Showing posts with label Buddhism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Buddhism. Show all posts

Thursday, March 12, 2020

Enlightenment Senryu


seek enlightenment
inside or outside myself
sometimes fragile peace

~cie~


note
There was a wall hanging depicting the picture above in the Buddhist Temple in Boulder. I used to enjoy going for Sunday meditation, although parking down there sucked. Then I had to start working nights again, and it just wasn't possible. Currently, these Haiku are my form of meditation.

Friday, March 6, 2020

Carpe Diem Shikoku Island Pilgrimage: Kanjizai-ji Senryu


I wonder if you
are there, and can you help me
I am too far gone

~cie~


notes
Kanjizai-Ji is situated in the town called Ainan and is devoted to Yakushi Nyorai or the Buddha of Medicine and Healing. He is still one of the most important Buddhas especially during rituals that are performed at funerals because he is also the Buddha who leads the Buddhists to Nirvana.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

Hello Angel

 
Hello Angel
It is such an unhappy thing
That the world will never again know
Your beautiful smile
 
 
It is an unfathomable tragedy
That you no longer recognize
The best friend that you knew from the time of his birth
Your brother
 
 
I have to believe
That when your suffering is at an end
The light will shine in your eyes again
That you will be able to remember
And to smile
 
On the day that the Heavens finally say to you
Hello Angel
 
Love,
Cie
 
Prompt Used:
 
Notes:
Re: the top picture
The prompt provides a perfect picture, which may seem incongruous for me to use, given the heavy nature of the poem itself.
My poem's subject seems the sort of person who would have enjoyed the whimsy provided by alphabet soup.
He grew up poor. Foods like alphabet soup tend to be cheap, and kids enjoy them.
He once said that he and his siblings really never considered themselves poor. They just thought that everyone lived like they did.
He ended up becoming extremely wealthy, but I'm quite sure that he would trade it all just to know what was happening once again.
I don't care if people get tired of seeing the following graphic or hearing about this person. I'm going to keep sharing and talking about it, because it is so very necessary to understand how much we need to research the diseases that cause dementia so that we can stop them--reverse them--eradicate them. So that no more bright, good people will have their lives destroyed in this way.
 
 
My friend Dolly believes that the suffering he is enduring has the capacity to teach people who are willing to open their minds and hearts. His compassionate nature was always a lesson for others. Simply by being who he was, he was a teacher. So I can see this being true, although I'm still deeply saddened and angered that one who always tried to be kind ended up suffering so greatly.
Dolly wrote a poem about why she considers Malcolm Young to be a Bodhisattva. It is worth reading.
 
If anyone has some sort of asshat comment about his unfortunate addiction to tobacco, keep that shit to yourself. He successfully rehabilitated from alcohol addiction in 1988 and never again touched a drop of the hard stuff. That's damn commendable.
Cigarettes are a notoriously hard habit to break free from. People who have quit using heroin have said that quitting smoking cigarettes is even harder. Often it is impossible.
Commercial cigarettes have chemicals above and beyond nicotine added to the tobacco. They are made to hook smokers and keep them hooked.
I smoked for 20 years, so I'm not about to get on my high horse. Truth is, I'd still love a smoke. I quit in 2006. I still think about it often and wish I could fire one up. It's hard not to go back. However, I wasn't as addicted as some people become.
Everyone's body is different. Everyone's brain chemistry is different. No one has the right to harshly judge another's weaknesses.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Every Song Must End


“Every song must end."

Where once there was an energetic soul
Creating melodic legerdemain
To the accompaniment of a raw beat pulsing like a wild heart
The untamed desires of the audience reflected in the sound created

Now there is only a void
An empty hollow, where a short, shy man once stood strong
A gritty Bodhisattva in a tank top and jeans
Who had no patience with parasites
Who inspired broken souls to keep on fighting

The dusk has fallen over his mind
But perhaps even in dying in such a heart-breaking fashion
His spirit reminds us to keep compassion in our souls

Every song must end
His song deserves the grandest of finales

Love,
Dolly

This image is not our creation. 
Props and all to whoever made it!

Prompt used:

This poem is dedicated to Malcolm (duh)
Also to our Real Cie, who loves him so much
So sorry your heart is breaking, Darlin'
If I could I'd heal up his mind so you'd both be happy

A Bodhisattva is anyone who, motivated by great compassion, has generated Bodhicitta, which is a spontaneous wish to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.



Photoshop manip by Cie
Original Eye in the Sky image:
Copyright: zadvinskiy / 123RF Stock Photo

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

OctPoWriMo 2014: Day 7


Silence

Turn off the world for a minute
Be done, be done
STOP!

Stop thinking
Stop ruminating
Worrying
Fearing

Throw out all the clutter in the mind
Turn it off for a minute
Please, why can't we?

Put down the damn world
And all the fears
And the sorrow and the tears

STOP!
Just stop and be...

It's harder than you think because then you get to thinking
And thinking
And thinking some more

Then you start to realize just how much is going wrong
The thoughts spiral down
The anxiety gets worse...

Living in the modern world
Is sometimes nothing but
A goddamn curse

Turn it off for a minute
Just a minute
Just fifteen
Just an hour...

I wish I could turn it off for a week
Organize everything the way I need...

That would take a lifetime
And then another one

Turn it off for a minute
Turn it off and just be
I'm tired of hearing the Monkey Mind
Always chattering at me

Turn it off for a minute
Turn it off
Turn it off
Turn it off

Stop thinking
Stop fretting
Stop worrying
Just 

STOP!

~Wanda~


Wanda's note:
This has a tendency to happen when I try to meditate.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

The True Light


We should share kindness
Not suppress others through hate
Hate extinguishes

~Cie~

Inspired by the Carpe Diem Haiku prompt, and the distressing recent news of Buddhist attacks on Muslims in Burma. The actions of these people goes against everything Buddhism stands for.

Cross Posted to: