Zen Buddhism poems: spirituality and religion

Zen Poems

Sharing a Mountain Hut with a Cloud

A lonely hut on the mountain-peak towering above a thousand others;

One half is occupied by an old monk and the other by a cloud:

Last night it was stormy and the cloud was blown away;

After all a cloud could not equal the old man's quiet way.

Kuei-tsung Chih-chih, a monk who lived in a humble hut on Lu-shan (盧山 Rozan)

(Essays in Zen Buddhism – Second Series 352)

"he aptly gives vent to his appreciation of Emptiness; the verse is not to be understood as merely describing his solitary hut where he lived in company with clouds." (Essays in Zen Buddhism – Second Series 351-2)

Carrying Water, Chopping Wood

神通並妙用 Miraculous power and marvelous activity–

運水及槃柴 Drawing water and hewing wood!²³

P'ang Yün (龐蘊 Hő Un, 740-808), a lay disciple of the eighth century, also known as P'ang Chü-shih (龐居士 Hő Koji) (Chü-shih/koji is a title of respect for a lay student of Ch'an)

(The Way of Zen 221 o)

²³ Ch'uan Teng Lu, 8. (The Way of Zen 133)

How wondrous this, how mysterious!

I carry fuel, I draw water. (Zen and Japanese Culture 16)

How wondrously supernatural,

And how miraculous this!

I draw water, and I carry fuel. (Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 319)

Supernatural power, wondrous activity – just a matter of

carrying fuel or drawing water. (Zen Words for the Heart 57)

日日事無別 Daily, nothing particular,

惟吾自偶諧 Only nodding to myself,

頭頭非取捨 Nothing to choose, nothing to discard.

處處沒張乖 No coming, no going,

朱紫誰爲號 No person in purple,

邱山絶塵埃 Blue mountains without a speck of dust.

神通並妙用 I exercise occult and subtle power,

運水及搬柴 Carrying water, shouldering firewood.

(Two Zen Classics 262-3)

"Hő Koji (Hő was his family, Koji a title of respect for a lay student of Zen) studied first with Sekitő and then with Baso, who he succeeded. When he first met Sekitő, he asked, 'Who is he that is independent of all things?' Before he had finished asking this, Sekitő covered Koji's mouth with his hand. At this Koji underwent an experience and expressed himself in the following verse:" (Two Zen Classics 262-3)

日日事無別 In my daily life there are no other chores than

惟吾自偶諧 Those that happen to fall into my hands.

頭頭非取捨 Nothing I choose, nothing reject.

處處沒張乖 Nowhere is there ado, nowhere a slip.

朱紫誰爲號 I have no other emblems of my glory than

邱山絶塵埃 The mountains and hills without a spot of dust.

神通並妙用 My magical power and spiritual exercise consists in

運水及搬柴 Carrying water and gathering firewood.

P'ang Chü-shih (The Golden Age of Zen 94, 304 n.5)

"Ma-tsu's outstanding lay disciple, Pang Yün" (The Golden Age of Zen 94)

Stillness

十方同聚會 The ten directions converging,

個個學無爲 Each learning to do nothing,

此是選佛場 This is the hall of Buddha's training;

心空及第歸 Mind's empty, all's finished.

P'ang Yün (龐蘊 Hő Un) (Two Zen Classics 263)

"When he came to Baso he again said, 'Who is he that is independent of all things?' Baso said, 'When you have drunk all the water in the Yang-tze river, I will tell you.' At this, Koji underwent his great experience and composed another verse:" (Two Zen Classics 263)

Zen Buddhism poems

Without Name and Form

Well versed in the Buddha way,

I go the non-Way

Without abandoning my

Ordinary person's affairs.

The conditioned and

Name-and-form,

All are flowers in the sky.

Nameless and formless,

I leave birth-and-death.

P'ang Yün (龐蘊 Hő Un)

Mind at Peace

When the mind is at peace,

the world too is at peace.

Nothing real, nothing absent.

Not holding on to reality,

not getting stuck in the void,

you are neither holy or wise, just

an ordinary fellow who has completed his work.

P'ang Yün (龐蘊 Hő Un) (The Enlightened Heart 34)

Being as Is

Food and clothes sustain

Body and life;

I advise you to learn

Being as is.

When it's time,

I move my hermitage and go,

And there's nothing

To be left behind.

P'ang Yün (龐蘊 Hő Un)

The Ultimate Attainment

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.

P'ang Yün (龐蘊 Hő Un)

Zen Buddhism poems

Mindfulness

春有百花秋有月 Spring comes with its flowers, autumn with the moon,

夏有涼風冬有雪 summer with breezes, winter with snow;

若無閑事挂心頭 when useless things don't stick in the mind,

更是人間好時節 that is your best season.

Wu-men Huai-kai (無門慧開 Mumon Ekai), from Wu-men kuan (Mumonkan) case 19

(The Light Inside the Dark 97)

春有百花秋有月 The spring flowers, the autumn moon;

夏有涼風冬有雪 Summer breezes, winter snow.

若無閑事挂心頭 If useless things do not clutter your mind,

更是人間好時節 You have the best days of your life.

(Two Zen Classics 73)

春有百花秋有月 Hundreds of spring flowers; the autumnal moon;

夏有涼風冬有雪 A refreshing summer breeze; winter snow;

若無閑事挂心頭 Free thy mind of all idle thoughts,

更是人間好時節 And for thee how enjoyable every season is!

(Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 349)

春有百花秋有月 Hundreds of flowers in the spring, the moon in the autumn,

夏有涼風冬有雪 A cool breeze in summer; and snow in winter;

若無閑事挂心頭 If there is no vain cloud in your mind

更是人間好時節 For you it is a good season.

(Zen Comments on the Mumonkan 140)

In spring hundreds of flowers,

In summer, refreshing breeze.

In autumn, harvest moon,

In winter, snowflakes accompany you.

If useless things do not hand in your mind,

Every season is a good season. (Zen Word, Zen Calligraphy 9)

Spring has its hundred flowers,

Autumn its moon.

Summer has its cooling breezes,

Winter its snow.

If you allow no idle concerns

To weight on your heart,

Your whole life will be one

Perennial good season. (The Golden Age of Zen 286-7)

[This source have the 3rd line with a variant character (3rd character): 若無閒事挂心頭 (The Golden Age of Zen 324 n.95)]

The Great Tao

大道無形 Daidő mugyő, The Great Tao is without form,

眞理無對 Shinri mutai, The Absolute is without opposite;

等空不動 Hitoshiku kű fudő, It is both empty and unmoving,

非生死流 Shőji no nagare ni arazu; It is not within the flow of Samsara;

三界不攝 Sangai fushő, The Three Realms do not contain it,

非古夾今 Koraikon ni arazu. It is not within past, future, or present.

Nan-ch'üan P'u-yüan (Nansen Fugan 南泉普願)

(The Development of Chinese Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 58)

大道無形 The Great Tao has no form,

眞理無對 Truth has no counterpart,

等空不動 It is motionless like the Void,

非生死流 It does not wander through [the samsara of] life and death,

三界不攝 The Three Worlds do not contain it,

非古夾今 Within it there is neither past, nor present, nor future.

(The Development of Chinese Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 11-2)

Zen Buddhism poems

Oneness

彌勒眞彌勒 O Maitreya, O true Maitreya!

分身千百億 Thou dividest the body into hundreds of thousands of million forms.

時時示時人 Thus manifesting thyself to men of the world;

時人自不識 But how they are ignorant of thee!

Verse attributed to Pu-tai (布袋 Hotei), one of the Seven Gods of Luck

(Essays in Zen Buddhism – Second Series 289)

Shan-hui

有物先天地 Something there is, prior to heaven and earth,

無形本寂寥 Without form, without sound, all alone by itself.

能爲萬象主 It has the power to control all the changing things;

不逐四時凋 Yet it changes not in the course of the four seasons.

Bodhisattva Shan-hui (善慧), better known as Fu Ta-shih (傅大士) (497-?)

(The Golden Age of Zen 254, 322 n.25)

Shan-hui

空手把鉏頭 Empty-handed, I hold a hoe.

步行騎水牛 Walking on foot, I ride a buffalo.

人在橋上過 Passing over a bridge, I see

橋流水不流 The bridge flow, but not the water.

Bodhisattva Shan-hui (善慧), better known as Fu Ta-shih (傅大士) (497-?)

(The Golden Age of Zen 254, 322 n.24)

空手把鉏頭 Empty-handed I go and yet the spade is in my hands;

步行騎水牛 I walk on foot, and yet on the back of an ox I am riding:

人在橋上過 When I pass over the bridge,

橋流水不流 Lo, the water floweth not, but the bridge doth flow.

(Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 272)

Beyond This World

通玄峯頂 Over the crest of the T'ung-hsuan-feng,

不是人間 The human world is no more.

心外無物 Nothing is outside the Mind;

満目青山 And the eye is filled with green mountains.

T'ien-t'ai Te-chao (天台德昭 Tendai Tokushő; 891-972), most prominent disciple of Fa-yen (法眼 Hőgen), and abbot of a temple on Mount T'ung-hsuan-feng (通玄峯).

(The Golden Age of Zen 240, 321 n.37)

Mindfulness

行到水窮處 I stroll along the stream up to where it ends.

坐看雲起時 I sit down watching the clouds as they begin to rise.

Wang Wei (王維, 699-761) (The Golden Age of Zen 271, 323 n.62)

"The most favorite lines among the Zen masters are Wang Wei's (王維):" (The Golden Age of Zen 271) "I have seen this charming couplet many times in Zen literature." (The Golden Age of Zen 271-2)

Oblivion

幽鳥語如篁 A bird in a secluded grove sings like a flute.

柳搖金線長 Willows sway gracefully with their golden threads.

雲歸山谷静 The mountain valley grows the quieter as the clouds return.

風送杏花香 A breeze brings along the fragrance of the apricot flowers.

永日蕭然坐 For a whole day I have sat here encompassed by peace,

澄心萬虞忘 Till my mind is cleansed in and out of all cares and idle thoughts.

欲言言不及 I wish to tell you how I feel, but words fail me.

林下好商量 If you come to this grove, we can compare notes.

Ch'an master Fa-yen (法眼 Hőgen) (The Golden Age of Zen 238, 321 n.31)

Suchness

The wind traverses the vast sky,

clouds emerge from the mountains;

Feelings of enlightenment and things of the world

are of no concern at all.

Zen Master Keizan Jőkin (瑩山紹瑾 1268-1325)

From Transmission of the Light (傳光録 Denkőroku), chap. 22 (Transmission of Light 97)

Nan-ch'üan's Serenity

Drinking tea, eating rice,

I pass my time as it comes;

Looking down at the stream, looking up at the mountains,

How serene and relaxed I feel indeed!

(Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 264)

Ch'an master Nan-ch'üan P'u-yüan (南泉普願 Nansen Fugan)

Serenity

At Nantai I sit quietly with an incense burning,

One day of rapture, all things are forgotten,

Not that mind is stopped and thoughts are put away,

But that there is really nothing to disturb my serenity.

Shou-an (守安 Shuan) (Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 349)

Nan-t'ai (南台 Nantai)

Emptiness Poem

Old P'ang requires nothing in the world:

All is empty with him, even a seat he has not,

For absolute Emptiness reigns in his household;

How empty indeed it is with no treasures!

When the sun is risen, he walks through Emptiness,

When the sun sets, he sleeps in Emptiness;

Sitting in Emptiness he sings his empty songs,

And his empty songs reverberate through Emptiness:

Be not surprised at Emptiness so thoroughly empty,

For Emptiness is the seat of all the Buddhas;

And Emptiness is not understood by the men of the world,

But Emptiness is the real treasure:

If you say there's no Emptiness,

You commit grave offence against the Buddhas.

P'ang (Essays in Zen Buddhism – Second Series 341)

"Who flourished in the Yüan-ho period (806-821) and thereabout, and was a younger contemporary of Ma-tsu." (Essays in Zen Buddhism – Second Series 341 n.1)

Cutting the Spring Breeze

乾坤無地卓孤筇

喜得人空法亦空

珍重大元三尺剣

電光影裡斬春風

Throughout heaven and earth there is not a piece of ground where a single stick could be inserted;

I am glad that all things are void, myself and the world:

Honored be the sword, three feet long, wielded by the great Yüan swordsmen;

For it is like cutting a spring breeze in a flash of lightning.

(Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 255 n.2)

"Tsu-yüan (1226-1286) came to Japan when the Hőjő family was in power at Kamakura. He established the Engakuji monastery, which is one of the chief Zen monasteries in Japan. While still in China his temple was invaded by soldiers of the Yüan dynasty, who threatened to kill him, but Bukkő was immovable and quietly uttered the following verse:" (Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 255 n.2)

Wu-hsüeh Tsu-yüan (無學祖元 Mugaku Sogen; also known as Fo-kuang Kuo-shih 佛光國師/Bukkő Kokushi, 1226-1286)

Variant character in the last line 電光影裏斬春風 (裏 instead of 裡)

There is not a room in the whole universe where one can insert even a single stick;

I see the emptiness of all things—no objects, no persons.

I admire the sword of the Great Yüan⁴⁰ three feet in length:

[When it cuts at all,] it is like cutting the spring breeze with a flash of lightning.

(Zen and Japanese Culture 201-2)

⁴⁰The Mongolian dynasty (1260-1367) that invaded China and replaced the Sung dynasty. (Zen and Japanese Culture 202) [元 Yüan; 宋 Sung]

The heaven and earth afford me no shelter at all;

I'm glad, unreal are body and soul.

Welcome thy weapon, O warrior of Yuan! Thy trusty steel,

That flashes lightning, cuts the wind of Spring, I feel. (The Spirit of Zen 95)

Wu-hsüeh Tsu-yüan's poem is reminiscent of a poem by Seng-chao (僧肇 Sőjő), a disciple of Kumarajiva, the founder of the San-lun (三論 Sanron) Sect of Buddhism. On the verge of death by a vagabond's sword, Seng-chao expressed his feelings in the following verse:

In body there exists no soul.

The mind is not real at all.

Now try on me thy flashing steel,

As if it cuts the wind of Spring, I feel. (file ZenHistory)

Even the Fire is Cool

三伏閉門披一衲 In the midsummer heat, the gate is closed and we're wearing monk's robes,

兼無蔭松竹房廊 In addition, there are no pines or bamboos shading the rooms and corridors,

安禪必不須山水 For a peaceful meditation, we need not to go to the mountains and streams;

滅却心頭火亦涼 When thoughts are quieted down, fire itself is cool and refreshing.

Ch'an monk Tu Kou-hao (杜苟鶴 To Junkaku)

Famous poem of T'ang monk and poet Tu Kou-hao, known as 題夏日悟空上人院詩.

(Suzuki quotes only the last two verses of the poem, as the words of Zen master Kaisen (快川), abbot of Erinji (恵林寺) in Japan's Kai province. These were Kaisen's words prior to being burned alive in his temple by soldiers. Zen and Japanese Culture 79)

The last verse is used as a saying in Japan. (心頭を滅却すれば火も亦涼し Shintő o mekkyaku sureba, hi mo mata suzushi.)

Immovable Mind

欲識永明旨 You wish to know the spirit of Yung-ming Zen?

門前一湖水 Look at the lake in front of the gate.

日照光明至 When the sun shines, it radiates light and brightness,

波夾波浪起 When the wind comes, there arise ripples and waves.

Yung-ming Yen-shou (永明延壽 Yőmyő Enju; 904-975) disciple of T'ien-t'ai Te-chao (天台德昭 Tendai Tokushő; 891-972). (The Golden Age of Zen 241, 321 n.41)

"There is a time for peaceful contemplation; there is a time for dynamic action; and all the time the lake remains itself." (The Golden Age of Zen 241)

Zen Buddhism poems

Hsiang-yen's Gatha of Enlightenment

一撃忘所知 Forgetting all knowledge at one stroke,

更不假修治 I do not need cultivation anymore.

動容揚古路 Activity expressing the ancient road,

不堕悄然機 I don't fall into passivity.

處處無蹤跡 Everywhere trackless,

声色忘威儀 conduct beyond sound and form:

諸方達道者 the adepts in all places

咸言上上機 call this the supreme state.

Gâthâ of enlightenment (省悟偈) by Ch'an master Hsiang-yen Chih-hsien (香嚴智閑 Kyőgen Chikan) (Rational Zen 119)

一撃忘所知 One stroke and all is gone,

更不假修治 No need of stratagem or cure;

動容揚古路 Each and every action manifests the ancient Way.

不堕悄然機 My spirit is never downcast,

處處無蹤跡 I leave no tracks behind me,

声色忘威儀 Enlightenment is beyond speech, beyond gesture;

諸方達道者 Those who are emancipated

咸言上上機 Call it the unsurpassed.

(Two Zen Classics 40)

一撃忘所知 One stroke has made me forget all my previous knowledge,

更不假修治 No artificial discipline is at all needed;

動容揚古路 In every movement I uphold the ancient way,

不堕悄然機 And never fall into the rut of mere quietism;

處處無蹤跡 Wherever I walk no traces are left,

声色忘威儀 And my senses are not fettered by rules of conduct;

諸方達道者 Everywhere those who have attained to the truth,

咸言上上機 All declare this to be of highest order.

(Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 243)

一撃忘所知 Ichigeki shochi o bőzu, At a single stroke all I'd known was forgotten,

更不假修治 Sara ni shűchi o karazu. Now there's no further need for cultivation.

(The Development of Chinese Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 18, 64)

Yen-shou's Poem of Enlightenment

扑落非他物 Something dropped! It is no other thing;

縱横不是塵 Right and left, there is nothing earthy:

山河并大地 Rivers and mountains and the great earth,—

全露法王身 In them all revealed is the Body of the Dharmarâja.

Ch'an master Yung-ming Yen-shou (永明延壽 Yőmyő Enju) (904-975)

(Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 250)

Variant of the line 3 山河及大地

"His realization took place when he heard a bundle of fuel dropping on the ground." (Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 250)

Chang Chiu-ch'en's Poem of Enlightenment

春天月夜一聲蛙

撞破乾坤共一家

In a moonlit night on a spring day,

The croak of a frog

Pierces through the whole cosmos and turns it into

a single family!

Chang Chiu-ch'en (張九成) (The Golden Age of Zen 284, 324 n.88)

"The Upasaka Chang Chiu-ch'en (張九成) was pondering a koan when he was in the toilet. Suddenly he heard the croak of a frog, and he was awakened, as evidenced by the following lines:" (The Golden Age of Zen 284)

No-Mind

Versified questions and replies between T'ang emperor Shun-tsung (順宗) and Ch'an master Fo-kuang Ju-man (佛光如滿 Bukkő Nyoman):

佛從何方來 From where did the Buddha come,

滅向何方去 To where did the Buddha go?

既言常住世 If the Buddha is still around,

佛今在何處 Where can be the Buddha found? Shun-tsung

佛從無爲來 From non-activity the Buddha came

滅向無爲去 To non-activity the Buddha disappeared.

法身滿虚空 Cosmic reality his spiritual body is,

常住無心處 In no-mind the Buddha will appear. Ju-man

山河與大海 Great mountains, rivers and seas,

天地及日月 Heaven and earth, sun and moon.

時至皆歸盡 Who says there is no birth and death?

誰言不生滅 For even these meet their end soon. Shun-tsung

生亦未曾生 Birth is also before birth,

滅亦未曾滅 Death is also before death.

了見無生處 If you have attained no-mind,

自然無法説 Naturally there will be nothing left. Ju-man

(The Complete Book of Zen 242-3)

"Emperor Soon Zong of the Tand dynasty asked the Zen master Ru Man, in poetic style:" (The Complete Book of Zen 242)

(In The Complete Book of Zen, the longer verses are used partly to make quatrains. The original verses run as follows (the verses used in the above poems are emphasized):

Shun-tsung asked: 佛從何方來、滅向何方去、既言常住世、佛今在何處。

Ju-man replied:

佛從無爲來、滅向無爲去、法身滿虚空、常住無心處。有念歸無念、有住歸無住、來爲眾