The 60-Second Sabbath

awareness

  • Impermanence

    Even the finest things,those we treasure most,are meant to fray, unravel and pass away:     my grandmother's hand-stitched coverlet,    the scarf I knitted for my mother in third grade,    my father's favorite flannel shirt,     friendships, … Continue reading

  • The Journey

    The unnamed destinationyou long formay, in fact,be the step you're taking now.  Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • My Yappy Dog (My Ego)

    My yappy dog (my ego)kept me up last nightbarking at imagined invaders."Hush!" I'd say.It made no difference;he was certain intruders had breached our defensesand we were doomed. I even got upto lead him through the houseand show him that all was… Continue reading

  • Imagined Invaders

    Ego is a fine servantbut a dangerous master. Observe it–    a yappy dog    barking at imagined invaders–but do not make ityour identity. Never take ego(yours or mine)seriously. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • All Steps on the Path

    When you realize you've stopped paying attention,you are paying attention. When you recognize you're not here,you are here. When you become aware that you're living outside of now,you've returned to now. These are steps on the path called mindfulness,on the… Continue reading

  • Blink

    Aging,we realize that we are any given agefor only a moment. So quickly it passes–all passes. At this end of the journeywe become observers(like God,outside the stream of time,watching time's flightlike a single turning of the clock):     a… Continue reading

  • Meeting the Self on a Dark, October Night

    I met my selfwhile walking home last nightalong a dark, October road,lined with leafless trees,swept by a coarse wind,smelling of approaching snow. I met my selfand knew he was but a ghost,a resonance of past illusion,an echo of concepts and… Continue reading

  • Training

    This is practice,and I am in training. I meditate,and the mind jumpslike a caffeinated kangaroo. This is practice,and I am in training. I breathe,feel the equanimity,until someone in the officepushes one of my several buttons. This is practice,and I am… Continue reading

  • The Party

    Throw a party. Invite all of your various and sundry selves:    the one you enjoy    and the one you ignore,    the one you honor    and the one you fear,    the selfish    along with the selfless,    the… Continue reading

  • On Knowing God

    She did it again,stepping out from behindmy neatly ordered rank of shirtsat the back of the closet.After giving me a moment to recovershe asked,    "It would be odd, would it not,    to read about your spouse    but not to talk with him,    to proclaim… Continue reading