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Zen poem for the week


Del Nilppeznaf

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No Water, No Moon

 

 

 

 

When the nun Chiyono studied Zen under Bukko of Engaku she was unable to attain the fruits of meditation for a long time.

 

At last one moonlit night she was carrying water in an old pail bound with bamboo. The bamboo broke and the bottom fell out of the pail, and at that moment Chiyono was set free!

 

In commemoration, she wrote a poem:

 

In this way and that I tried to save the old pail

 

Since the bamboo strip was weakening and about

 

to break

 

Until at last the bottom fell out.

 

No more water in the pail!

 

No more moon in the water!

 

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Oouh yeah, been reading those since a young man and was always a little ambivalent about them -

 

So guess it'll be my role to play the sceptic :

 

No weight of shining water, no bright demanding moon

But now no warm tea either - and violets wither soon

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Do not seek truth in something without substance. Schlitz is horrible beer.

 

 

You don't tug on Superman's cape; you don't spit into the wind.

 

You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger, and you don't mess around with Jim.

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