The upright bamboo does not suffer the summer heat

From this month’s second Zen maxim in Japanese site of Rinzai-Obaku Zen.

Bamboo remains lush and cool even in the heat of summer. In fact, it is a plant native to warm climates and is naturally resilient to the summer sun.

People tend to blame their situation, thinking there’s nothing they can do. But perhaps it’s not the situation that’s limiting us—perhaps it’s our own narrow perspective.

脩竹不受暑 (しゅうちくしょをうけず)

臨黄ネットの今月のふたつ目の禅語から。

青々と茂り、夏でも涼しげに見える竹。実際には、竹はもともと暑い地域の植物で、夏の暑さにも強く耐えられる性質を持っています。

人はつい、状況や環境のせいにして「どうしようもない」と思いがちです。けれど、実はそう思い込んでいるのは、自分自身の狭い了見によるものかもしれません。

Kāore te tūpapa kārere i te pāwera i te wera

Hei tā te kōrero tuarua o te marama i te wāhanga Hapani o te Rinzai-Obaku Zen.

Ka noho mātao tonu te tāwhara ahakoa te wera o te raumati. Nō ngā wāhi wera te tipu nei, ā, he manawanui ki te rāumati.

He maha ngā wā ka whakapae te tangata i te taiao, ka mea hoki kāore he huarahi kē atu. Engari, tērā pea ehara i te taiao te raru, engari ko tō tātou ake tirohanga kōpaki.

The peach and the plum say nothing, yet a path forms beneath them

From this month’s first Zen maxim in Japanese site of Rinzai-Obaku Zen.

The law of cause and effect is often understood as a formula for consequences of human actions.
But what if we saw human action instead as something small—subordinate to the vast, spontaneous workings of nature?

桃李不言下自成蹊 (とうりものいわざれども、したおのずからけいをなす)

臨黄ネットの今月の最初の禅語から。

因果の法は人間の所為に関するものとして捉えられがちですが、むしろ人間の所為の自然の営みに比しての矮小さとして理解してみてはどうでしょう。

Kāore te pēhi me te pāmu e kōrero, heoi anō ka puta he ara i raro i a rāua

Hei tā te kōrero tuatahi o te marama i te wāhanga Hapani o te Rinzai-Obaku Zen.

He maha te tangata e whakaaro ana ko te ture o te take me te hua, he ture hei whakamārama i ngā putanga o ngā mahi a te tangata.
Engari, mehemea ka mātakitaki kētia ngā mahi a te tangata hei mea nohinohi noa iho—kei raro i ngā nekeneke māori o te taiao, e rere noa ana, e whanake noa ana?