In the autumn of my sixty sixth year,
I’ve already lived a long time
The intense moonlight
Is bright upon my face.
There’s no need to discuss
The principles of koan study;
Just listen carefully to the wind
Outside the pines and cedars.
In the autumn of my sixty sixth year,
I’ve already lived a long time
The intense moonlight
Is bright upon my face.
There’s no need to discuss
The principles of koan study;
Just listen carefully to the wind
Outside the pines and cedars.
Outwardly, all activities
cease; inwardly, the mind stops
its panting. When one’s mind has
become a wall, then he may
begin to enter
the tao.
Favor
and disgrace are
equally problematic. Hope
and fear are phantoms
of the body.
What
does it mean that
“favor and disgrace are
equally problematic”? Favor
lifts you up; disgrace knocks you down.
Either one depends on the opinions
of others and causes you to
depart from your
center.
What
does it mean that
“hope and fear are phantoms
of the body”? When you regard your
body as your self, hope and fear have real
power over you. If you abandon the
notion of body as self, hope
and fear cannot
touch you.
Know
the universe as
your self, and you can live
absolutely anywhere in comfort.
Love the world as your self,
and you’ll be able
to care for it
properly.
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Mountain home sleeping
No dreams of dust.
Three robes are plenty;
Who says I’m poor?
One for my pillow,
One to serve as a mat,
And at the thunder of my snoring
Heaven and Earth disappear.
Heaven is calm and
clear, earth is stable and peaceful.
Beings who lose these qualities die,
while those who emulate
them live.
Calm spaciousness is the
house of spiritual light;
open selflessness is the
abode of the Way.
translated by John S. Major & Sarah A. Queen