Thay Phap Nhat reads his Poem in Vietnamese

You Are Me - Thich Nhat Hanh

You are me and I am you.
It is obvious that we are inter-are.
You cultivate the flower in
yourself so that I will be beautiful.
I transform the garbage in myself so
that you do not have to suffer.
I support you you support me.
I am here to bring you peace
you are here to bring me joy.

True Emptiness – thay Phap Nhat

I come here this morning

Sitting down on the green grass

Up in the sky a cloud appears in five auspicious colours

The figure of a Buddha statue is peaceful

I wave my hand to welcome the warm glow of dawn

The time in the box of notions suddenly (disappear) flies a way

Space is looking for time

But only see the existence

The green leaves, the white cloud and good natured plants

The earth and the sky are quiet, still

I am melted, thawed into reality

My eyes become chlorophyll

My ears become triumph a victory song

My body is mingled, dissolved into the wind, the soil, the cloud

The sun is falling, the wind is falling

The rain is falling, the snow is falling

Everything is falling into eternity

True Emptiness

In true emptiness the miraculous, wonderful existence is fully contained

Existing in the flow of intercontinuation of life

This very moment

Sacred moment

Full, eternal moment.

Upon this earth - Milarepa

Milarepa

Upon this earth, the land of the Victorious Ones,
Once lived a Saint, known as the second Buddha;
His fame was heard in all the Ten Directions.
To Him, the Jewel a’top the eternal Banner of Dharma
I pay homage and give offerings.
Is He not the holy Master, the great Midripa?
Upon the Lotus-seat of Midripa
My Father Guru places his reliance;
He drinks heavenly nectar
With the supreme view of Mahamudra;
He has realized the innate Truth in utter freedom.
He is the supreme one, Jetsun Marpa.
Undefiled by faults or vices,
He is the Transformation Body of Buddha.
He says: “Before Enlightenment,
All things in the outer world
Are deceptive and confusing;
Clinging to outer forms,
One is ever thus entangled.

Looking For Each Other - Thich Nhat Hanh

 I have been looking for you, World Honored One,
since I was a little child.
With my first breath, I heard your call,
and began to look for you, Blessed One.
I’ve walked so many perilous paths,
confronted so many dangers,
endured despair, fear, hopes, and memories.
I’ve trekked to the farthest regions, immense and wild,
sailed the vast oceans,
traversed the highest summits, lost among the clouds.
I’ve lain dead, utterly alone,
on the sands of ancient deserts.
I’ve held in my heart so many tears of stone.
Blessed One, I’ve dreamed of drinking dewdrops
that sparkle with the light of far-off galaxies.
I’ve left footprints on celestial mountains
and screamed from the depths of Avici Hell, exhausted, crazed with despair
because I was so hungry, so thirsty.
For millions of lifetimes,
I’ve longed to see you,

Slopes of Mount Kugami - Ryokan

Slopes

 of Mount Kugami –

 in the mountain’s shade

 a hut beneath the trees – 

how many years

 it’s been my home? 

The time comes

 to take leave of it –

 my .though/ts wilt

 like summer grasses,

 I wander back and forth

 like the evening star –

 till that hut of mine

 is hidden from sight, 

till that grove of trees 

can no longer be seen,

 at each bend

 of the long road, 

at every turning,

 I turn to look back

 in the direction of that mountain 

 translated by Burton Watson: from the book Ryokan: Zen Monk-Poet of Japan.

Enlightenment is like the moon - Dogen

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water.

The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken.

Although its light is wide and great,

The moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide.

The whole moon and the entire sky

Are reflected in one dewdrop on the grass.

Disappearance- Thich Nhat Hanh

The leaf tips bend
under the weight of dew.
Fruits are ripening
in Earth’s early morning.
Daffodils light up in the sun.
The curtain of cloud at the gateway
of the garden path begins to shift:
have pity for childhood,
the way of illusion.

Late at night,
the candle gutters.
In some distant desert,
a flower opens.
And somewhere else,
a cold aster
that never knew a cassava patch
or gardens of areca palms,
never knew the joy of life,
at that instant disappears-
man’s eternal yearning.

Coming and Going - thay Phap Nhat

Coming leisurely

Going freely

The drop of water dissolve in the river

Arriving at the ocean