Hsu Yun

Six Poems on Living in the Mountains
1.
I’ve got a little picture in my mind of a clean and quiet place.
Everywhere you look it’s completely natural.
The house is made of plaited rushes.
There’s a good half-acre for growing tubers and flowers.
Beautiful birds perch on cliffs
That encase a few clouds that hang around green peaks.
The world’s red dust won’t be able to get up here.
Simple elegance is better than saintliness or spirituality.
2.
Can joy be found in the mountains?
Let me tell you. There’s more joy in the mountains
Than anywhere else.
Pines and bamboos perform sacred chants.
The songs of Sheng flutes are played by birds.
In the trees, monkeys climb for fruit.
In the ponds, ducks cavort with lotus lilies.
This escape from the ordinary world
Month by month and year by year
Eliminates the hindrances to Enlightenment.
3.
Don’t try to stand tall in the courtyards of fame.
In the mountains such dreams fade away.
Your body stands on its own when it’s up with the clouds.
Your heart pulls away from worldly attachments.
The moon that I love clears a path through the pines
And guides a stream right to the bamboo gate.
Naturally, this is nothing short of amazing.
How could you disparage it… or ever tire of the sight?
4.
In the mountains there’s nothing at all which prohibits
Dreams of cooking millet during afternoon naps.
If you’re lazy by nature, you won’t brood about problems.
You’ll make light of the body and won’t fear the cold.
Chrysanthemums grow by the three ancient paths.
A few planted plum trees make the whole yard fragrant.
Engagements are blessedly short.
Leisure is blessedly long.
5.
Just wake up from an afternoon nap in a grass hut.
Drag a walking stick and let it bounce free and easy.
Lean on a rock and watch the clouds rise.
Listen to the pine saplings and hear the sound of waves.
When the forest is dense, no guests pass by.
When the roads are dangerous, they’re only used for gathering firewood.
The place is so pristine and cool
How could it fail to quench my mind’s furnace of cares?
6.
People complain of a hard life in the mountains.
I don’t think it’s much different from the hardships of anywhere else.
A clay oven burning birch twigs,
A stone cauldron boiling wild sprouts.
 It seems that you’ve only just picked the chrysanthemums
That grow in the three months of autumn
When it’s time to view the flowers of March. Pity more the moon that night after night
Is forced to entertain society..

~Hsu Yun

 From wiki:  “Hsu Yun (Chinese: 虚云; pinyin: Xūyún; born Xiao Guyan Chinese: 萧古巖; 26 August 1840 – 13 October 1959) was a renowned Chán Buddhist master and one of the most influential Buddhist teachers of the 19th and 20th centuries. He is often noted for his unusually long lifespan, having allegedly lived to age 119….… Hsu Yun was one of the most influential Chán masters of the past two centuries, and arguably the most important in modern Chinese history. Unlike Catholicism and other branches of Christianity, there was no organization in China that embraced all monastics in China, nor even all monastics within the same sect. Traditionally each monastery was autonomous, with authority resting on each respective abbot. This changed with the rule of the Communist Party. In 1953, the Chinese Buddhist Association was established at a meeting with 121 delegates in Beijing. The meeting also elected a chairman, 4 honorary chairmen, 7 vice-chairmen, a secretary general, 3 deputy secretaries-general, 18 members of a standing committee, and 93 directors. The 4 elected honorary chairmen were the Dalai Lama, the Panchen Lama, the Grand Lama of Inner Mongolia, and Hsu Yun himself. Though Chán is less well known in the West compared to Japanese Zen, the teachings of Hsu Yun have persisted within Asia, and he is still a major figure of Pure Land Buddhism in East Asia. Outside of China, the influence of his teachings is strongest in Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam and Myanmar, as well as the Americas, where his teachings were transmitted through well known monastic students such as Venerable Hsuan Hua and Venerable Jy Din Shakya and Venerable Fo Yuan shakya.”

TRADUCTION GOOGLE:  Seis Poemas sobre el vivir en las montañas
1.Tengo una pequeña imagen en mi mente de un lugar limpio y tranquilo.Por donde se mire, es completamente natural.La casa está hecha de juncos trenzados.Hay un buen medio acre de tubérculos y flores que crecen.
Hermosas aves se posan en los acantiladosEso se encajona en algunas nubes que se ciernen en torno picos verdes.Polvo rojo del mundo no será capaz de llegar hasta aquí.La elegancia simple es mejor que la santidad o la espiritualidad.
2.Alegría Se puede encontrar en las montañas?Déjame que te cuente. Hay más alegría en las montañasQue en cualquier otro.
Los pinos y bambúes realizan cantos sagrados.Las canciones de flautas Sheng se juegan por los pájaros.En los árboles, monos trepan por la fruta.En los estanques, patos retozan con lirios loto.
Este escape del mundo ordinarioMes a mes y año tras añoElimina los obstáculos para la Iluminación.
3.No trate de pie alto en los patios de la fama.En las montañas tales sueños se desvanecen.Su cuerpo se encuentra en su propia cuando se toca con las nubes.Su corazón se aparta de los apegos mundanos.
La luna que me encanta abre el camino a través de los pinosY orienta un derecho corriente a la puerta de bambú.Naturalmente, esto no es nada menos que increíble.¿Cómo pudiste menospreciarla ... ni nunca se cansan de la vista?
4.En la montaña no hay nada en absoluto que prohíbeSueños de cocinar mijo durante siestas por la tarde.Si usted es perezoso por naturaleza, no se cavilar acerca de los problemas.Usted va a hacer la luz del cuerpo y no temerás el frío.
Crisantemos crecen por los tres caminos antiguos.Unos ciruelos plantados hacen todo el patio fragante.Compromisos son felizmente corto.El ocio es benditamente largo.
5.Sólo despertar de una siesta por la tarde en una choza de paja.Arrastre un bastón y hacerla rebotar gratis y fácil.Apóyate en una roca y ver las nubes se levantan.Escuche los árboles jóvenes de pino y escuchar el sonido de las olas.
Cuando el bosque es denso, los huéspedes no pasan.Cuando los caminos son peligrosos, sólo son utilizados para la recolección de leña.El lugar es tan prístina y frescoComo no podía dejar de apagar el horno de mi mente de preocupaciones?
6.La gente se queja de una vida dura en las montañas.Yo no creo que sea muy diferente de las dificultades de cualquier otro lugar.Una arcilla horno ardiente de ramas de abedul,Un caldero hirviendo piedra brotes silvestres.

 Parece que usted ha hecho más que escogió los crisantemos
Que crecen en los tres meses de otoño
Cuando es el momento de ver las flores de marzo. Lástima más la luna que noche tras noche
Se ve obligado a entretener a la sociedad ..

~ Hsu Yun