January 20th, 2025

Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage

I’ve built a grass hut
Where there’s nothing of value
After eating, I relax and enjoy a nap.
When it was completed, fresh weeds appeared.
Now it’s been lived in
Covered by weeds.

The person in the hut
Lives here calmly,
Not stuck to inside, outside,
Or in between.
Places worldly people live,
He doesn’t live.
Realms worldly people love,
He doesn’t love.

Silvery moon hangs high in the sky.
I ride a tiny boat in the vast and misty sea.
Moon and sea forgotten;
I forget that I have forgotten.
And before the window
I sit quietly in meditation until midnight.

Jakushitsu (1290–1368)