"Liquid Sunshine", number 167 of 188 from Robert Aitken's book Miniatures of a Zen Master.

Photo by Will Simpson
From One world at a time

My meteorological friends will love today miniature. Aitken tells of his Hawaiian youth where ""liquid sunshine," as we called it as children, when it sprinkles on a bright day. The sun shines through the light rain and the effect is lovely. The Hawaiians call this phenomenon kilihune."

Turns out Hawaiians are quite creative in naming their rains. In a contest with the Inuit's names for snow, the Hawaiians are the champions. Another example of Hawaiian names for rain which I found in an article in The Independent published in the UK, is lanipali, which means a very heavy shower. Its literal meaning, however, is "shower reaching to heaven".

How sweet, a shower reaching to heaven. Those Hawaiians are close to the rain.

Any error or confusion created by my commentary on
Miniatures of a Zen Master
is solely a reflection of my own delusion and ignorance.
Any merit generated by this activity is solely the result of
Aitken Roshi's clear teaching and is dedicated to
all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas throughout space and time.