關於 poem about death ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

Sadly, the storms have made the nest unstable and we found the eggs cracked on the ground. IMAN cried and I did not know how to comfort her that nature, is just that.

Unpredictable.

This poem below was circulated in my Whatsapp group. Thought I’d share it here too:

———

WE ARE NOT IN THE SAME BOAT ...

I heard that we are in the same boat.

But it's not like that.

We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat.

Your ship can be shipwrecked and mine might not be.

Or vice versa.
For some, quarantine is optimal: moment of reflection, of re-connection. Easy, in flip flops, with a whiskey or tea.

For others, this is a desperate crisis.

For others it is facing loneliness.

For some, a peace, rest time, vacation.

Yet for others, Torture: How am I going to pay my bills?

Some were concerned about a brand of chocolate for Easter (this year there were no rich chocolates).

Others were concerned about the bread for the weekend, or if the noodles would last for a few more days.

Some were in their "home office" .

Others are looking through trash to survive.

Some want to go back to work because they are running out of money.

Others want to kill those who break the quarantine.

Some need to break the quarantine to stand in line at the banks.

Others to escape.

Others criticize the government for the lines.

Some have experienced the near death of the virus, some have already lost someone from it, some are not sure their loved ones are going to make it, and some don't even believe this is a big deal.

Some of us who are well now may end up experiencing it, and some believe they are infallible and will be blown away if or when this hits someone they know

Some have faith in God and expect miracles during this 2020.

Others say the worse is yet to come.

So, friends, we are not in the same boat.
We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different.

And each one will emerge, in his own way, from that storm.

Some with a tan from their pool. Others with scars on the soul (for invisible reasons).

It is very important to see beyond what is seen at first glance. Not just looking, more than looking, seeing.

See beyond the political party, beyond religion, beyond the nose on your face.

Do not underestimate the pain of others if you do not feel it.

Do not judge the good life of the other, do not condemn the bad life of the other.
Don't be a judge.
Let us not judge the one who lacks, as well as the one who exceeds him.

We are on different ships looking to survive.

Let everyone navigate their route with respect, empathy and responsibility.

--Author unknown
Morning from my world

【賭上靈魂的女人】

青竹蛇兒口，黃蜂尾上針，兩者皆不毒，最毒婦人心。

I have a Bazi client, who has been a social escort for over a decade.

She didn't tell me the truth at the start. In fact, she "challenged" me to use my 6th sense and offered her Bazi.

I do not need your Bazi to read you inside out. Also, Bazi analysis is a highly methodological and scientific method to understand a person's past, present and future Destiny. I'm no medium. There is no 6th sense needed.

Over the many short messages before our meeting, she expressed her shock that I could read so much from merely her words.

I didn't have her birth details at that time, nor had I seen a single photo of hers.

With the internet era, a competent Metaphysics practitioner must have the ability to dissect a person's true character and intention, even from a simple "Hi".

Impossible? Too judgmental? You just haven't met a seasoned human scanner in real life. Or you don't know the true you well enough to see the rock hard truth in our words.

While messaging me questions about a (legitimate) business of hers, I replied with a verse written by my Grandmaster, Living Buddha Lian Sheng:

"君子愛財，取之有道。
不義之財雖到手，
無限後患跟著來。"

(While wealth is covetable, a gentleman makes his wealth through just and ethical means.
Ill gotten wealth, though in your hands, will elicit endless troubles pouring your way.)

She was astounded and asked, "Do you actually know what my job is? This is shocking..."

I guess I passed her challenge with flying colours.

.

She wasn't a sex worker, due to harsh circumstances like severe poverty or mountains of heavy medical bills for her family.

A drunk gang rape incident in her uni days changed her views on men and she wanted to take revenge on men. She lived a life of drugs and alcohol in between her lectures.

The way I see it, is her obsession for money that caused her downfall.

On one hot summer day in 2006, she answered a social escort advertisement. She was barely 21 and was influenced by what she read online.

The "Mama-san" who looked her over told her she needed to put on weight.

She was surprised. Wasn't it easier to earn money with a slim figure?

The Mama-san snapped, "Nonsense. Most men dislike a woman who is too slim. They prefer those with some flesh."

She silently made a promise to herself to swallow more burgers.

Her first client was an Arabic businessman. She was paid US500 for one hour.

That virgin taste of easy money lured her deeper and deeper into the abyss.

Clients of powerful backgrounds, Singapore and overseas, single and married, private and government sectors...one-on-one, multiple players, mass orgies...

She lived like a bird freed from her cage. Suddenly she could buy anything she desired, just by sweet talking and giving lusty men access to her nubile body. She was in and out of hotels, as frequently as 5 times a day.

The carefree lifestyle, the freedom of not answering to any boss and those money that poured from the sky was her drug.

In her own words, she was "the woman that all wives curse and fear".

She referred to herself as the woman the wife will loathe to find traces of existence, when the wife checks her husband's handphone with trembling hands.

It was as if she took pride in that.

How did her cause of seeking revenge on men become a twisted path of demolishing other women's marriages?

.

It didn't take her long to accumulate 6-figures in her bank account.

The more money she had, however, the more insecure she became.

She worried about losing it all. She deeply craved the warmth of love to complete her soul.

She was only 22. The client was manly, handsome and charming. He gave her $20K for her company.

She badly wanted him for her own. To be his wife.

With $100,000 withdrawn, she gave it all to her 2nd Mama-san. She decided she would use black magic to lock his heart. And soul.

But it was a fraud. The Mama-san started exhorting from her.

She was desperate and down to her last $2. She began stealing from her family and lying to feed the incessant demands and threats from her Mama-san.

She gradually realised this was her retribution of selling her body for quick money.

However, this new realisation didn't change her a bit.

She met a new client, Dave. He was a married man. It was love at first sight for her.

The initial joy she had from the money and attention he showered her blinded her wisdom to the extramarital affair.

She stayed in one of Hong Kong's expensive apartments at a prime district. But it soon became an soulless shell of loneliness that prompted her suicide attempts.

Dave coldly dumped her like a hot potato, as he didn't wish to handle an emotionally volatile woman.

.

Ken told her she bore an uncanny resemblance to his first love. She fell hard for his sweet words and gentle demeanour.

He weaved a forlorn tale of an emotionally abusive and lonely marriage, and how it was impossible for him not to to be attracted to her.

They travelled greatly and dined at expensive restaurants.

To have a married man giving his heart to her, was like tasting the forbidden apple. That first juicy bite satiated her craving to be desired. And to win another woman.

This time, she decided she would use black magic again to break up his marriage. She coveted that role of his wife. A permanent and lasting relationship, finally.

Black magic uses the dark forces of ghosts to carry out the client's wishes. She paid a good US$10,000 for a famous sorcerer and another US$4000 for her Thai amulet and mud puppet.

Did she capture Ken in the end?

They got into physical fights crazily. The amulet that controlled the ghosts backfired, and her sanity was devoured by the ghosts.

.

Her craziness drove her to swallow 200 sleeping pills and cut her wrists. ANYTHING to have him stay with her. Ken was horrified and visited her daily at the hospital. She felt triumphant. Finally, he was at her beck and call.

The happiness was short-lived. After her discharge, he broke up with her when he was on an overseas stint.

She went absolutely berserk and grabbed a knife to her throat. It felt that the ghosts wielded full control of her mind and body. Her mum kept yelling at her.

The realisation of truth came too late for her: A man, who lied to his wife and had an affair, will never be honest with her. Once a liar, always a liar.

She was warded into the high-dependancy unit at the mental hospital. Everyday, she was surrounded by suicidal and high-risk patients. They were bounded at their feet and hands. It was a petrifying sight. Was this the end of her life? She wasn't even 28. How did she allowed a man to destroy her prime years?

She sought to understand love and karma. She delved into Buddhist books, wanting to know what caused her to lose her mind. She started to have deep regret about taking short cuts in life and her laziness in earning money the ethical way. She saw, on her hands, the fresh blood of people's happiness that she had killed.

But the greed and anxiety in her couldn't be satisfied with a regular job. Or a single man who doesn't make enough to provide for her.

She was needy, attention-seeking and quarrelsome. I had called her a yoyo. I had spent many hours over a few months, replying to her messages.

Every day, she fought hard against the temptation to take up another escort job

.

「捨邪歸正」

I lost count how many Masters she sought advice from before she found me online.

She read my posts and was amazed by my tenacity to take failures.

She watched my video on suicide and became aware of the Hell that all suicide victims go to. To repeat that act of killing themselves every day at the same time they died.

Among the many things I said at our consultation, I could tell her the age range she sold herself and that it was a elder lady who gave her the chance. She was surprised at my accuracy.

I told her the only way out was to sincerely repent for her past misdeeds. Blind listening to Buddhist chants and sutras would do nothing to change her fate. That is passive. Being active is to recite it and abide by the precepts.

I instructed her to write out her story in as much details as possible, to lead other sex workers, or wannabes, suicidal people and men with affairs to the Right Path.

This was one of the fastest ways I know that can change a disastrous life around.

All the Thai amulets, crystals and pendants she stashed in her room MUST go. She spoke of their decreasing power over time, and it seemed like a never-ending black hole as she kept on buying more and more to help her legitimate business.

She asked whether she would be able to get a publisher to buy her story.

I told her to forget about making money from her book. Give it for free. Post it online. Somehow, somewhere, everywhere. Get the story out. Fast.

When her boyfriend left her a sum of money, I insisted that she returned it. Don't take money that you didn't earn it rightfully. She said that was her breakup fee. I put my feet down, and said it was a proper relationship between two singles, and she caused the breakup. Why would she need money for loving a man who had loved her?

She promised she would write her story.

But she lied to me. Just like how she lied of making the $49 donation the next day, before seeking a Bazi consultation with me.

She went to the Guan Yin Temple at Waterloo Street, and sought a divination stick. It was her favourite activity whenever she was troubled or at a dilemma.

Right after she left the temple, she messaged and questioned why she received a 下簽 (bad lot) for my recommendation.

I asked for the number of the divination lot and the actual question she posed.

"I want to write a story about my life to encourage women not to sell their bodies and for married men not to have affairs. I may be hurt or sabotaged by people, so please protect me."

That didn't sound like a question. But the Bodhisattva had a way in teaching sentient beings.

I was dumbfounded at the Bodhisattva's omnipresent accuracy and foresight, when I saw the divination number.

It was a bad lot indeed, but not because of the solution I gave to my client.

.

「莊子試妻」

Zhuangzi was a famous and well-respected Chinese philosopher of the Warring States Period.

One day at the mountains, he walked past a new grave and saw a woman kneeling over the freshly turned soil, hurriedly fanning it.

Not understanding the woman's behaviour, Zhuangzi asked for her intention.

The woman replied, that her husband lied beneath the soil. Before he died, he had said she could only remarry, when the soil of his grave dried. It was the rainy season at that time, hence her fervent fanning, so that she could quickly seek a new man.

Zhuangzi shook his head, when he heard of her heartlessness.

Unknown to many, Zhuangzi was an accomplished Taoist practitioner. With his supernatural powers, he helped the woman to dry the soil almost immediately. Thrilled at the dried grave, the widow gave her fan to Zhuangzi and hurried down the mountain.

Zhuangzi returned home, singing and waving the fan. His wife, Tian, questioned where he got the fan from. When she heard of the widow, Tian was so angry that she tore the fan into pieces and called the widow shameless.

Zhuangzi pacified his wife and said he had faith in her chastity.

A few days later, he fell very sick and died. Tian was saddened at her husband's sudden death and wept in sorrow

At his funeral, a very handsome young man showed up with his old servant. He said he was Zhuangzi's student, and a son of an important government official.

He wanted to perform the rites of a dutiful student, and helped in his teacher's funeral, by watching vigil for three years.

His good looks caught the eye of the newly minted widow, Tian. She sought to know more his eligibility from the old servant.

Within 20 days, they got married.

On the night of their wedding, the young man was struck with an ear-shattering migraine. Tian anxiously asked the old servant for help. The old servant said his young master had this strange illness since birth. The only cure was to consume the brain of a human. Back in his hometown, the father would take the brain from the prisoners sentenced for death for his son.

But in this remote countryside, where could they find a human brain as medicine?

Tian thought of her dead husband. She promptly took an axe and hacked open his coffin.

Zhuangzi leapt out from the coffin and mused this now-famous Chinese verse, "青竹蛇兒口，黃蜂尾上針，兩者皆不毒，最毒婦人心。"

Tian proclaimed that she heard noises in her coffin and wanted to see if Zhuangzi was alive.

Zhuangzi questioned the red finery on her and the red decor in the house. Tian argued that she wanted to welcome him. So she donned on the wedding finery to get married with him again.

The young man and his servant walked in. They were actually manifestations of Zhuangzi's supernatural powers.

Tian was so ashamed of her heartless and deciteful act that she eventually hung herself.

.

Every divination lot comes with a poem and a background story. This was the background story on my client's divination lot.

The poem states:

因名喪德如何事 卻恐吉中變化凶
酒醉不知何處去 青松影里夢朦朧

Virtues are destroyed in pursuit of self gain. Fear that the auspicious will morph into bad.

The drunkard knows nowhere to go. In the green forest a shadow lingers in a dreamy haze.

.

It is common to encounter clients that lack faith in my recommendations.

Some will ask many questions after our session, wanting to know why my solutions will help them or how I derive my solutions. There are also emotional clients who would flare up and lose all their manners, when they can't get an answer that they like from me.

I don't ask my doctor what ingredient goes into the making of my cough syrup and how it works scientifically in my body.

I take action by drinking it as prescribed. Because based on past experience, I trust that his medicine will work to help my predicament. I don't drink, I continue to be sick, I don't see results.

My suggestions don't require my clients to consume unknown medical liquids into their bodies. Yet few clients take action, when it comes to their Destiny.

Despite me being recommended by their friend who experienced positive results with my help, and have genuine testimonials to justify my fees.

That divination lot was Bodhisattva telling me: My client will not write her story, for she does not sincerely regret her past acts.

It was also a grave reprimand to her to mend her ways before it was too late.

But she didn't see the divination lot in the same manner as I did.

Not only does she lack faith in my words, she distrusted the holy words of the Bodhisattva too.

.

Give money, buy love, buy fame, buy business, buy wealth and buy that. No need hard work.

Such is the sexy appeal of many ghostly amulets. They appeal to people who want many things in life but refuse to follow the Law of Karma, to sow seeds the right way.

I see one client bidded for a Thai amulet from a Facebook Live. Another wanted to buy a multi-coloured bracelet, because "so pretty! Got power some more!" Luckily, his Wife who had learned some Buddhism from me stopped him.

.

In March 2017, this client sent me a message:

"Hi Ji Qian, hope you are well. Good luck for your Home Fengshui For A Happy Marriage tomorrow.

I was looking thru our past convos where we first started speaking online. Yes, Im a spoilt brat and Im a yoyo porcupine. I look at a sentence that is poignant - "the day you stop relying on men is the day you become prosperous". I wonder if that day will ever come. I I finally understand that my Facebook Adverts getting disabled is due to my past karma. And I haven't finished writing the repentance story which u instructed me to write in August. I think I know that I'm half-hearted in repentance, that's why I can't bring myself to finish the story. I'm just wondering if I am supposed to survive on my savings till my Facebook Advert Account get reactivated.

I haven't been able to find any new product to sell since XXX (sales also failing miserably). I am weak-willed and too reliant on men. The only thing keeping me from committing suicide is my mum and because I'm reminded by Shifu's words that a suicide victim is doomed to repeat the same act."

菩薩英明。

.

Last year, I had casually asked if I could share her story. She promptly gave me the permission.

Yesterday, one client called me unempathetic towards him. The way he wrote suddenly jolted my memory of this client. I had taken too long to write her story.

I told her to write in English and Chinese, and she did part of it.

The account you read of her past was adapted from her written work. Though there are many grammar and structural mistakes, she does write very well.

The poison in our hearts will eventually consume our souls if we do not purge it out. What joy is there when we resort to brutal force to keep a man by our side? Should he chooses to leave, that does not discount the value of our self worth. A man who isn't interested in you for the right reason isn't attractive.

The same goes for men who cheat or pay for sex. You are ruining another woman's life when you satisfy your lust.

When you inflict suffering on another being, in return, you get pain and suffering on yourself. So don't sow the seed in the first place. Repentance done right over a period of time can prevent your past bad seeds from germinating, and reduce your suffering.

If there is any merit in sharing her story here, I dedicate all of it to my client.

May she have the inner wisdom and stability to lead a virtuous life.

May she always be surrounded by good teachers to show her the way.

May her vile affinities be broken and replaced by good ones.

May her greed and hatred be subdued.

May she repent for her past transgressions in time.

No matter how long it may take, one step forward into the Light is one step away from Darkness.

.

ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུྂ༔
Om Ma Ni Peh Me Hom

Secular illuminated manuscripts by 20th century calligrapher & illuminator Alberto Sangorski.
Left: An illustration depicting King's Arthur's sword Excalibur
Middle: An illustration based on Edgar Allan Poe's poem "Lenore", about the death of a beautiful woman.
Right: An illustration depicting The Lady of Shalott, Elaine, who died for her love in an Arthurian Legend.

Computer Music Ensemble: for Black metal vocal, Prepared piano, Real time sound processing.

Composer: Ivan Voinov, Sandra Li, Cvo Yang, Bruce Wang
Sound engineer: Cvo Yang, Bruce Wang
Metal Vocal: Chi Yue
Prepared Piano: Sandra Li

Premiere Production: Body Phase Studio, Guling Avant-Garde theatre, Taipei, TAIWAN, 2014.4.26

About the work:

Dirge is a prepared piano piece that is processed through electronics and fused with a harsh vocal speaking the poem "Dirge" by Shakespeare. "Dirge" is written about death from the perspective of the dying. The meditative, dark sound interlaced with complex piano melodies and rhythms creates a perfect, romantic atmosphere around the aspect of death. The harsh vocal can be interpreted as the cries of a crow, traditionally a messenger of death.


Dirge (134)
William Shakespeare

COME away, come away, death,
And in sad cypres let me be laid;
Fly away, fly away, breath;
I am slain by a fair cruel maid.
My shroud of white, stuck all with yew,
O prepare it!

My part of death, no one so true
Did share it.
Not a flower, not a flower sweet,
On my black coffin let there be strown;
Not a friend, not a friend greet
My poor corse, where my bones shall be thrown:
A thousand thousand sighs to save,
Lay me, O, where
Sad true lover never find my grave
To weep there!


About the composers:

Ivan Voinov is a first generation Russian living in America, where he has grown up, maintaining strong cultural ties back to his ethnic Russian roots, which can easily be heard in his music. During the later years if his high school career, he became successful as an ensemble composer, having several of his pieces performed across his home state, Vermont, and appeared on the radio for interviews on two occasions. Ivan is now studying computer music and recording rats major at Peabody conservatory, studying under Dr. Geoffrey Wright, where he is exploring the rich depths of sounds and capabilities and control pertaining to the field of electronic music.

Sandra Li, of the Siraya people, is a former keyboardist of the classical ensemble "Indulge" and the well-know metal band "Chthonic". Her musical works crossover between classical and fine art, film and documentaries. She is the composer for the TV documentary "Unknown Taiwan" produced by the Discovery Channel. Also, she was the artistic director of the musical "Dark Baroque”. Ms. Li earned the Master of Music degree in Computer Music from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A., where she studied Computer Music with Dr. Geoffrey Wright.


輓歌

威廉莎士比亞

無常爾來矣﹐置我於柩床。一息已云絕﹐殺我乃姣娘。

麻絰及紫杉﹐速備慎毋忘。無人愛我深﹐乃肯殉我亡。

竟無一好花﹐撒余靈柩旁。竟無一良朋﹐弔余埋骨場。

不須為余泣﹐葬余在遐荒。親友無覓處﹐免其徒哀傷。


《輓歌》是為預先設置的鋼琴，現場即時聲響效果控制，與金屬黑死腔演場所創作的作品。人聲的部分所吟唱的是莎士比亞的詩作 "輓歌"。這首詩所描寫的角度，是從一個渴望垂死的靈魂，面對生命中無法抗拒的凋落。企圖利用鋼琴複雜的旋律與節奏營造出一種完美浪漫的死亡氛圍，暴烈的人聲比喻為烏鴉的哭聲，代表死亡的傳統使者。

Ivan Voinov 來自俄羅斯，成長過程中大部分居住在美國。在他的作品中，充分展現了俄羅斯的民族意識與風格。就讀高中時，已經展露在室內樂作品的創作能量，樂曲曾發表於 俄羅斯，佛蒙特州，與電台相關專訪。目前就讀於約翰霍普金斯琵琶地音樂院電腦音樂系，主修作曲，雙修錄音藝術。師從 Dr. Geoffrey Wright。創作特色專注於聲音的探索以及有關電子音樂現場控制的深入研究。

汪戊全，來自台灣台北，2013年畢業於臺北科技大學互動媒體設計研究所，目前嘗試以手作的細膩態度融入互動媒體設計的謹慎思考，共同創造出述說新形態故事溫暖人心的價值。

楊政，來自臺灣，畢業於實踐大學服裝設計系，在組樂團的過程中受到身邊不同藝術形式的人啟發試著追求無法明確定義的表演形式。曾經重新定義縫紉機的聲音的意義，在各地做過演出，同時於2013年在牯嶺街小劇場手作工作坊演出。

李婉菁 Sandra Tavali，西拉雅人，前indulge , 閃靈樂團鍵盤手； Discovery Channel 「謎樣台灣」配樂，音樂劇「黑暗巴洛克」音樂總監。作品常為跨界藝術、電影、紀錄片配樂等。約翰霍普金斯琵琶地音樂院電腦音樂研究所畢業，師從 Dr. Geoffrey Wright。