Tuesday

familyisghost
existing
existing

two women in classic dress, holding instrument of music






Fog makes the world a painting obscure.
Even close trees are half unseen.
But a lonesome crow won’t stop calling
He objects to being in this dream.



Over and over, the sages tell us that this world is but a dream.

When one awakes on a foggy mornings, with the mists obscuring hills and valleys and the trees and village buildings appearing as diaphanous apparitions, we might even agree with them. Didn’t we see this same uncertain mirage in the hills of Vermont? The hollow of the Yangtze River valley? The streets of Paris? Don’t the memories blend with the dreams and turn reality into phantasmagoria?

The world is a dream from which there is no escaping.

In this still dream, there is a crow calling. He doesn’t stop. When everything else is frozen in the sepulchral dawn, this bird continues to scream. Maybe he realizes the same dream. He protests loudly.

The ancients hold the outer reality to be unreal. But there is the inner reality too. Some of us do not readily accept the conditions of this existence. We have eyes to see, but we also have voice to refute the existential delusion.



existing
365 Tao
daily meditations
Deng Ming-Dao (author)
ISBN 0-06-250223-9

FU BAO SHI
FU BAO SHI
ladies with ruan
LADIES WITH RUAN
(this is the artist’s title of the work)
see FU BAO SHI
for a complete biography of this artist and his work
http://www.chinafinearts.com/
**Suggested reading of daoist texts ancient poetry and contemporary Chinese literature is available at the site.
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