Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Search the Poetry Chaikhana site:

| View All Poems by Jusammi Chikako |
On this summer night by Jusammi Chikako (14th Century) Timeline English version by Edwin A. Cranston Original Language Japanese Buddhist : Zen / Chan 14th Century      On this summer night All the household lies asleep,      And in the doorway, For once open after dark, Stands the moon, brilliant, cloudless.     -- from Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women, Edited by Jane Hirshfield Amazon.com	Themes   Moon   Night       Recommended Books Women in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women, Edited by Jane Hirshfield
| More Poems by Jusammi Chikako |

Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

I really like this brief verse by Jusammi Chikako.

One way to understand this is that the "house" here is the individual self. So when Jusammi Chikako says, "All the household lies asleep," she could be stating that the mind has finally settled into perfect, still awareness.

The "doorway" is then the threshold of perception.

"And in the doorway / For once open after dark, / Stands the moon, brilliant, cloudless." The moon represents the individual awareness perfectly reflecting the eternal light (of the sun). The full moon is Buddha mind, original mind. She has suddenly discovered it, been flooded with its "brilliant" light, utterly at peace beneath the unobstructed, "cloudless" night sky of awareness.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.