Whether Practicing or Not

Here’s a poem by Katagiri Roshi that I found last night on an aging piece of notebook paper in the old guy’s handwriting – with copious notes in Japanese on the back – while going through some old files.  

I tend not to organize files very well and the virtue of this is sometimes making wild discoveries. This is one. Don’t remember how I got it but it was his working draft – lines are crossed out as he tried again and again in some cases. 

I’ve interspersed some photographs of Roshi taken by Jim Dildine back at MZMC in 1986 that Jim recently shared with several old Katagiri students. Thank you, Jim. 

Whether practicing or not,
Whether studying or not,
Whether succeeding or not,
Everyone without exception

Nakedly being born on the earth,
nakedly standing on the earth,
nakedly walking on the earth,
nakedly returning to the earth.
There is no novelty but to do so.

For all that,
in rainy day, he feels blue.
In sunny day, he is bent on frolic.

When being scolded and rebuked, 
he flies rapidly into a rage.
When being praised, 
he becomes easily a push over for flattery.

For all his fabrications, 
tumbling down and getting hurt,
he ends in shrieking and wreaking his anger on everyone.

What shall I do?
I wonder why he simply cannot go to work
With an umbrella up if it rains,
Just as a woman diver for pearls.