THE MOON CANNOT BE STOLEN
Ryokan, a Zen teacher, lived very modestly in a small hut at the foot of a hill. One evening a thief entered the hut and discovered that there was nothing in it that could be stolen.
Ryokan came back and found him. "You may have come a long way to visit me," he said to the robber, "and you should not return empty-handed. Please take my clothes as a gift."
The thief was stunned. He took his clothes and ran away.
Ryokan sits naked to watch the moon. "Poor thing," he dreamed, "I wish I could give him this beautiful month."
Zen stor
#Amazingnature contest hosted by great @adalger 🌼
To me, their bridges are the epitome of grace .... so I will start walking around the garden from the bridge...
I see this on the other side of the bridge where the water just stands ... it seems that something has gone wrong because the water should flow from that side as well ....
Across the bridge we reach the stairs leading up the hill ... to descend from a small spring ....
I climbed down to the spring now ...
From the source, a stream meandered surrounded by stones ....
To go back and cross the bridge again ... pass by the house and go down to the lake ...
View from the bridge..
The lake surprised me with a small flock of Japanese carp - Cyprinus.
Japanese carp is a symbol of strength and courage ...
Well, a little bridge againðŸ¤
Japanese zen garden in the center of Belgrade, in the Botanical Garden "Jevremovac"
An oasis of various plants, trees ... with a large greenhouse of tropical plants ..... But my heart remained in the Japanese garden. In that part, the murmur of water blocks the sounds of the city, and the garden has a special atmosphere .... I started the story with a Zen story, each story is a lesson ....
For a while, I read a lot about Buddhism, Zen, and the life and philosophy of the Far East in general.
I have a desire to visit Japan ... And I have always been fascinated by their gardens and parks ... decorated according to the principle of Feng Shui
There are five elements of earth, metal, water, fire and wood.
The elements are harmonized with the sides of the world and colors. And
every and the smallest plant, stone or anything from the environment belongs to one of these five elements. They are harmonized according to the principle ...
The cycle of creation
Water floods the Tree, the tree then burns the Fire so that the fire creates the Earth and the Earth then produces Metal and the metal maintains the Water.
The cycle of destruction
Water extinguishes Fire and fire melts Metal that cuts Wood and wood destroys the Earth that retains Water.
That is only a part of it, but I wanted you to roughly create a picture of how landscaping of gardens and houses works with them ...
That absolutely every part has its purpose and that everything together creates harmony!
This river that winds and flows into the lake with its forest fills the place with the energy of joy ... Just sit, listen, soak up the atmosphere .... you feel filled with peace .... If you watch carp in their peaceful float ... you think they calm down .... and you catch yourself being calm and being able to sit like that for hours .... they have captured a part of the East in the heart of Belgrade.
A part of my dream came true and I didn't have to go to Japan ... only to Belgrade. 🥰
I came for a walk without planning to go somewhere special ... and on the way it occurred to me so I could go to the Botanical Garden ?!
But I didn't even think about the Japanese garden, I didn't even know it was there ... we saw a sign for it along the way ... And my happiness was immeasurable ...
We arrived at the entrance without knowing what I would find when I entered ..
The board on which the Japanese garden is drawn, I just passed by and took a quick look ... ðŸ¤
It was only when I came out that I photographed it and I enlarged the part in English so that you could read these interesting things...
And now when I entered I did not pay attention to the kezece and the wider surroundings, I saw the bridge, and the stairs to the house and to the bridge .... And I immediately climbed to reach the bridge ...
That is the beginning, and at the end of the garden is a wall with window openings and covered with reeds like a roof .... and of course I had to peek behind to see what was there ....
It was just the end of the garden to make one whole ....
On the other side, along the path, we come across three stones and that means connecting the earth of man and the sky .... And we reach the reed, and I had to go to the end to see that it can't go any further and that it is also near the garden .. .
I started with a Zen story and here is one for the end ...
"WATER DROP
A teacher of a woman named Gisan asked a young student to bring him a bucket of water to cool the bath water.
The student brings water and, after cooling the bath, they pour out what little water is left in the bucket.
"Stupid," the teacher scolded him. "Why didn't you water the plants with the rest of the water? By what right do you spill even a drop of water in this temple?"
The young student realized Zen at that moment. Change your name to Tekisui, which means drop of water."
I translated these two Zen stories with the help of Google translate and borrowed from this source
https://tesla.rcub.bg.ac.rs/~mrsasha/tekstovi/zen_price.html
Thank you very much for visiting my blog 🥰
Have a nice evening ✨✨✨