In Zen Buddhism, there is a tradition where monks write a short poem in the last minutes before they die, summarizing their life’s wisdom in just a few lines. It’s thought-provoking reading.
The Norwegian poet and author Erling Kittelsen reminded me of a book called Diamantfjellene – dikt ved døden (The Diamond Mountains – Poem on Death), a collection of Zen Buddhist death poems he had translated with Vladimir Tikhonov in 2006. The publisher presents the book like this:
These poems—written by Buddhist monks at the moment of death—are sourced from Korea, Japan, and China from the 8th century to the present day. The poems convey the essence of the monks’ teachings to their students. Because the monks understood how to face death as a result of their teachings, these death poems hold a special status. Poetry up to the moment of death also demonstrated the monks’ control over life and death.
The poems vary greatly, ranging from frivolity to bitterness. They reflect personalities who, throughout their lives, have tried to liberate themselves to achieve enlightenment. The attitude is that death and life are merely illusions. It is emptiness that matters, and it can neither be born nor die. Yet, they turn to words to briefly summarize their understanding.
I have spent a few hours exploring how OpenArt can help me illustrate some of these poems, translated from Norwegian to the best of my ability. This is an informal attempt to show that they exist and perhaps inspire me us to cherish the riddle of life until the end.
