an old writer and his words

  • THREE

    Ginkgo trees laden with leaves fanning the dawn sun Seeds lie in waiting The morning bell sounds the monks pause from their labors Buddha sits zazen The wall does not move only the breath is moving count it carefully

    Lou Faber

  • SLIP SLIDING AWAY

    There comes a moment at which both memory and history become blurred at the edges, where the bedrock on which belief has been so carefully erected seems more magma, shifting threatening to bring down the superstructure of desire and assumption. It is the fading that is at once both fear inducing and exhilarating for faith…

    Lou Faber

  • A MONK IN MEDITATION 鐵笛倒吹 七十語

    A man may own may volumes of great knowledge and never have time to read. An illiterate may take such books and fashion a stool on which to sit in meditation. Which of these is truly wise which the greatest fool. Wipe your mouth with this page at the conclusion of the meal. A reflection…

    Lou Faber

  • MOMENT

    Enter slowly, calmly, and we dare say enter at your own risk for you cannot know what will happen within, nor can we although we have been here countless times before if our memory serves us, which of course it cannot for it, too, is stuck in this very moment with no escape. Do not…

    Lou Faber

  • EACH

    imagine these words written end to end, each well known but the order setting this apart, in a long single line with a half twist Moebius-like, and not on a page but a band like life nothing discrete a continuum each word the only word each moment the only moment if you wish

    Lou Faber

  • FINDING

    He was no longer sure quite where he found it, or whether it was talisman or just an amulet, but he didn’t believe the distinction really mattered at all. He carried it with him everywhere he went, was sure to put it ins his pocket each day. Many said it did nothing for him, brought…

    Lou Faber

  • KINKA’S ANCIENT MIRROR

    A river may polish a stone until it reflects the morning sun. A jeweler may polish it and facet it until it shatters the light in ten directions. A wise man will claim it is still the same stone. A reflection on Case 117 of the Shobogenzo, Dogen’s True Dharma Eye

    Lou Faber

  • 17/3

    Blue heron takes flight giant wings stir wispy clouds April emerges. December garden faceless Buddha loudly laughs wriggling toes in snow. Bang the drum loudly kasha awaits the silence a winter tempest

    Lou Faber

  • FEAR LESS

    The hard part of death and dying is not the giving up or letting go but the taking from. This is why the living fear death while the dead are fearless.

    Lou Faber

  • GOING AND RETURNING 鐵笛倒吹 三十八

      Only the fool will wander from teacher to teacher seeking answers. They will offer only questions. The wise one returns to the question again and again for she may find many answers within, just as the apple tree bears many ripe fruit if carefully tended, each with the seeds of a new tree. Pick…

    Lou Faber