Robert Aitken - Gatha

The Ocean at Sunrise

On the shore of the ocean at sunrise 

I vow with all beings 

to rejoin this enormous power 

that rises and falls in great peace.

~ Robert Aitken, from The Dragon Who Never Sleeps, pg 41

Patience

from Robert Aitken's THE DRAGON THAT NEVER SLEEPS

When beset by personal problems
   I vow with all beings
to settle myself in zazen
and trust the path to come clear.

When beset by personal problems
  I vow with all beings
to return to my practice of patience --
'All things pass quickly away.'

Whbn beset by personal problems
  I vow with all beings
to recall the Perfection of Patience:
the ease of the stars and the moon. 

The other is me

When feeling imposed upon,
I vow with all beings
To remember that Interdependence
Means that for others the other is me.

--Robert Aitken

Bibliography by and about Robert Aitken

Bibliography by and about Robert Aitken

• Zen Training. A Personal Account; Honolulu: Old Island Books (1960).
• A Buddhist Reader; Honolulu: Young Buddhist Association (1961).
• Hawaii Upward Bound Writing and Art 1966; A Project of the Office of Economic Opportunity. Robert Aitken, Editor (1966).
• A Zen Wave: Basho’s Haiku and Zen; New York: Weatherhill (1978). ISBN 0-8348-0137-X
• Taking the Path of Zen;San Francisco: North Point Press (1982). ISBN 0-86547-080-4.
• The Mind of Clover: Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics; San Francisco: North Point Press (1984). ISBN 0-86547-158-4.
• The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-menkuan (Mumonkan); San Francisco: North Point Press (1990). ISBN 0-86547-442-7.
• The Dragon who Never Sleeps: Verses for Zen Buddhist Practice; Berkeley: Parallax Press (1992). ISBN 0-938077-60-0.
• Encouraging Words: Zen Buddhist Teachings for Western Students; San Francisco and New York: Pantheon Books (1993). ISBN 0-679-75652-3.
• The Ground We Share: Everyday Practice. Buddhist and Christian with David Steindl-Rast; Ligouri, Missouri: Triumph Books, (1994). ISBN 0-89243-644-1.
• The Practice of Perfection: The Paramitas from a Zen Buddhist Perspective; San Francisco and New York: Pantheon Books (1994). ISBN 0-679-43510-7.
• Original Dwelling Place: Zen Buddhist Essays; Washington, DC: Counterpoint Press (1996). ISBN 1-887178-16-3.
• Zen Master Raven: Savings and Doings of a Wise Bird; Boston: Tuttle Publishing (2002). ISBN 0-8048-3473-3