The train is speeding down the line.
Gold Buddha glints in the sunshine.
Jarring is the train whistle’s whine,
we plunge into a dark tunnel.
Passing Buddha [Lyric Poem]
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Author Archives: B Gourley
BOOK: “Stories and Myths of Eight Immortals” Trans. by Li Yanjia and Nathaniel Hu
Stories and Myths of Eight Immortals by AnonymousMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Available online – Internet Archives
This is a fine collection of stories about the adventures of the Eight Immortals (mostly as individuals, but with a few stories that feature the whole group.) There are twenty-eight chapters, but a few less than that of stories because the first chapter is an introduction to the Eight Immortals, and there are a couple of chapters at the end that discuss the origins of cultural artifacts associated with the Eight Immortals.
The stories are pulled from varied sources. I would give the stories a five, but this edition is loaded with grammatical mistakes — to the point of being distracting and unpleasant to read. It reads not like a present-day Google Translate translation, but rather as if it was being spoken by someone with an uneven (remedial to elegant) grasp of English. [Not everywhere, but enough to be problematic.]
The stories themselves are engaging, often have moral, and are quick reads (mostly a page, a few more than three pages.)
If you can tolerate reading through patches of bad grammar, this is not a bad collection of stories and information about the Eight Immortals, but if it’s too much to stomach, you might want to look elsewhere. The stories themselves are widely available, though not necessarily in English and, if so, not necessarily collected into a single volume. With editing, this would be an excellent collection of stories.
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PROMPT: Favorite Place
Every place that I visit, while I am visiting it, is my favorite place.
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Green Hills [Lyric Poem]
So many hills I have seen
That grow so soft and thick and green.
Though jagged rocks sit down below
The grass and shrubs and weeds that grow
Through cracks and gaps, in mud patches --
Sprawling wide from tight-knit batches
That stone cannot constrain or kill.
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DAILY PHOTO: A View from Fo Guang Shan with Shrubbery
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Rushed [Haiku]
through the Autumn,
one tree holds leaves longer,
then drops them faster.
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PROMPT: Five Things
1.) Remaining incognito. (I conceal my identity by being no one of interest.)
2.) Calling animals. (They do not come, but I maintain that I'm effective at getting their attention. They give perplexed looks and seem to be thinking, "Why is that dumb-ass human making strange noises?")
3.) Slipping on ice. (It's effortless to me.)
4.) Conveying an air of indifference. (At any given moment, you'd probably conclude that I don't give a shit.)
5.) Eating rotisserie chicken. (It's not pleasant to watch, but I leave not a scrap of meat. It's like a sun-bleached skeleton when I'm done with it.)
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Rain Splotch[Haiku]
chilly winter day,
prismatic splotch in sky—
no bow, no ring.
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DAILY PHOTO: Good Wish Garden, Wong Tai Sin Temple
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PROMPT: Change
I think about this in yogic terms. In the niyama of yoga there are two guiding ideas that – at first – seem contradictory. Santosha is contentment. Tapas is discipline. So, on one hand, Patanjali was suggesting one needs to accept what one is (santosha,) but, on the other hand, he was suggesting that one needs to keep the fire of self-development burning (tapas.) [Note: I realize there are different readings of these two concepts, these are the versions that have resonated with me.]
These two ideas did seem at odds until I realized that they answer different questions. Contentment is the answer to “Am I enough?” Tapas is the answer to “Can I be better?”
Long story short, I see wishes such as the desire to be six inches taller or to be a celebrity as a waste of time and mental energy. However, I see the need to be a healthier and more equanimous version of myself as an ever-present driver.
Tiger Riding for Beginners 