occultation

an amazing total lunar eclipse occurred on wednesday feb 20. for a sciaphile, especially in photographs, it was simply amazing to see the earth's shadow on the moon- as grand as shadows can ever get. the sky was crystal clear and the 5F minnesota winter air actually felt good.

crisp winter night!
stars arrayed out for cosmic
shadow puppetry

deep

today is supposedly the 50th anniversary of the peace symbol. it was created and used in the uk, first by the anti-nuclear movement. the semaphoric symbols for N and D are indicated by a holding flags like a reverse v (N) and a two flags-one up and one down (D) which are fused to make up the now near universal symbol which literally reads ND standing for nuclear disarmament.

did work practice at the lake calhoun zen center- cleaning zabutons and zafus and then doing the dishes. on the kitchen window was this sign-

if you cannot hear the pots and pans crying out as they clang into each other while washing in the kitchen, your zazen is not deep enough -uchiyama roshi

☮ (created by typing "\&\#x262E" in html without the backslashes)

found in translation

reading robert aitken roshi's brilliant expositions on basho's haikus (a zen wave: basho's haiku and zen). they are a unique blend of literary criticism and dharma talks. the structure of each essay which is focused on a specific haiku is as follows- it starts with the main haiku written in english phoneics, then an english rendering (usually not adhering to the 5-7-5 syllabary of the original japanese form), and finally a more literal translation which follows closely the peculiarities and nuances of the japanese language with its cutting words and postpositions. for instance, the last line of basho's famous haiku is rendered as water of sound instead of sound of water. incidentally, tamizh has the same form- for example it would be thanniin o-sai where the postposition in modifies thanni. my theory is that languages which are sensitive to poetry will also be flexible to allow poets to play with syntax.

then the commentary on the haiku itself, often employing other haikus of basho or his contemporaries or even modern poets (eliot, snyder) and finally a capping verse, usually aitken's. in other words, the structure is very similar to how koans are treated classically in the blue cliff records or the gateless gate.

for the past few days, my routine following the obligatory matutinal ablutions is to make chai and read a chapter, slowly savouring the words and the sweet chai. the morning walk to work has also been enjoyable, despite the weather.

deep white snow
finally covered by the drifts-
the plastic hyacinth !

note: on the front garden of one of the houses along my walk, someone with a weird sense of humour has planted a plastic hyacinth plant. it was, strangely, not very apparent in the fall but with the snows, the green and violet stood out. it was amusing to note it, every morning.

goodbye

i found out yesterday that michael passed away on jan 15. a few years ago, he had been diagnosed with a rare form of parathyroid cancer; he beat all odds and lived a full life, literally till the very end. it was only in dec 07 that i came across michael's remarkable blog (from where i took the picture). it is a beautiful chronicle of his courage and grace, even in the face of death. besides his remarkable photographs and touching poems. he did not dwell much on his sickness but sometimes, whilst in great pain, he did write about it but in a remarkably detached way. some of his writings are reminiscent of the great shiki masaoka, tanka poet extraordinaire and who was in great pain towards the end of his short life, afflicted with spinal caries (tb). a nihonophileand a zen practitioner, michael received his dharma name daiku (great sky) just a few days before, in a solemn jukai ceremony signifying his life-long commitment to zen practice.

it is remarkable how one can be deeply touched by someone one has never met or even corresponded with. "to my newer readers, welcome aboard. speak up now and then." he wrote in his blog. i never did, then. i write now, choking back tears. great sky, happy journey and may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

rumination

loved this image and stole it from the speaking of faith website. i am listening to today's edition right now featuring krista's readings from her book.

oh, in case you are indolent and were wondering what is written on the image-

time is limited, and the abundant water is flowing away.
drink, before you fall into pieces.

sit like a mountain, breathe like a flower

having only read thich nhat hahn's writings before, it was incredible to watch peace is every step, a documentary about this gentle vietnamese monk, his teachings and his background. a young novice monk of 16 during the french colonial period in vietnam, he and his brother monks and sister nuns spontaneously practised, what he calls engaged buddhism, during the vietnam war. "when there are bombs falling all around and people suffering from hunger, would you still meditate?". his simple response is "do both". thinking deeply and acting deeply are both meditation, he says. they risked the crossfire between the nationalists and communists to supply food and medicines to remote areas connected only by river. he himself escaped death several times, watched fellow monks self-immolate whilst remaining in seated meditation(an image that will be indelibly etched in one's mind and used beautifully in bergman's persona) and eventually was exiled to france, victimized by both sides for his pro-peace stance. what is amazing is his subtle but powerful recasting of anti-war as pro-peace. "there is a lot of anger in the anti-war movement and that is a form of war", he observed visiting the states during the 60s. having been through so much suffering and horrors, he still emanates compassion and love when he speaks in dc, days before the gulf war.

invariably, one is reminded of that other ocean of compassion. the new documentary dalai lama renaissance is equally compelling. it is incredible that for his holiness, the first priority is humanity, then buddhism and only after that tibet.

context:

my friend l has started a discussion group on engaged buddhism prompted by her friend's skepticism about the merits of sitting while there was "work to do outside". the first meeting was last sunday; we had readings and discussed a bit of this and that. it was interesting to be in the midst of a group who all practise mindfulness, albeit in different styles (as evidenced by the myriad meditation postures and mudras assumed during the opening meditation session !). this question (in the guise of activism) had assailed me constantly during my erstwhile active days with aid and activism. return to india was a sobering experience and when s and i visited the narmada valley, what was amazing to me was the energy, clear thinking and determination with which the villagers and adivasis participated in their struggle against the dam, hopeless as it was inexorably going up meter by meter as of 2003. for them it was the only choice and the right choice. in other words, there are already problems and suffering right where we are, inside and immediately outside that need attending to. as one of the women puts it eloquently in the dalai lama documenrary, "we all have our tibets". thich nhat hahn asks the vietnam veteran to help the children in his block rather than go back to vietnam ask forgiveness for his crime of 25 years past.

to me it is not something to be discussed inasmuch as a koan could be, as to grapple with it inside and come to a deeper, intuitive understanding. it is a koan. after all, seung sahn sunim's favourite koan (and the eponymous title of his popular book) is called dropping ashes on the buddha (the context being what do you do when someone walks into the zendo and flicks his cigarette ash on the buddha statue)? as sahn sunim would say "open mouth, already big mistake".

oh and on the title of this post, it is thich nhat hahn's final advice. when one is mindful, right or wrong drops off and every act is a compassionate one.