(Photographer Unknown)
Turning the prayer wheel
(Photographer Unknown)
Author: Warren Tang
I write about linguistics and philosophy. I also write poetry and take photographs.
youth, gone by
no message of thanks
like dropped stone into black well
waiting for an echo
complete silence
as though my letter
had never reached him
or else it had gone straight past
youth, selfishness
same thing
common curtesy out all windows
but i cannot be angry
all i can do is write a poem
for i was as young and
more selfish once
This one …
Just as losing weight and saving money need to be achieved by oneself so to Enlightenment.
Resolution for 2013
Although over two months have past for 2013 already I had made a resolution this year but not posted about it.
This year I have one resolution only – to be able to recite the Hannya Shingyo (Heart Sutra) by heart. This has been something I haven’t been able to do. There are sections which I don’t remember or else I get the order muddled. Conscious focus is necessary for anything. So you can say I have not been mindful in this case.
Anger
Where does anger come from?
Perhaps this is poorly phrased,
An inappropriate metaphor.
For something to come and go
It must be real.
But anger isn’t real.
If I understood that, then
The world would be
A much better place for you
Me and everybody else.
Santoka
sentiment
need not follow
form
Worn Out Shoe
A Buddhist is like a worn out shoe – No Soul.
Food for Thought – What Does 200 Calories Look Like?
How deceiving food portions can be. No wonder we have trouble with moderation. Here is 200 calories in the form of peanut butter (38 grams).
No form
What is the ‘no’ in ‘no form’?
This ‘no’ is not the no in the phrase ‘I have no money’. Whether one has money or not is not of importance. The ‘no’ is rather like the ‘-less’ in ‘priceless’ meaning ‘beyond a value’ where it is not attached to existence or non-existence.
And what is the ‘form’ of ‘no form’? It the very way our physical body works. The heart pumps. The blood flows. Rhythm follows. We breathe. We grow. And we change. But to go beyond this understanding of good and bad is the meaning of the phrase ‘no form’.
It is this life, this reality, without principles, without discrimination that we have simply overlooked.
We should be attentive to the ‘no form’ which is without attachment in all its working.
(My translation of Choyaku Hannya Shingyo, pp88-9, by Sakaino Katsunori, ISBN 9784837981619)
Abuse within Zen
Even Buddhism is not immuned to problems. Was Sasaki Sensei enlightened? I doubt it.
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