first morning

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the morning, praise for the singing
God's re-creation of the first day

Cat Stevens

for Grant

I wonder in what fields today

he chases dragonflies in play

my little boy who ran away

Chiyo-ni

on the death of her son

at the Monk's Cabin

ENDLESS VOW
The Zen Path of Soen Nakagawa


A monk living alone
maple leaves
cover the entire mountain



So hitori sumu manzan no momiji kana

This is a sketch I made of the monk's cabin I lived in at Sonoma Mountain

Spring Sesshin at Palolo

Robert and I cooked for the spring sesshin in Hawaii. He came from Florida and I came from Canada

Enso

The universal enso on my new t-shirt symbolizes enlightenment and oneness with nature. Zenga are the ink paintings and calligraphy of Japanese Zen Buddhist monks from approximately 1600 to the present.

The calligraphy reads:

Pure white birds set against

emerald waters,

Green mountains ablaze

with blooming flowers.

Sitting