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TOZAN’S NOT BUDDHA
Wherever you areyou are there,but if youarrive thereand there isno there,despite youbeing there,where are you? A Reflection on Case 72 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo Koans (True Dharma Eye)
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SHEEPISH
As a child, when Ihad trouble falling asleepmy mother would trot outthe ancient saw and tell meto just count sheep. I tried to point outto her that we livedin an upscale suburband there were no sheepfor miles for me to count. This hardly deterred herand she repeated herdirections, in a strongertone of voice that she…
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JEALOUSY (AGAIN)
We are jealous of trees,anchored as we areto a grasping earth,able to tear free onlymomentarily or withthe help of machines, for trees can approachthe clouds, swaddleall manner of birds,and, we are certain,know heaven moreintimately than we can. And trees are jealousof birds, able to flywell above their highestbranches, knowingthe true blue of the skyand the…
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SOZAN’S RAISING LIVESTOCK
In an open fieldif I come upona wild oxand place a yokeon its neck.Is it the yokeor the oxor is it Ithat is tamed? A reflection on Case 70 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo Koans (True Dharma Eye)
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MY RABBI (PART 2)
I tell him I am thinking of becominga rabbi, someone just like him,a man who saw so many throughall manner of crises, joyous events. He sits back in his unsteady chair,one he refuses to replace, this onefinally broken in, he says with thatgentle smile that melts anger, anxiety. You would do well at it, I…
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MY RABBI (PART 1)
If you ask why I am a BuddhistI will tell you there are a myriadof possible reasons, choose one,or take this one, it fits nicely. I am in college, pulling my gradesup to mediocre, thoughts of medicinegone, law only faint on a distant horizona master’s degree away. I visit my childhood rabbi, a manwho has…
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MACHISMO
He was fond of sayingthat men need to toughen up,show more fortitude, taketime for serious male bonding. He would prattle on abouthow so many men werenot true men anymore,warped by modern society. I tried my best to avoid him,to quickly end our encounters andwhen I could not, for he wouldinevitably complain of loneliness. Still, I…
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FAMILIES USE IT DAILY
If I ask you awhere you are standingwhat will you answer?If I ask youwhere I am standingwhat will you answer?If I ask you aif we are standingin the same placeand you answer yesa blow from the stick,if you answer noa blow from the stick,if you answer nothinga blow from the stick. A reflection on Case…
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ARRHYTHMIA
Life ought be little more thanarrhythmic motion, a pathwe only want to straighten,to smooth, its natural, necessarytwists and bumps somehow,for we always see them asimpediments not momentsof joyous indecision wherethere are no wrong choicesfor each choice unfoldsa new path never trodden,never imagined or foreseen. A bird flies to where it needsto be, but for most…
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EN ROUTE
We spend so much of our livesimagining we are en route,always on the way to somewhereif often not certain where thatsomewhere might be. It seems we intensely dislikenot being in motion, not focusedon the future, the destination,never wanting to be, seemingto dread being static. Yet the irony is that we,at any given moment, arenever en…
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an old writer and his words 