Sitting here wondering about torpor at midday, pausing for no apparent reason amid translating work that I like.
I am turned to thoughts of what to say.
Thoughts of having to say something.
Cars come and go outside. The cloud cover thins. Cat upset when moved. Voices pass in the street.
I am stillness passing in silence.
Just rest and cease,
Keizan Zenji, an old Zen master, said centuries ago. Be cooled, pass numberless years as this moment. Be cold ashes, a withered tree, an incense burner in an abandoned temple, a piece of unstained silk.
A piece of unstained silk at noon
About the Author: zenscribe
Enseignante Zen et poète, Sensei Amy “Tu es cela” Hollowell est née et a grandi à Minneapolis, aux Etats-Unis. Arrivée en France en 1981 pour étudier la littérature et l’histoire, elle y est restée, s’installant à Paris, où elle élève ses deux enfants et gagne sa vie en tant que journaliste.
The Zen teacher and poet Amy “Tu es cela” Hollowell Sensei was born and raised in Minneapolis, but came to France in 1981 to study literature and history and has lived in Paris ever since, raising her two children and making a living as a journalist.
the still point
where doing becomes being
life living itself
the right tension
the right words
the right action
the right perception
the right insight
…
"…relax…" a young teacher living right now always says
Just rest…
Ombra mai fù.. the aria from Handel says it too.
Never has there been a shade
of a plant
more clear and lovely,
or more gentle.