According to Buddha
The treasure of friendship is your richest possession, because it goes with you beyond this life. All the true friends you have made you will meet again…for real love is never lost.
i can not remember when
the last time i saw my home and all my friends
but they tell me my life
has never been better
and so i try to make believe
that all the time i spend away is endlessly
making everything so much better
***
Sylvan Lake, Central Alberta ~ May 2017
According to Buddha
If a wet battery, which is sustained by electricity and dependent on replenishment of its water supply (in an old type battery it was necessary to regularly add water to wet batteries to replace that which was lost in evaporation) could somehow be converted into a dry battery, it could do away with dependence on water and be sustained by its own reservoir of energy recharged solely by electricity.
well if you ever plan to motor west
just take my way that’s the highway that’s the best
get your kicks on route 66
would you get hip to this kindly tip
and go take that california trip
***
According to Buddha
There can be no images of light without contrasting shadows. Unless evil had been created, man would not know the opposite, good. Night brings out the bright contrast of day; sorrow teaches us the desirability of joy.
and all the streets, they reek of tropical charms
the embassies lie in hideous shards
where tourists snore and decay
when they dance in a reptile blaze
you wear a mask, an equatorial haze
into the past, a colonial maze
***
According to Buddha
You must not let your life run in the ordinary way; do something that nobody else has done, something that will dazzle the world.
looking for someone, i guess i’m doing that,
trying to find a mem’ry in a dark room.
dirty man, you’re looking like a buddha,
i know you well – yeah.
random streets ~ Lisbon Portugal ~ 2016
According to Buddha
It is not your passing thoughts or brilliant ideas so much as your plain everyday habits that control your life…Live simply. Don’t get caught in the machine of the world — it is too exacting. By the time you get what you are seeking your nerves are gone, the heart is damaged, and the bones are aching. Resolve to develop your spiritual powers more earnestly from now on. Learn the art of right living. If you have joy you have everything, so learn to be glad and contented…Have happiness now.
sing with me y’all:
one world, one world (we only got)
one world, one world (that’s all we got)
one world, one world
and something’s wrong with it (yeah)
something’s wrong with it (yeah)
something’s wrong with the wo-wo-world, yeah
we only got
(one world, one world)
that’s all we got
(one world, one world)
Istanbul, Turkey ~Taksim Square ~ 2013
According to Buddha
There is another world, the astral, hidden behind this universe. Its inhabitants are garbed in an astral form made of light. Lacking a physical body, they are “ghosts,” invisible to us . . .
we are ghosts
we are ghosts amongst these hills
from the trees of velvet green
to the ground beneath our feet
we are ghosts
we are ghosts amongst these hills
pressing out along the shore
pressing out along the shore
***
Epcor Tower, Edmonton, Alberta ~ December 2016
According to Buddha
To escape through wisdom from the oppressive narrowness of the self into the joyous omnipresence of the Self is the goal of human life.
they paved paradise
and put up a parking lot
with a pink hotel, a boutique
and a swinging hot spot
don’t it always seem to go
that you don’t know what you’ve got
’till it’s gone
they paved paradise
and put up a parking lot
***
behind Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta ~ October 2016
According to Buddha
Strive ceaselessly; never be impatient. Once the finality is achieved, incarnation of troubles will be over in a second, just as when light is admitted within a room that has been locked for decades, the darkness vanishes instantly.
i was working up a conversation
but i didn’t know how to start
your heart is a work of art
i wanna be rich in memories not money
our love is our inheritance honey
we’ve come so far
***
random streets of Lisbon, Portugal ~ April 2016.
According to Buddha
To be ecstatic is not difficult. It is thinking that it is difficult that holds you apart from it. Never think of divine joy as distant from you, and it will be with you always.
have you ever had a fever,
from a bitter-sweet refrain,
have you ever kissed the sunshine,
walked between the rain.
well, just climb up on my music,
and my songs will set you free,
well, just climb up on my music,
and from there jump off with me.
***
Brooks Aqueduct, Alberta ~ August 2016
According to Buddha
The relationship that exists between friends is the grandest of human loves. Friendly love is pure, because it is without compulsion. If you once know divine love, you will never part with it, for there is nothing else like it in the whole universe.
i’m out on the street walking home
a small pale blur
leaving trails like a snail
i move so slow
time can bruise
violent indigo
rush home to your arms
you soothe my weary soul
others stray but i won’t
walk away
walk away
***
view from Black Dog Freehouse, Edmonton ~ August 2016
