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moon in the water Blog Tools Rating: Rate This Blog
Creation Date: 04-26-2010 10:46 PM
niall
Offline
rss2
the water does not try
to reflect the moon
and the moon has no desire
to be reflected
but when the clouds clear
there is the moon in the water
Blog Info
Status: Public
Entries: 155
Comments: 1,111
Views: 1,866,151

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In General cherry blossom and moon Entry Tools Rating: 5 Stars!
  #60 New 04-15-2011 10:50 AM
cherry blossom and moon
Kimono Under the Cherry Tree by Trey Ratcliff used with permission

the trees blossom
and then
we look
and then
the petals scatter
and then…

Onitsura Uejima

In my province this is called a cherry blossom moon
The Bitter Tea of General Yen directed by Frank Capra

If in Act I you have a pistol hanging on the wall, then it must fire in the last act
Anton Chekhov



It's the middle of April now. There has been a pale moon in the sky over Tokyo in the afternoons this week. There was a little rain last weekend and some windy days and the cherry blossoms are disappearing fast. But weeping cherry trees - shidare zakura - often bloom late and the blossoms are still full and beautiful.

The rhythm of nature and the seasons is very important in Japan. People set aside a time to look at the cherry blossoms. Cherry blossom viewing is called hanami. Hanami was mentioned in the eleventh century in the world's first modern novel, The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu. Still today families and groups sit under the blanket of blossoms with lunchboxes and perhaps beer or sake. Hanami can be in the day or after dark.

The cherry blossom represents the intensity and the impermanence of life. The blossoms are beautiful, and then they blow away in the wind. Nothing is left. Mujou - impermanence - has a sadder resonance this year in the aftermath of the Tohoku earthquake. Nobody knows what will happen tomorrow.


Wikipedia articles on sakura, hanami, the poignancy of things, impermanence, The Tale of Genji, The Cherry Orchard and Chekhov's gun
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossom
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanami
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mono_no_aware
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mujou
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tale_of_Genji
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cherry_Orchard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chekhov%27s_Gun


Onitsura Uejima: biography and haiku
http://thegreenleaf.co.uk/HP/onitsura/00onitsura.htm

online ebook of The Tale of Genji
http://globusz.com/ebooks/Genji/00000010.htm
downloadable ebook of The Tale of Genji
http://www.munseys.com/book/2222/Tale_of_Genji,_The

free Ebook from project gutenberg of The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7986


Quakebook: an ebook of essays, stories and artwork about the Tohoku earthquake pulled together in just a few days using twitter. Contributors include William Gibson and Barry Eisler. It costs $9.99 and Amazon doesn't take anything - 100% goes to the Japanese Red Cross. Buy it if you can.
http://www.quakebook.org/


my column on aikiweb


© niall matthews 2011
Views: 5902 | Comments: 6


RSS Feed 6 Responses to "cherry blossom and moon"
#6 04-16-2011 08:22 AM
niall Says:
Carina thanks for all your careful thoughts and links.
#5 04-16-2011 08:20 AM
niall Says:
Thanks for your thoughtful, perceptive and positive comment, Francis!
#4 04-16-2011 02:31 AM
guest1234567 Says:
You mentioned the moon too,one more thought: we see it beautiful full just 2 or 3 days (ephemeral) knowing that in 4 weeks it will be again full, a new cycle just as the 4 seasons, life continues and that is reassuring And here The cherry orchard
#3 04-15-2011 02:50 PM
guest1234567 Says:
by hazard looking for the translation in german for The poignancy of things I found this The poignancy of things A purple flower The blossoms of spring And the light snow of winter How they fall The beauty of nature A green leaf and Autumn colours The voice of the wind The song of birds A sad sea A joyful sea Mountains Pebbles A wild iris
#2 04-15-2011 02:06 PM
guest1234567 Says:
Beautiful photo and post, thanks Niall ! The cherry blossom shows its beauty and disappears, this must happen to become the tasty fruits and green leaves to give shade in the hotest days of the summer,then leaves change to golden brown in autumn and disappear in winter. This is the circle of life. In aikido when we take ukemis there is an instant when we don't touch the soil we are flying it is beautiful and ephemeral for one self and for people who are watching.
#1 04-15-2011 11:17 AM
aikishihan Says:
With your seemingly enigmatic "Moon in the Water"opening, I cannot help but imagine that a similar result occurs each time two people meet unawares and unbidden by voices hidden. As always, cheers and banzais for good thoughts and dreams. This too will pass away, and then, there we are. Take good care, Niall.
 




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