Translator’s note. The Japanese title of this chapter is Uji. 有 u means “to have” or “there is” — thusit is often understood as Being. 時 ji means a moment…
Spirituality
Strong Songs of the Dead
Three chapters from Th. Metzger’s new book DOWN IN THE FLOOD We sing for the dead and we sing with the dead. Untrained, unamplified, unrestrained, our voices are raucous and…
The Seven Beggars, Part 6: The Water Castle
On the sixth glad day they longed for the beggar who had no hands. No sooner had they expressed their wish than he appeared, saying “Here I am!” just as…
Julia Vinograd: poems from The Book of Jerusalem
DEATH Jerusalem dances on living bodies,on dead bodies, on flesh, on stone—she doesn’t notice, she is not looking down.“You love death more than me,” God accuses her,“but I own death,do…
Julia Vinograd: poems from The Book of Jerusalem Read More »
The Explorers
The four men have come to a decision. This over beers while sitting on lawn chairs in the Electrician’s garage. The Electrician leans against a workbench wiping his hands on…
The Tree at the Center of the World
the fifth and penultimate chapter of Nachman of Breslov’s “Tale of the Seven Beggars” On the fifth day of the wedding, in the midst of all that happiness, they remembered…
Psycho-Geography
excerpted from Thom Metzger’s new book, Hakim Bey, Real and Unreal Hakim Bey named me the “Grand Metropolitan of the Burnt Over District, i.e.: the holy lands of upstate NY.”…
Borscht Belt Bodhisattva
1. The Black Hole of Comedy I made my way down the dank, filthy stairs, into the darkness where jokes go after they’ve died. I descended into Ha-Ha Hell, like…
Tale of the Seven Beggars: The Birds
After these festivities they all went to bed, but the next day the bride and groom woke up early and began to think of the beggar with the crooked neck,…
The Heart of the World
The Tale of the Seven Beggars Part Three On the third day of the wedding celebration, the bride and groom remembered the third beggar and longed for him so strongly…