TOZAN'S DHARMA BODIES

正法眼蔵  語十語

If I ask you

"does a circle

have both inside

and outside," what do you say.

If you cut it into

three pieces, which

has inside, which outside

and what of the third?

A Willing Spirit

He asks what I mean
when I say I
gave her custody
of Judaism
and also gave up
visitation rights.
It's simple, I say,
it is something you choose
not a yoke
thrust on you
and you can
as easily give it up
to others or away.
I tell her I have not
abandoned faith
merely freed myself
to embrace it.

Eurythmic

He hears "When Tomorrow Comes"
and thinks he knows
something about tomorrow
and he thinks this
every ten minutes or so,
yet each time it is
a new thought tied
to a vague memory. 
He still recalls my name
most of the time, though
with ever greater struggle.
I know that soon
I too will slip
into his mind's shadow.

Joshu's Oak (after Mumonkan 37)

無門關 三十七 

Look out of the window

the garden is barren

of oaks, nor is this

a Temple in China.

If you listen carefully

a thousand branches

bend quietly in the wind,

a simple wave washing

oak leaves onto

expectant soil.

Summer, Friday Night

Sitting outside the wine bar

the evening still remembers summer.

The bar is full, loud, joyous

as the glasses are poured

and clinked in celebration

of intermingled toasts.

The lounge up the street,

its red sign glaring

is much the same if louder

people pouring out the door

in practiced reverie.

Down the block a young woman

stares at her car, sandwiched tight,

at her cell phone useless,

and goes back for another beer.

TEMPUS

We talk about the moment
as if it is something
that can be tucked away,
placed on a shelf perhaps
for later use
and even enjoyment.
Time comes with no manual
so don't stop and look
or you will miss it.
Ah, you did stop
if only to read this, so
look behind you, there -
for the moment you want
is now your history.

Intentions

Today my intentions

fell away

through the hourglass –

the best, bravest first

followed in course

by the lesser, until

I could mark

my day by the void

left in their wake.

Ah, but tomorrow

I shall turn

the glass over

yet again.

Two Monks Roll Up the Blinds 無門關 二十六

Both are asked

to bring more light

into the hall.

Together each

rolls up his shade.

One’s action is gain

one’s action is loss

there is only one shade

there is only one light.

                 -- Capping Verse for Mumonkan 26 ("The Gateless Gate")

NIGHT

The sky is a flat
black plate overhead, pinholed,
the light passing through
which we imagine as stars
arrayed in patterns
to which we assign them.
At such distances
our perception of depth
is swallowed whole
by our need to organize
the universe, lest
we cede control and admit
we, too, are a part
of the unknowable.

Be Very, VERY Scared

The governor of Texas
has suggested that evolution
is nothing more than a theory
and a flawed one at that.
But he won't feel the heat
since, for him, global warming
doesn't exist, banished by wish.
At the Primate Institute they agree
that if he is elected President
they will have no other choice
but to revise their theory
and the chimpanzees are unanimous
that on the evolutionary ladder
man will soon be staring up
at the backside
of the great apes.

And So It Begins

鐵笛倒吹 一

Like Manjushri, stand still

outside the gate

and listen for the call

of Buddha from within.

When he calls, answer

but is Buddha inside

and you without?

There is nothing at all

to see, and the gate

has fallen from its hinges

so answer yourself carefully.