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Buddhist : Zen / Chan
Taoist
7th Century

About Yoka Genkaku (Yongjia Xuanjue)

Timeline (665 - 713)

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English version by
Robert Aitken

Original Language
Chinese
[23] When you truly awaken, (from The Shodoka)

Themes
  Bliss
  Freedom
  Sky
  Smile
 

 

Recommended Books

Buddhism and Zen, by Nyogen Senzaki / Ruth Strout McCandless

When you truly awaken,
You have no formal merit.
In the multiplicity of the relative world,
You cannot find such freedom.
Self-centered merit brings the joy of heaven itself,
But it is like shooting an arrow at the sky;
When the force is exhausted, it falls to the earth,
And then everything goes wrong.

 

 

 

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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.