As quoted in The Enlightened Heart : An Anthology of Sacred Poetry (1989) by Stephen Mitchell, p. 50
“
Coming, going, the waterbirds
don't leave a trace
don't follow a path.
— Dōgen
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Coming, going, the waterbirds
don't leave a trace
don't follow a path." in the context of "As quoted in The Enlightened Heart : An Anthology of Sacred Poetry (1989) by Stephen Mitchell, p. 50" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Dōgen" (Quotes)
The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
About Dōgen
Dōgen (道元; also Dōgen Kigen 道元希玄, Eihei Dōgen 永平道元, titled as Dōgen Zenji Zen Master Dōgen 道元禅師) (19 January 1200 – 22 September 1253) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist priest, writer, poet, philosopher born in Kyōto, and the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan.
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