Zen Poems and Zen Sayings
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Contents
Utterance of Zen
masters carry a taste of awakening quite often, if not at all times. Often there are paradoxical and contradictory
expressions as if to test our understanding of this critical subject of
life. To test how much we are awakened, therefore, may be tested against whether or
not we get the sense out these expressions. Truth cannot be
explained by words. It has to
be grasped as if with the bear hands as one’s direct
experience.
For the purpose of
comprehensiveness, I modified the structure and its presentation by eliminating
redundancy, etc. from the original documents I found on the net. Good luck on your journey.
-
Kio Suzaki
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/poems.htm
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
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)
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 Hõ 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)
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 Hõ 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 Hõ 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 Hõ 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 Hõ Un)
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)
The Great Tao
大道無形 Daidõ mugyõ, The
Great Tao is without form,
眞理無對 Shinri mutai, The
Absolute is without opposite;
等空不動 Hitoshiku kû fudõ, It
is both empty and unmoving,
非生死流 Shõji no nagare ni arazu; It is not within the flow of Samsara;
三界不攝 Sangai fushõ, 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)
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 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 Tokushõ; 891-972), most prominent disciple of Fa-yen (法眼 Hõgen),
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 Hõgen)
(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 Jõkin (瑩山紹瑾 1268-1325)
From Transmission of the Light
(傳光録 Denkõroku),
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)
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)
Variant character in the last
line 電光影裏斬春風 (裏 instead of 裡)
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.
The last verse is used as a
saying in Japan. (心頭を滅却すれば火も亦涼し Shintõ
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 Yõmyõ Enju;
904-975) disciple
of T'ien-t'ai Te-chao (天台德昭 Tendai Tokushõ; 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)
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 Kyõgen Chikan)
(Rational Zen 119)
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 Yõmyõ 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 Bukkõ 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)
Gathas of Shen-hsiu
and Hui-neng
身是菩提樹 This
body is the Bodhi-tree,
心如明鏡台 The
soul is like a mirror bright;
時時勤拂拭 Take
heed to keep it always clean,
莫使惹塵埃 And
let no dust collect on it. Shen-hsiu
菩提本無樹 The
Bodhi is not like the tree,
明鏡亦非台 The
mirror bright is nowhere shining;
本夾無一物 As
there is nothing from the first,
何處惹塵埃 Where
can the dust itself collect? Hui-neng
Gâthâs of Shen-hsiu
(神秀 Jinshû)
and Hui-neng (慧能 Enõ)
From Hui-neng's
Platform Sûtra (T'an-ching 壇經/Dankyõ,
full title Liu-tsu
Ta-shih Fa-pao-t'an-ching 六祖大師法寶壇經 Rokuso Daishi Hõhõdankyõ)
(Essays in Zen Buddhism –
First Series 206, 207)
Gathas of Wo-lun
and Hui-neng
"A monk once made reference to a gâthâ composed by Wo-luan which
reads as follows:" (Essays in Zen Buddhism –
First Series 225)
臥輪有伎倆 I,
Wo-luan, know a device
能斷百思想 Whereby
to blot out all my thoughts:
對境心不起 The
objective world no more stirs the mind,
菩提日日長 And
daily matures my Enlightenment! Wo-lun
"Hearing this, the sixth patriarch remarked:
'That is no enlightenment but leads one into a state of bondage. Listen to my gâthâ:" (Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 225)
惠能沒伎倆 I, Hui-neng, know no
device
不斷百思想 My
thoughts are not suppressed:
對境心數起 The
objective world ever stirs the mind,
菩提作麼長 And
what is the use of maturing Enlightenment? Hui-neng
Emptiness Gnashing its Teeth
截断佛祖 Buddhas and patriarchs cut to pieces;
常磨吹毛 The
sword is ever kept sharpened.
機輪転処 Where
the wheel turns,
虚空咬牙 The
void gnashes its teeth.
Death verse of Shûhõ Myõchõ (宗峰妙超, titled Daitõ Kokushi, 1282-1337)
(Manual of Zen Buddhism 148)
Bright Pearl
我有明珠一顆 There
is a bright pearl within me,
久被塵勞關鎖 Buried
for a long time under dust.
今朝塵盡光生 Today,
the dust is gone and the light radiates,
照破山河萬朶 Shining
through all the mountains and rivers.
Master Yueh
of Ch'a-ling (茶陵郁) (The Golden Age of Zen 248, 322 n.7)
Master Yueh
of Ch'a-ling "came to his enlightenment when he slipped and
fell in crossing a bridge, and that he hit off a very wonderful gatha on the occasion." (The Golden Age of Zen 248)
Between Heaven and Earth
春山疊亂青 The
spring mountains covered with layers of most variegated colors,
春水漾虚碧 And
the spring streams fancifully laden with the reflecting images.
寥寥天地間 Standing
by himself between heaven and earth,
獨立望何極 Facing
infinitude of beings.
Ch'an master Hsüeh-t'ou Ch'ung-hsien
(雪竇重顯 Secchõ Jûken, 980-1052)
(Zen and Japanese Culture 298)
The Essence
一字七字三五字 One, seven, three, five.
萬象窮夾不爲拠 What you search for cannot be grasped.
夜深月白下滄溟 As the night deepens, the moon brightens over
the ocean.
捜得驪珠有多許 The black dragon's jewel is found in every
wave.
Looking
for the moon, it is here in this wave and the next.
A verse that
master Hsueh-t'ou Ch'ung-hsien
wrote for a disciple
Detached
Be detached, be detached!
Be thoroughly
detached!
What then?
The pine is green,
And white is the snow.
Author unknown
(The Essentials of Zen Buddhism 237)
閑坐林樹間、寂然滅衆惡
恬澹得一心、斯樂非天樂
人求富貴利、名衣好牀褥
斯樂非安穩、求利無厭足
衲衣行乞食、動止心常一
自以智慧眼、觀知諸法實
種種法門中、皆以等觀入
解慧心寂然、三界無能及
Monks sit
peacefully among the trees,
Ridding themselves of illusion with a calm mind.
Quietly realizing
enlightenment,
They experience a
joy that is beyond that of heaven.
Laymen seek fame and profit,
Or fine robes, seats, and bedding.
Though the joy in getting them is only fleeting,
They are untiring
in their quest.
Monks, however,
beg for food in humble robes,
Their daily actions being one with the Way.
With their
Wisdom-eye opened
They realize the
essence of the Law.
Gathering all together to listen
To the countless
Buddhist teachings,
They leave behind
the world of illusion,
Quietly enveloped in enlightenment's Wisdom.
Bodhisattva Nâgârjuna
From Treasury of
Eyes of True Teaching (Shõbõ Genzõ
正法眼藏) of Dõgen
(Zen Master Dogen 69-70)
Light Itself
Dwell!
You are Light
itself.
Rely on yourself,
Do not rely on
others.
The Dharma is the
Light,
Rely on the
Dharma.
Do not rely on
anything other than Dharma.
A Pali verse (Zen Word, Zen Calligraphy 31)
Poem on Bodhidharma
Poem by Lu Yu, a famous poet
of Southern Sung Dynasty (1131-1162). A poem describing Bodhidharma's personal philosophy.
宗陸游爲達磨詩
亦不覩惡而生嫌、亦不觀善而勤措
亦不捨智而近愚、亦抛迷而就悟
達大道兮過量、 通佛心兮出度
不與凡聖同經、 超然名之曰祖
Others are
revolted, I am unmoved.
Gripped by desires, I am
unmoved.
Hearing the wisdom of sages, I
am unmoved.
I move only in my own way. (Muscle/Tendon Changing and Marrow/Brain Washing Chi Kung
24)
Dead Man's Zazen
生夾坐不臥 While
living, one sits up and lies not,
死去臥不坐 When
dead, one lies and sits not;
元是臭骨頭 A
set of ill-smelling skeleton!
何爲立功課 What is the use of
toiling and moiling so?
A gâthâ
by Hui-neng, T'an-ching
(Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 216)
The Essence
The bamboo shadows are
sweeping the stairs,
Buy no dust is
stirred:
The moonlight penetrates deep
in the bottom of the pool,
But no trace is left in the
water.
Author unknown (Essays in Zen
Buddhism – First Series 352)
Beyond the Gate
靈光不昧 The celestial radiance
undimmed,
萬古徽猷 The norm lasting for ever
more;
入此門來 For him who entereth this gate,
莫存知解 No reasoning, no learning.
Ch'an master P'ing-t'ien
P'u-an (平田普岸 Heiden Fugan)
From Ching-te
Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (Ching-te Ch'uan-teng Lu 景徳傳燈録/Keitoku Dentõroku),
book 9 平田普岸章
(Essays in Zen Buddhism –
Second Series 101)
Quietitude
Here rules an absolute
quietness, all doings subside;
Just a touch, and lo, a
roaring thunder-clap!
A noise that shakes the earth,
and all silence;
The skull is broken to pieces,
and awakened I am from the dream!
Tu-feng Chi-shan's
stanza, from Chu-hung's Biographies of the Famous
Zen Masters of Ming
(Essays in Zen Buddhism –
Second Series 133 n.2)
One with It
Long seeking it through
others,
I was far from reaching it.
Now I go by myself;
I meet it everywhere.
It is just I myself,
And I am not itself.
Understanding this way,
I can be as I am.
Ch'an master Tung-shan
Ling-chia (洞山良价 Tõsan Ryõkai, 807-869) (Two Zen
Classics 267)
A Death Verse
I rebuke the wind and revile
the rain,
I do not know the Buddhas and patriarchs;
My single activity turns in
the twinkling of an eye,
Swifter even
than a lightning flash.
Death verse of Zen master Nanpo Jõmyõ (titled Daiõ Kokushi 大應國師, 1235-1308)
(Zen Buddhism: A History,
Japan, 40)
Old Pan Kou
Old Pan Kou knows nothing
about time
and nothing about space as well.
His life is self-natured and
self-sufficient.
He needs to ask for nothing
outside of his own being.
The genesis of the world is
the exercise of his mind.
When his mind starts to think,
the world starts to move.
The world has never been made
by any special desing.
Neither has
an end ever been put to it.
The Song of Pan Kou
Contentment
松老雲閑 As
the pines grew old and the clouds idled
曠然自適 He
found boundless contentment within himself.
Babo, preface to The Record of Lin-chi (Lin-chi Lu 臨済録/Rinzairoku)
(Zen Word, Zen Calligraphy
127)
Mind and Senses
The mind is an
organ of thought and objects are set against it:
The two are like
marks on the surface of the mirror;
When
the dirt is removed, the light begins to shine.
Both mind and
objects being forgotten, Ultimate Nature
reveals itself true.
Yung-chia Hsüan-chüeh (永嘉玄覺 Yõka Genkaku) (The Essentials of Zen Buddhism 236)
Free Spirit
Every day I'm
either in a wine shop or a brothel,
A free-spirited monk who is
hard to fathom;
My surplice always appears
torn and dirty,
But when I patch it, it smells so
sweet.
Ch'an master Tao-chi (Lust for
Enlightenment 92)
Three Teachings into One
道冠儒履佛袈裟 With a Taoist
cap, a Buddhist cassock, and a pair of Confucian shoes,
會成三家作一家 I have
harmonized three houses into one big family!
Bodhisattva Shan-hui (善慧), better known as Fu Ta-shih
(傅大士) (497-?)
(The Golden Age of Zen 254, 322 n.23)
Autumn Wind
朝日待つ Asahi
matsu
草葉の露の kusaha no tsuyu no
程無きに hodo naki ni
急ぎな isogina
立ちぞ tachizo
野辺の秋風 nobe no akikaze
On leaf and grass
Awaiting the morning sun
The dew melts quickly away.
Haste thee not, O autumn wind
Who dost
now stir in the fields!
A verse (on'uta
御歌) composed by Dõgen Kigen (道元希玄 1200-1253) shortly before his death
(Zen Buddhism: A History,
Japan, 72)
Forgetting the
Self
To learn Buddha
Dharma is to learn the self.
To learn the self
is to forget the self.
To forget the self
is to become one with
endless dimension, Universal Mind.
Dõgen (Zen Word,
Zen Calligraphy 23)
("Endless
dimension, Universal Mind" is another name for Amitâbha
Buddha)
This is Our World
We eat, excrete, sleep, and
get up;
This is our world.
All we have to do after that–
Is to die.
Dõka (way song/poem) by Zen master
Ikkyû Sojun (一休宗純) (The Way of Zen 162)
"In Japan, wandering
monks are called unsui—literally, 'cloud and
water'—as a reminder to be always floating and flowing. Ikkyu himself took the moniker Kyoun,
or 'Crazy Cloud,' to describe his eccentric, nonconformist style of zen. (In Japan, the word kyo has connotations of bravery and high intention,
of living outside the rules in order to retain the spirit of the rules.) He called his collected poems the 'Crazy Cloud Anthology.' " (Zen Sex 148) Crazy cloud (狂雲 Kyõun)
Selflessness
Misery only doth exist, none
miserable,
No doer is there; naught save
the deed is found.
Nirvâna is, but not the man who seeks
it.
The Path exists, but not the traveller on it.
Visuddhimagga (chapt.
16)
Trs. H.C. Warren (Essays in Zen
Buddhism – Second Series 311)
From: http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/zen/sayings.htm
Sitting Quietly
兀然無事坐、春夾草自生
"Sitting quietly, doing
nothing,
Spring comes, and the grass
grows by itself." Zenrin
Kushû (The Way of Zen 134, 222)
Suchness
青山自青山、白雲自白雲
"The blue mountains are
of themselves blue mountains;
"The white clouds are of
themselves white clouds." Zenrin
Kushû (The Way of Zen 134, 222)
Mountains are Mountains
The famous saying of Ch'ing-yüan Wei-hsin (Seigen Ishin):
老僧三十年前未參禪時、見山是山、見水是水、及至後夾親見知識、有箇入處、見山不是山、見水不是水、而今得箇體歇處、依然見山秪是山、見水秪是水 (The Way
of Zen 220 k)
"Before a man
studies Zen, to him mountains are mountains and waters are waters; after he gets an insight
into the truth of Zen through the instruction of a good master, mountains to
him are not mountains and waters are not waters; but after this when he really
attains to the abode of rest, mountains are once more mountains and waters are
waters." (Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 24)
Eternity in an hour
萬古長空 An eternity of endless space:
一朝風月 A day of wind and moon. (The Golden Age of Zen 246, 322 n.2)
"One of the
most frequently reiterated couplets in Chinese Zen literature" (The Golden Age of Zen 246)
Oneness
天地同根 Heaven and earth and I are of the
same root,
萬物一體 The ten-thousand things and I are
of one substance.
Zen Master Sêng-chao/Sõjõ
(僧肇 384-414)
"While Rikkõ, a high government official of the T'ang dynasty, had a talk with his Zen master Nansen, the official quoted a saying of Sõjõ,
a noted monk scholar of an earlier dynasty:
Heaven and earth and I are of the same root,
The
ten-thousand things and I are of one substance
and
continued, 'Is not this a most remarkable statement?' /
Nansen called the attention of the visitor to the
flowering plant in the garden and said, 'People of the world look at these
flowers as if they were in a dream.' " (The Essentials of
Zen Buddhism 483-4)
Unity
Merge your mind
with cosmic space, integrate your actions with myriad
forms.
Ch'an master Hung-chih Cheng-chüeh
(宏智正覺 Wanshi Shõkaku,
1091-1157)
(Transmission of Light xi)
Subtlety
入林不動草、入水不立波
"Entering the forest he
moves not the grass;
Entering the water he makes
not a ripple." Zenrin Kushû (The Way of Zen 152, 224)
Everyday Mind
争如著衣喫飲、此外更無佛祖 "There's nothing equal
to wearing clothes and eating food. Outside this there are neither Buddhas nor Patriarchs." Zenrin Kushû (The Way of Zen 152,
224)
Ocean of Pure Reality
清淨眞如海 Ocean of pure
Reality,
湛然體常住 Its substance, in
fathomless quiescence, exists eternally.
Ch'an master Fo-kuang
Ju-man (佛光如滿 Bukkõ Nyoman)
(The Development of Chinese
Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 64)
Great Unity
有一物上拄天下拄地。黒似漆。常在動用中。
There is one thing: above, it
supports Heaven; below, it upholds Earth. It is black
like lacquer, always actively functioning.
Ch'an master Tung-shan
Ling-chia (洞山良价 Tõsan Ryõkai,
807-869)
(The Development of Chinese
Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 74)
Man of Tao
譬如秋水澄渟清浄無爲澹泞無礙。喚他作道人亦名無事人。
Like the clear stillness of
autumn water—pure and without activity; in its tranquil depths are no
obstructions. Such an one is
called a man of Tao, also, a man who has nothing further to do.
Wei-shan Ling-yu
(溈山靈祐 Isan Reiyû)
(The Development of Chinese
Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 66)
Nondiscrimination
善與不善、世出世間、一切諸法莫記憶、莫緣念、放捨身心、今其自在。心如木石、無所辨別。
"When you
forget the good and the non-good, the worldly life and the religious life, and
all other dharmas, and permit no thoughts relating to
them to arise, and you abandon body and mind—then there is complete freedom. When the mind is like wood or stone, there is nothing to
be discriminated." Pai-chang Huai-hai
(百丈懷海 Hyakujõ Ekai, 720-814)
(The Development of Chinese
Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 63)
Speech and Silence
語是謗、寂是誑、語寂向上有路在
"Speech is blasphemy,
silence a lie. Above speech and silence there is a way
out."
I-tuan
(義端) one of
Nan-ch'uan's great disciples (The Golden Age of Zen
250, 322 n.13)
Inexpressible
説不處用無盡 What is inexpressible is inexhaustible in
its use.
A Chinese Zen master (The
Golden Age of Zen 253, 322 n.19)
Independent
寧可永刧受沈淪、不從諸聖求解脱
I would rather sink to the
bottom of the sea for endless eons than seek liberation through all the saints
of the universe. Shih-t'ou (石頭) (The Golden Age of Zen 270, 323 n.57)
Independent
丈夫自有衝天志 The full-grown man aspires to pierce through the heavens:
莫向如夾行處行 Let him not walk in the footsteps of the Buddha!
Ts'ui-yen (翠巖可眞) (The Golden Age of Zen 270, 323 n.59)
Bodhidharma's Definition of Zen
Four Sacred Verses of Bodhidharma (Daruma no Shiseiku 達磨四聖句)
教外別傳 Kyõge betsuden A special transmission outside
the scriptures;
不立文字 Furyû monji No
dependence upon words and letters;
直指人心 Jikishi ninshin Direct
pointing at the soul of man;
見性成佛 Kenshõ jõbutsu Seeing into one's
nature and the attainment of Buddhahood.
Bodhidharma (Essays in Zen Buddhism –
First Series 176)
Accomplishing Beforehand
"When the task is done
beforehand, then it is easy." Zen master
Yuan-tong
(The Tao of Abundance 100)
Begin at the Top
If you want to climb a
mountain, begin at the top. Zen saying
Every Day is a Good Day
日日是好日
"Everyday is a good day." (Nichi nichi
kore kõjitsu.)
Yün-men (Unmon)
Hekiganroku case 6
No Work, No Eating
一日不作、一日不食
"A day
without work, a day without eating."
Ichijitsu nasazareba,
ichijitsu kuwarazu. (一日作さざれば、一日食わらず。)
Pai-chang Huai-hai
(百丈懷海 Hyakujõ Ekai, 720-814)
Living Dead
許多死漢、送一個活漢 What a long procession of
dead bodies follows the wake of a single living person! Chao-chou
Ts'ung-shen (趙州從諗Jõshû Jûshin)
"At the funeral of one of
his monks, as the Abbot joined the procession, he remarked, 'What a long
procession of dead bodies follows the wake of a single living person!' " (The Golden Age of Zen 145, 309 n.47)
Mind is Buddha
Asked "What is buddha?" (如何[是]佛) Ma-tsu
replied "This very mind, this is Buddha." (即心即佛 or 即心是佛. Sokushin sokubutsu.)
Mumonkan case 30 (The Development of
Chinese Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 53)
No Mind No Buddha
Asked "What is buddha?" (如何[是]佛) Ma-tsu
replied "Neither mind nor Buddha." (非心非佛. Hishin, hibutsu.)
Mumonkan case 33 (The Development of
Chinese Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 53)
This Very Mind is Buddha
自心是佛 Jishin
zebutsu. "Your own mind—this is Buddha."
Ma-tsu
(The Development of Chinese
Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 55)
No Mind No Buddha Not a Thing
不是心不是佛不是物 "This is not mind, this
is not Buddha, this is not a thing." (Fuzeshin, fuzebutsu, fuzemotsu.) Nan-chüan (The Development of
Chinese Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 55)
No Clinging
不着不求 "No clinging, no
seeking." (Fujaku, fugu.) Pai-chang (Hyakujõ)
(The Development of Chinese
Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 62)
All Dharmas
are Mind-Created
故三界唯心 "Therefore the Three
Realms are only mind" (Yue ni
sangai yuishin) Ma-tsu Tao-i (The Development of
Chinese Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 54)
法界一相 Ultimate reality has a
unified form. (Fa-chieh i-hsiang./Hokkai
issõ.) Buddha
(Early Ch'an
in China and Tibet 107)
Great Tao
不二大道 "The non-dual Great
Tao." (Funi Daidõ) Chao-chou Ts'ung-shên
(趙州 Jõshû Jûshin) (The Development of
Chinese Zen After the Sixth Patriarch 61)
No Delusive
Thoughts
莫妄想 "Away with
your delusive thoughts!" "Don't be deluded!" (Maku mõzõ!)
Ch'an master Wu-ye (Mugõ, 760-821) (Zen Word, Zen Calligraphy 65)
Whatever the master was asked, he replied "Maku mõzõ!"
Who is This
不識 [I] know not. (Fushiki.) Bodhidharma
No Merit At All
廓然無聖 Vast emptiness,
nothing holy! (Kakunen mushõ.)
Bodhidharma
Dropped
身心脱落 "Body and mind dropped off." (Shen-hsin
t'o-lo./Shinjin datsuraku.) Dõgen
Dõgen's words describing his
enlightenment (This is not a saying)
(Zen Buddhism: A History vol.
2, 107 n.24)
身心脱落 "Body and mind dropped away." (Zen Master Dogen
32)
身心脱落 (Casting off [both] body and mind.)
Hui-neng's Enlightenment and Diamond
Sutra
Fifth Patriarch Hung-jen (弘忍 Gunin or Kõnin, 601-674) signed Hui-neng
to go to his chamber at the third watch in the evening.
"When the two were face
to face in the stillness of the night, the Patriarch expounded the Diamond
Sutra to his disciple. When he came to the
sentence: "Keep your mind alive and free without
abiding in anything or anywhere," Hui-neng was
suddenly and thoroughly enlightened" (The Golden Age of Zen 62)
應無所住而生其心 "Keep your mind alive
and free without abiding in anything or anywhere."
Diamond Sûtra
(Vajracchedikâ [Prajña Paramita] Sûtra) (The Golden Age
of Zen 300 n.6)
"To awaken the mind
without fixing it anywhere" (Essays in Zen Buddhism – Second Series 32)
_______________________________________________________________________________
Note on Sources
1. Zenrin
Kushû 禪林句集 "Ch'an lin
lei chü in twenty fasciculi
compiled in the year 1307. The title means 'Zen
materials (literally, woods) classified and collected'. The
book is now very rare." (Essays in Zen Buddhism –
Second Series 253 n.1)
Also see Watts, The Way of Zen
117 n.4; Dumoulin, Zen Buddhism: A History vol. 2, 47 n.113
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