an old writer and his words

  • BAREFOOT

    He says his favorite cloudsall wear size seven shoes.He knows she believesshe once saw a paisley rainbowand will never forget it.She wears size seven shoesand her tears can be torrential,yet they can still nurturethe first flowers of spring.He imagines her a butterflysitting on the back of his hand,gossamer wings poisedat the thin edge of stillness.He…

    Lou Faber

  • IN SILENCE

    Sitting in stillness, the silenceis at first shocking, deafeningin a way unimagined but there.Within the lack of sound liesa thousand sounds younever heard in the din of life.You hear the young monk at Senso-jiapproach the great bell and pullback on the log shu-moku, straining.You hear the laugh of school agedchildren hand in hand walking throughthe…

    Lou Faber

  • SEKISO’S SINGLE HAIR

    A thousand steps,one hundred thousand morealong the pathand the goalseems ever farther away. Stopand restin perfect stillness.You are there, it has walked with you. A reflection on Case 86 of the Shobogenzo (Dogen’s True Dharma Eye)

    Lou Faber

  • A DEAFENING SILENCE

    Sitting in stillness, the silenceis at first shocking, deafeningin a way unimagined but there. Within the lack of sound liesa thousand sounds you hadnever heard in the din of life. You hear the young monk at Senso-jiapproach the great bell and pullback on the log shu-moku, straining. You hear the laugh of school agedchildren hand…

    Lou Faber

  • QUESTIONING THE BUDDHA 無門關 三十二

    Sit in utter stillness, turn away from words, let non-words wash over you, and give them no hold. The shadow of the whip will dance toward you like a cloudless sky blue and not blue – take to hoof and gallop. A reflection on case 32 of the Mumonkan (Gateless Gate) For Something Different, a…

    Lou Faber

  • SETTLING

    Settling into perfect stillness, each of us in our brown robes on brown chairs, benches cushions, note his entry is somewhere between the thundering of a forgotten storm or the garbage trucks crawling slowly down the street. His gray-blue shirt and jeans flash by. He is large in every dimension, even his breathing nice and…

    Lou Faber

  • CELESTIAL HARMONY

    The summer sky barely pauses to consider what might be going on beneath it. Everything seems to move, there can be no stillness. Once in the rarest of whiles, the sky and the river align, and each is frozen in a stasis that defies understanding or categorization. The stars realize this and shine a moment…

    Lou Faber

  • HALT

      But what if, just once time slowed significantly or even stopped. A bird becomes frozen in the sky, not moving, not falling, staring at the distant tree in total stillness. A drop of rain hovers just over the grass dreaming of chlorophyl. If you had such a moment how would you wish to spend…

    Lou Faber

  • ARDEIDAE MORNING

    He stands still staring at the ever changing surface of the pond, which he knows holds infinite possibility that he does not wish to disturb, lest the moment be forever lost. Nothing else matters to him as he calmly, and ever so slowly, lifts his leg in tree pose, and reaches out with unfurled wings…

    Lou Faber

  • SOZAN’S FALLING AND RISING 正法眼蔵 三十三

    When you fall earth on one side sky the other. When you rise, earth on one side sky the other. When there is no falling, no sky, no earth, when there is no rising no earth, no sky. Sky and earth do not stand still. Reflecting on case 33 of the Shobogenzo

    Lou Faber