The Kanshi Poems of Taigu Ryōkan Translated by Mei Hui Liu Huang & Larry Smith
On this cold night in my hut,
I worship Buddha with incense sticks.
Outside is a bamboo forest
Lying on my bed I open some books
The rising moon shins through my window.
Insects sing far and near my cottage.
How deep Zen is now.
I read it without words.
*******
If you think illusions, the world becomes an illusion.
If you think truth, the world becomes true.
If life is true, then there is no illusion.
If life is an illusion, then there is no truth.
Oh, followers of Buddha,
seeking the way of truth,
seek first the illusion and truth
in your own mind and heart.
*******
The Master’s finger points to the moon,
yet the finger is blind until the moon appears.
What connection has moon and finger?
Are they separate objects or bound?
This is a question for beginners wrapped in seas of ignorance.
Yet beyond such symbols we know there is no finger; there is no moon.
*******
Hōsai and Ryōkan happily talked poetry, philosophy, and writing until evening, at which point Ryokan rose to fetch them some sake from town. Again Hōsai waited several hours, then grew concerned and began to walk toward the village.
When he found his host a hundred yards away, sitting under a pine tree, he exclaimed, “Ryōkan! Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for hours and was afraid something had happened to you.”
Ryōkan looked up. “Hōsai, you have just come in time. Look, isn’t the moon splendid tonight?”
When Hōsai asked about the sake, Ryōkan replied, “Oh, yes, the sake. I forgot all about it,” and headed off to town.
*pe langa poemele-koan, o bucata din introducere: nu mi s-a intamplat niciodata sa ma distraga Luna, incat sa uit de mine si de realitate, – iar la momentul citirii, am descoparit ca tanjesc…
Impresie. Albastru inefabil... 