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i will close my eyes, so that i may see
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Enso

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Mead Crater:
"Mead crater is the largest impact crater on Venus, with a diameter of 280 kilometers (174 miles). The crater has an inner and an outer ring and a small ejecta blanket surrounding the outer ring. The crater floor looks very similar in morphology to the surrounding plain. The dark vertical bands running through the image are artifacts associated with processing the synthetic aperature radar (SAR) data. Illumination is from the left at an incidence angle of 45 deg."
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drift

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image by Jack Lord

Buddha Rising

National Geographic Magazine December 2005

The man who taught me the most about Buddhism wasn't a monk with a shaved head. He didn't speak Sanskrit, and he didn't live in a Himalayan monastery. In fact he wasn't even a Buddhist. He was Carl Taylor, a lifelong San Franciscan who looked to be in his late 40s. At the moment, he appeared cold, sitting upright in a bed rolled into the gardens off the hospice ward at Laguna Honda Hospital. It was a blue-sky summer afternoon, but in this city that often means a bone-penetrating chill. Carl was dying of cancer.

I was spending a week with the Zen Hospice Project, a Buddhist organization whose volunteers assist the staff of the 25-bed hospice unit at the hospital, perhaps the largest public long-term care facility in the United States. The project, now emulated around the world, uses two of Buddhism's central teachings—awareness of the present moment and compassion for others—as tools to help bring a degree of dignity and humanity to those in the last stages of their lives. They're not easy lessons to learn.

I sat beside Carl, helping adjust the well-worn jacket he used as a blanket. He wore his terminal diagnosis with resigned bravado. I tried to make small talk, but it was going terribly. What solace can you offer someone who doesn't have long to live and knows it?

"So what kind of work do, er, did you do?"

Long silence. Slow drag on his cigarette. An eternity passed as we watched a white tuft of cloud break the blue monotony and move across the sky.

"I don't really talk about my past."

OK. Squirming to keep the conversation moving, I mentally scrolled through my list of questions. If I couldn't ask about the past and there was no sense in asking about the future, that left only the present. And in the present, I was learning, there are no questions; there is just being. This made me feel awkward at first: Stripped of his questions, the journalist has no identity.

But Carl seemed content to have me just sit there, my company alone helping ease some of his suffering. Once I accepted that I had nothing to do and nowhere to go, I relaxed. Carl looked sideways at me and smiled. We both understood I had just learned a small lesson. Together we watched another white cloud go by.

moon

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image by Jack Lord

A monk introduced himself to the teacher Hsuan-sha, saying, "I have just entered this monastery. Please show me where to enter the Way."

"Do you hear the sound of the valley stream?" asked Hsuan-sha.

"Yes," said the monk.

"Enter there!"

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Autumn wins you best by this its mute appeal to sympathy for its decay.
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- Robert Browning
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image by Jack Lord

fishing

The Palouse - Photo Credit: J. Poth

Dust and sand in his eyes, dirt in his ears,
He doesn't consent to stay in the myriad peaks.
Falling flowers, flowing streams, very vast.
Suddenly raising my eyebrows - where has he gone?
- Hsueh-tou (980-1052)
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The 'you' who you think you are does not exist.
- Alan Watts
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The road enters green mountains near evening's dark;
Beneath the white cherry trees, a Buddhist temple
Whose priest doesn't know what regret for spring's passing means-
Each stroke of his bell startles more blossoms into falling.
- Keijo Shurin
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Powell's Books - Roaring Stream (Ecco Companions) by Nelson Foster
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In Sunyata:
No Form, no Feeling, no Thought,
No Volition, no Consciousness.
No Eyes, no Ears, no Nose, no Tongue, no Body, no Mind.
No Seeing, no Hearing, no Smelling, no Tasting,
No Touching, no Thinking;
No world of Sight.
No world of Consciousness;
No Ignorance and no end to Ignorance;
No Old Age and Death and no end to Old Age and Death.
No Suffering, no Craving, no Extinction, no Path;
No Wisdom, no Attainment.
- Heart Sutra
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You've got to practice meditation when you walk, stand, lie down, sit, and work, while washing your hands, washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, drinking tea, talking to friends, or whatever you are doing. When you are washing the dishes, washing the dishes must be the most important thing on your life. Just as when you are drinking tea, drinking tea must be the most important thing in your life.
- Thich Nat Hahn
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Cold Mountain is a house
Without beams or walls.
The six doors left and right are open
The hall is blue sky.
The rooms all vacant and vague
The east wall beats on the west wall
At the center nothing.
- Han Shan, circa 630
Translated by Gary Snyder
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Barn's burnt down--
now
I can see the moon.
- Masahide (1657-1732)
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image credits unknown

light

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images by Jack Lord

Tingshas

"These prayer chimes have been used for centuries by Tibetan Buddhists to prepare for meditation. When the two pieces strike each other they produce a clear, pure, cleansing sound which can be used to focus the mind before and after meditation. Tingshas can be used for space clearing to remove negative energies."

Jumping Water Books

baby shoes

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image by Jack Lord

A world of dew,
and within every dewdrop
a world of struggle

Issa

Budo means "the way of war" (bu, "war"). But the Japanese character bu, as Deshimaru points out, also means to cease the struggle, to sheathe the sword.

Zen in the Martial Arts, Introduction by George Leonard

What is a bell?

"In the Buddhist tradition, the first sound that a bell makes when struck signifies the awakened state which sees clearly into the nature of reality, and the fading tone is considered to be an icon of that reality, insofar as it symbolizes both awakening and impermanence. Thus the clear, brilliant sound of the bell symbolizes the emptiness, and therefore the openness of reality. Small handbells such as the one shown to the right are made of a blend of metals, and are used in tantric music. The bell is used as a sonic focus for meditation, a cadence factor for mantra recitation, and so forth. The sound of the bell is an apt symbol of the impermanence of all things."
Blagovest Bells� What is a bell?

foot grass leaf path
bronze lung bell struck
mallet bong breath sound
fog awake empty lost
resonate again open end

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text by Jack Lord

centered

vibrant

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dog leash jangle black crow cackle
tire bent tubeless bike toss tangle
each breath feel less feel less
arms detatch lift away emptiness expanse
float clear airborne mind transport device

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text by Jack Lord

ZEN - KODAIJI-TEMPLE

an off-beat,humorous and informative site about ZEN concepts - turn off any pop-up blockers and turn-up the speakers (requires Shockwave - this is not your Great-Great-Great Grandfather's Zen website)

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images by Jack Lord

"Pure energy" - Spock

looking for

Ganesh
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image by Jack Lord

shoot out the lights
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knock back draw in snuffle snort
serpentine sidewalk foot stomp
doc martin heel sole crush leaf
rust chain two posts swing creek
tea bag string fray submerge seep

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text by Jack Lord

grand finale
kukla fran + ollie
mind scattered
all nothing
spread everywhere
rumpled sheets
socks from last week
another day
nevermind namaste

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.text by Jack Lord

Though I think not
To think about it,
I do think about it
And shed tears
Thinking about it.
- Ryokan

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The most important thing is to find out
what is the most important thing.
- Shunryu Suzuki

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image by Jack Lord

only one koan matters
you

- Ikkyu

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How long had Ryoanji been there? You must have asked --
but there is no remembrance, just the rocks
and the gravel and the wall
and the very great silence,
the rootedness of deep meditation,
the weight of the rocks and the trees of this earth,
as if their roots grew right down through your heart...
- Jan Haag, Ryoanji Zen Garden

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image by Jack Lord

Standing alone on a solitary peak,
The gateless gate crumbles.
Moving straight up the windy
road,
Heaven and earth are walking as one.

Buddhas intimate with buddhas--
What need is there for old
medicine bottles?
Then thousand blossoms perfume
the vast sky.
Like this, like this !
- Bernard Tetsugen Glassman


There ain't no answer.
There ain't going to be an answer.
There never has been an answer.
That's the answer.
- Gertrude Stein


Center of all centers, core of cores,
almond self-enclosed and growing sweet--
all this universe, to the furthest stars
and beyond them, is your flesh, your fruit.

Now you feel how nothing clings to you;
your vast shell reaches into endless space,
and there the rich, thick fluids rise and flow.
Illuminated in your infinite peace ......
- Rainer Maria Rilke


Completely freed from yes and no;
great emptiness charged within;
no questions, no answers;
like a fish, like a fool.
- Robert Aitken

bailey

tinkerbell

duncan

2-year-old
finds a solitary
dried bean
on the floor
seals it in
a ziplock bag
smiling shakes it and
shakes it some more

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text by Jack Lord

History is made at night. Character is what you are in the dark.
- Lord John Whorfin

Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking.
- Goethe

Once at Cold Mountain, troubles cease
No more tangled, hung-up mind;
I idly scribble poems on the rock cliff
Taking whatever comes, like a drifting boat.
- Han Shan

Picture a massless particle.
- Koan of Modern Physics

Lift the stone and you will find me; cleave the wood and I am there.
- Jesus

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
- John Lennon

One sees great things from the valley, only small things from the peak.
- G K Chesterton

Do not fear mistakes- there are none.
- Miles Davis

image by Jack Lord

Geography of Heaven

Geography of Heaven: Vrindavan
The Embodiment of Earthly Divinity


Morning Edition, November 2, 2005 · The Yamuna River flowing past Vrindavan is considered sacred, and the faithful often make temporary shrines on its shores and float flowers downstream, lit by candles. Krishna is said to have bathed here 5,000 years ago, and it is auspicious to follow in his footsteps.

With all Vrindavan’s past splendor, there is evidence everywhere that belies its spiritual purity. It's not just the pollution -- the waters of the Yamuna are black with pollution -- it is also the poverty.

The Hindi word "vrinda" translates to a devotion to spiritual purity. That devotion is shared by most in the city, regardless of their place in the highly stratified caste system that still rules Indian society. They seem united by their spiritual quest.

"Everybody is suffering," says religious teacher Vrinda Davidasi. "And our ultimate aim is to merge into our beloved -- when we are into that, then no more sufferings. We won’t come into this material body again. Our soul will be merged."

The focus of many worshippers is the Radha Raman Temple, where a black stone statue of Krishna sits enshrined.

The tiny figure, no more than six inches high, is nearly lost in the folds of saffron and maroon robes -- but the sight of the black rock sends the faithful into raptures of joy.

"They surge forward," says Alex Chadwick. "The raise their faces, they raise their arms, they raise a sense of a deep, shared, harmonious bliss -- and they look so happy."

NPR : The Embodiment of Earthly Divinity


Posted October 25, 2005

BY: NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO

Oct 25, WASHINGTON, DC — Alex Chadwick Explores Vrindavan, India, and Its Role on Hindus' Beliefs in the Afterlife

NPR/National Geographic's "Radio Expeditions" Visits Heaven On Earth - The Ancient Indian City Where Krishna Followers Believed He Lived - In Three-Part Series Airing On "Morning Edition" October 31-November 2

Is there really heaven on earth? For the latest NPR/National Geographic "Radio Expeditions" series, "Geography of Heaven," Alex Chadwick explores Vrindavan, India, an ancient town south of Delhi that is regarded by devotees of the Hindu god Krishna as the most sacred place on earth.

"Radio Expeditions: Geography of Heaven - Vrindavan" will air on Morning Edition October 31, November 1 and November 2.

Using state-of-the-art digital stereo audio equipment, "Radio Expeditions'" travels beyond the motorbikes and diesel engines of 21st century Vrindavan and ventures through the city's countless shrines celebrating Krishna and inside the temples built by maharajas to experience Krishna traditions and rituals during the Hindu New Year.

Enriching the three-part series will be an extensive Radio Expeditions section on NPR.org providing additional information, photos, soundscapes and transcripts. Chadwick also shares his Vrindavan experience in a feature in the November 2005 issue of National Geographic magazine.

"Vrindavan" kicks off a long-term "Geography of Heaven" series, airing over the coming year, that will explore the fundamental beliefs shared by billions of people in India, China, Africa, Pakistan and the United States. The series will explore what different cultures and faiths believe about the afterlife and how these beliefs drive their followers' daily existences. Among the features in production is an examination of sacred mountains, regarded as dwelling places of the divine, that will follow along on a ritual pilgrimage to Kawa Karpo mountain in eastern Tibet.

NPR : Geography of Heaven: Vrindavan

"Searching for the sign and the sign is us"

Damian Marley

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I see a vision of a great rucksack revolution, thousands or even millions of young Americans wandering around with their rucksacks, going up the mountains to pray, making children laugh and old men glad ... Zen lunatics who go about writing poems.
Jack Kerouac
The Dharma Bums

Were I a cloud I'd gather
My skirts up in the air,
And fly well know whither,
And rest I well know where.
- Robert Seymour Bridges

O soul, be patient: thou shalt find
A little matter mend all this;
Some strain of music to thy mind,
Some praise for skill not spent amiss.
- Robert Seymour Bridges

The world? Moonlit
Drops shaken
From the crane's bill.
- Dogen

If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. Without a cloud there will be no water; without water, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, you cannot make paper. So the cloud is in here. The existence of this page is dependent upon the existence of a cloud. Paper and cloud are so close.
- Thich Nhat Hahn

Nothing remains
Of the house that I was born in--
Fireflies.
- Santoka

Basket Case

Clean Up

choppy wind
slaps my face

leaves grind
within the tree

form cannot hold
if the ingredients
will not coalesce

up a steep hill
between scotch broom
right hand presses earth
to catch myself

but if there is
no center
i'll just do it again
and again and again

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text by Jack Lord