{"id":8197,"date":"2023-01-06T08:57:12","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T15:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8197"},"modified":"2023-01-06T08:57:35","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T15:57:35","slug":"ryokan-the-thief-left-it-behind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2023\/01\/06\/ryokan-the-thief-left-it-behind\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryokan – The thief left it behind"},"content":{"rendered":"

The thief left it behind
\nby Ryokan<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by Stephen Mitchell<\/font><\/p>\n

The thief left it behind:
\nthe moon
\nat my window.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry<\/a>, by Stephen Mitchell<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Ganpathy Kumar<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

A poem for us on this full moon\u2013<\/p>\n

Ryokan\u2019s reputation for gentleness was sometimes carried to comical extremes. A tale is told that, one day when Ryokan returned to his hut he discovered a robber who had broken in and was in the process of stealing the impoverished monk\u2019s few possessions. In the thief\u2019s haste to leave, he left behind a cushion. Ryokan grabbed the cushion and ran after the thief to give it to him. <\/p>\n

This event prompted Ryokan to compose this haiku, one of his best known poems.<\/p>\n

The moon is a common metaphor, especially among the Zen poets, to represent enlightened awareness. In this haiku Ryokan is laughing at the absurdity of the theft. \u201cThe thief left it behind,\u201d he foolishly couldn\u2019t recognize the one great treasure the poor monk possessed \u2014 \u201cthe moon,\u201d enlightenment \u2014 and, instead, took an armload of worthless junk. (To point out what a petty haul it was, Ryokan even ran after the thief with the missed cushion \u2014 perhaps a nudge toward meditation.) Any sort of theft of Ryokan\u2019s possessions was a pointless act because, of course, who can take the moon from his window \u2014 or enlightenment from his awareness? Ryokan is amused and invites us to join in his laughter.<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Ryokan<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology)<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nHaiku Enlightenment: New Expanded Edition<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Poetry of Zen: (Shambhala Library)<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nDewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\"Ryokan,<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nRyokan<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Japan (1758 \u2013 1831) Timeline<\/a>
\nBuddhist<\/a> : Zen \/ Chan<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Like Han-shan<\/a> in China, Ryokan is loved in Japan as much for his antics as for his profound poetry.<\/p>\n

Ryokan became a priest at age 18 and took to a life of wandering. He eventually met his teacher, Kokusen Roshi, and settled down to study Zen practice, ultimately becoming his most esteemed student. When Kokusen Roshi died, Ryokan inherited his temple. But the duties and regularity of being temple master didn\u2019t suit Ryokan, and he resumed his itinerant life.<\/p>\n

He next settled in a small hut he called Gogo-an on Mt. Kugami, where he lived by begging.<\/p>\n

Ryokan\u2019s love of children and animals is legendary. He often played games with the local children, as reflected in his own poetry. <\/p>\n

His reputation for gentleness was sometimes carried to comical extremes. A tale is told that, one day when Ryokan returned to his hut he discovered a robber who had broken in and was in the process of stealing the impoverished monk\u2019s few possessions. In the thief\u2019s haste to leave, he left behind a cushion. Ryokan grabbed the cushion and ran after the thief to give it to him. This event prompted Ryokan to compose one of his best known poems:<\/p>\n

The thief left it behind:
\nthe moon
\nat my window.<\/p>\n

When Ryokan was 70 and nearing the end of his life, he met a young nun and poet named Teishin. Though Teishin was only 28, they fell in love. They exchanged several beautiful love poems.<\/p>\n

As Ryokan was dying, Teishin came to him and held him at his moment of death. It was Teishin who collected and published Ryokan\u2019s poetry after his death.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Ryokan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The thief left it behind by Ryokan English version by Stephen Mitchell The thief left it behind: the moon at my window. \u2014 from The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell \/ Image by Ganpathy Kumar \/ A poem for us on this full moon\u2013 Ryokan\u2019s reputation for gentleness was sometimes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[40,123,419,122,118],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8197"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8197"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8199,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8197\/revisions\/8199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}