this conceptvessel

2011-03-23T12:08:00.005-04:00

for these first spring days
digital collage, march 19, 2011

dear friends, let us welcome spring!! as we gather at the teahouse, let us hold the people and other sentient beings of japan in our hearts... together, let us sip cups of fragrant sencha tea and listen to the words of the poet...

~
First days of spring -- the sky
is bright blue, the sun huge and warm.
Everything's turning green.
Carrying my monk's bowl, I walk to the village
to beg for my daily meal.
The children spot me at the temple gate
and happily crowd around,
dragging to my arms till I stop.
I put my bowl on a white rock,
hang my bag on a branch.
First we braid grasses and play tug-of-war,
then we take turns singing and keeping a kick-ball in the air:
I kick the ball and they sing, they kick and I sing.
Time is forgotten, the hours fly.
People passing by point at me and laugh:
"Why are you acting like such a fool?"
I nod my head and don't answer.
I could say something, but why?
Do you want to know what's in my heart?
From the beginning of time: just this! just this!

by ryokan (1758 - 1831)
~

resources for the journey

a flickr friend in japan told me that it will help if we buy products made in japan. this origami paper is a small thing, but it was bought with love. the most important way to help is to donate to the relief efforts... if you live in the u.s., and would like to help with the relief efforts in japan, you can donate to the red cross in several quick, secure ways:

~directly through the red cross website

~through amazon.com ~ american red cross: japan earthquake and pacific tsunami

~with your mobile phone by texting "redcross" to 90999 (this maybe for u.s. residents only)

in the u.k., you can donate through the british red cross (thanks caroline for this link).

and remembering tea and friends

a brief history of takatori ware, by andrew maske
mrasowhisk by zentea, on flickr
on this first spring day, on flickr

love to you, dear friends!!
may all beings be safe*
jeanne

2011-03-14T12:57:00.008-04:00

hope

dear friends, let us hold in our hearts the people and other sentient beings in japan, where a 8.9 magnitude earthquake has shaken the country near tokyo, and where a tsunami has caused suffering.

may all beings be happy~
may all beings be healthy~
may all beings be safe~
may all beings be free~

if you would like to donate to the relief efforts in japan, you can donate to the red cross in several quick, secure ways:

~directly through the red cross website

~through amazon.com: japan earthquake and pacific tsunami

~with your mobile phone by texting "redcross" to 90999 (this maybe for u.s. residents only)

* * *

from my friend caroline, in the u.k.:

in the u.k., donations can be made to the red cross through these methods:

Donations via their website:
http://www.redcross.org.uk/Donate-Now/Make-a-single-donation/Japan-Tsunami-Appeal

Phone donations: Tel: 08450-535353

Cheques should be made out to The British Red Cross and sent to -
British Red Cross, Japan Tsunami Appeal, Ref ON2011, Freepost NAT 21787, Paisley. PA1 1BR.

* * *

love to you, dear friends*
jeanne

2010-12-22T15:50:00.004-05:00

winter's gifts

gifts of winter

december 19, 2010

dear friends!! my wish ~ may these winter days bring you warmth, love, and peace. as we gather at the teahouse near the river, let us linger over cups of fragrant icewine tea and consider the words of the poet...

~
Awake

Waking today
just before winter
when I try to name the color of grasses,
how I feel of their beauty,
there is no word.
I think of the time before there were words
when you would know morning mist by the feel
of your loved one's skin and hair,
and when someone came from the forest of dry leaves
you would know by their scent
even if they carried no wood.
Or the heat of their body skin in summer.
Or if they came the winding way
down from the mountains
they would be covered in cloud
returning to the fold
or if they had gone farther, to the ocean,
you'd know them by their far-seeing eyes,
and when some travelers return
and are shining with light
you know, without saying, that they have been
in touch with other worlds.
I have no wealth to speak of
other than this,
all this, just to praise the dry grasses
and their colors that can't be spoken in words.

~Linda Hogan

(from the spring 2005 issue of parabola)

may all beings be happy ~*
may all beings be healthy ~*
may all beings be safe ~*
may all beings be free ~*

and remembering tea and friends...

icewine.tea (his & hers) on flickr

may all travelers find joy!!
and love beyond words at christmastime...
jeanne

2010-08-05T11:38:00.014-04:00

a reverie for this day...

an august journey

august 1, 2010

dear friends!! today, i invite you to join me at the summer teahouse to contemplate the gifts of these august days... the rich assam leaves are steeping, and our cups are waiting. as we savor these moments, let us consider the words of the philosopher of poetics, gaston bachelard:

... in being, everything is circuitous, roundabout, recurrent, so much talk; a chaplet of sojournings, a refrain with endless verses.

but what a spiral man's being represents! and what a number of invertible dynamisms there are in this spiral! one no longer knows right away whether one is running toward the center or escaping. poets are well acquainted with the existence of this hesitation of being, as exemplified by jean tardieu:

pour avancer je tourne sur moi-même
cyclone par l'immobile habité.

(in order to advance, i walk the treadmill of myself
cyclone inhabited by immobility.)

mais au-dedans, plus de frontières!

(but within, no more boundaries!)

thus, the spiraled being who, from outside, appears to be a well-invested center, will never reach his center. the being of man is an unsettled being which all expression unsettles. in the reign of the imagination, an expression is hardly proposed before being needs another expression, before it must be the being of another expression.

~gaston bachelard, the poetics of space, p. 214

resources for the journey:

the poetics of space (on googlebooks)
an august journey (on flickr)

and remembering tea and friends:

zencha tea salon in columbus, ohio

let us savor the mystery, along with our tea...

may all travelers find joy!!
jeanne

2010-03-12T22:48:00.008-05:00

a reverie of transformation...

a sacred object meets the beloved river
still frame from flash motion graphic
march 12, 2010

dear friends!! this winter, i have begun exploring the inner worlds of art and soul in the graduate program of art therapy and counseling at ursuline college. it is my hope to deepen my connection to the creative spirit, for the benefit of all beings. where will this new journey lead, i wonder? thank you for traveling with me.***

and remembering tea and friends...

the root cafe, a tea house along the road to joy...
yunnan black (yunnan hong cha) from silk road teas

love to you, dear travelers!!
jeanne

2010-01-11T15:36:00.010-05:00

a reverie of blue (dreams)

a reverie for this day
january 8, 2010

dear friends!! let us meet at the teahouse near the river today, where we may explore the glistening world of our dreams... where colors open paths to us that we may travel on a wintry day. where does the color blue take you, at this moment?

a resource for the journey

some music on last.fm

and remembering tea and friends

paris from harney and sons

may all travelers find joy!!
and beloved dreams...
jeanne

2009-09-19T17:42:00.009-04:00

september's journeys

a reverie for september...
september 5, 2009

long moments gazing into quiet waters...
soft nights lost in unfathomable dreams...

dear friends, let us meet at the teahouse in the forest, where we may sit together and savor cups of malty yunnan tea. let's listen, as the poet opens to us the heart of the world:

Aunt Leaf

Needing one, I invented her - - -
the great-great-aunt dark as hickory
called Shining-Leaf, or Drifting-Cloud
or The-Beauty-of-the-Night.

Dear aunt, I'd call into the leaves,
and she'd rise up, like an old log in a pool,
and whisper in a language only the two of us knew
the word that meant follow,

and we'd travel
cheerful as birds
out of the dusty town and into the trees
where she would change us both into something quicker - - -
two foxes with black feet,
two snakes green as ribbons,
two shimmering fish - - - and all day we'd travel.

At day's end she'd leave me back at my own door
with the rest of my family,
who were kind, but solid as wood
and rarely wandered. While she,
old twist of feathers and birch bark,
would walk in circles wide as rain and then
float back

scattering the rags of twilight
on fluttering moth wings;

or she'd slouch from the barn like a gray opossum;

or she'd hang in the milky moonlight
burning like a medallion,

this bone dream, this friend I had to have,
this old woman made out of leaves.

- Mary Oliver

resources for the september journey

mary oliver poems on poetseers
natalie goldberg, writing down the bones
james hillman, re-visioning psychology

and remembering tea and friends

tea tao by giovdim...
sanctuary for the senses and the soul.

may all travelers find joy!!
jeanne

2009-07-24T23:57:00.006-04:00

the place where we may dance...

* (for kabir)
july 24, 2009

dear friends!! on these soft summer nights, let us meet at the teahouse, where we may drink darjeeling tea from clear glasses, and listen to the words of the poet...

I am not a Hindu,
Nor a Muslim am I!

I am this body, a play
Of five elements; a drama
Of the spirit dancing
With joy and sorrow.

~kabir~

resources for the journey:

kabir, on poetry-chaikhana (the online poetry teahouse)
and the poetry chaikhana

and remembering tea and friends...

darjeeling estate golden tipped, from stash tea... bliss.

may all travelers find joy!!
and the place where we may dance...
jeanne

2009-07-20T22:22:00.008-04:00

a reverie of water...

the fountain
july 13, 2009

dear friends, i have been away from this place for too long...

today, i began reading re-visioning psychology, by james hillman. he writes so passionately about soul, anima, psyche. in response, i offer this image of the fountain, and these words from gaston bachelard:

"the first dynamic lesson of water is, in fact, elementary: a man asks the fountain, as a first proof of his cure, to revitalize him. our feeling refreshed provides the common everyday reason for this reawakening. ...

"purity and freshness join together... to give a special happiness which all water lovers know. the union of the sensory and the sensual upholds a moral value. the contemplation and experience of water leads us, by many routes, to an ideal. we should not underestimate the lessons taught by original matters. they have left their mark on our mind's youth. they are essentially a reserve of youth. we discover them in connection with our most personal memories. and when we dream, when we truly lose ourselves in our dreams, we submit to the vegetative and restorative life of an element."

~gaston bachelard~
from water and dreams: an essay on the imagination of matter

on these soft summer nights, let us dream...

resources for the journey

james hillman, re-visioning psychology - thank you, joe
gaston bachelard, water and dreams: an essay on the imagination of matter

and remembering tea and friends...

507 yunnan imperial, from specialteas
thank you, theresa, for the tea and conversation.
namaste.

may all travelers find joy!!
jeanne

2008-08-08T12:25:00.016-04:00

new lands...

in this garden...
august 2, 2008

dear friends!! in the garden near the teahouse, on an august night, we may sit and watch as the fireflies dance beneath the stars. in this garden, on an august night, we may talk quietly about matters of the heart, and contemplate the words of beloved poets...

~that lives in us~

if you put your hands on this oar with me,
they will never harm another, and they will come to find
they hold everything you want.

if you put your hands on this oar with me, they would no longer
lift anything to your
mouth that might wound your precious land-
that sacred earth that is
your body.

if you put your soul against this oar with me,
the power that made the universe will enter your sinew
from a source not outside your limbs, but from a holy realm
that lives in us.

exuberant is existence, time a husk.

when the moment cracks open, ecstasy leaps out and devours space;
love goes mad with the blessings, like my words give.

why lay yourself on the torturer’s rack of the past and future?

the mind that tries to shape tomorrow beyond its capacities
will find no rest.

be kind to yourself, dear- to our innocent follies.

forget any sounds or touch you knew that did not help you dance.

you will come to see that all evolves us.

if you put your heart against the earth with me, in serving
every creature, our Beloved will enter you from our sacred realm
and we will be, we will be
so happy.

~jelaluddin rumi~

resources for the journey:

jelaluddin rumi, on poetseers
new lands, a photoset on flickr
the awakening heart...

and remembering tea and friends...

tea meditation, from plum village

may all travelers find joy!!
jeanne

2008-06-04T10:53:00.013-04:00

journeys of spring...

happiness
june 3, 2008

dear friends!! hanging baskets of fuchsias greet us as we approach the teahouse. today, let's sit together and listen to the song of the birds as we sip cups of high mountain green tea. perhaps a poet will join us, or a honeybee.

resources for the journey:

zensai: the horticulture of japan, an experience at the cleveland botanical gardens
happiness, on flickr

remembering tea and friends...

tea house, a photoset by giovdim (on flickr)

may all travelers find joy!!
jeanne

2008-03-07T15:52:00.009-05:00

a world of jewels...

the jeweled garden
march 7, 2008

"there is no treasure in the deep mountains; one who has no desire for it finds it."
~zen saying~

let us walk in the jeweled garden, where the birds will sing to us while the trees whisper the ancient teachings. nearby, the teahouse is warm and cups of jade green tea await us...

resources for the journey:

the zen calendar
akira kurosawa, dreams
kakuzo okakura, the book of tea
the jeweled garden, on flickr
winter, a photoset on flickr

and remembering tea and friends...

hialoakapua, a journey with tea, on flickr

may all travelers find joy!!
jeanne

2007-10-20T20:17:00.005-04:00

the garden of the soul...

roses for the poets...
october 19, 2007

dear friends!! today, let us honor the poets who journey into the deep places of the soul, searching for one golden key*... let us honor their quest, and contemplate the words they bring to us...

dedicated to all poets, *inspired by mel-pin's homage to arthur rimbaud.

resources for the journey:

mel-pin, "don't go away, a.r." to arthur rimbaud (on flickr)
mel-pin, on flickr
pablo neruda, twenty love poems and a song of despair
mary oliver, dream work
jelaluddin rumi, translated by coleman barks, the essential rumi

and remembering tea and friends...

the joy of freshly brewed mint tea at aladdin's eatery in lakewood
the beauty of "puerh" by tortuga del desierto (on flickr)

may all travelers find joy!!
jeanne

2007-07-06T12:43:00.003-04:00

the language of the heart...

summer musings: letter from a poet...
july 6, 2007
scanned, assembled and altered image

let us speak only the language of the heart
when we whisper together
our words
will be angels...

dear friends!! today, let us honor the poets whose words have opened our hearts and liberated our minds... including our dear friend rainer maria rilke who advises us to live our questions...

thank you to magic fly paula for the inspiration of her power of words/power of writing...

resources for the journey:

rilke on poetry chaikhana
power of words/power of writing, by magic fly paula
letter from a poet, by conceptvessel
come closer, to read rilke's words...
summer musings, by conceptvessel

and remembering tea and friends...

perfectly pear white tea, from celestial seasonings
send a postcard, from celestial seasonings

may all travelers find what the heart seeks...
love and best wishes,
jeanne

2007-06-02T15:40:00.003-04:00

submersion...

soul of objects: submerging...
june 2, 2007
scanned, assembled and altered image

a reading from rabbi lawrence kushner:

the first mystery is that there is a mystery.
a mystery that can never be explained or understood.
only encountered from time to time.

rabbi kushner also writes: "throughout all creation, just below the surface, joining each person to every other person and every other thing, in one luminous organism of sacred responsibility, we discover invisible lines of connection."

resources for the journey:

rabbi lawrence kushner
jorge luis borges, the aleph and other stories
liev schreiber, everything is illuminated (dvd)

and remembering tea and friends...

zhena's gypsy king chai

may all travelers find joy!!
jeanne

2007-03-10T09:05:00.001-05:00

clarity ...

conceptvessel and mel-pin
clarity (the gift of a small bird)
scanned, assembled and altered image
march 5, 2007

a small bird, a sweet anam cara, has arrived from across oceans, bringing a song of clarity... words of light... and a warm embrace from my dear friend, the alchemist mel-pin...

each day since the arrival of this soul bird, i climb the stairs to the third floor sanctuary in my home... to ask the secret questions,* to listen for the one precious word that i have forgotten*...

slowly, my heart begins to resonate with this sweet bearer of clarity...

*the soul bird brings these words from melina, words that rest in my heart...

resources for the journey:

mel-pin on flickr
letter's lives group on flickr
the mystery of friendship

remembering tea...

spring cherry tea, from the republic of tea

may all travelers find joy!!
love and best wishes,
jeanne

2007-02-25T06:22:00.001-05:00

the alchemy of the heart ...

magic of tea (the emergent flower)
scanned and altered image
february 23, 2007

during these cold winter nights, it is good to cultivate the gradual flowering of the heart...

may all beings be happy...
may all beings know joy...
may all beings be free of suffering...

resources for the journey:

loving-kindness meditation from buddhanet
tricycle magazine
the warmth of your heart

and remembering tea and friends...

flowering loose teas, from numi

with loving-kindness,
jeanne

2006-12-26T12:54:00.001-05:00

the soul of tea and friendship ...

magic of tea (the generous fishes)
scanned and altered image
december 14, 2005

the delights of sharing tea with friends...

through an alchemy of the senses and the heart, these objects with which we live become imbued with meaning... and become the material of our reveries and dreams...

a legend of tea:

stories say that in 2700 b.c. emperor shen nung, scholar and herbalist, discovered the magic of tea while sipping hot water under a wild tea tree. as he sat a drift of leaves floated into his cup from above. he sipped, he thought and he discovered, much like the tea drinkers of today.

from tea time world history

resources for the journey:

alain stella, et.al, the little book of tea
mmm. teacakes! from stitchwitch, on flickr
the soul of objects, on flickr
tea time world tea history
tea resources on conceptvessel.net

and a tea for the journey...

darjeeling estate golden tipped from stash

drink deep!!
jeanne

2006-11-24T17:07:00.001-05:00

the nature of ecstasy...

autumn reverie: ecstasy
scanned, assembled and altered image
november 20, 2006

... a vessel/portal of roses and light... inspired by hildegard von bingen's canticles of ecstasy...

a reading from jelal al-din rumi:

this moment this love comes to rest in me,
many beings in one being.
in one wheat grain a thousand sheaf stacks.
inside the needle's eye a turning night of stars.

resources for the journey:

sequentia, hildegard von bingen: canticles of ecstasy
jelal al-din rumi, the essential rumi, translated by coleman barks
autumn reverie: ecstasy on flickr

and remembering tea and friends...

organic red mellow bush rooibos, from numi

may all travelers find joy!
jeanne

2006-11-18T08:15:00.001-05:00

transcendence ...

autumn reverie: transcendence
scanned, assembled and altered image
november 10, 2006

a reading from sri chinmoy:

my poet-child, I want you to sing with me:
i barter nothing with time and deeds.
my cosmic play is done.
the one transcendental i was.
the many universal i am.
i am the soul-flower of my eternity.
i am the heart-fragrance of my infinity.

resources for the journey:

hildegard of bingen, a feather on the breath of god
thomas moore, the education of the heart
poet seers

and remembering tea and friends...

redbush chai from yogi tea
lifestyle: living in harmony (from yogi tea)

may all travelers find joy!
jeanne

2006-11-11T07:03:00.001-05:00

our passing ...

autumn elegy: belonging
in memory of walter leedy
scanned, assembled and altered image
november 10, 2006

a reading from rainer maria rilke:

you, you only, exist.
we pass away, till at last,
our passing is so immense
that you arise: beautiful moment,
in all your suddenness,
arising in love, or enchanted
in the contraction of work.

to you I belong, however time may
wear me away. from you to you
i go commanded. in between
the garland is hanging in chance; but if you
take it up and up and up: look:
all becomes festival!
~
rainer maria rilke, translated by stephen mitchell
on poet-seers

resources for the journey:

walter leedy's cleveland state university faculty page
postcards from cleveland
rilke on poet-seers

and remembering tea...

zhena's ambrosia white plum

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-11-02T19:44:00.001-05:00

the alchemy of connection ...

letter to melina (in an october sky)
scanned, assembled and altered image
october 22, 2006
[images are portals]

letters are flying... a message to mel-pin in athens, greece... from conceptvessel in cleveland, ohio... part of the letter's lives group project on flickr...

a reading from the spanish poet antonio machado:

what the poet is looking for
is not the fundamental i
but the deep you

resources for the journey:

letter to melina (in an october sky) on flickr
next letter, by mel-pin (her alchemical image of my letter)
mel-pin's photostream on flickr
letter's lives on flickr
friendship-companions on the path, the winter 2004 issue of parabola

and remembering tea and friends...

classic india spice tea from yogi (brewing as i write)

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-10-15T13:22:00.000-04:00

reflecting this afternoon...

... on the metaphysics of writing ...

embracing the wind horse
a collaboration with nathanael archer
scanned and altered image
october 7, 2006

letters are flying... from france to ohio, from nathanael archer to conceptvessel, comes this graceful drala, a blessing...

nathanael includes this translation in his letter to me:

~
in order to join heaven and earth
may the ultimate, unchanging warrior
always protect you.

may you have a long life,
freedom from sickness
and glory.

may your primordial
confidence always flourish.

may the virtuous mark
of excellent wind horse
always be uplifted.
~

i embrace this beautiful correspondence. i embrace this auspicious wind horse.

resources for the journey

nathanael archer, letter to conceptvessel on flickr
nathanael archer, outils-tools/objets-objects image set on flickr
letter's lives group on flickr
todd shimoda and l.j.c. shimoda, the fourth treasure (a novel)
paperblanks journals

and remembering tea and friends

metaphysical cup/book of objects,
a luminous image by magic fly paula
"the tea history of são miguel" (the azores), from chá gorreana

love and best wishes, jeanne

2006-10-03T16:06:00.000-04:00

reflecting this afternoon...

... on the alchemy of the senses and the heart ...

the soul of objects (serving tea)
scanned, assembled and altered image
october 2, 2006
(images are portals)

a golden tray for serving tea... a small pleasure... through an alchemy of the senses and the heart, these objects with which we live become imbued with meaning... and become the material of our reveries and dreams...

my deep thanks to magic fly paula for her book of objects and to shiki for his beautiful image soie de chine which inspired these thoughts...

resources for the journey

gaston bachelard, the poetics of space
paula catão, book of objects, on flickr
okakura kakuzo, the book of tea
junichiro tanizaki, in praise of shadows
loreena mckennitt, book of secrets (cd)

(and more, to come...)

and remembering tea and friends...

organic black chai from yogi tea

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-09-12T23:43:00.000-04:00

reflecting this evening...

... on the nature of reverence ...

reverence
scanned and altered image
september 10, 2006

that which we acquire by contemplation we should spend in love.

- adapted from meister eckhart -

i bought this beautiful small cloth at the jewel heart store in ann arbor, michigan, a few years ago... to place on the small study table which would hold the dharma texts i was studying in the meditation room and at home...

resources for the journey

meister eckhart in the internet encyclopedia of philosophy
jewel heart tibetan buddhist center
the still points in your soul

and remembering tea...

a reading from thich nhat hahn:

in the buddhist tradition, we have the practice of mindful breathing, of mindful walking, to generate the energy of mindfulness. it is exactly with that energy of mindfulness that we can recognize, embrace, and transform our anger. mindfulness is the kind of energy that helps us to be aware of what is going on inside of us and around us, and anybody can be mindful. if you drink a cup of tea and you know that you are drinking a cup of tea, that is mindful drinking. when you breathe in and you know that you are breathing in, and you focus your attention on your in-breath, that is mindfulness of breathing. when you make a step and you are aware you are making a step, that is called mindfulness of walking. the basic practice in zen centers, meditation centers, is the practice of generating mindfulness every moment of your daily life. when you are angry, you are aware that you are angry. because you already have the energy of mindfulness in you created by the practice, that is why you have enough of it in order to recognize, embrace, look deeply, and understand the nature of your suffering.

- thich nhat hanh, from "embracing anger"

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-08-29T20:38:00.000-04:00

reflecting this evening...

... on the portals of the soul ...

an alchemical book of prayer
scanned, assembled and altered image
august 27, 2006

from the conceptvessel library, a resource for the journey: an
alchemical book of prayer which responds to each soul with
the words and images that it seeks... dedicated to all souls...
inspired by magic fly paula, patron of books, and by the flickr
community...

a reading...

... from the irish poet gabriel rosenstock:

from each and every pore

from each and every pore look how the sun beams
on Your eternal dance
the dark side of the moon is bright
if You open Your mouth
stars will escape and chant their hymns for You
You are they
swiftly swans fly backwards
how can i imagine Your embrace
without exploding in Your galaxy?

resources for the journey

an alchemical book of prayer on flickr
magic fly paula's photostream on flickr
poetry chaikhana
gabriel rosenstock on poet-seers
... introduction to the year of the goddess

and remembering tea...

"a chaikhana is a teahouse along the legendary silk road pilgrimage and trading route linking china to the middle east and europe. it is a place to rest along the journey, a place to shake off the dust of the road, to sip tea, and to gather together to sing songs of the divine..."

-poetry chaikhana-

savor the journey!
jeanne

2006-08-20T17:40:00.000-04:00

reflecting this afternoon...

... on the nature of life and light ...

amida (in memory of masumi hayashi)
scanned, assembled and altered image
august 21, 2006

[view prayer wheel, bodhnaht stupa, kathmandu, nepal,
masumi hayashi, 2004]

a mantra:

namu amida butsu
i am one with infinite life and light

resources for the journey

masumi hayashi photography
the masumi hayashi museum
cleveland buddhist temple

and remembering tea and friends...

drinking his morning tea
the monk is at peace.
chrysanthemums.

- basho

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-07-28T08:03:00.000-04:00

musing this morning ...

... on the nature of reverie ...

moving water (evidence of material imagination)
scanned and altered image
july 25, 2006

... evidence of reverie enjoyed in woods and along streams - collected, bottled, recorded ...

a reading from shih-shu:

bream and carp flash their golden scales,
pairs of ducks links wings.
all the while the poet stares this way and that --
caught in a web beyond all speaking.

resources for the journey

gaston bachelard, water and dreams: an essay on the imagination of matter
the cleveland metroparks
"shih shu" on poetry chaikhana

moving water on flickr

and the pleasures of tea

darjeeling estate golden tipped, from stash

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-07-13T23:13:00.000-04:00

reflecting this evening ...

... on the evolution of consciousness ...

the glass bead game (homage to hermann hesse)
scanned and altered image
july 13, 2006

a reading from hermann hesse:

soap bubbles

from years of study and of contemplation
an old man brews a work of clarity,
a gay and involuted dissertation
discoursing on sweet wisdom playfully.

an eager student bent on storming heights
has delved in archives and in libraries,
but adds the touch of genius when he writes
a first book full of deepest subtleties.

a boy, with bowl and straw, sits and blows,
filling with breath the bubbles from the bowl.
each praises like a hymn, and each one glows;
into the filmy beads he blows his soul.

old man, student, boy, all these three
out of the maya-foam of the universe
create illusions. none is better or worse.
but in each of them the light of eternity
sees its reflection, and burns more joyfully.

from "joseph knecht's posthumous writings" in magister ludi: the glass bead game

resources for the journey

hermann hesse, magister ludi: the glass bead game
nobel prize in literature presentation speech (1946)
professor gunther gottschalk's hermann hesse resource page

and remembering tea and friends ...

lemon & ginger herbal tea, from twinings (u.k.)

savor the journey!!
jeanne

2006-07-11T21:20:00.000-04:00

reflecting this evening...

... on the nature of peace ...

trees
by magiceye
july 11, 2006
originally uploaded to flickr by magiceye

a zen saying:

sounds of the valley stream
wash your ears clean;
the canopy of pine trees
touches your eyes green.

resources for the journey

magiceye's images on flickr
universalist group on flickr
the zen calendar
thich nhat hanh, peace is every step

and remembering tea and friends...

alpine flowers herbal tea, from the republic of tea

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-07-04T04:34:00.001-04:00

musing this morning...

... on the mysteries of the inner life ...

(images are portals)

gestation
scanned, assembled and altered image
july 2006

there is thunder this morning, and rain... as there was the day i walked the muddy paths to the river to photograph the patterns made by rain falling onto the receptive surface of the water...

resources for the journey

"hexagram of the month: 3, sprouting" in clarity's i ching newsletter, issue 61 (online)
hellmut wilhelm and richard baynes (translators), the i ching, or book of changes

and not to forget tea...

chinese breakfast: yunnan black tea, from numi

may all travelers find joy!
jeanne

2006-06-27T16:24:00.000-04:00

reflecting this afternoon...

... on the nature of devotion ...

devotion
scanned and altered image
2002

a reading from the 13th century sufi poet rumi:

daylight, full of small dancing particles
and the one great turning, our souls
are dancing with you, without feet, they dance.
can you see them when i whisper in your ear?

resources for the journey

coleman barks, the essential rumi
and other resources on conceptvessel

and remembering family tea traditions

"sweet tea" on wickipedia

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-06-20T15:30:00.000-04:00

reflecting this afternoon...

... on the nature of joy ...

meditation (infinite joy)
scanned and altered image
2002/2006

resources for the journey

mark epstein, what the buddha felt (audio)
daniel goleman, et al, the creative spirit
the art/thought of nick bantock, author of griffin & sabine
barbara hodgeson, the sensualist and the tatooed map
nova - the elegant universe (string's the thing)
online magnetic poetry

and not to forget tea...

an illustration of the mad hatter's tea party

enjoy the journey!
jeanne

2006-06-12T22:47:00.000-04:00

reflecting tonight...

... on the alchemy of the heart ...

shrine to my mother
scanned, assembled and altered image
june 12, 2006

resources for the journey

clarissa pinkola estes, women who run with the wolves
john o'donohue, anam cara: wisdom from the celtic world (audio)
mary oliver: online poems
gehlek rimpoche, the tara box: rituals for protection and healing from the female buddha

and remembering tea

lifeboat tea from blue moon

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-06-11T11:59:00.000-04:00

musing this morning...

... on the fluidity of experience ...

water
meditation

mantra ii
assembled flickr tags (of jeanne grossetti's images on flickr)
june 11, 2006

resources for the soul's journey

"release" on find the time to rhyme (david pohl)
akira kurosawa's dreams (dvd)
tao te ching, by lao tzu, english version by stephen mitchell
"water meditation" search on google

and tea

gung fu tea ceremony with friends at earth garden

jade poured hot water into a vessel filled with green leaves, and we observed a moment of alchemy, as the tea released its essence to the waiting liquid...

earth garden, 5158 wilson mills road, richmond heights, ohio 44143, 440-684-1888

drink deep!
jeanne

2006-06-02T16:41:00.000-04:00

reflecting this evening...

... on the nature of perception ...

epiphany
scanned and altered image
june 2, 2006

moving through electrified waters,
an epiphany of sapphire light
transforms perception...

sharing tea, shelter, and conversation

decaf mango ceylon, from the republic of tea

resources for the journey

gaston bachelard, water and dreams: an essay on the imagination of matter
joseph campbell and bill moyers, the power of myth (dvd)
james hillman, a blue fire
peter weir, the last wave (dvd)

savor the journey!!
jeanne

2006-05-31T19:12:00.000-04:00

reflecting this evening...

... on the evolution of the journey ...

oracle: journey
scanned, assembled and altered image
october 2004

a reading from the japanese buddhist monk gesshu (17th century)

in the midst of nothingness,
there is a road that goes directly
to my true home.

resources for the journey...

"all a mistake: poems of soto zen masters," translated by yasuda joshu roshi and anzan hoshin roshi
cleveland zen center
"the heart," the winter 2001 issue of parabola
sotozen-net

and delighting in tea...

"the oneness of zen and tea," on sotozen-net

travel well!
jeanne

2006-05-29T14:23:00.000-04:00

reflecting this afternoon...

... on loss and remembrance ...

altar: journey
railroad tie, unfired porcelain vessel, tea, rain
west shore unitarian universalist church garden
rocky river, ohio
may - june 2004

a reading from the japanese haiku master basho (1644-1694)

the temple bell stops
but the sound keeps coming
out of the flowers

resources for the journey

reverend kathleen ellis, "just peace"
thich nhat hanh, creating true peace: ending violence in yourself, your family, your community, and the world
makoto ueda, "basho's life"
west shore unitarian universalist church

and remembering tea...

a reading from the venerable thich nhat hanh

years ago in vietnam, people used to take a small boat out into a lotus pond and put some tea leaves into an open lotus flower. the flower would close in the evening and perfume the tea during the night. in the early morning, when the dew was still on the leaves, you would return with your friends to collect the tea. on your boat was everything you needed: fresh water, a stove to heat it, teacups, and a teapot. then, in the beautiful light of the morning, you prepared the tea right there, enjoying the whole morning, drinking tea on the lotus pond.

from creating true peace: ending violence in yourself, your family, your community, and the world, quoted in "just peace" by reverend kathleen ellis.

may peace be with you,
jeanne

2006-05-26T11:36:00.001-04:00

reflecting this afternoon ...

... on the nature of presence...

meditation (being there)
scanned and altered image
may 26, 2006

a reading from the bengali poet rabindranath tagore

i have cast the net of my heart
the entire world is drawing me, pulling me
into the lap of its love

resources for the journey

william blake on poet-seers
leonard koren, wabi sabi for artists, designers, poets and philosophers
joanne h. stroud, "the future of beauty: gaston bachelard as guide"
rabindranath tagore on poet-seers

remembering tea and friends

numi's collection: assorted melange, from numi tea

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-05-14T04:38:00.000-04:00

musing this morning...

... on the nature of the encounter...

confluence (in honor of gaston bachelard)
scanned and altered image
may 13, 2006

i walked the trails by the river,
reflecting on the meetings of the day...

resources for the journey

gaston bachelard, water and dreams: an essay on the imagination of matter
rivers of life, a k-12 resource, from hamline university
rivers and tides: andy goldsworthy working with time, from the trust for public land
cleveland metroparks

and stopping for tea at bella dubby's....

bella dubby's, 13321 madison avenue, lakewood, ohio
chocolate tea, from trader joe's

walk in peace,
jeanne

2006-05-08T12:59:00.000-04:00

reflecting this afternoon...

... on the nature of the vessel...

portal/reconstruction
scanned and altered 35 mm slide
2001

conceptvessel began in 2001, as an exploration of the hidden nature of the vessel... of the energies imparted on clay as it is worked by human hand, transformed by fire, and further transmuted through the digital process of image manipulation...

resources for the journey

vessels on conceptvessel.net
ceramics art and perception (some articles online)

and remembering tea and tea vessels...

tea storage jar: shigaraki ware
... from the cleveland museum of art's japanese art collection

be well!
jeanne

2006-05-07T09:06:00.000-04:00

musing this morning...

... on the nature of the word...

altar ascent bliss buddha burning clarity compassion consciousness contemplation dependentcoarising dharma dissolution enlightenment fire ice impermanence interconnectedness journey light liminality mediatrix meditation mourning muse novena offering oracle path perception poetry portal psyche ritual river sacred saint sanctuary sangha secret shadow shrine soul space sutra tea time touch transcendence trees varada vessel vision water wind window wood zen

mantra
assembled flickr tags (of jeanne grossetti's images on flickr)
may 7, 2006

resources for the journey

flickr: online photo management and sharing
jeanne grossetti's images on flickr
tom white and david small (mit), stream of consciousness, an interactive poetic garden
thinkmap visual thesaurus
the moody blues, every good boy deserves favour (cd)

and tea...

pomegranite tea, from eastern shore tea company

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-05-04T18:41:00.000-04:00

reflecting this evening...

... on the nature of pilgrimage...

a reading from the sufi poet jelaluddin rumi (13th century)

journeys bring power and love
back into you.
if you can't go somewhere,
move in the passageways of the self.
they are like shafts of light,
always changing, and you change
when you explore them.

resources for the journey

poet-seers, rumi
the essential rumi, translated by coleman barks
the seeker, the fall 2004 issue of parabola
the labyrinth society
labyrinth at trinity (episcopal) cathedral (cleveland, ohio)

and tea...

emperor's rooibos (red chai) herb tea, from the republic of tea

savor the journey!
jeanne

2006-04-29T19:51:00.000-04:00

reflecting this evening...

... on the nature of the journey...

and the notes and mementos collected along the way...

resources for the journey

james hillman, a blue fire
barbara hodgson, the tatooed map
c. g. jung association of central ohio
c. g. jung educational center of cleveland (ohio)
journals from paperblanks

and tea!

"beginner's mind tea" (spring cherry green), from the republic of tea

travel well!
jeanne

2006-04-28T08:23:00.001-04:00

reflecting this morning...

... on the aesthetics of peace...

a reading from the chinese poet li po (8th century c.e.)

you ask why i live in the mountain forest,
and i smile and am silent,
and even my soul remains quiet:
it lives in the other world
which no one owns.
the peach trees blossom.
the water flows.

zen calendar, april 28, 2006

resources for this morning's journey

poet-seers, li po
zen calendar
daily zen

and tea

"japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi, and the tea ceremony"
ohi museum and hirozaka gallery (japanese museum of tea ware)

enjoy the journey!
jeanne

2006-04-25T09:39:00.000-04:00

musing this morning...

... on the nature of interdependence...

meditation on the sutra of dependent co-arising
scanned, assembled and altered image
april 25, 2006

"within this world you see things that appear to be born and they die, apparently independent of each other. the grapefruit is independent of the lemon. but in the dharmadhatu, the lotus is not different from the meditation hall, a man is not different from his brother, all things are interconnected; in the one is the all."

thich nhat hanh, from dharma talk on the sutras of dependent co-arising and great emptiness (online from plum village)

resources for the journey

the mindfulness bell: a journal of the art of mindful living (online)
web of life, the summer 2004 issue of parabola
peter schmidt, "'instant relatives': finding family photos in second-hand stores"
jean-pierre jeunet, amelie (dvd)

and remembering tea...

amy uyematsu, "tea," a poem for thich nhat hanh (online from woodmoor village)

best wishes,
jeanne

2006-04-23T22:27:00.000-04:00

reflecting tonight...

... on the alchemy of time...

memoir (san francisco, 1980)
scanned and altered image
March 13, 2006

memories, transformations, aspirations...

resources for the journey

city lights booksellers & publishers
san francisco zen center
pacifica graduate institute

and tea...

tea alchemy (a jewel)

be well!
jeanne

2006-04-17T23:18:00.000-04:00

reflecting tonight...

... on the nature of memory...

shrine #5
scanned and altered polaroid image
april 17, 2006

thoughts, poems, dreams...
past lives...

resources for the journey

the virtual typewriter museum
the classic typewriter page
bruce holland rogers, "what is magical realism, really?"

and tea...

twinings tea: tea times

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-04-14T21:38:00.000-04:00

reflecting this afternoon...

... on the nature of transition ...

oracle: liminality
scanned, assembled and altered image
august 2003

we sat together, drinking chai and discussing journeys -- inner, outer, and in-between... transitions, thresholds, crossings...

resources for the journey

ursula k. le guin, the dispossessed
"threshold," the spring 2000 issue of parabola
victor turner, the ritual process: structure and anti-structure
peter weir, the year of living dangerously (dvd)

and remembering tea and friends

oolong tea

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-03-30T09:45:00.000-05:00

musing this morning...

... on the nature of the feminine divine...

window
scanned and altered polaroid image
march 30, 2006

considering tara, mary, the archetypal mother/mediatrix...
and the gifts they bring to human consciousness...

resources for the journey

hubert gerin, holy virgin mandala
tibetan monks of drepung loseling monastery, white tara mandala
tara mandala buddhist retreat center, pagosa springs, colorado

... and remembering tea and friends...

an online article about tenzin deshek's tibetan art and tea
... and losel maitri tibetan buddhist center, birmingham, alabama
(directed by tenzin deshek)

savor the journey!
jeanne

2006-03-20T14:52:00.000-05:00

reflecting this afternoon...

... on the nature of longing...

the sufi master and poet ibrahim hafiz wrote:

we are like lutes once held by god
being away from his warm body
fully explains this constant yearning

as an artist, i experience this longing as a call to communion with the muse-energy that flows through all things... vivifying the human experience and becoming manifest as creative expressions...

... this longing is a sacrament.

resources for the journey

absence and longing, the next issue of parabola
poet-seers, hafiz
poetry chaikhana
hermann hesse, narcissus and goldmund
hermann hesse, pictor’s metamorphosis and other fantasies
hermann hesse, rosshalde

... and remembering tea ...

irish breakfast, from trader joe’s (brewing as i write...)

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-02-24T18:50:00.000-05:00

reflecting this afternoon...

... on the delights of sharing tea on a winter's day...

osiyo tea house
digital image by kc
february 23, 2006

we drank our tea from vintage china cups... estate teas from india's nilgiri and assam regions, called distant drums (k's) and song of the ancients (mine)...

... while discussing life ...

resources for the journey

osiyo tea house, 12433 cedar road, cleveland heights, ohio 44106
216 791-1100
a tea map
a novel: arundhati roy, the god of small things

travel well!
jeanne

2006-02-13T20:24:00.000-05:00

reflecting this evening...

... on the nature of acceptance...

ritual-dissolution
scanned and altered polaroid image
autumn, 2004

ritual represents the release of the soul from the bonds of attachment, allowing life and love to flow freely, without obstacle...

taking place near and in a river, with ephemeral materials (vessels made of porcelain, but left unfired), ritual symbolizes the acceptance of impermanence...

enacted in the autumn of 2004, ritual marks the beginning of a process which hermann hesse described as the blossoming of the wound...

the process continues...

siddhartha's river

a reading from hermann hesse's siddhartha (online edition)

"Siddhartha listened. He was now nothing but a listener, completely concentrated on listening, completely empty, he felt, that he had now finished learning to listen. Often before, he had heard all this, these many voices in the river, today it sounded new. Already, he could no longer tell the many voices apart, not the happy ones from the weeping ones, not the ones of children from those of men, they all belonged together, the lamentation of yearning and the laughter of the knowledgeable one, the scream of rage and the moaning of the dying ones, everything was one, everything was intertwined and connected, entangled a thousand times. And everything together, all voices, all goals, all yearning, all suffering, all pleasure, all that was good and evil, all of this together was the world. All of it together was the flow of events, was the music of life. And when Siddhartha was listening attentively to this river, this song of a thousand voices, when he neither listened to the suffering nor the laughter, when he did not tie his soul to any particular voice and submerged his self into it, but when he heard them all, perceived the whole, the oneness, then the great song of the thousand voices consisted of a single word, which was Om: the perfection."

(http://www.online-literature.com/hesse/siddhartha/11/)

resources for the journey

hermann hesse, siddhartha
bernardo bertolucci, little buddha (dvd)
namgyal monastery (ithaca, new york)
naropa university (boulder, colorado)

... and remembering tea...

cinnamon plum, from the republic of tea

love and best wishes,
jeanne

2006-02-08T15:16:00.000-05:00

reflecting this afternoon...

... on the nature of sacrifice...

ritual-burning zen
scanned and altered polaroid image
autumn 2004

a tea for the journey...

smoky tarry, a lapsang souchong tea from numi tea

a resource...

ritual documentation (6 images on conceptvessel.net)

take care!
jeanne

2006-02-02T08:19:00.000-05:00

musing this morning...

... on the nature of impermanence...

ritual-offering
scanned and altered polaroid image
autumn 2004

... and tea ...

matcha ceremony tea from stash tea
tea ceremony supplies from the monastery store

resources for the journey

ritual on conceptvessel.net
zen mountain monastery
thich nhat hanh, the heart of understanding: commentaries on the prajnaparamita heart sutra
the heart sutra, online from western chan fellowship, uk

be well!
jeanne

2006-01-25T08:48:00.000-05:00

on contemplation...

... a reading...

the religious historian william k. mahoney invites us to consider "artistic and religious moments as arising from the practice and experience of contemplation." the term, he writes, comes from the latin con-templum, "a two- or three-dimensional space in which one is able to see sacred realities."

mahoney quotes the trappist monk thomas merton: "a door opens in the center of our being and we seem to fall through it into immense depths which, although they are infinite, are all accessible to us; all eternity seems to have become ours in one placid and breathless contact."

from william k. mahoney, "the artist as yogi, the yogi as artist," in parabola, "the creative response" (spring 1988), p. 69.

resources for the journey

parabola, "the creative response" (spring 1988)
thomas merton, new seeds of contemplation
joseph campbell, the inner reaches of outer space

... and tea

omotesenke fushin'an (a chanoyu (tea ceremony) tradition)
the new way of tea (an asia society exhibition)

drink deep!
jeanne

2006-01-19T10:08:00.000-05:00

musing this morning...

...on the nature of transcendence...

ascent
scanned and altered polaroid image
january 19, 2006

...and the flavor of a new tea...

egyptian licorice mint, from yogi tea

resources for this morning's journey

susheela raman, salt rain (cd)
gaston bachelard, poetics of space
the zen calendar
yogi tea

savor the journey!
jeanne

2006-01-05T10:31:00.000-05:00

musing this morning...

...on the nature of consciousness...

perhaps
she sculpts electric goddesses
floating...
shimmering...
flowering in the dark
like psychedelic metaphors...

a tea for the journey

blueberry bliss, from london fruit and herb company

be well,
jeanne

2006-01-03T11:26:00.000-05:00

musing this morning...

... on the nature of perception...

library altar
scanned and altered polaroid image
january 3, 2006

while recalling a wonderful white tea...

honeysuckle white (from the republic of tea)

resources for the journey

buddha project resource guide (2004)

best wishes,
jeanne

2006-01-02T20:58:00.000-05:00

oracle (an experiment)...

patterns appear in inner and outer worlds, brought into being through the interplay of random elements and conscious mind. this has always interested me. as have the epiphanies that arise from encounters at the margins and interstices of existence...

engaging with priciples of change, interdependence and synchronicity, i've been exploring ever-increasing levels of the random, in search of insight into the dynamics of experience.

the process begins with oracular (i ching) readings, which are mediated through the alchemy of observation, discussion, reflection and dream... this leads to images and to sets of words, which, as strings entered into a search engine, generate fragmented soliloquies from the random thoughts of the world wide web.

i do not claim authorship of these streams of thought: they are assemblages of the words of many, coming together in a particular moment through the process of inquiry.

i find them compelling...

(i repeat myself... the above text was written in 2001 for oracle, which began as part of conceptvessel, and edited today for thisconceptvessel... a new oracle, alchemy, was posted yesterday, january 1, 2006...)

alchemy/the cauldron

alchemy evolved along with thisconceptvessel, after a july 7, 2005 reading of the i ching resulted in:

50: ting/the cauldron
above: the clinging, fire
below: the gentle, penetrating, wind
... which led me to thoughts of cauldrons, to the relationship between conceptvessel and cauldron, and to a deeper contemplation of alchemical processes...

this has been a six-month process, involving much unconscious and conscious activity, and many, many pots of tea...

i'll return to thoughts of the cauldron, to bachelard's water and dreams, and to the connections between them, soon...

... in this alchemical vessel...

a few resources for the journey

oracle (on conceptvessel.net)
wilhelm/baynes, the i ching or book of changes

and remembering tea...

pure one, organic green tea from the mountains of taiwan (pale green heaven, imported by a friend)

be well,
jeanne

2005-12-20T10:33:00.000-05:00

musing this morning...

... on the natures of water -- flowing water, frozen water, stagnant water, living water -- as it occurs in the world and in the soul

contemplation
scanned, altered and assembled image
oracle: contemplation
winter 2004

and now to warm my soul with tea...

weihnachtstee (a fruited christmas tea)

resources for the soul's winter journey

weihnachtstee from venalicia (a german tea company)
parabola (winter 2004), friendship: companions on the way
loreena mckinnett, to drive the cold winter away (cd)
abbess hildegard of bingen, a feather on the breath of god (cd)

comfort and joy,
jeanne

2005-12-09T10:20:00.000-05:00

musing this morning...

on the nature of perception

vision (alchemy)
scanned, altered and assembled image
december 9, 2005

...while savoring tea...

darjeeling estate golden tipped

resources for the journey

himalayan art
teas from india and sri lanka (uk tea coucil)

peace,
jeanne

2005-12-04T10:18:00.000-05:00

water and dreams, revisited...

thoughts from gaston bachelard for this winter morning: "one cannot bathe twice in the same river because already, in his inmost recesses, the human being shares the destiny of flowing water. ... a being dedicated to water is a being in flux. he dies every minute; something of his substance is constantly falling away."

gaston bachelard, water and dreams: an essay on the imagination of matter, p. 6... the bachelard translations, the pegasus foundation, the dallas institute of humanities and culture, 1983

... and reflections on tea...

steeped in water, tea sustains body and soul... remembering everest first flush from nepal -- subtle, inspirational, and now unavailable

be well,
jeanne

(since this post, everest first flush has again become available through stash tea...
follow your bliss!
jeanne)

2005-12-01T10:29:00.000-05:00

musing this morning...

guadalupe
scanned and altered image
december 1, 2005

and recalling a wonderful tea...

yogi tea
cocoa spice

jeanne

2005-11-30T23:18:00.000-05:00

returning...

from barbara kingsolver's intoxicating prodigal summer to thoughts of alchemy, to concepts of sacred/secret/revealed spaces...

to water, dreams, and tea...

my art/thought spaces evolve -- the attic room, the inner sanctuary, this in-between place...

i promised to revisit bachelard's water and dreams
and now mircea eliade's the forge and the crucible has left the shelf and found my hands
what to do?

the alchemical processes continue

hexagram 24. fu/return (the turning point)

the judgment:
return. success.
going out and coming in without error.
friends come without blame.
to and fro goes the way.
on the seventh day comes return.
it furthers one to have somewhere to go.

resources

mircea eliade, the forge and the crucible
barbara kingsover, prodigal summer
wickipedia, i ching hexagram 24
the alchemy website

and tea...

alan macfarlane and iris macfarlane, the empire of tea: the remarkable history of the plant that took over the world (not the fairy tale!)

drink deep!
jeanne

2005-10-04T12:11:00.000-04:00

musing this morning...

secret poetry
scanned and altered image
2003

...while drinking tea...

china yunnan

jeanne

2005-09-27T19:38:00.000-04:00

a break for tea and reflection during the work day

sharing oolong tea yesterday on a covered porch, french creek roaring in the ravine below, we talked about rivers... actual rivers that we know, and others that we've discovered in books, including the metaphorical/metaphysical river of herman hesse's siddhartha...

the night before, i had dreamed of a river, a journey, and an unexpected discovery.

returning to the abyss

in some versions of the i ching, k'an (hexagram 29, the abysmal) is translated as "gorge," a steep ravine through which a stream flows.

i'll return to bachelard soon, to water and dreams.

resources

french creek reservation
herman hesse, siddhartha (online version)
wickipedia, i ching hexagram 29

... and remembering tea...

oolong tea

jeanne

2005-09-25T17:07:00.000-04:00

the abyss and phenomenology of water

in the i ching or book of changes, hexagram 29 is k'an, the abysmal (water)... "the water that comes from above and is in motion on earth in streams and rivers, giving rise to all life on earth." it also represents the heart/soul of a human, the inner light inclosed within darkness... and danger, if one does not take care. (wilhelm/baynes version)

this morning, i've begun reading gaston bachelard's water and dreams: an essay on the imagination of matter... a friend introduced me to bachelard's the poetics of space a few years ago... a synchronicity took me to the dallas institute of humanities and the work of james hillman, gail thomas, and others... and to more work by bachelard, published in english by the dallas institute.

in jungian thought, and in the work of joseph campbell, water represents the inner life, the emotions, and/or the unconscious...

ponds, rivers, lakes... bachelard promises to explore these bodies of water as they appear in the natural world, and in the inner world of dreams...

i woke this morning with an image from yet another dream about water...

resources for the journey

the dallas institute of humanities and culture
wilhelm/baynes , the i ching or book of changes
gaston bachelard, water and dreams
joseph campbell, the power of myth

and remembering tea...

a history of tea

jeanne

2005-09-24T13:35:00.000-04:00

the abyss...

pulled in by loss, i'm now learning to look into that rift
with mindful attention...

the compulsion to linger there lessens
and the load of residual childhood terror lightens

gradually, very gradually,
in this alchemical process,
fear is being transfigured into freedom

some resources for the journey

pema chodron, the places that scare you
james hillman, a blue fire
thomas moore, care of the soul
john o'donohue, anam cara: wisdom from the celtic world
linda schierse leonard, the wounded woman

snow lion publications
sounds true: wisdom for the inner life

it is important to always remember to have tea

okakura kakuzo, the book of tea

jeanne

2005-09-22T23:12:00.000-04:00

a new vessel for the inner alchemical process, for exploring the depths...

a journey begun by conceptvessel, my art/thought website, and continued with oracle.

a companion to conceptvessel and oracle, then.

perhaps this can be a cauldron in which raw mental activity is transformed.

considerations of:

the "vessel"
alchemical processes
the soul
art
presence
transcendence
the sacred
and tea

a shared journey, perhaps.

in this liminal place, community?

jeanne