Posts Tagged → death

when young there was a girl

lucien stryk on shinkichi takahashi

 

I hold a newspaper, reading.  

Suddenly my hands become cow ears,

Then turn into Pusan, the South Korean port.

 

Lying on a mat

Spread on the bankside stones,

I fell asleep.

But a willow leaf, breeze-stirred,

Brushed my ear.

I remained just as I was,

Near the murmurous water.

 

When young there was a girl

Who became a fish for me.

Whenever I wanted fish

Broiled in salt, I’d summon her.

She’d get down on her stomach

To be sun-cooked on the stones.

And she was always ready!

 

Alas, she no longer comes to me.

An old benighted drake, 

I hobble homeward.

But look, my drake feet become horse hoofs!

Now they drop off

And, stretching marvelously,

Become the tracks of the Tokaido Railway Line.

 

Shinkichi Takahashi

triumph of the sparrow

 

recognizing a teacher

elena kalis

 

Every instance 

of recognizing a teacher 

is an authorization of spiritual power. 

The most important one of these, and the only 

absolutely necessary one on the way to 

complete realization, is recognizing 

yourself as your own 

teacher. 

 

Wei wu Wei Ching, Chapter 44

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many try to usurp the style of zen


 

Nowadays many have

lost the old way, and many try to

usurp the style of zen, setting up their

own sects, keeping to cliches, and concocting

standardized formulas and slogans. Since they

themselves are not out of the rut, when they try

to help other people, it is like a rat going into

a hollow horn that grows narrower

and narrower until the rat is

trapped in a total

impasse.

 

Yuanwu

zen letters

 

let it go in all directions

 

When you hold on to something,

don’t let the smallest hair show. When you let go of

something, let it go in all directions. Meeting in heavy mist,

we turn out to be at the top of a thousand peaks.

Starting at the top of a thousand peaks we

turn out to be in heavy mist.

 

Today I am at Fuyuan Temple

inaugurating this hall and preaching the Dharma.

Yesterday I was outside my hut at Sky Lake ploughing in the clouds.

Thus it is said that the Dharma has no fixed shape but adapts to conditions.

It stirs the wind of perfect stillness and makes effortless

transformation possible. But at this moment,

what is it like?

 

Only after ninety thousand

miles does the P’eng unfold its wings.

Only after a thousand miles does

the crane take flight.

 

Shih-wu, or Stonehouse

Red Pine’s “The Zen Works of Stonehouse”

hard copy @ amazon