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ALIVE IN THE NIGHT
I walked the cityin the heart of the night,street lights casting the shadowsof ghosts of those long goneto bed, unknowingthat the city has beengiven over to ravening windsthat find no shelter. I step into an alcoveand the fading lightof the flickering bulb overheadurges me to move onlest she bury mein the darkness of her grave.…
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CLOSE ENOUGH TO HEAR
We sit around the small tablesglad to be out of the sunwhose midday glare seemsto blind the drivers slowlyapproaching the Jetty Park lot. A family chatters, the childrenlaughing at nothing, at everything,and nearby a dog lays outdreaming of a good walkand dinner, hoping for scraps. We can hear the waterof the inlet, the waves breakingonto…
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EFFECT
The morning was indistinguishable from so many others. Lorenz was taking his morning walk around the pond or lake, it was of that intermediate size that could be either or neither, when in a break with his habit, he sat down on one of the four benches, and stared out over the water. He hadn’t…
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FUKE’S BELL SONG 正法眼蔵 二十二
Follow the old fellowwalking over there, hewho cannot seebecause it is too bright,who cannot seebecause it is too darkwho cannot seeabove himself, belowbehind or beside,but traverses the pathwith an unerring foot. A reflection on Case 22 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo Koans (True Dharma Eye)
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ON THE SHELF
He found the cup by the curb one morning walking to the bus. He rarely notice things on his walk, thinking always about the day ahead. But this day he saw it, picked it up and put it in his messenger bag intending to clean it later, when he got home after work. He had…
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Atop the Pole 無門關 四十六
Sitting atop a hundred foot poleyou are convinced there areonly two directions: pole and down.Old Osho asks, how will you proceedand you stare back at this lunatic.How will you proceed, he repeats? You release the polestep slowly away, lookingat ten directions before you,you move your feet, each onetouches the path of eachof the three worlds…
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DEAR PAVLOV
We both know that havinga pet at our age is wisefor they provide a companionshipthat can be difficult to find.I’ve had both dogs and cats,but the decision this timewas reasonably simple,for dogs have an insatiableneed to walk their people,weather is no impedimentand my arthritis is no longerall that forgiving of damp and cold. So we…
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WITHIN WITHOUT
Today I pausedand had a conversationwith my mind, and found itremarkably enlightening.It wasn’t a terribly long talkfor I quickly ran out of things to sayand I would have swornit had heard them all beforeand anticipated me fully.In the end though,I did have one advantageand simply got upand walked awayand that caught itwholly by surprise.
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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)
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THE TALK
She sat us down this morning for a heart to heart conversation. We had mentioned the neighbors’ new dog, their second, this one little smaller than a pony. She smiled at us, but we could tell it was a false smile, something was hiding about to be set free. “That is the problem with dogs,”…
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an old writer and his words 