8月18日

文薪偈
明 紫柏真可 ( 1543~1603 )

若微文字薪，觀照火無附；
若微觀照火，身心薪不然。
薪然俄成灰，灰飛身心盡；
湛然實相燈，光明無內外。
自燒復燒人，一燈傳百千；
百千傳無窮，終古常若旦。
十方無夜時，文字薪功德；
是故有智者，即文字得心。
心外了無法，文字心之光；
以光照眼根，無色能待眼。

──選自《紫柏尊者全集》

August 18

The Firewood of Literature
Zibo Zhenke (1543 - 1603, Ming Dynasty)
English translation: Miao Guang

If the firewood of literature are too few,
    the sparks of contemplation cannot ignite.
If the sparks of contemplation are too few,
    the firewood of body and mind cannot ignite.
Once firewood burns and turns to ashes,
    ashes disperse, as does the body and mind.
The lucid light of truth,
    its brightness differs not as inner or outer light;
Passing from the self to others,
    a single lamp spreads into a hundred thousand lights.
For a hundred thousand years, it is passed,
    illuminating eternally like daylight.
A whole world forever without night,
    such are the merits of literature as firewood.
Thus there are the wise,
    who obtain literature as if attaining the mind.
Outside the mind, no dharmas exist,
    literature is the light of the mind.
As light illuminates the faculty of sight,
    no forms will ever cling to the eye.

── from Zibo Zunzhe Quanji (Complete Works by Master Zibo)