Petals in the Wind

While I was thinking about this exhibition, the image of scattering petals from the Buddhist ceremony suddenly came to my mind. I’m not sure of the reason. Maybe it was because of the scenery just after the cherry blossoms fall. Perhaps it was because of my wish to wipe away the cancer of my intimate friend at that time.

At the Buddhist ceremony, even though I do not know the meaning of the sutras,
I still feel a kind of beauty from watching the priests scatter the petal-shaped paper chips with the drawing of Buddha or flowers on them. It is the beauty of uncertainty. It reminds me of the cherry trees. They stand the long cold, lonely winter and then all at once, their blossoms bloom and soon fall.

For the big old cherry tree at my temple, the petals of the blossoms are merely a tiny part of its entirety. The falling of the petals is a momentary event in the life of the tree. It can be a sign of parting, but it can also be that of making a fresh start.

In the long history of the earth, we ourselves are like those tiny petals. We feel both uncertainty and eternity in our momentary existence. Always, we are being reborn on this earth.

Priests scatter the petals and our lives are purified and reborn.