廣弘明集 23.12

23.12

Endless throughout antiquity, / Dim and obscure was the profound path. / The wondrous condition was nowhere sought; / The long slumber knew no waking. / Arising and ceasing were manifold and chaotic; / Movement and rest were contrary and disordered. / Driving one another through a hundred generations, / The later ages were all the more corrupted. / Forever drowning in defilement and toil, / Who knew the reason why? / The Perfected Man mounted the turning of fortune; / Spiritual awakening arose in our midst. / Having not yet beheld the vast ocean, / The frog in the well deemed none small. / The great illumination shone radiant and bright; / The dark night at last broke into dawn. / Annihilating existence, one returned to emptiness; / Dispelling darkness, all became luminous. / The Way reached everywhere without boundary; / Benevolence extended even to birds and beasts. / The benighted were not left behind; / The discerning understood ever more clearly. / How transcendent was the Dharma master! / His nature in the Way was spontaneous and natural. / With single mind he renounced the mundane, / Reverently dedicated to the profound of the profound. / Grinding the keen edge of his spiritual faculty, / His wondrous realization was uninterrupted. / That to which worldly dust clings, / Upon arriving here was discarded. / That by which entanglements drag one down, / He held to with ever greater steadfastness. / Shaking off the bridle of dust, / He surged forth from the spiritual abyss. / Vast and distant in pure elegance, / Solemn and grave in chaste melody. / Broad and deep in his quietude, / Striving continuously in his advancement. / Harmonious yet resolute, / Distinct yet not severe. / Calming the mind, he attained it alone; / Projecting his contemplation to thousands of fathoms. / Emptied, he responded to things; / Nothing that came went unharmonized. / Wandering freely to propagate the transformation, / Resounding with echoes and radiating brilliance. / He opened the way to the profound market; / He initiated the opening of the spiritual portal. / His station was ordered by the dark extremity; / He dissected the abstruse and subtle. / Forgetting self, he drew gently upon goodness; / Tranquil, he went against nothing. / Unifying and penetrating all quarters, / Bringing together that whereto all converge. / From afar he raised up the sagging net; / He expounded and fortified the portals of the Dharma. / Continuing this wondrous wisdom, / He then broadcast spiritual might. / The secluded realm is still and silent; / The human market is clamorous and enticing. / In leisure and seclusion it is easy to become one; / Amid florid tumult it is hard to eradicate distraction. / The master then, with deep sighs, / Turned his carriage mid-course to retreat. / Divining a dwelling among rivers and crags, / He built a hut amidst the forested peaks. / Casting off conditions outside his domain, / He focused his essence and honed his inner acuity. / No fish-trap did he fail to master; / No subtlety did he leave unprobed. / How luxuriant is the peak of Kunshan, / With ridges, mounds, and hills! / Continuous peaks reach up into the clouds; / Winding ravines meander far and wide. / The courtyard shade is solitary and still; / The steps are encircled by clear streams. / Shaded and secluded in its remoteness; / Desolate and tranquil in its emptiness. / Far-reaching was the profound breeze; / Serene were the disciples of the Saṅgha. / Savoring the Way in the quiet room, / Silent was his spiritual dwelling. / His mind followed intimacy with the Way; / His sentiments grew distant from the mundane. / The Way is surely never solitary; / Virtue must have neighbors. / The abyss of his purity attracted reflections; / The supremacy of his work endeared people to him. / Yearning for his breeze and venerating the profound, / They came as guests from afar. / There were also those of like mind, / Who came from time to time to inquire after the ford. / Profound and inexhaustible, / Day by day his spirit grew more robust. / Forests and earth are subject to decline, / But the mind of the Way is ever new. / The sage has passed, and his words are severed; / The worthy has manifested, but interpretations diverge. / Dark and dim is the final age; / The profound transformation is on the brink of ruin. / How serene was this master! / Monastics and laypeople turned their hearts to him. / We hoped he would enjoy long years, / To hold up these falling cords. / How could misfortune strike so unsparingly, / That he abandoned the world in everlasting departure? / His bearing and shadow have returned forever; / Gone, he cannot be recalled. / The discerning feel deep heartbreak; / All who harbor feeling share in sorrow. / Alas! How mournful! / Recalling our close fellowship in the past, / We frequently lingered night after night. / Feasting quietly in the pure abode, / Sitting on the grass in the secluded valley. / Sometimes washing in the white rapids, / Then resting amidst the verdant bamboo. / Often we celebrated auspicious days, / Floating goblets and picking chrysanthemums. / Pears and pomelos offered their sweetness; / Rushes and bamboo shoots served as our greens. / Composing poems and chanting verses, / We were joyful and contented together. / Fondly looking back upon those travels, / The memory is right before the eyes. / How grievous is this encounter; / In a thousand years it will not come again. / Treading familiar ground, tears wet our lapels; / Gazing at his tumulus, we weep in grief. / Alas! How mournful! / What is must return to what is not; / The beginning ultimately comes to an end. / In the wondrous contemplation of the accomplished man, / A thousand ages are but a single day. / The benighted may react, / Arbitrarily making of it misfortune and fortune. / Far away is the Dharma master; / Early he has returned to the profound chamber. / The toil of countless kalpas / Was swift without haste. / May he encounter dark conditions, / And at last meet with spiritual methods. / His wondrous practice is no longer exercised; / Truly deep is the loss of his physical form. / Our feelings remain not yet darkened to sorrow; / Disconsolate, we are beside ourselves. / Entrusting our sentiments to brush and silk, / We set forth his illustrious breeze. / Alas! How mournful!