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Written by Cold Mountain and Red Pine
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Friday, 07 November 2008 |
The work of hermit-poet Cold Mountain (Han-shan) and Red Pine (Bill Porter).
Cold Mountain wrote his poems on the rocks, tree, and temple walls of China's Tientai Mountains. He earned a place as an influential figure in the history of Chinese literature through his rigorous honesty and insight on the human condition.
Red Pine is one of the world's foremost translators of Chinese literary and religious texts. He began translating Chinese poetry while living in a monastery in Taiwan, and visited Cold Mountain’s remote caves in preparation for these translations.
180
I reached Cold Mountain and all cares stopped
no idle thoughts remained in my head
nothing to do I write poems on rocks
and trust the current like an unmoored boat
2
All you who read my poems
guard your purity of heart
let your greed be modesty
your flattery be honesty
put an end to evil karma
trust your own true nature
find your buddha body today
do it as fast as an order
77
There exists one kind of fool
thick-headed as a donkey
although he knows human speech
his greed resembles a pig’s
his treachery can’t be fathomed
his claims all turn out false
if anybody talks with him
tell him don’t stay here
87
A greedy man who piles up wealth
is like an owl who loves her chicks
the chicks grow up and eat their mother
wealth eventually swallows its owner
spread it around and blessings grow
hoard it and disaster arises
no wealth no disaster
flap your wings in the blue
149
If pleasures come be happy
opportunities shouldn’t be missed
although we talk of one hundred years
who gets thirty thousand days
lodged in the world but an instant
don’t chirp and chatter about money
the Book of Piety’s final chapter
lays out the end in detail
82
Spring water is pure in an emerald stream
moonlight is white on Cold Mountain
silence thoughts and the spirit becomes clear
focus on emptiness and the world grows still
72
Pigs devour dead human flesh
humans savor dead pig guts
pigs don’t mind human stink
humans say pork smells fine
throw dead pigs in the river
bury human bodies deep
if they ever stop eating each other
lotuses will bloom in boiling soup
209
When water is so clear it sparkes
you can see the bottom without effort
when your mind doesn’t have a goal
no circumstance can distract you
once your mind doesn’t chase illusions
even a kalpa holds no charge
if you can be so aware
from such awareness nothing hides
All poems from The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain (2000), translated by Red Pine and used by permission of Copper Canyon Press, coppercanyonpress.org .
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