Since Buddhism is all about being mindful of fundamental laws of nature, everything teaches the Dharma. If we look carefully, we can find the entirety of the Buddhist Canon plus every commentary, every YouTube video or podcast, and every poem or essay (both classic and modern) in everything that exists—even imaginary things. It just takes […]
Tag: Zen
First Taste of Ease
Hope. A soft glimmering light burning in some seldom traveled corner of my mind. A whiff of ease, of rest. 2018 has been a clusterfuck of a year, for me and many others. You’re not alone. My friends and family have all went through hard times as well, and I’ve been all over the place. […]
Four Noble Truths of the Heart-Mind
How many times can we keep digging up these dusty old bones for perusal? A lot, apparently. The Dharma is the gift that looks different each time you look at it. Not because it is, but because we are. Sitting around, doing nothing, the Four Truths popped back up again—only this time as the present […]
24 Hours Without Power (Monologue)
The world went dark at 11:34pm. Well, my world did. I’d called off work at 8. We were in the belly of a vicious blizzard that newscasters named Bruce. When did we start naming blizzards anyway? The night was black, and white, and sickly amber from the jaundiced street light down the road. Then, it was […]
Buddhism Explained via Space-Time (Teaching)
Space-time. Buddhism. Why not? We can easily take the Three Marks (Suffering, impermanence, not-self) and adapt them to that model. Whenever we view something as separate from space-time, there’s suffering. When we view things as isolated from space-time, we make them into something very small and fragile. A person is tiny and short-lived. But space-time […]
If Possible, Don’t Practice the Way I Do
My Path is fuuuuucked up. If you can, I recommend taking a sturdy view and method as your own up until you don’t need them anymore. I can’t do that, because I cling way too much to such things. I always have. And I’m like a dog with a bone with this shit. I zero […]
A Sudden Sight (Short)
One thought is the difference between heaven and hell. One feeling, one memory, one glance and the mind spins on its axis. A series of ripples, sparks in the cortex trail off like embers stolen from a fire by a sudden breeze. I saw her face, and the world shook. Not much to look at, […]
Dripping Sky & A Visit to the Vet
The car’s brakes whistle through the drizzling night like some kinda solitary bird, echoing across the blacktop and against the imitation-granite building. I’m standing in the closed pharmacy drive-through, vaping away my lunch hour. Zero nicotine. I quit smoking at the beginning of the year, but in some ways, we are our habits. A suped-up […]
No More Awakenings
Enlightenment looms, both the carrot and the stick. Why do we chase all these euphoria dreams? Since I read Taking the Path of Zen five years ago until now, I’ve never rinsed the taste of awakening out of mouth. It’s everywhere, in every book. Kenshos, insights, those moments of “seeing the light.” The only thing […]
My God, I’m Turning Into Bukowski!
“Fuck, I’m the Charles Bukowski of Zen—minus the sexism.” The back porch was warm after a half hour sit. The cats we’re fostering looked at me like I was an extraterrestrial lifeform. It was a decent sit. Returning to the simple, the bare bones, has been good. Tossing aside my academic Buddhist reading and writing […]
