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Sympathy for the Devil

 Sympathy  for the Devil 'But what's puzzling you  Is the nature of my game' Actually, the nature of Lucifer’s game, or Mara as he is known in the Buddhist world, is not puzzling at all. Buddha and God, we can argue, are somehow different, but the nature of the Devil is very much the same — a great ego, the greatest ego imaginable. There is nothing else to his game. Actually, I am not sure why I am being sexist here. It seems that traditionally in major religions the demonic nature has often been identified as male. I guess it is because men are more associated with doing and showing off along the way. Nowadays, with women taking a more prominent role in the art of showing off, there is no need for discrimination. We can even say that Mara sounds very feminine in Slavic languages. So Luciferette and Mara can be female as well. In fact, in the films ‘The Passion of Christ’ and ‘The Ninth Gate’ Satan was played by a woman and I think that looked rather powerful. Whether a w...
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No Rules Apply


(Some thoughts from September)

Walking in the Rudding Park of Harrogate is an experience that I wish for everyone. It makes ones heart mellow and open. This is the magic of the English parks - it is like the countryside but with the ease of the city. No need for Wellies and Barbour jackets.

I had some time while waiting for Lama Jampa to come back from our Buddhist centre in Harrogate where he was giving interviews and while walking, I started thinking about those people who didn’t  have an access to green, open spaces. What is it like to be in prison? Recently I read an essay of Charles Dickens on Manhattan. It was a very unflattering piece of writing - unflattering for New York (as well as for Dickens, but that’s not the point) and there was a passage where Dickens was visiting one of the local prisons. From his questions and the answers of the wardens it came clear that the prisoners didn’t have any exercise at all. In fact many of them never even left their prison cells for the whole length of their sentence. Prisons in the States haven’t improved too much nowadays. Unlike in U.K. where, I read today, prisoners will be allowed to have mobile phones in their cells. It is believed that they will greatly benefit from it. I am sure many other people will do too!


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