Aluminium-Panel Sculptures / Suppon-pon and O-Shiri

Even though many people still looking for the Dragon image, I rather like to put much more

warm-blooded human-like figure of which I just found an old photo of them when they were made.

( In fact, I’m getting bored with the Dragon images which has been requested by the readers. 😀 )

If you object its part of anatomies = it’s a sign of your mind has been stacked with it = it’s all

in your mind = relax, take easy and have a fun-loving mind, instead.   After all, it’s just a dented

aluminium panel, isn’t it ? —– Nothing more than that, and harmless.    Ha ha ha.  😀

In fact, Full-frontal figure named [Suppon-pon] (after Japanese slang) above was a challenge, how

simple drink can sculpture can be made realistic figure,  and the right, named [O-shiri] was made as

a kinetic sculpture which wobbles its bottom with motorized mechanism, though within a day, its metal

cracked and broken = it needs to be made by the good spring steel with a proper heat process.

Because, the matter in the Zen is, a Zen practice on practice ! —– Let’s Just Do It !

How Zen it is, you will see.  (and see the fun)

I’ve been telling the people, who asked me how those aluminium figures were made = I made them

by just pressing a thin metal, like Shiatsu. ( but, quite laborious endless pressing =

hence, it was a Zen practice ! ) as you can see the photos above, they were just a drink can.

Simply, if a thin metal was pressed, metal will be bent = to cut and bend the metal piece to a shape

wanted is, what all about the aluminium panel sculpture.

If you like to make it as a nude figure, make its shape as a nude figure, as simple as that.

So, when you got flat metal out of drink can, place it on a half soft surface and press it with something

round tipped stick or your finger = you can have  the effect. ( = here, you will see the result of

pressure = how unmistakably correct,  the Buddhism teachings are.   😀 😀 )

If the base was too soft, metal may not be bent but just sink all together. You need to try and find the

best suited material = I found, a cork place-mat has right softness. (and a Telephone book as well !)

The size of a round tipped stick to push the metal panel may need to have several different sizes

—– here the photo of the use of the tool I’ve improvised and made for this purpose.

Observe and use your common-sense and try and try again.  The solution can only be found by doing.

Thinking makes no result, but only the action does.   And only the result counts.

If the resulting shape was not what you wanted = make it from the scratch again (and again).

If you run-out of a can, you don’t need to drink another beer = look around the street, you will find

another can  (can be tons of them.   😀 )

(Obviously, this practice (Art ?) cost nothing = Zen and Spirituality is absolutely incompatible with money)

The more you try, the result you get will be the better.  Don’t be impatient.  And keep doing.

Just sweep the garden, Churi-pantak (Shuri-bantoku) needed 10 years of practice to get it perfect.

In fact, behind of my pieces (as the best so far, in the photo) I’ve made many failures which I’m not

showing to you. 😀 —– It was just a process to get it right = might be called as a Pathway.

To get the best out of one’s life is what the Buddhism was intended for, 

not for sitting idol and talking empty mambo-jumbo.

The tools had its own history of the evolution = from a round bottom of Fizzy drink CO2 Gas bomb

to a Bearing’s ball mounted shaft (for smoother fine movement).   And, the roller disks which would

make furrow or smooth curved line.  Utilize anything with the creative approach.

The better designed tool would give easier work and the better result.

—– Of cause, I know you would say “What all those fuss for ?”— nothing.    What’s wrong ?

Do you think, Do I needed to have a purpose,  such as to become famous and rich with those works ?

Oh, c’mon.  Don’t be greedy.  It’s just a beer can. = Utterly useless things.    ( Priceless ?  😀  )

I wouldn’t ask another technician to make Diamond studded Skull for greedy money-making scheme =

In here, to make it or its effort itself was the purpose.  Therefore, I’m making

everything myself, for myself.  = (Selfish ? —– I don’t think so.  I’m just dealing with this piece, which

is nothing to do with anybody else.  I was just seeing this piece of metal getting its own shape. = work for

something purposeless  for the sake of its own sake, is nothing but the selfless act = Act for act.

So, this is my Zen.   ( If you couldn’t understand why this is the Zen, think why

Master Boddhi Dharma opened Shaolin-Temple using martial art as a teaching tool,

and why the Tea-making is a Zen. —– Convinced  ? )

___/\___

—

ZEN in Car Accident

A person who read previous post made me a question, saying

“How detached, emotionless mind can be compassionate in the same time ?”

“As I said, you can not understand it because you are thinking while you are sitting”

[]

—– away from the situation, not on the MOMENT, and thinking = brain is in the pure

thinking mode = all the data and the notion is just borrowed data from the memory bank.

Therefore, everything is individual abstract data = having no reality or its real connection =

in other words, they don’t have its entirety.   This is the limit of its ability of the THINKING.

[]

We human invented the tool, language for the convenience of the expression, communication

and for thinking process.    And each word is the representation of each categorized notion.

A word RED represents million of reddish color hue in one notion.

To explain Orange (color), we may say “It’s the color between Red and Yellow” eventhough, there are

million of different Orange.   (Still pretty simple and convenient isn’t it  🙂  )

But when it is more complicated and vague notions such as Detachment  or  Compassion, they are just

conveniently made-up notions and the words.   What is Detached, how far is Detached —– ? ? ?

Actually they are not more than a kind of metaphor to describe a kind of state of the mind.

That’s why, it is impossible to describe precisely a state of the mind in words.

[]

A man who had run into  34 cars pile-up on the M5 accident, described the situation

“When I saw the situation, it was an autopilot. I jumped out to help the other people.

A woman in a crushed car asked “My baby, my baby, take my baby”  I took the baby out”

In the pile-up, other cars, petrol tanker are on fire,  he himself could be in danger too .

Even another car may further crushed into his car —– yet,

regardless of such consideration (consideration itself may not there in that moment) he just

acted what he needed to do. —– (did he needed ? —– didn’t he needed just run away for safety ?)

How he knew what to do ? —– Was he a fire brigade and familiar with car accident ? —– I don’t think so.

[]

Suddenly involved in a car pile-up, fire, explosion, still not overwhelmed by its horror and fear

of own life, able to grasp the situation is nothing but the [Selfless], [Detached Eyes and the Mind].

And this very detached eyes saw the urgent needs of the other people, hence, he acted “autopilot”.

This was certainly the manifestation of the [Mushin].

And as he is a human, he instinctively knew what he got to do, and he did it in his best

in fully minded concentration = [Mindfulness].

This is what Buddhist call manifestation of the [Dharma and its wisdom].

In fact, there was only one mind. = All those selflessness, detached mind, mushin, mindfulness are only the

different aspects of the same mind = actually there was No-Mind = only the Dharma was.

Compassion was not from his emotion, but the Dharma’s expression.   Dharma autopilot him.

[]

I don’t think this man was a Buddhist. —– But this is the real virtue and its universality of the Dharma.

Everybody (Buddhist or not) is a part of the Dharma, everybody is having the nature like him.

Buddha saw this fact, and found the way and the practice to develop this nature to apply all

aspects of the life.  (not only in a situation like an accident or disaster —– still, it works best in such

moment, that’s why Zen asks the mind-set to face the situation,  “as if it is the moment of life or death” )

[]

( In reality,  we are sensing far more information on the spot,  far more than any AI program able to anticipate,

without having any signal compression or abstract categorization = RAW data from all the sensors in the body.

With those moment to moment, up to date information,  we are assessing,  judging what to do —– but all

done in the subconscious level = which we call the spontaneous response.

Because of this process is invisible,  and the RAW data containes even genetically inherited ancient information,

Buddha attributed this supreme process to also invisible Dharma. )

[]

—– So, this post clarified how detachment and compassion are in the same mind in the same time.

And it must be clear, it couldn’t be understood while you are sitting.    (When you are sitting, you can deal

with the matter of sitting —– this is what [Live in the Moment] mean.)

( Convinced ? 🙂 )

___/\___

—

Change PATHWAY ???

I’ve received rather heavy question as a comment on [Tiny Comment] post,

which said;

>>> I’m now at a crossroads in my working life. I work with disabled people (for some reason

I seem to work with blind and visually impaired) showing them ICT skills to communicate

with computers across the internet. As you know I also am an artist. Neither is making me a

living, but I find I cannot go back to cleaning toilets and doing basic manual work. Can I be

mindful and find my path again? Something (I do not know what, maybe slight sadness) tells

me I may need to change path completely…

[]

As a matter of fact I know this man many years as I’ve seen him everywhere, Art events, Computer events and

he is a friend of lots of my friends as well, yet ever knowing his full name or profession.

Hence, I gave him a nick name [Paul the Ubiquitous] in my diary 😀

In my notorious one glance, he was seen as a man of very wide faculty and extrovert, going round a lots

—– adrenaline driven very active person —– in other words, knowing a lots, but because the information

he has to deal with in his brain is so much, not necessary had a time to know a direction or who he is, yet

without knowing direction still able to proceed like a bulldozer, it often go against the other’s grain.

Life wouldn’t be smooth and sweet.

(The line between confidence and arrogance, active and pushy are very thin, but fundamental trouble is that

the [man of confidence] couldn’t guess the mind of the [man of no-confidence], such as even a use of technical

term or talking speed, often it is hard to follow the speed of brain of the [man of confidence] :-D)

[]

In the quote above, he said [change the path] —– I hope he is not mixing it up with

the so-called [Pathway] in the Buddhism.

In fact, it is not him, generally most of the people who was interested in the Buddhism having

a misunderstanding that the [Pathway] is the special process in the Buddhism study. —– Far

from it, it is the LIFE itself.    There is no double life or short cut  even in a Buddhist’s life.

Life is total and only one to a person, and it is the very  Pathway.  ( What makes the dairy life

into so-called Pathway is, how the person could find the core reality out of the mundane occurrences =

some may grasp the truth of whole life in one fallen leaf = it’s called direct transmission in Buddhism)

[]

While having a ruthless life to chase own greed, there is no redemption by the 10 minutes meditation in the

evening or some donation to the temple.  His life itself is not compatible with the Buddhism = the person is

taking a pathway of the greed = Karma follows accordingly.

( though, in Zen, as it follows Mahayana tradition, there is slightly different understanding that a part of the life,

such as [ruthless activity] can still have highest efficiency in Zen —– yet, overall repercussion of the Karma

comes from its totality of the life.  I don’t think the Supreme Sword Master Musashi got any regret when he died.

But I don’t think he needed to have, let alone wished to have Nirvana = He lived and died as a

man of the Sword = It was the Zen contemplation)

[]

So, the question is, whether [Paul the Ubiquitous] need to change his path (direction) —– ?

My view is, as he is living in the environment to deal with ICT, and blind people many years already, he must

have all the expertise, knows resources, possibilities, limitations, it is already his part of the life.

What he needs more is to open the eyes to see what he can do to those blind people —– find a new approach,

better technology to solve the problem.  Somebody in unique environment or position is, often because of

he was needed to be there —– could be a Karma.

Though, to fill the duty in the Karma, it needs to work hard = mindfulness mean the objective is only one,

don’t expect anything else, such as good business or fame.   ( let alone nice woman 😀 )

Being also as an artist mean, he must have an idea of unconventional approach = idea of pretty new device.

He could be an inventor as well.  Provided, he must know, he is an able person = He need to hear and

feel what blind and impaired people is feeling = the mind to hear and to know the other’s mind.

Buddhist’s listening ears and the compassion, above all clear open mind would be essential.

When the idea developed concrete, apply a grant etc to develop further. As the demography is changing,

this field having a priority in the society.    Believe your task and the duty in full.

Good luck.

___/\___

—

Quote of Guess Who ?

[ When you are a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers,  you are not going to use

a piece of plywood on the back,  even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it.

You will know it’s there,  so you are going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back.

For you to sleep well at night,  the aesthetic,  the quality,  has to be carried all through.]

n

[ Your time is limited,  so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

Don’t be trapped by dogma —– which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.

Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions down out your own inner voice. 

And most important, have the courage to follow heart and intuition. 

They somehow already what you truly want to become.

Everything else is secondary. ]

—– If you are familiar with Zenist’s word,  it may sound one of them.

Or if you are an artist,  it sounds somebody,  accomplished Japanese craftsman’s words.

n

They are the words of  Steve Jobs’ who just left this world.

On the first glance,  I couldn’t  imagine that this is the words of  Steve Jobs’ but somebody a Japanese Zenist.

Then I learned that when he was young, he was a fanatic of the Japanese culture, especially Zen.  (He married to his wife through the Bhddist ceremony)

From those words,  I guess,  it might have formed his base of the psyche to be a creator, as his

words are typical expression of mindfulness and showed the confidence to be a free minded person.

Steve Jobs learned his Zen from Soto-Zen Master Kobun Otokawa through Walking Zen Practice —– he was

made to walk round a rock,  endlessly round and round and round —– and he mastered the Mushin.

non

When he conceived his first gadget business ( iPod ), he knew what makes the product as a desired object,

learned from the Japanese products, especially such as Sony’s Walkman and their CD player = down to the

minute detail of craftsmanship ( [ use beautiful wood, where no one would see ] kind 🙂 ) not only the sound

quality = hence it can sell with a premium price.  Yet still, if the gadget is a electromechanical product

he knew, he may not able to compete with Sony,  though the time was his side = end of  the mechanical era.

Digital sound technology has been established long since.  So that the matter was only the size of  memory.

Luckily for him, the size of memory was increasing every day, the price was dropping day by day.

So, he was able to produce beautifully made iPod, with new recording format of  MP3.

non

Unlike mechanical system ( if you remember, think the battle of U-Matic and VHS video system ), digital

electronic system is very easy to design a distinctive own format just using a  key-board, which can still be

copy-righted = hence Apple could easily establish the monopoly of  MP3 and easily organize monopolized

Music distribution / download system using Internet.  Everything was there for him to utilize.

n

—– One episode of him to enforce this view was, when he visited Japan last year in summer, stayed at

Kyoto,  he bought Ninja throwing knife, and on return journey,  it caused a trouble with Kansai Airport

security who confiscated it.  Mr. Jobs who was going to fly by his private jet argued with the officials saying

” Who is going to hijack my own aircraft ? ”  😀

Peace for his departed soul.

___/\___

n

Simple LIFE / Humble LIFE

Simple life —– well well well. I’m well aware that I’ve been using this word rather casually and often.

After all, Zen Buddhism is not what we talk or think, but practice.

So, in practice am I having simple life ? ? ? —- In one glance, it is untrue.

I’m doing too many things and being involved too many activities —– often not necessary they

are what I’ve intended.  They just happened and came to my hand.

But, this is the most important core teaching in the ZEN.

When I do anything I only do one thing ( at a time ) = because of I’m doing only one thing,

it is very simple.   Just Do It.

non

Then Humble Life —– ?   This is definitely true on me.    Anyone can see it in distance.

May be indistinguishable from a vagrant.   Far remote of any concept of fashion, still strangely people says,

they can find me in the cloud easily since I’m looks always the same 😀

A secret behind of this, I’m buying the same cloths, some time many at once —– my signature attire of

white pullover, I got almost identical 5 of them.

When I buy underwear or socks kind, I buy many of them in one go, or after gave a close look and when

I found it is a good product, I go back to the shop and buy up many of them.

Like the socks, if they are all same made, I don’t need to have a trouble to find a matching pair 😀

After all, I’m lazy to think what to ware ( I don’t care the package, the matter is the contents ) —– if

the package is the same, I don’t need to think about when I put.   It’s true isn’t it ?

Laziness lead to the simplicity.     This is what the humble life become simple life. Ha ha ha. 😀

non

While having much enough to think about for a project or design, I wouldn’t like to spare the time to

mundane things —– sorry I wouldn’t pay much of attention to the room decoration.

Zen wouldn’t chase two rabbits, since we got only one life.   ( And we don’t wait to have another

life to finish the project —– as nobody ever did = nobody ever enlightened in the next life, 

since no such things ever exists in this world —– even Dalai Lama had to learn the Buddhism

from scratch = where all the wisdom supposed to be accumulated in his previous 13 lives ? )

So, Just Do It,  while it is in your hand.

___/\___

non

Bowl of Water Zen

When I was talking about Zen practice with others, someone mentioned a BBC news which

showed a group of Chinese Zen monks are walking while carrying a bowl of water

as their Zen practice. —– “ Oh, what a good idea. It’s a good practice to learn Zen Mind “

—

( It’s easy to try this.  Fill the water to the top of bowl about 8″  big and holding it to your chest high and walk.

By doing this,  you can observe your state of the mind,  how steady and calm your mind is.

Strangely you may find,  the more you concentrate and gaze the water the more it shakes  😀

—– when your mind is almost detouched from the water or whole action,  then the water become still and

make no drip while you are walking —- then you can fill even more water reaching to the edge.  It’s a fun !)

non

In this blog, I’ve been talking that any action could be a Zen practice, hence in one post I talked about

[Lemon Zen] and the other post, [Walking Zen] in fact I also mentioned about the effects of even riding

a bicycle or typing —– any repeating action could have the same effect to reach

a state of the Mind of No-Mind or Mushin.

non

In fact everybody is doing the action of walking in Mushin = nobody is thinking when and how to move

the right leg after left leg has moved. —– It’s all done unconsciously.

So that, the practice of Mushin ( and the Mindfulness of cause — if a part of the brain is not fully engaged

for the walking, we can not automatically adjust the leg movement following the slight change of a condition

of the road surface) is not necessary an exotic funny action.

non

Then inevitable question arose —– if the walking is the practice of Mushin which everybody is doing,

why not everybody is an accomplished  Zen Master.

Here is a funny but fundamental paradox of the Zen Buddhism.   When the Mushin in walking is the

Zen, it is the Zen. —– but otherwise it is just an unconscious action of walking.

non

Buddha didn’t perform any fancy or peculiar action. It was just a simple ordinary daily life, yet

as it was repeated every day, each action was almost identical every time.

This simplified and fixed way of each practice is the requisite condition of [the Life in Mushin].

Buddha’s life style was the text-book and the disciples were learned and copied those action, and in the process,

disciples learned the Mushin ( or the state of the No-Mind  was developed  in them).

non

Because of the state of the mind can not be learned by the word, but only by the practice ( like any

emotion,  unless a person has experienced it,  the description of feeling couldn’t make any sense )

and this is the reason why non of the ancient scripture was actually talking about No-Mind, but only No-Self.

( No-Self = No-Mind —– still able to live as a person is because there is the enough program in our

Subconsciousness which is invisible —– like what I am talking here, is a new interpretation after Freud invented

a notion of  Subconscious = which was not exists in the ancient time )

non

And there is yet another paradox in the Buddhism.

To live the Life in Mushin is what all about the Buddhism though, no-mind, no thinking, BUT unless it

was  understood as the Buddhism,  it wouldn’t become the Buddhism.

Anybody can carry a full of water in a bowl, and time to time the one may need to do it.   Just carry a cup of tea

happen to be full to the edge, from kitchen to a table —– some may succeed it while making no single drip, yet

some may make a mess.  What makes a difference ?

Calm mind, hence a steady hand is the crucial point here = a kind of thought “ Oh, I’ve put

too much. I’m silly. I would spill a mess on the floor. etc. “ would make a hand even more

wobbly and the tea would drip here and there   😀

non

A person can practice this and acquire better coordination on the hand, so that it will be programmed into

the motor legion of the brain and may become a routine movement.   But, that all.

BUT, if a person practised this, under a file name of the Zen Buddhism, the file become

accessible in any moment when it need to have a calm mind in your life.

Carrying a full of water as Zen, it become the Zen with its effects.

Once a person acquired this file with the attachment of the notion of Zen and its spiritual implication,

the file would be applied to any action and any situation in the Life, hence, walking is the Zen, cutting a lemon

is the Zen, and even facing Tsunami Wave could be handled in a calm mind and able to act in the best way

or see the fate with calm clear eyes.   (Sorry to the victims of Tsunami)

With this Paradox ( has to live without thoughts, preconception etc, still needs to organize its notion of

Mushin as the practice of Zen Buddhism) Buddha has asserted “ There is the way, which is to be

pursued as the way of Buddhism “ since in his earliest teachings as one of the Four Noble Truth.

non

This notion makes the difference between Mushin to just to be an ignorant thoughtless.

Though, the notion itself is nothing complicated = just to be aware [to carry a bowl of water is for Zen]

—– with this awareness, just Do It and keep doing it —– then suddenly you will find that you can do it without

spilling a single drip of water, and realized while doing it you didn’t need to think anything = Just Did It !

———-

Then observe yourself, while doing even other things, are you just doing it as well, without having any

useless thought ? (You may achieve this in few weeks or may be taking few years. Just carry on. —– then you

might be noticed, you have been having no upheaval in your life and strangely, quite unexpected

or too good to be true kind of coincidences has been happening, yet no one can tell why

—– Just carry on with your LIFE without questioning. ) —–This is a Zen Buddhist’s LIFE.

___/\___

—

Future Cinema in Dockland

Last weekend,  there was a cinema event in the Dockland,  near Canary Warf.

My friends in the production team of the organizer Future Cinema  invited me to see it. 

As it was setup in the theme of Holy Wood films it must be a fun.

Lots of audience ( participant ? ) came with their guise of film character.  A cute girl, said to be 11 years old

attracted the eyes of the others — A guy in commando style asked her ” You are under-age girl aren’t you ?”

” Under-age for what ?  I’m not here for sex or drink.  Ha ha ha ”

They are my friend Francesco / stage designer’s gang / DJ,  Audio engineer etc etc.

—– thanks goodness,  they are pretty decent people.  (so far)

In fact,  it is a party —– have a good time,  booze,  chattering —– film screening was just a pretext.

So, —– What’s wrong ?

And this is the pretext = film screening —– though,  I don’t care the film whether the Boy was

lost or not —– anyhow it is just a film,  not in reality.  (sorry about  😀  )

I was more interested in the huge 35mm film projector.

As everybody has seen the same film before,  we went to a bumpy-car ride.  It was much more fun.

( Especially for the people of [the Italian Drive] )

Then took a merry-go-round,  round and round, round.   It is the tendency of the creative people,  they

are the hyper-active jokey people (in another word naughty) —– thanks goodness they were not drunk.

So,  it was a fun-full day (and evening  🙂  )

Peace  !  ( Yes, in deed )

—-

Equipments used here :  Canon 5D  Mk-2  /  Nikon Fish-eye Lens 16mm f3.5   /  Pentax  15mm f3.5

Manual focus with F-aperture Priority ( AV ) setting ( with exposure compensation)

—

Passiveness – Active Conviction – KARMA

While talking with a person I met only second time and discussing about his project

which I may give a help. —–

non

“I just giving you a help since I think there was a Karma behind of this encounter.

No other reason”

( The reason why I needed to say this, is because of a lot of cases people mistook “ There must be a hidden

intention” —– Don’t make me laugh.   Dubious relation would bring much more risqué )

It’s mean it is just a passive reaction = If it was in the Karma, it is the absolute = no choice.

Eventhough,  giving a help, sometime having quite a complicated heavy task = the work

required serious concentration = so-called Mindfulness —– it needs to have quite heavy

commitment = active involvement )

non

It is obvious, even if it started seemingly by chance = passive, it end-up with quite active involvement.

—– This is the inherent paradox in Zen Buddhism.

You are born to this world without your consent or choice at all.  Absolutely non.  This is the Karma.

So that you are absolutely passive and no escape.

Yet still, once you are up on the ring = You got to fight with your full force.

This is the FUNDAMENTAL  NATURE of the LIFE.

Buddha did simply pointed out this fact.

non

Buddhism is not his invention.   It is the TRUTH which is always there though,  we simply don’t want to

face straight.   That’s all.

When Buddha saw this Truth straight, he noticed that knowingly live with this Truth, the Life

would be much lighter as it doesn’t carry heavy burden of ignorant expectation or delusion.

Four Noble Truth in the Buddhism Teachings which was taught since his earliest teaching is,

all about this Truth.

Then Buddha taught further into the mechanism of how Karma and the Dharma works.

non

Strange myth of the Buddhist is that they are peaceful people hence, passive and soft touch.

It is wrong.   If the life is just for passiveness, there couldn’t be any achievement = just random

momentary this and that.

Karma comes not by chance —– it shows direction,  that is why it is Karma.

You got to embrace the Karma in its full extent. ( But without the ego which was emanated from inside

of yourself —– Karma comes somewhere else,  Ego boreout of yourself  )

non

If the universe is only following The Law of Entropy, everything  (in fact even a thing couldn’t be existed in

the first place ) was just dispersed and only the space of nothing has expanded.

But there was the Gravity ( don’t ask me where it came from —– even a top scientist doesn’t know) which

configured the energy into the matter, then more and more matters created the particle, and more particles

into as the atom, then even larger heavier atoms —–> and so on.

The direction of creation created the Lifeforms on the end.

This system of the Rules is the Dharma.

To create something, it needs to DO.

non

When you DO, you got to do —– otherwise nothing would happen, nothing would be achieved.

It got to be highly active process.

Be an active Buddhist.   Don’t be just sitting there    😀

___/\___

—

Tiny LIFE

( What I casually called Mayfly here was in fact  Green lacewing /  Chrisopidae )

Some days ago, short floss like thing standing on the edge of the book, caught my eyes ? ? ?

At second glance, I realized, it was an egg of the Mayfly.   Then I remembered a

Mayfly was flapping around the table lamp a night or two before. = so,  she laid an egg ! ?

While looking around —– I found four more  those eggs

here and there. —–  And I found a dead Mayfly too.

—– M m m m # ? # ?.  What a hell ! What should I do ? ? ?

non

I don’t like it. Absolutely not welcome at all.

Even if those eggs hatched, there is no food for its larvae

—– simply I can’t take care of them.

—– and if I pick and throw them out, the eggs will be

eaten by other small creepy crawlies.

—– In any choice, those small life would be doomed —– isn’t there any alternative ? ? ?

non

So that I decided to take picture of them = at least, Mayfly could contribute something to

the world —– ( really ? —– for what extent ? ) —– Don’t ask me,  it’s a sheer excuse.

But, to take picture of such minute subject is not easy. As my macro photo system has been

disappeared somewhere I decided to make it using cheap Chinese Micro-scope Lens.

( Using wide-angle lens with reverse adopter could make large magnification though its big

shoulder prevent to access small corner to take picture of this kind of fixed object )

So, I wound a wire around the screw mount of the microscope lens (and partly soldered / Photo above left )

then glued this ring on top of a splay can which happen to have suitable diameter ( Photo, middle ) and

put LED focus light —– here the Macro Photo Adopter for Canon EOS.

( can was mounted on a Canon body cap —– with a cut-out hole in the middle, of cause 🙂 )

What a hustle you might say. Yes it was a hustle in deed. To holding a wire ring in the dead centre

of a mouth of can while keeping it exactly parallel (well, sort of 🙂 ) and filling the 2.3 mm gap around

of it, using Araldite glue etc. etc,  a  lots of work.

non

But don’t forget the life of a small Mayfly —– she unfortunately end-up her life in this room though,

at least she did her best,  surviving few days without drinking any water (may be — I know not) and

laid the eggs which was her duty in her life.

At least, I have to respond to the encounter with this life —– it is the duty to be a Buddhist.

Squeezing the brain and find the way to solve the technical difficulties and achieve ( at least in the

acceptable standard 🙂 ) the necessary objective —– is the Zen ( in action ).

This is what I’ve been saying “ Do It “ not wasting the time thinking.

—– Um m, the result seems not too bad. ( I think —– for an almost cost nothing hand-made device 😀 )

( Quality of the images is not as good as Zeiss apo-chromat lens I used to use, but think about the price 😀 )

___/\___

PS :  The stem or egg supporting rod (?) is nothing but a wonder of the nature.  How the secluded liquid

—– can instantly harden and able to hold the egg on top. —– If anybody know the scientific research of

—– this,  please let me know.  (Incidentally, the rainbow color on top photo was created by the optical

—– diffraction of the transparent membrane of the wing. —– it’s mean, the thickness of this film is as thin

—– as a wave length of the light ! — isn’t this incredible ?   Man’s technology is still behind of the nature )

PPS ;  After many years of  having had their visit here, this year I came to the resolution, how to deal with

—— them.  = When ever I saw them flying under the light, catch them and throw them out of window.

—— Watching them fly or take rest on somewhere —– might be amazing or interesting and giving a water

—— or piece of fruits etc. may seems to be an act of friendship or what so ever.  IT IS our arrogance

—— and on the end, it would do nothing good to them.  They don’t belong to this room and there is no

—— prospect for them to have their fruitful life here.   Throw them out where they belong = NATURE.

—— It is the most kind and friendly things we can do to them.

It is often the case, without giving a help and leave a person in their own device could be

the most kind things to do to the person’s life.  

—

Mindfulness – Mushin – ICHIJO

In past ten days, there were quite a bit of talking with my friends and they gave me a suggestion, that

a part of the script in my last post seems to be the most simplest but crucial explanation

of the Zen Mind, and said, having those few lines of explanation, half of my blog would

become redundant.

Great ! Thank you very much —– should I feel grateful or sad ? ? ?

( Anyhow, this blog is the ongoing report of the DIY ZEN, try to figure it out and see its notion in

a perspective = its got to have a progress and the refinement )

—– so, the following is the notorious script;

non

——————

In metaphor, Mindfulness is to eliminates all another thoughts —– say, when you got to

do [A],  to eliminates any thoughts other than about [A] is Mindfulness.

Then eliminates the very thought about [A] is the Mushin. ==> While doing [A], if no thought

is there at all, how the job [A] can be done = it is done by the Dharma.

Therefore, it is far better than “Done by yourSelf ”   ! ! !

( Quite convincing isn’t it ?    )

non

—– It seems that instead to use two words,  it is better to use one word Ichijo.

(Oneness = a mind and a subject are fused together as one Dharma,  hence the Self and the

subject itself are no longer exists as the separate entity, or seen to be exist) —– therefore,

the matter of whether one’s mind is there or not (about Mushin) or the subject which needs

to be fully concentrated (So-called Mindfulness ) is there or not, all become irrelevant.

( May be the first person who translated the notion of Zen into English didn’t know what the Zen really mean

—– good in English doesn’t necessary mean having good understanding in Zen   )

non

It’s true, in the notion of ICHIJO,  all the teachings of Zen resolved into

an infinity of the DHARMA.

The best of all, it is cheaper to practice only one ICHIJO, instead of Mushin, Mindfulness and Meditation.

—– you can get all three in one practice of DOING anything. — Ha ha ha, it’s suits to a humble man  

—– And this is exactly what the Dharma mean.— Totality is the Dharma.

___/\___

non

PS :  In the above script  [when you go to do [A], ] = this DO mean actual action not a meditation.

—– As I’ve been saying [ Just Do ] from the beginning,  Zen effect only comes with ACTION,  because

—– it is coincided with the seclusion of a neurohormone Selotonin which gives the contented feeling

—– and calm your mind down. —– This is the reason why, all the Buddhism practice is a simple

—– repeating action. —– Once anyone master this,  then the same technique can be applied to

—– any action or no-action alike = Being contended in calm while do nothing  😀     Peace !

non