Category: Zen – Buddhism

  • Trimsatika (Thirty Verses) of Vasubandhu

    Thirty verses on consciousness-only to be chanted. It is one of the core texts of the Yogacara school of Mahayana Buddhism. 1 Everything that is taken as a self; Everything that is taken as other: These are simply changing forms of consciousness. 2 Pure consciousness transforms itself Into three modes: Store consciousness, Thought consciousness, and…

  • Zen Master – Shitou Xiqian (700-790)

    Zen Master Shitou Xiqian is famous for two poems that are classic Zen texts. I recently started reading “Inside the Grass Hut” by Ben Connelly which analyzes each line of “Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage” and discusses the significance in our world today. The author mixes his own experiences and applies the teachings to…

  • Poem – Fields (continued as the lantern disappears)

    Fields 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (1) Shining brilliantly through grey fog hugging the soaked ground the light I cannot see is there in my mind, there in my eyes. Fading snow cover reveals the field I have been searching for the field anchored by one lantern surrounded by ten-thousand trees. “Pick up the lantern…

  • Poem – Fields (continued as the lantern grows brighter)

    Shining brilliantly through grey fog hugging the soaked ground the light I cannot see is there in my mind, there in my eyes. Fading snow cover reveals the field I have been searching for the field anchored by one lantern surrounded by ten-thousand trees. “Pick up the lantern and in the light turn yourself around,…

  • Poem – Fields

    Shining brilliantly through grey fog hugging the soaked ground the light I cannot see is there in my mind, there in my eyes. Fading snow cover reveals the field I have been searching for the field anchored by one lantern surrounded by ten-thousand trees. Pick up the lantern and in the light turn yourself around,…

  • Book Update

    Work on my first collection of poems titled “Beyond the Border Kingdom” has finally gained some traction.  I am almost complete with the second draft and the introduction.  To aid in writing and concentration, I found some new music, most notably three albums by Geomatic: “64 Light Years Away”, “Blue Beam”, and “Cosmochemistry”. The draft…

  • Buddha – Mindfulness

    “Do not dwell in the past, Do not dream of the future, Concentrate the mind on the present moment.”

  • Poem – The Mountains Voice We See and Do Not Hear

    Mountain of snow against the darkening sky drifts from vision and becomes the lost peak of legend. Mountain shadow swallows the valley, consuming trees and river, the last drops of light. What secrets does the mountain take from the day into the night? When the ravens fall silent, when the wind scatters, returning to its…

  • Poem – When Darkness Becomes All That We Know

    Grey infused frozen water consumes the last light before the fields darken. Distant planets follow me from dawn until dusk and a new world emerges where I have become one with beings and energy I do not understand yet make sense at levels I did not know existed. I left my field years before I…

  • Poem – What Matters Most in the Violent Waves

    Thinking back on the past I see the signs and guides more clearly and with more openness than at the time. Thinking about where I am now I plan what future I want, the reach of my sphere of influence and the morals I must exhibit. What I question are the words thrown to the…