Hasu Transitoire (The Transient Lotus)

are everything.

Places change us. Beauty awes us. Energy penetrates us. The natural world, and the human history we’ve laid across it, always leaves me simultaneously at a loss for words and wanting to say something. Perhaps more than ever before, yesterday’s trek to Mt. Kurama, had this profound kind of effect.  Mt. Kurama and its religious center, Kuramadera , is said to be Kyoto’s most powerful site, energetically speaking. Haunted, some say, by former samurai and ninja who trained on its steep slopes.  The place where a deity from Venus descended six million years ago. A place of combined religious practice, mysterious and shadowy twists and turns, and a sense of stillness and purity I will never forget.  Being so sensitive to light/dark/emotions/the moon/everything, I was especially curious how it would ‘feel’ to be there. And in retrospect, it could have been those anticipatory feelings that influenced the reality…but I must say that around Yuki Shrine and its massive tr...

First holidays abroad. I would say alone, but that would only be an ego-driven projection seeking some sort of comfort – still, I feel compelled to say ‘alone’ because it seems like the ‘natural’ thing to say. Oh, the stories we tell ourselves! And although I am sitting here ‘alone’ writing this note, the moment I reflect on the richness of even this solitary moment the invisible web of love and connection again shows itself, as luminous as ever. Wearing one of my dad’s old hunting shirts, which my sister so thoughtfully sent across the ocean so as to give me a magical hug from a person whose lineage and life I carry in my heart. Burning a bright beautiful lavender candle, just opened from Mom, shipped across mountains and deserts and continents to brighten my day. Its scents are associated with the crown chakra, and the label states the simple yet magical truth that through meditation and prayer we surrender and experience whole body happiness.  Sunlight shape shifts through my wi...

Today, like every day in Nara (but really life), was epic. bitter cold but met new friends - ancient statues, red beret'd kids, hungry deer - and fell even more deeply in love with this magical place.

Clouds hanging low and heavy. A woman reading from prayer book at top shrine. Distant smell of smoke. Fog rising up to richly lit skies. Orange violet cinnamon. Now to every single passerby, numbers dwindling toward the top, thousands of steps in tow. Bowing to the moment bowing to the leaves bowing to my self  Palm reader with a space heater at the base.

Many thanks were given as I boarded the world's fastest train to spend Thanksgiving in the world's fastest city. Gratitude for every moment and sensation that unfolds in this surreal experience called 'life' *_*

Today is the 21st, which marks the monthly market held in honor of Kukai's death anniversary at Tōji temple, just south of my house. Last month my friend Lili and I came late in the afternoon as everything was closing up for the day. This time, I biked down around 11am to see the market in full swing. Wow, was it! Shouts of welcome, come see this, come taste that, rang throughout corridors of stalls selling what I can only conclude is everything a person might possibly need, ever. Flowers, food, antiques, bicycles, spices, shoes, clothing, hardware, DVDs, everything! It also happened to be a marvelous autumn day. I ended up buying great holiday gifts, along with dried figs, molasses with turmeric, honey with ginger, fried chicken, and a piping hot pancake filled with sweet bean paste (I waited in line about twenty minutes for this, and it was worth every second!).