Category Archives: 06/25/2020

Laughter has to be a part of life. No one can be alive without laughing. There is no humor in the Bible. Zen saves Buddhism. Taoism was there before Zen was. Makes Taoism the go-to perspective for life. Chung Tzu leads the way! Leih Tzu is next in line. Wen Tzu softens Lao Tzu andContinue reading “November 13-B, 2022”

Our standard of measure isn’t what we get out of it, but the quality and degree of effort we put into it. How pleased are we with our level of focus, concentration, attentive presence, compassion/kindness/concern, situation by situation throughout the day? How could we be more involved with, attuned to, a part of, what isContinue reading “November 12-A, 2022”

Dylan Thomas’ poem, “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Light, Rage, Rage Against The Dying Of The Light,” misses the point that the light doesn’t die, and our dying may well be a transition back into the light that is our origin and our destination. One form of energy returning to another form ofContinue reading “November 10-C, 2022”

The human spirit is like the wind that blows where it will– and it must be this way in order to catch up with, exhibit and reflect the wind at the heart of life, blowing where, boundless, without restraint or restrictions, alive and living to go and be and do, where and when and howContinue reading “November 10-A, 2022”

The Farther Shore is never farther away than the fore-shortened distance from the canoes to the moraine. It is a matter of perspective, of “turning the light around,” of seeing with eyes that see things as they are: Oneness everywhere, right here, right now, for those with eyes to see. What do you see? LookContinue reading “November 07-B, 2022”

Water seeks its own level, as does every other thing. The Cosmos and all there is therein are all looking for balance, harmony, equilibrium, stability, homeostasis, oneness within and without, peace, tranquility, serenity, the Elysian Fields, the Farther Shore, the Pure Land, Nirvana, Heaven… The stable state of a gyroscope, not static, but fluid inContinue reading “November 07-A, 2022”

No one can do better than doing the right thing at the right time in the right place and the right way. And no one can think that into place. Yet, it happens all of the time, and not nearly often enough. Because we have our mind on other things. Our attention wanders, our focusContinue reading “November 05-B, 2022”

How’s your balance and harmony? Your stability and security? Your integrity and sincerity? The three pairs work together to ground and center you and send you into each day in search of what needs to be done in each situation as it arises to do it and to bring yourself forth in so doing toContinue reading “November 03-B, 2022”

I hate every mistake, snafu, wrong turn, bad choice, etc. I have ever made, and there be many, yet, each one of them factored into who I am. Where would I be– who would I have become– without them? I am my adjustments/corrections/reversals/alterations. And you are yours. The way we have responded to the errorsContinue reading “November 02-B, 2022”

Do you think bears think of quitting? Or, considering their chances and thinking of folding up? Checking out? Because it’s just too much? Or pelicans? Chipmunks? Things aren’t going their way? Do you think they ever think about things not going their way? I think they just wake up and go meet the day, everyContinue reading “November 02-A, 2022”

What I know of monastic life consists of chants and prayers, sitting zazen, daily chores, eating and sleeping. It’s pretty much busy-work to keep their mind off their life in an “idle hands are the devil’s workshop” kind of way. How to fill the time is every teacher-master’s nightmare. There is only so much toContinue reading “November 01-C, 2022”

It is never any more difficult than stepping into the day and doing what needs to be done there. We clutter things up with plans and agendas, willing this, wanting that, wondering “When is it going to be our turn?”– waiting for something to happen that will be like a gift from some fairy godmother,Continue reading “November, 1st Week, 2022”