I read last night at Tahoe Cross Country in Tahoe City–one of my favorite places in the world. I came off the trail post-ski that morning to find this great sign made by Valle, who runs the place with her husband Kevin. I arrived that evening to find the lodge transformed into a cozy living room. The crowd was lively and warm and curious–and they bought books. Hard to think of a day better spent…
Return to the Marketplace
Who knew that the first thing I’d publish after spending three months meditating would be a blog about mice–the kind that haunt kitchens and the lesser known kind that skitter about in the mind? You can read that blog post here. If I hadn’t accidentally deleted the picture I took on my iPhone of one of the mice before I released it, I’d post the pic, too. But the picture vanished, just as the mice seem to have vanished from my house since I posted that blog!
Who knew, also, that the German rights to Fire Monks would be sold while I was at Tassajara, spending my days on a meditation cushion (or vacuuming the plunges in the bathhouse, or training to handle a fire hose–photo below)? Feuern Mönche will be published by Theseus Verlag, who put out the German edition of Suzuki Roshi’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind.
And who knew that the book would be named one of the best books of 2011, alongside Bossypants and Charles Dickens: A Life?
Life is full of surprises. We say this, and sometimes we see how very true it is.
Gone, gone beyond
As of Sept 26, I’m entering a three-month practice period at Tassajara, so things will be quiet on this blog and on my Huff Post blog for a while.
I’m happy to say that Fire Monks is humming along, finding readers in places both expected and unexpected. Fire season will slide into snow season while I’m away. May the fires that have yet to start bring new life.
I wrote a parting commentary published today in the Duluth News Tribune. The Pagami Creek fire burning in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and the approaching 20th anniversary of the Oakland Hills fire closer to home have me thinking about our relationship with fire. It’s easy to feel animosity towards wildfire when it’s threatening our homes or our loved ones or places–especially when lives are lost. I understand that feeling.
But in the long run, fire is not our enemy. As Abbot Steve Stucky says in Fire Monks–fire is more like an old friend we have to be strict with from time to time.
Until we meet again, be well!
Latest (and last for a bit) Huff Po blog
…unless I find a way to blog from the wilderness…
What Meditation Won’t Do for You
New Huff Post Blog on Finding Time
My latest Huffington Post blog on a meditator’s expanded experience of time is here. The editors gave it a “How to” title, and it does end on a practical note, but it’s not a checklist or a receipe. (As Suzuki Roshi once said–and one of my teachers, renowned Zen chef Edward Espe Brown likes to quote–“You cannot eat a receipe.”) In the post, I offer my own experience of making peace with time through meditation practice. Bon appetit!