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.

In Vietnamese, the word "Tri kỷ" can mean soulmate. Soulmate is someone who listens and understands the song of our soul. If we found our soulmate, we are the luckiest people. This Vietnamese calligraphy shows the words "Tri kỷ" alongside my favourite lines from the greatest vietnamese classic Tale of Kieu (Truyện Kiều). Between the lines 2201 and 2202, the text reads (roughly): “Hearing her words he agreed with pleasure, And smiling he said, “How many, in this life, can see another’s soul?”

#Reflection

My artwork, on Japanese Kozo Paper.

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~

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~

Purity

All that which lies

beyond the land of

symbols and dualities

is pure and untainted

a rotten apple,

just as the way it is,

rots in the purest possible manner

and a flower,

just as the way it is,

blossoms in the purest possible manner ~~

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 ~~

Wild blossoms

you pluck them so well —
the wild blossoms
on these low branches~

but the full moon
on the dew drop —
can you pick it?

Soulful solitude

mosquito calmly sitting on my blanket ~

the night sky above,

vast cosmos around —

solitary companions to my soulful solitude

Ways of cosmos

what are the ways of the cosmos — you ask.

this moon, vast, infinite and endless

and yet I can house it in my tiny insignificant

hands, eyes and heart —

this is the way of cosmos ~

the large is contained in the small;
and the eternity, in daily life ~~

Mightiness

And the mightiness, leave onto others. Merging with ordinary, we remain tiny. Tiny like the distant star which alone twinkles: quenching the thirst of lovers and poets staring at the night sky ~