Zeiss – 18mm Lens for Nikon

I saw this lens at Camera Cafe —– The test shot in the Cafe showed me

pretty impressive quality. Virtually no Distortion or Chromatic aberration.  

And this lens got the Number 1580xxxx,  the number of my fate. => So,

I decided to buy.  —– Lens itself is well known Distagon 18 mm F3.5 yet

this is for Nikon DSLR = FZ.2 type which has a Microchip built in and works

same as Nikon’s own lens, except auto-focus (still gives Focus-confirmation).

(Lens was designed by Zeiss but actuary made by  Coshina in Japan. ) 

From Camera Cafe, I took the direction south, on foot while shooting

time to time.— I felt the camera (Nikon D810) was working a bit funny.

= taking much longer to show the image though, I didn’t investigate it

on the spot. —– But after I checked the image on the PC, I realized that

D800 had been malfunctioning = gave all the exposure in HDR mode.  

And the photo above was the most severely mal-processed one.  (straight

from CF card)  And the photo below is the normal one. (though, clopped).

For HDR mode, three images in different exposures has to be integrated

= position has to match exactly —– though, the wrong one showed an utter

dislocation of the image and the color has been red-shifted. 

Richard of Camera Cafe explained that the So-called lens-mount adapter

with “Focus Confirmation type = microchip built in” often cause the

camera to malfunction. —– Though, it is too early for me to decide the

cause of this trouble.

(Whether the trouble could be repeated ? — in what condition etc etc. )

South of British Museum = Covent Garden area has many Dance / Ballet shops.  

Royal Opera/ Royal Ballet and the Drury Lane Theatre (which used to

perform “Cats” are there = Mecca of Dance.

And further walk down south => we get to the Waterloo Bridge.  

And the South-bank = Art centre is over the bridge.

It’s a funny installation though, as it was outside of Hayward Gallery,

it must be an art. —– is it ?  —– You got to be serious !    🙂  

—– So, optically superb.  Electronically —– not sure.   

I need to test this 18mm lens further. 

[]

Mistranslation of “MINDFULNESS”

When a person is walking —– in most of the case, the person is

not aware that HE (SHE) has been walking.

—– it is the same situation as you didn’t aware that your eyes has

been busy reading this blog on this very moment.

So, it is crystal clear, unless you become aware and intentionally think 

that you are reading this, your brain is just busy processing the meaning 

what was written, but paying little attention to the fact that who the

person reading this. = It’s mean, the awareness of you, yourself and what

and how you are existing here, doesn’t exists unless you are intentionally

think about it = because, “The existence of the SELF” is only in our mind

= SELF is a product of the one’s thinking. —– Also, it is obvious, once you

started to think about “That I am reading this etc etc” the efficiency of

reading drop drastically.   That’s why “This kind of thinking etc etc” were

called “Zatsunen”(雑念) = useless thinking or destruction. 🙂

[]

Lord Buddha thought exactly the same and came to the conclusion, that we

were designed to live without those conscious = useless thinkings and the

imaginary SELF.    We can be far better-off living and doing without those

“Zatsunen” because, without the destruction we were naturally controlled

by the Dharma.   Live and Do without useless thinking, is Mushin and being

with Dharma is Ichijo. = Then, what is this Dharma here, the Dharma who

controls us.  How this Dharma did know that the person IS walking or reading.

And how and what this Dharma remember how to walk or read, not mention

better way of doing them than our conscious controls.

—– (To cut the story short, I give you the answer here = they are the

subconscious control program, programmed and memorized into our brain

—– some has been even genetically programmed !)

—– This Dharma is the very Mindfulness and to let it control our action or

ourselves also called Mindfulness.

(In fact in my view, the choice of this word “Mindfulness” against the

Pali word “Sati” was the mistake

= it should have been “Retained Dharma” or simply just “Truth”.

—– It seems, all the misunderstanding of the Zen in the west has been

caused by this mistranslation ! = as it had given an impression that it was

the matter of the Mind-set —– but the essence is, NOT having it. 🙂 )

[]

—– Now, the reader who experienced so-called Zen training might have

realized a funny things  “where on earth so-called “Mindfulness Training”

such as that counting and concentrating to the breath etc etc, came from”.

—– I mean even in the ancient time when Theravada Canon was written.

—– In fact, this was the very very evidence of that the teachings of

Lord Buddha had misinterpreted from the beginning !

The Sati in the Meditation is, to let the Dharma made us sit = completely

abandon our SELF and get Mushin and just sit, is what the state of

Mindfulness on the (sitting) Meditation mean.

—– Who got the idea “To Think the breath and Feel the body etc etc”

= intentionally bring a Zatsunen / Useless thinking into the practice. 😀

(—– That was why the other school or sect has invented and since been

using other practice which couldn’t allow any useless thinking while doing it,

such as Shaolin martial-art or carrying a bowlful of water etc.)

—– Buddhism and the Zen is a strange mysterious teachings = not because

it got mysterious teachings but it got strange out of context mix-up and

wrong interpretations. 😀

The trouble is, still many people believing it, like wearing a

“Fashionable” T-shirts which got exotic Chinese character

printed upside-down. (It is in fact, nothing but, the insult to

Lord Buddha.)

___/\___

[]

New year’s First Sunrise — (well, almost)

New year’s First Sunrise —– well, not quite.  It’s the second one.  

Yesterday was a bit cloudy = so, this is in deed, the first opportunity

to take picture though ……… I didn’t even go out of my room,

let alone go-up a hill or a beach to take typical photo.

Worse still, I didn’t even rise a bamboo blind.  Still, with a longer 

lens with its shallow depth of field, bamboo-blind was disappeared.  

And at least, the photo on top is a genuine photo of SUNRISE !

—– but, first of all, why do we bother a day next of 31st of December ?    

or So-called New year’s day.  

It’s not even a Winter Solstice-day = just arbitrarily man-named day

= a products of human imagination.     Nothing absolute !

[]

We human invented so many rules and the patterns for us

to be bound or even enslaved by it.  

Like, if we use English, we have to follow its strict rules.  

Or some of the people created their own God and follow it.

—– so, to take a special significance of the NEW-YEAR’S DAY

—– IS just depends on our mind-set.  

Mind has created “Special Day” and the mind enforce its belief.

—– still, it is only in our imagination.  It might be fun and

able to have a kind of comfort to feel a part of the larger society

though —– we may better to think “Why do I follow this ?”

There could be the other kind of life “If not follow it”.

Enlightenment is to liberate the mind yet I wouldn’t simply say

brake the convention —– to chose the same convention, same

conclusion could be a feasible choice. 

Still, to see it in different eyes, everyday could be a fresh first day.

Have a peaceful and joyful year.

___/\___

[]

Facebook Bug

What I supposed to download was a map showing the different cooking

styles of O-Zouni (celebrative cooking for  new-year) all over  in Japan.

In stead, what I got was a hacked-in fraud from Facebook. —– on the face

it looks like a notice from Google Chrome though, in fact it was a disguised

mail which tricks us to give Email address and its Password to Facebook

= as the sender’s ID was shown on the top-left corner.    

—– In order to deceive, it is showing the big G-Chrome Logo but their

“Facebook Logo” was not shown. (my be excusing with “Technical hitch”)  

And saying “You’re using a web browser that isn’t supported by Facebook”

while showing Net-Explorer, Mozilla-Firefox etc etc —– despite I’m using

latest Firefox. = it was just a sheer pretext to steal Password. (Anyhow, as

I don’t use SNS, neither need to have Facebook convenient Browser.  🙂 )

[]

Why they have to take like this desperate measure. = Now hundreds of

thousands of people leaving Facebook everyday.  It is an out-of-dated

old fashioned SNS, and only old users (30~40s) are still keep using it.

(Young and more active user has moved to LINE or SNAPCHAT etc.)

= So, they are desperate to fill-up the lost numbers and hack-into

the address book to trick the friends to join —– by sending false mails

which says “Yoshi is asking you to join Facebook”  😀 😀

How Pathetic. —– I’ve been wondering why people need to have such

kind of FALSE feeling of being ” CONNECTED” = now everybody

knows that such superficial number of “So-called FRIENDS” or

number of LIKE is nothing to do with “Real Human Relation”.

Nobody feel confident with the empty person who couldn’t even

stand alone but seek numbers in So-called Friends or Followers.  

————–

PS ;      The further trouble I discovered about the aforesaid

Facebook Bug was, —— it was very difficult to delete that file,

as I didn’t obey and sign-up for them to finish their task. 

So that, I needed to find the file and delete it. ==> But, later

I discovered that the Facebook Hacker left a virus in my PC

which blocks the function of “Copy and Paste”.   So, when I try

to Copy and Paste = what appeared on the screen was not what

I copied but the logo of G-Chrome and the Hyperlink.

Hyperlink to go back to the same Facebook page.

= which is harassing us to give-up and sign-up to them ! 

—– Can you believe, this is what Facebook is actually doing.

Are they such desperate in this extent ? 

[]  

What’s there ?

Here the question is ” Is there or not there”  ” What’s there” in

a photo or behind the photography.

This is an obvious subject,  nobody would give any argument

what it is.   And even without photograph, it still exists = photo is

mere secondly image of the existence.  Photo didn’t make it exists.

This image has no significance = It’s just there, like a subject.

But you may puzzle what this is ?  

What photographed here is the whole possession of a homeless person.  

Still some would say “So, what” —– OR others may see the meaning in

social issue or even philosophical aspects “What’s the human existence”

yet, visually they are just a lots of plastic bags on a bicycle. Nothing else.

More than that is all in your mind.

It’s all depends on, whether you make a mountain out of this heap.

Some might be good deep insights otherwise just the delusions.

Before one photographic image,  we have to see what a person

who is photographing has seen or conceived,  let alone aimed.

But who can see it clear —– and, who knows how real what we’ve seen.   

What I’m seeing might be there —– is it ?  Where ? Here or there or behind. 

We may not able to define what we are seeing unless we intentionally

impose a preconception, what I want to see, and reconstruct

the image OR story.

And it depend what we can see or what we know. —– or believe to know.

And if we know, —– can we be any wiser ?   Really ? ? ?

Is there any use,  if I told you what it was ?

In reality, we may not seeing any, let alone knowing, are they

really there.  So, this is the real situation, and how and what they are.

(If you want to see the VOIDNESS in much more symbolic

elaborated image, it is your pretence and the arrogance !)

—– truth might be just empty space.

= Don’t struggle.  Let it be and see just as it is.  Don’t make-up the order.

(F&M’s Cherubs were in a mess of reflection = that was how they were.  :-D)

By nature, as it is empty from the beginning, see as it is, be with it, is Ichijo.

Be with emptiness mean the mind is not there = Mushin.

Don’t impose own order mean = no complaint. What’s wrong with it ?  😀

—– So, it’s nice to be in PEACE.

___/\___

[]

釈尊の教え－－－Buddha’s Original Teachings

Note :  This post is parallel with this and this post in English. 

釈尊の教えが元々如何なるものであったかを知るには，教えの与えられたその時代，

その時の思考，その瞬間の心理の機微を知る必要があります。

人々の問い掛けに，その瞬間の機知で応えていたとされる

釈尊の教えに抽象的な想念は無く，全ては対話に立った明解な英知であったのです。

人々の問いかけもごく日常的な問題，その世相のトピックスであった訳ですが，

釈尊の時代は将にヒンズー教の勃興期で，当然の事として新しい流行思想が話題の中心に

なっていた訳です。 古典的べーダに根ざした道徳論的，儀式的バラモン教から派生した

ヒンズー教は当時の新興宗敎で「霊魂が生れ代り次の生を規定し，

それがカーストになる」とした画期的な流行理念であったのですが，この流行とそれの

もたらした恐怖は，かつての「天中殺｣の流行を想い浮ベるとピンと来るでしょう。

根拠も，何の証拠も無いでっち上げであるにも拘らず，世の人というのは

コロっとだまされパニックに陥る。この「輪廻の輪」という妄念に囚われた人々に

明解な答を与え，無要な心配やカーストのクビキから解放するというのが

釈尊の直面した火急の任務であったのです。　何の根拠も無いそのような妄念に対して

釈尊は極めて論理的，合理的な解答として「心配するには及ばない。万物は（我々も）

因果，縁の上にのみ存在しているのだから，当然の事として肉体が死ねば，

そこに根ざしていた意識も自覚も，苦悩も消滅する。これが涅槃で，それは誰もが

自然に得られるもの。我やカーストなど単に頭で作り出した妄念である」と説かれたのです。

［］

ヒンズー教で言う「無限に続く死と再生の繰返し＝苦界／娑婆／サムサラ」に対して，

釈尊は「輪廻，再生すベき「我」などと言うものはそもそも存在しない」と説かれた訳

ですが，存在しない物を説明するというのは至難の業です。（概念，言葉も無い！）

例えば，全てが共有され私有物の無い社会で「盗み」とかその罪について議論する事はできない。

重力の在る地球上でなら「もしこの重力が無かったら－－」と考える事ができますが，元々

重力の無い世界に暮していたら，重力とはいったいどんなものなのか想像もできないでしょう。

無私，無我である事はできる（一如として）が，それを客観的に自覚した瞬間に一如は消滅する。

（眼の存在の自覚なしにこれを読んでいても，言われて気がついた途端に一如が崩壊する）。

つまり無私を説明するとは外ならぬ「私，我」の存在の認知になってしまう訳です。当然の事として

釈尊が「我」を話題にする事は無く，「魂は死後どこへ行くのか？」といった質問は存在し得ない

物で，それに対する答が与えられる筈も無かったのです。つまり

釈尊は本人が「無我」に一如であった故に｢我」の存在に関しては完璧に「無記」だったのです！

［］

従って，仏教の中で最も重要な無私，無我（アナトマン）の教えは，実は体得する以外にない。

不立文字，教外別伝，以心伝心となる由縁です。（無心に，黙々とやるのみ）

しかし逆に言えば，言葉の上で定義し得ないために，誤解曲解が生じる原因にもなったのです。

－－－で，この曲解はごく初期のうちに起っていて，輪廻やサムサラを説く仏典は

実はヒンズーやタントラの混交でしかありません。

無私無我を教理の根底に置く時に，いったい何が誰が，死後も留って生れ代るのか？

釈尊がそんな矛盾した馬鹿な事を言うはずが無いでしょう。（笑）

しかしケダモノに生れ代るかも知れないと心配する人々の恐怖感は職業僧の飯のタネ，

彼らが話を書変えてしまったのです。

在りもしないあの世から戻って来て「話が違う」と文句をつける人は絶対居ないのですから

どんなホラを吹いてもバレません！　実に困った“虚偽表示”です。（大笑）

 ___/\___

—————-

PS:  The image on top was created by [Mouhitsu] of Japan-Post.

Though, the work has to be saved and its “png” has to be converted

by this process —– Bring the Downloaded image to desktop.  and

Double-click this => “Open with” =>[Paint] —– then click and open

left top icon and go to “Save as”=>”jpeg” (Yes, to asking small window)

—–> The saved image is on the Desktop !  🙂 

-［］

Black Friday

Everybody knows what Black Friday is. —– So what ?  

It doesn’t necessary mean “Everybody became shopping crazy.

But obviously it made Co. to became AD crazy.  I don’t mind to

see a kind of business deal ADed by even tech’review site as I

might buy it.

Though, such as Amazon sending me 2 AD / day is too much.

[]

 

They are funny Co. = on the beginning I bought

Compact flush Memory Card from them as it is becoming

hard to come by item in the shop. —–> from this, to make

connexions to Cameras , Tech’item etc was obvious and I didn’t

mind to see what they got once in few days.  

Then “very funny things” happened.  When I attempted to buy

Canon type Lithium Battery to other use, not only to enter

Credit-card data etc. but they asked me to type “Promotional Code”

of which I have no idea = hence shopping was abandoned.

(I gave an inquiry “What is Promotional Code ?” to them.  🙂 )

[]

And this data (my inquiry) has been sold by Amazon or the mail had

been hacked —–> I started to receive offers from VaucherCode Co.

And Amazon’s started to send me more and more ADs. ==> My

Patience has run-out.  With a setting of Filter, all of those PESTS were

now blocked and goes to bin straight without me ever know it.

I don’t think I need to use Buddhist’s word “Middle-way”

= Gone too far doesn’t work.  I can’t understand, are they such idiot ?

[]

Fruits Fly

It seems different people call different Fruits Fly though, I’m talking

about very small common Fruits Fly in England.    While Googling, I

found that the others are having the same problem of Fruits Fly.

——( Dead Fruits Flies I found, and they were photographed by Nikkor 24mm F2 lens,

Reverse-mounted with extension-ring on Canon 5D Mk-III — as a X5 Macro-close-up) 

—– they suddenly appear in mass and start to pest the place.

Of cause, I wouldn’t believe that they naturally generated —– there

must be somewhere something nursing them.    But what was that ?

I certainly don’t have rotten fruits or cow-dung dropped in my room.

[]

When I was in my junior school, there was a kind of out of course

biology project = To receive a bottle of fruits fly and keep them in

a warm condition.   Then next week, 10 of the pupil brought back

each bottle and counted the number of hatched fly — how many of

them had black eyes etc.  Actuary, we were assisting the researcher’s

study (without understanding what for we are doing.  :-D)

Anyhow, still we learned how to nurse Fruits Fly with a gluey

yeast-starch mix and to see them hatch less than 10 days.

= It’s mean, when one female came into the room and laid the eggs,

a week to 10 days later, suddenly the room would have 100 of them

flying around.

[]

While observing where they are frocking, I realized that the fruits

skin peel etc anything sweet and wet in the bin is attracting them.

On top of those, I discovered that quite number of them penetrated

the polythene bag of Raisin loaf through small gap = they must have

laid hundreds of the eggs on the raisin. = If I didn’t notice, I could

have eaten plenty protein as well.   (That was how the Essential

Amino-acid was delivered to the “Strict Vegetarian” 🙂 )

—– then battle commence.   Since then, any wet or not completely

dry rubbish, mostly fruits peel kind were lapped-up in polythene bag

and goes to the bin and any soft food goes either fridge or plastic

container with lid.   I needed to make my room as dessicated and futile

as a desert, making them to convince “It’s better to go somewhere else”.  

( I did composting before though, I have no garden of compost to go,

and it’s bin itself became a center of unpleasant insects, fly etc

= So, I gave up the idea.)

[]

So that, in reality, to have an ecological, naturally harmonious life =

“Happily Live Together with other small Lives” is = sound sweet but

not practical or ideal at all.    In fact nothing but a pretentious fraud.

We shouldn’t forget  “To keep hygienic, clean life” is no other than

the practice to persecute against the pests and the germs.

The Bottle-fly or Cockroach are just having their own life that all.

Even AIDS virus is surely the other life-form. They only happen to

cross over the boundary to the human life and created the conflict.

—– People expecting a beautiful Butterfly just fly over their flowers,

still never anticipates their larvae could infest their plant in their

garden. —– if they saw it, certainly 99% of them will kill it.

[]

It easy to make-up a softy face and preach love and compassion kind

—– Oh !   Really ?

= Better not to be a filthy hypocrite. I rather stay to be a honest tyrant,

killing millions of grains and beans every year, on top of billions of

other invisible small creatures and the germs for my comfort and the

survival. —– To know the real extent, how we are relying on the sacrifice

of other life-form = Exact reality of the Karma, not a convenient pretty

story to justify and glorify ourselves, is the duty to be a real Buddhist.  

Scripture spent so many pages to explain about the Oneness  (Ichijo —

such as that “Giving, even without having a conscious of giving” ==>

having pretentious mind is too remote from the Buddhism.)

We need to see and think it in person.

___/\___

PS:  Since when my flat was made a desert, they just disappeared

and I only managed to find two dead bodies —– Where had they gone ? 

[]

Winter Cherry again !

This is the third year for me watching this special Cherry tree !

Special because she blooms in the winter, and keep blooming until

their more usual blooming time of April.  (Continuously all through

6 months.  So that I even wrongly called her Perpetual Cherry !)

And, this is the first photo session for this season despite only

few flowers there yet.     (More would be added here later.  🙂 )

So, say hello to Cherry-san. 

(PS: Close-up was done by the same Fish-eye lens, while lens was 

held lifted from the body = held the lens not fully inserted to the

body (hence close focus) = and the lens was not fully engaged to

the body, there was no control to the lens = aperture was F4   🙂 )

[]

Autumn Color – (2)

Unlike the color of eggs from super-market which color was 

controlled by the coloring agent in their feed, the color of autumn

leaves are completely natural phenomenon. (You can’t dye them.  😀 ) 

If only the selection of plant may be artificial, such as Japanese Maple

was imported to the west only because of their blazing color in autumn.

When the plants was exposed to the air of sudden chill, their

Green colored  Chlorophyll noticed that their role to carry-out  

Photo-synthesis come to the end —– hence they disappeared.  

—–> Once the green has gone, another color underneath which

has been masked by the green, such as red Carotene become visible

= Voila’ glorious Autumn color on fire !  

Appreciate it while you can (if you like) !    🙂

[]