A thousand peaks locked in freezing cloud Myriad paths without a single traveler Each day I just sit in meditation Now and then hearing the snow softly drift against my window
Ryōkan, tr. Peter Haskel image: self-portrait by Hakuin
yes, it is Nicherin, but Ryokan is sitting inside by the window imagining a myriad paths without a single traveler (of course he meditates, he doesn't look outside, the snow is just a distant sound to him, just as the world is :-) in most cases the window is only viewed or expressed in visual terms, or visual and auditive, yet here it is purely auditive, the only vision expressed is the inward one.
wonderful!
ReplyDeletebut i see a traveler there, there is always a traveler, isn't it? ;-)
ah, but i didn't see him as a traveler for it is Nicherin himself, perhaps between sessions out looking for signs of others
ReplyDeleteyes, it is Nicherin, but Ryokan is sitting inside by the window imagining a myriad paths without a single traveler (of course he meditates, he doesn't look outside, the snow is just a distant sound to him, just as the world is :-)
ReplyDeletein most cases the window is only viewed or expressed in visual terms, or visual and auditive, yet here it is purely auditive, the only vision expressed is the inward one.
there you go. that should satisfy your literal mind.
ReplyDeletehahaha
ReplyDeleteyes, it is perfect!
besides, that circle could be the frame of the window (my literal mind can accept at least that :-)
i added a few pictures which could also illustrate this wonderful verse.
ReplyDeleteand fine photos they are.
ReplyDelete