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Author Archives: ktrammel
Fellowship of Life
A drop of rain! The frog wiped his forehead with his wrist. -Issa (Nobuyuki Uyasa)
Posted in Haiku, Humour, Literature
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Love
A drowsy breeze sighs and the sky’s dry shell is filled with the voice of pines -Onitsura (tr. H. Behn)
Ineffable Beauty
A hair as white as the snow That a swan has flown over. -Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume
Beginnings Abide in Ends
Dusk… Stars shining already between shores of cloud. -J.R.R. Tolkien, LOTR
Solomon’s Envy
In the midst of the plain Sings the skylark, Free of all things. -Basho (Blyth)
Posted in Haiku
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Knowing
It cannot be attained by mind;It is not to be sought after through mindlessness.It cannot be created by speech;It cannot be penetrated by silence.The geese do not wish to leave their reflection behind;The water has no mind to retain their … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Spiritual
Tagged No Mind, Spirituality, The Way that is No Way, Zen
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Humility
If you wish to know the road up the mountain, You must ask the man who goes back and forth on it. -Zenrinkushu (R.H. Blyth)
Posted in Poetry, Spiritual
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Stop and See
If you do not get it from yourself, where will you go for it? -Zenrinkushu (tr. R. H. Blyth)
Consciousness
To have the sun and the moon in one’s sleeve; To hold the universe in the palm of one’s hand. -Zenrinkushu (tr. R. H. Blyth) To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild … Continue reading
Posted in Literature, Poetry, Spiritual
Tagged behold, empty mind, exhileration, expansive, open, receptive, wonder
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Flexibility, Strength
Only seeing the sharpness of the awl; Not knowing the squareness of the stone-chisel. -Zenrinkushu (tr. R. H. Blyth)
Emptying to Fullness
The plum tree, dwindling, contains less of the spring; But the garden is wider, and holds more of the moon. -Zenrinkushu (tr. R. H. Blyth)
Wonder
The wind drops, but the flowers still fall; A bird sings, and the mountain holds yet more mystery. -Zenrinkushu (tr. R. H. Blyth)
Viewpoint
Life is like a sword that wounds, but cannot wound itself;Like an eye that sees, but cannot see itself. -Zenrinkushu (tr. R. H. Blyth)
Devotion
When spring comes, many visitors enjoy themselves at the temple;When the flowers fall, only the monk who shuts the gate is left. -anon (tr. R. H. Blyth)
Letting Go
The skies seen in the dawn of spring, Seen with the moon of autumn, —Were they real? Were they a dream? Namuamida butsu! -Sonojo (Deathverse), (tr. R. H. Blyth)
Soft
Yield to the willowAll the loathing, all the desire Of your heart. -Basho (tr. R. Blyth)
Posted in Haiku, Literature
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A Flower
A flower of the camellia-tree fell, spilling its water. -Basho (tr. R. Blyth) I’m going to be putting up some favorite poems from haiku poets and zen poets over the next week or so. These are such wonderful poems, both beautiful … Continue reading
Posted in Haiku, Literature
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From this Ruin
Maybe what I didn’t know all along this path was that all my heart’s feeling was nourishment, like rain water filling the roses. I thought it was a fire in a tinder dry wood, a hail of flaming comets at … Continue reading
Flowerwatch Journal 