Tathagata

Tathagata
what, who
some thing
nothing at all
every thing
a person
animal
or plant
some mud
wood or reed
light and sound
finally simply corn
history and prophecy
where cycles close
and hearts mend
long and last
here now!

“Nature’s echo in blue calm” — where a contrast meets

PentaBluNa — 8-string guitar — March 2022 — 2:47 — as loop on a separate tab

Tathagata — something and nothing and everything

Tathāgata is a Pali word used by Gautama Buddha when referring to himself or other Buddhas.

Tathagata “means it is complete in itself, and no words are able to describe what it is. Tatha means ‘thus,’ ‘as,’ ‘it,’ ‘as a thing is,’ ‘as things are.’ Gata is ‘has come,’ so you are experiencing ‘it.’ At the same time this same word, agata, means ‘gone.’ Thus you are able to see the other side of ‘it.’ So, Tathagata means ‘thus come and thus gone,’ at the same time. Again, it’s very hard to capture. You are listening to continuous sound, but each sound you are capturing is what truth is. It is like the rhythm of continually running water.”

“The contents of the enlightenment experience are the same as this ‘Tathagata.’ It rejects your knowing, because it exists in the root of the action of knowing. The one who knows is what it is. The one which is known by it is not necessarily what it is. This ‘Tathagata’ is what your real essence of life is, what truth, itself, is, so that we become very helpless when we try to know it. The knowledge of your existence, what we are, what things are, is a kind of ancient memory of what it is.”

Embracing Mind, Kobun Chino Otogawa, pp. 34-35

The refreshing embrace of springtime snow

Tathagata
Yellow and red tulips embraced by springtime snow — April 2022 — Grächwil, Switzerland