Padma Drolma And if in all the beads nothing comes up I won’t forget you I’ll give another turn Despite my thousand stumbles For I know that thin are the lines which separate mastery from fear They are tiny and do not define Space is the shelter that does not welcome It afflicts me […]
poetry
Amitabha All Around Me
Massimo Claus Amitabha is to me the air I breathe, the sounds I hear, the colors I see, the music of the sea, the chant of a child. I saw Amitabha among the flowers of a cherry-tree and in my stupidity feeding my fears. Shandao is His hand approaching me, so I chant the Sacred […]
This is just to say
Ratnadevi I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold By William Carlos Williams I was reminded of this poem recently when it was recited in the film Paterson, by Jim Jarmusch. The movie is as […]
Good Question, Good Quest
Steve Braff A sense of ease this settling down wonderfully absent worry. Till I feel the old hunger to capture and codify to make it all ways always mine. And in this very grasp to witness the diminution of that subtle grace.
Border Dancer
Steve Braff – to 4/4 swing at a 140 tempo – Left Deer Gods’ land by way Siddhartha cemented Highway six lanes south bused on bumpy from Lumbini Buddha born by Maya Devi hip right holy to Shravasti hit the border, pay the Levi waiting, waiting toll booth stall India sign some four foot small […]
A Monkey’s Tale Retold
Steve Braff It is said that in the ninth year of the Buddha’s ministry a quarrel arose between two parties of monks. One party consisted of experts in the disciplinary code, or the Vinaya laws; the others were experts in the Dharma, or the teachings. The Buddha tried to settle the quarrel peacefully, but finally, when his […]
Five Worms – A Preamble
Steve Braff I saved five worms today as they lay plump and limp upon the wet pavement – blind altar of ignominious death by the coming heat or passing car. I saved five worms today as I plucked their slippery bodies stretched supplicant, almost inert from the indifferent asphalt and tossed each to shelter in […]
Descent
Steve Braff The left wing tips down into a lazy bank right above the bilious white cloud skyscrape to the horizon – an immensity that almost eclipses the jagged profile of distant range that Everesting place of the so many aspirants fallen. I stare into that expanse and try to take my measure. Humbled, we fall […]
Buddha’s Mirror
Steve Braff Life is joy. There is a cause of joy. The cause of joy is love. The path to love is awareness.