Bird Droppings January 20, 2015 Are you at the center of your universe? “Tung-shan was asked, ‘The normal mind is the way; what is the normal mind?’ He replied, ’Not picking things up along the road.’” From Teachings of Zen, edited by Thomas Cleary, © 1998 One aspect of the Zen teachings is the process…

Bird Droppings January 19, 2015 We are neither wolf nor dog It has been some time since I first read a book by this name written by one of my favorite authors Kent Nerburn. In much of his writing Kent Nerburn addresses the spiritual significance and depth of life of our Native Peoples. While to…

Bird Droppings January 18, 2015 Looking in the direction to start the morning “Beginnings start in the east – from where the sun rises we begin a new dawn. Each day is a good new day with a fresh beginning, a new start. East is the direction of the physical body and newness including children…

Bird Droppings January 17, 2015 Why we should not allow teasing “Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind, is it necessary, and is it true, does it improve on the silence?” Hindu proverb So often I speak first and clean up afterwards many times simply walking away quiet generally leaving whoever I am conversing…

Bird Droppings January 15, 2015 Trying to find a way back to normal “Tin soldiers and Nixon coming, we’re finally on our own. This summer I hear the drumming, four dead in Ohio. Gotta get down to it soldiers are cutting us down should have been done long ago. What if you knew her and…

Bird Droppings January 14, 2015 We have to try and care So far for this year and the tail end of last year all the snow, sleet and ice predicted have never showed up just cold, fog, wet and nasty. It has been unseasonably colder than normal with scatterings of warm weather still only a…

Bird Droppings January 13, 2015 Learning is a journey strewn with boulders “In a word, learning is decontextualized. We break ideas down into tiny pieces that bear no relation to the whole. We give students a brick of information, followed by another brick, followed by another brick, until they are graduated, at which point we…

Bird Droppings January 10, 2015 Can we say true heroism and humility are spelled the same? Even though I am one of the worst spellers in this local area I know heroism and humility are technically spelled differently. I will concede to using words to come up with a perhaps catchy title for my daily…

Bird Droppings January 9, 2015 Caring is a very precious commodity in life As I am pondering my early hours today before heading to the local Super Walmart all night everything store I read an article dealing with charter schools and how they exclude many students. The air temperature is chilly outside and we are…

Bird Droppings January 8, 2015 Horses and Trains and learning It has been many years since I last rode on a train. I mean a serious train going more than the distance between concourses at an airport. Years ago when I lived in the Philadelphia area, we all used mass transit to commute, to go…