OPP: Muso Soseki (1275-1351)
by
Ubasti
11/15/2007, 9:39 AM #
Muso Soseki (1275-1351) first practiced Zen under the guidance of a Chinese teacher but he "failed miserably." He later studied with the Japanese Zen master Koho Kennichi and soon began to unfold into profound awakening, receiving inka or certification of enlightenment in 1339.
Muso Soseki went on to teach large numbers of students and, like many Zen practitioners, write poetry. He also became an advisor to the first Ashikaga Shogun and helped to re-establish trade and communications between Japan and China.
Soseki is perhaps most famous, however, for his profound influence in designing Zen gardens.
The Gate of Universal Light
The great light of compassion
illuminates this world
in every part
As a boy
Sudhana stood
before the gates
When your eyelids
have fallen across
the whole of the empty world
the gate will open
at the snap of a finger
as it did then to let him pass
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beyond the World
This place of wild land
has no boundaries
north south east or west
It is hard to see
even the tree
in the middle of it
Turning your head
you can look beyond
each direction
For the first time
you know that your eyes
have been deceiving you
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buddha's Satori
For six years sitting alone
still as a snake
in a stalk of bamboo
with no family
but the ice
on the snow mountain
Last night
seeing the empty sky
fly into pieces
he shook
the morning star awake
and kept it in his eyes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clear Valley
The water that can't be muddied
with any stick
is deeper than depth
The sky and the water
are a single
deepening blue
If you really want to find
the source of the Sixth Patriarch's
fountain
don't look for it
on the one bank or the other
or in the middle of the stream
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No End Point
The whole world is clear and empty
to the ten directions
There is no end point
And yet when we
look carefully
there is one after all
You fly out of this world
looking backward
riding the giant roc
into the hollow of a lotus thread
to live there where heaven and earth
were never divided
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Old Creek
Since before anyone remembers
it has been clear
shining like silver
though the moonlight penetrates it
and the wind ruffles it
no trace of either remains
Today I would not dare
to expound the secret
of the stream bed
But I can tell you
that the blue dragon
is coiled there
