Time of Reflection

When we came to the END of something, season, road, a task or a project even a relation etc etc,

it is the time of reflection. —— WHY ?  on that moment ?

As the task had just completed, ( or the relation has ended ) there is nothing left to think ahead.

So that (as our mind is not necessary accustomed to have blank moment ) our mind was forced to go back

to somewhere we have passed.

We start to think the each moment which we couldn’t forget, not only we have actually done but also

the alternative —— ” It could have done, or If only ——- etc etc.”

As it is literally a hind sight, we can see better way to do it, and different outcome —— hence a

lots of regrets. ——- sound sad isn’t it ?

Why can’t we have the life with no ( well, nothing is perfect though  😀 ) regret.

So, why not to have a moment to sit back and think ——- in advance  🙂

—

We have only one life and only one chance.

We can not repeat the same moment in different way.

This is THE reason why we have to put the full effort to the very moment / each instant.

So that, leaving no regret. ( Well, ——- in theory  😀  )

Unlike the life itself, if it was a small project, such as designing small mechanism or electronic circuit,

if it was not perfect ( or not good enough ) I remake it often from the start. ( why not, this is a feed-back )

Though, the real life is not such simple.  Surrounded by so many factors and the occurrences affecting

the decision or others action of which we ourself has little control.

So, we Buddhists call it as the Karma / Fate, or even the providence of the Dharma.  And, we

accept it as it is and effectively wave the right to contest it.  Its mean, Buddhists have no regret.

Whether it was good or bad if it was given, there is no point to argue.  If it was bad, it’s because myself

didn’t do good enough work and the Karma to back fire ——- yet no point to have a  regret, but we have

to learn and do better next time. ( because, we can not change the past —— only look forward )

So, in my case, the time of reflection is not to have a  regret, but to face the music and laugh.  😀

( Oh, c’mon Yoshizen, what have you done ! ! ! —— Ha ha ha 😀  —— like this )

So, Don’t make your life even more miserable with regret, just laugh at it.

( So, life is Happy —— Honest, believe me.  Ha ha ha  😀  )

___/\___  😀

Return of Chilean Miner

The return of Chilean Miner is one of the most extraordinary story in resent human history.

It was an exceptional raw human endurance, and the typical technological solution of today.

( I have no idea, how to drill a hole into solid granite and hit the target 2,000 feet away.  What sort of

guiding / detecting system, technology there.  When Doctor insert a probe through blood vessel, he can

see it by X-ray image, even in 3D.  Though, can Radar does the same function towards under ground ? )

That is why the Chileans are so proud of its achievement. ” We can do this “.

In Buddhist’s view it was also the proof of that the Buddha’s insight was bang right.

——- You might say, no, they are the devoted Catholic that’s why God saved them.

I’m talking  not about their God,  but the Universal Dharma / fundamental nature of Human Psyche.

Even though,  their motivation to go down the notorious hell mine is derived by the better money

than the other safer mine,  in other words greed and the ego,  yet still,  if they couldn’t overcome

much more fundamental ego / survival instinct / fear of the death = negation of the self,  they

couldn’t go down to the hell in the first place.

Without this State of Non-self /  Anatman, they couldn’t keep the discipline / diligently follow their

leader / foreman and managed to keep peace in the utterly desperate condition.

If they were just greedy egoist,  there could be easily the fight over the food ( can you imagine, just

one spoonful of tuna fish per day,  under the utterly uncertainty of the fate, for 17 days ).

If , Survival of Fittest was the rule, some of them, much stronger than the leader, could have broken off

and took all the food only for them —— but no such fight occurred.

They had accepted the fate,  there could be the possibility of all of them may die, one by one,  still

without fallen into the madness facing the coming death,  play together and kept Hope

—– waited, and waited, —— 17 days ! ! !

This is nothing but the typical sample of the  Buddhism Paradox / The one

who survived was the one who accepted the death. Non-self is really the key of the survival.

And the Non-self was the foundation of the charity / kindness / compassion —— so, they helped

weakest, and  ALL 33 survived together and came out the hell.

It was not the Dharma helped them.

They followed and kept the rules of the Dharma / they are the Dharma.

( You may say,  why non-Buddhist could know and follow the Dharma —– Dharma is the universal Rule

therefore it rules every body, and all the human being has it in them, whether a person aware of it or not )

Congratulation.

___/\___

—

Yet another 8150

Among the regulars of the Dorkbot gatherings, there is a creative programmer Jagannathan,

who has presented semi autonomous, self interactive moving pattern of enigmatic images before.

On the Dorkboat, he performed an electronic music composed on the spot, jammed with Alex Mclean.

On the boat journey, we talked about our resent activities, since our idea to put his organic program

to combine with my strange kinetic design hasn’t been materialized yet.

I told him about my Youtube images with its key word Kinetorori.  To google Kinetorori, it led to both

Yoshizen blog and my Youtube channel.

Along side the Youtube video clip / Cupidon and the blog Kinetorori,  inevitably he stumbled upon

8150 story.  Which lead him to read a post ” Is Dharma directing us ?”

In that post I was asking the reader to check their Number.  So, he checked his Bank a/c number ——

Bang ! —— He discovered,  his Bank a/c number having this fatal 8150. ——- Please read

the comments on the post. ” Is Dharma communicating us ?” (To search, type in the box and click )

Later he said on the Email, Shocked and amazed by this.  And as he said on his comment, he is

having this only a Bank a/c number since he arrived here 10 years ago. —— does it mean,

the Dharma did know  from the beginning,  we are going to meet —- or the person who got this

number are destined to meet together?

Jagannathan is not a Buddhist but he believes Brahmanism.     Still, what so ever human make up the

name the ultimate power over there is the same entity.    All of us are under the rule of this power.

And, in deed we were watched by it.

I gave a thought for Jagannathan’s life —– then I realized a crucial point that is (as he described

in his email)  after he experienced the trouble of his program  Pirated, he decided to publish them

as open source  ” Instead to spend the time to encrypt them, better spend the time to create

something new,  which gives  more freedom” ——- abandon  the ego and greed and

give-away his creation, brought him more freedom and strangely more wealth and stayed in health.

—— this is the very paradox in the Buddhism which I described many times.

So that, the greed-free honest attitude in the life is the key factor, as his life style is far from ascetic —–

having a wife, likes cider and he confessed, its hard to stick with  Right-hand Zen. 😀 —– Still,

Selfless, Ego-less free mind may made him spiritually stand out.

Programing is a laborious work for perfection  ( if not perfect, it doesn’t work at all  🙂 )  and

even for open source free program, if it is not creative and useful enough, nobody give a sit.

And now he started to wonder —— is this, because of him being protected by the Dharma too ?

( Fascinating isn’t it —— or is it Spooky ?   🙂  )

—-

Worship ?

If anyone think the Buddhism is one of the religion, soon you will be realized

“If it is the religion, where is the God and what to worship ? ” —— Then you might be

realized, something peculiar or even something wrong.

—

Since, on his death-bed,  Buddha ordered to his followers ” Don’t idolize or worship me”

In the Buddhist’s Mantras,  there is even a single line of script which described that

Buddha himself bowed to anything, exist.

Buddha respects the Dharma and its rules, though  rule is just the rule.

Rule is not the God or an object of worship. ——– Gravity is one of the physical phenomena.

Its rule is absolute.  No one can escape —- though, no one think gravity is  God  nor anybody worship it.

Dharma rules the universe though as it is not like a  personified western  God,

Dharma is not answerable, even communicable to the human,  it is not an object to worship.

Hence,  Buddha didn’t need to worship the Dharma  but he just followed and lived with it.

Because of this, the Buddhism has been often  regarded to be NOT a religion,

and often mistook as an atheist.

( Lots of you may think,  if this is the case, what about the many Devine figures in the temple and

worshiping rituals  the monks are performing ? ? ?

——- It is just because of a mix-up with Hinduism.    It is not the Buddhism )

In the same kind of misunderstanding, lots of people think the Buddhist practice is a part of rituals.

No, they are a training exercise to gain a state of the mind ” Mushin “.

( DO the things without Thinking —– leave it to the control of subconsciousness / Dharma )

Darma has unknowable mystical power ——- though, it is not because of Buddhism.

Since,  Dharma and the Karma are ruling anybody, regardless one’s religion.

Believe or not, everybody you too, are under the Dharma —— hence, it’s better to aware it.

To become aware it ——- you are wiser.        Which we call ” Enlightened “

Buddhism itself has no mysticism or mumbo-jumbo.

Buddha’s teachings or Buddhism is the way to see the Dharma and live with it.

Following and living with it, mean more smooth natural life, hence having the Peace.

___/\___

Poor Nature

This poor friend is what I found on the pavement. (The actual size is 45mm across)

He is the largest Stag Beetle I came across in this country ( Japanese Stag Beetle is twice big.

—- Notorious Killer Wasp which we call  Suzume Bachi ( Sparrow Wasp )is 2″ big, by the way ).

Though,  when somebody saw this Beetle on the pavement, the person might have thought, this is

a big cockroach and stumped on him,  hence his broken stags and crushed body.—— How shame.

—

Once before,  I saw the collection of the cockroaches came from all over the world at a Lab’ in

the Imperial College,  from the hissing cockroach to 4″ big sandy brown / black striped beautiful one.

Though, common cockroach is the public enemy number one.  This hatred is almost chemically

programmed in the mind.  Therefore the person who saw a black insect, wouldn’t have given a shred of

thought or time and instantly crushed him with almost automatic reaction.

So, it must be too much to ask to give a close look and distinguish him out.

So, I only can  say, it was his misfortune to venture out the woods and came to the building area.

—

Zen asking instant judgment and reaction though,  preceding to its action,  the clear eyes to see and

distinguish the situation, has the crucial importance. ( Of cause, I wouldn’t expect to the people

able to distinguish a stag beetle, as they may never seen or learned it before —– even myself have seen

it less than 10 times over 30 odd years living in this country )

—– So, I only hope, behind the one dead body,  yet another 10 are still surviving somewhere in the woods.

And I’d like to ask the people who got a big garden to leave the pile of log or trunk of dead tree ( leave it

as 3~4 feet high ) for them to nest inside.

In south London,  there is a green area called Peckham Rye Common and it was once named the dirtiest

park in London by a news paper. Then the local Council / Southwark  took an action —– clean up all the

dead wood, concreted the pond floor removing all the water plants.  Pond used to have larvae of such

as Damsel Fly, and Newts were crawling among the water plants.—– I complained to the Council and

they replied that they are having consultation of naturalists —– What sort of scientists ?  Bollocks.

” Who the Scientist ?”  ” We can’t reveal the name, to protect identity ” —– It’s just a smoke-screen.

Utterly bollocks and nothing but a vandalism to the Nature.  Clean up,since insects gone hence birds gone.

Nature is not clean and tidy.  Dead tree and rotting wood is the essential part of it.

We shouldn’t forget —— We humankind is the most dirtiest, harmful toxic part of it.

With a kind of guilty conscience  we need to pay back to the Nature —– we should be humble

since, soon or later the Nature will kick us back.  Look, the Planet Earth is becoming barren land.

Pakistani top-soil was washed away, Russia and Amazon are burning, American mid-west,

north-west Africa, Australia are drying up ——- to mention but few.

And this is the manifestation of the Karma.  We are picking our fruits.  Toxic bitter fruits.

___/\___

God — Who ?

The trouble of the personified western God is, —–  (there are too many 😀  ) as he was personified,

he came under the logic and the rationality of the human being.   So, he can be questioned.

Who is the Mother of God ?   Or was he suddenly created out of nothing ?

If it was the case, who created him ?  Was there another God somewhere ?

And in that case, he doesn’t have a belly button ?  ( Therefore the first man created by him / Adam didn’t

have neither. )    If he didn’t have mother, thus without knowing how the conception occur and it is

essential to have male and female to copulate etc,  —– How he managed to create all the animals in pair

but forgot to create female human in the first place ?

——— so,  it remains in the myth,  and beyond the logic.

Then, poor Adam and Eve went out the Eden and raised a family ——–

The son of Adam and Eve married to each wives ——- What ?

Where those women came from ? ——– Or, are they actually the sisters ?   Married to sister ?

When fuck a sister is not a sin,  why bother eating apple ?

————————

It is better to leave  mythical existence as an abstruct myth.   Man made story all ways break down.

Yet still,  such story was forced to believe  (hence it is the Dogma) and anyone contested it has been

severely surpressed,  such as Garileo (of cause he didn’t argue about the belly button,

it is the children’s joke)  his question was the slight wobble of the planets and why.

God is the power and the order of the universe and it is invisible.   Attempt to describe it by

a manmade words is the sign of disrespect.  We human can not see everything or able to know.

___/\___

Science of Mantra

Unlike what I wrote somewhere “Buddhism never contradict Science” if anybody read the Mantras

everybody can see it just as a piles of piles of bullshit.  One description contradict to other or utterly

absurd logic etc etc (such as devils chasing wondering dead soul in the hell “therefore blah blah —-” 😀

Oh, C’mon it’s not a logic —– So, what is this metaphor meant for ? ? ? )

So,  Why I saw them ” Scientific” was, ——– the matter is not the contents in the Mantra but the

effects it causes and evoke the mind ——- instead of blindly accept a Dogma.

If anybody read Abidharma cosa Mantra  (provided not fallen into asleep.  😀  ) it will definitely

wear out the one’s mind, exactly same effect to chant the name of Mantra thousand times.

Analyzing the existences and the perception and categorizing them into thousand of classification

——- and to read them through ( What a hell ) definitely make the person to abandon the thinking

words and words will become just the patterns passing through the eye field.

Exactly same as a typist.  Just type the chain of words.  Just let them go.  Don’t think.

This, well thought-out psychological effects are amazingly scientific. —– Akin to the process of

blow heat the malachite with charcoal  and to get the copper metal.   Long (in deed) before the

mankind knows the carbon in the charcoal reduct the oxygen from copper-oxide —– from

the observation then try and test and establish the method is nothing but the rational science.

—— So, unmistakably on the time of it was written ” To study this Abhidharma is the way to attain nirvana”

( in hard way —— and not very good to the eyes  😀  )

( PS : Earley version of Buddhist Mantras such as Pali Canon is far shorter though always having repeating

——- phrase,  which was meant to be recited ( It’s in the poetry form) —— by reciting them repeatedly

——- its goes down deep into a person’s subconscious, hence it will become automatic to recite (without

——-thinking) thus able to attain state of Mushin (Selflessness) —– So, some described it ” Purify the Soul “.

Without shouting the Dogma,  still able to convert one’s mind by observing the psychological effect is

nothing but the scientific approach.

—

Super Natural POWER (?)

There is a popular misconception,  the religion has super natural power. Or super natural vision

can reveal the truth.  If such claim is in the market, of cause it is only a spin to sell dubious products.

Same as ” Use this special formulated cream, you will become Hollywood beauty at once”.

If such claim has any substance, all the population in the world should be the Holly Man now

and never had war or mass killing.  And the Amazon natives who said to have “Vision” by the

hallucinogenic  chemicals from the magic vine,  shouldn’t have marginalised.

I never hard any positive contribution from the Vision made by drugged brain or the people. (Have you ?)

Russian government had spent millions of  money to research those Para-normal power for

military, espionage purposes without single positive result.

Yet still, everybody knows something is still there and I too believe now. (with my 8150 story)

Though, the trouble is they are beyond the human control.  We can not resort it to the intentional purpose.

( I still couldn’t figured out how my parents could able to predict somebody’s fate, and what is behind of

Chinese I-Chin)

Yet still, the Power over there, what Buddhists calls Dharma is active and makes no mistake.

This is my understanding,  some may calls it my belief and religion.

So, What ?

What is BUDDHISM (2)

Belief system is a peculiar existence.   As the word, System imply,  it is a huge complexed  system of the

abstract  Idea.   Since,  it consists hundreds of thousands of lines of program,  it is hard to comprehend in

short summary or clear image.  So that when new comer or young person was interested in to know or

join, the person was attracted by the so-called beneficial effects or most likely the false image.

As a social phenomenon,  its out look or proclaimed form and reality is never the same.

————————-

Under the name of love / Christianity,  how many war and mass killings were happened,  and  25 years

long  Sri Lankan war against the cyanide capsule carrying Tamil Tiger fighter was fought by the supposedly

peace and calm loving Buddhists, not mention about the so-called  Muslim terrorists.

As a nature of ideological notion,  people who believe and practice its religion always say ” Oh, it wae

done by not real believer,  we never justify killing ” —— exactly same as ” Oh, it was not real Communism “.

Ideal  *****ism  is always somewhere beyond,  yet still the people who practicing it

always says ” I’m a true believer”  with formidable authority in his face.  😀

————————-

After 30 odd years  ? ? ?,  still I’m not sure how much I learned about Buddhism,

if  there are any at all. ———- Fundamentally,  is it Buddhism ?   Who said so ?

If there is the BUDDHISM in the World,  show me.  I want to see it.  ( I’m not talking about

a Mandala poster which you can buy in the Camden Market £5 or twisted leg sitting etc /  The Form )

——————————–

Long time ago, a Master of Aiki-do,  Mike of Watford  said ” Oh, you got very strong Chi ” —— though,

I was just toppled by him after 10 minutes stalemate.   Yet,  I have no idea what the Chi is —– if it is there

at all,  it’s there as a part of me ( without my permission  😀  —– as I’m not practicing  Martial Art ,  if it

looks like Martial Art it is a misconception, it is just the way how I move )

Same as this,  it seems  I’m living in Mushin,  all the daily chores  were carried out almost automatic,

some time I feel a  De-ja-bu  ” Waite a second, haven’t I done this already ? ”  I’m not aware the Mushin.

So,  I have no idea,  is this practice of  Mushin is anything to do with a kind of good luck, such as I don’t get

ill (after 35 years live in this country,  I still don’t have registered doctor ) or if I need to go somewhere,

it is always blue sky ( may be I don’t go out if it is rain.  Ha ha ha  😀  —— ask Dorkbot or Space Hijackers

people about this phenomena ,  yet it might have been just a coincidence ).

So,  neither  I have any idea,  whether  Buddhism  is anything to do with those phenomena which

I described as 8150 story.   Is it a part of Buddhism ?   Or am I just a nut.

( Still I would say if it is a part of Buddhism,  it is not too bad to see the guidance is visibly posted )

———- As  I didn’t know such things could be there, as I never read nor no one told me before.

So,  I’m anxious to hear from the person  ( Master ? ) who knows all about Buddhism and

Enlightened say how the Dharma appears on front of us or it should be.

( Though,  I suspect,  there is no such things like an Enlightenment,  that’s why it is Dog Sit )

And this is why, what Buddha taught was so grate and power full ——- there is nothing to

think (nor teach) about,  just do and live.

TalkTalk

Life as a Zenist is not a guaranty to be trouble-free.    To do anything we may stumble trouble.

As I’m making kinetic sculpture I needed to capture  moving image, video clip ( I’ve put them into Youtube /

Kinetorori, was just  byproduct )   So, I needed to edit or convert the video signal with new program or

downloaded  program etc, by which my PC was pushed into hyper clock speed etc etc.

Then the PC started to malfunction, converting unknown video signal behind the other task —— ? ? ?

In the same time my broadband connection  ( which has been getting poorer performance ) was stopped.

I thought my PC was corrupted.  So, I tried everything,  re-loaded program or restore the program by

setting to the back dated state, etc etc ——–.

On the end I bought a new laptop with hefty cost.  😀  ( This was much more a comedy than an angry situation

—— how miserable the life in the techno society is ) ——- Then I discovered the trouble of net connection is

still there, its mean it has been caused by the broadband provider TalkTalk.  ( They looks cheap though, with

hidden charge of paper billing,  it become nothing cheaper at all )

To solve the problem,  it took two days phone calls costed me £20,  while making strange access to the

program and administrative setting myself etc ( Why they can’t do this with their set-up CD-Rom ?   Wasn’t

this what I paid for them to set-up on the beginning  ? )

———————

I remember the words of adventure journalist  Katsuich Honda who made amazing reports in 60th, 70th from

remote corner of the earth, saying  ” People accusing us risking the accidents though, if anyone want

to have no accident,  stay in their bed.  The one who does nothing wouldn’t cause any accident “.

Yet, stay in the bed may causes bed-sore.  Do anything may invite the trouble though, this is what  the life is.

To deal with recent trouble,  I learned a lot.   To restore and recover the previous setting by going  back-dated

state and undo it ( back again to present date ),  unauthorized ( by Microsoft ) program also disappear etc.

—————- Still, on the end,  I got one more lap-top which I may use only for the image processing .

( to see and say bright side 😀  )

The beauty to be a Zenist is, we can see even ourselves with detached eyes and think

” Oh, poor Yoshizen, what a hustle you are having,  but why not try this way ?” ——-We can not be drowned

by a flush-flood but might be able to do surfing on its torrent. ——– Really ?   Ha ha ha  😀