THE ONE OF US

“It’s Saturday night and I’m bored.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s just me, nothing else around except water. Water water everywhere. Gray and silent. I’m bored. Maybe I’ll create some forms.”

“Forms? Why? I like everything formless, just like now. One big nothing. That’s what I call religion.”

“Maybe, but it’s very boring. You know what? Tomorrow I’m going to get to work. Start creating some light.”

“Wassdat?”

“Lack of darkness.”

“You‘ll be sorry. Darkness is so much easier on the eyes.”

“That’ll take the day. After that, put on some Netflix. But on Monday I get back to work.”

“Why work? Just say Bang!

“Okay. On Monday I’ll say Bang! and a universe will appear.”

“I hate Mondays. After that, go on vacation. You’ve done enough. Just think of all that space!”

“I need the ground under my feet.”

“You don’t have feet.”

“I need something solid and stable. On Tuesday I’ll create Earth.”

“What’s an Earth?”

“An Earth is solid and stable. You know levitation?”

“Is there a spiritual being who doesn’t know levitation?”

“It’s the opposite of that. You come down to earth, you don’t go up in the air. And I think I’ll add a few things, like sequoias, grasses, sage, and mums.”

“We don‘t need more stage sets!”

“The next day I’ll—”

“Say Bang! again?”

“No, I’ll create suns, moons, and stars.”

“But you already created a universe.”

“I made a mistake, I created too much dark matter.”

“You don’t make mistakes, at least not in theory. Of course, this one will be a doozy!”

“With suns and moons we’ll have days, months, and years.”

“Also, to-do lists.”

“Speaking of which, on Thursday—”

“Hey, what about pacing your glorious self? Take a day off, go to a spa.”

“On Thursday I’m creating Fish and Fowl.”

“Not Dungeons and Dragons? Red Dead Redemption? Super Mario?”

“On Friday I‘m making things that will walk the Earth. Cows, saber-tooth tigers, spiders, skunks, snakes.”

“Could we cancel the snakes?”

“If you slither hither and thither, if you shiver and quiver, if you got the muscle to hustle, if you walk, stalk—”

“I got it, I got it! If you can do any of those things, you appear on Friday. Take it from me, you’re creating a lot of unnecessary confusion.”

“And finally, just before sunset on Friday, I’ll create humans.”

“Why, for Your sake?”

“I’m bored dancing solo. I need partners.”

“You’re indefinable. You‘re birthless, deathless, beyond time and space, beyond beyond.”

“Also, bored.”

“You’ll be sorry. Too many forms, too many relationships, too much mishigas. When do we watch TV?”

“Saturday. We rest on Saturday. Sleep late. Have a nice breakfast. You like eggs?”

“It’ll be too loud. Too many sights and smells. And kids! You know how I feel about kids! And malls! Kids in malls! Take it from me, you’ll miss the gray water and the silence. You’ll miss the boredom. And we’re so happy here, just the one of us.”

                    Donate to My Blog                 Donate to Immigrant Families

You can also send a check to: Eve Marko, POB 174, Montague, MA 01351. Please write on the memo line whether this is in support or immigrant families or of my blog. Thank you.

Make a Donation to My Blog Donate To Immigrant Families

You can also send a check to: Eve Marko, POB 174, Montague, MA 01351. Please write on the memo line whether this is in support or immigrant families or of my blog. Thank you.

It seems we can’t find what you’re looking for. Perhaps searching can help.

THE DOGS OF THE KISKADEE HILLS

Eve Marko - The Dogs of the Kiskadee Hills: Hunt for the LynxThe Dogs of the Kiskadee Hills: Hunt for the Lynx begins a trilogy about a society of dogs after humans have destroyed themselves and much of the world. Living with their families and clans in the Kiskadee Hills, they’ve developed over generations a rich tradition and way of life, and have prospered. But now, an unknown killer is butchering the Kisdees of the Hills.

Academy Award-winning actor Jeff Bridges says: “You will never look at dogs the same again. Eve Marko gives us a story that explores the path that life on our planet has taken, and asks what your role in that course might be.”

Make a Donation to My Blog Donate To Immigrant Families

You can also send a check to: Eve Marko, POB 174, Montague, MA 01351. Please write on the memo line whether this is in support or immigrant families or of my blog. Thank you.

BEARING WITNESS

To bear witness to anything is to be as close to it as possible.

It’s not to read books or see movies about it, it’s not to have an opinion or tell a story. It’s to let go of all ideas about it—be in the space of not-knowing—and simply be there, up close and deeply personal.

Eve has been involved with the Zen Peacemaker Order’s Bearing Witness Retreats—in places of suffering and conflict since her first visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

There have been 20 retreats at the site of those concentration camps since, along with retreats in Bosnia, Rwanda and the Black Hills of South Dakota, near the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Make a Donation to My Blog Donate To Immigrant Families

You can also send a check to: Eve Marko, POB 174, Montague, MA 01351. Please write on the memo line whether this is in support or immigrant families or of my blog. Thank you.

ABOUT EVE MARKO

Eve Marko is a Founding Teacher of the Zen Peacemaker Order and head teacher at the Green River Zen Center in Massachusetts. She received dharma transmission and inka from Bernie Glassman. She is also a writer and editor of fiction and nonfiction.

Eve has trained spiritually-based social activists and peacemakers in the US, Europe and the Middle East, and has been a Spiritholder at retreats bearing witness to genocide at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Rwanda, and the Black Hills in South Dakota. Before that she worked at the Greyston Mandala, which provides housing, child care, jobs, and AIDS-related medical services in Yonkers, New York.

Eve’s articles on social activists have appeared in the magazines TricycleShambhala Sun, and Tikkun. Her collection of Zen koans for modern Zen practitioners in collaboration with Roshi Wendy Egyoku Nakao, The Book of Householder Koans: Waking Up In the Land of Attachments, came out in February 2020.

Hunt for the Lynx, the first in her fantasy trilogy, The Dogs of the Kiskadee Hills, was published in 2016.

“When I was a young girl my dream was to be a hermit, live alone, and write serious literature. That’s not how things turned out. I got involved with people. I got involved in the world. Two things matter to me right now: the creative spark and the aliveness of personal connection. In some way, they both come down to the same thing.”

Make a Donation to My Blog Donate To Immigrant Families

You can also send a check to: Eve Marko, POB 174, Montague, MA 01351. Please write on the memo line whether this is in support or immigrant families or of my blog. Thank you.