TOOTHLESS BODHISATTVA

He will tell you

that the distance

between a tear

and a laugh

is the span

of a mother’s arm.

He knows the duration

of sadness is identical

to a shnork*.

He cannot understand

how you could

have forgotten  all this.

He doesn’t know

why you cannot recall

that enlightenment is

no more than a giggle.

  

*shnork (n.):  the sound of a grandfathers nose slowly approaching, then just touching that of his infant grandson.

BASO'S SUN-FACED BUDDHA, MOON-FACED BUDDHA

碧巌録  三

Life is joy and illness

two sides, one coin

death is caused by birth

stop and consider this.

Look into the face

of the evening sun,

will it retreat

from your eyes

or linger in memory?

Look into the face

of the full midnight moon,

does she have

the sun’s face

only until morning?

TOZAN'S DHARMA BODIES

正法眼蔵  語十語

If I ask you

"does a circle

have both inside

and outside," what do you say.

If you cut it into

three pieces, which

has inside, which outside

and what of the third?

And So It Begins

鐵笛倒吹 一

Like Manjushri, stand still

outside the gate

and listen for the call

of Buddha from within.

When he calls, answer

but is Buddha inside

and you without?

There is nothing at all

to see, and the gate

has fallen from its hinges

so answer yourself carefully.