January 8, 2009

Up in the North-West Pacific coast area there is an auspicious coincidence of sea and sky, mountains and lakes, forests and islands. From the Puget Sound to the Salish Sea, from the Columbia to the Fraser Rivers, and from Seattle to Victoria and Vancouver a distinct eco-system and worldview crosses national boundaries. In this vibrant zone of the tribal and technological imagination many peoples and their traditions have accumulated over thousands of years. Some native lifeways have been present from the very first settling of these shores and valleys. Others are very new comparatively, having recently arrived from across Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

I represent a mingling of these oceanic migrations, being of Anglo-Celtic ethnicity with Asian Buddhist perspectives. Living in Victoria and looking across to both Vancouver and Seattle I am physically located North by North-West. Hence the above title! It is my hope that this ongoing blog will inform, entertain, and stimulate you (the reader/participant) with its idiosyncratic focus on all phenomena Buddhist in this area, and their interrelationship with the wider world and its concerns.

A full disclosure of my affiliations is, of course, required and expected so here it is…I have been a Buddhist of the Tibetan tradition for over 25 years, both in the U.K. and Canada. One of my major Teachers is Lama Gelong Losang Choepel who travels from India to give teachings in Seattle at Dechen Ling Center in Fremont, Seattle.

Big Shout-out (I believe that is the local vernacular at present) to David Gonsalez, the Director of Dechen Ling. Happy New Year of the Ox !