緇門警訓 7.24

7.24

National Preceptor Zhong of Nanyang / Did not heed three imperial summons, / Causing Emperor Suzong of the Tang / To revere the Buddhas and Patriarchs even more. / Yet as I look up toward Nanyang, / Though clouds and mud follow different paths, / When I turn my head and think of the ancients, / Sweat of shame pours down like rain. / Why does the Lord of Fenyang / Look upon me as dirt, / Playfully issuing an official notice / Asking me to take provisional charge of Yufeng Temple? / How could I, for the sake of one body, / Allow the Dharma-gate to suffer defilement? / Through ten thousand ages the water of the Long River / Cannot wash away an evil name. / Respectfully I return the official notice, / Let the Commissioner take it back himself. / Release me like an ape or a bird / To enjoy the quiet charm of the cloudy mountains; / In future years I will have nothing with which to repay you, / But a single stick of incense morning and evening.