According to Buddha
The heart is an organ of perception.
now the angel’s got a fiddle
the devil’s got a harp
every soul is like a minnow
every mind is like a shark
i’ve broken every window
but the house, the house is dark
i care but very little
i’ve come here to revisit
what happens to the heart
***
Aldon Auto Salvage, Lamont, AB ~ October 2019
According to Buddha
If you touch the nature of interbeing, you don’t try to run away from suffering anymore. Instead you try to embrace your suffering. You look deeply into it to understand its nature and learn how to make good use of suffering to produce happiness.
whether you’re woman or whether you’re man
sometimes you got to take a stand
just because you think you can
you got to run
you got to run
***
Bison ~ Elk Island National Park, Yellowhead Highway ~ October 2019
According to Buddha
The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don’t wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.
toute la vie
est fait de jours et de nuits
le temps gris
laisse la place à l’éclaircie
c’est ainsi,
et il faut apprécier autant:
la pluie et le beau temps.
***
Dahlia in the veranda ~ Etown, AB ~ October 2019,
According to Buddha
One of the ways in which one can counterbalance excessive thinking is contact through nature and the elements. One can develop one’s sense of consciousness by contact with earth, fire, water, space – it’s as simple as that. This will take a lot of the tension and one-sidedness out of one’s metal development, and out of one’s will.
maybe i’m still searchin’ but i don’t know what it means
all the fires of destruction are still burnin’ in my dreams
there’s no water that can wash away this longin’ to come clean
hey yeah yeah
***
Road to Ya Ha Tinda, Central Alberta, 2019
According to Buddha
An answer seeks to dissolve the question, a response recognizes the ongoing validity of the question, and seeks to remain in connection with it.
the bright horses have broken free from the fields
they are horses of love, their manes full of fire
they are parting the cities, those bright burning horses
and everyone is hiding, no one makes a sound
***
Paint horses, Central Alberta, September 2019
According to Buddha
The thing is that this life is so precious and mysterious, I don’t know what to say about it most of the time. Words are like birds, passing through the trackless sky. The dog barking, the sound of the purling stream, the wind among the weeping willow trees: how are these not right off the tongue of the Buddha?
sometimes
i have to wonder
about the dog in me
oh dogs are everywhere
yes dogs are everywhere
yes dogs are everywhere
***
dogs in and around San Isidro ~ Lima Peru ~ September 2019
According to Buddha
The more you realize, the more you realize there is nothing to realize. The idea that there’s somewhere we have got to get to, and something we have to attain, is our basic delusion.
we only stay as long as we can
just like the mountains return to sand
then come back again
we come back again
we come back again
***
winter beach San Isidro District, Lima, Peru ~ August 2019
According to Buddha
On the other side, is substantialism, more materialism, everything is real to the extent we can see or measure it, and things are as real as I think they. That’s way too materialistic or substantialist, because things are not really what they seem to be.
baby, life’s what you make it
can’t escape it
baby, yesterday’s favorite
don’t you hate it
baby life’s what you make it
don’t back date it
baby, don’t try to shade it
beauty is naked
***
Parque de la Reserva, Lima Peru ~ August 2019
According to Buddha
Buddha also said that the Dharma, like a bird, needs two wings to fly, and that the wing that balances wisdom is compassion.
for just a skyline pigeon
dreaming of the open
waiting for the day
that she can spread her wings
and fly away again
***
pigeons ~ Basilica of San Francisco, Lima, Peru ~ August 2019
According to Buddha
In handling matters, let your mind influence your heart. In dealing with people, let your heart influence your mind. [Manage business with mind based upon your heart; while dealing with human relationship, you will let your heart drive your mind.]
if dogs run free, why not me
across the swamp of time?
my mind weaves a symphony
and tapestry of rhyme
oh, winds which rush my tale to thee
***
random streets in San Isidro ~ Lima, Peru ~ August 2019
