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I would rather say "the sun is always, seen or unseen, even in shadows and storm"
Sorry to mess with our poem.
No problem Jundo! All too true! I made a small edit for you keeping with the haiku form, and I hope it says this too. As you teach, I know the sun is always shining behind the clouds, and that even the clouds are a part of the Buddha sky.
Evening long breaths
Cicadas cheering up
Departure expected
Gasshō
stlah, Kaitan
I just heard that the word chan (zen) 禅 is the same to talk about cicadas in China in a formal way. That explains why cicadas apear often in Zen poetry. Is this true????
No problem Jundo! All too true! I made a small edit for you keeping with the haiku form, and I hope it says this too. As you teach, I know the sun is always shining behind the clouds, and that even the clouds are a part of the Buddha sky.
I just heard that the word chan (zen) 禅 is the same to talk about cicadas in China in a formal way. That explains why cicadas apear often in Zen poetry. Is this true????
Gasshō
stlah, Kaitan
Hmmm. Well, the kanji for Cicada literally means "Bug" (element on the left) and the same character as in Zen on the right: 蟬 (the older character for Zen is 禪), both pronounced Chán. So, you can see that there is something there.
Beyond that ... I think that the short life, following years of waiting in the ground ... and the hypnotic sound they omit ... all lend themselves to Zen lessons.
The Chinese homophone of cicada (蝉) and zen (禅) share the same sound (Chán) and the same root radical. One evening in May, while I was out on the patio hanging out the laundry, I heard the distinct sound of a cicada coming from some nearby trees. Our community had been working on enriching the natural environment and its ecology, and had planted many trees, so cicadas weren’t rare. It was a little early, though–it was only May; the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival hadn’t come yet. I was excited and called up to my son to open his window and listen. The night was otherwise quiet; the chirping really resonated. It was the first I’d heard this year and the sound was quite different from the mid-summer group chirping of
Hmmm. Well, the kanji for Cicada literally means "Bug" (element on the left) and the same character as in Zen on the right: 蟬 (the older character for Zen is 禪), both pronounced Chán. So, you can see that there is something there.
Beyond that ... I think that the short life, following years of waiting in the ground ... and the hypnotic sound they omit ... all lend themselves to Zen lessons.
The Chinese homophone of cicada (蝉) and zen (禅) share the same sound (Chán) and the same root radical. One evening in May, while I was out on the patio hanging out the laundry, I heard the distinct sound of a cicada coming from some nearby trees. Our community had been working on enriching the natural environment and its ecology, and had planted many trees, so cicadas weren’t rare. It was a little early, though–it was only May; the Chinese Dragon Boat Festival hadn’t come yet. I was excited and called up to my son to open his window and listen. The night was otherwise quiet; the chirping really resonated. It was the first I’d heard this year and the sound was quite different from the mid-summer group chirping of
Gassho, J
stlah
Interesting, that is a wonderful story and great insight!
‘Zhi Liao’ 知了, also reminds me of 'Zhi Dao' 知道, which commonly translates to 'being aware' or literally 'knowing the path'
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