-
HARYO’S SECRET TRANSMISSION
When you are puzzled by the words of old masters you may seek answers from your teachers. Will this one or that one know? The answer cannot come from the tongue of your teacher, a shelved book cannot speak words have no magic. But all is not lost for the question always contains its answer…
-
THIS VERY MIND
You are forever seeking the path, as though it will give you a sign. Seeking the Buddha is good but looking for him is ultimate futility for the eyes are incapable of looking within. A reflection on Case 30 of the Mumonkan (The Gateless Gate)
-
MASTER CRAFTSMAN
He waited patiently in the queue until, after two and one half hours he approached the battered metal counter. The young, bored woman, chewing at her gum asked the usual question, have you looked hard for work this last week? I stood in many lines, for hours on end in my battered old shoes, that…
-
YAKUSAN’S THIS BUDDHA, THAT BUDDHA
I think therefore I am. I think therefore you are. You think therefore I am. If either of us stops thinking, does the other cease to be? If I see you as Buddha you are Buddha. If you see me as Buddha I can be Buddha, but if I see myself as Buddha Buddha and…
-
HERE
We greet as long lost friends, having never before met save sharing a place a decade apart. I strive to cling to what was there in that place, she, fueled by the frustration, has turned away just because of it. I go home to my words, she to her art, and we know our paths…
-
ANSWERS EVERYWHERE
You assume you know the answer, and wait patiently for the question which is not forthcoming. This becomes your dilemma. You have acquired a catalog of answers, all awaiting questions that never come forth. Of course it isn’t fair, you know that full well, but that, too, is an answer that must await a question…
-
ACT IV
He knew he should not have brought the gun. He hated guns, they served no purpose in his world of words. He wanted to look at it, to stare at it, really. He thought that if he did so he might be better able to write about the senselessness of the world in which he…
-
THERE
She walks with a deliberateness that bespeaks years of always knowing what the destination is. Getting to the destination, she knows is far less important than having one. On occasion she would arrive at her destination and would then have no option but to immediately select her next destination, for being on one place too…
-
TOZAN’S ADVICE 鐵笛倒吹 七十七
If I tell you there is a still more precious gem will you ask “what is it?” If I respond “it is not a diamond: what will you do then? The wealthy fool will throw off his rings and begin a futile search. Are you such a fool, or do you look inside secure in…
-
LOST AND FOUND
He cannot be certain when he lost it. He isn’t even sure where he lost it. He knew he had it, had it for years, and then, once when he looked for it, it was nowhere to be found. He wasn’t all that upset at the loss. It was more that it was familiar, that…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
an old writer and his words 