Mozart, For Example ~Mary Oliver All the quick notes Mozart didn't have time to use before he entered the cloud-boat   are falling now from the beaks of the finches that have gathered from the joyous summer   into the hard winter and, like Mozart,they speak of nothing but light and delight,   though it is true, the heavy blades of the world are still pounding underneath. And this is what you can do too, maybe,   if [...]

Hsin Hsin Ming ~ Sengstan Hsin Hsin Ming - verses on the faith mind of Sengstan (Sosan) 3rd Zen Patriarch, translated from the original Chinese by Richard B. Clarke The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. When love and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised. Make the smallest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. If you wish to see the truth then hold no opinion for [...]

White Owl Flies Into and Out of the Field ~Mary Oliver Coming down out of the freezing sky with its depths of light, like an angel, or a buddha with wings, it was beautiful and accurate,  striking the snow and whatever was there with a force that left the imprint of the tips of its wings— five feet apart—and the grabbing thrust of its feet, and the indentation of what had been running though the white valleys of [...]

Taxi ~Yvonne Rand In a dharma talk originally given at the San Francisco Zen Center's Green Gulch Farm, Yvonne Rand offers two practices for developing Beginner's Mind. I want to talk about practices that are conducive to cultivating Beginner's Mind - the mind fresh and awake to many possibilities. This mind is different from the mind we often bring to habitual activities or habitual ways of thinking or reacting. How can I be a beginner in each moment, [...]

A Rose for Your Pocket A Rose for Your Pocket by Thich Nhat Hanh   The thought “mother” cannot be separated from that of “love.” Love is sweet, tender, and delicious. Without love, a child cannot flower, an adult cannot mature. Without love, we weaken, wither.   The day my mother died, I made this entry in my journal: “The greatest misfortune of my life had come!” Even an old person, when he loses his mother, doesn’t feel [...]

Pebble Meditation Pebble Meditation   Thich Nhat Hanh taught this to the children at a family meditation retreat in Santa Barbara more than 20 years ago.   I want you to reach down and find it four pebbles. You can either put them in a pocket or hold them in your left hand.   Take one pebble and hold it in your right hand. With this pebble I want you to think of a flower. Flowers are lovely, [...]

This is called ‘to know how much is enough.’ The Second Awakening is to know how much is enough. Even if you already have something, you set a limit on it for yourself for using it. So you should know how much is enough. The Buddha said, “Monks, if you want to be free from suffering, you should contemplate knowing how much is enough. By knowing it you are in the place of enjoyment and peacefulness. If you [...]

Not letting the other hand know There is a subtle art of leadership among the Cherokee, my father is adept at it. It is only because I was close enough that I got to witness it. He goes down to the VFW hall, opens the door, (he's got the keys) turns on the heat, starts the coffee, sets out the ashtrays, puts out the sugar and cream, takes the agenda from the office, copies it and distributes it [...]

ON MORAL PERFECTION from Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin It was about this time I conceiv'd the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection. I wish'd to live without committing any fault at any time; I would conquer all that either natural inclination, custom, or company might lead me into. As I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the one and avoid the [...]

Facets of Metta ~ Sharon Salzberg Facets of Metta by Sharon Salzberg   A pearl goes up for auction No one has enough, so the pearl buys itself -- Rumi   Love exists in itself, not relying on owning or being owned. Like the pearl, love can only buy itself, because love is not a matter of currency or exchange. No one has enough to buy it but everyone has enough to cultivate it. Metta reunites us with [...]