Thomas Cleary Archives

Host and Guest

December 7, 2018December 19, 2019 Vanessa Able

The theme of host and guest is popular within Chinese Zen, broadly used to illustrate the interplay between relative and absolute. One of Zen's major tenets is that our personalities and beliefs are not absolute, but rather 'guests' within an impenetrable 'host'. This relationship then becomes more complex when we talk about guests within hosts… Continue reading Host and Guest

Chinese Texts, Texts, The Masters

Alive Without Being Born

November 23, 2018December 19, 2019 Vanessa Able

Master Hongzhi Zhengjue was a 12th century Chinese monk and author of the famous collection of koans, the Book of Serenity. Like Eihei Dogen, he was also resident on Mount Tiantong (close to present-day Shanghai), but preceded the Japanese master by about a century. Nonetheless, Dogen was inspired by Hongzhi's writings and quoted him a lot… Continue reading Alive Without Being Born

Orhan Pamuk on Writing By Hand
Orhan Pamuk's hand-writing habit hasn't budged, despite the conventions of our time.
How We Live Is How We Die: Pema Chödrön on Preparing for Death Here and Now
Pema Chödrön on what the Tibetan approach to living and dying can teach us about liberation in the present moment.
The Path that Goes Nowhere – Barbara Brown Taylor on the Practice of Labyrinth Walking
Barbara Brown Taylor reflects on her own experience of Labyrinth-walking and the significance of the path without a destination.
What Can the Earth’s Crisis Teach Us About Ourselves? David Hinton’s Tao of Ecology
David Hinton on what Taoism can teach us about Deep Ecology and how we can reconnect with our own ancient Paleolithic roots.
‘When the Lights of Health Go Down’- Virginia Woolf on Being Ill
Virginia Woolf on our relationship to illness, its potential spiritual value, and the mysterious intelligence of the body.

Michael Grimwood – God Ecology
Poet Michael Grimwood takes readers on a journey into divine realms of leaf, blossom, and holiness with his imaginative poem "God Ecology".
Stacey Elza – To Build a Bow
Juxtaposing the antagonistic nature of humanity with the protective and peaceful side, poet Stacey Elza offers readers "To Build a Bow".
Ricardo Gonzalez-Rothi – Faraway, near Nordfjordeid
Redolent with the folklore of the cold north, Cuban-American poet Ricardo Gonzalez-Rothi offers a magical poem, "Faraway, near Nordfjordeid".
Why I Write: Jenna Wysong Filbrun
In the wake of her new collection, Away, we reached out to poet Jenna Wysong Filbrun to find out more about her motivations and process.
Jenna Wysong Filbrun – Aspiration
Jenna Wysong Filbrun reminds us that we have so much to learn from the natural world, with her poem "Aspiration".