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Chiyono's Enlightenment poem,
In this way and that I have tried to save
the old pail
Since the bamboo strip was weakening and
about to break
Until at last the bottom fell out.
No more water in the pail!
No more moon in the water!
Chiyono or Mugai Nyodai (1223 – 1298 CE) was the first Zen abbess and the first female Zen master in the world
- Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, 1957, Translated by Paul Reps and Nyogen Zenzaki Chiyono's Enlightenment poem,
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