from the Diamond Sutra one verse [gatha]

As far stars     as a chimera     as a candle

a crude farce     vanishing dewdrops     or a bubble

as a vacant dream     a lightening flash     a cloud-wisp

every condition     one should recognize     to be this






(this gatha, recast from a literal translation)

(A page from the Diamond Sutra, printed in Tang Dynasty China -- said to be the oldest-known extant, dated, printed book in the world)