an old writer and his words

  • GYOZAN PLANTS HIS HOE

    Coming infrom a just plantedbut barren rice fieldwhen I ask youhow many grains of ricethis harvest will yieldyou stand silentlyand we nod in agreement. A reflection on Case 68 of the Shobogenzo (True Dharma Eye) koans.

    Lou Faber

  • THE WORLD-HONORED ONE POINTS TO THE EARTH

    As you walkin search of enlightenmentstop at a templeand seek it there. If you cannot finda temple, build one. Look at where you areand be therein that templeand stop searching,for you are home. A reflection on Case 4 of the Book of Equanimity

    Lou Faber

  • ON BEAUTY

    As you look at him or herdo you see someone witha beauty you only wish you had,or someone you pityfor lacking your beauty? As they look at youdo they see someone witha beauty they only wish they hador someone they pityfor lacking their beauty? When I look at either of youI see a person like…

    Lou Faber

  • HISTORY

    We only see the present as history,by day history is a matter of minutes,by night of seconds, years or centuries. There is no future to be seen, onlyimagined, the mind writing a storythat can never be read, never told. It is only when we close the eyesthat the present truly exists,independent of the past, free…

    Lou Faber

  • An Invitation for the Patriarch

    You may wrap yourselfwith all of the sutras,drink dharma with a straw,look carefully for teachers. You will drown in the conditionsyour breath swallowedbut unending thoughts. The answers are always withinteacher is studentstudent is teacherthis momentonly moment. A reflection on Case 3 of the Book of Equanimity

    Lou Faber

  • FOR SALE

    For a reasonable sum,I can have a star named after me,and get a certificate suitablefor framing declaring it so. I’d like to buy a group of starsin relatively close proximityeach to the others, and ratherthan naming each after me, I’d name the lot with one name,my personal constellation,perhaps Buddhist, the sky coulduse a Bodhisattva of…

    Lou Faber

  • Bodhidharma’s Vast Emptiness

    When teacher and studentsit face to face,mat to mat, looking deeplyone at the other,which is the teacherand which is the student? You are wrong.There is no teacher,there is no student,there is only the silenceof the momentin which all dharmais made obvious. A reflection on Case 2 of the Book of Equanimity

    Lou Faber

  • THREE HAIKU

    A momentthen another, anotheronly this one a world of delusionyesterday and tomorrowBuddha says Now! Egrets take flightwe stare awestrucknature pities us

    Lou Faber

  • KEICHU THE WHEELMAKER 無門關 八

    A collection of sticksand boards is Keichu’s cart Keichu’s cart no morethan a pileof sticks and boards not Irides no horsepulling no cart a hundred spokesdance in ten directions. A reflection on Case 8 of the Mumonkan (Gateless Gate Koans)

    Lou Faber

  • WASH YOUR BOWL 無門關 七

    There is no stick, no shoutwe go uninstructedon a full stomach. We do not see waterin the midst of an ocean. We are given a sinkfull of breakfast bowls, plates,cups and spoons. Handlessly we performour task and sitto lunch with Joshu. A reflection on Case 4 of the Mumonkan (Gateless Gate Koans)

    Lou Faber