Chapter 19: #
WHEN SOZAN WAS ABOUT TO DIE, HE MADE A VERSE:
Now look at this strange kind of people; he is going to die and he is writing a poem! In Zen it has become a tradition that before dying you should write a poem, just to show your insight for the coming generations, to show that you have not died unconsciously, that you knew death was coming. Without knowing that death is coming, how can you write the last verse?
He wrote:
MY ROAD IS BEYOND THE BLUE SKY; THE CLOUDS NEVER MAKE ANY COMMOTION.
IN THIS WORLD THERE IS A TREE WITHOUT ANY ROOTS; ITS YELLOW LEAVES SEND BACK THE WIND.
AFTER SAYING THIS, HE PASSED AWAY.
What a way to die, and what a way to live!
Just today I received some information from Europe, that a famous astrologer, almost worshipped like a prophet, had declared years ago that at a certain date he would die. Now the date had come and he was in great difficulty. So he committed suicide.
This is not the way of Zen. They are not committing suicide, they simply see that this body needs rest, that this body has done its work. This life has ripened its fruits, this life has experienced all that was available, and now it is time to go on a pilgrimage. They call it 'cloud pilgrimage' - moving just like a cloud, without creating any disturbance, without direction, knowing not where they are going, just enjoying the going itself.
A haiku reads:
IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE, LOOK AT SEPTEMBER, LOOK AT OCTOBER; HOW THE YELLOW LEAVES FALL, AND FILL MOUNTAIN AND RIVER.
A man of awakening just drops like a dry leaf when the time comes. There is no grudge, no clinging, no desire to go on living in this body, but an absolute trust that life will continue. But this is possible only if you enter yourself and experience the continuum of existence.
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