|
On the Number 54
| |||||
|
54 in Philosophy & Religion
| |||||
| 201) |
Hymn 54 in Book 1 of the
Rig Veda is an invocation to Indra:
2 Sing hymns of praise to Sakra, Lord of power and might; laud thou and magnify Indra who heareth thee, Who with his daring might, a Bull exceeding strong in strength, maketh him master of the heaven and earth. 6 Thou helpest Narya, Turvasa, and Yadu, and Vayya's son Turviti, Satakratu! Thou helpest horse and car in final battle thou breakest down the 99 castles. 7 A hero-lord is he, King of a mighty folk, who offers free oblations and promotes the Law, Who with a bounteous guerdon welcomes hymns of praise: for him flows down the abundant stream below the sky. 8 His power is matchless, matchless is his wisdom; chief, through their work, be some who drink the Soma, Those, Indra, who increase the lordly power, the firm heroic strength of thee the Giver. 11 So give us, Indra, bliss-increasing glory give us great sway and strength that conquers people. Preserve our wealthy patrons, save our princes; vouchsafe us wealth and food with noble offspring. Rig Veda, Book 1, 54.2, 6-8, 11 (circa 1500 B.C.) | ||||
| 202) |
.jpg)
Chapter 54 in The Papyrus of Ani,
Egyptian Book of the Dead:Giving breath to Ani in the God's Domain— O Atum, give me the sweet breath which is in your nostril, for I am this Egg which is in the Great Cackler, I am the guardian of this great being who separates the earth from the sky. If I live, she will live; I grow young, I live, I breathe the air. I am he who splits iron, I go round about the Egg, tomorrow is mine through the striking-power of Horus and the strength of Seth. O you who sweeten the state of the Two Lands, you with whom are provisions, you with whom is lapis-lazuli, beware of Him who is in his nest, the Youth goes forth against you. Egyptian Book of the Dead: Book of Going Forth by Day Complete Papyrus of Ani, Chapter 54 (circa 1250 B.C.) (translated by Raymond Faulkner), Chronicle Books, San Francisco, 1994, Plate 15 | ||||
| 203) |
54th Hexagram of the I Ching (circa 1000 B.C.) Kuei Mei / The Marrying Maiden
| ||||
| 204) |
| ||||
| 205) |
Lao Tzu (604-517 BC),
Hua Hu Ching, Verse 54: In ancient times, various holistic sciences were developed by highly evolved beings to enable their own evolution and that of others. These subtle arts were created through the linking of individual minds with the universal mind. They are still taught by traditional teachers to those who display virtue and desire to assist others. The student who seeks our teachers and studies these teachings furthers the evolution of mankind as well as her own spiritual unfolding. The student who ignores them hinders the development of all beings. (translated by Brian Walker, Hua Hu Ching: The Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu, 54 Harper SanFrancisco 1992) | ||||
| 206) |
Verse 54 of Pythagoras's
Golden Verses: Thou shalt know also that men draw their misfortunes upon themselves of their own choice. Pythagoras (580-500 B.C.), Golden Verses, Verse 54 (translated by A.E.A., Collectanea Hermetica, Vol. V, 1894) reprinted in Percy Bullock, The Dream of Scipio, Aquarian Press, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, UK, 1983, p. 55 | ||||
| 207) |
Aphorism 54 of
Symbols of Pythagoras: Flantibus ventis, Echo adora. When the winds blow, adore Echo. — Dacier Lilius Giraldus explains thus: the winds mean revolts and sedition, and Echo means a desert place, and so the maxim means, leave your homes in the towns when there are conspiracies. Leave the room when men quarrel. When there is disputation, the calm where an echo can be heard, is the haven of peace. Pythagoras (580-500 B.C.), Symbols of Pythagoras (translated by Sapere Aude, Collectanea Hermetica, Vol. V, 1894) reprinted in Percy Bullock, The Dream of Scipio, Aquarian Press, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, UK, 1983, p. 81 | ||||
| 208) |
Section 54 of Plato's
Crito— Socrates to Crito on having a cleaner conscience: It seems clear that if you do this thing, neither you nor any of your friends will be the better for it or be more upright or have a cleaner conscience here in this world, nor will it be better for you when you reach the next... That, my dear friend Crito, I do assure you, is what I seem to hear them saying, just as a mystic seems to hear the strains of music, and the sound of their arguments rings so loudly in my head that I cannot hear the other side... Then give it up, Crito, and let us follow this course, since God points out the way. Plato (428-348 BC), Philebus 54b, 54d, 54e (360 BC) (trans. R. Hackforth), Edited by Edith Hamilton & Huntington Cairns, Plato: The Collected Dialogues, Bollingen Series LXXI, Princeton University Press, 1961, p. 39 | ||||
| 209) |
Section 54 of Plato's
Philebus— Socrates to Protarchus on being & becoming: Now which of these shall we say is for the sake of which? Becoming for the sake of being, or being for the sake of becoming?... The there must be some being with a view to which pleasure comes to be, if it is true that pleasure is becoming... But where there is this regular relation of means to end, the end falls under the heading of good, while the means must find a place under another heading. Hence if pleasure is becoming, we shall be right in setting it under some other heading than that of good? Plato (428-348 BC), Philebus 54a, 54c, 54d (360 BC) (trans. R. Hackforth), Edited by Edith Hamilton & Huntington Cairns, Plato: The Collected Dialogues, Bollingen Series LXXI, Princeton University Press, 1961, p. 1136 | ||||
| 210) |
Section 54 of Plato's
Timaeus— Timaeus to Socrates on generation of elements from triangles: Now of the two triangles, the isosceles has one form only; the scalene or unequal-sided has an infinite number. Of the infinite forms we must again select the most beautiful, if we are to proceed in due order, and anyone who can point out a more beautiful form than ours for the construction of these bodies, shall carry off the palm, not as an enemy, but as a friend... Then let us choose two triangles, out of which fire and the other elements have been constructed, one isosceles, the other having the square of the longer side equal to three times the square of the lesser side. Plato (428-348 BC), Timaeus 54a, 54b (360 BC) (trans. Benjamin Jowett), Edited by Edith Hamilton & Huntington Cairns, Plato: The Collected Dialogues, Bollingen Series LXXI, Princeton University Press, 1961, pp. 1180-1181 | ||||
| 211) |
54th Verse of Buddha's
Dhammapada: Flowers The fragrance of flowers, of sandalwood, of aromatic resin or jasmine, does not go against the wind, whereas the fragrance of the good does go against the wind. Buddha, Dhammapada Verse 54 (240 B.C.) (translated by Sangharakshita, Dhammapada: The Way of Truth 2001, p. 27) | ||||
| 212) |
Chapter 2, 54th Verse of the
Bhagavad Gita (Arjuna asks Krishna on karma yoga): How is the man of tranquil wisdom, who abides in divine comtemplation? What are his words? What is his silence? What is his work? Bhagavad Gita Chapter 2, Verse 54 (Translated by Juan Mascaro, Penguin Books, 1962, p. 53) | ||||
| 213) |
Chapter 18, 54th Verse of the
Bhagavad Gita (Krishna's lecture to Arjuna on renunciation): He is one with Brahman, with God, and beyond grief and desire his soul is in peace. His love is one for all creation, and he has supreme love for me. Bhagavad Gita Chapter 18, Verse 54 (Translated by Juan Mascaro, Penguin Books, 1962, p. 120) | ||||
| 214) |
54th Verse in Chapter 18 of
Astavakra Gita (Sage Astavakra's dialogue with King Janaka): No desire springs in the heart of the wise man encuntering or honouring a learned Brahmana, a god, a place of pilgrimage, a woman, a king, or a beloved person. Astavakra Gita Chapter 18, Verse 54 (circa 400 B.C.) translated by Radhakamal Mukerjee, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 1971, p. 151 | ||||
| 215) |
Aphroism 54 Patanjali's
Yoga Sutra: The afflictions are Nescience, Egoism, Attachment, Aversion and Love of Life. Vyasa: The afflictions are the five forms of Unreal Cognition. When quick with life, they render the rule of the "qualities" firm, establish change, send out the stream of cause and effect, bring about the fructificaiton of action by coming to depend upon one another for mutual support. Patanjali (circa 200 B.C.), Yoga Sutra II.3: Aphroism 54 translated by Rama Prasada, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi, 1995, p. 91 | ||||
| 216) |
54th Tetragram of the T'ai Hsüan Ching: K'un / Unity August 17 (pm) - August 21:
| ||||
| 217) |
Book VII, Section 54 of
Meditations by
Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD): It is within your power, always and everywhere, to be content with what the gods have given you, to deal justly with people as you find them, and to guard your thoughts against the intrusion of untested or inchoate ideas. (VII.54) New translation of the Meditations by C. Scot Hicks & David V. Hicks Marcus Aurelius, The Emperor's Handbook, Scribner, NY, 2002, p. 85, | ||||
| 218) |
Stanza 54 of Nagarjuna's Seventy Stanzas on Emptiness: When any of the six internal entrances arises simultaneously with contact, at that time the rest of the entrances will be devoid of the nature of contact. The rest of the entrances which are devoid of the nature of contact do not depend on the nature of contact. That which is not devoid of the nature of contact will not depend on that which is devoid of the nature of contact. Nagarjuna (circa 150-250 A.D.), Seventy Stanzas on Emptiness (translated by David Ross Komito, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, NY, 1987, p. 92) | ||||
| 219) |
Porphyry (233-305 AD) published the works of his master Plotinus (204-279 AD) in 301 A.D. He arranged the 54 treatises into six Enneads of nine. The 54th Treatise (VI.9) is titled "On the Good, or The One": In this choiring, the soul looks upon the wellspring of Life, wellspring also of Intellect, beginning of Being, fount of Good, root of Soul. It is not that these are poured out from the Supreme lessening it as if it were a thing of mass. At that the emanants would be perishable; but they are eternal; they spring from an eternal principle, which produces them not by its fragmentation but in virtue of its intact identity: therefore they too hold firm; so long as the sun shines, so long there will be light. Plotinus (204-270 AD), The Enneads, VI.9.9 (translated by Stephen MacKenna, 4th Ed., Faber & Faber, London, 1969, pp. 614-625) | ||||
| 220) |
54th Trigraph of the Ling Ch'i Ching: Chieh Ssu / Sacrificing for Release The image of receiving auspiciousness Accumulating yin without yang K'un (Earth) * Southwest Oracle: Around funeral mounds and high hillocks ghosts and spirits roam. It would be appropriate to pray and sacrifice to them, for then one can be untroubled. Verses: It's unnecessary to discuss poverty or success, Instead, worry about acute illness. But soon hidden virtue will be rewarded, Heavenly forces will yield profound achievements. When one's fate already dwells in straits and difficulty, It's unnecessary to sigh about the road being impoverished. Ancestral beneficence must be rewarded, Spiritual radiance will then become pervasive. Tung-fang Shuo, Ling Ch'i Ching (circa 222-419) (trans. Ralph D. Sawyer & Mei-Chün Lee Sawyer, 1995, p. 137) | ||||
| 221) |
Text 54 of
On Prayer: 153 Texts of Evagrios the Solitary (345-399 AD) He who wishes to pray truly must not only control his incisive power and his desire, but must also free himself from every impassioned thought. The Philokalia (4th-15th century AD), translated by F.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, & Kallistos Ware, Faber & Faber, London, 1979, p. 62) | ||||
| 222) |
Text 54 of
On the Spiritual Law: 200 Texts of Saint Mark the Ascetic (early 5th century AD) Think nothing and do nothing without a purpose directed to God. For to journey without direction is wasted effort. The Philokalia (4th-15th century AD), translated by F.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, & Kallistos Ware, Faber & Faber, London, 1979, p. 114) | ||||
| 223) |
Text 54 of
On Watchfulness and Holiness of Saint Hesychios the Priest (8th or 9th century AD) Guard your mind and you will not be harassed by temptations. But if you fail to guard it, accept patiently whatever trial comes The Philokalia (4th-15th century AD), translated by F.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, & Kallistos Ware, Faber & Faber, London, 1979, p. 172) | ||||
| 224) |
Text 54 of
On Spiritual Knowledge and Discrimination: 100 Texts of Saint Diadochos of Photiki (400-486 AD) When we become unduly distressed at falling ill, we should recognize that our soul is still the slave of bodily desires and so longs for physical health, not wishing to lose the good things of this life and even finding it a great hardship not to be able to enjoy them because of illness. If, however, the soul accepts thankfully the pains of illness, it is clear that it is not far from the realm of dispassion; as a result it even waits joyfully for death as entry into a life that is more true. The Philokalia (4th-15th century AD), translated by F.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, & Kallistos Ware, Faber & Faber, London, 1979, p. 269) | ||||
| 225) |
Text 54 of
For the Encouragement of the Monks in India who had Written to Him: 100 Texts of Saint John of Karpathos (circa 680 AD) Just as there is 'a cup of calamity and a goblet of wrath' (Isa. 51:17. LXX), so there is a cup of weakness which, at the proper time, the Lord takes from our hands and puts into the hands of our enemies. Then it is no longer we but the demons who grow weak and fall. The Philokalia (4th-15th century AD), translated by F.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, & Kallistos Ware, Faber & Faber, London, 1979, p. 311) | ||||
| 226) |
Text 54 of
On the Character of Men: 170 Texts of Saint Anthony of Egypt (251-356 AD) Those who are full of evil and drunk with ignorance do not know God, and their soul is not watchful. God is spiritual; and though He is invisible, He is clearly manifest in visible things, as the soul is manifest in the body. And just as it is impossible for a body to subsist without a soul, so it is impossible for any thing that is visible and has being to subsist without God. The Philokalia (4th-15th century AD), translated by F.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, & Kallistos Ware, Faber & Faber, London, 1979, p. 337) | ||||
| 227) |
Section 54 of the
Lankavatara Sutra: What are the various features of the false imagination, Mahamati? They are the discriminations as regards words, meaning, individual marks, property, self-nature, cause, philosophical views, reasoning, birth, no-birth, dependence, and bondage and emancipation. The ignorant and simple-minded ones cling to them, imgagining that things are or are not. Knowing the way of inner realization by noble wisdom, you will cast off discriminations such as grasped and grasping, and will not be induced to discriminate in respect to the multiple aspects of relative-knowledge, as well as the forms of the false imagination. The Lankavatara Sutra, Ch. 2, Section LIV (before 443 AD) (translated from the Sanskrit by D. T. Suzuki, 1932, pp. 110-112) | ||||
| 228) |
In the 99 Names of Allah,
the 54th Name is
Al-Qawiyy: The Most Strong, The Strong, The One with the complete Power. ["Al-Qadir, the Able, who has the power to do what He pleases" was listed as the 54th Name of Allah in Arthur Jeffrey, Islam: Muhammad and His Religion (1958), pp. 93-98]. | ||||
| 229) |
Chapter 54 of Mohammed's
Holy Koran is titled "The Moon" The hour drew nigh and the moon did rend asunder. (54.1) And if they see a miracle they turn aside and say: Transient magic. (54.2) So We opened the gates of the cloud with water pouring (54.11) A favor from Us; thus do We reward him who gives thanks. (54.35) And everything small and great is written down. (54.53) Surely those who guard (against evil) shall be in gardens and rivers, (54.54) In the seat of honor with a most Powerful King.. (54.55) Mohammed, Holy Koran Chapter 54 (7th century AD) (translated from by M.H. Shakir, Koran: The Examined One, 1983) | ||||
| 230) |
Section 54 of Hui-Neng's Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (714) On the day the Master died a strange fragrance, which did not fade for several days, filled the temple. Mountains crumbled, the earth trembled, and the forest trees turned white. The sun and moon ceased to shine and the wind and clouds lost their colors. He died on the third day of the eighth month, and in the eleventh month his sacred coffin was received and interred on Mount Ts'ao-ch'i. From within his resting place a bright light appeared and rose straight toward the heavens, and two days passed before it finally dispered. The prefect of Shao-chou, Wei Ch'ü, erected a memorial stone, and to this day offerings have been made before it. Hui-Neng (638-713), Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, Section 54 (translated by Philip B. Yampolsky, Columbia University Press, NY, 1967, p. 182) | ||||
| 231) |
54th Verse of Chapter 5 in Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara: When the mind is seen to be troubled, or attempting that which is fruitless, the hero ought always to restrain it firmly by means of the opposite behavior. Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara: Entering the Path of Enlightenment V.54 (Guarding of Total Awareness: Samprajanyaraksana) (circa 700 AD) (translated by Marion L. Matics, Macmillan, London, 1970, p. 167); Bodhisattva Path | ||||
| 232) |
54th Verse of Chapter 9 in Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara: But this objection does not touch the doctrine of the Void (sunyata); therefore, the Void is to be cultivated without hesitation. Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara: Entering the Path of Enlightenment IX.54 (Perfection of Wisdom: Prajna-paramita) (circa 700 AD) (translated by Marion L. Matics, Macmillan, London, 1970, p. 216); Bodhisattva Path | ||||
| 233) |
54th Saying of Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Joshu: A monk asked, "The Buddha-Dharma is eternal, how is the mind put to use?" The master said, "Take a look at the times of the Former Han and Later Han [dynasties], the empire was well governed; but when the emperor was about to die, not even half a copper coin was left undivided." Chao Chou (778-897), The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Joshu, Sayings #54 translated by James Green, AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, CA, 1998, p. 28 | ||||
| 234) | 
Section 54
of Huang Po's
Zen Teaching on the Transmission of Mind:Q: Did the Buddha pierce right through the primordial darkness of ignorance? A: Yes. The primordial darkness is the sphere in which every Buddha achieves Enlightenment. Thus, the very sphere in which karma arises may be called a Bodhimandala. Every grain of matter, every appearance is one with Eternal and Immutable Reality! Wherever your foot may fall, you are still within that Sanctuary for Enlightenment, though it is nothing perceptible. I assure you that one who comprehends the truth of 'nothing to be attained' is already seated in the sanctuary whre he will gain his Enlightenment. Q:But if such things are entirely unlearnable, then why is it written: 'On returning to our Original Nature, we transcend duality; but the relative means form many gates to the truth'? A: We return to our Original Nature beyond duality, which in fact is also the real nature of the universe of primordial darkness, which again is the Buddha-Nature. The 'relative means forming many gates' applies to Sravakas who hold that our universe is subject to becoming and cessation... But the real Buddhas perceived that the becoming and destruction of the sentient world are both one with eternity. In another sense, there is no becoming or cessation. To perceive all this is to be truly Enlightened. Thus Nirvana and Enlightenment are one... From the earliest times the Sages have taught that a minimum of activity is the gateway of their Dharma; so let NO activity be the gateway of my Dharma! Such is the Gateway of the One Mind, but all who reach this gate fear to enter. I do NOT teach a doctrine of extinction! Few understand this, but those who do understand are the only ones to become Buddhas. Treasure this gem! — Huang Po (died 850 A.D.), Zen Teaching on the Transmission of Mind, The Wan Ling Record, Section 54 (translated by John Blofeld, Rider & Co., London, 1958, pp. 128-131) | ||||
| 235) |
Section 54 of Rinzai's Lin-chi Lu: The master asked Anzan: "What is the white bull on the open ground?" Anzan said: "Moo, moo!" The master asked: "Are you dumb?" Anzan said: "How about the worthy elder?" The mastrer said: "This beast." Rinzai Gigen (died Jan. 10, 866 A.D.), The Zen Teaching of Rinzai, #54 (translated from the Chinese by Irmgard Schloegl) Shambhala, Berkeley, 1976, pp. 71-72 | ||||
| 236) |
Section 54 of Record of the Chan Master "Gate of the Clouds": Someone asked, "The myriad things come to one. Now I do not ask about the one but rather: what are the myriad things?" Master Yunmen said, "You came in here to bandy words and to cheat me!" Master Yunmen (864-949), Record of the Chan Master "Gate of the Clouds" translated by Urs App, Kodansha International, NY & Tokyo, 1994, p. 113 | ||||
| 237) |
54th Teaching of Teachings of Quetzalcoatl: Then someone said: "Teacher, I would like to know how the gods move about in heaven. Which is the way they take to come down to earth?" He [Ce Acatl] answered him: "Could it be that you already know everything about walking on earth? Aren't you only just now testing the ground with your feet? Are you yet leading yourself? Aren't you still taken and carried? Will we get to know all this tomorrow or after tomorrow? Perhaps only he, the master of intimate closeness, knows it." Quetzalcoatl Ce Acatl (b. 947 A.D.), Gospel of the Toltecs: The Life & Teachings of Quetzalcoatl, XI.54 by Frank Díaz, Bear & Company, Rochester, VT, 2002, p. 151 | ||||
| 238) |
Case 54 of
Hekiganroku: Ummon's Stretches Out His Hands Main Subject: Ummon asked a monk, "Where have you recently come from?" The monk said, "From Saizen". Ummon said, "What words has Saizen offered lately?" The monk stretched out his hands. Ummon struck him. The monk said, "I had something to tell you." Ummon now stretched out his own hands. The monk was silent. Ummon struck him. Setcho's Verse: Controlling the head and tail of the tiger, Exerting invincible influence Over the four hundred provinces, How precipitous he is! The master says, Need not lose heart. "One further word, I leave it open." Setcho (980-1052), Hekiganroku, 54 (Blue Cliff Records) (translated by Katsuki Sekida, Two Zen Classics, 1977, pp. 296-297) | ||||
| 239) |
Chang Tsai (1020-1077),
Correcting Youthful Ignorance, Section 54: "Contraction and expansion act on each other and thus advantages are produced." [I Ching, "Appended Remarks", Part 2, Ch. 5] This is so because they are influenced by sincerity. "Truthfulness and insincerity act on each other and advantages and disadvantages are produced" [I Ching, Ch. 12] This is do because insincerity is mixed with sincerity. A person with perfect sincerity obeys principle and finds advantages, whereas a man of insincerity disobeys principle and meets harm. If one obey the principle of nature and destiny, then all the good and evil fortune are correct. If one violates principle, then evil fortune is of his own choice and good fortune is luck obtained by taking to a dangerous course. (Wing-Tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, 1963, p. 514) | ||||
| 240) |
Ch'eng Hao (1032-1085),
Selected Sayings,
Section 54: The cold of winter and the heat of summer are due to yin and yang, and what causes movement and transformation is spirit. Spirit has no spatial restriction and Change itself has no physical form. If someone should separately establish Nature and say that man cannot embrace it, there would be spatial restriction. There would be two bases. (Wing-Tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, 1963, p. 539) | ||||
| 241) |
Ch'eng I (1033-1107),
Selected Sayings,
Section 54: Someone asked about the Buddhist doctrine of obstruction by principle. Answer: The Buddhist do have such a doctrine. By this they mean that when one understands principle and is attached to it, principle becomes an obstruction. This shows they have misunderstood principle. There is only one principle in the universe. If it is understood, what is there to obstruct? If principle is understood as an obstruction, there would be a dichotomy of principle and the self (which principle obstructs). (Wing-Tsit Chan, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, 1963, p. 565) | ||||
| 242) |
Chapter 54: The Salvation of the Dead from Mila Grubum or The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa: When Milarepa was dwelling at the Belly Cave of Nya Non, many followers of Bon were living nearby in a place called La Shin. In the vicinity there also dwelt a very rich man who was a devoted Buddhist and, being a patron of Milarepa, never patronized any Bon monk. When he died Milarepa told his relatives: "Because of some slight bad Karma in his former lives, he has now been born as an insect under a lump of brownish yak dung." Milarepa escorted them there, and called the man by his secret names a few times, and then said, "I am your Guru, Milarepa. Now, come out, and come here!" From somewhere under the dung, a small insect appeared, flew directly toward Milarepa, and alighted on him. Milarepa then preached the Dharma and performed the Transformation Yoga and the Rite of Deliverance for it. At once the insect died and its corpse began to give out a thin, bright light, which entered and dissolved into Milarepa's heart. Milarepa meditated for a short while, and then from his heart the dead man's consciousness emerged, embodied in a white "Ah" word glowing with brilliant light; and it ascended higher and higher to the sky. Meanwhile the people all heard its voice saying, "The precious Milarepa has now delivered me to the joy of Liberation. Oh great is his blessing! Great is his bounty! Having witnessed these things, all the spectators were convinced and confirmed with great faith. The bowed down to Milarepa and cried, "This is marvelous! This is wonderful!" Milarepa replied, "I have many more other things even more marvelous than this." Whereupon he sang: Of all marvels, the greatest is The first meeting with my Guru. Of all marvels, the greatest is to earn Instructions from the Whispered Lineage. Of all marvels, the greatest is To renounce all worldly things. Of all marvels, the greatest is the birth Of inner Experience and Realization. Of all marvels, the greatest is To endure hardship in solitude. Of all marvels, the greatest is Indifference to the Eight Worldly Gains. Of all marvels, the greatest is To please my Guru through devotion. Milarepa (1040-1123), The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, Ch. 54 (translated by Garma C. C. Chang, Shambhala, Boston, 1999, pp. 615-623) | ||||
| 243) |
Aphroism 54 of Guigo's Meditations: He who kills a wicked man in his wickedness because he hates wickedness and wishes to blot it out, is deceived. For when the wicked man dies in his wickedness, his wickedness is made eternal. The man who hates wickedness, therefore, should take pains that the wicked be corrected, and thus will perish wickedness. Guiges de Chastel (1083-1137), Meditations of Guigo, Prior of the Charterhouse translated by John J. Jolin, Marquette University Press, Milwaukee, 1951, p. 13 | ||||
| 244) |
Section 54 of Tai Hui's Swampland Flowers— Cut It Off Directly: Master Chao Chou said, "For twenty years, except for the two mealtimes of gruel and rice which were mixed application of mind, I've had no other points of mixed use of mind. This is how I really act." Don't understand it as the Buddha Dharma or the Ch'an Path. Impermanence is swift, the matter of birth and death important. In the world of sentient beings things which go along with birth and death are (numberous) as hemp or millet— every time you've disposed of them properly, they come back again. If you don't stick the words "birth and death" on the tip of your nose as a countermeasure, then when the last day of your life arrives, your limbs will be in panic and confusion, like a crab dropped in boiling water— then you'll finally know repentance, but too late. If you want to be direct, then cut it off immediately starting right now. Tai Hui (1088-1163), Swampland Flowers (Letters and Lectures of Zen Master Ta Hui) Letter to Nieh, an official. Translated by Christopher Cleary, Grove Press, New York, 1977, p. 100 | ||||
| 245) |
Root of an herb to cure a wound in Line 54 of Book 10 in Eschenbach's Parzival: Forthwith the two went riding To a heath, near by abiding. He saw an herb upon the ground, Whose root, he said, would cure a wound. This man of worth uncounted Upon the earth dismounted: He dug it and rode his horse once more. To speak, this lady ne'er forbore: Quoth she, "If this escort of mine Can be both knight and doctor fine" Wolfram von Eschenbach (1165-1217) Parzival (1195) Book X: "Gawan and Orgeluse", Lines 51-60 (translated by Edwin H. Zeydel & Bayard Quincy Morgan, pp. 238-239) | ||||
| 246) |
Section 54 in Chapter II: "The Essentials of Learning" of Chu Hsi's Chin-ssu lu (1175): People say we must practice with effort. Such a statement, however, is superficial. If a person really knows that a thing should be done, when he sees anything that should be done, he does not need to wait for his will to be aroused. As soon as he artificially arouses his will, that means selfishness. How can such a spirit last long. Section 54 in Chapter IV: "Preserving One's Mind & Nourishing One's Nature" (1175): One can judge by his sleep whether his learning is profound or shallow. If in his sleep or dreams he is restless, it means his mind is not settled and his effort to preserve his mind is not firm. Chu Hsi (1130-1200), Reflections on Things at Hand (Chin-ssu lu) translated by Wing-Tsit Chan Columbia University Press, NY, 1967, pp. 63, 148 | ||||
| 247) |
Section 54
of William of Auvergne's The Trinity, or the First Principle: But that geometers call the power of a line its square is a metaphor in that a square is a flowing or motion of a line to a depth equal to itself and across a width equal to itself... On the basis of what we have already said, we must still investigate the first potency. We shall say, then, that the first potency must be that which no other precedes and which is furthest from powerlessness and weakness. For the more pure are prior to the mixed, the perfect prior to the diminished, the sufficient to the more needy, and the mightier to the weaker, because the weak necessarily rest upon the strong. A potency that extends only to one of two opposites is diminished in comparison to one that extends to both opposites. William of Auvergne (1180-1249), The Trinity, or the First Principle, Chapters VIII-IX (translated by Roland J. Teske & Francis C. Wade, Marquette University Press, Milwaukee, 1989, p. 97) | ||||
| 248) |
Chapter 54 of Rumi's Discourses (Fihi ma fihi): When I first began to compose poetry, there was a strong impetus that caused me to compose. at that time it was very effective. Even now, when the impetus has flagged and is "setting", it still is effective. It is God's way to nuture things while they are "rising", when great effects and much wisdom are produced. Even in setting that nurture stands. The epithet "Lord of the east and west" means that He nourishes both rising and setting motivations... Therefore, we realize absolutely that the creator of actions is God, not man. Every action, be it good or evil, that issues from man is done for a specific purpose; but the wisdom behind the action may not be conceivable to him. The meaning, wisdom, and benefit that man sees in an action are in proportion to his instrumentality in the creation of the action; only God knows what total benefits will result from any given action. Jelaluddin Rumi (1207-1273) Signs of the Unseen: Discourses of Rumi, Chapter 54 (Translated by W. M. Thackston, Jr., Threshold Books, Putney, VT, 1994, pp. 208-210) | ||||
| 249) |
Letter 54 of The Letters of Marsilio Ficino: Quis sit verus vir appellandus: Who ought to be called a true man Marsilio Ficino to Bartolomeo della Fonte and Alessandro Braccesi, pupils of the Muses: greetings. If you wonder why I give Niccolo Michelozzi the special title of true man, I reply it is because in him I find nothing effeminate, nothing brutish and nothing deceitful. Both outwardly and within himself he reveals nothing that is not virtuous. Why do you think that no one anywhere disparages Niccolo, even slightly? Why is he praised without exception? Because he is loved without affectation. And why is that? Because he loves without affectation, and lives without deceit. Farewell. But take care Niccolo does not read this letter. I am determined to praise him while he is away, lest I should seem to praise a true man less than truly. Greet our Piero Cennini, who is so outstanding both in piety and learning. Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), Letter to Bartolomeo della Fonte & Alessandro Braccesi (6th April, 1474) The Letters of Marsilio Ficino, Vol. I, Shepheard-Walwyn, London, 1975, p. 100 | ||||
| 250) |
Section 54 of Lo Ch'in-shun's Knowledge Painfully Acquired: Since revenues are not sufficient, unreasonable extortion of taxes frequently occurs. What is there to prevent the people from being impoverished and reduced to banditry? It was still possible for Emperor Te-tsung (reigned 780-804) of the T'ang to receive a petition from Yang Yen (727-781) to transfer tax revenues to the Left Treasury. What difficulty could there be for a heroic and perceptive sovereign? What one may infer from this is that by fully utilizing surpluses, "resources will be more than can be consumed." Lo Ch'in-shun (1465-1547), Knowledge Painfully Acquired or K'un-chih chi translated by Irene Bloom, Columbia University Press, NY, 1987, p. 90 | ||||
| 251) |
Section 54 of Wang Yang Ming's Instructions for Practical Living: The Teacher said: “Generally speaking, the fundamental principle should be that of collecting and concentrating one's spirit, moral character, speech, and action. Only under unavoidable circumstances should they be allowed to be diffused. This is true of man, heaven, earth, and things.” Wang Yang Ming (1472-1529), Instructions for Practical Living or Ch'uan-hsi lu (1518), I.54 (translated by Wing-tsit Chan, Columbia University Press, NY, 1963, p. 43) | ||||
| 252) | Section 54 of Swedenborg's Worlds in Space (1758): I was shown how thoughts are expressed by means of the face. A person's looks display the affections his love produces and their changes; and variations in their inward form express thoughts. The inhabitants of Jupiter also use verbal speech, but it does not sound so loud as ours... I was told by angels that the earliest kind of speech of all peoples on each world was by facial expression; and it originated from two areas, the lips and the eyes. The reason why this was the earliest form of speech was that the face was designed to portray what a person thinks and wants. The face is therefore called the picture and indicator of the mind. Another reason is that in the most ancient times honesty demanded that what a person wanted should shine out from his face, and no one thought of doing anything else or wanted to do so... They also said that this kind of speech matched the speech of the angels, with whom human beings were in the habit of communicating in those times... But as soon as people started to think one thing in their minds and say another, which happened when people began to love themselves and not their neighbour, speech in words began to increase, while the face conveyed nothing or told lies. As a result the inward shape of the face changed, contracting and hardening, and beginning to be almost devoid of life. But its outward shape, fired by self-love, began to look alive to men's eyes. For what lies hidden underneath devoid of life is invisible to human eyes, but can be seen by angels, who can see what lies within. Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), The Worlds in Space, 54 (translated from Latin by John Chadwick, Swedenborg Society, London, 1997, pp. 35-36) | ||||
| 253) | Section 54 of Sage Ninomiya's Evening Talks:
Concession by a Rich Person Young men born in a wealthy family, no matter be it that of farmers or that of merchants, have not much to do in regard to the family occupation. Those of poor families, however, must work hard in order to live and as they desire to improve their condition they voluntarily do so. A young man of a rich family is like a man who has reached the top of a mountain. As there is no more peaks to conquer and all are under him, he cherishes some extravagant ambition, and tries to emulate the manner of living of a samurai or a daimyo, with the result that growing more and more presumptuous, he finally comes to ruin. This is a rule with wealthy men in general. There is, however, one way and only one by following which wealthy men can maintain their riches. It is the way of concession, namely living within one's means and conceding or giving to less fortunate people what he has saved. Unless young men of wealthy families follow this way, however rich they may be, they are no better than toadstools. The latter grow in season and decay not long after, doing no good, growing to no purpose and dying to no purpose. Isn't it regrettable that many rich persons are like these fungi. Sontoku Ninomiya (1787-1856), Sage Ninomiya's Evening Talks, Section 54 translated by Isoh Yamagata from Ninomiya-Ô Yawa, Tokuno Kyokai, Tokyo, 1937, pp. 108-109) | ||||
| 254) |
"A Poetic Interlude" is the title of Chapter 54 in Franklin Merell-Wolff's Pathways through to Space (1936)
Am I a man? Yet also am I a god, | ||||
| 255) |
Aphorism 54 of
Franklin Merrell-Wolff's
Consciousness Without an Object (1973):
| ||||
| 256) |
| ||||
| 257) |
Chapter 54 of Wei Wu Wei's Ask the Awakened (1963)
is titled "Sidelights on Some Ko-ans, 3": In another koan (#25) Mu-mon quotes Kyozan as declaring, 'The truth of Mahayana teaching is transcendent, above words and thought. Do you understand? Mu-mon comments: 'When he opens his mouth he is lost. When he seals his mouth he is lost. If he does not seal it, he is 108,00 miles from truth.' This is another example of what has just been set forth in No. 1 of these four Notes: if the pilgrim starts to interpret, evaluate, conceptualise, he is thereby and immediately 108,000 (how meticulous, these Chinese, when numbers did not mater!) miles in error. He adds, in his habitual little poem: 'In the light of day, Yet in a dream, He talks of a dream.' Yes, he too tells us that life in the light of day is a dream, and that nevertheless in that dream Man talks of a concept (necessarily if he talks)— which is another degree of dreaming. I have tried to explain elsewhere that this is more than just an image, is an accurate description of what our life in fact is— in so far as it can be said to 'be' at all. We are reminded, on the one hand, of the Maharshi [Ramana] who tells us that if in the process of awakening from sleep we can hold our identity we shall indeed be awake, and forever, and, on the other hand, of the very ancient Vigyan Bhairava and Sochinda Tantra which say: 'At the point of sleep when sleep has not yet come and external wakefulness vanishes, at this point being is revealed.' (Koan #50) If in either degree of dreaming, the identified subject were to realise that he himself was only an integral part of the dream-world in which he appears to figure, and was in no way different from, and certainly no 'superior' to, or more 'real' than, any other part he would inevitably awaken and know himself as the dreaming consciousness. This, too, seeks to express the same underlying intuition— the elimination of the servitude imposed by the I-notion, resulting in immediate apprehension of what the Chinese termed 'the original nature'. — Wei Wu Wei (1895-1986), Ask the Awakened (1963), pp. 118-119 | ||||
| 258) |
Chapter 54 of Wei Wu Wei's Open Secret is titled "The Essential Identity":'Positive' is not positive without 'negative', and 'negative' is not negative without 'positive'. Therefore they can only be two halves of one whole, two conceptual aspects of one whole which as a whole cannot be conceived— precisely because it is this which seeks to conceive. 'Being' cannot be without 'non-being', and 'non-being' cannot not be without 'being'. Therefore they can only be two conceptual aspects of one whole which as such cannot be conceived— in which there is neither being nor non-being as objective existences. 'Appearance' (form) cannot appear without 'void' (voidness of appearance), and 'void' cannot be voidness of appearance without 'appearance'. Therefore they must be two conceptual aspects of what is objectively inconceivable— as which their identity is absolute in non-objectivity. 'Subject' has no conceptual existence apart from 'object', nor 'object' apart from 'subject'. They, too, are twin spinning aspects of the inconceivable in which they are inevitably reunited in mutual negation. Where there is neither positive nor negative, being nor non-being, appearance nor void, subject nor object, there must be identity. But identity cannot perceive itself, and that is what we are. That is why only he who does not know can speak, and why he who knows cannot speak— for what-he-is cannot be an object of what-he-is, and so cannot be perceived or described. Positive and negative, being and non-being, appearance and void, subject and object, can be conceived by us because, as 'us', mind is divided into subject-conceiving and object-conceived but, re-identified with what they are, we are their total objective absence— which is thought of as pure undivided mind. 'Phenonmena' cannot be succh without 'noumenon', nor 'noumenon' without 'phenomena'. Therefore conceptually they also are two aspects of non-conceptuality. Phenomena, being no things in themselves (devoid of self-nature) yet are everything, and noumenon, being the source of everything, yet is no thing. Everything, then, is both, and neither is any thing: eternally separate as concepts, they are forever inseparable unconceived, and that identity is the essential understanding. That is what the universe is in so far as its nature can be suggested in words. The universe is inconceivable, because what it is, is what we are, and what we are is what the universe is— and that is total absence cognitionally which, uncognised, necessarily subsists as total presence. By jointly discussing noumenon and phenomenon, one reaches the highest consciousness and creates right understanding among sentient beings. — Fa Tsang (642-712 A.D.), founder of the Hua Yen Sect of Buddhism, based on the Avatamsaka Sutra. Wei Wu Wei (1895-1986), Open Secret, Hong Kong University Press, 1965, pp. 118-119 | ||||
| 259) |
| ||||
| 260) |
"The Leaders Of Tomorrow" is Lesson 54of Subramuniyaswami's Merging with Siva (1999): Those among the youth of today who have had some measure of attainment, of which there are many, will be the leaders, businessmen, politicians and educators of tomorrow. As the New Age comes more into fulfillment, they will be able to work effectively in all states of the mind, consciously identified with the overshadowing power of the clearness of perceptive vision of visible white light within the body and through the mind. Still others— disciplined beings of a vaster vision and more profound purpose— will become the mendicant sannyasin, the sage, the catalyst teacher, the pandit philosopher, all working as individuals together to keep the teaching of the classical yoga path to enlightenment alive and vibrant on planet Earth yet another six thousand years. Remember, when the seal is broken and clear white light has flooded the mind, there is no more a gap between the inner and the outer. Even uncomplimentary states of consciousness can be dissolved through meditation and seeking again the light. The aspirant can be aware that in having a newfound freedom internally and externally there will be a strong tendency for the mind to reconstruct for itself a new congested subconscious by reacting strongly to happenings during daily experiences. Even though one plays the game, having once seen it as a game, there is a tendency of the instinctive phases of nature to fall prey to the accumulative reactions caused by entering into the game. Therefore, an experience of inner light is not a solution; one or two bursts of clear white light are only a door-opener to transcendental possibilities. The young aspirant must become the experiencer, not the one who has experienced and basks in the memory patterns it caused. This is where the not-too-sought-after word discipline enters into the life and vocabulary of this blooming flower, accounting for the reason why ashrams house students apart for a time. Under discipline, they become experiencers, fragmenting their entanglements before their vision daily while doing some mundane chore and mastering each test and task their guru sets before them. The chela is taught to dissolve his reactionary habit patterns in the clear white light each evening in contemplative states. Reactionary conditions that inevitably occur during the day he clears with actinic love and understanding so that they do not congest or condense in his subconscious mind, building a new set of confused, congested forces that would propel him into outer states of consciousness, leaving his vision of the clear white light as an experience in memory patterns retreating into the past. The young aspirant can use this elementary classical yoga technique of going back over the day at the end of the day in an internal concentration period, holding the thought flow on just the current daily experience, not allowing unrelated thoughts from other days to enter. When a reactionary condition appears that was not resolved during the day with love and understanding, in turning to the inner light it will melt away, usually under the power of a perceptive flash of understanding. Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (1927-2001) Merging with Siva: Hinduism's Contemporary Metaphysics Himalayan Academy, Kapaa, Hawaii, 1999, pp. 111-113. | ||||
| 261) | Chapter 54 of Zen Master Seung Sahn's Dropping Ashes on the Buddha is titled "Zen and the Arts": Soen-sa said, "Zen is understanding your true self. You must ask yourself, "What am I?" you must keep this great question and cut off all your thinking. When you understand the great question, you will understand yourself..." "When you understand yourself, it is very easy to paint or write poems or do calligraphy or tea-ceremony or karate. You paint effortlessly; you write effortlessly. Why? When you are painting or writing or doing any action, you become totally absorbed in that action. You are only painting; you are only writing. No thinking gets between you and the action. There is only not-thinking action. This is freedom... If you are not thinking, you are one with your action. You are the tea that you're drinking. You are the brush that you're painting with. Not-thinking is before thinking. You are the whole universe; the universe is you. This is Zen mind, absolute mind. It is beyond space and time, beyond the dualities of self and other, good and bad, life and death. The truth is just like this. So when a Zen person is painting, the whole universe is present in the tip of his brush." "There was once a great Japanese poet named Basho who paid a visit to Zen Master Takuan. After talking for a long time, Takuan said, 'You have only used the words of the Buddha or of eminent teachers. I do not want to hear other people's words. I want to hear your own words, the words of your true self. Quickly now— give me one sentence of your own.' "Basho was speechless. His mind raced. 'What can I say? My own words— what can they be?' Basho's face turned red. His mind stopped short. It could not move left or right, forward or back. It was up against an impenetrable wall. Then, only vast emptiness. Suddenly there was a sound in the monastery garden. Basho turned to the master and said, Still pond— a frog jumps in— the splash. The Master laughed out loud and said, 'Well now? These are the words of your true self!' Basho laughed too. He had attained enlightenment. Later on, Basho went to Matsushima, one of the most beautiful places in Japan, where a poetry contest was being held. Poets from all over the country were there. Everyone wrote in praise of the loveliness of the countryside, the majestic snow-capped peak of Mount Fuji, the brilliant mirror surface of the lake, the sailboats flying across the water like great white birds, etc., etc. Basho wrote only three lines: Matsushima— ah Matsushima, Matsushima! His poem won the contest. "This is a true Zen poem. It does not use poetic language or images. There is thinking in it. I am Matsushima, Matsushima is me. So in Zen there is no outside and no inside. There is only the one mind, which is just like this. This is the life of all the arts, and it is the life of Zen." Seung Sahn (born 1927), Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teaching of Zen Master Seung Sahn, Edited by Stephen Mitchell, Grove Press, New York, 1976, pp. 118-121 | ||||
| 262) |
Koan 54 of Zen Master Seung Sahn—Before the Donkey Has Left, the Horse Has Already Arrived: A long time ago, Mun Ik asked Manjushri Bodhisattva, "How many students do you have?" "In front three, three, in back three, three," Manjushri replied. Zen Master Hae Am's commentary was: "Before the donkey has left, the horse has already arrived. 1. What is the meaning of "In front three, three, in back three, three"? 2. "Before the donkey has left, the horse has already arrived." What does this mean? 3. Hae Am's commentary is like scratching his right foot when his left foot itches. How can you make it correct? Commentary: In the sky, there are many stars and moons and suns. On the ground there are many mountains, rivers, oceans, and houses. How many are there? If you understand, you become Buddha. Zen Master Hae Am had a big mouth and said, "Before the donkey has left, the horse has already arrived." But Hae Am had no mouth, so how could he say that? Silence is better than holiness. Seung Sahn (born 1927), The Whole World Is A Single Flower 365 Kong-ans for Everyday Life, Tuttle, Boston, 1992, p. 45 | ||||
|
54 in Poetry & Literature
| |||||
| 263) |
Apollo's arrows rattling in their case in Line 54 from
Book I of Homer's Iliad Apollo heard his [Chryses] prayer and descended Olympus' crags Pulsing with fury, bow slung over one shoulder, The arrows rattling in their case on his back As the angry god moved light night down the mountain. Homer, The Iliad, I.52-55 (circa 800 BC) (translated by Stanley Lombardo) Hackett Publishing Co., Indianapolis, IN, 1997, p. 3 | ||||
| 264) |
"That discerning, ill-fated man"
[Odysseus] in Line 54 from Book 1 of Homer's Odyssey "Yes, O our Father [Zeus] who art most high— That man [Aegisthus] got the death he richly deserved, And so perish all who would do the same. But it's Odysseus I'm worried about, That discerning, ill-fated man. He's suffered So long, separated from his dear ones, On an island [Ogygia] that lies in the center of the sea, Homer, The Odyssey, I.50-56 (circa 800 BC) (translated by Stanley Lombardo) Hackett Publishing Co., Indianapolis, IN, 2000, p. 2 | ||||
| 265) |
Han-shan's Poem 54 of
Collected Songs of Cold Mountain: picking lotuses we called the Clearwater was lovely having fun we didn't feel dusk we kept watching a wild wind stir swells cradled the mandarin ducks waves rocked the mallards and us resting our oars while our thoughts surged on and on Han-shan (fl. 627-649), Collected Songs of Cold Mountain, Poem 54 (translated by Red Pine, 1990) ( Robert G. Henricks translation, 1990; Burton Watson translation, 1962) | ||||
| 266) |
Poem 54 of
The Poetry of Wang Wei: Climbing to the Monastery of Perception A bamboo path leads up from the lowland— On lotus peaks emerges the Conjured City. From within a window all three Chu states; Above the forests the nine level rivers. On soft grass monks sit cross-legged; Tall pines echo their chanting sounds. Emptily dwelling beyond the Dharma cloud, they contemplate the world, attaining nonrebirth. Wang Wei (701-761), The Poetry of Wang Wei, Poem 54 translated by Pauline Yu, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN, 1980, pp. 134-135 | ||||
| 267) |
Poem 54 from
The Manyoshu: Upon the departure of Prince Otsu for the capital after his secret visit to the Shrine of Isé. To speed my brother Parting for Yamato, In the deep of night I stood Till wet with the dew of dawn. The Manyoshu, Poem 54 (circa 750 AD) (The Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkokai translation of One Thousand Poems Foreword by Donald Keene, Columbia University Press, NY, 1965, p. 21) Japanese text | ||||
| 268) |
Poem 54 of
Selected Poems of Po Chü-I: Leaving homeland, parted from kin, banished to a strange place, I wonder my heart feels so little anguish and pain. Consulting Chuang Tzu, I find where I belong: surely my home is there in Not-Even-Anything land. Po Chü-I (772-846), Selected Poems, Poem 54 translated by Burton Watson, Columbia University Press, New York, 2000, p. 67 (translated by David Hinton) | ||||
| 269) |
Poem 54 of
The Poetry of Li Shang-yin: Listening to the Drum Above the city wall, a drum repeatedly sounds; Beneath the city wall, the evening river is clear. I wish to ask for the "thrice-repeated Yü-yang beat", But there is no Ni Cheng-p'ing in the world today! Li Shang-yin (813-858), Selected Poems, Poem 54 translated by James J. Y. Liu, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1969, p. 134 (translated by David Hinton) | ||||
| 270) |
Section 54 from
The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon is titled "Small Children and Babies": Small children and babies ought to be plump. So ought provincial governors and others who have gone ahead in the world; for, if they are lean and desiccated, one suspects them of being ill-tempered. Sei Shonagon (965-c. 1017), The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, Section 54 (circa 994 AD) Translated & Edited by Ivan Morris Columbia University Press, NY, 1967, Vol. I, p. 57) | ||||
| 271) |
There are 54 chapters in The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki Chapter 54 is titled "The Floating Bridge of Dreams" (Yume No Ukihashi) Kaoru made the usual offerings of images and scriptures at the main Hiei monastery and the next day went to Yokawa. The bishop received his unexpected visitor with much ceremony... As if unable to find adequate words, he continued with a poem: "I lost my way in the hills, having taken a road That would lead, I hope, to a teacher of the Law." Lady Murasaki Shikibu (973-1025), The Tale of Genji, Chapter 54 translated by Edward G. Seidensticker, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1977, pp. 1081-1090 (Another translation: Royall Tyler, Tale of Genji, Penguin Classics, 2002) | ||||
| 272) |
Poem 54 of
Su Tung-p'o (1036-1101) is titled "Drank Tonight at Eastern Slope" (1082): Drank tonight at Eastern Slope, sobered up, drank again; Got home somewhere around third watch. The houseboy snores like thunder; I bang the gate but nobody answers. Leaning on my stick, I listen to river sounds. Always it irks me— this body not my own. When can I forget the world's business? Night far gone, wind still, river creped in ripples: I'll leave here in a little boat, On far waters spend the years remaining. — translated by Burton Watson, Su Tung-P'o: Selections from a Sung Dynasty Poet, Columbia University Press, New York, 1965, p. 86 | ||||
| 273) |
Verse 54 of Rubáiyát, of
Omar Khayyam (1048-1122): Waste not your Hour, nor in the vain pursuit Of This and That endeavour and dispute; Better be jocund with the fruitful Grape Than sadden after none, or bitter, Fruit. (translated by Edward Fitzgerald, London, 1st edition 1859, 2nd edition 1868) | ||||
| 274) |
Verse 54 of
Saigyo's Mirror for the Moon: Gone far to the northeast; at year's end: A forlorn feeling This time more sharp than ever: Journeying along Under a vast sky where I see The old year sink to its close. Saigyo (1118-1190), Mirror for the Moon, (translated by William R. LaFleur, New Directions, NY, 1978, p. 29) | ||||
| 275) |
Verse 54 of
Dogen (1200-1253):
"Not a moment spent idlyin twenty-four hours": Do they realize How my heart is Always stirred By the valley streams and lofty peaks Under the setting autumn sun? (translated by Steven Heine, Zen Poetry of Dogen, Tuttle, Boston, 1997, p. 116) | ||||
| 276) |
Verse 54 of Rumi Daylight: We owe thankfulness to God, not sour faces. Jelaluddin Rumi (1207-1273), Mathnawi, I.1525 Rumi Daylight, Verse 54 (Edited by Camille & Kabir Helminski, 1994, p. 43) | ||||
| 277) |
The 54th Canto of Dante's Commedia is Canto 20 of
Purgatorio where Dante is in the 5th Terrace, the Avaricious and the Prodigal. He hears Hugh Capet's stories of generous & righteous souls— the Virgin Mary, Fabricus, and Saint Nicholas:
| ||||
| 278) |
The She-Wolf frightens Dante to climb the mountain in the 54th line of the Inferno:
| ||||
| 279) |
In the 54th line of Dante's
Paradiso, Dante sets his eyes on the sun:
| ||||
| 280) |
Poem 54 of The Zen Works of Stonehouse: The sun climbs in the east and goes down in the west the bell rings at dusk the rooster crows at dawn yin and yang have turned my head to snow meanwhile I've gone through a hundred crocks of pickles I plant pines for beams wherever I find room I spit out peach pits and make a peach-tree trail tell the bow-wary birds of the world head for the mountains and choose any tree Ch'ing-hung (1272-1352), The Zen Works of Stonehouse, Poem 54 translated by Red Pine (Bill Porter), Mercury House, San Francisco, p. 29 (Zen Poems) | ||||
| 281) |
Verse 54 of Hafiz: The Tongue of the Hidden: A passing breeze once sang a song to me; I've sought it since— none knew its melody: Now she is gone— for her how shall I seek? But one man knew her... one... and I am he. Hafiz (1320-1389), Hafiz: The Tongue of the Hidden, Verse 54 adaptation by Clarence K. Streit, Viking Press, NY, 1928 (Author on Time cover, March 27, 1950) | ||||
| 282) |
Verse 54 of The Divan of Hafez: I am the one whose monastery is the corner of the tavern, And whose morning chant is prayer for the Magians' Pir. If I do not hear the morning melody of the harp, what fear? My song at dawn is my apologetic sigh. Thank God, I am free from the prince and the pauper. The lowest beggar at the friend's door is my king. My goal in the mosque and the tavern is union with you. I have no other thought. God is my witness. From the time I laid my face on this threshold, My seat has been above the throne of the sun. Hafiz (1320-1389), The Divan of Hafez, Verse 54 translated from the Persian by Reza Saberi, University Press of American, Lanham, MD, 2002, p. 67 | ||||
| 283) |
"Fierce arguments" in Line 54 of the Pearl Poet's The Pearl:
(Ed. Malcolm Andrew & Ronald Waldron, 1987, p. 57) (Other Pearl translations: by Bill Stanton, by Vernon Eller) | ||||
| 284) |
Line 54 from the Pearl Poet's
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: "fair company in the hall"
(Verse translation by J. J. Anderson, J.M. Dent, London, 1996, p. 169) | ||||
| 285) |
Verse 54 of Songs of Kabir: Have you not heard the tune which the Unstruck Music is playing? In the midst of the chamber the harp of joy is gently and sweetly played; and where is the need of going without to hear it? The Yogi dyes his garments with red: but if he knows naught of that colour of love, what does it avail though his garments be tinted? Kabir says: "Whether I be in the temple or the balcony, in the camp or in the flower garden, I tell you truly that every moment my Lord is taking His delight in me." Kabir (1398-1448), Songs of Kabir, Verse LIV (Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, Macmillan, NY, 1916, pp. 99-100) | ||||
| 286) |
Song 54 of Kabir's Raga Gauri-Purabi: Nine yards, ten yards, twenty-one yards make one complete warp. Sixty threads to a warp, nine joinings, seventy-two crossthreads— these being extra weft. And so the soul went to have a body woven; the weaver left his house. You can't measure it by yards, or weigh it with measures, though it needs five pounds of tempering. If this tempering isn't available right away, then there is an uproar in the house. You are here for a few days only, rebelling against the Master; this moment won't return. Gone are the clay-pots, the wetted bobbins— the weaver left, frustrated. You can't unwind thread from an empty bobbin; the cloth-beam is no longer entangled. Fool, get rid of all this confusion— leave it where it is— this is what Kabir says in order to explain. Kabir (c. 1398-1518) Songs of Kabir from the Adi Granth (translated by Nirmal Dass) State University of New York Press, Albany, 1991, p. 84 | ||||
| 287) |
Sloka 54 of Kabir's Slokas of Kabir: Kabir, they who make their home on the banks of the Ganges can drink holy water— but without devotion to Hari, they cannot be saved. Saying this, Kabir meditates. Kabir (c. 1398-1518) Songs of Kabir from the Adi Granth (translated by Nirmal Dass) State University of New York Press, Albany, 1991, p. 269 | ||||
| 288) |
Chapter 54 of Wu Ch'eng-en
The Journey to the West: Dharma-nature, going West, reaches the Women Nation; The Mind Monkey devises a plan to flee the fair sex. In less than forty miles, they came upon the boundary of Western Liang. Pointing ahead as he rode along, the T'ang monk said, "We are approaching a city that must be the Nation of Women. All of you must take care to behave properly. Keep your desires under control. Don't let them violate the teachings of our gate of Law." We have a testimonial poem which says: The sage monk, seeking Buddha, reached Western Liang, A land full of females but without one male. Farmers, scholars, workers, and those in trade, The fishers and plowers were women all. Maidens lined the streets, crying "Human seeds!" Young girls filled the roads to greet the comely men. Bell and drum towers with goods piled high; Bannered pavilions with screens hung low. Luminous hues grew from the screens of gold, Refulgent rays spread from the mirrors of jade... The queen at once ordered the Court of Imperial Entertainments to prepare a banquet. The women officials began to sweep and clean the palaces. You see Six dragons belching colors— Two phoenixes bringing luck— Six dragons, belching colors, support the chariot; Two phoenixes, bringing luck, lift up the carriage. Strange fragrance in endless waves; Auspicious airs continuously rise. Melodic pipes, harmonious strings. What great sense of joy reaching to the sky! Wu Ch'eng-en (1500-1582), The Journey to the West or Hsi-yu chi (1518), Volume 3, Chapter 54 (translated by Anthony C. Yu, University of Chicago Press, 1980, pp. 52-68) | ||||
| 289) |
Book II, Chapter 54 of Miguel
de Cervantes's
Don Quixote is titled "Which Deals with Matters Relating to this History and No Other": Two days later the duke told Don Quixote that in four days from that time his opponent would present himself on the field of battle armed as a knight, and would maintain that the damsel lied by half a beard, nay a whole beard, if she affirmed that he had given her a promise of marriage. Don Quixote was greatly pleased at the news, and promised himself to do wonders in the lists, and reckoned it rare good fortune that an opportunity should have offered for letting his noble hosts see what the might of his strong arm was capable of; and so in high spirits and satisfaction he awaited the expiration of the four days, which measured by his impatience seemed spinning themselves out into four hundred ages. Let us leave them to pass as we do other. Part II, Chapter LIV: Matters Relating to this History and No Other Miguel de Cervantes (1549-1617), Don Quixote de La Mancha | ||||
| 290) |
Sweet rose as metaphor for inner beauty in 54th Sonnet of William Shakespeare: O! how much more doth beauty beauteous seem By that sweet ornament which truth doth give. The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem For that sweet odour, which doth in it live. The canker blooms have full as deep a dye As the perfumed tincture of the roses, Hang on such thorns, and play as wantonly When summer's breath their masked buds discloses: But, for their virtue only is their show, They live unwoo'd, and unrespected fade; Die to themselves. Sweet roses do not so; Of their sweet deaths are sweetest odours made: And so of you, beauteous and lovely youth, When that shall vade, my verse distills your truth. William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Sonnets LIV, Commentary | ||||
| 291) | Haiku 54 of Basho's Haiku (1678): Please do not forget The ume blossom In the thicket. Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), Basho's Haiku, Vol. 1, Haiku 54 (translated by Toshiharu Oseko, Maruzen, Tokyo, 1990, p. 54) | ||||
| 292) |
"And instruments together hurled" in Line 54 of Goethe's Faust:
Faust, Scene I: Night (Faust monologue) Verse translation by Bayard Taylor (1870), Lines 49-56 Modern Library, New York, 1950, p. 16 (German, English) | ||||
| 293) |
Poem 54 of Goethe, the Lyrist: 100 Poems "Schäfers Klagelied" ("Shepherd's Plaint"):
Goethe, the Lyrist: 100 Poems, (translated by Edwin H. Zeydel University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 1955, pp. 120-121) | ||||
| 294) |
Poem 54 of
The Zen Poems of Ryokan: Now I sing the glory of the bamboo trees around my house. Several thousands stand together, forming a placid shade. Young shoots run wild, blocking the roads here and there. Old branches stretch all the way, cutting across the sky. Frosty winters have armed them with s spiritual strength. Rising mists wrap them with the veil of profound mystery. In their healthy beauty they even rank with pine and oak. Although they do not vie in grandeur with peach and plum. Their trunks are upright and their knots are far between. Their hearts are void of stuffing and their roots sturdy. Bamboo trees, I admire you for your honesty and strength. Be my friends, and stand about my retreat until eternity. Ryokan (1758-1831), The Zen Poems of Ryokan, Poem 54 translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa, Princeton University Press, 1981, p. 57 (Poet-Seers, Zen Poems) | ||||
| 295) | Haiku 54 of Issa's Haiku: Opening my umbrella in spring rain, I dare Hakone Pass. Kobayashi Issa (1763-1827), The Dumpling Field: Poems of Issa, Haiku 54 (translated by Lucien Stryk, Swallow Press, Athens, Ohio, 1991, p. 18) | ||||
| 296) |
Poem 54 of Thomas Cole:
| ||||
| 297) |
News of Moby Dick sighting in Chapter 54 of Melville's
Moby-Dick (1851): The Cape of Good Hope, and all the watery region round about there, is much like some noted four corners of a great highway, where you meet more travellers than in any other part... "For three hundred and sixty miles, gentlemen, through the entire breadth of the state of New York; through numerous populous cities and most thriving villages; through long, dismal, uninhabited swamps, and affluent, cultivated fields, unrivalled for fertility; by billiard-room and bar-room; through the holy-of-holies of great forests; on Roman arches over Indian rivers; through sun and shade; by happy hearts or broken; through all the wide contrasting scenery of those noble Mohawk counties; especially, by rows of snow-white chapels, whose spires stand almost like milestones, flows one continual stream of Venetianly corrupt and often lawless life. There's your true Ashantee, gentlemen; there howl your pagans; where you ever find them, next door to you; under the long-flung shadow, and the snug patronizing lee of churches... "It was just between daybreak and sunrise of the morning of the second day, when they were washing down the decks, that a stupid Teneriffe man, drawing water in the main-chains, all at once shouted out, 'There she rolls! there she rolls!' Jesu, what a whale! It was Moby Dick. "'Moby Dick!' cried Don Sebastian; 'St. Dominic! Sir sailor, but do whales have christenings? Whom call you Moby Dick?' "'A very white, and famous, and most deadly immortal monster, Don;— but that would be too long a story.' Herman Melville (1819-1891), Moby-Dick, Chapter 54: The Town-Ho's Story | ||||
| 298) | Weather report in Letter 54 of Emily Dickinson: Dear Austin. I take great satisfaction in the consciousness that no one eludes my vigilance, nor can by any means rid themselves of whatever bag or bundle I am disposed to send— and again, Austin, "when the day is dark and drear and the wind is never weary," a slight recollection may be of some avail in lighting the heart up. It is such a day today— nothing but rain and shower, and shower after shower of chilly pelting rain. I am at home from meeting on account of the storm and my slender constitution, which I assured the folks, would not permit my accompanying them today... I was glad to hear from you Austin, and again I was very sorry, if you can reconcile a story so inconsistent. Glad to know you were better— better physically, but who cares for a body whose tenant is ill at ease? Five me the aching body, and the spirit glad and serene, for if the gem shines on, forget the mouldering casket! I think you are better now— I fancy you convalescent during this rainy day. I am sure that long before this time that "hour" has passed away, and the "daughter of the dawn" has touched a note more gay, with her slight "rosy fingers". "No Rose but has a thorn," recollect this, dear Austin, and you will derive a faith rosier than many roses, which will quite compensate you for now and then a thorn! It expresses worlds o me, "some one to see who cares for you, and for whom you care," and I think I laughed at the phrase "my own selve's company," as conveying a meaning very clear to me... Thank God there is one bird that singeth for forever and builds her nest anew in the boughs of paradise! Your aff Sister Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) Letter 54 (to her brother Austin Dickinson, 5 October 1851) The Letters of Emily Dickinson, Volume I (Biography) (edited by Thomas H. Johnson, Harvard University Press, 1955, pp. 140-142) [Notes: The quotation attempts to recall the opening lines of Longfellow's "The Rainy Day": "The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;/It rains, and the wind is never weary."] | ||||
| 299) |
54th Poem of Emily Dickinson:
| ||||
| 300) |
54th New Poem of Emily Dickinson: Dying is a wild Night and a new Road. Emily Dickinson (Letter 332) New Poems of Emily Dickinson (edited by William H. Shurr, University of North Carolin Press, 1993, p. 24) | ||||
| 301) |
There are 84 lines in Walt Whitman's poem Faces (1855). Line 54 tells about a healthy honest boy: This face is flavor'd fruit ready for eating, This face of a healthy honest boy is the programme of all good. Walt Whitman (1819-1892), Faces, Lines 53-54 A Textual Variorum of the Printed Poems, Vol. I, Poems, 1855-1856 (Edited by Sculley Bradley, Harold W. Blodgett, Arthur Golden, William White New York University Press, 1980, p. 136) | ||||
| 302) |
"sage-deserts" in Line 54 of Walt Whitman's
Passage to India (1871): I hear the locomotives rushing and roaring, and the shrill steam-whistle, I hear the echoes reverberate through the grandest scenery in the world; I cross the Laramie plains, I note the rocks in grotesque shapes, the buttes; I see the plentiful larkspur and wild onions, the barren, colorless, sage-deserts; I see in glimpses afar, or towering immediately above me, the great mountains, I see the Wind River and the Wahsatch mountains, Walt Whitman (1819-1892) Passage to India Section 5, Lines 51-55 A Textual Variorum of the Printed Poems, Vol. III, Poems, 1870-1891 (Edited by Sculley Bradley, Harold W. Blodgett, Arthur Golden, William White New York University Press, 1980, pp. 565-566) | ||||
| 303) |
| ||||
| 304) |
Page 54 in
A. E.'s
Song and its Fountains: Though the dream of love may tire, In the ages long agone There were ruby hearts of fire#151; Ah, the daughters of the dawn! Though I am so feeble now, I remember when our pride Could not to the Mighty bow; We would sweep His stars aside. Mix thy youth with thoughts like those— It were but to wither thee, But to graft the youthful rose On the old and flowerless tree. Age is no more near than youth To the sceptre and the crown. Vain the wisdom, vain the truth; Do not lay thy rapture down. I said I surmised a duality in the psyche, for the oracles it delivered in song often seemed to lead to opposing eternities. The wisdom before which love grew chill would be opposed by oracles speaking of an immortality of love. At one moment the psyche would seem to be redeemed from that passion; and then there would be an illumination of vision, and desire and imagination would be inflamed, and images would rush at me out of the deeps of life as creatures which had been long beloved, and which had been reborn to renew again their ecstasy. A. E. (George William Russell) (1867-1935) Song and its Fountains, Macmillan, New York (1932), p. 54 (New Edition, Larson Publications, 1991) [Note: Typesetting on page 54 is from the 1932 edition. Poem cited is stanzas 5-8 of "The Grey Eros" from Collected Poems by A.E., 1913] | ||||
| 305) |
Poem 54 of Rilke's New Poems [1907] is titled "Spanish Dancer" ("Spanische Tänzerin"):
(translated by Edward Snow, New Poemst (1907), Poem 54 North Point Press, San Francisco, 1984, pp. 144-145) | ||||
| 306) |
Line 54 of Rilke's Duino Elegies I [1923] on "our seasons take their place":
Stimmen, Stimmen. Höre, mein Herz, wie sonst nur | ||||
| 307) |
54th Page in James Joyce's Ulysses,: MR James Joyce (1882-1941), Ulysses, (1st edition, 1922) Random House, New York (1946), p. 54 | ||||
| 308) |
54th Page lines in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, (4 samples): Any dog's life you list you may still hear them at it, like sixes (54.7) and seventies as eversure as Halley's comet, ulemamen, sobran- (54.8) jewomen, storthingboys and dumagirls, as they pass its bleak and (54.9) bronze portal of your Casaconcordia: Huru more Nee, minny (54.10) James Joyce (1882-1941), Finnegans Wake, (1939), page 54. | ||||
| 309) |
"Yet nothing changed by the blue guitar" in Line 54 of Wallace Stevens's, The Man with the Blue Guitar (1937):
A tune beyond us as we are, | ||||
| 310) |
Chapter 54 of Ezra Pound's Cantos (selections): So that Tien-tan chose bulls, a thousand and covered them with great leather masks, making dragons... Lieou-pang stored food and munitions so that he came to be emperor, KAO, brought calm and abundance No taxes for a whole year,... Rain of blood fell in Y-yang pear trees fruited in winter... and HIAO OUEN TI the emperor published: Earth is the nurse of all men I now cut off one half the taxes... 'Gold will sustain no man's life nor will diamonds keep the land under culture... by wise circulation. Bread is the base of subsistence.'... Virtue is the daughter of heaven, YU followed CHUN and CHUN, YAO haveing one root of conduct HIAO KING had a just man's blood on his conscience.  HIA's fortune was in good ministers... 'Man's face is a flag' said Tan Tchin 'Thought is to body as is its edge to a sword' 'Wheat is by sweat of the people'... HIEUN measured shadows at solstice polar star at 34.4 Measured it in different parts of the empire at Lang-tchéou was 29 and a half Tsiun-Y 34 New Directions, NY, 1956, pp. 21-35 | ||||
| 311) |
Poem 54 of e. e. cummings's W [ViVa] (1931):
if i love You | ||||
| 312) |
There are 54 poems in e. e. cummings's 1 x 1 [One Times One] (1944) Poem 54:
if everything happens that can't be done | ||||
| 313) |
Poem 54 of e. e. cummings's 73 Poems (1963):
timeless | ||||
| 314) |
"something" in Line 54 in William Carlos Williams' "Asphodel, That Greenery Flower" (1955):
It will not be | ||||
| 315) |
There are 79 poems in Charles Reznikoff's Jerusalem the Golden (1934) Poem 54 The days are long again, the skies are blue; the hedges are green again, the trees are green; only the twigs of the elms are dark. At night the wind is cold again; but by day the snow of your absence is melting: soon May will be here and you the queen of May. Charles Reznikoff (1894-1976), Poems 1918-1975: The Complete Poems of Charles Reznikoff, Black Sparrow Press, Santa Barbara, 1989, p. 118 | ||||
| 316) |
Sonnet 54 in Pablo Neruda's 100 Love Sonnets (1960)
| ||||
| 317) |
Poem 54 in Pablo Neruda's The Book of Questions (1974) Is it true that swallows are going to settle on the moon? Will they carry spring with them tearing it from the cornices? Will the moon swallows take off in autumn? Will they search for traces of bismuth by pecking at the sky? And will they return to the balconies dusted with ash? Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) The Book of Questions, LIV (translated by William O'Daly) Copper Canyon Press, Port Townsend, WA, 1991, p. 54 | ||||
| 318) |
Poem 54 in
Louis Zukofsky's 80 Flowers (1978) is "54 Windflower": Windflower overworld selvageflame sun coddle lay dune ass toss opt thrown own candle urge shade unhated unloved unseen slight bud windflower singled erst field-lily nods unshaded whorled th'solitary flower suns clouds summers asleep crowfoots spring-rue anemone leaves flowers both earth Louis Zukofsky (1904-1978) 80 Flowers, "54 Windflower" The Stinehour Press, Lunenburg, Vermont, 1978 [Stanford: PS3549.U47.E36.1978F "facsimile pirated copy"] | ||||
| 319) |
There are 82 lines in Section XVII of Kenneth Rexroth's "The Silver Swan" from The Morning Star (1979). Line 54: "Vanishes. My self vanishes." (lines 46-54): Softer than silk. She says "Lover, do you know what Heart You have possessed?" Before I can answer, her Body flows into mine, each Corpuscle of light merges With a corpuscle of blood or flesh. As we become one the world Vanishes. My self vanishes. Kenneth Rexroth (1905-1982) The Complete Poems of Kenneth Rexroth "The Silver Swan" XVII.46-54 Edited by Sam Hamill & Bradford Morrow Copper Canyon Press, Port Townsend, WA, 2003, p. 738 | ||||
| 320) |
Lawrence Ferlinghetti's What is Poetry?
(2000) contains 64 images of poetry. Image 54: Poetry is religion Religion is poetry Lawrence Ferlinghetti (b. March 24, 1919), What Is Poetry? Creative Arts Book Co., Berkeley, CA, 2000, p. 54 | ||||
| 321) |
Allen Ginsberg's HOWL
(1956) contains 112 lines. Line 1: I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, Line 54: who threw their watches off the roof to cast their ballot for Eternity outside of Time, & alarm clocks fell on their heads every day for the next decade, Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), Howl and Other Poems, City Lights Books, 1956, p. 16 | ||||
| 322) |
There are 68 poems in Allen Ginsberg's last book Death & Fame (1999). The last sentence of Poem 54: "American Sentences 1995-1997"— To see Void vast infinite look out the window into the blue sky. March 23, 1997 Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997), Death & Fame HarperFlamingo, New York, 1999, p. 78) | ||||
| 323) |
There are 60 poems in Denise Levertov's The Life Around Us (1997). Poem 54 is titled "Whisper": Today the white mist that is weather is mixed with the sallow tint of the mist that is smog. And from it, through it, breathes a vast whisper: the mountain. Denise Levertov (1926-1997), The Life Around Us, "Whisper" New Directions, New York, 1997, p. 69) | ||||
| 324) |
Poem 54 of Michael McClure's
Ghost Tantras:
Michael McClure (born Oct. 20, 1932), Ghost Tantras, City Lights Books, 1967, p. 61) | ||||
| 325) |
There are 63 poems in W. S. Merwin's
The Lice Poem 54 is titled "In a Clearing": The unnumbered herds flow like lichens Along the darkness each carpet at its height In silence Herds without end Without death Nothing is before them nothing after Among the hooves the hooves' brothers the shells In a sea Passing through senses As through bright clearings surrounded with pain Some of the animals See souls moving in their word death With its many tongues that no god could speak That can describe Nothing that cannot die The word Surrounds the souls The hide they wear Like a light in the light And when it goes out they vanish In the eyes of the herds there is only one light They cherish it with the darkness it belongs to They take their way through it nothing is Before them and they leave it A small place Where dying a sun rises W. S. Merwin (born September 30, 1927), The Lice, Atheneum, NY, 1967, p. 70 | ||||
| 326) |
There are 60 poems in Kathleen Raine's The Presence (Poems 1984-87): Poem 54 is titled "LONDON RAIN": These diamond spheres Tainted from poisoned air that blows about the houses, Each sour raindrop hanging from wire or railings Yet catches its ray to open the rainbow light Of heavenly promise before it falls On sterile ground to moisten the patient moss That mends with living green Of Paradise, springing from blown dust in cracks and crevices For lonely downcast eyes to find a long-ago familiar place. Kathleen Raine (1908-2003), The Presence (Poems 1984-87), Poem 54 Golgonooza Press, Ipswich, UK, 2000, p. 72 New York Times Obituary, July 10, 2003 | ||||
| 327) |
Poem 54 in Thomas Merton's Cables to the Ace (1968): Amid the cries of gang walls and surprises the echoes come forward. They are nude. A brazen charm expands. It invests the unguarded senses. Twin stars rise over the library. Another day lives. It questions the waterworks, it knows the fevers of Vegas. Thomas Merton (1915-1968) Cables to the Ace New Directions, NY, 1968, p. 37 | ||||
| 328) |
Poem 54 of The Crane's Bill: FISHERMAN Spring light, soft bank mist, And on the still water his boat. He grips in his dream a thousand-foot line, Match for the greatest whale. — Setcho (980-1052) Zen Poems of China and Japan: The Crane's Bill (translated by Lucien Stryk & Takashi Ikemoto, Anchor Books, NY, 1973, p. 32) | ||||
| 329) |
There are 95 short poems in Kenneth Koch's "On Aesthetics" Poem 54 is titled "Aesthetics of Hill Town": Put the cathedral Or the church That has the "scheming Look of an ex-cathedral" Ronald firbank's phrase On top of this hill. Kenneth Koch (1925-2002), "On Aesthetics" from One Train: Poems, Random House, NY, 1994, p. 65 Interview by Anne Waldman; Interview by David Kennedy; NY Times Obituary (7-7-2002) | ||||
| 330) |
"the sun's early-morning hands" in Line 54 of Mary Oliver's's poem "Work" (Lines 46-54): Then the grass curls or breaks, or we cut it. What does it matter? Do you think the grass is growing so wild and thick for its own life? Do you think the cutting is the ending, and not, also, a beginning? This is the world. The pink globes of the peonies open under the sun's early-morning hands. Mary Oliver (born 1935), The Leaf and the Cloud, "Work", Section 2 Da Capo Press, 2000, p. 11 | ||||
| 331) |
There are 70 poems in Charles Simic's
A Wedding in Hell (1994): Poem 54 is "In Strange Cities": The way a curving street Reveals with each step A novel sight, Perhaps a high window Shuttered against The late afternoon sun, With someone rising from A bed of illicit love To throw it open Just as you pass by, Green shutters clattering Behind your back, The sunlight ahead of you Golden like a lion Escaped from the zoo, And now rearing up In all his terror And royal splendor. Charles Simic (born May 9, 1938), A Wedding in Hell, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, NY, 1994, p. 62) | ||||
| 332) |
There are 68 poems in Charles Simic's
Night Picnic: Poems (2001): Poem 54 is "We All Have Our Hunches": The child turning from his mother's breast With a frightened look To watch his grandfather raise a beer And drink to his future happiness In the kitchen full of unwashed plates And busy women with quarrelsome voices, The oldest of whom wields a rolled newspaper With the smiling President's picture Already speckled by the blood Of warm-weather flies and mosquitoes. Charles Simic (born May 9, 1938), Night Picnic: Poems, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, NY, 2001, p. 72) | ||||
| 333) |
There are 54 poems in Louise Glück's
The Wild Iris (1992). Poem 54 is titled "The White Lilies": As a man and woman make a garden between them like a bed of stars, here they linger in the summer evening and the evening turns cold with their terror: it could all end, it is capable of devastation. All, all can be lost, through scented air the narrow columns uselessly rising, and beyond, a churning sea of poppies— Hush, beloved. It doesn't matter to me how many summers I live to return: this one summer we have entered eternity. I felt your two hands bury me to release its splendor. Louise Glück (born 1943), The Wild Iris, Ecco Press, Hopewell, NJ, 1992, p. 63) | ||||
| 334) |
There are 69 poems in Stephen Mitchell's Parables and Portraits (1992). Poem 54 is titled "Sinai": Everyone knows what happened at the bottom of Mount Sinai, but no one mentions what happened on the top. In a way, this is unavoidable: the eye can't see itself, the equation can't prove itself. Nevertheless, a few of our sages have spoken. (In order to say anything, they had to be there.) Rabbi Levi said, "On the top of Mount Sinai, Moses was given the choice of receiving the commandments or seeing God face to face. He knew that he could not see God without first dying. It was like looking into a mirror with no reflection inside. Rabbi Ezra said, "Moses did receive a commandment, but only one, only the First. All the others blended into silence, as all colors blend into white." Rabbi Gamaliel said, "Moses received only the first phrase of the First Commandment: I am the Unnameable." Rabbi Elhanan said, "Moses saw on Sinai what he had heard from the Burning Bush. There was just one message: I am." Rabbi Samuel said, "Not even that. The only word the Unnamable whispered was I." Rabbi Yosi said, "In the holy tongue, I is anokhi: aleph-nun-kaph-yod. What Moses received from God was the first letter of I." But aleph is a silent letter. Rabbi Yosi said, "Just so." Stephen Mitchell (born 1943), Parables and Portraits, Harper & Row, NY, p. 66) | ||||
|
54 in Numerology
| |||||
| 335) |
Numerology: words whose letters add up to 54:
REFLECTIONS: 9 + 5 + 6 + 3 + 5 + 3 + 2 + 9 + 6 + 5 + 1 = 54 FORTY-NINE: (6+6+9+2+7) + (5+9+5+5) = 30 + 24 = 54 FIFTY-FOUR: (6+9+6+2+7) + (6+6+3+9) = 30 + 24 = 54 FIFTY-FIVE: (6+9+6+2+7) + (6+9+4+5) = 30 + 24 = 54 BUDDHA CHRIST: (2+3+4+4+8+1) + (3+8+9+9+1+2) = 22 + 32 = 54 BURNING BUSH: (2 + 3 + 9 + 5 + 9 + 5 + 7) + (2 + 3 + 1 + 8) = 40 + 14 = 54 CHRIST MIND: (3+8+9+9+1+2) + (4+9+5+4) = 32 + 22 = 54 CRESCENT MOON: (3+9+5+1+3+5+5+2) + (4+6+6+5) = 33 + 21 = 54 EARTH FIRE: (5+1+9+2+8) + (6+9+9+5) = 25 + 29 = 54 GOD SPIRIT: (7+6+4) + (1+7+9+9+9+2) = 17 + 37 = 54 HEAVEN TEMPLE: (8+5+1+4+5+5) + (2+5+4+7+3+5) = 28 + 26 = 54 JUPITER VENUS: (1+3+7+9+2+5+9) + (4+5+5+3+1) = 36 + 18 = 54 MOTHER OCEAN: (4+6+2+8+5+9) + (6+3+5+1+5) = 34 + 20 = 54 NIRVANA MUSIC: (5+9+9+4+1+5+1) + (4+3+1+9+3) = 34 + 20 = 54 POPLAR TREE: (7+6+7+3+1+9) + (2+9+5+5) = 33 + 21 = 54 SATORI WHEEL: (1+1+2+6+9+9) + (5+8+5+5+3) = 28 + 26 = 54 STONE MOUNTAIN: (1+2+6+5+5) + (4+6+3+5+2+1+9+5) = 19 + 35 = 54 URANUS NEPTUNE: (1+3+1+5+3+1) + (5+5+7+2+3+5+5) = 32 + 22 = 54
| ||||
.jpg)
.gif)
.gif)
.jpg)
| Top of Page
| Number 54 (Part 1)
| Meditations on 54
| Numbers
| Dates
| A-Z Portals |
| Art & Spirit
| Books
| Enlightenment
| Enlightenment News
| Poetry
| Home |
| © Peter Y. Chou, WisdomPortal.com P.O. Box 390707, Mountain View, CA 94039 email:  (8-5-2005) |
 |