tao1776

Before you study Zen, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers. While you are studying Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and rivers are no longer rivers, but once you have had enlightenment, mountains are once again mountains and rivers again rivers. It is raining (again!) and the temperatures are unseasonably cool at fifty five degrees. It seemed like a good day to make my family famous New England baked beans and let the warmth of the oven and the smell of the dark molasses and onions settle the house with a feeling of, "I'm home." Looking out the window I can see my one lone pumpkin turning more orange by the day. A little smaller than a volley ball, it brings a smile every time we take a glimpse. We are making plans to drive over to get our oldest granddaughter who is entering the first grade. We would like to pick her up a few things and mark the occasion with the usual new school clothes and the like. I bought some "stinky cheese" because it...

My phone rings thus This is my ring tone. Not sure what it reveals about me. This song touches my soul as deeply as the sound of the pipes. What is your ring tone and why did you choose it?

The two men stood over a corpse that looked hastily thrown upon the top of an old meat cutter’s table. With bare hands and garden tools, the two skillfully pulled the dead man’s innards out onto the floor, while a pig calmly grazed through the dead man’s remains. Mr Bostwick did not look so gentlemanly now. Not as he did on his trips back to England. His eyes were glazed and his arms and torso were covered in blood. His long fingers seemed destined for a surgeon’s calling. His usual neat and trimmed mustache drooped in the heat and sweat and his nose flared from the stench. It appeared that he enjoyed his occupation immensely. The victory of Britain over China, in the war of opium and trade agreements, opened four more ports in the turbulent year of 1842. Regardless of the English victory, opium was still considered banned by the Manchu Government. Smuggling opium into the heart of China could be a torturous event, and being caught was avoided at all costs. “What better way could ther...

On Friday morning I took my Granddaughter out for breakfast. At 4 2/3 years old she is quite the conversationalist and she is always good company. She was born with a sense of humor that just won't quit. She has been trying to learn how to tell jokes. These are the latest; Why did Mickey Mouse hate his Dad? Cuz his Dad was a Rat! Why do little boys eat their boogers? Cuz they don't like broccoli. And the latest....... What do turtles use to make phone calls? Shell-phones. Its good to keep these small gems in mind when the little dogs snip at your heels trying to knock you off your game. I'm not a mechanic, I always like to say. But I'm not a complete idiot either. Money is tight. I can't really take the "Little Hottie" off to the doctor every time she feels ill. And she has been feeling poorly for way too long. But she needs someone greater than my experience I think. I'm doing my best. Tomorrow I will run through a checklist and see if I can pull her...

Shhhhh! She's resting. A new heart is on the way. Surgery this weekend maybe.

It would often seem that everything in my life has been directed as a lesson in trust. Perhaps this is just another way of saying that everything in my life has been directed as a lesson in how not to fear. It would also seem that the experience of meaningful coincidences have a way of increasing when in a state of trust; a state which also implies a state of one being present in the moment. The eternal now. For everything else is as much a mental construct as any words that I may use to describe it. I'm broke. I have several days of vacation. I choose to trust that it is as it is and I will be as things will be. My normal reaction would be to groan about having several days off without having any funds to support the usual day off activities. I arise and greet the day with a friendly gesture. Like the opening of a good book. I don't guess the ending, I read. And enjoy. An unexpected check arrives in the mail from a very unlikely source. Hmmmmm. I've been very strict with m...

Creation Expansion Contraction Completion Inhale, Exhale Advance Retreat Stillness In the beginning was the Tao. All things issue from it; all things return to it. To find the origin, trace back the manifestations. When you recognize the children and find the mother, you will be free of sorrow. If you close your mind in judgements and traffic with desires, your heart will be troubled. If you keep your mind from judging and aren't led by the senses, your heart will find peace. Seeing into darkness is clarity. Knowing how to yield is strength. Use your own light and return to the source of light. This is called practicing eternity.

CHAPTER FIVE The anger of Bai Tuomu made him feel like a viscous animal and he evoked a growl and a grimace showing of teeth. “Shit stick!” he screamed at his abuser. A man at the head of the procession cut away from the lead and returned to Bai’s position on the ground. Without a word being spoken he stood and looked down at the visibly shocked Bai with the stern eyes of a punishing god. Bai immediately pressed his palms together and placed them tightly against his forehead bowing in obeisance before the Mandarin’s procession leader. Bai had entered the walled city of Canton in the hopes of finding his cousin Feng Yunshan. It was reported that Feng was traveling with Hong Xiuquan, the man who was telling every eager listener of his meeting with the Christian God and his son Jesus. The streets within the walled city were paved with slabs of granite, each one intricately fit together like a jig-saw puzzle. Each street had its own gate that was locked every night and posted with sentr...

The Festival of the Tooth Kandy is a beautiful city in Sri Lanka. On a small hill is a great temple which was especially built to house a relic of the Buddha - his tooth. The tooth can never be seen, as it is kept deep inside may caskets. But once a year in August, on the night of the full moon, there is a special procession for it.

I turned 55 over the weekend. Kind of weird.

CHAPTER FOUR “Get up, you stupid, stupid boy!” yelled Miss Ainsworth as she helped him to his feet with the tug of an ear. “Master Bostwick plans to be here by seven. I want you looking presentable. And try to take that sick look of your face. No one wants a boy with the look of death upon his face.” Isaac Stearns rubbed his ear and watched as Miss Ainsworth left the dormitory room. He wondered how a woman with so big a bottom could manage the stairs to his room so quietly. At fifteen years old, Isaac stood a lean six feet tall and it was hard for the school to give him pants that fit properly. Most of the clothes distributed at Coll’s School for the Education of Young Men, came from charitable institutions, closed estates and church donations. It appeared that the best of the lot went to Headmaster Dillingham. Richard Bostwick periodically came by the school to enlist the aide of young Christian men to accompany him to the missions in China. Rumors had arisen when Master Bostwick wo...