Zen Poems and Haiku - A selection from a 'non-zennist'

SOME CLASSICS Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, The moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky Are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass. Dogen Those who see worldly life as an obstacle to Dharma see no Dharma in everyday actions. They have not yet discovered that there are no everyday actions outside of Dharma. Dogen
It is as though you have an eye That sees all forms But does not see itself. This is how your mind is. Its light penetrates everywhere And engulfs everything, So why does it not know itself? Foyan

Who is hearing? Your physical being doesn't hear, or does the !oid" #hen $hat does? Stri!e to %ind out" &ut aside your rational Intellect, 'i!e up all techni(ues" )ust get rid o% the notion o% sel%" Bassui

What is this *ind? Who is hearing these sounds? +o not *ista,e any state %or Sel%-reali.ation, but continue #o as, yoursel% e!en *ore intensely, What is it that hears? Bassui

/e$ people belie!e their Inherent *ind is 0uddha" Most $ill not ta,e this seriously, And there%ore are cra*ped" #hey are $rapped up in illusions, cra!ings, 1esent*ents, and other a%%lictions, All because they lo!e the ca!e o% ignorance" Fenyang

Hell is not punishment, it's training. Shunryu Suzuki

The most important thing is to find out what is the most important thing. Shunryu Suzuki If you want to be free, Get to know your real self. It has no form, no appearance, o root, no basis, no abode, !ut is lively and buoyant. It responds with versatile facility, !ut its function cannot be located. Therefore when you look for it, "ou become further from it# $hen you seek it, "ou turn away from it all the more. % &in'i

Well !ersed in the 0uddha $ay, I go the non-Way Without abandoning *y Ordinary person's a%%airs" #he conditioned and a*e-and-%or*, All are %lo$ers in the s,y" a*eless and %or*less, I lea!e birth-and-death" Layman P'ang (740-808)

Where beauty is, then there is ugliness; where right is, also there is wrong. Knowledge and ignorance are interdependent; delusion and enlightenment condition each other. ince olden times it has been so. !ow could it be otherwise now" Wanting to get rid of one and grab the other is merely realizing a scene of

#hough $ thin% not #o thin% about it, $ do thin% about it And shed tears #hin%ing about it. (yokan

obly, the great priest deposits his daily stool in blea, $inter %ields Buson

The monkey is reaching )or the moon in the water. *ntil death overtakes him +e,ll never give up. If he,d let go the branch and

stupidity. &'en if you spea% of the wonder of it all, how do you deal with each thing changing" %(yokan% )ood and clothes sustain !ody and life# I advise you to learn !eing as is. $hen it,s time, I move my hermitage and go, And there,s nothing To be left behind. (ayman )'ang Loo, %or 0uddha outside your o$n *ind, and 0uddha beco*es the de!il" Dogen Disappear in the deep pool, The whole world would shine $ith da--ling pureness. !a%uin

A $orld o% de$, and $ithin e!ery de$drop a $orld o% struggle Issa

.ld pond, frog 'umps in % splash *asho

E!en though I'* in 2yoto, $hen the ,oo,oo cries, I long %or 2yoto" Issa

The past is already past. Don,t try to regain it. The present does not stay. Don,t try to touch it. )rom moment to moment. The future has not come# Don,t think about it !eforehand. $hatever comes to the eye, &eave it be. There are no commandments To be kept# There,s no filth to be cleansed. $ith empty mind really /enetrated, the dharmas +ave no life. $hen you can be like this, "ou,ve completed The ultimate attainment. (ayman )'ang +,-.-/./0 How re u!"an" y "#e $ee emerges %rom dee& wi"#in "#e &eony 0asho

Just stop your wandering, Look penetratingly into your inherent nature, And, concentrating your spiritual energy, Sit in zazen And break through. Bassui Cast off what has been realized. Turn back to the subject That realizes To the root botto And resolutely !o on. Bassui Look directly" #hat is this$ Look in this anner And you won%t be fooled" Bassui

0. E1perience 2han3 It,s not mysterious. As I see it, it boils down to cause and effect.

Good and evil have no self nature# .utside the mind there is no Dharma +oly and unholy are empty names# 4o how can anybody speak of a heaven In front of the door is the land of stillness and beyond5 8uiet# 4pring comes, grass grows by itself. 6. E1perience 2han3 It,s not a field of 1aster eung ahn learning. !owe'er deep your &earning adds things that can be researched Knowledge of the scriptures, and discussed. $t is no more than a strand of hair The feel of impressions can,t be $n the 'astness of space; communicated. !owe'er important appears Enlightenment is the only medium of 2our worldly e3perience, transmission. $t is but a drop of water in a deep ra'ine. 7. E1perience 2han3 It,s not a lot of 8uestions. Too many 8uestions is the 2han disease. Tokusan

If you have never taken The principles of the teachings to heart, "ou have no basis 9. E1perience 2han3 It,s not the teachings of )or awakening to the hidden path. disciples. Kuei-shan (ing-yu 4uch speakers are guests from outside the $hether you are going or staying or sitting or gate. lying down, The 2han which you are hankering to speak the whole world is your own self. about "ou must find out .nly talks about turtles turning into fish. whether the mountains, rivers, grass, and forests :. E1perience 2han3 It can,t be described. e1ist in your own mind or e1ist outside it. $hen you describe it you miss the point. Analy-e the ten thousand things, $hen you discover that your proofs are dissect them minutely, without substance and when you take this to the limit "ou,ll reali-e that words are nothing but you will come to the limitless, dust. when you search into it you come to the end of search, ;. E1perience 2han3 It,s e1periencing your where thinking goes no further and own nature3 distinctions vanish. Going with the flow everywhere and $hen you smash the citadel of doubt, always. then the !uddha is simply yourself. $hen you don,t fake it and waste time Dai%a%u trying to rub and polish it, "our .riginal 4elf will always shine through brighter than bright. <. E1perience 2han3 It,s like harvesting treasures. !ut donate them to others. "ou won,t need them. 4uddenly everything will appear before you, Altogether complete and altogether done. =. E1perience 2han3 !ecome a follower who when accepted &earns how to give up his life and his death. Grasping this carefully he comes to see clearly. And then he laughs till he topples the 2old >ountain ascetics.

The best way is 'ust to observe the noise of the world. The answer to your 8uestions5 Ask your own heart.

$hen mortals are alive, they worry about death. $hen they,re full, they worry about hunger. Theirs is the Great *ncertainty. !ut sages don,t consider the past. And they don,t worry about the future. or do they cling to the present. And from moment to moment they follow the $ay. *odhidharma

?. E1perience 2han3 It,ll re8uire great skepticism# !ut great skepticism blocks those detours on the road. @ump off the lofty peaks of mystery. Turn your heaven and earth inside out. 0A. E1perience 2han3 Ignore that superstitious nonsense That makes some claim that they,ve attained 2han. )oolish beliefs are those of the not%yet% awakened. And they,re the ones who most need the e1perience of 2han3 00. E1perience 2han3 There,s neither All sentient beings are essentially !uddhas. As with water and ice, there is no ice without water# apart from sentient beings, there are no !uddhas. ot knowing how close the truth is, we seek it far away %%what a pity3 !a%uin &%a%u 4en5i O#-SO CLASSICAL

ot believing in anything I 'ust sit, listening to my breathing After thirty years It still goes in and out. Albert 6oelho $hen you hear your inner voice, forget it. !yoen ahn in one gust the last leaf decidesB gone :obert !enry )oulin

.ne step A hundred crickets @ump 7erry A (e'y

Adding father,s name to the family tombstone with room for my own. 8icholas 9irgilio

first on a track night spider webs catch my face 2ao ;eng +#asmania0 troubled night no resting place for my thoughts )hil Adams &ook3 The beggar,s shouting fingers find no listener,s eye. <wen *ur%hart

!rown mimosa seed where blossoms once invited hummingbirds to feed. &thel ;reeman

loud $indo$ thud in *y cupped hand the little bird dies 'ao Feng ((asmania)

Empty morning streets 2old path to the castle 2astle colder still pierre-=>aol.com

bang3 robin %eathers stuc, to the %rosty $indo$ -- 4ust the cat's tail *o!es r#a#n)u*was#ing"on*edu

SOME O/ MY OW 5E

IS6 A##EM&#S

A cross%legged monk 4ilent awareness A battle for peace.

The cry of a child The cry of an ambulance The cry of a newborn. A dinner with friends (o'e, laughter and trust Du%%ha disguised.

$ am so tiny #he ?ni'erse so endless All my creation

'e ow young s&ring +ky %u o% #o&e Fu"ure won'" !ome* Fren,y o% inse!"s Hea" o% our s"ar (#e &as" #as disso -ed* .ed #umid %ores" Lig#" rays in %og +#a""ering si en!e* B a!k naked "rees /#i"e "o&&ing o% snow 0 &er%e!" year gone* !uddha is dead ot even born# &ight without darkness.

Grasping attachment, Insisting on trouble: My life as a fool. Grasping a Path, Insisting on my view: My life as a fool. Grasping, Insisting: Fool.

4choolyard with children 4hameless screaming and fun $hen did I loose that5

Thundering silence 2olorful darkness $anting to be free

Dust from the mirror 2leansed with much care Gone is the mirror.

$ith metta to act $ith wisdom to be The struggle to end. Who a* I? A* I? A*? "

All is so *any All is but One one" owhere is here ever is now End of the tunnel o tunnel o me. A tree in the wind #he wind in a tree All in me.

Lin,s on Cen +aiku and moreB ,In the moonlight a worm... silently drills through a chestnut, % including a course how to make your own +aikus An Introduction to +aiku The Daily Cen site % good newsletter

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