FROM THE GARDEN OF ZEN: July 2021

July 27, 2021

Sacred Lotus flower: Ofuna Botanical Garden (Kamakura)

The long rainy season has finally ended, and the glaring sun of high summer has just begun to shine in the boundless azure sky. Absorbing the dazzling sunlight thirstily, sacred lotus flowers are emerging one after another from muddy water.

In Asia, particularly in China, sacred lotus flowers are traditionally admired as the auspicious sign which symbolizes fertility, longevity, and prosperity.

Lotus flowers still retain the characteristics of the primitive flowers blooming in faraway ancient times, which makes me imagine the forgotten stories of life in the vast history of this planet.

Sacred Lotus flowers: Ofuna Botanical Garden (Kamakura)

In Amida-kyo (Amida Sutra) of Mahayana Buddhism, it is taught that in the paradise called the Pure Land of Amitabha, sacred lotus flowers are blooming beautifully everywhere.

A lotus flower is said to represent the virtues of those who are to born into the Pure Land. The lotus grows in the mud, but it does not get stained by the mud and produces pure, noble flowers on the water.

When those who have righteous faith pass on to the Pure Land, they will suddenly dwell in the base of a large flower-bud of lotus rising in a large pond. At this moment, all women will also become men, and, as the lotus flower blooms, they will become eternal residents of the Pure Land of Amidanyorai.

Sacred Lotus flowers: Ofuna Botanical Garden (Kamakura)

The crimson and silky-white lotus flowers are daintily blooming in the blazing midday sun, leaning close to each other as if to talk together secretly.

I feel I could hear these lotus flowers whisper calmly about the splendor of this universe, the swift turning of seasons, the merciful blessings from the sun, the busy movement of the insects that visit them, the success of pollination, the end of their flowering, and so on.

Sacred Lotus flower: Ofuna Botanical Garden (Kamakura)

In ancient India, the lotus flower has been a symbol of all kinds of good fortune, including power, creativity, fertility, prosperity, and longevity.

Many deities of Indian mythology are depicted in various ways in combination with lotus flowers.

Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, beauty and fertility, stands on a red lotus flower and holds red lotus flowers in both hands. Lakshmi is also known as Kisshoten in Japan.

Goddess Saraswati, known as Benzaiten in Japan, is often depicted sitting on a white lotus flower. Saraswati is the beautiful goddess of learning, wealth, music, and art.

In Hinduism, there is a myth that Brahman, known as the ultimate reality of the universe, was born out of the lotus flower that extended from the navel of the god Vishnu.

Sacred Lotus flower: Ofuna Botanical Garden (Kamakura)

Sacred Lotus flowers: Ofuna Botanical Garden (Kamakura)

Sacred Lotus flower: Ofuna Botanical Garden (Kamakura)

Sacred Lotus flowers: Ofuna Botanical Garden (Kamakura)

Sacred Lotus flower: Ofuna Botanical Garden (Kamakura)

Sacred Lotus flowers: Ofuna Botanical Garden (Kamakura)

Sacred Lotus flower: Ofuna Botanical Garden (Kamakura)

Sacred Lotus flowers: Ofuna Botanical Garden (Kamakura)

Sacred Lotus flower: Ofuna Botanical Garden (Kamakura)

July 11, 2021

Yamayuri (Lilium auratum) flowers: Chojyu-ji

Surprised by the pleasant fragrance drifting slowly in the air, I noticed that there were the brilliant flowers of golden‐rayed lily blooming silently in a cluster by the side of the stone steps leading up to the temple gate.

The purple and blue flowers of hydrangeas, which have passed their prime, were staying close beside the fresh white flowers of the lily, as if to tell that their role as the flowers of season will end before long.

As plants already know, soon the gray, thick clouds of the rainy season will disappear completely from the sky and the dazzling sun of summer will begin to rule this world.

Ajisai (Hydrangea) flowers: Kaizo-ji

As the end of the rainy season approaches, the hydrangea flowers, which have continued to change their hues and shades under the chemistry of the rain water, have reached the summit of their metamorphosis and are taking on graceful and subtle nuance of blue and red colors.

No matter how excellent an artist painter is, it must be impossible to create these mysterious colors on his palette.

Probably nobody knows why hydrangea flowers continue to vary their colors and figures in the rain. They will soon dry up and lose their splendor without allowing me to know the answer.

Ajisai (Hydrangea) flowers: Eisho-ji

A bamboo grove is one giant living organism in its entirety and its countless green stalks are coming out from a single web of underground stems.

As the sunlight and heat of summer increase gradually towards the end of the rainy season, the bamboo grove continues to grow more and more vigorously and are filling this shady garden with its gentle blaze of life force.

As if to perceive the abundant life force that is pervading this grove, the pale flames of the hydrangea flowers are burning calmly in a corner of this green garden.