According to Buddha
Tie two birds together. They will not be able to fly, even though they now have four wings.
***
a day ago ~ Laurier Park and Bridge Walk ~ January 2021
According to Buddha
Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.
***
yesterday the little things in the woods ~ Wagner Natural Area ~ January 2021
According to Buddha
The question we need to ask ourselves is whether there is any place we can stand in ourselves where we can look at all that’s happening around us without freaking out, where we can be quiet enough to hear our predicament, and where we can begin to find ways of acting that are at least not contributing to further destabilization.
i will wait by the river
in the light of the moon
at the edge of the city
i will wait for you
***
a day ago ~ Buena Vista Footbridge~ Etown ~ March 2020
According to Buddha
Prolong not the past
Invite not the future
Do not alter your innate wakefulness
Fear not appearances
There is nothing more than this…
***
up and down the road ~ Central Alberta ~ January 2020
According to Buddha
When you go out into the woods, and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn’t get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don’t get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree. The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying ‘You are too this, or I’m too this.’ That judgment mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are.
and the seasons they go round and round
and the painted ponies go up and down
we’re captive on the carousel of time
we can’t return we can only look behind
from where we came
and go round and round and round
in the circle game
***
birch ~ Amiskwaskahegan, Alberta ~ January 2020
According to Buddha
Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true.
better parted
i see people crying
truth gets harder
there’s no sense in lying
help me find a way from this maze
i can’t help myself
***
coldest February in 40 years ~ Etown, Alberta ~ February 2019
According to Buddha
Everything in the universe is created by our own mind. Our mind is the source of all phenomena. Form, sound, smell, taste, and tactile perception such as hot and cold, hard and soft—these are all creations of our mind. They do not exist as we usually think they do. Our consciousness is like an artist, painting every phenomenon into being. Once you have attained the state of the realm of no materiality, you will have succeeded. The realm of no materiality is the state in which we see that no phenomenon exists outside of our own mind.
***
along the way Saskatchewan Highway 16 ~ December 2018
According to Buddha
Real happiness can stand the challenge of all outer experiences. When you can bear the crucifixions of others’ wrongs against you and still return love and forgiveness; and when you can keep that divine inner peace intact despite all painful thrusts of outer circumstance, then you shall know this happiness.
i grew up here all of my life
but i dreamed someday i’d go
where the blue eyed girls and red guitars
and the naked rivers flow
i’m not all i thought i’d be
i’ve always stayed around
and i’ve been as far as mercy and grand
frozen to the ground
***
barn outside of etown ~ Edmonton, Alberta ~ March ~ 2018
According to Buddha
Winter always turns into Spring.
these cold dark places
places i’ve been
in cold dark places
i dream of spring
in cold dark places
i dream of spring
***
outside of etown ~ Edmonton, Alberta ~ February ~ 2018
