When composing a verse let there not be a hair’s breath separating your mind from what you write; composition of a poem must be done in an instant, like a woodcutter felling a huge tree or a swordsman leaping at a dangerous enemy.
MATSUO BASHOCollecting all The rains of May The swift Mogami River.
More Matsuo Basho Quotes
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Old dark sleepy pool… Quick unexpected frog Goes plop! Watersplash!
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Come out to view / the truth of flowers blooming / in poverty.
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With every gust of wind, the butterfly changes its place on the willow.
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Before enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood and carrying water.
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Felling a tree and gazing at the cut end – tonight’s moon.
MATSUO BASHO -
The oak tree: not interested in cherry blossoms.
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Spring rain leaking through the roof dripping from the wasps’ nest.
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Year’s end, all corners of this floating world, swept.
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Calm and serene The sound of a cicada Penetrates the rock.
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How I long to see among dawn flowers, the face of God.
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There came a day when the clouds drifting along with the wind aroused a wanderlust in me, and I set off on a journey to roam along the seashores
MATSUO BASHO -
Seek not the paths of the ancients; Seek that which the ancients sought.
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All my friends / viewing the moon – / an ugly bunch.
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Without bitterest cold that penetrates to the very bone, how can plum blossoms send forth their fragrance all over the world?
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When your consciousness has become ripe in true zazen-pure like clear water, like a serene mountain lake, not moved by any wind-then anything may serve as a medium for realization.
MATSUO BASHO