Wednesday, 24 May 2017

I Watch People In The World



I watch people in the world 
Throw away their lives lusting after things,
Never able to satisfy their desires,
Falling into deeper despair and torturing themselves.

Even if they get what they want 
How long will they be able to enjoy it?
For one heavenly pleasure they suffer ten torments of hell,
Binding themselves more firmly to the grindstone. 

Such people are like monkeys 
Frantically grasping for the moon in the water
And then falling into a whirlpool.
How endlessly those caught up in the floating world suffer. 

Despite myself, I fret over them all night
And cannot staunch my flow of tears. 

Taigu Ryokan (1758-1831) 




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