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Buddhist : Zen / Chan
14th Century

About Muso Soseki

Timeline (1275 - 1351)

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

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English version by
W. S. Merwin

Original Language
Japanese

No End Point

Themes
  Lotus
 
 
 
 

 

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

The whole world is clear and empty
     to the ten directions
          There is no end point
And yet when we
     look carefully
          there is one after all
You fly out of this world
     looking backward
          riding the giant roc
into the hollow of a lotus thread
     to live there where heaven and earth
          were never divided

 

 

-- from Sun at Midnight: Muso Soseki - Poems and Sermons, Translated by W. S. Merwin / Translated by Soiku Shigematsu

Amazon.com

 

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Please support the Poetry Chaikhana, as well as the authors and publishers of sacred poetry, by purchasing some of the recommended books through the links on this site. Thank you!

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.