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Here's a message for the faithful by Han-shan (Cold Mountain) (730? - 850?) Timeline English version by Red Pine Original Language Chinese Buddhist : Zen / Chan Taoist 8th Century Here's a message for the faithful what is it that you cherish to find the Way to see your nature your nature is naturally so what Heaven bestows is perfect looking for proof leads you astray leaving the trunk to search among the twigs all you get is stupid     -- from The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain, Translated by Red Pine Amazon.com   / Photo by ground.zero /	Recommended Books The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain, Translated by Red Pine A Drifting Boat: Chinese Zen Poetry, Edited by J. P. Seaton / Edited by Dennis Maloney The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell The Poetry of Zen: (Shambhala Library), Edited by Sam Hamill / Edited by J. P. Seaton Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems, by Gary Snyder More >>
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

(I go back and forth about this particular translation. I like the stinging irreverence of the final line, but the translation is so blunt that it falls like a brick. Maybe we need that linguistic thud to really catch our attention. But there's a part of me that wants to rework the final line. A slap to the face should be done with a hidden, but elegant flourish!)

==

Even the most sincere of spiritual traditions and practices have a tendency to exhort the seeker to reach outward, to, in effect, seek what is not already there. This is almost inherent in the notion of being a spiritual "seeker" -- to seek, you must be looking for something you don't already have.

Han-shan is reminding us of the essentially non-dual nature of our existence. We are not seeking some sense of God or enlightenment that is "out there" somewhere. We are seeking ourselves, our Self, the eternal spark that is the core of our own nature. We are seeking what we truly are.

As Han-shan says, our "nature is naturally so." We do not need to impose elaborate spiritual concepts upon our perception of ourselves and reality in order to truly see. We must do the opposite, remove all artificial concepts and simply witness what we truly are in stillness. We are naturally of the eternal nature we are. Indeed, "what Heaven bestows is perfect."

Excessive striving and turning the awareness outward -- even when seeking that which is sacred -- makes it that much more difficult to bring the awareness to rest within (the "trunk" to search among the outlying "twigs"). Thus, Han-shan reminds us that "looking for proof leads you astray." In other words, we must stop looking for an objectified, externalized sense of God or the Buddha nature or of ourselves and, instead, discover who is doing the looking through us -- that is when we find God, the Buddha nature, our very Self!

I admit it, I'm a tree-hugger... er, tree TRUNK hugger. (I think there's quite enough stupid out there already...)

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2011 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.