Ruta & Daitya

'De um certo ponto adiante não há mais retorno. Esse é o ponto que deve ser alcançado." 
Franz Kafka

Majakowski
Alexander Rodchenko, 1920's

Amar não é aceitar tudo.

Aliás: onde tudo é aceito,

desconfio que há falta de amor.

Vladimir Maiakóvski

Pureza

                          Lá onde
a raiz da tua alma principia
há uma virgem que de ti se esconde
             e foge como estrela à flor do dia

Luís Veiga Leitão
(1943-1983)

imagem: Pina Bausch

Ojime

Ojime . ca. 1920. Ivory.
2 cm. ( 0.75")

 
Japanese netsuke are little carvings, mostly made out of ivory or wood, as handling pieces, or toggles.

A netsuke will always have a couple of linked holes, or a deliberate gap often between a tail or leg, for a cord to be attached so that they could be used as a toggle. They were then most often attached to an inro.

An inro is a decorated lacquer container, consisting of a number of interlocking compartments, usually there are between 2 to 6 compartments, all held together on a cord.

An ojime, this is a decorative bead, is then threaded onto the cord so that once pushed down towards the inro, it keeps all the compartments closed. Ojime can be carved metal, ivory or stone beads. These inro were then used for carrying such small personal items as seals and pills and became fashionable with the Kimono.

The kimono had no pockets so the inro, held closed by the ojime, would be worn hanging from the sash; the netsuke was then, pushed up under the sash, thus trapping and holding the inro in place. (Edited text from John Neville Cohen website )

@ Live Auctioneers

maravilhamento

"em pequeno, costumava maravilhar-me com o facto de que as letras de um livro fechado não se misturassem e se perdessem no decorrer da noite".  ~ Jorge Luis Borges

Un bambino che legge sarà un adulto che pensa...
Photo · Alicja Dybowska

Ítaca

a viagem do elefante

«Cuando emprendas tu viaje a Ítaca
pide que el camino sea largo,
lleno de aventuras, lleno de experiencias».

Konstantino P. Kavafis

Zen Meditation: It’s Not What You Think!

 

In Zen meditation, there is nothing mysterious magical nor; is it a mental exercise as precise, practical and effective as is physical exercise and breathing for energy. In fact, words do not exist that can accurately describe what happens during the “inner alchemy” of deep meditation Before turning the page and abandoning this article because it does not relate to your current interests or because “I don’t have time”, or because it seems “New Age” or related to Hari Krishna, hippies, or who knows what other obscure religion, Zen Meditation goes beyond acts of faith, although it has become a part of Buddhism. It is an age old practice originating in China, but it has penetrated other cultures like Korea and Japan, due to its “effectiveness” and, has not only survived, but even arrived in the West years ago, it has since been recognized for its “health benefits”. Like allopathic medicine, it is based on scientist research. Sit in a comfortable position and try to achieve calmness and freedom from mental debris through an inner dialogue, slow down and regulate your pulse and all your vital biorhythms, especially those of the heart and respiratory system, that in turn regulate all the others body functions. This is why meditation is an excellent therapy for sufferers of hypertension, nervousness, premature ejaculation, indigestion, chronic anxiety and other side-effects of stress and tension and the subsequent imbalance of vital functions.

We know that while we sleep, our body rests and recovers energy, but the mind moves through other realities and fantasies, on such an exciting trip that some people don’t want to move during the night. That’s why, for those practicing meditation, it is the only way to provide “complete mental tranquility”, because the body relaxes so completely that it brings about restoration of overall vitality of the body.
In fact, words do not exist that can accurately describe what happens during the “inner alchemy” of deep meditation, that opens localized fields of consciousness well beyond the reach of words and rational thought. The true intention is to sit quietly without doing anything. It consists of completely emptying the mind of all conceptual thoughts and to leave the spirit to dwell in the emptiness, the silence and the calm.
In Zen meditation, there is nothing mysterious magical nor; is it a mental exercise as precise, practical and effective as is physical exercise and breathing for energy. Most important, it is a discipline and to learn the techniques that facilitate the accomplishment of this mental exercise, you can find it in books, but it is better if someone with experience guide you;

Hokusai

 The Great Wave off Kanagawa

another version of the big wave by Katsushika Hokusai.

What is Zen?

The answer that my grand teacher would always give to this question was, “Zen is very simple. What are you?” In this world today, as it has been since human beings began to discriminate and to think, we all began searching for satisfaction outside of ourselves; however, because it seems almost counter-intuitive very few of us ever seek to find happiness within ourselves. Listening to typical conversations we hear others speak of this thing that is labeled “I.” Also, if we have enough internal witness and we listen to our own speech it may surprise us how many times we also use the word “I’ in our conversations. We all talk about this “I” as if it had a separate self, as if this “I” were somehow existent outside of us. We say things like, “I want this,” or “I am like this” but how many of us truly understand this “I” of which we speak, and where does our “I” come from?

In Zen we sometimes ask, “before you were born, before your mother and father conceived you, what was your original nature?” Along these same lines we might ask; when we die, where will we go? If we can sincerely ask ourselves, ‘What am I?’ Eventually we will run into a wall where all thinking is cut off. In our Zen Lineage we call this ‘don’t know;’ however, this state of perception is not exclusive to Zen and other traditions call this state by different names. Christians may call it Christ Consciousness, Jews may call it, YHWH, Daoists might call it the Great and Ineffable Dao, the great twentieth Century Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki Roshi called it Beginner’s Mind, consequently each path has a separate name for this one state of mind. So, Zen practice is about keeping a don’t-know mind always and everywhere.

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. Zen Master Seung Sahn

We define meditation in Zen as maintaining a don’t-know mind when bowing, chanting, as well as during seated meditation. Yet, for us in this modern twenty first century it is highly important to keep this don’t know mind every minute of our waking life. There are no special forms of existence or places that will take us out of our current situation or condition; this is the place where we try to escape reality by using drugs, alcohol, video games, the company of others, etc. In and of themselves, these actions are not good or not bad, it is just that it all boils down to a simple question. “Do you control your thinking, or does your thinking control you?” For most of us we have a constant dialog going on in our heads, but who is it that we are talking with? We create this separation inside our own heads. If we can stop this endless train of thoughts, this constitutes what we call formal Zen practice, and it isn’t what we think. We may think that we must meditate, or go off to a mountain top in silence to find ourselves; but Buddha taught that if we are ever to wake up to our own humanity it must be in this very moment. By keeping a don’t know mind when we are doing something, we can just do it. When driving, we just drive; when eating, we can just eat; when working we can just work.

Eventually our don’t know-mind will become clear. Then when we see the sky, there is only blue—when we see the tree, there is only green. Our mind becomes like a clear untarnished mirror­­­—if red appears the mirror reflects red; if white appears the mirror reflects white. If a hungry person arrives, we can give some food; if a thirsty person arrives, we can give something to quench their thirst. In the end there is no desire for myself, only for all sentient beings. This mind is already enlightened; it is what we call Great Love, Great Compassion, and the Great Bodhisattva Way. Zen is very simple, it is not difficult!

Posted by Rev. Paul Dōch'ŏng Lynch  Zen Mirror: What is Zen?

Understanding is the essence of love.

Okimono

 Okimono in the shape of a pine cone. 19th C.
Ivory. 50 cm. Made in Japan.@ The British Museum

Okimono is a Japanese term for objects for display in front of religious altars, in a tokonoma, or in other such special spaces for setting objects to be appreciated.
An okimono may be a small Japanese carving, similar to, but larger than netsuke. Unlike netsuke, which had a specific purpose, okimono were purely decorative and were displayed in the tokonoma.

breathe | zen habit

The Jiangyou Figure Hill Temple. Simple iron chain bridge, China, 1930's

smile, breathe & go slowly

♥

The Art Of Imperfect Beauty

Wabi-sabi (侘寂)
O expoente máximo de todos os valores estéticos: encontrar beleza em tudo, tal como são na verdadeira essência... depois disto o conceito de arte (como se conhece) deixa de ter qualquer importância... ficam uns links para quem quiser saber mais

What Is Wabi-Sabi?

Wabi-Sabi

Wiki Wabi-Sabi

www.wabisabi.org

Time and Space

Time and Space, 2nd edition by Barry Dainton
2010 | 448 Pages | ISBN: 1844651916 , 1844651908 | PDF | 5 MB

The first edition (2001) quickly established itself on courses on the philosophy of time and space. This fully revised and expanded new edition sees the addition of chapters on Zeno's paradoxes, speculative contemporary developments in physics, and dynamic time, making the second edition, once again, unrivalled in its breadth of coverage. Surveying both historical debates and the ideas of modern physics, Barry Dainton evaluates the central arguments in a clear and unintimidating way and is careful to keep the conceptual issues throughout comprehensible to students with little scientific or mathematical training. The book makes the philosophy of space and time accessible for anyone trying to come to grips with the complexities of this challenging subject. With over 100 original line illustrations and a full glossary of terms, the book has the requirements of students firmly in sight and will continue to serve as an essential textbook for philosophy of time and space courses.

uploaded
 

rapidgator

do silêncio dos livros

Um dos primeiros ... livros do mundo.
É chamado "Cilindro de Ciro" e contém um conjunto de leis e indicações para o bom governo do povo.
Foi mandado fazer pelo rei persa, Ciro, o Grande, após a conquista da Babilónia em 539a.C.
Mede cerca de 24,5 cm de comprimento está gravado em argila numa escrita cuneiforme acádio.

Em 1971, a ONU publicou o texto completo em todas as línguas dos países membros como a primeira declaração de direitos humanos da história.
[British Museum, Londres]

"Figuras do Espanto"

A Noiva Manchú
John Thomson, primeiro fotojornalista. 1867.

Para ser grande, sê inteiro: nada
     Teu exagera ou exclui.
Sê todo em cada coisa. Põe quanto és
      No mínimo que fazes.
Assim em cada lago a lua toda
       Brilha, porque alta vive.

                                                                 (1933)

Fernando Pessoa - Odes de Ricardo Reis

Max Ernst - The Marriage of Heaven and Earth (1962)

Há pessoas que transformam o sol
numa simples mancha amarela, mas
também há aquelas que fazem de uma
simples mancha amarela o próprio sol...

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

A linha que nos separa de um bom trabalho e um mau trabalho não é nítida

a fronteira entre a excelência e a mediocridade é ténue
facilmente caímos na vulgaridade
muito, muito facilmente, caímos na merda


 

!!!!!! ~~~~~~ : )

Youtube

A uma bicicleta desenhada na cela

Stanko Abadzic / Bicycle art on wall, 2008

A uma bicicleta desenhada na cela


Nesta parede que me veste
da cabeça aos pés, inteira,
bem hajas, companheira,
as viagens que me deste.

Aqui,
onde o dia é mal nascido,
jamais me cansou
o rumo que deixou
o lápis proibido…

Bem haja a mão que te criou!

Olhos montados no teu selim
pedalei, atravessei
e viajei
para além de mim.

Luís Veiga Leitão

la mar

El viejo y el mar 1982 by Edouard Boubat

Sempre pensava no mar como la mar, que é o que o povo lhe chama em espanhol, quando o ama. Às vezes, aqueles que gostam do mar dizem mal dele, mas sempre o dizem como se ele fosse mulher. Alguns dos pescadores mais novos, os que usam bóias por flutuadores e têm barcos a motor, comprados quando os fígados de tubarão davam muito dinheiro, dizem el mar, que é masculino. Falavam dele como de um antagonista, um lugar, até um inimigo. Mas o velho sempre pensava no mar como feminino, como algo que entrega ou recusa favores supremos, e se tresvariava ou fazia maldades era porque não podia deixar de as fazer. A lua influi no mar como as mulheres, pensava ele.

Ernest Hemingway - The old man and the sea - O Velho e o mar, trad. Jorge de Sena, ed. Livros do Brasil, 1956.

Los amantes de Valardo

Fornicar - pensava Beno -, fornica-se com quem quer que seja ou quem seduzimos e desejamos. Mas dormir, dormir é muito mais complicado, leva tempo até se perder o medo de se entregar o corpo, assim... ao outro.

E a lassidão dos corpos abandonados aos segredos do sono um do outro... é bela!

Al Berto in Lunário
imagem: Los amantes de Valardo o el abrazo de 6000 años

Gogo No-Eiko

Digo-te uma coisa, no entanto: por mais tempo que se passe no alto mar, nunca conseguimos habituar-nos às tempestades. Quero dizer que de todas as vezes que se está no meio duma, pensamos que chegou a nossa vez. E olha que no dia anterior a esta, o pôr-do-sol parecia mesmo um incêndio, o vermelho do céu estava tingido de negro e a água do mar tinha ficado calma de repente, como um lago. Eu tinha a sensação de que ia passar-se qualquer coisa.

Yukio Mishima ~ O marinheiro que perdeu as graças do mar, Assírio&Alvim 1985
The sailor who fell from grace with the sea

photo: Pedro Luis Raota

Los agachados

Los agachados, 1934

Manuel Álvarez Bravo, fotógrafo mexicano (1902 – 2002)

O Velho e o Mar

A vida de um Poeta, seja qual, é sempre maior que a sua poesia, qual a maior. Rimbaud ou Rilke. Porquanto nele as palavras, todas as palavras intactas se quebram. …No fundo o poema, qualquer poema, é um canto de derrota: silêncio e voz de fracturas.

Luís Veiga Leitão
(1943-1983) 
photo: Arseniy Semyonov

O silêncio dos livros

Walter Benjamin

!!!!!!

Walter Benjamin's library card, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 1940

“There are perhaps paths that lead us again and again to people who have one and the same function for us: passageways that always, in the most diverse periods of life, guide us to the friend, the betrayer, the beloved, the pupil or the master."
Walter Benjamin 

o homem invisível

Aquele homem era invisível, mas ninguém se apercebeu disso.

Aquel hombre era invisible, pero nadie se percató de ello.
Por Gabriel Jiménez Emán

imagem: ca. 1870, “Top Hat”, Eli W. Buel ~ via the George Eastman House Collection, Carte de Visite and Cabinet Cards on Flickr