Michael Harding

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.

May 2 @ 11:00 am - 4:00 pmJampa Ling Centre Owendoon House, Bawnboy, County Cavan, IrelandSaga Dawa (Vesak) is the celebration of the Buddha’s birthday, enlightenment and Parinirvana. We invite you to share this special day at Jampa Ling. We celebrate with a smoke puja in the [...]Saga Dawa is one of the most important periods in Tibetan Buddhism, marking the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and passing (Parinirvana). It usually falls in late spring or early summer, aligned with the full moon of the fourth lunar month. Rather than a single day, it is often observed as an entire sacred month, with the full moon day seen as the most spiritually powerful.During Saga Dawa, practitioners focus on accumulating merit through positive actions. This includes acts of generosity, prayer, meditation, and compassion toward all living beings. Many people avoid harming animals, adopt vegetarian practices, release animals as a symbolic act of compassion, and engage in pilgrimages or ritual offerings. It is believed that the effects of both positive and negative actions are multiplied during this time.At a deeper level, Saga Dawa is about reflection on impermanence, compassion, and the path to awakening. It invites people to align their everyday actions with Buddhist values, not just through ritual but through intention and awareness. Whether in monasteries or community spaces like Jampa Ling, the emphasis is on shared practice, connection, and cultivating a more mindful and compassionate way of living.

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.

Yes I know this is blunt. But I'm trying to ensure that the podcast continues, I know people like it and I love it. But lots of people listen but don't subscribe. so I'm asking , a few euros each month, to keep things going, and you get 4 hours per month of freestyle reflections and mediations from my heart to yours. You go to. https://www.patreon.com/c/hardingmichael

The mystery of our death is the mystery of that death on Calvary. The mystery of Calvary is the mystery of all death and all suffering and all pain. Here's how I see the architecture of this event and how it sustains me in my ordinary human life, and allows me to endure disturbing emotions with equanimity.

Karma is a notion we associate with the east. Art is something that in modernity has liberated itself from religious devotionalism. But here I want to meditate on how all these things are unified. Liberation from Karma, attention devoutly to the great work of art, are unified in that God is a word for that which runs through all things, and all times, and all beings. God is a word we use as a cradle to hold the unnamable mystery of being. And there is no limit to this abundance even when we are exhausted by our own negative energies.It is now the moment of the Equinox. I'm doing last night's podcast, and this today, and perhaps another one or two in the coming days to celebrate this fact. Because I've always been excited by the Equinox, the dramatic transition that we in Ireland experience from the dark brooding world of winter, to the dizzy light of Summer. And here we are, on the edge of lengthening days, long days, and summer days not far away not. Talk to you son.