So, where to begin?

Tricky question: So much of my spiritual practice is focused on realising that the ‘me’ that lives in this body and acts in the world, is merely a shell, and the ‘real me’, is the unborn, eternal, and unchanging universal consciousness.

However for the purpose of this page, all I can offer you is something about the me that, well lives in this body and acts in the world!

Being born into a family always on the move was the defining influence on my life from the very beginning. All the movement made a nomad of me. Either that or I was born with a nomad’s soul.

A pilgrim’s soul too. From my very earliest independent travels in my mid teens, I think I was captivated by the movement towards something that at first I wasn’t able to name. Don’t get me wrong: I’ve done my share of running away from as well. As I’ve often joked to people through the years I’m not journeying away from anything, nor am I journeying towards anything; I am just journeying.

Writing has been a vital element of this journeying from very early days. Poetry; stories; non-fiction; journalism; not to mention the journal I began in my teens, them abandoned till my mid-twenties and have kept until recently when I decided to close the journal permanently. (How that journalling came about is a fascinating story. You can find it here.

Photography too is an essential part of my spiritual practice, and creative life. I used to give myself all kinds of labels, but for the last several years I have been just a seeker who uses a camera to explore the world in a contemplative manner. Contemplative Photography I call it. An essential aspect of my photography is my commitment to sharing it freely.

I’ve spent a lot of time travelling as I’ve alluded to. As a consequence I haven’t ever settled into what the world calls a ‘career’.

I’ve worked at many different kinds of jobs; some happy or positive experiences; most not so. Overall I would have to say that, just as for many others, working in paid jobs has mostly been a means to an end. Mind you, I’m not complaining: I am grateful for so many of those experiences, many of which have been had pivotal roles in that journeying I mentioned.

The ongoing investigation into the real nature of life and my place in it have been the driving force behind all that journeying whether I was conscious of it or not. For a few years now, I’ve sought to live a secluded, solitary lifestlyle apart from the ways and entanglements of the world.

Hence my declaration as a hermit and monk. And as I strive to live that life, I dedicate the vast majority of my time to meditation and study; and to prayer and contemplation. I seek to live this way because it is in line with my true nature, and I believe the best service one can be to all beings and to life itself is to try as much as possilbe to live according to one’s true nature.

My aspiration is to serve, to love, and truly and fully realise what I already know to be true: the unity, the oneness, of all creation. And that creation is itself only love.