Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Search the Poetry Chaikhana site:

| View All Poems by Masahide | Next Poem >>
Barn's burnt down by Masahide (1657? - 1723) Timeline English version by Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto Original Language Japanese Buddhist : Zen / Chan 17th Century Barn's burnt down -- now I can see the moon.     -- from Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter, Translated by Lucien Stryk / Translated by Takashi Ikemoto Amazon.com   / Photo by Aunt Owwee /	Themes   Fire   Moon       Recommended Books Japanese Death Poems, Translated by Yoel Hoffman Zen Poetry: Let the Spring Breeze Enter, Translated by Lucien Stryk / Translated by Takashi Ikemoto
| More Poems by Masahide | Next Poem >>

Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

I love this haiku. Using so few words, it still manages to say so much.

The moon, as I've pointed out before, represents Buddha-mind, awakened awareness. The burnt barn can represent worldly calamity and loss which can suddenly open us to the radical, serene truth that surrounds us everywhere. Or the barn can represent our own self-enclosing thoughts, "burned" down by spiritual practice and the ecstatic psychic spaciousness that can result.

So read that haiku again. Line-by-line:

The old structure, the barn has burnt down; it's collapsed, been cleared away.

Now. Now-- The shock has brought us, stunned, into the present moment.

The psychic field cleared, finally we can see the luminous moon, the light of enlightenment.

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.