WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.380 align:middle line:90% Then on one of my walks-- 00:00:04.380 --> 00:00:08.220 align:middle line:84% because I took a walk every afternoon out of the temple-- 00:00:08.220 --> 00:00:13.260 align:middle line:84% I was thinking of what other persons think of Zen Buddhism 00:00:13.260 --> 00:00:15.690 align:middle line:90% and being in a temple. 00:00:15.690 --> 00:00:19.110 align:middle line:84% And thinking how funny was it that they all 00:00:19.110 --> 00:00:20.790 align:middle line:84% thought you sat looking at your navel, 00:00:20.790 --> 00:00:23.610 align:middle line:84% and never thought I was so busy-- and really busy, 00:00:23.610 --> 00:00:27.670 align:middle line:84% I knew-- in the temple, and they always thought it was nothing. 00:00:27.670 --> 00:00:33.810 align:middle line:84% So I decided I would write a whole series of poems 00:00:33.810 --> 00:00:36.120 align:middle line:90% on nothing-- 00:00:36.120 --> 00:00:37.603 align:middle line:90% what I think of nothing. 00:00:37.603 --> 00:00:39.270 align:middle line:84% But then, when I came to think about it, 00:00:39.270 --> 00:00:40.437 align:middle line:90% it didn't come out the same. 00:00:40.437 --> 00:00:42.750 align:middle line:84% But I've written many poems on nothing. 00:00:42.750 --> 00:00:45.160 align:middle line:90% I was so fascinated with it. 00:00:45.160 --> 00:00:45.990 align:middle line:90% You just try it. 00:00:45.990 --> 00:00:47.940 align:middle line:84% You just try it when you can't help-- 00:00:47.940 --> 00:00:50.490 align:middle line:90% see what happens. 00:00:50.490 --> 00:00:53.790 align:middle line:84% I'll read you two or three so you can see what fun I had. 00:00:53.790 --> 00:00:56.100 align:middle line:84% This was the first one I went home and wrote, 00:00:56.100 --> 00:00:58.050 align:middle line:90% home being my little house. 00:00:58.050 --> 00:01:00.890 align:middle line:84% Oh, I didn't tell you the name of the house, did I? 00:01:00.890 --> 00:01:02.960 align:middle line:90% I was told one day, what is-- 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:04.019 align:middle line:90% do you know how to-- 00:01:04.019 --> 00:01:06.030 align:middle line:90% what does OPHR mean? 00:01:06.030 --> 00:01:08.370 align:middle line:84% And I tried to think, because we used 00:01:08.370 --> 00:01:09.890 align:middle line:90% to talk about different words. 00:01:09.890 --> 00:01:15.870 align:middle line:84% They were interested in learning new English words or rare ones. 00:01:15.870 --> 00:01:17.188 align:middle line:90% God, I felt awful. 00:01:17.188 --> 00:01:19.230 align:middle line:84% I didn't know what it was or how to pronounce it. 00:01:19.230 --> 00:01:20.610 align:middle line:90% And I said, I'm very sorry. 00:01:20.610 --> 00:01:25.055 align:middle line:84% Oh, they said, Oriental Poetry House of Ruth. 00:01:25.055 --> 00:01:27.180 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:01:27.180 --> 00:01:28.920 align:middle line:84% And I have also forgotten to give you 00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:30.900 align:middle line:84% the greeting sent to you by Kobori when 00:01:30.900 --> 00:01:32.660 align:middle line:90% I said I'm going to read here. 00:01:32.660 --> 00:01:34.320 align:middle line:90% He has no idea. 00:01:34.320 --> 00:01:36.930 align:middle line:84% But this is not a follower, you see, of that house, 00:01:36.930 --> 00:01:38.400 align:middle line:84% because he didn't hear about you. 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:41.880 align:middle line:84% He said, please give my greetings to WPHR, 00:01:41.880 --> 00:01:44.130 align:middle line:90% Western Poetry House of Ruth. 00:01:44.130 --> 00:01:45.990 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:01:45.990 --> 00:01:50.100 align:middle line:84% Anyhow, I went back to my little OPHR, as it's still called. 00:01:50.100 --> 00:01:54.270 align:middle line:84% And I sat down on the floor across me-- 00:01:54.270 --> 00:01:57.520 align:middle line:84% sit on a little cushion on the floor. 00:01:57.520 --> 00:01:59.850 align:middle line:90% And this is what happened. 00:01:59.850 --> 00:02:03.750 align:middle line:84% "Forget the wind rattling the windows, plum blossoms 00:02:03.750 --> 00:02:06.630 align:middle line:90% and pine sharing sunlight. 00:02:06.630 --> 00:02:09.479 align:middle line:90% Contemplate nothing. 00:02:09.479 --> 00:02:11.520 align:middle line:90% But nothing is too big. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:15.720 align:middle line:84% Are ladders ready for in and out of it as big as a laugh? 00:02:15.720 --> 00:02:20.340 align:middle line:84% Nothing floats, a balloon without sides. 00:02:20.340 --> 00:02:22.950 align:middle line:84% I am too slow, too quick to catch it. 00:02:22.950 --> 00:02:24.450 align:middle line:90% Oh, am I nothing?" 00:02:24.450 --> 00:02:27.810 align:middle line:90% 00:02:27.810 --> 00:02:30.240 align:middle line:84% Well, here's the fourth one I kept. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.850 align:middle line:90% "The universe lies on the hill. 00:02:32.850 --> 00:02:35.250 align:middle line:90% My cheek is on my pillow. 00:02:35.250 --> 00:02:37.620 align:middle line:90% Who dies, the universe or I? 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:38.490 align:middle line:90% From where? 00:02:38.490 --> 00:02:43.560 align:middle line:84% The arrow who lives with nothing, knows nothing, 00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:45.840 align:middle line:90% is guardian and sister. 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:47.560 align:middle line:90% No arrow wounds her. 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:51.060 align:middle line:90% So love, sleep, sleep. 00:02:51.060 --> 00:02:53.660 align:middle line:90% Let nothing stir." 00:02:53.660 --> 00:02:55.282 align:middle line:90%