Ryokan and Teishin
I love Ryokan's poetry. Used to be too simple and ordinary for me, but that's
exactly why I like it so much now. And because it's utterly truthful and immediate.
Ryokan was a monk who left his monastery after
a number of years, when the master died. He was offered to be the
dharma heir, but instead went on a pilgrimage wondering all over Japan.
In his 40s, he came back to his native village, and
spent the rest of his life there, living in a simple mountain hermitage.
He begged for food, meditated, danced at festivals,
drank rice wine, played games with local children and geishas,
and composed spontaneous poems brushed with beautiful
caligraphy. In his old age, he met a young nun named Teishin,
and they fell in love. They exchanged several poems.
Was it really you
I saw,
Or is this joy
I still feel
Only a dream? -Teishin
In this dream world
We doze
And talk of dreams -
Dream on, dream on,
As much as you wish. -Ryokan
Here with you
I could remain
For countless days and years,
Silent as the bright moon
We gazed at together. - Teishin
If your heart
Remains unchanged,
We will be bound as tightly
As an endless vine
For ages and ages. -Ryokan
After that, Teishin didn't get back to him for a while ;)
So he wrote:
Have you forgotten me
Or lost the path here?
Now I wait for you
All day, every day.
But you do not appear. -Ryokan
The moon, I'm sure,
Is shining brightly
High above the mountains,
But gloomy clouds
Shroud the peak in darnkess. -Teishin
You must rise above
The gloomy clouds
Covering the mountaintop.
Otherwise, how will you
Ever see the brightness? -Ryokan
Seems that they didn't see each other again for a while
after that, but when Ryokan was dying, Teishin came to be with him
at the moment of death. They again exchanged a few poems.
"When, when?" I sighed.
The one I longed for
Has finally come;
With her now,
I have all that I need. -Ryokan
We monastics are said
To overcome the realm
Of life and death -
Yet I cannot bear the
Sorrow of our parting. -Teishin
Everywhere you look
The crimson leaves
Scatter -
One by one,
Front and back. -Ryokan
And his last words were:
My legacy -
What will it be?
Flowers in spring,
The cuckoo in summer,
And the crimson maples
Of autumn...
exactly why I like it so much now. And because it's utterly truthful and immediate.
Ryokan was a monk who left his monastery after
a number of years, when the master died. He was offered to be the
dharma heir, but instead went on a pilgrimage wondering all over Japan.
In his 40s, he came back to his native village, and
spent the rest of his life there, living in a simple mountain hermitage.
He begged for food, meditated, danced at festivals,
drank rice wine, played games with local children and geishas,
and composed spontaneous poems brushed with beautiful
caligraphy. In his old age, he met a young nun named Teishin,
and they fell in love. They exchanged several poems.
Was it really you
I saw,
Or is this joy
I still feel
Only a dream? -Teishin
In this dream world
We doze
And talk of dreams -
Dream on, dream on,
As much as you wish. -Ryokan
Here with you
I could remain
For countless days and years,
Silent as the bright moon
We gazed at together. - Teishin
If your heart
Remains unchanged,
We will be bound as tightly
As an endless vine
For ages and ages. -Ryokan
After that, Teishin didn't get back to him for a while ;)
So he wrote:
Have you forgotten me
Or lost the path here?
Now I wait for you
All day, every day.
But you do not appear. -Ryokan
The moon, I'm sure,
Is shining brightly
High above the mountains,
But gloomy clouds
Shroud the peak in darnkess. -Teishin
You must rise above
The gloomy clouds
Covering the mountaintop.
Otherwise, how will you
Ever see the brightness? -Ryokan
Seems that they didn't see each other again for a while
after that, but when Ryokan was dying, Teishin came to be with him
at the moment of death. They again exchanged a few poems.
"When, when?" I sighed.
The one I longed for
Has finally come;
With her now,
I have all that I need. -Ryokan
We monastics are said
To overcome the realm
Of life and death -
Yet I cannot bear the
Sorrow of our parting. -Teishin
Everywhere you look
The crimson leaves
Scatter -
One by one,
Front and back. -Ryokan
And his last words were:
My legacy -
What will it be?
Flowers in spring,
The cuckoo in summer,
And the crimson maples
Of autumn...