Michael Harding

The place where I want to beIs always personalIs always here nowIs always without linguistic ideological constructs.I want to face the silence of the universe.I want to seek for meaning and accept the absurdity of there being no meaning.And I want to do that standing at the cross and embracing the dead ChristAnd finding in that moment, in that abandonment, in that shaft of attentionThat I am in a universe that cannot be mastered conceptually.Albert Camus is a giant of philosophy, and can also be a guide into the very depths of mystical experience.Enjoy this podcast. 

This is amazing, you know. When you begin to see how simple and what's at the back of all faith experience, that it is love, that it is this... And it's not a psychological condition because psychologically your condition may be i- in a dark place of depression or loneliness or woundedness or violence done to you, and yet if you can find the space within you which is loved The strength that comes out of that is extraordinary and here is the poem I mentioned.AscensionI choose. That’s the trick of it. I choosethe cinema, the chipper, the warm bath—and choosing, I already live the thing,the future leaking backwards into nowthe way the smell of boiling fowl could lifta bus-ride home to mother.And she would say, I'll have a dinner ready.Because she got the recipe from her mother,Who got it from hers—the nutmeg and the spuds,the organic free range feathered fowl,And then the broth that filled the kitchen, the great pota kind of covenant, matrilineal, plain.I was seventeen. knew exactly what was coming.That is the mercy of tradition: certaintyAs embodiment of love, or love that works through habit.And so with this Ascension. The story ends with leaving.He sends a text: I'm already at the restaurant.He has gone ahead—not vanished, but just changed location,the way a friend is vanished, when they’re on the plane.We call it kingdom, the sovereignty of tomorrow —The confidence of saying I know where I’m going nowI choose to believe this. Too much is madeof chance—as if faith were a leap off stoneand not just stepping toward a table, set by someone else for you, She hears you coming down the long hall, and has begun to pour.The aperture opens. The cosmos comes in.Love is the trick of all happiness, I suppose —and I am home before I reach the door.

It's a tricky and inaccessible idea, Christian feast, but it can be a door that opens beautifully in the context of Buddhist ideas. So here goes. Loved doing this meditation this afternoon and more to come on Ascension. So many wonders in it that I didnt' get around to half of what I wanted to talk about. That's why I have written in a few footnotes here that I can pick up on later. Or leave a message below if you want me to go further on any of the headings below.In the The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment and related Lamrim teachings, these themes are presented as practical methods for transforming self-centeredness into compassion and wisdom.Reasons why “exchanging self for others” is beneficial(“Exchanging self and others” means changing the attitude that cherishes oneself above others, and instead cherishing others as oneself.)Self-cherishing is identified as the root of suffering, conflict, jealousy, fear, and dissatisfaction.Cherishing others creates the causes for happiness, harmony, friendship, and inner peace.All happiness we experience depends on others:food,shelter,education,language,opportunities,spiritual teachings,even our sense of identity.Since we depend entirely on others, prioritizing only ourselves is irrational and disconnected from reality.Exchanging self for others weakens ego-clinging, which is a major obstacle to liberation and enlightenment.It develops:compassion,patience,generosity,humility,courage.It transforms adversity into spiritual practice:criticism becomes training in patience,suffering becomes a basis for empathy,difficulty becomes fuel for bodhicitta.Bodhisattvas and Buddhas are said to arise from cherishing others; ordinary suffering beings arise from self-cherishing.

Always special moment, that dawn walk in support of Pieta house. So today I'm delighted to share not just a full reflection on the beauty of faith experience, calm abiding in your own mind and so forth, but I've also added a 20 minute meditation at the very end about my own brokenness as I approach to great mystery of love. So lots of things here, from the Buddhist treasures of wisdom to the Christian notion of forgiveness, gratitude, and how to approach the God within your own deep wounded and beautiful soul. Enjoy.

in the old days I remember the May altar. White lace, feminine deity in the form of Mary, and lots of flowers. Now I go to the buddhist centre and there it is again; the altar/shrine, white lace, feminine deity, and lots of flowers.Something about this month that just gets me all gushing with a kind of gratitude. It's a month to prepare the garden. To talk with the bees, and the birds and watch the wild flowers the foxglove emerging and the blossom on the apple tree. It's as if the entire world were the shrine, a constant praise rising to the divine presence. And there is no naming it. We do it as Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Hindu or as the community of Islam. We don't get it right. We sometimes empower the darkest forces in our psyche. But as they say in Nigeria, we try. Yes we try. We all do. And sometimes it's worth reminding yourself of your own innate goodness. As we say in Buddhist tradition you are already enlightened, you are already carrying in you the buddha light. it's just some of us haven't quite realised it. But on the first of may I think it's always good to consider this; how the light is already in us. How the peace is already ours. How heaven is just outside the door in the garden. So I hope you enjoy the podcast, the ramblings of a writer and storyteller, the song of the heart I would call my podcast. Enjoy and have a great weekend and I'll be back very soon.

Three stories from my writings. Followed by a big big dive into a Buddhist idea bout mind training that you are going to love. That's all I'll say. Stick with it to the end. Change your attitude. This is not for beginners. But on the other hand, it might be for beginners. Lojong is about beginning.

I looked for You in all the usual places.In quiet rooms.In late nights.In that moment just before sleepwhen people say You’re supposed to feel closest.Nothing.So I checked everywhere else.In the glow of my phone at 3 a.m.,scrolling past other people trying to make sense of things—their grief, their questions, their small, bright distractions.Still nothing.They said You’re always there.Closer than breath.But some nights, even breathing feels like an effortno one is helping you carry.I said Your name once—out loud.Not dramatic. Not holy.Just… to see.No answer.And maybe that’s the hardest part—not the silence itself,but how everything keeps moving through it.The world doesn’t pause.People laugh.Lights change.Another day begins like nothing’s missing.So here we are.Still asking.Still listening.Still waiting—maybe.Or maybe just learning how to livein the quietwhere something used to be.

So this is it in a nutshell. Buddhist teaching says in a synopsis that the path is through Renunciation, Compassion, an a correct view. The first two are easy to figure out and map onto Christian practise quite perfectly. In this episode I'm going to delve into Correct View and how it maps onto christian faith.in buddhist terms, the act of faith must avoid substantialism, ( like imagining the buddha as a literal fleshy manifestation, like a ghost in the room. ) and nihilism, ( like dismissing the story of the buddha as merely a story.)And this too maps very well onto Christian experience. So for today, Good Friday and Easter Sunday it might be fun to reflect a bit on this mysterious balance.