ready friend, i submit to the buddha victorious in strife...

Are we not drinking here

The shaman's drink,

The magician's drink !

We mix it with our drunken tears and drink.

In that mist for you the blue liquor

I dipped and poured,

I, having drunk, gave to you,

I drew you forward and set you in the circle.

You brought within and were gloriously drunk,

Then I was not ungenerous with beautiful speech

And with beautiful singing.

Thus, vying together, we made an end.

Inspired by a portion of the Papago ritual of the tiswin...

where to stand while drawing the south

Here I Stand,

The Wind is coming toward me,

Shaking !

Here I Stand,

A Cloud is coming toward me,

Shaking !

Here I am sitting

and with my power I draw the south swell toward me.

After the wind I draw the rain

that makes the wild flowers grow on our home ground

and look so beautiful.

--poem inspired by Stephen Buhner's book "Healing beers and herbal brews: ancient secrets of fermentation.

heart sutra of the great perfection of wisdom

When the Bodhisattva Guanzizai (Guanshiyin) was moving in the deep course of the Perfection of Wisdom, she saw that the five heaps (physical phenomena related to the senses, sensation or reception from stimuli, discernment or perception, decision or volition, and cognition and consciousness) were but emptiness, and she transcended all sufferings. Sariputra, form is no different from emptiness, emptiness no different from form; form is emptiness, and emptiness is form. Of sensations, perceptions, volition, and consciousness, the same is also true. Sariputra, it is thus that all dharmas are but empty appearances, neither produced nor destroyed, neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing. This is why in emptiness there are no forms and no sensations, perceptions, volition, or consciousness; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or object of mind. There is no realm of sight (and so forth), until we reach the realm of no mind-consciousness; there is no ignorance, nor is there extinction of ignorance (and so forth) until we reach the stage where there is no old age and death, nor is there the extinction of old age and death; there is no suffering, annihilation, or way; there is no cognition or attainment. Because there is nothing to be attained, the mind of the Bodhisattva, by virtue of reliance upon the Perfection of Wisdom, has no hindrances: no hindrances, and therefore, no terror or fear; he is far removed from error and delusion, and finally reaches Nirvana. All the Buddhas of the three worlds (the past, present, and future ones) rely on the Perfection of Wisdom, and that is why they attain the ultimate and complete enlightenment. Know, therefore, that the Perfection of Wisdom is a great divine spell, a spell of great illumination, a spell without superior, and a spell without equal. It can do away with all sufferings—such is the unvarnished truth. Therefore, when the Spell of the Perfection of Wisdom is to be spoken, say this spell: “Gate! Gate! Paragate! Parasamgate! Bodhisvaha! (“Gone, gone, gone beyond, completely gone beyond! O what an awakening! All hail!”).

cape kiwanda, oregon coast

immortality

The flying one, the whale stays waiting and watching in the waters. Don’t attempt to reach too high, or fly too far —

One day your royal, inner eye will lighten and open and then you’ll salmon-leap the Dragon gate gorge in one!

You attempt to climb the healing tree to the Palace Moon,

but sadly the Gate of Heaven is not open —

Still your travels will carry far and wide with indigenous folk,

everyone will smile and enjoy the flowers...

--poem is inspired by a monk honoring Kuan Yin

camp along p.c.t. - mt. washington (oregon cascades)

the heart of it

The journey goes on far, far into the unknown — and one can’t know whether there’s jade in the heart of the rock or not.

One day, a man will chisel it free into the daylight ...so be calm; you know, it has been there since the beginning of time.

--poem inspired by a monk honoring Kuan Yin

canyon creek, three finger jack (oregon cascades)

calderas' isthmus

Vulcan

Ask the site of meditation

Why even numberless exercise

Would lead only to empty old age !

Polishing bricks to make mirrors,

Hoarding snow to use a foodstuff__

How many youths are thus deceived;

A feather swallows the great ocean?

A mustard seed contains the Sumeru?

The Golden Dhuta is gently smiling.

Enlightened, one transcends the ten stages and three vehicles.

The sluggards must join the four creatures and six ways.

Who has heard below the Thoughtless Cliff,

Beneath the Shawdowless Tree,

The cuckoo's one call greeting the dawn of Spring?

--written by a monk in the book entitled, Journey to the West

sun wukong and the monk

There is One race here : the human race to ask....

When will the quest end for fortune and fame,

This tyrant of early rising and retiring late?

Riding on mules they long for noble steeds;

By now prime ministers, they hope to be kings.

For food and raiment they suffer stress and strain,

Never fearing Yama's call to reckoning.

Seeking wealth and power to give to sons of sons,

There's not one ever willing to turn back.

Sun WuKong

There are many who are now, "willing to turn back" and step forward. So what are we waiting for?

Blessings to my wife, Li Chen for gifting me with an amazing English translation of an abridgment of The Journey to the West