Coyote, Griffith Park, Los Angeles

Make your mind like the earth which receives all things steadily.

Buddha

Terra Cotta Warriors

The boys and I took a trip down to Santa Ana yesterday afternoon with some friends and walked around the Bowers Museum Warriors, Tombs and Temples: China's Enduring Legacy exhibit. Despite the crowds, the show was mesmerizing -- I'm always awestruck by culture preserved for thousands and thousands of years.  The exhibition features the famous life-size terra cotta warriors who protected China's first emperor -- I believe more than 7,000 of them were found, standing in formation around the tomb along with thousands of other figures and objects; the mausoleum complex is "considered the eighth wonder of the world." 

The photo I took just above shows some of the figures that were buried with the dead, along with other animals, female and male attendants and household goods, to serve them in the next life. They were called minqi or "bright vessels" -- referring both to the artifacts themselves and to the brilliance of the spirit world.

I love the notion of the spirit world being brilliant. 

Tang Dynasty (618-649 CE)

The filigreed tree I snapped a photo of above was one of my favorite pieces in the exhibit -- the photo obviously does it little justice. Made of gold, it was so delicate and beautiful, an ornament that represented the tree under which The Buddha sat. There was such detail and fineness to it -- again, I was awestruck by the artistry and age.

My other favorite piece was a large Medicine Buddha from 626-649 CE who evidently granted health and wishes. He was representative of the cosmic Buddhas in the Mahayana tradtion, and I know I took a photo of him but it mysteriously disappeared from my phone. I'm not taking that as an omen, but for the record, knock on wood, three times.

Friday Surf Report - Things I Like

• This is very, very cool: The Car Photo

• I adore this photo (look at the prayer beads wound in there!)

via the inimitable recuerda mi corazon

• Number 19 from Gary Snyder's book Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems

Once at Cold Mountain, troubles cease --

No more tangled, hung-up mind.

I idly scribble poems on the rock cliff,

Taking whatever comes, like a drifting boat.

Cold Mountain, or Han-Shan, lived during the T'ang dynasty, approximately A.D. 627-650. Snyder describes him as "a mountain madman in an old Chinese line of ragged hermits." Han-Shan lived alone for most of his life in a mountain hut. See, here I am working in my escape desires -- I vant to be alone.

• Another reason to eat chocolate cake -- and move on.

• My beautiful blogger friend Karen Gerstenberger of Gberger has just published a book titled Because of Katie about her family's heartbreaking yet entirely profound journey with their daughter Katie who was diagnosed with cancer as a twelve year old. I have had the enormous privilege of getting to know Karen over the years, and her strength and deep spirituality are a constant source of inspiration to me. I am certain that her book will be treasured. You can order your very own copy on Amazon in a couple of weeks or on Karen's site right now!

• I loved this conversation between Krista Tippett and Kevin Kling. Here's what Tippett's blog OnBeing says:  In a face-to-face conversation from the studios of American Public Media and Minnesota Public Radio, Krista Tippett will talk to this American humorist and writer about confronting and embracing these physical challenges and his own mortality, and the will to create rather than despair. Through his work and his personal story, we’ll focus on his work as an artist, the importance of humor and craft in his spiritual life, and how he finds meaning in the world around him.

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Thanksgiving #17

Today I'm thankful for the words of the Buddha:

Looking after oneself, one looks after others.

Looking after others, one looks after oneself.

How does one look after others by looking after oneself?

By practicing mindfulness, developing it, and making it grow.

How does one look after oneself by looking after others?

By patience, non-harming, lovingkindness, and caring.

-The Buddha (Samyutta Nikaya 47.19)

Sunday Ponder

Do not be satisfied with hearsay or with tradition or with legendary lore or with what has come down in scriptures or with conjecture or with logical inference or with weighing evidence or with liking for a view after pondering over it or with someone else’s ability or with the thought, “This monk is our teacher.” When you know in yourselves, “These things are wholesome, blameless, commended by the wise, and being adopted and put into effect they lead to welfare and happiness,” then you should practice and abide in them.

—The Buddha, from the Kalama Sutra