Meeting Tang Yousheng
Sept 17, 2004 14:18:13 GMT 1
Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 17, 2004 14:18:13 GMT 1
Twenty-one years old and from my village, yet!
So bright and filled with fresh ideas.
No wonder you gained such a high post in Tenchong.
I seemed ancient when I came to Chan.
We simmered tea and talked and talked
Coming up with one great line after another.
We hung up a lamp and read old poems.
I only just met you and yet I knew you all my life.
All night long we talked in an adventure
That continued until dawn. Then we parted.
I'm back on South Dian Road now
With my old companions, the sighing wind and bright moon.
The night sky is as lovely and charming as ever.
The stars are all there, but something's wrong.
Something is missing from the night's beauty.
Hearing the Bell at Ge Jiang Shan Temple - between the river and the mountains
Heaven turns so slowly and gently, it tolerates my age.
Without mercy, days and months advance to cut off my time.
I return to my cave in the mountain, but the trees are all gone.
I look down on the river and all I see are meandering curves.
The sun is captured in a cage of delicate clouds.
I listen to the wind.
Suddenly I hear the Temple Bell!
The sound comes washing over me,
Waking me from the dusty labor of my thoughts.
And distant heaven opens wider and wider to me.
Fa Jie Temple, Reliving an Ancient Practice
Slowly, one step at a time, I walk back and forth
As the smoke and low clouds on all four sides dissipate
Revealing my audience to me.
The pines so tall, the cranes sit and nest in them.
The old, half-hidden caves.
The hushed rustlings of the mountain reward my heart.
Sounds come to my ears like gentle, pulsing waves of applause.
That Worthy One who used to be here...
Where has he gone?
Since his seat is empty,
I sit on his discourse ledge and pretend awhile longer.
Answering Layman Long Cheng Che who in accordance with instructions from Venerable Yin Guang to repair the barn of Lao Mountain asked me to go and live there
For a long time I've foolishly wanted
To be "an old man of the mountain."
Heaven finally heard my wish
And was moved to let it come true.
But "finally" is too late.
I'm in the closing act of my years.
For this performance, I've got to defer to a younger actor.
My dear companion! We've rummaged through riverbanks
And combed the beaches of seas.
Yet from one page of Master Yin's letter
You've managed to create an ever-bubbling spring.
A tiny stream of precious hope that will flow on forever.
So bright and filled with fresh ideas.
No wonder you gained such a high post in Tenchong.
I seemed ancient when I came to Chan.
We simmered tea and talked and talked
Coming up with one great line after another.
We hung up a lamp and read old poems.
I only just met you and yet I knew you all my life.
All night long we talked in an adventure
That continued until dawn. Then we parted.
I'm back on South Dian Road now
With my old companions, the sighing wind and bright moon.
The night sky is as lovely and charming as ever.
The stars are all there, but something's wrong.
Something is missing from the night's beauty.
Hearing the Bell at Ge Jiang Shan Temple - between the river and the mountains
Heaven turns so slowly and gently, it tolerates my age.
Without mercy, days and months advance to cut off my time.
I return to my cave in the mountain, but the trees are all gone.
I look down on the river and all I see are meandering curves.
The sun is captured in a cage of delicate clouds.
I listen to the wind.
Suddenly I hear the Temple Bell!
The sound comes washing over me,
Waking me from the dusty labor of my thoughts.
And distant heaven opens wider and wider to me.
Fa Jie Temple, Reliving an Ancient Practice
Slowly, one step at a time, I walk back and forth
As the smoke and low clouds on all four sides dissipate
Revealing my audience to me.
The pines so tall, the cranes sit and nest in them.
The old, half-hidden caves.
The hushed rustlings of the mountain reward my heart.
Sounds come to my ears like gentle, pulsing waves of applause.
That Worthy One who used to be here...
Where has he gone?
Since his seat is empty,
I sit on his discourse ledge and pretend awhile longer.
Answering Layman Long Cheng Che who in accordance with instructions from Venerable Yin Guang to repair the barn of Lao Mountain asked me to go and live there
For a long time I've foolishly wanted
To be "an old man of the mountain."
Heaven finally heard my wish
And was moved to let it come true.
But "finally" is too late.
I'm in the closing act of my years.
For this performance, I've got to defer to a younger actor.
My dear companion! We've rummaged through riverbanks
And combed the beaches of seas.
Yet from one page of Master Yin's letter
You've managed to create an ever-bubbling spring.
A tiny stream of precious hope that will flow on forever.