an old writer and his words

  • SHISHUANG’S THIS SIDE AND THAT SIDE

    You like being here, but you suspect you would like being there as well, if not more than being here. This puzzles you, for you fear leaving here to go there, in case when you arrive there you don’t like being there and would rather be here. You should sit and ponder which is better…

    Lou Faber

  • ATOP THE POLE 無門關 四十六

    Sitting atop a hundred foot pole you are convinced there are only two directions: pole and down. Old Osho asks: “How will you proceed?” and you stare back at this lunatic. “How will you proceed?” he repeats. You release the pole and step slowly away, looking in all ten directions before you, only then do…

    Lou Faber

  • KINKA’S ANCIENT MIRROR

    A river may rub a stone until it reflects the morning sun. A jeweler may polish it and facet it until it shatters the light in ten directions. A wise man knows it is still the same stone.   A reflection on Shobogenzo Case 117

    Lou Faber

  • KANNON’S STATUE

    If you meet the Bodhisattva you don’t ask someone to carve the image from your mind. To the carver, she weighs but an ounce and can be carried on his fingertip but try and lift her and you will not be able to move her from her place. All Buddhas are one Buddha but his…

    Lou Faber

  • SEKITO’S GREAT AND SMALL CANON

    This wave touches the shore just as it should. That wave touches the shore just as it should. You may wait an eternity for a wave that touches just not as it should, just as it should not, or you can sit and let the waves wash over you.   A reflection on Case 53…

    Lou Faber

  • ESSHŌ’S PATH 正法眼蔵 三十七

    If you are seeking the way do not consult a map and most certainly do not follow in the footsteps of the wisest person. Do not ever ask directions for it is only when you are utterly lost and have no idea which way to go, that your every step is a step along the…

    Lou Faber

  • DRAGON HOWLING IN A WITHERED TREE 正法眼蔵 二十八

    Cut the hook off the line and throw it into the lake, dump the bait container onto the damp soil along the shore. Now sit silently in the oarless boat in the middle of the lake and drop your line and wait for the dragon to bite. And when it does, yell at it, hear…

    Lou Faber

  • TWO THOUGHTS

      Stare at a still pond, hear the birds “Beedu, Beedu,” now truly listen. . .   Tomorrow is gone, yesterday has disappeared. What moment is this?

    Lou Faber

  • MUGO’S FANCIES 鐵笛倒吹 語十九

    If you stand on the shore of a still pond and toss a stone into its middle the ripples will spread slowly until the water laps your toes. If you stand on the shore of a still pond and toss a ring of the finest gold into the middle, the ripples will spread slowly until…

    Lou Faber

  • SUN-FACED BUDDHA, MOON-FACED BUDDHA

    Life is joy and pain, two sides, one coin – death is caused by birth – stop and consider this. Look into the face of the evening sun, will it retreat from your eyes or linger in memory? Look into the face of the full midnight moon, does she have the sun’s face only until…

    Lou Faber