Buddhapada

Tags

Buddha, Buddhapada, Canberra, petrosomatoglyph

 

Going to do another one, as I think I spoilt this one by using chalk

too vigorously.  Saw the originals at The Ashmolean and some

others in Canberra and became fascinated by

petrosomatoglyphs in general.

Even a Samurai Sobs

Tags

Buddha, choka, Kamono An Account of My Hut, samurai, Todaiji

(Image Todaiji Buddha: Wikipedia)

 

When a child is crushed

in a terrible earthquake,

even a samurai sobs.

The after- tremors:

they are quite terrifying.

It was bad enough

when the Todaiji Buddha’s

head fell off, so long ago.

But, what did it signify?

Anything at all?

Man’s vanity was rife then

and it exists now.

What is the point of trying

to analyse it?  No point.

First Month Temple Visit

Tags

Buddha, conch, Hase temple, Pillow Book

Still inspired by The Pillow Book (10th century Japan)

(Wikimedia Commons; Third Princess)

At Hase Temple,

there was a vulgar scrabble

to see the Buddha

and to present petitions.

A conch shell would blast

and a bell reverberate.

Your own devotions

could easily be side-tracked

by other pilgrims’ requests.

The devout will pray

practically the whole day;

some even at night,

but a few young men

just go to meet girls.

Lumbini and Beyond

Tags

Big Foot era, Buddha, Empress Wu Zetian, lotus, Lumbini Park

The baby’s first steps

were reputedly seven.

A lotus blossomed,

marking the length of each stride.

On the last, he spoke:

There will be no more comings!

All over the world

petrosomatoglyphs* show

authoritative imprints.

(The Big Foot Era

was inaugurated by

Empress Wu Zetian.)

Messiahs, kings and despots

thereafter trampled the Earth.

 

•  footprints impressed in stone

(Wikimedia Commons. Image: Tido, 1993. Lumbini Stupa)

Thirty Six Views of Mt Fuji Post 1

Tags

Asakusa, Buddha, cranes, Custom Pine, Enoshima, geisha, Meguro, Mount Fuji, pagoda, Sazai Hall, shogun, Suma, The Great Wave

 

 

They won’t be engulfed

as the wave is not constant,

unlike Mount Fuji.

 

Though clouds surround it,

they condense on Mount Fuji;

collide and stream down.

 

 

Incoming rainstorm

darkens one flank of Fuji;

its opposite basks.

 

 

The bridge dominates

until you see the mountain,

framed by its supports.

 

 

Everyone ignores

what the weather is up there:

noses to grindstone.

 

 

Compared to Fuji,

the Custom Pine seems bigger.

That’s an illusion.

 

 

Tending to your horse;

casting your line in the lake:

Fuji’s your backdrop.

 

 

Some will go ahead.

I look after the horses.

Fuji protects me.

 

 

The cycle of work…

you turn your back on Nature,

but you have to eat.

 

 

The wind buffets here;

we are unable to stand.

Imagine up there!

 

 

No one flies a kite

from the summit of Fuji:

they would disappear.

 

The mountain reflects

the vicissitudes of life

down at our level.

 

 

See, from Sazai Hall,

an excellent view is had

over the still lake.

 

 

Snowed in, the geisha

take delight in bird-watching

and white-capped Fuji.

 

 

Farmers, falconers

below Meguro work hard:

Fuji their shogun.

 

 

The water wheel turns

because melted snow flows down

from Fuji’s cold slopes.

 

 

Sails, roofs, pagoda

of Enoshima echo

conical Fuji.

 

 

Part 2 – next 18 views on following post.

Add to Anti-Banner

Chinese Restaurant Think Tank

Tags

Buddha, edible snake, Longevity, proverb, think tank, traditional Chinese restaurant

(Table Setting 5/10/12: photo by micah sittig

flickr.com/photos/msitttig/4675623306)

 

 

If you want to be a nine hundred year

old fish, then stay at the back of the tank,

our guide quipped.  A proverb?  But I heard fear

from a not too distant past, when some sank

without trace.  Huge frogs with bulbous eyes

hunkered behind smaller fry: plump Buddhas,

withdrawing from contact, like all the wise-

too intellectual for consumption. As

we eschewed the coiled snakes and frilled reptile,

we saw longevity and survival

was to become what others revile:

thus to outlive an attractive rival.