Song of Zazen

by Hakuin Zenji All beings by nature are Buddha, as ice by nature is water; apart from water there is no ice, apart from beings no Buddha. How sad that people ignore the near and search for truth afar, like someone in the midst of water crying out in thirst, like a child of a wealthy home wandering among the poor. Lost on dark paths of ignorance we wander through the six worlds; from dark path to dark path we wander, when shall we be freed from birth and death? For this the zazen of the Mahayana deserves the highest praise: offerings, Precepts, Paramitas, Nembutsu, atonement, practice - the many other virtues - all rise within zazen. Those who try zazen even once wipe away immeasurable crimes - where are all the dark paths then? the Pure Land itself is near. Those who hear this truth even once and listen with a grateful heart, treasuring it, revering it, gain blessings without end. Much more, if you turn yourself about, and confirm your own self-nature - self-nature that is no nature - you are far beyond mere argument. The oneness of cause and effect is clear, not two, not three, the path is straight; with form that is no form, going and coming - never astray; with thought that is no thought singing and dancing are the voice of the Law. Boundless and free is the sky of Samadhi, bright the full moon of wisdom, truly is anything missing now? Nirvana is right here, before our eyes, this very place is the Lotus Land, this very body the Buddha.