An old buddha has said, “A painted cake doesn’t satisfy hunger.’

The painted cake is thus a traditional symbol of representations of reality, including the Buddhist representations in Xiangyan’s books, as opposed to the real thing that is held to be the proper concern of Zen.

But Dogen has a different view. The teachings of Buddhism are the real thing. The representation of the cake is the real thing. The real things around us — the cakes, the humans, the mountains, the buddhas — are, all of them, painted. Therefore, Dogen concludes at the end of his essay, only a painted cake can satisfy our hunger; for our hunger is also painted, our satisfaction is also painted.
(from: Treasury of the True Dharma Eye - Dogen’s Shobdgenzo)

Painted Cakes

As long as you experience yourself as you
You have a hunger that needs to be satisfied
You have to complete your forgiveness
You have to recognize your salvation
You have to solve your problems
You have to deal with guilt
You have to suffer pain
You have to heal 
You have to wake up
You have to have to

When you see yourself as a painted cake
And recognize your hunger for it is painted too
Forgiving actions are evaporated 
Salvation bursts like a bubble
Solution solves the problem
Guilt melted
Pain crumbled
Sickness an empty space
Sleep was painted
And so were your have to’s

The end of you
Starts at the beginning of you
In the spot where they come together
They never existed

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