an old writer and his words

  • SEPPO’S POISON SNAKE

    When you lookin the mirrorwhat do you really see?If you say yourselfyou are blind.If you say nothingyou have graspedthe heart of the Dharma.If you shatter the mirroryou have found Nirvana. A reflection on Case 24 of the Book of Equanimity 従容錄, Shōyōroku

    Lou Faber

  • WRITTEN

    It was written for all to seebut went unseen as no oneentered the portal willingly,never sufficient curiosityto offset the foreboding.Everyone knew what it saidbut knowing and seeing areseparated by an unbridgeable chasm.It remained an imposed solitude,an isolation inherent in location,implicit in a world spinningoff its moral axis, time extendedand compressed, an irregular pulse.It was written…

    Lou Faber

  • AND TO YOU WE LEAVE . . .

    Of course we did not heedthe warnings, what did they know,and anyway we were sure we had won. History is a poor teacher, thatmuch we have demonstrated againand yet again, lessons never learned. It is how we got here, how wehave no clear path to leave here,things assumed lying in ruin around us. We are…

    Lou Faber

  • ROSO FACES THE WALL

    When you approachthe teacher what is itthat you expect from her?If you ask herto show you the wayshe will sitand face the wallin silence.What will you learnfrom this?If you arefacing the wallin silenceyou shoutyour answer. A reflection on Case 23 of the Book of Equanimity ( 従容錄, Shōyōroku)

    Lou Faber

  • WITH KNOWING

    With knowledge comes somethingbut I cannot remember whatmy mother told me it was, orperhaps it was a teacherwho said it, but I can’t hopeto tell which one it was, Icannot remember someof their names or in what gradeit might have been said.I don’t think it was in collegeor graduate school since by thenit was assumed…

    Lou Faber

  • THEATER OF THE ABSURD

    If Aristophanes were suddenlyto arrive here, he would no doubtpause, but with the eye he had,would soon discover such a treasuretrove of material, he could producecomedies to last several lifetimes. The problem would be in findingthe right audience, for here we havelittle taste and patience for the sortof comedy at which he was so adept,and…

    Lou Faber

  • WHEN

    When the expected finally happensyou may feign surprise, or evenmild anger or some disquiet,but all will know it is only an act. When the expected doesn’t happenyou may be truly surprised,of even angry and frustrated,and all will understand at some level. When the unexpected happensthe full range of emotions is thenlaid open before you and…

    Lou Faber

  • GANTO’S BOW AND SHOUT

    Walking in an open fieldwhen you come to a gatewhich is inside, which outside?If you straddle the gatethere is no inside,there is no outside,there is only a gatewith you balanced upon it.Ask yourselfon which sidewill you fall? A reflection on Case 22 of the Book of Equanimity ( 従容錄, Shōyōroku)

    Lou Faber

  • BRAD AND I

    Its painful to now say itbut perhaps Uncle Samgot it partially right whenhe shaved our heads andhad us march aroundLackland Air Force Baseas the war raged on in Vietnam,but when you talk about Uncle Sam,the bar is set rather low. We did all look ridiculous,from the large guy who oncewas the town bully for certainto…

    Lou Faber

  • GOING

    You know where you want to go,which is the first step in getting there,but there are countless routesyou can take with a varietyof obstacles which you cannot seeuntil you have committedto that route, and there is to beno turning back once you choosethe route you intend to take. Think about your selection,do you want the…

    Lou Faber