Bow & Be

ThatTooTimeless&NewbornCaperingThroughWhat loveCan leave on thoseTraces of EarthEnduringThe rivers andAll that May be trueMaybe.My whole past, too.My heart.The lost partOf the brain.Cutting like a Samurai’s swordTouching the grassOr taking off a tight shoeDeath the wayRam Dass felt it. George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry […]

Wry and Kind Piety: Revisiting Donald Scripps in “The History Boys”

Just under a decade ago, I went through a The History Boys phase (both the play and film)—perhaps due to lingering memories of my high school years in an all-boy’s institution and reliving echoes of the camaraderie, bravado, and insecurities that dog such a testosterone-saturated environment. I resonated with one of the characters so much […]

Embrace your advantages and deploy your blessings for the good of others

Every day I choose a quote from a Buddhist source that runs on the homepage of Buddhistdoor Global. Tuesday’s theme is Pure Land-inspired, and today I picked one that seemed particularly thought-provoking to me: “Being born as a human, having heard of the Buddhist teachings, and encountered with the unsurpassed great teaching of Amitabha’s deliverance, […]

Hearing and Seeing

Master Jingzong; English translation by Foying, edited by Jingxing We may develop trust in someone by listening to their words. But sometimes that does not suffice, and we need to observe, investigate, gather facts and have firsthand experience before believing. Which of these two approaches shows greater confidence in the other person? Both Amitabha-recitation and Amitabha-contemplation take […]