Dewdrops on a Lotus Leaf: Zen Poems of Ryokan

From what I understand these poems were put together in one book by Tenshin, Ryokan's only love, just after he died.

Japanese master poet, playful monk, an old man who fell in live with a young zen nun, his possession an old begging bowl...he may be one of the most contented poets you will ever read. Of his hut deep in the mountains, he wrote: "unless you got lost on purpose/ you might never get this far."

I love Ryokan and turn to this book often. It has no fluff or pretense in it the way a lot of classic English poetry has. Ryokan is a poet for those they usually can't stand poetry like myself. He writes about nature, meditation, going for alms and the general ups and downs of human life in a very refreshing way.

Just one small rip, otherwise in good condition. I thought it was a different edition from the pht\oto, but this one's OK

A great book of poems by my favorite poet. Brings much happiness.

Wonderful poems, wonderful translation. Reminded me of Rumi as translated by Coleman Barks.

I love Ryokan!

This is a wonderful little book. i love it. so simple and sweet, beautiful. in zen, the concept of thusness is understood on different levels. on the first level of thusness things are seen just as they are. on the next level things are seen as' that', then as 'this' and then after this things are neither seen nor not seen: things are simply 'thus'. i have read that in ancient Christian tradition a philosopher called Duns Scotus spoke of the 'thisness' or Haecceity of things. that would be the level of direct seeing or Prajna just below 'absolute thusness'. Professor DT Suzukis final book on Sengai has on its final page an enso caligraph (circle painting) with the words: ''eat this and have a cup of tea''.final thusness is neither emptiness nor form it is just 'thus'; beyond language and yet within language. thus is in itself ungraspable, yet known. when thisness drops away there is no longer grasping of any words found in language. thusness is known but cant be grasped.neither emptiness nor form; just thus.neither mind nor no mind; just thus.neither consciousness nor unconsciousness; just thus.neither self nor no self; just thus.neither this nor that; just thus.neither illusion nor reality; just thus.emptiness cannot be grasped, neither can form. there is neither seeing nor unseeing. looking at an object it cannot be seen and yet it is not unseen. blind and yet seeing. looking for a mind; there is only thinking, but no mind that does the thinking and so not no mind. neither mind nor no mind. this is the middle way of thusness. it avoids all extremes. this is an actual seen and felt experience. one can say that one is consciously unconscious, and at the same time unconsciously conscious.. it cant be said to be suffering nor pleasure, good nor evil... only thus. to understand life we need to take it as a direct experience just as Ryokan did.i also very much enjoyed Basho's long road to the north [i think thats the title], but enjoyed Ryokan more. don't expect to learn anything other than simple wisdom and appreciation even in a hard life. but... this is so beautiful. it is the beauty in Ryokan that speaks to my heart. the eternity of direct experience. every bamboo shoot, every flower, rivers, mountain, children and women, old friends; all of these things are his poems and speak of an appreciation of reality. whether we say it is just as it is or we say it is empty... or neither of these things... just so/thus. it is appreciated.prajna, 'seeing' is a wisdom that gradually unfolds. it comes suddenly often after long practice. bit by bit. i hope this is helpful.much gratitude to the author and translator. a great achievement.

Ryokan was an intriguing character who truly lived Zen. His poetry reflects this - his carefree love of life, his love of nature and the simple things in life. I must admit that I do prefer some of the translations offered in One Robe, One Bowl (translated by the same person), but this book is still worth 5 stars as it is full of wonderful poetry!

A nicely produced book, and the poems are great, but there aren't many of them, and the introduction is very short, and not very helpful.

great inspiring poetry

A shame but I couldn't get excited about any of these poems, they seemed sentimental and without that sharp jab one gets from so much else in Japanese poetry.

Delightful little book of Buddhist poetry.