Early morning; my wife is still sleeping. From the park across the street I can hear a crow yelling. It is as if it is saying, in a mocking tone, “Ha! I can fly and you can’t!” Smiling, I realize all that is in my head, not the crow’s head. For all I know the crow might be praising this beautiful sunrise. For all I know, a crow might have perfect ‘Buddha-mind,’ and just be existing in the moment. May the crow be safe. May he know peace.
james lee jobe
Art is the act of triggering deep memories, of what it means to be fully human.
David Whyte
to give welcome and praise is the thing
greet the people in your life with an embrace
and likewise
tell everyone goodbye with an embrace
open your heart
like you would open a window on a beautiful day
let in the fresh air
james lee jobe
Nothing in the cry
of cicadas suggests they
are about to die
Basho
The fish rejects my worm, the old dog does not wish to be petted by me, and my perfectly tended tomato plants yield amazingly few tomatoes. I have learned, through trial and error, to not take life personally. Looking up, I notice that the sky is the same shade of blue as the eyes of my grandmother; Rosemund was her name.
james lee jobe
View your life with kindsight. Stop beating yourself up about things from your past. Instead of slapping your forehead and asking what was I thinking, breathe and ask yourself the kinder question, what was I learning?
Karen Salmanaohn
That the sorrows and hurts, each as they come, only strengthen my resolve to be a better person, and also this; that from these sorrows and hurts I learn all over again how to forgive.
james lee jobe
This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
The Buddha's Words on Kindness (Metta Sutta)
LINKS
Bedtime Story, a prose poem by Yasmone Ameli
Makati Cousin, a poem by Jake Ricafrente