Clair de lune

世の中は

何にたとえん

水鳥の

はしふる露に

やどる月影

Being-in-the-world:To what might it be compared?Dwelling in the dewdropFallen from a waterfowl's beak,The image of the moon.

I wrote this poem by Dôgen on the board and it anchored our discussion of Zen ethics last Wednesday. (Translation in T. P. Kasulis, Zen Action/Zen Person [U of Hawai'i Press, 1981], 103) If you want to say it in Japanese:

Yo no naka ha
Nan ni tatoen
Mizutori no
Hashifuru tsuyu ni
Yadoru tsukikage.