Zen in Ten: Dewdrop on a Heap of Dung
The Wisdom of Shundo Aoyama Roshi
All the quotes below are from Shundo Aoyama Roshi’s book Zen Seeds: 60 Essential Buddhist Teachings on Effort, Gratitude, and Happiness. More info about Aoyama Roshi at the end. Bows + Peace, Rev. Shoren.
“Whether a dewdrop is on a flower or a heap of dung, the morning light sparkles on it just the same.”
“If people would just discard their selfish criteria and look carefully at flowers and grasses, they would see that heaven and earth bless the life of every flower and blade of grass, and that these things are wonderful. So it is with human beings.”
“Hearing the voice of the valley stream, the water of the valley stream is always flowing. It races on, not pausing for even an instant. Its sound, to me, is the sound of time. The water of time glistens on the riverbed of the universe. Though theirs is a much slower flow, stones, trees, houses, and towns are flowing too. Human beings and all things that have life flow. Thought and culture, too, flow. That all these appear to be unchanging is but illusion.”
“This shell is not of my own making. Borrowing it from heaven and earth, I live out each and every day.”
“Life goes on without regard to our partial or selfish desires. Accordingly, joy and anger, sadness and happiness, love and hate, and all kinds of thoughts and emotions are woven together. If everything, including misfortune, illness, and failure, is unconditionally accepted as it is, then all experience may be constructively enjoyed.”
“A moon without clouds is disappointing.”
“At the beginning of zazen meditation, when all is still, the sound of the valley stream is loud and clear. When we pace slowly after meditation, to ease leg pains and drowsiness, the sound of the stream seems to be less audible. When zazen is completed, the sound cannot be heard at all. Why should this be?”
“When we perceive joy, anger, happiness, and sorrow as enriching our lives, just as rocks and tree roots and water spray embellish nature, then we are able to accept whatever happens and live like flowing water, without clinging to anything.”
“When we throw off the petty self and quietly give ourselves body and soul into nature’s keeping, then the fragrance of the plum blossom enduring the freezing wind, the throb of the new life hidden in the springtime mud, and the welcoming voice of the plants and trees making merry in the thunder and rain are all able to reach us.”
“One’s life is not entirely one’s own; it contains the past and conceives the future, and should therefore be lived with great care. The Buddha warned those that those who forget [this] and lead self-centered lives are destined for the torment of hanging upside down in the realm of the hungry spirits.”
Shundo Aoyama Roshi is among the foremost Zen teachers in contemporary Japan. The author of dozens of books, she has a wide following among Japanese readers. From 2015 to 2018, Aoyama Roshi held the distinguished role of Shike`Kai Kaichoh, "Teacher of the House of Soto Zen," from which she oversaw the training of teachers for the entire school in Japan. She now serves as advisor to Sojiji Monastery as well as chief priest of the Aichi Semmon Niso-do, the certified training temple for female Soto Zen priests.