Quotes from Ikkyu

Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon.

Learn how to read the love letters sent by the wind and rain, the snow and moon.

Break open the cherry tree: where are the blossoms? Just wait for spring time to see how they bloom.

Break open A cherry tree And there are no flowers; But the spring breeze Brings forth myriad blossoms.

The tree is stripped, All color, fragrance gone, Yet already on the bough, Uncaring spring!

Like vanishing dew, a passing apparition or the sudden flash of lightning -- already gone -- thus should one regard one's self.

Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon.

Having no destination, I am never lost.

Look at the cherry blossoms! Their color and scent fall with them, Are gone forever, Yet mindless The spring comes again.

Studying texts and stiff meditation can make you lose your Original Mind. A solitary tune by a fisherman, though, can be an invaluable treasure. Dusk rain on the river, the moon peeking in and out of the clouds; Elegant beyond words, he chants his songs night after night.

that stone Buddha deserves all the birdshit it gets I wave my skinny arms like a tall flower in the wind

sick of it whatever it's called sick of the names I dedicate every pore to what's here

we're lost where the mind can't find us utterly lost

Hearing a crow with no mouth Cry in the deep Darkness of the night, I feel a longing for My father before he was born.

fucking flattery, success, money. I just sit back and suck my thumb.

don't hesitate get laid that's wisdom sitting around chanting what crap

clouds very high look not one word helped them get up there

don't wait for the man standing in the snow to cut off his arm help him now

born born everything is always born thinking about it try not to

I've burnt all the holy pages I used to carry but poems flare in my heart

why is it all so beautiful this fake dream this craziness why?

the wise know nothing at all well maybe one song

pleasure pain are equal in a clear heart no mountain hides the moon

this boat is and is not when it sinks both disappear