After Portugal: Leaving nothing behind

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After Portugal: Leaving nothing behind

It’s Wednesday, late afternoon, a balmy day in the city easing to its end. Ran some errands and then had lunch in the neighborhood with an old dharma sister/friend. The grilled salmon was nice and the miso soup, too. We checked in with each other, laughed, listened, shared our differences. Each then went her way, which is what we’ve always been doing all along.

Returned yesterday from another splendid trip to Portugal. An airport strike in Porto and a train strike in Paris took the routine out of the voyage home.

After the retreat and a leisurely afternoon in Coimbra, I gave a conference entitled, « The Universe in the Palm of Your Hand » at the Fnac. I was introduced in Portuguese, and it was noted that I am a poet and journalist. It occurred to me that these two « roles » express the two aspects of me, of my being, of all of us, of all things: poetry is the universe, journalism is the palm of my hand. And the two are not two, for my poetry is journalistic and my journalism is poetic; both and all express just what is, here and now, neither transcending nor remaining, beyond yet leaving nothing behind.

By | 2017-04-04T06:58:19+00:00 mars 24th, 2010|Textes|5 Comments

About the Author:

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.

5 Comments

  1. HJ 27 mars 2010 at 14 h 47 min - Reply

    never ending movement of words and thoughts.

    in the morning when leaving to my job i fill my bag and pockets. arriving in work i take out what i need and start my daily tasks and reply to what is being asked. going to lunch i leave some things and choose to take others. after lunch i feel full and satisfied. some hours later, at dinner time, i start to prepare again some food. i will have soup.

  2. tu es cela 27 mars 2010 at 13 h 08 min - Reply

    How do you define reception? There is always response.

  3. Hj 27 mars 2010 at 6 h 03 min - Reply

    but there is always a reception, right?

  4. Tu es cela 25 mars 2010 at 21 h 31 min - Reply

    Feedback? All I can say was that there was a reception of what was being transmitted.

  5. HJ 25 mars 2010 at 5 h 39 min - Reply

    How was the feedback of the people at the conference?

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