Verses of a Wanderer 游士文

Having spent some months doing meditation in the high Himalayas of northern India, I was inspired to write some verses as best I could in Classical Chinese, which I present here along with a loose English translation.

天竺求法，渡海至此，

登山患冷，多苦少樂，

不除鬚髮，散亂糾結，

不計出俗，花葉一株，

故但修行，處於大道，

僧尼良賤，空中無異，

日日靜坐，拜佛讀經，

師父言熏，念佛成佛，

紅袈裟僧，皆有道心，

合掌笑顔，雖寒心暖，

聞犛牛聲，魂魄調柔，

見雪山峰，思故鄉天。

Seeking out the Dharma in India, I crossed the sea arriving here,

Climbing the mountain and suffering cold with much hardship and few pleasures.

Not cutting beard or hair, it became unkempt and tangled,

No thoughts of being a renunciate or layman – flower and leaf are of the same trunk.

Thus, just training, abiding in the great path;

Monk, nun, freeman and slave – in the void there are no differences.

Day by day sitting in meditation, prostrating and reading scriptures,

The words of masters perfume the mind – mindful of Buddha, becoming Buddha.

The red cloaked monks all possess the mind of the path,

Palms together, smiling faces – though it is cold, hearts are warm.

Hearing the sound of the yaks, mind and body are in order,

Seeing the snowy mountain peaks, I think of the skies back home.