Be a Light
Then coming to this pass [Ryōkan] found only one way to go: he made up his mind, to go his own way, that is to say, to pursue the way of truth—the only way a…
Author: Mark J. Chmiel
Mev and Andrew
For Suzanne Renard Mev Puleo died 28 years ago today and, out of the blue, I just remembered something Andrew Wimmer had written about the book I wrote about Mev way back in 2005. Even…
Here and Now, This Is It
In another passage of the letter to his brother, he defines the ecstatic sense of life that he felt on being pardoned: “Life is a gift, life is happiness, every minute could be a lifetime…
One of This Afternoon’s Gratitudes
A song from a film….
How Rare!
It is truly impressive to speak only reluctantly about something you thoroughly understand, and not to mention it at all unless asked.—Yoshida Kenkô, Essays in Idleness, translated by Meredith McKinney
La Rochefoucauld Nailed It
Le soleil ni la mort ne se peuvent regarder fixement. –Duc François De La RochefoucauldNeither the sun nor death can be looked at steadily.–Leonard TancockMaxim #26
Yesterday, While Sitting in Barnes Jewish Hospital with Suzanne…
she shared her enthusiasm for the writer Niall Williams, and quoted from memory the opening line of his novel, On Earth As It Is in Heaven: “There are only three great puzzles in the world,…
Fading, Vanishing
All the greatest and most important problems of life are fundamentally insoluble… They can never be solved, but only outgrown. This “outgrowing” proved on further investigation to require a new level of consciousness. Some higher…
This Is It!
Dogen said we must penetrate this moment, again and again, forever. This is the most important thing we can do. There is nothing to change, nothing to hold on to, nothing to get caught by….
Carry on, Regardless
A man accustomed to vicissitudes is not easily dejected. —Samuel Johnson, The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abyssinia Men seldom give pleasure, where they are not pleased themselves; it is necessary, therefore, to cultivate an habitual…