Tao

AI rendering of Ryokan - Zen Monk and Poet
Zen

Reflections on Ryokan’s Zen Poems – The Butterfly and the Flower

I turn to Ryokan’s poetry over and over again. For me, nobody captures in poetry the magical essence of the spiritual life, indeed, of life like he does. How wonderous his words, painting pictures – pictures that rest in the heart, illuminating form and emptiness, and their interplay. When all thoughts are exhausted When all […]

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Ying Yang symbol - Taoism
Taoism

The Tao is a Silent Flower

I’ve been contemplating the poem ‘The Tao is a Silent Flower’ in meditation recently – space, time, form and emptiness: The Tao is a silent flower which blooms through the night, But the night through which it blooms is the flower itself. No Tao, no flower, no bloomer, no night. And for this reason, it

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