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#1860 - Friday, July 16, 2004 - Editor: Gloria  

Poems by Matsuo Basho

A cicada shell

   A cicada shell;
it sang itself
    utterly away.   _______

Don't imitate me

 Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
    as the two halves of a melon.   _______  

The oak tree    

The oak tree:
not interested
    in cherry blossoms.

Twins by Sam Pasciencier:  http://home.hccnet.nl/sam.pas/odds_and_ends/photos/photo_34.html

Wendell Berry Poems

What We Need Is Here

Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye,
clear. What we need is here.

The Silence

Though the air is full of singing
my head is loud
with the labor of words.

Though the season is rich
with fruit, my tongue
hungers for the sweet of speech.

Though the beech is golden
I cannot stand beside it
mute, but must say

"It is golden," while the leaves
stir and fall with a sound
that is not a name.

It is in the silence
that my hope is, and my aim.
A song whose lines

I cannot make or sing
sounds men's silence
like a root. Let me say

and not mourn: the world
lives in the death of speech
and sings there

Photo by Sam: http://home.hccnet.nl/sam.pas/odds_and_ends/photos/photo_21.html

  Allspirit Inspiration  

from "Wherever You Go There You Are" by Jon Kabat-Zinn:

When we describe the sitting posture, the word that feels the most
appropriate is "dignity."

Sitting down to meditate, our posture talks to us. It makes its own
statement. You might say the posture itself is the meditation. If we
slump, it reflects low energy, passivity, a lack of clarity. If we sit
ramrod-straight, we are tense, making too much of an effort, trying
too hard. When I use the word "dignity" in teaching situations, as in
"Sit in a way that embodies dignity," everybody immediately adjusts
their posture to sit up straighter. But they don't stiffen. Faces
relax, shoulders drop, head, neck, and back come into easy alignment.
The spine rises out of the pelvis with energy. Sometimes people tend
to sit forward, away from the backs of their chairs, more
autonomously. Everybody seems to instantly know that inner feeling of
dignity and how to embody it.

Try: Sitting with dignity for thirty seconds. Note how you feel. Try
it standing with dignity. Where are your shoulders? How is your spine,
your head? What would it mean to walk with dignity?

Glass Museum by Sam Pasciencier: http://home.hccnet.nl/sam.pas/odds_and_ends/photos/photo_19.html  

  Sherab ~ Daily Dharma    

"It's not the circumstances which arise as one's
karmic vision that condition a person into the
dualistic state; it's a person's own attachment
that enables what arises to condition him."
~Pha Tampa Sangye

"If you think, 'I breathe,' the 'I' is extra.
There is no you to say 'I.' What we call 'I' is
just a swinging door which moves when we inhale
and when we exhale. It just moves; that is all.
When your mind is pure and calm enough to follow
this movement, there is nothing: no 'I,' no
world, no mind nor body; just a swinging door."
~ Shunryu Suzuki      

"Clear mind is like the full moon in the sky.
Sometimes clouds come and cover it, but the moon
is always behind them. Clouds go away, then the
moon shines brightly. So don't worry about clear
mind - it is always there. When thinking comes,
behind it is clear mind. When thinking goes,
there is only clear mind. Thinking comes and
goes, comes and goes. You must not be attached to
the coming or the going."
~ Zen Master Seung Sahn  

From the website, "Twilight Bridge,"
http://www.twilightbridge.com/      

 
Along The Way  

The whole is implanted in every part entirely -
every cell of the body contains the totality of
the personality biologically. If you take one
cell of the body you can study the whole of
the person, it contains the reflection of the
total personality. Likewise, the whole
Cosmic Being is reflected in every man
- nay, in every atom.  

- Swami Krishnananda    

 
Alan Larus  
When I was 17 years old I went to my teacher for the first time.
I had been reading several books and discussed yoga with two friends of mine.  

She asked me what I wanted to learn, and I said Pranayama.
She asked why and I referred to something from a book.  

So she gave me a long lesson on discipline and hard work,
telling me she was quite sure I did not have what it would take.
I felt very uncomfortable and just wanted her to finish so I could leave.  

Then I saw a picture on the table behind her.  

I did not know who was smiling so alive inside the silver frame,
but I knew I had walked through the right door.  

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