Sometimes I think I know too much about life as a vicar in the Church of England, so I was suprised to find myself watching a short documentarty about one on television last night.

Peter Owen Jones used to be in advertising, so I think he enjoys being in front of a camera. He says we've lost the plot about "spiritual enlightenment" in Britain, and that the church is too intellectual. So the one hour programmes follow him as he chooses three wildly different religious experiences. Last night was a Buddhist mountain monastery in China, from which Zen Buddhism later developed, and where the religious way - meditation - is a very physical martial art like Kung Fu. Apart from scenes of this guy of about my own age nearly killing himself by learning Kung Fu alongside seventeen year old youths, I liked the footage of him with other monks sweeping a terrace in a way that was really a dance.

I can feel that British Christians who want a more contemplative or less intellectual way of faith should first explore the rich depths of our local Christian heritage. I'm thinking for example of Celtic traditions, Lectio Divina, and the ways of St Ignatius (all of which crop up in the Spiritual Direction course that I am doing).

However I found this programme enriching. I liked the reminder that all life, including physical activity, should be worshipful. I liked the enlightenment that he seemed to discover as he found a sense of belonging with the monks, recognised that his worries were inside himself, and discovered that he was able to be more in tune with creation around him.

Anthony de Mello (yes I know I'm a fan of his) seems to have a similar perspective when he writes that happiness is something you have to discover inside yourself, rather than expect to come from external circumstances.

To continue this journey, watch the remaining two parts on BBC2 tv on Fridays at 9:00 p.m.