zen and poetry
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If possible,
I would appreciate very much if readers of the newsgroup that are aware
of rare and not so rare zen poetry would kindly post some links
'google' one could reply of course, and yes, there is much to be found
by googling, but also much to miss.
also terminology would be appreciated, what rules are used, if any, and
such.
i am fed up with reason for the moment so i thirst for poetry.
P.
Julianlzb87
Seek out the writings of R. H. Blyth.... such as
Haiku Vol. 1: Eastern Culture, and volumes on Sennryu(?)
and visit www pages such as http://www.gardendigest.com/zen/links.htm
meanwhile, I will retrieve some from my archive and post them here.
A few to be getting on with...
If at the end of the journey
there's to be no final resting place
How can there be a way
to lose ourselves in.
Shakyamuni,
that mischievous creature
having appeared in the world
misled, alas, how many people!
Tell a lie and you fall into hell
then what will happen to Buddha
who contrived
things that do not exist?
If the sins we commit
are as great as Mount Sumeru
but there will be no room for them
in the records of Emma
Shaka, and Amida too
were originally human beings
Have I not also
the form of a man?
h
yrun
Julianlzb87
Anders Honoré
Stumper
Good site!
Any chance of making
the background image bigger
or tile properly
or removed?
Anders Honoré
The whole website is in need of a serious update, concentwise and more.
reckon I'll give it a new and fresher layout when I get around to working
on it. it views just fine in 800x600, but it's been a few years since that
was standard resolution.
Stumper
Thanks,
for everything.
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this is where i have lifted most of my reading about buddhism from
already.which isnt much btw., but then i lost the link
beautiful.
now i got some sutras to read as well. especially the lotus sutra since
its so much fuzz about it here.
thank you.
Stumper
Don't.
Unless you are familiar with these:
The Heart Sutra.
The Diamond Sutra.
The Platform Sutra.
At the least.
http://www.thuvienhoasen.org/index-english-2.htm
_cloud
humans in content. just found out now
nature without man being the haikus domain. got a lot to learn again so
thank you for posting this.
btw. in another post you replied to something i said about ' dont
forget to focus on the lotus' but it was addressed to Evelyn that was
about to forget when speaking about the louts sutra. i get confused at
times.
but thank you for kind reply both there and here
much appreciated.
Julianlzb87
As promised...
(Excuse my tardiness, but I'm sure you'll forgive me when you read these...
many of them are sensational...)
All day and night
I hunger for truth
But in the morning
I hunger for breakfast
Verses of Ikkyu
(1394-1481)
I Hate Incense
A master’s handiwork cannot be measured
But still priests wag their tongues explaining the “Way” and babbling about “Zen.”
This old monk has never cared for false piety
And my nose wrinkles at the dark smell of incense before the Buddha.
A Fisherman
Studying texts and stiff meditation can make you lose your Original Mind.
A solitary tune by a fisherman, though, can be an invaluable treasure.
Dusk rain on the river, the moon peeking in and out of the clouds;
Elegant beyond words, he chants his songs night after night.
My Hovel
The world before my eyes is wan and wasted, just like me.
The earth is decrepit, the sky stormy, all the grass withered.
No spring breeze even at this late date,
Just winter clouds swallowing up my tiny reed hut.
A Meal of Fresh Octopus
Lots of arms, just like Kannon the Goddess;
Sacrificed for me, garnished with citron, I revere it so!
The taste of the sea, just divine!
Sorry, Buddha, this is another precept I just cannot keep.
Exhausted with gay pleasures, I embrace my wife.
The narrow path of asceticism is not for me:
My mind runs in the opposite direction.
It is easy to be glib about Zen -- I’ll just keep my mouth shut
And rely on love play all the day long.
It is nice to get a glimpse of a lady bathing --
You scrubbed your flower face and cleansed your lovely body
While this old monk sat in the hot water,
Feeling more blessed than even the emperor of China!
To Lady Mori with Deepest Gratitude and Thanks
The tree was barren of leaves but you brought a new spring.
Long green sprouts, verdant flowers, fresh promise.
Mori, if I ever forget my profound gratitude to you,
Let me burn in hell forever.
(Mori was a blind minstrel, and Ikkyu’s young mistress)
Ikkyu this body isn't yours I say to myself
wherever I am I'm there
ten fussy days running this temple all red tape
look me up if you want to in the bar whorehouse fish market
nature's a killer I won't sing to it
I hold my breath and listen to the dead singing under the grass
suddenly nothing but grief
so I put on my father's old ripped raincoat
when I was forty-seven everybody came to see me
so I walked out forever
my monk friend has a weird endearing habit
he weaves sandals and leaves them secretly by the roadside
a crazy lecher shuttling back and forth between whorehouse and bar
this past master paints south north east west with his cock
no nothing only those wintry crows
bright black in the sun
peace isn't luck for six years stand facing a silent wall
until the you of your face melts like a candle
don't hesitate get laid that's wisdom
sitting around chanting what crap
life's like climbing knife-tree hills with swords sticking up
day and night something stabs you
we live in a cage of light an incredible cage
animals animals without end
sick of it whatever it's called sick of the names
I dedicate every pore to what's here
inside the koan clear mind
gashes the great darkness
ten years of whorehouse joy I'm alone now in the mountains
the pines are like a jail the wind scratches my skin
the wise know nothing at all
well maybe one song
men are like cows horses fuck poetry
look at your hand read it
I woke from a dream of death to day's amazing
death grass death rice death chairs death death asleep or
awake
no words sitting alone night in my hut eyes closed hands open
wisps of an unknown face
my death? who was it anyway always where he was never
no not once ever seeing himself an eyeball speaks
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
my gray cat jumped up just as I lifted this spoon
we're born we die
if there's nowhere to rest at the end
how can I get lost along the way?
that stone Buddha deserves all the birdshit it gets
I wave my skinny arms like a tall flower in the wind
I won't die I won't go away I'll always be here
no good asking me I won't speak
only a kind deadly sincere man
can show you the way here in the other world
melons eggplants rice rivers the sky
I offer them to you on this holiday
oh yes things exist like the echo when you yell at the foot of a
huge mountain
hear the cruel no-answer until blood drips down
beat your head against the wall of it
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
go down on your silly knees pray
for what? tomorrow is yesterday
I found my sparrow Sonrin dead one morning
and buried him just as gently as I would my own daughter
I hate it I know it's nothing but I
suck out the world's sweet juicy plum
why is it all so beautiful this fake dream
this craziness why?
it's logical: if you are not going anywhere
any road is the right one
know nothing I know nothing nobody does can you face me
and know nothing know
stare at it until your eyes drop out
this desk this wall this unreal page
only one koan matters
you
you stand inside me naked infinite love
the dawn bell rips my dreaming heart
we're lost where the mind can't find us
utterly lost
Julianlzb87
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it is very close...
dont know whether to cry
or laugh
thank you very much
_cloud
nice link. thanks., but why should i not read the Lotus Sutra until I
am familiar with the other Sutras you mention? will I blow up if I do?
_cloud
well. i read some of the intro. and since you havent replied i take it
i will blow up if i read the actual sutra, so i peeped at the intro.
hope that is ok. i found this though:
"There was the nun Mahaprajapati with her six thousand followers. And
there was Rahula's mother, the nun Yashodhara, with her followers."
Now. I would very much like to know moore about these two woman if
possible. If i cant read the sutra to find out whether there is moore
about them inside it or not, so i would appreciate it if you could tell
me. I am curious actually.
P.
Stumper
At best, you will be wasting your time.
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Julianlzb87
You will have "read" all the Sutras.
"The sutras which came before the Lotus Sutra taught that all phenomena derive from one's
mind. The mind is like the earth, and phenomena are like the plants growing in the earth.
But the Lotus Sutra teaches that the mind is one with the earth and the earth is one with
its plants. The provisional sutras say that a tranquil mind is like the moon and a pure
heart is like a flower, but the Lotus Sutra states that the flower and moon are themselves
heart and mind. Therefore, it is obvious that rice is not merely rice but life itself."
From A gift of Rice, Sun Lotus.
Julianlzb87