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Thread: Zen Poems Thread

  1. #51
    Sun sets, bell sounds, the mist.
    Headwind on the road, the going hard.
    Evening Sun at Cold Mountain.
    Horses tread men's shadows.

    Ching An
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  2. #52
    PRECONCEPTIONS
    by Milarepa


    Just as fog is dispelled by the strength of the sun
    and is dispelled no other way,
    preconception is cleared by the strength of realization.
    Experience them as baseless dreams.
    Experience them as ephemeral bubbles.
    Experience them as insubstantial rainbows.
    Experience them as indivisible space


    Gassho,
    Myosha
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  3. #53
    Talking about food won’t fill your stomach.
    Talk about clothing won’t keep out cold.
    To be full, eat rice.
    To stay warm, wear clothes.
    Those who don’t understand
    complain it’s hard to get help from Buddha.
    Look inside your heart. That’s where Buddha is.
    Don’t look for him outside.
    --Han Shan
    To give up yourself without regret is the greatest charity. --RBB

  4. #54
    Talking about food will fill your stomach.
    Talk about clothing will keep out cold.
    To be empty, eat rice.
    To stay cold, wear clothes.
    Those who understand complain it’s hard to get help from Buddha.
    Look outside your heart. That’s where Buddha is.
    Don’t look for him inside.

    --Jishin

    Gassho, Jishin

  5. #55
    Gassho,

    Vincent


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Ongen (音源) - Sound Source

  6. #56
    To see a World in a Grain of Sand
    And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
    Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
    And Eternity in an hour.

    William Blake


    Gassho,
    Myosha
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  7. #57
    One Art
    BY ELIZABETH BISHOP
    The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
    so many things seem filled with the intent
    to be lost that their loss is no disaster.

    Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
    of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
    The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

    Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
    places, and names, and where it was you meant
    to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

    I lost my mother’s watch. And look! my last, or
    next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
    The art of losing isn’t hard to master.

    I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
    some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
    I miss them, but it wasn’t a disaster.

    —Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
    I love) I shan’t have lied. It’s evident
    the art of losing’s not too hard to master
    though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

    ----
    Gassho
    Senryu
    Please forgive any mistake in my writing. Like in Zen, in English I am only a beginner.

  8. #58
    Nindo
    Guest
    Somehow the thread about faith reminded me of this poem.
    Translation by me; unconventional grammar is intentional.
    Look at the dates and then please excuse the gendered language.

    Gassho,
    Nindo


    ----
    An Sich

    Sei dennoch unverzagt! Gib dennoch unverloren!
    Weich keinem Glücke nicht, steh höher als der Neid,
    vergnüge dich an dir und acht es für kein Leid,
    hat sich gleich wider dich Glück, Ort und Zeit verschworen.
     
    Was dich betrübt und labt, halt alles für erkoren;
    nimm dein Verhängnis an. Laß alles unbereut.
    Tu, was getan muß sein, und eh man dir's gebeut.
    Was du noch hoffen kannst, das wird noch stets geboren.
     
    Was klagt, was lobt man noch? Sein Unglück und sein Glücke
    ist ihm ein jeder selbst. Schau alle Sachen an:
    dies alles ist in dir. Laß deinen eitlen Wahn,
     
    und eh du fürder gehst, so geh in dich zurücke.
    Wer sein selbst Meister ist und sich beherrschen kann,
    dem ist die weite Welt und alles untertan.
     
     
    To Self
     
    For all that, don't be despondent! Nevertheless, count not for lost!
    Yield to no fortune; stand higher than envy,
    delight in yourself and regard it no affliction
    even if fortune, place and time have conspired against you.
     
    What grieves and nourishes you, consider it your choice;
    accept your fate. Leave everything unregretted.
    Do what must be done and ere it’s demanded of you.
    What you can still hope for, will yet ever be born.
     
    What good is it to still lament or praise? His misfortune and his luck
    is, to each man, he himself. Look at all things:
    this all is in you. Let go of your vain delusion,
     
    and before you go on further, go back into yourself.
    Whoever is his own master and can restrain himself,
    he has conquered the wide world and everything.

    - Paul Fleming, 1609-1640

  9. #59
    Joy in the morning,
    Sleep in the evening,
    What else?

    -
    Ekon
    Just Sit

  10. #60
    Buddhas and ancestors cut to pieces;
    The sword is ever kept sharpened.
    Where the wheel turns,
    The void gnashes its teeth.

    Death poem of Shûhõ Myõchõ (1282-1337)
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  11. #61
    Yes, I’m truly a dunce
    Living among trees and plants.
    Please don’t question me about illusion and enlightenment --
    This old fellow just likes to smile to himself.
    I wade across streams with bony legs,
    And carry a bag about in fine spring weather.
    That’s my life,
    And the world owes me nothing.

    Ryokan
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  12. #62
    Mind and Senses

    The mind is an organ of thought and objects are set against it:
    The two are like marks on the surface of the mirror;
    When the dirt is removed, the light begins to shine.
    Both mind and objects being forgotten, Ultimate Nature
    reveals itself true.

    Yung-chia Hsüan-chüeh


    Gassho,
    Myosha
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  13. #63
    Thanks for ryokan

    Kind regards. /\
    _/_
    Rich
    MUHYO
    無 (MU, Emptiness) and 氷 (HYO, Ice) ... Emptiness Ice ...

    https://instagram.com/notmovingmind

  14. #64
    The thief left it behind:
    the moon
    at my window.

    -Ryōkan
    (Written after a thief robbed his hut)
    Just Sit

  15. #65
    As flowing waters disappear into the mist
    We lose all track of their passage.
    Every heart is its own Buddha.
    Ease off ... become immortal.

    Wake up! The world's a mote of dust.
    Behold heaven's round mirror.
    Turn loose! Slip past shape and shadow,
    Sit side by side with nothing, save Tao.

    - Shih-shu, 1703
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  16. #66
    Four hours of zazen to go and the sesshin is over.
    What did I learn?

    There's nothing to it really. Kokushi was an old fool.

    Not much of a poem huh?

    Gassho

    Vincent


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Ongen (音源) - Sound Source

  17. #67
    The sun is rising
    Sinking softly out of sight
    Midnight crickets chirp

    Gassho, John

  18. #68
    Spring has its hundred flowers,
    Autumn its moon,
    Summer has its cooling breezes,
    Winter its snow.
    If you allow no idle concerns
    To weigh on your heart,
    Your whole life will be one
    Perennial good season.


    Gassho,
    Myosha
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  19. #69
    Nindo
    Guest
    from Walt Whitman, Song of Myself, canto #20

    In all people I see myself, none more and not one a barley-corn less,
    And the good or bad I say of myself I say of them.

    I know I am solid and sound,
    To me the converging objects of the universe perpetually flow,
    All are written to me, and I must get what the writing means.

    I know I am deathless,
    I know this orbit of mine cannot be swept by a carpenter's compass,
    I know I shall not pass like a child's carlacue cut with a burnt
    stick at night.

    I know I am august,
    I do not trouble my spirit to vindicate itself or be understood,
    I see that the elementary laws never apologize,
    (I reckon I behave no prouder than the level I plant my house by,
    after all.)

    I exist as I am, that is enough,
    If no other in the world be aware I sit content,
    And if each and all be aware I sit content.

    One world is aware and by far the largest to me, and that is myself,
    And whether I come to my own to-day or in ten thousand or ten
    million years,
    I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness I can wait.

  20. #70
    Pilfered with gratitude:

    "Ryokan once wrote;

    Blue sky, cold geese honk
    On a bare mountain, tree leaves flutter.
    At dusk in the village, smoke billows from every house.
    Alone with my empty bowl, I head home.

    Zen has taught me to experience life as it occurs, experience these fleeting moments of clarity, along with everything else in life, the good and the not so good, the happy and the sad, the blade of grass and the ripples on the pond,yet at the end of the day I try not to become attached to these things. I head home with an empty bowl.

    Of course at times this is easier said than done.


    Gassho,
    Mike"


    Gassho,
    Myosha
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  21. #71
    Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free.

    Rumi
    Gassho,
    "Heitetsu"
    Christopher
    Sat today

  22. #72
    One, seven, three, five.
    What you search for cannot be grasped.
    As the night deepens,
    the moon brightens over the ocean.
    The black dragon's jewel
    is found in every wave.
    Looking for the moon,
    it is here in this wave
    and the next.

    A verse that master Hsueh-t'ou Ch'ung-hsien wrote for a disciple (Translated by Yasuda Joshu Roshi and Anzan Hoshin Roshi, from Cooking Zen, Great Matter Publications. 1996)

  23. #73
    I deplore this vulgar place
    where demons dwell with worthies.
    They say they're the same,
    but is the Tao impartial?
    A fox might ape a lion's mien
    and claim the disguise is real,
    but once ore enters the furnace,
    we soon see if it's gold or base.

    - Hanshan

    Last edited by Myosha; 10-15-2014 at 05:04 PM.
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  24. #74
    Exposure

    Seamus Heaney

    It is December in Wicklow:
    Alders dripping, birches
    Inheriting the last light,
    The ash tree cold to look at.

    A comet that was lost
    Should be visible at sunset,
    Those million tons of light
    Like a glimmer of haws and rose-hips,

    And I sometimes see a falling star.
    If I could come on meteorite!
    Instead I walk through damp leaves,
    Husks, the spent flukes of autumn,

    Imagining a hero
    On some muddy compound,
    His gift like a slingstone
    Whirled for the desperate.

    How did I end up like this?
    I often think of my friends'
    Beautiful prismatic counselling
    And the anvil brains of some who hate me

    As I sit weighing and weighing
    My responsible tristia.
    For what? For the ear? For the people?
    For what is said behind-backs?

    Rain comes down through the alders,
    Its low conductive voices
    Mutter about let-downs and erosions
    And yet each drop recalls

    The diamond absolutes.
    I am neither internee nor informer;
    An inner йmigrй, grown long-haired
    And thoughtful; a wood-kerne

    Escaped from the massacre,
    Taking protective colouring
    From bole and bark, feeling
    Every wind that blows;

    Who, blowing up these sparks
    For their meagre heat, have missed
    The once-in-a-lifetime portent,
    The comet's pulsing rose.

  25. #75
    Venerable Vimalakirti says,

    A bodhisattva should regard all living beings as a wise man
    Regards the reflection of the moon in water,
    As magicians regard men created by magic.
    As being like a face in a mirror,
    like the water of a mirage;
    like the sound of an echo;
    like a mass of clouds in the sky;
    like the appearance and disappearance of a bubble of water;
    like the core of a plantain tree;
    like a flash of lightning;
    like the appearance of matter in an immaterial realm;
    like a sprout from a rotten seed;
    like tortoise-hair coat;
    like the fun of games for one who wishes to die...

    - Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  26. #76
    O snail
    Climb Mount Fuji,
    But slowly, slowly!

    - Kobayashi Issa

    -----------------------------

    From the white dewdrops,
    Learn the way
    To the pure land.

    - Kobayashi Issa



    Gassho
    Bobby
    Sat Today
    Last edited by Kaiku; 11-06-2014 at 03:15 AM.
    Just Sit

  27. #77
    Children, I implore you
    get out of the burning house now.
    Three carts await outside
    to save you from a homeless life.
    Relax in the village square,
    everything's empty.
    No direction is better or worse,
    East just as good as West.
    Those who know the meaning of this
    are free to go where they want.


    Eyes to hear, ears to see.^^
    Last edited by Myosha; 11-20-2014 at 12:57 AM.
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  28. #78
    The Sun Will Shine


    The sun will shine tomorrow
    The rain will somehow end
    This is not only a promise
    It’s just the way it is


    Bad times don’t last forever
    The tough times they never stay
    The heartache and the let down
    Will soon go away


    In times of deep sadness
    The pain is all too real
    And it’s hard to believe
    That with time the hurt will heal


    The dark clouds that hang above
    Will eventually move on
    And the storms that dance around
    Will soon be gone


    Stay strong and keep in mind
    That again, the sun will shine

    -Unknown
    Just Sit

  29. #79
    Nindo
    Guest

    Good to have you back, Bobby.
    Stay strong.

    Gassho
    Nindo

  30. #80
    Mp
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Nindo View Post

    Good to have you back, Bobby.
    Stay strong.

    Gassho
    Nindo
    I second that Bobby ... always enjoy your company! =)

    Gassho
    Shingen

    SatToday

  31. #81
    Well versed in the Buddha way,
    I go the non-Way
    Without abandoning my
    Ordinary person's affairs.

    The conditioned and
    Name-and-form,
    All are flowers in the sky.

    Nameless and formless,
    I leave birth-and-death.
    Layman P'ang
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  32. #82
    with nowhere to go

    from the deep below

    great joy resurfaces


    What goes down must come up. Hang in there Bobby.

    Gassho, Jishin, _/st\_








    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  33. #83
    Quote Originally Posted by Bobby View Post
    The Sun Will Shine


    The sun will shine tomorrow
    The rain will somehow end
    This is not only a promise
    It’s just the way it is


    Bad times don’t last forever
    The tough times they never stay
    The heartache and the let down
    Will soon go away


    In times of deep sadness
    The pain is all too real
    And it’s hard to believe
    That with time the hurt will heal


    The dark clouds that hang above
    Will eventually move on
    And the storms that dance around
    Will soon be gone


    Stay strong and keep in mind
    That again, the sun will shine

    -Unknown
    Inspirational, Thank you Bobby.


    ..sat2day•

  34. #84
    And the end of one's exploring will be
    to arrive where we started.
    And know the place
    for the first time.

    T.S. Eliot
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

  35. #85
    A fence of gnarled wood
    Inside nor outside is kept
    It's just an old fence


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    Ongen (音源) - Sound Source

  36. #86
    Face a direction
    Doesn't matter which way traveled
    Closer to destination.
    Only Journey.
    Just Sit

  37. #87
    In a moonlit night on a spring day,
    The croak of a frog
    Pierces through the whole cosmos and turns it into
    a single family!

    Chang Chiu-ch'en
    "Recognize suffering, remove suffering." - Shakyamuni Buddha when asked, "Uhm . . .what?"

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