快雪時晴帖

In Chinese calligraphy, the third century CE--corresponding to the Three Kingdoms (220-280) and Western Chin (265-316) period--witnessed the maturation of various script forms. Thereafter, applications for regular, running, and cursive scripts became increasingly widespread, flourishing to form a new trend. During the fourth century in the Eastern Chin dynasty (317-420), calligraphers thereupon strove to forge writing as an art form as they explored how to make brush strokes more natural and aesthetically pleasing. Pursuing the dual beauties of “skill” and “naturalness,” both ancient and modern forms of writing were combined to achieve a realm of utmost beauty and perfection in calligraphy. The most typical representative of this trend was Wang Hsi-chih (303-361), who was praised as the “Sage of Calligraphy” by later generations.

王羲之（303－361），祖籍山東，出身仕族世家，西晉末南渡，徙居浙江會稽。曾官右軍將軍，會稽內史，東晉永和年間（345－356）去職，與 東土名士盡山水之游。熱衷詩歌，音樂與書法。他學書歷程是由近而古，轉益多師，取資廣博，尤其精研體勢，將秦篆漢隸各種不同的筆法，融於真行草體中，形成 最佳體勢，所以唐朝人稱頌他「兼撮眾法，備成一家，為萬世宗師」。

這是一件行楷書短簡，前後都有署名具禮，內容是大雪之後 向友人問候。明代鑑賞家詹景鳳指出，此蹟筆法圓勁古雅，意態閑逸，對趙孟頫的行書有很深的影響。從用筆來看，此帖多圓鈍的用筆，點畫勾挑都不露鋒，結體平 穩勻稱，在優美的姿態之中，流露出質樸內斂的意韻。乾隆皇帝極珍愛此蹟，譽之為「天下無雙，古今鮮對」。乾隆十一年，他將此蹟與王獻之的「中秋帖」，王珣 的「伯遠帖」合稱「三希」，寶藏在「三希堂」中。此帖一般認為是唐代精摹本。

釋文：羲之頓首。快雪時晴。佳想安善。未果為結。力不次。王羲之頓首。山陰張侯。

Photo and text both by 國立故宮博物院 National Palace Museum in Taipei, Taiwan.

The City I've Loved and Will Always Love

"One constant in New York is the velocity of change. Attempts at freezing time here always fail. New York is too big, dense, various, too full of collisions large and small, artistic and commercial, too full of energy, desire and ambition, to ever remain the way it was. New York is not a museum disguised as a city. It's not Venice."

Pete Hamill, New York Magazine Oct. 6, 2008

達摩二入四行觀

夫 入道多途，要而言之，不出二種：一是理入、二是行入。理入者：謂藉教悟宗；深信含生同一真性，但為客塵妄想所覆，不能顯了。若也捨妄歸真，凝住壁觀，無自 無他，凡聖等一，堅住不移，更不隨文教，此即與理冥符。無有分別，寂然無為，名之理入。行入謂四行，其餘諸行悉入此中。何等四耶？一報冤行，二隨緣行，三 無所求行，四稱法行。

　　云何報冤行？謂修道行人，若受苦時，當自念言：我往昔無數劫中，棄本從末，流浪諸有，多起冤憎，違害無限，今雖無犯，是我宿殃，惡業果熟，非天非人所能見與，甘心甘受，都無冤訴。經云：逢苦不憂。何以故？識達故。此心生時，與理相應，體冤進道，故說言報冤行。

　　二、隨緣行者：眾生無我，並緣業所轉，苦樂齊受，皆從緣生。若得勝報榮譽等事，是我過去宿因所感，今方得之，緣盡還無，何喜之有？得失從緣，心無增減，喜風不動，冥順於道，是故說言隨緣行。

　 　三、無所求行者：世人長迷，處處貪著，名之為求。智者悟真，理將俗反，安心無為，形隨運轉，萬有斯空，無所願樂。功德黑暗常相隨逐，三界久居，猶如火 宅，有身皆苦，誰得而安？了達此處，故捨諸有，止想無求。經云：有求皆苦，無求即樂，判知無求，真為道行，故言無所求行。

　 　四、稱法行者：性淨之理，目之為法。此理眾相斯空，無染無著，無此無彼。經曰：法無眾生，離眾生垢故；法無有我，離我垢故；智者若能信解此理，應當稱法 而行。法體無慳，身命財行檀捨施，心無吝惜，脫解三空，不倚不著，但為去垢，稱化眾生而不取相。此為自行，復能利他，亦能莊嚴菩提之道。檀施既爾，餘五亦 然。為除妄想，修行六度，而無所行，是為稱法行。

By Bodhidharma

Three Hundred Years From Now

Angry in the ultimate dimension
I close my eyes and look deeply.
Three hundred years from now
Where will you be and where shall I be?

Looking at anger with the eyes of impermanence, we can stop and breathe. Angry at each other in the ultimate dimension, we close our eyes and look deeply. We try to see three hundred years into the future. What will you be like? What will I be like? Where will you be? Where will I be?
The reason we are foolish enough to make ourselves suffer and make the other person suffer is we forget that we and the other person are impermanent.

by Thich Nhat Hanh

愛別離苦

近別不改容，遠別涕沾胸。
咫尺不相見，實與千里同。
人生無離別，誰知恩愛重。
始我來宛丘，牽衣舞兒童。
便知有此恨，留我過秋風。
秋風亦已過，別恨終無窮。
問我何年歸，我言歲在東。
離合既循環，憂喜迭相攻。
悟此長太息，我生如飛蓬。
多憂髮早白，不見六一翁。

蘇軾 熙寧四年(1071 A.D.)九月

蘇東坡與其弟弟子由及家人共度中秋。這次中秋值得記憶，他後來一直思念不
已，因為其後六年他始終沒有機會和弟弟共度佳節。臨別時，二人難分難捨，子由送兄
長至穎河下游八十里外的穎州（今阜陽），到穎州在歐陽修相伴之下，又一同過了半個
多月。但是終須分手。在蘇東坡開船出發的前夜，兄弟二人又在穎州河的船上共度
一夜，吟詩論政，徹夜未眠。那天夜裡，蘇東坡寫了兩首詩來顯示他的心境，此其一。
次日凌晨，兄弟二人分手。蘇東坡對子由的深情確是非比尋常，後來，在寫給
他好友李常的一首詩中說：「嗟余寡兄弟，四海一子由。」

From 蘇東坡傳記 by 林語堂

Perfect Blending of the Old and the New

The new courtyard at the landmark building that houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. The elegant glass canopy was designed by the architectural firm Foster + Partners (Norman Foster). The enclosed courtyard, at 28,000 square feet, provides a distinctive, contemporary accent to the museums' Greek Revival building.

Recent Reading - "Setting the Table"

Danny Meyer's insightful book on how he built his restaurant empire in NYC (Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Eleven Madison Park, Blue Smoke, the Modern, Shake Shack, among others). It's an autobiography as well as a business guide, full of wise advice for life and for business. Meyer describes himself as having a need to please customers, which he transforms into his own unique brand of "enlightened hospitality." Meyer comes across as a person who is warm, curious, cautious, charitable, and with business acumen and integrity. What makes his restaurants so popular often have to do with his willingness to go against the grain -- the smoking ban a decade before the government's own, the accommodation of single diners, the effort of the reservationists to "be on the caller's side," the insistence on properly spacing tables, the graciousness to take an item off a customer's check if the customer is not happy with it. The book succeeds in that it not only makes you understand his business and his philosophy, it makes you really want to go eat in one (or all) of his restaurants!

Memorable Quotes:

• On Hiring -- "It's pretty easy to spot an overwhelmingly strong candidate or even an underwhelmingly weak candidate. It's the 'whelming' candidate you must avoid at all costs . . . . Overwhelmers earn you raves. Underwhlemers either leave on their own or are terminated. Whelmers, sadly, are like a stubborn stain you can't get out of the carpet. They infuse an organization and its staff with mediocrity; they're comfortable, and so they never leave; and frustratingly, they never do anything that rises to the level of getting them promoted or sinks to the level of getting them fired. And because you either can't or don't fire them, you and they conspire to send a dangerous message to your staff and guests that 'average' is acceptable."
  

• On applying 'a sense of abundance' to his restaurants after 9/11 when downtown commerce suffered -- "[Act] from a positive and hopeful place, rather than from fear that can ultimately be self-fulfilling. The mindset 'we're just hanging on' perpetuates scarcity. Investing money, imagination and hard work to create a mindset of abundance achieves abundance."
  

• What Meyer's grandfather used to say to him: "People will say a lot of great things about your business, and a lot of nasty things as well. Just remember, you are never as good as the best things they'll say, and never as bad as the negative ones. Just keep centered, know what you stand for, strive for new goals, and always be decent."
  

• "When you cede your core values to someone else, it's time to quit."
  

Setting the Table - The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business. By Danny Meyer.

As Seen in Hogwarts

The grand 16th century staircase leading to the Great Hall at the Christ Church College in Oxford, England. This is the same staircase where, in the Harry Potter movies, Professor Macgonagle welcomed first-year students. Christ Church College is a major filming location for the Harry Potter movies; its Great Hall was replicated in the film studios to create Hogwart's huge dining hall.

The Cause of All Suffering

As to the cause of all suffering, it has its root in greed and desire. If greed and desire are wiped out, it will have no place to dwell. To wipe out all suffering--this is called the third rule. For the sake of this rule, the rule of extinction, one practices the way. And when one escapes from the bonds of suffering, this is called attaining emancipation. By what means can a person attain emancipation? Separating oneself from falsehood and delusion--this alone may be called emancipation.

--from The Lotus Sutra, trans. by Burton Watson

How do you make God laugh?

Tell Him about your plans.

Recent Reading

Persian Girls By Nahid Rachlin

Rachlin's autobiography -- which she wrote in memory of her sister Pari, who died falling down a flight of stairs, or rather, of a series of unhappy marriages and unhappy events in her life. Pari had married, somewhat against her will, to a man that she thought promised her freedom, an unlikely luxury for a woman living in Iran, even under the Shah who presented himself as a Westernized progressive. That freedom never came, the divorce eventually came through, but at the expense of almost never seeing her son again. That pain tormented Pari for the rest of her life, even after she re-married. It is harrowing reading Rachlin's description of the beautiful and lively Pari, full of hope and dreams as a teenager, gradually descended into a woman of depression and despair. A strong spirit who probably would have thrived had she been born at another time, at another place; Pari perished, like many others in that part of the world, due to an utter lack of options to live life as they wanted to.

Rachlin only avoided the same fate because she ended up in America. Her father was initially strongly against the idea, but he was afraid her progressive taste of reading and other habits would get the family in trouble in those very dangerous and turbulent times in Iran, and finally relented. After graduating from college, she disobeyed her father by not returning home and moving to NYC to build of life of her own, which she did, and is now an accomplished writer.

Memorable Quote:

"Dearest Pari, it is to bring you back to life that I write this book."

蕭史弄玉

簫史者，秦穆公時人也。善吹簫，能致孔雀白鶴於庭。穆公有女，字弄玉，好之，公遂以女妻焉。日教弄玉作鳳鳴，居數年，吹似鳳聲，鳳凰來止其屋。公為作鳳台，夫婦止其上，不下數年。一旦，皆隨鳳凰飛去。故秦人為作鳳女祠於雍宮中，時有簫聲而已。簫史妙吹，鳳雀舞庭。嬴氏好合，乃習鳳聲。遂攀鳳翼，參翥高冥。女祠寄想，遺音載清。

漢 《劉向列仙傳.捲上.蕭史》

嘗聞秦帝女，傳來鳳凰聲。是日逢仙事，當時別有情。
人吹彩簫去，天借綠雲還。曲在身不返，空餘弄玉名。

李白

Happy Ending, Unexpectedly?

“ 公子王孫逐後塵，綠珠垂淚滴羅巾。侯門一入深如海，從此蕭郎是路人。”

崔郊，唐元和間秀才。

又有崔郊秀才者，寓居於漢上，蘊積文藝，而物產罄懸。 無何，與姑婢通，每有阮咸之從。 其婢端麗，饒彼音律之能，漢南之最也。 姑貧，鬻婢於連帥。 連帥愛之，以類無雙， 無雙，即薛太保愛妾，至今圖畫觀之。 給錢四十萬，寵眄彌深。 郊思慕無已，即強親府署，願一見焉。 其婢因寒食來從事家，值郊立於柳陰，馬上連泣，誓若山河。 崔生贈之以詩曰：「公子王孫逐後塵，綠珠垂淚滴羅巾。侯門一入深如海，從此蕭郎是路人。」或有嫉郊者，寫其詩于座，公覩詩，令召崔生，左右莫之測也。 郊則憂悔而已，無處潛遁也。 及見郊，握手曰：「『侯門一入深如海，從此蕭郎是路人。』便是公製作也。四百千，小哉！何靳一書，不早相示！」遂命婢同歸，至於幃幌奩匣，悉為增飾之，小阜崔生矣。

《雲溪友議》，唐範攄撰。 攄始末未詳。委巷流傳，失於考證。

For There Was No One To Teach Even A King's Son

"I know nothing worse of a man than that he should not know."

Alfred the Great (AD 849-899)

Alfred, of the Kingdom of Wessex, was the first ever English King to defeat the invading Vikings and prevented them from occupying the entire Anglo-Saxon England. In doing so, he also defended the Christian civilization from dying out in England. Alfred revived education during his reign, which had become non-existent in England as four decades of repeated attacks by the Vikings resulted in the destruction of the monasteries and killing of the monks, which was the institution that carried out the tradition of teaching and learning at that time. Alfred himself did not learn to read until age 12 and then only by his own efforts because there were no monks left to teach even a king's son.

Alfred's defense of English civilization earned him the soubriquet the Great.

From "The Story of Britain" by Rebecca Fraser.

國土危脆，世間無常

為佛弟子，常於晝夜，至心誦念八大人覺：

第一覺悟：世間無常；國土危脆，四大苦空，五陰無我，生滅變異，虛偽無主，心是惡源，形為罪藪，如是觀察，漸離生死。

第二覺知：多欲為苦；生死疲勞，從貪欲起，少欲無為，身心自在。

第三覺知：心無厭足，唯得多求，增長罪惡；菩薩不爾，常念知足，安貧守道，唯慧是業。

第四覺知：懈怠墜落；常行精進，破煩惱惡，摧伏四魔，出陰界獄。

第五覺悟：愚癡生死；菩薩常念，廣學多聞，增長智慧，成就辯才，教化一切，悉以大樂。

第六覺知：貧苦多怨，橫結惡緣；菩薩布施，等念怨親，不念舊惡，不憎惡人。

第七覺悟：五欲過患；雖為俗人，不染世樂，常念三衣，瓦缽法器，志願出家，守道清白，梵行高遠，慈悲一切。

第八覺知：生死熾然，苦惱無量；發大乘心，普濟一切，願代眾生，受無量苦，令諸眾生，畢竟大樂。

如此八事，乃是諸佛，菩薩大人，之所覺悟，精進行道，慈悲修慧，乘法身船，至涅槃岸。復還生死，度脫眾生。以前八事，開導一切，令諸眾生，覺生死苦，捨離五欲，修心聖道。若佛弟子，誦此八事，於念念中，滅無量罪，進趣菩提，速登正覺，永斷生死，常住快樂。

In the aftermath of the cyclone that devastated Myanmar and the earthquake that devastated Sichuan, China.

What Can Money Buy?

"The secret point of money and power in America is neither the things that money can buy nor power for power's sake but absolute personal freedom, mobility, privacy."

-Joan Didion

Opening From Heart

Right now, and in every now-moment, you are either closing or opening. You are either stressfully waiting for something--more money, security, affection--or you are living from your deep heart, opening as the entire moment, and giving what you most deeply desire to give, without waiting. If you are waiting for anything in order to live and love without holding back, then you suffer. Every moment is the most important moment of your life. No future time is better than now to let down your guard and love. Everything you do right now ripples outward and affects everyone. Your posture can shine your heart or transmit anxiety. Your breath can radiate love or muddy the room in depression. Your glance can awaken joy. Your words can inspire freedom. Your every act can open hearts and minds. Opening from heart to all, you live as a gift to all. In every moment, you are either opening or closing. Right now, you are choosing to open and give fully or you are waiting. How does your choice feel? --David Deida, from "365 Nirvana, Here and Now" by Josh Baran

Recent Reading

Siddhartha - By Nobel Prize Laureate Hermann Hesse

My two pennies:

Should have stayed with the Illustrious One, would have saved himself a lot of trouble...

Madame Rimsky Korsakov (1864)

By Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-1873 AD), renowned portraitist for royalty of many European courts, a favorite of Queen Victoria.

Prince Humay Meets Princess Humayun

Persian miniature painting on silk (approx. 1430-40 AD, Musee des Arts Decoratifs, Paris)

Depicts the story told in the legendary epic, Humay & Humayun, written by Khwaja Kirmani (1281-1352 AD), which describes the love story between Prince Humay, son of the mythical Iranian hero Hushang (the Haoshanha of the Avesta), for Humayun, Princess of China. This painting, 6 by 8½ in., belongs to the Timurid period of 'Persian art, after the Mongol conquerors, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, had brought in Chinese influences. But there is no Chinese depth or shading in the picture. The pure red, gold, blue and green robes of the figures, their rouged cheeks and the formalized tree and flowers are all in the Persian style of clear, brilliant, primarily decorative design.

司馬季主論卜

"天道何親？惟德之親。鬼神何靈？因人而靈。夫蓍，枯草也；龜，枯骨也；物也。人，靈於物者也，何不自聽而聽於物乎？且君侯何不思昔者也？有昔者必有今日。是故碎瓦頹垣，昔日之歌樓舞館也；荒榛斷梗，昔日之瓊蕤玉樹也；露蠶風蟬，昔日之鳳笙龍笛也；鬼燐螢火，昔日之金缸華燭也；秋荼春薺，昔日之象白駝峰也；丹楓白荻，昔日之蜀錦齊紈也。昔日之所無，今日有之不為過；昔日之所有，今日無之不為不足。是故一晝一夜，華開者謝；一春一秋，物故者新；激湍之下，必有深潭；高丘之下，必有浚谷。君侯亦知之矣！何以卜為？"

By 劉基 (1311-1375 AD)

Romance of The Western Bower

西廂記 Romance Of The Western Bower By 王實甫 Wang, Shi-Fu (Appr. 1220-1336 AD)


餓眼望將穿，饞口涎空咽，空著我透骨髓相思病染，怎當他臨去秋波那一轉！休道是小生，便是鐵石人也意惹情牽。近庭軒，花柳爭妍，日午當庭塔影圓。春光在眼前，爭奈玉人不見，將一座梵王宮疑是武陵源。(第一本第一折-驚豔)

想著他眉兒淺淺描，臉兒淡淡妝，粉香膩玉搓咽項。翠裙鴛繡金蓮小，紅袖鸞銷玉筍長。不想呵其實強：你撇下半天風韻，我拾得萬種思量。(第一本第二折-借廂)

"月色溶溶夜，花陰寂寂春；如何臨皓魄，不見月中人？"
"蘭閨久寂寞，無事度芳春；料得行吟者，應憐長歎人。"(第一本第三折-酬韻)

我只道這玉天仙離了碧霄，原來是可意種來清醮。我是個多愁多病身，怎當你傾國傾城貌。 (第一本第四折-鬧齋)

The Suffering of Suffering

So, suffering is caused by ignorance, or suffering exaggerated by ignorance or ignorant grasping and clinging to our notion of what we think should be, is what causes the “suffering of suffering.” The suffering itself is not so bad, it’s the resentment against suffering that is the real pain.

- Allen Ginsberg, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Vol.II, No.1

Little Red Riding Hood

By Yoshitomo Nara

Recent Reading

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE: A MEMOIR OF WAR, DISASTERS, AND SURVIVIAL By Anderson Cooper

Anderson Cooper's surprisingly personal and often gruesome account of the tragedies both in his own life and that which he covered as a foreign correspondent over the years: Somalia, Niger, Bosnia, Rwanda, Israel, Iraq, Tsunami, Katrina. Cooper witnessed some of the most horrific events in human history and many of the detailed descriptions of the plight of those he met and the condition of the corpses he had seen are hauntingly disturbing and disturbingly haunting. As a Vanderbilt, he certainly grew up rich and comfortable but also continuously puts himself at the front lines and in some of the most harrowing corners of the world. He also revealed in this book the deep sadness he feels for the deaths of his father and older brother and dedicated considerable length of this not-lengthy book recounting his childhood memories of them.

Memorable Quotes:

"[I]n truth, the world is constantly shifting: shape and size, location in space. It's got edges and chasms, too many to count. They open up, close, reappear somewhere else. Geologists may have mapped out the planet's tectonic plates - hidden shelves of rock that grind, one against the other, forming mountains, creating continents - but they can't plot the fault lines that run through our heads, divide our hearts. The map of the world is always changing; sometimes it happens overnight. All it takes is the blink of any eye, the squeeze of a trigger, a sudden gust of wind. Wake up and your life is perched on a precipice; fall asleep, it swallows you whole."

"To my mom and dad, and the spark of recognition that brought them together."

Quotable Quotes

"In whatever situation you find yourself, strive to be your best in that situation, not in some illusion you fear or crave. When things change, change with them."

"Why would anyone want to add to his or her suffering by posing as someone else's ideal, as someone else's illusion? Most often our suffering derives from unrealistic demands that we make or others make upon us."

By Zen Master Sheng Yen

The Elusive Happiness

我們所有人的身心內部都有一種鬥爭的傾向。

我們相信幸福只有在未來才會成為可能。

認識到我們已經到達了，

我們不必再遠行了，

我們已經在這裡了，

可以給我們帶來安寧和快樂。

我們幸福的條件已經具足了。

我們只要允許自己活在當下，

就能體會到它。

為了幸福，

我們還要尋找什麼?

一切東西都已經具足。

我們不必在自己前面放置一個追逐的目標，

然後相信在得到它以前自己不可能幸福。

初戀三摩地 By 一行禪師 (Thich Nhat Hanh)

臨江仙

夜飲東坡醒復醉，歸來彷彿三更。

家童鼻息已雷鳴。　　　　　　　

敲門都不應，倚杖聽江聲。　　　

長恨此身非吾有，何時忘卻營營。

夜闌風靜榖紋平。　　　　　　　

小舟從此逝，江海寄餘生。

蘇軾（1037—1101）

心藥方

大師諭世人曰：凡欲齊家、治國、學道、修身，先須服我十味妙藥，方可成就。

何名十味？好肚腸一條，慈悲心一片，溫柔半兩，道理三分，信行要緊，中直一塊，孝順十分，老實一個，陰騭全用，方便不拘多少。此藥用寬心鍋內炒，不要焦，不要躁，去火性三分，於平等盆內研碎，三思為末，六波羅密為丸，如菩提子大。每日進三服，不拘時候，用和氣湯送下。果能依此服之，無病不瘥。

切忌言清行濁、利己損人、 暗中箭、肚中毒、笑裏刀、兩頭蛇、平地起風波，以上七件，速須戒之。

此前十味，若能全用，可以致上福上壽，成佛作祖。若用其四五味者，亦可滅罪延年，消災免患。各方俱不用，後悔無所補，雖有扁鵲盧醫，所謂病在膏肓，亦難療矣。縱禱天地，祝神明，悉徒然哉！況此方不誤主顧，不費藥金，不勞煎煮，何不服之？

偈曰：　　此方絕妙合天機，不用盧師扁鵲醫。普勸善男並信女，急須對治莫狐疑。

石頭希遷禪師(AD 700 - 790)

Recent Reading

LIAR's POKER by Michael Lewis

Lewis' insider account of Salomon Brothers during the heady days of bond market boom in the 1980's. The description of the creation of the mortgage trading market and the resultant/subsequent savings and loans crisis echoes the sub-prime crisis we are seeing in the financial market (and quickly spreading to the rest of the economy) today.

Memorable quotes:

"[A British customer] disapproved of workdays longer than eight hours because, he said, 'you then arrive at the office in the morning with the same thoughts your left with late the night before.'"

"You don't get rich in [investment banking], you only attain a new level of relative poverty. You think Gutfreund feels rich? I'll bet not."

"Note to members of all governments: Be wary of Wall Streeters threatening crashes. They are tempted to do this whenever you encroach on their turf. But they can't cause a crash any more then they can prevent one."

The Rosetta Stone

An ancient Egyptian artifact that enabled modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs -- Three languages (two Ancient Egyptian languages and classical Greek) of the same passage of a royal decree were carved on this stone, which was discovered by the French in 1799 at the harbor of Rosetta on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. The original is now on display at the British Museum while a replica is on display at the Cairo Museum.

Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Chair (1929)

Designed for German Pavilion at the Barcelona Exposition of 1929. It was put into production and became so popular that it has been continuously manufactured ever since.

Antea

Cognoscenti's ''Mona Lisa.'' By Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola, the Renaissance painter better known as PARMIGIANINO (1503 to 1540) Capodimonte Museum, Naples, Italy.

Broken Love

‘Let us agree to give up love,
And root up the Infernal Grove;
Then shall we return and see
The worlds of happy Eternity.

‘And throughout all Eternity
I forgive you, you forgive me.
As our dear Redeemer said:
“This the Wine, and this the Bread.”’

"Broken Love" (last two stanzas only) by William Blake (1757-1827)

Impermanence

晚明的散文大家張岱，「極愛繁華，好精舍，好美婢，好孌童，好 鮮衣，好美食，好駿馬，好華燈，好煙火，好梨園，好鼓吹，好古董 ，好花鳥，兼以茶淫橘虐，書蠹詩魔」。能這樣過日子，是因為他把 杭州當安身立命之處。明朝覆亡，他腳下的土，也被抽走了。「年至 五十，國破家亡，避跡山居。所存者，破床碎幾，折鼎病琴，與殘書 數帙，缺硯一方而已。布衣疏莨，常至斷炊。回首二十年前，真如隔 世。」

From: 中國時報 A15/人間副刊 2008/02/08 《三少四壯集》絲瓜 【龍應台】

富貴學道難

佛說人有二十難--

貧窮布施難，富貴學道難；棄命必死難，得睹佛經難；

生值佛世難，忍色忍欲難；見好不求難，被辱不瞋難；

有勢不臨難，觸事無心難；廣學博究難，除滅我慢難；

不輕未學難，心行平等難；不說是非難，會善知識難；

見性學道難，隨化度人難；睹境不動難，善解方便難。