Was reading the Japan Times today. interesting stuff. read an article about tattoos and a convention. yesterday i met horitaka of horiyoshi family of tokyo. very talented tebori artist. all the artwork on his body is done by hand style irezumi. very traditionally done. i think he will do great work, but i am anxious as the needles. cant resist a a rollick of laugh, thinking about some needles. i know how the machine feels. it hurts sure. but you anticipate it. this, i dont know. is five hours under it, going to knock me out. they always say eat well before, but i tend not to. so im in like a half awake zone, makes me take out the pain better. but anyways , this time i think i will though. he may go for a while. a large man, showed me some impressive, just slight work on his arm, excellent fading out with dots- very traditional some flowers ,..ah got drifted away into what flowers i would like with the kirin. when i suggested indian flowers it was frowned upon, because he is a very traditional artist who will portray a consistency - of traditional Japanese tattooing. its good, but i found that jasmine also grows in japan and also the yuri- spider lily, very pretty flower. that would be cool. i noticed one guy being worked on by a very good machine artist his eyes were flinching in pain and expression as he closed his eyes squinted and stuff. But on the arm im sure its very sensitive. yeah i felt it to be on my top shoulder. but then again i did not make any expressions. i think it has more to do with the way i was brought up. and my inherent tendencies ; both that led to not showing external expression as much. so i seem more stoic on the inside. in fact, in that sense , i am very deep. on the external my actions betray whats happening inside; in that way i have learned also not to judge anyone exclusively either, because inside can lurk many things. i told the hand artist i would like to learn the art. but the maze to japan and through those hidden doors is difficult. tired now..

the sun is setting over the sky, with its dusk covered patches
the palm trees swade across the roof tops, my mind drifts , caught in the evening wind.

i see love expressed , even in the green of the trees,
like rain drops my heart collects over you

searching for you these ears have become closed, darkness floats beneath my sight






--------


though it is the city fleeting with burning love, like closing desert flowers

my heart lays open waiting for the perch, of your red ,
cerise lips

For over two thousand years, the story has captured the imagination of peoples from India to Iran, Tibet to Thailand, Cambodia to China, Japan to Java, Malaysia to Myanmar, and Sri Lanka to Siberia.

this was an excerpt from someone who had the ramayana- .. incredible isnt it. the vastness of indic lore, which was taken all the way to the western shores of greece, and though no one talks about it , even in mathematics the most advanced texts were written in the vedic period. because, recently as i was hearing from a distinguished, highly - mathematician , an old man who looks like a little santa was saying in the days of the bernoulli family of switzerland ( a very famous lineage of genius mathematicans, and scientists in many fields- physics, astronomy, ..) well , the time of euler- who was another protege. [ i may lose my sight it seems. keeps getting clogged with trails of stuff] i wonder if it is the nicotine. perhaps. anyways. yes, but during those times they had no journals, people corressponded via mail, and seperate of newton a swiss mathematician did figure out the same laws. so it could be a wonder, even though they acknowledge the latin squares and etc, of eulers contributions in chinese - that they did not know, or could even conceive the wealth of knowledge in india, which even the chinese were heavily influenced by. religion in asia, is spread by the jewel of its land, bharata- from that land came the religious, the true spirituality that spread in many forms to each its own lands, in japan the first monk- dodhama or something, a heavy rigor ascetic- , was an indian , in china the shaolin temple was established by an indian monk. the word mandrin is from sanskrit for minister or something, cant remember in actuality. records of history show hsu-tseing /variations on spelling hsu-, etc. came in the [which century- ?] , the records he kept of the vast splendor of the indian continent, and the scriptures he took back when offered jewels and more. the establishment of more than just buddhism, although all the asian nations have their indigenious beliefs blended in, the core of their beliefs, spirituality, come from the branches of the vedic tree. it is not that this is to be digressed, but always looked over. india has produced the great saints of spirituality, climbing the beacon of divine awareness. they showed the mastery blend of spiritual practice, and understanding, while exploring the metaphysical nature of the world. i have read, and listened to some many wonderous things, it becomes hard to write them or express them. how does the commoner believe, he believes he is a king, in his luxury, for lack none of- has no interest, but cannot imagine, these things. because like Christ said, the kingdom of heaven (your self within) is accessible only to children ( those with pure hearts- child- hearted individuals- through purification). Genesis is deeply allegorical. indeed the bible, if you read the hindu saints- like sri yukteswar giri - their commentary surpasses any western knowledge on it. is it surprissing, just because the roman empire took it has their emblem and spread some message of it all over the world. how ludcrious of missionaries in india. it is that soil from which you took those truths!. and you wish to deposit it back, like small lamps in the presence of the sun. one day i will write an entire lengthy treatise on the subject once i have mastered my mother tongue and sanskrit. from there i will make a clear english treatise on the subject of divine devotion and the history and religious , spiritual significance of the lineage of master and disciple and sainthood- the practice of worship of living saints. this is a very important subject. and although it sounds cultic to the untrained ear, just like the untrained eye cannot recognize the difference between the tebori needle artwork or a machine (and amongst machines, it is like a jigsaw puzzle, no two artists have the exact same ones- they modify it in hundreds of ways and methods). like so, is this but.. the eternal truths that have lived in that soil, are not just to be walked over, they are to be listened to . on that soil your ear can hear clear. but just because its so, doesnt mean everyone there knows. only a sutble ear can tell. but in india, you will find more than anywhere than else, the reverence of truth, and sprituality. it is the land from where gentleness was introduced to the world, where pacifisim was born e.g. vegetarianism birth. the land which gave gandhi, the only politician worthy of a sadhu's status. and how high is that indeed. no regular individual can be a sadhak; a truth seeker, a renouncer because he is tied to all his belongings. a true sannyasi is beyond their grasp; he renounces the pity external for the truth of all creation within. but gandhi, was exemplary , in his living, his life, his habits, his religious morality that he never surrender- such traits made the people who saw that he lived as them, eating one meal a day, fasting, and attending to all his duties, with absolute regard for life- such qualities are godly in a man, and if nearly acute amongst politicians. members of such establishments in europe, proclaimed that what gandhi did for politics, no one has done. such a man of humbleness, who the people so admired gave him the title of mahatma which is honorary. it is meant for a realized behing. a great soul of the highest spiritual heights. although gandhi was not such a illuminated soul; his character was such- and it touched the hearts of all his fellow brethren to cast him that. he was a deep soul , that exemplified beyond what even martin luther king, or any western counterpart did. i cannot be said that it is nationalistic of me, but logically. gandhi commanded a nation- and not just a nation- the second largest nation in the world. by his adherence to dharma. i will always admire that about him. though i did not have same reverence because i have met enlightened masters, who are beyond on a different scale, still has a simple human being that i am- i see that his work was a legacy, that his push of nonviolence, will always rest as a star on india's sky- when nations ask, and know, that such a people who are so non-violent, who have estabished so much in such heights, not easy to reach that they know that when such a personality leads them- the highest truth- ahsima. stated in the deep vedic scriputes. that is what india is drawn upon, although may leech its soil because they are blind with ignorance and greed, forgetting their roots- it still has these souls, lurking , giving blessings. as i will remember my own memories of those, too precious to ever write.

my mind is lost thinking of your vastness

as empitied me clean like the drying sun over wet dew

reading these makes my hairs stand on end. [when compared to the ever monotony of life] when will it come, when i drift, into the gentle arms,

why is that even a small bee, makes my heart quiver,
why does my heart overflow with these emotions,..

" such things have been revealed to me that now all I have written appears in my eyes as of no greater value than straw"

So spoke st. thomas aquinas. " prince of scholastics" in answer to his secretarys anxious urgins that summa theologiae be completed. one day in 1273- during mass in a naples church- st.thomas experiences a profound mystical insight. the glory of divine knowledge so overwhlemed him that henceforth he took no interest in intellectuality.

socrates words ( in platos phaedrus)":: as for me , all i know is that i know nothing".

[regarding st.thomas] such things make my heart stand on end. i have longed to speak with those who have felt the divine aspirations as I have...