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Category: BUDDHISM
Articles about Buddhist practice (mindfulness, beginner’s mind, compassion etc.)
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I am teaching an online class, in March 2020, for the The Poetry School in London. The nature of life is change and clinging to the illusion of permanence often leads to suffering, of one kind or another, but rather than anxiety, this life, full of change, can become a source of joy and wonder.…
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There are so many places in the world and the grass is always greener. If we are lucky and live in rich countries with professional jobs, or live simply, we can migrate to many new countries for work. We can try to find that perfect new homeland for living, or if not a homeland at…
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I have never been comfortable with money. The chasing it, living my life for numbers. In America, as an immigrant, I was saturated with the lack of it. Lower middle class, chasing the American dream, the endless informercials and my family trying so many pyramid schemes, doing the grunt work to make someone else wealthy,…
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Why do we travel? The weekend getaway. The summer and winter breaks. The islands and exotic locations. What are we looking for? The travel industry is one of the biggest on our planet. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), the travel industry generated 7.6 trillion U.S. dollars in 2016. We are looking…
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(Marcus Slease in 1995) Irony and sincerity combined like Voltron, to form a new movement of astonishing power.” — Jesse Thorn How do you feel about irony? And sincerity? Are they really opposites? Like all good art, they make for good cross fertilisation. In 1995, after coming home early from a Mormon mission,…
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SOME ANIMAL ART POEMS WITH WALT WHITMAN AND PSYCHEDELIC ART. IT IS SHAMANISTIC AND TRANS. CROSSING BORDERS AND BOUNDARIES. THERE ARE MANY ANIMALS, ESPECIALLY BEAVERS, MY SPIRIT GUIDE.
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It’s still hard and the world is a completely different place with loss of this size. We were so close growing up and then were reconnecting again after I left the U.S. and traveled the world for seven years in attempt to make new home. I’d made the circle. I was coming home. And I…
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(scraps from this weeks notebook) The giant city awake in the first warm breath of springtime. 5 days till 40th birthday. Moving into part time insomnia. Money worries. I have enough now but what about next month? The month after? What about the summer? * * * THE PAST- a new movie * * *…
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HERE IS WEE ONLINE PERFORMANCE OF MY POEM A LOVE SUPREME. IT IS AN ATTEMPT AT COMPASSION. MEDITATION, DHARMA. ETC. WRITTEN AND PERFORMED IN EAST LONDON DOCKLANDS. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jkzwZiQ_Z8
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(first take, draft, whatever . .) It’s one day from new years. We are getting to the end of 2013 and everyone is making lists. I haven’t made a list. If I made a list it would be a list of books I loved, or books I still haven’t read, but really I’m thinking about…
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LOVE ALAN WATTS. HERE IS SOUTH PARK DOING ALAN WATTS. ALAN WATTS IS IN THE MACHINE. HE HAS THE BEST TALKS ON YOUTUBE.
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A Philip Whalen Mala by the terrific Peter Jaeger. A Canadian poet in the heart of London! It is based on this poem, by Zen poet Joanne Kyger. And in his handsa long wooden string of Buddhist Rosary beads, which he keepsmoving. I ask him which mantra he is doing—but he tells mein Zen, you…
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I READ SOME JOANNE KYGER FOR RADIO SHOW IN LONDON. I HAD A NICE CHAT WITH STEVE WASSERMAN OVER HERE ON THIS FAB PODCAST CALLED READ ME SOMETHING YOU LOVE THANK YOU STEVE WASSERMAN I HEART JOANNE KYGER READING AND CONVERSATION OVER HERE: http://readmesomethingyoulove.com/?p=1384
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Been thinking about ego. About an ego hiding behind an ego. About how the folks at the various Zen centers of America have said that people who practice a lot of Zen have STRONGER PERSONALITY not less via meditation. And thinking of Philip Whalen who certainly had a lot of personality. A lot of ump.…
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kindly help me or you’ll drown said the monkey putting a fish up in a tree
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Is hope a form of expectation? My expectations have often led to suffering. Whether the next new country or relationship. Or planning a lesson for a spectacular class only to have it fail miserably. And then the letting go. Almost tricking myself into believing I don’t really care and then WHAM! A surprisingly great class.…
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Cold toes and cold hands in Wood Green. Trying to save on heating. Smashing Time is done and needs to find a home. I am 60 pages into Nerve Movie (poems written during my commute on the underground from Wood Green to Hammersmith then Hammersmith to Richmond). When I first came to London in 2008…
Never Mind the Beasts 