Ryōkan Quotes

The flower invites the butterfly with no-mind;
The butterfly visits the flower with no-mind.
The flower opens, the butterfly comes;
The butterfly comes, the flower opens.
I don't know others,
Others don't know me.
By not-knowing we follow nature's course

I must go there today -
Tomorrow the plum blossoms
Will scatter.

Keep your heart clear
And transparent,
And you will
Never be bound.
A single disturbed thought
Creates ten thousand distractions.

In the scenery of spring, nothing is better, nothing worse; The flowering branches are of themselves, some short, some long.

Who says my poems are poems? My poems are not poems. When you know that my poems are not poems, Then we can speak of poetry.

The water of the valley stream Never shouts at the tainted world: “Purify yourself!” But naturally, as it is, Shows how it is done.

In this world of dreams, drifting off still more; and once again speaking and dreaming of dreams. Just let it be.

What shall I compare
Your precious letter in early spring to?
All the jewels and gold
Lose their color.
雨が下に
満つる玉より
黄金より
春の初めの
君が音づれ

In all ten directions of the universe, there is only one truth. When we see clearly, the great teachings are the same. What can ever be lost? What can be attained? If we attain something, it was there from the beginning of time. If we lose something, it is hiding somewhere near us.

I don't regard my life
as insufficient.
Inside the brushwood gate
there is a moon;
there are flowers.

He never preached or exhorted, but his life radiated purity and joy, he was a living sermon.

Je ne sais pourquoi
Mon cœur est inquiet ;
Il m'empêche de dormir ;
Demain,
C'est le printemps !

The rain has stopped, the clouds have drifted away,and the weather is clear again. If your heart is pure, then all things in your world are pure... Then the moon and flowers will guide you along the Way

Someday I'll be a weather-beaten skull resting on a grass pillow,
Serenaded by a stray bird or two.
Kings and commoners end up the same,
No more enduring than last night's dream.

I don't tell the murky world
to turn pure.
I purify myself
and check my reflection
in the water of the valley brook.