2022-10-06 | We cannot see the roots of trees | Lynne Moore

2022-10-06 - We Cannot See the Roots of Trees - Lynne Moore

The three poems referenced :

You Reading This be ready
~ William Stafford

Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?

Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?

When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life –

What can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?


Shoulders
~ Naomi Shihab Nye

A man crosses the street in rain,
stepping gently, looking two times north and south,
because his son is asleep on his shoulder.

No car must splash him.
No car drive too near to his shadow.

This man carries the world’s most sensitive cargo
but he’s not marked.
Nowhere does his jacket say FRAGILE,
HANDLE WITH CARE.

His ear fills up with breathing.
He hears the hum of a boy’s dream
deep inside him.

We’re not going to be able
to live in this world
if we’re not willing to do what he’s doing
with one another.

The road will only be wide.
The rain will never stop falling.


Praying
~Mary Oliver

 It doesn’t have to be
 the blue iris, it could be 
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few 
small stones; just 
pay attention, then patch 

a few words together and don’t try
 to make them elaborate, this isn’t 
a contest but the doorway 

into thanks, and a silence in which 
another voice may speak.

2025-08-19 | Inquiry I Finding Yourself in a Small Room I Josh Gifford

Just This Zen Community

Zazen – just sitting – is the foundation of our practice. At the heart of our community is our shared commitment to compassionate inquiry, mutual care and deep gratitude, demonstrated through our everyday actions, words and thoughts. This practice supports our aspiration to open to all of life, as an expression of the timeless wisdom of Buddha’s Way.

We welcome people of all races, cultures, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender identities, classes, religions, abilities, and ages. We are committed to providing a safe place for all people to explore the dharma and awaken to their true nature.

We want to offer our deep gratitude and thanks to all the innumerable people whose practice and dedication have kept the flame of the dharma alive and well. We want to acknowledge that our western iteration of practice rests on the efforts of all those who practised for centuries in their own non-western cultures.

2025-08-19 | Inquiry I Finding Yourself in a Small Room I Josh Gifford

Just This Zen Community

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