It is nice to get a glimpse of a lady bathing--
You scrubbed your flower face and cleansed your lovely body
...
A master’s handiwork cannot be measured
But still priests wag their tongues explaining the “Way” and babbling about “Zen.”
...
The tree was barren of leaves but you brought a new spring.
Long green sprouts, verdant flowers, fresh promise.
...
Exhausted with gay pleasures, I embrace my wife.
The narrow path of asceticism is not for me:
My mind runs in the opposite direction.
...
The world before my eyes is wan and wasted, just like me.
The earth is decrepit, the sky stormy, all the grass withered.
...
Why are people called Buddhas
After they die?
Because they don't grumble any more,
Because they don't make a nuisance
...
Studying texts and stiff meditation can make you lose your Original Mind.
A solitary tune by a fisherman, though, can be an invaluable treasure.
...
Lots of arms, just like Kannon the Goddess;
Sacrificed for me, garnished with citron, I revere it so!
The taste of the sea, just divine!
...
Ikkyū ( 1394-1481) was an eccentric, iconoclastic Japanese Zen Buddhist priest and poet. He had a great impact on the infusion of Japanese art and literature with Zen attitudes and ideals)
It Is Nice To Get A Glimpse Of A Lady Bathing
It is nice to get a glimpse of a lady bathing--
You scrubbed your flower face and cleansed your lovely body
While this old monk sat in the hot water,
Feeling more blessed than even the emperor of China!
He died in the 15th century, so he won't be posting poems!