Zen Poem

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Cutting the Spring Breeze

乾坤無地卓孤筇

喜得人空法亦空

珍重大元三尺剣

電光影裡斬春風

Throughout heaven and earth there is not a piece of ground where a single stick could be inserted;

I am glad that all things are void, myself and the world:

Honored be the sword, three feet long, wielded by the great Yüan swordsmen;

For it is like cutting a spring breeze in a flash of lightning.

(Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 255 n.2)

"Tsu-yüan (1226-1286) came to Japan when the Hõjõ family was in power at Kamakura. He established the Engakuji monastery, which is one of the chief Zen monasteries in Japan. While still in China his temple was invaded by soldiers of the Yüan dynasty, who threatened to kill him, but Bukkõ was immovable and quietly uttered the following verse:" (Essays in Zen Buddhism – First Series 255 n.2)

Wu-hsüeh Tsu-yüan (無學祖元 Mugaku Sogen; also known as Fo-kuang Kuo-shih 佛光國師/Bukkõ Kokushi, 1226-1286)

Variant character in the last line 電光影裏斬春風 (裏 instead of 裡)

There is not a room in the whole universe where one can insert even a single stick;

I see the emptiness of all things—no objects, no persons.

I admire the sword of the Great Yüan⁴⁰ three feet in length:

[When it cuts at all,] it is like cutting the spring breeze with a flash of lightning.

(Zen and Japanese Culture 201-2)

⁴⁰The Mongolian dynasty (1260-1367) that invaded China and replaced the Sung dynasty. (Zen and Japanese Culture 202) [元 Yüan; 宋 Sung]

The heaven and earth afford me no shelter at all;

I'm glad, unreal are body and soul.

Welcome thy weapon, O warrior of Yuan! Thy trusty steel,

That flashes lightning, cuts the wind of Spring, I feel. (The Spirit of Zen 95)

Wu-hsüeh Tsu-yüan's poem is reminiscent of a poem by Seng-chao (僧肇 Sõjõ), a disciple of Kumarajiva, the founder of the San-lun (三論 Sanron) Sect of Buddhism. On the verge of death by a vagabond's sword, Seng-chao expressed his feelings in the following verse:

In body there exists no soul.

The mind is not real at all.

Now try on me thy flashing steel,

As if it cuts the wind of Spring, I feel. (file ZenHistory)

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