close-up

Hey all you Marimokkori fans! Here are some new hilarious marimokkori I found on my fifth grader's pencil cases. Remember, marimokkori is cute because he always has an erection. Click an image to enlarge.

Afro-mokkori with his buddy, Mameshiba.

Supa-mokkori

Tokyo Yanki Mokkori.

I did it. At the board of education forget-the-year party, I ate pufferfish testicles.

The milt was warm and creamy, (like salty yogurt), surprisingly good. I was tricked into trying it...my colleague told me, after much sake, that it was sea urchin. I should have known better. The second one was much harder to swallow.

Here we are playing santa at the kindergarden.

When I first saw the rock garden at the zen monastery in my town I was a little disappointed, to tell you the truth. I mean, I was expecting more large boulders that represent islands or mountaintops, and curvy lines that are the water or clouds. But there are no mossly islands or jagged mountains or curvy lines in this garden. Only a field of clouds seen from way above.

Now I think this is the coolest rock garden in all Japan...It's definitely rebellious. And so spacious..mmm.
Here is a close-up of the new tree painting. Can you see the buddhas? I'm presenting this to its buyer friday night after we go out for some sushi. I hope she likes it. (Remember, I was the Master of Ceremonies for her daughter's wedding last summer, a great honor.)

Happy Bodhi Day!

Satoru Day

Satoru has two meanings--one is “Amazing Friend,” and the other is more like “Awaken, become lucid, conscious, discover." 悟る。Words point to words.

The Meaning is usually felt beyond words.

Living in the Land of Basho, I am interested in the different enlightenment moments, and the poems or stories they in-spire.

For Shakyamni Buddha, it’s the morning star and the tree, (for some it’s also the rapidly changing rainbow sky. And yet for others, they think of the cold pain and hunger.

However, in the case of Basho, his was a pond, a frog diving, mid air, and the sound of water.

古池

蛙飛び込む

水の音

Probably the most famous Haiku in Japan. Interesting sidenote: in traditional Japanese that reads up-down, the last character experienced is "Sound 音"meaningfully, "Standing　立　Sun 日" visually。

“The sound of water” has many different meanings now, and one of them is

last literary line of an Enlightenment Moment.

In any case, yesterday wasn't just a celebration of the Historic Buddha’s awakened mind. It was a celebration of the awakened mind happening inside all of us. (笑) It’s in celebration of The Enlightenment, or the Consciousness, which is effortlessly the essence of this moment from the very beginning anyway, でしょう?.

And even as a non-buddhist, we might feel thanks towards Shaka,, thanks for giving us a particular soul’s “enlightenment story,” It has left us with many practices (mainly meditation) that point to the beyond words supercompleteness (spontaneously )happening everywhere,

And for nothing else, it increased the diversity of myths, symbols, and lifestyles.

Finally, (to live the tradition), Thanks be to the morning star enlightenment!

(which was surprisingly celebrated by nearly no one yesterday.)

Peal Harbor Enlightenment stories instead.

old pond 古池

The sound of water 水の音

Yesterday's post:

Happy Birthday Buddhism! Today is when many buddhists celebrate the anniversary of the historic Buddha's enlightenment or "Satori".

The story goes that he was sitting under the great bodhi tree, determined not to move until he achieved liberation. He sat through the night, unmoving. As the sun began to change all the infinite colors in the sky and world around him, he rested his mind single pointedly on the morning star-- that tiny, unchanging point of light in the vast, infinite sky. It is then that he discovered the nature of mind, 悟った。He found the always already unchanging essence and suchness of mind, and "woke up."

Today's Dalai Lama wisdom teaching:

If you want others to be happy,
practice compassion.
If you want to be happy,
practice compassion.
*
Be kind whenever possible.
It is always possible."

And here is one of my Dzogchen practices, for those of you interested....

(I adapted this prayer and powerful visualization from a book on tantric preliminary practices I got at the Dalai Lama's monastery bookstore.)

Since all phenomenal appearances, limitations and liberation, from the very beginning are the pure realm of Emptiness, they are consequently perfected, purified and ripened into divinities, prayers, songs, temples, and truths; Great Completeness is free from the efforts of abandoning or adopting; the depth of intrinsic awareness is beyond mental fabrication and known experience; May I nakedly see Reality Itself in direct actuality.

From within the depths of the rainbow radiance, utterly freed from characteristic thoughts, may I develop the visionary experience of pure forms and light discs, and perfect the place of intrinsic awareness into the heavenly pure realm. May I become fully awakened in the great transcendence, the dissolution of dreams, and Gain the stronghold of the youthful vase-body.

If I do not succeed in experiencing the great union, and my physical body is not released into the subtle expanse (of the rainbow body), then when the life functions are collapsing, may death’s clear-light vision arise as the primordially pure perfect body of truth, and may the apparitions of the mind (intermediate state) be liberated into the perfect body of complete enjoyment. Once the skills of the path of total decisiveness and spontaneous presence have been perfected, may I attain liberation like a child climbing upon its mother’s lap.

Receiving the four Empowerments

(If you are a westerner, you may want to first visualize the actual Jesus イエス standing in front of you, handsome, strong, and attractive, his beautiful eyes radiating with love, acceptance, and wisdom.)

1. Vase Empowerment (body)

From the mid forehead of the Lord a white ball of light sounding “Ohm”, shimmering like crystal, radiates light rays which penetrate the crown of my head, cleansing contaminated actions of the body and impediments in the channel system instilling blessings of the Perfect Diamond-body so that I obtain the empowerment of the Vase, becoming a fitting vessel for the visualization process; the seed of a yet-to-mature Knowledge-holder is sown, and in my mind is placed the capacity for attaining the state of the emanation body, Radiant Life.

2. Secret Empowerment (speech)

From the throat of the Lord a red ball of light sounding “Ah”, blazing like a ruby, radiates light rays which penetrate my throat, purifying verbal actions and impediments of energy, instilling blessing of the Perfect Diamond-speech so that I receive the Secret Empowerment, becoming receptive for the mystic recitation. The seed of maturation of a knowledge holder of Timelessness is sown, and in my mind is placed the capacity of attaining the state of the perfect body of complete enjoyment, Radiant Love.

3. Primordial Wisdom Empowerment (mind)

From the heart of the Lord a blue ball of light sounding "Hum", the color of the sky, radiates light rays which penetrate my heart, purifying mental actions and impediments, instilling blessings of the Perfect Diamond-mind so that I obtain the Primordial Wisdom Empowerment, becoming a fitting vessel for the fiery practice of energy, bliss, and emptiness. The seed of a Knowledge-holder is sown, and in my mind is placed the capacity for attaining the state of the perfect body of truth, Radiant Light.

4. The verbal Indication Empowerment (spirit)

Again from the blue sphere of light sounding Hum in Jesus’s heart, a second ball bursts forth like a meteor mixing indistinguishably with my mind, purifying my entire life-stream, instilling blessings of the Diamond-primordial wisdom so that I may obtain the ultimate empowerment indicated by words, becoming a fitting vessel for the primordially pure Great Completeness and Universal Love; The seed of a Knowledge-holder of spontaneous accomplishment is sown, and in my mind is placed the capacity for the final attainment, the perfect body of universal essence, the Integrated One in love the Many.

5. Dissolving the visualization (meditating on becoming as “one taste.”)

Finally, from the heart of the Lord, rays of warm red light are emitted and just by touching the heart of myself as translucent being, I become a sphere of red light which dissolves into the heart of Christ, mixing inseparably, and then dissolving into radiant Emptiness, Crystal clear light.

実相　じっそう　suchness

真如　しんにょ thusness

如如　にょにょ isness

ありのままのすがた

純粋な、自然な、自発的な意識。

Another interesting difference

just about done, i think. "subtle world."

Radiant Emptiness, Luminous Mind; yellow light and rainbow buddhas appearing everywhere. I love this world. I went to the temple to see the 800 year-old ginko tree's fallen leaves and saw a business man on his knees putting leaves into a plastic bag. Old people played in the yellow light, and monks meditated out of sight. The sign says "Be Quiet." 静かに

Our friend Michael Garfield talking beautifully. This is a must see for art and science lovers.

Some great live Bobby Mcferrin. I love his facial expressions.

And now, a Culture Lesson.

I think I have a very “postmodern” "American" view towards human sexuality--"different stokes for different folks"-- and I generally think that America exists within a relatively high level of tolerance for (and even protection of) sexual diversity (using a yard stick with Iran at the bottom and Holland at the top). However, while living in Japan I’ve been studying this "asian" sexuality and it just blows me away. It's positively astounding.

Japan appears to be, at times, extremely conservative.

But then you go to the local mall, to the bookstore next to Tower Records, and find right in the middle of the store shelves filled with gay erotic novels for young readers, fully illustrated.

This genre, called yaoi or Boys Love (BL), is primarily intended for young girls and is popular all over Japan--these books are not hidden or banned in any way.

I asked one of my Japanese friends why these are so popular and he said, “Kids are very interested in gay love stories.” More info here.

I guess in Japan interest in eroticism is NOT taboo, whereas in America, it is. We don't care if kids are interested in it. "It's wrong," so we deny any creative stimulation or eroticism, right?

But then again in America we have tv shows with gay characters (The L-word, True Blood, Family Guy, The Office)...However we would never culturally accept gay erotic picture books intended for junior high school girls like they do in Japan! We are way too homophobic and erotiphobic for that.

But let's be fair...if we caught two teenage boys loving each other, we wouldn't publicly hang them to death like they do in Iran. Thankfully we don't consider sexual and gender irregularities to be THAT big of a deal anymore, or even THAT irregular.

This is a typical book cover. Fascinating, yes? It seems so liberated.

print-club

My butoh dancer friend Yasuchika Konno has a new website up, and a new performance. You might want to see this. It is, at times, breathtaking.

another picture of the Dalai Lama in Niihama.

Junya, my beautiful brother from Tokushima, came over last night with one of his amazing friends, Olu, who he met in Oklahoma. Olu will be moving to Niihama January to work at an English conversation school. It was an honor hosting them.

And one of my last views of Terri. I miss her already.

the tree was cold and wet, which made the bark a wonderful purple. And i got to see Terri play. It was her first time to The Tree.

I took some purikura (tiny little sticker photos) for my students. We do purikura exchange.

you can see more here.

Development

Here is a new painting I'm doing on commission.

Terri, Chris, Ty and I went sailing.

Here is Emily and Terri at a birthday party.
The Yanagi's visited my tiny painting show.

And here I am with some of my students.

Dalai Lama in Matsuyama

The Dalai Lama spoke to a few thousand people for two-and-a-half-hours in Matusyama yesterday. Actually it was more like three hours because he stayed after for questions.

It was so funny, at the beginning he asked in Tibetan (translated into Japanese) “Who here speaks English?” Only a few people raised their hands. Then he asked the question again in perfect English and many more people raised their hands. He laughed, sat back, thought for a minute, and then said, “When I get asked a question, sometimes the question itself gives me an entirely new perspective, or a new way of looking at things.” That was the little sermon he gave the English speakers. He also said in English at the end, “If you think anything I said today was useful, please think about it again. If you don't think it was useful, you can just forget it, no problem!”

The rest of his talk was in Tibetan and Japanese. Every once in a while he would use English to clarify a certain word for the translator, so it would be “blah blah blah interdependence blah blah blah basic mental state blah blah...” That was kind of fun...

But I tell ya, The Dalai Lama has such a powerful presence. He walks out on stage and spends time looking at and smiling at every person, he laughs and waves, then he prostrates to the Buddha. After that, we are all in love, and everything he does, whether its scratching his nose or adjusting his hat, makes us laugh or smile. Especially when he remembers something and giggles to himself, we all giggle. He pulls it out of us and leaves us in a state of cheerful, playful, joy. I can only imagine how amazing it was for the Japanese people who could understand the translation! I just went to see him though, so the little bit of English at the beginning and end was an unexpected gift.

This morning I remembered many dreams, and today I felt clear and energetic all day.

Dalai Lama Consecration

The Dalai Lama came to Niihama today to consecrate a new stupa! Here he is walking into the temple courtyard. Emily and I got to participate in this event and meet him afterwards! It was...



Everyone chanted the Heart Sutra with the Dalai Lama as part of the consecration. The Heart Sutra, (which represents the heart of buddhism and the heart of existence, "Emptiness is none other than Form, Form is none other than Emptiness") they say was expounded by Avalokiteshvara itself, (the bodhisattva of compassion). The Dalai Lama, if you forgot, is believed to an embodiment of this very deity, so I found it interesting to be able to chant the heart sutra with it's original author. =)



After the consecration he invited the monks up for a group photo. It was adorable! He also went around and met everyone who participated. The Dalai Lama held my hand, looked into my eyes, and said,
"Hah, where are you from? Europe?"
"America." I replied. He then looked into Emily.
"And you?" he asked.
"Yes, America."
"I see."
It was amazing. I am so happy.

Consecration: first he unveiled the stupa, and placed a kata (holy scarf) around it.

Then, while the Dalai Lama chanted, a monk put a buddha and relic (tiny bone) into the stupa.

This was the first stupa inJapan to have a hand-delivered relic from the Dalai Lama.

Consecration.

I can't wait to see him again tomorrow!!! I am so lucky!!!

banana

Festivals

huge flu scare at one of my schools. everyone is wearing masks.
I fount this popular little character named Marimokori on a student's pencil case. Marimokkori is cute because he always has an erection. Here he is bathing in some curry and rice. That is not his belly button.
Festival just finished last weekend. Sunday Ikku shrine, home to Niihama's thousand-year-old camphor trees, was packed with people, waiting for the fights.
One by one teams of 150 men carried their neighborhood's shrine through the new huge copper gate into to the park and threw it in front of the god.


When the light hit them, these golden dragon floats glowed.


Tengu Penis Nose stopped by to deliver the god (in the form of a golden float covered in mirrors) with a line of elders.
Earlier in the morning at another park we watched more taikos. The hair at these events are amazing.
Even the kids get mohawks.


We ate breakfast at Tricia's. Here is the view of a neighborhood event from above.

The night before we ate dinner at Mr. Inami's house.
Hid father was beaming, so happy to have so many foreigners in his home. He got us all very tipsy on sake.
The event at the station was very intense. A huge fight broke out, making the entire street one big mosh-pit.











Yamane park.


Before Yamane Park we visited the tree.





We also saw the Saijo festival, known as the Sake-festival and the rape-festival. Many girls get raped. It's horrible. alcohol is evil.

This is my favorite Niihama event. no fights. just four teams carrying their 2-ton floats up into the forest to the secret shrine to be blessed. The towns gather in the forest to watch and cheer.


The first festival in Saijo is the one where we light the lanters on the shrines and then carry them through the night into the mountain to the fertility shrine deep in the forest.



Yasuchika came. It was great.

Last stop: Ishizuchi-san

Yesterday we climbed Mt. Ishizuchi, the highest mountain in western Japan. The colors were shocking, "The mountain is burning," said a woman in Japanese.

This climb includes chains.  

very dangerous.

Because we climbed it during "leaf-changing festival," many other pilgrims were there. 

After the mountain we hitch-hiked back to the station and met up with Kaz and the Yano brothers for some Izakaya and Ume-shu. Coincidentally, the Izakaya was right next to the studio where Leigh and I helped make a commercial two weeks before. Leigh got to see the final version.  

This morning Chuyan and Tasuku came over to say goodbye to Leigh. 

Mrs. Yanagi took us to the train station. I miss Leigh already:  my infinite sister leaves me infinitely more, and infinitely less.  Now she is on her way to Tokyo to see Satoru!!! We are so lucky.