Lines from Kyoto

The impossible is limited to existence, predictions, and “natural law,” whereas in art everything is possible. In zen, Mind, with its unlimited capacity for conception, contains all solutions to alleviate, as well as create, suffering. Hence, the perceived creation anxiety of artist, media, and art (fisher, gourd, catfish).

satkayadristi: “separateness, a mistaken belief in the individual as distinct from the whole.”

Photo: “The Gourd and the Catfish” by Josetsu (c.1413)

“The bell is still yet the sound resonates in silence.”

Food, land, music, information—to engage with these elements requires a passage through delusions, an experience best managed with cautious respect.

Kannon, or Avalokiteshvara, is the bodhisattva of mercy who hears the cries of all sentient beings.

Hylozoism* pervades the resurrection game /

Suppressing the persistent glare of despair /

Atman* claims there’s no title to claim /

“I call myself Self and no other name.”

*Hylozoism: the belief that all matter is alive;

*Atman: Soul or Spirit, synonymous with breath.

One year ago my mother died. Writing, as is commonly known, is a way to explore, comprehend, manage, and accept grief.

In the first poem I use the word remains as both noun and verb in order to clarify and transcend the ambiguity of death.

The image is an enso circle that symbolizes universal unification.

In memory of my mother (1925-2020).

Zen practitioners eventually come to question the purpose of their practice and most conclude that zazen is pointless which does not seem to curtail their time on the zafu; paradoxically, purposeless or empty practice tends to deepen samadhi.

Harmic, charmic, disarmic—as for the silliness of the verse, I do not desire to exclude humor from poetry. Word play is an integral and a joyfully unavoidable aspect of literature.

Photo taken on the grounds of the Kameyama Castle ruins.

Protest is an active component in the artist-activist-religious paradigm. I deliberately avoid naming specific names, places, events as I consider they distract from the deeper patterns of political TPO (time-place-occasion). Readers can, I presume, supply relevant identification information that applies to individual communities and circumstances. Some references will be obvious, others perhaps not. Rather than name calling or assigning blame, I would prefer to offer a deeper view that reinforces an artistic-activist-religious perspective.

“Too much management” refers to the Epilogue to Henry V by William Shakespeare.

Photo: the Nio (“two kings”)

or Kongorikishi are guardian deities stationed at the entrance gate of a Buddhist temple. Pilgrims demonstrate spiritual determination and courage by successfully passing by them.

The mind-body dualism has pestered western thought for centuries, whereas eastern philosophers consider mind/body as a singular, indivisible organism.

“Retiring to the forest” refers to the third stage of Hindu life, vanaprastha, “one who gives up worldly life, a forest dweller.”

“Tears of rage” is a literary nod to Bob Dylan.

Photo: Looking south from the north shore of Lake Biwa.

en hommage a George Harrison (1943-2001).

George Harrison has remained a constant source of inspiration. “Within You Without You,” “The Inner Light,” “My Sweet Lord”—songs that continue to touch the heart. I have lifted a couple lines from Harrison’s masterpiece “All Things Must Pass” (which is 50 years old this year).

Hari Krishna.

These days there is a lot of talk in spiritual circles about “mindfulness.” While fundamentally sound as a component of compassion, mindfulness tends to be more about behavior modification rather than enlightenment. By contrast, the Taoist notion of “mindlessness” (wu-wei) suggests that cognition itself can be an obstacle to true understanding. Using the model care/careful/careless/carefree, I offer the adjective “mindfree” as an alternative gesture of non-attachment.

The “gateless gate” (as a complement to a “pathless path”) refers to a 13th century collection of zen koans, The Mumonkan.

Photo: the east gate of Sanjusangendo, Kyoto, at sundown.

2021 is the year of the ox. A well known sequence of images that track meditational development, the Ten Ox Herding Pictures date from at least the twelve century, if not earlier. Given that consciousness cannot be the object of conscious concentration, the aka “Ten Bulls,” (along with the “Six Persimmons” by Muqi Fachang), is probably the next best representation. The visual sequence concludes with a circle (enso) that symbolizes spiritual apotheosis.