Ryokan wrote with his calligrapher’s pen:
“Keep your heart clear
And transparent,
And you will
Never be bound.
A single disturbed thought
Creates ten thousand distractions.”
Shohei responded with his maple bat:
“Oh, Zen Master,
When I bat,
I’m in the zone.
My heart is clear.
The three home runs I hit
Will never be bound
By the sky above.”
Ryokan wrote with his empty mind:
“The flower invites the butterfly with no-mind;
The butterfly visits the flower with no-mind.
The flower opens, the butterfly comes;
The butterfly comes, the flower opens.
I don’t know others,
Others don’t know me.
By not-knowing we follow nature’s course.”
Shohei responded with his burnished ball:
“Oh, Zen Master,
When I pitch,
I’m in the zone.
I invite the ball with no-mind.
The ball visits the catcher’s glove with no-mind.
My pitches are but dewdrops on a lotus leaf.
By not-knowing, my ten strikeouts followed nature’s course,
Hurled on the back of a great wind.”