Yuan Mei: Mad Words
Photo: Taoist priests in front of temple on "Sun Mountain", Changde, Hunan, China; 1900-1919.
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To learn to be without desire you must desire that.
Better to do as you please:
sing idleness.
Floating clouds, and water idly running --
Where's their source?
In all the vastness of the sea and sky,
you'll never find it.
(Yuan Mei)
To learn to be without desire you must desire that.
Better to do as you please:
sing idleness.
Floating clouds, and water idly running --
Where's their source?
In all the vastness of the sea and sky,
you'll never find it.
(Yuan Mei)
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Source and Recommended Reading:
'A Drifting Boat: Chinese Zen Poetry'
By J.P. Seaton (Editor), Dennis Maloney (Editor)
Purchase Book:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Description:
This anthology gathers together over 1500 years of Chinese Zen (Ch'an) poetry from the earliest writing, including the Hsin Hsin Ming written by the 3rd Patriarch, to the poetry of monks in this century. Poets include Wang Wei, Li Po, Tu Fu, Yuan Mei, the crazy hermits Han-shan and Shih-te, as well as many anonymous monks and hermits.
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