Bamboo and Plum Blossom

Bamboo and Plum Blossom

Bamboo and Plum Blossom

Bamboo and Plum Blossom
Bamboo and Plum Blossom

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Great Kammo Priestess Senshi (964-1035)





With a voice as vast as an ocean that sounds all sounds,
Producing numberless wondrous words,
I shall sing, through all the kalpas of time to come
In praise of the ocean of merit in the depths of the Buddha's heart.

Beyond thinking, beyond speaking,
these depths are still greater,
and neither my word nor my heart can plumb them.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Fen Yang



When you are deluded and full of doubt, even a thousand books of
scripture are not enough. When you have realized understanding,
even one word is too much.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Myoshi Roko Sherry Gayat (1990)



Before the mountain and by grace
of nature
I was allowed to realize "Oh!
I am only a child!"
Tendered by spruce and birds
I saw without my usual defenses
and endless thinking I know
anything or everything
coming between me
and creation.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Van Hanh (1018)



The body of man is like a flicker of lightning
existing only to return to Nothingness.
Like the spring growth that shrivels in autumn.
Waste no thought on the process for it has no purpose,
Coming and going like dew.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Saigyo (1118-1190)



Fishermen
by a rocky shore,
winds blowing wildly,
in a boat unmoored--
such is our condition.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Yaichi Aizu



I stand as though
only I am existing
in heaven and earth—
at this solitariness
Kannon, you are smiling. Coming stealthily,
who is it hitting the temple bell?
It is late at night
and time for even the Buddha
to go into dreaming.
In the Lord Buddha's
drowsy eyes
the ancient
country fields of Yamato
Have their hazy existence.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Hakuin



Should you desire great tranquility, prepare to sweat white beads.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Ikkyu



A Meal of Fresh Octopus

Lots of arms, just like Kannon the Goddess;
Sacrificed for me, garnished with citron, I revere it so!
The taste of the sea, just divine!
Sorry, Buddha, this is another precept I just cannot keep.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Kazuaki Tanahashi



If one becomes free of viewpoints, objects are no
longer experienced in terms of comparisons. The
timelessness of moments and the stillness of movements
further tranlsate to the sizelessness of objects.
In this realm, there is no concept of whole or part.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Chuang Tzu




.
One day Chuang-tzu and a friend
were walking along a riverbank.

"How delightfully the fishes are
enjoying themselves in the water!"
Chuang-tzu exclaimed.

"You are not a fish," his friend said.
"How do you know whether or not
the fishes are enjoying themselves?"

"You are not me," Chuang-tzu said.
"How do you know that I do not know
that the fishes are enjoying themselves?"

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Chuang Tzu



The torch of doubt and chaos, this is what the sage steers by.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Basho



An autumn night... don't think your life, didn't matter

Monday, July 19, 2010

Han Shan (circe 630)



Clambering up the Cold Mountain path,
The Cold Mountain trail goes on and on:
The long gorge choked with scree and boulders,
The wide creek, the mist-blurred grass.
The moss is slippery, though there's been no rain.
The pine sings, but there's no wind.
Who can leap the world's ties
And sit with me among the white clouds.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

An Abbot's Chamber



A priest all alone
taking a nap at midday-
beyond the eaves
of the abbot's chamber
the deep blueness of the sky.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Sosan Ganchi Zenji



The Perfect Way knows no difficulties
Except that it refuses to make preferences;
Only when freed from hate and love,
It reveals itself fully and without disguise;
A tenth of an inch's difference,
And heaven and earth are set apart;
If you wish to see it before your own eyes,
Have no fixed thoughts either for or against it.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Jito Tenno



THE spring has gone, the summer's come,
And I can just descry
The peak of Ama-no-kagu,
Where angels of the sky
Spread their white robes to dry.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Sun Bu-er, Zen-Taoist Priestess



The secret of the receptive
Must be sought in stillness;
Within stillness there remains
The potential for action.
If you force empty sitting,
Holding dead images in mind,
The tiger runs, the dragon flees --
How can the elixir be given?

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Wang Wei



Bamboo Grove Retreat
Wang Wei 699-759

Alone in secluded bamboo grove,
Picking my lute, whistling loudly.
Deep in a forest unknown to men,
Then the moon comes
shares its light with me.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Saigyo





Fishermen
by a rocky shore,
winds blowing wildly,
in a boat unmoored--
such is our condition.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Chuang Tzu



The Giant Peng Bird
.
In the Northern Sea there is a fish
Its name is Kun
The great size of Kun
We know not how many thousand leagues

Its name is Peng
The wingspan of Peng
We know not how many thousand leagues
It surges into flight.

Its wings are like the clouds that hang from the sky
This bird, when the ocean begins to heave
Will travel to the Southern Sea
The Southern Sea - the heavenly pond

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Shunyru Suzuki



Zen is not some kind of excitement,
but merely concentration on our usual everyday routine.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Kazuaki Tanahashi



If one becomes free of viewpoints, objects are no
longer experienced in terms of comparisons. The
timelessness of moments and the stillness of movements
further tranlsate to the sizelessness of objects.
In this realm, there is no concept of whole or part

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Yon Sun-do (1587-1671)



You ask how many friends I have? Water and stone, bamboo and
pine.The moon rising over the eastern hill is a joyful comrade.
Besides these five companions, what other pleasure should I ask?

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Meng Hao-jan



A Night On The River
.
Moored in island mist,
as the sun sets, a traveler's grief arises.

Beyond the great plain, the sky closes on trees.
On this gentle river, the moon arrives.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Tao Chien



I made my home amidst this human bustle,
Yet I hear no clamour from the carts and horses.
My friend, you ask me how this can be so?
A distant heart will tend towards like places.
From the eastern hedge, I pluck chrysanthemum flowers,
And idly look towards the southern hills.
The mountain air is beautiful day and night,
The birds fly back to roost with one another.
I know that this must have some deeper meaning,
I try to explain, but cannot find the words.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Fuyo Suga no Sadaharu, a hermit of Edo



There is shakuhachi as a Zen instrument,
and there is shakuhachi for entertainment.
The Zen instrument shakuhachi is emptiness.
The shakuhachi for entertainment is form.

If you are concerned with form,
then you must not break the traditional rules.
But if you concentrate on emptiness,
then you should not be attached to the old ways.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Huanchou Daoren



Calm in quietude is not real calm;
when you can be calm in the midst of activity,
this is the true state of nature.
Happiness in comfort is not real happiness;
when you can be happy in the midst of hardship,
then you see the true potential of the mind.

Zengrtsu



.
Mind, mind, mind -- above the Path.
Here on my mountain, gray hair down,
I cherish bamboo sprouts, brush carefully
By pine twigs. Burning incense,
I open a book: mist over flagstones.
Rolling the blind, I contemplate:
Moon in the pond. Of my old friends
How many know the Way

Friday, July 2, 2010

Li Bai



Ballad of Heaven
.
The River of Heaven wheels round at night
Drifting the circling stars,
At Silver Bank, the floating clouds
Mimic the murmur of water.
By the Palace of Jade the cassia blossoms
Have not yet fallen,
Fairy maidens gather their fragrance
For their dangling girdle-sachets.

The Princess from Ch’in rolls up her blinds,
Dawn at the north casement.
In front of the window, a planted kola nut
Dwarfs the blue phoenix.
The King’s son plays his pipes
Long as goose quills,
Summoning dragons to plough the mist
And plant Jade Grass.

Sashes of pink as clouds at dawn
Skirts of lotus-root silk,
They walk on Blue Island, gathering
Fresh orchids in spring.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Chauang Tzu



"The perfect man has no self;
the spiritual man has no achievement;
the sage has no name."