User Comments - chinatu

Posted on: Seeing off a Monk, Returning to Japan -- 送僧归日本

 Thanks, i just provided my personal understanding of the Tang poem. If we strive hard to dig it in depth, we can feel the tiny subtle meaning of it. There is no single word like Return (返回) （the possible criticism may be “去”，去 actually means ‘go back”, but it did not mention “go back to Japan” , it was “去世” which means “to transcend the secular world “ ） sometimes we can see the author even used “来途” in the second line. But we all know this is a “seeing off” poem, why did not  the author put it directly?   No, the Tang poets would never do so.

And maybe we should bear it in mind that this also a Buddhist poem, and in the Buddhist tradition time is deemed as circular not linear. So should we people in modern time make a clear distinction between the “Come” and “Return”, maybe, yes,  we need it in order to understand the poem with a modern mind and interpret it in the context of the ancient time.

The author of the poem disguised the distinction between “come” and “Return” to a large extent. Maybe not only because it was a High-context culture ( compared with the Low-context culture in the West, this is vital to understand this poem) and people prefer not to express their initial idea in a straightforward way (which is considered as “reckless” or “illiterate” ) especial in the artistic world. But also, it is because the very deep abstruse meaning of the Buddhism. For a real Buddhist, the distinction is of no importance, there is no distinction between “come” and ‘return”.  How can a religious Buddhist discern the way to the Heaven and the way home?  Who by the sea shore saw the distant land-China and who by the other side saw the remote land-Japan? Life has already been a circle of living and dying, let alone the “come’ and “return”. With a Buddhist spirit in our heart, they are all integrated as one (including the physical and spiritual journey) on the way to Buddha and Buddha is anywhere if there is a real Buddhist.

I did not read the poem with a reasonable mind, instead, with an artistic emotional one , maybe neither did the Ancient Chinese readers!

more discussion, welcome to  tuwingking@gmail.com

Wingking   chinatu.blogspot.com 

Posted on: Seeing off a Monk, Returning to Japan -- 送僧归日本

上国随缘住，来途若梦行。

浮天沧海远，去世法舟轻。

水月通禅观，鱼龙听梵声。

韵译：
只要有机缘，随时都可以到中国来；一路雾霭茫茫，船只象在梦中航行。
天海浮沉，小船驶去那遥远的边际；超脱世俗，自然会感受到法舟轻盈。
心境凝定清寂，一切都如水月虚幻；海内鱼龙，也会出来听你诵经之声。
最可爱的是，有盏照亮心田的佛灯；航行万里，眼中永远都是灿烂光明。

bababardwan said What I'm not entirely clear about is the second line and the first half of the 3rd line;whether they are referring to his initial journey to China,or to his return home,and how this is made evident in the poem.Can anyone clarify this?