Zazen
Breathing in and out
Isn’t just for the cushion;
It’s the entire thing.
If you practice just sitting,
This moment is everywhere.
Try to stop breathing,
And your attention can’t last;
You are mind and body.
Pretending at something else
Requires a lot of thinking.
Everything you do
Requires breathing in and out;
It’s all important.
So everything is sacred,
And that is also empty.
21 JUL 2024
06.13.24
Shikantaza
Who is just sitting?
It is not me, or is it,
here on the cushion.
Who is asking the question?
Nobody really knows that.
13 JUN 2024
| Posted in Poems | No Comments »
Om Mani Padme Hum
Oh, to express in simple words
My fervent wish and prayer:
Mankind, to find its center space
And seek beyond rebirth and death;
Not worry that it leaves behind
Infinite unfinished possibilities.
Peace: that is what we lose
Amidst this daily upmanship,
Denying that with win or lose, what’s
Mine is fleeting, as is yours.
Each treasures their illusions best.
Harm another, harm yourself.
Understanding this, transcend and let
Mankind evolve and learn to live.
31 JUL 2006
| Posted in Poems | No Comments »
Om
What is the sound that echoes in the ears
when all is silent and the earth, asleep,
leaves off its boisterous clamor and harangue,
its endless waves of wild, chaotic speech,
and in a mute and restful slumber dreams?
The world in such a chasm’s wake was born,
its roots entwined around a primal hush
that swallowed nothingness without a word
and cast itself out like a spider’s web
from shadow’s body into space and time.
The frequency at which that first hum sounds
destroys the fibers of its universe;
each phase an ending that begins again,
a great abyss which endlessly refills,
reverberating in ears not yet made.
Infinity is but a moment’s span
as worlds wink in and out like distant stars;
and time becomes an artificial guide,
a meaningless contrivance marking out
where one illusion borders on the next.
20 DEC 2004
| Posted in Poems | No Comments »
A Meditation Haiku
Take a slow breath.
Don’t hold it long; let it go.
See, there is more air.
Take a good, long look;
Don’t scan the scene too quickly.
See, there is so much.
Take a deep swallow.
Don’t rush it; chew the liquid.
See how full you get.
Take a pause; listen.
Don’t mind all the surface noise.
See, you can do it.
Now give it all back.
Of course you have to keep some;
so you’ve changed the world.
Take a short lesson:
Each moment is a treasure;
gold can’t buy one back.
Breathe, look, drink, listen.
Become part of the whole world.
See — you can’t help it.
29 JUN 2004
| Posted in Poems | No Comments »
Bright and Clear: a ballade
There is a quiet place where one may find
a respite from the bustle of the day;
where silence soothes the worry of the mind
and with its echo, holds the world at bay.
In this majestic lull the muses play,
and come forth from the mist to seek my ear;
they whisper of enchanted, secret ways,
and offer inspiration bright and clear.
When seeing far too much has left me blind,
and history’s sad lessons bring dismay,
then sacred wisdom’s cloak around me winds,
to bring me peace and clear my doubt away.
And then, I turn back, strong, to the melee,
to fight against the shadows as they near;
with courage to withstand those who nay say,
and offer inspiration bright and clear.
Upon the right, the doubters may confine,
and on my left, authorities hold sway;
old friends may wonder at my new design,
while strangers at my doorstep wait in prey.
Yet on this course, I am obliged to stay
and ever forward, seek in spite of fear;
to search for truth, and find it where I may
and offer inspiration bright and clear.
So to this quiet place, I often stray,
when stagnant thought engulfs what I hold dear;
where I can search my heart for what to say
and offer inspiration bright and clear.
27 NOV 2002
11.15.02
Time Out in the Morning
Some people like Mozart in the morning to get their brains going (at least, that’s one of the prevailing theories, that in particular Mozart’s quartets and quintets are counterpoint that causes your neurons to fire in an order conducive to enhanced synapse activity – on a par with getting a processor accelerator for your PC, which is what the brain is, albeit its artificial intelligence we as OEM installations tend to think is less artificial than other types of intelligence). Oh, how I go on …
Anyway, while some prefer Mozart, I think it’s essential to swing a little early on, and yet find something that will jerk you (gently, of course, it is the butt-crack of dawn) out of your alpha-state. For this delicate task, I have found there is nothing better than a little Dave Brubeck – in particular, his quartet’s classic albums Time Out and Time Further Out. The former, of course, is almost immediately recognizable; the latter is more than more of the same, and I in particular like the Maori-influenced selections. Not quite as culturally-savant as, say, Jazz Impressions of Japan … when I saw Bru in 1994, he and his current group played some selections from that overlooked gem … quite wonderful indeed.
Something is missing from the stereophonic records of the present … something that, if you listen to older rock records, and most jazz from the 50’s and 60’s, you’ll find in spades. That is, of course, STEREO separation. Different instruments on the right and the left, without bleed over; you know, the kind of recordings where if your left car speaker is out, you don’t hear half the tune (only, for example, the “spangle-lang” of Elvin Jones without the cascading sheets of ‘Trane). The Beatles albums had this wonderful feature; most great psychedelic era bands knew how to use it (although not always judiciously). It gives your brain something to think about, separate chunks to process, different paths to interact with. And there is, as a result of this ONLY REASON TO RECORD IN STEREO, something that is so definitely, desparately and sadly lacking from most modern recordings — space.
Oh, but I digress (actually, how can it be a digression when it is the tangent that is more satisfying than the main course) …
Morning, ya’ll…
| Posted in Conversations | No Comments »
| Posted in Poems | No Comments »