Looking Back
Saturday July 31, 2010
So, as I’ve mentioned in the last couple of posts, thinkBuddha has now been around for five years. I don’t know how five blog years translates into human years, but I’m almost certain that if one could do the calculations, then the beard of this here blog would be flecked with grey.
I am writing this from Wuhan, China, whilst steeling myself for a night of hard-seat train travel to Jinan; so in the meantime I thought I’d take a brief tour of the last five years.
My first post, on July 29th 2005, was called Buddhism Without Buddhism. Back then, I wrote as follows:
Buddhism Without Buddhism: a resolutely irreligious Buddhism; a Buddhism that is rooted in human meanings rather than in fantasies of the sacred; a Buddhism that is pervaded by a thoroughgoing this-wordliness: it is, perhaps, an impossible thing to hope for. But at the same time, I find the idea extraordinarily attractive, it has become a touch-stone for how I think about Buddhism. But with a question mark at the end, just for good measure…
I started the blog, incidentally, not long after I turned down an invitation to be ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order, an organisation (formerly known as the FWBO) that has not been without its fair share of controversy, but which I always found to be made up of an enormous number of thoughtful, sincere and intelligent practitioners. In the end, what made me draw back from joining the Triratna Buddhist Order was that it was simply, well, too Buddhist… That is, it was too close to traditional Buddhism, and after ten or fifteen years of fairly serious practice, I began to be uncertain about at least some aspects of the edifice (or edifices) of Buddhism as a whole. So the blog was, in part I think, an attempt to think out loud and to work out where I stood on some of the questions that perplexed me.
When I was up and running – domain name bought, site set up and everything – I kicked off with a few book reviews, some of them republished from the now defunct Dharma Life magazine, which was edited by the estimable Vishvapani, and a piece that I still rather like on flying yogis. Back then I was still working on PhD in philosophy – which last year saw the light of day as my book Finding Our Sea-Legs
It is this, above all else, that has made writing the blog so rewarding. Quite a lot has changed in the past five years – I’ve published a couple of books, finished my PhD, and picked up a job working with the fine folks at De Montfort University – but even more recently, when time has been a bit more limited, it has remained a pleasure to write. Over the years, there have been a few recurring preoccupations: the idea of materialism (and also see here) or naturalism; the practice of writing blogs; meditation (see also here); free will ; the puzzling and far-from self-evident nature of experience ; various puzzles over traditional Buddhist teachings ; and science (also see here). There have also been various interesting moments, including a storm in a teacup over transhumanism, Marvin Minsky and the New Scientist, and a mention in 2009 in the Sunday Times’s list of one hundred best blogs of the year (a list that was by no means peer-reviewed or in any way systematic) thanks to a somewhat flippant post on Buddhist buses. And also, along the way, perhaps the blog has become less Buddhist and more Buddhish, but this is wholly in keeping with that first post.
When I started this blog, I did so without any clear plan; and I still have none. So I do not know what the next five years will bring. But for the time being, I’m planning to keep on writing when I get the time an when the right thoughts strike me. Thanks to all for your support over the past five years. And as for celebrations, later tonight I’ll be raising a glass of green tea in the hard seat carriage, somewhere between here and Jinan.
#2 · Laurelle
31 July 2010
Will, I’ve had the daily pleasure of seeing your blog as my homepage for the last year and delight when there’s a new entry and if not, at least am satisfied that the honest and thoughtful entry will be a reminder to myself to attempt to be authentic and mindful during my day. Your stream of consciousness type writings allow my own thoughts to embark on new paths, and on your fifth anniversary I simply want to say thank you and I, too, will celebrate and raise my cup of green tea.
With metta,
Laurelle
#5 · Ken
8 August 2010
Congratulations!
I have thoroughly enjoyed your blog (almost exclusively as a bystander) since finding it a few years ago. It has been enlightening reading your posts and the comments as I explore my budding interest in Buddhism.
Your quote of your first post reminds me of something I just read in “Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind” about the independence between Buddhism and other religions. I picked up this book when I decided that my life would be better with the practice of zazen meditation in it.
#6 · Yogesh
11 August 2010
Congrats, Keep up the good work. May lot of thoughts flow in you and we get lot of posts. :-)
#7 · Kaspalita (Gareth)
17 August 2010
Congratulations on five years! Was wonderful to make a real life connection with you – and a Buddhish connection.
Keep up the good work.
(I have lots of news – the least of which is that I’m blogging again. I’ll email you)
metta
#8 · Sabio Lantz
25 August 2010
Wow, fantastic post. I just discovered you this morning. I will keep visiting. We have much in common, and what we don’t, I am anxious to learn from. I am a fumbling blogger.
“Buddhish” —> loved that !!
#9 · Sabio Lantz
25 August 2010
PS — on your comment tool, I don’t understand how to make sure I get follow-up e-mails if others comment. (feel free to delete this) Is it the “Remember” box?
#1 · Robert Ellis
31 July 2010
Congratulations on your five years! I only discovered your blog a year or two ago (despite having known you long before that) so I missed the beginning – and have certainly not read all the archives, but the most recent bits of the blog have been very interesting. Do keep it up!