• GOZO AND THE FOURTH ANCESTOR 正法眼蔵 語十一

    If you sitI will bring you a flowerbut it will fall.If you walkweeds will grow upbetween your toes.Flower, weed and youare born and dieeach feedingall of the others. A reflection on case 51 of the Shobogenzo Koans (Dogen’s True Dharma Eye)


  • HEAVEN CAN WAIT

    A Rabbi once told me thatif you want to get to heaven,something Jews don’t believe in,you must atone to those youhave harmed, or injuredbefore you die. I’ve started making a list,and it feels like I am insome wierd version ofHigh Fidelity, but mineis more than a top five. I’ve made a few efforts,some accepted, some…


  • 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.


  • RECYCLED NEWS

    The newspapers pile up,their headlines screamout, sections of business newsor the arts, and a halfcompleted crossword., They sit patiently, knowingmuch has happened that weought to know, but wehave grown tired of deathand so each week we place them in the binwhere they are takento the dump wherethe lessons of the newsgo to die forgotten.


  • UMMON’S THREE DAYS 鐵笛倒吹 六十八

    What were you doingthree days agoand what will you dothree days from now.Are you the same person nowas you were, will be? While your face in the mirrorKoanseems much the sameeach day you die a biteach day you are reborn.A thousand daysa thousand yearsa passing moment,how do they differ? A reflection on Case 68 of…