William Ricci

Tag: empty field

  • Movie – Oblivion

    This is somewhat of a belated review of the movie “Oblivion” starring Tom Cruise, Morgan Freeman, Olga Kurylenko, and Andrea Riseborough that was released in 2013. I first watched this movie 3 or 4 months ago and while it was “good”, it did not make much of an impression or stick with me. I wrote…

  • Poem – Morning Light

    There is the perfect moment – birds sing, the wind circles the body, dogs lay and sniff the air, ravens and ducks land on rooftops and trees, prairie grass crackles – when burdens fall away with no effort. Briefly what followed leaves – I become aware of this too quickly and everything tumbles back but…

  • Book Review – Cultivating the Empty Field

    This is a follow-up to my previous post about the book “Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi”. This book is edited and translated by Taigen Dan Leighton and Yi Wu. I would consider this a classic Zen text and one every practitioner, from beginnings to masters should have. Included are…

  • Book – Not answers, but where to look

    The one single book that has helped me to focus, let go, and where to find the answers is “Cultivating the Empty Field” by Zen Master Hongzhi. This was recommended years ago by Hanakia Zedek, and along with his friendship, has truly been life changing.

  • Poem – Walked Across the Field

    I walked across that empty field after the weeds took over and boulders fell from the darkening sky and trees took root. I walked across what used to be the empty field a gameboard for my mind a history of what has taken place, what I allowed to happen and I threw gasoline everywhere and…

  • Poem – Across the Empty Field

    I see a shadow sitting beneath a tree. The tree does not move and the shadow is still. Many moons and suns pass before I walk across the field through snow and over rocks, littered with objects of vague significance, they continue to gather and multiply until I am no longer able to reach myself.

  • Empty Field Dharma Resources

    I have read many books, different views, and different schools of thought. Everything I study now is focused on Japanese and Tibetan Buddhism, which have slightly varied paths, for lack of a better word. When I read and think about each, the Japanese makes more sense and resonates deeper within. 1. Tibetan Buddhism Mahayana –…

  • New Project – Empty Field Dharma

    I have started a new site dedicated to information and discussion around the Empty Field Dharma. The concept of an Empty Field is derived from Zen Master Hongzhi from the book “Cultivating the Empty Field” and the Soto Zen school of Buddhism. I have read many books, different views, and different schools of thought. Everything…

  • Poem – I awoke…

    I awoke after years of semi-concious sleep not in bed, or in some familiar place – in an empty field. Some distace away in an unknown direction two wolves played with a gold sphere.

  • Poem – Gate

    Passing the building made of stone outlines of people in the windows. Are they watching the patch-robed monk passing by? What experiences brought them here? What truths do they have? When the seasons change for the last time of the present life, experience, truth, non-truth – merge a final push to reach further down the…