The rain falls everywhere,
coming down on all four sides.
Its flow and saturation are measureless,
reaching to every area of the earth,
to the ravines and valleys of the mountains and streams,
to the remote and secluded places where grow
plants, bushes, medicinal herbs,
trees large and small,
a hundred grains, rice seedlings,
sugar cane, grape vines.
The rain moistens them all,
none fails to receive its full share.
—Lotus Sutra*
a sutra is a Buddhist text, it's touching to be reminded poetically that the rain falls everywhere... even to remote and secluded places, that even those at the margins receive a sense of fullness is such a poignant example of equanimity, of inclusivity, non-discrimination. intentionally vulnerable continues through the words and wisdom of Ocean Vuong.
dear friends,
i've been longing to write about my deep respect and affinity toward Ocean Vuong, while uncertain of the "right" way, time, entry point to do so. jumping in here, entering with all my heart, the location that guides me. a devotee of his craft without formal credentials or literary training, here is why my heart sings when i hear Ocean Vuong's words, read his poetry or listen to the way his voice shares boldly with open heart and hand. the energy of the ancestors awakens, shakes us unearthing/revealing a part that longs and loves to write, to sing, to emote.
Ocean Vuong's presence in the field of art and literature lets the ancestors know, we are no longer in the background, backroom, backseat, backdoor in service of prioritizing others. we are in service that includes our wholeness, belonging where we belong, here and now.
an invitation to explore the gifts of Ocean Vuong.
The Dharma Rain of Ocean Vuong
On her deathbed, she said, “In my next life, I want to be a professor, like you.” It was the hardest thing to hear. She was literally hours away from dying. I think when you go through that and you realize so many of your folks wanted to do this, so many immigrants, the refugees that are displaced now in Ukraine, so many of them want to be writers and artists, but they’re gonna have to forego that. They’re gonna have to surrender that. And their children, if they’re lucky, might be able to do it. This very cyclical ecology of the writer’s life comes with so much sacrifice. And I just thought, I don’t care. I have to do everything here, ’cause who cares if it matters to anybody else, it has to mean something to me.
Ocean Vuong, The New Yorker April 10, 2022
this quote means so much, to feel the words of deep understanding, recognition and love, allowing the feeling to wash over, reconstitute me, a feeling of someone who recognizes an experience, our experience of doing everything across generations for others and this one thing, writing, the way it's expressed carries so much meaning. "I have to do everything here, ’cause who cares if it matters to anybody else, it has to mean something to me."this quote encapsulates why i write and share~part meditation, part spaciousness for reflection, part dedication to the ancestors. a way to listen to earth's lessons in/sigh'd of me, pen to paper, fingers to keyboard, to help see more, be more present, to see each other, to help so we don't feel so alone.
writing is a solitary endeavor where we decide to take a leap to share what shapes us with another being. and when the words reach some or many, may they help reduce, shift, relieve, soothe some suffering, some struggle. we can be in this together, we don't have to feel alone.
a part of being is to live a dream my parents and ancestors didn't have access to. what were some of their gifts? i know they wanted to do more, express more as Isei and Nisei first and second generation immigrants, they were making a new life under harsh, sometimes hostile conditions. i have a way to express us. i am because of them. i want them to know through my actions and expression, through words and images~this life is because of them.
a few years ago i was gratefully introduced to Ocean Vuong's writing through his books, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous and more recently, Time is a Mother.
images and a felt sense of water, rain, moisture, were ever present after reading and listening . could it be because he's in an Asian body, a heritage Buddhist practitioner like me? maybe. nevertheless, rain is an apt metaphor for the way my senses awaken. dharma is known as truth or ultimate reality. dharma rain permeates the skin and parched earth, hydrates dry land, nourishes life. like a gentle mist showering bare skin or a late spring cloudburst clamoring on the rooftop overflowing rain
gutters, Ocean Vuong's writing is like both gentle mist and cloudburst calling us to wake up, wake up, wake up! his poems and novels impel us to dispel, transform notions and limited perceptions. after the rain, there's often a pause, a shift of our internal weather too, a stillness when a simple breath, an i n h a l e, e x p a n d s chest and lungs to a new e x h a l e and a s p a c i o u s , clear, wider view.
poetry is an art form that is helping me to stay grounded with all that is going on locally and globally- dozens of wars, conflict, polarization. poets like Basho, Issa, Thich Nhat Hanh continued to write and create through difficult historic times. they were creating, processing, recovering while living and working through great loss sometimes in solitude, sometimes in community. i imagine poetry helped them to stay stable and upright enough to continue to create and share their great works.
in a time and space where we are both captivated and held captive by mass media, i have felt swathed and soothed by poetry. this form offers a kind of breathing room to pause in the middle of things, from the wars, catastrophic intentional starvation, genocide, species extinction, the undeniable impact of our footprints on our shared home planet. i need a poetry pause regularly.
as intentionally vulnerable continues on this interdependence day, i'd be remiss not to say that Ocean Vuong is much of the light that inspired this theme to awaken. Ocean Vuong points unapologetically that vulnerability is a human condition, ever present, normal, misguidedly seen as weakness. and as a culture we shame the vulnerable. Ocean Vuong invites us to stand up at the table and collaborate with our vulnerability as a strength for an artist and human being. being vulnerable is how we interconnect with each other as compassionate companions. yes, "vulnerability is power." the more we express it, the more we can be accepting, forgiving, welcoming of each other as writers, artists, human beings.
paying homage to the dharma rain of Ocean Vuong. may he continue to create and teach for a long time, may we continue to create, serve in a good way to alleviate some suffering in another being.
a vow to wake up with openness for the benefit of all, to realize liberation excluding nobody, and to look with the eyes of impermanence as we are endlessly connected.
Beings are numberless, i vow to free them
Delusions are inexhaustible, i vow to transform them
Reality is boundless, i vow to perceive it
The awakened way is unsurpassable, i vow to embody it.
~Upaya Zen Center
Ocean Vuong
Poetry readings:
a poetry reading of the fall of Saigon read by Ocean Vuong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiVvQvvIPY4
8:46-13:40
another poem, his raison d'etre for being a poet or ikigai in Japanese, the inner purpose of life: Threshold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiVvQvvIPY4
5:00-8:40
An acceptance speech:
"you don't have anything to prove. we are already so proud of you."
watch and listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPQiuL26jgg
*dharma, in one sense is the truth of nonduality- that we don't exist as a single entity, separate from the cosmos. in another sense it points to a teaching of ultimate reality. dharma rain opens the pores for liberation and true freedom to be possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment