I did not understand the differences between Catholic and Protestant until I was an adult.

The peculiar thing is that, in focusing only on the here and now, Buddhism seems to despise the world.

I associate my childhood with two things, mainly: the North Devon countryside and a sense of connection to another world.

This is part of the fundamental character of Buddhism that I find problematic - that it is not interested in anything. Hence the 'Fascination' in the title of the essay, the fascination of art and creativity, stands in opposition to what is called 'Liberation'.

People didn't talk about paedophiles in the seventies, I don't think.

Zen is influenced by Daoism, which is not so much a nature-religion in the animistic sense as a nature-philosophy in a cosmic sense.

Some Buddhists, however, never seem to get past the void, and I suppose I view this as a kind of Buddhist 'Old Testament' that I don't especially like.