octobre 2009
As I become the words
This weekend I traveled to Amsterdam and back. People, places and things were not where and what they were supposed to be, and yet everything was in its place. I read poems with other poets [...]
Daido Roshi has passed
Since 7:30 this morning in New York, John Daido Loori Roshi is no longer as he had been known since birth in 1930. It was raining tonight as I emerged from the Métro to go [...]
Thank you
Am moved at the response regarding a chant for Daido Roshi in what appears to be his final days. Thank you all. His sangha asks, "Please continue your practice during this time and keep Daido [...]
Unexpected according to prediction
Rain this morning was unexpected, although it came according to predictions. In the same way, I can't decide if it's cold or warm or neither. So I just attend to my poems, in between errands, [...]
septembre 2009
Continuity and discontinuity of the enlightened mind
It occurs to me as I am going about the day, from early stirring before sunrise until to the settled darkness of deepening night, through conflicts (with a vexing yet much loved teenager, for one) [...]
Points of meeting
Skimming the headlines, I see this: "Finding order in the chaos of currents." I wonder if it's referring to something like Bernie Glassman's Order of Disorder. Somehow I don't think so. Quite a project, this [...]
Salon des Mots
An open invitation to anyone who will be in Utrecht on Oct. 10: I'm reading my work in this event: Salon des Mots - Season Premiere Saturday October 10 20h Atelier de Werkvloer Brigittenstraat 7 [...]
Crossing the bridge at Jaurès
Last night crossing the bridge at Jaurès, I see the half-moon brilliant over the Canal St. Martin. As the light floods me in the cool dark, I am fathomless as the ocean, without border or [...]
Over my shoulder, a chestnut tree
This afternoon I cross the Montparnasse cemetery, sit for awhile on a bench. The trees are so splendid! Already in the crowded Metro moments before I had been filled with joy, riding with the others, [...]
Make do with everything
It's the day before the first day of autumn. A friend abroad has brought news that his wife is expecting their second child. My old aunt is seriously ill in America. France is abuzz with [...]
Waiting freely
I come to a page and wait for the words. As they come and don't I know that they come and don't but I don't know when or how or what. I only must not [...]
Jim Carroll Died
The poet and punk rocker Jim Carroll (famous for writing The Basketball Diaries) died on Friday at the age of 60. He lived hard and fast, died young and fast. He was wild and free [...]
Hungry ghost tales (II)
In the rue Daguerre again today, passed the old books/new accessories shop. I see stenciled on the window: commerce equitable. When "hungry ghost" "delusion" is transformed, it becomes equanimity. An enriching presence. Maybe next time [...]
My air is your air
This story in the newspaper tonight: "In the past five years, companies and workplaces have violated pollution laws more than 500,000 times. But most polluters have escaped punishment." And my sitting practice in recent days [...]
Hungry ghost tales (I)
A telling tale from the realm of hungry ghosts: In the middle of summer, a small used-book shop on the Left Bank, in the rue Daguerre, announced that it would be closing. The owner said [...]
With You All Along
Colleagues are ordering out for coffee this morning. I decline; I don't drink coffee, only tea. Someone says he only drinks coffee as a distraction. That's why everyone drinks coffee, I say, or tea, for [...]
Learning to listen
Last night in the garden, back after sitting, after the joy of picking up new where we had left off weeks - an eternity - ago, there between branches heavy with leaves, the bright moon [...]
Méditation hebdomadaire/weekly meditation
La pratique recommence à partir du 7 sept. à Paris Les lundis soirs (Mondays), 20h-22h méditation et entretiens (interviews) avec Amy Sensei 4 Passage Courtois 75011 Paris (porte gauche, interphone 'maison', dernière étage) Tél. 06 [...]
Giving myself to it
Newspaper work all day. Arriving in early afternoon, a colleague says, I wonder how many people died in Afghanistan today. Later, at home in my room, I notice that outside the window the sky is [...]
Goodnight Willow
Word reaches me by email at my office this afternoon: Willow the blind cat died this morning in Normandy. I can't remember a thing about that instant only hours ago, which distinguishes it from the [...]
Alexis says:
Alexis says:
Alexis says: