Nyogen Sensaki

Some old papers were recently excavated
from the ruins of an ancient city
in Eastern Turkestan.

The scholars say that they contain
the thought of Bodhidharma,
and they have been busy turning out commentaries,
both in the horizontal writing of the West
and the vertical lines of the Orient.

Who knows exactly the thought of the blue-eyed monk?
Some imitate his zazen and gaze at the wall
until the sun goes down.

Hey – you are all wrong.