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TODAY
Today we want very much to praybut words fail us yet again, and we doubtGod would hear our entreaty anyway,since this is a disaster of our own making. This is the problem of free will, as so manydiscovered across Europe during the secondof the wars to end all wars, as did the peopleof Hiroshima and…
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PLEASE TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS
At least some Chinese manufacturershave seemingly grown tired of ourendless mockery of their instructions. No longer do they tell me “please to beinserting the extended aspectof part A into part B in the slotted area.” Now they give me wordless instructions,a series of pictures with lettered partswhich seems easier until, after unpacking the many pieces,…
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BODHIDHARMA’S VAST AND VOID
You want holy teachingsboiled down, synthesizeddigestible in bites so dine on the holesnothing, emptinessis sustenanceenough look at me, at a windowas you do a mirrorno knowing,a familiar facebut whose the face will departyours or hisyou will awakento endless absence learn nothingnessoverflowing void A reflection on Case 1 of the Hekiganroku (Blue Cliff Record)
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AT ALL COSTS
The problem is oneof disequilibrium, for wehave grown tired of itbefore it has growntired of us. There is no agreementto be reached,no chance ofa detente, nostate of truce. We will defeat it,we have nochoice, but untilthen the viruswill be our companion.
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GIMME A HUG
It seems odd, as I am nota hugger by nature,I love trees and hugfamilially but asidefrom family, huggingjust is not somethingI ever did. Now, when huggingis a potential deathsentence if finishedI see many around meall at a safe distanceand feel a strong desireto embrace some,knowing they wouldwelcome my arms. When this is over,when distance issomething…
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SNAKE, PRAY FOR US
In a time set aside for mourningwe easily remember those, lovedor despised, taken by age, disease,war or poverty and neglect. But trapped in our isolationwe should also pause and recallthe snake, condemned for offeringknowledge for which we were ill-equipped. Let us not forget the ram,whose only sin was to bein the wrong place at the…
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ON KNOWLEDGE
There are things children knowthat parents will never understand. Odder still, things a person knowsas a child are forgotten in adulthood. A child measures the success of a dayby the duration of the parentdemanded bath at its end. A child know that boundaries, especiallythose parentally set, are flexibleand you don’t know wherethe limit is until…
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BUCKET LIST
Crossing the Rubicon,or any other European Riverfor that matter. Skiing the backcountryor Black Diamond at Taos Mountainor Aspen or Vail. Hiking to the basecampof Everest, or walking some portionor all of the Appalachian Trail. Standing shoulder to shoulderwith hundreds of othersat the jazz festival. Hugging my sons orkissing my grandchildrenon their birthdays. Forgetting all that…
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TE SHAN CARRYING HIS BUNDLE
Enter the room slowly and look carefully,since you are here to find something.There is much within this room, but youcan see nothing save the old man,sitting calmly, staring at nothing, staringthrough you at nothing in particular.You know he is the teacher, the onefor whom you have been searching,Still, he ignores you, staring at nothing.You walk…
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THE CHARM
The first one felt right,there was nothing deeper considered,just that feeling that now,I know, anyone might have providedbut then, it was somethingin a world of nothing. The second, really, wascertainly right, for life this time,the wisdom of a single failureenough to ensure success,and when it came apartthirty years later, it wasapparent it was never right,just…
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an old writer and his words 