.
it is snowing
two poems by dogen zenji about the snow … about sameness and difference …
A snowy heron
on the snowfield
where winter grass is unseen
hides itself
in its own figure.
on the snowfield
where winter grass is unseen
hides itself
in its own figure.
Snow is falling far and wide,
Each snowflake neither the very same nor completely different than the other ones;
Singing and dancing, they chase after each other,
Till the whole universe is made afresh with its new covering,
As the snow even conceals the moon and clouds,
And puts out the flame in our hearth;
All kinds of leaves and flowers respond differently to the cycles of the seasons,
Yet remain oblivious to the cold of night or the chill of winter–
So goes the preaching of the Dharma
By the pines in the valleys and the bamboos on the mountains.
I am sure that some of our Sangha members sitting with us in places like Sweden, Finland and Canada will laugh at what I consider a “snowfall”
(remember: recording ends soon after the beginning bells;
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