Picking up from last week's poem by James Wright that was written in honor of his friend Robert Bly, this week I'm posting a work by Bly himself that pays homage to another poet, Wallace Stevens. The simple imagery of Bly's poems conjure the verses of old Chinese masters, and echo the words of Wallace… Continue reading Thinking of Wallace Stevens by Robert Bly
"If you would only rid yourselves of the concepts of ordinary and Enlightened, you would find that there is no other Buddha than the Buddha in your own Mind," wrote master Huang Po in 9th century China. As the master of Linji Yixuan, founder of the Rinzai school, Huang Po is in many ways considered… Continue reading Those Who Seek the Way Must Enter it With the Suddenness of a Knife-Thrust
Loneliness and separation are two enduring themes of poet James Wright's work, which is one of the reasons why this poem, A Blessing, is so uplifting. In the late 1950s, Wright had all but given up on his writing when he met fellow poet Robert Bly, and the two men formed a friendship and a… Continue reading A Blessing by James Wright
This well-known extract from the Kalama Sutta quotes a teaching from the Buddha in which he advises his audience - a group called the Kalamas of Kesaputta - about how to know their own spiritual paths, given the noise of the competing philosophies and teachers that would frequently present themselves in their communities. Bombarded by… Continue reading Know for Yourselves – The Kalama Sutta
After the Ecstasy, the Laundry is Jack Kornfield's classic journey into modern spirituality and what is means to be a student of spirituality in the contemporary world. In the book, he uses first-hand accounts of various people's experiences of awakening, satori or kensho and goes into some detail about what these states actually feel like,… Continue reading Awakening is Not the End – it’s Just the First Step into the Stream
Can writing with your wrong hand beat writer's block? Are maternity leave and creativity at all compatible? Danielle Pieratti, The Dewdrop's featured poet this week, knows. The author of 'Fugitives', a collection that won the 2016 Idaho Prize and the 2017 Connecticut Book Award for Poetry, she has also published two chapbooks: 'By the Dog… Continue reading Why I Write – Danielle Pieratti
'Triptych' by Danielle Pieratti is a dream-like scene that at once expounds a loaded world contained in a moment, a sail 'unhooked' and unfurling through a countryside picture. The poem holds an entire scale of refracted imagery, from the everyday image of two people, one observing the other while knee-high in mud, to the wider… Continue reading Triptych by Danielle Pieratti
Saint Teresa of Avila was a 16th century Spanish mystic who experienced visions and raptures throughout her life and who emphasized the importance of continuing contemplative, intimate prayer. In this excerpt from her autobiography, she contrasts material wealth with spiritual riches and uses the metaphor of the shining sun as the source that illuminates that… Continue reading Blinded by the Sun – St Teresa of Avila
Robert Frost's 'Mending Wall' is at once a humorous take on rural living as well as a more pointed meditation on isolation and the barriers we choose to build, or are obliged to put up. The walls, he seems to say, have a tendency to come down by themselves, but we will come and repair… Continue reading Something There is That Doesn’t Love a Wall
East of Eden was John Steinbeck's epic novel written later on in his life that was based on the history of his family in the Salinas Valley in California. With frequent references to the Book of Genesis, the story addresses questions about the fundamentals of human nature, most notably the perpetual struggle within ourselves between… Continue reading We Only Have One Story – John Steinbeck on Virtue and Vice
