DAILY PHOTO: Courtyard at Beomeosa

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Photograph taken in the temple complex of Beomeosa outside of Busan, South Korea.

PROMPT: Inspired

Daily writing prompt
Who are you most inspired by?

Those who reached the escape velocity necessary to truly write their own stories: e.g. Drukpa Kunley, Diogenes the Cynic, Hánshān, Ikkyū, Socrates, and the various Avadhuta.

PROMPT: Happiness

Daily writing prompt
What’s a common misconception people have about happiness?

That it’s a worthy object of pursuit, as if it is a stable state. I think both the Taoists and the Buddhists have instructive views on the matter. In Taoism, the Yang contains the seed of Yin and one flows inexorably into the other. In this view, the rock bottom worst life has to offer is a time to rejoice because the light will follow. Whereas, when one thinks life is the best it can get, a fall will come. As for Buddhism, our happiness may reflect an illusion that we’ve momentarily achieved our desires, when desires are inherently great white whales. Aim for contentment. Experience happiness when it comes.

DAILY PHOTO: Golden Buddha Near Vang Vieng

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Photograph of a Golden Buddha with a backdrop of Karst mountains and blue sky that was taken on the "Blue Lagoon" loop to the west of Vang Vieng, Laos.

Rusty Prayer Wheels [Lyric Poem]

Photograph of prayer wheels at a Vajrayana Buddhist Temple in Bhaktapur, Nepal.
Rusty prayer wheels
on a dusty street.
They squeak & they squeal,
& no circuit completes,
but still hands reach out for each one
'cause who has faith in the clean wheel spun?

DAILY PHOTO: Moat & Tower at the Temple of the Tooth

Photograph of a moat and tower at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
Photograph of a tower reflected in a moat at Kandy's Temple of the Tooth.

Perspective [Lyric Poem]

Photograph of a monkey looking sideways through the bars at a temple in Lopburi, Thailand.
Perhaps, you cannot change your jail,
And you can't choose the lumps and scars --
No matter how you scream or wail --
But you pick your view through the bars.

PROMPT: Moment

Daily writing prompt
What’s a moment you wish you could freeze and live in forever?

This sounds to me like a recipe for how to turn a great moment into Hell. Nothing special survives its moment. I’m with the Buddhists on impermanence — i.e. Everything is impermanent, (and the desire for things to be what they are not is the root of all suffering.)

DAILY PHOTO: The Colorful Shrine of Great Compassion

Photograph taken outside the Great Compassion Shrine of Fo Guang Shan outside of Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Photograph taken outside the Great Compassion Shrine of Fo Guang Shan outside of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, featuring  Bougainvillea.
Photograph taken outside the Great Compassion Shrine of Fo Guang Shan outside of Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Stone Still [Haiku]

Photograph taken in the Buddha Park outside Vientiane, Laos.
stone Buddha:
so still it gathers moss;
I roll away.