a sun that never set

Patti Warashina

gather these things together. a lock of your child's hair. morning sunlight, trapped in a mason jar. the sound of a guitar with nylon strings, being strummed by bare fingertips. a glimpse of a smile on the face of someone very old. now take all of these items and place them in a box that you have decorated yourself. protect that box like it is your sacred treasure. on those nights when your sorrow or your grief seem to overtake your life, take out the box again. touch the hair of your child, and hold the sunlight high above your head. listen to the sounds of the guitar and share that smile with someone you love. open your heart, life is measured by the smallest of moments. 

james lee jobe

"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth." 

Buddha

the bus driver called out the name of the stop, and it sounded pretty good, although I cannot now remember that name. just that it sounded wholesome. clean. like a place where a man might might find honest work and good people. I had bought a ticket from one side of the country to another. I had nothing to do at the time, no place to go, no place to be. I thought that if I went across, some place might just grab me. maybe a life would grab me, or a girl, and hold me. so I got off there and the bus pulled away. but it wasn't a town, it was just a platform for loading and unloading, and one bench to sit on. and I sat there. and waited. but no other bus ever came there, and no cars went by. no planes flew overhead. and now I have waited for an entire lifetime, passing from a young man to an old man, but there were no nights and no weeks, no years or decades. just a sun that never set. a day that didn't end. a platform with a bench. a bus that never returned. 

james lee jobe

"Solitary is as necessary to our sanity as the forest where no one goes, as the waterfall in a canyon which no one has ever seen or heard."

Alan Watts

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james 

wind and birds for crowns

This life is an empty cup until you fill it yourself. The seas get filled by the rivers, but you and I don’t have that luxury. To be a human being is self-service work. 

Being kind to each other includes being kind to yourself. It’s the same with forgiveness. Yes, we should share, so also be sure to accept it when someone else shares with you.

Look at me, it’s so early that I haven’t even been outside yet, and already I am preaching. That’s alright, it’s part of my work in this life. And this life is an empty cup until you fill it yourself.

james lee jobe

Generosity brings happiness at every stage of its expression: We experience joy in forming the intention to give, we experience joy in the action of giving, and we experience joy in remembering that we have given. As Gandhi said, “The fragrance remains in the hand that gives the rose.”

Beth Roth, “Family Dharma: The Joy of Generosity”

ten thousand mountains 

each with a heart of its own 

wind and birds for crowns 

forest and snow for robes 

or rock and cactus 

the mountains are the kings of the earth 

and the oceans are the queens 

and what of  the soil where life grows from seeds 

royal offspring 

we are family 

and family is us 

time is our silent partner as we orbit the sun 

again and again

james lee jobe

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

Pema Chödron

link: Matins, a poem by Jeanne D’Orge

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james 

the two johns - coltrane and lennon

humans bombing other humans happens daily

Open the window to the west, and disappear into the air inside you. 

Kabir 

me me me

we are a dense ocean 

thick 

anyone could float on this surface 

human hearts pull in the tide 

and human indifference sends it away again 

there are ships here with no sailors and many fish 

that have broken away from their schools 

beings who will now face eternity on their own 

truly we all face eternity on our own

open that westward window 

the sunset is majestic 

and too many of us are praying to the east anyway 

could a god even hear us through the drone 

the cacophony of everyone praying "me me me" 

cast those worries into our ocean 

the tide is going out again now 

we are the ocean 

the sunset 

the air itself

james lee jobe 

Emptiness invites us to look uncertainty in the eye. So if fear or resistance arises, take your time with it. 

Cortland Dahl, “Exploring Emptiness”

I'll just nail my own feet to the cross

My grandfather and his stories about jesus 

the sermon on the mount     christ's suffering 

in gethsemane      the agony on the cross 

how any person that he met might just be jesus 

here to test his faith and his faith never wavered 

and my mother believed because my grandfather 

taught her to believe     that was enough 

and me     I don't believe at all 

well     not exactly 

I do believe in the lessons jesus taught 

and I listened to grandpop enough to know 

that I should study it all for myself     and I have 

don't judge     be kind     harm no one     got it 

do it for the sake of your own soul     got it 

muhammad and buddha and gandhi 

and the two johns    coltrane and lennon 

and rumi and hafez     they all said it too 

but a virgin birth     rising from the dead 

well not so much      whatever god is 

doesn't have a son     and look at me     with 

two feet and only one nail for the both of them 

you know it won't be easy     let's get this over with

james lee jobe

poetry link: Ode to Aging Bodies, by Jan Mandell

I don't support empires. I support the poor. I support workers. I support the challenged, people in need. I support people of spirit, any faith. But not empires. I defy empires. 

james lee jobe

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james lee jobe 

a hawk sits naked in a cedar tree

paul gauguin

bathing in diamonds 

a child of fire, bathing 

in diamonds. golden water on 

a clear night. bare 

mountains in the fire and in 

the bath, a ridge crowned 

with the blaze of diamonds, 

cursed with bathwater 

and the breath of gold. 

the night is blessed. 

the fire child is blessed. 

every moment is a gift. 

now the child, still burning, steps 

out onto the rusted shore, 

dripping diamonds, 

dripping gold, 

dripping fire. 

even the water is burning. 

james lee jobe

In Buddhism, the fundamental analysis is that most of our human suffering comes from grasping after that which is passing.

James Ishmael Ford, “Finding the Ox’s Footprints”

photographer unknown

the highway that you hoped for 

the prints of the fingers are a tiny highway with a high toll 

lined by flowers and the sounds of children playing in a courtyard 

say something 

say toll booth 

say tag  you're it 

this highway is far longer than your finger 

and your dreams are more expensive than any toll 

a hawk sits naked in a cedar tree waiting for you 

beneath this tree the earth overlaps 

with the noise of your humanity 

the sounds of you living your own life 

your fingers are clenched in a fist 

and the children have fallen silent 

this isn't the highway that you had hoped fo, 

but friend 

this is damn well the highway that you are on

james lee jobe

Real peace is not simply the absence of violent conflict but a state of harmony: harmony between people; harmony between humanity and nature; and harmony within ourselves.

Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi

albane simon

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that plain that is east of paradise

the wood between - hiramatsu reiji

wise men and fools

the world is a blind man squatting on the road

rumi

a mule has better dreams than this     a man dreams 

of winter in the summer and of summer when it's winter 

he curses the rain     except when times are very dry 

another man counts his dollars over and over 

while his child wants him to come outside and kick the ball around 

time passes at the same speed for wise men and fools 

which are you     and which am I     even now 

the moon is a bindi for the forehead of the rich and dark sky 

james lee jobe

The more grateful we feel, the happier we become. This is because gratitude helps us realize we are all connected. Haemin Sunim

from my backyard

the inside of your nostrils itch     that's a warning

the mountain peak that is never without snow 

the window pane that cracked 

and you covered the crack with duct tape 

that plain that is east of paradise    the one that is barren and hot

and no one has ever tried to walk across it 

honey that drips onto your lips from her lips 

and the way she bites you 

is there more than one universe     yes indeed 

does it make any difference at all     no    none at all 

the inside of your nostrils itch     that's a warning

a change is coming 

and you are not in control of anything  

james lee jobe

my music is evidence of my soul's will to live.

charles mingus

charles mingus   devil's blues

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ready to fly away

pablo picasso - guitar & bottle

May I always do my part to keep the light shining, even though I may never understand what the light is. May I be a help and an asset to those around me.

james lee jobe 

-from AUTUMN THOUGHTS

lonely bones can't sleep nights

the singing insects keep calling them

calling them

and the old have no tears when they sob

autumn weeps dewdrops

strength failing all at once

as if cut loose with ravages everywhere

like weaving unraveled

I touch thread-ends

no new feelings

memories crowding thickening sorrow

how could I bear southbound sails

to wander rivers and mountains of the past

MENG CHIAO 751-814 CE

pablo picasso -- violon accroche au mur

the last night in this world

when the sun comes up again I won't be with you

don't look for me in the world     look for me

where the world is not    in your thoughts    in your breath

look for me in your dreams    in those paintings

made of memory     it doesn't matter you know 

this isn't even close to being all that there is 

when the sun comes up again I won't be with you

the door is open and I intend to walk through

the window was left up and I am ready now

to fly away    the ocean is calm    warm     and the time

is ripe to wade out then swim into the deep water

far past the buoys    out where the water is dark

when the sun comes up again I won't be with you

I have cleaned the tools and put them all away

each one in its proper place    I brought in the linen

from the line    I fed the pets and gave them my love

and I give you my love too    for in the end 

at the finish what else is there to give or receive 

james lee jobe

Pain is not a punishment; pleasure is not a reward.

Pema Chödron

trinity alps -- northern california

a bull moose dancing

you could ask me where I sleep    I sleep here 

among the oaks 

you could ask me what I believe    I believe in everything 

I believe in nothing at all 

did I eat the bitter root    yes    it tasted awful    like death 

but I chewed and I swallowed 

and did the animal power appear    yes    I am a bull moose  

dancing around the small fire 

I am something more than a man    no    I am nothing 

a grain of sand in the desert 

I am finite and infinite    a part of the one    the void 

and so are you    eat the bitter root 

sleep here among the oaks 

let the danger set you free 

james lee jobe

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Lao Tzu

What we think of as our “self” is shaped by our time, our culture, and our circumstances.

Judith Hertog

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james 

there has to be compassion and empathy

nenad bacanovic

Whenever I see you a tsunami slams my beach

the crows do a dance number with top hats and canes 

al green sings 'love and happiness' 

                wife 

the river in my souls rises and washes over its banks 

and on into the cobbled streets

the earth rumbles and quakes 

mad dogs run through the parks in my head 

foaming at the mouth

it's been this way for years and decades 

no god runs this show 

the wild hairy drummer that hides in my heart is in charge 

                wife 

the sun is setting 

let's pick up the beat and dance 

james lee jobe 

with practice, we can learn to be like a rainbow, holding both the weight and sadness of rain and the joy and warmth of the sun.

mark van buren

camille pissarro

There's an old goat path that meanders 

all the way between right and wrong 

we start at one end and end up at the other 

the journey takes some time 

and it isn't smooth or easy 

but what can we do 

no one lives their whole life being in the right 

and no one lives it always wrong 

we all walk it 

so it goes that we spend most of this life 

walking the goat path 

the good news is that you get to start 

at whichever end is closest to you 

james lee jobe 

welcome the present moment as if you had invited it. why? because it is all we ever have.

 

pema chödron

crystal beshara

peace is a lot more than just nonviolence. for real peace, there has to be compassion and empathy.

james lee jobe

The

earth would die

if the sun stopped kissing her

Hafez 1310-1379 (it is believed)

bright bloom, a poem by helene achanzar

sailing to byzantium, william butler yeats

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jlj