If you ask
your teacher
to show you the Dharma
he will look
at you and remain
silent.
If you ask
nothing
of your teacher
he will
show you
the whole
of the Dharma.
A reflection on Case 33 of the Book of Equanimity (Shoyoroku 従容錄)
Yesterday is but a shadow
and tomorrow an illusion.
Do not wallow in the mud
of attempted memory, do
not sink in the mire
of deluded anticipation.
Stop, listen to the sun
and the moon sing
of the Dharma, hear
the silence it brings
for you are alive
in this moment,
and there is
no other moment
in which you can live.
A reflection on Case 3 of the Blue Cliff Record (Hekiganroku 碧巌録)
When you ask
how you can get
from where you are
to Nirvana
a wise teacher will
tell you there is
no there.
There is only here
and this is Nirvana.
Then he will ask
you the greater question–
who are you really?
How will you answer?
A reflection on Case 31 of the Book of Equanimity (従容錄, Shōyōroku)
If you ask your teacher
if the cat
in Schrodinger’s box
his dead,
he will say
the cat is dead .
If you ask your teacher
if the cat
in Schrodinger’s box
is dead,
he will say
the cat is not dead.
Dead and not dead ,
both the same
A reflection on Case 30 of the Book of Equanimity (従容錄, Shōyōroku)
If you ask your teacher
to give you the Dharma
what do you expect ?
But what if you
take it from him,
what will you
leave him with?
If you find it
yourself, then
you are his heir.
A reflection on Case 29 of the Book of Eq uanimity ( 従容錄, Shōyōroku)
When you throw a pebble
into a still pond
what is it you look for?
If you say the ripples
the pebble has made
I will say there is no pebble.
If you point to the pebble
on the bottom of the pond
I will say there are no ripples.
If you point to the sky
you will have found the way.
A reflection on Case 28 of the Book of Equanimity ( 従容錄, Shōyōroku)
As you go about searching
for what are you looking?
What is there you want to gain
what do you fear you lack?
When you see there is
neither gain nor loss
then you have
all that you need.
A reflection on Case 27 of the Book of Equanimity, 従容錄, Shōyōroku
When you come
searching for a key
to unlock the door
to Nirvana
I will ask you
to complete
a simple task.
All you need to do
is go to the ocean
and select the one
drop of water different
from all of the others.
A reflection on Case 26 of the Book of Equanimity, 従容錄, Shōyōroku
If your teacher asks
you to bring him all
of the Dharma you have learned
what will you bring him?
If you begin to recite
what you know
of the sutras
he will turn away
and cover his ears.
If you sit
next to him in silence
he will smile.
A reflection on Case 25 of the Book of Equanimity, 従容錄, Shōyōroku
When you look
in the mirror
what do you really see?
If you say yourself
you are blind.
If you say nothing
you have grasped
the heart of the Dharma.
If you shatter the mirror
you have found Nirvana.
A reflection on Case 24 of the Book of Equanimity 従容錄, Shōyōroku
an old writer and his words 