I row beyond Curtis Island this sunny very warm October day after morning meditation practice. In evening when bright moon illuminates road and snow bowl field I walk for an hour in the lingering warm moonlight beside Hosmer Pond. Then listen to Compline in cabin sitting in stillness as the Shema is recited on this holy day.
The world holds beauty and sorrow in wide embrace.
Climbing Green-Cliff MountainWhen we are quiet there is no one not visiting in attendance to our receptive hospitality. Maybe that explains why we shun silence.
Taking a little food, a light walking-stick,
I wander up to my home in quiet mystery,
The path along streams winding far away
Onto ridgetops, no end to this wonder at
Slow waters silent in their frozen beauty
And bamboo glistening at heart with frost,
Cascades scattering a confusion of spray
And broad forests crowding distant cliffs.
Thinking it's moonrise I see in the west
And sunset I'm watching blaze in the east,
I hike on until dark, then linger out night
Sheltered away in deep expanses of shadow.
Immune to high importance: that's renown.
Walk humbly and it's all promise in beauty,
For in quiet mystery the way runs smooth,
Ascending remote heights beyond compare.
Utter tranquility, the distinction between
"Yes this" and "no that" lost, I embrace primal
Unity, thought and silence woven together,
That deep healing where we venture forth.
- Hsieh Ling-yun (385-433)
Tonight, no shunning.
Every one is here.
As God is.
Here.