small sounds that please me

To study the Buddha way is to study oneself. To study oneself is to forget oneself. To forget oneself is to be enlightened by the myriad dharmas. To be enlightened by the myriad dharmas is to bring about the dropping away of body and mind of both oneself and others. The traces of enlightenment come to an end, and this traceless enlightenment is continued endlessly. When a person starts to search out the dharma, he separates himself far from the dharma. When the dharma has already been rightly transmitted in oneself, just then one is one's original self.

Dōgen Zenji

Sutter Buttes, California

In my imagination I took a long walk
As my body was too weak to do so
And in my mind I found a world
Of fields and woods with no footprints
In all directions this world was new and clean
My body is weak but my world is still wild
And absolutely free

James Lee Jobe

Kelly Detweiler

A break from the winter rains
Perhaps a few days of sunshine
It is sunrise and I sip coffee
Watching through a window
As wild finches peck in my yard
And on the patio
Making small sounds that please me

James Lee Jobe

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Pablo Picasso

T’was two nights before Christmas, about sunset
And I was in the kitchen loudly singing a Christmas carol
When it hit me (again) like a cheap punch out of nowhere
My son is gone
My son is gone
My son is gone
And I wept (again) sitting on the floor
With the tea kettle whistling

James Lee Jobe

Please help support this blog with a small donation on the BUY ME A COFFEE link below. Every little bit helps! 

Thanks, James