The Dewdrop
THIS WEEK'S BLOG
Billy Collins – Shoveling Snow With Buddha
Collins’ outlandish and endearing image of the Buddha’s wholehearted snow shoveling, with thoughts of hot chocolate and an imminent game of cards.
Wendell Berry – To Know The Dark
Berry’s poem is a reminder that to truly know darkness and its divine power, we need the courage to step into and leave the light behind.
The Sacred Pulse of Night and Day
Deborah Eden Tull explores the experience of darkness and how it can be a transformative and expansive human experience.
Bewilderness Writing Workshops
INTERVIEWS
Kathryn Weld – Is the Sun Conscious
John Paul Caponigro – Test for Echo
Nadir Feroz – Doused
Swetha Amit – The Tea Prayer
Read deep - breathe easy
Pigs in Winter
BY QUINCY MCMICHAEL
Snow is water, and water conducts electricity, but the electric fence will not fire as usual, buried three feet deep.
Observed by Deer
BY SARA MCAULAY
I’ve come here for raptors. Left my campsite at dawn, hiked down through blue shadows to the meadow.
MICRO GALLERY
Adam Powers – Relative
Adam Powers’ understated photographs draw out beauty from the forgotten corners of urban and commercial landscapes.
Passersby
BY JOANN STEVELOS –
What happens when an abandoned child grows up and one day buries her estranged father
To Walk the Stones
BY MATTHEW WILLIS –
What the stones at Kyoto’s Jishu Jinja shrine can teach us and warn us about love in our lives
FEATURED AUTHORS AND POETS
BOOK EXCERPTS
You Have To Say Something: Dainin Katagiri on What To Say When There Is Nothing To Say
According to Katagiri, it can be difficult to find the words or modality to enter back into the world from a place of silence, but it is something we ultimately have to do.
Astronomer Pippa Goldschmidt on Seeing Far and Seeing Up Close
Astronomer Pippa Goldschmidt on working in the starry deserts of Chile during a time when new technologies meant a more remote relationship to the act of stargazing.
The Self is Tied to This Body Like an Ox to a Cart
One of the most well-known sections of the Chandogya Upanishad is the story of Indra, King of the Gods, Virochana King, of the Godless and their encounter with the sage Prajapati.
The Full Awareness of Breathing
In the Anapanasati Sutta, the Buddha presents a visceral kind of practice with the breath, that illuminates the experience of joy, calm and impermanence.
The Self is Tied to This Body Like an Ox to a Cart
One of the most well-known sections of the Chandogya Upanishad is the story of Indra, King of the Gods, Virochana King, of the Godless and their encounter with the sage Prajapati.
Each Breath One Takes is a Step Towards One’s Destiny
Teachings about the cultivation of wisdom by the Sufi Master and the Prophet Muhammad’s cousin, Hadrat ‘Alî.
The Buddha’s Last Teaching: Be Your Own Island, Your Own Refuge
The Buddha’s final words of advice to his students before he died were to take refuge in the dharma and in themselves.
Dogen’s Seal of the Ocean: How Meditation and Life Can Flow Like Water
Japanese Zen Master Eihei Dogen invokes an oceanic state of non-identification as something that expresses the true Dharma, or our true nature, according to the teachings of Buddha.
Want More?
THE ALAN WATTS CORNER
Running With Life: Alan Watts on Freedom and Poverty
Alan Watts unpacks the imperative not to hold on to things, but to adopt a kind of psychological poverty—or simplicity— in which the mind is clear and unfettered in a way that allows it the space for true spontaneity.
Alan Watts and Divine Play
Alan Watts delves into one of his favorite and recurring subjects – the way in which we over-identify with the parts we play.
What Have You Left Out? Alan Watts on the Limits of Perception
Alan Watts often said that in order to come to your senses, you have to get out of your mind. Watts was emphatic about self-realization and breaking through cultural and psychic barriers in order to live as a fully-fledged, fearless human being.
Brahman, God, Allah and the Tao – Alan Watts
Among Alan Watts’ most compelling qualities was his fascination with different systems of faith and his
Why I Write: Christian Dillo
Christian Dillo on a contemporary Zen approach to awakening and what meaningful transformation actually looks like.
Gil Fronsdal on Immanent and Naturalistic Buddhism
Buddhist teacher and author Gil Fronsdal on the meanings of naturalistic Buddhism, religion, life and death.
Body Like a Rag, Mind Like a Mirror – Guo Gu Breaking Through Boundaries
Chan teacher Guo Gu on silent illumination, punk music and his teacher Sheng Yen’s legacy.
Surviving Intact – Norman Fischer on Zen, Language and Growing Old
Zen teacher and poet Norman Fischer on where and how poetry and Zen practice meet and interact.
Why I Write – A Conversation with Kathleen Dean Moore
Author and activist Kathleen Dean Moore on what inspires her, what drives her, and her struggle to write about hope.
‘Telling Stories is the Single Thing That Makes Us Human’ – A Conversation with Adam Mansbach
A conversation with Adam Mansbach about loss, grief, and the process of writing his new book, I Had a Brother Once, in the form of an epic poem.
THE BEATS
BROWSE BY THEME
MYSTICS
Eighteen Thousand Universes Through Eighteen Thousand Eyes
The Sacred is the Everyday – Joan Chittister
Thomas Merton on Solitude, Authenticity and Being
Gurdjieff and The Two Rivers
Blinded by the Sun – St Teresa of Avila
“Don’t Tell Me Who I Am Yet. It Is Still Being Spelled Out”
Kabir – The Moon Shines in my Body
Rumi’s Guest House
POPULAR READS
BROWSE SUBJECTS
FROM THE ZEN GARDEN
Marcy Rae Henry – start with looking
Marcy Rae Henry’s poem glitters with awareness, gratitude, and release. Each stanza highlights a moment or image that is, in fact, a gift.
Christy Allen – Meditation
Christy’s poem “Meditation” is a simple Zen-like offering, equating breathing with the tides, and also highlighting oneness and interconnection.
Nicole Grace – One Note
Nicole Grace’s “One Note” is a sensory exploration of contemplation, alive with natural and meditative imagery.
Kurtis Ebeling – Snowmelt
With the quietude of the rising sun and melting snow, Kurtis Ebeling’s “Snowmelt” serves as an ode to springtime and a requiem to winter.
Bradley Samore – After a Day of Others’ Demands
Zen-like in its purposeful simplicity, poet Bradley Samore has made us something humble and wholesome with his poem, “After a Day of Others’ Demands”.
Elisabeth Preston-Hsu – Kitsune Udon
Like a steaming bowl of delicious flavors, Elisabeth Preston-Hsu’s “Kitsune Udon” is a recipe of mythology, Zen simplicity, and storytelling.
Hiatt O’Connor – Waiting for Gravity
Seemingly a lesson in simplicity and silence, Hiatt O’Connor’s wonderful poem Waiting for Gravity is, in fact, a work of layers.
Suzanne Eaton – windchimes
Suzanne Eaton’s windchimes is a meditative discourse on wind and sound, and the tranquility and openness manifested by the simple act of stillness.
Spence Pfleiderer – A Simple Morning Prayer
The aptly-named A Simple Morning Prayer pleads for understanding and love, for connection and illumination in a handful of terse lines. This piece is evidence that a poem need not be complex or long-winded to be a thing of authentic beauty and power.
Vanessa Able – Bhakti
In her beautiful poem Bhakti, Vanessa Able gives life and imagery to action–specifically the action of the devotional philosophy of Bhakti yoga, which is focused on the love for a personal deity.
Gay Guard-Chamberlin – “Do You Have Any Advice for Those of Us Just Starting Out?”
In “Do You Have Any Advice for Those of Us Just Starting Out?”, Gay Guard-Chamberlin poses a common question with the poem’s title, which is then succinctly answered in the four brief lines that comprise the poem itself.
The Koan of Baso’s Very Mind
Baso’s Very Mind is the 30th case or koan in the Mumonkan, The Gateless Barrier, a collection compiled in the 13th century by Rinzai master Wumen Huikai.
KEEP READING
Keeping Silence of the Heart: Cultivating Attention and Sobriety According to the Philokalia
Philokalia means ‘love of the beautiful and the good’, and the writings that were added to this collection were mostly concerned with the importance of awakening and developing attention and consciousness.
La Mar, El Mar: Ernest Hemingway’s Kind, Beautiful, Cruel Ocean
Ernest Hemingway’s ‘The Old Man and the Sea’, has to be one of the most accomplished accounts of a lifetime’s intimacy with the sea.
Out Of the Body and Into the Mountain: Nan Shepherd’s Journeys Among the Scottish Cairngorms
Published thirty years after it was written, Nan Shepherd’s nature memoir describes a very physical intimacy that grew and developed through the author’s exploration of the Cairngorm Mountains.
‘Your Job Is to Put On a Splendid Performance’: Epictetus’ Design for a Skillful and Happy Life
Epictetus’ path to freedom attends to the aspects of life that can be controlled, while meeting with equanimity the things we can do nothing about.
To Share Fear is the Greatest Bond of All: J.A. Baker’s Loving Portrait of the Peregrine
Sometimes described as England’s greatest cult book, The Peregrine is a beautiful, lyrical expression of one man’s fascination with this hunting bird that he came to know intimately on a daily basis for over a decade.
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Outer and Inner Ecologies: Activist Satish Kumar on the Importance of Seeing Our Own Divinity
If we cannot see the fact of our own divinity and nurture that most immediate light, we can break down and burn out before we are able to effect any change.
Chris Abani on the Balance and Patience of West African Beauty
In West African thought, beauty surpasses the principles of symmetry and perspective and instead goes deep into the balance of being itself.
Letting the Old Thrills Die: C.S. Lewis on Being Alive to New Joy
Holding on to what is thrilling to us can be stifling and prevent us from paving the way for new experiences.
Working With the Soul Nerve – Resmaa Menakem on Grounding Our Bodies
Starting with the damage done by racism to human bodies, Resmaa Menakem presents a pragmatic approach to healing through the body.
What is Meditation? Shinzen Young on How to Deepen Our Focus
Shinzen Young on the most basic principle of mindfulness meditation: the cultivation of focus that can be practiced at any moment of the day, during any activity.
The Most Beautiful Thing We Can Experience Is The Mysterious: Albert Einstein’s Living Philosophy
Albert Einstein lays out his living philosophy and the set of ideals that he held in his personal, spiritual and political life.
Joseph Campbell On Experiencing Mystery
Joseph Campbell takes on the notion of experiencing mystery and considers how religious narratives can actually stymie the expansive human experience of transcendence.
You Have To Say Something: Dainin Katagiri on What To Say When There Is Nothing To Say
According to Katagiri, it can be difficult to find the words or modality to enter back into the world from a place of silence, but it is something we ultimately have to do.
Welcome to The Dewdrop! This little journal is a digest of reflective and powerful writing focused on reading, writing and being. Scroll on for poetry, essays, book excerpts and classic texts.
Kathryn Weld – Is the Sun Conscious
In Kathryn Weld’s “Is the Sun Conscious”, readers are presented with a feminine and motherly sun, and the desolation of her absence.
Billy Collins – Shoveling Snow With Buddha
Collins’ outlandish and endearing image of the Buddha’s wholehearted snow shoveling, with thoughts of hot chocolate and an imminent game of cards.
John Paul Caponigro – Test for Echo
John Paul Caponigro’s “Test for Echo” is an ode to connection and communication in a world that feels as disconnected as ever.
Nadir Feroz – Doused
Penned while he sat by the Nile River, Nadir Feroz’s “Doused” carries the themes of time, eternity, light, and mortality in its currents.
Wendell Berry – To Know The Dark
Berry’s poem is a reminder that to truly know darkness and its divine power, we need the courage to step into and leave the light behind.
The Sacred Pulse of Night and Day
Deborah Eden Tull explores the experience of darkness and how it can be a transformative and expansive human experience.
Swetha Amit – The Tea Prayer
Swetha Amit’s “The Tea Prayer” is a meditation on the routine and ritualistic simplicity of making and savoring a cup of hot green tea.
David Anthony Martin – The After
Colorado poet and outdoorsman David Anthony Martin reminds us of the inevitability of life and tomorrows with his poem “The After”.
Lina Buividavičiūtė – A Housewife’s Opus Magnum
Lithuanian poet Lina Buividavičiūtė’s prose poem “A Housewife’s Opus Magnum” reveals a holiness discovered in simplicity and domesticity.
Rebecca Doverspike – Choreography
In her poem “Choreography”, interfaith chaplain Rebecca Doverspike dances from wind, pines, and leaves, to the mental workings of an elderly patient.
Samantha Imperi – To my child, on God
Samantha Imperi’s powerful tragic poem “To my child, on God” muses God as a feminine force, forced to birth a universe she doesn’t want.
Derek Walcott – Love After Love
A gentle and joyful invitation to intimacy and love towards ourselves by Saint Lucian poet Derek Walcott.
‘An Appropriate Response’: Christian Dillo on the Nature of Buddhist Wisdom
What is wisdom? How can what we know get in the way of true wisdom? How can we express wisdom in a chaotic and unpredictable world?
Kimberly Phinney – Body of Work
In her poem “Body of Work”, Kimberly Phinney laments the distance which has been imposed between us and our earth, spiritually and tangibly.
William Wordsworth – The Rainbow
This short poem – Wordsworth’s ode to a rainbow – is a simple and direct expression of awe and manifestation of ‘beginner’s mind.’
B.R. Wilder – Oh Mother, do not give me bliss
To be filled with gratitude for life and experience in its entirety–that is the meaning conveyed in B.R. Wilder’s poem “Oh Mother, do not give me bliss”.
Marcy Rae Henry – start with looking
Marcy Rae Henry’s poem glitters with awareness, gratitude, and release. Each stanza highlights a moment or image that is, in fact, a gift.
Why I Write: Christian Dillo
Christian Dillo on a contemporary Zen approach to awakening and what meaningful transformation actually looks like.
Seth Josephson – In the Future
A short poignantly simple piece, Seth Josephson’s “In the Future” imagines a distant future without humanity or civilization.
Cyn Grace Sylvie – O, Cynthia
“O, Cynthia”, Cyn Grace Sylvie’s poem, is a sojourn through family, bloodlines, history, and myth, with the poet’s own name as the catalyst.