INFINITE RELIEF (A PEEP AT THE MOON)

The chief disciples and an intimidating array of senior Lamas were gathered around the Rimpoché to receive me.  Just as I was about to pass through the doorway of the room and prostate myself, I had to stop and search agitatedly beneath the flap of my borrowed gown, delving into the loose fold above my hurriedly wound sash.  To my infinite relief, my fingers soon encountered the Kharda, the ceremonial scarf which must accompany the gift I was about to make, though I had no clear recollection of having put it there a few moments before.  Even if these eminent recluses and professors should discover my ignorance, at least they would have no cause to consider me boorish.

Then, taking a deep breath, as for a plunge, I strode forward, fell to my knees and placed my forehead on the ground.  Just as I was about to rise for the third time, I felt the touch of gnarled old fingers on my scalp and immediately my agitation left me.  The expression in the many pairs of eyes regarding me was friendly, and I knew then that I had no cause for embarrassment or fear.

John Blofeld, The Wheel of Life, Berkeley, Shambala, 1972

The Kinks: The World Keeps Going Round (Link)

Kate Sanborn, Old Time Wall Papers, Greenwich, The Literary Collector Press, 1905.

 

STILL (FOR KEVIN AYERS)

I carried this volume, excellently printed on soft paper, back to my cell and began to examine it.  Presently it occurred to me that, though the content was very deep, the wording was such that a man with some knowledge of Zen would not find it too difficult to translate.  It contained some very striking paradoxes, one of which caught my eye as soon as I opened the book for the first time.

A fool seeks for the Buddha, not for Mind.

A sage seeks for Mind, not for the Buddha.

From:  John Blofeld, The Wheel Of Life (1959)

Kevin Ayers and the Whole World: Margaret (Live Link)

Kevin Ayers: Song For Insane Times (Link)

Giorgio Morandi Paintings