Cloud and Water - An Interpretation of Ch'an Poems - Softcover

Yun, Master Hsing; Hsing-Yun-Ta-Shih; Yun, Hsing; Yun, Venerable Master Hsing

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9781929192038: Cloud and Water - An Interpretation of Ch'an Poems

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1929192037 ISBN 13: 9781929192038

Publisher: Hsi Lai University Press, 2000

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This book is a collection of Ch'an poems, many of which were penned by celebrated Ch'an masters. Master Hsing Yun, author of Being Good (Weatherhill, Inc) and Only a Great Rain (Wisdom), offers us his commentary on each of these poems, giving us the benefit of his many years of deep practice and insight. The master's commentaries not only contain many stories but also new verses of their own which shed light on the meaning of these beautiful poems.

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About the Author:

Venerable Master Hsing Yun was born in Chiangtu, Chiangsu province, China in 1927. Tonsured under Venerable Master Chi K'ai at the age of twelve, he became a novice monk at Ch'i-hsia Vihara School and Chiao-shan College. He was fully ordained in 1941, and is the 48th Patriarch of the Lin-chi (Rinzai) Ch'an School. Hsing Yun went to Taiwan in 1949 and soon began to revitalize Chinese Mahayana Buddhism on the island. He founded the Fo Guang Shan International Buddhist Order in 1967, and has established more than a hundred temples in Taiwan and on every continent since. In 1988, Hsi Lai Temple, the US Headquarters was built in Los Angeles. He later also founded the laity organization, Buddha's Light International Association, which now has 120 chapters and over a million members worldwide. Master Hsing Yun is also the author of Humble Table, Wise Fare Part I and II (Hsi Lai University Press), Being Good (Weatherhill), Only a Great Rain (Wisdom), Lotus in the Stream (Weatherhill), and Where is Your Buddha Nature (Weatherhill). Many of his works have been translated into other languages such as German, Japanese, Spanish, and Korean.

"Worldly ups and downs should be treated as lightly as the clouds gathering and breaking up"

Good deeds stand like a green pine, While evil deeds bloom like flowers. It seems the pine is not as brilliant as the flowers. When the frost comes, the pine will still stand tall, While the flowers, withered, can be seen no more.

This little poem artfully highlights the principle of cause and effect. Good deeds can be compared to a pine tree. When we do a good it may not attract much attention, whereas evil may at first seem appealing. When the time of retribution comes, goodness, no matter how plain, will beget goodness while evil will only bring about ruin and demise.

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