1 Climbing to high elevations makes the heart expansive.
Looking out on flowing waters takes one’s thoughts far away.
2 Looking at the single shred of cloud or the crane in the field
Wakes one’s thoughts to transcendence.
3 If you can just sit with a lute and a book,
Wherever you are becomes the realm of the sages.
4 Late at night, when others are at rest,
Sitting alone I look deep into my heart.
5 In every human heart there is one volume of the book of Truth,
But all is packed away on the shelves,
pages here and pages there.
6 When one’s thoughts are at peace and have become transparent,
One sees the true form of the mind.
7 Be fully open and put up no barriers.
In this way you become one substance
with the origin of the universe.
8 If the spirit is fully in bloom, …
One will obtain the harmonious energy of the universe.
9 Look peacefully in the garden as flowers bloom and flowers fall…
Ramblingly follow the sky
as clouds fold up and clouds stretch away.
10 Know that what is born
Must necessarily die.
11 Think of what form you had before you were born,
And … what appearance you will take
long after you have died.
12 Your myriad thoughts will turn to cold ashes,
Your true Nature will stand alone.
13 Return all to the Void. …
Burn incense and heat up some tea.
14 Watching the reflection of the moon in the clear deep pool,
I get a glance at the body beyond this earthly shell.
15 Listening to the sound of the bell in the peaceful night,
I am called into sobriety from my dream within a dream.
__________________________________________
NOTES
The above quotes are taken from The Roots of Wisdom: Saikontan, by Hung Ying-ming, tr. William Scott Wilson (Tokyo, New York and San Francisco, Kodansha International, 1985). Written in the late 1500s, this sweet little book is a collection of aphorisms, rooted in the three major faith streams in China: Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.
The word "Saikontan" is a rendering of original Chinese title, "Caigentan," which means "Vegetable Root Discourse." ... "Isobe clarifies the title as meaning 'Talks by a man who lives on vegetable roots', or more freely, 'Talks by a man who lives a plain and humble life'." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caigentan)
The following are specific citations for the listed quotes.
1. II, 114
2. II, 107
3. II, 9
4. I, 9
5. I, 57
6. I, 87
7. I, 171
8. II, 88
9. II, 70
10. II, 62
11. II, 98
12. II, 98
13. II, 20
14. II, 6
15. II, 6
