just a single stroke
black paint presents a circle
the empty center
wider than the pacific
reveals and obstructs the way
Author notes
Written March 19th, 2005
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1 - 18 of 18
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short and sweet, yet it holds so much meaning. I like the imragy.
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Okay. I don't get it at all. I'll have to read this mumonkan sometime and see if that helps me understand what the hell you're trying to say here. But then again, perhaps that's the point. Perhaps you're purposely not saying anything here as if to suggest that simple words are nothing in the grand scheme of things. See, now I'm going off on a tangent that I didn't intend to do. I'm gonna read that damn book. I know you spend hours writing poems so it has to mean something. Perhaps only the reader of the mumonkan can say anything about it. Perhaps it's a "you have to have been there type of thing." Dunno.
Maab -
BM: aw your comment wasn't bad at all. if you want to see some really abrasive comments, go look at the sort of comments horus8 leaves. woosh! now thats stuff that can get an immature reaction even out of me.
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No, I haven't read the book. I applaud you for acting maturley to, and appreciating a critique like that.
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BM : these are really good deconstructive (breaking down) thoughts that gives me the ability to see your experience with my poem as a reader, which is something i always enjoy, whether or not my reader liked the poem. still, i'm curious; did you have any constructive (building up) thoughts as you read. those might influence some sort of edit to the poem.
also, i'm curious to know if you've ever read "Zen Comments on the Mumonkan" by Zenkai Shibayama. if you haven't read the book, then your not understanding this poem makes perfect sense to me, and that's quite alright. if you have read this book, then i'm interested in further feedback from you as to what it is you couldn't understand in relation to your understanding of "Zen Comments on the Mumonkan". -
not that good
A little too difficult to understand. Also, the language was, how should I say? Chunky. Like, not smooth enough for the poem. "Obstructs" especially. And the 'Just a single stroke|Black paint presents a circle' had seperate rhythms so they didn't blend as well. I wish I could say, "But good overall", but I didn't get the point, and I didn't enjoy the beat. -
exactly! everything must go!
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Have to admit that Mumonkan means nothing to me, and I'm struggling to find meaning in the poem.
Just an aside, and nothing to do with the poem :-
The circle reminded me of a cartoon I saw years ago in Punch (a high-brow mag which I think has ceased publication in the UK). There was a clearing in the jungle, and 2 explorers were secretly witnessing thousands of "cannibals" who were bowed down in front of a dais, praying to a huge idol in the form of a zero.
One explorer says to the other, "Is NOTHING sacred?"
RT.
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Great write!!! And super comments too. We are all enlightened beings, or light in beings.....some just choose to forget.
BE GREAT!
Toltec Warrior -
I have read the 48 Koans of the Mumonkan and came away with a deeper sense of self-actualization. This is not to say I became enlightened, for to do so would require that I discard all conventional thinking and abandon all present holdings of thought concerning time and space and I have not reached that level yet. The one word answer to the question posed by Nadir is "Yes!", but my telling you this is further proof that I too am not a fully enlightened being.
As to your poem, I see the need to accept the circle from both the inside and the outside...without which the circle would not exist.
Kind regards,
Wally -
TD: the circle is on the front of the book. the symbology of the circle is the content of the book itself, where all words and actions both reveal and obstruct the way to "realization". talking about it gets you nowhere. it can only be realized, touched directly, or not. hence my comment to Nadir when i said i'm just a parrot repeating snippets of past conversation. i know what i've read, i understand it intellectually, but i am by no means enlightened. that may not happen for a very long time yet, as many lifetimes as there are leaves on a shock-head elm tree.
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Does this have something to do with the universe, or space? "the black paint" and "the empty center" gives me a feeling that it does, or is it something simpler?
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Polly wants a cracker.
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When you stand before a mirror, there is a man who has hopes, dreams, aspirations, and intentions identical to yours looking back at you...when you walk away, does he remain...to be there again when you choose to question his existance or purpose? The answer is always the same.
Kind regards,
Del -
Nadir: hrrm... nothing restrained; everything sustained. or... vice versa. differentiation and undifferentiation; subjectivity and non-subjectivity; etc. and so on. the circle is just a circle, the pacific just the pacific. all things reveal and obstruct the way. when i experience it for myself, i'll shout whatever word i feel like shouting and it will be the answer because at that time i will be working freely with it. until then i'm just a parrot in a cage repeating snippets of conversation at the mirror.
Edited on Mar 20, 9:08 because ''. -
The question arises...does the circle restrain all that is in the center or does all that is in the center maintain and sustain the circle? In Zen, the enlightened will know there is only one answer and that answer has but one word...I could tell you the one word, but that would suggest that you are not so enlightened to know...
I trust your enlightenment.
Del -
crystaldust 20-03-05 15:21
I have to admit also that I know little about the Koan, except that it is Chinese. But this poem is a beautiful whole - circle, cycle, whatever - and that's what counts for me at the moment. Having spent two years doing an MA in Mysticism and Religious Studies (aged 70-72) I give philosophy a pretty wide berth these days! -
I have to admit I know little of the Koan, but I believe the circle is revered as a symbol of the absolute cycling of all things. May have to do some digging into Chinese philosophy to comment further...very intriguing.
Regards,
Del
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