Edgar, Unfortunately I couldn't see any picture but I could read the text.
I just can't reconcile the things you say with the quote contained within the text: "The shining jade pond is a combination metaphor: the still water is the enlightened mind, revealed when the wind (of ignorance) dies and the waves (modes of mind) cease. The water then becomes a bright mirror, reflecting things as they really are." To me that is EXACTLY what I'm saying when I talk about illusions and thoughts. The wind of ignorance is illusions. The waves (modes of mind) are thoughts. When they cease Buddha Nature is revealed - the mirror reflecting things (experiencing) as they really are. ...Bill! --- In [email protected], Edgar Owen <edgarowen@...> wrote: > > > > Shizan was an activist Zen master who established orphanages as well as > meditation halls. During the latter part of this long life, Shizan never > handled money even when he traveled, relying instead on the natural charity > of human beings to get by. Shizan produced Zen art until his death at age one > hundred. (John Stevens, in Zenga. Brushstrokes of Enlightenment, New Orleans > Museum of Art 1990, p. 78.) > Representing the full moon the brushed circle (enso) is a place holder for > the first part of the famous poem "My heart is like the autumn moon". The > second line of the poem, which is written next to the circle reads: "Fresh > and pure as a jade pond" > "The moon and the pond each carry both general and Buddhist associations. In > general usage, the full moon (it is always full in Chinese poetry, unless > otherwise specified) connotes family unity and returning home, due to its > perfectly round shape and its associations with holidays on the lunar > calendar like the New Year and the Mid-autumn Moon Festival. The spring of > pure water in landscape poetry carries philosophical overtones, as the source > of a stream is metaphorically the source of Dao. Theses meanings still > resonate in Buddhist usage, but are subtly transformed. The moon and pond > form a polarity with a multivalent enlightenment message. ( ) The shining > jade pond is a combination metaphor: the still water is the enlightened mind, > revealed when the wind (of ignorance) dies and the waves (modes of mind) > cease. The water then becomes a bright mirror, reflecting things as they > really are." (Charles Egan: Clouds Thick, Whereabouts Unknown: Poems by Zen > Monks of China. New York: Columbia University Press, 2010, p. 39.) > ------------------------------------ Current Book Discussion: any Zen book that you recently have read or are reading! Talk about it today!Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Zen_Forum/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
