Go flower-gazing with Buddha

Author: Shi Jianjie
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: A refreshing Buddhist reading that guides you away from the suffering of the mind. A bestseller on the sales charts of Taiwan's Jin Shitan, BlogEase, and Eslite Bookstores! Passing through a garden, some see red flowers and green leaves, butterflies fluttering, while others see withered roots and branches, muddy ground, or nothing at all. But when she walks through the garden, she encounters the Buddha everywhere. A monastic's heartfelt words, a profound life insight, a touch of Zen, and a sense of family, all expressed through the flowers and grass in nature. Sixty kinds of flowers, sixty kinds of moods, leading you into the secret garden of your own life. This book is a garden offered by Shi Jianjie to the world. Depending on one's mindset, walking through this garden, one might read the Dharma, appreciate the literary talent, enjoy the leisurely mood, or read the story of a monastic. But I guess, what Shi Jianjie really hopes readers will find when they close the book is the secret garden of their own life. —Xia Ruihong (Editor of the "Floating World" section of the China Times)
I have known Shi Jianjie for many years. She speaks little but has a fondness for natural flowers and grass. She keeps a fine pen in her sleeve. Through Walking with the Buddha to Admire Flowers, Shi Jianjie's personality, preferences, and insights into Buddhism are presented like a gentle stream. Even though monastics are light on attachment and emphasize detachment, between the lines of Shi Jianjie's words, one can still sense her deep love for her hometown and family. —Xi Song (Painter and Writer)
At dusk, I took a walk to the Bodhi tree by the parking lot and suddenly noticed how thick and sturdy the trunk and branches of the Bodhi tree were, with leaves larger than my outstretched hands! I realized that the Bodhi tree is not as weak as a weeping willow as I had once thought. Why did I see it differently when I was young? I laughed silently to myself—perhaps it's because one's perception shapes reality. Now, standing under the Bodhi tree, the leaves sway gracefully in the evening breeze, each leaf like a heart, singing the story of an awakened one in the wind. I will always remember the Buddha under the Bodhi tree and the self I was under that tree.
The Buddha said, "Everyone has the potential to become a Buddha." Isn't that right? I plucked a "giant leaf" and examined its intricate veins under the light. Such leaves had once fallen upon the meditating Buddha and had also fallen upon my heart.