septembre 2009
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 [...]
Not thinking what I see
Late afternoon. I'm sitting in an armchair in the back garden, under the overhang, watching the wind whip the world to and fro. Above the tree line, the sky veers from pale gray back to [...]
Loop of what is at hand
Summer is drawing to its end, and I have no answer. Perhaps that is the answer, as always: Pen moving across page, fingers tapping keys, letters, then words, then phrases. Not looking forward or back, [...]
Contre toute attente
Rain today, contre toute attente, and after a night of somewhat stifling heat that had had me tossing over and over in my bed. Was convinced in reverie that it was all due to biological [...]
août 2009
Always returning, wherever I go
Coming and going again. Corsica was a marvelous Mediterranean gem. A perfect nine days wandering amid turquoise sea, white sand, rugged mountains. Kindness also bountiful. Now for something completely different: Normandy for final summer retreat. [...]
Talk in August 2009, Portugal
Out of Bounds: The Bodhisattva’s Way Since yesterday I’ve been thinking about a question someone asked: Is there ever any mention of compassion in this Zen practice? Is there any emphasis on compassion? I was [...]
Retreat notes, Portugal (II)
As we sit in the cool room in the midday heat, the roof cracks and creaks overhead. I am filled with a swelling love for this beautiful building, its selfless giving of itself so that [...]
Retreat notes, Portugal (I)
A woman tells me on the first night during my introduction instructions that although she didn't know anything about Zen, she came to the retreat because, she said, she told herself that if she didn't [...]
Talk in Portugal, Aug. 3, 2009
Ritually rich, in and out of order As was requested, I will try to say something about the forms and rituals of this practice. Before that question came up this morning, I had been writing [...]
juillet 2009
Sit and see
Ready to "go" again. Retreat in Portugal this time. After all these years, I still love (or am in love with?) the idea that any number of disparate individuals choose to come together from their [...]
Falls a maple leaf
Amid the bustle of worldly affairs, summer is hot and cool, dry and wet, clear and overcast, day and night... I'm like that, too, one activity, another activity, and another... The papers are full of [...]
We’ll never be there again
Back now from retreat. Return after a week away to find the city relaxed, moving step by step, unbound. Recall the mist on the green morning hills outside my window before a first sitting. Night [...]
