Bamboo and Plum Blossom

Bamboo and Plum Blossom

Bamboo and Plum Blossom

Bamboo and Plum Blossom
Bamboo and Plum Blossom

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Li Qingzhao (1084-1155)


To the Tune of LIKE A DREAM

I always remember the sunset
over the pavalion by the river.

So tipsy, we could not find our way home.

Our interest exhausted, the evening late,
we tried to turn the boat homeward.

By mistake, we entered deep within the lotus bed.

Row! Row the boat!

A flock of herons, frightened,
suddenly flew skyward.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Li Po (Li Bai-701-762)


Drinking Alone in the Moonlight
.

Beneath the blossoms with a pot of wine,
No friends at hand, so I poured alone;
I raised my cup to invite the moon,
Turned to my shadow, and we became three.
Now the moon had never learned about drinking,
And my shadow had merely followed my form,
But I quickly made friends with the moon and my shadow;
To find pleasure in life, make the most of the spring.

Whenever I sang, the moon swayed with me;
Whenever I danced, my shadow went wild.
Drinking, we shared our enjoyment together;
Drunk, then each went off on his own.
But forever agreed on dispassionate revels,
We promised to meet in the far Milky Way.

Li Po

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Chia Tao (779-843)


The Last Night of the Third Month

Third month, the thirtieth day:
the season takes leave of a hard-working poet.
You and I must not sleep tonight-
till we hear the bells of dawn, it is still spring!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Han Shan (c. 750)


Once, my back wedded to the solid cliff,
I sat silently, bathed in the full moon's light.

I counted there ten thousand shapes,
None with substance save the moon's own glow.

The pristine mind is empty as the moon,
I thought, and like the moon, freely shines.

By what I knew of moon I knew the mind,
Each mirror to each, profound as stone.

- Han Shan, 750

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1857)



Use the time of your life.
Develop your inner happiness.
Recognize the impermanence
of all outer pleasure.

Live as a Yogi
Do your spiritual practices.
Work as a Bodhisattva
for a happy world.

Become an Amitabha
a Buddha of love and light.
Turn your world into the paradise Sukhavati,
by unfolding the enlightenment energy within you.

Search you a spiritual master,
who knows the goal of enlightenment.
Change your world into a place of grace,
by understanding all the phenomena as spiritual exercises.

Dedicate your actions to the benefit of all beings.
Send all beings light.
Live for the happiness of all beings.
So you get the energy of light.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Ikkyu Sojun (1394-1481)


sick of it whatever it's called sick of the names
I dedicate every pore to what's here

a well nobody dug filled with no water
ripples and a shapeless weightless man drinks

oh green green willow wonderfully red flower
but I know the colors are not there

the mind is exactly this tree that grass
without thought or feeling both disappear

not two not one either
and the unpainted breeze in the ink painting feels cool

Ikkyu this body isn't yours I say to myself
wherever I am I'm there

Friday, May 25, 2012

Minamoto no Hitoshi (880-951)


Bamboo growing
Among the tangled reeds
Like my hidden love:
But it is too much to bear
That I still love her so.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Ryokan (1758-1831)


The I Ching States Happiness Lies in the Proper Blend of:

Hot-cold
good-bad
black-white
beautiful-ugly
large-small
wisdom-foolishness
long-short
brightness-darkness
high-low
partial-whole
relaxation-quickness
increase-decrease
purity-filth
slow-fast.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Cui Hao (704-754)


Yellow Crane Tower
Cui Hào 704-754

The ancient one
flew off on his yellow crane,
Now this place is empty
only Yellow Crane Tower remains.
The Yellow Crane
once gone never returns,
White clouds for a thousand years
empty and remote.
Boats and Hanyang trees
reflect in clear water,
Lush vegetation thrives
on Parrot Shoal.
At dusk I ask for news of home,
These mist shrouded waters
heavy on my heart.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Hsu Yun (1840-1959)


STRONG FEELINGS REMEMBERING THE WAY IT WAS WHEN I FIRST STARTED OUT

For more than sixty years I've moved forward with my work.
It's time for a new direction: up!
I'm heading for the bright clouds at the mountain top.

The sword of my mind won't leave desires standing.
I'll hack to pieces those Three Mistaken Worlds
And with bare hands plough up perceptions' worthless weeds.

Life is a bitter ocean,
Yet drink it dry to find the Pearl of Heaven!
Don't worry about time and space
Smash the moon! It still comes back!
Cast your net into the sky
Both Phoenix and Dragon will fall into the web!
But walk alone...
The solitary soul can take whate'er fate brings.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Ikkyu Sojun (1394-1481)


the mind is exactly this tree that grass
without thought or feeling both disappear

not two not one either
and the unpainted breeze in the ink painting feels cool

Ikkyu this body isn't yours I say to myself
wherever I am I'm there

nature's a killer I won't sing to it
I hold my breath and listen to the dead singing under the grass

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Meng Haoran (689-740)


Listening to Cheng Yin Play His Qin
Meng Haoran 689-740

Another Juan Chi ripening wine's renown
in bamboo forests full of crystalline wind.

you sit half drunk, let down flowing sleeves
and sweep your dragon-rimedd qin clean.

Then it's a fresh tune for each cup of wine,
dusk's blaze sinking away unnoticed. Soon,

thoughts deep among rivers and mountains,
I hear this mind my former lives all share.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Lady Ukon


Though he forsook me,
For myself I do not care:
He made a promise,
And his life, who is forsworn,
Oh how pitiful that is.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Han Yu (768-824)


Spring Rain
Han Yu 768-824

A light rain
falls on Heaven's Way
stippled crystal,
Green grass
distant haze
indistinct.
Unexcelled
each year's spring,
Unsurpassed
willows in the mist.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Po Chu-i (772-846 )


AFTER GETTING DRUNK, BECOMING SOBER IN THE NIGHT




Our party scattered at yellow dusk and I came home to bed;

I woke at midnight and went for a walk, leaning heavily on a friend.

As I lay on my pillow my vinous complexion, soothed by sleep, grew sober;

In front of the tower the ocean moon, accompanying the tide, had risen.

The swallows, about to return to the beams, went back to roost again ;

The candle at my window, just going out, suddenly revived its light.

All the time till dawn came, still my thoughts were muddled ;

And in my ears something sounded like the music of flutes and strings.


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Ts'ai Ken T'an


Stretching the bow when the goose is not yet here;
Drawing the arrow when the rabbit is already dead.
Such is called inopportune timing.
Don't make wave when the wind has subsided;
Disembark as soon as the boat is ashore.
This is the proper way to act.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Li Po (Li Bai - 701-762)


I sat drinking and did not notice the dusk,
Till falling petals filled the folds of my dress.
Drunken I rose and walked to the moonlit stream;
The birds were gone, and men also few.

Monday, May 14, 2012

T'ao Ch'ien (365-427)


Drinking Alone In Continuous Rain


Destiny and life both have an ending;
From of old it has been so.
In this world there was a stately pine,
And where is it now?
An old friend gave me wine;
He said it would make me feel spritely.
I tried to drink it, and all my emotions soared.
I drank again to my heart's content,
Forgetting suddenly that there is a heaven.
Is heaven not also here?
Relying on my inner self, I stand before the universe.
Only the cloud crane has strange wings,
Returning in a wink of time.
I, alone, embracing this self,
Have muddled through for more than forty years.
The body has undergone much change,
But the heart lives on. What more can I say?

Tao Chien

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Du Fu (712-770)


Spring View
.
The country is broken, though hills and rivers remain,
In the city in spring, grass and trees are thick.
Moved by the moment, a flower's splashed with tears,
Mourning parting, a bird startles the heart.
The beacon fires have joined for three months now,
Family letters are worth ten thousand pieces.
I scratch my head, its white hairs growing thinner,
And barely able now to hold a hairpin.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Ikkyu Sojun (1394-1491)


Natural, reckless, correct skill;
Yesterday's clarity is today's stupidity
The universe has dark and light, entrust oneself to change
One time, shade the eyes and gaze afar at the road of heaven.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Fun'ya no Asayasu (9th-10th cent.)


In the autumn fields
When the heedless wind blows by
Over the pure-white dew,
How the myriad unstrung gems
Are scattered everywhere around


Thursday, May 10, 2012

Ge Xuan (164-244)


Climbing Tiantaishan
Ge Xuan 164-244

Towering towering peak over peak,
White mists in alpine valleys.
I bow my head, watch the waterfall,
Raise my hands to blue sky in awe.
Stone bridge suspended above the falls,
Wind blown spray drifts down.
No longer can I see the world's dust,
From time to time cranes swoop by.�


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Yuan Zhengzhen (c. 1200)


paddling the lake

to the tune of changxiangsi (long lovesickness)

by Yuan Zhengzhen

to the north
to the south
mountains loom in the clouds

these mountains, this lake,
this scene
as if painted

I pluck a lotus
for pleasure

paddling a red boat
west to east

no path to the one I miss

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Ryokan (1758-1831)


The winds have died, but flowers go on falling;
birds call, but silence penetrates each song.

The Mystery! Unknowable, unlearnable.
The virtue of Kannon.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Li Po (701-762)


Alone Looking at the Mountain


All the birds have flown up and gone;
A lonely cloud floats leisurely by.
We never tire of looking at each other -
Only the mountain and I.

Li Po

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Li Po (701-762)


Ballads Of Four Seasons: Spring


The lovely Lo Fo of the western land
Plucks mulberry leaves by the waterside.
Across the green boughs stretches out her white hand;
In golden sunshine her rosy robe is dyed.
'my silkworms are hungry, I cannot stay.
Tarry not with your five-horse cab, I pray.'

Li Po

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Kobayashi Issa (1783-1829)


the distant mountain's
blossoms cast their light...
east window

Friday, May 4, 2012

Kiyohara no Fukayabu (9th-10th cent.)


In the summer night
The evening still seems present,
But the dawn is here.
To what region of the clouds
Has the wandering moon come home?

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828)


In the cherry blossom's shade
there's no such thing
as a stranger.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Thich Nhat Hanh


Padmapani
.
Flowers in the sky.
Flowers on Earth.
Lotuses bloom as Buddha's eyelids.
Lotuses bloom in man's heart.
Holding gracefully a lotus in his hand,
the bodhisattva brings forth a universe of art.
In the meadows of the sky, stars have sprung up.
The smiling, fresh moon is already up.
The jade-colored trunk of a coconut tree
reaches across the late-night sky.

My mind, traveling in utmost emptiness,
catches suchness on its way home.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Ts'ai Ken Tan


A crane may seem superior among chickens,
but it will be dwarfed by the Great Peng bird over the ocean.
It is further miniaturized by the Phoenix surfing high in the unreachable space.
So a superior person always tries to be humble and empty.
The most cultivated usually refrains from being snobbish and aggressive.