Senju Kannon
Senju Kannon, thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara
Mineko san was telling me the other day that when she was a little girl she used to be afraid of Senju Kannon. The temple was dark and this strange statue looked like a mad insect, a strange spider. And her mother was often telling her: “Senju Kannon knows everything you are doing, she is watching you!...”. I told her that Kannon was unconditional love, accepting all things, that Kannon was living here and now, in all aspects of our life. I wrote this clumsy poem for her...
Water ablaze, so is my body
Dark gem of burning coal
Cries of despair
Voices trapped
In past and future
In the midst of this
It sits and stands
Hands, contemplation
Heart, compassion
Arms, action
Ten thousand forms
Expressed in one pearl
One pearl displaying
The ten thousand glows
Lotus on a sea of fire
The body of Kannon
Face of the faceless
Voice of the voiceless
Is but this moment
Nothing but this
Very
moment
Dark gem of burning coal
Cries of despair
Voices trapped
In past and future
In the midst of this
It sits and stands
Hands, contemplation
Heart, compassion
Arms, action
Ten thousand forms
Expressed in one pearl
One pearl displaying
The ten thousand glows
Lotus on a sea of fire
The body of Kannon
Face of the faceless
Voice of the voiceless
Is but this moment
Nothing but this
Very
moment
posted by Taigu at 2:44 AM
2 Comments:
Pierre, That was very good. Are these new poems?
Thank you Oxeye. Yes. written just a few hours ago. I revere this form more than others, maybe because of Ryokan, Issan Dorsey, my stupid life, I don't know. I see Kannon as the body of the timeless now, getting up, brushing teeth, taking one's car or taking the train...each action is Kannon itself.Impermanence is Buddha.
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