Poetry
The poems here are filled with vivid images of the Northern New England mountains and valleys and moving stories of the people who live there and beyond.
Topping Trees
Steve Brittain
is a retired neurologist. He has lived and practiced in a small town in rural Vermont for over forty years. Now with more time to wander in the forests and to sit and write, he has published two books of poems, "Topping Trees" and "How to Love a Dog".
How to Love a Dog
Thoughts and Reflections
Over the years I have written a number of short essays and ramblings on various subjects. Most are related in some way to Zen practice.
Gratitude
Some musings and a couple of meditation practices on gratitude in the context of an encounter with the personification of death.
Giving
A message from the Pope and images of Avalokiteshvara the bodhisattva of compassion come together in a chance meeting on the streets of Rutland Vermont
Remembrances
A recurrent theme in Buddhist writings is impermanence. Everything, including our very self, is in a constant flux or change and has no enduring or fixed existence. His teaching of the five remembrances was one way to investigate this. Here is a variation on those five remembrances.
Letting go "In Blackwater Woods"
Mary Oliver's beautiful poem, "In Blackwater Woods" is the inspiration for the following essay, which deals with the process of letting go in the context of Zen practice Her words suggest a joyful and powerful way of doing this. The poem was first published in her book "American Primitive" and then republished in the compilation "Devotions".
Instant Karma
A walking with pain meditation.
Dog Fight
Taking care of our two dogs becomes a zen practice.
Ink Brush
An ink brush sequence about finding balance in meditation and another about not knowing.