The Red Poppy
The great thing
is not having
a mind. Feelings:
oh, I have those; they
govern me. I have
a lord in heaven
called the sun, and open
for him, showing him
the fire of my own heart, fire
like his presence.
What could such glory be
if not a heart? Oh my brothers and sisters,
were you like me once, long ago,
before you were human? Did you
permit yourselves
to open once, who would never
open again? Because in truth
I am speaking now
the way you do. I speak
because I am shattered.
Louise Gluck
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Posted by marika at Tuesday, January 12, 2010 0 comments
Monday, October 12, 2009
an insignificant puddle, muddy water and rotting leaves - they were once beautiful, green, then yellow and now... or were they? were they beautiful or are they still ... incredibly, intensely, impossibly ... beautiful?
when i notice the sky's reflection, the water is no longer muddy. when i see the still vibrant colors, the leaves are no longer rotting.
did the puddle suddenly change its appearance? or did i open my mind to its beauty?
Posted by marika at Monday, October 12, 2009 2 comments
Monday, August 17, 2009
Posted by marika at Monday, August 17, 2009 0 comments
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Coming empty-handed,
going empty-handed –
that is human.
When you are born, where do you come from?
When you die, where do you go?
Life is like a floating cloud
which appears.
Death is like a floating cloud
which disappears.
The floating cloud itself
Originally does not exist.
Life and death, coming and going,
are also like that.
But there is one thing
which always remains clear.
It is pure and clear,
not depending on life and death.
Then what is the one
pure and clear thing?
~ancient Zen poem
Posted by marika at Tuesday, June 30, 2009 0 comments
Saturday, May 30, 2009
" madness is what i'll talk to you about - madness burdened with memories and with eyes like everyone else's, though in my story the eyes are like those of a smiling child trembling with fear.
you'll ask: is a madman who knows he's mad really mad? or: in a mad world, isn't the madman who is aware of his madness the only sane person?....if you had to describe a madman, how would you portray him?...
....how can we talk about madness except by using the specific language of those who carry it within themselves? what if i told you that within each of us, whether in good health or bad, there is a hidden zone, a secret region that opens out onto madness? one misstep, one unfortunate blow of fate, is enough to make us slip or flounder with no hope of ever rising up again.
..."
elie wiesel "a mad desire to dance", tr. by catherine temerson ("un desir fou de danser")
Posted by marika at Saturday, May 30, 2009 0 comments
Friday, May 15, 2009
as i listened to an excellent lecture, in a discussion on anger tree, i thought that I would not list the fruits of the tree as all the negative feelings. personally, when listening to an angry person, even if this person is directing his or her anger at me particularly, i feel compassion, along with other feelings [mentioned by the participants of the workshop]. just wanted to add, that compassion is one of the valued, unusual, under-appreciated responses to anger.
Posted by marika at Friday, May 15, 2009 2 comments