"As surely as there is a voyage away, there is a journey home."
-Jack Kornfield

28 September 2009

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

10 September 2009

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.

06 September 2009

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.