Ancient sages left their works behind, not to let us know
About themselves, but to help us understand our own stamp.
Had we wisdom deep enough to know ourselves, single-handed,
No benefits would result from the works of ancient saints.
A wise person learns the mystery of existence in a flash
And climbs in a leap beyond the world of hollow phenomena,
Whereas a foolish person holds willfully to facts and details,
To drown in subtle differences of words and lines,
And being envious of others in their supreme achievements,
Wastes the mind night and day in efforts to exceed,
Truth, if you cleave to it as truth, turns into falsehood.
Falsehood, when you see it as such, becomes at once truth.
Truth and falsehood are the mated edges of a double sword.
None alive can separate with certainty one from the other.
Alas, too many people drift with the skiff to fathom the sea.
From time immemorial they are causes of endless deception.
Category Archives: Teachings
Ryokan – 7 End of Poem – Truth and Falshood
Alas, too many people drift with the skiff to fathom the sea.
From time immemorial they are causes of endless deception.
From Songs of Ryokan, Chinese Poems #103
Ryokan – 6
Truth and falsehood are the mated edges of a double sword
None alive can separate with certainty one from the other.
From Songs of Ryokan, Chinese Poems #103
Ryokan – 5 Truth and Falshood
Truth, if you cleave to it as truth, turnes into falshood.
Falsehood, when you see it as such, becomes at once truth…
From Songs of Ryokan, Chinese Poems #103
Ryokan – 4
Whereas a foolish person holds willfully to facts and details,
To drown in subtle differences of words and lines,
And being envious of others in their supreme achievements,
Wastes the mind night and day in efforts to exceed,…
From Songs of Ryokan, Chinese Poems #103