Monday 29 October 2012

WHITE BONES - From Great Middle Way by Tashi Nyima

With every death there is reflection. The memories of times spent together. The laughter and the sadness. All flashes coming and going in the mind. We are all impermanent in this floating world. Solidity evaporating, gone, gone...


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White Bones

Will I die first, or will my neighbor?
Will it be today or tomorrow? We do not know.

Those we leave behind and those who go before us
are more numerous than the dewdrops
that rest briefly beneath the trees and on their leaf tips.

We may have radiant faces in the morning,
but in the evening be no more than white bones.

With the coming of the wind of impermanence,
both eyes are instantly closed,
and when a single breath is forever stilled,
the radiant face is drained of life,
and its vibrant glow is lost.

Although family and relatives may gather
and grieve broken-heartedly, it is to no avail.
As there is nothing else to be done,
the once-familiar form is taken to an outlying field,
and when it has vanished with the midnight smoke,
nothing is left but white bones.

This is indeed indescribably sad. 
—Rennyo Shonin


Tashi Nyima | October 29, 2012 at 9:44 AM | Tags: funeral lament, Rennyo Shonin | Categories: Dharma View | URL: http://wp.me/p17iwB-RQ

Saturday 27 October 2012

From 'Great Middle Way' By Tashi Nyima. UNNOTICED.

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Unnoticed

Summer and fall slip away; the months and years go by;
yesterday is spent, and today draws to a close.
Little did I know that I would grow old before I knew it,
with the unnoticed passage of the years.

On occasion during that time,
I must have known the beauty
of flowers and birds, of the breeze and the moon;
I must also have met with the joy and sorrow of pleasure and pain.
But now there is not even a single instance
that I remember in detail.

How sad it is to have grown gray with age,
having done no more than pass my nights and days to no purpose!

When I deeply reflect on the apparent soundness of my own existence,
not yet been called away by the relentless wind of impermanence,
it seems like a dream, like an illusion.

As for now, there is nothing left but to aspire
to the one way out of birth and death.

—Rennyo Shonin

Wednesday 10 October 2012

Narrapumelap











































































Narrapumelap was built in 1873 and is considered one of rural Victoria’s best examples of French Gothic Revival Architecture. A mile long driveway of elms and pines sweeps through the beautiful park and invites you into a world of elegance, charm and serenity.