Greater Joy
What greater joy is there
than seeing a beloved
fulfill their hopes and dreams?
And what are the unfilled dreams of those I do not call beloved?
Lighting Incense
Catching the flame
in the gap
between seen and unseen
Appreciate Your Life (for Maizumi Roshi)
Bright light shining in my squinting eyes
Baby singing joyful nonsense in my ears
Sitting on a cushion with aching legs
Just this one fleeting moment, appreciated.
Hopes and Dreams
When someone dies
part of the loss
are the hopes and dreams
for the future.
Grieve those too.
Today
Today
The Buddha blinked
October Morning
Sun rises
The fall wind blows
Geese honk on my cushion.
Maple Leaves
“Into the twilight zendo
maple leaves
come dancing.”
Yeats
We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather around us that they may see ... their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even a fiercer life because of our quiet.
William Butler Yeats
Zazen
Gently tending the garden
Wildly herding cats
Zazen
Seicho's Wisdom
Be where your feet are.
-Seicho
Dropping Away
Burning morning incense,
my life
drops away.
Enkyo's Next Breath
A monk asks Enkyo "What is death?"
Enkyo answers "Just the next breath."