Hakuin: You no sooner attain the great void

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You no sooner attain the great void

Hakuin, Hakuin poetry, Buddhist, Buddhist poetry, Zen / Chan poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry, poetry

by Hakuin
(1686 - 1768) Timeline

English version by
Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto

Original Language
Japanese

Buddhist : Zen / Chan

18th Century

You no sooner attain the great void
Than body and mind are lost together.
Heaven and Hell -- a straw.
The Buddha-realm, Pandemonium -- shambles.
Listen: a nightingale strains her voice, serenading the snow.
Look: a tortoise wearing a sword climbs the lampstand.
Should you desire the great tranquility,
Prepare to sweat white beads.

-- from Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter, Translated by Lucien Stryk / Translated by Takashi Ikemoto

Amazon.com

Themes

Snow

Sound

Womb

Recommended Books

	Essential Teachings of Zen Master Hakuin, by Norman Waddell
	Secrets of the Blue Cliff Record: Zen Comments by Hakuin and Tenkei, Translated by Thomas Cleary
	Wild Ivy: The Spiritual Autobiography of Zen Master Hakuin, Translated by Norman Waddell
	The Zen Koan, by Isshu Miura / Ruth Fuller Sasaki
	Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter, Translated by Lucien Stryk / Translated by Takashi Ikemoto

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Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World