My ears are burning; is it the sounds that are on fire or the organ that consumes them? My eyes are on fire; is it the landscape that burns or the organ that consumes them? My skin is on fire; is it the warmth of the sun?My nose is on fire; is it the smell that stings or the placid organ that can't stand spice? My tongue is burning; the fire of spice is part chill and part tastebud.
But deep within the breath is burning; my breathing is burning. And that which I watch in meditation, part voluntary and part involuntary, burns in the smoky air. And alone in universal greed and desire, I breathe.
For it is the source of suffering this desire - and reveals itself to me as burning breath. I take my shoes off, for I am in sacred space.
It speaks to me that I must go into the wilderness: deaf, dumb, blind, and barefoot.
For forty more years I must travel to a promised land that I won't be alive to see. For forty years I will reside in the promised land without sense and desire, but only faith.
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Ideals and Identities
I am an internationally and domestically (Canada) experienced educator and writer who impacts people’s lives by helping them bridge social barriers through language and concept education, and professional teaching and learning opportunities. But more than this, I want us to be encouraged to inhabit fully the Kingdom of God.
My educational background includes formal training in Philosophy and Metacognition, Linguistics, Religious Studies, History, teaching certification, and ESL practice. But it also includes many years of travels/residence throughout North America, East and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and Northern Europe. Within this has been the study of other languages with various proficiency, and and intimate awareness of Zen meditation studied in South Korea.
Importantly, I am a husband and a father, and in those roles and others, I have a wide reach of connection in various international communities.
