Bach again:
'Herr, deine Augen sehen nach dem Glauben',
So it sounds.
But what would faith look like?
When I know what people think of me
Monday, July 27, 2026
a thousand changes and myriad transformations
It's an old assignment.
Philippians 2:12 -- "Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling," NIV
To 'obey' is "to submit to the authority of" something or someone.
It's as though "fear and trembling" is a mandated condition of human life. Is fear and trembling the authority in life? Has it always been so?
When you look closely,
you see that people of the present
are none other than people of old,
and the functions of the present
are none other than the functions of the past;
even going through a thousand changes
and myriad transformations,
here it is just necessary
for you to recognize it first hand
before you can attain it.
(--Foyan, 1067-1120)
We seem to fear both the known and the unknown. Studying my German phrases in school I remember
Habt keine Angst -- have no fear. Or, Fürchte dich nicht -- do not be afraid, (perhaps for classical friends here as composed by Bach.)
Jesus did say "fear not" or "do not be afraid many times in the gospels.
Who, then, is our teacher? Which teaching compels us?
Foyan Qingyuan (1067–1120) was an important master of Chan Buddhism in the Yangqi branch of the Linji School.[1] He was a student of Wuzu Fayan (d. 1104), and was known as one of the "three Buddhas of East Mountain" (the mountain whose famous former resident had been the 5th Chan patriarch Hongren), along with his dharma brothers, Yuanwu Keqin and Taiping Huiqin (1059–1117).[2]
The second ancestor of Zen used to give talks wherever he happened to be, and all who heard him attained true awareness. He didn't establish any slogans or talk about causes and effects of practice and realization.
In his time there was a certain meditation teacher who sent a top disciple to listen in on the Zen ancestor. The disciple never came back. The meditation teacher was furious, and took the occasion of a congress to upbraid his former disciple for disloyalty.
The former disciple said, "My perception was originally true, but it was distorted by a teacher."
Later someone asked a Zen master, "Where is my power of perception?" The Zen master said, "It is not obtained from a teacher."
This is the way to attain Zen. An ancient said, "The Way is always with people, but people themselves chase after things."[5]. (wikipedia)
I ask AI : What is acceptance of reality? This response:
Acceptance of reality is the complete acknowledgment of present facts without judgment, denial, or resistance. It means stopping the internal fight against things you cannot change. It is a core concept taught in Dialectical Behavior Therapy to help people reduce emotional suffering. [1, 2, 3]
What Acceptance Is
- Seeing the truth: Acknowledging what is happening right now, exactly as it is.
- Stopping the fight: Letting go of the anger and frustration of wishing things were different.
- Saving energy: Freeing up your mental energy so you can focus on things you actually can control. [1, 2, 3]
What Acceptance Is Not
- Not approval: You do not have to like, agree with, or support a bad situation.
- Not giving up: It does not mean you are weak or that you will never try to improve things.
- Not surrender: You can accept where you are today while still planning to make changes for tomorrow.[1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Nietzsche wrote about Amor fati -- loving one's fate, rather than just tolerating or resenting it.
It is reasonable to want not to live in fear and trembling of stupidity or evil, not to want to encounter those that perpetrate stupidity or evil, or have to endure those who believe stupidity and evil are desirable ways of governing and ruling.
But reasonable is often an odd ask and a questionable expectation.
And here we are!
The people of old, here now.
Afraid?
Trembling?
Bah!
I've never been a good student. No master would have me. I am always finding myself sent away.
What is the correct teaching?
Go ahead, recognize it first hand!
Habt keine Angst!
Sunday, July 26, 2026
bénédiction incomparable
no pew, this rocking lounge chair
no preacher, this silence and solitude
things have changed, om mane padme hum
(behold what is without within)
no scripture reading apart from human foibles
(behold what is within without), retrieving
the reverse, God is the sound that emptiness
vacates from all unnecessary noise and chatter
and here I worship, to use an antiquated term,
here I attend the sacred in itself, in this space
a cup of tea, a stale muffin, sun on green leaves
a quiet needing no commentary, no chit chat
weight drops ludicrously, wonder lifts everything
into a silence of incomparable benediction
حزن في غزة، عار على إسرائيل *
In Gaza a teenager named Raghad
was killed in an Israeli missile attack
She was seventeen, in high school
buying bread and herbs for her mother
* sorrow in Gaza, shame on Israel
the difficulty of it
Watching police stop videos
What a dangerous frustrating job
Good for those who are good
Saturday, July 25, 2026
μόνος σαν τίποτα άλλο
many people think
hermits don’t like them
that’s not true
hermits like solitude
they want to
leave you alone
like nothing
else is
this poem
Bunker
(--by Andrea Cohen)
What would I
think, coming
up after
my world
had evaporated?
I’d wish
I were water
(--The New York Review of Books, 10june21 issue)
Friday, July 24, 2026
the fundamental of this dharma door
I note what is taking place. Here. In the public sector. In the federal government. In corporate maneuvers. In the Oval Office.
Can I non-abide?
In all worldly situations, whether good or evil,
Pleasant or ugly, friendly or hostile,
And when faced with provocative, critical,
Oppressive and quarrelsome language,
All this should be treated as empty.
All thoughts of retaliation should
Be dismissed.
Instant after instant, one should not
Think of the past, because if past, present and future
Thoughts succeed one another without
Interruption, this is bondage.
If there are no thoughts abiding in anything,
This is freedom from bondage.
Therefore, non-abiding is set up
As the fundamental of this Dharma door.
(--Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra)
It’s not easy not to be anywhere while practicing presence to all creation.
To be where you are as you are, while, at the same time, not abiding anywhere.
In Buddhism, non-abiding (apratiṣṭhita) means not clinging or fixing the mind to any thought, object, or state of existence. It is famously expressed in the Diamond Sutra as "generating the mind while not abiding anywhere” (AI overview)
Because there are guests coming, our local Guanyin and her pals cleaned and refashioned the house, the bookshop-retreat, the yurt, and the chapel-zendo. They are remarkably habitable and refreshed. These are clearly women of distinction and dedication.
I, of course, am useless and defatigable.
But appreciative.
Noting their work.
With gratitude.
Albeit with (apratiṣṭhita), our temporary non-static revelation.
no purpose no longer
It’s not a bad end.
The End
But it is the end.
(As far as I can see.)
Thursday, July 23, 2026
living and dying all the time
If you’re asking me. I don’t know.
– Norman Fischer, “No Beginning, No Ending, No Fear”In what we call death, the body does not disappear. It continues its journey forth. Not a single element is lost. The body simply transforms into air and water and earth and sky.
If you want to know, don’t ask me.
T
here’s a traditional Buddhist practice to contemplate beginnings and endings, called the five reflections. The reflections gently guide the practitioner in meditating on the fact that old age, sickness, and death are built-in features of the human body and mind, that no one can avoid them. Life begins, therefore it has to end. And being subject to beginning and ending, life is inherently vulnerable.
The point of this meditation isn’t to frighten; quite the opposite: the way to overcome fear is to face it and become familiar with it. Since fear is always fear about the future, to face the present fear, and see that it is misplaced, is to reduce it. When I give myself over, for a period of time, or perhaps on a regular basis, to the contemplation of the realities of my aging and dying, I become used to them. I begin to see them differently. Little by little I come to see that I am living and dying all the time, changing all the time, and that this is what makes life possible and precious. In fact, a life without impermanence is not only impossible, it is entirely undesirable. Everything we prize in living comes from the fact of impermanence. Beauty. Love. My fear of the ending of my life is a future projection that doesn’t take into account what my life actually is and has always been. The integration of impermanence into my sense of identity little by little makes me less fearful. (ibid)
If you want ‘me,’ I don’t know me.
I am waiting for you to answer me.
Then I will disappear.
τι δεν υπάρχει
If you’re queasy, don’t look too hard.
“God made everything out of nothing. But the nothingness shows through.” (Paul Valéry, 1871-1945)
Rather, stay with the something you see as familiar and try not to look at what is not there.
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
she is such a mystery, we salute her today
SAINTS DU JOUR
Ps 62:2-9 “Ad Deum vigilat, qui opera noctis reicit.” Una sábbati, María Magdaléne venit mane, cum adhuc ténebræ essent, ad monuméntum. 2Deus, Deus meus es tu,* ad te de luce vígilo. Sitívit in te ánima mea,* te desiderávit caro mea. In terra desérta et árida et inaquósa,† 3sic in sancto appárui tibi,* ut vidérem virtútem tuam et glóriam tuam. 4Quóniam mélior est misericórdia tua super vitas,* lábia mea laudábunt te. 5Sic benedícam te in vita mea* et in nómine tuo levábo manus meas. 6Sicut ádipe et pinguédine repleátur ánima mea,* et lábiis exsultatiónis laudábit os meum. 7Cum memor ero tui super stratum meum,* in matutínis meditábor de te, 8quia fuísti adiútor meus,* et in velaménto alárum tuárum exsultábo. 9Adhǽsit ánima mea post te,* me suscépit déxtera tua. Glória Patri et Fílio* et Spirítui Sancto. Sicut erat in princípio et nunc et semper* et in sǽcula sæculórum. Amen. ... Una sábbati, María Magdaléne venit mane, cum adhuc ténebræ essent, ad monuméntum. | Psalm 62 (63) Very early on the Sunday morning, just as the sun was rising, Mary Magdalen came to the tomb. O God, you are my God, I watch for you from the dawn. My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you. I came to your sanctuary, as one in a parched and waterless land, so that I could see your might and your glory. My lips will praise you, for your mercy is better than life itself. Thus I will bless you throughout my life, and raise my hands in prayer to your name; my soul will be filled as if by rich food, and my mouth will sing your praises and rejoice. I will remember you as I lie in bed, I will think of you in the morning, for you have been my helper, and I will take joy in the protection of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand raises me up. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. ... Very early on the Sunday morning, just as the sun was rising, Mary Magdalen came to the tomb. |
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