"If there is beauty, there must be ugliness; If there is ri… - Ryōkan

"If there is beauty, there must be ugliness;
If there is right, there must be wrong.
Wisdom and ignorance are complementary,
And illusion and enlightenment cannot be separated.
This is an old truth, don't think it was discovered recently.
"I want this, I want that"
Is nothing but foolishness.
I'll tell you a secret -
"All things are impermanent!

Ryōkan

One Robe, One Bowl: The Zen Poetry of Ryōkan · 2006 Verified in 1 source Sign up to see the complete provenance

English

Collect this quote

About Ryōkan

Ryōkan (1758–1831) was an eccentric Sōtō Zen Buddhist monk who lived in Echigo, Japan, as a hermit, most famous for his poetry and calligraphy.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Ryokan • Ryoukan

All quotes from Ryōkan Similar Quotes by other Originators

Originators like Ryōkan:

Mary Oliver Robert Frost Rabindranath Tagore William Butler Yeats William Stafford

Additional quotes by Ryōkan

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

It's a pity, a gentleman in refined retirement composing poetry: He models his work on the classic verse of China. And his poems are elegant, full of fine phrases. But if you don't write of things deep in your own heart, What's the use of churning out so many words?

How can we ever lose interest in life? Spring has come again
And cherry trees bloom in the mountains.

"If there is beauty, there must be ugliness; If there is right, there must be wrong. Wisdom and ignorance are complementary, And illusion and enlight… - Ryōkan

About Ryōkan

Also Known As

Additional quotes by Ryōkan