Extract | Poems of the Japanese Zen Masters
Book Extracts
The Zen masters reveal some of the secrets of Zen practice through poetry.
The Western Patriarch's doctrine is transplanted!
I fish by moonlight, till on cloudy days.
Clean, clean! Not a worldly mote falls with the snow
As, cross-legged in this mountain hut, I sit the evening through.
DOGEN (1200-1253)
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Coming, going, the waterfowl
Leaves not a trace,
Nor does it need a guide.
DOGEN
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The all-meaning circle:
No in, no out;
No light, no shade.
Here all saints are born.
SHOICHI (1202-80)
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Clear in the blue, the moon!
Icy water to the horizon,
Defining high, low. Startled,
The dragon uncoils about the billows.
RYUZAN (1274-1358)
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Invaluable is the Soto Way —
Why be discipline s slave?
Snapping the golden chain,
Step boldly towards the sunset!
GASAN (1275-1365)
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(The Penguin Book of Zen Poetry ed. & tr. Lucien Stryk & Takshi Ikemoto pub. 1977)
