Jakushitsu : Sitting in the mountains

Jakushitsu  Genko (1290 – 1367 CE) was a Japanese Rinzai monk, flute player and poet. In his later years, he was the abbot of Eigen-ji temple, which was in fact constructed so that he could teach there, but most of his life he lived as a hermit, and this poem gives a taste of the deep spiritual freedom he encountered in the wilderness.

Rock slab seat
     legs folded
          sitting alone

Not loathing noise
     not savoring silence

The carefree clouds concur

Translation Arthur Braverman

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