“One night, after many dark moonless nights, when the stars shone brightly, a silver sliver appeared, a shy smile in the sky.
Each night, the smile became larger and larger, until you could almost imagine shiny teeth sparkling to imitate the twinkling of the stars.
Night after night, the crescent shape grew to a half-circle. Its light became brighter and brighter, lighting up the sky and dimming the stars.
Alas, after two weeks, it was a full circle and shone brilliantly in the night sky, allowing only the brightest stars and planets to share the deep, black canvas.”
In 2007, David J. Biviano was meditating and reading a portion of a book by Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh when “True Moon” “flooded” into his head fully composed.
“I did not sit down and write that book,” he said. “I sat down and transcribed it like a dictation.”
The short story, which features illustrations by Erica Ziegler, is about finding your true self.
“It’s probably the core teaching of the Buddha, not to dwell in the past or get lost in the future,” Biviano said. “Look deeply into the present moment, which is the only reality, so the moon has to look deeply into himself to discover all of his light comes from the sun, completely changing his perception of reality and discovering his true self, this connection to everything in the universe.”
Two weeks later, another creative flood brought “The Sky is Not Blue – It’s True!” to Biviano.
“One night, at bedtime, a wise old grandmother whispered to her grandchildren: ‘The sky is not blue, it’s true!’
‘What, Nana?’ said the children. ‘It surely is blue – that can’t be true.’
‘Then why is it black at night?’ she asked.
‘Well, ‘cuz the sun’s not out, silly Nana!’ they replied.
‘Aha!’ she said. ‘You agree, you see – the sky is not blue – it’s true!’ “
The story, which features photos by Alexander Blair and graphic art by Felix Gutierrez, is also inspired by meditations on the teaching of Nhat Hanh.
Before Biviano’s involvement in the Buddhist tradition, Biviano was Catholic and was a choir boy and altar boy before later spending four years as a Franciscan seminarian.
Biviano eventually left the order and took time to get married and start a family. He later became a religious education coordinator in his home state of New York then in Spokane, where he moved his family in 1975.
In the ’80s, Biviano came out as gay and was subsequently kicked out of the Catholic Church.
“I did not feel welcome,” he said. “That’s when I began my journey into the Buddhist tradition. My attorney at the time gave me a copy of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book called ‘Being Peace.’ She said I needed to learn how to let go. Very difficult divorce. So with that book, I became a devotee and student of Thich Nhat Hanh.”
Over the next 25 years, Biviano read Nhat Hanh’s books, of which there are more than 100. He then began meditating for 15 minutes at a time. He later joined a men’s group in Seattle and was able to increase his meditation sessions to an hour.
In 2006, Biviano learned that Nhat Hanh was completing a three-month pilgrimage in Vietnam and that people were welcome to join one of the four three-week segments. Biviano joined for the first segment, traveling with Nhat Hanh from Ho Chi Minh City to Dalat, Vietnam.
“That pilgrimage changed my life,” he said. “Here I was in the presence of my teacher getting empowerment talks every day. It’s really, really powerful.”
After completing his time with Nhat Hanh, Biviano crossed an item off his bucket list by traveling to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. After a few days, he was supposed to travel to Bangkok, but he was asked if he’d like to visit a children’s home and decided to extend his stay in Cambodia.
Biviano quickly fell in love with the children while also being appalled at the conditions in which they lived. He returned to the U.S. and began a charity called Friends of the Children of Cambodia.
After raising about $20,000, Biviano returned to Cambodia in 2008 and started a children’s home. Biviano stayed in Cambodia for three years and continued to raise money for the children’s home.
Before returning to Cambodia, though, Biviano experienced that creative flood which brought “True Moon” to him.
“This story is a story of finding true self, which is one of the major themes of Buddhist practice, to look deeply, reflect and discover your true self. True moon,” he said.
Two weeks later, Biviano wrote “The Sky is Not Blue – It’s True!”
“It’s a science lesson on the nature of light and color, how we perceive color,” Biviano said. “It’s a science lesson along with a spiritual message.”
Before these two books, Biviano said he creative writing experience was limited to poems which often came to him, like the books, fully formed.
Biviano self-published “True Moon” in 2008 and “The Sky is Not Blue – It’s True!” last year through AuthorHouse Publishing. “The Sky is Not Blue – It’s True!” is also available in Spanish.
He recently dropped a few copies of both books, which he calls children’s books for adults, off at Auntie’s Bookstore. They’re also available through the AuthorHouse or Barnes and Noble websites.
After his first retreat with Nhat Hanh, Biviano eventually spent five days with him in Malaysia and time with his monks in Thailand. Though he’s taken those trips, and is still a regular meditator, he’s not yet received another story like “True Moon” and “The Sky is Not Blue – It’s True!”
He’s written an idea or two down but isn’t going to force himself to write a story until the timing is right.
“All those meditation experiences are very profound …” he said. “All of these things come together in such serendipitous and perfect coincidences. There’s no such thing as a coincidence. The whole world just works.”