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Too much knowledge leads to overactivity;
Better to calm the mind.
The more you consider, the greater the loss;
Better to unify the mind.
Water dripping ceaselessly
Will fill the four seas.
Specks of dust not wiped away
Will become the five mountains.

~ Wang Ming (6th c.)

In the Ch’an perspective wisdom is a state
That is free from attachments,
Free from measurement,
Free from self-reference
And empty of vexation.

~ Sheng-yen

The real way circulates everywhere;
how could it require practice or enlightenment?
The essential teaching is fully available;
how could effort be necessary?
Furthermore, the entire mirror is free of dust;
why take steps to polish it?
Nothing is separate from this very place;
why journey away?

~ Dogen 1227

Waking from sleep,
I can hear the dew in the trees.
I open my door
Overlooking the garden.
The winter moon
Clears the eastern cliffs;
Water murmurs
Through roots of bamboo.
The mountain stream’s
Beyond my hearing,
But a mountain bird cries once,
And then again.
Leaning in the doorway,
I follow night through to dawn.
What words can I summon
For such mystery and peace?

~ Liu Tzung-yuan
(773-819)

Stop searching for phrases
and chasing after words.
Take the backward step
and turn the light inward.
Your body-mind of itself
will drop off
and your original face will appear.
If you want to attain just this,
immediately practice just this.

~ Dogen 1227



dammit dogen
just dammit

To find a buddha,
You have to see your nature.
Whoever sees his or her nature is a buddha.
If you don’t see your nature,
Invoking buddhas results in good karma.
Reciting sutras results in good memory.
Keeping precepts results in a good rebirth.
And making offerings results in future blessings.
But no buddha.

~ Bodhidharma (d. 533)

Long ago, the monk Good Star
Was able to recite the entire Canon,
But he didn’t escape the Wheel
Because he didn’t see his nature.
If this was the case for Good Star
Then people nowadays who recite a few sutras
Or shastras and think it's the Dharma
Are fools.
Unless you see your mind,
Reciting so much prose is useless.

~ Bodhidharma (d. 533)

In the mountains,
A monk’s robe hangs
In the meditation hall.
Outside the window,
No one’s to be seen,
Only birds skimming over the creek.
As I descend,
Dusk meets me halfway
Down the mountain road.
Still hearing the creek fall,
I hesitate, reluctant
To leave these blue heights.

~ Meng Hao-jan (689-740)

The truth is there’s nothing to find.
Life and death are important;
Don’t suffer them in vain.
There’s no advantage in deceiving yourself.
Even if you have mountains of jewels
And as many servants as there are
Grains of sand along the Ganges,
You see them when your eyes are open,
But what about when your eyes are shut?
You should realize that everything
You see is like a dream or illusion.

~ Bodhidharma (d. 533)

I saw you with your new friends
You wear them so well
Broken shoes and loose ends
Gee, you look swell
Me, I'm drinking too much coffee
And I'm smoking cigarettes
I'm a deputy of habit
I just can't forget

I'm only lonely when I'm driving in my car
I'm only lonely after dark
I'm only lonely when I watch my TV
I'm only lonely occasionally

I saw you with your envoy
A consenting adult
Technique in moderation
Vogue to the cult, mm
Me I've got my strangers
To exile in the night
I guess I'm just addicted
To the pain of delight

I'm only lonely when I'm driving in my car
I'm only lonely after dark
I'm only lonely when I watch my TV
I'm only lonely occasionally

~ Melissa Etheridge

Far up this cold mountain,
A steep rocky trail
Leads to places people dwell
In white clouds.
I stop my horse-drawn cart,
Sit and enjoy sunset through the maples,
Whose frosted leaves are redder
Than early spring flowers.

~ Tu Mu (803-852)

At a private gate,
A light snow falls;
Here the quietist’s aim
Is perfectly achieved.
Meditation proceeds
Through the day;
Only lone peaks
Compare in purity.
I’m at ease
In this insignificant dream;
Fir and bamboo
Stir in the cold.
There’s only one old man
On West Peak,
And when we meet,
His eyes shine clear.

~ Kuan Hsiu (832-912)

He stays in a thatched hut
In Ling Mountain Valley;
Studies diligently by oil lamp
The Odes and History.

In this still world without people,
His rustic door’s half shut;
Only white clouds go with him
Through the night.

~ Hsieh Ling-chih (8th c)

Oh Buddhas
Of unexcelled complete enlightenment,
Bestow your invisible aid
Upon this hut I open
On the mountain top.

~ Saicho (767-822)

"There must be some way out of here"
Said the joker to the thief
"There's too much confusion
I can't get no relief
Businessmen, they drink my wine
Plowmen dig my earth
None of them along the line
Know what any of it is worth"

"No reason to get excited"
The thief, he kindly spoke
"There are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I, we've been through that
And this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
The hour is getting late"

All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the women came and went
Barefoot servants too
Outside, in the distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
The wind began to howl

~ Bob Dylan