A Ramadan Sonnet by Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore
for Sharifa Barakat Headache, the invalid feeling of being sickly and having to take it easy, testiness when things don’t go quite right, annoyance of magnetic gravity, things fall in a pile or slide off…
Category: Wisdom Traditions
Three Questions
Gregg Krech, Naikan: Gratitude, Grace, and the Japanese Art of Self-Reflection (Stone Bridge Press, 2001) I learned of Naikan through consulting the bibliography of Patricia Ryan Madson’s book, Improv Wisdom. Therein, she cited books on…
“Why Must the Poet’s Mouth Be Bloodied, His Teeth Caved in?”
More than a decade ago, octogenarian Jesuit felon Daniel Berrigan spoke at the local Jesuit university (in the auditorium of the business school, no less). During the Q & A, a friend of mine asked…
Everything Is a Gift by Jennifer Vanbooven
Jennifer Vanbooven is in my Comparative Religion and Culture class, and wrote this response to the documentary, Walk with Me, about life at Plum Village. I am happy to share it here. Kaley and I…
Occasional Moments of Peace, Gratitude, and Delight
I first learned of Gary Snyder through Kerouac’s novel, The Dharma Bums, where he was fictionalized as “Japhy Ryder,” who, according to Alvah Goldbook [aka Allen Ginsberg], was “a great new hero of American…
Tolstoy’s List
After coming across this acknowledgement of influence, a goal for this spring–re-engaging with Tolstoy.
Poem of the Day: Burning Monk
A friend shared this poem by Shin Yu Pai about the famous Vietnamese Buddhist Thích Quảng Đức who immolated himself in 1963.
Poem of the Day: Burning Monk
A friend shared this poem by Shin Yu Pai about the famous Vietnamese Buddhist Thích Quảng Đức who immolated himself in 1963.
To Contend, To Enliven, To Distance, To Advocate, To Investigate, To Rally, To Prioritize, To Surprise
I’ve read Anne Waldman since 2001 (Fast Speaking Woman: Chants and Essays got me started). Her epics, poems, interviews, and edited anthologies (from the Kerouac School at Naropa) stimulate and open up possibilities. One of…
Chân Không’s Secret
Sometimes I feel overwhelmed. But I try to work one day at a time. If we just worry about the big picture, we are powerless. So my secret is to start right away doing whatever…