Thursday, October 13, 2011

Dream of a Dream


Dream of a dream, and shadow of a shade...


Cornfield by Moonlight with Evening Star
by Samuel Palmer

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Monday, October 10, 2011

Four Friends


Bodhicitta, awakening heart and mind
Disgusted with suffering and illusion, determined to be free, taking refuge in compassion and awareness for the sake of all beings.

Shamatha, calm abiding
Vivid stable attention, abiding in whatever arises without distraction or reaction. Vivid and serene, lucid and unbound.

Vipashyana, clear seeing
Looking deeply to know the true nature of experience, self, and world. Seeing, but not with eyes. Knowing, but not with conceptual mind.

Upaya, skillful means
Compassionate creative responses that free oneself and others from struggle and suffering.
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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Homeless Dogs


Here we languish, a bunch of poor scholars,
Battered by extremes of hunger and cold.
Out of work, our only joy is poetry:
Scribble, scribble, we wear out our brains.
Who will read the works of such men?
On that point you can save your sighs.
We could inscribe our poems on biscuits
And homeless dogs wouldn't deign to nibble.

~ Han Shan, Cold Mountain (translated by Burton Watson)

30-minute film about Han Shan
-- a documentary by Mike Hazard,
featuring translators Gary Snyder and Red Pine
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