an old writer and his words

  • YOUR TURN

    They said that we onlywanted to tear things down, thingsthat they treasured, wanted to maintain.That was only half true, becausewe knew that to build whatwas needed, you had to tear downwhat was there that would not,could not, be integrated.We did tear down someof those things they valued,but we built things that werebetter for the majority…

    Lou Faber

  • GENSHA’S SEAMLESS STUPA

    If you pet a dragondoes it become a cat?If you make a cat roardoes it become a dragon?How highis over your head,how deepis beneath your feet.Build it just so. A reflection on Case 60 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo Koans (True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber

  • THE WORLD-HONORED ONE POINTS TO THE EARTH

    As you wander aroundlooking for a placeto build a temple,looking for eden,looking for nirvana,stop and simply sit,listen to the breezeteaching you the Dharma,the clouds chantingthe sutras in a harmonybeyond your hearing.Look down for youare in your temple,sitting in edennirvana at your feet. A reflection on case 4 of the Book of Equanimity Koans

    Lou Faber

  • WALLS

    It is one thingto build a wallthat othersstop and admire,yet make ithigh enoughthey don’lt thinkof climbing over it. Walls are meantto keep, inor out is neverclear, and actuallyit is always both,for a walltakes no sides,a silent sentinel. And no wallis impenetrableand unscalablesave that surroundingthe heartless oneswho are destinedto die alonein anger.

    Lou Faber

  • THE WORLD-HONORED ONE POINTS TO THE EARTH

    As you walkin search of enlightenmentstop at a templeand seek it there. If you cannot finda temple, build one. Look at where you areand be therein that templeand stop searching,for you are home. A reflection on Case 4 of the Book of Equanimity

    Lou Faber

  • IF YOU BUILD IT

    In the midst of this pandemic everyone, it seems, is offering playlists and lists of movies to watch during the endless days of isolation, and so long as the internet goes on, we may die of viral complications, yes, but not of boredom soon. I have aggregated the various lists, stricken movies far too close…

    Lou Faber