Dear Sangha, meet my new toy.
In
my own case, it's not yet what it may seem: I walk a lot. Even hike,
admittedly with two sticks. But I absolutely cannot stand in a queue. I
have obtained the device to get in line for vaccinations and such.
I like it; amazing what all I can store under the seat. I'm sure it will come in even more handy later. 😄 What with the Second Law and all.
I
think I will call it Lily, as it is my lily pad where I can sit and
wait for whatever turns up. In the evening Jupiter, bright, resplendent.
In the morning Venus, resplendent, bright.
-- shonin
A frog's way of sitting is much better than our zazen. I always admire their practice. They never get sleepy. Their eyes are always open, and they do things intuitively in an appropriate way. When something to eat comes by, they go like this: gulp! They never miss anything, they are always calm and still. -- Shunryu Suzuki
In the inn that is this world
People come and go in a flash.
The moon shines on the hill bamboo,
Alone I sit and hear the kingfishers.
Spring rain, a pondful of frogs:
Going in and out, like the drum beat,
Chanting and turning a thousand sutras.
What is the use of reading texts?
All my life I have lacked cleverness,
My early learning was sleeping beneath the trees.
-- Poems of Cheongheodang (1520–1604) tr. Whitfield and Park
If
you want to comprehend this essence, you should know that the voices of
frogs and worms, the sound of wind and raindrops, all speak the
wonderful language of the dharma and that birds in flight, swimming
fish, floating clouds, and flowing streams all turn the dharma wheel. -- Bassui
The luminous moon drifts by so lightly,
The sutra hall lies silent without a sound.
Bits of moonlight pierce the cracks between the bamboo,
Its round refulgence perches in the intersecting pine branches.
The dew dampens the nests filled with noisy swallows,
The wind combs the grasses filled with croaking frogs.
I sit with the master after the ceremony is over
As, face to face, we straighten out our robes.
-- Shiyan, in Daughters of Emptiness tr./ed. Beata Grant
furu ike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto
an ancient pond / a frog jumps in / the splash of water -- Bassho
At my shady house,
My two legs stretched lazily,
I find endless joy
In hearing the summer frogs,
Singing in a hillside field.
-- Ryokan (tr. Nonoyuki Yuasa)