an old writer and his words

  • KANNON’S STATUE 鐵笛倒吹 語十八

    If you meet the Bodhisattvayou don’t ask someoneto carve the image from your mind.To the carver, she weighs but an ounceand can be carriedon his fingertipbut try and lift herand you will not be ableto move her from her place. All Buddhasare one Buddhabut his Buddhawill never beyour Buddha. A reflection on Case 58 of…

    Lou Faber

  • TOKUSAN’S ULTIMATE TEACHING 鐵笛倒吹 七十九

    If the student asks the teacherfor greater knowledgehe will be metwith a blow from the stick.If he asks againthe teacher will respondI have nothing to give you. Will you recognizethe greatest giftwhen it is offered to youor will you continueto pursue its shadow. A reflection on Case 79 of the Iron Flute koans.

    Lou Faber

  • UMMON’S THREE DAYS 鐵笛倒吹 六十八

    What were you doingthree days agoand what will you dothree days from now.Are you the same person nowas you were, will be? While your face in the mirrorKoanseems much the sameeach day you die a biteach day you are reborn.A thousand daysa thousand yearsa passing moment,how do they differ? A reflection on Case 68 of…

    Lou Faber

  • WOODEN PILLOW 鐵笛倒吹 六十

    If, sitting at your mealyou hear the song of a bird,what do you do?You may tap your chopstick rest,and perhaps he will answerand repeat his sweet song.If you tap a second timeand there is only silenceis the bird rejecting youor offering his song to another,flown from your window. Perhaps you should tap againand hear the…

    Lou Faber

  • KYOSEI’S STICK 鐵笛倒吹 六十四

    If Kyosei asksfrom where I have comehow will I answer him?If he asks wheremy teacher liveswhat will I tell him? Such a fool I amto wander from there to herefrom here to another placeseeking a pathon which Iam always standing still.Thirty blows isthe least I deserve.But Kyosei withdrawsthe stick. A reflection on Case 64 of…

    Lou Faber

  • GRAMMATICALLY APART

    What sets us apartfrom other specieshas little or nothingto do with self-awarenessand everything to dowith parts of speech. The birds outsidemy window shun labels,think only of eating,mating, flight, of goingand arriving, of being. They know nothing of birth,do not fear death, for itis merely a label they cannotaccept or understand. It is left to our…

    Lou Faber

  • DIALOGUE

    S:         What are you doing, for heaven sake?H:        Isn’t it obvious, I’m searchingfor Nirvana, for enlightenment.S:         You silly fool, it’s right behind you!H:        (turning suddenly) It is not,I would certainly see it.S:         You might think so, butit…

    Lou Faber

  • A HASTY BURIAL

    They should have hadan altar, even Abrahamhad one when he was readyto execute Isaac, and the raminterceded, to his ultimate peril. They should have hada funeral, that is just commonsense and decency, but theywanted no such thing, justbe done with it, bury it away. I still mourn the deathof science for I know that itoperates…

    Lou Faber

  • EXISTENCE

    I imagine I am the creatorI imagine I am the createdand I am the creatorand I am the createdI am both, I am neither. I exist because I think I existso I have created myself,just as you exist to me  becauseI think you exist, I am creator. I say I can touch you so youmust…

    Lou Faber

  • SEKISO’S SINGLE HAIR

    A thousand steps,one hundred thousand morealong the pathand the goalseems ever farther away. Stopand restin perfect stillness.You are there, it has walked with you. A reflection on Case 86 of the Shobogenzo (Dogen’s True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber