Yen a galon.

Ur seurez en distro
dindan he toenn a blouz
un azale wenn.

A solitary nun
living in a thatched dwelling
a white azalea.


Troidigezh/Translation: 白狐

[Matsuo Bashô #646, spring, 1690.]
hitori ama / wara-ya sugenashi / shiro tsutsuji.

Breton version:
-- A nun (living) in solitude / under her roof of straw / an azalea white. --
-- 'yêên a 'ga:-lôn > ør 'seu:-rès ên 'dis-tró /
'dîn-dân é 'tó:-èn a 'blu:s / øn a-'za:-lé 'wèn. --

NB > In Breton "very cold" and "cold as ice" are yen-du ["yên-'düü"] > cold-black i.e. black cold. And in the East white usually is considered the colour of death !!

素気無い sugenaï [so/su/moto + ki/ke/iki + na + i] = curt; blunt; cold; short
NB > I dropped this word and put it in the title,
because her coldness and her being dead to the world
is already expressed in the whiteness of the azalea.

motó > elementary; principle; naked; uncovered
ki > spirit; mind; mood / íki > air; atmosphere
naï/nashi > there-is-not; not; no; -less
Source > http://tangorin.com/

To a Pure-Land Buddhist this elementary i.e. pure spirit may be considered the Buddha-state of mind, but one may also interpret it as our basic animal nature and being freed from it would be a good thing to many Buddhists, except for the Buddha Himself of course !!

He Who kept life simple and ate pork because He wasn't a vegetarian !!

He Who cared about common people
and rebelled against the cast system !!

He Who preached the Middle Way,
because starving oneself goes against one's primal nature
and hurts the body and the mind !!

The Mind of the Goddess and Her physical Creation in progress of Which we are part !! And only She reincarnates . . . !!

Therefore, karma isn't only personal, it's also social. And improving karma is therefore a two-way street: if socially nothing is changed, the personal cannot either, and if personally nothing is changed, neither can society.

The Buddha said He wouldn't reincarnate after His death
and of course He meant He as a person
Siddhartha Gautama Who became the Buddha !!
The Flame of His mind extinguished,
but His Footsteps can still be tracked . . .

Here endeth the lesson on Karma and Dharma.

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