Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Birds singing on a cold day / The Endless Further / David Riley, Dharma Teacher


David Riley endeared himself to me when he posted the above composite photo on his blog with the words "Whitman and Dylan, together again."

Yesterday this Facebook post was brought to my attention: 

For those who followed David Riley and his blog, I wanted to let you know that he passed away 9-7-18 peacefully in his sleep. Thank you for following his blog and I will leave this site here for the time being.

His stepbrother Bill

Although I knew that David Riley had Stage 4 cancer and looked forward to his always enlightening posts, when no posts appeared after last April, it never occurred to me that he had died.  A local friend of mine was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, and it has since gone into remission.

David Riley's blog, The Endless Further, is no longer accessible.  His was a blog that I discovered while looking for information about St. Francis of Assissi.  David Riley was a dharma teacher and his Facebook page shows that he lived the last words of the Buddha:

"Behold, O monks, this is my last advice to you. All component things in the world are changeable. They are not lasting. Work hard to gain your own salvation."

Our blog friends are dear to us.  I hope that some of you can see what he posted on his Facebook page.  It gives a good idea of what he posted on his blog.

This is what I read when I first found David Riley's blog a little over 2 years ago: 

“Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that have received--only what you have given.”
― Francis of Assisi

Here is his Facebook profile picture:




6 comments:

Sabine said...

I love the sound of your birds. I have been too tired lately to wake for the dawn chorus and I even tried setting an alarm.

I stumbled on the work of Joe Tilson (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Tilson) recently - after I found his son Jake Tilson's book "A tale of 12 Kitchens" in a friend's house - and have started to look at his work Alchera and it immediately reminded me of your mandala art work. I realise this is far fetched, but that's as it is. I am only a couple of pages in.

Here is a link: https://issuu.com/atlasonline/docs/joetilsonalchera

Anonymous said...

I never read David Riley's blog, and now I so wish I had. Thank you for bringing him into my consciousness.

My life so far said...

I wish that I had been able to read his blog. It's too bad it was taken down.

It's always so sad when you find out later that someone was died. This happens with our patients all the time because they often stop coming for treatment so we don't know what's happened. I like to know though, especially if I have a strong attachment to them. It's always so nice to know about their lives, apart from being a patient. It gives me a sense of closure.

Love the birdsong. I am envious.

Sackerson said...

Sadly, I wasn't aware of The Endless Further until now. I visited the FB link you posted, though, and it in turn led me to a Poe poem I didn't know, A Dream within a Dream,

Steve said...

David was a dear friend - I got a copy of his site and have re-hosted it in static form for now at least at theendlessfurther.uk
Blessings to you all.

am said...

Thank you so much, Steve. I'll let my blog friends know that David's blog is once again available for reading.