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Gallery

If you're looking for pictures you've probably come to the wrong place. You'll find climbing photographs here and other photographs here, but for the main site gallery I thought I'd present some poems and other interesting stuff. Some of it isn't even by me, it's just stuff I find interesting or appealing. Maybe you'll find something you like here.

old

a carved moon glows
my feet splash in puddles reflecting
a face - bored and faintly baffled -
mine
the silver chains of dementia hold me
i cannot remember yesterday
camouflaged colours in a world of blank faces
where have the names gone?
my feet splash in puddles reflecting a face -
have i said that already?
i gently forget the blooming crocus of yesterday
staring at my hands

Tea (by Ch'an Fu)

Originally posted in alt.zen, Message-ID: <3C44A1B6.A05D9612@operamail.com>

sugar
cream
spices
flowers
herbs
yak butter

just one, and tea is gone -
impossible to find.

and so it is with zen.
just tea - beginners mind.

as for the rest, try starbucks.
boil some carrots in a shoe.
tea is just tea - the rest is stew.

Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen's "Hey, That's no Way to Say Goodbye" is probably the song that resonates most with me these days. Go and read the lyrics; they're beautiful.

Zen

I am a Zen Buddhist (but am usually quite lazy about actually getting round to doing much meditation...) The short (that is, superficial and incomplete) explanation of Zen is that it is Buddhism as taught to the Chinese by Bodhidharma; it mingled with certain ideas from Taoism and practice spread to Japan in the 13th century. Adherents perform meditation ('zazen') in an effort to rid themselves of attachment to their circumstances and the impermanent forms of the world around them and of 'self'. A much better and more complete explanation can be found in the alt.zen FAQ. However, it is generally impossible to accurately convey the essence of Zen accomplishment and therefore the Zen masters traditionally do not try; rather they try to help their students discover this essence ('satori') for themselves by means of koans and/or shikantaza.

Other Zen resources that I highly recommend are:

  • 'The Three Pillars of Zen' by Roshi Philip Kapleau
  • 'Zen Flesh, Zen Bones' by Paul Reps
  • 'An Introduction to Zen Buddhism' by D. T. Suzuki
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