Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean – the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down – […]
Mary Oliver’s Profound Poem ‘The Summer Day’ Read Post »
I thought I’d reflect on Patrul Rinpoche’s profound Dzogchen teaching on the nature of mind, awareness, and emptiness. The wisdom of inseparable emptiness and clarity is so clearly and directly pointed out here in his ‘The Life and Liberation of the Mind’. Emaho!Mind itself has always been without substance.It is not seen by looking, but
The Life and Liberation of the Mind – Patrul Rinpoche Read Post »
These verses from Self-Liberation: Through Seeing with Naked Awareness are as if directly spoken face to face with me by Karma Lingpa. How potent! Mind’s nature is empty It is certain that the nature of the mind is empty and without any foundation whatsoever. Your own mind is insubstantial like the empty sky. You should
The fourfold resting is: Rest your body like a corpse in a charnel ground, without preference or fixed arrangement. Rest your voice like a broken waterwheel, in a state of stillness. Rest your eyes like a statue in a shrine room, without blinking, in a continuous, focused gaze. Rest your mind like a sea free
The Fourfold Resting – Chokgyur Lingpa Read Post »
This Jisei, or death poem by the 19th century Japanese poet Kiba captures so poignantly the ephemeral effervescence that is a human life. Life is so fleeting. My old body: a drop of dew grown heavy at the leaf tip Kiba, 1868Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of DeathYoel
Life’s Fleeting Nature: Kiba’s Poignant Jisei Death Poem Read Post »
Mind itself is a vast expanse, the realm of unchanging space. Its indeterminate display is the expanse of the magical expression of its responsiveness. Everything is the adornment of basic space and nothing else. Outwardly and inwardly, things proliferating and resolving are the dynamic energy of awakened mind. Because this is nothing whatsoever yet arises
Mind Itself Is A Vast Expanse, The Realm Of Unchanging Space Read Post »
There’s nothing to add to this Jisei (death poem). So profound. Empty-handed I entered the world Barefoot I leave it. My coming, my going — Two simple happenings That got entangled. Kozan IchikyoJapanese Death Poems Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of DeathYoel Hoffman Original source: Tuttle Publishing
Empty-Handed I Entered The World – Kozan Ichikyo Read Post »
For some reason the bhakti poetry of Lal Ded, (also known as Lalla and as Lalleshwari), always resonates deep in my heart. Some, who have closed their eyes, are wide awake. Some, who look out at the world, are fast asleep. Some who bathe in sacred pools remain dirty. Some are at home in the
Some, Who Have Closed Their Eyes – Lal Ded Read Post »
There’s endless texts and teachings, vast arrays of philosophy, and no end to the arguments and positions – all seeking to point the way to this …. what? …. this coming home to what you are. But when it comes down to it, it’s oh so simple. Rest in that empty, luminous awareness, that space-like
So Simple, Always None-Other Than … Read Post »
Rumi’s poem The Real Threat … Nothingness. Shunyata. Emptiness. Just so. If it escapes, the lover’s breath, and strikes the universe of fire, That universe without origin, it will dissolve into particles. The entire universe becomes sea, out of fear that the sea will turn to nothing. Neither man nor humanity remain when man is
Rumi – The Real Threat … Nothingness Read Post »
