So hard is serenity to find
     here, in Buddhism’s “pure land,”
Sinister things and evil thoughts
     thrive in this troubled time;
The more repute a place enjoys,
     the more do fiends abound,
Amidst the din and throng of selling,
     firecrackers even sound.

August 15, 1995

^[6]Nanhua (or “Southern China”) Temple is located in Guangdong Province, and was home to the Sixth Zen Patriarch, Hui Neng. The temple is over 1,500 years old.