an old writer and his words

  • EPITAPH FOR ANOTHER DAY

    When I write the storyof my life, it will not beme standing by the seastaff in hand, waitingfor the waters to part.It will be sand, endlessseas of sand, piledaround my feet.I will not recount ten plaguesfor there is only onethat matters at alland it was notterribly exciting,no generation perished,we weren’t overrunwith frogs or verminsave the…

    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

  • NANSEN’S CONTENT AND CONTAINER

    Bring me your mindbut leave the body behind,this is what you must doto attain enlightenment.You may sit where you arein total silence, oryou may come over hereand sit quietly at my feet.Both paths leaddeeply into the way. A reflection on Case 64 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo Koans (True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber

  • HOFUKO’S POINT OF ATTAINMENT

    You may ask many thingsof any teacher you meetbut the wisest of themwill only offer youunending questions.When you look to themto point you to the Waythey are doomed to failurefor your feet obscurethe Way, and it is onlyby looking withinand down through your legsand feet and toesthat you can see the way A reflection on…

    Lou Faber

  • UMMON’S TWO SICKNESSES

    As you wanderyour path, what is itthat you search for? When you seekinstruction from a masterwhat is it you expecthim to provide you? When you sitstill on the cushionyou may find a momentof kensho, butlabeling that momentdestroys it. Enlightenment cannotbe describedfor attaching wordsbrings it to the groundas rubble aroundyour feet. A reflection on Case 11…

    Lou Faber

  • BASO’S WHITE AND BLACK

    I know you havea single question for whichan answer will enlighten you.Neither Baso, Chizo nor Kaiare here so you are asking me. The answer is simple:cover your ears tightlyand listen while I speakwith closed mouth,watch my feet dancein joy as they do not move.If the answer is not apparent,ask Chizo, Baso and Kaito speak from…

    Lou Faber

  • SITTING WATCHING

    Of course when we livedup north we wouldn’thave imagined this, sittingon our lanai watching the sunset the patchy sky ablazesipping small glasses of portand wondering if a lightjacket might be in order,as the beaver moonof November waxes slowly. The cat, curled at our feetcannot imagine the icy windhowling down the street,the foreboding clouds offeringtheir first…

    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

  • Atop the Pole 無門關 四十六

    Sitting atop a hundred foot poleyou are convinced there areonly two directions: pole and down.Old Osho asks, how will you proceedand you stare back at this lunatic.How will you proceed, he repeats? You release the polestep slowly away, lookingat ten directions before you,you move your feet, each onetouches the path of eachof the three worlds…

    Lou Faber

  • SEIGAN’S COST OF RICE

    You may wander endlessly in search of the true dharma. It is not under that rock, not in those bushes, not around the next bend. Look down and ask yourself where are you standing in this moment, then gently lift  your feet off of the heart of the dharma A reflection on case 5 of…

    Lou Faber