novembre 2012
Retreat in the Heart of Life, Day III
Quick notes from the top of the morning... Occupied by a sore leg, mental agitation, differences of opinion, strife in Gaza and in little corners of myself, and then suddenly word that a baby has [...]
Retreat in the Heart of Life, Day II
With the first flickers of light in my eyes this morning, I begin my meditation by acknowledging all those with whom I share this retreat week. There are all those who have sent email confirming [...]
Retreat in the Heart of Life
"A Retreat in the Heart of Life" (Retraite au Coeur de la Vie) Date: Nov. 19-24 Place: Wherever you are Wherever you are, life is there! How could Zen practice be anywhere else? Take a [...]
Obama, Act II
It sometimes seems like such a mad, mad world: economics, politics, athletics, entertainment, disease, birth, death, natural disaster, cruelty, war, love, distraction, waste, abundance... My own life has all of that in varying doses, shifting [...]
octobre 2012
Come as you are
Retreating to Portugal once again. Three days in Coimbra... far from the hurricane, yet right in the middle of it, the hurricane of every moment. Join us, wherever you are, whenever you can. Come as [...]
My new book: « Giacomettrics »
I'm fabulously delighted to announce the publication of my new collection, Giacomettrics, just out from corrupt press. If you're in Paris, please come help me launch it on Nov. 6 (see details below). If [...]
Late afternoon, touched with love
Late, late afternoon here in the city. It's that "moment" of day's light sliding into night's dark. Even as I'm writing that, as the words take form, I'm aware of day/night as convenient labels for [...]
What’s a bodhisattva, anyway?
In response to a question raised in a reader's comment on the previous entry, I'd like to offer an explanation of what I mean by the word "bodhisattva." Note that these words reflect my experience, [...]
Get what you want or get what you need?
I stumbled upon this comment today, and am throwing it out there to see what others might have to say. It touches on so many issues that many of us find ourselves confronting daily - [...]
Program 2012-2013
One-day retreats (Paris)/retraites d’une journée à Paris 6 Oct. 24 Nov. 19 Jan. 16 Feb. 16 March 16 June (Bloomsday) Weekend retreats: 1-4 Nov. (Portugal) 29-31 March (Portugal) 25-28 April (Gent, Belgium) with Frank de [...]
Retreat in the Heart of Life: The Day After
And now what? Our "retreat" ended yesterday, with some of us sitting all day in Paris, sharing our bring-a-dish lunch and finishing in late afternoon with a Gate of Sweet Nectar ceremony. A fine day [...]
Retreat in the Heart of Life, Day V
The day looks like this so far: breakfast, lunch, Skype appointment, laundry and dishes to wash, the rain outside, a cup of green tea inside, catching up with email traffic and administrative duties, now preparing [...]
Leonard Cohen’s imperfect perfect offering
Another marvelous Leonard Cohen concert last night, and this time at the legendary Olympia theater in Paris. Today, it seems like whatever I might write about the experience here would be merely words words words. [...]
septembre 2012
Méditation hebdomadaire/weekly meditation
Les lundis soirs (Mondays), 20h-22h méditation et entretiens (interviews) avec Amy Sensei 4 Passage Courtois 75011 Paris (porte gauche/door on left, interphone 'maison', dernière étage/top floor) Tél. 06 10 87 82 19 (Joa) Les vendredis [...]
Kind words from a critic
Toot, toot, sounding my horn: An ever-so-brief note to those interested in my poetry: Here is a link to a fine review of my short collection Peneloping: http://sabotagereviews.com/2012/09/17/peneloping/ I am greatly grateful to the author, [...]
Adrift in transition
When the moment came to once again start tapping in words here, I was initially held up by some technical difficulties before finally managing to "enter" zenscribe's empty pages. Anxiety gives way to relief: The [...]
juillet 2012
On retreat with you
OK, heading off early tomorrow for the weeklong summer retreat in Portugal. We go there and sit together and delve into the pulling back from usual habits of our daily lives. And yet, our daily [...]
Boundless talent
The other day, a fellow journalist remarked to me that my "talents" were being "wasted" because I was required to edit a text that consisted of little items about famous "people," the kind of celebrity [...]
To sit or not to sit?
Someone told me the other day that she/he had not been sitting lately because he/she was not doing well, because he/she was stressed and had many complications with relationships, work, everyday life. I suppose we [...]
« It takes as long as it takes »
Today was one of those days: one "thing" after another, the timing such that I had no "down" time, as we say, except during Métro rides from one "place" to another. Awoke early, worked at [...]
