There is nothing but this

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First days of spring - blue sky, bright sun. Everything is gradually becoming fresh and green. Carrying my bowl, I walk slowly to the village. The children, surprised to see me, Joyfully crowd about, bringing My begging trip to an end at the temple gate. I place my bowl on top of a white rock and Hang my sack from the branch of a tree. Here we play with the wild grasses and throw a ball. For a time, I play catch while the children sing; Then it is my turn. Playing like this, here and there, I have forgotten the time. Passers-by point and laugh at me, asking, "What is the reason for such foolishness?" No answer I give, only a deep bow; Even if I replied, they would not understand. Look around! There is nothing but this.

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~ Ryokan

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blending

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Ryokan's Hut 

located at the present day Gogo-an temple in Niigate prefecture Japan

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Blending with the wind, 

Snow falls; 

Blending with the snow, 

The wind blows. 

By the hearth 

I stretch out my legs, 

Idling my time away 

Confined in this hut. 

Counting the days, 

I find that February, too, 

Has come and gone 

Like a dream.

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~ Ryokan

from Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan

 translated by John Stevens




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I watch

.

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I watch people in the world 

Throw away their lives lusting after things, 

Never able to satisfy their desires, 

Falling into deeper despair 

And torturing themselves. 

Even if they get what they want 

How long will they be able to enjoy it? 

For one heavenly pleasure 

They suffer ten torments of hell, 

Binding themselves more firmly to the grindstone. 

Such people are like monkeys 

Frantically grasping for the moon in the water 

And then falling into a whirlpool. 

How endlessly those caught up in the floating world suffer. 

Despite myself, I fret over them all night 

And cannot staunch my flow of tears.

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~ Ryokan

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Born as Eizō Yamamoto  in the village of Izumozaki Japan, his poetry is often very simple and inspired by nature. He loved children, and sometimes forgot to beg for food because he was playing with the children of the nearby village. He refused to accept any position as a priest or even as a poet.

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transparent

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Like the little stream 

Making its way 

Through the mossy crevices 

I, too, quietly 

Turn clear and transparent.

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~ Daigu Ryokan (1758-1831)

from Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan

 translated by John Stevens

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abandon

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The rain has stopped,

the clouds have drifted away,

and the weather is clear again.

If your heart is pure,

then all things in your world are pure.

Abandon this fleeting world,

abandon yourself,

then the moon and the flowers

will guide you along the way.

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~ Ryokan

photo by  Hideyuki Katagiri

thanks to http://dhammanovice.tumblr.com/

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to my teacher

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An old grave hidden away at the foot of a deserted hill, 

Overrun with rank weeks growing unchecked year after year; 

There is no one left to tend the tomb, 

And only an occasional woodcutter passes by. 

Once I was his pupil, a youth with shaggy hair, 

Learning deeply from him by the Narrow River. 

One morning I set off on my solitary journey 

And the years passed between us in silence. 

Now I have returned to find him at rest here; 

How can I honor his departed spirit? 

I pour a dipper of pure water over his tombstone 

And offer a silent prayer. 

The sun suddenly disappears behind the hill 

And I’m enveloped by the roar of the wind in the pines. 

I try to pull myself away but cannot; 

A flood of tears soaks my sleeves.

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~ Ryokan

art by Thomas Wood

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If your hermitage is deep

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If your hermitage is deep in the mountains

surely the moon, flowers, and maple trees [momji]

will become your friends.

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Men of the world passing this way are few,

Dense grass conceals the door

All night in silence, a few woodchips burn slowly,

As I read the poems of the ancients.

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~ Ryokan

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quietly

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I sit quietly, listening to the falling leaves--

A lonely hut, a life of renunciation ...

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and

.

this hut of sticks,

flimsy as the world itself.

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~ Ryokan

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My hermitage

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My hermitage lies in a forest all around me,

Everything is thick and green

no one finds this place,

Only those who have lost their way.

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No news of the affairs of men

Only the occasional song of a woodcutter.

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A thousand peaks, ten thousand mountain streams

yet no signs of anyone.

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~ Ryokan

art by Cezanne

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transparent

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.

When all thoughts 

Are exhausted

I slip into the woods

And gather

A pile of shepherd's purse.

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Like the little stream

Making its way

Through the mossy crevices

I, too, quietly

Turn clear and transparent.

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~ Ryokan

photo by Jack Spencer

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at night

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at night,

deep in the mountains,

I breathe...

everything is still,

all thoughts emptied

into the night.

my robe has become

a garment of frost.

suddenly, above the

highest peak,

the full moon appears.

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~ Ryokan

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The flower invites the butterfly

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The flower invites the butterfly with no-mind;

The butterfly visits the flower with no-mind.

The flower opens, the butterfly comes;

The butterfly comes, the flower opens.

I don’t know others,

Others don’t know me.

By not-knowing 

we follow nature’s course

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~ Ryokan

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stop chasing so many things

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My hut lies in the middle of a dense forest;
Every year the green ivy grows long.
No news of the affairs of men,
Only the occasional song of the woodcutter.

The sun shines and I mend my robe.
When the moon comes out, I read Buddhist poems.
I have nothing to report my friends.
If you want to find the meaning, stop chasing so many things.

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~ Ryokan

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