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The Dragon Who Never Sleeps: Verses for Zen Buddhist Practice
The Dragon Who Never Sleeps is a collection of gathas-poetic vows for daily living in verse form-that are similar to prayers. Reciting these gathas can help us to face life's difficulties with understanding and humor. They serve as gentle reminders to live in the present, accept ourselves, and offer joy to others.
112 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1992
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126 people want to read
About the author
Robert Aitken
90 books47 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Robert Aitken was a retired master of the Diamond Sangha, a Zen Buddhist society he founded in Honolulu in 1959 with his late wife Anne Hopkins Aitken.
A lifetime resident of Hawai‘i, Aitken Rōshi was a graduate of the University of Hawai‘i with a BA degree in English literature and an MA degree in Japanese studies. In 1941, he was captured on Guam by invading Japanese forces, and interned in Japan for the duration of World War II. In the camp, he met the British scholar R.H. Blyth, who introduced him to Zen Buddhism. After the war, he practiced Zen with Senzaki Nyogen Sensei in Los Angeles, and traveled frequently to Japan to practice in monasteries and lay centers with Nakagawa Sōen Rōshi, Yasutani Haku'un Rōshi, and Yamada Kōun Rōshi. In 1974, he was given approval to teach by the Yamada Rōshi, Abbot of the Sanbo Kyodan in Kamakura, Japan, who gave him transmission as an independent master in 1985.
Aitken Rōshi is the author of more than ten books on Zen Buddhism, and co-author of a book-length Buddhist-Christian dialogue. In Hawai‘i he was instrumental in founding the Koko An Zendo, the PĀlolo Zen Center, the Maui Zendo, and the Garden Island Sangha. A number of other centers in Europe, North and South America, and Australasia are part of the Diamond Sangha network.
Aitken Rōshi is co-founder of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (now with a local East Hawai‘i Chapter) and serves on its international board of advisors. He has been active in a number of peace, social justice, and ecological movements, and his writing reflects his concern that Buddhists be engaged in social applications of their experience.
Aitken Rōshi has given full transmission as independent masters to Nelson Foster, Honolulu Diamond Sangha and Ring of Bone Zendo in Nevada City, California; John Tarrant, Pacific Zen Institute in Santa Rosa, California; Patrick Hawk, Zen Desert Sangha in Tucson, Arizona, and Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Joseph Bobrow, Harbor Sangha in San Francisco, California; Jack Duffy, Three Treasures Sangha in Seattle, Washington; Augusto Alcalde, Vimalakirti Sangha, in Cordoba, Argentina and Rolf Drosten, Wolken-und-Mond-Sangha (Clouds and Moon Sangha), in Leverkusen, Germany. He authorized Pia Gyger, One Ground Zendo in Luzern, Switzerland, as an affiliate teacher of the Diamond Sangha. He joined with John Tarrant in giving transmission as independent masters to Subhana Barzaghi in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and to Ross Bolleter in Perth, Western Australia.
As a retired master, Aitken Rōshi worked with a few long-time students, and continued to study and write. His work, Zen Master Raven: Sayings and Doings of a Wise Bird , was published by Tuttle in 2002 [review]. His more recent publications, The Morning Star: New and Collected Zen Writings , and a new edition of A Zen Wave: Basho's Haiku and Zen , were released in October, 2003, by Shoemaker and Hoard.
Robert Aitken was a retired master of the Diamond Sangha, a Zen Buddhist society he founded in Honolulu in 1959 with his late wife Anne Hopkins Aitken.
A lifetime resident of Hawai‘i, Aitken Rōshi was a graduate of the University of Hawai‘i with a BA degree in English literature and an MA degree in Japanese studies. In 1941, he was captured on Guam by invading Japanese forces, and interned in Japan for the duration of World War II. In the camp, he met the British scholar R.H. Blyth, who introduced him to Zen Buddhism. After the war, he practiced Zen with Senzaki Nyogen Sensei in Los Angeles, and traveled frequently to Japan to practice in monasteries and lay centers with Nakagawa Sōen Rōshi, Yasutani Haku'un Rōshi, and Yamada Kōun Rōshi. In 1974, he was given approval to teach by the Yamada Rōshi, Abbot of the Sanbo Kyodan in Kamakura, Japan, who gave him transmission as an independent master in 1985.
Aitken Rōshi is the author of more than ten books on Zen Buddhism, and co-author of a book-length Buddhist-Christian dialogue. In Hawai‘i he was instrumental in founding the Koko An Zendo, the PĀlolo Zen Center, the Maui Zendo, and the Garden Island Sangha. A number of other centers in Europe, North and South America, and Australasia are part of the Diamond Sangha network.
Aitken Rōshi is co-founder of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship (now with a local East Hawai‘i Chapter) and serves on its international board of advisors. He has been active in a number of peace, social justice, and ecological movements, and his writing reflects his concern that Buddhists be engaged in social applications of their experience.
Aitken Rōshi has given full transmission as independent masters to Nelson Foster, Honolulu Diamond Sangha and Ring of Bone Zendo in Nevada City, California; John Tarrant, Pacific Zen Institute in Santa Rosa, California; Patrick Hawk, Zen Desert Sangha in Tucson, Arizona, and Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Joseph Bobrow, Harbor Sangha in San Francisco, California; Jack Duffy, Three Treasures Sangha in Seattle, Washington; Augusto Alcalde, Vimalakirti Sangha, in Cordoba, Argentina and Rolf Drosten, Wolken-und-Mond-Sangha (Clouds and Moon Sangha), in Leverkusen, Germany. He authorized Pia Gyger, One Ground Zendo in Luzern, Switzerland, as an affiliate teacher of the Diamond Sangha. He joined with John Tarrant in giving transmission as independent masters to Subhana Barzaghi in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and to Ross Bolleter in Perth, Western Australia.
As a retired master, Aitken Rōshi worked with a few long-time students, and continued to study and write. His work, Zen Master Raven: Sayings and Doings of a Wise Bird , was published by Tuttle in 2002 [review]. His more recent publications, The Morning Star: New and Collected Zen Writings , and a new edition of A Zen Wave: Basho's Haiku and Zen , were released in October, 2003, by Shoemaker and Hoard.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 17, 2017
Language distilled into its most potent form, somehow lifting away temporal semantics in a few lines. Absolutely powerful and gorgeous.
January 17, 2018
I found this remarkably thoughtful and insightful for poems in such a brief format. . .
April 26, 2018
Interesting.
August 4, 2020
Just okay. Some of these gathas I do plan on memorizing/incorporating into my practice, but many of them didnt resonate with me.
September 1, 2022
These verses are great to use for meditation and are little aphorisms of wisdom
January 23, 2016
Using gathas, short poetry-like Buddhist verses connected to one's everyday activities, potentially intensifies one's religious/spiritual practice, and i welcome and encourage all to pursue this path to cultivating mindful awareness...the format for the gathas can be adopted and created by anyone...we can write our own gathas, customizing them to our own life circumstances, bringing another dimension of significance to the practice: the first line indicates the occasion, 2nd line is the vow (or promise, or intent to join with another(s) in the practice), 3-4th lines link the occasion and vow with a specific behavior...for example: when i open my eyes in the morning (1st line), i vow with all beings (2nd line), to see the divine light shining (3rd line), in everyone and everything (4th line).
April 7, 2008
Being a poet, I loved stumbling across this book for the first time on the sale rack of a local bookstore. My copy is tattered, dog-eared, and worn. I have written various verses from this book on post it notes to keep in my desk drawer at work or to stick on my bathroom mirror. This book inspired me to start the practice of writing gathas. My favorite gatha from this book:
Kicking a chair in the dark
I vow with all beings
To let the pain and surprise
Slow me down to this step, this step
Kicking a chair in the dark
I vow with all beings
To let the pain and surprise
Slow me down to this step, this step
September 7, 2008
Not easy to get this book. It is verses for Zen Buddhist Practice, but with an everyday spin. Example:
Watching ants clean up the kitchen
I vow with all beings
to clean up the waste on my desk
and the leftover crumbs in my mind.
AND-
When anger raises my voice
I vow with all beings
to take the hand of the other
and conspire in silence for a while.
Great coaching tool.
Watching ants clean up the kitchen
I vow with all beings
to clean up the waste on my desk
and the leftover crumbs in my mind.
AND-
When anger raises my voice
I vow with all beings
to take the hand of the other
and conspire in silence for a while.
Great coaching tool.
January 12, 2008
Gathas are the Buddhist equivalent of haikus which are recited or reflected upon to strengthen spiritual practice.
"Watching ants clean up the kitchen
I vow with all beings
to clean up the waste on my desk
and the leftover crumbs in my head."
"Watching ants clean up the kitchen
I vow with all beings
to clean up the waste on my desk
and the leftover crumbs in my head."
April 1, 2013
Example of one of the 100's of verses:
When my efforts are clearly outclassed
I vow with all beings
to face my own limitations
and bring forth my original self.
Yes, a man's got to know his limitations. Definitely a 5.
When my efforts are clearly outclassed
I vow with all beings
to face my own limitations
and bring forth my original self.
Yes, a man's got to know his limitations. Definitely a 5.
December 27, 2007
Beautiful Zen gathas - I found these extremely inspiring, and even wrote a few of my own after reading it.
April 16, 2015
Incredibly dense and incredibly light at the same time. I fully expect to read this over and over throughout my lifetime. I find this little book packed with useful, moving, and mysterious gathas.
August 24, 2011
A wonderful collection of Zen mindfulness verses.
January 20, 2013
When you have read many gathas
I vow with all beings
to commit them to memory
and forget them again
I vow with all beings
to commit them to memory
and forget them again
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews