Returning To My Native Village

Taigu RyokanTaigu Ryokan

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Returning to my native village after many years’ absence:
I put up at a country inn and listen to the rain.
One robe, one bowl is all I have.
I light incense and strain to sit in meditation;
All night a steady drizzle outside the dark window --
Inside, poignant memories of these long years of pilgrimage.
Taigu Ryokan
About the poet

Taigu Ryokan

1758-1831/JapaneseRyōkan was born in the village of Izumozaki in Echigo Province (now Niigata Prefecture) in Japan to the village headman. He renounced the world at an early age to train at nearby Sōtō Zen temple Kōshōji, refusing to meet with or accept chari…

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