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ON THE BORDER
It always seems odd how the dual veils that separate day from night, wakefulness from sleep, seem impenetrable in the moment. Yet they both fade, now pellucid, permeable with the simple passage of time. Now dreams are a reality, such as that purports to be, and the worlds intermix, one ceding it to the other,…
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WHO WILL BE KING?
Tell me what you see, he says, and be as precise as possible. I suppose I see exactly what you see, we are looking at the same thing, at the same time, so how can it be any different for me then you? Are you seeing through my eyes? He smiles, for if so, I’d…
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OCCLUSION
After the stroke he couldn’t remember much, was the woman in white who bathed him his wife or someone he slept with once before he had gotten married. Monogamy was a word that he remembered, though not its meaning, or why he had sworn to abide it. When the aide brought in the flowers, they…
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HUH?
The problem with youth isn’t that you misspend it, or even don’t appreciate it as it is happening, or even expect it to go on forever, for those would be the simplest hurdles to leap even at your now advanced age. The true problem with youth isn’t even those around you, grandchildren, high schoolers that…
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KISO CUTS A SNAKE
Snakes, like coins, have both head and tail. If I cut a snake in two, have I two snakes, or none at all. Walk carefully for the spade that cuts the snake can dig an inescapable abyss. A reflection on case 86 of the Shobogenzo (The True Dharma Eye)
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BASHO DOES NOT TEACH 鐵笛倒吹 八十
There is a woman who asks no questions, who fears neither birth nor death. What can you teach her? The wise man offers no lesson but observes closely and gains great wisdom. What can you teach one who already knows. What can you learn with a fully open mind. In a clockless world there is…
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FUNYO PUNISHES THE SKY 鐵笛倒吹 三十二
If there are no clouds, punish the sky with your stick. If there is no sun punish the clouds with your stick. As you walk the Way both road and sky know your stick with each step. If you doze will you strike yourself with your stick or grab it away? A reflection on Case…
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JIZO’S FLOWER
When you see a painting of a beautiful rose, how can you describe it. You must breathe deeply of its sweet fragrance Be careful, do not pierce your finger on its waiting thorns. The rose has withered into dust before your mouth is opened. A reflection on Case 76 of the Iron Flute Koans
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OH, THE PLACES
“Every book is a picture book,” she says, with that certain wisdom the that comes from being seven, even though eight is far off on the horizon. “The difference with some,” she claims, “is that someone already drew all the lines and colored in the pictures.” She likes the books, she concludes, where she gets…
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TEN FOLD PATH (PT. 2)
6. Ox and man walk the dusty path to the small hut sit along the fence and look deeply into the bottomless night sky as they have for the endless journey 埃だらけの道をたどって 男と牛は小屋をめざす 塀にもたれて腰かけ 果てのない夜空を見つめる 終わりのない旅路で いつもそうしてきたように 7. Each morning the man senses the ox is in the pen, the ox smells the man in…
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an old writer and his words 