Tag Archives: mind

Mind Fog [Free Verse]

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The fog envelopes me.
   I draw vivid pictures 
      on its white surface.

I don't know how I do it,
    But I know why.

It's a craving:
   To fill emptiness,
   To disallow silence.

The fog's texture is
   Subtle, but existent. 

Should I not sketch my story
   On that white surface,
   But rather give it my attention
      then I might see that texture,
      and then see it clearly,
      and - eventually - feel it
          as I glide my hand 
          though space...
   Blind and at ease.

Bifurcated [Haiku]

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body in the temple yard;
 mind on distant mountains.

Be Water [Free Verse]

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The floating feather
   that eludes my grasp
      isn't haughty or gleeful.

It just rolls, slips, glides,
   and is gone.

“Difference” by Stephen Vincent Benét [w/ Audio]

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My mind's a map. A mad sea-captain drew
   it
 Under a flowing moon until he knew it;
 Winds with brass trumpets, puffy-cheeked
   as jugs,
 And states bright-patterned like Arabian 
   rugs.
 "Here there be tygers." "Here we buried
   Jim."
 Here is the strait where eyeless fishes swim
 About their buried idol, drowned so cold
 He weeps away his eyes in salt and gold.
 A country like the dark side of the moon,
 A cider-apple country, harsh and boon,
 A country savage as a chestnut-rind,
 A land of hungry sorcerers. 
                                           Your mind?

--Your mind is water through an April
   night,
 A cherry-branch, plume-feathery with its
   white,
 A lavender as fragrant as your words,
 A room where Peace and Honor talk like
   birds,
 Sewing bright coins upon the tragic cloth
 Of heavy Fate, and Mockery, like a moth,
 Flutters and beats about those lovely
   things.
 You are the soul, enchanted with its 
   wings,
 The single voice that raises up the dead
 To shake the pride of angels.
                                              I have said.

BOOKS: “The Secret of the Golden Flower” ed. / trans. by Thomas Cleary

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The Secret of the Golden Flower: The Classical Chinese Book of LifeThe Secret of the Golden Flower: The Classical Chinese Book of Life by Lü Dongbin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Online – Archive.org

This is a manual on Taoist inner alchemy practices, particularly a meditative practice called “turning the light around.” The book has been attributed to Lü Dongbin, said to be an immortal who lived during the Tang Dynasty, though there are differing views about the manual’s actual origins. While it is nominally a Taoist manual, it also discusses the Buddhist approach extensively (and Confucian ideas to a lesser extent) such that it could be considered a Buddhist teaching as much as a Taoist one.

The Cleary translation seems to exist not merely to provide an English translation of this Chinese manual, but to combat the misunderstandings perpetrated by the earlier English translation, that of Richard Wilhelm, a translation famously associated with the psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Neither Wilhelm nor Jung had any depth of understanding of Taoist and Buddhist methods and philosophy, and Wilhelm’s grasp of the Chinese language, itself, seems to have been fairly rudimentary. (At least the Chinese of the 1600’s, which is when the edition that Wilhelm is believed to have worked from is dated.) Thus, there is a lot of peddling of the notion that the ideas of this manual were in line with twentieth century psychotherapy in ways that were really not true — either because Wilhelm was mistaken or wanted them to be true or some combination, thereof.

The translation, itself, is quite short and makes up less than half of the text length of this book. More than half consists of extensive notes as well as an Afterward. While I have complained many times about publishers padding out pamphlet length publications to make them salable at book prices, in this case I believe the “ancillary” matter is helpful to achieving a better understanding of the text. The translation itself is not only sparse but features a bit of Taoist and Buddhist arcana that is likely to be unfamiliar — even to those with some understanding of the traditions. The notes and afterward help one to comprehend this book’s ideas much better.

If you’re interested in Taoist inner alchemy or Buddhist meditative practices, this book is worth checking out. That said, it can be a bit of a tedious read, flipping between the translation and the notes to make sense of ideas that don’t readily translate.

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The Cave [Free Verse]

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Jagged window 
   on the world:
 All light and sound
   deadened,
   but from one opening --
 The cave mouth.

From behind
   nothing stirs,
      nothing glows,
   shadows are subsumed
      by shadow.

 Eyes and mind
   frame the cave mouth,
   making the mind
      a cave within a cave:
         layered silence
         layered remoteness,
      and all input of a single,
         common source.

How many caves deep might
   this thing go?

Piano Mind [Haiku]

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snow has fallen.
 cars of many colors, all white:
  a piano-esque lot.

BOOKS: “Essential Zen” ed. by Kazuaki Tanahashi & David Schneider

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Essential ZenEssential Zen by Kazuaki Tanahashi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Google Books Page

This is a collection of short writings (poems, koans, and prose excerpts) on Zen Buddhism arranged into loosely themed sections. The writings tend toward the artistic, creative, and metaphorical, with relatively few straightforward descriptions of technique or philosophy. The writings range from those of Chinese and Japanese monks who lived hundreds of years ago to present-day poets and Zen practitioners. Among the more frequently drawn from sources are: Hanshan, Ikkyu, Dogen, Ryokan, Hakuin, Gary Snyder, Robert Aitken, Seung Sahn, John Daido Loori, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Peter Levitt. But there are many others, including some who have only a single piece included.

There’s a substantial “Notes” section that gives source, translation, and — in some cases — background information. Most of the translations (both Japanese and Chinese) are by the editors, Kazuaki Tanahashi and David Schneider. There are illustrations, but they are all ensō (circular brush paintings) and related forms.

This is a highly readable and insightful collection of short writings, and I’d highly recommend it for individuals interested in Zen or Eastern Philosophy more generally.

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BOOKS: “Tranquil Sitting” by Yin Shi Zi

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Tranquil Sitting: A Taoist Journal on Meditation and Chinese Medical QigongTranquil Sitting: A Taoist Journal on Meditation and Chinese Medical Qigong by Yin Shih Tzu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Publisher’s Site

This manual is an English translation of a work earlier published in Chinese. It is nominally on Taoist meditation and is written by a Taoist author, but it does include discussion of Buddhist practices as well (specifically Mahamudra.) Also, part of the author’s declared intent with this text is to write in a manner approachable to a wider audience, and because of this sect is rendered less important. So, for example, the book employs more scientific and physiological modes of explanation as opposed to meridians and other conceptual approaches from Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The book is presented in two parts. I found the first part much more beneficial and productive. Said first part is a general guide to meditation. It discusses fundamentals, theory, physiology, and how to align one’s living with a meditative practice (i.e. how diet, breathwork, sleep, etc. influence one’s practice.)

The second part consists of long and fairly detailed descriptions of the author’s experiences with both Taoist and Mahamudra meditation. I didn’t find this part useful, and I believe it may be counterproductive. Discussion of the author’s subjective experience may lead readers to get hung up on chasing identical experiences to the detriment of just practicing. It may give false ideas about “correct” and “incorrect” experiences of the meditation.

Overall, it’s a fine guide to meditation, particularly the first (i.e. larger) part. I can’t say that it breaks a lot of ground. A reader well-versed in meditation may not gain much insight from this book, but it’s as good as any to get started.

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FIVE WISE LINES [October 2024]

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If any thing is sacred the human body is sacred

walt whitman; Leaves of grass; “I sing the body electric”

Strong in their softness are the sprays of the wisteria creeper;
The pine in its hardness is broken by the weak snow.

Saying of Master Jukyo as Translated by Trevor Leggett in Zen and the Ways

When there is mutual ignorance, confidence indeed is king.

Trevor leggett; Zen and the Ways

Do not see the gate and think it is the house. The house is something which is reached by passing through and going beyond the gate.

YAgyu Munenori’s Art of War (As translated by trevor leggett in Zen and the ways)

Students of the Ways must see clearly that in an untrained man the intellect is like a barrister. It argues clearly and logically, but the aim is not truth, but to reach a predetermined conclusion.

Trevor Leggett; Zen and the Ways