...

Madness, the way they
gallop off to foreign shores!
Turning to the One Mind,
I find my Buddhahood,
Above self and others,
beyond coming and going.
This will remain when all else is gone.

- Tanzan (1819-1892)

Today I recite this gatha
Knowing that I am still
Far away from the Way.
It is like the sense of sight seeing itself
This kind of eye is not something I have.
There must be a person without any ears
Who can listen to these tongueless words.
In the split second of a finger snap,
My thousand kalpa karma will be washed away.

- Su Shih (1037-1101)

testing testing testing
one two three four

something is better than nothing
or so one might think

The water of the mind,
how clear it is!
Gazing at it,
the boundaries are invisible.
But as soon as even
a single thought arises,
ten thousand images crowd it.
Attach to them
and they become real,
be carried by them,
and it will be difficult
to return.
How painful to see a person
trapped in the ten-fold dimensions.

- Ryokan

The thoughts of the good friend
I've been waiting for
won't fade away

With age this secluded life suits me
Under a carefree cloud
in the shade of a crag
I make my bed

Waking from my afternoon nap
with three cups of tea
I view the thousand peaks
and push open the gate.

- Jakush-itsu (1290-1367)

I hear,
I know.
I see,
I remember.
I do,
I understand.

Confucius

meditate without ceasing
connect
empathize

I always wanted to go to East Cliff,
More years than I can remember,
Until today I just grabbed a vine
And started up.
Halfway up wind and a heavy mist closed in,
And the narrow path tugged at my shirt;
It was hard to get on.
The slippery mud under the moss
On the rocks gave way,
And I couldn't keep going.
So here I stay,
Under this cinnamon tree,
White clouds for my pillow,
I'll just take a nap.

- Han Shan

There is a road to emptiness;
Everyone arrives.
Those who arrive then realize
The excellence of their aim.
The mind ground does not grow
Useless plants and trees;
Naturally the body spontaneously
Radiates clear light.

- Foyan's teacher

When I was young, even though I had not attained the way, in my heart I knew these were extraordinary lines. But how about hearing sound and seeing form? They are both conceivable; how can they be inconceivable? Then when he talks about realization, he turns around and says, “It’s just like before you were enlightened.” Everything before enlightenment is conceivable; how can you see a realization? This man attained nonattainment; only when you reach the ultimate stage can you be like this. Only after ten years did I actually understand him.

- Foyan

The question clear,
The answer deep,
Each particle,
Each instant a reality,
A bird call shrills
Through mountain dawn:
Look where the old
Master sits, a rock, in Zen.

- Sodo (1841-1920)

I've had my fill
of all this nonsense.
This lofty verbiage
just grinds my grits.

Who cares what light
a moth might seek?
Wouldn't that be
the moth's own damn business?

Since Dharma is a nameless thing, one cannot reach it with words. Since it is a formless thing, one cannot touch it with mind. The very moment one tries to say anything, one loses one's original mind.

If one loses one's original mind, Buddha's flower-holding and Mahakasyapa's smile just become meaningless stories and finally become dead things.

For those who gain from the mind, not only the chatters in the marketplace become good teaching of Dharma but also the songs of the birds and the cries of the beasts ring real.

- Xishan (1520-1604)