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
If you ask me
to grasp the Dharma
I will read each word
as I unroll the scroll,
but that is but a small part
of grasping it.
The rolling up,
the placing back,
the bow and the return
to my waiting cushion,
each is a reverent grasping.
A reflection on Case 74 of the Shobogenzo (True Dharma Eye) Koans
If you must
follow the Way, you
may read the Dharma
for hours on end
or you may brew
a pot of tea
for your teacher, or
bring your student
a towel and basin.
Which two steps
along the way
will you take?
A reflection on Case 61 of Dogen’s Shobogenzo Koans (True Dharma Eye)
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Perhaps so, but many pictures don’t travel in verbose company, and there are pictures worth far, far less, although some will search until the magic thousand are found. In Japan a story can be told in seventeen syllables, a picture painted with a single brushstroke. In the zendo the whole of dharma can be heard in the silence if you stop and listen.
When your teacher
hands you the dharma
what do you find in your hands?
What will you do
with the dharma you are given,
where will you keep it,
or will you give it away
in silence, and in such
giving have it with you
at all times and places.
A reflection on Case 13 of the Book of Equanimity (従容錄, Shōyōroku)
As you search
through the Dharma
what is it you hope to find?
When you ask your teacher
to explain the Dharma, what
do you expect him to tell you?
Do you cling to Dharma
because it is there, unchanging,
a guide to the end of your search?
Better to live the precepts
fully, present in every moment,
waking, working, eating
and even sleeping for then
the path rolls out before you.
A reflection on Case 12 of the Book of Equanimity (従容錄, Shōyōroku)
When you sit at the foot
of the teacher, what
do you expect to hear?
You dare not ask him questions
for you know he
will give you no answers.
If he sits silently
smile for he has
given you
the whole
of the Dharma.
A reflection on case 7 of the Book of Equanimity
As you wander around
looking for a place
to build a temple,
looking for eden,
looking for nirvana,
stop and simply sit,
listen to the breeze
teaching you the Dharma,
the clouds chanting
the sutras in a harmony
beyond your hearing.
Look down for you
are in your temple,
sitting in eden
nirvana at your feet.
A reflection on case 4 of the Book of Equanimity Koans
You may wander
endlessly in search
of the true dharma.
It is not under that rock,
not in those bushes,
not around the next bend.
Look down and ask
yourself where
are you standing
in this moment,
then gently lift
your feet off
of the heart
of the dharma
A reflection on case 5 of the Book of Equanimity koans.
When the master takes his seat
what do you expect of him?
Do you watch his posture
or how his hands are set.
Do you stare at his lips
and what do you hear
when they move, but no sound
comes from his throat.
Listen carefully, for here
the dharma unfolds
like the first chrysanthemum.
A reflection on Case 79 of the Shobogenzo (Dogen’s True Dharma Eye)
an old writer and his words 