English version by Gabriel Rosenstock ( Read more... )

When all thoughts
Are exhausted
I slip into the woods
And gather
A pile of shepherd's purse.

Like the little stream
Making its way
Through the mossy crevices
I, too, quietly
Turn clear and transparent.

-- from Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan, Translated by John Stevens
Poetry Chaikhana | Ryokan - When all thoughts

"......Monks are not thought of very highly in Omaha, or in any other part of America. In the words of the Catholic monk Thomas Merton, "In a materialistic culture which is fundamentally irreligious, the monk is incomprehensible because he ‘produces nothing.’ His life appears to be completely useless."......"

Ryokan (1758?-1831)

( Today the featured poet on poetru-chaikhana is Zen master Ryokan. Read more... )

( Trigger for spiritual and social exaggeration,,,,Read more... )

One of the CNAs (Certified Nurses Assistants) who gave compassionate care during my recent brief hospital stay is a Japanese woman who name (transliterated into English ) is one letter off from that of one of my favorite Zen poets.(favored more for his own compassion than for his poetry)   As i waited to be wheeled out of the hospital i suggested ( Read more... )

The winds have died, but flowers go on falling;
birds call, but silence penetrates each song.

The Mystery! Unknowable, unlearnable.
The virtue of Kannon.
Ryokan: The winds have died, but flowers go on falling;

Ryokan: The I Ching States Happiness Lies in the Proper Blend of:

You do not need many things - Poet Seers

Ryokan: You stop to point at the moon in the skyRyokan's poems do not "grab" me like many do, but I like them; and they are full of imagery and metaphor from nature, flowers, grasses, trees, rocks, water, and especially, the moon ( Read more... )