Zen 96

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by Alexander Goldstein

know not where to head for.

  I have also heard some clever men suggest

  To leave the country that is well governed

  And go to the state where disorder prevails.

  At the door of a physician there are queues

  Of those who are sick, no doubt; so, I wish

  Thru what I’ve heard from them to think out

  Some methods of dealing with such tyrants

  And their extant regimes, if peradventure

  The evils of them may be tackled and cured.

  Alas! The risk is that I will go only to suffer

  In the punishment of myself. The right means

  In such a case will not admit of any admixture.

  With such admixture, the one instrumentation

  Will entail a series of other tools and methods:

  Their multiplication will be embarrassed.

  That sort of embarrassment will make one

  Be extremely anxious. However anxious

  One may be, one will not save oneself.

  The sagely men in the olden days first had

  What they wanted to do in themselves

  And only then they sought the response to it

  In all the others they met on their ways.

  If what they wanted in themselves was not fixed,

  What leisure had they to go and interfere

  With the proceedings of any tyrannous regime

  And unduly ruling! The staple subject of thought.

  05

  Insight

  When utter fools try to recite my poems,

  They do not sense them, just chuckling

  And sneering at them, and nothing else.

  When common folks read my poems,

  They think them over, time and again,

  Admitting, “Thought provoking,” they say.

  When smart guys read my poetic lines,

  They learn them by rote, one by one,

  Smiling broadly. Such guys are those

  Whose insight is so sharp and whose spirit

  Is so keen that once they run across

  The theme which speaks of taking a leap

  Into the whirlpool of hell, in no time

  They are aware that this is all about

  The sagely cultivation of oneself, I swear.

  06

  Virtue's Colour

  "May I know your name, ma'am?"

  I asked the reddish maple which

  Stood just next to me at the height

  Of the Mid-Autumn Festival. . .

  While pouring some more red wine

  Into her glass, I squinted at her

  From the corner of my eye to see

  She turned to be deeply red;--

  I read her complete blushing

  As virtue's colour of a fair maiden.

  07

  Innate Elegance

  There is a jade tree I have encountered

  On the top of the Frozen Mountain --

  It came into the world before all woods

  Were set alone. It exceeds all ancestors

  By twice in age; its knotty roots are curved

  And twisted by ground waters and stones

  Beyond all notions; its trunk and limbs

  Are transmuted by steady frost and winds --

  Everyone laughs at its ugly outside --

  So decayed, withered and worm-eaten,

  And nobody cares of its innate elegance

  That a piece of jade grants us upon engraving.

  When the bark all is done falling away,

  What remains is perfectly simple and clean,

  Like a drop of pine tar timed into an amber

  To become a gem in ten million years.

  08

  Influence

  There is nothing so level

  As the surface of still waters.

  It may serve as an example

  Of a pure serenity.

  All within its circuit

  Is preserved in peace,

  And there comes to it

  No agitation from outside.

  The virtuous efficacy

  Is the perfect cultivation

  Of the harmony of nature.

  Although realization of this

  Is not manifested in a man,

  Unambiguously, all things

  Cannot separate themselves

  From its great influence.

  09

  In the Steel-plant Smoking-room

  A layer upon layer of beautiful sceneries and landscapes;

  The misty racks are locked in retreat on the green slopes.

  Brushed off by the mountain fog, my headband gets wet;

  The early morning dew moistens my straw-made cloak.

  On my feet I wear my wandering far and wide sandals;

  In my hand I hold an old rattan to tread on my pathway.

  Time and again I contemplate the dusty world from afar;

  Here is my wildest dreamland I wander thru leisurely. . .

  Why should I leave it now for a rut of unsettled routine

  Of my second shift in the realm of total overproduction!

  10

  In the Dark as in the Light

  The body once asked its shadow, saying,

  “Listen, dear follower, you are always

  In the shade of my stature! How come

  That recently you were looking down

  And now you are looking up; formerly

  You had your hair tied up and now

  It's dishevelled; you were sitting and now

  You have risen up; some time ago

  You were walking and now you’ve stopped,

  As though struck dumb: How is all this?”

  The shadow retorted without delay, saying,

  “Venerable Body, how come you ask me

  About such trivial things? These matters

  All belong to me, but I have no idea

  How they are done so. I’m like the cocoon

  Of a cicada or the slough of a snake --

  I am like them, and yet not like them.

  With light and the sun I make my look;

  With dark and the night I fade away, vanished.

  Am not I dependent on your substance

  From which I am thrown? Isn’t that

  Your substance itself dependent on

  Something else? When that thing comes,

  We both come with it; when it goes,

  We both go with it. Then that something

  Is under the influence of another substance,

  Also known as 'the universal entity,'

  We both find ourselves coming out

  From the same single source, do you mind!

  Since we both come out from all the same

  Original substance, what cause is there for you

  To question me? You’d better ask yourself

  To know for certain, my dear benefactor.”

  11

  In the Autumn Rain

  In the deep mountains

  I while away a night of rain,

  And above the lofty trees

  A myriad of springs

  Splash out their chilly

  And weighty raindrops

  Straight on my straw hat

  And my cloak. . . Freezing,

  Their steady drumming

  Echoes in my temples,

  Reminding me time

  And again, “Autumn

  Is after you, my friend,

  Her Majesty Autumn

  Is about your neck --

  So be loyal and staunch

  All throughout the phase

  Of her stern reign until

  Better season to come up

  From behind the lofty hills.”

  12

  Second Youth

  Old trees whose leaves

  Are trembling in breeze

  Long for silence and calm.

  Some trees who are still wet

  With the sap beneath their rind,

&nbs
p; And it is so lovely to see, act as if

  They desire to bloom now and again,

  They expose their branches to the wind.

  13

  Implements

  All men have something to be useful;

  In using things, each one has what is fit.

  In using something, if you use it up,

  It'll be just lack, even more, total deficit.

  A round chisel with a square handle

  Or a square pestle with a round mortar --

  How sad! They're produced for no use.

  To use a fine horse to catch a mice

  Is not as good as to use a lame cat!

  14

  Hence the Chaos

  If there were not the views of others,

  I should not have mine;

  If there were not myself with my views,

  Theirs would be uncalled for --

  This is nearly a true statement of the case,

  But nobody knows what it is

  That makes it be so. It might seem

  As if there would be a real Architect

  Concerned in it, but no one finds

  Any trace of his presence in acting.

  That he could act so I believe, but

  Nobody can see his personification.

  He can have affections indeed,

  But he has no appearance and

  What is called 'the architectural aspect

  Of the unfathomable universe';--

  Hence the spontaneous chaos.

  15

  A Trance

  While the breath is blowing,

  All the six tones

  Of the 12-vent flute

  Of old bamboo

  Sound differently.

  But once the breath stops,

  Accordingly, it makes

  All the twelve sounds

  Cease of themselves.

  Both of such things

  Arise from the breath

  And the flute's vents

  Submit themselves.

  Should there be

  Any other elements

  That excite them up

  To the state of falling

  Into a deeper trance? . .

  16

  Heaven's Operation

  Stimulating the myriad kinds and

  Their endlessly multiplied distinctions,

  Who is it that suddenly compels them

  To stop progression of themselves,

  Sealing their self-selecting abilities

  And restraining inherent instincts?

  As is fairly said, 'Destruction is that

  What makes Generation take place.'

  17

  Plum Stone of Mind

  The centre of all centres, core of cores --

  A plum stone is self-enclosed and,

  What's more, growing sour-sweet,

  Is like the unbounded universe

  With its furthest stars and even far

  Beyond them brings up to its joint result,

  Its astringent pulp. Just taste it!

  There is not a thing that is not that,

  And there is not a thing that is not this.

  However, if we look at something

  From this point of overconfidence,

  We do not see it; only if we look at it

  From the point of the unknown

  We do discover it to make it be known.

  Therefore, that a view comes from this,

  And this view is a result of that,

  Which is the theory that that view and this

  Are the opposite views indeed

  Which produce each other alternately.

  They both find their point of conformity

  Which is known as the pivot of all reasons.

  As soon as we have found this pivot

  We stand in the core of the ring of thoughts

  Where we can respond without end

  To the constantly changing circumferences.

  We can respond without end to those

  Affirming and to those denying views.

  Therefore it is said that there's nothing

  Like the proper place we take before,

  Making our own course; and this place

  Is the core of Mind -- the best point

  Of departure for every single startup!

  The wise man is he who views things

  In the light of his own inherent abilities

  And intuitive nature, forming his judgment

  Of what he sees before his eyes. Now

  You feel that Emptiness clings to you. . .

  Your pivot plum stone, so vastly swollen,

  Reaches into the endless way, and there

  The rich and thick fluids rise and flow,

  Illuminating your calm and peacefulness

  Within the measure of immeasurable space.

  18

  Karma Cycling

  A road is formed by constant treading

  On the earth; a thing is called by its name

  Thru a constant application of its name to it.

  How come that it is so? It's so because it is so,

  And that's it. Everything has its inherent traits

  And its proper capability--there is not a thing

  Which has not all these; hence equilibrium

  Of forces and the unity of opposites.

  Every separation leads to completion;

  From completion ensued dissolution.

  But things, without regard to completion

  And the follow-up dissolution, may again

  Be comprehended in their awaited unity --

  There is only the far reaching in thought

  Who knows how to comprehend things

  In their appropriate unanimity. Being so,

  Let us give up our boundless devotion

  To our own viewpoints and finally

  Occupy ourselves with common sense

  Of what is known as the naturalness.

  Yes, the common sense is grounded

  On the use of things; the study of that use

  Leads to the comprehensive judgement,

  And that judgement secures success

  Of an inquiry we make about ourselves.

  That success gained, we are near to the end

  Of our search and there, as a matter of fact,

  We come to a stop. When we stop and yet

  We do not know how it is so, we have got

  What we call 'progression of the course.'

  This occurs so, if we take a stalk of grain

  And a huge boulder to compare them both

  Or an ugly person and a beauty -- things rare

  And things insecure, things crafty and

  Things strange -- they all may, in the light

  Of the course we all have pursued, be reduced

  To the same category of our opinions of them,

  Now positive and negative then and conversely.

  When we toil our spirit and intellect

  Obstinately determined to establish

  Our solid viewpoint, and do not know

  The agreement which underlies it,

  As well as the viewpoints of others,

  We have what we had before,

  And the same we will have afterwards,

  Leaving without any progression

  And any qualitative advancing,

  And that is the very essence of cycling

  We all are trying to get the way out.

  19

  Agents of Sacredness

  The yarrow stalks,

  The plant of divination,

  Together with some other

  Sacred things, such as

  White jade and green jadeite,

  Were never perceived

  As simply as the stove plants

  Or pebbles on the beach.

  They always were the objects

  Of worship because they were

  Oracular mediator and because

  They showed
something

  That was concealed behind the veil

  Of unknown and therefore scary.

  They always were the sacred things

  For our ancestors in the past and

  For most of us today whose good faith

  Is cherished and concentrated

  From day to day, year after year,

  Throughout the entire lifetime.

  20

  Harmonization of 6:9

  Harmonising some conflicting opinions

  Is the invisible operation of Heaven.

  How does it work? There is affirmation

  Represented by the odd number nine,

  And denial, the number six, of anything;

  And there is assertion of an opinion

  And its rejection. If the affirmation,

  Being in accord with the real situation,

  Is certainly different from the denial of it--

  There can be no disputation about that.

  If assertion of an opinion is to be correct,

  It is certainly different from its rejection--

  Neither can there be any dispute about it.

  When men are defeated in argumentation,

  Their words come from their gullets as if

  They were vomiting in choked desolation;

  How insignificantly small are their bodily

  Or earthly gesticulations by which they all

  Belong to other human beings of the sort!

  And how great they are in their perfection

  About heavenly and spiritual specification!

  So, let's forget with the lapse of time of all

  Argumentations; let's forget of all conflicts

  Of oppositions; let's make our appellations

  Go to unification and take up there our firm

  Position. If some of us, proceeding this way,

  Could be said to have succeeded, it means

  That we all achieve success; if some cannot

  Be pronounced good, none of human beings

  Can succeed either. It's what 'being-in-body'

  Makes with us as an integral harmonization

  Placed within the simplest correlation of 6:9.

  21

  Light of Changes

  The scintillations of light

  Which flash out from the midst

  Of confusion and disarray

  Are certainly valued

  By all sagely minded people.

  Not to insist on one's own view

  And to take one's disposition

  On the ordinary views

  Is what is known as exploiting

  The proper light of changes.

  22

  Delimitations

  All truly valued things at first

  Meet no responsive recognition;

  It's just because they are so great

  That they seem to be indiscernible.

  One's speech from the outset

  Has no well-established presentation;

  It's just because of that

  There come delimitations

  Of different viewpoints and opinions.

  As for all those delimitations,

  They run to the left and to the right,

  They are relations and obligations,

  Classifications and distinctions,

  Emulations and contentions

  To be termed 'the eight boundaries.'

  The great course does not admit of being praised;

  The great argument does not require utterance;

  The great love is not officiously lovable;

  The great impartiality does not vaunt its humility;

  The great courage is not seen in stubborn bravery.

  Truly, the course that is shown off is not the course;

  Words that are argumentative do not reach the point;

  Love that is benevolently exercised

  Does not accomplish its object;

  Impartiality that vaunts its purity is not genuine;

  Courage that is most stubborn is ineffectual.

  These five things seem to be round and trundled,

  But just because of that they tend to be square

  And fixed. Therefore, the knowledge that stops

  At what it does not know is the great knowledge.

  23

  Amenity of Life

  How do we know that the love of life

  Is simply not a delusion?

  How do we know that the dislike of death

  Is not like a young man's losing his way,

  Not knowing that he is really going home?

  How do we know that the dead do not repent

  Of their former craving for surviving?

  Allow me to try and explain these things myself.

  A younger daughter of my eastern neighbour,

  When her rich but aged promised husband

  First sought her in marriage, wept till the tears

  Wetted all the front of her simple clothing.

  But when she came to the place of her spouse

  And shared with him his luxurious couch and ate

  All those delicious victuals, then she regretted

  That she had so bitterly wept before her wedding.

  24

  The Vital Tree

  Among all ancient images and figures

  The World Ladder or the Vital Tree

  Is one of the most widely known symbols

  In the old-age mythology. In many cultures

  It is pictured as an agent of the universe,

  As an abode of the spirits and gods,

  As a mediator of prophecy and wisdom,

  As a guide of metamorphoses and changes

  When the tree transforms into the clear

  And meaningful existence, bearing a sign

  Of all divine -- the source of fertility

  As a result of the Heaven-and-Earth's unity.

  25

  Is Life a Dream?

  Those who dream of the pleasures of drinking

  May in the morning wail and weep;

  Those who dream of wailing and weeping

  May in the morning be going out

  To mark a pleasant occasion indeed.

  When they are dreaming they do not know

  It is a dream; in their dreams they may

  Even have tried to interpret it; but when

  They awake they know that it is just a dream.

  And there is the great awaking after which

  We shall know that this life is a great dream.

  All the while, the stupid think they are awake

  And with nice discrimination stubbornly insist

  On their knowing, now playing a part of kings,

  And now a part of menservants. Meanwhile,

  We all are dreaming, and he who tries to say

  That we are dreaming is dreaming himself.

  These words seem very strange even to me,

  But if, let's say, in another ten thousand years,

  We meet

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