This is the first of a little series on enlightenment verses composed by various ZMs across the ages.
These verses are powerful because they are traditionally presented to the master for that nod of approval as the attainment of the student shines through the lines. Deeply personal and yet profoundly universal.
Today's submission is from Wuzu Fayan, student of Baiyun Shouduan and prominent teacher of Foyan Qingyuan.
Wuzu travelled a lot in search of a master that could answer his many questions, and he attained as Baiyun shouted at him just as he finished stating yet another.
We've got two translations, the first as cited in Foyan's Instant Zen (Cleary) and the second cited on Terebess (unsure of the translator).
Version 1
At an idle patch of field before the mountain
Politely I question an aged grandfather.
How many times have I sold and bought myself?
Charmingly, the pine and bamboo draw a clear breeze.
Version 2
Before the mountain spreads the plain.
Repeatedly, with folded hands, I asked the elders.
They sold to me so many times, and yet I purchased more,
Just to know that pine and bamboo bring forth the cloudless wind.
The first is a bit more poetic and serene, the second more literal and comprehensive. Importantly, there is no discrepancy in the meaning, so we can get a good handle on what is expressed here.
It's not the first time we hear about 'buying and selling' (see Gateless Gate Case 12 for example). We run around in our relative truth and buy our own crap and sell out to the whims and opinions of others, buy from others and sell it on all the same, never any profit made. Mistaking this silly merchant to be our true self. From the accounts, it appears that Wuzu was always questioning, always asking for further clarification during his arduous search. Yearning for that bit that finally made sense, even if it was to explain something he knew to be true (see In his verse, he's clearly done with it.
There he is, questioning Baiyun about this and that, hoping that this guy he was sent to can finally elucidate, and HAHHHH!!!! — Charmingly, the pine and bamboo draw a clear breeze. Thus his mind and his environment became one.
Submitted September 29, 2020 at 06:55PM by Coinionaire https://ift.tt/3ifdfJ8
No comments:
Post a Comment