Dharma Poems - wasan, haiku, whatever....

[dumb bonbu]

hi peeps. feel free to share any here

Among all living things
mountains and rivers,
grasses and trees,
even the sounds of blowing winds
and rising waves -
there is nothing that is not the nembutsu
- Ippen

this world of dew
is only a world of dew
and yet...oh, and yet
- Issa

[thornbush]

http://www.ymba.org/BWF/bwf92.htm#advice" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"If the Buddha is one foot tall, the demon is ten feet tall;
if the Buddha is ten feet tall, the demon stands just above the Buddha's head.
However, if the Buddha grows taller still and exceeds the demon in height,
the demon will surrender to the Buddha."

[thornbush]

Shen Xiu's stanza (Disciple of the Fifth Patriarch of Ch'an)

http://www.dharmaweb.org/index.php/Sutr ... obiography" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Our body is the Bodhi-tree,
And our mind a mirror bright.
Carefully we wipe them hour by hour,
And let no dust alight.

Hui Neng, The Sixth Patriarch's stanza:

http://www.dharmaweb.org/index.php/Sutr ... obiography" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There is no Bodhi-tree,
Nor stand of a mirror bright.
Since all is void,
Where can the dust alight?

[Drolma]

Riding upon the horse of bodhicitta
That dispels all weariness and fatigue,
Who could ever feel depressed,
While travelling from joy to joy?

Engaging in the Conduct of a Bodhisattva - Shantideva

[thornbush]

From the late Tripitaka & Dhyana Venerable Master Hsuan Hua:

http://www.gbm-online.com/dharma/dont_like.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
If your ideas aren't working,
look within yourself.
If you are kind to people
and they don't reciprocate,
take a look at your kindness.

If you give people orders
and they don't follow them,
take a look at your orders.
If you pay respect to people
and they don't return it,
take a look at your manners.

[thornbush]

A Chinese Mahayana Evening Gatha:

Admonition of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva
The day is over! Our lives thus shortened!
Likened to fish in a shrinking pond, what delight is there?
O Great Assembly!
Be Ye diligent and vigilant, akin to risking our heads!
Be Mindful of Impermanence, wary of laxity!

[thornbush]

http://community.palouse.net/lotus/diamondsutra.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
"Who sees Me by form,
Who seeks Me in sound,
Perverted are his footsteps upon the Way,
For he cannot perceive the Tathagata."

http://www.drba.org/dharma/vajrasutra.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
All conditioned dharmas are like
a dream, an illusion, a bubble or a shadow,
Like dew or like a lightning flash.
Contemplate them thus."

[thornbush]

From the late Ch'an Venerable Master Sheng-yen: (his last penned poem)

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php ... 26,0,0,1,0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Busy with nothing, growing old.
Within emptiness, weeping, laughing.
Intrinsically, there is no "I."
Life and death, thus cast aside

[Ngawang Drolma]

The Lotus

First blooming in the Western Paradise,
The lotus has delighted us for ages.
Its white petals are covered with dew,
its jade green leaves spread out over the pond,
And its pure fragrance perfumes the wind.
Cool and majestic, it raises from the murky water.
The sun sets behind the mountains
But I remain in the darkness, too captivated to leave.

-Ryokan (1758-1831)

[dumb bonbu]

many beautiful posts, cheers for sharing peeps, please continue

This vanity!
For the little while
that corpse is undecayed,
earth of the meadow
appears
unrelated.
- Ippen

Just cast away!
Then you will see:
there's a way to let go
of life in this world
so as not to throw it away.
- Ippen

[thornbush]

http://www.geocities.com/ryunyo/42.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://cttbusa.org/42s/42sections.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Buddha said,
"When an evil-doer, seeing you practise goodness,
comes and maliciously insults you,
you should patiently endure it
and not feel angry with him,
for the evil-doer is insulting himself
by trying to insult you."

The Buddha said:
If you endeavor to embrace the Way through much learning,
the Way will not be understood.
If you observe the Way with simplicity of heart,
great indeed is this Way.

A monk asked the Buddha, "What is good, and what is great?
The Buddha answered: "Good is to practise the Way and to follow the truth.
Great is the heart that is in accord with the Way."

The Buddha said:
Moved by their selfish desires, people seek after fame and glory.
But when they have acquired it, they are already stricken in years.
If you hanker after worldly fame and practise not the Way,
your labors are wrongfully applied and your energy is wasted.
It is like unto burning an incense stick.
However much its pleasing odor be admired,
the fire that consumes is steadily burning up the stick.

The Buddha said:
Men who are addicted to the passions
are like the torch-carrier
running against the wind;
his hands are sure to be burned.

The Buddha said:
There was once a man who,
being in despair over his inability to control his passions,
wished to mutilate himself.
The Buddha said to him:
Better destroy your evil thoughts
than to do harm to your own person.
The mind is lord.
When the lord himself is calmed
the servants will of themselves be yielding.
If your mind is not cleansed of evil passions,
what avails it to mutilate yourself?

The Buddha said,
O Children of Buddha!
You are away from Me ever so many thousand miles,
but if you remember and think of My Precepts,
you shall surely gain the fruit of Enlightenment.
You may, standing by My side,
see Me always,
but if you observe not My Precepts,
you shall never gain Enlightenment.

The Buddha asked a Shramana, "How long is the human life span?"
He replied, "A few days."
The Buddha said, "You have not yet understood the Way."

He asked another Shramana, "How long is the human life span?"
The reply was, "The space of a meal."
The Buddha said, "You have not yet understood the Way."

He asked another Shramana, "How long is the human life span?"
He replied, "The length of a single breath."
The Buddha said, "Excellent. You have understood the Way."

The Buddha said,
"People smelt metal by burning the dross
out of it in order to make high quality implements.
It is the same with people who study the Way:
first they must get rid of the defilements in their minds;
then their practice becomes pure."

The Buddha said,
"A Shramana who practices the Way
should not be like an ox turning a millstone.
Such a one walks the Way with his body,
but his mind is not on the Way.
If the mind is concentrated on the Way,
what further need is there to practice?"

The Buddha said,
"I look upon royalty and high positions as upon the dust that floats through a crack.
I look upon treasures of gold and jade as upon broken tiles.
I look upon fine silk clothing as upon cheap cotton.
I look upon a great thousand-world universe as upon a small nut kernel.
I look upon the waters of the Anavatapta Lake as upon oil used to anoint the feet."

[dumb bonbu]

Shen Xiu's stanza (Disciple of the Fifth Patriarch of Ch'an)

http://www.dharmaweb.org/index.php/Sutr ... obiography" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Our body is the Bodhi-tree,
And our mind a mirror bright.
Carefully we wipe them hour by hour,
And let no dust alight.

Hui Neng, The Sixth Patriarch's stanza:

http://www.dharmaweb.org/index.php/Sutr ... obiography" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There is no Bodhi-tree,
Nor stand of a mirror bright.
Since all is void,
Where can the dust alight?

Actually there isn't a thing
much less any dust to wipe away
who can master this
doesn't need to sit there stiff
- Big Stick (Feng-kan)

[Drolma]

"Whatever joy there is in this world,
All comes from wanting others to be happy.
Whatever suffering there is in this world,
All comes from wanting oneself to be happy."
~ Shantideva

When the top priority is pleasure, adversity will always appear as bad.
When the fundamental motivation is to have a comfortable life,
we will keep trying to structure our surroundings to make this happen,
leading to almost constant frustration.
"Where would I find enough leather
To cover the entire surface of the earth?
But with leather soles beneath my feet,
It’s as if the whole world had been covered."
~Shantideva

When the top priority is awakening,
adversity becomes an important element of practice.
Enlightenment is accomplished by transforming all of life,
the good, the bad, and the weird, into the path.



~ Buddhism with an Attitude - B.Alan Wallace.

[thornbush]

From the Lotus Born Guru Padmasambhava:

http://www.rinpoche.com/quotes/quote25.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
When you keep company with an eminent master, his qualities will automatically influence you.
When your appearance conforms with worldly conventions, you will encounter less criticism.
When your mind looks into itself, dharmata will dawn from within.
When you recognize the nature of mind, fabrication and effort are naturally freed.
When you realize that samsara and nirvana are dharmakaya, you need not put effort into meditation practice

Namo Amitabha Buddha!

[Jechbi]

From here:

There was a young man of Bombay
Who heard an old Bhikkhu once say
You need peace of mind
If the answers you'd find
So he started to Sit the same day.

Piti

There was a young woman so pretty
that her suiters could fill a whole city.
One fell into a funk;
he became a young monk.
And surprise! He discovered true piti.

I think it is really a pity
I just cannot understand dhitti!
Try as I might.
my knowledge is slight,
And my grasp of the concept quite S*itti!

Buddha Dhamma Sangha - Three Gems
Blessed gifts for you and for me
Those lost in Samsara
Lobha Dosa Moha
By devotion and practice, win free.

[Drolma]

Bodhichitta Aim:

It’s the magnificent sun for clearing away
The mist of not knowing of wandering beings;
It’s the fresh froth of butter that rises to the top
From the churning of the milk of the sacred Dharma

~ Shantideva

[thornbush]

http://www.rinpoche.com/quotes/quote42.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Samsara is to see fault in others.-- Tilopa

[Drolma]

Nagarjuna~ Jewel Garland

Causes of death are numerous;
While causes of life are few indeed,
And even those may cause death,
So practice Dharma at all times.

[dumb bonbu]

Just as on a dark night black with clouds,
The sudden lightning glares and all is clearly shown,
Likewise rarely, through the Buddha's power,
Virtuos thoughts rise, brief and transient, in the world

- Shantideva

[Drolma]

Chandrakirti~:

Love is the seed of this abundant harvest of buddhahood.
It is like the water which causes growth and expansion,
And it ripens into the state of lasting enjoyment,
Therefore at the outset I shall praise compassion!

from ~: Introduction to the Middle Way