When one flower opens, all forms are fresh, equally knowing the spring wind for ten thousand miles.
Without any sounds in the branches, the breeze carries the spring color.
Wind whistles through the branches; rain breaks up the clumps of earth. Toads croak and earthworms cry out. Simply see that peach blossoms open by the mountain huts. A thousand gates and ten thousand doors face the valley streams in spring.
The blossoms of the world open, and this is a heavenly realm.
Who would complain that spring radiance does not seek after anything?
In spring, beyond our own efforts, a withered tree returns to life and flowers.
A single plum flower in the cold,
with fragrant heart blossoming,
Calls for the arising of spring in the emptiness of the pot of ages.
We must cherish this time, as our paths will soon part.
For many months, the days and nights have quickly passed.
The spring wind stirs, and clouds come and go.
A thousand showers of evening rain fill the lake.
* all quotes from Zen master Dōgen's teachings (Dogen's Extensive Record).
with much delay (at least here where the blossoms are long gone), tiny bits of this year's spring, as the Bridge can't be without :-)
ReplyDeleteDōgen and your photos, sublime Spring.
ReplyDeletethank you Peter, always a joy when you come by.
Deletei.cannot.imagine. but then i don't have to.
ReplyDeleteand what does this say about the power of imagination and the true state of the world? where is it that we truly meet? in the mind? or does the world press forward and meet us at the skin?
breathtaking)))and more.
xo
erin
erin, there was this other paragraph in the book, that i liked very much:
Delete"Dogen drew a circle with his whisk and then said: People, what do you
call this? Can you call this a circle? Can you call this a square? Can you
call this original existence? Can you call this present existence? Can you
call this the movement of time and the changing of years through spring
and autumn, winter and summer? Can you call this vertically permeating
the three times and horizontally filling the ten directions? If you call it any
of those, you will be completely wrong, and immediately fall into the mistaken views of those outside the way.
Therefore, the virtue of these three immeasurable kalpas cannot be assessed with the calculations of humans
and heavenly beings."
so, it would seem that everything that we can ask and answer is wrong :-) the essence "cannot be assessed" (there is a small consolation that not even the heavenly beings seem to be able to get it right :-))
love, embrace, fragrance
A thousand gates and ten thousand doors face the valley streams in spring.
ReplyDeleteAh, and we only wanted one door, one gate...
ah, but then one would stand before it until the last day, not knowing the way in, how to go beyond the keeper of the gate, as in Kafka's "Before the Law" :-)
Deleteif there's only one door and you don't know the way in..well, er, where's that american shrink when you need him?!
Delete:-)
hahaha
Deletepoor Kafka!!!
Magnifique explosion printanière. Les jours gris et pluvieux ont tellement duré !
ReplyDeleteAmitiés
merci, Plum', quelle joie de te retrouver ici...
Deletea single blossom opens
ReplyDeletecradles ten thousand buddhas
yet never catches the wind
did i miss this one in the Dogen book or is this your poem?
Deletemine
Delete!!!
Deletei need a post just for this poem, then...
(thank you)
Beautiful... especially the last and first shots.. love them
ReplyDeletethank you so much!
Delete"Who would complain that spring radiance does not seek after anything?" I love that one. Such subtle beauty. Sometimes the little blossoming trees look like little flames or wisps of smoke to me. I especially like the last image. The blossoming buds seem like a zillion starbursts and the light is beautiful.
ReplyDeletewe posted something related to zen-buddhism, at the same time :-)
Deleteit was indeed a lovely light that day, and we drove by and suddenly spotted this small hidden valley, with the small blossoming trees. i simply had to stop and run into it :-)
am avut senzatia ca aici este reversul tuturor distopiilor lumii,ba,mai mult,ca le anuleaza pe toate,si insasi ideea distopiei,lumea care nu are nevoie nici macar sa se recunoasca in frumusete,atat de perfecta si fara cuvinte este ea...mi-am amestecat toata fiinta cu florile acelea,in vant,si mi-am dorit ca,macar o clipa,sa pot trai la intensitatea acestei infloriri;nu cred ca am reusit.dar o am aici,daruita de tine,o sa inchid ochii si o sa o las sa pulseze acolo,catehism mut.
ReplyDeletenu imi vine sa ma dezlipesc:)
"catehism mut" - ce mi-aş putea dori mai mult, draga mea?
Deletetu ştii unde este acest revers al distopiilor, în drum spre casa cea dragă, a "copilăriei eterne" :-)
"the arising of spring in the emptiness of the pot of ages"...filling it with radiance and life once more so that we might drink deeply of its sweet perfume yet one more time and share its sweet intoxication. Your images teem with light and energy...as does spring.
ReplyDeleteevery time the same mystery and radiance, yet we never grow tired of it, do we, Lynne?
DeleteRoxana, this is soooooooo gorgeous your photos and the verse is nice also-these can't maintain the tension with the concrete world it gyrates towards abstraction where the white soft beautiful fluff of snow must be considered.also please forgive me for talking about snow haha. I am asking for forgiveness and miséricorde but we have reached my mind candy of abstraction.haha.
ReplyDeletethankyou sooooooooo much for the white candy.
summer kisses.
but yes, Madeleine, i remember many japanese poems now which play upon this image, falling petals/falling snow - it is yet another reminder of the impermanence of all things...
Deletethough now, green and vibrant summer kisses :-)
nun bin ich aber wirklich froh, dass ich auch hier hereingeschaut habe. die bilder sind von einer zauberhaften kraft, so schön und lebendig. ein paradies, auch in einem überweltlichen sinne. eigenartig und auch wunderbar ist, dass ich mich gerade jetzt mit zen sehr beschäftige und daher ist dein post noch dazu ein wunderschönes geschenk. danke dir von herzen, prinzessin :-)! renée, zu den weissen aufblickend und lächelnd...
ReplyDeleteah meine liebste, dann freue ich mich so sehr (ich freue mich immer, wenn du hierher kommst, aber diesmal ganz besonders :-). zen-begegnungen und sanfte schoenheit zwischen uns, und frieden, moege so eine welt uns fuer immer gegeben werden!
Deletedir zulaechelnd, und einen wunderschoenen tag wuenschend :-)
The fragrance calls the honey bee's name....
ReplyDeleteand then we have fruit, and the ripeness of summer... more of this, soon :-)
Deletethank you for passing by, myth!
Superb combinations of image and word. The blossoms of the world open, and this is a heavenly realm" is beautiful, as is Stickup's choice, and the last line. Are these connected, in the original, or assembled by another? First time I have ever seen the spelling "color" from you! MTS
ReplyDeleteno, they are not connected, i chose these lines from the entire book, which collects Dogen's teachings ("The second work, the Eihei Koroku, is a collection of all his later teachings, including short formal discourses to the monks training at his temple, longer informal talks, and koans with his commentaries, as well as short appreciatory verses on various topics").
Deletei am happy you have enjoyed it - and no, this spelling of 'colour' comes from the book, i copied and pasted the quotes :-)
In spring, beyond our own efforts, a withered tree returns to life and flowers.
ReplyDeleteLike at the end of "The Sacrifice."
oh how right you are, Prospero, indeed! i hadn't thought of it, but now, but now...
Delete(you don't have such heavenly realms on the magician's island, do you? :-)
Beaucoup de mélancolie et de fraîcheur mais aussi de nostalgie et de pureté mais aussi de poésie et d'onirisme dans tes photographies printanières... La façon dont tu abordes les différents thèmes de la vie qui te sont chers est toujours magique, très "enlevée", artistique... Tu nous montres la beauté fragile, le déséquilibre, les contrastes entre les éléments, les personnes et les sentiments... Tu m'épates, je découvre à chaque fois un univers avec ta "Roxanna Touch" !!!
ReplyDeleteLe printemps est pour moi quelque chose de subtil, le moment qui s'apparente évidemment le plus à la vie, à la naissance, au renouveau, à la joie de vivre... Chaque saison à son tempérament...
Ton ultime photographie, ce tronc avec ses branches fleuries est divine, va au-delà de la simple prise de vue... C'est un texte à lui seul, un instantané du printemps...
Amitiés Roxanna du printemps fleuri... ;-)
Bises
merci de tout coeur, cher Jeff... moi aussi j'adore le printemps, je suis un enfant du printemps (on dit ca en allemand, pour les personnes nees au printemps - je ne sais pas en francais? :-)
Deletemaintenant quand je t'ecris, une pluie d'ete vient de commencer, tout brusquement, voila, tu as raison, chaque saison avec son temperament :-)
je t'embrasse et te remercie beaucoup de ton enthousiasme et de ta facon d'acueillir mes photos...
Belle foto Roxana, molto delicate
ReplyDeleteMaurizio
grazie, Maurizio!
Deletea very subtle spring - not outrageously green at all!
ReplyDelete