MURYOKO
'Infinite Light'
Journal of Shin Buddhism
POETS' CORNER
Jerry Bolick
Jerry Bolick is not a new poet but he is new to nembutsu.info's Poet's Corner and we are pleased to have him as a contributor.
Jerry has been a nembutsu follower for some twenty-five years or so, closely connected with the San Francisco Buddhist Temple most of that time. The late Rev. Ken Yamaguchi took him on as his unofficial assistant many years ago and opened the door to many wonderful experiences that the average lay follower would not have. He has, for most of that time, and continues now, to be an active lay speaker, mostly in the small Shinsu temple in Marin County, across the Golden Gate Bridge - from time to time, he speaks at other temples.'
Marcus Cumberlege
Marcus Cumberlege was born in the South of France of Anglo-Canadian parents and brought up in England, where he read English Literature at Oxford. He worked in Peru, London and Paris and for two years on the West Coast of Ireland before settling in Bruges (Belgium) with his Flemish wife Maria.
Marcus became interested in Zen Buddhism in 1963, but his spiritual life did not really take off for many years until he happened to come across a reference to the nembutsu in one of D.T.Suzuki's Essays in Zen Buddhism. He now attends the Shin temple in Antwerp.
Marcus has published over 20 collections of poetry, with many references to his Shin faith, and 4 more are due to appear in 2009. In a Nutshell, from which the poems in this selection are taken, is one of the latter. His website.
Gregg Heathcote
Gregg Heathcote's poems are already well-known to members and friends of the Hongwanji Buddhist Mission of Australia and we are pleased to be able to present his poems for the first time to a wider readership.
Gregg lives in the Australian city of Newcastle with his wife Tiffany and works in the library at Newcastle University. He has been a prominent member of Hongwanji Buddhist Mission of Australia since its inception.
Karan O'Neill
Karan O'Neill (Tz'u Shiou) holds a degree in theatre arts administration from St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas, and her principle interests include writing as meditation and art as spirituality. Karan established and moderates the Maretate Adults' Room online writer's community and is co-owner and web master of the Kokoro Institute web site, where much of her writing appears as daily dharma and directed meditations. Karan's myokonin-style poem 'Namo Amida Butsu' was recently selected for publication by the Famous Poet's Society. Her other interests include creating calligraphy cards with her husband, Ken O'Neill, Kyoshi, and fostering dogs for a no-kill animal rescue group in Tucson, Arizona.
Jim Reels
I'm a 34 yr old husband and father of four great kids and I live in Tennessee in the southern USA. I work at a youth rehab with teen boys and I enjoy my work.
Here are my two poems and I hope you enjoy them.