8/24/2010

Not knowing


The flower invites the butterfly with no-mind;
The butterfly visits the flower with no-mind.
The flower opens, the butterfly comes;
The butterfly comes, the flower opens.
I don't know others,
Others don't know me.
By not-knowing we follow nature's course.

~from Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen poems of Ryokan,
translated by John Stevens

10 comments:

Mystic Meandering said...

"not knowing we follow nature's course" - Yes... deep resonance. Love that butterfly too!

betchai said...

amazing shot Diane, I can't help but be magnetized by the eyes of the butterfly.

Thendral said...

Nature is always beautiful. cute photo. It seems the butterfly has an eye in the wings too. Nice quote.

PJ van Zyl said...

need to ponder this. :-)
have a lovely day

tom sullivan said...

Not-knowing is the Living Whole;

knowledge is the carcass divided into knower and known.

Betty Manousos said...

OMG!! What a gorgeous shot, Diane!
Thanks for the beauty of your photos!

B x

Annie Jeffries said...

Such a lovely photo. The butterfly looks like a bit of lace settling onto the purple bloom.

Ezhilan said...

Nice quote about nature. The butterfly has an interesting design.

Colleen Loehr said...

Ahhh...these words pop me right out of the pincers of causality into the causeless eruption of This.

Darla said...

What an ethereal butterfly! And such a perfect poem of presence for the photo... ahhh...