Hsu Yun

HEARING THE BELL AT GE JIANG SHAN TEMPLE - BETWEEN THE RIVER AND THE MOUNTAINS

Heaven turns so slowly and gently, it tolerates my age.
Without mercy, days and months advance to cut off my time.

I return to my cave in the mountain, but the trees are all gone.
I look down on the river and all I see are meandering curves.
The sun is captured in a cage of delicate clouds.
I listen to the wind.

Suddenly I hear the Temple Bell!
The sound comes washing over me,
Waking me from the dusty labor of my thoughts.
And distant heaven opens wider and wider to me.

Du Fu (712-770)

SEEING Li Bai IN A DREAM I

There are sobs when death is the cause of parting;
But life has its partings again and again.
...From the poisonous damps of the southern river
You had sent me not one sign from your exile --
Till you came to me last night in a dream,
Because I am always thinking of you.
I wondered if it were really you,
Venturing so long a journey.
You came to me through the green of a forest,
You disappeared by a shadowy fortress....
Yet out of the midmost mesh of your snare,
How could you lift your wings and use them?
...I woke, and the low moon's glimmer on a rafter
Seemed to be your face, still floating in the air.
...There were waters to cross, they were wild and tossing;
If you fell, there were dragons and rivermonsters.

Du Fu (712-770)

A VIEW OF TAISHAN

What shall I say of the Great Peak? --
The ancient dukedoms are everywhere green,
Inspired and stirred by the breath of creation,
With the Twin Forces balancing day and night.
...I bare my breast toward opening clouds,
I strain my sight after birds flying home.
When shall I reach the top and hold
All mountains in a single glance?

Li Bai (701-762)

IN SPRING

Your grasses up north are as blue as jade,
Our mulberries here curve green-threaded branches;
And at last you think of returning home,
Now when my heart is almost broken....
O breeze of the spring, since I dare not know you,
Why part the silk curtains by my bed?

Han Yu (768-824)

Snow in Spring
.
The new year's come, but still the plants don't grow,
First in March I'm startled by grass shoots.
The white snow thinks the colours of spring are late,
So through the pavilion and trees it flies like blossom.

Layman P'ang

The past is already past.
Don’t try to regain it.
The present does not stay.
Don’t try to touch it.

From moment to moment.
The future has not come;
Don’t think about it
Beforehand.

Whatever comes to the eye,
Leave it be.
There are no commandments
To be kept;
There’s no filth to be cleansed.

With empty mind really
Penetrated, the dharmas
Have no life.

When you can be like this,
You’ve completed
The ultimate attainment.

Li Bai (701-762)

DOWN ZHONGNAN MOUNTAIN
TO THE KIND PILLOW AND BOWL OF HUSI

Down the blue mountain in the evening,
Moonlight was my homeward escort.
Looking back, I saw my path
Lie in levels of deep shadow....
I was passing the farm-house of a friend,
When his children called from a gate of thorn
And led me twining through jade bamboos
Where green vines caught and held my clothes.
And I was glad of a chance to rest
And glad of a chance to drink with my friend....
We sang to the tune of the wind in the pines;
And we finished our songs as the stars went down,
When, I being drunk and my friend more than happy,
Between us we forgot the world.

Li Bai (701-762)

DOWN ZHONGNAN MOUNTAIN
TO THE KIND PILLOW AND BOWL OF HUSI

Down the blue mountain in the evening,
Moonlight was my homeward escort.
Looking back, I saw my path
Lie in levels of deep shadow....
I was passing the farm-house of a friend,
When his children called from a gate of thorn
And led me twining through jade bamboos
Where green vines caught and held my clothes.
And I was glad of a chance to rest
And glad of a chance to drink with my friend....
We sang to the tune of the wind in the pines;
And we finished our songs as the stars went down,
When, I being drunk and my friend more than happy,
Between us we forgot the world.

Li Shangyin (813-858)

The Pleasure Plain
.
Towards evening my thoughts became uncomfortable,
I drove my carriage upon the ancient plain.
The setting sun is good without limit,
But only comes when yellow dusk is near.

Ryokan (1758-1831)

Thoughts

When all thoughts
Are exhausted
I slip into the woods
And gather
A pile of shepherd's purse.

Like the little stream
Making its way
Through the mossy crevices
I, too, quietly
Turn clear and transparent.

Hsu Yun

Experience Chan! It's not mysterious.
As I see it, it boils down to cause and effect.
Outside the mind there is no Dharma
So how can anybody speak of a heaven beyond.

Experience Chan! It's not a field of learning.
Learning adds things that can be researched and discussed.
The feel of impressions can't be communicated.
Enlightenment is the only medium of transmission.

Experience Chan! It's not a lot of questions.
Too many questions is the Chan disease.
The best wya is just to observe the noise of the world.
The answer to your questions? Ask your own heart.

Bai Juyi

Peach Blossom at Dalin Temple

.
Across the world this June, the petals all have fallen,
But the mountain temple's peach blossom has just begun to bloom.
I regretted so much that spring had gone without a trace,
I didn't know that it had only moved up here.

Saigyo (1118-1190)

limitations Gone


limitations gone
since my mind fixed on the moon
clarity and serenity
make something for which
there's no end in sight

Li Bo (699-762)

Climbing High
Li Bo 699-762
I climb high
and gaze upon the four seas;
How vast and endless the earth and sky!
Frost cloaks all things autumnal,
Winds whip the great wilderness cold.
Blossoms of glory
waters flowing east.
Life's events
successions of ocean waves.
The white sun is obscured
by dusk's colored rays,
Floating clouds with no sure end.
Swallows and sparrows
now nest in pawlonia trees,
White phoenixes must perch among the brambles.
To "Return Home" once again!
On my sword I strum, "The Road Is Hard."

Cheng-tao Ke

Like the empty sky it has no boundaries,
Yet it is right in this place, ever profound and clear.
When you seek to know it, you cannot see it.
You cannot take hold of it,
But you cannot lose it.
In not being able to get it, you get it.
When you are silent, it speaks;
When you speak, it is silent.
The great gate is wide open to bestow alms,
And no crowd is blocking the way.

Du Fu (712-770)

A Madman
Dù Fǔ 712-770

West from Myriad League Bridge stands a Hall of Thatch;
Waters of Hundred Flower Tarn are my Waves of Watchet.
Wind enfolds alcedine bamboo
bright & gracefully pure;
Rains ablute pink lotuses
slow and gradually fragrant.
From amply salaried old friends
all letters curtailed;
My ever famished young sons
your complexions pallid.
About to be tossed into a ditch
just be unrestrained--
I laugh at myself
a madman
the older the madder.

Deng Ming-Dao

At first, form is needed;
Then doubt and inhibition must be dispelled.
Eventually, form is celebrated with joy:
And expression becomes formless.

Luo Guanzhong, 14th century

Diao Chan
Luo Guanzhong 14th c.

Wang Yun bet the empire's fate
on a red skirt,
No need for weapons of war
no need for troops.
At battle at Tiger Pass
three heros fought for nothing,
Now
Diao Chan sings
Torch Song of Triumph
at Phoenix Pavilion.

Hsu Yun

FA JIE TEMPLE, RELIVING AN ANCIENT PRACTICE

Slowly, one step at a time, I walk back and forth
As the smoke and low clouds on all four sides dissipate
Revealing my audience to me.

The pines so tall, the cranes sit and nest in them.
The old, half-hidden caves.

The hushed rustlings of the mountain reward my heart.
Sounds come to my ears like gentle, pulsing waves of applause.

That Worthy One who used to be here...
Where has he gone?
Since his seat is empty,
I sit on his discourse ledge and pretend awhile longer.

Li Bai (701-762)

The monk from Shu with his green silk lute-case,
Walking west down Omei Mountain,
Has brought me by one touch of the strings
The breath of pines in a thousand valleys.
I hear him in the cleansing brook,
I hear him in the icy bells;
And I feel no change though the mountain darken
And cloudy autumn heaps the sky.

Ikkyu (1394-1481)

Damo Staring Down The Wall
Ikkyu 1394-1481

First translation:

Nine years staring down the wall
what did he achieve?!
Liang and Wei mountains and rivers
happily are not poor.
Likewise this master
who came from the west
has No meaning,
Shaolin spring rain
also autumn typhoons.

Second translation:

Nine years staring down the wall
what did he achieve?!
Liang and Wei states prospered,
Do not say he brought nothing
from the west!
Shaolin temple
spring rains
and autumn winds.

Li Bai (701-762)

A Farewell Song of White Clouds
Li Bai 701-762

The white clouds float over the mountains of Chu--
As over the Mountains of Qin.
Everywhere the white clouds will follow you on.

They will follow you on everywhere--
With you they will enter the Chu mountains,
And cross the waters of the Xiang.

Yonder across the waters of the Xiang,
There is a cloak of ivy to wear,
And you may lie in a bed of white clouds.

Go swiftly home, O my friend!

Tran Thi Kien (1260-1330)

For Master Pu Ming of Anlang Temple
Tran Thi Kien 1260-1330

Seeking refuge in seclusion
no big deal,
Everyday practice at home
that's the ticket!
Just today
meditating like this,
Stop blaming
the Chaozhou codger
for your own problems!

Zhan Shichuang

Crossing Hangu Pass
Zhan Shichuanɡ

Long is the ancient road;
Towering the insurmountable pass.
Gone the Blue Buffalo, way beyond Hangu,
Only the Daode classic is with us
millennia old.

Who is today's dweller of that cave house?
The white rooster's still there
wandering in the courtyard.
The wheels roll on
this Taoist tour of ours;
Destiny has brought us together
from all corners of the world.

Li Bai

IN SPRING

Your grasses up north are as blue as jade,
Our mulberries here curve green-threaded branches;
And at last you think of returning home,
Now when my heart is almost broken....
O breeze of the spring, since I dare not know you,
Why part the silk curtains by my bed?

Hsueh-tou (980-1052),

Leaving the weeds, entering the weeds;
Who knows how to seek them out?
White clouds, layer upon layer;
Red sun, clear and bright.
Looking to the left, there are no flaws;
Looking to the right, already old.
Have you not seen the man of Cold Mountain?
He traveled so swiftly;
Ten years he couldn't return,
And forgot the road by which he came.

Zhang Jiuling

ORCHID AND ORANGE I

Tender orchid-leaves in spring
And cinnamon- blossoms bright in autumn
Are as self- contained as life is,
Which conforms them to the seasons.
Yet why will you think that a forest-hermit,
Allured by sweet winds and contented with beauty,
Would no more ask to-be transplanted
THan Would any other natural flower?

Li Shangyin

Sent North on a Rainy Night
.
You ask me what time I'll return, but I cannot give a time,
The rain in the hills of Ba at night overflows the autumn pools.
When can we trim the candle together by the western window,
And talk together of the rain in the hills of Ba at night?