an old writer and his words

  • NIGHT AT THE ALLUSIVE TAVERN

    He had been sitting there for hours, days,how many “last calls” had he heard?He watched Beckett and Eliot come and gobut he sat waiting, patiently, no Godot for him.He had long since lost his now empty pen,his pockets grown stuffed with damp cocktailnapkins, the story of his life bleeding slowlyinto the worn fabric of the…

    Lou Faber

  • FAIR WARNING

    There are many lessons you learnduring even a moderately full life.Some of great value, others trifles,but each unique in some way, henceit being a lesson at all and notan echo of what you already knew.One lesson I clearly recall is that younever, after eating a meal of Japanese foodwith far too much sake, tell the…

    Lou Faber

  • DONGSHAN’S “WHERE IS THE FAULT?”

    When you look in the mirrordo you see yourself?Is the you in the mirroranother you?If you say it is merelya reflection of youare you a reflection of it?You imagine you are realand the mirror youimagines he is real.Both real, both illusions. A reflection on Case 78 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo Koans (True Dharma Eye) 正法眼蔵

    Lou Faber

  • QUANDRY

    There is an excellent reason that zazenis a largely silent practice.It is said you must be in the momentbut there is no other possible momentyou can be in at any given moment.If you think about being in the momentthe moment is lost to your thoughtsso you were never really in that moment.So perhaps you can…

    Lou Faber

  • NO THANKS

    Living now in a city that is not a cityby any commonly accepted definition, onewith no downtown, only a vast suburbansameness, strip plaza after strip plaza,I realize why I could never live in a citylike New York, why I am glad I decidedhalf a century ago to forego the cachetof being part of a self-prestigious…

    Lou Faber

  • BREATHE DEEPLY

    Funerals can be such incredibly sadevents, and rightly so for farewellsare never easy, especially final ones.But the deceased doesn’t benefit,only the mourners do and it isfor them that the events are held.When my time comes, if my familychooses to have one, and I will haveno say in the matter so don’t ask,I do have a…

    Lou Faber

  • FOR THE BIRTHDAY BOY

    On April 23 of this coming year,Wiliam Shakespeare will celebratehis 450th birthday, a momentous occasionto be certain, but knowing how cantankeroushe can be the odds of him showing upat the party I want to throw for him areabout as slim as the odds of Bob Dylanever sitting down on the edge of the stagewherever he…

    Lou Faber

  • AFFIXED

    I can only begin to imaginehow utterly strange I must lookto the Great Blue Heron standingin the wetland behind our home.What must he make of this odd creaturewith thick legs that seemdisproportionately short comparedto their bodies, why their neckshave such limited mobility, whythey cannot look behind themselvesor scratch their chins with their toes.But the birds…

    Lou Faber

  • BASHO IN GALWAY

    Basho wanted to be in Kyotowhen he was in Kyotobut perhaps it was the cuckoothat led him to think thathe might be elsewhere, perhapsnot even in Japan althoughhe had never left Japan.I had the same feeling aboutIreland, except that thenI had never been in Ireland.I know, now, it was my genesthat wanted to be in…

    Lou Faber

  • DISCLOSING IS NOT AS GOOD AS PRACTICE

    You can spend an hourstudying Dharmaor you can spendten minutesin silent zazen,The great Wayis silent andno paper cancontain it, truesilence cannotbe read or studied. A reflection on case 77 of the Shobogenzo, Dogen’s True Dharma Eye 正法眼蔵

    Lou Faber