Then on one of my walks--
because I took a walk every afternoon out of the temple--
I was thinking of what other persons think of Zen Buddhism
and being in a temple.
And thinking how funny was it that they all
thought you sat looking at your navel,
and never thought I was so busy-- and really busy,
I knew-- in the temple, and they always thought it was nothing.
So I decided I would write a whole series of poems
on nothing--
what I think of nothing.
But then, when I came to think about it,
it didn't come out the same.
But I've written many poems on nothing.
I was so fascinated with it.
You just try it.
You just try it when you can't help--
see what happens.
I'll read you two or three so you can see what fun I had.
This was the first one I went home and wrote,
home being my little house.
Oh, I didn't tell you the name of the house, did I?
I was told one day, what is--
do you know how to--
what does OPHR mean?
And I tried to think, because we used
to talk about different words.
They were interested in learning new English words or rare ones.
God, I felt awful.
I didn't know what it was or how to pronounce it.
And I said, I'm very sorry.
Oh, they said, Oriental Poetry House of Ruth.
[LAUGHTER]
And I have also forgotten to give you
the greeting sent to you by Kobori when
I said I'm going to read here.
He has no idea.
But this is not a follower, you see, of that house,
because he didn't hear about you.
He said, please give my greetings to WPHR,
Western Poetry House of Ruth.
[LAUGHTER]
Anyhow, I went back to my little OPHR, as it's still called.
And I sat down on the floor across me--
sit on a little cushion on the floor.
And this is what happened.
"Forget the wind rattling the windows, plum blossoms
and pine sharing sunlight.
Contemplate nothing.
But nothing is too big.
Are ladders ready for in and out of it as big as a laugh?
Nothing floats, a balloon without sides.
I am too slow, too quick to catch it.
Oh, am I nothing?"
Well, here's the fourth one I kept.
"The universe lies on the hill.
My cheek is on my pillow.
Who dies, the universe or I?
From where?
The arrow who lives with nothing, knows nothing,
is guardian and sister.
No arrow wounds her.
So love, sleep, sleep.
Let nothing stir."