Sword Of Manjusri

 

The emperor recited his own royal merits,
then asked the wanderer what merit he possessed.
Bodhidharma replied, "mu."
The emperor asked what knowledge he taught.
Bodhidharma replied, "mu."
The emperor asked what meditation he practiced.
Bodhidharma replied, "mu."
Mu means "nothing."

Therefore throw away your rosary of shoulds.
It is costume jewelry.

Have the courage to slice off thou-shalt-not,

right at the throat with a single stroke

of the blazing sword of emptiness.

If you call the whirlpool of stars in your heart,

"the soul," it becomes the shadow of an echo.

If you call your oceanic succulence "the flesh,"

it turns to stone, dark gravity of otherness.

And the sky where our bodies evaporate

into each other’s bittersweet mist?

If you name it "love" we are riven in two.

Out of hoarse silence rains a voice of cinders.

Use your scriptures for kindling.

Toast the commandments in the fire of your chest.
Nothing is buried under these ashes but more ashes.

After the conflagration, fresh green gestures 

of careless caring spring up

with a fragrance distilled from lost roses 

that grow in the compost of your bones.