John Fraser’s Kusen No. 197 “A teacher and his student were standing by the shore. In the distance was a boat. The teacher said to the student ‘forgetting about your …
Tag archives: Dogen
Reworking Dogen’s white mountain poem from Sanshodoei
From the Sanshodoei poems, I have been working on the English translations with John Fraser – 我庵は こしのしらやま 冬ごもり 凍もゆきも くもかかりけり waga iho wa koshi no shirayama fuyugomori kouri mo …
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Waves breaking through light – Kusen collaboration
John Fraser’s Kusen Master Dogen’s poem ‘Zazen Practice’: The moon mirroredBy a mind freeOf all distractions;Even the waves, breaking,Are reflecting its light We have a primitive idea what a symbol …
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Windswept Carn an Tuirc and Glas Maol
waga iho wakoshi no shirayamafuyugomorikouri mo yuki mokumo kakari keri my Koshiwhite mountaincozy winter denice and snowoverlaid by clouds Eihei Dogen The voice of the valley is endlessly preaching.The colour …
Smeared Across Time – Kusen Collaboration with John Fraser
John’s Kusen Poetry Dogen’s ‘Everyday Life’ [adapted] On Unseen MountainA scarecrow isNot in vain Commentary: The scarecrow standing over a small rice paddy would often be dressed in black, like …
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Space, Earth and Sky – Kusen collaboration with John Fraser
John’s Kusen We can talk of our practice and life in terms of form and emptiness, or delusion and enlightenment. We can also talk of both in terms of ground …
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Mountain Still Still – Kusen collaboration with John Fraser
John’s Kusen We are told that we should sit like a mountain. Zazen is described as the still-still state, the mountain – still state. The mountain is the ground made …
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Myriad – Kusen collaboration with John Fraser
John’s Kusen A principal way in which we maintain ourselves in delusion is imagining that our life and practice should be something other than it is. We locate delusion in …
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A million fragments unfragmented – Zen Master Dogen’s mirror koan
Koan from The Shinji Shobogenzo, Book 3, Case 19When Master Kyozan Ejaku was master of Tohei Temple, Master Isan Reiyu sent him a letter along with a mirror. The package …
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