Tsunami Triptych

Copyright Heidi Utz 2011

This combination of images has been floating in my head ever since I heard the news about the tsunami in Japan, and tonight I put it together: a prayer for nature finding her peace.

Sending Many Prayers to Japan...

Hoodie Monks

While I was researching the previous piece, I came across this article on The Worst Horse about the Hoodie Monks of Japan, in the tradition of Santoka and all of those early Zen wanderers, mendicants, beggars (in today's parlance, "homeless"). The Hoodie dudes are a small group of ordained Shingon monks who are using street culture, including graffiti, to express Buddhist thought.

According to one member, Gomyo, "The whole hip hop attitude of 'just don't give a fuck' and questioning authority fits perfectly with the Buddhist attitude of free inquiry, though my take on what it means to 'not give a fuck' probably differs from the average gangsta rapper's."

This is a good reminder of just how radical a path Buddhism once was and still is.

http://theworsthorse.com/hoodiemonks/hoodiemonks.html