Zen on Love, Zen on Ego

Zen on Love
there is something
at the heart
of all things

deep empty full
alive simple vast
sweet innocent free
courageous profound
still perfect clear
lovely loving love

***

Zen on Ego
the subtle and illusive
assumption of existence
a starting place
for other thoughts
an assumed reference-point
the thought of "I"
the "I" thought
where division begins
and wholeness breaks apart
dividing our world
into names and things

***

Short Zen Poems, Koans

If You Love Love Openly

Twenty monks and one nun, who was named Eshun, were practicing mediation with a certain Zen master.
Eshun was very pretty even though her head was shaved and her dress plain. Several monks secretly fell in love with her. One of them wrote her a love letter, insisting on a private meeting.
Eshun did not reply. The following day the master gave a lecture to the group, and when it was over, Eshun arose. Addressing the one who had written her, she said, “If you really love me so much, come and embrace me now.”

From the book: Zen Flesh Zen Bones : A collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings; compiled by Paul Reps and Nyogen Senzaki.