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The ‘relational’ interpretation of quantum theory has much in common with the Buddhist notions of impermanence and interdependence.

Indeed both pivot on form and emptiness.

We cannot know another person’s mind.

What comes, comes.

What goes, goes.

We feel what we feel.

And now that you don't have to be perfect, you can be good.

— John Steinbeck

Abandoning self-improvement we exert ourselves fully and naturally as birds who enjoy frolicking in the wind or dolphins playfully leaping in the sea. Or like a pig in shit.

— Barry Magid, Ending The Pursuit Of Happiness

We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart.

— Pema Chödrön

Social care

Talking about the care given to his father, who has Alzheimer's, the prime minister (Andy Burnham) said carers "should be the best paid people in society, not the worst.

Damn straight.

When you look for what’s looking and find only looking…

Inquiry and contemplation never end. There is no arrival. Even the last breath is a beginning of sorts.

You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.

— Albert Camus

In the end, we’ll all become stories.

— Margaret Atwood

Driving all day
Coffee and sandwiches from the lap
Eye strain
Congestion
Big skies
Arrival decompression

Blame and wisdom after the fact are easy. Understanding and empathy are hard.

Opinions are just entertainment.

When you argue with reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time.

— Byron Katie

Not everything is a battle to be won, a problem to be solved or a mistake to be corrected. If we imagine everything as a nail we end up with a world of hammers.

Suffering doesn’t disappear from life, it disappears into life.

— Barry Magid, Ordinary Mind Zendo

The central benefit of Zen, in the context of the ordinary ups and downs of life, is not in preventing the minus and promoting the plus but in realising the fundamental reality that is not under the sway of ups and downs.

— Muso Kokushi

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

— Viktor Frankl

Poor refereeing aside, this World Cup has been great.

Lots of amazing goals and classic matches, but there have been some god awful penalties!

I’m drawn to Zen for many reasons but perhaps mostly because it has a sense of humour. I mean one of its primary teaching tools, the Koan, is structurally similar to the way jokes work.

Much of so-called spiritual practice is so needlessly serious and earnest.

Zen delights in undermining the lofty and honouring the trivial.

When you look for what’s looking and find only looking…

Well I wasn’t expecting an England win. Norway next. On paper more beatable than Mexico at the Azteca but therein lies the problem. We rarely put in performances against beatable sides. It takes a daunting occasion to bring us out of ourselves.

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