Muso Soseki: The Gate of Universal Light

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Sacred Poetry from Around the World

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The Gate of Universal Light

Muso Soseki, Muso Soseki poetry, Buddhist, Buddhist poetry, Zen / Chan poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry, poetry

by Muso Soseki
(1275 - 1351) Timeline

English version by
W. S. Merwin

Original Language
Japanese

Buddhist : Zen / Chan

14th Century

The great light of compassion
     illuminates this world
          in every part
As a boy
     Sudhana stood
          before the gates
When your eyelids
     have fallen across
          the whole of the empty world
the gate will open
     at the snap of a finger
          as it did then to let him pass

-- from East Window: Poems from Asia, Translated by W. S. Merwin

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Themes

Light

Recommended Books

	East Window: Poems from Asia, Translated by W. S. Merwin
	Roaring Stream: A New Zen Reader, Edited by Nelson Foster / Edited by Josh Shoemaker
	Sun at Midnight: Muso Soseki - Poems and Sermons, Translated by W. S. Merwin / Translated by Soiku Shigematsu

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Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World