Fend, defend
Mountains, rivers, the great earth, the sun, the moon and the stars are none other than your own heart and mind. Mazu Daoyi First snow on the ranges; I know it’s there because of the feel of the air in the afternoon and the high feathered edges of nimbostratus rearing up in the west, but the mountains themselves are invisible in the storm. Next morning as I drive along the ridge road to E and H’s house, for a moment looking south there’s a gap in the cloud and in it, a huge white shoulder turning away. The four magpies tune up from the tips of macrocarpas in the windbreak, then all glide down to the pasture below to stand carolling, facing inwards like any quartet making sure they can hear each other. It’s now several years that t...