an old writer and his words

  • ZEN

    He has just turned two. He sits on my lap one hand clapping mine, for each of us a moment of Zen in ways no one can understand, since neither he nor I do. His laugh promises something, a future of moments like this, and yet never the same. “It is our river,” his smile…

    Lou Faber

  • WALKING AMONG SAND AND PEBBLES: SHASEKI-SHU

    CUP OF TEA             沙石集  一  When the cup is half full what more can be added? In the garden, the moon can exist in a full cup or one only half full. It is the empty cup that can hold entire universes, infinite in capacity.   FINDING A DIAMOND                  沙石集  二  There are endless paths…

    Lou Faber

  • STONE

    Off the pier in Santa Barbara a young child throws a stone into the quiet ocean. Later an imperceptible wave slips quietly into Yokohama harbor. In Big Sur a Monarch butterfly slips from her chrysalis on tentative gossamer wings and takes flight. Later, still,  I stand on the Boston Commons and cast a momentary smile.

    Lou Faber

  • TOKYO

    Walking the grounds of Senso-ji Temple, I look among the statues, half expecting Buddha or Kannon Bosatsu to appear, but only a pigeon answers my expectations. Lighting a joss bundle and placing it into the burner I imagine for a moment that I am zainichi, but the giggles of a flock of uniformed schoolgirls reminds me cruelly…

    Lou Faber

  • SOTO ZEN

    The gong reverberates, its depth hangs in the air, fades like a slowly retreating army. The zafu is at once coarse and caressing, nestling me as I settle down into becoming one with the earth, the zabuton, a fluid translator.  The mokugyo’s rhythm lies deep within my chest. The incense settles on my tongue, an acrid sweetness,…

    Lou Faber

  • LISTENING TO THE FLUTE

    YAKUSAN HOLDS IT         鐵笛倒吹 十  Sit just above the peak of the highest mountain and reach up with open fingers, what will you grasp? Walk slowly across the floor of  the deepest sea, what do you see below you? If you have three daughters is any one less beautiful than the others?   JOSHU COVERS…

    Lou Faber

  • COMPASSION

    Kannon, have compassion for us, as if you could do otherwise. We don’t seek wisdom, that’s out of your department. We all seek enlightenment as if it is some neon sign around the next bend in the path. We are well-suited for rushing to unknown destinations. We would offer you prayers, but we have forgotten…

    Lou Faber

  • ISSA PAUSES

    first snow of winter white coated Buddha dreaming of chrysanthemums   prayer flags unmoving in the stillness of morning summer or winter?   tomorrow is gone, yesterday has disappeared. what moment is this?

    Lou Faber

  • HUMANITY

    Each day I walk out into the sea. Each day the sea engulfs me. I cannot walk on the water, nor does the water part before me. Each day I walk out into the sea and reconfirm my humanity. In my prior life as a Corporate attorney, I was profiled in the ACC Docket, the…

    Lou Faber

  • FLOWING

      A young man stands on the bank a river and sees the water toppling over and around uncaring stones. Halfway up the slope of the great mountain an old man steps from his small hut looks down at a hawk circling the river, watching for the glint of a passing salmon. From its aerie…

    Lou Faber