Grandfather Dies. Father Dies. Son Dies. Grandson Dies: This is True Prosperity

An ancient Zen Buddhist story goes like this:

A very wealthy family in China bought a large farm and built a beautiful palace upon it. They wished for good luck, health, and fortune, so they decided to ask a famous Zen priest to write a scroll for them to hang in their den. The priest accepted the job and went back to his temple to pray for enlightenment.

After a few days, the priest returned with the finished scroll and the entire family gathered around in great anticipation to see the words that the priest wrote for them. The priest said a short prayer and opened the scroll and hung it on the wall.

The scroll said:

Grandfather dies. 
Father dies. 
Son dies. 
Grandson dies.

The entire family was furious at the priest. They shouted and demanded that he go back to the temple and rewrite the scroll for them.

As the priest was rolling up the scroll, he sighed and said: “I will rewrite the order of names on the scroll in anyway you wish. But I think there can be no other sequence. If all die in this order, I think that is true prosperity.”

My own mother died in a freak car accident in 1994. Of course, I was crushed. I was in Japan and she was in America.

After the car accident, she was taken by ambulance to the hospital. I understand that she floated in and out of consciousness before she died. Since I was so far away, I had no way of seeing her, holding her hand, and saying: “I love you mom. Thank you for everything.” But at least I can be thankful that my father was there to do so when she went away. Many people who die are not fortunate enough to have a loved one with them, to hold their hand, to whisper in their ear: “I love you. We all love you…. Please rest. You may go now.” And with words like these, my mother “let go” and passed away. I will always regret that I couldn’t be there with my mother in her time of need. I thank God that my father could be.

There are too many people in this world who die alone. Could there be a more woeful way to die, than when loved ones cannot be there by your side to say their last, “Good-bye”?

After my mother died, though, I was angry. I was angry at the world and I was angry at God. For months after my mother’s death I had recurring nightmares and the most bizarre dreams. Many of the dreams involved times when I was a boy. I would be playing in a playground and I would see my mother on the other side of a fence. I would cry out, “Mom! You’re back!” And I would begin to sob uncontrollably. My mother would grow angry at me and she’d start to leave. I’d cry out again, “Mom! Come back!” As she walked away, she would turn around, look at me, and always say the same thing: “I cannot come to visit you, if you are going to cry every time I see you.” And with that, she’d disappear into a field of tall grass.

I would always promise not to cry the next time. But I couldn’t keep my promise. I think I saw this same dream nearly every night for at least six months.

Then one night, I had the most bizarre dream of all. My mother, as usual, walked away because I was crying, I was on my knees. I had my head in hands to try to hold back the tears. And then suddenly, I found myself in a huge chamber. It was like a colossal courtroom. I looked up and there was an old man sitting in a chair, looking quite frustrated and irate at me. He was massive in size. He was huge, at least 40 or 50 feet high and he was sitting down! He was brushing his beard and looking at me as if he was considering what to do.

I knew exactly who he was, yet I was not afraid of him; I was furious.

I shouted: “It’s not fair! It’s not fair that my mother died in an accident. My mother was still young and healthy. She should still be alive you bastard!” The old man just stared at me. I continued to shout at him. And I began to cry.
Then he calmly said: “So you think it is unfair that your mother has died?”

“Of course it’s unfair!”

The old man sighed and said, “Very well then, I shall allow you to be reborn and I will give you a different mother, and that mother will still be alive today. Would you find this acceptable?”

“A different mother!?” I said. “No… No, thank you.”

I suddenly awoke from my dream. I was in tears.

I pondered this strange dream for many weeks after that. Then it dawned on me: Instead of being angry that my mother died in an accident. I should be thankful for all of the wonderful times we spent together, all the hugs and bedtime stories. All the laughs and the great dinners. All the special times that my mother made me feel special, and all the other times she cheered me up when others did not. I should thank God for all the wonderful memories I received from being the son of this loving woman. She was always there for me when I needed her. And now, whenever I see her in my dreams, I do not cry. In fact the dream I often have with her now is one where I am on her side of the fence and we are sitting in the field and having a picnic and smiling together.

I haven’t seen my mother in a while, but I look forward to the next time I do.

I told this story to a priest who has become my friend. He asked me to show him a photograph of my mother. I did. He said: “Your mother was a very beautiful woman. Always keep this image of her in your heart. You are most fortunate that it is you, and not her, who has but memories and a snapshot.”

“How profound!” I thought. And I have always kept his words of wisdom in my heart. I share these words with my friends whose parents have passed away.

If only I could have been lucky enough to be there to hold my mother’s hand and be able to say, “I love you” when she passed away. How thankful I would be; thankful for that moment that I could be there. But I wasn’t.

But she was there to share and be a big part of my life.

I wouldn’t trade those photos or memories for anything in the world.

Would you?

My mother and father sometime in the very early 1950s.

Ancient Japanese Mythology: Catfish Cause Earthquakes - 16 Beautiful Woodblock Prints

In ancient Japanese folklore, it has been said that catfish are the causes of earthquakes. In modern science, scientists study the reaction of catfish prior to earthquakes. It seems that there is a correlation as recent studies done at Japanese universities have shown.

Catfish and prostitutes drinking and partying in Tokyo's red light district in Yoshiwara 

Wikipedia has a good and simple explanation of how catfish (Namazu) fit into Japanese mythology relating to earthquakes and Ukiyo-e (woodblock prints): 

In Japanese mythology, the Namazu (鯰) or Ōnamazu (大鯰) is a giant catfish who causes earthquakes. He lives in the mud under the islands of Japan, and is guarded by the god Kashima who restrains the catfish with a stone. When Kashima lets his guard fall, Namazu thrashes about, causing violent earthquakes. Following an earthquake near Edo (modern day Tokyo) in 1855 (one of the Ansei Great Quakes), the Namazu became worshiped as a yonaoshi daimyojin (god of world rectification).[1]

Namazu-e (catfish prints) are a minor genre of ukiyo-e. They are usually unsigned and encompass a large variety of scenes such as a namazu forcing the wealthy to excrete coins for the poor, and a namazu atoning for the earthquake he caused.

It is believed by some that the origin of the story is the fact that catfish can sense the small tremors which happen before an earthquake, and are shown to be more active at such times. Supposedly, the sudden activity was observed in ancient times and believed the quakes to be the result of a giant catfish.

Like Greek or Norse mythology, ancient Japanese mythology have a bunch of weird ideas (perhaps no more weird than guys walking on water or snakes talking)... And through this mythology, there is a plethora of art on the subject.

Okay, I'll make this brief... "Jesus walked on water" is an example of figurative speech.

It doesn't mean that he literally "walked on water" it means that he achieved the impossible 

through positive thinking and faith... As they say, "Faith moves mountains."

Briefly, there is a god named Kashima who holds down earthquakes with a huge stone named Kaname. When the god Kashima can hold down the catfish, there are no earthquakes, but the catfish is slippery and sometimes gets loose...


Here are a bunch of pictures of woodblock prints from the Japanese National Library depicting the relation of catfish to earthquakes. (If you want to see more, go to this link and click on the blue lettering to the left: http://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1307504?tocOpened=1)  

Catfish as saviors after an earthquake

Catfish of Edo period and Shinzu

Catfish and Kaname rock

Attack on the catfish from the Edo period

More partying with prostitutes and construction workers in Yoshiwara

The god Kashima holds down the catfish with the Kaname rock

Catfish remembering the dead

Earthquakes, thunder and fires evil gods

Kashima and a catfish in a tug or war

A great catfish is in the town (and causes an earthquake)

A million prayers for the dead

Ansei era of few earthquakes

Catfish with construction materials and tools

There are a bunch more photos of artwork at Pink Tentacle with English explanations here: http://pinktentacle.com/2011/04/namazu-e-earthquake-catfish-prints/

You can also try to decipher the results of testing on catfish here written in English: 

http://www.bousaihaku.com/cgi-bin/hp/index.cgi?ac1=R204&ac2=R20407&ac3=1262&Page=hpd_view


Why do I say, "try to decipher?" Well, here's the conclusion of the study for your purview:

Conclusion

Really, as the largest animals make noise What the catfish before the earthquake? For now, the legend is not to deny anything. The fish are bred in the aquarium daily importance, especially catfish who might make noise before the earthquake.

See? I don't know if that's proof that catfish cause earthquakes or can detect them, but deciphering those sentences make my head hurt! Or, should I say,


"The catfishes seem to do like the earthquake causation so much like I do?..."

Ancient Warnings on Tsunami

"If you make a mistake, don't hesitate to correct it" - Ancient Japanese saying


Japan is over 2,700 years old. People today, all over the world, think they are smarter than people of the past. But are we? The tsunami and events of March 11, 2011 suggest that we are not. 

Wilhelm Kempff - Beethoven's Tempest Sonata 3

In a town named Aneyoshi, in northern Japan, there are stone tablets standing on mountains and hillsides warning people not to build homes in lower areas as those are areas that get hit by tsunami. Some of these tablets are over 600 years old. They warn of the dangers of building in the lower lying areas and warn of tsunami that hit the area hundreds of years ago.


The local people all know about these tablets yet, somehow, local government allowed for seawalls to be built that are not as high above sea level as these tablets are. Some families, who have lived in the area for hundreds of years did heed the warnings and they were safe.

TFD News reports:

A natural disaster as large as last month's 9.0 earthquake and tsunami happens perhaps once in a person's lifetime, at most. Tokyo Electric Power Co., the nuclear plant operator, clearly wasn't prepared. Many communities built right to the water's edge, some taking comfort, perhaps, in sea walls built after a deadly but smaller tsunami in 1960.

Many did escape, fleeing immediately after the quake. In some places, it was a matter of minutes. Others who tarried, perished.

"People had this crucial knowledge, but they were busy with their lives and jobs, and many forgot," said Yotaru Hatamura, a scholar who has studied the tablets.

One stone marker warned of the danger in the coastal city of Kesennuma: "Always be prepared for unexpected tsunamis. Choose life over your possessions and valuables."

Tetsuko Takahashi, 70, safe in her hillside house, watched from her front window as others ignored that advice. She saw a ship swept a half-mile (nearly a kilometer) inland, crushing buildings in its path.

"After the earthquake, people went back to their homes to get their valuables and stow their 'tatami' floor mats. They all got caught," she said.

Her family has lived in Kesennuma for generations, but she said those that experienced the most powerful tsunamis died years ago. She can only recall the far weaker one in 1960, generated by an earthquake off Chile.

Earlier generations also left warnings in place names, calling one town "Octopus Grounds" for the sea life washed up by tsunamis and naming temples after the powerful waves, said Fumihiko Imamura, a professor in disaster planning at Tohoku University in Sendai, a tsunami-hit city.

"It takes about three generations for people to forget. Those that experience the disaster themselves pass it to their children and their grandchildren, but then the memory fades," he said.

The tightly knit community of Aneyoshi, where people built homes above the marker, was an exception.

"Everybody here knows about the markers. We studied them in school," said Yuto Kimura, 12, who guided a recent visitor to one near his home. "When the tsunami came, my mom got me from school and then the whole village climbed to higher ground."

Aneyoshi, part of the city of Miyako, has been battered repeatedly by tsunamis, including a huge one in 1896. Isamu Aneishi, 69, said his ancestors moved their family-run inn to higher ground more than 100 years ago.

But his three grandchildren were at an elementary school that sat just 500 feet (150 meters) from the water in Chikei, a larger town down the winding, cliffside road. The school and surrounding buildings are in ruins. The bodies of his grandchildren have not been found.

Hiroshi Kosai grew up in Natori but moved away after high school. His parents, who remained in the family home, died in the disaster.

"I always told my parents it was dangerous here," said the 43-year-old Kosai, as he pointed out the broken foundation where the tablet once stood. "In five years, you'll see houses begin to sprout up here again."

As of now the toll from the disaster stands at: Over 12,000 confirmed dead with the possibility of that number climbing into the area of 25,000 people. There are still more than 100,000 people living in disaster relief centers and temporary housing is being built as quickly as possible. Please see at the very top of this blog the links to where you can donate and help these poor people.

Hopefully, these folks can get their lives and their towns back in order, but let's hope they listen to what the ancient people said.

The towns of Ishinomaki and Kesenuma may not be standing anymore, but these stone tablets warning of tsunami - some that have been around for over 600 years - are still standing today... I imagine they will still be standing another 600 years from now.

How many times will low lying towns have to be rebuilt and how many lives will be lost because of tsunami during that time?