Nomon Tim has been sharing this wonderful poem from Katagiri Roshi at the weekday morning sits:

Katagiri Roshi - This Peaceful Life

Being told that it is impossible
One believes, in despair, "Is that so?"
Being told that it is possible,
One believes, in excitement, "That's right."

But, whichever is chosen,
It does not fit one's heart neatly.
Being asked, "What is unfitting?"
I don't know what it is.

But my heart knows somehow.
I feel irresistible desire to know.
What a mystery a "human" is!

As to this mystery:
Clarifying,
Knowing how to live,
Knowing how to walk with people,
Demonstrating and teaching,
This is the Buddha.

From my human eyes,
I feel it's really impossible to become Buddha.
But this "I", regarding what the Buddha does,
Vows to practice,
To aspire,
To be resolute,
And tells myself, "Yes, I will."
Just practice right here now,
And achieve continuity,
Endlessly,
Forever.

This is living in vow.
Herein is one's peaceful life found.

SOURCE:  MZMC News, Spring 1991, Vol 16 no.1,  pp.3
NOTES: A poem by Dainin KATAGIRI Roshi published posthumously, on the first
anniversary of his death, by the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center News.