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Kobayashi Issa, Japan, Pure Land Buddhist, 1763–1828 -
Full moon;
my ramshackle hut
is what it is.
Issa sees his hut.
Does anyone else? ...
a hut is a hut... true, but ...
* * *
David Reich Chadwick recounts giving a copy of To Shine in One Corner of the World: Moments with Shunryu Suzuki to the Japanese poet Nanao Sakaki. David asked Nanao if he had known the late Suzuki Roshi. Nanao said he met Suzuki Roshi twice.
Nanao continued by telling how he and Suzuki Roshi spoke one word to each other at their first meeting: "Hi." Nanao said, "It was enough. I could see his great spirit, and he could see me."
Then, Nanao shared that he and Suzuki Roshi met again. This time, Suzuki Roshi was dying. They said "Hi" and "Hi" and bowed their heads slightly.
David asked Nanao, "So you and Suzuki Roshi had two meetings over the years, and the sum total of what you said to each other in both meetings was four words - actually, one word four times?" "Yes," Nanao replied. "It was just right. I am so happy to have met him. He was a great teacher for America."
This seeing is not a matter of eyes.
We can see without eyes -
the most important seeing.
So, when seeing the other,
does the other see you?
(though the seer is
not an other or a you)
maybe
maybe not
Regardless,
seeing is not looking and
seeing
elicits seeing
What else can you do?
Don't stretch yourself outside your eyes -
seeing comes to you
Don't try to see -
seeing and seeing happens... effortlessly
Shine, You Lotus Blossoms!
* * *
(C) brian wilcox, 2025
Issa's haiku poem. Translated from Japanese by Robert Haas. In John Brehm. The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness, and Joy.
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