The Free Place

GIVE TO OTHERS WHAT YOU WOULD RECEIVE

The Free Place

and Other Stories of the Ox and the Wheel

ROB CHAVEZ

The Free Place — and Other Stories of the Ox and the Wheel

Mind is the forerunner. Mind is chief.

All experience is led by mind, made by mind.

Speak or act from confusion,

and suffering follows, wheel behind hoof.

Speak or act from peace,

and happiness follows, a shadow that does not leave.

— after the Dhammapada

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A TRIPTYCH ON ONE VERSE

Three stories gather here, and though each stands alone, they were written from a single seed: the old verse above, in which the mind lays down a track and the wheel of consequence follows the hoof.

The book is arranged not by length but by the journey it asks of you — grief, then justice, then grace. It begins in the smallest room and widens outward, until a shadow keeps to a living body as it moves toward the light, and does not leave.