by Cheng Tong | Jun 8, 2023 | Stillness
A freak June storm, an ever-more-common aberration in these times of climate change-induced storms, befell the northern Berkshires last week. It offered five inches of rain, and an hour’s worth of half-inch hail that left the ground looking as though it had snowed. ... 
by Cheng Tong | Dec 27, 2022 | Stillness
I belonged to the Kwan Um School of Zen Buddhism as a part of the Providence Zen Center for three years before I left for China. Daily service was a part of the tradition of the Zen Center, and service was always the same, morning and evening. In a discussion one... 
by Cheng Tong | Dec 26, 2022 | Stillness
The major skills I teach at Blue Heron Stillness are qigong, taiji, and meditation. They all share one thing in common: the breath. Qigong exercises and taiji forms, both breath-driven, move at the pace of the breath. We begin each from a posture of stillness... 
by Cheng Tong | Jun 18, 2022 | Stillness
We walk our path with steps determined Flashlight shined ahead. At morning wake and pray come night We’ll safely find our bed. And in between we walk our path To learn what comes that day. With eyes wide open, mind so clear We walk along our way. Our path has... 
by Cheng Tong | Dec 8, 2021 | Stillness
In Chinese painting first to learn With soft and yielding brush A grove of them so straight and tall So green and swaying lush. Stalks of green and others black Leaves of varied size When comes a storm it does not care And will not fear demise. Winds... 
by Cheng Tong | Dec 1, 2021 | Stillness
For eighteen months we came to learn Together as a pair That each was safe and simply learning How we’d come to fare. Pumpkin seeds and peanuts roasted Seemed a decent meal. I’d leave them out and wait to see Just how the squirrel’d deal. As time went on...