These Dear Friends of the Buddha Mind

 2675.

These Dear Friends of the Buddha Mind

          I never
     grasped emptiness
or hiked around Mt. Sumeru,
or patted Chao-chou's dog,
or teased Nansen's cat,

blocked the Bodhidharma's uppercut,
or slept in Han Shan's dirty hut,
or borrowed Wendy Johnson's garden rake
or rode the Ox through the Gateless Gate,
or solved any of Rinzai's riddles,

I never, ever
suffered the Great Doubt,
looked for sticks in Yun-men's crapper,
or broke Tassajara bread with Shunryu Suzuki,
or minded the flapping flag for Hui-neng the sage,

or heard Jiyu-Kennett move her whisk in Mt. Shasta's shade,
or chanted on Mt. Tamalpais with Whalen, Ginsberg and Snyder,
or saw Dogen's True Eye open just a little bit wider.
     I never did.
     Nope, never!

Not in 55 lifetimes.
               Yet, it seems like I did.
Yep, dayinanddayout,
appearances notwithstanding,
Reality appeared just So.

This I know:
Their Heritage
Is in my Heart,
Their Myths mine,
These Dear Friends of the Buddha Mind.

 

2676.

 

 

Poetry by Michael P. Garofalo

Quintains: Volumes 1 -6

These Dear Friends of the Buddha Mind

The Fireplace Records Case #51

 

These Dear Friends of the Buddha Mind

          I never
     grasped emptiness
or hiked around Mt. Sumeru,
or patted Chao-chou's dog,
or teased Nansen's cat,

blocked the Bodhidharma's uppercut,
or slept in Han Shan's dirty hut,
or borrowed Wendy Johnson's garden rake
or rode the Ox through the Gateless Gate,
or solved any of Rinzai's riddles,

I never, ever
suffered the Great Doubt,
looked for sticks in Yun-men's crapper,
or broke Tassajara bread with Shunryu Suzuki,
or minded the flapping flag for Hui-neng the sage,

or heard Jiyu-Kennett move her whisk in Mt. Shasta's shade,
or chanted on Mt. Tamalpais with Whalen, Ginsberg and Snyder,
or saw Dogen's True Eye open just a little bit wider.
     I never did.
     Nope, never!

Not in 55 lifetimes.
               Yet, it seems like I did.
Yep, dayinanddayout,
appearances notwithstanding,
Reality appeared just So.

This I know:
Their Heritage
Is in my Heart,
Their Myths mine,
These Dear Friends of the Buddha Mind.

Zen Koans: The Fireplace Records

Koans by Mike Garofalo

Zen Koan Collections Studies

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Reading Wittgenstein

Buddhism

Ghost Town Open Mic Poetry Reading in Vancouver WA

Featuring Janis Harrington and Victor Griggs. Many other local authors read their poems. The Open Mic session went from 7 pm to 10 pm. A diverse crowd of listeners and readers.

Full Information at Printed Matter, April 2025

I thoroughly enjoyed the last three Open Mic events in our Vancouver downtown. Listening to live readings and meeting poets has greatly expanded my understanding in many positive ways. I could hardly sleep last night after these profound experiences. Some of the readings brought tears to my eyes.

Reading out load to an audience is a Performance Art, an Acting Art! I need to improve my skills in this area.

I purchased a book by Janis Harrington. I was able to talk with her before the event began. A classy lady with a sharp mind! Her poem about being a girl in a Catholic School brought back many memories of mind; because, I attended Catholic School classrooms in grades 1st to 12th.

I read my collage poem: The Bottom Line.

Ghost Town Poetry Open Mic in Vancouver WA on Facebook

Open Mic Poetry Readings that I have attended.

25 Steps and Beyond:
The Collected Works of Mike Garofalo

Happy 77th Birthday for Blanche Karen Eubanks Garofalo

Happy 77th Birthday, Karen!!  

We have been married for 58 years and have celebrated your birthday on St. Patrick's Day many times for much fun and celebration.  Today, we will do the same.  

Best wishes for continued good health and happiness.

I love you, and so do many others.  

Bitten by Sadness

 27.

Bitten by Sadness

By Mike Garofalo

My great nephew,
Joshua Loya his name,
a troubled, sick, tired man;
We tried to help him and failed.
A soul free of conventionality.

He was a homeboy styler
a skinny fellow
dressed in baggy pants.
Hanging out with cholos
for a fine machismo time.

His mom died when he was 10
he never recovered!
From auto accidents and hepatitis
and fun drug usage most days;
he slowly slipped from us away.

He lived with us for a year
a lazy fellow
straight F's in high school,
some thieves and stoners for friends.
Still, we wished him well to the end.

My son and we tried to help
Joshua when down
and others did contribute,
to bring him better around
but his failures ground him down.

He phoned every so often
babbling and rude
wandering in a broken brain;
His long letters, indecipherable,
but with artistic displays.

He lived in County jails
for petty crimes
and old half-way houses
time after time after time.
In garages of friends sometimes.

He called Aunt Blanchee.
He was homeless again
hoping for help from friends.
Sadly, he was sick again.
He wished her well at the end.

    Today,
    the police said,
Josh was shot dead!

    They found his slumped body
    on bloody asphalt
    in a City of Industry
    vacant parking lot.
Bullets through his broken heart!

Tanka Poems by Mike Garofalo

25 Steps and Beyond: Collected Works

So long, Bruno

Our dog, Bruno, and was a great pal for Karen and I.

During the first 5 years of his active life, Bruno lived in Red Bluff, California. We lived on a five-acre parcel of land in the country.  Bruno ran everywhere on that property, dug holes, hunted gophers, ran through the fields, played with visitors, took walks with me, and lollygagged in our ponds on hot summer days. He was a well behaved dog, curious, and friendly with people. He was a muscular, strong, sturdy, and powerful dog.

We moved to the suburbs in Vancouver, Washington, in 2017. We live on a small lot with a nice back yard. Bruno mostly became an indoor house dog.  Bruno and I took walks together in our neighborhood. He was a good walker on a leash.

It gets cool and damp in
Vancouver, WA, from
October to April.
Walkers, man and dog,
need good clothes.

Bruno got along well with the Flinn dogs.

The aging Bruno

We hung out together on the back porch.
His bed had an insulated cushion, blanket,
and extra blankets to cover him up with.
We seldom had a fire.

Bruno liked to sleep in my study while
I used my computer and played music.

He played with Roxy.

Back porch sunbathing.

Playing with a dog-toy and Charlie dog.

Hanging out in the back yard.

Nap Time, Old Buddy.

In his final months, we nursed a ugly tumor
on the back of right paw, and gave him
medicine for the three other tumors on
his 12 year old body.

We played with his dog toys. We wrestled and hugged.  We sometimes slept together on the floor.

In the last three years, Bruno began to "talk" more with squeals, moans, grunts, puffs. He made us laugh.

He was trained to ring a bell by the back door when he need to go to the toilet outdoors. He always did so.

Our extended family all delighted in Bruno's company, and he was a polite guest at other's houses.

Bruno was steady, active, alert, intelligent, and a well behaved house dog in Vancouver.

We all age. We all get weaker. We all face poor health. We all die.

Bruno has been sick from cancer for the past four months. Bruno died today, October 18, 2024.  

Bruno lived a very good life for 12 years. I will be one to miss you at lot, old buddy.

Harmonica: I Just Called to Say I Love You by Stevie Wonder

 

I Just Called to Say I Love You

Stevie Wonder

Key of C Major Harmonica

 

NO   NEW   YEARS   DAY   TO   CEL-E-BRATE          3       -4             4             4        3      -4     4      4     NO   CHOC-LATE   COV-ERED   CAN-DY   HEARTS   TO   GIVE   A-WAY      3        -4           4           4       -4           4     -5            6           -5        4       -4     -3     NO   FIRST   OF   SPRIN-G,   NO   SONG   TO   SING      -3        5        -5         -5       5     -3          5         5        -3     IN   FACT   HERES   JUST   AN-OTH-ER   OR-DI-NAR-Y   DAY     -3        5           -5           -5         5       5     -5      6     -5    5    -4       3     NO   A-PRIL   RAIN,   NO   FLOW-ERS   BLOOM      3     -4     4           4          3        -4         4             4     NO   WED-DING   SAT-UR-DAY   WITH-IN   THE   MONTH   OF   JUNE      3         -4        4          4     -4      4           -5        6      -5           4           -4       -3     BUT   WHAT   IT   I-S,   IS   SOME-THING   TRUE     -3             5        -5    -5  5     -3        5           5            -3     MADE   UP   OF   THESE   THREE   WORDS   THAT   I   MUST   SAY   TO   YOU     -3          5     -5         -5             5                5              -5       6       -5          4       -4        4     Chorus      I   JUST     CALLED   TO   SAY   I   LOVE   YOU     4      4              -3            4        -4     3       -4          4     I   JUST     CALLED   TO   SAY   HOW   MUCH   I   CARE     4      4               -3            4       -4          -3            3       -3       2     I   JUST     CALLED   TO   SAY   I   LO-VE   YOU     4     4               -3            4      -4       3   -5    6        5     AND   I   MEAN   IT   FROM   THE   BOT-TOM   OF   MY   HEART      5      5       -3         3        -2          -1         2       -1        2       -1           1    No summer's high No warm July No harvest moon to light one tender August night No autumn breeze No falling leaves Not even time for birds to fly to southern skies Chorus No Libra sun No Halloween No giving thanks to all the Christmas joy you bring But what it is, though old so new To fill your heart like no three words could ever do Chorus

World Tai Chi Chuan Celebration Day

Tai Chi Chuan enthusiasts celebrated "World Tai Chi Chuan Day" in Vancouver, WA, on April 29th.

Over 100 Taiji players gathered together today at Clark Community College in downtown Vancouver.

I spent time talking with many people at the event.  

Productive Relationships

"If I can create a relationship characterized on my part:
 by a genuineness and transparency, in which I am my real feelings;
 by a warm acceptance of and prizing of the other person as a separate individual;
 by a sensitive ability to see his world and himself as he sees them;
 Then the other individual in the relationship:
 will experience and understand aspects of himself which previously he as repressed;
 will find himself becoming better integrated, more able to function effectively;
 will become more similar to the person he would like to be;
 will be more self-directing and self-confident;
 will become more of a person, more unique and more self-expressive;
 will be more understanding, more acceptant of others;
 will be able to cope with the problems of life more adequately and more comfortably."

 On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy, p. 37.  By Carl R. Rogers.  Written around 1955. 
  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

Virtue Ethics

Aging Well

Productive Relationships

 "If I can create a relationship characterized on my part:

 by a genuineness and transparency, in which I am my real feelings;
 by a warm acceptance of and prizing of the other person as a separate individual;
 by a sensitive ability to see his world and himself as he sees them;
 Then the other individual in the relationship:
 will experience and understand aspects of himself which previously he as repressed;
 will find himself becoming better integrated, more able to function effectively;
 will become more similar to the person he would like to be;
 will be more self-directing and self-confident;
 will become more of a person, more unique and more self-expressive;
 will be more understanding, more acceptant of others;
 will be able to cope with the problems of life more adequately and more comfortably."

 On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy, p. 37.  By Carl R. Rogers.  Written around 1955. 
  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

Virtue Ethics

Aging Well

Happy Holidays

In December 2021, I plan to yurt camp for four days at Cape Disappointment State Park, walk more each day, assemble a large cedar pergola behind my house, and join in many holiday festivities.  Here is a repost of blog post of mine from 2020, Vancouver, WA.

Enjoy the many celebrations that center around the Winter Solstice.  Best wishes to everyone.

Merry Christmas, Party at Saturnalia, a Happy New Year, beneficent Yule Celebrations, and more Winter Lore!  

Karen and I enjoy this season.  We decorate a lighted tree, and set out Christmas decorations.  We exchange presents with family and friends.  We prepare special holiday meals: cookies, tamales, Italian dishes, pies.  We light fires in our fireplace.  We play and sing Christmas carols.  Many Pagan and Christian celebrations overlap in America, just like in ancient Rome in 100 CE.  Retails stores and markets are busy and Christmas decorations and colored lights are in evidence everywhere.  

Lately, our typical weather here in Vancouver, Washington, has been 35F low and 48F high, with light rain and fog, and no snow. As for gardening, we bring many frost sensitive potted plants indoors for warmth.  

Yule Celebrations  A hypertext notebook by Mike Garofalo.  

Yule, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Xmas, Saturnalia, Wassail Blot, December 20th - 31st
Festival of the Fires, Feliz Navidad, Birthday of Mithras, New Year Celebrations, Santa Claus, Brumalia, Christmas Eve, Father Christmas, St. Nicholas, Las Posadas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, 2nd Celebration in the NeoPagan Holy Day Annual Cycle or Wiccan Wheel of the Year.


"Reclaim Santa Claus as a Pagan Godform. Today's Santa is a folk figure with multicultural roots. He embodies characteristics of Saturn (Roman agricultural god), Cronos (Greek god, also known as Father Time), the Holly King (Celtic god of the dying year), Father Ice/Grandfather Frost (Russian winter god), Thor (Norse sky god who rides the sky in a chariot drawn by goats), Odin/Wotan (Scandinavian/Teutonic All-Father who rides the sky on an eight-legged horse), Frey (Norse fertility god), and the Tomte (a Norse Land Spirit known for giving gifts to children at this time of year). Santa's reindeer can be viewed as forms of Herne, the Celtic Horned God. Decorate your home with Santa images that reflect His Pagan heritage. Honor the Goddess as Great Mother. Place Pagan Mother Goddess images around your home. You may also want to include one with a Sun child, such as Isis with Horus. Pagan Goddess forms traditionally linked with this time of year include Tonantzin (Native Mexican corn mother), Holda (Teutonic earth goddess of good fortune), Bona Dea (Roman women's goddess of abundance and prophecy), Ops (Roman goddess of plenty), Au Set/Isis (Egyptian/multicultural All Goddess whose worship continued in Christian times under the name Mary), Lucina/St. Lucy (Roman/Swedish goddess/saint of light), and Befana (Italian Witch who gives gifts to children at this season)."
- Selena Fox, Celebrating the Winter Solstice 

"It was the Yuletide, that men call Christmas though they know in their hearts it is older than Bethlehem and Babylon, older than Memphis and mankind."
-  H.P. Lovecraft

Are not costumes so fascinating?
The Ice King and Ice Queen from Russia.

"Before the time of Constantine the ancient world was a virtual cornucopia of different religions and cults that existed all over the Roman Empire and eastward into China and India. As a result of these competing doctrines "when Christianity was only one of several dozen foreign Eastern cults struggling for recognition in Rome, the religious dualism and dogmatic moral teaching of Mithraism set it apart from other sects, creating a stability previously unknown in Roman paganism" (Mithras in the Roman Empire). The striking parallels to Christianity in Mithraism have long been pointed out, for Mithras was said to have been: born of a virgin birth, had twelve followers or disciples, was killed and resurrected, performed miracles, and was known as mankind's savior who was called the light of the world and his virgin birth occurred on December 25. Indeed, the resemblances are so striking in that all of the Christian mysteries were known nearly five hundred years before the birth of Christ that later church fathers claimed that Satan had created all of this prior to Christ's birth so as to confuse the laity. In regard to Mithras Nabaraz wrote: 'According to Persian traditions, the god Mithras was actually incarnated into the human form of the Saviour expected by Zarathustra. Mithras was born of Anahita, an immaculate virgin mother once worshipped as a fertility goddess before the hierarchical reformation. Anahita was said to have conceived the Saviour from the seed of Zarathustra preserved in the waters of Lake Hamun in the Persian province of Sistan. Mithra's ascension to heaven was said to have occurred in 208 B.C., 64 years after his birth. This birth took place in a cave or grotto, where shepherds attended him and regaled him with gifts, at the winter solstice. This is based on an older myth about birth of Mithra, that his magical birth at the dawn of time was from a rock from which he formed himself using his Will. He holds in his hand a dagger and a torch. A statue from Housesteads shows Mithras being born from the rock while the twelve signs of the zodiac surround him, showing his image as a stellar god who rules the cosmos even at his birth. A serpent [is at} times shown to be coiled around…Mithras or [his] birth stone/egg. (Mithras and Mithraism).' "

- Christ, Constantine, Sol Invictus: The Unconquerable Sun By Ralph Monday

Yuletide Customs: Family Gatherings in Oregon and Washington



Thanksgiving Day, 2012, Oregon
Betty Eubanks-Yarber, R.I.P., 2017
Family Gatherings are popular at Yuletide in America, or later at Chinese New Year Week.

2015 Christmas, Oregon

2020 Washington

2020 Washington

Sitting with a Dying Friend

 The dying mountain gorilla, Ndakasi, in the arms of his close friend, Andre Bauma.  

Soul Sauce by Cal Tjader

When I was a high school teenager, one of my local friends was Jerry Garcia.  We rode to high school together to Cantwell Catholic High School in the back of a truck each morning for three years (1960-1962).  Jerry had a nice collection of jazz records, and we listened to them a lot at his house.  Jerry Garcia later became an Irish Christian Brother as his career.  

We listened to a lot of Afro-Cuban jazz.  Cal Tjader's groups were one of Jerry's favorites, and he had many Tjader albums.  In 1965, I purchased the "Soul Sauce" album by Cal Tjader.  

Happy Birthday, Blanche Karen Eubanks Garofalo

Today is the 73nd birthday of my beloved wife of 54 years.

Happy Birthday, Karen!!

She is my best friend, pal, buddy, and supporter.  We have shared a long and very happy life together.

We raised two children, Alicia and Michael.  We now have two grandchildren.

Best wishes to everyone for good health and happiness on St. Patrick's Day 2021.