The game: you give me a Buddhist-themed noun, an action, and a location, and I create the story. Today, I was given the noun “wall art,” the action “to age,” and a location “abandoned home.” Hope you enjoy the read! Two loud knocks, a pause, followed by another three loud knocks; Hiroshi went through the […]
Never Judge a Bourbon
By the memories of childhood Judge it by the way it makes you remember Being a childNever waste anything
Melon
somewherein the biofield farmhands announce you buttery blondeand sweet Mcintosh apple blushthey gather around your crib of turfand hail you the prince of the underground they revered you the well-rounded one
Proof
Beware of labelsthat claim to be handmade in small batches By humans, what isn’t?Is it good? Ask that instead.For God-sake is it any good?
Mahaprajapati Gautami, Pioneer of the Women’s Movement in India
The stepmother of the Buddha should be credited with launching a movement that would shape women’s liberation in India for millennia to come
Prince of the Underground
somewherein the biofield farmhands announce you buttery blondeand sweet McIntoshapple blush they gather around your crib of turf and hail you
When Silence Fails
It is almost exactly ten yearssince we shared drunken kissesin an unheated barin Chattanooga, Tennessee.Later that night, drunker still,a kiss broke into laughterwhen we rolled off my bedand fell to the floor. Ten years later: youstill in Tennessee, in Nashville, mein Phoenix, Arizona. A catch-upconversation: You told me aboutyour kidney transplants, addictionto pain medication, recovery,getting […]
“Seven Line Prayer to Guru Padmasambhava” – A Milestone Translation and Song
I remember first listening to the magical Imee Ooi over the speakers of a souvenir shop at Ngong Ping Village, which leads to the famous Po Lin Monastery in Hong Kong. It was 2010. Her songs, which are contemporary renditions of Buddhist dharanis, mantras, and passages from Buddhist texts, evoke aural Pure Lands. Her ethereal, […]
In Praise of a Cat
— for Brother Ron Fender No tailor’s artistrycould equal the eleganceof my cat’s stripesas he walks into the bathroomwhere I’m taking a shit. Purring, he rubsagainst my legs.He accepts me on anyterms, comes closehowever I smell,loves me without illusion. He makes me ashamedof my own cowardice,of the times I have flinched,repulsed by the stenchof human […]