Unicorns Come All By Themselves

by admin on January 13, 2012

The Unicorn spoke quietly to him. “You are a true wizard now, as you always wished. Does it make you happy?”
“Well,” said Schmendrick slowly, “Men don’t always know when they’re happy but, I…I think so.”

– Peter S. Beagle

Each of you has your own light,
if you try to see it you can’t,
the darkness is dark, dark.
What is your light?

– Yunmen

Everyone knows happiness is A Good Thing, more desirable than say, vacuum cleaners or eye shadow, and right up there with fame, fortune and the love of beautiful women (or men). The founding fathers of the United States offered happiness as part of the mission statement for a people coming together as a nation, encouraging them to pursue-and perhaps to go so far as to chase, harry, hunt down, subdue and corral-happiness. Even the Dalai Lama has said that happiness is the point of Buddhism.

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Zenosaurus: A course in koans for groups or individuals

by admin on April 15, 2012

This course was developed as a primer for for small groups. It’s a new way of teaching koans in which people with no experience of koans or meditation can develop a relationship with koans. You keep company with a koan and it changes your life in the direction of freedom without necessarily consulting you about specific strategies. In this model the small group leaders have a training program which is available to anyone who wants it. In essence this training program entails taking the ride themselves and finding their own freedom.

http://zenosaurus.blogspot.com/

The Light Beneath Sleep

January 13, 2012

Sometimes, underneath deep sleep is a certain diffused glow, as, in the rainforest, luminous toadstools glow green among the leaf litter and beetles crawl about with winking abdomens.

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The Laminex Table at 19 French Street, Launceston, Tasmania

January 13, 2012

The feature of the blue, laminex table is depth and my grandfather’s elbows which are flat like elephant’s feet from holding up his arms, the story he’s telling, and the cigarette smoke, blue like the spring sky,

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Do You Remember How the War Began?

January 13, 2012

Two soldiers are preparing to surrender. Right now they are hunched down in a bunker to get below the fire fight, and also because, curled up like this, you can depend for a moment on the plainness of gravel, the kindness of the dark believe that your mother’s arms have blessed you and though it [...]

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Count the Stars In The Sky

January 13, 2012

Tonight I want to talk about a boring koan– “Count the stars in the sky.” There are some passages in life that are like airports. You’re there not because you want to be there but because you’re on your way to somewhere else. They’re antechambers or vestibules. And there are some passages in meditation that [...]

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Pity To Waste A Good Crisis

January 13, 2012

“We’re all connected, and we find out how connected we are on days like this. We try to love our neighbors as we would love ourselves, but today we love our neighbors because we realize they are ourselves.” – Governor David A. Paterson of New York after the commuter plane crash in Buffalo in February [...]

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