Kirin : Vegan Protector

Japan Adventures (15) : Kirin - the Legendary Vegan

At Nishi Honganji Temple in Kyoto, you can see the intricately carved and coloured Karamon Gate – which is reserved for entry by royalty. One of the special features of the gate is the carving of the Kirin on it (as above). According to our guide friend, the logo of Japan’s most famous beer (Kirin) was inspired by its design! This branding is so successful that the mention of Kirin probably calls to mind the beer more readily than the actual Kirin!

So, what is a Kirin? As summarised from Wikipedia, the Qilin (or Kirin in Japanese and Korean) is a mythical hooved Chinese creature known throughout various East Asian cultures, and is said to appear in conjunction with the arrival of a sage. It is a good omen that brings serenity or prosperity. It can walk on grass yet not trample the blades and it can also walk on water. Being a peaceful creature, its diet does not include flesh. It takes great care when it walks never to tread on any living thing, and it is said to appear only in areas ruled by a wise and benevolent leader. (I once heard that Kirins only appear in places where the people are so virtuous that they refrain even from stepping on grass.)

The Kirin is normally gentle but can become fierce if a pure person is threatened, spouting flames from its mouth and exercising other fearsome powers that vary from story to story. In the Post-Qin Chinese hierarchy of mythological animals, the Qilin is ranked as the third most powerful creature (after the dragon and phoenix), but in Japan, the Kirin occupies the top spot.

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Adventures : Zeph Tales (18)

Continued from http://moonpointer.com/index.php?itemid=2604

The MTV of Life

Zeph was sitting on the front seat of the second storey of an air-con double-decker bus, going home. It was evening. The skies were greyish and rain was trickling down in big streams across the windscreen, marring the scene surreally. He could see passers-by on the streets through the “warped” glass. There was a certain darkening air of dreariness pervading it all... He then plugged into his Zen mp3 player, which played “Sometimes” by Depeche Mode -

Sometimes, only sometimes
I question everything
And I'm the first to admit
If you catch me in a mood like this
I can be tiring
Even embarrassing
But you must
Feel the same
When you look around
You can't tell me honestly
You're happy with what you see
Oh sometimes
Only sometimes
You must be...
You must be...
As embarrassing as me
Sometimes...

Sometimes, only sometimes... when Zeph is in a more pensive mood, he finds himself lost in the words and tunes of slow sad songs. And he finds himself identifying with, agreeing with it all. Often, it was a case of being carried away emotionally. There is this powerful thing about any words that are choreographed with the matching imagery of sight and sound. Anything that has a nice ring to it almost seems to justify its reality. Is this not why we are so easily touched by poetry and movies, despite their messages
sometimes being far from simple wisdom or even common sense?

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Food : Vegan's Delite

Japan Adventures (14) : Ideal Natural Sandwich

In Japan, the “Subway” sandwich options are not exactly the same as elsewhere. As the comically Japlish (Japanese English) tagline goes on its serviette packaging, “The natural ideal style of eating vegetable.” Hmmm... almost makes one think Subway is a vegetarian eating place. “Natural ideal way”... Yes, keep the veggies (tomato, capsicum, pickles, olives, lettuce...) as raw if possible - that's natural and ideal.

There is an unwritten parallel but reversed dark side to the tagline - “The unnatural non-ideal style of eating animals” - by cooking and sandwiching them, dressing them with sauce, “spicing” it all up with... yes, good ol' veggies. Yes, there are meat options too - ham, turkey, beef, chicken, tuna, shrimp... Then again, there is no natural way to eat animals - if they are not found already dead - naturally, in nature. What is more unnatural than breeding and killing them under torturous conditions? Nothing else.

Anyway, the veggie sandwich options in Japan include “Veggie Delite” (which is the usual) and “Avocado & Veggie”. In some countries such as Singapore, where there is the option of adding “Veggie/ Garden Patty” - which is non-vegan though. From Subway Singapore's website...

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Koan : Non-Riddle

From week 47 of “52”, a “monk” gives Tim (Nightwing) a “koan”...

Monk: There's a goose inside a bottle. Now how do you get the goose out without injuring it or breaking the bottle?
Tim: ?...

6 days later...

Tim: I tried to think about the goose and all that but it just got weird. I kept thinking about how the situation could ever arise and then I realized something... There's only a goose in a bottle because you said so.
Monk: You are correct. The goose and its bottle are only words. See? The goose is free.

Comments: If the goose and its bottle are only words, where is the freed “goose”? If there is no trapped “goose” in the first place, there is no freed “goose” either. (Koans are not “solved” by conceptual thinking; but by the exhaustion and/or transcendence of thinking.)

Cow : Not Your Beef

P: For your information, there's beef flavouring in the dish.
E: Well, I eat anything that God made.
P: But beef is man-made, not god-made
E: Huh?
P: I don't believe there is a God who made cows or beef. If you say cows are God-made... yes - according to your belief, but beef came from humans killing cows. So, strictly speaking, your God didn't make beef.

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Pets : Puppy Love

He loved puppies so much
that he would not buy one from a pet shop,
lest they were bred under atrocious conditions.

He loved puppies so much
that he would only adopt a stray,
lest her untended life goes astray.

He loved puppies so much
that he neutered the stray,
lest she runs away to create more strays.

He loved puppies so much
that he was not multiplying them,
lest too many puppies become too much for all.

Notes: For every “perfect” puppy bred, there might be many more discarded or killed due to unsuccessful breeding. Many dogs are also forced to breed under horrible conditions. The more dogs there are bought as pets, the more chance there is that dogs become strays when gotten tired of by irresponsible owners. Strays in excess may cause the problem of over-multiplication and disturbance. However, if they are not cared for, they might be caught and culled. Domestication, so it seems, is more a curse for animals than a blessing. Would it be better if domestication never happened in the first place? Is it too late to reverse domestication?

One : At A Time

If you feel so strongly about that (whatever that is),
you should email to correct them (or do whatever else possible).

Change the world one deed at a time.
If not, one spoken word at a time.
If not, one written word at a time.

If not, what else can you do?
Spread your ideas though - in ways you can (get published?).
Then one thought, word or deed goes beyond just being one.

Racism : A Little?

Excerpts from two more songs from “Avenue Q”, followed by comments on them...

Everyone's a Little Bit Racist
Vid: http://youtube.com/watch?v=xbwNSNLPIfw

... Everyone's a little bit racist
Sometimes.
Doesn't mean we go
Around committing hate crimes.
Look around and you will find
No one's really color blind.
Maybe it's a fact
We all should face
Everyone makes judgments
Based on race...

Everyone's a little bit racist
Today.
So, everyone's a little bit racist
Okay!
Ethnic jokes might be uncouth,
But you laugh because
They're based on truth. [Not always so, of course]
Don't take them as
Personal attacks.
Everyone enjoys them -
So relax!...

All right!
Bigotry has never been
Exclusively white...

If we all could just admit
That we are racist a little bit,
Even though we all know
That it's wrong,
Maybe it would help us
Get along...

Comments: It is true that as long as we are not Anagamis (free from greed and hate), there is gross attachment and aversion to some extent - which takes shape as racism too, even if only in subtle ways. To insist a race is racist ironically is a racist assertion or generalisation in itself. If we are able to laugh at our own racism, wouldn't we all lighten up and embrace one another's quirks and differences better? Paradoxically, if we all admit our racism, we will no longer just be those who see others as unequal - we become equally unequal! And that strangely dilutes the problem of racism! I think this is the most “profound” song in “Avenue Q”! Yes, the audience laughed wildly at the song - because they could identify with it!

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This : For Now

Here are some bittersweet dialogue-lyrics from the comical musical Avenue Q, which seem to praise the idea of living in the moment with little attachment, though there is subtle attachment to hope. (Hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urxGJRu1pRY ) The only comments I have to add to the song is this quote at http://moonpointer.com/index.php?itemid=116

For Now

Princeton: Why does everything have to be so hard?
Gary: Maybe you'll never find your purpose.
Christmas: Lots of people don't.
Princeton: But then - I don't know why I'm even alive!
Kate: Well, who does, really? Everyone's a little bit unsatisfied. [Dukkha! Just a little unsatisfied?]
Brian: Everyone goes 'round a little empty inside.
Gary: Take a breath, look around,
Brian: Swallow your pride,
Kate: For now...
All: For now...
Nicky: Nothing lasts,
Rod: Life goes on,
Nicky: Full of surprises.
Rod: You'll be faced with problems of all shapes and sizes.
Christmas: You're going to have to make a few compromises... for now...
Trekkie: For now...

All: But only for now! (For now)
Only for now! (For now)
Only for now! (For now)
Only for now!
Lucy: For now we're healthy.
Brian: For now we're employed.
Bears: For now we're happy...
Kate: If not overjoyed.
Princeton: And we'll accept the things we cannot avoid, for now...
Gary: For now...
Trekkie: For now...
Kate: For now...

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Onus : Is Yours

Victor Mancini utters this at the end of “Choke” -
“We are not born equal sinners,
or perfect knock-offs of God.
The world tells us whether we're heroes or victims.
But, we can decide for ourselves.”

Yes, we can decide for ourselves...
No! We MUST decide for ourselves...
It is obvious we are not born equal...
which is reason to believe there is no perfect creator God?
which is reason to believe there is karma and attitude that rules the inequalities?

It is then up to us
to be heroes to ourselves and/or others or not,
to be victims of ourselves and/or others or not.
Even if you believe there is a God,
you have to decide for yourself.

Photo : Shape-Shifting

Went to renew my passport.
When I compared the photos in the old and new passports,
I had a shock as to how different I looked years apart.
The eyelids are now doubled!
The face is now trimmer.
The brows are now thicker.

I think the new photo doesn't resemble me enough either.
The staff who handed me the new passport said I look somewhat different.
I could only grin and shrug my shoulders.
At least my thumbprint is relatively more “permanent”...
than mostly everything else “on” me in this lifetime -
or I wouldn't be “me”?

This too, will pass - passports!
If change we will,
whether we like it or not,
may we change spiritually for the better.
Spiritually changing, we change physically too,
whether we like it or not.

Related Articles:

My Freedom from Me
http://moonpointer.com/index.php?itemid=2439
Identity Card Crisis?
http://moonpointer.com/index.php?itemid=776

Role : Playing Game

In the comedy “Tropic Thunder”, Robert Downey Jr. plays a fictitious actor called Kirk Lazarus, who in turn plays a soldier in the midst of the Vietnam War. Lazarus was so committed in playing the black soldier he was supposed to be, that he went through a pigmentation process to colour his skin. At one point, he realises the “movie set” he was in to be no set, that the gunfire he and his misadventuring company had stumbled into was the real thing. However, he got so lost in his role that for some time, he couldn't shake off his screen persona. This was while he had a genuine existential crisis, despite being a successful multiple award-winning actor. He was stumped as to who he really was. In short, he wasn't sure of his true role in life.

Despite his identity crisis, he managed to pull himself together and got himself thoroughly immersed in his “role” of a lifetime - by soldiering on to rescue a “colleague soldier” (played by Ben Stiller) from drug barons. The truth is, there is no fixed role in life. Lazarus didn't really find himself at the end of the film, though he felt liberated somewhat - for “acting” real. It is obvious why - because there is simply no one role that he can choose or adhere to. This is the truth of Anatta (non-self). We too have to “act” our various roles well, wholeheartedly, when the situation demands so. Sometimes, we are a brother, a son, a grandson, a friend, a father, a colleague... As in any “game”, life is only “fun” when you play your roles well. But even so, remember not to take your roles too seriously - because they can demand sudden change.

Change : We Can

Mi: Now that O's prez, hope better “change is in the air”.
Li: No diff to me.
Mi: You prefer who might be a clone of probably the worst prez in US history?
Li: Nah. I have no interest in politics.

Mi: One of the few reason I have meagre interest is due to ridiculous facts like...
More have died in US-Iraq war than those in 9/11!
Who the most powerful man in the world is - reflects our collective karma.
We can't escape effects of politics in this interconnected world.
If you are apolitical, you might be apathetic!

Picnic : Cake & Grass

Below is something from four years back, that I thought would be appropriate to reproduce here, as an article categorised under Veganism - which is really more than not eating animal produce, but being mindfully sensitive to sentient beings in all areas of life. The article came to mind as some friends organised a birthday celebration in the form of sharing a (eggless but dairy) cake on a grass patch. As a subtle protest, I sent my regards to the birthday girl and went off. Thereafter, I sent the verses below to explain for my “anti-social” behaviour. For the cake part, here's why I declined: http://moonpointer.com/index.php?itemid=2054 For the grass part, here's why...

Of Loving-kindness to Our Tiny Friends
(Some reflections after a retreat in the wild_

Insects

The Buddha says in the Surangama Sutra,
“...all Bodhisattvas always refrain
even from walking on grass...”

How very touching!
It makes me want to cry.
To be reminded not to forget...
to respect even a blade of grass,
to love the tiny creatures below,
to protect their hidden homes,
to take no one at all for granted.

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Hero : Greatest Icon

The premise of DC Comics' weekly comic “52” tells the story of a “missing year” in the DC Universe in real time. As the synopsis goes, “With the absence of the world's three greatest icons - Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman - the rest of the world's heroes must prevail in a world that has seemingly given up hope.” It struck me that the “greatest icons” of the world are not “of this world”. “Historically”, Superman is an alien and Wonder Woman is a goddess. Okay, Batman's human - but he too exhibits superhuman will, even in lack of superpowers.

Heroes are heroes in our world precisely because they don't seem part of our world, one of us. Yes, can you imagine this trinity being real? The Buddha, I think, is the most excellent example of a classic hero, albeit a spiritual one - whose unworldliness still inspires the world. Best of all, he's real, and he tells us we can be like him too. In the “physical” absence of the Buddha, we, the rest of the world, the Buddhists especially, must also prevail. Just as the superheroes had already set the best examples, the Buddha did too, through his words and deeds. (Yes, the Buddha's the world's greatest icon - to Buddhists at least.)