The Train

My friend, the train
Forward and Majestic
Overbearing my Journey

Whatever a man knows

Whatever a man knows, whatever is not mere rumbling and roaring that
he has heard, can be said in three words.
-- Kurnberger

Behind a blood-stained curtain

Behind a blood-stained curtain, love has spread its gardens.
Lovers are busy with the beauty of the love that is beyond explanation.
Intellect says: 'The six directions are the limit, there is nothing
beyond them.'
Love says:'There is a road, and I have journeyed on it many times.'
Love detected markets beyond that market.
Intellect says:'Do not set foot on the land of annihilation;
There is nothing there but thorns.'
Love says;'Those thorns you feel are only inside you!
Be silent! remove the thorn of existence from the foot of the heart;
So that you may see the gardens within.'
O Shams of Tabriz! you are the Sun cloaked by the cloud of speech;
When your Sun rose, all the words melted!

(Divan 132:1-3, 6-8)
Rumi

Wisdom and Age

Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up
all by itself.
- Woodrow Wilson

Calm and Strife

The person resolute in the Way must strive not to lose sight of it,
whether in a place of calm or in a place of strife. Beware of clinging
to quiet places and shunning those where there is disturbance. If you
try to take refuge from trouble by running to some quiet place, you
will fall into confusion.

- Daikaku (1213-1279)

Cleverness and Stupidity (oh, and money, too!)

To be clever enough to get all the money, one must be stupid enough to want it.
-- Gilbert K. Chesterton

Same Source Differ In Name

Ever desireless,
One can see the mystery.
Ever desiring,
One can see the manifestations.
These two spring
From the same source
But differ in name.

- Lao tzu

Caught in the storm of my tears, with a bleeding heart

I said I shall tell the tale of my heart as best as I can;
Caught in the storm of my tears, with a bleeding heart,

I failed to do that!
I tried to relate to event in broken, muted words;
The cup of my thoughts was so fragile, that I fell into pieces like
shattered glass.
Many ships were wrecked in this storm;
What is my little helpless boat in comparison?

The waves destroyed my ship, neither good remained nor bad;
Free from myself, I tied my body to a raft.
Now, I am neither up nor down-no this is not a fair description;
I am up on a wave one instant, and down under another the next.
I am not aware of my existence, I know only this:
When I am, I am not, and when I am not, I am!

(Divan 1419:1-6)
Rumi

In the World

In the World

Barefoot and naked of breast,
I mingle with the people
Of the world.
My clothes are ragged
And dust laden,
And I am ever blissful.
I use no magic to extend my life;
Now, before me,
The dead trees become alive.

- Kakuan (1100-1200)

The Primordial Sea

It is impossible to give a clear account of the world, but art can
teach us to reproduce it --just as the world reproduces itself in the
course of its eternal gyrations. The primordial sea indefatigably
repeats the same words and casts up the same astonished beings on the
same sea-shore.
-- Albert Camus

the sages who, abandoning learning, rest in spontaneity

Fearing that none of you would understand, they gave it the name Tao,
but you must not base any concept upon that name. So it is said that
"when the fish is caught, the trap is forgotten." When body and mind
achieve spontaneity, the Tao is reached and universal mind can be
understood. In former times people's minds were sharp. Upon hearing a
single sentence, they abandoned study and so came to be called "the
sages who, abandoning learning, rest in spontaneity." In these days,
people only seek to stuff themselves with knowledge and deductions,
placing great reliance on written explanations and calling all this
the practice.

- Huang-po (d.850)

Priceless!

Holy Moses! Have a look!
Flesh decayed in every nook!
Some rare bits of brain lie here,
Mortal loads of beef and beer,
Some of whom are turned to dust,
Every one bids lost to lust;
Royal flesh so tinged with 'blue'
Undergoes the same as you.

-- Amanda McKittrick Ros

objects

Over the ages
You have followed objects,
Never once turning back
To look within.
Time slips away;
Months and years
Are wasted

- Kuei-shan Ling-yu (771-854)

Contentment

It is the bedrock or foundation on which to parry the vicissitudes of common existence.

Narrow and Wide

Many times the mountains have
Turned from green to yellow
So much for the capricious earth!
Dust in your eyes,
The triple world is narrow;
Nothing on your mind,
Your chair is wide enough.

- Muso (1275 – 1351)

There is a going beyond appearance and emptiness

The more you talk and think about it,
The further astray you wander from the truth.
Stop talking and thinking,
And there is nothing you will not be able to know.
To return to the root is to find the meaning,
But to pursue appearances is to miss the source.
At the moment of inner enlightenment
There is a going beyond appearance and emptiness.

- Seng Ts'an (d. 606 )

A lotus comes out of the mud

Sitting on top of a boulder
The gorge stream icy cold
Quiet fun holds a special charm
Fogged-in on deserted cliffs
A fine place to rest
The sun leans and tree shadows sprawl
While I view the ground of my mind
A lotus comes out of the mud.

- Han-shan

Truly Seeing

With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of
joy, we see into the life of things - William Wordsworth

The narrower the mind, the broader the statement - Ted Cook

The narrower the mind, the broader the statement - Ted Cook

Don’t seek fame or fortune

Don't seek fame or fortune,
Glory or prosperity.
Just pass this life as is,
According to circumstances.
When the breath is gone,
Who is in charge?
After the death of the body,
There is only an empty name.
When your clothes are worn,
Repair them over and over;
When you have no food,
Work to provide.
How long can a phantomlike body last?
Would you increase your ignorance
For the sake of its idle concerns?

- Tung-shan