Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Hirami

When fire and water were first separated there was a space set between them.
A void, that on each side might be things which could not mingle.
We fly in that void to cross between the many things.
We bring the knowledge of one to the other.
But we respect the void and maintain the separation, 
that fire and water may both be. 
That that which is outside be kept outside, and that which is inside be kept inside.
That life and death may be kept distinct, 
and that, although the memory of the ancestors guides us, their spirits are not troubled by the living.
These things we remember. These things we hold.
That I and not-I may be kept in their allotted places.