an old writer and his words

  • NANSEN’S HUT

    If you have fine china you will be saddened when it breaks. If your pantry is full your anxiety grows as the food diminishes. But if you are alone with nothing, the apple that falls on the road is a feast, and the stream runs free with the finest wine. The silence of sun and…

    Lou Faber

  • NANSEN’S REJECTIONS 鐵笛倒吹 四十四

      If you come before Master Nansen, will you come holding the posture of a monk or a lay person, and when Nansen turns you away, how will you exit the room? Nested hands and gassho hands – both are so easily manacled – why leave the room at all? A reflection on case 44…

    Lou Faber

  • NANSEN’S REJECTIONS 鐵笛倒吹 四十四

    If you come before Master Nansen will you come holding the posture of a monk or a lay person and when Nansen turns you away how will you exit the room? Nested hands and gassho hands both are so easily manacled, why leave the room at all? A reflection on case 44 of the Iron…

    Lou Faber

  • THREE VIEWS OF THE SHOBOGENZO

    SEIGAN’S WHISK If a master asks where I am from I shall tell him. If he lifts his stick and asks if they have this stick there I will grab the stick and cast it into the ocean so it may go where it chooses. HYAKUJO REMAINS SEATED The gift of dharma flies off in…

    Lou Faber