Change and change again

An announcement

Hello subscribers,

I first launched this substack as a place to explore Buddhist Jataka literature. That didn’t attract the level of interest I was hoping for, so I shifted to something I always enjoy writing about, the teachings of the Thai Forest Tradition in which I was a monastic (over twenty years ago now!).

A flood of changes, both external and internal, have washed through my little corner of the universe since then, and though I have continued to write for my Philosophy As Therapy substack, which now has over 600 subscribers, I wrote only one piece for this theoretical publication.

One of the reasons for that is my own relationship with Buddhist practice in recent years. For much of the last three years I have avoided practicing within any one tradition and instead gone my own way philosophically and yogically. Although I’ve learned a lot from this, I have felt a growing need for structure, grounding, calm and unity of direction. A growing desire for a practice of freedom. When I have such a craving but am also not interested in investing in lumbering superstructures of belief or castles of conceptuality, then I usually strike my staff thrice and head for my zafu (cushion for sitting zazen).

It is also true that for reasons of financial scarcity and location (Vancouver, Canada, where one must pay a significant rent surcharge just for being here) I have recently begun spending about half of my time living in a camper Van while the other half is spent in the suite I co-own with my coparent, where my son lives¹. Though Vanlife brings some discomfort and insecurity, it also sets my monastic instincts a-churning. I spend my nights around Jericho and Locarno, areas with verdant parkland ajoining beach and ocean. When not at my clinic practicing acupuncture or with my son I divide my time between writing, meditating, and walking. In this substack I plan to share my musings on my practice of Zen from within Vanlife during these hazy, crazy days we find ourselves in.

Stay tuned,

Warmly,

Matthew

1. This is a version of what’s called “nesting.” Our son, who is 11, stays in the suite full time and we take turns.