Become like a Buddha for a time
A Japanese poet – Shizukasa ya Iwa ni shimiiru Semi nokoe The translation could be – ‘Oh the quietness. The shrill voice of the cicada is soaked up by the stones.’ This is a temple scene and suddenly in the quiet of this temple there is this bursting forth of the shrill note of the cicada. It’s ear-piercing while it lasts. Then it stops and there is a moment when, so as to speak, that shrillness and that disturbance is soaked up, soaks away into the stillness of the rocks, the stones, of the temple. We can find some hints for Yoga practice in the practice of certain arts which require a clear discipline – especially, for instance, music. In music the execution has to be not merely perfect, but it also has to be done in a very short space of time sometimes – and musicians have to practise …