...

Careful!
Even moonlit dewdrops,
If you're lured to watch,
Are a wall before the Truth.

- Sogyo (1667-1731)

~~~

even the warning signs warning about warning signs are a warning

NEW DAY
God bless everyone
no exceptions

When I fraternize with you wise friend
I forget my age
One evening, thought stirring
Body tired, fist for a pillow,
I saw you clearly in a dream
Near the hearth;
Listening to the snow
We were talking Zen.

- Jakush-i-tsu (1290-1367)

I sit in a rectangular room
on a chair with an iffy piston
I live in a flat land
there are no mountains
and snow is rare
we do have owls, though
thank you, rookie
(not saying you're an owl, btw)

A man with outward courage dares to die;
a man with inner courage dares to live.

― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

The Buddhas of all times and places preach the empty dharma with their empty bodies,
so as to enable empty beings to realize equally empty Buddhahood.

For this reason the Buddha declared,
"Even if there is something excelling nirvana, it is an empty dream."

- Ryoho (1305-1384)

Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are.
~ Bertolt Brecht
German Communist & dramatist (1898 - 1956)

Without a jot of ambition left
I let my nature flow where it will.
There are ten days of rice in my bag
And, by the hearth,
A bundle of firewood.
Who prattles of illusion or nirvana?
Forgetting the equal dusts of
Name or fortune,
Listening to the night rain
On the roof of my hut,
I sit at ease,
Both legs stretched out.

- Ryokan (1757-1831)

However difficult the cliff,
It's only after climbing
One's aware.
Leisurely I followed
Tathagata's footsteps.
Roaring below,
A tiger chilled the day.

- Mokusen (1847-1920)

Haiku Boy Forlorn

Women never understanding
Head hanging sadly Bereft
Devastated empty of soul.

James McLain

Firm on the seven Buddhas' cushion,
Center, center.
Here's the armrest
My master handed down.
Now, to it!
Head up, eyes straight,
Ears in line with shoulders.

- Dogen (1200-1253)

I've crossed the sea after Truth,
Knowledge, that snare, must be defied.
Here and there,
I've worn out heaps of sandals.
Now, moonlit water in the clear abyss.

- Kakua

This cold night bamboos stir,
Their sound—now harsh, now soft
Sweeps through the lattice window.
Though ear's no match for mind,
What need, by lamplight,
Of a single scripture leaf?

- Kido (1185-1269)

after a long rain
the trees are still dripping
the cat is sleeping
on a pile of clothes