an old writer and his words

  • CZERNY IN HELL

    Mrs. Schwarting lived in a small cottage. Mrs. Schwarting taught piano in her living room. Mrs. Schwarting had no first name, even checks were to be made payable to “Mrs. Schwarting.” Mrs. Schwarting grew suddenly old, some said, to fully fit into her name, no one could remember her ever being young. Mrs. Schwarting said…

    Lou Faber

  • TEACHING AND NOT TEACHING

    When you find a teacher what is it you expect from him? Do you walk carefully in his footsteps insuring you do not stray an inch from the path on which he leads you? A true teacher will ask that you turn away from him and give you a shove that has you stumbling forward…

    Lou Faber

  • DOGO’S GREATEST DEPTH 鐵笛倒吹 六十六

    If you walk into the room and many are meditating, how will you know which is the teacher, which the students? If one sits on a higher platform will you assume him teacher and ask the depth of his Zen? If he comes down to you and says he has no depth to offer do…

    Lou Faber

  • ABIDING

    Do not look behind you to see if the Emperor is following, for if he is, he will not see you. If he asks nothing, tell him that there is no truth, that everything is true. He has no teacher and looks at each passing person to find one. You should not be worried because…

    Lou Faber

  • TE SHAN CARRYING HIS BUNDLE

    Enter the room slowly and look carefully, since you are here to find something. There is much within this room, but you can see nothing save the old man, sitting calmly, staring at nothing, staring through you at nothing in particular. You know he is the teacher, the one for whom you have been searching,…

    Lou Faber

  • CHU TI’S ONE-FINGER CH’AN

    When you believe you have found your teacher, ask him a question. If he gives you an answer, be certain that he is not your teacher. But if he holds up just a single finger, will you pause in false anticipation, or do you gaze at his raised finger and carefully consider the answer. A…

    Lou Faber

  • HUANG PO’S GOBBLERS OF DREGS

    You have heard that when the student is ready the teacher appears, and you believe you are ready, but no teacher has appeared. I can tell you that you are ready, that you will never be ready, that I am not the teacher, that the teacher is here, that the teacher will never appear. The…

    Lou Faber

  • MORE MUSIC OF THE FLUTE

    SANSHO MEETS A STUDENT                               鐵笛倒吹 十二 One goes to the gate to welcome the new student and with a broad smile turns his back in silence, offering nothing. Another will not leave the Zendo, sitting in stillness at the sound…

    Lou Faber

  • A FLUTE PLAYED BACKWARD : THREE CASES (100 – 98) FROM TETTEKI TŌSUI

    ISAN’S TEN FOOT SQUARE 鐵笛倒吹 百 Ten thousand words what do they mean – with which will you compose a poem for the wall of your room. Leave the room, does the poem remain? Enter the room is this the same poem? Write them on the wind with a pointed leaf, that is a fine…

    Lou Faber

  • LISTENING TO THE FLUTE

    YAKUSAN HOLDS IT         鐵笛倒吹 十  Sit just above the peak of the highest mountain and reach up with open fingers, what will you grasp? Walk slowly across the floor of  the deepest sea, what do you see below you? If you have three daughters is any one less beautiful than the others?   JOSHU COVERS…

    Lou Faber