"While the sun stays in the sky, I mend my torn clothes"

May you hear your own heartbeat today. May you have a span of silence.

“Horned Owl” by Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, 1915

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Two Poems by Ryōkan

Too Lazy To Be Ambitious

Too lazy to be ambitious,
I let the world take care of itself.
Ten days’ worth of rice in my bag;
a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.
Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?
Listening to the night rain on my roof,
I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.

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You Do Not Need Many Things

My house is buried in the deepest recess of the forest
Every year, ivy vines grow longer than the year before.
Undisturbed by the affairs of the world, I live at ease.
Woodmen’s singing rarely reaching me through the trees.
While the sun stays in the sky, I mend my torn clothes
And facing the moon, I read holy texts aloud to myself.
Let me drop a word of advice for believers of my faith.
To enjoy life’s immensity, you do not need many things.

Translated from Japanese by Nobuyuki Yuasa

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Creative Invitation

Give yourself a gift of silence. Sitting with your heart. Feeling alive. Doing nothing useful. Non-doing. Non-craving. Non-action. Breathing, aware, here.