Among Honen’s most famous poems is Tsukikage (月影) which means “moonlight” (lit. moon-shadow). Here is the original poem in Japanese, with romanization and translation courtesy of the good folks at the Jodo Shu Buddhism group:
月影の いたらぬ里は なけれども 眺むる人の 心にぞすむ
Tsukikage no itaranu sato wa nakeredomo nagamuru hito no kokoro ni zosumu.
Though the moon shines all over the world
Leaving no corner in darkness,
Only those who gaze upon the moon
Appreciate its serene light.
This poem is pretty cool because it covers an important concept in Buddhism: that the Dharma, the teachings of the Buddha, exist as-is regardless of whether we “believe” it or not. Like gravity, the nature of existence is not something to believe in. It’s a matter of understanding and coming to grips with it.
Buddhism is not something to believe in per se, but rather something to understand and appreciate. This does not happen overnight. It’s a gradual life-long process, but like the lotus that blooms from the mud, so too does the mind bloom with wisdom and compassion.
Namuamidabu
Hello, this blog is about my life as a father, Buddhist and Japanophile / Koreaphile. Any useful information I can pass along will hopefully make the 
hi gerald! your post and poem inspired me! check it out – http://casamasha.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/having-a-lot-to-say-and-say-and-say/
Woah! New layout!
You know, this reminds me how a lot of people tend to point out that I’m rude or angry towards them when I felt no anger and I didn’t think I was being rude. I didn’t quite understand why, until I realized people tend to confuse directness with rudeness and anger.
I never raise my voice, but I do have a tendancy to be honest… Somtimes, I’ve been told to the point of cruelty
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My case, observing what is as-is wasn’t enough. I had to learn to express what I see correctly. Both are important in understanding the world.
But I’m working on it. As you said, it’s a life long process.
Buddhism has certainly provided some middle ground for me to work with. And I certainly do appreciate the nuances I would have completely missed without it.
I just happened upon this blog ( very cool, nice) I lived in Japan for three years and passed San-kyu of the Nihongo Nyoryoku Shikem (sp?) in 2005.
Anyhooooo…I just wanted to say to ekish up there (who may never get to read this comment) that WE ARE TOTALLY THE SAME!!!
I used to get comments like that all the time, and still do occasionally – I’m not angry, but people see me as angry, I’m not intending to be rude but people take my directness as rudeness. It can be pretty painful to be accused of having bad intentions and being intentionally rude. It’s taken me a long time to learn how to see “me” from the perspective of other people and even longer to “buy in” to the value of actually changing my behavior. I think that living in Asia is part of made me want to make those changes – less about ME, more about OTHERS.
Still, it’s hard, though and I totally empathize with the previous commentator.
Hi Jen and welcome to the JLR! I will ping eksith and let him know.
great story by the way. Living elsewhere can really humble you, as I learned living in Ireland last year. 