Kokinshu #443
Tuesday, 3 September 2013 07:00 Miscanthus plumes (obana)
We see that it is,
yet it's hard to rely on.
Shall I be convinced
that this cicada-shell world
really doesn't exist?
ari to mite
tanomu zo kataki
utsusemi no
yo o-ba nashi to ya
omoinashitemu
---L.
We see that it is,
yet it's hard to rely on.
Shall I be convinced
that this cicada-shell world
really doesn't exist?
—25 August 2013
Original author unknown. Obana is the plume or ear of the miscanthus (see #242), an all-autumn topic. I'm pleased to see someone actively wrestling with standard Buddhist doctrine. (Interestingly, searches found this one quoted on a Zen temple's website.) "Yet" is interpretive, but some sort of contrast seems needed to make sense.ari to mite
tanomu zo kataki
utsusemi no
yo o-ba nashi to ya
omoinashitemu
---L.