Tag Archives: zen poem

these two tears

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Fresh moss covers
the stone bed;
how many springtimes
was it the Master’s?

His profile in meditation
has been sketched;
but the body of the meditator
has been burned.

Snow in the pines
has closed the pagoda courtyard;
dust settles in the lock
on the sutra library.

I chide myself
for these two tears –
a man who hasn’t grasped
the empty nature of all things.

Mourning the Death of Ch’an Master Po-Yen

from When I Find You Again It Will Be In Mountains – Selected Poems of Chia Tao

translated by Mike O’Connor 

tim the sheep

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Sorry I’m late on the Friday poem but I can’t find anything that actually says anything deep and meaningful about the Five Hindrances.  “Drop the Drama and get on with it” themes just don’t come penned by Mary Oliver or Wendell Berry.  And I’m packing for the rapture tomorrow anyway!  So, this is the best I can do:

I’ve probably violated some copyright thing but since Tim is on Tumblr anyway, I doubt it!

Have a great weekend and enjoy being uplifted in whatever manner it happens!

buddha67

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Unfettered at last, a traveling monk,
I pass the old Zen barrier.
Mine is a traceless stream-and-cloud life,
Of these mountains, which shall be my home?

                   –    Manan   (1591-1654)
                         The Penguin Book of Zen Poetry
                        Translated by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto

Rest Well Robert Aitken Roshi June 19, 1917 – August 5, 2010