明覺禪師語錄 5
English (machine translation) 5
- Language
- English
5.1
Compiled by the junior student-monk Wenzheng
5.2
The Master's spoken expressions differ fundamentally from 'Sunny Spring and White Snow' or 'Azure Clouds and Pure Breeze'. The great jade tablet is uncarved, valuing natural authenticity; the ultimate word is unadorned, esteeming fundamental reality. It is a standard for the world—how could it be conjectured by mere intellectual cognition? Ever since the Master arrived at Cuifeng and Xuedou, whether versifying the profound and dense words and phrases of former virtuous ones, or composing verses inspired by farewells and presentations, his works were indeed numerous. Those fond of the Way collected and gathered them into a pouch. One day, compiled together, they formed two hundred and twenty poems, which were then copied and presented to the Master. The Master said: 'I merely composed them on occasional inspiration; how could they be kept in a text? I do not permit them to circulate.' The Chan practitioner responded: 'These are the fragrant and glorious achievements of the ancestral court for a thousand years—do not lightly cast them aside.' Discerning his sincere intent, the Master could not help but reluctantly consent. Wenzheng, having had the fortune of attending upon his seat, ventured to state this preface to mark the date. Revently prefaced by Wenzheng in the first month of the tenth year of Tiansheng of the Great Song [1032 CE].
5.3
Verses and Eulogies
5.4
Seeing Off Elder Baoxiang (with Preface)
5.5
The Great Master, the Chan Worthy Huan, is about to depart for Danqiu upon appointment to brilliantly propagate the ancestral vehicle. As one must proceed when the time accords, he truly cannot be held back. Furthermore, this encounter initiates the peerless Way; though one remains still and one flows on, though one is there and one is here, what distinction is there? I cursorily weave these crude words in lieu of a parting gift.
5.6
The profound realm and wondrous domain exist beyond external things; / Alone marked out, the Tiantai peaks present a matchless view. / Concealing superior scenes and harbouring wonders, they line up as a screen, / Piling azure and pouring forth turquoise, deep as black eyebrow-pigment. / Rosy clouds and warm shadows arise on cliff walls; / Fragrant cassia and lush shade envelop the Su rocks. / Master Red Pine was idle and leisurely in vain; / Bai Daoyou cast things away with utter lightness. / An old man of Caoxi has returned among them— / The wind follows the tiger, the clouds follow the dragon! / Catching the inspiration, it is precisely the second or third month; / Sitting cut off from all, he still relies on thousands of peaks. / Flowers drift and flutter, days are long and slow; / The pure breeze whispers and blows at all hours. / Exquisite on all eight sides, it gathers and merges of itself; / Loftily precipitous on one side, who dares peep in? / To peep in, one must obtain the eye of heaven and earth; / Illuminating antiquity and soaring through the present, say there is no gap. / If you can go forth like this and match the complete presentation, / What limit could there be to opening up humans and devas?
5.7
Seeing Off Elder Fahai
5.8
I always cherish Prime Minister Pei's following of fragrant dust; / In Duanji's lofty style, he admired the essential lineage: / Intending to serve the master as a disciple, / He knew not to whom the Dharma was entrusted. / I always cherish Prime Minister Li's hanging among the ranked stars; / Yaoshan's deep source lodged his spiritual nature: / 'I come to ask of the Way, there is no further explanation: / Clouds are in the blue sky, water is in the vase.' / Reflecting on those two pillars of state at that time, / Stationed to govern border regions, they visited the patriarchs; / Aloof from floating illusions, they made light of a hundred years; / Lofty and broad regulations illuminate a thousand ages. / Now I hear the worthy Prefect of Xiandu, / Entering governance and lifting the carriage curtains, his fame resounds far and wide. / His brilliant assistants each divide administrative tasks; / Both civil governance and martial order are difficult to fathom. / From afar, correspondence flies to Rufeng, / To select an open scholar to broaden our school. / Seeing the night-shining pearl does not shake the vast ocean; / Listening to the correct tone, how could one toy with the scorched paulownia? / Vainly praising the qilin and dragon, from west and from east; / One must dismiss Xiangwang to obtain the elephant; / One must let the Hero of Awakening yield to the hero. / Now that you have accepted the invitation, this is a wondrous farewell: / Vast and sweltering, snowflakes fall in profusion. / The four rivers flow backward, dead stumps bloom again; / Rolling up and unrolling, establishing heaven and earth beyond things; / Traversing horizontally and vertically, hanging the sun and moon within the realm. / The yellow-headed and blue-eyed ones— / Do they know or not? / Go, go! Upon whom can we rely to continue such pure perfection?
5.9
Seeing Off Chan Practitioner Wenzheng
5.10
In antiquity there was the music of the scorched paulownia—few listened, not for lack of plucking; / In antiquity there was the song of 'Sunny Spring'—few harmonised, not for lack of words. / When speaking, the teeth grow cold, / Not having reached the root of separation and subtlety; / When plucking, the years draw to an end, / Not having exhausted the source of rising and sinking. / At Shaolin, how often he sat as flowering trees shed leaves; / On Yu Ridge walking alone, heaven and earth are broad. / Smiling at Confucius and Wenbo Xue: / Wheels side by side on the same path, yet taking different ruts. / The qilin and phoenix—how can they be discussed? / Xu You and Chaofu—what more is to be said? / Autumn light is clear and bright, the toad reflects in the water; / The autumn wind soughs, the first leaves fall. / Seeing you step loftily away, who does not know? / If they say they do not know, that is what is precious.
5.11
Seeing Off Head Monk Zhaomin
5.12
Have you not seen: / The magnificent assembly on Gṛdhrakūṭa—millions passed by in vain and leisure; / Beyond worn-out patch-robes, all fell into purity. / Have you not seen again: / The solitary journey on Bear Ridge—the years passed in harsh hardship; / Amidst the deep snow, there was a single one. / Meandering and wandering for over a thousand years, / Perilous divides and steep cliffs spread out, empty and flat. / Discerning dragons from snakes, how upright is the eye? / Capturing tigers and wild bovines, the dynamic is not complete. / Looking around the stone window in all four directions, the vast ocean is narrow; / Aloof, he does not permit white clouds to be white. / Snapping the golden lock, the heavenly qilin / Raises high the iron whip to strike three hundred times. / Still lightly relinquishing it, how can one know? / Separately, there is the light of the seven stars clashing and shooting; / Held before the wind, about to be gifted to the traveler, / To redress injustice throughout the world.
5.13
Seeing Off Chan Practitioner Zhibai
5.14
Pines are not straight, brambles are not crooked; / Who laughs at Bian He thrice presenting the jade? / Weaving through heaven and earth is utterly without cause; / Surpassing antiquity and transcending the present is also lightly touched upon. / Without restraint, / Why must one say: / Plain models return again and again, true regulations repeat endlessly? / Sandalwood leaves fall, fragrant breeze is pure; / For a thousand miles, ten thousand miles, perpetually following one another.
5.15
Seeing Off Elder Shengyin
5.16
Three hundred years since the Huangmei assembly dispersed, / Continuing the flame and connecting the fragrance are empty matters; / Lineages and branches give rise to heterodoxies; / Blossoms and leaves are overly intricate and fragmented. / Shaoyang arose in between, full of noble fervor; / Powerful and heroic essentials once transcended all duality. / Curved pieces of wood occupying seats—who knows how many? / Cut away by a sharp knife, how delightful to see! / Recently there is another wearing an old patch-robe, / Crossing through the Chu fields, the wind soughing; / Forged of iron, eight feet tall, no ordinary fellow; / Standing like a precipice of thousands of fathoms, he must trample and crush it. / I inform you: south and north of the river, in vain they are encumbered; / The sea-turtle turns and the ocean shifts—minute scales and small shells; / Thunder rushes and lightning speeds—a tiny hair, a fraction of a thread. / Do not say these words retain rules and measures; / The flat is not retained, the perilous is not grasped. / If standing alone in the thoroughfare means one simply rests, / Who will shake the grand guideline to illuminate a thousand ages?
5.17
Seeing Off Chan Practitioner Zhonggao
5.18
Spring rain is like rich oil, spring clouds are like cranes; / Suddenly here, suddenly there, now stopping, now arising. / Withered roots spread apart, the wind is too late; / Secluded rocks piece by piece, the vast sky is also perilous. / A single flower opens with five petals, yet they are not alike; / Solitary and brightly proud, he still knows himself. / Still knows himself: / Traveling through Wei and journeying to Liang was all in vain.
5.19
Seeing Off a Monk Returning to Lingyin (Inspired by Observing the Unfettered White Clouds)
5.20
White clouds are unfettered, / Cold, detached, pure, and extraordinary. / The standard of snow falls short; / The demeanor of cranes is even lower. / Hanging across the sky and washing the sun, seeming to gather yet not gathering; / Becoming rain to follow the dragon, proudly promising a certain time. / Ah, leisurely and drifting, suddenly the spring wind blows; / South, north, east, west—only I know. / Who knows? / When casting shadows before Lotus Peak.
5.21
Seeing Off a Monk to Shiliang
5.22
Ten thousand plants pour forth fragrance, not knowing the power of spring; / Beside cliffs and at the bottom of torrents, gathering reds and wrinkling turquoises. / Taking advantage of the inspiration, with whom to go together? / Solitary tracks far match any rival. / Have you not seen: / The five hundred holy ones guide the heroic dynamic; / The numinous peak conceals and nurtures, profoundly boundless. / Old Hanshan, Old Hanshan, / Followed the sunken traces; / Journeying far, going forth, you must search and seek. / When flowers fall and flowers bloom, looking out alone, / Remember the white clouds embracing the secluded rocks.
5.23
Seeing Off Chan Practitioner Shimin
5.24
In deep crags, silent and quiet, clad in orchids and angelica; / Azure mists and rosy clouds reflect the flowing water. / Subhūti bids me farewell, uncertain of when to return; / Distant domains and strange regions he lightly contemplates. / Laughable it is, returning south of the Ridge, scurrying about— / How vile that was! / In desperate crisis, wildly casting it down, / All say they cannot lift it up. / As for me, originally I did not bring anything; / In seeing you off, what reliance is there to hang upon lips and teeth? / Chan guest Min, Chan guest Min, / Son of a lion! / You must be loftily detached, maintaining the end and the beginning. / Have you not seen: / The ancients had a saying: / 'Smash to pieces the black dragon's moonlit pearl!' / A great hero, arriving at this state— / Going, going, no need to snap fingers repeatedly.
5.25
Sent to Elder Baiyun
5.26
Clouds are calm across the eight cords, brightly sunken in vast stillness; / The night is long in the pine hall, facing the cold moon. / A solitary withered leaf falls onto the empty courtyard; / Cold and desolate, who stands in the deep snow? / Thus I remember Chan practitioner Gao of Qiantang, / Dwelling in the crags for ten years, never having come down. / Parting in flight, who says our mutual accord is cut off? / Distant thoughts in profound silence—how can they be conveyed? / Suddenly I hear you have accepted an invitation to the Immortal Capital; / Reputation and radiance spread abundantly as you ascend the pure path. / Who says heavenly steeds gallop beyond the realm? / I laugh at myself, the great roc leaving the ocean's corner. / Heaven and earth are narrow, heaven and earth are narrow; / The Zhanlu sword secretly radiates white toward the Big Dipper and Ox constellations. / Boundless and endless people who have not returned— / Arriving there, you will surely remove the spotted foreheads for our times.
5.27
Seeing Off Head Monk Zhiqian
5.28
Clouds and vines are deep and distant, hiding the crag's recess; / Layered turquoises and pure vapors cold, pressing against one another. / Slender rattan staff and light patch-robe: when resting, just rest; / Short flame and fading fragrance: continuing what to continue? / The Chan school is originally oblivious to fetters; / Sandbars and groves it has never feared. / The divine steed of ten shadows stands at the ocean's edge; / The five-colored auspicious qilin walks upon the shores of heaven. / Look and see! Look and see! / Covering the earth, vast and boundless—who brings it up? / If grinding bricks repeatedly brings no turning back, / Remember deeply for me the words of Master Lu.
5.29
Seeing Off Head Monk Shanxian
5.30
The foundation of name, the stem of reality— / Deep and solid, continuous one after another. / The name of antiquity lay in rare sound; / The reality of today is like floating cataracts. / Men of the ilk of Zizhou and Shanjuan: / Yao drove and Shun hurried, yet had no leisure to yield. / Return, oh return! Returning or not returning? / In the end, one has not stepped outside the dim and dark. / Among our followers, who claims to mark out the rare and peerless? / Movement and stillness rely on you to test and discern. / Leaves fall one by one—half withered in late autumn; / Flowers bloom petal by petal—all blossoming in warm spring. / Old Chan master Xian, Old Chan master Xian! / Your intention was once high and vast, casting aside fishing for praise, / Suddenly encountering praise and blame. / Devas and humans array their invitations, yet you repeatedly laugh lightly; / The position of patriarchs and buddhas is low, and you still intend to flee. / I fear that in fleeing you cannot flee: / The great direction has no outside, everywhere is filled. / Vast and surging, who knows where it ends? / Fragrant breeze on all eight sides brushes your monastic robe.
5.31
Seeing Off a Monk
5.32
The mountains of Wu are azure, the river of Chu is azure; / Wu and Chu stretch on endlessly—what limit to the inspiration? / An eight-foot cold tree is neighbour to oneself; / Three items of autumn clouds—who else recognises them? / Heaven and earth are not without an intimate friend; / As for jade and stone, do not say one must distinguish real from fake. / Waiting for the times to buy fame, drifting through life in vain; / Hiding one's traces and concealing one's light—what meaning is there in that either? / The spring wind is swift, the spring wind is swift; / The eight steeds gallop, impossible to overtake. / When south, north, east, and west are held firm, / For you, I stand directly atop the solitary peak. / (Discerning the qi and dividing the branches—this is not unique to antiquity; these are truly words of sincerity.)
5.33
Eulogising Yaoshan's Lion Topic, Seeing Off a Monk
5.34
Scolding and reproving the golden-haired lion cub, / Under the sandalwood forest, amid the green sedge: / Letting go, oh letting go, its majesty is completely intact; / Emerging once or emerging six times, eyebrows are raised. / Not through conjecture, / How many know? / Shooting stars do not question three thousand miles; / When the wind is pure beyond the heavens and it roars, / For you, it drinks dry the waters of the West River. (Bah!)
5.35
Seeing Off Great Master Xiu
5.36
Crag caves are cold at night, wrapping the mountain cloak; / The moon is high over ancient trees, frosty birds sleep. / A Chan practitioner of the Western Hermitage comes knocking at the gate, / Taking leave of me at dawn to descend the layered emerald. / Wishing to detain him, he cannot be detained; / Expressing my meaning falls short of the meaning. / Ququ stretches far away—how is it worth mentioning? / Flowering verses linked together come too easily. / Have you not seen: / The old man of Liuyang, / Utterly devoid of hopes; / In seeing people off, he only said: 'There is nothing else.' / Going, going, there will surely be an intimate friend who knows; / Why must a pure breeze shake heaven and earth?
5.37
Seeing Off Guang Huayan Returning to Gṛdhrakūṭa
5.38
The sea mountain is solitary and remote, not Penglai; / Mists are cold, clouds are deep, pines and cassias are old. / There is a guest who in mid-winter was extraordinarily lofty; / Marching at night through the great wilds, he earnestly sought [the Way]. / The crag chamber is deep and distant, defying the cold sky; / Ice and frost are aloof, separating into a grove of discourse. / Who says the hundred cities submerge the ancient moon? / Smiling at myself: from all eight sides arises a pure breeze. / Suddenly bidding me farewell to return again, / Followers of Huili look forward to your turning chariot. / Layer upon layer of endless pavilion gates— / When arriving, you will surely, for the times, slightly take your seat.
5.39
Seeing Off Chan Practitioner Yuanchen
5.40
The patch-robe gathers remnant clouds, the wind is high and beyond neighbors;
Leaning against the sky, reflecting the snow, it is fit to withstand the vital ford.
Gazing to the ends of the eight bounds, spring mountains are like indigo;
Freely pacing the nine wilds, islet grass is like a mat.
The thirty-four elders have not lightly known it;
So awe-inspiring beyond the mundane, how could one become familiar with it?
5.41
Sending Off Mountain Master Delong
5.42
Frosty leaves wither and fall, the cliff wind is chillingly cold;
That elder of Chan suddenly descends the lofty peaks.
The patch-robe has clouds: once rolled up, yet unrolled;
The zither has no strings: skilled in playing, yet unplayed.
Having set off on the long journey, you should listen to these words:
The paths of brightness and darkness, the islands of birth and death.
From now on, whether you know or know not,
The fallen net has collapsed to the ground—upon whom can we rely to lift it up?
5.43
Sending Off Chan Practitioner Cheng
5.44
The colors of spring linger on, draping your wilderness grasses;
The spring wind blows vast and wide, brushing against my window.
Mindful of this parting of ways, I have no fine jade to present:
Petal by petal wildly flutter the plums atop the crags;
Bough by bough freely dance the willows beside the stream.
Chan practitioner Cheng, Chan practitioner Cheng, listen to these words!
In ancient times and now, traveling the road is difficult.
For those who know it, sparks from flint and shooting stars are not yet swift;
For those who know it not, dragon steeds gallop with ease.
Look, look! Who says waves arise on level ground?
5.45
Sending Off Chan Practitioner Huichou
5.46
The manner and style of Shaolin—how truly free and easy!
It encloses antiquity and blankets the present, looking askance at the real and eyeing the false.
Who speaks of releasing the mechanism to shoot the tiger?
I laugh to myself at assessing classes to inspect the horse.
Swordsmen in their vast numbers need not present themselves;
The men of the steaming pot must often be captured and brought down.
Chan practitioner Chou, Chan practitioner Chou, majestic is the elephant carriage!
5.47
Sending Off Chan Practitioner Huiwen
5.48
The correct Dharma eye transcends the dust and sands;
Two, three, four, seven—water's moon and sky-flowers.
The succession of flames of a thousand lamps has never been interrupted;
The branching of the five petals has not yet fully blossomed.
Do you not see Baizhang rolling up the mat and Danxia covering his ears?
Moving like dragons and pacing like tigers, vying in solitary independence,
All like clouds and rain departing without bounds.
Chan practitioner Wen, Chan practitioner Wen, brighten and exalt our house!
5.49
Sending Off Chan Practitioner Daocheng
5.50
The flow of Caoxi is no stagnant water;
A single drop suddenly arrives, and a thousand waves naturally rise.
You must hook the giant turtle and angle the whale directly;
Do not ask about attaining the skin or attaining the marrow.
Do you not see that Shitou had a saying:
'The sage does not admire others; the numinous does not reside in oneself.'
Chan practitioner Cheng, Chan practitioner Cheng, whose child are you?
5.51
Sending Off Chan Practitioner Qingyan
5.52
I am advanced in years, my mental strength is waning;
In sending you off, I have no words, darkly soaring in flight together with you.
I recall that the ancients in sending people off had a saying:
I do not know about their different paths arriving at the same end,
I only love the song of Xinfeng sending forth pure radiance.
Not an inch of grass grows for thousands and tens of thousands of miles;
Stepping out the gate, the colors of spring linger on together.
5.53
Sending Off Chan Practitioner Jibao
5.54
Treasure is not treasure; the sun is bright and clear.
The supreme capacity is nowhere to be sought.
To seek it at the Red River—how exceedingly wild!
To find it at Mount Jing—how bitterly troublesome!
Neither troubled nor wild, it dispels the night's darkness,
Serving as a ford and a bridge on the treacherous and evil paths.
5.55
Sending Off Junior Disciple Yuanchu
5.56
The dark functioning of the Way—how one must guard it!
You race against time, while I draw near to the rushes and willows.
Do not value eloquence so much as to seize the mat;
Do not disesteem folly so much as to recite the broom.
Ponder deeply the sound of felling timber, ding-ding;
Illuminating antiquity and the present, you must be good at seeking companions.
5.57
Sending Off Chan Practitioner Qingguo
5.58
Spring rain drizzles, spring wind howls;
Moving or still, it does not wait for time to come forth.
Clouds and rosy mists at ease and tranquil form its nature;
Cold and bleak gold and iron serve as its bones.
Those who know me say I walk high beyond the world;
Those who do not know me say I look down upon this one cavern.
The Way roams freely following each quarter, passions melt the fetters and shackles;
A staff of purple chestnut eight feet long, ten thousand peaks of green mountains.
Walking, walking, ponder the ancient saying that nothing is permissible and nothing is impermissible:
South, north, east, west—only I alone.
5.59
Replying to Elder Xinghuo
5.60
Gold forms his bones, the pine forms his posture;
His Way is high, once disdaining the teacher of gods and humans.
He has words left to me, wondrous through a thousand ages,
Known to no one:
The stone tiger has swallowed the wooden lamb.
5.61
The Perfected Person Is Not a Vessel
5.62
Who encounters the moment? Raising it without error is also rare;
It shatters the precipitous and melts away the profound and subtle.
The double gate was once opened wide, yet masters do not return together;
The jade hare is suddenly round and suddenly waning, the golden crow seems to fly yet does not fly;
Old Lu is gone, no one knows where;
White clouds and flowing water linger on together.
5.63
Instructing the Assembly on an Occasion
5.64
Stones are naturally distinct and rugged; jade is inherently common and smooth;
Ancient times and present—how swiftly they pass!
The lion does not bite the qilin;
The fierce tiger does not eat lying meat.
Do you not see that on the solitary island in Dongting the misty waves are deep,
Yet there is one who recognizes the wooden horse chasing the wind?
5.65
Roaming the Eastern Torrent at Dusk (Five Verses)
5.66
Gazing as far as the eye can see, the evening glow appears,
Stream clouds happen to form clusters.
The Great Simplicity was never divided;
The green mountains are solely myself.
5.67
Gazing as far as the eye can see, the evening glow appears,
Distant trees are shrouded in light shade.
Who knows that in the clear and shallow stream
Lies the depth of another vast ocean?
5.68
Gazing as far as the eye can see, the evening glow appears,
Deep affections care for orchids and angelica.
The wind amidst the white water-cress leaves
Does not arise from the autumn river.
5.69
Gazing as far as the eye can see, the evening glow appears,
How slow and lingering are the paced shadows!
Returning birds amidst the ancient trees
Face each other, repeatedly peeking.
5.70
Gazing as far as the eye can see, the evening glow appears,
Penglai is not an immortal realm.
Having hooked twelve giant turtles,
I come once more to thank my solitary shadow.
5.71
Songs on Thinking of Returning (Three Verses)
5.72
Once residing on the summit of Cuifeng,
Twice have I seen the stream grass turn green.
I do not know, amidst the court and marketplace,
How many times glory and disgrace have arisen.
Desolate are the clouds atop the crags;
Indifferent are the bamboos beside the water.
Whom can I tell that it is time to return,
Rather than hesitating here in vain?
5.73
I constantly recall being at Mount Lu,
Lodging my bowl and staff according to the time.
Five hundred or a thousand gathered heads,
Passing the days together.
The ape clutches, but its reflection does not return;
The crane gazes, but its feeling is lost.
Causing that Teacher Wang
To be foolish and slow, nowhere to be found.
5.74
Timely rain sprinkles like rich cream,
All the ten thousand plants receive moisture and benefit.
Withered roots willingly rest on their own,
Also as if spring had no strength.
The plowman still sleeps at dawn;
The silkworm woman rests much at night.
From this, family livelihoods become desolated,
Together falling into the traces of wind and dust.
5.75
Sending Off Chan Practitioner Yunhuan Ascending Westward
5.76
The road to the golden palace was once distant;
Traveling on and on, you meet with peace and prosperity.
The clouds over the stone chambers are not yet at leisure,
Far away, as if waiting.
Your lofty steps surpass walking on water;
Who would not tip their carriage canopy to greet you?
Sooner or later, having received the imperial favor,
You will again arrange a gathering amidst the woods and springs.
5.77
Sending Off a Monk
5.78
The feelings of spring clouds are already lofty;
Fragments fly across the empty azure.
The mechanism of going and staying has not vanished;
Expectations past and present accumulate again.
Limpid, the shadow of heaven turns;
Far away, the lay of the land stretches straight.
On this night of parting we think of each other—
Who will dwell amidst these springs and rocks?
5.79
Naturally So, Not So
5.80
Summer clouds form many wondrous peaks;
The Gandharva city reflects them coldly.
May I ask all you Chan monks,
Which one is fit to be relied upon as fixed?
The Gandharva city locks in the moon up high;
The summer clouds are about to make rain.
If you say this is not complete efficacy,
Carefully look at the standard rule.
5.81
Sending Off Fund-Raising Leaders of the Various Quarters
5.82
To the empty crag the warm pitch-pipe returns;
Gazing as far as the eye can see, the view is again vast.
A few specks of clouds beyond the mundane;
In several places, rain among human beings.
Solitary is the moon over the vast ocean;
Looming is the ancestor of Shaolin.
In leaving, you must instruct weary mortals,
Letting the pure wind stand for a thousand ages.
5.83
Palace Censor Liu Yu asked Yunju where the rain comes from;
Dongping asked the official what color the wind is.
Where does the rain come from?
What color is the wind?
Ten thousand fathoms at the Dragon Gate once kept lodging guests;
Advancing and retreating together, who has suffered a mark on the forehead?
5.84
What color is the wind?
Where does the rain come from?
Without needing to snap your fingers,
The tower gates swing open;
Frantically dashing about, he has not yet returned from the south.
5.85
Sending Off a Monk
5.86
The pine wind is pure and ceaseless;
Water and moon face each other calmly.
Coming and going are no ordinary matters;
You must be permitted to meet the solitary cloud.
5.87
Eulogy on Yunmen's Nine Times Nine Is Eighty-One (Two Verses)
5.88
Three times three, nine times nine is eighty-one;
One by one observing the wind, they come out when summoned.
Throughout a thousand ages, who shares in knowing this?
In a single hair of the lion, all hairs are complete.
5.89
Nine times nine is eighty-one;
Great merit is not openly rewarded.
If you say there is no flaw or entanglement,
The Vajra-warrior once joined his palms.
5.90
Upādhyāya Wulong
5.91
Sitting in the empty crags through the clear night,
Mossy paths accumulate deep snow.
Closing the eyes, thinking of the ancients,
Through to the dawn the waning moon sinks.
The boy monk strikes the cold stone chiming-slab;
The ape hangs and the withered branch snaps.
Deep and boundless feeling—
To whom can it be clearly spoken?
5.92
Sending Off a Monk on an Autumn Day
5.93
The shadows of border geese slant,
The sound of the cold cicada is hurried.
Availing themselves of the season, the robe-clad ones
Part far from the crags and valleys.
The forest is startled by a single leaf as a gentle breeze touches the sleeve;
Water chills a hundred streams as a sliver of the moon enters the eyes.
I thereby recall the old teacher Xianggu once sending someone off:
Walking, walking, not saying to pull out the golden arrowhead.
5.94
Early Gathering to Instruct the Assembly
5.95
At dawn the clouds are still, the heavy frost is white;
A thousand peaks and ten thousand peaks lock in the cold hue.
Whether you know or know not that the black dragon has lost its pearl,
Countless ordinary people have had their foreheads marked.
5.96
Ballad of the Spring Wind Sent to Collator Shi of Wuwei
5.97
How soughing is the spring wind!
Joined by rain and mingled with snow.
Its merit in plucking flowers is not yet deep;
Its power in flattening grasses was once fierce.
The old man of foolish attachment in Vaiśālī,
Fearing the cold, faces plain simplicity.
The men of echo and shadow of Xiang crag
Are difficult to control, alike in solitary wretchedness.
No one comes from Turtle Peak;
The brushwood gate also need not be closed.
Squirrels descend from the pine tops,
Now and then gnawing at the rattan couch.
Frosty birds return to the courtyard,
Repeatedly pecking at the broken moss coins.
Once the spring wind ceases,
The warm sun arises in the woods and groves.
Upon the flat boulders of the secluded path,
Staff in hand, I walk and rest.
When there are no strings, do not play;
When there are words, preserve the tongue.
The desolate sound of flowing water—
How could the ancients speak of it?
The withered trees of early plums—
How can they be parted from today?
Looking down and up, my body's strength is light;
I instead recall the spring wind intensely:
Blow away the dust for me, for I wish to mend the diverging tracks;
Blow away the clouds for me, for I wish to ask of the moon in the distant sky.
I know not, between heaven and earth,
Who is worthy to form a bond with?
5.98
Sending Off the Special Envoy of Baizhang
5.99
From the solitary peak of Daxiong he once ascended far away;
Searching through the various quarters, who dared resist him?
In front of Rudaofeng, he stroked the tiger's whiskers;
Having attained complete wholeness once again, he departs and returns.
5.100
Seeing off Chan Practitioner Qingsu to Jinhua
5.101
With an ancient staff in the high wind, the waves in the pitcher are broad; / Spring clouds in fragmented patches part in utmost purity. / Later tonight at Golden Basin, the lonely summit will be cold; / Going on and on, with whom will you share the setting remnant moon?
5.102
In the Manner of Hanshan, Seeing off a Monk
5.103
Choosing a tree, there is a wondrous bird; / In the cold sky it rests its wings. / Not stopping at Mount Penglai, / Into the boundless dusk it goes—how far?
5.104
Seeing off Great Master Ruxiang
5.105
Sandalwood leaves fall as the rain just ceases; / Wind pure beyond the heavens, how is it different? / Later tonight at Lotus City, the creek moon will be cold; / Leaning into the lonely light, with whom will you share the vast stillness?
5.106
Sent to Secretarial Assistant Yu (Two Poems)
5.107
A stone path leads to the cliff's cavern, / Guiding steps through hidden crags and slopes. / No one from Penglai arrives; / It has swept away all trace of green moss.
5.108
A cascading waterfall in ten thousand tiers, / In the fifth month resembling ice and snow. / Awaiting the time the clouds and mist disperse, / Through the long night facing the solitary moon.
5.109
Composing an Ancient-Style Poem Again
5.110
Frosty flowers caught in a pair of tweezers: / Has the jade lad plucked them or not? / If these words are not heeded, / For a thousand ages sorrowful looks will be stirred. / Recalling then the chant of Mount Shang, / It lies in black, not in white.
5.111
Answering 'When Born, Not Born'
5.112
Tut-tut! Cease forcing names; / Straw dogs, too, are an encumbrance. / The lonely body of Golden Grain / Never sought it outside itself.
5.113
Teasing Kao'an Cliff, Presented to Great Master Shuangxi
5.114
The iron ox of Shan Prefecture knows it exists after all; / Through how many springs and autumns has it incurred fault? / One body turns again into two Tathāgatas, / Not distinguishing black from white, discerning fragrance from stench.
5.115
Discourse on Black and White Having No Source
5.116
Heaven and earth are not benevolent; / The myriad transformations wriggle on. / If you say it is not through conditions, / From where does bamboo sprout as shoots? / Hair, O hair! / Black and white are the standard.
5.117
Sentiments in Late Winter, Sent to Chan Master Ruiyan
5.118
Snow-melt water circles the pine balustrade, / Slowly gathering, pure and shallow. / With sickly eyes, at times too sluggish to open, / Secluded feelings are truly hard to dispel. / Long parted from an old friend, / In sending writings I am repeatedly abashed. / Looking up with thanks to the Twelve Peaks, / The moon shines down in parts, as if cut by shears.
5.119
Seeing off Chan Practitioner Zhijiu
5.120
Frosted bamboo congealing cold, carrying a nine-jointed cane; / Waves in the bronze pitcher lock in the moon of a thousand creeks. / Unaware of heaven or the human realm, / Traveling on and on, with whom will you share this utmost purity?
5.121
Seeing off Chan Practitioner Qingyan
5.122
Cliff cassia in the pure wind, fragrant dewdrops drip; / Rising from absorption in high autumn, reflecting empty azure. / Severed clouds are not returning to the imperial realm; / Drifting down into the world of mortals, who recognizes them?
5.123
Spring Day Reminiscences of Antiquity (Four Poems)
5.124
Beyond the gate, spring is half gone; / Cliff ice warms and makes a sound. / Xuansha never arrived here, / In vain getting the name 'Reclining Creek'.
5.125
Beyond the gate, spring is half gone; / Verdant wilderness colors unfold. / Peach blossoms have bloomed and are nearly spent; / Nowhere is Lingyun to be found.
5.126
Beyond the gate, spring is half gone; / The crowd of fragrant blooms vies in flourishing splendor. / In the neighbor's yard is a cypress tree; / The patriarchs all know it together.
5.127
Beyond the gate, spring is half gone; / Secluded birds chirp fresh together. / The guest atop Baotuo Cliff / Must laugh at the one who has not returned home.
5.128
Seeing off a Monk to Jinling
5.129
A wondrous journey arises from humble tracks, / Distantly mingling with the worldly crowd. / Rolling up the robe dispels cold trees; / Hoisting a sail entrusts oneself to severed clouds. / Dawn pitcher draws water beyond the flowers; / Noon sounding-stone is heard beside the waves. / After parting, the moon over Stone City, / Lingering afar, we will share together.
5.130
Seeing off a Monk
5.131
Knowing the right direction carries an ancient meaning; / Cloud-clad trees bid farewell to all neighbors. / The moon does not clear the minuscule water; / The mountain ought to stand in this dust. / In the quiet sky, a solitary osprey is distant; / In the tall willows, a single cicada is fresh. / Wishing to investigate the questions of toiling life, / Do not tire of frequent thoughts of return.
5.132
Not Coming from a Thousand Miles
5.133
Not seeing the ancient noble person, / Hesitating, another autumn has passed. / In floating life, much is cast away by oneself; / Whom does a good thing detain any longer? / Over the blue crag the moon sinks high; / Cold clouds silently lock the tower. / Where are Zong and Lei? / White birds alight on the islet.
5.134
A Monk Returning to Zhashang
5.135
Over the coastal realm drifts a light oar, / Flowing on and on, interest unslackened. / Grass greens along the spring shores; / The wind leans into the cold night waves. / Sand egrets are suited to being close; / Frosted toad-moon is viewed even broader. / The day the river's sound is heard in the west, / Who will be able to share the edge of the clouds?
5.136
Walking in the Wilds on a Sunny Spring Day
5.137
Taking advantage of the mood, leading many companions, / Slowly lingering along the water's edge. / Spring mountains are not within sight; / With whom is the singing of birds heard? / A single stone coldly cradles moss; / Withered flowers chill the lined clouds. / It should only be the elder of Rong, / At the edge of whose hermitage conditions were still distinguished.
5.138
Composing on Auspicious Snow, Seeing off Great Master Mu
5.139
Fives and sixes are all called out, / Yet drifting blossoms are rarely seen alone. / If made to be of a single color, / It would still seem to fail the manifold capacities. / The jade horse is only spoken of in vain; / The bronze camel turns out even more mistaken. / How could that compare to ten thousand miles away, / Facing each other, lingering together?
5.140
Seeing off the Special Envoy of Iron Buddha
5.141
Carrying a staff, you came seeking me; / Drifting in a boat, you think of your old mountain. / Not knowing where the moon is / That shines down into the deep bay. / The wind hastens the autumn waves; / Clouds and wild trees are leisurely together. / When arriving, if you ask for instruction, / First remember the Barrier of Zhaozhou.
5.142
Composing on a Waterfall with Secretarial Assistant Yu
5.143
Great Yu did not know to chisel it; / Its source also formed of itself. / In color it matches the white of the crowd; / In sound it yields to solitary clarity. / Its distant momentum once swallowed the ocean; / Its cascading stream has not yet spouted whales. / If the wondrous raft can be sailed, / Inquire into the celestial branch for the journey home.
5.144
Seeing off Chan Practitioner Jianneng Returning to Xiandu
5.145
Carrying a staff down the cinnabar screen, / Profusely the snow is falling. / In floating life, who has not arrived? / Naturally you return again to your old country. / Behind clouds, the gibbon's cry ceases; / Sky far away, the osprey's shadow is faint. / In the ancient wind and moon of Lotus City, / You can once more stir the pure dynamic.
5.146
Seeing off a Monk at Tianzhu
5.147
Snow clears on the peak of Lotus Mount; / Solitary meditation rises from the stone couch. / The dynamic of earlier times ceased of itself; / The road to foreign realms is long in vain. / Crying monkeys pierce the cold shadows; / Returning geese are seen in broken lines. / The later date has no fixed trace; / Mist and water are vast together.
5.148
Sent to Collator Shi
5.149
Sitting in dark meditation long in deep woods, / Looking afar, again lingering. / The oppressive heat has not yet abated; / When will the cool wind arrive? / Sky clouds fly with accumulated fire; / Cliff trickles scatter hanging silk threads. / Wishing to go seeking you, / Floating life is already known together.
5.150
Shown to the Assembly on an Occasion
5.151
A guest came from afar, / Presenting me with a jade disk an inch across. / Within it are four characters; / Character by character, no one recognizes them. / Purely holding the whale sea wide, / Coldly projecting the toad wheel narrow. / Today I present it for you to see: / Please speak the final word!
5.152
Stillness Responding Skillfully (Two Poems)
5.153
Meeting face to face / Does not depend on many affairs. / Dragon and snake are easy to tell apart; / A patch-robed monk is hard to deceive. / The gold mallet's shadow moves; / The precious sword's light is cold. / Coming down directly— / Quickly fix your eyes and look!
5.154
Addressing and extolling the extraordinary, originally fellow cultivators; / Who from the distant sky forces a south-pointing needle? / Past and present do not preserve master and disciple; / A single round autumn moon imprints the cold pool.
5.155
Self-Admonition
5.156
Qilin and dragons are not auspicious omens; / Grasses and trees bring forth brilliance. / Three feet, one chang and six: / For now return holding hands together. / Ashamed of you, teachers who admonish the world, / Lofty, how lofty!
5.157
The Three Seals of the Chan School (Three Poems)
5.158
Sealing space, sealing water, sealing mud— / Distinct, yet the meaning of the characters is still confusing. / The Yellow-Headed Great Being did not recognize it; / Dare I ask: who gets to bring it up directly?
5.159
Sealing mud, sealing space, sealing water— / Blanketing the earth, cold surges compete to rise. / Within them, limitless scaly dragons; / In how many places do they vie to poke their snouts out?
5.160
Seal on water, seal on mud, seal on space:
Patch-robed monks cannot tell west from east.
Prying open the one aperture going upward,
The thousand sages all stand downwind.
5.161
Two Gates of Changing the Tracks (Four Poems)
5.162
The kalpa fire once blazed thoroughly;
The wooden man's tears fell first.
How pitiable was Mahāsattva Fu,
Everywhere losing his multistoried pavilions!
5.163
Meghashrī, that idle old awl,
How many times has he come down from the summit of the Wonderful Peak?
Calling those foolish sages
To carry snow together and fill the well.
5.164
Before the patriarchs and Buddhas were born,
The poison-smeared drum was already beaten.
Who now delights to hear it?
Please test and distinguish the interpenetration.
5.165
Twisting and turning, and turning again;
True gold need not be smelted a hundred times.
Having lost Vaiśālī,
No one understands how to watch the arrow.
5.166
Longing to Shoot with Stringed Arrow
5.167
Emerald plumage perches on a high branch;
The precarious nest faces the setting sun.
Into the azure pool tens of thousands of fathoms deep,
Plunging straight down to catch a fish and return.
5.168
Phrases Penetrating the Dharmakāya (Two Poems)
5.169
Down-and-out Yunmen sailed an iron boat;
South and north of the river, people vied to watch.
Pitiable are the boundless droppers of hooks,
Who, following routine, aimlessly lost their fishing poles.
5.170
When a single leaf flutters in space, autumn is seen;
The Dharmakāya must penetrate the bustling clamour.
Next year there will be yet newer branches;
Disturbing the spring breeze, it never ends.
5.171
Informal Gathering at Lingyin
5.172
The six directions are boundless, utterly unknown;
Passing the summer on Vulture Peak is advantageous.
In the empty hall the night is quiet without another matter,
Keeping Chan monks standing for a brief moment.
5.173
Instructing the Assembly on Account of Snow
5.174
Its pure radiance slants beneath the moon, showing no mercy;
Piled up in the empty courtyard, it will not melt soon.
Though hard to obtain as an omen or auspicious sign,
I wonder who understands standing waist-deep in it.
5.175
Mimo Cliff
5.176
Barring the crucial crossings, travellers find it hard to pass;
Raising the pitchfork, believe truly that skulls are dried up.
Once Mount Huo arrived, he knew the reality;
Dying together and living together is not worth looking at.
5.177
Baofu's Four Deceptions of Men
5.178
With a bamboo pole at hand, he is an old adept;
Acting according to the scene, nothing can surpass him.
Deceiving others, deceiving myself—no one understands;
When the water rises the boat climbs, yet sand gets in the eye.
5.179
Upādhyāya Lingyun
5.180
Originally without delusion or awakening, as numerous as hemp;
Only Lingyun is recognized as an adept.
May I ask those travellers who have visited all the patriarchs,
In what place do their bodies show peach blossoms?
5.181
A Monk Inquires about the Meaning of Conditioned Arising
5.182
Setting out doctrines of conditioned arising, I laugh, having never heard such;
Presenting a cloth drum right at Thunder Gate.
The diamond and iron deeds are questioned everywhere;
It is announced that the three thousand seas and mountains are dark.
5.183
Name and Reality Do Not Match
5.184
Jade turning and pearls rolling are the words of patriarchs and Buddhas;
Mastering them thoroughly still breaks a sweat in the mind-field.
Old Lu only understood constantly pounding rice;
How did he receive the transmission at Huangmei to last for ten thousand ages?
5.185
Delusion and Awakening are Mutually Opposed
5.186
Drizzling plum rains sprinkle the perilous crags;
In the fifth month the mountain room is cold as ice.
Do not say that heaven and earth fail their great trust;
When the mind-ground is not clear, there is blazing heat.
5.187
The Way Values Being as if Foolish
5.188
The rain passes, clouds congeal, and dawn half opens;
Several peaks like paintings, towering green.
Subhūti did not know how to sit within the cliff,
Stirring celestial flowers to shower and shake the earth.
5.189
Great Merit Does Not Dominate
5.190
Atop Oxhead Peak, locked in layers of clouds,
Sitting alone, desolate, lodging this body.
The hundred birds no longer come, and spring passes again;
I wonder who it is that reaches the hermitage.
5.191
Concealing Traces Left for Oneself
5.192
Painting back in those days, loving Lake Dongting;
Amidst the waves, seventy-two peaks of green.
Now lying high, thinking of past events,
Lord Lu is newly depicted leaning against a stone screen.
5.193
Lion of Mount Wulao
5.194
Crouching on the earth, occupying space, its momentum never halts;
Why must claws and fangs compete with worldly trends?
Heaven decreed that it be born atop a thousand peaks;
Even without clouds bearing it up, its head emerges.
5.195
Out of Step with the Times
5.196
The lay practitioner's gate is high; an audience cannot be expected;
Leaning idly against crags and rocks is quite fitting.
Across Lake Tai's thirty-six thousand qing,
To whom can one speak of the moon in the clear waves?
5.197
Master of the Mountain Yiqian Answers the Summons to the City of Yin
5.198
Do not head into the thousand peaks to pass the good seasons;
Lying high amidst white clouds, the delight is rather base.
Along the road, countless travellers have not returned;
If not waiting to rely on each other, whom else should they wait for?
5.199
The Cypress Tree in Front of the Courtyard (Two Poems)
5.200
The old Chan fellow of seven hundred years—
Securing the home state was truly painful for him.
When someone asked about [the Patriarch's] coming from the West, he pointed to the cypress in the courtyard,
Yet caused the whole world to take up shields and spears.
First 200 of 270 passages. Read on
Linked texts (1)
- 明覺禪師語錄 — Classical Chinese