{"id":8102,"date":"2022-07-08T08:19:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-08T15:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8102"},"modified":"2022-07-08T08:22:45","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T15:22:45","slug":"shiwu-stonehouse-trying-to-become-a-buddha-is-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2022\/07\/08\/shiwu-stonehouse-trying-to-become-a-buddha-is-easy\/","title":{"rendered":"Shiwu (Stonehouse) – Trying to become a Buddha is easy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trying to become a Buddha is easy
\nby Shiwu (Stonehouse)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by Red Pine<\/font><\/p>\n

Trying to become a Buddha is easy
\nbut ending delusions is hard
\nhow many moonlit nights
\nhave I sat and felt the cold before dawn<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from The Zen Works of Stonehouse: Poems and Talks of a 14th Century Chinese Hermit<\/a>, Translated by Red Pine<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by Dingzeyu Li<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

Trying to become a Buddha is easy
\nbut ending delusions is hard<\/i><\/p>\n

Shiwu\u2019s opening lines remind me of the first lines of a poem by the Indian poet Lalla:<\/p>\n

Learning the scriptures is easy;
\nbut living them, that\u2019s hard.<\/i><\/p>\n

I think both are saying something similar. <\/p>\n

We might reword Shiwu\u2019s lines as, \u201cTrying to become a Buddha is easy, but becoming a Buddha is hard.\u201d The difference in the two phrases is in the trying, the effort. Trying is the easy part. Taking on a practice, following a prescribed pathway, joining a sangha, observing the correct rituals or, as Lalla, says, learning the scriptures, those are simply the forms of spirituality. There may be intense effort, but that effort can just as easily be used by the ego to reinforce its self-identity as a \u201cspiritual\u201d person or to be praised by others for our spiritual \u201cprogress.\u201d<\/p>\n

The real dilemma is how to go beyond merely following the forms and, instead, to actually use our practices as alchemy to transform and liberate. How do we stop trying to become Buddhas and, instead, actually step free from our delusions?<\/p>\n

how many moonlit nights
\nhave I sat and felt the cold before dawn<\/i><\/p>\n

The poet doesn\u2019t seem to offer us answers\u2026 well, perhaps the hint of an answer. <\/p>\n

Shiwu gives us the image of meditating through the night and feeling cold by the morning. On one level, that can be read as disappointment with the progress of his meditation. Hoping to be above such things, he finds he is keenly aware of his body and senses in the chilly morning. <\/p>\n

But we can read these lines in a slightly different way, as well. A moonlit night is often used in Asian poetry to suggest the gentle illumination perceived by the meditator\u2019s quiet mind. Sitting through many such nights only to notice the cold of the morning suggests that the enlightenment has always been there yet somehow missed or not fully realized. But then we have the dawn. This can be read as illumination in its brilliant, undeniable, all-encompassing form. Enlightenment has been found, but after the effort has ceased.<\/p>\n

He stopped trying to become the Buddha and the dawn simply washed away his delusions.<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Shiwu (Stonehouse)<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

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<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Zen Works of Stonehouse: Poems and Talks of a 14th Century Chinese Hermit<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\n<\/td>\n\nShiwu (Stonehouse)<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

China (1272 \u2013 1352) Timeline<\/a>
\nBuddhist<\/a> : Zen \/ Chan<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Shiwu, whose name translates as \u201cStonehouse,\u201d was a Chan (Zen) monk, hermit, and poet in China during the Yuan Dynasty.<\/p>\n

Unlike several other Buddhist poets of the era, Shiwu was a formal monk, well-educated in Buddhist dharma, meditation, and monastic tradition. He studied first in Yushan\u2019s Hsingfu Temple, where he received the dharma name Ch\u2019ing-hung. <\/p>\n

He traveled and learned from several masters before he arrived at Chienyang to study with a teacher named Chi-an. Chi-an dismissed the koan Shiwu was previously meditating on, and gave him a new one: \u201cWhere Buddhas reside, don\u2019t stop. Where Buddhas don\u2019t reside, rush past.\u201d Frustrated by his new koan for some time, Shiwu had a flash of insight one day, and answered his teacher with, \u201cWhen the rain stops at the end of spring, the oriole appears on a branch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shiwu helped his teacher Chi-an in his role as abbot of Taochang temple. Shiwu himself later acted as a meditation teacher for some time at Lingyin Timple.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Shiwu took up the life of a hermit, removing himself to the Zhongnan Mountains. There he composed his 184 Shan-shih or \u201cMountain Poems.\u201d His Mountain Poems are quiet observations of details from his humble mountain life. They are specific, even mundane, yet they hint at the meditator\u2019s still and open awareness. His poems and observations of his life of quiet retirement have long been appreciated by monks, hermits, and meditators.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Shiwu (Stonehouse)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trying to become a Buddha is easy by Shiwu (Stonehouse) English version by Red Pine Trying to become a Buddha is easy but ending delusions is hard how many moonlit nights have I sat and felt the cold before dawn \u2014 from The Zen Works of Stonehouse: Poems and Talks of a 14th Century Chinese […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[40,112,2134,1824,1395,1441,1825],"class_list":["post-8102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-buddhist-poetry","tag-chinese-poetry","tag-ritual","tag-shiwu","tag-spiritual-effort","tag-spiritual-practice","tag-stonehouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8102"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8106,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8102\/revisions\/8106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}