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ISSA



Issa saw from

the great Buddha's nose

a starling fly

Perhaps in the desert

Jesus saw a scorpion crawl

from a skull's eye socket.

An ancient warrior witnessed

a beehive in a lion's dead body.

Woodpeckers live in

selfcarved caves in deceased trees

while birds have replaced

cannons in the windows of the

seaside fortress.

Pigeons of life reside

on the heads of generals

who caused death.

Vines grow out of abandoned

tanks.

Sunlight

clothes a cemetery cross

with resurrection radiance.







A PLACE OF PERFECT PEACE



A place

of perfect peace

slows

world's fast pace

which touches bluefires

of peace

and comes closer

to perfect peace.



All are somewhat

or wholly changed

who enter the

infinite space

in such a small place









BUDDHA IN CHINA



He walked toward

us.. this man born

in 1963 under Aquarius..

.. there was a cloud

of peace around him...

which lifted us slightly

above the ground..

severing our magnetism

with Mother Earth..

so that things of

the world receded..

we knew that he

cared for all beings..

we knew that he cared

for us as well.

He served us in

a restaurant..

the tofu with berry tea

became

bread and wine

in an ancient

sacrament of

initiation.



Some are stars

shining beyond

the cyclone..

the dry place

within the monsoon

.. the warm shelter

in the hurricane

.. the calm center

.. of the typhoon



but Buddhas reveal

to us

that we are all.



ANGKOR WAT



Because he was

truly a follower

of the Buddha..

he valued living

creatures more than

stone deities..

he thought it a greater

sacrilege to remove

the vines which

covered the ancient temples



Because he was truly a follower

of the Buddha..

he would not repair the

roof of the Tibetan temple

.. with the felled pillars

of once living trees



THE WIND'S PRAYER WHEELS



The Buddhist saw that

when his wrist was tired

the Wind came and moved

his prayer wheel for him.



Spirit Breath comes and

goes

and the lung prayer

wheels

move to and fro.





(to Jim Gibbons)



KINDNESS RISES EVERYWHERE



The Tree and Bird Protectors

saw that

windmills and wind

dynamos were prayer

wheels moving in

divine current

.. and that more

and more were making

these dynamos birdfriendly



BUDDHIST WOMAN



Her meditation

brought streams of light

from her atma

.. with them was she

healed

... and auric holes

healed..

from then on her own

aura

was her shield



BUDDHA'S BEGGING BOWL



Buddha's begging bowl

was able to hold juice

because it was not

harmed by desire leaks.



PALI ANNA



In one life a Polyanna

In the next.. polyandry

.. In the next Pali Anna



* (Pali: language of Buddha's

stotras.. Anna: Sanskrit for

food)



MS TRUONG



Oh Ms Truong

floated down Mekong

past jungles King Kong'd

in pinkest sarong



to entempled Angkor Wat

As evening grew long

heard ancient priest Wong

pull torquoise jade tong



to start the bells..

little chimes pingponged

medium bells dingdonged

great drums bingbonged



and sparked memory

of most ancient lovesong

and she remembered

'here once I belonged'.



THE POWER OF EMPTY SPACE



The actionless beauty of

the honeysuckle sparks the

actions of the bees.

The blankness of the page

.. the emptiness of the canvass

.. inspire the pen and the brush.

The desirelessness of the Buddha

awakened the love of his disciples.

The matterless space of the

seashore sky

creates the flow of healing.

The charity of the bighearted one

causes the miracle of resurrected energy.

The release of unneeded possessions

molds a vacuum in which solutions come.





BEGGING BOWL HEART



In the begging bowl

heart of the disciple

of Buddha there are no

written prayers,

for Kuon Yin fills

all his needs without

his asking.



FEATHER BROOMS



Day by day the vine

has crept

While others slept

.. up the trellis

she has stepped..

and where climatis

has for joy

her petaled blooms wept

Buddhists have only

with feather brooms swept





CALYX



The tree is dead

and now its logs

are calyxed

where the firetongues

have licked..

as jewels are by

settings, as

rosebuds are

by green petals.



WRITING ON WATER IN VIETNAM



Those who attempted to

conquer Vietnam's daughters

have cut moonbeams

have written on water.



BUDDHIST CHRISTMAS GIFT



The Buddhist

gave his nonBuddhist friend

a Christmas gift

..a present in wrapping

of maya, with

dawnribbons of streaming

light..

inside was nothing..

the void which births

all wishes

the emptiness containing

all





MOON RESCUE



he thought the moon

was drowning underwater..

he dove in

so great was his faith..

he ascended with her in his

dripping hand



















BURIED IN CHICKEN FEATHERS



the statue of the

Buddha Compassionate

is buried

in chicken feathers



(Thailand has killed 34 million chickens

in avian flu campaigns

Thailand is one of the 5 biggest

exporters of chicken bodies

in the world.

It is a 1.5 billion dollar business

Thailand has banned logging.)











TIBETAN INCENSE STICK



Plumes of snow were smoking/

off the high peaks of Tibet..

incense sticks on the mountain

altars to the Buddha.

Eddies swirled in the

mountain streams..

eternal prayer wheels

actualizing dreams.



(to all Dalai Lamas)



SAPPHO WEARS SAFFRON





The white orange blossom

has become the orange orb fruit

and reborn, like California poppies,

Sappho wears monks' saffron







BUDDHA NO PEST



No creature is

thought a pest

in compassionate

Budapest..

so great there

is Buddha's Spirit

in allembracing Budapest.





THIRSTY DEER



The thirsty deer looks

for water.. caring not

for the shape of the brook

nor the size of the pond

.. so the weary soul

looks for love

.. caring not

for the externals

of the cup of the heart







(to all those involved

in the making of the movie The Cup..

a swwet tale of the simplicity,

discipline, love, prayer power,

and nonviolence of Tibetan Buddhist

monks living in India)





PATRICK DUFFY



The film star was approached

and asked

if he would go to a summer

camp nudist..



"No but thank you".. he said..

" I follow

the dharma path of

saffron clad Buddhists"



(to Patrick Duffy)



DARSHAN OF THE HIMALAYAS





Below the Himalayas..

mountains pure, cool,

detached, clarified is

nestled the monastery of Lhasa

a home of infinite mansions..

and in them live masters

and monks

whose eyes are pure, cool,

detached and clarified.



ORANGE SHOOTING STARS



Looking down from the little bridge

upon

the lotus-spangled goldfish pond

one sees orange shooting stars

and gold comets

as the fish dart beneath

the green lilypad clouds in

the watery unfirmament.



May the waters of the streamfed

  pool be very deep

that in winter the fish and frogs

  not freeze.



ALL PATHS LEAD TO THE CENTER



All paths

rise and converge into One.

Arriving in the Center

.. those who have no

desire...who love all beings

-saiom shriver-

ALL PATHS LEAD TO THE CENTER

A PLACE OF PERFECT PEACE

ANGKOR WAT

BEGGING BOWL HEART

BUDDHA IN CHINA

BUDDHA'S BEGGING BOWL

BUDDHA NO PEST

BUDDHIST CHRISTMAS GIFT

BUDDHIST WOMAN

BURIED IN CHICKEN FEATHERS

CALYX

DARSHAN OF THE HIMALAYAS

FEATHER BROOMS

ISSA

KINDNESS RISES EVERYWHERE

MOON RESCUE

MS TRUONG

ORANGE SHOOTING STARS

PALI ANNA

PATRICK DUFFY

SAFFRON NOT SAPPHO

THE POWER OF EMPTY SPACE

THE WIND'S PRAYER WHEELS

TIBETAN INCENSE STICK

THIRSTY DEER

WRITING ON WATER IN VIETNAM



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