apart and a part

Phillip Hallie on Albert Camus: "Two French words summarize the mood (for it is a mood and not a philosophic system) that Camus expresses in his writings and in his life and death. The words are solidaire and solitaire. Only one consonant separates the two words from each other, but the difference between aloneness and union is immense. We are born into separateness: then, after a while, we die into it; and, in between our birth and our death, we are strangers and afraid in a world we never made. And yet we feel solidarity with others, love, from time to time,. We live out our lives apart from others and as a part of others."

waiting for the miracle

The Temple is very quiet today, and clean and empty. Leonard Cohen's words echo in my mind: we are waiting for the miracle to come. In a few hours, over 40 people will be arriving, getting settled, and then diving into the silence and stillness of sesshin. I feel so lucky that I can participate in this miracle -- the unusual opportunity, with other like-minded Dharma friends, to realize the truth of what it means to be a human being.