Reflections in Water

Reflections in Water

To yield is to be preserved whole.

To be bent is to become straight.

To be empty is to be full . . . 

To have little is to possess.

No Water, No Moon

When the nun Chiyono studied Zen under Bukko of Engaku she was unable to attain the fruits of meditation for a long time. 

At last one moonlit night she was carrying water in an old pail bound with bamboo. The bamboo broke and the bottom fell out of the pail, and at that moment Chiyono was set free! 

In commemoration, she wrote a poem:

In this way and that I tried to save the old pail

Since the bamboo strip was weakening and about

to break

Until at last the bottom fell out.

No more water in the pail!

No more moon in the water!

THE COMPLETE ENLIGHTENMENT SUTRA

As this illusory body vanishes, 

 This illusory mind also vanishes. 

As this illusory mind vanishes,

Illusory sense objects also vanish. 

As illusory sense objects vanish,

This illusory vanishing vanishes. 

As this illusory vanishing vanishes,

That which is not illusory does not vanish. 

Peace !