.
The Three Wise Monkeys in the Monkey Sculpture ("Mizaru/ Hear no evil, Kikazaru/ speak no evil, Iwazaru/ see no evil"), Nikko Toshogu Shinto shrine, Nikko, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan: photo by rangaku1976, 2008
The monk asked Fuketsu, "Speaking and silence belong to the absolute and the relative worlds; how can we escape both these errors?"
Fuketsu said,
"I always think of Kónan in March;
Partridges chirp among the scented blossoms."
"I always think of Kónan in March;
Partridges chirp among the scented blossoms."
Crested Wood Partridge (Rollulus rouloul), male: photo by Michelle Tribe, 2008
Reginald Horace Blyth: Zen (excerpt) in Haiku: Volume I: Eastern Culture, 1947