Meditate to remember

meditation /

Yesterday was our last running race of the season. A four mile race around the Sri Chinmoy Peace Mile in Cutteslowe Park. We have a ‘grand prix’ series with runners from different categories getting points and trophies.

Before driving, I have a short meditation. Sri Chinmoy advised meditating for a minute for protection from accidents. I often find that this one minute of meditation can be very useful for remembering something I have forgotten. When you have a big event, you can get a little stressed and start to ‘rush’ When you start to rush, you can forget things. When you start to worry you might be late, you rush a little more. But, then you forget something important, and it is a real problem.

This one minute of meditation can be tempting to skip. But, last night it saved me forgetting an important file with all the previous results in. If you get somewhere a minute later, it never matters, but if you travel all the way and have to come back, that takes a long time. So the moral of the story, is meditate, clear your mind, and just maybe something from within will prompt you to remember something important. It has happened many times to me. …

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Muhammad Ali – the Greatest

sport /

Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) was a champion boxer, and truly inspiring individual. One of those rare people who everyone feels a connection with.

Sri Chinmoy said to Muhammad Ali:

“You are changing the face and fate of mankind. Your very name encourages and inspires. As soon as people hear ‘Muhammad Ali,’ they are inspired. They get tremendous joy. They get such dynamism to be brave and face ignorance. Your very name does that. That’s why I am so grateful to you, so proud of you.”

– Sri Chinmoy (Sept 1977, during meeting with Muhammad Ali, New York.)

I have watched quite a few youtube videos where Michael Parkinson interviewed Muhammad Ali, and I get so much joy watching them.

If anyone else had been saying the same words “I am the greatest” it might have fallen flat and you thought the person arrogant, but with Ali, his self-belief and deeply held convictions were infectious. I think it was because underneath the bravado, you knew this was a deeply courageous and good person.

US President Barack Obama said of Ali:

“Ali shook up the world – and the world is better for it,” Obama said.

“He stood with King and Mandela; stood up when it was hard; spoke out when others wouldn’t. His fight outside the ring would cost him his title and his public standing,” Obama added.

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Digital detox and camp grounded

1 Comment / sri chinmoy /

I was interested in this new project in the US, Camp Grounded. A place where Americans pay over $500 for a weekend of digital detox. Participants pay the money to have their phones, watches, computers and electronic devices taken away from them for a few days. Instead, participants are given a feast of activities, such as camping, arts and crafts, star gazing, meditation, home cooking, typewriting. The aim is to recreate the joy of life without the distractions and addictions of modern-life. Also, participants are not allowed to talk about their profession, so people can’t define themselves by the work they do.

flowers-runners
photo from race in Wales.

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Shakespeare jokes

3 Comments / humour /

William Shakespeare is having a grand celebration for the 400th anniversary of his death. Shakespeare is literally everywhere at the moment, and it’s not just in the hundreds of words he helped push into the English language. We have Shakespeare’s Guide to Poisoning Plants, Shakespeare Insults, Shakespeare’s Guide to Parenting and even Shakespeare’ Guide to winning at Scrabble.

tent-shakespeare-joke
“Now is the winter of our discount tent” – Richard III

I wish I could write a serious post sufficiently literary to mark the occasion, but in the world of Shakespeare, I am a bit of a failure. The only Shakespeare I read was Macbeth and that only because it was on the GCSE English reading list. My thoughts at the time of reading Shakespeare was probably something along the lines of: “He has a good turn of phrase every now and then, but I think sometimes he could express himself a bit more clearly”

I took up Economics, I was no loss to the department of English Literature.

I do like the odd Shakespeare joke though. I hope William would approve, apparently he had quite a sense of humour, but many of his jokes are lost on modern audiences because of changes in the English accent. Probably a good job because some of his jokes could be a little ribald for a GCSE English class.

One of my all time favourite jokes – probably because I heard it told by Peter Kay, with his typical infectious enthusiasm.

William Shakespeare walks into a pub, but the landlord says “Get out, you’re bard!”

Knock Knock Jokes

Knock, Knock.
Who’s there?
Noah.
Noah who?
Noah’s the winter of our discontent. …

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Photos of Oxford in May

1 Comment / oxford /

Oxford in May is beautiful. After a long grey British winter, in late April and May there is a real transformation as trees come into leaf and blossom covers many of the streets. The city’s architecture is complemented by nature’s beauty. There is also a great feeling of newness because of the tremendous greenness, which is very vivid. I particularly notice it after coming back from New York in April. There are few countries, which see such an intense green – in UK, we like to complain about the weather but the rain does help the colour and freshness.

may-wild-flower-verges-daisy

I love these daises which grow in wildflower verges by the side of many roads.cutteslowe-park-1-may

May is also the month when we hold Sri Chinmoy Races at Cutteslowe Park, north Oxford. It is a great time to be in the park, which has quite a few areas of natural wildlife flowers.apple-blossom

Late flowering Apple Blossom on Marston road.cycling-to-exams
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Non-violence and the problem of slugs and snails

4 Comments / articles, flowers /

I have a dilemma. This year I’ve taken more interest in gardening, and have bought a few plants. The problem is that there has been an explosion in the population of slugs and snails. The garden is being decimated by these small creatures.

may-flowers

You wake up in the morning and new plants and old daffodils are mere shreds of their former selves, slugs greedily leaving a trail of their feasting.

It presents me with a dilemma – what to do about the slugs? …

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Trinity College Gardens May

1 Comment / flowers /

fritilliaria-2

I was postering for some upcoming meditation classes in Oxford. Visiting Trinity College on the High Street I poked my head around the garden and there was a wonderful wildflower meadow – carefully managed to give a wonderful naturalistic style of planting.buttercups

When it is good in Oxford in May, it is very good. This felt like a scene from the Elysian fields.buttercups2

Buttercups and daisies, with dark velvet tulips in the background. It was around 11am, so the light wasn’t ideal – a bit strong.
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