Yuan Mei: Motto

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Motto

Yuan Mei, Yuan Mei poetry, Buddhist, Buddhist poetry, Zen / Chan poetry, [TRADITION SUB2] poetry, Taoist poetry

by Yuan Mei
(1716 - 1798) Timeline

English version by
J. P. Seaton

Original Language
Chinese

Buddhist : Zen / Chan

Taoist

18th Century

When I meet a monk,
          I bow politely.
When I see a Buddha,
          I don't.

If I bow to a Buddha,
          the Buddha won't know.
But I honor a monk:
          he's here now, apparently,
          or, at least, he seems to be.

-- from I Don't Bow to Buddhas: Selected Poems of Yuan Mei, Translated by J. P. Seaton

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Recommended Books

	Censored by Confucius: Ghost Stories of Yuan Mei, Edited by Kam Louie
	A Drifting Boat: Chinese Zen Poetry, Edited by J. P. Seaton / Edited by Dennis Maloney
	I Don't Bow to Buddhas: Selected Poems of Yuan Mei, Translated by J. P. Seaton
	The Poetry of Zen: (Shambhala Library), Edited by Sam Hamill / Edited by J. P. Seaton
	Yuan Mei: Eighteenth Century Chinese Poet, by Arthur Waley

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Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World