Zen Poet Ryokan’s Poems | Ryokan



Narrated by: Jack Kornfield

“The vicissitudes of this world are like the movements of the clouds.
Fifty years of life are nothing but one long dream.
Sparse rain: in my desolate hermitage at night,
Quietly I clutch my robe and lean against the empty window.”

“How can we ever lose interest in life? Spring has come again
And cherry trees bloom in the mountains.”

“In my little begging bowl
Violets and dandelions,
Mixed together
As an offering to the
Buddhas of the Three Worlds.

Picking violets
By the roadside
I absent-mindedly
Left my little bowl behind–
O poor little bowl!

I’ve forgotten my
Little begging bowl again–
No one will take you,
Surely no one will take you:
My sad little bowl!”

The Seven Factors of Enlightenment by Jack Kornfield

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