I watch people in the world <br />Throw away their lives lusting after things, <br />Never able to satisfy their desires, <br />Falling into deeper despair <br />And torturing themselves. <br />Even if they get what they want <br />How long will they be able to enjoy it? <br />For one heavenly pleasure <br />They suffer ten torments of hell, <br />Binding themselves more firmly to the grindstone. <br />Such people are like monkeys <br />Frantically grasping for the moon in the water <br />And then falling into a whirlpool. <br />How endlessly those caught up in the floating world suffer. <br />Despite myself, I fret over them all night <br />And cannot staunch my flow of tears.<br /><br />Taigu Ryokan<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-watch-people-in-the-world/
