four sycamores standing in a row like soldiers

Bring forth the silent, still surface of the lake at midnight,

And bring forth the smell of the pines, the smell of dirt.

Light the incense and the candles. Strike the gong and call

The humans to the gathering. Kneel together as one.

Bring the sound of a child's first footsteps

Against the wooden planks of the cabin floor.

Send out the call - across the valley, through the hills.

Send out the call - the hour has come at last.

You are welcome here, just as you have always hoped.

This is the hour of offerings, this is moment of genuflecting

To something that is greater than us, and cannot be seen.

Bring your hearts in their finest offerings of love,

Love that is pure and untouched by want or need.

There is no past, no future. There are no sins or regrets.

Leave all the darkness behind you and step into the light.

Bring the children and the elderly and the infirm.

The hour of offerings is for everyone, for every soul.

You are welcome here, just as you have always hoped.

James Lee Jobe

Kindness in words creates confidence. 

Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. 

Kindness in giving creates love. 

Lao Tzu

One night past full, the moon rises

Over the tree to my east. A lot of pine,

some oaks, four sycamores standing

in a row like soldiers on guard duty.

In walking meditation, I move slowly

through the trees and out into the open.

Step by step, breath by breath -

moonlight on my face, and finally

looking up, in my eyes.

The Corn Moon, September.

James Lee Jobe

Listen: there’s a hell of a good universe next door; let’s go. 

e. e. cummings

DRAGON GATE GORGE 

Dragon Gate cuts a wide gorge. 

Trees line the road from the city gate, 

and the Imperial Palace is imposing.

The temples are silver and gold. 

The seasons shift. I come and go; 

the lands and waters roll on. 

Of all those I meet along this road, 

will I ever meet any again?

TU FU 712-770 CE

Translation by Sam Hamill 1943-2018 CE

TU FU 

SAM HAMILL

When I pronounce the word Silence, I destroy it.

Wisława Szymborska

Rolling Stones, Hide Your Love

These days, no matter where I go

Or whatever it is I happen to be doing,

I feel my son there. No, not his ghost, 

It isn't like that at all, but something of him 

Goes with me, through my day. 

Maybe it's his kindness that lives on, 

Or his love. Whatever it is, 

It brings me some needed peace.

James Lee Jobe 

No clinging, no seeking. 

Zen proverb

To lift food bits stuck to a pan, we pour water in it and wait. 

Don't struggle to remove your wound. 

Pour time into your heart and wait.

Haemin Sunim

May all beings caught up in confusion be able to show kindness to themselves.

James Lee Jobe

It is better to practice a little than to talk a lot.

Musō Soseki

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james