an old writer and his words

  • ONCE, AGAIN

    His mind was dancingwhile his feet were firmly anchoredto the unyielding ground.It has long been this wayhis mind demanding a freedomhis body is incapable of granting.But in his dreams his body hasinfinite flexibility, can moveas the mind needs only to imagine.those moments of freedom, he knowswill depart when the day once againimprisons him, locking himin…

    Lou Faber

  • IN THE PROPER ORDER

    You would think that when you have hadthree fathers they would have hadthe decency to die in the order in whichthey came into your life, that is, after all,the natural order of things or the logical one.My original, who I found more than two decadesafter he finally found peace in 1987 is nothingmore that an…

    Lou Faber

  • SHINZAN QUESTIONS THE NATURE OF LIFE

    Why, when you sit on the cushiondo you imagine yourselfbecoming a Buddha?If you can imagine yourselfbecoming a Buddha, youare not yet readyto become a Buddha.If you sit on the cushionand imagine nothingyou grow ever more readyto find what you nolonger seek so much. A reflection on Case 70 of the Book of Equanimity (従容錄, Shōyōroku)

    Lou Faber

  • PHOTOGRAPHER

    Photographers we know are struggling,the wedding business has dried up, dessicatedby the years of the pandemic, the tighteningof matrimonial cost belts, no doubt other reasons.Wedding photography is hard on both the coupleand those with fingers on the shutter button.I cannot remember by first wedding, the marriageitself thankfully fading as well with the freedomof time, the…

    Lou Faber

  • URBAN DREAMS

    The city crawls beneath youlike so many beasts awakenedin your recent nightmare, skitteringto somewhere you dare not imagine.This is not your city, it could never be,for cities are mere illusions, veneersfor prisons from which few escapeand fewer still are paroled, andyour sentence only ends in your death.Some say cities are beautiful, butyou know they are…

    Lou Faber

  • SILENCE?

    You smile when you saythat my voice is muffled,that you cannot understand whatI am trying so hard to tell you.You have taken my tongue, the priceperhaps for saying what youmost do not want to hear.So you may laugh at me, atmy attempts to speak, but youwill never silence me for I canyell, I can write…

    Lou Faber

  • THE OTHER WORLD

    He pendulated between two worlds,always on the fine edge of transition.Night brought amniotic dreamsthat washed away the digital bondsthe day had fashioned from his thoughts.Here was a freedom that reality detested.Here there were no walls, only open doorsand he could freely wander his psychewithout impediments, without that voicethat was always perched on the razor’sedge of…

    Lou Faber

  • SAD MONOLOGUE

    It is a truly sad momentwhen you first come to realizethat the inner dialog you thoughtyou were having with your psychehas been little more than a monologue,the ramblings of the court jester,or worse, the fool, your psychehaving grown deaf to your complaints,your incessant worries, or worse still,the ever growing fears you bring uponboth of you,…

    Lou Faber

  • AT THE TEMPLE

    He stood stilljust outside the Buddha Hallhis back to the altar lookingat the great bell, watchingthe young robed monk approach.He knew what was coming,steeled himself for the momentas the monk walked into the shoro,pulled back on the suspended log,waited for that one instantwhen the log would strike the bell,the moment of atari, and he smiledknowing…

    Lou Faber

  • NANSEN’S CATS AND COWS

    Why do you seek outmaster upon master,teacher upon teachersearching for a Buddha?What do you expect themto tell you, what magic wordscan they offer you thatwill result in enlightenment.When you walk towarda Temple, when you seea cat or a cow, do yourecognize that theirBuddha-nature exceeds yours? A reflection on Case 69 of the Book of Equanimity…

    Lou Faber