My Favourite Things with O.R. Melling
Author O.R. Melling on the best bits of life.
Books: There are four books which I have been re-reading faithfully over the years: C.S. Lewis’s Narnian Chronicles, Tolkien’s ‘Lord of the Rings,’ Thaddeus Golas’s, ‘The Lazy Man’s Guide to Enlightenment’ and Emily Bronte’s ‘Wuthering Heights’.
Films: Wim Wenders ‘Wings of Desire’, a visual poem with spiritual power, romance, breathtaking images, beautiful music and profound statements on life.
Music: Anything from classical to world to blues to Celtic. When I visit a country I always return with their music, both modern and traditional.
Food: Anything as long as it doesn’t have eyes and squiggly legs.
Place: The Samadhi of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother in Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, south India. Whenever visualisations call for “that special place” this is where I go.
Event: I managed to be at the world’s biggest horse race this year, outside Ulan Baatar, in Outer Mongolia.
Destination: Indiahhhhh. It never ceases to thrill me. The crucible of life on this planet. A country and a people who don’t know the meaning of the word “dull.”
Pastime: I’m caught between saying reading/writing and travelling.
Exercise: Hill walking in the Wicklow Mountains.
Spiritual Practice: My most consistent practice is Tibetan Buddhism but I am unable to to be exclusive. I love religious practice of any kind. Some people object to ‘buffet spirituality’ but as I once saw painted on a motorised trishaw in Varanasi: “WE ARE ALL ONE.”
Spiritual Teacher: I have had many teachers through the years but the chief one has been and still is Panchen Otrul Rinpoche, a Tibetan lama.
Quote: Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. – Anais Nin
