coming full circle

When a novice starts learning martial arts, he wears a white belt, symbolic of innocence. After months of practice, the white belt gets dirty and turns brown, symbolic of the first degree of attainment. After more practice, the belt gets soiled and eventually turns black, symbolic of full attainment. If the practitioner does not stop […]

the power of words

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A Thousand Words Last night, the wife, my little 9 year old daughter and I watched the movie, “A Thousand Words.” I was taken by the movie’s ‘zen’ appeal and of course ‘Eddie Murphy’s’ comic charm. Even my lil girl laughed and loved the movie that was charming and filled with a wonderful message of, “the […]

Fireflies and inch worms

There were two fireflies buzzing around the woods one night. One claimed it was enlightenend because of its ability to shine in the darkness. The other was a clown/comedian, always laughing and playing, saying, “My butts on fire,” or “Lightening struck my back side.” The two fireflies happened upon a cabin in the woods and lighted […]

circle of iron (the meaning of life)

CIRCLE OF IRON, the oddball 1978 martial arts feature with fantasy overtones. Carradine appears in three guises as a sort of spirit mentor aiding the leading man on his quest for a book that reveals the secret to the meaning of life.   Cord the Seeker, a powerful but arrogant martial artist, competes for the right […]

Belladonna

The disciple said to the master: “I have spent a great deal of my life seeing things that I should not, wishing for things I should not wish for, making plans I should not be doing.” The master invited the disciple to go for a walk.  On the path he pointed out to a plant […]

the clay Buddha

  They say that one day man wanted to know the Truth and asked it to God.  God wrote it on a great stone disk and saw that it was too big for man to understand it.  But, answering his request, threw the disk to Earth which broke in many pieces.   Each one that […]

worship

Who is the Highest? Author: Sri Chinmoy Once there was a very pious Brahmin who was utterly devoted to his family deity. He worshipped this deity every day, sitting cross legged in front of the shrine in his home. One day during his meditation, he observed that the prasad or food offered to the deity, […]

a ball of ‘Zen’

Zen master Miko sat on the beach, absorbed in nature’s beauty and existence. Watching the waves splash upon the shore when a beach ball come sailing over head and as it approached the Master, Miko simply raised his arms, opened his hands and caught the ball. He marveled at it a moment as a student run […]

Ryonen (zen lady)

  The Buddhist nun known as Ryonen was born in 1797. She was a grandaughter of the famous Japanese warrior Shingen. Her poetical genius and alluring beauty were such that at seventeen she was serving the empress as one of the ladies of the court. Even at such a youthful age fame awaited her. The […]

Karma

There once was a small town farmer who was the local preacher since the township could not afford a pastor, he would give the sermons on Sundays. One day the farmer and his wife was called away from the farm to tend to a young woman who was to give birth. Upon hearing this a thief […]