A Song of the Rolling Earth

Seems like a good time for some Walt Whitman. From Leaves of Grass #10, A Song of the Rolling Earth (1881 edition):

The earth does not withhold, it is generous enough,
The truths of the earth continually wait, they are not so conceal'd either,
They are calm, subtle, untransmissible by print,
They are imbued through all things conveying themselves willingly,
Conveying a sentiment and invitation...
I speak not, yet if you hear me not of what avail am I to you? 

Useful words for ecologists, and foresters, and Zen students, and all human beings concerned–or unconcerned–with impending planetary crisis. The earth is clearly sharing its truths with us. [NOTE: A complete version of Whitman's A Song of the Rolling Earth is available here].

Love Has No Labels

Lovely public service announcement from the Ad Council. Really, really well done. Will make you cry. In a good way. [NOTE: Go here for more information about the Love Has No Labels campaign to raise awareness about bias and prejudice]. 

More Kayin Buddhas

An auspicious gathering of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas at the base of a majestic limestone mountain in Kayin State, Myanmar. Go here for a close-up of one of these beautiful statues. [NOTE: The statues are just sitting out in a field along the side of the road. And it was drizzling rain and misty. I did a little bow and took lots of pictures]. 

One More Mu

And here is the view from the reading chair (see Blue Dog Mu). Like I am stepping back and letting Mu continue to take more in. Which it will do. So, there's another dog (see Nikki), and the bark paper from Papua New Guinea, and the pre-Columbian statue of the lady with the dog on her lap (see Pre-Columbian Statue), and the red OWU cap hanging on the bannister. Oh, and the little clock (to the left of the statue on the hutch) that I got for 30 years of service at NYBG. 

Blue Dog Mu

George Rodrigue painting, Blue Dog at the Revel (thx, Jim and Jacque), hanging in the living room (see Reading). I sit in a chair across the room in front of this painting and read. And think. A lot.  

This from George Rodrigue:

"People say the dog keeps talking to them with the eyes, always saying something different. People who have seen a Blue Dog painting always remember it. They are really about life, about mankind searching for answers. The dog never changes position. He just stares at you. And you’re looking at him, looking for some answers, ‘Why are we here?,’ and he’s just looking back at you, wondering the same. The dog doesn’t know."

And this, from a teisho by Susan Murphy Roshi on the koan Mu (see Mu):

"So your job is not to resolve some questions about dogs. Dogs, like cats, are a settled matter. They don't have Buddha Nature, they are Buddha Nature–overflowing with it–and luckily we don't assume that we know what that is. It is experienced, but remains always alive and beyond attempted capture by the known."

As the Blue Dog has been trying to tell us. 

[NOTE: Reflections in the painting are from the side window, and I can make out the little jade plant sitting on the window sill].

One Year Memorial Service

It's been a year now since my dear teacher Tokudo Jion Susan Postal passed from this life (see The Passing of Jion Susan Postal). To honor her memory and express gratitude for all that she did for the Dharma, for the EHZC, and for all her students, a one-year memorial service was held for Susan last Sunday at the Empty Hand Zen Center. I was particularly moved by the eko offered after the incense offering and Heart Sutra:

Today the assembly bows together and observes the annual memorial day of our founder, Great Teacher Tokudo Jion.
Through her vision this Zen temple has come into being.
Through her perseverance and skillfulness the Great Way of all Buddhas and Ancestors has taken root in this ground.
And through actualizing the heart-mind of Dogen Zenji's practice-realization she has transmitted the Buddha Way to her disciples and successors.
Respectufully we have offered flowers, candle, and incense.  

This assembly has met to chant the Great Compassionate Mind Dharani and the Heart of Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.
May the merit of this ceremony return the kindness of our great teacher.
May she show her compassion to beings in the six paths of the three realms, remember this declining world, bring forth the spring of the udumbara flower, illuminate the past and present, and may the teaching of this school go on endessly. 

Many deep bows to Tokudo Jion. May her teachings indeed go on endlessly.

[NOTE: The eko is the dedication read after recitation of a sutra, to direct the merit gained from the recitation to a certain person or group].

Rattan Ensō

Six different species of rattan cane rolled up and carefully laid out on the Ledo Road in Shimbweyeng, Kachin State, Myanmar (see Packing Up In Shimbweyeng). Love the different colors and sizes. Reminds me of those Zen circles (ensōs) that symbolize "a moment when the mind is completely spacious and unfettered and true reality is allowed to manifest itself". Which may or may not describe my state of mind in January 2005 after finishing up six weeks of fieldwork in the Hukaung Valley (see Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey). 

This Is Water

A wonderful video of David Foster Wallace's unique commencement speech at Kenyon College in 2005. Lot of wisdom in these words. Choose wisely. [NOTE: DFW's commencement speech, the only one he ever gave, is also available as a book, "This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, About Living a Compassionate Life"]. 

Measuring the Diameter of a Tree

I guess there's also a koan (see Mu) associated with this photo from the recent inventory work in the Nam Sabi Village Management Area (see VMA Inventory). How many people does it take to measure the diameter of a thin bone (Dipterocarpus sp.) tree? [NOTE: Seems a little higher than DBH to my eye, but that's not part of the koan].

Mu

A monk asked Chao-chou, "Does a dog have buddha nature or not?" Chao-chou said, "Mu". Mu is a Japanese word meaning "no", "not", "nothing" or "non-". That's all. And like this, Zen's most important "breakthrough" koan came to life.

The Book of Mu compiles contributions from forty teachers, both ancient and modern, to address the issue of that dog and its Buddhanature.  Doesn't really matter if you are currently working on this koan, i.e. "striving to penetrate the Mu obstruction", or not–this is a terrific book. From the Introduction: "An expression of the boundless nature of all things and how that boundlessness interacts, informs, and completes the particularities of our lives". Maybe not for everyone. But definitely everyone. [NOTE: Love the dog on the cover, "Blizzard Dog" by Kate Hartland].