Hakuin Zenji's Song of Zazen

All beings by nature are Buddha

As ice by nature is water.

Apart from water there is no ice;

Apart from beings, no Buddha.

How sad that people ignore the near,

And search for truth afar:

Like someone in the midst of water,

Crying out in thist;

Like a child of a wealthy home,

Wandering among the poor.

Lost on dar paths of ignorance,

We wander through the six worlds;

From dark path to dark path-

When shall we be freed from birth and death?

For this the zazen of the Mahayana,

Deserves the highest praise:

Generosity, patience, self-discipline,

The many paramitas_

All rise within zazen.

Even those with proud attainments,

Wipe out their old deluded ways.

Where are all the dark paths then?

The pure land itself is near.

Much more, if you dedicate yourself to practice

And confirm your own true nature,

True nature that is no nature.

You are far beyond mere dogma.

Here effect and cause are the same,

The way is neither two nor three,

With form that is no form,

Going and coming -never astray,

With thought that is no thought,

Singing and dancing are the voice of the law.

Boundless and free is the sky of samadhi

Bright the full moon of wisdom,

Truly, is anything missing now,

Nirvana is right here before our eyes;

This very place is the lotus land,

This very body, the Buddha.