Amy Winehouse and the Ceremony in the Air (written on 6/6/21)

I read somewhere that Amy Winehouse

Chanted nam-myoho-renge-kyo

She died young, but as I chant

This beautiful Law of the Universe

And appreciate the meaning of each

Word in this beautiful phrase

Nam myoho renge kyo

I see Amy performing a beautiful concert

In the most resplendent Ceremony in the Air

And her fellow Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

Taking in her raw beautiful voice

A voice singing about life itself

And its ups and downs

Nam= devotion

Myoho= mystic law, oneness of life and death

Renge= simultaneity of cause and effect

The lotus flower that seeds and blossoms

When we chant, we at the same time

Awaken to our innate Buddha nature

Kyo= this beautiful teaching, the Lotus Sutra,

Expressed through one’s voice.

Through her invocation of this

Beautiful Law

Amy sang a song about the oneness

Of life and death

And her connection to the Universe

As a beautiful dragon king’s daughter

Who attained Buddhahood before the assembly.

She is somewhere in the Universe

performing jazz

And chanting nam myoho renge kyo

A song to find absolute unshakable joy

Even in suffering

When I am near death

And my life comes to a close

I can smile

Because I ended the chapter of my life

Reciting this beautiful song of life

This beautiful eternal resplendent Law

of nam myoho renge kyo.