Jisei, Death Poems
Empty-handed I entered the world
Barefoot I leave it.
My coming, my going —
Two simple happenings
That got entangled.
Zen monk Kozan Ichikyo (1283–1360)
-
Death poems
are mere delusion —
death is death.
-
Illusion appears, illusion ceases
The biggest illusion among all is our body
Once a pacified heart finds its place
There's no such body to look for
-
Not even for a moment
do things stand still-witness
color in the trees.
Seiju
-
Farewell-
I pass as all things do
dew on the grass.
–Banzan