have much of a good word to say about 'hippie'. The term often comes prefaced by a descriptive adjective. Dirty hippie. Filthy hippie. Lazy hippie. Bloody hippie. Those of a literary bent have been known to string together a number of these adjectives for greater effect. Thus we get filthy lazy hippie; . . .
Life Story#10: Dreaming in Trentishoe
Part One
Trentishoe Free Festival, June and July 1973, was strictly for initiates into the counterculture. Official advertising was virtually non-existent; the festival was known through whispered word-of-mouth. Getting to know about, and attending, this gathering on the north Devon coast, was in itself like a rite of . . .
Snapshot#3: The Dark and False Gods in Medicine
It's kind-of funny. All through my school years I excelled in languages, literature, history, geography, that kind of stuff. Maths: a mixed bag. Areas such as statistics were easy enough - a reality which came in most useful when trying to uncover climate change subterfuge a few years back. While algebra, for example, remained a mystery.
. . .Blog#10: Just Doing What I'm Told, Thank You
Part One
It was Friday March 5th, this year. 11am. I was at the hospital. Not for me, but for my wife: accompanying her. Just a routine appointment - audiology, hearing aids, that sort of thing. I knew it was going to be fun.
The former reception desk was cordoned off. In its place there were two nurses sat behind desks . . .
Life Story#9: The Paradise Way
Part One
Head down Cowley Road, East Oxford, towards the scruffy part of town, and in a couple of minutes you would come across Uhuru Wholefoods. Internet sources state that the shop first opened in 1973. I was there at the beginning. I remember it well.
In the early 1970s, wholefoods were a minority thing; beans, buckwheat, and . . .
Blog#9: Buddha Minds
Part One: Gautama Buddha
I've never been completely sold on the 'historical Buddha', as he's sometimes called; this, despite spending many years engaged in Buddhist practice. For me,he has always been a source of instruction rather than inspiration. Learned, wise, a teacher and something of a guide, yes. But rich food for dreams, a . . .
