Anything-Nothing

My 4-year-old daughter says "anything" for "nothing." Today I asked her, "What do you have in your hand?" Her reply, "Anything." Last week, when she and a friend were playing, I asked, "What are you doing?" Again, she said, "Anything."

Her word choice may simply be a 4-year-old's confusion, or a sign of language development that will soon mature and self-correct. However, each time I hear her, she cuts through my view that something "is" or "is not." It can't be both at the same time--you either have something in your hand or you do not. But for her, it could be "anything," which leaves open all possibilities, including "nothing."

...Form does not differ from emptiness, 
emptiness does not differ from form. 
Form itself is emptiness, emptiness itself form.
(From the Heart Sutra) 

Blue Sky

Blue sky filled with smoke from a magician's black hat hidden in the shadows of a roadside swamp. Nothing heard as a voice trails into the dark, landing on the mossy forest floor offering refuge to the blind. A stellar jay carries a walnut away for another day, where silence cracks the vault of safety and delusion.

(Picture by one of my children at the Anchorage Waldorf School.)

Family Day and Machine Guns : August 24

A family day in the Marley-Jester home in East Anchorage. A dedicated time this weekend to reconnect as family, to play, talk, cook...together. A few minutes ago, I walked upstairs and was distracted by the haunting sounds of machine guns firing just a couple miles away--the Army doing "training exercises." Questions come to mind, like, what is the purpose of training these young men and women to kill? Do they know, or care? Is it to protect "freedom?" Freedom for whom? Democracy? What is democracy, really? Human rights? Whose rights? Or is it about preserving capitalism, that which ensures the elite continue to prosper and stay safe in their bubble? Who decides?...

Joshu´s Washing the Bowl

(From Gateless Gate, Case 7)

A monk told Joshu, "I have just entered the monastery. I beg you to teach me." Joshu asked, "Have you eaten your rice porridge?" The monk replied, "I have." "Then," said Joshu, "Go and wash your bowl." At that moment the monk was enlightened.

Doing what needs to be done, taking care of what is right here, right now: eating breakfast, washing dishes, saying good morning, driving to work... 

Manila, Philippines: Day 2 (Sunday, June 30)

Awoke to rain at 5:00 AM. Rainy season: Lush, green, warm. When I told my Filipino neighbor in Anchorage that I was going to visit the Philippines, he said "Really?...They going to rob you." Perhaps. But yesterday, when working out at a crowded gym near my hotel, I inadvertently left my new Bose headphones and iPod on the treadmill. Realizing my mistake after I'd returned to my room, I rushed back to the gym with his words of warning reverberating in head. To my delight, the headphones and iPod were right where I'd left them. 

Monday Morning in Islamabad

Sitting at a desk in an Islamabad hotel room. It is 5:30 AM, although my body feels it is in the middle of the afternoon. Running through my mind are thoughts of home and family, work in Alaska that continues uninterrupted thanks to internet and a 14 hour time difference, and tasks here for which I traveled halfway around the world to do.

Fresh Snow

Snow is falling. The city is quiet.