Master Woo Myung’s Message – Poems to Awaken – Tree
The tree lives its life.
Its life is one that is lived standing firm.
No matter how much distress may befall it,
it remains silent.
The tree has no mind that it is living,
but people call it a tree
because it is of its image.
The tree simply lives its life.
The tree is able to live of its own accord
even though it has no sense of self.
There is no mind of self-inflicted turmoil in the tree.
The tree is an existence that must exist in the world.
It dislikes neither wind nor rain.
It just exists as it is in the world
and then leaves one day
without demanding to know why.
The tree has no attachments of its own –
only its instincts.
The tree simply lives but does everything it needs to do.
The tree lives of its own accord
and dies of its own accord,
while man has his discernments of
what is good and what is bad.
The tree is a representation of the Universe,
and it lives and dies due to the conditions of Nature.
The tree exists in order for
the whole of creation to exist.
It exists in the world following harmony.
The tree has no specific purpose or objective,
but it is able to do its duty
due to the conditions of Nature.
Indeed the tree is a tree, but it is the Whole.
Though it seems to simply be,
the tree is able to exist for it is one with the Universe.
-Woo Myung-
