Dawn at the Mountain Monastery

Dawn at the Mountain Monastery 

After Chang Ch’ien

Morning, clear as a diamond, steals into the Halls of Zen;
    Over the tilted eaves dawn-sweet the larch-tops glow;
Glow the tops of the beeches, dawn-cool, dawn-golden;   —and then, 
    From the midst of the trees overbranching the low eaves, lo, 
    Dropping into the quietude, comes lonely, sweet and slow,
Lonely and slow, the boom and tinkle of the altar bell,
    Hushed and deep, to the far margin of the morn to outflow:—
Om! the Jewel is in the Lotus! . . . It is well, it is well!

As I came by the winding path from the world of men,
    I watched the birds midst the green larch-branches flit to and fro, 
Moving jewels in the air; the sweetness and the peace of Zen
    Filled them with the morning worship, in music to overflow.
    This is their paradise. The hymn they are singing I know. . . . 
Or is it from Choirs of Lohans those sweet tones swell? . . . 
    Diamond beauty of the morning, what stirs, what thrills you so?—
Om! the Jewel is in the Lotus! . . . It is well, it is well!

It is the peace of the mountain morning meditates in the Halls of Zen 
    All the valley is a monastery, over-roofed with the blue glow
Of heaven; as yonder lake are the clear hearts of the men
    Who dwell here; noon and night and the calm stars o’er them flow—
    Theirs; and the golden quiet is theirs; and the wind tiptoe
O’er the larch-tops and the beeches sings through them the spell 
    That opens the beautiful heart of the morning, murmuring low,—
“Om! the Jewel is in the Lotus! . . . It is well, it is well!”

L’Envoi:

Silence . . . And I am one with the morning beauty; returned again 
    To the Refuge; to the Heart of Things; to the Golden Place, where dwell
Peace and wisdom everlasting: I am come into the Halls of Zen; 
    Om! the Jewel is in the Lotus! . . . It is well, it is well!

The Theosophical Path, January 1920