Pay Attention 2

The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.  ~Henry Miller

Reality

Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one.


     ~Albert Einstein

Awake, Alive

To be awake is to be alive.
from the chapter "Where I Lived and What I Lived For" in Walden

The Games Clouds Play

Pay Attention

Sunset at 37,000 Feet

Clouds at Sunrise

The first rays of morning sun illuminated these clouds with colors of light that changed by the second.  

Sunrise and clouds-- two striking examples of how change can be wonderful and exciting.  If we can embrace such impermanence and allow it to regale us with its charming and positive side, the understanding it provides can help us through its more challenging aspects.

Left Brain - Right Brain

When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.
~~ Walt Whitman

Perseid Meteor Showers

I got up at 3:30am with the intention of hiking up into the mountains behind my home to get a wider view of the skies and the Perseid meteor shower. But it was more than partly cloudy, so I decided to go out into my yard for a preliminary "see what I could see."  I pulled a lounge chair into the middle of the yard and started to watch the big fluffy clouds glide by on the currents of the trade winds.  From time to time there were wide patches of open sky and lots of stars.  Before long I spotted a blue-green meteor streak across a broad opening in the clouds.  


Soon, another... and another... as the clouds would open and close windows that gave me a peak of the deep dark sky. 


No need to hike up into the mountains, (although it seems as if something as spectacular as a meteor shower warrants at least a little effort for the price of admission.)  It's free.  And easy.  And memorable.


You have several more days to see them!

As the sun sets behind the Waianae Coast range on O'ahu, I find myself descending a foothill trail leading from the Ko'olau Mountains.  The air is still; the trade winds blow elsewhere for now. The lack of breeze allows an undefinable mixture of herbs to scent the air.   A flock of parrots screeches its way across an otherwise silent panorama.  Those clouds!

That Quality of Air

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon 

men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that 

emanates from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews 

a weary spirit. 

 ~Robert Louis Stevenson

Seeing

 "Looking & seeing both start with sense perception, but there the similarity ends. When I "look at the world and label its phenomena, I make immediate choices, instant appraisals, I like or I dislike, I accept or reject what I look at, according to its usefulness to the "Me". 


"This me that I imagine myself to be, and that I try to impose on others. The purpose of "looking" is to survive, to cope...... 


"When on the other hand, I see, suddenly I am all eyes, I forget this "Me", am liberated from it and dive into the reality of what confronts me, become part of it, participate in it. I no longer label, no longer choose. (choosing is the sickness of the mind, says a sixth-century Chinese sage.)." 
                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                      ~Frederick Franck

Bon Dance

My local temple, Pearl City Hongwanji, (pictured above) is making arrangements for its annual Bon Dance.

The Bon Dance is based on the story of Mokuren, a disciple of Buddha.  He saw a vision of his deceased mother in the Realm of Hungry Ghosts.  Greatly disturbed, he went to the Buddha and asked how he could release his mother from this Realm.  Buddha answered, "Provide Dana (selfless giving) for all sentient beings." Mokuren did this and saw his mother's release.  He also began to see the true nature of her past unselfishness and the many sacrifices she had made for him.  Mokuren, happy because of his mother's  release and grateful for her care and for Buddha's guidance, danced with joy.  

This is the origin of the Bon Dance, which is also called Gathering of Joy (Kangi-E) in grateful remembrance of all who have influenced our lives.

The Yagura (tower that holds the musicians) is built, the lights are strung, the food supplies are arriving, the temple members are assigned to their posts, and this weekend we will do a cleanup of the grounds in final preparation.  Won't you join us in the celebration?

August 13 & 14, (Friday and Saturday): 

6:15 pm Hatsu-Bon Service, 

7:30 pm Bon Dance

Pearl City (Hawaii) Hongwanji Temple, 858 Second Street.