May all beings...

May all beings be serene and happy!

May they live in safety and be joyous!

All beings, without exception,

Whether weak or strong, small or great

in high, middle, or low realms of existence

visible, or invisible, near or far

born or yet to be born:

May all be happy and at peace!

The dance divine: acts of kindness on the Central Line

With so much of the London Underground being given over to commercial advertising it's great to see Transport for London devoting space to civic minded art by young British artist Andy Landy.

Landy posted ads on the Central Line inviting passengers to send in stories about acts of kindness they've experienced on the Underground. The stories are now being displayed on the Central Line. The stories themselves are not particularly characterful in their writing.  I guess something of the voices gets lost in the editing down but I really like the artists intention here, the reminder that acts of kindness do occur on the network, and his rather dharmic celebration of relationship, generosity and compassion. The Central Line can feel like a pretty hostile environment at times and I think anything that encourages people to think beyond self and about the other is to be commended.

Poster promoting 'Acts of kindness' on Central Line train.

A nice touch the 'Acts of kindness' Self and Other motif on seating fabric. I like the irregular, imperfect way the matchstick/paperchain figures have been rendered.

A passengers recollection of an 'Acts of Kindness' reproduced on carriage door, see below for text of story.

'I was trying to pass an elderly man in the train to get off. By coincidence we both kept stepping in the same direction. As we eventually got around each other, he joked. "You dance divine". It made me laugh. It was a sweet thing to say'

Finding compassion on Dartmoor: recommended psychotherapy training.

When deciding where to train as a psychotherapist over twelve years ago now, I shopped around. I diligently sent off for lots of glossy course brochures and visited open evenings at a number of well established training centres in London. Eventually my heart, imagination and a wish for a training with a more spiritual outlook led me to the residential training in Core Process Psychotherapy at the Karuna Institute in Devon (N.B. karuna is the Pali word for compassion). The training proved to be an intense and transformative experience. Since then I have maintained a steady psychotherapy practice in east London and continue to enjoy the support and friendship of peers I trained with all those years ago.

The Institute is based in a lovely old manor house in splendid isolation high on Dartmoor, up from Widecombe, a fantastically dramatic and beautiful landscape with big skies (think Thomas Hardy and you're there). It was a wonderful place to study. As students we lived together as a learning community, and a spiritual community (sangha) with time and space dedicated for contemplative practices including meditation to deepen enquiry. The training was and is academically and philosophically rigorous combining a depth study of western approaches to psychology with the profound wisdom of Buddhist teachings on self and suffering.
It's a demanding training and may not be the right training for everyone but if you are looking for a training in counseling or psychology that reaches beyond the personal and the psychological it's worth considering the programme of courses offered by the Institute.

The Karuna Institute run Diploma level courses , a three year MA course, a two year Post Qualification MA course and a two year course in Mindfulness Based Therapeutic Counselling. A good way to see if the approach suits is to do an introductory workshop. Details of these and other courses can be found on the Karuna Institute website( www.karuna-institute.co.uk ). Alternatively details may be obtained from Jacqui Aplin, Course Administrator on 01647 221457.

Joy happens in the present.

I don't usually like graffiti but appreciate the sentiment of this message painted on the wall of a bridge by the Regents Canal towpath in Bethnal Green. The joy of now?