Cloud and Water: An Interpretation of Chan Poems - Softcover

Yun, Master Hsing

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1932293078 ISBN 13: 9781932293074

Publisher: Buddha's Light Publishing, 2005

Synopsis

Passed down over centuries by celebrated Chan (Zen) masters, these 36 poems selected by a contemporary Buddhist Master are profound in their literary simplicity and direct in their worldly relevance. Addressing the essential features of Chan Buddhist practice and offering practical wisdom for managing day-to-day challenges, each poem captures the essential Chan (Zen) spirit of living in the moment and being open to immediate experience. In addition to their spiritual and philosophical appeal, the poems are accompanied by the author's lucid and insightful commentaries formed from a lifetime of experience as a spiritual leader of a worldwide Buddhist community. Through the use of lively anecdotes and references to Buddhist scriptures, this collection provides both the Chan practitioner and the general reader illuminating and effective ways to apply Buddhism's universal wisdom to daily life.

About this title

About the Author:

Master Hsing Yun is the 48th Patriarch of the Linji (Rinzai) Chan School. He is the founder of the Fo Guang Shan (Buddha's Light Mountain) Buddhist Order, and has since established more than 100 temples worldwide. He is the founder of the Buddha's Light International Association, a worldwide organization of lay Buddhists dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism. He lives in Hacienda Heights, California.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

"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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Buddha's Light Publishing
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1932293078
• ISBN 13: 9781932293074
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 89