Invoking that reality

(Quotations from Takuan Soho)

Shonin:
I have composed a poem.

Kokushi:
Let's hear it.

Shonin:
When I chant,
Both Buddha and self
Cease to exist.
There is only the voice that says,
Namu Amida Butsu.

Kokushi:
Something's wrong with the last couple of lines,
don't you think?

(after a lapse of time)

Shonin:
This is how I've written it:


When I chant,
Both Buddha and self
Cease to exist.
Namu Amida Butsu.

Kokushi:
There! You got it!
(p. 62)

©1999 by Deb Platt


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