Ryōkan Taigu

and everything will naturally become clear.

Keep your concentration

Don't miss your chance.

After a while, your mind will be pure.

and your wisdom ripe.

Then you won't have to fool yourself anymore.

Worldly success is fickle as a cloud.

Over 50 years I've spent living in a dream.

In my heart, the whisper of gentle rain fills the night.

Quietly, I put on my black robe and settle myself by the lonely window.

Alas, those who practice Buddhism nowadays grow old and decrepit, fussing over words.

What use are all their years of idle speculation

Isn't the aim of our school to directly realize things as they are?

Neither delusion nor enlightenment obtain in the land of non arising.

In what aeon will you ever find original nothingness?

If you don't understand, then ask.

My answer is,

Manjushri's home in the east of the Castle of Enlightenment.

With your monk's staff, you come flying on the wind to find my hut buried under a silver canopy of frost and snow.

We're old hermit companions, you and I.