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VIMALAKURTI’S NONDUALITY
In your searchfor enlightenmentyou may comeupon a gate.Do you enter by itor do you leave by it,or do you simplysit atop itin peaceful silence. A reflection on case 48 of the Book of Equanimity (従容錄, Shōyōroku)
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FLOATING
They are swimming around today and it is disconcerting. But they bend to no will but their own, so he must live with them. They have names now, the larger ones which makes it easier, for he can engage them in conversation, although it is all monologue as they have nothing to say. He hopes…
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ROBBIE
He left and we never saw the departure coming. We knew he would leave sooner or later, but not now. We had planned on his visit. We knew he meant he was coming. We knew he might just show up. He traveled on snap decisions. It might be here, it might be Paris or Italy.…
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EDGE OF THE ABYSS
He sits on the edgepeering down, shakingin the breeze, knowingthe abyss below waitsfor a misstep, a slip. He stares up, waitingfor her return, hopingshe will soon arrivebringing the meal, neverenough always wanting more. He knows he willsomeday soon haveto leave, but for nowall he can do is spreadhis wings, flap them, until it will seem…
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WRITE ON
The problem with too manysongwriters these days isthat they either pose a questionbut demand answers, or onlypartially answer their own question,leaving the listener to guessat the balance of the answer. You are atop my list, sadly,dear Alanis, for when you askif it is ironic, for mostof your examples I mustrespond that it is not so.…
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FAMILY
You ask me to define what family isand I tell you that I may bethe last person you wantanswering that question, Ian adoptee who felt likean orphan supplantedby siblings who knew her womb. But I do have an answer,family is that insane personwho will drive six hoursto spend an hour with you,family is the joy…
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LEAVING STILL
He never wants to leave this place. He never wants to leave wherever he is at that moment. Moving is the hardest thing for him, arriving is easy. She points out that you cannot arrive here without leaving there. He reminds her that something being easy is not the same thing as something being desired.…
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AS IT SHOULD BE
Day gives way to night. Life gives way to death. Truth gives way to truth and falsity to falsity. Nothing moves, nothing cedes, all is constant. This is enso, one stroke, complete and incomplete and this is mu. You may enter freely, but will never leave, and once captured you have never been here and…
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UNGAN’S SWEEPS THE GROUND
As you stoop to pick up fallen leaves are you cleaning spring, summer or autumn? What seasons are deep within the winter branch? How does your work and that of the tree truly differ, and what leaves do you shed? A reflection on Case 83 of the Shobogenzo (True Dharma Eye)
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THIS WAY?!
The young man asked the old Buddhist monk, “If there are 64,000 gates, how will I know through which I should enter.” The monk paused, considered the question, then smiled broadly. “Why would you want to enter any gate?” the monk said with a wink. The young man replied, “because they are the gates that…
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an old writer and his words 