[Note: I read this poem to the group recently and was asked to post it here. Photo by Walt Opie taken in Bali.]
Leave
off your mad rush for gold and jewels--
I've got something far more precious for you:
A bright pearl that sparkles more brilliantly than the sun and moon
And illuminates each and every eye.
Lose it and you'll wallow in a sea of pain;
Find it and you'll safely reach the other shore.
I'd freely present this treasure to anyone
But hardly anyone asks for it.
-from "Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems by Ryokan"
(translated by John Stevens)
I've got something far more precious for you:
A bright pearl that sparkles more brilliantly than the sun and moon
And illuminates each and every eye.
Lose it and you'll wallow in a sea of pain;
Find it and you'll safely reach the other shore.
I'd freely present this treasure to anyone
But hardly anyone asks for it.
-from "Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems by Ryokan"
(translated by John Stevens)
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