I spent 12 years in a cave

Even as a small child growing up in east London, I felt I was in the wrong place and the wrong body. I felt my body should be male, so when I heard that your body changes as you get older, I thought maybe I would get a male one. Now I feel lucky to have stayed female.

From my earliest years, though, I wanted to leave England. Outwardly there was no reason. My family are lovely, my school was great,

I had a wonderful job as a librarian. Bethnal Green in east London, where I grew up, was very neighbourly. But inwardly I had a strong feeling that I had to go where I belonged; for a long time I just didn't know where that was.

Even as a child, I was interested in spiritual matters. I studied Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism and I'd tried reading the Qur'an, but as I didn't believe in a creator God most religious paths were closed to me. Then, when I was 18, my mother and I were delayed at an airport for eight hours. The only book I had with me was Mind Unshaken, about Buddhism. Halfway through the book, I said to my mother, "I'm a Buddhist."

The first level of Noble Attainments

Question : How much concentration is required for one to develop real insight in the practice and to attain at least Stream-Entry?

Tan Ajahn: Your mind has to enter the fourth jhāna, when it becomes totally detached from the body. And it can see that without the body, it can still be happy. Once it understands this truth, and when it comes out of this jhāna, this fourth level of jhāna, which we call apanā-samādhi, it can then instruct the mind to relinquish the body, to leave the body alone.

Manual of Excellent Man: Uttamapurisa Dipani

"Patience [khanti] and equanimity [upekkha] are the mainstay for the other perfections [paramis]. Only when one has established these two can one expect to fulfill the rest. Just as a newborn infant can only survive with the care of its parents, the remaining eight perfections can only be fulfilled under the constant care of patience and equanimity. Patience may be likened to the mother and equanimity to the father.'

"If patience and equanimity are present, and the other good deeds are forthcoming under their benign influence, if there is an absence of renunciation [nekkhamma], these good deeds will not properly become perfections. Lacking the guidance of renunciation, one is liable to be overcome by attachment to the merit derived from them and yearn for mundane benefits. Then the meritorious deeds merely prolong rebirth because they are dependent on existence. They do not then qualify as perfections. Therefore, if patience and equanimity are the parents, renunciation should be called the family doctor who takes care of the child’s health." Ledi Sayadaw

Rock-cut Lord Buddha statue at Bojjannakonda near Anakapalle in the Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh, India

A journey across the amazing Buddhist circuit of eastern India

by Pallavi Pasricha, India Today, February 28, 2016 New Delhi, India -- In tiny Buddhist pilgrim towns tucked away in eastern India, you can experience moments of tranquillity and peace, even as you witness the frenzy of devotion. The Dhamek Stupa. Picture courtesy: India Today Archive My last train journey was an overnight run from to Delhi to Kathgodam two years ago. And here I am at the little-known Safdarjung station in New Delhi, boarding the Mahaparinirvan Express, which is going to be my home for the next seven nights and eight days. Not only is this going to be a long haul, it is also a journey of a different kind. This train is taking me to the Buddhist heartland of India, winding its way through the most significant spots in Buddha's life that lie scattered in Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. In short, I am doing a pilgrim's circuit. Not being too spiritually inclined, I am not sure what I am in for. But an aunt of mine, who has taken to Buddhism in a big way, tells me that I will get certain answers in this trip. I am not convinced but I am curious.

Chasing Courtin: Buddhist nun brings teachings to Missoula

by Maddie Vincent, Montana Kaimin, Feb 25, 2016

Missoula, MO (USA) -- She enters the room and everyone stands. Dozens of bowed heads and hands at heart center decorate her path to a chair neatly set up front.

Before she sits, she fluidly moves from her feet to her knees, arms outstretched on the floor towards images of Buddha and the prominent teachers who follow him. For Missoulians, she is one of those teachers.

Robina Courtin is a Buddhist nun, a woman whose life is dedicated to preserving Buddha’s views. She has taught around the world and visited Missoula’s Osel Shen Phen Ling Tibetan Buddhist Center for the last 20 years.

Eliminate all forms of mental suffering

“…There was actually a Buddha and there were actually his teachings that can help eliminate all forms of mental suffering. The person who has realized this truth is at the first level of Ariya-Saṅgha, the Sotāpanna. Once you see this truth, you will also eliminate your doubt of the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Saṅgha.

Your faith in the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Saṅgha will be unshakeable because you know that they are real. But before you reach this stage, you can sometimes doubt whether the Buddha was real, whether his teachings were real, whether they are capable of eliminating the suffering from your mind, or whether the Ariya-Saṅgha are real. These are things that you haven’t proved for yourself.