May-June 2008 | Cerro Gordo Temple | Santa Fe, NM

One of the streams that flowed into Chan and the koans was the mythology of pre-Buddhist, pre-Confucian China. Here are some notes on ancient Chinese ideas of meditation and awakening, based on Stephen Karcher's work on the Yijing (Book of Change). (image - Stephen Karcher)

March 26, 2008 | Cerro Gordo Temple | Santa Fe, NM

Every moment has a luminous tab in it somewhere, which we can pull to immediately become intimate with it. We have koans for the moments when that isn’t obvious — portable luminous tabs to bring to any moment.

March 26, 2008 | Cerro Gordo Temple | Santa Fe, NM

Every moment has a luminous tab in it somewhere, which we can pull to immediately become intimate with it. We have koans for the moments when that isn’t obvious — portable luminous tabs to bring to any moment.

March 26, 2008 | Cerro Gordo Temple | Santa Fe, NM

Every moment has a luminous tab in it somewhere, which we can pull to immediately become intimate with it. We have koans for the moments when that isn’t obvious — portable luminous tabs to bring to any moment.

March 26, 2008 | Cerro Gordo Temple | Santa Fe, NM

Every moment has a luminous tab in it somewhere, which we can pull to immediately become intimate with it. We have koans for the moments when that isn’t obvious — portable luminous tabs to bring to any moment.

April 2005 | Springs Mountain Sangha | Black Forest, CO

Snowed in in a convent in the Black Forest of northern Colorado, we told the Celtic wisdom tale of Janet and Tamlin, about how you have to not only be fetchable, but also willing to seek and fight for awakening — to hold through the changes to make it yr own, so the world can use it to bring back the spring

subjects: Zhao Zhou, spring, Pablo Neruda, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, Mark Bittner, Carterhaugh

April 2005 | Springs Mountain Sangha | Black Forest, CO

Snowed in in a convent in the Black Forest of northern Colorado, we told the Celtic wisdom tale of Janet and Tamlin, about how you have to not only be fetchable, but also willing to seek and fight for awakening — to hold through the changes to make it yr own, so the world can use it to bring back the spring

subjects: Zhao Zhou, spring, Pablo Neruda, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, Mark Bittner, Carterhaugh

January 29-31, 2004 | Just Past Full Retreat | Mountain Cloud Zen Center | Santa Fe, NM

Antonio Machado wrote a lovely poem called “Caminante,” which begins : Traveler, it is your footsteps, / the road — nothing more; / traveler, there is / no road, you make the road by walking … The poem gave rise to conversations about being accompanied on that journey, and about how to be a good companion to yr fellow caminantes.

January 29-31, 2004 | Just Past Full Retreat | Mountain Cloud Zen Center | Santa Fe, NM

Antonio Machado wrote a lovely poem called “Caminante,” which begins : Traveler, it is your footsteps, / the road — nothing more; / traveler, there is / no road, you make the road by walking … The poem gave rise to conversations about being accompanied on that journey, and about how to be a good companion to yr fellow caminantes.