ÒYÍGÍYIGÌ ỌTA OMI :THE SUNKEN DEPTH OF THE PEAK OF THE GREAT MOUNTAIN

Òyígíyigì ọta omi o, òyígíyigì ọta omi

The impenetrable power, the unshaken rock in the great waters.

Majestic, sublime, unmovable, eternal.The immense waters derive power from the great rock.

Mountains flowing and water not flowing.

An immobile avalanche of rocks comes down the mountain in a deafening silence.

I am nothing but blocks of stone on pieces of gravel.I am nothing but weight, silence,inertia and density.Nothing will ever learn my secret.The only thing that can penetrate me is the strident cry of the cicada that pierces the heart of summer.

A d'òyígíyigì a kò kú mọ́ o. Òyígíyigì ọta omi.

We become the Ultimate.Death is no more.

Salutations to the eternal stone in the mighty ocean.

Image credit

“Detail from the Karesansui garden in Ryōan-ji Temple, Kyoto” by Canbalaci (Can Bacioglu)

Flickr.

Accessed 28/12/2010

This photo was taken on March 22, 2006 using a Nikon D70.

Can Bacioglu on this image:

This is from the famous Japanese rock garden at Ryōan-ji temple in northwest Kyoto, Japan. Ryōan-ji is a temple belonging to the Myoshin-ji school of the Rinzai branch of the Zen sect, famous for its Zen garden.

The garden is constructed in Karesansui style. It is 30 meters long from east to west and 10 meters from north to south. There are no trees, just 15 irregularly shaped rocks of varying sizes, some surrounded by moss, arranged in a bed of white gravel/sand that is raked every day. It is a simple rock garden, consisting of nothing but white gravel/sand and rocks, laid out just after the Onin Wars in the late 15th century. This rock garden is acknowledged to be one of the absolute masterpieces of Japanese culture.

Although most of my photos tend to be colorful landscapes, cityscapes etc, this one happens to be one of the photos I like the most, if not the favorite. Just looking at it has a soothing effect somehow. It is also one of the few photos of mine that I have framed for my place.

Text credits

Yoruba text kindly provided by Elegbe. Personal communication

Stanzas two and three are transpositions of the meaning of the Yoruba text aided by translations from "Awo Training Part 1" by Awo Falokun Fatumnbi at Scribd, Bolaji Idowu Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief and "The Yoruba Names of God" thread on the social network Nairaland. Accessed 28/12/2010.

Stanzas four and five are from Reading Zen in the Rocks: The Japanese Dry Landscape Garden.Francois Berthier. Trans by Graham Parkes. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,2000.22,42,87.