Guest guest Posted July 26, 1999 Report Share Posted July 26, 1999 Thank you Gill. That is beautiful and profound. Will pass it on. Harsha "Gill Eardley" <gilleardley *A Lone Lamp* Sonome was a well-known poetess and a profound student of Buddhism. She once wrote to Zen master Unko: "To seek neither reality nor falsehood is the root source of the Great Way. Everyone knows this, so even if I seem immodest for saying so, I do not think this is anything special. As goings-on in the source of one mind, the willows are green, the flowers are red. Just being as it is, I pass the time reciting verse and composing poetry. If this is useless chatter, then the scriptures are also useless chatter. I dislike anything that stinks of religion, and my daily practice is invocation, poetry, and song. If I go to paradise, that's fine; if I fall into hell, that's auspicious." *By myself I remember not to seek mind; the green lamp has already illumined my lone lamp heart. Whether in clamor or silence, I have a clear mirror: it thoroughly discerns pure hearts among humans. It is not something existing, that anyone can see and know, nor does it not exist: such is the lamp of truth.* When Sonome was about to pass on, she bade farewell to the world with this poem: *The sky of the autumn moon and the warmth of spring: Is it a dream? Is it real? Hail to the Buddha of Infinite Light!* from "Zen Antics," Thomas Cleary from "Multiple Reflections: Talks on the Yoga Vasistha by Swami Venkatesananda" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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