Chaos: the word that describes my last 3-months. Almost everything that could change, has changed. I love change, and variety but boy oh boy have I learn’t a few things about that lately.

• Space: time to digest change is essential. Even if it is all splendid change and variety it is best for the soul to marinate on it.
• Routine: my morning routine of meditation and writing went out the window about 6-weeks ago. I yearned to have it back so I started it again yesterday. Routine amongst the chaos keeps me resilient. No meditation, and no routine resulted in my resilience steadily decreasing over the weeks to the point where I didn’t even want to go have a drink with a friend: “No more, I can’t handle anymore planning, or doing!”

Arh so now I sit and get back into my staple diet for sanity, reflecting on that crucial moment when it was lost. This is my next mission: to prevent it happening again.

- Paramananda

Each year the Manchester Buddhist society at the University of Manchester organizes a Buddhist Conference.  This an an fantastic one day event that brings together many different lineages of Buddhism into one centre for a day.  There are introductory talks, meditation and open floor discussions from each of the streams of Buddhism.  This highlighted one of the many things I like about Buddhism: the openness.  No one lineage says this is the doctrine, this is the way.  They all question, and encourage questioning the teachings of the Buddha so you never feel like an opinion is being pushed onto you.  Instead you listen, take it in, test it out and then decide.  That is why I have a lot of respect, intrigue, and engagement in the Buddhist path.

- Paramananda

I find this particularly interesting.  To change how we are in the world can be very hard.  We can be aware, but not willing through fear, laziness or unknowing of how to change.  Whatever the case it is interesting to me because of the shaking up your being aspect.  Have you ever stepped outside one day with a new wardrobe, and left behind the jumper you’ve worn for so long it’s now out of fashion?

In Chorlton, Manchester is Wild at heart cafe.  It is a cafe, come deli with organic goodness, along with home made croissants made on site.  I like its wooden shelves reminding me of old grocery stores with the bell on the door and the friendly grocer with his or her piney.  The owner was a corporate working awful hours, who had a passion for food.  A turn of events happened whereby she had a chance to change, and that is when Wild at heart was born.  From the corporate world, to croissants and coffee: love it.

- Paramananda

- Paramananda

Last weekend we ventured to the North East region of England to visit KC’s family.  The area has a hardy feel to it with chilly winds off the North Sea causing me to pull on my winter coat: in the middle of summer.   We spent a few hours site seeing and found a darn good espresso at the Captain Cook museum in Marton, the place of his birth.  The museum had so many Kiwi relics that I felt quite at home.  It hadn’t really sunk in until exploring this place how much of an incredible adventurer James Cook was to have sailed the seas and discovered so many countries, including my own, at the bottom of the earth.

It was also a good opportunity to play with my new gadget, an iPhone 4.   I love gadgets and while I resisted the iPhone for a little while the temptation was too great and all of a sudden the courier was knocking at the door.   After seeing Seamus’s great Hipstamatic pictures on his blog, this was one of the first applications I downloaded.   I love the vintage feel to the pictures making them look off colour, sometimes blurred, and sometimes random.   While I love technology I love the analogue look because of the dreamy results.   Sometimes we don’t need or want the stark sharpness of reality that digital usually provides.

- Paramananda