Art and Poems

Mind itself is buddha. Practice is difficult. Explanation is not difficult. Not-mind. Not-buddha. Explanation is difficult. Practice is not difficult. ~ Dogen     From Chinese-style poems, translated by Philip

Colors of the mountains, Streams in the valleys; One in all, all in one, The voice and body of Our Sakyamuni Buddha. ~ Dogen   Text from The Zen Poetry

For so long here without worldly attachments, I have renounced literature and writing; I may be a monk in a mountain temple, Yet still moved in seeing gorgeous blossoms Scattered

Everyone admires A graceful horse Galloping past the streaming sunlight, But few realize that this fleeting image Is itself the way of Dharma. ~ Dogen Text from The Zen Poetry

  Seeking the way Amid the deepest mountain paths The retreat I find None other than My primordial home: satori! ~ Dogen   Text from The Zen Poetry of Dogen

Transmitting to the east the way the ancestors brought from the west, My daily activities illuminated by the moon and shadowed by the clouds, Because I revere the ancient way

Treading along in this dreamlike, illusory realm, Without looking for the traces I may have left; A cuckoo’s song beckons me to return home, Hearing this, I tilt my head