Zen Poetry

Ryokan (1758–1831) is, along with Dogen and Hakuin, one of the three giants of Zen in Japan. But unlike his two renowned colleagues, Ryokan was a societal dropout, living mostly as a hermit and a beggar. He was never head of a monastery or temple. He liked playing with children. He had no dharma heir. Even so, people recognized the depth of his realization, and he was sought out by people of all walks of life for the teaching to be experienced in just being around him.

One Essence is a modern commentary on the nondual teachings of a classical Zen text.

It is also a collection of Zen wisdom and poetry, containing the 67 stanzas of the Hsin Hsin Ming (with multiple alternative translations), plus many other succinct spiritual verses from ancient and contemporary Zen sources.

This is a collection of poetry celebrating the darker side of love and other topics. The poems mix humor, idealism, and cynicism and strive to make you laugh think and feel.

On the 50th anniversary of Robert Pirsig’s classic Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, John Zdanowski, a six-time $100 million business builder, applies the Metaphysics of Quality to inspire and empower the entrepreneur in each of us to create something from nothing. Blending personal anecdotes, business case studies, simple diagrams, and philosophical poetry to convey the deep meaning of complicated subjects …so you get it.

Zen. When it tells you to write, you write. When it tells you to feel, you feel. Time to call on the odds and stop the endless chatter in your head. Just look around us what can you see? What can you feel? We all have a story and poems are just a tiny frame, a picture, for the feelings living inside of us. We are all loafers from time to time. So I ask you, why not to be a Zen loafer and give it a listen, it will inspire you, it will command you to quieten your mind, and it will make your day to be Zen. Grab a copy, a cup of tea, and enjoy some easygoing wisdom.

Lo Zen non si può descrivere con le parole, lo zen si può solo vivere. Le storie zen sono un mezzo per cogliere, da un'ombra proiettata su un muro, qualcosa del fiore dello zen. Queste 54 storie sono state tradotte dalla collezione che John Suler ha fatto di storie zen o taoiste già pubblicate o che gli sono state raccontate o inviate sul suo sito "Zen Stories to tell your neighbors".