Eternal Flame, Everpresent Flow
It sounds like a zen koan: the Eternal Flame survives the fire.
I was struck by the news about the May 20 fire at the Reikadō Hall at the Buddhist temple Daishoin, Mount Misen, Miyajima, Japan. This sacred place housed the 1,200 year old Eternal Flame, first lit by Shingon Buddhism’s founding monk Kūkai. The whole structure burned down, but the monks saved the Eternal Flame and secured it elsewhere.
The Eternal Flame feeds the Flame of Peace at the Hiroshima Memorial Peace Park, meant to burn until there are no more nuclear weapons. This is a life-giving aspect of Fire opposing the death-dealing aspect of Fire.
Annd where there is Fire, look for Water. At Daishoin, pilgrims would come to drink healing waters, boiled in a cauldron heated by the Eternal Flame. Water of course was what kept the fire from spreading to the rest of the temple complex.
I’m imagining the Eternal Flame as a sentient being who’d outgrown its current home, burned it down, and is now patiently waiting for the humans to build it a new home. This happened in 2005 also, the hall recreated by the next year. Destruction, preservation, renewal. Japanese temples periodically are dismantled and reconstructed in a ritual way. The Phoenix knowing when to self-immolate and be reborn.
JOURNALING
Above is the Temperance card, created by my teacher, the visionary artist Kim Krans and her Wild Unknown Tarot. It’s about balancing water and fire for healing and renewal.
Consider the Eternal Flame inside you and the Water of Life that cools it down and harmonizes with it. At Daishoin, pilgrims would come to drink healing waters heated by the Eternal Flame. And water of course kept the fire from spreading, but didn’t douse the Eternal Flame.
When you feel burnt out, what watery ways do you practice to bring yourself back into balance? Bathing, sitting down to tea, swimming, chasing waterfalls, hydrating, running through lawn sprinklers, crying? What nurtures your creative flow?
When you are drowning in tears, collective or personal grief, or too much drink, how do you protect your spark, the ember of your Eternal Flame? What people, places, things, remembered dedication, core principles, helpful practices, or actions make you feel alive and ready to engage?
When you are in balance, notice what you are doing to both feed your inner fire and maintain the flow of your emotions and your actions.
Let me know what you discover.
