Ancient Chinese Secret...

Following up on the last blog where the lovely mountaindreamers commented on the beautiful Gingko tree, I thought I'd share a few more pictures that I took last weekend, and earlier during summer. These trees have for some time peaked my curiosity for various reasons. The leaves are gorgeous and I regularly come across jewelry in shape of gingko leaves. The tree goes through distinct seasonal changes all very gracefully. And finally, here in Pasadena, there is always a groups of Chinese people who come by during the fruit season to collect the fruits.
Mountaindreamers mentioned that these trees, hiding in Central China, were once thought to be extinct.

On one occasion I picked up one fruit, crushed it and smelled it, and I thought 'whew, this really stinks'. The next time I saw a Chinese woman picking up fruits I asked her what she did with it. She said that it was medicinal and that she sauteed them. I don't know if she was pulling my leg or if one really sautees these little stink bombs but there you have it.



This is the Gingko during summer months, and once you read about it you will agree that it is a special tree.





One might ask how could you post without mentioning the cat boys...Well, I cannot, and so I share:

Gussy gus taking a peak out the window to see if he can see a Gingko,

and Ollie working on his sit-ups!


A happy Tuesday to all, golden gingko and cat kisses...

Ciao!

In the Gladness of Mine Heart...I see

bright yellow Gingko laying a blanket for me to stroll over,

a precious fluffy Ollie cat waiting for me,

a rascal named Augustus ready for excursions,

and a few purply flowers cheering my eyes!


And you, in the gladness of your heart....?

Best wishes and Cat kisses...

Ciao!

Tapestry

"Our imagination can only picture that which it is able to create." (Paris Talks)

(Persian Rug at Friend's House)

Augustus and Ollie discussing the above over a bowl of water.



Muchas cat kisses to all for a wonderful weekend!

Ciao!

Their Regal Manners...

Gustopher Jones (Augustus) imagines himself in the wild


while Ollie bird practices his Vulcan Ears!


At the end we gathered under this tree

and I read to them another story from the great mystic, Rumi.

Luqman's Master examines him and discovers his Acuteness.
Luqman the Sage who is sometimes identified with Esop, and sometimes with the nephew of the prophet Job, though "gifted with wisdom by God," was a slave. His master, however, discovered his worth, and became extremely attached to him, so that he never received any delicacy without giving Luqman a share of it. One day, having received a watermelon, he gave Luqman the best part of it, and Luqman devoured it with such apparent relish that his master was tempted to taste it. To his surprise he found it very bitter, and asked Luqman why he had not told him of this. Luqman replied that it was not for him, who lived on his master's bounty, to complain if he now and then received disagreeable things at his hands. Thus, though to outward appearance a slave, Luqman showed himself to be a lord.

Love endures hardships at the hands of the Beloved.
Through love bitter things seem sweet,
Through love bits of copper are made gold.
Through love dregs taste like pure wine,
Through love pains are as healing balms.
Through love thorns become roses,
And through love vinegar becomes sweet wine.
Through love the stake becomes a throne,
Through love reverse of fortune seems good fortune.
Through love a prison seems a rose bower,
Without love a grate full of ashes seems a garden.
Through love burning fire is pleasing light,
Through love the Devil becomes a Houri.
Through love hard stones become soft as butter,
Without love soft wax becomes hard iron.
Through love grief is as joy,
Through love Ghouls turn into angels.
Through love stings are as honey,
Through love lions are harmless as mice.
Through love sickness is health,
Through love wrath is as mercy.
Through love the dead rise to life,
Through love the king becomes a slave.
Even when an evil befalls you, have due regard;
Regard well him who does you this ill turn.
The sight, which regards the ebb and flow of good and ill
Opens a passage for you from misfortune to happiness.
Thence you see the one state moves you into the other,
One opposite state generating its opposite in exchange.
..."

We stared at each other lovingly for a few moments and then scattered feeling love in our hearts.

The boys send pawfuls of love and kisses to all...Happy Wednesday!

Ciao!

True to their Own Little Furry Selves...

Ollie pretends to be a lion

while Augustus seems to think he is a jaguar,

and roams about!

Ollie closes his eyes and prays that Augustus is safe!

Soon after the pretend game they come down for a roll on the cement land!

Roll this way and that!


Cat boys asked me to read them something deep, and as I was imagining what these dudes believe their true selves to be, I chose the great mystic, Rumi.

The Truth is yourself, but not your mere bodily self,
Your real self is higher than 'you' and 'me.'
This visible 'you' which you fancy to be yourself
Is limited in place, the real 'you' is not limited.
Why, O pearl, linger you trembling in your shell?
Esteem not yourself mere sugar-cane, but real sugar.

This outward 'you' is foreign to your real ' you;'

Cling to your real self, quit this dual self.
Your last self attains to your first (real) self
Only through your attending earnestly to that union.
Your real self lies hid beneath your outward self,
For 'I am the servant of him who looks into himself.' "
(Mathnavi)

Then they relaxed to this music.

And this was how we spent our early Monday everning.

Buenas Martes and a handful of cat kisses too...

Ciao!

Under the Super Blue Skies,

breathing the clean fresh air

Ollie and I set out to venture in the courtyard!

We agreed that he would sniff and I would take the pictures.

A bird felt it was safe to fly right by us,
and hop from perch to perch to try to get Ollie's attention,
but he did not seem to be interested.
He also threw a lazy glance at
the pesky squirrel who indeed had outgrown his britches! I said you better be careful little beast, no one knows what stirs under this calm exterior!
Uninterested at that moment,
Ollie turned his back to the squirrel too, and walked away.

Sometimes he is very pensive, and that really confuses me. So we read together this...

When we ponder over the reality of the microcosm, we discover that in the microcosm there are deposited three realities. Man is endowed with an outer or physical reality. It belongs to the material realm, the animal kingdom, because it has sprung from the material world. This animalistic reality of man he shares in common with the animals.The human body is like animals subject to nature’s laws.

But man is endowed with a second reality, the rational or intellectual reality; and the intellectual reality of man predominates over nature. All these sciences which we enjoy were the hidden and recondite secrets of nature, unknowable to nature, but man was enabled to discover these mysteries, and out of the plane of the unseen he brought them into the plane of the seen.

Yet there is a third reality in man, the spiritual reality. Through its medium one discovers spiritual revelations, a celestial faculty which is infinite as regards the intellectual as well as physical realms. That power is conferred upon man through the breath of the Holy Spirit. It is an eternal reality, an indestructible reality, a reality belonging to the divine, supernatural kingdom; a reality whereby the world is illumined, a reality which grants unto man eternal life. This third, spiritual reality it is which discovers past events and looks along the vistas of the future. It is the ray of the Sun of Reality. The spiritual world is enlightened through it, the whole of the Kingdom is being illumined by it. It enjoys the world of beatitude, a world which had not beginning and which shall have no end.
That celestial reality, the third reality of the microcosm, delivers man from the material world. Its power causes man to escape from nature’s world. Escaping, he will find an illuminating reality, transcending the limited reality of man and causing him to attain to the infinitude of God, abstracting him from the world of superstitions and imaginations, and submerging him in the sea of the rays of the Sun of Reality.(Foundations of World Unity)

I then noted that Augustus had found the reading most interesting too and was listening from behind the bushes!


Cat boys hope that everyone caught a good turkey and had a delightful feast, and they send little kisses for your new week!

Ciao!

We talked about thanksgiving

under this palm tree,

it seemed like the right moment, the doodle boys wanted to know what all the hoopla was about!

We read this:

REALITY OF THANKSGIVING
In these times thanksgiving for the bounty of the Merciful One consists in the illumination of the heart and the feeling of the soul.
This is the reality of thanksgiving. But, although offering thanks through speech or writings is approvable, yet, in comparison with that, it is but unreal, for the foundation is spiritual feelings and merciful sentiments. 

Augustus was content and spent many moments pondering about this...

He is very focused,

Getting distracted,

more distracted,

not so sure!

Ollie ran home to do some readings. He said he knows that there is a turkey involved and he was not sure if the turkey should be pardoned!!!

Who do you think is our little pilgrim and who is the Indian?

We all wish you illuminated hearts during this thanksgiving and pawfuls of cat kisses throughout your day!

Ciao!