have faithin the next breatha deep breathin…inhale it without peace or war. George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. John Fisher College, and 3:16 Journal. George’s blogs, essays and letters have appeared in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Havana Times, South […]
personal growth
my favorite cage
is made of porcelain white bars, surroundedby ringlets of fire, red hot and orangeas daisies consumed bythe summer sun. Those cornerless bars, alive and fierceas fractals, daring me to eclipse my freedom. George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand Literary Review, The Angle at St. […]
Speaking of Humility
By Master Jingzong; translation by the Pure Land School Translation Team The human mind is like the earth. It possesses Buddha-nature and oceans of wisdom but is filled with the worthless debris of egotism and has lost its usefulness. If we use the shovel of humility to dig out the dust of arrogance and restore the […]
Bread
Contained in a kernel of wheat,bound by unseen chains of patterns,each branch comes alive with waterand heat. Alive with the digestionof the universe. So we pray: Give usthis day our daily bread, and forgive usour trespasses, as we have forgiven those who trespass against us, notknowing how we were made to rise. George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work […]
Your Words Are the Path
It doesn’t matter thatno one cares. Keep writing. Do it.It doesn’t matter. Thevoice that tells you howit’s crap.The voice thatsays it doesn’t matter. The one that tells youthat good is notgood enough. That one. The one that doesn’twant you to create anythingbecause it is trying to savewhat it knows. The voicethat tells you that it knowsbut doesn’t. Keep writing.Don’t stop. […]
Spiritual Melodies: Tully MacKay-Tisbert
The landscape of America is dotted with Christian influences, from the lamentations of oppression and hope of liberation that fused with African influences to form the melancholy blues, to the Christian rock that arose in the 1960s to become a formidable force of conversion in mega-churches. It is extraordinary that the culture of a republic […]
Realizing anatta (non-self) through Travel
Visiting home. Such a strange thing, to visit one’s home. In this case a period I spent in Montana from 2015-2018. I am no stranger to travels. Despite a youth spent almost exclusively in the rural state of Montana, at age 24 I moved to Bristol, England for a Masters degree in Buddhist Studies. Afterward I […]
The Problem with Kindness
There is a gulf between the secular and the religious parts of our lives. In sacred settings we talk about kindness as something valuable and orthodox. At the office, at home, in our neighborhood, in our relationships, and in our friendships, we challenge its value in daily life. I’ve found myself with this bifurcated attitude, […]
The Auspiciousness of Right Now
We’re all blessed to live in an age of the Dharma. There is an ocean of helpful video, audio, and print resources that expound Buddhist beliefs and practice, and it has never been easier to engage with skilled teachers from all traditions, even in parts of the world far from Buddhist homelands. The canons of […]
My wee bit Hill and Glen
Nina with family in Switzerland. “Where are you from?” This question is often asked by new acquaintances, and it is not always easy to answer. To me, it often feels like I am being thrown a Zen Buddhist koan! I was born and grew up in Switzerland. Because, over there, citizenship is not automatically granted […]