Bright the full moon of wisdom!

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anjali
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Bright the full moon of wisdom!

Post by anjali »

I was captivated by how well the artist captured the full moonlit clouds and landscape and was remined of the below quote by Hakuin.

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Artist: Matthew Hasty
Title: Cotton Field

Boundless and free is the sky of Samádhi!
Bright the full moon of wisdom!
Truly, is anything missing now?
Nirvana is right here, before our eyes,
This very place is the Lotus Land,
This very body, the Buddha.


--From Hakuin's Song of Zazen
Translated by Norman Waddell

:anjali:
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anjali
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Re: Bright the full moon of wisdom!

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A personal favorite Zen poem about the moon by Shide (friend to Hanshan). Translation by James Hargett, from Zen Poems (Everyman's Library Pocket Poets), p. 72

You can see the moon’s brightness,
Illuminating all under heaven.
Its round radiance, suspended in the Great Void,
Is lustrous, pure and ethereal.
Others say it waxes and wanes;
That which I see is eternal, never declining.
With an aura like the Mani pearl,
Its brilliance knows no day or night.
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Re: Bright the full moon of wisdom!

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Nice.
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KeithA
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Re: Bright the full moon of wisdom!

Post by KeithA »

It feels almost obligatory to drop this one from Ryokan here:
The thief left it behind:
the moon
at my window.

_/|\_
When walking, standing, sitting, lying down, speaking,
being silent, moving, being still.
At all times, in all places, without interruption - what is this?
One mind is infinite kalpas.

New Haven Zen Center
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anjali
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Re: Bright the full moon of wisdom!

Post by anjali »

KeithA wrote: Sat Jan 15, 2022 3:38 pm It feels almost obligatory to drop this one from Ryokan here:
The thief left it behind:
the moon
at my window.

_/|\_
:thumbsup:
And another one by Ryokan on the moon. I was going to save this one for another day, but now seems like a good time to post it. ;)
Translation by John Stevens, from Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan.

The Autumn Moon

The moon appears in every season, it is true,
But surely it's best in fall.
In autumn, mountains loom and water runs clear.
A brilliant disk floats across the infinite sky,
And there is no sense of light and darkness,
For everything is permeated with its presence.
The boundless sky above, the autumn chill on my face.
I take my precious staff and wander about the hills.
Not a speck of the world's dust anywhere,
Just the brilliant beams of moonlight.
I hope others, too, are gazing on this moon tonight,
And that it's illuminating all kinds of people.
Autumn after autumn, the moonlight comes and goes;
Human beings will gaze upon it for eternity.
The sermons of Buddha, the preaching of Eno,
Surely occurred under the same kind of moon.
I contemplate the moon through the night,
As the stream settles, and white dew descends.
Which wayfarer will bask in the moonlight longest?
Whose home will drink up the most moonbeams?
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Re: Bright the full moon of wisdom!

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think global think buddhist
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Re: Bright the full moon of wisdom!

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Artwork by 19th century Ukiyo-e artist, Tsukioka Yoshitashi, taken from his outstanding work, A Hundred Views of the Moon, which can be viewed in its entirety here.

Adichi Chiyono (dharma name Mugai Nyodai) was a 13th century nun who became the first abbess of a Zen monastery in Japan.

Her enlightenment poem:

With this and that I tried to keep the bucket together, and then the bottom fell out.
Where water does not collect, the moon does not dwell.


Apologies for this somewhat lengthy excerpt of Chiyono's enlightenment story, excerpted from Zen Sourcebook Traditional Documents from China, Korea, and Japan, translated by Anne Dutton, and edited by Stephen Addiss, 2008, pp. 175-179. It's a good read.
In the village of Hiromi in the Mugi district there were three nuns who built a Zen temple and devoted themselves to practicing the Buddhist way. Together with other nuns who came from all parts, and, on some occasions, with numerous lay disciples, they assembled for communal Zen meditation and practice.

At that time there was a servant woman about twenty-four or twenty-five years of age who had been employed at the convent for many years. Her name was Chiyono. She was said to be the daughter of a high-ranking family. When the aspiration to attain enlightenment developed in her, straightaway she left her parent's home and came to this convent, taking a position as a servant, cutting firewood and carrying water.

Chiyono observed the monastic women practicing Zen meditation. Without noticing it herself, she held their words and teachings in high esteem. She used to peek at the nuns through the gaps in the curtains that hung in the doorway, and then go back to her room and imitate them by sitting facing the wall-but without any benefit.

One day, Chinoyo approached a young nun. “Please tell me the essential principles of practicing zazen,” she pleaded.

The nun answered her by saying, “Your practice is simply to serve the nuns of this temple as well as possible, without giving any thought to physical hardship or uttering a word of complaint. This is your zazen.”

Chiyono thought to herself, “This is grievous! I make my way in the world as a lowly, menial person, living in pain and suffering. If I continue like this, I will suffer in the next life also. Time will pass, but when will there be a chance for me to attain salvation? What evil past has led to these karmic consequences?” Her grieving was endless.

On evening, concealed by the waning moon, she ventured near the meditation hall and looked inside. There she observed aspirants for enlightenment sitting in meditation with the nuns-laymen as well as laywomen, both old and young. Casting away utterly the concerns of the work, they were immersed in their practice of zazen. It was truly an impressive sight.

“Even girls too young to know the difference between right and wrong are in there practicing the difficult exercises of the monastic renunciant. Their desire to slip the confines of this world of delusion is very great. Admonishing themselves to try harder, they sit all night in single-minded silence without falling asleep. How can I who lack such impressive qualities ever be like them?

“These are all laypeople who amuse themselves by night and day and have no understanding of things-and yet they sit there on the mats, throwing away any thought of the world, never laying their heads down on a pillow. Their bodies are emaciated, their spirits are exhausted and yet they pay no attention to whether their lives are endangered. They possess a truly profound aspiration. How aptly they are called ‘disciples of the Buddha'” thought Chiyono to herself as she wept.

Now, one of the nuns at the convent was an elderly woman who was deeply compassionate by nature. One day Chiyono approached her and said, “I have a desire to practice zazen but I am of humble birth. I cannot read or write. I am not very smart. If I set an intention, is it possible I too might attain the way of the Buddha even though I have no skills?”

The elderly nun answered her, saying, “This is wonderful, my dear! In fact, what is there to attain? In Buddhism there is no distinction between a man and a woman, between a layperson and a renunciant. Also there is no separation between noble and humble, between old and young. There is only this—each person must hold fast to his or her aspiration and proceed along the way of the Bodhisattva. There is no higher way that this.

“You must not theorize about the words or teachings of the Buddhas and masters. According to the scriptures the goal is to attain Buddhahood yourself. These teachings say that zazen means ‘to seek the Buddha in your own heart.' According to the ancient worthies, the teachings of the sutras are a like a finger pointing to the moon. The words of the patriarch are like a key that opens a gate. If one looks directly at the moon, there is no need for a finger. If the gate has been opened, there is no use for a key. A priest who is familiar with ten million scriptures uses not a single character word in zazen. Great learning and vast knowledge are only impediments to entering the gate of the dharma. They lead to philosophizing and words. If you know your own mind, what teachings about scripture do you need? In entering the Way we must rely on our bodies alone.

“Furthermore, those who would practice zazen should cultivate a heart of great compassion with the intention of saving all sentient beings. Do not seek enlightenment for yourself alone. Go to a quiet place, sit in lotus posture, and place one hand on top of the other. Without leaning to either side, bring your ears into alignment with your shoulders. Open your eyes only halfway and fix your attention on the tip of your nose. Rest your tongue on the roof of your mouth. Throw away your body and your life. Looking from the inside, your self has no mind. Forget also about your connections with others. Looking from the outside, there is no mind anywhere to be found. If random thoughts should occur to you unexpectedly, let them go straight away. Do not follow them. This is the essential technique of zazen. Believe this and stick to it, waiting faithfully.” The kindly nun explained all this in great detail.

Chiyono received these teachings with faith and made a prostration in front of the nun to express her happiness. “When I first began to practice zazen, the various things I had seen and heard in the past kept coming up in my mind. When I tried to stop them, they only increased. This teaching that I have just heard shows me that when random thoughts occur in my mind, I should let them exhaust themselves. I should not make an effort to try to stop my thoughts.”

“Yes,” the nun responded. “Otherwise it would be like using blood to wash out blood stains. According to an ancient teacher, ‘Sudden enlightenment is the medicine that cures our endless sickness.'”

Chiyono spoke, “If I carry on with this practice, commendable results will surely appear of their own accord. Surely, I will see Buddha nature clearly and truly achieve Buddhahood in an instant.”

The nun intoned in a strong voice, “You have just now understood that all sentient beings have already attained Buddhahood. The world of life and death and the world of nirvana are like a dream.

Chiyono said, “I have heard that the Buddha emits rays of light from a tuft of white hair between his eyebrows, illuminating all ten directions. Gazing at them is like looking at the palm of your hand. Can I point to my lowly self and say that I have Buddha nature or am I deluding myself?

The nun replied, “Listen carefully. The teachers of the past have said that people are complete as they are. Each one is perfected; not even the width of one eyebrow hair separates them from this perfection. All sentient beings fully possess the wisdom and virtues of the Buddha. But because they are overcome by delusive thoughts and attachments, they cannot manifest this.”

Chiyono asked, “What are these delusive thoughts?”

The nun replied, “The fact that you adhere to the thoughts that you produce conceals your essential Buddha nature. This is why we speak of ‘delusive thoughts.' It's like taking gold and making a helmet or a pair of shoes out of it, calling what you use to cover your head a ‘helmet' and what you put on your feet ‘shoes.' Even though you use different names for the products, gold is still gold. What you put on your head is not exalted. The things you put on your feet are not lowly. If you apply this metaphor to Buddhism, the gold symbolizes Buddha—that is, realizing your essential nature. Those who are misguided about their essential nature are what we call sentient beings. If we say someone is a Buddha, their essential nature does not increase. If we call someone a sentient being, their essential nature does not diminish. Buddha or sentient beings—people take the point of view that these are two different things because of delusive thoughts. If you don't fall into delusive patterns of thinking, there is no Buddha and also no sentient being. There is only one essential nature, just as there is only one complete world although we refer to the world of the ten directions.

“The Buddha once said, ‘When you get away from all conditions, then you will see the Buddha.' He also said, ‘You must throw away the dharma.' What is this so called dharma? If you really want to know your true nature you must orient yourself towards the source of delusive thoughts and get to the bottom of it. When you hear a voice, do not focus on the thing that you are hearing, but, instead, return to the source of your own hearing. If you practice in this way with all things you will definitely clarify your true nature.”

Chiyono then asked, “What is the mind that fathoms the source of things?”

The nun answered, “The question you have just now asked me—this is an instance of your thinking. Turn to the stage where that thought has not yet arisen. Encourage yourself fiercely. Not mixing in even a trace of thought—this is what we call fathoming the source.”

Chiyono then said, “Does that mean that no matter what we do, as we go about our daily life, we should not observe things but rather turn towards the source of our perceptions and unceasingly try to fathom it?”

The nun said, “Yes, this is called zazen.”

Chiyono said, “What I have heard brings me great happiness. It is not possible for me to practice seated meditation night and day since I am always fetching logs and carrying water, and my duties are many. But if it is as I have heard, there is nothing that is impossible to accomplish in those twelve hours. Encountering the source of my perceptions both to my right and to my left, according to the time and according to the circumstances, how could I neglect my duties? With this practice as my companion, I have only to go about my daily life. If I wake up practicing and go to bed practicing, what hindrance can there be?” With this she joyfully departed.

The nun called out here name as she walked away. Chiyono answered and turned around. The nun said, “Your aspiration to practice is clearly very deep and unchanging.”

Chiyono replied, “When it comes to practice, I've never been concerned about destroying my body or losing my life. I've never even questioned it. If it is as you say, I must not diverge from practicing the totality of the Buddhist teaching even for a little while. All actions are a form of practice. Why be negligent?”

The nun said, “Just now when I called out ‘Chiyono,' why did you adhere to the sound of my voice? You should have just listened to it and returned directly to the source of perception. Never forget: Birth and death are the great matter. All things pass swiftly away. Do not wait—with each in-breath, with each out-breath, rely on your practice at all times. When something is in your way, you must not grieve or linger over it, even though you may have regrets later. Hold on to this firmly.”

After receiving this lesson, Chiyono sighed and fell silent. She had not gone very far before the nun again called out here name. Chiyono turned her head slightly but did not allow her ears to become attached to the nun's voice, returning directly to the source of her perception. In this manner she continued her practice, day after day, month after month. Some days she returned home and forgot to eat. Sometimes she went to fetch water and forgot to transfer it to a bucket. Sometimes she went to collect firewood and forgot that she was in a steep valley. Sometimes she went all day without eating or speaking or went all night without lying down. Although she had eyes, she didn't see and although she had ears, she didn't hear. Her movements were like a wooden person. The assembly of nuns at the temple began to talk about her, saying that realization was near at hand.

The elderly nun heard the talk and secretly went and stood outside her bedroom. Behind a bamboo screen with her hair piled high on her head, Chiyono sat facing the wall. She looked accustomed to sitting, like a mature practitioner. She sat having called up the world of great truth in which all delusions have been abandoned. Turning her consciousness around and looking back on herself, she practiced the most important thing according to the conditions of the moment, guarding her practice without ceasing. Her body was that of a woman who truly displayed the grit of an adept. Even in ancient times such a person was rare. Those who lack such urgency of purpose are shameful.

The nun then asked her, “What place is it that you face?” Chiyono looked back at her then turned back around and sat facing the wall like a tree. The nun then asked her again, “What?! What?!” This time she did not turn her head. Like that, she lost herself in zazen.

In the eighth lunar month of the following year, on the evening of the fifteenth, the full moon was shining. Taking advantage of the cloudless night sky, she went to draw some water from the well. As she did, the bottom of her bucket suddenly gave way and the reflection of the moon vanished with the water. When she saw this she instantly attained great perfection. Carrying the bucket, she returned to the temple.

Previously, she had called the elderly nun who had been her guide and said, “My sickness is incurable and I will die during the night. I want to shave my head and die that way. Will you permit this?” The nun shaved her head.

Furthermore, the elderly nun had heard Wu-hsueh say, “Chiyono may have lowly status but her character is not that of an ordinary woman. Her aspiration is deep—it far exceeds that of others.” She decided Wu-hsueh was right.

What she went to look for herself, Chiyono made a standing bow and said, “You have taught me with great kindness and compassion. As a result, during the third watch of the night, the one moon of self has illuminated the thousand gates of the dharma.” When she finished speaking, she made three prostrations in front of her teacher and then stood as befitting her place.

The nun said, “You have attained the great death, the one, in fact, that enlivens us. From now on, you will study with Wu-hsueh—you must go and see him.”

After this Chiyono was known as Abbess Nyodai. When people came to her with their questions, she would invariably answer, “The Buddha whose face is the moon.” She met with Wu-hsueh and received transmission, becoming his dharma successor. Her dharma name was Mujaku Nyodai. She was the financial patron of the temple of Rokuon-ji in the Kitayama district of Kyoto in th province of Yamashiro, now called Kinkakujoi.
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Re: Bright the full moon of wisdom!

Post by clyde »

:good: long, but worth the read.
“Enlightenment means to see what harm you are involved in and to renounce it.” David Brazier, The New Buddhism

“The most straightforward advice on awakening enlightened mind is this: practice not causing harm to anyone—yourself or others—and every day, do what you can to be helpful.” Pema Chodron, “What to Do When the Going Gets Rough”
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Re: Bright the full moon of wisdom!

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(Portrait of Chiyono, by Hakuin, 17th century.)

Hakuin, well known in Zen circles, composed the following verse, playing off Chiyono's enlightenment poem. The last three lines are the same as her own poem:

Chiyo hoped to draw
water in her bucket but
it lost its bottom
and it could not hold water
nor could it house the moon

No matter how you look at it
when the bottom of the bucket
falls away,
it will not hold water
nore will it house the moon.

Chiyo no fu ga
tanomishi oke no
soko nukete
mizu tamaraneba
tsuki mo yodorasu

Tonikaku ni
takumishi oke no
soko nukete
mizu tamaraneba
tsuki mo yadorazu


--English translation by Karen M. Gerhart, taken from Women, Rite, and Ritual Objects in Premodern Japan.
_____________________________


For those still following along, a bonus poem and image by Hakuin. :smile:

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The monkey is reaching for the moon in the water
Until death overtakes him he'll never give up.
If he'd let go the branch and disappear in the deep pool,
The whole world would shine with dazzling pureness.

English translation by Thich Nhat Hanh, from the book, Eyes of Compassion, Learning from Thich Nhat Hanh, by Jim Forest.
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Re: Bright the full moon of wisdom!

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Title: Moonlit Sea. Artist: Shoda Koho (庄田耕峯, ca. 1871-1946)
Not much is known about the artist, but he did leave a number of beautiful woodblock prints of moonlit landscapes.
========

Today, two translations of the same text by Hongzhi. The original text in both translations is in prose. Versification is mine, which more or less works in bringing out some aspects of the text for comparative purposes.

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Cultivating the Empty Field: The Silent Illumination of Zen Master Hongzhi

Silent Illumination: A Chan Buddhist Path to Natural Awakening

======
Side Notes

When I first read Leighton's translation, something about the analogy of the golden needle and jade thread captured my interest. So I decided to do a bit of a deep dive on sewing in Buddhism!

The golden needle and (milk-) jade thread are said to represent sun/moon, prajna/upaya, shunyata/karuna, wisdom/compassion.

Interestingly, something I never thought about is that the words sutra and suture come from the same root, meaning to stitch, or sew, together. Here is just one description of the connection from an article on Lion's Roar entitled, What is a Sutra?
Sutra is a Sanskrit word that originally meant string or thread, although it is now commonly used to refer to the discourses of Shakyamuni Buddha. Sutra is derived from the same verbal root as the English words “to sew” and “suture.” The Sanskrit word was later translated in China and Japan using a character that had the radical for “string” or “thread.” The connection between string and scripture derives from the fact that these were oral teachings that were sewn together from a common theme and passed down from generation to generation.
The essence of a needle is considered to be its empty eye, otherwise it wouldn't be a sewing needle. The thread passes through the emtpy eye effortlessly. Yet, it is the thread that makes the sewing needle functional. In combination, we find essence and function.

While that is all interesting, what I ended up finding more interesting is the history of actual sewing, and it's import in historical Buddhism, down to the present day.

Sewing is historically quite old. From A Brief History of the Sewig Needle:
The oldest needle we know of dates back around 60,000 years ago: a human-constructed, animal (most likely bird) bone needle found in South Africa. Other needles made of bone and ivory have been discovered in Slovenia, Liaoning, China, and Russia, dating back to between 45,000 and 30,000 years ago. The first needle with an eyelet dates to around 25,000 years ago.
And of course we know that Buddhist monks sew their own robes. As do various Zen practioners. If you are willing to take a little time, here are a couple of very nice articles on sewing as it relates to Buddhism.

The first is a transcribed Dharma talk by Margaret Syverson, entitled Threading the Needle. Here is an excerpt to give just a bit of the flavor of the talk:
Finding Zen practice is like picking up a needle and passing the thread of our lives right through the eye. Now we have a form, a structure for making that thread useful. It doesn’t change the thread; it gives a direction, a trajectory, and a purpose, whether we are mending a torn shirt, sewing on a button, or creating a fabulous fashion statement. The needle carries the thread through all kinds of situations: denim, silk, wool, cotton. It can make masks for a pandemic, curtains for a bedroom, or Buddha’s robe.

Is it ordinary, or is it holy? Reb asked. Our thread—how are we sewing our lives?

When we sew a rakusu, this representation of Buddha’s robe, we take up the needle and thread and begin, stitch by stitch, to piece together a way to wear Buddha’s teachings as our own heart and mind. Breath by breath, stitch by stitch, we are not only sewing to hold bits of fabric into their proper shape, we are embodying a practice that is directly connected 2500 years back to the Buddha himself.

The stitches are practical, but also visible on the face of the rakusu, an image representing countless moments and states of mind. What is this thread that connects us throughout time and space to the Buddha himself?
...
The needle of Zen practice carries the thread of Buddha’s teachings through all of us in every interaction, in every moment of mindful, energetic care. Making a single stitch is a tiny act, almost insignificant on its own. Keep going and you sew a line, a vast robe of liberation, a formless field of benefaction. Follow the needle, a reliable guide for the thread and a way to pierce the fabric of our own conditioning, to make it useful, to make a life of dignity and worth from the scraps of fabric we are given.

The second article is from Tricycle, entitled Oneness With Every Stitch: The life of Tomoe Katagiri, American Zen’s great sewing matriarch. If for some reason you are not able to access the Tricycle article, you can find a PDF text version at the Minnesota Zen Center here.

Again, an excerpt from the artice to give a bit of its flavor:
Hand-sewing robes is an ancient tradition, but it is no longer widely practiced in Japan, where robes are now generally purchased. In 1971, however, Eshun Yoshida, a teacher of nyoho-e and the abbess of Kaizenji, a temple in Japan, was visiting the United States and encouraged the renowned Soto Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki and his assistant Dainin Katagiri to begin the practice at San Francisco Zen Center, where the two found themselves at the vanguard of a burgeoning interest in Zen in America. Katagiri asked his wife, Tomoe, to learn nyoho-e from Yoshida. There was no time to lose, as no one in the States knew how to teach the practice and Yoshida was going to return to Japan within a week. Tomoe dove into study under the master’s tutelage. The training was intense and nonstop: they knelt for hours on the ground in the Japanese style to work with fabric and thread.
...
Toward the end of our interview, I asked Tomoe what is most important about nyoho-e. She leaned forward. “Through sewing you learn a lot about the dharma, Buddha’s teaching. It’s not just sewing! One stitch. Tiny stitch. When you think how many yards you will sew, chanting the Buddha’s name with every stitch, if you count all the stitches, you say, ‘I cannot do it!’ But, if you do this stitch: one stitch. One stitch. One stitch continuously, you will finish. If you stop, if you quit, even if you are very good at stitching, you will never finish. Just continue! When you continue with the stitching you will have many problems. Experience. Yes. That is your life. You can learn about oneness just chanting refuge in the Buddha with every stitch, and your life, that is dharma stitching.”
:anjali:
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Re: Bright the full moon of wisdom!

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Today, September 10th, is the 15th day of the eigth lunar month of the Chinese calendar. A full moon day. Typically celebrated in Asian cultures as the Mid-Autumn Festival. Known in the West as the Harvest Moon, altough the dates don't always line up. The Harvest Moon is defined as the full Moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox. You can read more about the Festival on Wikipedia's page here.


Fall Moon Festival
by Thich Nhat Hanh

What will happen when form collides with emptiness,
and what will happen when perception enters non-perception?
Come here with me, friend.
Let's watch together.
Do you see the two clowns, life and death
setting up a play on a stage?
Here comes Autumn.
The leaves are ripe.
Let the leaves fly.
A festival of colors, yellow, red.
The branches have held on to the leaves
during Spring and Summer.
This morning they let them go.
Flags and lanterns are displayed.
Everyone is here at the Full Moon Festival.

Friend, what are you waiting for?
The bright moon shines above us.
There are no clouds tonight.
Why bother to ask about lamps and fire?
Why talk about cooking dinner?
Who is searching and who is finding?
Let us just enjoy the moon, all night.

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

It is noted here that
This poem was written in response to Vietnamese Dhyana master Lieu Quan (1670–1742), whose poem of insight has this sentence: “If I had realized that the lamp is fire itself, the rice would have been cooked for a long time already!” The insight poem was presented to his teacher, Master Tu Dung, in 1708.
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Here is a drawing of some frogs dancing around a fire with a full moon watching on. Just because. :)

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May your Mid-Autumn Festival Day be fun and illumining!
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