Guest guest Posted January 8, 2010 Report Share Posted January 8, 2010 A week end Poem sent from Ivan Granger. Dogen is Tibetan Buddhist Non Dualism. His notes are always worth reading. Here's your Daily Poem from the Poetry Chaikhana -- Impermanence By Dogen(1200 - 1253) English version by Steven Heine To what shallI liken the world?Moonlight, reflectedIn dewdrops,Shaken from a crane's bill. -- from The Zen Poetry of Dogen: Verses from the Mountain of Eternal Peace, by Steven Heine Amazon.com / Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/ / ============ Thought for the Day: Find the holy heartof the moment. ============ Here's your Daily Music selection -- Jayme Stone The Utmost Listen - Purchase More Music Selections Hi Alan -I went for a walk yesterday to a nearby lake. The sun was out, but the cold... below zero. So cold the snow on the ground was a crystalline powder, causing the sunlight to dance in a thousand ways upon the white. The sun fooled me when I set out on my walk; I didn't wear warm enough clothing. Minutes out I had to re-wrap my scarf, winding it up and around my whole head leaving only a narrow slit for my eyes to peer out. I would expect a land asleep, shut down, merely surviving the cold, but instead I saw a world alive with the play of sunlight. Pines and junipers still green, somehow vibrant with their mysterious life beneath mottled mantles of dazzling white, mazes of squirrel tracks running among them along the snow-covered ground. And here I stand, witnessing it all from beneath my layers, trying not to be an alien in this harsh, beautiful world that is also my home. I say my hellos, a little too quickly, before the cutting cold sends me back home...==This poem by the Japanese Zen master Dogen paints a beautiful poetic image, but what does it really mean? What do moonlight and dewdrops have to do with a description of the world?The moon, as I've said elsewhere, is a common spiritual metaphor used to describe enlightenment. Moonlight would be understood to mean the radiance of pure awareness that permeates the universe.Here, that moonlight, that awareness, is "reflected / In dewdrops." Water is often used in Zen poetry as a symbol for the experience of the world -- it is tangible, yet ephemeral; it cannot be stopped or grasped. In the form of dew, it is in it's most fleeting form, ready to disappear at the slightest heavenly warmth.Each dewdrop can be seen as an individual experience of the world or, alternately, an individual experiencer of the world. Each drop may appear separate, but they are of one substance. Although these worldly experiences do not generate light of their own, they reflect the light of pure awareness. Each drop, in fact, fully reflects the whole moon. There may be one moon above, but each person and each experience contains the full reflection of that moon within.This is what Dogen is saying when he answers the question "To what shall / I liken the world?" Our notion of ourselves, our experiences, these are "the world." And, though this world is fleeting, it still offers us glimpses of the enlightenment that permeates all things, so long as we look at what is reflected within.Have a wonderful weekend!Ivan Share Your Thoughts on today's poem or my commentary... Support the Poetry Chaikhana Donations to the Poetry Chaikhana in any amount are always welcome. Thank you! Click here You can also support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you! Click here A small amount each month makes a big difference. Become a voluntary Subscriber for just $2/mo. Click here Help the Poetry Chaikhana reach more people. Become a Supporter for just $10/mo. Poetry Chaikhana HomeNew | Books | Music | Teahouse | About | ContactPoets by: Name| Tradition | Timeline Poetry by: Theme | CommentaryBlog | Forum | Facebook | Twitter www.Poetry-Chaikhana.com Poetry ChaikhanaP.O. Box 2320Boulder, CO 80306 Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers. ============ Plain Text: If you have any difficulty reading this HTML formatted email, please let me know and I can send you plain text emails instead. Cancelling: If you wish to stop receiving this Daily Poem email from the Poetry Chaikhana, simply reply to this email and change the Subject to "Cancel". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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