To All Appearances A Lady - University of British Columbia

Robert
B r i n g h u r s t
Dogen
The mind is old snow, new snow, brooding rain.
The mind is lichen crust and stone.
Pebbles and sticks are the fountains of wisdom.
Go into the hills and remain there forever.
Wise as a snowflake that lives
for ten minutes, wise as a stone
that is young at 3,000,000 years,
let the trees make your gestures,
the gutters your prayers.
Pass the note of yourself to the river
to read to the hills. Let the wind and the leaves
speak your thoughts in their language.
Many or few: any number will do. This
is the world. The world is one - either one -
and neither and both of your eyes.
And your face is its face. And the eyes in your face
are the eyes you have seen,
seeing you, in the faces of others.
One drop of blood, one drop
of falling rain contains
the final truth, the temporary
lie, the day, the night,
the earth, the sky,
the light, the dark, the still
unfurling world.
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