Enlightenment and the entire sky

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water.
The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.
Although its light is wide and great,
The moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide.
The whole moon and the entire sky
Are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.
~ Dogen

All sentient beings are essentially Buddhas.
As with water and ice, there is no ice without water;
apart from sentient beings, there are no Buddhas.
Not knowing how close the truth is,
we seek it far away
--what a pity!
~ Hakuin Ekaku Zenji

Not believing in anything I just sit,
listening to my breathing
After thirty years
It still goes in and out.
~ Albert Coelho

The work you did today

Is anybody happier because you passed his way?

Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?

The day is almost over, and its toiling time is through;

Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you?

Can you say tonight, in parting with the day that’s slipping fast,

That you helped a single brother of the many that you passed?

Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said;

Does the man whose hopes were fading, now with courage look ahead?

Did you waste the day, or lose it?  Was it well or sorely spent?

Did you leave a trail of kindess, or a scar of discontent?

As you close your eyes in slumber, do you think that God will say,

“You have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did today?”

~ By John Hall, “At Day’s End”

Footfalls in the Memory

Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
~ T.S. Eliot

This Old House

"This ole house once knew his children
This ole house once knew his wife
This ole house was home and comfort
As they fought the storms of life
This old house once rang with laughter
This old house heard many shouts
Now he trembles in the darkness
When the lightnin' walks about........."

"The old house" painted in 2008: It is inspired by what I remember of my grandmother's house