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novembre 2013

Perfect zero

By | 2015-10-02T15:21:40+00:00 novembre 18th, 2013|Textes|

Today, wars all around and other natural disasters, the "economy" in tatters, hunger, disease, plastic surgery rampant. And in my weekly agenda, dotted with quotes from artists through the ages, there is this: "Il réalisait parmi les hommes cette figure parfaite que le cercle réalise parmi les lignes géométriques. C'était un zéro." Victor Hugo, note [...]

Lou Reed’s wide-awake death

By | 2017-04-04T06:58:15+00:00 novembre 12th, 2013|Textes|

It's been a couple of weeks since I learned of Lou Reed's death, the day after he died, as I returned to Paris after retreat in Portugal. And only now did I finally find what his wife, the great Laurie Anderson, had to say about his death, about him, about them. Here's a beautiful excerpt: [...]

octobre 2013

Rainbow

By | 2015-10-02T15:23:47+00:00 octobre 29th, 2013|Textes|

Back in Montreuil today. Lazing in the late afternoon with Proust. I look up from the book for a moment, out the window, and there, a magnificent rainbow curves across the cloudy sky like a dome. It seems to hang there, stretching horizon to horizon above the trees, forever. But then finally once when I [...]

A coffee break with nothing and everything

By | 2017-04-04T06:58:15+00:00 octobre 22nd, 2013|Textes|

Without giving much thought to my intention, I left this blog in suspension for awhile. Then I picked it up again. Did it stop? Did it start? Before this item was posted, what was there? You might say, "There was the previous item." But before that previous item, what was there? You might say, "No [...]

Back and running the course

By | 2015-10-02T15:25:58+00:00 octobre 20th, 2013|Textes|

Having never left, I'm back again... The itinerary, as Roshi Joan Halifax said recently as a tip to travelers, is always subject to reality. Myself, I let the summer run its course, with many twists and changes of terrain, before returning to my entries here at zenscribe. I hope you've not given up on me! [...]

juin 2013

Teachings of a whole lifetime

By | 2015-10-02T15:26:15+00:00 juin 7th, 2013|Textes|

A monk asked Yun Men: "What are the teachings of a whole lifetime?" Yun Men replied: "An appropriate response." Not really anything else to add... Yet there remains the question: What is the "appropriate response"?

mai 2013

Nathaniel Dorsky, « Three Times Silence »

By | 2015-10-02T15:26:34+00:00 mai 12th, 2013|Textes|

“There is the world that we see, and then there is the world that artists like Mr. Dorsky see and generously share.” — Manohla Dargis, The New York Times Save the date: The experimental San Francisco filmmaker Nathaniel Dorsky is back in Paris for a projection of some of his recent films at Beaubourg on [...]

Nothing like a bad back to get the mind moving

By | 2017-04-04T06:58:15+00:00 mai 1st, 2013|Textes|

Late afternoon, it’s pouring rain on the worker’s holiday. Haven’t heard whether the usual union marches went forth or if sales of the traditional (here in France, anyway) lilies of the valley were stable. Never know what to expect in these hard economic times. In fact, the truth is we never know what to expect [...]

mars 2013

Right where you are

By | 2015-10-02T15:27:10+00:00 mars 28th, 2013|Textes|

Preparing for a new voyage today: I'll be heading in a few hours for retreat near Lisbon. I'll cross national borders and time zones, shift from one set of cultural habits and ways to another, enter the realm of a language other than the two I usually speak. And yet... Amid all our differences, we'll [...]

One small effort (without fanfare)

By | 2015-10-02T15:27:25+00:00 mars 24th, 2013|Textes|

Since my last post here... ...life... and spring without fanfare. And meanwhile: Whatever snow there was is now long gone. And the sun is as loyal as ever, behind or before the clouds. And night, too, falling upon us quietly. All without fanfare. In the Métro full of commuters the other morning a man was [...]