Art & Poetry
The hardest and most courageous of acts isn’t to be unique, but to remain utterly common in the most humdrum places of reality, peacefully, without the need to be special. Such a human, like the unnamed star in the night-sky, continues to leave the trail of joy and happiness behind in the hearts of all those who look.
#Reflection
My artwork, on Japanese Kozo Paper.
“Be a heaven-sent rain when there’s drought, be the person who brings warmth and care in the dead of winter” — Master Sheng Yen.
Artwork done on Japanese Kozo paper, Sumi-e paint brush. With the calligraphy corresponding to the Chinese version of the quote above.
Heart Sutra is one of the most important sutras of Buddhism. It contains the ultimate pronouncement on the nature of interdependence. Because things are interdependent, nothing is lost, and nothing is gained. Looking deeply into a flower with such insight, we can see the plant, gardener, soil, sun and the whole cosmos~
Heart Sutra calligraphy in Chinese with my name seal. Inspired by two profound zen masters, Thich Nhat Hanh and Sheng Yen~
Inspired by the calligraphy of Zen Master, Thích Nhất Hạnh.
Poetry/Prose
Read slowly with a cup of tea~
Miracles
Dwelling in the common places of existence,
I weave my life with the warp and weft of happiness and sadness~
“So much talk about zen, what miracle can you perform?” you ask.
“None. But when I sweep the fallen leaves,
sometimes I see the magnolia flowers on the side, bloom” I reply~~
~ koi pond
gulping a mouthful of cosmos,
koi returned to the pond,
no one around but a mountain moon,
— an eternal witness to a thousand kisses ~
Owing
fragrance of my tea leaves didn’t fade yet,
radiance of the sun above didn’t wane yet,
when the whole existence opens upto me —
what more does this world owe me? ~~
Sleeping sky
as the boats carried loads of sunshine home,
as the birds carried crumbs of clouds to their nest,
a cup of tea and me sit in solitude:
to praise the glory of heavens with lyricless silence ~
i sing and sing but with a soft voice,
to not let the sleeping sky awaken ~~
Groundless Ground
afraid of falling,
the monkey mind
grabs hold of one object
after the other
but what are you afraid of?
oh freely falling one!
when there’s no ground beneath;
that you’ll ever crash into!
cup of water
looking deeply
into my two hands
holding
a cup of water tenderly
i see
two bits of cosmos
holding
a tiny piece of lake’s cake
reverence fills
my entire being~
Sunshine
when the sunshine fades away
in the evening,
and as the earth cools down:
don’t forget to
feed your vibrant smile
to those sunflowers
which slept during the day ~~
fire
with a burning log in hand
and a heap of wooden sticks
i went around
looking for a better fire
place after place
had i known the nature of fire
i could have cooked my rice much sooner ~~
Snowball
rolling up the blinds,
i welcome the night knocking on the window slides,
i reach out to make a snowball out of the white
little did I know that it was the moon’s mighty light ~~
Snow
bleak peak — no one in sight
under the snow, everything looks right ~
where is hate and where is fight?
when one is sheltered in loves’ delight!
Soulful solitude
mosquito calmly sitting on my blanket ~
the night sky above,
vast cosmos around —
solitary companions to my soulful solitude
tears of my tea
the tea cup
sits on my desk
as i busily skim through
the torrent of emails
every now and then
i attend to my cup
take a quick sip
and get back to my work
the tea tasted bitter
i wondered why —
till i noticed
that the bitterness
arose
from the tears of tea
within
my tea felt deserted ~
like a caterpillar
that got transformed
into a beautiful
butterfly
my tea went through
the whole of eternity
touching all of the cosmos
transforming itself
in multitude of ways
before reaching me
the water for my tea
came from the cloud —
straight up:
raining its way
into the river
and then into my cup
the tea leaves —
from the seed
nurtured carefully;
watered and raised
by loving farmers
and harvested by mothers —
into the lovely baskets
which they carry on their back
journeying through sloppy hills ~~
my tea felt ignored;
the child of cosmos felt deserted
it cried —
the tears of my tea
are bitter
i regret and
look into my tea
and lift it into my hands
like a mother
attending to her
crying baby
i apologise
through my mindfulness
i drink it reverently
tickling its belly
with my mouth
like we do for a small baby
as my tea begins to smile
it tastes like elixir;
smiling tea can bring joy
to me and entirety of cosmos
how can i attend to
my loved ones —
when i can’t attend
to my crying tea cup?
the tears of my tea are bitter
the smile of the tea is elixir;
within the cup of my tea lies
sunshine, moonshine and lakes
and the entirety of cosmos
voila — the entirety of existence!
present in my able hands;
is there a greater miracle than this?
Sun and the Moon
the sun and the moon
that witnessed
Christ’s gospels
on love
the sun and the moon
which saw Buddha walking
mindfully in the deer park
at Sarnath
are the same sun and moon
we see daily
why do we think we can’t meet Buddha?
why do we think we can’t feel the warmth of Christ?
we can do so — daily!
through our brother sun and sister moon
as we look into the sun
we see the history of humanity:
lives of noble people who walked on the planet
and as we look into the moon
we see the way they’ve comforted the mother earth
we can meet all of them
through the sun and the moon
from the temple of this earth ~
sun and moon —
are there any better
gods than them?
