Slowing down at twilight

What is it about slowing down that allows even more "things" to get done?

When I try to squeeze too much into too little time I just stress and freak.

When I intentionally slow down and do less I gain more time which allows me to do more.

And I see the cardinal sitting on the wire, the color of the brick wall, and the fireflies and swallows kissing earth and sky at twilight.

Thanks to all.

Turning fifty

My fiftieth birthday is coming up soon and I think there are two types of people in the world. Those that dread turning fifty and those that more so dread their fiftieth birthday party. I'm not sure which one I am yet.

Truth is here

So little honesty here,
so weary this deception.
Complexity just hides the fear.
Truth is here, breathe it in.

Sostice beginnings

The solstice sun nods,
says hello to moon and stars.
We begin again.

Spring and Summer

For Spring, gratefulness.
For Summer, sunshine and storms.
For now eternal.

Thank you Dad

Thank you Dad for 65 years of putting your children first. That was a commitment you might have found difficult but never waivered on your always trying. And we were trying - all eight of us. I express my gratitude to you almost every day. You know it. Today we all say thank you again.

P.S. Say hi to Mom.

Love, Mark

Calmness

I'm struggling lately with calmness. Or the lack of calmness. What's the opposite? Tension, agitation, irritation, etc.

I know I can only find calmness in this present moment. Got to remember that. Stop searching for it elsewhere.

Changing minds for peace at Lakewood Park

Yesterday was the second annual Change Your Mind Day sponsored by the Cleveland chapter of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. It was a beautiful afternoon in Lakewood Park spent meditating with leaders from Insight Meditation of Cleveland, Cleveland Shambhala Meditation Group, Zen Rivers and Mountains Order, Flowing Water Sangha and others. Sensei Dean Williams from Jijuyu-ji Zen Group started the afternoon with a dharma talk on inner peace. Christine Siarka guided folks in creating a sand mandala with the theme of the day: "Creating peace and the absence of war, from heart to heart, this I can do." At the end of the day the sand was gathered and deposited into Lake Erie.

Over 70 people from far away as South Russel attended. Many were young folks - in their late teens and twenties, including some who had never meditated before. Thanks.

The site was in the midst of other picnics, parties, baseball games and bike riding. Two children ran by at one point, the younger brother asked, "What are they doing?", to which the older sister replied, "They're meditating stupid." She knew. She'll grow out of the "stupid" phase and hopefully find the meditating phase.

Wendell Berry's wisdom

We Who Prayed and Wept

We who prayed and wept
for liberty from kings
and the yoke of liberty
accept the tyranny of things
we do not need.
In plenitude too free,
we have become adept
beneath the yoke of greed.

Those who will not learn
in plenty to keep their place
must learn it by their need
when they have had their way
and the fields spurn their seed.
We have failed Thy grace.
Lord, I flinch and pray,
send Thy necessity.

Madison Ave. Soul

In a full two-page ad in the New York Times today, Buick claims to have discovered its soul. This alleged discovery took place “on the road to building the finest luxury crossover ever.” What does Buick’s soul consist of? Their soul is “the feeling of comfort and safety, the confidence of power and control and the allure of an enticing machine.”

Hmmm. Nothing about caring for the earth, caring for their employees, or caring for our true search for soul. I think I will pass.

Oh, this soulful car carries the name of Enclave. Sounds more divisive than the soulful work of realizing non-dualism, non-discrimination and peace. But we are at war and corporate advertising will use any means possible to capture our souls. I know I will pass.

Bicycling koan

Does the beauty of bicycling come from the motion of the bike or the person on the bike? They cannot be separated can they?

So, where does the mind reside?

Listening

Would not the world be more beautiful and peaceful if we did not have a response every time someone told us something?

Letters from emptiness

"When you see plum blossoms, or hear the sound of a small stone hitting bamboo, that is a letter from the world of emptiness."
- Shunryu Suzuki Roshi (on the June page of my calendar)


Peonies in June;
Some fallen, all will fall soon.
The ants continue feeding.