It rained a couple of days ago, and the weather cooled a little. My garden is refreshed both by the cool rain and the bi-weekly visit of the acequia or ditch water.I am learning a little about what grows in this desert oasis, and what doesn't. I have definitely learned that bird seed grows with abandon!
I went to visit a man who has an antique shop He is returning to China where he lived for thirty years. He was kicked out by the Red Guard, but he returned. Now he wishes to return to a monastery and die peacefully in northern China. He is trying to get rid of all the beautiful things in his shop. When the Red Guard destroyed the ancient tombs and temples, they used the rubble for road paving. The local people refused to travel on these roads and made their own way around them. This man and his wife collected artifacts among the rubble. I bought a broken T'ang burial tile which portrays a woman carrying a baby. The woman has a tragic face. He told me that the baby was being buried and the woman would have been the oldest female relative. I also bought a scroll of a sutra that has what looks like a drawing of a holy man. It is actually made of absolutely tiny character writing of the sutra I presume. It is very beautiful and hangs in my windowless living room.
He also partially cleared up my puzzlement over some of the sayings of Buddha as appearing in the Dhammapada. He says that of course the fool I walk with is me. OK. But doubt remains.
