A Tuareg in Algeria’s Tassili-n-Ajjer, photographed by Brent Stirton, National Geographic. I see this and I feel lonely, but unafraid.
This photo reminded me of a quote from one of my texts on Buddhism, Zen, and the tea ceremony, so I kept it and meant to pair it with the quote. Time and time again, I repeated that quote to anyone who would listen to me spout about the harmony and tranquility that is cha-no-yu. I thought it was remarkable - so much so that I folded it into one of my poems, and the lines were the favorites of those who I showed the piece to. I wanted to copy it perfectly and preserve it here, but once I found the quote, I realized I had remembered it wrong! I thought the quote was, “Between heaven and earth, there is none greater than me,” and I turned this into the lines, “Between heaven and earth, the sky and the sea, / Is there a soul greater - no, other than me?” However, the real quote is a tad bit different: “Heavens above, heavens below, I alone am the most honored one!” and it is attributed to Buddha.
Well, now I feel a bit silly. I won’t change it in the poem because my misinterpretation happens to fit the theme better than the original quote, but I will think twice before jawing about tea ceremonies.
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