Padma

Lotus pond, China
Author: Hedda Morrison (German, 1908-1991)
Date: ca. 1933-46

Hedda Morrison studied photography in her native Germany, and from 1933 to 1938 managed Hartung’s Photo Shop in Beijing. From 1938 until she and her husband left China in 1946, Morrison worked as a freelance photographer, selling individual prints or thematic albums of her work and creating photographs for other people’s books on China.

Above is a photo of a man sitting idly with two children in the winter sun. It reveals more information than it seems:

“The empty wicker basket suggests that this old man and children are probably from a village outside Peking and have come into the city to trade. On the wall behind the children is a graffiti scrawl written in chalk which represents a play upon the opening words of the Thousand Character Classic (Qianziwen), which refers to the creation of the universe.”

The children in the baskets resemble the growth of the lotus flower,  it’s roots in the earth rising through the water and nourished by the air…beautiful  PADMA! – j. quigley

PADMAPANI

Flowers in the sky.

Flowers on Earth.

Lotuses bloom as Buddha’s eyelids.

Lotuses bloom in man’s heart.

Holding gracefully a lotus in his hand,

the bodhisattva brings forth a universe of art.

In the meadows of the sky, stars have sprung up.

The smiling, fresh moon is already up.

The jade-colored trunk of a coconut tree

reaches across the late-night sky.

My mind, traveling in utmost emptiness,

catches suchness on its way home.

1976

by Thich Nhat Hanh (1929 –

…from Call Me by My True Names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh by Thich Nhat Hanh

Waters of Life

Utagawa Kuniyoshi スクナビコナ

“We can reject everything else: religion, ideology, all received wisdom. But we cannot escape the necessity of love and compassion…This, then, is my true religion, my simple faith. In this sense, there is no need for temple or church, for mosque or synagogue, no need for complicated philosophy, doctrine or dogma. Our own heart, our own mind, is the temple. The doctrine is compassion. Love for others and respect for their rights and dignity, no matter who or what they are: ultimately these are all we need. So long as we practice these in our daily lives, then no matter if we are learned or unlearned, whether we believe in Buddha or God, or follow some other religion or none at all, as long as we have compassion for others and conduct ourselves with restraint out of a sense of responsibility, there is no doubt we will be happy.”

His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama (via samsaranmusing)

Happy New Year 2013!…

Jan

It’s All Really One

But if you go beyond that, you see it’s all really One.

Source: beach-demon

The Invisible Red Thread

“An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, despite the time, the place, and despite the circumstances. The thread can be tightened or tangle, but will never be broken.”

– an ancient Chinese Proverb