Zen Poetry

 Buddha preached in the twelve divisions,                each division full of purest truth.                East wind -- rain comes in the night,                making all the forest fresh and new.                No sutra that does not save the living,                no branch in the forest not visited by spring.                Learn to understand the meaning in them,                don't try to decide which is "valid," which is not.
                                      -    Ryokan, 1758-1851
                                            Ryokan: Zen Monk - Poet of Japan,