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Tilicho Lake by David Whyte
In this high place
it is as simple as this,
Leave everything you know behind.
Step toward the cold surface,
say the old prayer of rough love
and open both arms.
Those who come with empty hands
will stare into the lake astonished,
there, in the cold light
reflecting pure snow,
the true shape of your own face.
The haiku poet, Issa, represents this profound experience in one of his most famous poems: The world of dew is the world of dew. And yet, and yet … He wrote this poem after the funeral of his baby daughter.
Gregg Krech • Tunneling for Sunlight: Twenty-One Maxims of Living Wisdom from Buddhism and Japanese Psychology to Cope with Difficult Times
“I have no peace of mind [hsin],” said Hui-k’o. “Please pacify my mind.” “Bring out your mind here before me,” replied Bodhidharma, “and I will pacify it!” “But when I seek my own mind,” said Hui-k’o, “I cannot find it.” “There!” snapped Bodhidharma, “I have pacified your mind!”15 g At this moment Hui-k’o had his awakening, his tun-wu or satori, so
... See moreAlan W. Watts • The Way of Zen
Higashi-yama, or Eastern Hills,
Alan Watts • In My Own Way: An Autobiography
White Pond and Walden are great crystals on the surface of the earth, Lakes of Light. If they were permanently congealed, and small enough to be clutched, they would, perchance, be carried off by slaves, like precious stones, to adorn the heads of emperors; but being liquid, and ample, and secured to us and our successors forever, we disregard them
... See moreHenry David Thoreau • Walden (AmazonClassics Edition)
Parched wheat and pine pollen make a fine meal vine flowers and salted bamboo make a tasty dish when I’m exhausted I think of nothing else let others become buddhas or immortals
Stonehouse Red Pine • The Mountain Poems of Stonehouse
On Days I Hate My Body, I Remember Redwoods
Joy Sullivan, Instructions for Traveling West
Give me more time on earth, and I'd take any body. A body ripe or ruined. Monstrous or errant. Make me a redwood tree.
Body becoming branch becoming sky becoming breath. Make me a slug upon her neck. The moth wilting at her roots.
I don't want a heavenly body, but
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