A few years ago, the American poet Jane Hirshfield was invited to define Zen practice in seven words. As a young woman Hirshfield spent eight years in full-time Zen training, three of them in a Zen monastery. “That experience,” she has said, “and its continuing life in my life underlie everything I have done since.”* [...]
Archive for June, 2009
36. Seven words
Posted in 1, tagged defining Zen, ichigo ichie, jane hirshfield, poetry and zen, roko shinge roshi, seven words on 18 June 2009 | 2 Comments »
35. Stepping stones
Posted in 1, tagged ichigo ichie, Irish poetry, seamus heaney, stepping stones, zen meditation on 4 June 2009 | Leave a Comment »
In his memoir “Something to Write Home About” the poet Seamus Heaney recalls an experience from his rural childhood in Northern Ireland. Near his parents’ farm in Co. Derry, there was a ford in the River Moyola. A trail of stepping stones led from one bank to the other. Venturing into the river, “from one [...]
