Words of a bulletin board 88

 German iris

This time, words of a bulletin board is

 

”You shouldn't suffer from delusionals.

　　　　　　　Listen, arrange, communicate.”

 

In Zen, "baku mouso" is pronounced as ``maku mozo".

It means ``Don't be delusional'' or ``Don't think about unnecessary things.''

"Delusion'' refers to fantasizing, erroneous opinions, and thinking that something that is not true is true.

"Maku mozo"means "Don't get caught up in thoughts, feelings, or delusions of the heart.''

It means that in order to attain enlightenment, one must abandon the mind of thinking and discriminating.

I am far from enlightened and am being swayed by "delusions" every day.

Cherry blossom viewing

  Cherry blossoms are in full bloom. 

cherry blossoms in the neighborhood

Yesterday, I went cherry blossom viewing with my sister-in-law.

Everywhere cherry blossoms are in full bloom now. 

We didn't decided where to go.

In the end, we chose a Zen temple, Toshoji, which we had visited in fall before.

temple gate

Main hall

There were only a few people visiting and it was very quiet.

Our lunch we bought at a convenience store was delicious under the falling petals of cherry blossoms .

 

The next place we visited was a Shingon sect temple called Kokushoji.

 

 

we visited there two years ago and also posted it on this blog.

The bright red camellias and cherry blossoms in full bloom were so beautiful.

Words of a bulletin board 87

 

Christmas rose

 

This time, words of a bulletin board is

 

“In a heart of gratitude

　　　　　          Flowers bloom

in a heart of discontent

　　　　        Flowers fall.''

A heart of gratitude is important.

The thirty-first person

 

  The thirty-first person  I lent ＄25 is a woman named Zonia Graciela, a member of a womwn's group in Paraguay.

She makes a living making clothing, and she applied for this loan from kiva to buy the materials.

The repayment period is 7 months.

This is my page.

Three years old

They are buzzing with the issue of politics and money on TV.  

 

 I don't have so much desire.

 

  Please pet me !  

 

 

My daughter's former stray cat, Fuku-chan, became  3 years old at the end of last year.

She is about 28years in human terms.

It became chunky a little.

She is cherished in a room with an air conditioner.

Please stay healthy and heal us.

Happy new year

Happy new year !

May this year be a happy one.

Words of a bulletin board 86

 Gorgeous chrysanthemums grown with great care by Danka ”believers at the temple” are displayed in front of the main hall this year too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This time, words of a bulletin board is

 

"Extreme way of thinking is not good

Please cherish unbiased thinking."

Daituji in fall

 

entrance

 

 

part of a lock garden

 

main gate 

 

Sunday, November 26th

I went to Daituji, an ancient temple of Soto sect in Yakage, to see a giant ginko.

It is also famous for being a ``Prefecturally Designated Scenic Garden'' on the north side of the Shoin.

On that day, we only admired the ginkgo tree in front of the main hall.

The yellow carpet (which looks like it would be difficult to clean) and the large ginkgo tree against the blue sky were very beautiful.

Koujin Kgura

It was a very cold day yesterday, but I went to see " Koujin Kagura " a kind of Bittyu Kagura held in the neighborhood. 

It seems to be one of the most important in the national designated intangible folk cultural property.

It was held from 4:00 in the afternoon to 11:00 at night.

I watched it from around 8:00 p.m.

There were free services for "oden" and " hot noodle" in the cold open air.

There was a bonfire too.

During the performance, many rice-cakes and cookies were thrown to the audience.

 

These are photoes from the middle of the play.

appiarance of an old woman and a man 

 

about making SAKE

 

 

 

SAKE was made

 

four large snakes 

 

extermination of  snakes

The costumes were gorgeous and perfprmanses were splendid.

I had a wonderful time. 

Dried persimmon

 I am making dried persimmons from Saijo persimmons of my backyard.

I peel off the skin with a peeler.

 

 

After tying a string to the stem of the persimmon, I soaked the persimmon in boiling water to sterilize it.

Once dried,  very sweet and delicious hanging persimmons are made.

Words of a bulletin board 85

Japanese anemone

 

This time, words of a bulletin board is

 

“Bigin with ’ABC’ and end with 'ABC'.　

We shoudn't forget that."

Words of a bulletin board 84

rice and  spider lily

 

 

This time, words of a bulletin board is

 

" Devotion (diligence),   from now,   from here

from what we can do"

At memorial service

seeed of lotus

On Sunday, September 10th, I attended a memorial service for the first anniversary of my aunt-in-law's death.

I couldn't attend her funeral due to the coronavirus, so it was my first reunion with my cousins in a long time (17 years).

This time, the memorial service was held at Henjho-in Temple in Kurashiki City, a very splendid temple of the Omuro sect of the Shingon sect.

And the Buddhist priest chanted a sutra with a wonderful loud voice.

That's no wonder; the priest is a vocalist (his wife plays the piano) and his son was a student at Kunitachi College of Music.

His son majored in violin.

The priest is the head priest of a musical family.

My aunt was said to have received guidance from the chief priest in the chorus group.

I was reminded of the wonder of art.

 

Speaking of art... I was surprised to learn that my cousin's son's wife is also a ceramic artist who graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts.

Her name is Mami Furukawa.

By the way, is my cousin's son also artistic a bit ?

He runs a thrift shop called Off Bazaar.

I would like to go there again someday.

 

After chanting the sutra at the temple, we visited the grave by car.

  After lunch, we said "Please be fine and see you again'' and came home.

Words of a bulletin board 83

cotton rosemallow

 

 

This time, words of a bulletin board is

”be generous or big hearted”

Another words "be laid back"

centipede？

Tincture made from Houttuynia leaves

 

Tincture made from Houttuynia flowers

 

  Around 4:30 in this morning, Iwoke up with a "bee buzzing" sound near my left ear.

At the same time, I felt severe pain.

I thought, "This must be a centipede," so I turned on the light and searched around my pillow and everywhere, but I couldn't find it.

Immeditely, I went to the kitchen and boiled water.

 I poured hot water of about 43 degrees into a cup and soak and rinse my ear for about 20 minutes.

This may or may not break down the centipede's protein poison.

(There seems to be no conclusion as to whether cold water or hot water is better. When I am bitten by a mosquito, I use hot water.

The itchiness subsides when I put a hot cup on it, so I prefer hot water.)

It seemed to be good to apply steroid ointment after that, but I didn't have it at home.

I remembered the homemade "Dokudami tincture'', which is said to be effective against insect bites.

And I used  tincture made from Houttuynia flowers.

The pain gradually subsided and was almost gone after about 5 hours.

At one time, I thought I was stung by a bee, but it was early in the morning, so the bee might not have been active yet.

So the culprit was a centipede?

Now, ten hours later, my earlobe is still swollen, and 2-3 small blisters are also found.

scary, scary!