Featured in the current Tricycle Magazine (Spring 2025): an essay I wrote about my relationship with Monastic Yukon Grody. In particular, the article is about becoming the primary caregiver for this extraordinary man whom I had the privilege of knowing for 20 years.
Much gratitude to all my fellow monastics and caregivers over Yukon’s 6 month illness. We were quite a team. He was quite a buddha.
The title of this post was my original title for the essay.
How to begin—
without holding
without refusing
anything offered
that might be true…
In this age of rejection—
where anyone can cite a border
as proof of vigilance,
as specter of fortification,
the timid integrity of independent states.
How to reconcile two opposing forces—
the past with its gritted, yellow teeth
and the pretty, vacant future,
all doe-eyed and misbegotten,
wishing for better vision, if not transcendence.
The bone chill of early January
stands as referee,
holding the floor with two arms
wide, while the combatants
leer and curse the other.
Yet meanwhile, underfoot—
the frost tempers, congeals
and disperses all earthly energies,
nourishing what needs feeding,
decomposing the detritus
of former seasons’ toil.
And so, again—
how to begin again,
and again and again and again
until the crocuses point toward Spring,
and the mulberries unfasten from their sockets.
Until the mourning’s pictures draw themselves
and the old malingering questions
cease to flatter
or provoke.
Last night I had the distinct pleasure of enjoying an early summer pond-side campfire with about 10 marvelous individuals, ranging in age from 22 to 63. I’d recently decided to finally let go of a box that’s trailed me throughout all my moves containing virtually every letter I ever received. There comes a time. But rather than simply tossing them into a trash heap or whatever, I wanted to offer them to fire as a sign of respect, but also I suppose for deeper reasons having to do with birth and death.
The campfire started with just me and the younger members of the group, all just out of college. Most of my correspondence by mail, it turns out, took place when I was their age, give or take a couple years. It doesn’t feel like just yesterday anymore.
Continue readingHere’s my Mountain Record review of a fantastic new book by butoh innovator Vangeline. For those interested in performative arts, dance, embodiment, Zen, or just butoh.
Continue readingHere’s a piece I wrote for Mountain Record online about life under COVID lockdown at Zen Mountain Monastery.
>>> Lately I’ve been thinking. Years from now, everyone will speak of their life in quarantine, who they were with (if anyone) and how they occupied their time. But for now, and for a while to come, what many of us are reflecting on is where we were just prior. What was that life of easy mobility and carefree interaction? Where did it go? When will it be possible again? Although living in a Buddhist monastery grants me a stable predictability of schedule and community even through a pandemic, I’m also thinking of the lead up to the lockdown, bewildered by the difference.
Continue readingFeaturing photos of travels to Okayama, Tokyu, Kamakura, Nara, Kyoto and Shizuoka City.
See more at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/creativearson/collections/72157671097520781/
I produced this video for Clearwater.org’s current initiative. From the fund drive page:
In 1966 Pete Seeger had a seemingly impossible dream – to build a boat to save the Hudson River. Now, 50 years later, we are rebuilding that dream.
Last October, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater began a landmark restoration of the sloop Clearwater’s hull, and today she is just two short months away from splashing into the Hudson River to begin her 47th sailing season.
The restoration project, which is costing Clearwater $850,000 to complete, is our most extensive and costly project to date. Clearwater has managed to raise an incredible $700,000 towards restoring the iconic sloop – that’s 82% of our goal!
Now, with only 10 weeks to go, Clearwater needs your help. We must raise an additional $150,000 to complete the project and ensure that we will be sailing again this June. As Pete Seeger said, “Like the Hudson River itself, the sloop doesn’t belong to a wealthy few, but to all people who care about the river – and our obligation to keep it sailing is for all of them.”
It was the contributions of many people that helped Clearwater become a reality in 1966. Your gift, no matter how large or small, will keep Clearwater sailing for generations to come and continue Pete Seeger’s legacy to protect the Hudson River.
For a third year, the Times Square Alliance commissioned me to produce a piece about Mind Over Madness, Times Square’s annual yoga explosion that takes place on the summer solstice.
One of the films I got to see at HotDocs this year was Planetary, a meditation on climate change and, well, on meditation itself. The 85 minute docu-essay combines stunning cinematography with an enchanting score and interviews with over two dozen philosophers, scientists, astronauts, Zen priests, Tibetan lamas, and tribal elders. Director Guy Reid and his collaborators make a compelling case that our global ecological crisis cannot be solved without more people recognizing that we are all a part of the earth and not just on it.
To read the full review I contributed to Curator Magazine click HERE or below.
creative arson 