the one seat

"Just go into the room and put one chair in the center.
Take the one seat in the center of the room, open the
doors and the windows, and see who comes to visit.
You will witness all kinds of scenes and actors,
all kinds of temptations and stories,
everything imaginable.
Your only job is to stay in your seat.
You will see it all arise and pass,
and out of this,
wisdom and understanding will come."

-Achaan Chah

awake

"A story is told of the Buddha when he was wandering in India shortly after his enlightenment. He was encountered by several men who recognized something quite extraordinary about this handsome prince now robed as a monk. Stopping to inquire, they asked, 'Are you a god?' 'No,' he answered. 'Well, are you a deva or an angel?' 'No' he replied. 'Well, are you some kind of wizard or magician?' 'No.' They were perplexed. Finally they asked, 'Then what are you?' He replied simply, 'I am awake.'
The word Buddha means to awaken. How to awaken is all he taught.
-Jack Kornfield

beautiful pictures

"Hearts for Peace": International Day of Peace Movie

Journal 8.6.09 Inle Lake, Burma

I stand outside an old, broken down wooden monestary,
window panes half in tact, doors shuttered, stray dogs left
behind wandering aimlessly, approaching cautiously, then running
into the unknown;
chimes still ringing in the expectant breeze,
I breathe deeply, follow my breath in mindfullness,
aware of only the moment in which i am so wholly immersed.

Journal. 8.3.09 Inle Lake, Burma

A quiet dignity.
The lady, round straw hat, bright chin strap,
flowering blue dress,
rides sideways on the back of her family's battered old grey moped,
making its way up the pitted, dusty road.
Where are they going?
Where are they coming from?
Do they think the same questions of me?
The cool breeze from the lake blows in,
as i sit,
watching the verdent green hills,
listening to the rattles of old tractors,
thinking about the grey clouds drifting overhead like the thoughts in my mind,
and then they are gone.

Journal Outtake. 7.30.09, Bagan, Burma.

We stopped on the road last night, and
sang and played guitar under the moonlight,
sitting on the dusty ground,
with three young Burmese men,
surrounded by the stillness of rural life,
in a far away town,
in a far away country.
And it felt like home.

Journal Outtake. 7.28.09 Rangoon, Burma

The dogs howled ravenously last night, a cacophony of cries that startled me from a long overdue slumber. I find myself catching glimpses of the Pacific; the air, filled with mildew and humidity; the neglected buildings bring some strange, reminiscing draw to my consciousness.
My pace is beginning to slow. Appreciation of a strangers smile. A knowing glance; humanity proving that we are, indeed, all the same species, despite such superficial separations. Regardless of the transmissions of thought, it can still penetrate, can still radiate, silently.
There is a wonderful, gentle demeanor here, one that I have been searching for a long time. The maroon cloaked monks wander up to the facade with their alms bowls nestled in their arms, like a small child seeking safety.

The low, grey clouds float, dance, over the decaying colonial city.
The sounds of the laborers, metal on metal, fill the air;
unintelligible talk, what is probably the joys, laughter, tears, and sorrows,
that fill us all,
then nothing.

words

"I sought escape from a monochromatic world of monotony,
in the hope that I might find in a polychromatic world of diversity,
the means to rediscover and celebrate the enchantment of being human."



"Equipped with a fresh perspective, inspired in part by this lens brought to
us from the far expanses of space, we are empowered to think in new ways,
to reach beyond prosaic restraint and thus attain new insight."

-Wade Davis

leaving words

A familiar, yet distant, feeling of excitement,
anticipation,
fascination,
creeps into my consciousness;
another piece of the long, winding road of life waits to reveal itself;
in the smoky tea shops in crowded alleyways,
in the overburdened local bus plunging through the darkened countryside,
in the children playing innocent games on dusty roads,
in the spices of the curries,
in the gentleness in the eyes of a simple hello;
the darkness of uncertainty heightens my senses as i set off into the unknown.
Breaking the chains of ordinary life,
removing the shackles of the routine,
venturing,
journeying,
within and without,
at least for this brief while,
the beautiful, mysterious thread of this precious life.



"To love fully and live well requires us to recognize finally that we do not possess or own anything...not even our own body. Spiritual joy and wisdom do not come through possession but rather through our capacity to open, to love more fully, and to move and be free in life."
-Jack Kornfield

words of a master

"When your ability to care becomes boundless, 

this is noble strength.

Failure does not crush, 

we accept that nothing lasts.

The refusal to accept that all things pass, 

brings tremendous problems. 

Not only is all impermanent, 

all is an illusion. 

When we can face the facts of reality, 

we begin to accept all common need."

-Chokyi Ngima Rimppoche, 

Tibet House 7.15.09