The Smokey the Bear Sutra and Gary Snyder
Greetings to all:
i keep re-reading Aitken Roshi's chapter on Buddhism and Deep Ecology in "The Mind of Clover." This is very powerful material for me, and it keeps bringing me back to the American Poet, Gary Snyder. Gary Snyder was one of the first Americans to travel to Japan to study Zen. He was never ordained, but his study and practice is deep and sincere. He was immortalized by Kerouac as "Japhy Ryder" in "On the Road," and he won the Pulitzer Prize in poetry.
one of my favorite works by Gary Snyder is his "Smokey the Bear Sutra," which can be read in its entirety at this link:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/bear.htm
I particularly love his description of Smokey'
"Bearing in his right paw the shovel that digs to the truth beneath appearances, cuts the roots of useless attachments, and flings damp sand onto the fires of greed and war.
His left paw in the mudra of Comradely Display - indicating that all creatures have the full right to live to their limits and that deer, rabbits, chipmunks, snakes, dandelions and lizards all grow in the realm of the Dharma."
Enjoy!
Gassho,
Juki
