Wisdom of the Ages

Withdraw now from the invisible pounding and weaving of your ingrained ideas. If you want to be rid of this invisible turmoil, you must just sit through it and let go of everything. Attain fulfillment and illuminate thoroughly. Light and shadow altogether forgotten. Drop off your own skin, and the sense-dusts will be fully purified. The eye then readily discerns the brightness.

- Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157)



Sitting on top of a boulder
The gorge stream icy cold
Quiet fun holds a special charm
Fogged-in on deserted cliffs
A fine place to rest
The sun leans and tree
Shadows sprawl
While I view the ground
Of my mind
A lotus comes out of the mud.

- Cold Mountain

What does the old master
Do here?
By the side of the rock
He is hunting for a new verse.
Suddenly a cool breeze
Blows from the pine tree;
Silently and quietly it
Purifies his spirit and thought.

- Shih t’ao (1641–1717)



You ask me why I stay
On this blue mountain?
I smile but do not answer.
My mind is at ease!
Peach blossoms
And flowing streams
Pass away without a trace.
How different from
The mundane world!

- Li P’o (701–762)



Every day priests minutely
Examine the Dharma
And endlessly chant
Complicated sutras.Before doing that, though,
They should learn
How to read the love letters
Sent by the wind and rain,
The snow and moon.

- Ikkyu (1394-1491)

All content & design © 1995-2010,  TPPI and its affiliates and assigns and licensors, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. No claim to copyright is made for original U.S. Government Works.

"DsARts", "The Academy of DsARts", "Academy of D/s ARts", and "Japanese Rope ARt" are copyright titles, logos and signatures of TPPI. Permission is granted to use this terminology when referring to or linking to this website.

Unauthorized use is a willful infringement upon my rights under 17 U.S.C. Section 101 et seq. making one liable for statutory damages as high as $150,000 for each occurrence as set forth in Section 504 (c)(2) therein.

All Models are at least 21 years old. In accordance with the Federal Labeling and Recording-keeping law (18 U.S.C. 2257), the records required by Federal Law for this website are kept on file.