The sound of running water is very appealing. It has a very calming effect. That is why when I am in the garden, I would be found near the vicinity of the pond just contentedly watching the fish swim from left to right, right to left, top to bottom and then bottom to top. The predictability of movement makes for a feeling of serenity and zen.
If you have a space in the garden, it does not have to be so large, why not dig a pond or install a water feature?
Running water in the garden attracts and promotes wildlife. It encourages frogs and toads to visit and hopefully stay in your garden and dine on slugs and snails.
Our pond is not large but we get lots of birds giving themselves baths in our mini waterfall. We have dragonflies, newts, and other insects visiting. Although I have to say that we did not have frog spawns this year. We usually have lots of them. It is global warming or what?!!!
This Ming bowl is an antique. Be on the look out for one; you might have something of this kind in your loft, attic or long forgotten chest of drawers.
If you have got one, you are in the money 🙂
You never know!
A bit of Zen Buddhism here …
What do you thing is the most valuable part of this priceless antique bowl? (Or any bowl for that matter)
Is it its beautifully detailed design?
Is it because of its renowned porcelain material?
Is it because of its monetary value, being an antique?
Apparently, wait for this, it is its emptiness! Its very emptiness, which has the ability to hold apples, pear, potatoes or bananas (or anything and everything) that makes the bowl functional. Without its ability to be of use, it loses its identity as a bowl.
Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
– His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso
(14th Dalai Lama)
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ALL that we are is made up of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speak or act with a pure thought, happiness will follow him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
~ Dhammapada.
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Before enlightenment – chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment – chop wood, carry water.
~Zen Buddhist Proverb
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Before they become a tangible reality, all phenomena are seeds. The wise man takes great care of seeds.
– Han Fei Zi
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Being conscious of what we really are, that is what we call enlightenment.
– Zen saying
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Buddhist Monk reflection in the water – Photo by PH Morton
Creeds and doctrines are like a raft to carry one to the other shore, and then to relinquish. Neither cling to the raft forever, or reject it when drowning. Even better, become a strong swimmer.
– Diamond Sutra
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Faith is a bird that feels dawn breaking and sings while it is still dark.
– Rabindranath Tagore
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Follow the stream, have faith in its course. It will go its own way, meandering here, trickling there. It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices. Just follow it. Never let it out of your sight. It will take you.
~ Sheng-Yen
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Gratitude is not a mere word; it is not a mere concept. It is the living breath of your real existence on earth.
– Sri Chinmoy
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HE who formerly was reckless and afterwards became sober brightens up this world like the moon when freed from clouds.
~ Dhammapada.
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I breathe in, and I am a flower. I breathe out, and I have its freshness.
– Zen Meditation
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If I know that love is myself and that pain is also myself, that understanding is myself and suffering too, then I will be mindful.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
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I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.
– Rabindranath Tagore
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It is within ourselves that yesterday is distinguished from tomorrow.
– Zen Saying
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It is our way of seeing the world that determines the nature or our feelings.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
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It is virtue which maintains the soundness of mind, the one essential condition for right development.
– Swami Satprakashananda
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Knock on the sky and listen to the sound.
~Zen Saying
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Letting go means accepting life just as it is: elusive, free, spontaneous, and without limits.
– Zen
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Life is movement and rest.
– Zen saying
Move always toward greater simplicity.
– Zen Practice
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No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place.
~Zen
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One who returns to his nature and adheres to it is worthy.
– Chou Tun-i
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One’s truly basic act is to sit on the ground, assume a correct posture and cultivate the feeling of having one’s own space.
– Chogyam Trungpa
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Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.
– Zen Saying
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Strive for detachment, concentrate in silence, conform to the nature of things, be without ego. Then mankind will be at peace.
– Chuang Tzu
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The cosmos is everything: the stones, the mountains, the trees, the flowers, the grasses, the stars… all that is nature and all that is not nature, the artificial and all products that are human, material and spiritual, and space and time.
– Dogen Zenji
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The One and the All.
Mingle and move without discriminating. Live in this awareness and you’ll stop worrying about not being perfect.
– Seng Tsan
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The dark thought, the shame, the malice meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
– Djalal Ad-Din Rumi
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The tighter you squeeze, the less you have.
~Zen Saying
The Nature of Buddha, Photo by PH Morton
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The source of human suffering is that everyone chooses one side and refuses to see the other side.
~ Liou Kia-Hway
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The essence of love and compassion is understanding.
– Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese Buddhist monk)
The obstacle is the path.
~Zen Proverb
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There is nothing else you can do but burst out laughing.
– Zen Saying
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Think of the places, where you plant your feet.
– Zen Dojos
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True enlightenment means rejoicing in the happiness of others: compassion appears.
– Taisen Deshimaru
Graceful of Weeping Willow, Photo by PH Morton
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Through meditation, we practice resurrection in every moment. This is the practice of living in the everyday. We must not lose ourselves in the past or in the future.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
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To know the Way is to know where to go and how to get there.
– Tseng Tzu
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Undisturbed calmness of mind is attained by cultivating friendliness towards the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked.
– Patanjali
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Walking is Zen.
Sitting, too, is Zen.
If I speak or am silent, tarry or hasten:
Everything, in its true nature,
Is stillness,
– The Shodoka
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We have two eyes to see two sides of things, but there must be a third eye which see everything at the same time and yet not see anything. That is to understand Zen.
– D T Suzuki
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Wisdom, indeed, is the highest ornament that a man possesses. It is a valuable to be carefully guarded.
– Bhartrihari
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What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow. Our life is the creation of our mind.
– Shakyamuni
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When one who is lost understands that he must turn back, he is not far from having found the Way.
– Zen Saying
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When the student is ready, the master appears.
~Buddhist Proverb
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When you get there, there isn’t any there there.
~Zen Proverb
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When you have a problem, see if you can find out for yourself why you have a problem.
– Shunryu Suzuki ……
when the body is kept bustling about without stop, it becomes fatigued.
When the mind is overworked without stop, it becomes worried, and worry causes exhaustion.
The nature of water is that it becomes clear when left alone and become still when undisturbed.
It is the symbol of heavenly virtue.
Chuang Tse
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When you hear the splash of the water drops that fall into the stone bowl, You will feel that all the dust of your mind is washed away.
– Sen No Rikyu
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Wherever you choose to be mindful, you may acquire wisdom.
– Ajahn Chah
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We must learn to love the man who differs from us in opinion.
– Swami Vivekananda
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We need to recognize that everybody in the world is the benefactor of everybody else.
– Buddhadasa Bhikkhu
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You’re bound to become a Buddha if you practice. If water drips long enough even rocks wear through.
~ Shih-Wu
Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
