8150 — Ha-I-Go-Rey 背後霊(?) again!

To renew my passport, I went to the Japanese Consulate and

obtained an application form. — M m m  m !   Gosh, 8150 again.

This number is like Big Brother, where ever I go, it’s follows me,

or stalks me. =  It might be Guardian Angel

or the Guardian Spirit Behind as the word Haigorey mean.

Maybe, that’s why I don’t get ill or accident.

But, I couldn’t see a point for this = why for this time, what for ?

My Guardian may telling me “Be careful with this business” or 

gave me an alert “It would have a heavy implication”.

Otherwise  just reminded me “I’m still here, watching you”.

(Expecting to give me a piece of mind — or irritation  ? ? ? )

—– the Consulate’s staff just picked a form and gave it to me =

so the serial number happen to be 518A6  must be purely random.

— Still the Question or problem is, why always this number comes ?

Who choreographed those coincidences = who is “WHO”  Is it the

Karma or the Heaven/Dharma. ( —– otherwise, who could able to

foresee where I go next or what I pick-up next.)

— It’s definitely there, such as this IS actuary happening.   Same as

the existence of Gravity.  You can see it exists but nobody know WHY ?

Or is it still in my imagination ? = See, what happen next.

(So far nothing serious happened to myself (= nothing mean

good news ) but in somewhere, without me seeing (I noticed it

much later), such as someone was bankrupted or suddenly died

though whether it was because of the trouble with me or was it

just their own fate — I could only speculate.)  Anyway, I can’t test

it — What IF the course was different. = If the man didn’t betrayed

me, could he still be alive?   Or he died anyway with his own fate ?

Life is only once = never able to repeat it in different way.

And when mistake was made, has to pick-up its fruits. = no escape.

This is what the Cause and the Consequence really mean.

And, I don’t know how to ask “Stop 8150” to the Karma !

(So, I can’t test without it’s intervention = IF not —)

I’m doing what I need to do — and the Karma might be just

removing the obstacle on my pathway.    I should be Grateful,

Lord Buddha IS walking with me. ( — I dare say. If I may.)

___/\___

PS : You might think it is a

very special heavy occurrence

though, in fact it is casually

happening almost everyday.

Photo left was a number on the

letter I received few days ago.

PPS : Now I became aware why there was a warning on the passport

business = it seems heckle a lot of trouble ahead = to receive my family

registration certificate from Japan, there is no way to send its fee,

because the International Reply Coupon is no longer available in UK.

— still,they insists it is the only mean we have to use.

— how can we ?    It’s no longer exists here.

So, I needed to make a lots of Email exchange with Japanese officials 

of which even a received time of the Email was 0815 !   😦

[]

 

Fate and the Mentality

Few days ago in Japan, one of the busy commuter train breakdown due to

the safety mechanism in their over-head power cable.  Stranded passengers

in the trains were lead to a nearby station, 20 minutes walk on the rail track.

(Japanese train takes the electric power from the over-head cable, not from

the side track, so that, without a danger of electrocution, it is safe to walk

on the track.)  = All 5000 passengers were just walked in orderly manner and

no trouble was ever occurred. 

When this news was reported on the Chinese News Paper, the Net users in

China responded with their astonishment saying such as “If this was happened

in China, within 5 minutes passengers started riot, smashing the windows etc”

“How 5000 Japanese could keep calm and quietly walk for 20 minutes long

without showing any anger or frustration !”

—– And the Japanese Net users responded to those Chinese thread saying 

“It’s no point to make a riot and break the train because it would only cause

even more delay”  “When all the people having the same fate, making trouble

wouldn’t get any situation better”  “Anyhow, the company or school where

people will be late wouldn’t accuse them because it was like an act of God =

It was the fate anybody has to accept”.

[]

They are the two contrasting mentalities = in my view, each mentality

originated from the Chinese Taoism and the Japanese Buddhism.

I quite doubt, in China how many people ever read the Book of Taoism =

Tao Te Ching, still, most of them seemed to visit the temple to read their

fortune = by throwing two wooden sticks six times to find Yin and Yan’s

combination (It is in fact the Ai-Ching).  The funny things were, they keep

doing it again and again until they receive good prediction. (=they would

not accept bad prediction !)    In other words, Chinese doesn’t follow even 

the will of God (or Heaven) or vend it by their Ego).  (China has Confucius 

and Buddhism as well though in mentality, they all got the same.)

—– in contrast, Japanese Buddhist is far more cool, or even cold,(may 

be even Cynical) for not to have a passion for riot.  🙂  = since they know

the situation, what sort of the process would be needed to repair the

breakdown system etc well.  They are far more rational to know

what they can do —– in fact, the situation IS telling them,

Just Walk. = So, they did.

This is the Mentality to accept and follow Dharma and the Karma (or Fate)

and the Wisdom or the Belief, that the end result would be better with this.

[]

Phenomena

In the afternoon,  I found a glowing rainbow in a corner of my room. 

Obviously it was a sun spot though, — ?     where it was reflected and

coming through ?  —– So, I came to the spot to trace back the light

and found it came through a draftsman’s plastic ruler.  

As its edge was angled, its transparent plastic worked as a good prism.

= and created good rainbow when it was hit by a sun beam.

We are living in a world of numerous physical phenomena

— not necessary we are aware or able to notice it, let alone understand

and able to explain why.   Such as a burning fire, falling apple !, frozen 

or boiling water, or how induction cooker, microwave cooker works etc.   

Among them, a rainbow color must be the most loved by anybody.

Real Rainbow in the sky was created by the light reflected inside of the

water droplets of the mist or cloud. (half of Hi-viz bright tape works in

the same way = each minute grass beads reflect back the light —– other

half works as microscopic 90 degree roof mirror = reflect back the light  

to the same direction where it come from = unidirectional light is bright.   

       When the light travel through such as in the grass or any transparent

material, the light bend a “bit”.  How much the “bit” was depend on the

color of the light. —– Color ?

You may think the sun light is white but you are seeing the mixed light of

rainbow color.  There is NO white light in the world.  So that a white LED

is in fact a Blue LED covered with yellowish fluorescent pigments — its

different mixture makes warmer white or cool white, even pink LED.  🙂

— Any how, each colored light has different energy  (hence even outside 

of Violet = UV burns our skin) all depend on each wave length of the light.

= Red has longer wave length but Blue is short, Violet, UV is much shorter.  

And even shorter wave was used in a Microwave cooker to heat up the food !

= We may not aware why we get sun-burn or the pasta was cooked, — still

those invisible phenomena configuring the world.

Rainbow is not just here to please our eyes. —– It makes us to wonder !

[]

     A Japanese scientist, Prof. Kajita is going to receive this year’s Novel prize

for Physics for the discovery of  that the sub-particle  Neutrino has a mass.

—– So, what ?   I never seen even a hint of such Neutri-something — though,

it’s said to be flying around everywhere ! — The phenomenon of this particle

was captured by the thousands of photo-detectors  surrounding a pool of

50 thousand tons of pure water by detecting a trace of faint light created by 

the passing  particles.     Dear dear dear, what a work and the toil.

[]

[]

Can Zen change a person to Liberal

Very fundamental question — Can Zen Buddhism change a person to be more

open-minded liberal personality, or a person who IS open-minded, come to Zen ?

= in other words, that person has been born to be a liberal by own Karma already.

Zen or Das Kapital may have played little role to make one’s direction, only gave

an excuse and a cosmetic to the life.

— In my early post, I wrote, I came here by coincidence though, from the start,

I was born to be a son of Zen priest.   Like it or not, Zen family has the Zen principal

and such atmosphere anyway.   So, standing here as I am, was that because of

nurture or my nature IS questionable (pointless) question.

[]

In scientific theory, decision making in the brain “which one to choose” or “do I take,

or not” was driven by the the Dopamine reward system = choose correct direction

would be rewarded by the seclusion of the Dopamine = so, feel satisfied and happy.

—– But, this selection, “Which choice would be rewarded” was not necessary

rationally decided by the data book’s logic.  

We might thought, such as the choice to be a Liberal or Conservative kind is highly

intellectually complex matter therefore it must be concluded by the big data-book

(thus lots of experiences and the learning required = So that, a long practice of Zen

would affect) —– though, contrary to this, a Gene affecting the person to be Liberal or

Conservative as one’s nature, seemed to be found. (was what they says — can be true !)

Can genes make us liberal or conservative?

Aristotle may have been more on the money than he realised in saying man is a political animal,

according to research linking genes with liberal or conservative leanings.
Or, to be precise, a specific variant of one gene that would seem to exert greater sway over women

than men.   Working with 1,771 university students of Han Chinese origin in Singapore, researchers

compared answers to surveys — including one tailored to hot-button issues in the city-state — with

the presence of a permutation of the DRD4 gene.
DRD4 is one of several genes that determines the way dopamine — a crucial neurotransmitter, or

chemical messenger — is released in the brain.
What they found was a robust link between the presence (or not) of the variant and a split between

liberals inclined to decry inequality, on the one hand, and die-hard conservative wary of change,

on the other.
The association between political attitude and DRD4 was highly significant for females, and less so

for men, said the study, led by Richard Ebstein of the National University of Singapore.
Women, it was also shown, tended to be more conservative in general.
The results are bolstered by earlier research based on people of European descent that found similar

patterns around the same gene, according to the study.
In the long-standing Nature vs. Nurture debate, it was long assumed that social values — and

especially political ones — were rooted in family upbringing, education and class.
But a growing body of evidence suggests, in the words of the researchers, that biology can’t be ignored.
A landmark study published in 1999, for example, of twins separated at or near birth showed a

marked strain of heritability for ‘conservatism’.
The brain is wired with several distinct dopamine pathways, including one related to the risk-taking

— arguably a parallel to the liberal-conservative dichotomy.
From an evolutionary standpoint, risk-taking is a complicated business: in some situations, it may

enhance one’s chances of success or survival, and in others it may spell doom.
In the study, the researchers used standard questionnaires to rate conservative or liberal tendencies,

making it easier to compare with earlier efforts to uncover links between genes and attitudes.
At the same time, to adjust for cultural variations from one country to another, they also devised a

survey based on local issues known to divide opinion in Singapore along political lines.
One set of questions, for example, asked the students — half men, half women with a mean age of 21

— to take positions on sensitive environmental and animal rights issues.
The correlation with the genetic variations was especially strong on these points.
Our results provide evidence, Ebstein and colleagues conclude, for a role of the DRD4 gene variants

in contributing to individual differences in political attitude, particularly in females.

(2015/08/06 12:34)  from AFP-Jiji Press

So, I may born to have a fancy variants of DRD4 ! —- have I ? ? ?

[]

Red Moon

————- (Photo above was taken by Tamron Mirror SP 500mm F8)

Even after one o’clock early morning (?), I noticed pretty late moon rise.  

But the moon, as red as the blood. (It’s a bit of  joking.   🙂 )  

But even without the joke, the moon was unusually red.  Is that the sign of

the Greece collapsing, the China disintegrating ?  Japanese volcano ?  

I’m not a superstitious man, still, to see such a red moon is not very comfortable.

—–

I hope should the world see a peaceful sunrise in the few hours time.

—–

PS:  (on the next day)  Thanks goodness, nothing serious happened.

(And this is my 777th Post !   🙂  )

 PPS: For somebody’s request,

I show you the original photo which

was 5760×3840 pix size.

(Clopped photo above was 827×828)

( —– since it has been exported

the photo has no original size here.)

Unless we need a huge enlargement

a photo of 800×800 is pretty usable isn’t it ? !   🙂

[]

Follow the Flow — Karma / Dharma

Those who, the kind regular reader of this blog might have noticed that the past

5~6 months or so, I seemed to become an intoxicated junky of junk cameras.

What happened on me ? = Give a thought or two, in terms of the flow in the life.

(= Follow the flow mean, not chase it, not cringing the mater or notion, let alone

obsessed.  It would just happen = so, just follow.)

I gave a glance to those cameras —– then, I found the serial number of the camera

I first disassembled, (which was given by my friend) was like this.

Oh my goodness, 8150 again ? !!! —– This sign appeared wherever I go, but

crucially, it will be sign-posted to the matter or thing which got “the concern”.

= May be concerned to the Dharma, and to my Karma hence I have to take the

matter serious. — to show some more hard facts, if you think it sound dubious.

Photo above left was Canon EF Macro 100mm F2.8 = the most useful lens to me.

And the Photo middle was the most frequently used Canon Fisheye Zoom 8~15mm.

Which got the number 2***1850*.   And the right, Zeiss 18mm for Nikon.

They are the numbers happened to appear onto my camera lenses.

They were in the shop purely by chance = as if they were placed there for

me to pick-up, though,in most of the case I bought it even without seeing

the number. —– Without any explanation of why it’s there = is the

natural flow of the fate or given task or opportunity to pick-up, whichever

the way we interpret.

—– as it comes.    So, I pick up and do what I can do, regardless whether it is

worthwhile or profitable, or please others — or NOT. (in a hindsight, at least

I can say “I did a lot” to respond what the moment required to me.)

I think, what comes is in fact, what was given —– for each of us to fulfil what we

were born to do. = It’s mean, my Karma think, that me to play with junk camera

suits me !   Or the Karma even like my way to play with the junk.  😀

—– And may be my Karma noticed that I’m not sensitive enough to see the

hidden sign, they started to put a noisy notice shouting 8150 to make me aware

that we are a part of the Dharma and they are watching us.

___/\___

[]

 

Rhododendron in the Park — by Focus Shift

Long time ago, I was seeing the Rhododendron in the mountain.  

Then I saw them in the Kew Garden —– I’m afraid those memories

 are getting afar and fading.   Now, I’m seeing a bit in a local park,

— may be I should be contented or I need to be thankful that I did

have the struggle to go through gorgeous bush of Rhododendron.

I don’t know why the fragile sister of Rhododendron was named Azarea.

To know about the “Focus Shift” please go to the previous post and the links.

[]

Magnolia – 2015 (B)

This Magnolia was an utterly unexpected discoverly.  And beyond of my knowledge

and imagination — came from where or if it was a garden variety, how it was

created from which parents ? ? ?  

She is a tall tree and the flower is huge = as big as a Magnolia Grandiflora

 ( even 10″~12″ ) still, flowering long before the leaves was coming out

= closer to the Kobus but not Grandiflora.

In closer look I wonder if they are in fact a kind of invertebrate from the sea ?

—– You know what I feel and that was why I wanted to create fuzzy image.  🙂

Lens used was Canon EF Macro 100mm F2.8 and Tamron 500mm Mirror F8

on Canon 5D Mk-3.   (Some fuzzy pictures were taken by Homemade Lens.  🙂  )

[]

Why Live ? ? ?

 

[ —– 以上のように、名越さんはご自身が仰るように仏教の專門家ではない「門外漢」ながら、

お坊さんでも避けがちな問題に正面から取り組み、行や瞑想を実践することで気付いた

大乗仏教のあり方にまで思索を及ぼしています。大きな問いを掲げ、その具体的な

解決方法を述べつつも、最終的には身近なところからの方便の実践に尽きるという結論は、

お寺やお坊さんの社会貢献の必要性が叫ばれる現代において、非常に大切な視点であると

思います。ぜひ本書を手に、まずはとにかく簡単な行や瞑想を試してみて、そして少しずつ

方便ができるようにチャレンジしてみてくださいね。　合掌

http://www.higan.net/book_review/2015/01/whylive.html?utm_source=mm&utm_medium=245

[]

I’ve come across a small book review (as it was so small, I should say “introduction” ) 

of a book titled “Why live as we are going to die anyway” on a Buddhist’s website

 called Higan-dera.    Its article is small and only minute portion of the book was

 quoted, (and I haven’t read the book itself) I may not to have enough source to talk 

 about —–still, what I noticed was, that despite the “review” was written by a

 Pure-land sect monk, and the book was written by a psychiatrist/alienist doctor,

 their understanding of the Buddhism were so casual and romanticized. =

May be the indication of the social/spiritual situation of Japan today.

= So much (too much) information of everything, hearsay they-say, stereotypical 

 idea (not necessary correct) saturating the society yet, non of the correct,

systematic understanding of the Buddhism was upheld.

[]

The author of the book, Dr.Yasufumi Nagoshi was deducing how individual was

connected to the human-network from a mandala drawing —– what a fancy idea !

Mandala was a symbolic depiction of the Buddhist’s idea of the world, created

2000 years or so ago, — still, long before any Mandala was drawn, human being

has been living in their network/society. —– or Nagoshi was try hard to make a point

“Human relation HAS to be in the Buddhist’s context” — was he ?

[]

It seemed, Nagoshi didn’t give the answer to the question “Why live” but telling that

the Buddhism is providing the Rules, the Practices, the Guidelines for the daily living

and through this daily life, we can connect to the others, and this vital helping network

makes the people to live and make their life living-worthy.

—– and a Pure Land monk, Jokun who gave this review seemed to have very impressed

by this view, as this human network is the way of the Mahayana Buddhism. —– sound

sweet though, still it didn’t make the answer.    Obviously they two were talking about

“How to live” but didn’t aware, or know how and why we exist here.

Otherwise, the burst majority of the world population is living without good cause or

living-worthy reason.    The reason why we live is not dependent to the romanticized

Buddhist’s idea but by the hard rational.

[]

So, Why live ? ? ? — the answer, which they should have given was, that We are having

the life which was given by the Dharma. (Mind you, since Dharma runs the Universe, it

covers non Buddhist as well.  = Same as the gravity affecting anything any people.)

We didn’t ask or chose to exist. We exist neither by accident or random occurrence.

Our existence came from all the cause in the moment of the conception and all the

preceding condition of which the Buddhist calls Karma.    So that, the one exists here,

was made by those cause and the condition = it was a rational consequence almost like

a direction.  This direction can be seen almost like a will or the plan of the Dharma and

the reason why such direction created the Person WAS that there was a needs of which

the person to fulfil. = This on-going total system IS the Dharma.   Law of the Universe.

—– It’s mean, we were here to fulfil the role. = it was not our free choice, neither we can

refuse or escape.   Therefore we live, = we have to.

—– (So that, actuary to undertake the project, “to be me” = we need to find “who me”

and the role to play.   This was the reason why “Self awareness” became crucial to be a

Buddhist — though, don’t mix-up with the “self conscious Ego”. —– the

difference is,  the detached eyes to see the self or the self imposed imaginary self.)

___/\___

[]

Morning Sky

Well, most of the morning sky in the Autumn, in London are dull gray.

Still, time to time we can see the sky like this.  This was the sky on 

the 17 Oct’ 2014 / 6: 46 (long before actual sunrise over the roof)

The lens used was Canon EF 40 mm F2.8 on 5D Mk-III.

—————————– 7:17 ——————————————- 7:19 —————————————— 7:24

The photo in the middle was by Tri-color Pinhole.

(Otherwise it looked like next — 7:24 photo)

————- Then, I saw the sun over the roof.   8: 08 ————————————- 9:34

In fact, the last one = 9:34 , the sky was just bright, colorless sky.  

I’ve added the color by  Tri-color Pinhole. (Sky, Pink, Orange)

So, this was the cloudy sky this morning,  8:10  colored by the Tri-color Pinhole.

It’s somewhat convincing isn’t it ? —– it may looks like a Turner’s oil painting.  

I like this as a good joke.   🙂 

[]