COMMENTARY:
The structure is four lines per stanza with 7 characters for each line, except after the first stanza, the first line of each stanza is 6 characters. In my translation, I used the punctuation "--" to show the break in the first line of each stanza between the two sets of 3 characters. For those who don't know, the ancient Chinese did not have punctuation. All modern versions have punctuation added to aide the reader. In the online canon, the modern Chinese has "。" as a universal punctuation (which can be a period, comma, colon, semicolon, hyphen, etc.,) that is inserted in the text to show the reader how the phrases and sentences are taken to be intended. Since hundreds, if not a thousand, of years passed between the time of writing and the addition of the punctuation, the punctuation is a conventional consensus by translators and should not be considered infallible.
1. The straw thatched hut is a metaphor for the body. No need for precious objects to adorn something so simply miraculous. Eating and doing daily activities then sleeping are the main things done in the hut. In this life the thatch is new. When it is worn out, I will pay the debt by fixing the thatch for the next inhabitant.
2. The one inside doesn't really have permanent residency even if that one thinks so. The wise one doesn't get fooled by concepts of inside and outside the hut. Non-abiding is the basis of Zen. Affections for a place blind us from seeing the place, as it really is, yathabhutam.
3. Size is irrelevant when it comes to the cosmos of the Dharma which is everywhere, lacking nowhere. The the space of a ten square foot body, we study the liberation of the essential body, the Dharma-body. "A bodhisattva of the Supreme Vehicle" refers to a practitioner of the Zen gate. "The Supreme Vehicle" is another name for the "One Vehicle," (Ekayana) as was used in the Fifth Ancestor Hongren's earlier work "Discourse on the Most Supreme Vehicle" in which he writes, "This discourse shows the One Vehicle to be the lineage." The middle (Bodhisattva) and inferior (Sravaka) vehicles see nothing but strangeness in the direct path of the Supreme One Vehicle.
4. Dualistic oppositions of the mind like poor and rich are immaterial when it comes to knowing the master of the hut. All such dualisms are superlative.
5. A forest of green pines and sunlight is all the color and splendor anyone needs. The Jade Castle of Heaven and the Vermilion Tower of Hell can't compare to the wonders of the natural world before our eyes. Throwing a patched cape over one's head is all that is needed to realize samadhi. Nowhere are externals needed.
6. Abiding in non-abiding is to cease striving for liberation from outside. It's just embarrassing to claim to be a teacher. To"Revolve the light and turn back your illumination, then you come back to the origin point" is the meaning of the Sanskrit term "asraya-paravrtti" This is easily recognized as the tried an true admonition of all Zen lineages for practicing zazen, going way back to the Lankavatara Sutra and other sutras and used centuries later by Dogen in the "Fukanzazengi" and Hakuin in the "Zazen Wasan." Revolving the light means to turn our awareness to the seat or source of awareness. It seems like looking backward to a beginner, but when breaking through to the seat, one breaks through entirely and there is only facing forward without a backward slide.
7. Having penetrated to the seat of awareness, one can meet the ancestral masters face to face, and now be intimate with the teachings when before they seemed confusing. But still, there is a kind of effort needed to keep from backsliding, it is taking care of the body. Letting go our our thoughts about longevity, we can live in the present dimension. Just go on with the Three Pure Precepts: Don't do wrongdoing, do all good, keep a clear mind to awaken all beings with the wave of a hand.
8. Words create the categories of liberation because it is words that bind us. We use words to lead us out of the snare of words. The unborn and undying person in your own body, who is it? Shitou leaves us with a parting koan: How are you both free from yet obscured by your skin bag?
1 comment:
Thanks for the translation and comments. It is very much appreciated. I love this poem but have only seen the translation in the Roaring Stream, and the virtually identical one in the book "Inside the Grass Hut". Its good to get a different take on it.
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