A special kind of magic happens when heart-uplifting art fuses with short, delightful poetry. That’s the alchemy of a lovely picture book of haiku-inspired verses for kids titled Beautiful Day: Petite Poems for All Seasons brought to life by Greek author Rodoula Pappa and French illustrator Seng Soun Ratanavanh.

The vibrant illustrations filling the book remind us that each moment of the year, like each moment of our life, has its own inherent beauty, and to notice it we need to pause, take a deep breath, and pay attention.

Complement this Beautiful Day with Seng Soun Ratanavanh’s illustrated ode to attention as an essence of meditation.

The adventures of Mulan, the legend of the White Snake, and the romance of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai continue to fascinate both Eastern and Western audiences all over the world. As the embodiment of wisdom, virtue, and pursuit of love of the Chinese people, these tales have been performed on the stage, adapted for the big screen, and rewritten as dramas for television. They have inspired theme parks and postage stamps, violin concertos, and western-style operas. In their modern transformations these traditional tales have been hailed as the quintessence of Chinese culture and as instruments for cultural renewal.

Continuing its series of artistic reincarnations, The Butterfly Lovers: The Legend of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, as central to the Chinese culture as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is to the Western culture, comes alive yet again in a lovely short film by TED-Ed with the help of Lijun Zhang and Amir Houshang Moein.

Complement this video with the book The Butterfly Lovers which contains four versions of the tale and offers a historical perspective on its development and place in the Chinese popular literature and culture. In addition, Wilt L. Idema provides essential contextual information and discusses how the story of the Butterfly Lovers fits into modern Chinese concepts of gender roles and sexual freedom.

Ryokan (1758-1831), long beloved in Japan for his delightful verse, exquisite calligraphy, and eccentric character, belongs in the tradition of great Zen poets of Asian literature. His parents named him Eizo, but when he decided to become a monk in 1777 at the local Zen temple Kosho-ji, he adopted the name Ryokan: ryo meaning good and kan signifying large-heartedness. Eventually, he attained satori at Entsu-ji, a temple in present-day Okayama Prefecture, while studying under a famous Zen priest Kokusen.

Ryokan’s luminous poetry, capturing both the beauty and the pathos of human life, makes one feel as if spring has come on a dark winter’s day, a sentiment radiating from the “First Days of Spring” included in The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry edited by Stephen Mitchell.

FIRST DAYS OF SPRING
by Ryokan

First days of spring — the sky
is bright blue, the sun huge and warm.
Everything’s turning green.
Carrying my monk’s bowl, I walk to the village
to beg for my daily meal.
The children spot me at the temple gate
and happily crowd around,
dragging on my arms till I stop.
I put my bowl on a white rock,
hang my bag on a branch.
First we braid grasses and play tug-of-war,
then we take turns singing and keeping a kick-ball in the air:
I kick the ball and they sing, they kick and I sing.
Time is forgotten, the hours fly.
People passing by point at me and laugh:
“Why are you acting like such a fool?”
I nod in my head and don’t answer.
I could say something, but why?
Do you want to know what’s in my heart?
From the beginning of time: just this! just this!

Complement this moment of joyful communion that comes straight from The Enlightened Heart with Matsuo Basho’s meditations on the essence of poetry.

As a lover of ancient wisdom, I’ve been slowly savoring the now classic Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings — an extraordinary portal into the minds of the greatest sages of the East, oscillating between the transcendent and the mundane in the most thought-shattering way possible. From short stories that recount actual experiences of Chinese and Japanese Zen teachers to famous thirteenth-century collection of Zen koans to four-thousand-year-old teachings from India, the slim volume is a true cultural treasure.

Among its many highlights is a set of principles governing skillful action and livelihood by Zengetsu, a Chinese master of T’ang dynasty, titled “No Attachment to Dust:”

Living in the world yet not forming attachments to the dust of the world is the way of a true Zen student.

When witnessing the good action of another encourage yourself to follow his example. Hearing of the mistaken action of another, advise yourself not to emulate it.

Even though alone in a dark room, be as if you were facing a noble guest. Express your feelings, but become no more expressive than your true nature.

Poverty is your treasure. Never exchange it for an easy life.

A person may appear a fool and yet not be one. He may only be guarding his wisdom carefully.

Virtues are the fruit of self-discipline and do not drop from heaven of themselves as does rain or snow.

Modesty is the foundation of all virtues. Let your neighbors discover you before you make yourself known to them.

A noble heart never forces itself forward. Its words are as rare gems, seldom displayed and of great value.

To a sincere student, every day is a fortunate day. Time passes but he never lags behind. Neither glory nor shame can move him.

Censure yourself, never another. Do not discuss right and wrong.

Some things, though right, were considered wrong for generations. Since the value of righteousness may be recognized after centuries, there is no need to crave an immediate appreciation.

Live with cause and leave results to the great law of the universe. Pass each day in peaceful contemplation.

Published in 1957, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones became an instant sensation with a generation of spiritual seekers who were just starting to experiment with Zen. But even today it’s as popular as ever before and continues to inspire Zen teachers and students from around the world. Complement with a Zen story on how to love openly.