Centering, Minneapolis, Minnesota, March 2007, photo © 2007-2008
by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
success or failure
all our lives right here, right now
under Buddha’s tree
Walking Buddha, 13th Century, Thailand, Late Sukhothai period, Minneapolis
Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 2008, photo © 2008 by QuoinMonkey. All rights reserved.
The Buddha depicted walking with the left hand raised in the gesture of granting protection was popularized during the 13th and 14th centuries by Sukhothai sculpture. The figure displays the supernatural anatomy of the Buddha as described in ancient texts. Some of these features include projecting heels, long fingers, smooth skin the color of gold, and elongated arms. The walking Buddha type represents an episode from the Buddha legends, wherein he descends from heaven by walking down a ladder.
—Minneapolis Institute of Arts
-posted on red Ravine, Rohatsu, Monday, December 8th, 2008
-to read more about Rohatsu, visit: Sitting In Solidarity
-related to posts: The Last Time I Was in Taos – The Great Mantra, State Of The Arts (haiku for Kuan-yin), The Goddess Inside My Heart, haiku (one-a-day)
Wonderful haiku and photos. The study of mudras is fascinating. And I didn’t know the part about the supernatural body parts. Poetry in motion.
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QM, I have to tell you that in Da Nang on the way to one of the education institutions we visited, we passed a multi-story statue of a Buddha on the way. The statue must have been as large as a hotel or any other large, 5- or 6-story or even taller building. It was all white, with a head piece (hair or something else) similar to that in the statue in “Centering.”
I just happened to look out the taxi cab window to my right as we passed. I almost screamed. It was just so huge, rising about palm trees and something that looked like a giant fig tree. I right away sketched out an outline, but it will take a lot of skill to get the dimensions right.
The statue was in a lot between two other buildings, and I do swear, it was as big if not larger than one of the buildings.
Strange how then I saw this post within a couple of days.
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yb, I thought about you when I posted this since you are in a country where Buddhism is a primary spiritual path. It’s an auspicious time to be visiting there. That’s so cool that you saw that huge Buddha. I’ve only seen photographs of Buddha’s that large but would like to see one for myself in person someday. I can’t wait to see your sketch/doodle when you get it done.
I’ve had strange dreams the last week or so. It’s always like that for me this time of year, from Rohatsu leading up to Winter Solstice, then Christmas. A reflective time of year in these northern climates where it gets to be cave-like and dark. Time of the Bear.
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Christine, thank you. Poetry in motion…lovely. I love the history of the mudras, too. I have a book around on one of my shelves just about mudras. I’ve only tried a few of them when sitting. And a few others when slow walking. It’s amazing how completely different it makes you feel to have the hands in different mudras when meditating or slow walking.
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Buddha smiles on all
enlightenment fills my soul
clear now is my path
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Darn you R3! You always find a way of making me cry, in a good way, but you are still at the top of the list of those I most admire! Great haiku!
QM, several months ago I picked up 2 books at The Salvation Army store. One is titled Zen For Americans & the other is Living With Kundalini. I want to dive in, but am still reading The Wedding. (I gave up ,for now, on the Anne Rice book Cry To Heaven. Perhaps I will pick it up another day & force myself to commit to finishing it! I want to read the Pearl S. Buck books next.
BTW, lovely photos & a great treat for yb, I’m sure. D
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diddy, I felt the same way when I read R3’s haiku. R3, peaceful haiku. It’s always a pleasure when you drop in. Thank you.
diddy, why did you give up on Cry To Heaven? Lost interest or is it a long book? Let us know what the Zen for Americans is like. I’m curious. I ran across a book at a used book sale a month or so ago on explaining Zen koans to persons such as myself. You know, people often spend years studying them. I was fascinated that a book would attempt to explain something spiritual like that in intellectual terms. It also talked about the old Zen masters and I rolled it around in my hands a while but didn’t end up buying it.
It’s astounding how many books are out there on every subject imaginable. It makes you wonder how it is that someone actually does come up with a bestseller. I think it’s all timing. Many writers will write in obscurity or only for themselves. But it does make you wonder if certain themes, like vampires or mysteries or books about celebs, will always be at the top of the heap.
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QM, I gave up on Cry To Heaven, mostly because I usually have too many books going at once, but also it started to bore me. It’s a rather thick book without enough substance to hold my interest. I’ll gve it a shot another time.
Yeh, Zen For Americans looks pretty interesting. It’s translated by D.T. Suzuki based on the lectures of Zen Master Soyen Shaku. I’ll certainly keep you posted when I read it! Oh & during the same trip that day, I also got a book called Leaves In Myth, Magic, & Medicine by Alice Thoms Vitale. It is really cool & I pick it up quite often. D
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diddy, ah, not good to be bored with a book. Too many other great books out there waiting to be read! The Zen book sounds great. Suzuki is well-known in the field. It will be interesting to see how the book settles with you. Some books on Zen Buddhism are hard to read and you really have to focus all your attention there when reading them. Maybe that’s true of many books about spirituality and religion. One person whose books on Buddhist concepts are really accessible is the Vietnamese Zen monk Thích Nhất Hạnh. I’ve read many of his books.
The Alice Thomas book, Leaves In Myth, Magic, & Medicine sounds wonderful! I think I’d like it. So it’s about leaves? Does it have sketches of the different ones? I’m really curious about that one.
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QM, I wanted to thank you for posting this while I was gone. Seeing it made me smile, especially as I had seen that same day the multi-story-sized Buddha that was so similar–same hair and color.
Also, zipping around HCMC in taxis, most without seat belts, I appreciated knowing these gentle spirits had been posted.
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ybonesy, you are welcome. I like to post at least one keep-you-safe post when you are on these long trips around the world. I think last time it was the Crop Art Mary from the Minnesota State Fair. (See Mary In Minnesota (haiku for ybonesy) (LINK). It makes me feel better, too, just knowing these beings are looking out for you.
That reminds me of something I had wanted to drop into this comment thread. It’s a bit strange, but I ended up watching George Bush on Nightline earlier this week and he was being asked interview questions and then answering about his own spirituality. There was one thing he said that really surprised me — he said he believes we all pray to the same God. And that different religions simply take different avenues to arrive there.
I happen to believe the same thing. It reminded me again how people from different belief systems and upbringings can find some common ground. Yet the actions people take in the world that are supposedly aligned with their religion and spirituality can be so different. And also how each person may believe that he/she is doing the right thing.
If I get to come back in another life, I might want to study comparative world religions. I find the rituals, psychology, belief in something bigger, belief in what you can’t see, and even disbelief aspects of religion fascinating. Also the evolution of different religions as related to each other and to the older matriarchal and mysticism systems.
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QM, yes, the Leaves book is about leaves, & does in fact have sketches of them. I know you would like it! Ask me a question about any leaf & I will refer to the book. 🙂 D
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Oh, wonderful! I like this game. Hey, we’ve got an ash tree in our front yard which actually saves us because it shades our deck every summer from the heat. What about the ash?
I’m also curious about the oak (we have quite a few) and the white birch. I really love the river birches in Minnesota. Also the cottonwoods in New Mexico. So take your pick. Any one of them will do!
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My dearest QM. I picked the white birch! Mostly because it is one of my very favorite trees! I think you will like this quote from the book:
Robert Frost wrote these words in The Young Birch: “It was a thing of beauty, and sent to live it’s life out as an ornament.”
And the book goes on to explain that for a refreshing skin wash, add a palm full of fresh birch leaves to a cup of boiling water. Remove from the heat & allow to steep for two to three minutes.
In the Victorian language of flowers, the birch symbolizes grace & meekness.
Hope you enjoy!The book also covers many plant leaves as well. D
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Oh, diddy, that’s so cool about the birch leaves. Next time I’m near a birch, I want to try the birch leaves skin wash. The photograph in the haiku (one-a-day) post is a river birch in a park near us. We don’t have any in our immediate yard but they are peppered throughout the landscape in Minnesota.
Hey, maybe when you are so moved in the future, you could keep dropping these little leaf tidbits into this post. I just love them. (Great Robert Frost quote on the birch, too.)
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QM, I knew you would love the Robert Frost quote. The book is based on specific trees, so the oak & ash were just too much, but the white birch was right there. Although we have none in our yard, I love them for their beauty & had forgotten that it was featured in in the haiku post. I will certainly pass this book onto you. It is wonderful! I love the book as much as our Foxfire collection! D
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diddy, I can look the book up, too. Maybe next time I’m at a bookstore. It does sound a lot like the Foxfire books you showed me last July. Those were so fun and I wish I’d have more time to look at them, but just too much going on last summer. The photographs were amazing, too. It’s a great project and speaks well to documenting lifestyles of the past.
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QM, I know the book is available at Amazon. I know because I had thought it would make a lovely gift. I didn’t order it because it is over $20.00 for a new one. I feel lucky to have gotten my copy for $1.50! But on Amazon you are given the opportunity to take a look inside, so check it out. BTW, my used copy is in mint condition. 🙂 D
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diddy, I’ll keep my eye out for it in my romps to used bookstores. Looks wonderful.
I’m making a note to myself here:
Leaves: In Myth, Magic and Medicine
by Alice Thoms Vitale
Publisher: Abrams, Harry N Inc
Pub. Date: March 1997
ISBN-13: 9781556705540
352pp
Oh, here’s a little blurb I found in a review:
Truly original and unique, Leaves is the visionary life work of Alice Thoms Vitale, 87, a teacher, an artist and author who has devoted almost thirty years of her life to researching and creating authentic portraits of living leaves. This historical herbal is an appreciative salute to the wonder, beauty, and utility of leaves, as well as a visual guide to their identity.
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QM, the book is wonderful! It would make a lovely gift.
I’m glad you checked it out. I went back & read the reviews. They were impressive! D
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