Sesshin (poem)
Poems of a stupid monk (translated by the author)
Marc Van Der Maat - Kannon dojo - Bxl
Silence drawing
gracefully
another
silence
On the altar
the incense
climbs
gracefully
in spirals to the stars
The rustle
of a kesa
stepping
behind
sitting buddha’s
With the sangha
the godo
enters
a new day
In the kitchen
the tenzo
attentively
stirs
the guen maï
pot
In the dining hall
the chairs
observe
attentively as well
noble silence
Different voices
with
different
individual timbres
but
ONE sangha
ONE harmony
ONE heart sutra
Gyatei gyatei
Hara gyatei …
Clear and joyful
the little bell
opens the way
on a soft carpet of
colourful leaves
and
chestnuts’ sharp husks
like magnificent spring flowers
expanding and opened wide
in the middle of autumn
to delicately perfume
the Dharma
Godo and tenzo
offer the incense
in the dining hall
Buddha’s little statue
with serenity
looks through
our steaming hearts
and
in this manner
stimulates
our hunger for
the practice
samu here
samu there
sweeping here
sweeping there
here and now here
and even so over there
everybody sweeping, sweeping
cleaning, ranging, rincing and purifying
all personal and collectif mess
all rubbish, active and non-active old junk
what a spectacle, it’s a magnificent miracle
one over here and another over there
naturally, spontaneously
all personal and collectif waste is
recycled into dharmic compost
samu here
samu there
samu everywhere
great silence
in the dojo hall
outside
the chestnuts fall
loudly on the soil of
the Hanen forest
and some even try to pass inside,
gliding through the doorway
widely open to the sun
as far as little Buddha’s statue
on the altar
they follow the Dharma
without caring about what
is coming ahead
“ Become like the falling chestnuts, “
says the master during kusen,
“ detached, body and mind abandonded,
Shin jin datsu raku. “
The sun goes down and the stars
appear high in the sky
trees and chestnuts keep silent now
and also listen with benevolence
during a few moments
in the dojo is
great noble silence
last afternoon
sun, and shining faces
the whole universe
rejoice with the sangha
the bells jingle
the wood resonates
the drum thunders and
the big bowl quivers of happiness
Jukaï
after the vows
the new bodhisattva
is warmly welcomed into
the holy sangha
all the Buddha’s, all the Masters
and Patriarches join us :
Sanpaï !
Everything has been cleaned
the cars are loaded
a last laughter, a last hug,
and bye-bye
in our civilian clothes
we again dive in an
over-activated agitatde world
just leaving our autumn wood
cars are loudly tootening and
rushing too near our nicely folded kesa’s
that roaring bikers scarcely
can’t besmear
the smell of the incense and the choko
in our kesa’s perfumes the asphalt,
the steel and concrete in the city desert
and in our cemented hearts
our new sesshin starts right here
and right now, in this very instant
in the middle of this pandemonium
of humanoïd beings fabricated
by the latest updated high-tech
to be
simply
to be, just being
like the chestnuts in the wood …
Tags: NL27