Intrinsic Heart

When I first learned “sublime” was a verb, the idea fascinated me. Yes, it’s a term in chemistry, but just to hear the sound of the word, it felt like something a person could actually learn to do.  It has...

What a thing it is to sit absolutely alone, in the forest, at night, cherished by this wonderful, unintelligible, perfectly innocent speech, the most comforting speech in the world, the talk that rain makes by itself all over the ridges,...

I dreamed I lived in Austin with legs like a sparrow and a hungry heart. I was looking for God but kept finding people— strange little people with pieces of their bodies missing: an arm, a leg, a nose, a...

So much is implied in the word “takuhatsu.”  Traditionally, it’s the practice of monks going door to door with their begging bowls. Spiritually, the attitude of takuhatsu opens a dimension that can change your life forever. The Chinese characters for...

What is this longing, this feeling that there is something to be found, something that is more important than anything, that will fill life with meaning and reveal the hidden essence of things?  What is it that's sensed as if...

Soup and Salad When you mix ingredients in a bowl, it’s a salad. When you bake them, it’s a casserole. When you sauté them, it’s a fricassee. When you cook them with a little water, it’s a stew. When you...