Thirty casual poems at my grass hut (29):

Hindrances in the world

Are simply the tails,

Remaining without retaining

Of the cow’s passing by a window.

 

 

Sōan-no gū-ei sanjisshu (29):

Yononaka-wa

Mado-yori izuru

Kisa-no o-no

Hikanu-ni tomaru

Sawari-bakari-zo

 

 

 

草庵之偶詠三十首 (29):

世の中は

もどより出る

きさの尾の

ひかぬにとまる

さはり計りぞ

 

 

Note:

1. There is a koan of “an ox passing the window,” where ox’ head passes, its neck

passes, its shoulder passes, and its hip passes, but not its tail. Why the tail can’t

pass? Thus, why can’t the bull  pass? What happened?

There is another koan of a boat not proceeding, even however much you row.

There is another koan about a strong man not being able to lift his leg.

We are or think we can’t lift our legs, unmoor our boats, pass our tails,…

2. There is the “Ten Bull Herding” pictures as below, to find the bull, tether it,

ride on it home, forget it, and the rider also, enjoying the blossoming world, and

giving gifts to a youth in the busy thoroughfare. What is the bull?

The Tibetan tradition has another version of this process – a dark colored elephant

changes its color gray and white while walking on the Way.