KOAN : What is the sound of one hand clapping ?

 

 

 

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golden GOJI hermitage

30th/JULY/2014

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1st/AUGUST/2014

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UPDATED

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WHAT IS THE SOUND OF ONE HAND CLAPPING?

HAKUIN

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GoLdEn GoJi HeRmItAgE

02.42hrs.

2nd/August/2014

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IF ONLY THEY WERE DRUNKEN POETS GIVING VOICE ALONG THE ESPLANADE

if only there were a LI PO or DU FU amongst them

on these beachside benches

but the winos are seated there

one with bloodied nose

from fighting (?)

with contempt for more well-healed passers-by

or so it seems...

they look to catch any eye

but with camera

 am focussed on the pattern of the path

on a shadow or a cloud

or a boat in the bay maybe

with WHITE NOSE cliffs and beyond 

 as backdrop to the scene...

if they were poets

i would be more than happy

to trade words

write a RENGA

or laugh along at the

10,000 SYLLABLE HAIKU

beloved of OWEN DAVIS

who lives half-way down the coast

someone who like me

would nod towards PAUL BLACKBURN...

but no such luck

we need wine to loosen tongues and minds hereabouts

release a resolute grip

on perceived realities

and share that fire for life

......

later in the day

heading for home

someone gives me a thumbs-up

from the pavement

from across the street

did you get a good one

he says

i am mystified until

i recognise the bloodied nose...

and those

  were the kindest words

i heard all day

if not from a poet

then maybe from

a BODHISATTVA in disguise.

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bernard hemensley

golden GOJI hermitage

27th/july/2014

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In the Early Morning Rain / Down to the River

 

 

 

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golden GOJI hermitage

18/july/2014

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JUST SITTING : 13 JULY 2014

a seagull's cry
in the dark

 before dawn's summer

chorus and daybreak

 i would hear

a pin drop

in silence
continue to sit

 undisturbed by 

house creaks

knowledge of 25 years plus

just hope

i'll have the balls of Ryokan

and bid any intruder
take what he needs

and leave quietly

the way he came in...

a gentle breeze

enters at will

such a pleasure

in hot July.

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golden GOJI hermitage

13th/july/2014

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THE DAYS TRULY SPARKLE

Lakeside

 

 

 

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Seaside

 

 

 

 

 

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Harbourside

 

 

 

 

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Golden GOJI Hermitage

6TH/JULY/2014

 

 

 

 

 

 



AN INVITATION / R. S. V. P.

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Golden GOJI Hermitage

 

5TH/JULY/2014

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DOUGHGEN'S COMMUNITY was not an attempt to dismiss the teachings of the Tathagata but to connect once again with what was essential...AND the role of the baker was singularly instrumental in this. The baker, as a proper and established member of the community, was expected to rise at the same time as those going to sit for zazen. Of course, by the time zazen was over, the bread was never ready for the hungry community. It was decided that the baker should get-up earlier. He was not very happy. If he/she had to get-up earlier, there had to be some give-and-take by the meditators. Thus it was decided that the baker would start just a little earlier, say, about 2 in the morning, and the rest of the community would sit 2 extra periods of zazen. It was in this way, that the baker was seminal in the origination of sesshin and those long hours of sitting...they were waiting for their bread!!! (Golden GOJI Hermitage...4TH/JULY/2014...written just before i put my own bread in the oven @ 5.30...while the loaves were proving.).

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