Cat’s Story / Haori-chan
When the time to give a birth came, the pregnant Mother-cat come and rub her head and body
against my leg. That is their expression of “I beg you” —– I spread a bath towel on the sofa
and lightly give a massage to her tummy. Then she start to push out the kitten next by next.
So, I take each kitten to her face for her to lick the new-born.
But some time (1 in 5~6), a still-born kitten came out. Once, there was a very hard deliver of
over-grown kitten. Only the head came out, I knew the trouble, and I pulled it hard.
When the whole body came out, the Mother-cat screamed.
That kitten was pretty big —- may be over 400g but I couldn’t save him.
Among the 3rd litter, Haori (of cause, named later) was the most miserable kitten.
In fact, she was yet another (almost) still born. I just took minuscule odds and revived her.
= As in the most of the case, kitten seemed to have drowned by the amniotic fluid, I shook
the body, head down to drain the water, and insert a small paper stick made out of toilet
tissue to the nose of kitten, for sucking out the water further. And massage the body in
a warm water while blowing the air into the nose several times. —– in minute or two, three,
the kitten started to move. = Voila’ one life was saved.
(— Sound, and looks may awful treatment though, I’m not intended to play “Tender Buddhist
posture”, —– if the matter was to drain the water, I needed to use centrifugal force, hence
shake the kitten’s body in Karate speed —– To drain the water from a drowned human by
putting the hand into the throat, it neither be a nice picture, nor revive a person in hypothermia
in the mountain, it is more of the battle field operation than a “hart warming tender story” =
What-so-ever, my practice was very effective and altogether 4 out of 6 kittens has been saved =
this is the fact.
Life is not for talking an imaginary sweet story, but just go through hard act. Just Do.
Revived though, Haori was still the smallest and weakest, hence couldn’t compete with other
5 kittens on the milk-sucking battle. I’ve tried as many times as possible, by taking other
stronger kittens off from tits and gave it to Haori, still, it was not enough, and needed to give
her supplement but, ordinary cow’s milk caused her diarrhoea and needed to buy special
“Kitten formulated Milk”.
On top of those trouble her eyes had infection and having eye-glue stacked on her eye lids.
When Mother-cat try to clean her eyes, she chew-off the dried eye-glue, but in the same time
her whiskers had been chewed-off as well.
(Poor Haori-chan, photo left ! / Photo right, Haori and Pino)
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A month past, when all the kittens started to change to the solid food, I trained Haori to eat
Kitten-milk-powder mixed with cream-cheese. Then cheese mixed with cat’s food but Haori
refused to eat cat’s food. —– (One theory said, that the baby (kitten) acquired the taste
(= what to eat) through the minute chemical in the Mother’s milk —– like Haori, who couldn’t
have enough milk from the Mother, hadn’t developed the taste for cat’s food.) Therefore, I
had to feed her frozen Coley Fish (lightly boiled) mixed with cheese. —– sound very special
treatment though, nothing special to Haori herself. It was her norm and she just grown-up
to an ordinary cat. (She didn’t grow Golden Fleece. 🙂 )
She behaved more or less the same to other cat but not so interactive, just sitting and
watching out of window or me. = only not ordinary was what she was eating.
And because of her expensive diet, she couldn’t be adapted by others.
In addition, another cat, once adapted by other family had came back, because she, Pino was
a too clever trouble-maker. Such as to jump to a door handle and open it etc. she was the
expert to open and sneak into anywhere, hence made a lots of mischievous. (= get inside but
couldn’t open it from the inside then shit there, kind of trouble. 🙂 )
(— Though, I could anticipate what she is going to do, hence such as to make the things on the
shelf to fall easily, she instantly learn and never attempt it again.
So, those two, Haori and Pino were the cats lived with me longest, and left many wired stories.
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Cat’s Story / Cat with Moustache / Cat’s Mind
Animal’s body-color or their pattern of fur never change —– that was what I believed too,
until I saw one of my kitten had grown his Moustache. 😀
Kitten here (photo, left ) was in his 3rd days in this world, and as a very very young boy, he
didn’t show his Moustache yet. —– then less than a week, a faint sign of it started to appear.
I thought he licked something black and got his nose smeared but it wasn’t. (photo, right)
—– And a month later, he was a well grown young cat with well trimmed Moustache.
He was one of kittens born with other 5 (though, one was stillborn and 3 were adapted by
the friends) and only a kitten remained in the family, he was given a name “Den-suke”
(a famouse Japanese comedian with his trade-mark Moustache = Japanese equivalent
of Chary Chaplin) and became an apple in my eye.
Though, I might have given too much attention, he seemed to become mother’s boy.
Unlike his father, “Kaka” who was quite an out-venturing Macho type —– but Den-suke
prefer to stay with somebody and playing / disturbing each other if not sleeping or
cosmetic-licking. 🙂
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As I wrote in the other Cat’s Story(s) before, I don’t believe common stereo-typical cat’s
character. —– If a cat became to a rather solitary animal, it was the reflection of how that cat
was grown-up in its environment. If a cat was left only as an animal in a house and having
only the social interaction, fed twice a day —– what else other than a solitary animal he (she)
could became. In contrast, if a cat was grown-up with a lots of interaction from the Mother cats
and the owner who behave (in certain extents 😀 ) like another Dominant cat, naturally the cat
become like a “Social animal”. Remember, even in the feline family, Lion lives in a group and
having quite complex “Social” activity with Rules and Psychological games etc. —– so, we can’t
tell what genetic trait a particular cat got. At least I can say, all of my cats were more or less
behaved like a dog = respond to each name and come and play (or disturb me 🙂 ) by their will.
Nurture play a big role in the cat’s character and behavioural pattern !
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But to grown-up with those social environment while acquiring behavioural pattern like a
pecking-order imprinted into the brain, if a situation change, such as when new kittens were
born, and not only the Mother’s nursing care but also my attention has to go those helpless
small creatures. That was the situation what the Father, who used to be the Star, could not
comprehend at all. —– It was the same situation, when a human male and female couple got
new arrival of their baby. (Husband who used to receive whole attention of the wife, was
suddenly abandoned alone in a middle of nowhere, without having any idea what to do. 🙂 )
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To the Tom-cat, those new born kittens were nothing but the other small animals, no different
from mice = therefore, he started to handle (or play) with kittens as if they were the mice.
And neither had a notion of Fatherhood or Recognition of “His baby” he couldn’t understand
why he was smacked when he tried to play with kittens. = To his eyes, I just became a tyrant
who blandish a terror. —– Cats can understand each phenomenon only on its apparence but
not able to connect it to a secondary implication behind, therefore he only thought that he
was smacked because the Boss got bad day, not because he did wrong.
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So, he took a strongest weapon he could use against the Tyrant —— spread his diarrhoea
all over my pillow ! ! ! —– ( I was so impressed with his ingenuity. A brain which couldn’t
process secondary implication, still able to have such creativity. I wondered
how he managed to make a connection, “Shit on the Pillow will best annoy the Boss !”
—– Amazing isn’t it ? ! —— Ha ha ha. 😀 )
So I say, I’ve learned enough and greatly deepened my understanding toward the
simple, emotion-based mind, while living with cats. 😀
—– And three months later Den-suke had to face the same situation as
next litter of kittens were born. (So, he became to rotten / fallen Apple ! )
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Battery Story
Battery is an animal among the electric devices because of it is an electro-chemical device
which is using “on-going chemical reaction”inside, therefore it comes with all sorts of
unpleasant temperament. Despite their name dry-battery, they are hardly dry solid thing
but contain half wet compound. Such as a common Zinc-Carbon battery, its inside of
Zinc-can was filled with black Manganese-oxide which was wetted by the electrolytic
chemical, Ammonium-chloride, and while producing electric energy, they produce hydrogen
gas as well. (Its pressure causes leak, and it could even explode = when they explode,
popped-up cap break the battery case. ! )
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Even though the battery was evolved into Hi-tech age and instead of humble Zinc, Lithium
is in fashion, still it is the same “electro-chemical device” so that, very fancy activity of the
chemical, such as crystallization cover the electrode etc. could be happening inside etc.
Not only the product (battery) is animal, to produce it is really a messy business. This is the
reason why, most of them were produced in the country where environmental, health-safety
regulation is not strict. (Such as to refine Zinc, its process need to use Cadmium which was
washed out to the river, hence in China, Cadmium contaminated rice, food in general is the
serious but hidden problem) —– Imagine, when the battery was mas-produced, somewhere
rather low-standard factory, how about the purity of the chemical, or how minute but crucial
additive such as a rare-earth material was evenly mixed = some got more and others got non.
= It is easy to see that why each individual battery is never the same.
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The trouble of the inconsistency of the battery become really a big problem in case of
rechargeable battery, especially when it was used in numbers such as 4xAA batteries
in a camera or a flash-light.
The situation is exactly the same in case of rechargeable lithium battery-pack, of which
in most of the case, battery-pack contains 2 lithium cells. —– After ten of the charge cycles
the difference of each battery started to show-up.
In case with the 4xAA, and if you are
using a charger which is charging each
individual cell (Individual type has
4 separate LED indicators), you must be
noticed that not all of them become Full in
the same time = some of them takes longer
to be fully charged.
This is the inevitable fate of the battery =
some loose the original capacity much sooner
than others. ( So, I can say, the reliability is exactly what we have paid.
= What you can get from a set is, what the worst one gives, not their nominal capacity. :-D)
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When the battery has this character, and if you charge them all together, while roughly checking
the time such as 5 hours, 7 hours kind, or worse until they become very hot, you are destroying
them. —– When one battery lost the capacity (such as 2500mAH drop to 2000mAH) that battery
become FULL much earlier than others and became hot. Still if you didn’t noticed and keep
charging, it will be over-charged and makes that battery further deteriorate. — (So, which is the
safest way to charge them. = Use the charge current 1/10th of the Capacity x 15 hours =
If it was 2500mAH Battery —- 2500 x 1/10 = 250mA current for 15 hours. = Standard Charge ! )
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Even worse situation is, such as 4xAA were
used in an equipment, when the one which
lost the capacity became empty, its polarity
reverse (Yes, + became to – , same as you put it
wrong-way) then other batteries’ energy was
sucked by this empty battery ! —– Of cause,
it devastates that empty battery further =
in fact, kill-off. ( With the same reason, a
battery-pack of rechargeable tool never last
more than a year or two.
And when we need replacement pack, the same type may no longer in the market.
That is why the professionals only use such as Makita or DeWalt who keep selling the old type
many years. We never seen the same type again among the cheap Chinese tools.)
This worst situation may not occur in a case of latest DSLR because the camera monitor the
condition of the battery, yet still in its battery-pack, one of lithium cell has deteriorated earlier
than the other = So, when I disassembled old battery-pack which lost capacity and no longer
usable for the camera, I found the one of the cell was still usable = I reconstructed an usable
battery-pack out of 2 old packs. (Think about, it worth £50 ! —– though, I wouldn’t recommend
you to try the same. Unlike a simple battery-pack of rechargeable tool, lithium camera battery
has an additional safety device connected between two cells, hence a bit trickier to work-out,
and any mistake could cause expensive damage to the camera.)
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So that, when I buy Ni-MH battery, I buy 2 or 3 sets in the same time, and use them in rotation.
And time to time check their capacity to select best 4, which got same capacity to make a set.
To check the capacity, discharge each individual
battery through 1 ohm register and measure
the time how long it takes the voltage to drop
to o.8 V. —– But for most of the people, this
method is too awkward = So, my advice is,
Buy an “individual charge type rapid-charger”
and check the charging time, when one reached
Full, write the time on the battery, —– if the one
become Full, much faster than others, reject
that one. (It’s mean you need to keep a spare,
ready to replace with it. —– In long run, this tactics is cheaper and even if it is the second class,
there always a spare-set is in hand.) —– More easier method is = check the voltage of each
battery with Battery-checker before charge them, (Unlike an ordinary test meter, Battery
Checker measure the voltage while drawing the current, hence it shows the condition At-work)
and mark bad apple (s) and make a selection of “Good 4s” and “Bad 4s” 😀
—– Yes, battery is really a necessary evil. Unfortunately I still need them —- a lots.
——————————————-
Photo above is a battery pack which was dead. Five AAA type batteries inside,
3 were completely dead. —– Anyhow, I replaced all 5 batteries with new set.
It is possible to do like this though, I wouldn’t recommend you to do this.
—– Without a use of Spot-welder, it need to use the soldering = the heat of
soldering would melt the insulating washer and would cause chemical leak and
cause much more expensive damage to the camera than the cost of battery. 😦
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Zen in Daily-Life (2)
In the previous post I explained how to gain the Selfless-mind-set with an example
of Tea making though, obviously Tea making is hardly a “Task in our daily life”.
It is more like a not too serious leisurely moment when we have a break.
So, how about a handling business matter such as to deal with Bills.
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Zen only deals with the matter on front. And divides the whole task into small section.
And to deal with each section, one at a time. (To climb the mountain, not overwhelmed by
its 8,000m hight, just concentrate to make each step perfect ! = On the end, reach to the top.)
Of cause, our brain can trace the implication of the matter even to 3rd, 5th effects and able
to speculate further though, the further we go it become a products of Imagination, or
pretty close to a Delusion. (As a matter of fact, most of the speculation is nothing but a
delusion and the rest of only few, happen to meet the probability. —- Yet I wouldn’t totally
reject the facts, some people could foresee this probability in amazing accuracy.)
—– So, when a bill dropped on front of you, how you handle it ? This bill is no delusion, and
a fact how much money you got, wouldn’t have so much grey area. (Of cause, if you are
running a business, the money coming in, may have some uncertainty of timing, hence some
speculative juggling may be inevitable. Still, a situation of unknowable wouldn’t give an
excuse to halt the whole business. In a situation,“Can’t pay now” still, just keep a silence, or
send an excuse of delay, would make a big difference.)
If ignored, it would come back twice harder.
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To live a life, “Don’t care” is one of THE attitude. The way of Zen is the another attitude, and
I wouldn’t judge right or wrong but just show the resulting difference in efficiency to deal
with the Life. Throw the bills to a bin and leave the payment until receiving a Red-bill, is
also a life-style. Though, Zen chose the way, responding it at once. Because, anyhow a due
payment has to be cleared soon or later, not mention additional Late-payment charge etc.
Unless the amount is in millions and keep it one more day in the deposit account will create
thousands more interest, instead, just clear and see no mess, is the choice of Zennist.
Even just to open an envelope, tear it regardless if it could also tear the document, —– but
Zennist use scissors. (For THE task to open it, take the neatest way. NOT the least effort.)
And to pay attention, whether to keep the envelope together, if the document was
back-dated. (—– I had an experience to argue in the Court, for the serving date of a
legal document with the stamped date on the envelope as an evidence. !)
Zen approach is to make everything into a clearly sorted file, and make a way to handle
it to a fixed routine, and to deal with them automatic = no hesitation, no stammering =
hence nothing bothersome would be left. Even if having a headache of juggling, still see
the balance on a clearly filed order would make the Life easier, otherwise see it among
the piled-up bills, notices and other letters etc., will make the life into a confusion.
It’s far easier to deal with it, one by one in the first place. The more delay only makes
the pile-up higher and such situation makes one’s mental state only depressed more.
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Dealing the things with a rule, and make it routine would change the matter from
“personal” to “one of an item among the lots”, hence it became an object, and
separated from the Emotion. = Because of it is under the rule = independent from your
whim, and the rule and the routinised process handles the matter = not your mind = this
is the Selfless state. —– (In fact this is a well known situation, “the customer complained,
don’t handle me as a number but as an individual person”— still, in an aspect of
efficiency, the difference is obvious.)
With a superficial impression, you may not like this though, the Zen originated “Selfless
work Ethics” has contributed to High-productivity and the quality in the Japanese industry.
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This rule and a fixed routine creates consistency in the repeated task, and makes
a person’s brain “Selfless state” —– This phenomenon is all common in the Tea-making or
the handling of clerical work, even the car-making — in fact all the human activities.
—– Behind this phenomenon, there is an crucial tendency of the brain. = Our brain has a
threshold of signal intake = if the same input has been repeated, the brain start to ignore
the signal and respond to it as a pattered routine without involving the Emotion.
It’s mean, when the brain handle a matter without involving Emotion, the feeling of MINE,
or conscious of SELF would not be generated.
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All the sensory signal first goes to the Limbic System to have a reference from the memories
and anything related to one’s interest (gain, loss, danger, comfort) was marked as significant
and the related hormone (if it was a sign of danger, Adrenalin) will be secluded to the
whole body to respond. But if the signal has no such importance and repeatedly coming,
this process in the Limbic system would be bypassed. (Even though, the same bodily action is
still carried-out but “Emotionlessly”).
Because of this Limbic System distinguishes and sorting the signal related to the SELF, if the
signal was bypassed, one’s reaction would be carried-out without the connection to the
SELF, and the related hormone wouldn’t be secluded = No Emotion. — (Emotion doesn’t come
from a Thinking process, but mostly from a Mood created by the Hormone.)
—– Therefore, when the brain was trained (through repeated practice) to bypass the process
in the Limbic System, both Subconscious of the SELF and the Emotion would be suppressed.
—– And this phenomenon is the basis of
Lord Buddha’s teachings of the Selflessness (Anatman) and the origin of Buddhism. In deed,
our brain, thoughts, mind is bothered by the interference from the conscious of SELF and the
Emotion, which creates Ego and the Greed and subsequently all sorts of the troubles in the LIFE,
Lord Buddha’s approach to utilize those Brain Function was a brilliant idea. And without a
bias of Self, Ego, Greed and Detached Emotion, we can see the things much clearer
= We can see The Truth —– This IS, what Zen and Buddhism can achieve.
___/\___
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Zen in Daily-Life
Don’t mistake this title as “Twisting leg everyday”.
Zen is to do something in a Selfless state of the mind. Twisting and sitting (supposedly while
meditating) is a mere practice to gain this Selfless (Mushin) state. —– Though, we are not
born for sitting but to do something to have active life, otherwise we have had extinct long
ago with starvation. So, even Eating in Selfless (ie; in Mushin, and in complete commitment
ie; Mindfulness) IS the Zen. = This is the realization of what
Lord Buddha taught us = Anatman / Selflessness.
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To DO Selfless mean, DO IT without connecting the matter to the Emotion. = This is a state
of so-called Detachment. —– Everybody ever attempted to learn Zen, must heard the words
such as Mushin or Detachment, though, very few had been instructed how to learn it.
(Because in most of the case, their instructor had only an experience to have sat somewhere
in a temple, that all. Still, he is thinking that he had learned Zen.
So, teaching the same sitting (and only sitting) to others. 🙂
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The trouble of learning Zen by sitting is, even if the person (luckily) able to manage vacating
his mind while sitting, to keep this state of mind (whil doing other than sitting) is almost
impossible. Because the mind had been accustomed to “Sitting and Do nothing” and make
empty Brain. Therefore, TO DO anything else, the Brain and the Thinking will come back.
—– Naturally, to learn Zen in the ordinary situation, in a daily life is far better, as the person
can apply the same method and the state of the mind to DO another “Thing” as well.
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Such as to make a cup of tea. (In this purpose, DON’T take short-cut = make a tea from loose
tea-leaf —– (this has the same concept as how “Tea making as a Zen practice” developed.)
The way I make a tea is :
Put a water to a kettle and shake it to wash inside and drain it. Put a water again to the
exactly the same level. Switch on and wait it boils. When the water started to boil,
switch-off (don’t wait automatic switch-off). Pour the hot water (about half cup) into a
teapot where a tea-strainer and a tea-spoon is in. (To heat-up them all together.)
Then take the spoon and tea-strainer out and make the spoon to dry. Throw the hot water
from the teapot. Then, put a spoon-full or two (according to the taste) loose-tea leaf into
the pot (heated spoon takes no condensation of the steam from the warmed tea-pot, hence
no tea lief would stick on it.) Then pour the hot water to tea-pot. Wait two minutes then
serve a tea. Put sugar or milk when I want.
(In fact, when I pour a tea to the cup, I add the (still) hot water from the kettle for next cup.
(I’m a chain tea drinker, anyhow.) (Hot water was not as hot as before though, tea would be
brewed longer in the pot = it prevent the tea become too strong !
— Second cup doesn’t have fresh flavour though.)
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—– The process may seems too much details. But they are all for a sake of good tea-making,
and to concentrate for this purpose IS the Mindfulness.
By doing the whole process always the same as THE Accustomed Form.
—– If you follow this, soon or later, you will gain the Formalized body movement and
gradually able to refine the details. And soon or later you must be realized that you are
DOING all the process Just as a routine = without thinking and the process seemed to be
carried-out almost automatic. It goes almost independent from YOU —– (As you know,
Do the same, again and again, you start to Do it without excitement, interest = No Emotion ! )
= Now the tea is ready for you to enjoy. And it was made without your thinking (in Mushin)
and Detached from your Emotion, in other words, Without the Conscious SELF
= You were in Selflessness.
Do anything in a part of daily-life in the same approach = DO only what you ARE doing
= Mindful Concentration to the only subject. (nothing else in your mind)
And DO what that subject demand, in your best. = This is the ZEN in the daily-life.
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= As you did the things, as good as you could, it’s mean “You may do better next time though,
what you have Done WAS the best on That moment = no regret. (Regret can not change the
past, because the past has gone and the matter to DO better would be on the next time.)
= So, you can live the day without useless regret. (You only can live, on its moment !)
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Key point is,
(1) Take it as if it is a Formalized procedure, hence you only Do it as if an imperative form.
(2) No short-cut and Do the best. (3) Establish your way and stick to it. (Stick to it though,
“Do the best” has priority = the way to Do should evolve to even better on the process.)
(In fact, Mushin or Selflessness is mere By-product of this process = Forget them and just Do
what you got to DO = The matter is, you to DO it and only the result count.)
—– So, enjoy your Tea. (While having the tea, think about, when you live in this manner
down to all the detail of the life, from the way to get-up from the bed – – – – – each frame of
picture to picture, you did your best = in total you had the best satisfying day, and next day too,
so does next year = in total, you have satisfying LIFE.
As you been doing the best, others will know you are the most reliable consistent best,
because you are the Zennist. What you wish more on your LIFE.
—– (without able to make satisfying tea, able to have satisfying day, you are far behind
of even start to talk about Zen, let alone Enlightenment.
But when you achieved to make a good tea, and had satisfying day, year, life = then,
you don’t need to have any Enlightenment on top of your life, since you already had one.
—– Life has full of funny paradox. 😀
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This was the reason why, when the Zen Masters found their Enlightenment,
all uttered “It’s a dog shit” = after all, all of us walking completely in Selfless Mushin
= nobody need to think how to move the legs. We were born, able to live Selflessly
= So, it was explained as “We are born possessing the Dharma” which enabling us
to Live without relying on to the Self. In fact, The Conscious of SELF is obstructing us
to Live Selflessly. —– When the Master discovered this, after spent years of practice,
he was annoyed to feel ( as the years had been wasted,) hence “What a dog shit” 😀
___/\___
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Flower of Fig-titiosa
With a request of HM Bente, a servant,
Plant Hunter, Yoshizen took an expedition
to find an elusive legendary flower of Fig.
After a great journey and the hard work,
he discovered it and brought back a flower
for the world to see it, first ever the time
in the history of mankind.
(though, this photograph was too
over-saturated, hence the color is not
very faithful representation of its nature.
—— you are better advised to refer to the next photo. 🙂 )
The formal name of this plant is [Ficus. Figtitiosa var Brag] !
Yes, honest, this is nothing other than the Flower of the Fig.
You got open your mind and the eyes. —– Convinced ?
(A wise advice is, eat this with a pinch of salt.) 😉
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Figs
Before Marks and Spenser started to sell more civilized products like a Wonder Bra etc.
the Figs said to be widely utilized though, I haven’t seen any of them in use, other than on
a very decent ancient sculpture wearing it. —– Anyhow I’m not a very fashion conscious
person, I’m more interested in its edible part.
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Fig is a very peculiar plant. Apparently it doesn’t have a flower still makes a fruits.
So that, in Japan they are called “Ichijiku” but to write its name in the Chinese character it is
[無花果] which mean “The Flowerless Fruits” though, its reading makes no “Ichijiku” at all.
Because of this, long since I’ve been wondering where this name “Ichijiku” derived from ?
Then, one day on a street market, I saw a fruits vendor selling the Figs.
And I knew a man working there was a Kurdish. I asked him, how they call Figs in their
country ? He taught me it is “Injee” —– With flash of light, I realized, this must be the
origin of the Japanese name “Ichijiku”.
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Fig is one of the biblical ancient fruits together with Grape, and originated from middle east.
Hence all over the Orient, Turkey to Persia, Egypt, Fig was commonly called Injee.
And it must came to China and to Japan through Central Asia = via Silk-road. So, I refer to a
Chinese Dictionary to see what is the Chinese name of Fig —– it was [映日果], which reading
in Mandarin is In-lee-quo, but local pronunciation is more like In-jee-quo which was a direct
copy of the original sound to Chinese character, and an additional letter, [果] quo, to indicate
a fruits. (Like the name of Japan / [日本], which reading in Mandarin is Lee-pen though, other
locals read it Jee-peng = So that, Marko Paolo wrote it down as Jipang hence Japan !)
From here it’s easy to see, a Chinese pronunciation “Injee-quo” has been changed to “Ichijiku”
= One long standing question was solved !
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But, without having a flower, how Fig can reproduce themselves ? —– As a matter of fact,
they are not flowerless plant at all, far from it, the fruits we are eating is nothing but a
compacted pile of tiny flowers. Hence, you can see numerous tiny seeds inside of Fig.
The seed was produced by the individual tiny flowers even more numerous than the seeds.
Those flowers were individually pollinated by also tiny Fig-wasp who came inside of a Fig
through small hole in the centre of fruits. —– Of cause, Fig-wasp was not come to a Fig to
pollinate but to mate and lay the eggs. (There are many different wasps which got different
life cycle —– some stay inside waiting the male wasp to come and fertilize her, and she lay
eggs there, and larvae grow in the Fig and male dies there. Some other wasps are came
and lay the eggs and their larvae are carnivorous and eat other wasp’s larvae. —– so on.)
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—– therefore, when we eat Figs, whether fresh or such as a Fig Roll, we are inevitably
eating the Fig-wasps as well. (In effect, it supply the Essential Amino-acid to the strict
vegetarian people = that is why they don’t die with rack of “Essential nutrition”.
Though, you don’t need to become nervous, since this situation is quite normal and common
= can you expect any mass-produced food such as Jam, Marmalade, Ketchup, what so ever =
which track-load of ingredients thrown-into a belt-conveyor, and is there anybody removing
the small insect and their tiny larvae comes with ? ) (Unlike Bottle-fly or Cockroach kind, who
is dealing with human derivative, the insects living with fruits are less likely carries the
germ related to the human diseases, hence they are much safer.)
There are many warning of food allergy, Nuts, Eggs, certain Protein etc etc. though I never
heard anybody got ill because of accidentally eat an insect —– may be without knowing,
we are eating them quite regularly, our body may not recognize them as foreign substance.
This is what “living with nature” mean, in its reality. 😀
This link may give you the idea, what is the situation.
http://www.rodalenews.com/bugs-food
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PS : Incidentally, the Boddhi-tree [Ficus, religiosa]
of which Shakya-Muni Buddha said to have reached
his Enlightenment, known locally as Peepal or
Pippal tree also belong to the same family / genus.
(Photo Right from Wiki media)
So, the Boddhi-tree is a small fruits version of Fig tree
hence has no flower. Despite the tree can reach up to
30 m, their fruits is not larger than a tip of finger.
( I do yet know how small the Fig-Wasp for this tree. —– Nearly 100 million years of
co-evolution, each species of Fig has their own gang of the Wasp species, otherwise
both of them would have had extinct long ago ! )
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Lettuce and Spinach — its Origin
One of the most unique Photographer / Artist, Karen showed her stunningly beautiful
photos of Canada Lettuce seed in her blog “Draw and Shoot” it awaken my memory that
I had the photo of this (or the one, closely related) plant — The seed-pod in her photo
looks very much like a Dandelion’s, as you can see. = In deed, this plant is a cousin of
Dandelion and as its name suggests, it closely related to the Lettuce.
Or the Lettuce was descended from this kind of Plant, namely
Luctuca of Asteraceae (Compositae) Family. When I found that this plant was the
ancestor of the Lettuce, I was shocked —– as it was completely out of my imagination.
( Not only it looks so different but also I’ve never seen it in an open field and flowering.)
A book, I saw said that “to eliminate its bitter tasted white sap, it took 200 years” though,
Wikipedia says Lettuce has been cultivated since ancient Egyptian time. So, the English
local farmer might have had their own approach, instead to import the established
variety from Mediterranean.
Something similar stories are in Spinach.
The photo left is a plant belongs to
Spinacia in Amaranthaceae family.
The Spinach was created from this kind
of plant, and this weed is also edible.
(Though, this plant contains Oxalic acid,
thus if eat a lots, it would cause an ulcer
on the mouth.)
The cultivated variety is not only to eat
leaves but also there was a variety to eat
thickened stem, called “Poorman’s Asparagus”. And other was called Lincolnshire Spinach.
—– In deed, we human being is very resourceful — or used to be so poor to scrape the life ?
Still, there is a very funny situation. Despite increased world population, therefore needs
lots more food and in deed great number of the people are starving, in the same time,
we are said to be wasting 1/3 of food. (couldn’t sell in the super-market, due to a blemish.
Or made them rotten in a fridge due to too much shopping.) —– Something wrong isn’t it ?
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No Word = Strongest Teaching !
Wikipedia is a very convenient place to see the world, even about Buddhism.
Not necessary because it shows the truth but shows the current situation of Popular Belief.
Funny though, it often says “Citation required” — in Buddhism this is THE most blatant irony.
Understanding in Buddhism came from not because it was written. It always come between
the lines. —– Don’t believe what was written but you have to think yourself.
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In Buddhism, such as the strongest denial or the things which is not exist was not lexically
expressed. So that, the matter was often over-looked or even mistook by the people who
only follows what was told or read.
Like a famous episode in the Vimalakirti Sutra —– To answer a question of “Oneness” (how
totally mindful to the subject) Vimalakirti utter no word, and its silence hit the audience
like a roaring thunder (so the scripture said).
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—– (If you couldn’t get it) = Think, such as in a situation of Sword Mastery, if a man using
the sword could see the situation, how he moves, how sword moves in the Objective View,
it’s mean his mind is separated and floating in the air and watching the situation in
distance = here, two Selves, one was watching and other was being watched, not mention
the independent Sword = this is far from Oneness. When the conscious of using Sword
and the Hand(s) and even the existence of the Sword fused altogether and moves as one
unified force, it is the Sword Mastery and the Master was in Oneness.
(In Zen term it is Ichijo / 一如 or Fuji / 不二 )
—– If you are good in typing, you must know, when you were absorbed into its task =
not only the position of each key, but the keyboard, screen, even the draft paper has gone
out of your conscious but only a stream of each letters = your finger moves automatically,
completely out of your conscious. And even your Brain was not in there, if the draft had
miss-spieling you just miss-type as it is = This is the Oneness = two Selves, Observer and
be Observed, in fact, THE SELF itself has been totally disappeared into the “TYPING”.
Therefore, no observer or conscious to describe it, nor description of Oneness on typing
could exist. —– (I can describe it because I myself is one-finger typist, still seeing other
expert, I can guess how it’s works from the aspect of Zen. —– still, I may be wrong. 😀 )
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—– So, there couldn’t be a description of Oneness.
= No word even from a wise-man Vimalakirti. And, in the scripture, there was no
explanation such as what I wrote above ever existed, because able to write about
expose a failure, that the one was not in “Selfless Oneness” = make a fool oneself.
This was also the reason when
Lord Buddha went out for a walk in a rainy night, he didn’t explain why, even to Ananda.
Because it was about the Selflessness = since the Self / its conscious was not there to
observe, there couldn’t be a word to describe it. = So that, there was no explanation.
(In fact, to teach Selflessness must be the hardest part, even though it IS the gist of Buddhism.
It can be taught only through a practice (without type-writer !) I wonder how many of the
followers could have managed to get it ? —– Still, as the tradition has been continued to
the Zen, it’s mean some had certainly mastered it and handed down the teaching !
—– but not by a word or scripture.)
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In Buddhism, a lots has not been written. As, it meant to be a strongest denial. Such as
Lord Buddha didn’t answer the question related to the “after life”. Hence no explanation
= it’s mean there couldn’t be any written record, hence no citation could be possible.
No citation indicates, no such things in the Doctrine of Buddhism. And no word by
Lord Buddha ever existed since such matter has no worth to spear even a single word.
(Unfortunately, this situation had been exploited, knowingly or with sheer ignorance,
so many stories of “reincarnation, etc” had been fabricated.)
—– Yet western rhetoric wants to have a denial also has to be expressed,
and No-existence (it’s hard to explain what the Voidness is), has to be proved even
in the Wikipedia. —– It must be a headache to the author.
They can’t create a blank page in Wikipedia and put a comment “This is Zen”.
(I wonder why not. A blank page could convey as much as message written
in the same space.) Ha ha ha. 😀
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