Dogen - Ching-ch'ing's raindrop sound

April 14, 2010

Here's your Daily Poem from the Poetry Chaikhana --

Ching-ch'ing's raindrop sound

By Dogen(1200 - 1253)

English version by Steven Heine

Because the mind is free --Listening to the rainDripping from the eaves,The drops becomeOne with me.

-- from The Zen Poetry of Dogen: Verses from the Mountain of Eternal Peace, by Steven Heine

Amazon.com / Photo by jonwick04 /

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Thought for the Day:

The joy is thereawaiting permission.

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Hi Alan -What can you say to a poem like this one? It immediately draws you to the point of stillness where no words exist. The mind is quiet, free, no longer hemmed in by the false notion of boundaries. The rhythm of rain, the drip-dripping of water from the eaves, is truly one with us. There is no longer a dividing line where you can say, "Here I end. Here the sound of rain begins." The sound of rain flows into the awareness, awareness pours into the rain; they are one.==Dogen, sometimes respectfully referred to as Dogen Zenji, was a key figure in the development of Japanese Zen practice and the founder of the Soto Zen sect.Dogen was born about 1200 in Kyoto, Japan. At the age of 17, he was formally ordained as a Buddhist monk. Considering the Japaanese Buddhism of the time to be corrupt and influenced by secular power struggles, Dogen traveled to China to

discover the heart of the Dharma by studying Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism at several ancient monasteries.Much of the Ch'an Buddhism he explored utilized koans and "encounter dialogues" to startle the consciousness into enlightenment, but Dogen was critical of this practice. Instead, he was drawn to the teachings of silent meditation. Dogen returned to Japan in 1236. He left the politicized environment of Kyoto, and settled in the mountains and snow country of remote Echizen Province, where he established his own school of Zen, the Soto school. While he proved to be a talented writer and poet, the core of Dogen's teaching was to transcend the mind's addiction to language and form in order to become fully present and recognize one's inherent enlightenment.Have a beautiful day, rain or shine...Ivan

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are 2002 - 2010 by Ivan M. Granger.All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.