12 Famous Verses For Deep Concentration -3- 十二时颂 食时辰

Breakfast Time: 0700-0900 hours

Ignorance is the body of Sakya-muni.

Having not realized while sitting and laying-down that are the pathway of practice.

Just be busy for all those hardship, instead.     

Addicting to the sounds and visual subjects,
trying to define the relationship with it.       

You then become another in-pure person.If set your mind toward the Buddha’s pathway,     

One should explore in the emptiness of space, and emerged from delusion.   

(3 of 12 verses, by Ancient Chinese Monk Zi-Gong, Liang Dynasty)   

十二时颂 – 食时辰。

梁代高僧誌公和尚

无明本是释迦身。

坐卧不知元是道。

只么忙忙受苦辛。

认声色，觅疏亲。

只是他家染污人。

若拟将心求佛道。

问取虚空始出尘。

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12 Famous Verses For Deep Concentration – 2 – 十二时颂 – 日出卯。

    

Sun Dawn – 0500-0700 Hour

Work on it without applying any skill.  

Even the duality of existence or non-existence is shined by the Buddha ray.  

Any attempt of mind will be interfered by the evil.  Any endeavor will cause further false.  

Thus day and night is disturbed by self and others.  Just let it be and follow it without any arrangement.  

The mind never arises with any worry.  (2 of 12 verses, by Ancient Chinese Monk Zi-Gong, Liang Dynasty)      

 十二时颂 – 日出卯。
梁代高僧誌公和尚
 

用处不须生善巧。 纵使神光照有无。

起意便遭魔事挠。

若施功，终不了。

日夜被他人我拗。

不用安排只么从。

何曾心地生烦恼。

12 Famous Verses For Deep Concentration – 十二时颂 – 平旦寅

Prior to dawn– 0300-0500 Hours

From the wild waves of inner mind I saw a body of practitioner,   

Who has struggled with hardshipfor hundreds of thousands of millions of ages.Unbelievably a miracle gem is held there all the time.

Once grasp it as an object, you will get lost.

It is dust of delusion if you observe it with any trace.

Do not focus on the past memory, there is no feature can be revealed.

It will be untrue to your Liberation if you turn outward seeking for a knowledgeable
advise.

(1 of 12 verses, by Ancient Chinese Monk Zi-Gong, Liang Dynasty)

Monk Zi-Gong was an enlightened person in Chinese Liang Dynasty.
He made these verses to encourage other young monks in their
practice of Zen meditation.

There are 12 verses made for 24 hours a day around the clock. Each
verse describes the mind state of a practitioner in deep concentration
in that particular 2 hours of the day.

十二时颂 – 平旦寅。
梁代高僧誌公和尚

狂机内有道人身。

穷苦已经无量劫。

不信常擎如意珍。

若捉物，入迷津。

但有纤毫即是尘。

不住旧时无相貌。

外求知识也非真。

Worldly Life Is Just Like A Dream – 人生世间一大梦《浮生六记》

 
Photo courtesy by a great photographer: Hodad66/Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hodad66/
“Worldly Life Is Just Like A Dream”

Worldly life is just like a dream.
Hardship comes from our serious recklessness in dream.
Long dream or short dream are all sort of drams.
When we suddenly wake up, where can we find the existence of dream?

——– (Ancient Chinese Poem from Six Chapters of a Floating Life) ———

人生世间一大梦，梦里胡为苦认真。
梦短梦长俱是梦，忽然一觉梦何存？
《浮生六记》

Special Note

A Beautiful message from the photographer on this image:

“Water, lapping, whispering on the rocks of the tidepool
as dawn awakens from the night’s slumber.”

What Can We Gain? – 蜗牛角内争何事?

What Can We Gain?    

What can we gain from within the tiny tentacles of snail?
We should deposit the flaming and flash-like illusion in this shell.   
Always be delighted either in rich or in poverty.
One who does not know laughing out loud is an idiot.
——– Poem by a great ancient poet Bei Ju-Ye (772 – 846) ———-    
 

蜗牛角内争何事？  
石火光中寄此身，   
随富随贫且欢喜，   
不开口笑是痴人。白居易（772年─846年）     

To Share With Zen Practitioners – 報汝修道者 (Zen Poem)

 
Photo courtesy by a great photographer: changhg/Flickr 
http://flickr.com/photos/changhg/

To Share With Zen Practitioners – 報汝修道者

Here is my report to share with practitioners,
Apprehending your desires is a waste of efforts.

Everyone has an object of spirit,
No labelled letter and text.

It responds whenever you call,
It hides where you can not find.

Remind you to protect it with good care,
Do not let it be scratched with any trace mark. —- Poem by Chinese Tang Dynasty Ancient Zen Master Han-Shan —–   

報汝修道者寒山詩選

報汝修道者，進求虛勞神，

人有精靈物，無字復無文，

呼時歷歷應，隱處不居存，

叮嚀善保護，勿令有點痕。   

A Prayer To Practice

 
Wall paper downloaded from:http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Pointe/5640/wall02.html

“A Beautiful Prayer To Practice”

At the foot of the Bodhi tree,
beautifully seated, peaceful, and smiling,
the living source of understanding and compassion,
to the Buddha I go for refuge.

The path of mindful living,
leading to healing, joy, and enlightenment,
the way of peace,
to the Dharma I go for refuge.

The loving and supportive community of practice,
realizing harmony, awareness, and liberation,
to the Sangha I go for refuge.

I am aware that the Three Gems are within my heart.
I vow to realize them.
I vow to practice mindful breathing and smiling,
looking deeply into things.
I vow to understand living beings and their suffering,
to cultivate compassion and loving kindness,
and to practice joy and equanimity.

I vow to offer joy to one person in the morning
and to help relieve the grief of one person in the afternoon.
I vow to live simply and sanely,
content with just a few possessions,
and to keep my body healthy.
I vow to let go of all worry and anxiety in order to be light and free.

I am aware that I owe so much to may parents, teachers, friends, and all beings.
I vow to be worthy of their trust,
to practice wholeheartedly,
so that understanding and compassion will flower,
and I can help living beings
be free from their suffering.

May the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha support my efforts.

Thich Nhat Hanh

More information can be found from the following link which is devoted

by CyberMonks:

http://www.interluderetreat.com/index.html

Original True Dharma – 真法本無性

Photo courtesy by a great photographer: changhg/Flickr 
http://flickr.com/photos/changhg/

“Original True Dharma Has No Characteristics Of Its Own”
——- a famous Zen poem

The original True Dharma has no characteristics of its own,   

the purity of mind gets stains by dependent arising.  

Unawareness is called ignorance    

whereas the Awareness is the wisdom of Buddha.   

Ignorance leads to illusion.   

Realizing and Awakening leads to truth.   

The present very mind has no past and no future.    

Go straight down to its root one searches no beginning and no ending.   

It is beyond literal explanation.    

To distinguish it is to stick on the duality of birth and death.   

—— Poem by a famous Zen Master Jue-fan Hui-hong (1071~1128)

真法本無性
慧洪覺範禪師

真法本無性，隨緣染淨起。

不了號無明，了之即佛智。

無明全妄情，知覺全真理。

當念絕古今，底處尋終始。

本自離言詮，分別即生死。  

Introduction of Author:

Given the place of Chan Buddhism within Song Dynasty literati
culture, a Chan master during the Song Dynasty found excellence
in literary expression a major asset.  Dahui Zonggao (1089~1163)
was arguably the Song Dynasty’s most important Chan monk. 

A valuable part of his education as a future Chan master took place
when he visited several times the already famous Chan poet and
literatus Juefan Huihong (1071~1128); Juefan assisted him on at
least two literary projects. Juefan Huihong (also known as Dehong)
was a member of a circle of monks and laymen belonging to the
Huanglong school of Chan centering on Baofeng Monastery at Mt.
Shimen in the northern part of Jiangxi province to which Dahui also
belonged for a number of years.

Dahui’s writings include a number of comments about Juefan Huihong’s
enlightenment, his expulsion from the Zhenjing Kewen’s (1025~1102)
monastery immediately following his awakening, and understanding of
Chan.  These are helpful in understanding Huihong’s complex relation
to the Chan school, as well as in illuminating Dahui’s view of Chan
enlightenment and training.

詩僧覺範慧洪禪師:

　一名宋朝禪師發現，良好的文學表達，對於禪宗立足於宋朝的
文人文化，扮演著重要的角色。大慧宗皋（1089～1163）或許可
說是宋朝最重要的禪師，之前曾數度參訪當時已成名的文人詩僧
覺範慧洪（1071～1128），這樣的養成教育對於他日後成為禪師
幫助很大。覺範在至少兩個文案上幫助過他。覺範慧洪（或稱德洪）
隸屬臨濟宗黃龍派，此派是以江西北部的西門山寶峰寺為活動中心，
大慧也曾在此依止數年。

大慧的作品裡有一些針對覺範開悟的評論，覺範是在被真淨克文
（1025～1102）逐出寺廟時開悟。這些評論有助於瞭解慧洪與禪宗
的複雜關係，同時也有助於釐清大慧對於禪宗開悟與訓練的見解。

For more information about Zen culture in Song Dynasty, please click here:

http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-BJ001/93610.htm

Backward is Actually Forward – 退步原來是向前

手把青秧插满田

低头便见水中天

身心清静方为道

退步原來是向前

Planting a handful of green rice shoots allover
paddy field,

While bending my head down, I saw the sky in
the paddy water.

The path to practice is to keep oneself mentally
and physically in peace and serene.

Realize that while walking backward is actually
practice forward.

 

          —— People working in the paddy field—–

Photo courtesy by Mr. Aneez Ahmed/Flickr

Flower Was Prettier Last Year – 花是去年红 (a Zen Poem)

 
 

花是去年红
法眼  文益禪師 (885 – 958)

拥毳对芳丛，由来趣不同。
发从今日白，花是去年红。
艳冶随朝露，馨香逐晚风。
何须待零落，然后始知空。

Flower Was Prettier Last Year

Wearing my hairy woolen robe and staring at the floral bushes,

The delight is different from the worldly interest.

My hair turns into grey from today.

The flowers last year is comparably deeper in red shade.

The beauty comes alone with morning dew,

The fragrance follows after the evening breeze.

One ought not to wait until the flowers withered and fallen,

then to realize its emptiness.

—– Poem by Zen master Wen-Ye (885 – 958) ———

 The patriarch of Dharma Eye Zen Linage

Zen poem study:

The author was wearing a hairy woolen monk robe, and was staring at the
floral bushes in the winter. He smells the fragrant as sent by the breeze. He
enjoyed the wonderful moment with delight which is very different from the
interest of worldly life.

All of sudden, he got himself awakened and mindfully found his hair became
grey while as the relentless flowers were still the same as last year except that
the  flower of last year is comparably prettier in red shade.

However the beauty of flower will be gone unavoidably after sunset. The
delight fragrance can not be shared far away even is conveyed by the breeze.
Why should we wait until the flowers withered and fallen when all the beauty
and fragrance are gone.  We then realize it as a dreamlike emptiness.

Reflection:   

While we appreciate the illusion of delightful floral scene as a true existence
in the worldly life, we will get lost in the reality of our true mind and Ego.