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THEY WANT
They all want to tell mewhich direction I should go, thatno matter which direction I am goingit is not the right direction.They want to tell me what to say,that what I am saying is wrong,although I am wholly silent.They want to tell mewhat to think, what I shouldnot even think, although theycannot know my thoughts.They…
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YANTOU’S SIT STILL
When sitting on the zafuif you try not to thinkyou are thinking.If you sit and breathein the silenceeverything will appearbefore you andin that momentyou will see nothing. A reflection on case 75 of the Shobogenzo, Dogen’s True Dharma Eye 正法眼蔵
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ACTION
The question is, he saidwhat we intend to do about itwhen it happens, as it inevitably will. He got no response, had notexpected any response despitethe critical nature of the question. He knew no one wantedto talk about it, nor even to thinkabout its onrushing consequences. But it was the world that hewould inherit from…
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UNGAN SWEEPS THE GROUND
When you are cleaning,what becomes of the dirt?When you are bathing,what becomes of the water?When you exhale,what becomes of the breath?When the moon disappearsis the moon truly gone?When you ask your teacher,what becomes of the question?If you sit quietly on the matand do not think of this,what becomes of you? A reflection on Case 21…
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MY RABBI (PART 2)
I tell him I am thinking of becominga rabbi, someone just like him,a man who saw so many throughall manner of crises, joyous events. He sits back in his unsteady chair,one he refuses to replace, this onefinally broken in, he says with thatgentle smile that melts anger, anxiety. You would do well at it, I…
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WORDS, WORDS, WORDS
My mother surrouned mewith books, “read, read”she would endlessly say. And if I had a question,“Look it up, it’s why webought the encyclopedia.” I became a voracious reader,skilled at finding answers,never stopping to think. Now, years later, I knowwhy I had to read, whyI had to look things up. What she never said, butwhat she…
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HE/HIM
When he says he thinksthat it is rather queer,you wonder if he uses queeras a non-gendered pronoun,and if so you think hemight just be right. But what if he is a verballuddite, locked in an archaiclexicon, unable to dealwith an ever more complexsocial and sexual worldwhere what was is, and whatnever was is, and who…
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BLINDNESS
Our problem is one of blindness.We are constantly seekingfor that which we have, thatwhich have no need of, thatwhich we think we needbut cannot be certain. If we limited our blindnessto things life would besimpler, but our blindnesscarries over to our searchfor enlightenment, for redemption,for absolution, and wefail to realize that we haveall of that…
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LANDING
She sends us a map showing on which tribe’s land we are now living. This is not something we have thought about, not something we want to think about, for that would demand that we are the usurpers, the horde whose pogrom was ultimately successful, and that is a face that refuse to see in…
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AMAZONIA
There will, I am certain, come a day when I will need to do nothing. My computer and my apps will know what I want, will obtain it without asking, will expect my thanks when it arrives, even if they are incapable of understanding what thank you means in a human world. They already plague…
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an old writer and his words 