南無阿弥陀仏

Let us reform our schools, and we shall find little reform needed in our prisons.

— John Ruskin, Unto This Last

14 November 2012

The Way of Easy Practice is to desire rebirth in the Pure Land only by means of faith in the Buddha. Being thus carried along by the power of the Buddha’s Vows, we shall be able to attain rebirth in the Pure Land. The Buddha’s power will sustain us and enable us to enter into the company of those who have attained the Stage of Genuine Non-Retrogression. It is like taking passage on a ship and sailing over the sea: it is very pleasant.

— T’an-luan, Commentary on the Treatise on Rebirth in the Pure Land, cited in Honen Shonin, Senchaku Hongan Nembutsu Shu

8 November 2012

Every morning I come to Shoshinge.

Every morning it is the same.
Between my mind and the mind of compassion,
Amida Buddha’s wisdom and light,
the hymn flutters like a veil.
All is settled.
All is well.
I am the recipient of all that is settled,
of all that is well.
I long to enter the veil.
I give up my voice,
coarse, thick phlegm stone of sleep,
to meet the infinite
bountifulness with breath
moments of faith.
Every morning it is the same.
All is settled.
All is well.
I long to enter the veil.
I open my mouth, a cave
blackened with the smoke of desire.
I open my throat to lift
stone from breath and push
what falls firm
in the heavy tide of night.
My sorrowing heart staggers into sunlight
drunk with complaints,
easily distracted,
burdened and unsettled.
It wails.
Sing, praise, surrender!
All is assured
but my heart, blindfolded, attaches
disappointments, pins grievances
upon the veil like a child
spinning in circles, left
holding the donkey’s tail.
I fling my worries upon the veil,
a tangled web of fetters.
Cluttered heart!
So disorderly and rude!
Every morning I come to Shoshinge.
Every morning it is the same.

— Cathy Song, “Fetters”

8 November 2012 • poetry

DJ Shinjin - Ajna

tracklist

01 easily embarrassed - blood
02 cell - vapor
03a kitaro - tenchi sohzo shin
03b kitaro - harukanaru taiga
04 mythematica - nakka turra
05 jikkenteki - warmth in cold places
06 androcell - molecular sunrise
07 harax - diomedea
08 aes dana - principles of gravity
09 the peaking goddess collective - rolling

2 November 2012

recipe: Asian Soy Ginger Awesomesauce (tm)

1/2 cup tamari

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp Mandarin-style red chile oil

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 dash curry powder

1 tbsp fresh minced ginger

1 tsp black bean sauce

1/4 cup fresh cucumber

Blend in a blender.

Use on salads and with vegan spring rolls for the win.

1 November 2012 • recipes

dancingdakini:

We could all do with this reminder to watch our mind!

Excellent! Thanks for the assist, lightofamida!

(via lightofamida)

31 October 2012 • reblog: dancingdakini

One of my favorite phaenomena of morning: the dawn moon.

More silver than steam, it beams in the wheat-borne sky.

31 October 2012

Professor Jeff Cox speaks out against the prison-industrial complex bid to enter JoCo.

31 October 2012

Autumn leaves.

28 October 2012

lightofamida:

「南無阿弥陀仏」と申す文字は、その数わずかに六字なれば、さのみ功能のあるべきとも覚えざるに、この六字の名号の中には、無上甚深の功徳利益の広大なること、更にその極まりなきものなり“‘Namu Amida Butsu’ is written with only six Chinese characters, so it seems unlikely to possess any great virtue. Yet the virtue that lies within this six-character Name is supreme and profound, without limit.”
— Master Rennyo (1415–1499)
From The Letters, Fascicle 5, Letter 13

lightofamida:

「南無阿弥陀仏」と申す文字は、その数わずかに六字なれば、さのみ功能のあるべきとも覚えざるに、この六字の名号の中には、無上甚深の功徳利益の広大なること、更にその極まりなきものなり
“‘Namu Amida Butsu’ is written with only six Chinese characters, so it seems unlikely to possess any great virtue. Yet the virtue that lies within this six-character Name is supreme and profound, without limit.”

— Master Rennyo (1415–1499)

From The Letters, Fascicle 5, Letter 13

28 October 2012 • reblog: lightofamida

DJ Shinjin - Anahata

setlist:

01 [00:01-05:50] carbon based lifeforms - interloper
02 [05:51-14:44] jaïa - after the rain
03 [14:45-21:10] nurai lita - kafez
04 [21:11-29:35] higher intelligence agency - orange
05 [29:36-33:30] thievery corporation - transcendence
06 [33:31-38:49] tya - akwaba
07 [38:50-48:20] aes dana - resin (overspring edit)
08 [48:21-52:05] skelic - dest
09 [52:06-60:27] electric universe - heart on the line
10 [60:28-68:24] freaky chakra - budded on earth to bloom in heaven
11 [68:25-end] entheogenic - love letters to the soul

28 October 2012

hmmmimaginethat:

Genre Tree

I love stuff like this that attempts to historicize our music, much as so many do with earlier developments. It’s as though once anything — anything! — is fifty years old, we can now speak of it critically. Before then, though, it’s for kids.

28 October 2012 • reblog: hmmmimaginethat

angelleah:

“Although I too am within Amida’s grasp,
Passions obstruct my eyes and I cannot see him;
Nevertheless, great compassion is untiring and illumines me always.”
-Shinran Shonin

Word.

28 October 2012 • reblog: angelleah