This poem by a Buddhist monk1 describes active concentration: The wind whistles in the bamboo and the bamboo dances. When the wind stops, the bamboo grows still. The wind comes and the bamboo welcomes it. The wind goes, and the bamboo lets it go. The poem continues: A silver bird flies over the autumn lake. When it has passed, the lake’s surface does not try to hold on to the image of the bird. As the bird flies over the lake, its reflection is lucid. After it is gone, the lake reflects the clouds and the sky just as clearly.
