景德傳燈錄 30.16

30.16

The mind of the Great Sage of India / was secretly transmitted from west to east. / Human capacities may be sharp or dull, / but the Path has no northern or southern patriarchs. / The spiritual source is clearly bright; / its tributary streams flow in the dark. / Grasping phenomena is fundamentally delusion; / matching principle is not yet awakening either. / Each gate and all its objects / interpenetrate and do not interpenetrate. / Interpenetrating, they mutually merge; / otherwise, each abides in its own place. / Forms fundamentally differ in matter and appearance; / sounds originally vary in pleasure and pain. / Darkness merges high and middle words; / brightness distinguishes pure and turbid phrases. / The four great elements return to their own nature, / like a child finding its mother: / fire is hot, wind moves, / water is wet, and earth is solid. / Eyes [see] forms, ears [hear] sounds, / the nose smells fragrance, the tongue tastes salty and sour. / Thus, depending on each and every dharma, / leaves branch out according to the root. / Root and branches must return to the source; / noble and base use their own speech. / Within light there is darkness, / do not take it as darkness. / Within darkness there is light, / do not look at it as light. / Light and dark contrast with each other, / like footsteps walking front and back. / All things have their own function, / depending on their use and place. / Phenomena exist like box and lid fitting together; / principle accords like arrowheads meeting point-to-point. / Receiving these words, you must comprehend the source; / do not set up your own standards. / If you do not understand the Path right before your eyes, / how can you know the road as you walk? / Stepping forward is neither near nor far; / delusion creates a barrier of mountains and rivers. / I respectfully say to those who study the mystery: / do not pass your time in vain.