Tuesday 29 May 2018

New book in the autumn, and zentangles

I have been on something of a writing marathon for the first part of this year. The book is now written and is in its editing phase. This will also take some time, but I am confident that Battlecry of Freedom will be ready for publication in the autumn.

The book is about the Seven Points of Mind Training (bLo sByong -- Lojong) of ’Cad-kha-ba Ye-shes rDo-rJe (Chekawa Yeshe Dorje -- 1101-1175). The seven points contain fifty-nine slogans -- pithy sayings to remind you about practice, and I will be publishing sets of the fifty-nine cards to accompany the book. Here's an example of a slogan, picked at random:


DRIVE ALL BLAMES INTO ONE
le lan thams cad gCig la bDa’
The belief in an inherent self is to blame for all pain, dissatisfaction, and for cyclic existence.
Personally take the blame and accept responsibility for everything.
(Point 3: Transformation: 2nd of 6—12th of 59)


It has been my most challenging and inspiring writing project to date. I have thoroughly enjoyed the research, and also translating the points and the slogans from the Tibetan to try to engage with their essence. I hope it will be a useful book for Buddhist practitioners.

My other creative pastime is drawing zentangles. I am now part of a couple of groups who create zentangles in response to a challenge set every week. So usually I create one or two a week. I find this fun, relaxing, and creatively satisfying.



These were my first two tiles in response to the challenges. The top one is a challenge set by The Diva, #355. Other people's zentangles for this challenge can be found on Instagram by looking for #dc355. The bottom one is my Tickled to Tangle challenge #231. Adele Bruno sets these challenges and the many wonderful tiles can be seen on her blog.

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