No More Learning

They don’t know how to ponder this truth: That they’re no di erent from the beasts. Now girls all turn to white-haired grannies,
20 Old and mean, like mountain ghouls.
If you act with a dog’s mind from the start, You won’t reach the place of liberation.
1 The region of Shu (modern Sichuan) was famous in Tang times for the arti cial ower-ornaments it produced.
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186
寒山詩
HS 171
一自遯寒山，
養命餐山果。
平生何所憂，
4 此世隨緣過。 日月如逝川， 光陰石中火。 任你天地移，
8 我暢巖中坐。 HS 172
我見世間人，
茫茫走路塵。
不知此中事，
4 將何為去津。 榮華能幾日， 眷屬片時親。 縱有千斤金，
8 不如林下貧。
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Hanshan’s Poems 187
HS 171
Since I’ve hidden away at Cold Mountain,
I’ve been eating mountain fruit, nourishing my life. What do I have to worry about in this existence?
4 I pass through this world following my karma. Days and months pass like a departing stream, Time is just a ash from a int stone.
You may change along with Heaven and Earth;
8 But I’ll delight in sitting here on my cli .
HS 172
I see the people of this world:
At a loss, they hurry through the dust on the road. They don’t know the Central Matter,1
4 So how can they make a future path?
How many days can glory last?
Dear ones are close to you but a short time. Even if you had a thousand pounds of gold,
8 It’s better to live impoverished in the woods.
1 The Buddhist Dharma—here, the phrase is synonymous with 箇中意 in HS 105.
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188
寒山詩
HS 173
自聞梁朝日，
四依諸賢士。
寶志萬迴師，
4 四仙傅大士。 顯揚一代教， 任持如來使。 造建僧伽藍，
8 信心歸佛理。 雖乃得如斯， 有為多患累。 與道殊懸遠，
12 折東補西爾。 不達無為功， 損多益少利。 有聲而無形，
16 至今何處去。
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Hanshan’s Poems 189
HS 173
I myself have heard of the days of the Liang, The Four Steadfasts, all worthy gentlemen;1 Baozhi, teacher Wanhui,2
4 The Four Transcendents, Great Layman Fu. 3
They made manifest the Faith for an entire age; They took up the task as the Tathāgata’s emissaries, Establishing and constructing monasteries.
8 Their minds of faith submitted to the Buddha’s laws. But even though they accomplished such things, Actions of merit bring many worrisome burdens. They drifted further apart from the Way,
12 Merely took from the east to ll in for the west. 4
They didn’t comprehend the merit of non-action,
The bene t of losing much and gaining little. 5
Though they made their names, they themselves have vanished,
16 And where have they all gone now?
1 Commentators are not agreed on the meaning of si yi here, which could either mean “four groups that may be relied on” or “four kinds of reliance. ”
2 Baozhi (418–514) was a famous wonder-working monk. Wanhui was an early Tang monk; the poem seems to have confused his era here.
3 The text’s si xian 四仙 (Four Transcendents) is a puzzle. Usually “transcendents” is a Daoist term, so it is unclear whether the poet is con ating Daoist and Buddhist teachings here (not impossible in the Tang era), or whether this is an error for something else. Various lists of Daoist adepts have been suggested. Xiang Chu makes a reasonable if unprovable speculation that the text has miscopied Sizhou 泗州, another name for the eminent Liang-era mong Sengqie 僧伽. I have chosen to leave the text as is. Great Layman Fu (497–569) became a prominent teacher and propagator of the faith during the Liang era.
4 A proverb meaning that one makes no forward gains, but merely distributes what is already there for appearance’s sake.
5 Or, “so their loss was great, with increasingly little pro t. ” How one reads the line depends on whether the poet is emphasizing the seeming paradox of non-action.
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190
寒山詩
HS 174
吁嗟貧復病，
為人絕友親。
甕裏長無飯，
4 甑中屢生塵。 蓬庵不免雨， 漏榻劣容身。 莫怪今憔悴，
8 多愁定損人。 HS 175
養女畏太多，
已生須訓誘。
捺頭遣小心，
4 鞭背令緘口。 未解秉機杼， 那堪事箕箒。 張婆語驢駒，
8 汝大不如母。
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Hanshan’s Poems 191
HS 174
Alas! To be poor and sick as well,
And cut o from contact with friend or kin. A storage jar often empty of rice
4 And a steamer that tends to collect dust.
An overgrown hut that doesn’t keep out the rain, A broken-down couch with no room for one. Don’t wonder that I’ve grown haggard now:
8 Too many worries will wear you down.
HS 175
We fear having too many daughters;
But once one is born, we must train her carefully. Force her head down and compel her to be careful,
4 Beat her on the back to make her shut her mouth.
If she never understands how to use loom and shuttle, How can she serve with dustpan and broom? 1
As Granny Zhang said to her donkey’s foals,
8 “You’re not as big as your mother! ”2
1 “Serve with dustpan and broom” is a standard locution for getting married. 2 I. e. , every generation is worse than the one before it.
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192
寒山詩
HS 176
秉志不可卷，
須知我匪席。
浪造山林中，
4 獨臥盤陀石。 辯士來勸余， 速令受金璧。 鑿牆植蓬蒿，
8 若此非有益。 HS 177
以我棲遲處，
幽深難可論。
無風蘿自動，
4 不霧竹長昏。 澗水緣誰咽， 山雲忽自屯。 午時庵內坐，
8 始覺日頭暾。
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Hanshan’s Poems 193
HS 176
I hold to my will, it cannot be rolled up; You must understand—I am not a mat. 1 Freely I go o to the mountain wood,
4 Where I lie alone on a great at rock.
Expert debaters come to persuade me,
To make me accept gold and jade right away. 2 If you bore through the wall to plant brambles,
8 There’s no bene t to be found in that!
HS 177
This place in which I rest and wander:
Hard to describe how secluded and deep.
Vines rustle on their own when there’s no wind,
4 And bamboo thickets are dark, even when there’s no fog. For whom does this stream water gurgle?
The mountain clouds will swiftly pile up.
I stay seated in my hut until noon,
8 Only then aware of the sunlight’s growing warmth.
1 An allusion to from the Shijing, #26 (Bo zhou): “My mind is not a mat, / it cannot be rolled up. ”
2 Gifts from the ruler who wishes to lure him from his reclusion and to give him o cial o ce.
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194
寒山詩
HS 178
憶昔遇逢處，
人間逐勝遊。
樂山登萬仞，
4 愛水泛千舟。 送客琵琶谷， 攜琴鸚鵡洲。 焉知松樹下，
8 抱膝冷颼颼。 HS 179
報汝修道者，
進求虛勞神。
人有精靈物，
4 無字復無文。 呼時歷歷應， 隱處不居存。 叮嚀善保護，
8 勿令有點痕。
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Hanshan’s Poems 195
HS 178
I recall all my past encounters,
When I’d go on splendid travels in the world of men.
I delighted in hills—climbed up ten thousand fathoms;
4 I loved the waters— oated in a thousand boats.
I saw o my guests at Lute Valley,1
Walked with zither under my arm on Parrot Island. 2 How could I have known, here under this pine tree,
8 I’d sit hugging my knees, chilled by the gale?
HS 179
I tell all of you who practice the Way: Vain to labor your spirit in striving. People have a pure essence within,
4 Without a name, without a sign. Call it and it clearly answers,
Yet has no hidden place to dwell. Be careful to guard it always—
8 Don’t let it have a spot or scratch.
1 Lute Valley is still unidenti ed. It may simply be an invention for the purposes of parallelism.
2 A scenic islet in the Yangtze near Wuhan, frequently visited by travelers.
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196
寒山詩
HS 180
去年春鳥鳴，
此時思弟兄。
今年秋菊爛，
4 此時思發生。 淥水千場咽， 黃雲四面平。 哀哉百年內，
8 腸斷憶咸京。 HS 181
多少天台人，
不識寒山子。
莫知真意度，
喚作閑言語。
HS 182
一住寒山萬事休，
更無雜念挂心頭。
閑書石壁題詩句，
任運還同不繫舟。
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Hanshan’s Poems 197
HS 180
Last year, when the spring birds sang—
That’s when I longed for my brothers.
This year, when the fall chrysanthemums bloomed—
4 That’s when I longed for burgeoning spring. Clear waters gurgle in a thousand places, And brown clouds ll the entire sky. Alas—within this life of mine
8 I think with broken heart of Xianyang. 1
HS 181
So many people at Tiantai
Do not recognize Master Cold Mountain. No one knows his true meaning,
Calling it merely idle speech.
HS 182
As soon as I moved to Cold Mountain, all the a airs of the world ceased,
And no more were there distracting thoughts to hang upon the mind. Idly I write on stony cli s, inscribing my lines of verse;
Turning myself over to fate just like an unmoored boat. 2
1 This poem is one of the most enigmatic in the collection. Some commentators point to the “brown clouds” in line six, which occurs in Tang poetry as an image of warfare on the frontiers; combining this with the nal reference to Xianyang, they interpret it as the poet’s lament over the fall of the capital area during the An Lushan 安祿山 rebellion in 756, reading the longing for spring in line four as a longing for the ourishing days of the Tang. However, granted the general lack of historical speci city in the collection overall, this is still highly speculative.
2 This and HS 271 are the only two poems that refer to the poet writing poems on natural surfaces.
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198
寒山詩
HS 183
可惜百年屋，
左倒右復傾。
牆壁分散盡，
4 木植亂差橫。 甎瓦片片落， 朽爛不堪停。 狂風吹驀塌，
8 再豎卒難成。 HS 184
精神殊爽爽，
形貌極堂堂。
能射穿七札，
4 讀書覽五行。 經眠虎頭枕， 昔坐象牙牀。 若無阿堵物，
8 不啻冷如霜。
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Hanshan’s Poems 199
HS 183
What a pity, this hundred-year old house;1 The left side collapsed, the right side aslant. The walls have all melted away,
4 And the wooden supports stick out across.
Roof tiles have fallen o one by one;
No one can halt its rotting away.
If a gust of wind were to blow, it would collapse at once;
8 Then it would be impossible to build it up again.
HS 184
Your spirit may be very clear and quick,
Your body quite tall and imposing.
You can shoot arrows through seven layers of armor,
4 Or read books ve lines at a time.
You may have slept on a tiger-head pillow, Or always sat on an ivory couch.
But if you didn’t have “that thing,”2
8 You’d only be as desolate as frost.
1 The term “hundred years” here informs the reader that the house is an allegory for human life.
2 E du wu (“that thing”) is a euphemism for money; rst mentioned in an anecdote from the Shishuo xinyu, in which the aristocrat Wang Yifu used the term because he would not pollute his mouth with the word for money.
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200
寒山詩
HS 185
笑我田舍兒，
頭頰底縶澀。
巾子未曾高，
4 腰帶長時急。 非是不及時， 無錢趂不及。 一日有錢財，
8 浮圖頂上立。 HS 186
買肉血 ，
買魚跳鱍鱍。
君身招罪累，
4 妻子成快活。 纔死渠便嫁， 他人誰敢遏。 一朝如破牀，
8 兩箇當頭脫。
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Hanshan’s Poems 201
HS 185
They laugh at me since I’m a hick:
My looks are pretty crude,
And my head cloth is never tall enough,
4 And I always pull my belt too tight.
It’s not that I’m not caught up with the times— I’m just too broke to follow them.
When one day I’ve got the money,
8 I’ll wear a pagoda on my head.
HS 186
Buy meat with the blood still trickling,
Buy sh while they still leap about.
You are summoning the burden of sin on yourself,
4 Just to make wife and children happy. When you nally die she’ll marry again, And no one else dare prevent it.
One day, you two will be like a broken bed,
8 Pulled apart from head to foot. 1
1 Though the last image may simply refer to the separation of husband from wife, it is not impossible that it may refer to the punishments both wife and husband will receive in Hell—since Hell punishments are mentioned almost inevitably in the HS and SD poems as the result of meat-eating. Compare HS 36, 95, 159a, 233; and SD 2, 4, 5, 12, and 39.
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202
寒山詩
HS 187
客難寒山子，
君詩無道理。
吾觀乎古人，
4 貧賤不為恥。 應之笑此言， 談何疏闊矣。 願君似今日，
8 錢是急事爾。 HS 188
從生不往來，
至死無仁義。
言既有枝葉，
4 心懷便險詖。 若其開小道， 緣此生大偽。 詐說造雲梯，
8 削之成棘刺。
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Hanshan’s Poems 203
HS 187
A guest criticized Master Cold Mountain: “Your poems make no sense. ”
“But I’ve observed the Ancients:
4 With them, poverty and humble station were not shameful. ” He replied to this: “I laugh at your words!
How wide of the mark your conversation is!
I wish you would act as the moderns do:
8 Money is the important thing. ”
HS 188
From birth, no traveling about;
Until death, no “kindness” or “justice. ”1
Once your words shoot o branches and leaves,
4 Then the heart harbors deviousness.
If you open access to the petty ways,
Then they will give rise to great fraud.
Falsely persuade someone to build a scaling ladder,
8 Then whittle it away until it turns to splinters.
1 Both of these lines have their roots in sentiments expressed in early Daoist texts: people who are content do not travel about; and the truly contented country has no need for the Confucian virtues of kindness (ren) or justice ( yi).
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204
寒山詩
HS 189
一缾鑄金成，
一缾埏泥出。
二缾任君看，
4 那箇缾牢實。 欲知缾有二， 須知業非一。 將此驗生因，
8 修行在今日。 HS 190
摧殘荒草廬，
其中煙火蔚。
借問群小兒，
4 生來凡幾日。 門外有三車， 迎之不肯出。 飽食腹膨脝，
8 箇是癡頑物。
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Hanshan’s Poems 205
HS 189
One vessel is cast from gold, Another is produced from clay. I give you both to look at now:
4 Which one is more authentic?
If you wish to know that there are two di erent vessels, You must know that their originary acts di ered. 1
Use this to investigate the Cause of our birth;
8 Practice is something you should cultivate now.
HS 190
Shattered is the lodge in the eld of weeds; Within, the smoke and re have spread.
I ask all the small children within:
4 “Just how long has it been since you were born? There are three carts outside the gate
To welcome you, but you won’t come out! You’re eating until your bellies swell:
8 What a bunch of fools you are! ”2
1 “Originary acts” is my translation for ye, the Buddhist term for actions that have karmic consequences. The poet is suggesting that the reason that people di er is because of their di erent karmic inheritances, just as vessels are made of di erent material.
2 This poem (as well as HS 255) is based on the famous “burning house” parable in the Lotus Sutra.
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206
寒山詩
HS 191
有身與無身，
是我復非我。
如此審思量，
4 遷延倚巖坐。 足間青草生， 頂上紅塵墮。 已見俗中人，
8 靈牀施酒果。 HS 192
昨見河邊樹，
摧殘不可論。
二三餘幹在，
4 千萬斧刀痕。 霜凋萎疏葉， 波衝枯朽根。 生處當如此，
8 何用怨乾坤。
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Hanshan’s Poems 207
HS 191
“There is a body and there is not a body; There is a Self and there is not a Self. ”
I deeply pondered in this way,
4 Lingering as I sat, leaning against a cli .
Green grass grew between my feet,
And red dust settled on top of my head.
You can already see people from the customary world
8 O ering wine and fruit at my spirit altar. 1
HS 192
Yesterday I saw a tree by the river, All shattered beyond description. Two or three of its trunks remained,
4 With a million scars of axe and blade.
Frost had blighted its sparse and drooping leaves, While currents pummeled its withered roots. Our sphere of life is just like that;
8 Pointless to resent Heaven and Earth.
1 The speaker has remained so motionless in mediation the local populace assumes either he is dead or that he is the statue of a divinity.
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208
寒山詩
HS 193
余見僧繇性希奇，
巧妙間生梁朝時。
道子飄然為殊特，
4 二公善繪手毫揮。 逞畫圖真意氣異， 龍行鬼走神巍巍。 饒邈虛空寫塵跡，
8 無因畫得志公師。 HS 194
久住寒山凡幾秋，
獨吟歌曲絕無憂。
蓬扉不掩常幽寂，
4 泉涌甘漿長自流。 石室地鑪砂鼎沸， 松黃柏茗乳香甌。 飢餐一粒伽陀藥，
8 心地調和倚石頭。
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Hanshan’s Poems 209
HS 193
I’ve seen Sengyou, by nature rare and strange;1
Clever and marvelous, he lived his days in the time of the Liang court. Daozi was light and free, truly exceptional;2
4 These two masters were good at painting, their hands wielded well the brush.
Flaunting their art, sketching the true, the force of their thoughts was distinctive:
Dragons moved forth and ghosts rushed out, their gods were awe- inspiring.
Granted they could draw illusions and sketch their dusty traces; 8 Yet they had no skill in capturing Master Baozhi. 3
HS 194
Long I’ve lived at Cold Mountain—for several autumns now. I hum a song to myself; I’ve got absolutely no worries.
I do not shut my rustic door, yet it’s always secluded and still;
4 The stream bubbles up with sweet nectar, always owing on its own. In stone chambers, in earthen furnace my smelting cauldron seethes; Pine Yellow and cypress brew, and pots of fragrant tea.
When hungry I eat a single grain of the agada drug;
8 I adjust the ground of my mind as I lean against a stone. 4
1 Zhang Sengyou ( . 490–540), a famous painter of religious subjects in the sixth century.
2 Wu Daozi (b. 680), one of the most famous painters of the Tang era.
3 For Baozhi, see HS 173. A Chan legend describes how the emperor once commanded Zhang Sengyou to paint Baozhi. Baozhi then slashed his own face with his nger,
revealing a twelve-faced Guanyin. Sengyou could not complete his task.
4 There are a number of references to drugs and potions here usually associated with Daoist practices. “Pine Yellow” refers to a brew made from pine tree pollen. Both that and tea made from cypress leaves were said to have positive medicinal e ects. “Fragrant tea” here is literally “milk fragrance,” a term used to refer to the fragrance from freshly brewed tea that comes from the cloudy froth on top of the infusion; in the Tang era, tea was still largely valued for its medicinal properties and was not a common beverage. “Agada” is a medicine mentioned in sutras, also used as a metaphor for helpful remedies (including spiritual ones). Though the import of the lines evokes Daoist longevity practices, the images themselves combine alchemy
with evocations of reclusion and Buddhism.
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210
寒山詩
HS 195
丹丘迥聳與雲齊，
空裡五峰遙望低。
雁塔高排出青嶂，
4 禪林古殿入虹蜺。 風搖松葉赤城秀， 霧吐中巖仙路迷。 碧落千山萬仞現，
8 藤蘿相接次連谿。 HS 196
千生萬死凡幾生，
生死來去轉迷盲。
不識心中無價寶，
猶似盲驢信腳行。
HS 197
老病殘年百有餘，
面黃頭白好山居。
布裘擁質隨緣過，
4 豈羨人間巧樣模。
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Hanshan’s Poems 211
HS 195
Cinnabar Hill thrusts far above, level with the clouds;1
The Five Peaks in the middle of the sky seem low when seen from afar. 2 Goose pagodas, loftily arrayed, emerge from the green cli s;3
4 Old buildings in the meditation forest merge into a rainbow. 4
Wind shakes the pine tree needles, and Redwall is magni cent;5
Mist comes out of Mid-Cli , concealing the Transcendents’ path. 6
A thousand hills in the blue empyrean display their myriad-fathomed
height;
8 And rattan vines join together in the midst of connected vales.
HS 196
A thousand lives, ten thousand deaths—how many lives in all?
Life and death shall come and go, and we grow more blind and lost. We do not recognize the priceless jewel hidden within our minds; And we are like a sightless ass whose legs carry him where they will.
HS 197
Old and sick, in waning years, with so many lingering attachments; Features sallow, hair all white, I prefer to live in the hills.
A hempen robe enwraps my substance as I follow my karma;
4 How should I envy the human realm with all its clever types?
1 Cinnabar Hill was a poetic name for Tiantai common in Daoist circles.
2 The Five Peaks are ve mountains in the Tiantai range near the Guoqing Temple. 3 “Goose pagoda” ( yan ta) is an elegant term for a Buddhist monastery pagoda.
4 “Meditation wood” (chan lin) is an elegant term for a monastery; the assembly of
practicing monks is the monastery’s “forest. ”
5 Redwall is another prominent peak in the Tiantai range.
6 Mid-cli Temple (zhongyan si) was one of the monasteries in the Tiantai complex.
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212
寒山詩
心神用盡為名利，
百種貪婪進己軀。
浮生幻化如燈燼，
8 塚內埋身是有無。 HS 198
世間何事最堪嗟，
盡是三途造罪楂。
不學白雲巖下客，
4 一條寒衲是生涯。 秋到任他林落葉， 春來從你樹開花。 三界橫眠閑無事，
8 明月清風是我家。 HS 199
昔年曾到大海遊，
為采摩尼誓懇求。
直到龍宮深密處，
4 金關鎖斷主神愁。
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Hanshan’s Poems 213
They exhaust their mind and spirit for the sake of fame and pro t; With a hundred kinds of covetousness they advance themselves. Their illusory oating life is like embers in a lamp;
8 And that body buried in the tomb—does it even exist or not?
HS 198
In this world, what a air is most worthy of our sighs?
It’s entirely those sinning fools on the Three Evil Paths.
They won’t imitate the man on the cli among white clouds—
4 Whose single humble monastic robe is the sum of all he owns. Autumn arrives: let the woods drop their leaves as they will;
Spring comes: let the trees blossom if they wish.
I rest where I please in the Three Realms, idle, with nothing to do. 1
8 The bright moonlight and the clear breeze: these are my home.
HS 199
In years gone by, I once went traveling by the great sea;
It was to collect the man. i gem for which I had sworn to search. 2
I went straightaway to the dragon’s palace in a hidden secluded place;
4 I broke open its golden locks—the presiding gods were worried.
1 The three realms ( jing ; dhātu) constitute samsara: the realm of form, the realm of desire, and the realm of formlessness. They are often used as a poetic substitution for samsara itself.
2 The man. i gem is used in sutras as a metaphor for something particularly precious; often (as here) as a symbol for the Buddha Nature within everyone.
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214
寒山詩
龍王守護安耳裏，
劍客星揮無處搜。
賈客却歸門內去，
8 明珠元在我心頭。 HS 200
眾星羅列夜明深，
巖點孤燈月未沈。
圓滿光華不磨瑩，
挂在青天是我心。
HS 201
千年石上古人蹤，
萬丈巖前一點空。
明月照時常皎潔，
不勞尋討問西東。
HS 202
寒山頂上月輪孤，
照見晴空一物無。
可貴天然無價寶，
埋在五陰溺身軀。
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Hanshan’s Poems 215
The dragon king guarded the gem, placed it inside his ear;
His swordsmen ashed their blades like stars, there was no place I could
look.
This merchant then went home again, and I went inside my gate;
8 The bright pearl all along was contained within my mind.
HS 200
All the stars form their ranks; the night, radiant, grows late; A spot on the cli —a single lamp—the moon has yet to set. Complete and perfect radiance, beyond all polishing; Hanging in the black night sky—that is my Mind.
HS 201
On rocks traversed for a thousand years, the traces of the Ancients; Before a cli a myriad fathoms high, a single spot of void.
When the bright moon shines, it is always radiant and clear—
No need to take the trouble and ask which way to go.
HS 202
On the heights of Cold Mountain the moon’s disc hangs alone; It illuminates the clear void; not a single thing exists.
The precious, heaven-innate invaluable jewel
Is buried in the ve skandhas, drowned within the Self. 1
1 The skandhas (“bundles”) are the ve psycho-physical constituents that construct the false consciousness of a Self.
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216
寒山詩
HS 203
我向前谿照碧流，
或向巖邊坐磐石。
心似孤雲無所依，
悠悠世事何須覓。
HS 204
我家本住在寒山，
石巖棲息離煩緣。
泯時萬象無痕跡，
4 舒處周流遍大千。 光影騰輝照心地， 無有一法當現前。 方知摩尼一顆珠，
8 解用無方處處圓。 HS 205
世人何事可吁嗟，
苦樂交煎勿底涯。
生死往來多少劫，
4 東西南北是誰家。
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Hanshan’s Poems 217
HS 203
Sometimes I go to the stream and see my re ection in its deep-blue current;
Sometimes I go to the side of the cli and sit on a slab of stone. My mind is like a solitary cloud that relies on nothing;
Indi erent to the a airs of this world—for what else should I seek?
HS 204
My original home is here at Cold Mountain;
I perch at rest on stony cli s, away from troublesome ties.
When they are swept away, the myriad phenomena leave no trace
behind;
4 Then when they manifest, they ow everywhere, covering a billion
worlds.
Light and shadow go rushing forth, re ected on the mind; Yet not a single dharma manifests itself before me. 1
Now I know of the man. i gem, that one single pearl:
8 There is not one method in using it; it is perfect in every way. 2
HS 205
What matter among the people of the world is worthy of lament?
Bitterness and joy will burn together and never have an end. Birth and death, coming and going, for so many kalpas;
4 East and West and South and North—for whom is this a home?
1 This is the meaning of “dharma” ( fa) as an individual phenomenon within samsara. 2 For the man. i gem, see HS 199. There are two signi cant puns here. Wufang (“no method,” “no predetermined method”) can also mean “not square. ” Yuan can mean
“round” but also “perfect. ”
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218
寒山詩
張王李趙權時姓，
六道三途事似麻。
只為主人不了絕，
8 遂招遷謝逐迷邪。 HS 206
余家本住在天台，
雲路煙深絕客來。
千仞巖巒深可遯，
4 萬重谿澗石樓臺。 樺巾木屐沿流步， 布裘藜杖繞山迴。 自覺浮生幻化事，
8 逍遙快樂實善哉。 HS 207
憐底眾生病，
餐嘗略不猒。
蒸豚搵蒜醬，
4 炙鴨點椒鹽。
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Hanshan’s Poems 219
Zhang and Wang and Li and Zhao—merely provisional names;1 In the Six Courses and Three Evil Paths, events are as hemp in the
eld. 2
This is all because the one in charge does not know how to end it:
8 He summons cycles of change and fading, pursuing delusion and perversity.
HS 206
My original home is here in the Tiantai Mountains;
Mist is thick on the road through the clouds, preventing wanderers
from coming.
Cli s and hills a thousand fathoms high are dense, providing refuge;
4 And a myriad bends of the ravine stream contain stone halls and terraces.
With head cloth of birch bark and wooden clogs I stroll, following the current;
With hempen robe and goosefoot sta I circle about the hills.
I’ve become aware of the illusory things of this oating life;
8 And the pleasures of free and easy wandering are truly wonderful!
HS 207
A pity, this sickness in sentient beings: In eating, nearly insatiate.
Steamed piglet soaked in garlic sauce,
4 Roast duck with salted peppers,
1 These are four of the most common surnames. The poem is saying that our name in any incarnation is merely a provisional and impermanent identity.
2 “As hemp in a eld” is a common metaphor to describe something as beyond counting.
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220
寒山詩
去骨鮮魚膾，
兼皮熟肉臉。
不知他命苦，
8 只取自家甜。 HS 208
讀書豈免死，
讀書豈免貧。
何以好識字，
4 識字勝他人。 丈夫不識字， 無處可安身。 黃連搵蒜醬，
8 忘計是苦辛。 HS 209
我見瞞人漢，
如籃盛水走。
一氣將歸家，
4 籃裏何曾有。
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Hanshan’s Poems 221
Fresh minced sh, their bones removed,
Broth of meat simmered with its skin. 1
They don’t know the su ering of other living things,
8 Only choose the sweetness for themselves.
HS 208
Reading books won’t help you escape death; Reading books won’t help you escape poverty. So why should you want to be literate?
4 Being literate makes you better than others. If a full-grown man is illiterate,
There is no place where he can nd rest. Like goldthread soaked in garlic sauce,
8 His disordered plans are bitter indeed! 2
HS 209
I’ve seen the guys who cheat others—
They’re like people running with a basketful of water. In all one rush they hurry home,
4 To nd there’s nothing left in their basket.
1 The precise contents of these dishes are somewhat open to debate. I take the suggestion that lian in line 6 (“face”) can also be read as “meat broth. ”
2 For goldthread, famous for its bitterness, see also HS 76. Garlic sauce as well would have a pungent, bitter quality. Most commentators are agreed that the text’s wang ji 忘計 (“forget plans”) is a corruption of the text here. I follow the suggestion that wang ji 妄計 (“wild plans”) is the likely reading. The meaning would then suggest that the disordered thinking of an illiterate man would bring bitterness to his life equivalent to the taste of goldthread in garlic sauce.
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222
寒山詩
我見被人瞞，
一似園中韭。
日日被刀傷，
8 天生還自有。 HS 210
不見朝垂露，
日爍自消除。
人身亦如此，
4 閻浮是寄居。 切莫因循過， 且令三毒祛。 菩提即煩惱，
8 盡令無有餘。 HS 211
水清澄澄瑩，
徹底自然見。
心中無一事，
4 水清眾獸現。
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Hanshan’s Poems 223
And I see people who have been cheated— They’re exactly like leeks in the garden. Every day they’re cut with a knife,
8 But still preserve their heaven-endowed life.
HS 210
Haven’t you seen the dripping dew at dawn? It glitters in the sun, then vanishes away. The Selves of humans are also like this;
4 Jambudvīpa is but a temporary lodge. 1 You must not pass your life casually, But eliminate the Three Poisons. 2 Bodhi and kleśa are the same—3
8 Make sure that there are no remainders. 4
HS 211
When water is clear, lucid, and lustrous, You can see right down to the bottom.
If there is not a single matter in your mind,
4 It’s like when all the beasts appear in clear water. 5
1 In traditional Buddhist cosmology, Jambudvīpa is the world continent on which we ourselves live.
2 For the Three Poisons, see HS 91.
3 For kleśa, see HS 156. This is a classic Mahayana rejection of dualism; enlightenment
itself is potentially an obstruction if one becomes preoccupied with it and continues
to think in a dualistic manner as a goal to be obtained.
4 That is, lingering karmic attachments and e ects that could interfere with
enlightenment.
5 Wen Jiao 溫嶠 (3rd cent. ) once had to cross a body of water reputed to have evil
spirits. He lit a rhinoceros horn as a torch and was able to illuminate the creatures hidden in the water.
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224
寒山詩
心若不妄起，
永劫無改變。
若能如是知，
8 是知無背面。 HS 212
自從到此天台境，
經今早度幾冬春。
山水不移人自老，
見却多少後生人。
HS 213
說食終不飽，
說衣不免寒。
飽喫須是飯，
4 著衣方免寒。 不解審思量， 只道求佛難。 迴心即是佛，
8 莫向外頭看。
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Hanshan’s Poems 225
If you do not let your mind rise wildly, There will be no change for countless kalpas. And if you are able to understand this way,
8 This understanding has no front or back.
HS 212
From when I arrived in this Tiantai realm
Until now, I’ve already lived several winters and springs. The landscape never changes, but people do grow old; And now I see quite a few people younger than me.
HS 213
You’ll never be full just talking of food;
And talking of clothes won’t keep o the cold. To eat your ll, you must have food;
4 And putting on clothes will keep o the cold. But you don’t know how to ponder this;
You just say it’s hard to search for the Buddha. Return to the mind—that is the Buddha;
8 Do not look for him without.
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226
寒山詩
HS 214
可畏輪迴苦，
往復似翻塵。
蟻巡環未息，
4 六道亂紛紛。 改頭換面孔， 不離舊時人。 速了黑暗獄，
8 無令心性昏。 HS 215
可畏三界輪，
念念未曾息。
纔始似出頭，
4 又卻遭沈溺。 假使非非想， 蓋緣多福力。 爭似識真源，
8 一得即永得。
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Hanshan’s Poems 227
HS 214
How frightful the su ering of the karmic wheel! Back and forth we go, like roiling dust.
We’re ants that never rest in their circling tour,
4 While the Six Courses teem with our riot. Change your head or alter your face— You can’t get away from who you were.
Be quick to understand the gloom of Hell;
8 Do not let your mind and nature darken.
HS 215
How frightful the wheel of the Three Realms! Thought after thought, we never rest.
Just when it seems that you’ve managed to escape,
4 Once again you sink down deep and drown. Even if you make it to “No Non-Thoughts,”1 (No doubt because of your good karma), How is that like recognizing the true source?
8 Once found, it’s kept forever.
1 This is the fourth Heaven in the Realm of Formlessness, and the highest Heaven in which one can be reborn while still remaining within the three realms of samsara. This is a considerable achievement, but still nothing compared to obtaining enlightenment through the realization of one’s true nature.
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228
寒山詩
HS 216
昨日遊峰頂，
下窺千尺崖。
臨危一株樹，
4 風擺兩枝開。 雨漂即零落， 日曬作塵埃。 嗟見此茂秀，
8 今為一聚灰。 HS 217
自古多少聖，
叮嚀教自信。
人根性不等，
4 高下有利鈍。 真佛不肯認， 置功枉受困。 不知清淨心，
8 便是法王印。
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Hanshan’s Poems
229
HS 216
Yesterday I went roaming atop the peaks, Peering down a thousand-foot blu . Over the edge, a single tree—
4 The wind had blasted its limbs apart. The rain had scoured it bare;
The sun had baked it into dust.
I sighed to see such ourishing
8 Now reduced to a pile of ash.
HS 217
From ancient times, so many sages
Have earnestly taught faith in oneself. The essential nature of each person di ers,
4 Lofty or low, it is sharp or dull.
Yet they won’t acknowledge the true Buddha; They focus on earning merit and uselessly su er. They don’t realize that a pure and clean mind
8 Is precisely the seal of the Dharma Prince.
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230
寒山詩
HS 218
我聞天台山，
山中有琪樹。
永言欲攀之，
4 莫曉石橋路。 緣此生悲歎， 索居將已暮。 今日觀鏡中，
8 颯颯鬢垂素。 HS 219
養子不經師，
不及都亭鼠。
何曾見好人，
4 豈聞長者語。 為染在薰蕕， 應須擇朋侶。 五月販鮮魚，
8 莫教人笑汝。
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Hanshan’s Poems 231
HS 218
I have heard about the Tiantai Mountains:
That in those mountains there is a snow-gem tree. For long I have wished to climb it,
4 But no one knew the road to Stone Bridge. Because of this I utter a grieving sigh: Living as a hermit—soon dusk will fall. Today when I looked in the mirror,
8 My grizzled locks let droop their gray.
HS 219
If you raise a son without a teacher,
He won’t come up to a city station rat. 1 When would he ever meet good people,
4 And how hear the words of his elders?
Because either basil or bluebeard will stain him,2 You must select his companions.
If you try to sell sh in the Fifth Month,
8 Make sure not to become a laughingstock! 3
1 A proverb holds that “city station rats know much”—that is, their urban experience makes them cleverer than other rats.
2 That is, the son will inevitably take on the “odor” of his friends. The bluebeard plant has blossoms that emit a stench when crushed, as opposed to the sweetness of basil.
3 Fish markets in summer would have a particularly strong odor; as with line ve, the implication is that association with those who lack virtue will damage one’s own virtue and/or reputation.
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232
寒山詩
HS 220
徒閉蓬門坐，
頻經石火遷。
唯聞人作鬼，
4 不見鶴成仙。 念此那堪說， 隨緣須自憐。 迴瞻郊郭外，
8 古墓犁為田。 HS 221
時人見寒山，
各謂是風顛。
貌不起人目，
4 身唯布裘纏。 我語他不會， 他語我不言。 為報往來者，
8 可來向寒山。
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Hanshan’s Poems
233
HS 220
In vain I close my weed-covered gate and sit; I watch time pass: sparks struck from a stone. I have only heard of people turning to ghosts;
4 Have yet to see cranes turn into Transcendents. Thinking on this, how can I bear to speak of it? I’ll follow my fate and look after myself.
Just turn and look to the city outskirts,
8 Where old tomb mounds are ploughed into elds.
HS 221
When people of this age see me, Hanshan, Each says that I’m a madman.
My features do not arouse attention,
4 And my body is wrapped only in a hempen robe. What I say they don’t understand,
And what they say I wouldn’t speak.
That’s why I reply to passers-by:
8 “You should come to Cold Mountain! ”
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234
寒山詩
HS 222
自在白雲閑，
從來非買山。
下危須策杖，
4 上險捉藤攀。 澗底松長翠， 谿邊石自斑。 友朋雖阻絕，
8 春至鳥 。 HS 223
我在村中住，
眾推無比方。
昨日到城下，
4 却被狗形相。 或嫌褲太窄， 或說衫少長。 攣却鷂子眼，
8 雀兒舞堂堂。
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Hanshan’s Poems 235
HS 222
Freely the white clouds move at their leisure; This has never been a bought mountain. 1 Below, it is treacherous—I must rely on a sta ;
4 Above, it is steep—I ascend by clinging to vines.
In the bottom of ravines, the pines are ever turquoise, And by the side of the stream the rocks are spotted. Though I am cut o from all companions,
8 When spring comes, the birds are set singing.
HS 223
When I lived in the village, Everyone claimed I had no equal. But yesterday I went to the city,
4 And even the dogs were sizing me up.
Some judged that my trousers were too narrow, And some said that my shirt was a little long. Once you’ve closed the eyes of the kestrel,
8 The sparrows will dance in their pride.
1 The Buddhist philosopher Zhi Dun 支遁 (314–366) once sought to buy a moun- tain on which he could practice reclusion. He dropped the attempt when he was greeted with derision.
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236
寒山詩
HS 224
生死元有命，
富貴本由天。
此是古人語，
4 吾今非謬傳。 聦明好短命， 癡騃却長年。 鈍物豐財寶，
8 醒醒漢無錢。 HS 225
國以人為本，
猶如樹因地。
地厚樹扶疏，
4 地薄樹憔悴。 不得露其根， 枝枯子先墜。 決陂以取魚，
8 是取一期利。
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Hanshan’s Poems 237
HS 224
“Life and death have their determined times; Wealth and status come from Heaven. ” These are the words of the Ancients;
4 I’m not passing on anything absurd.
The clever usually have short lifespans, While the foolish are long-lived.
The dull are rich with wealth and treasure,
8 While clear-minded men have no money.
HS 225
The state takes its people as its root,
Just as a tree relies on the soil.
If the soil is deep, then the tree grows thick;
4 If the soil is shallow, then the tree withers. Make sure its roots are not exposed;
Then branches dry out and the fruit falls early. If you breach the dike to catch sh,
8 Then you’re just taking the pro t of a moment. 1
1 This poem likely is meant to emphasize that the well-being of the people is essential for a healthy state. The last image describes someone who has broken the dike around a shpond and drained away the water in order to make it easier to catch sh; in the process, he kills all the sh and ruins the pond.
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238
寒山詩
HS 226
眾生不可說，
何意許顛邪。
面上兩惡鳥，
4 心中三毒蛇。 是渠作障礙， 使你事煩拏。 舉手高彈指，
8 南無佛陀耶。 HS 227
自樂平生道，
煙蘿石洞間。
野情多放曠，
4 長伴白雲閑。 有路不通世， 無心孰可攀。 石床孤夜坐，
8 圓月上寒山。
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Hanshan’s Poems 239
HS 226
You can’t explain sentient beings: So unexpectedly crazy and twisted. In their faces, two evil birds;
4 In their minds, three poisonous snakes. 1
These things serve as obstructions
And force you to serve disorder.
Raise your hand high and snap your ngers—2
8 All hail the Lord Buddha!
HS 227
I delight in the path of my common life, Mid misty vines and stony grottoes.
I often indulge my taste for the country,
4 And I’ve long befriended the idle white clouds. There’s a road here but it doesn’t reach the world; My mind void, to what could I cling?
On a stony bench I sit in the lone night,
8 While a round moon ascends on Cold Mountain.
1 The three poisonous snakes are the same as the Three Poisons (see HS 91). The two evil birds are open to interpretation. Xiang Chu sees it as shrikes and owls; though he notes traditions that mention two birds as symbolic of ignorance on the one hand and perception and thought on the other. There is also an Indian parable about a two-headed bird—one head only eats sweet fruit; the other head, jealous, eats poison until they both die.
2 For the signi cance of snapping one’s ngers in Buddhist texts, see HS 34.
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240
寒山詩
HS 228
大海水無邊，
魚龍萬萬千。
遞互相食噉，
4 兀兀癡肉團。 為心不了絕， 妄想起如煙。 性月澄澄朗，
8 廓爾照無邊。 HS 229
自見天台頂，
孤高出眾群。
風搖松竹韻，
4 月現海潮頻。 下望山青際， 談玄有白雲。 野情便山水，
8 本志慕道倫。
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Hanshan’s Poems 241
HS 228
The waters of the great sea are endless— Million upon million of sh and dragons, All of them devouring each other,
4 Dim-witted, foolish lumps of esh.
Because their minds do not know how to cease, Disordered thoughts rise up like smoke.
But if the moon of their natures shines clear and bright,
8 Then all would open up, illumined endlessly.
HS 229
I’ve seen for myself the heights of Tiantai,
Lone and lofty, rising above the other hills.
Winds harmonize as they shake pine and bamboo,
4 Sea tides go in and out when the moon appears. Below, I gaze to the edge of mountain’s green,
And I discuss mysteries with the white clouds.
My taste for the countryside ts with this landscape;
8 And my aspirations admire these companions of the Way. 1
1 Probably referring to the monks of Tiantai.
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242
寒山詩
HS 230
三五癡後生，
作事不真實。
未讀十卷書，
4 強把雌黃筆。 將他儒行篇， 喚作賊盜律。 脫體似蟫蟲，
8 齩破他書帙。 HS 231
心高如山嶽，
人我不伏人。
解講圍陀典，
4 能談三教文。 心中無慚愧， 破戒違律文。 自言上人法，
8 稱為第一人。 愚者皆讚歎， 智者撫掌笑。 陽燄虛空花，
12 豈得免生老。
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Hanshan’s Poems 243
HS 230
There are a few fools, younger than me, Who are not honest in their actions.
Before reading even ten chapters of anything,
4 They go wild with their orpiment brush. 1
They label writings about Confucian conduct As the rules for dealing with bandits and thieves. They elude me just like the silver sh
8 Who gnaw away at the book wraps.
HS 231
His mind is as lofty as the mountains; He’s adamant when arguing with others; He knows how to lecture on Vedic texts,
4 He can discuss the scriptures of the Three Teachings. 2 In his mind, no sense of shame;
He violates precepts, goes against the vinaya.
He himself speaks a “superior man’s Dharma,”3
8 And he’s acclaimed as the best of all.
The foolish all praise him and sigh,
While the wise clap their hands and laugh. He’s but a ickering ame, spots in the eye—4
12 How can he avoid rebirth and growing old?
1 Orpiment (cihuang) was a sulfur compound used to wipe out textual errors (like modern correction uid). This refers to ill-educated people who have the temerity to “correct” writings by others.
2 Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism.
3 “Superior man’s dharma” (shang ren fa) is mentioned in Buddhist texts as the sin of
claiming superior wisdom or knowledge without justi cation.
4 “Spots in the eye” is literally “empty owers” (xu kong hua), and is used for spots or
oaters that occur in one’s vision.
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244
寒山詩
不如百不解，
靜坐絕憂惱。
HS 232
如許多寶貝，
海中乘壞舸。
前頭失却桅，
4 後頭又無柁。 宛轉任風吹， 高低隨浪簸。 如何得到岸，
8 努力莫端坐。 HS 233
我見凡愚人，
多畜資財穀。
飲酒食生命，
4 謂言我富足。 莫知地獄深， 唯求上天福。 罪業如毗富，
8 豈得免灾毒。
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Hanshan’s Poems 245
It would be better to understand nothing, And sit tranquilly, severing all worries.
HS 232
So great a number of treasures
Are carried in a broken-down barge on the sea. It has lost its mast in front,
4 And there is no rudder behind.
It tosses and turns, blown with the wind; It rises and falls, rocked by the waves. How will it ever reach the shore?
8 Strive diligently—don’t just sit! 1
HS 233
I see the ordinary fools:
They store away so much wealth and grain. They drink wine, eat living beings,
4 And think that they are rich enough.
None of them know the depths of Hell;
They only seek the blessings of the highest heaven. 2 Yet their sinful karma is like Mount Vipula;3
8 How can they avoid this disastrous peril?
1 The poem may be taken as an allegory of the individual human (barge), endowed with the Buddha nature (treasures), attempting to reach enlightenment (the shore). The poem urges striving and activity, and not merely quiet sitting in meditation.
2 That is, they imagine their own virtue will allow them to be reborn in the highest of the Buddhist heavens.
3 Name given to a number of mountains in India noted for their size.
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246
寒山詩
財主忽然死，
爭共當頭哭。
供僧讀文䟽，
12 空是鬼神祿。 福田一箇無， 虛設一群禿。 不如早覺悟，
16 莫作黑暗獄。 狂風不動樹， 心真無罪福。 寄語兀兀人，
20 叮嚀再三讀。 HS 234
勸你三界子，
莫作勿道理。
理短被他欺，
4 理長不柰你。 世間濁濫人， 恰似鼠粘子。 不見無事人，
8 獨脫無能比。
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Hanshan’s Poems 247
If a man of wealth suddenly dies,
All vie at once in gathering to mourn him. They feast the monks who conduct the service;
12 But the service is merely a gift to ghosts. Nothing accrues to his Field of Blessings;1 It’s useless to assemble this ock of baldies. It’s better to awaken from the start—
16 Don’t do things that lead to the Hell of ignorance. Be a tree unmoved by gusts of wind,
With a true mind beyond sin or merit.
I send word to all you dim-witted ones:
20 Read this carefully, over and over!
HS 234
I urge you, dwellers in the Three Realms: Don’t behave irrationally!
If you’re short in reason, then you’ll be abused;
4 If you’re long in it, they won’t put up with you. All the vulgar, polluted people of the world Are exactly like rats with burrs in their fur. 2 Don’t you see the man without a airs,3
8 Who stands alone, with no one who can rival him?
1 A Field of Blessings ( fu tian) is the positive karma an individual accrues through charitable actions, especially gifts to monks. The point here is that the services may allow the deceased to gain some karmic bene t; but he has already lost the opportunity to make any signi cant gains in his karma while alive.
2 I. e. , they cannot free themselves from passion and anger.
3 That is, a being who no longer produces karmically signi cant actions.
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248
寒山詩
早須返本源，
三界任緣起。
清淨入如流，
12 莫飲無明水。 HS 235
三界人蠢蠢，
六道人茫茫。
貪財愛婬欲，
4 心惡若豺狼。 地獄如箭射， 極苦若為當。 兀兀過朝夕，
8 都不別賢良。 好惡總不識， 猶如豬及羊。 共語如木石，
12 嫉妒似顛狂。 不自見己過， 如豬在圈臥。 不知自償債，
16 却笑牛牽磨。
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Hanshan’s Poems 249
Return to the original source right away;
In the Three Realms, you’re subject to dependent origination. 1 Enter the pure and clear stream of Thusness;
12 Do not drink the water of ignorance.
HS 235
People in the Three Realms writhe and wriggle; People on the Six Courses are vast in their throngs. 2 Greedy for wealth, lustful in their desires,
4 Their minds wicked like wild dogs and wolves. Thrown into hell like a speeding arrow— How to withstand such extreme su ering? Muddle-headed they pass each day,
8 Unable to distinguish what is worthy.
They can’t recognize the good and the wicked, They’re as stupid as pigs or sheep.
Talking to them is like speaking to wood or stone;
12 And they’re demented in their jealousies. They cannot observe their own faults, Like pigs reclining in their sty;
They don’t understand the debts they owe,
16 And laugh instead at the ox dragging a millstone. 3
1 “Dependent origination” (pratītya-samutpāda; yuanqi): the twelve-stage chain of causality that leads from ignorance to samsaric rebirth.
2 For Six Courses, see HS 72 and note.
3 For the signi cance of this image, see HS 159a and note.
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250
寒山詩
HS 236
人生在塵蒙，
恰似盆中蟲。
終日行遶遶，
4 不離其盆中。 神仙不可得， 煩惱計無窮。 歲月如流水，
8 須臾作老翁。 HS 237
寒山出此語，
復似顛狂漢。
有事對面說，
4 所以足人怨。 心真出語直， 直心無背面。 臨死度柰河，
8 誰是嘍囉漢。 冥冥泉臺路， 被業相拘絆。
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Hanshan’s Poems 251
HS 236
Human life in this dust-covered world Is just like a bug in a bowl.
All day it travels round and round,
4 But it never gets out of the bowl. Transcendence cannot be attained;
Kleśa strategems are endless.
The months and years ow on like water,
8 And suddenly you’re an old man.