“And you should not let yourself be confused in your solitude by the fact there is something in you that wants to break out of it.”
~Trans: M. D. Heater Norton (Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet)
sunday morning with rilke
spirituality
tuesday with Hsüeh-feng
spring mist iv
A broken dream–
where do they go
the butterflies? ~Ichimu*
*cited: Y Hoffmann, Japanese Death Poems
twilight’s sky scape,
“I’m tired,” sighed Tiny Dragon.
“Then it’s time to stop,” said Big Panda.
“Watch the stars, and have a cup of hot tea.”*
Hammand Rais‘ Weekend Sky
*cited: James Norbury, Big Panda and Tiny Dragon.
remembrance…
As the winter winds travel across Wyoming’s landscape
the swirling snow releases its memories of you, lost …
somewhere… on Casper Mountain.
Its frigid touch awakens me to your
aloneness – in that wilderness of blinding snow
cries – deafened by the river of winds,
calling – out in hope for
a human form – to emerge out of the whiteness
the warmth – of a human hand
the sound – of a voice, comforting you
accompanying – you home.
As I become hostage to this winter’s swirling thoughts
the river winds tear into my soul
releasing tears arising from
the darkness of grief’s aloneness, seeking
a knowing to emerge out of ignorance’s darkness
you found – peace
within – a loving presence
embracing – you
accompanying – you home.
Lawrence John Anderson, January 11, 1957 – January 20, 1980
blogjanuary – 01/01/23
January 1. 2023: What is something you want to achieve this year?
to mindfully embrace impermanence
dragonfly, I and …
wandering clouds at pond’s shore
our impermanence
A Cloud Never Dies by Thich Nhat Hanh
historical journey through WP – 2012/2013
the eye that is penetrating sees clearly,
the ear that is penetrating hears clearly,
the nose that is penetrating distinguishes odors,
the mouth that is penetrating distinguishes flavors,
the mind that is penetrating has understanding,
and the understanding that is penetrating has virtue. ~ CHUANG-TZU
Every life is a point of view directed upon the universe. Strictly speaking, what one life sees no other can. Every individual, . . . is an organ, for which there can be no substitute, constructed for the apprehension of truth . . . Without the development, the perpetual change and the inexhaustible series of adventures which constitute life, the universe, or absolutely valid truth, would remain unknown . . . Reality happens to be like a landscape, possessed of an infinite number of perspectives, all equally veracious and authentic. The sole false perspective is that which claims to be the only one there is. ~José Ortega y Gasset
memory
if I go to heaven I will forget you,
and
if I go to hell you will forget me.*
In China a person who will not forget the past is described as ‘one who did not drink Old Lady Meng’s soup.’ Borrowed from Buddhist folklore, Old Lady Meng dispenses the Broth of Oblivion to souls leaving the last realm of the underworld on their way to reincarnation. After drinking her soup, the soul is directed to the Bridge of Pain that spans a river of crimson water. There, two demons lie in wait: Life-Is-Not-Long and Death-is-Near. They hurl the soul into waters that will lead to new births.
Old Lady Meng is more than a quaint antidote for the Greeks’ Mnemosyne. She embodies a psychological understanding about the forces that promote, indeed demand, forgetting for the sake of ongoing life. It is not enough to note that water is linked with amnesia in Chinese folklore as much the same way that the river Lethe is associated with forgetting in Greek mythology. The challenge here is to make sense of the distinctively Chinese attachment to remembrance in spite of the benefits of Old Lady Meng’s soul.
In Jewish tradition, too, the benefits of amnesia were acknowledged along with the sacred commitment to recollection. There is a midrash, or Torah-based story, that teaches us a lesson similar to that of Lady Meng: ‘God granted Adam and Eve an all-important blessing as they were about to leave the Garden of Eden: I give you, He said, ‘the gift of forgetfulness.” What is so precious about amnesia? Why would God, who demands fidelity to memory, offer the relief from recollection?Perhaps it is because without some ability to forgive and forget we might become bound by grudges and hatred. To remember everything may be immobilizing. To flee from memory, however, leads to an ever more debilitating frenzy.(40-41)**
source:
*Arang and the Magistrate
Munhwa broadcasting corporation
**Bridge Across Broken Time
Vera Schwarcz
Initially posted on October 10, 2013
remembrance…
As the winter winds travel across Wyoming’s landscape
the swirling snow releases its memories of you, lost …
somewhere… on Casper Mountain.
Its frigid touch awakens me to your
aloneness – in that wilderness of blinding snow
cries – deafened by the river of winds,
calling – out in hope for
a human form – to emerge out of the whiteness
the warmth – of a human hand
the sound – of a voice, comforting you
accompanying – you home.
As I become hostage to this winter’s swirling thoughts
the river winds tear into my soul
releasing tears arising from
the darkness of grief’s aloneness, seeking
a knowing to emerge out of ignorance’s darkness
you found – peace
within – a loving presence
embracing – you
accompanying – you home.
Lawrence John Anderson, January 11, 1957 – January 20, 1980
dawning
if my father were here–
dawn colors
over green fields ~Issa (cited: haiku.guy)
Seeing Differently: 8th of 15 images
…
It is more important
To see the simplicity
To realize one’s true nature
To cast off selfishness
And temper desire.
~The Tao-te Ching By Lao-tzu
a gift from a predawn rainfall…
water drops on the top of a well-waxed automobile…
submitted in response to Robyn’s Seeing Differently challenge
initially posted in October, 2016
memory
if I go to heaven I will forget you,
and
if I go to hell you will forget me.*
In China a person who will not forget the past is described as ‘one who did not drink Old Lady Meng’s soup.’ Borrowed from Buddhist folklore, Old Lady Meng dispenses the Broth of Oblivion to souls leaving the last realm of the underworld on their way to reincarnation. After drinking her soup, the soul is directed to the Bridge of pain that spans a river of crimson water. There, two demons lie in wait: Life-Is-Not-Long and Death-is-Near. They hurl the soul into waters that will lead to new births.
Old Lady Meng is more than a quaint antidote for the Greeks’ Mnemosyne. She embodies a psychological understanding about the forces that promote, indeed demand, forgetting for the sake of ongoing life. It is not enough to note that water is linked with amnesia in Chinese folklore as much the same way that the river Lethe is associated with forgetting in Greek mythology. The challenge here is to make sense of the distinctively Chinese attachment to remembrance in spite of the benefits of Old Lady Meng’s soul.
In Jewish tradition, too, the benefits of amnesia were acknowledged along with the sacred commitment to recollection. There is a midrash, or Torah-based story, that teaches us a lesson similar to that of Lady Meng: ‘God granted Adam and Eve an all-important blessing as they were about to leave the Garden of Eden: I give you, He said, ‘the gift of forgetfulness.” What is so precious about amnesia? Why would God, who demands fidelity to memory, offer the relief from recollection?Perhaps it is because without some ability to forgive and forget we might become bound by grudges and hatred. To remember everything may be immobilizing. To flee from memory, however, leads to an ever more debilitating frenzy.(40-41)**
source:
*Arang and the Magistrate
Munhwa broadcasting corporation
**Bridge Across Broken Time
Vera Schwarcz
Initially posted on October 10, 2013
a meditative journey 
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