an old writer and his words

  • KYOZAN’S DREAM 無門關 二十語

    Hear clearly, only silence see clearly only emptiness dream of forgotten dreams awaken having forgotten dream and no dream merge in the light of the lamp. A reflection on Case 25 of the Mumonkan (Gateless Gate) Koans

    Lou Faber

  • UMMON’S FAMILY TRADITION 鐵笛倒吹 七十一

    The greatest teacher is one who offers nothing and shouts it silently once the student has departed. You cannot know what the blind man sees for you cannot see through his eyes and the deaf woman may hear a symphony in a flower. When asked what is your practice do you answer: life? A reflection…

    Lou Faber

  • 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…

    Lou Faber

  • GYOZAN’S HIGH AND LOW 法眼蔵 二十三

    Stand on the hill and look into the valley. Stand in the valley and look upon the hill. Do you see yourself in either place, do you see yourself in both or are they one place hidden from your vision. A reflection on case 86 of the Shobogenzo (Dogen’s True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber

  • TOKUSAN SPEAKS OF TEACHERS 鐵笛倒吹 二十

    Why do you seek old Masters, they have no special gift. Your lineage is the surface of the sea never still, all waves. Your teacher has no answers, his silence instructs close your ears and listen, is that his breath you hear or only your own? In is out, out is in depending on where…

    Lou Faber

  • JOSHU’S FOUR GATES 正法眼蔵 四十六

    If you ask who I am I will have you close your eyes and walk behind you, or I may step to your left and take your right hand. If you are perplexed, I will ask you, do the four gates open into the city or out to the world beyond, and if I stand…

    Lou Faber

  • 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…

    Lou Faber

  • GENSHA’S IRON BOAT 鐵笛倒吹 八十語

    Do not suggest you can only be enlightened on a cold day in hell unless you are prepared to carry the air conditioner across the River Styx. Even Cerberus has Buddha nature although none of the heads will say so. A reflection on Case 85 of the Iron Flute koans. And if you haven’t guessed,…

    Lou Faber

  • ORDINARY MIND IS THE WAY

    If you are truly looking for the way why do you insist on using your eyes. Any teacher will tell you that your eyes see nothing, they are only lenses through which a delusion is created in the mind. The mind has no eyes, but it is all that enables you to see anything. So…

    Lou Faber

  • COSMOS HAIKU II

    On this night the moon should be new or full, the sun should reflect on this More than a billion stars will fill the sky tonight I see just a few Evening clouds gather staring down on the city imagining rain

    Lou Faber