Khoảng lặng

With all the candles lit
The meditation hall looks cozy
Let me enjoy every moment of
This sitting
All is quiet, nowhere to go,
Nothing to do
Just me and my breath
~

Sitting meditation
Maintaining
Awareness
Of the whole body
A smile
Rises up
From deep
Within
~
The clock ticks loudly and
rhythmically
Reminding us to live
This moment fully
And this
And this
And this
~
Snow gone
Daffodils stand
Upright as if nothing
Ever happened
~
Seven p.m.
The deer in the plum orchard
Stops for the church bell
The wind and pines
Invoke the ocean
~
As I sweep the leaves
From the veranda
The trees keep dropping
New ones onto it
No use competing
With nature
I go to have some tea

~
There is no way
The rocky mountains
Can escape
The gentle embrace of
The fluffy clouds

~
This morning
It looks so quiet outside
I open my window
To hear the silence
Better

~
Three times three times three
Twenty seven years
Of ordained life
Still carrying water
Still chopping wood

~
Transmitting the Trainings
The Hall turns into
Gridaguta Mountain
With the Buddha and
All the Noble Disciples present
Our vow becomes indestructible

~
All is quiet outside
Where did yesterday’s
Wind go?
Nowhere!
Conditions ceased
To be sufficient