The butterfly will come when the flowers start to bloom 花開蝶自来

花開蝶自来

When the flowers bloom, the butterflies come naturally.

When flowers bloom beautifully, butterflies are naturally attracted to them by the sweet scent of nectar.

Flowers bloom without hesitation.

Flowers do not bloom to be praised for their beauty, to please someone, or to soothe the heart. Without any thought or calculation, they just bloom naturally when the time is right.

The same goes for humans.

Just as butterflies naturally come to you when flowers bloom, people naturally come to you when you have virtue.

Don't chase someone, don't sell yourself, but shine beautifully yourself, and you will naturally be recognized and needed by others even if you don't ask for it.

花無心招蝶 蝶無心尋花《道德經》

Quoted from "Dead Trees Regenerate Flowers - Understanding Life through Zen" (written by Keiichi Hosokawa, published by Zen Culture Research Institute in November 2000) Flowers have no intention of attracting butterflies. Butterflies have no intention of seeking flowers. (Tao Te Ching).

There is no need for thousands of cherry blossoms in bloom, just a small wild flower blooming unknown in the grass is enough; there is no need for colorful and beautiful butterflies, even a dirty little butterfly. . On a flower, two or three butterflies are playing. Although this kind of scenery can be seen everywhere, we often turn a blind eye to it. However, Zen Master Liang Kuan captured this situation and recited the reality of this unintentional encounter. The flowers are not trying to attract butterflies, and the butterflies are not trying to find flowers. However, they met unexpectedly and met naturally. Our life is actually a series of encounters. Meet your parents, see your brothers and sisters, see your friends, see your husband, see your wife, see your children. There are also encounters with hardships, joys, sorrows, and all kinds of things. Are these encounters accidental? It's probably not enough to say it was accidental. Is it fate? It's not necessarily destiny.

So, what is it? It's all about the law of cause and effect. It is the result of the initial causes and conditions that played a role. The result does not end with the result, it becomes the cause, and with some kind of fate, a new result comes out. Cause and effect, the cycle repeats itself. In Buddhism, this is called the law of cause and effect. For example, there is a bean seed here. This is the cause. Plowing the fields, sowing seeds, watering, fertilizing, this is fate. When it sprouts and bears fruit, it is a fruit. How the conditions work has a great impact on the fruit. Even if it is an evil cause, good consequences can be obtained by adding good conditions. On the contrary, good causes and bad conditions can also lead to bad consequences. This is the law of cause and effect in Buddhism, and it is by no means fatalistic. Because of fate, flowers bloom, and because of fate, butterflies dance. Flowers and butterflies meet by fate. Our meeting is also the result of obeying the law of cause and effect. There is an invisible thread leading us to meet each other, but we cannot see this thread. I hope we can all humbly realize that we live according to the law, no, it is the law that allows us to survive. We should make full use of this encounter to go through life.

When picking up the child, I can’t help but worry about my child’s future; my eyes,

Already quietly filled with tears, Children, parents have nothing to ask for, I just hope you meet good people in your life!

(Quoted from "Encounter" by Buddhist poet Sakamura Shinmin.

The geiko Tomitsuyu...one of the most beautiful women in the world and one of Kyoto's best known geishas. I have known her since 2016. We like to take a stroll in the gardens together. We try to go to a different one each time I come to Kyoto.

One of the beloved staples of a Japanese summer is the sight of colorful hydrangeas (ajisai 紫陽花) blooming during the rainy season in June and July. In Japanese culture, they are associated with heartfelt emotion, gratitude and apology. This is because, according to legend, a Japanese emperor gave a bunch of hydrangeas to the family of the girl he loved, to apologise for neglecting her, to focus on his work instead, and to show how much he really cared for her.