Scaling Yongjia's Green Crag Mountain

Scaling Yongjia's Green Crag Mountain

(An I Ching poem, by Xie Lingyun, 4th century poet)

With provisions packed and a thin staff,
I walked a winding path, and scaled to a hidden place,
I went upstream and went beyond the trail.
I reached the peak, but had not yet found harmony.

The gentle rivulets frosted in winter beauty.
Strong bamboo glistened with frost.
The stream wound along, often losing its direction.
The forest was vast, the mountains deep.

I looked west anticipating the moonrise;
I glanced east, observing the light of sunset.
I walked on until night, having marched from dawn to dusk.
Even the most hidden places have become known to me.

The top line of Gu (#18): serve no king or prince.
The second line of Lu (#10): right pushing brings good luck.
A Hermit will always walk peacefully.
His great Virtue is incomparable.

How far is the distance from "yes" to "no"?
In stillness, I dedicate myself to Union.
As Harmony and Truth combine,
Only then can one begin to Repair.

A Poem From Zhu Xi

It is easy to be young,
but to get to become old-school is hard.

Seeing Time
like one inch of light in the darkness,
impossible to ignore.

By the still pond,
unborn Spring grass dreams;
yet on the front steps
the sound of leaves
fall like rain,
announcing Autumn's coming.


-Zhu Xi (who called himself the "Tea Immortal")

On Contemplating The Illusion of Human Control

Everyone on earth
feels like they don't know what they're doing with their life
feels like they are out of control
feels like they're wearing a mask

That is because it's true.
No one knows what they're doing with their life
no one is in control of their life
everyone is wearing a mask to be able to speak to others

The Enlightened one is not
the guy who knows
the guy who is in control
the guy who has no mask

The Enlightened one is the guy who realizes
there is no way to know what you're doing
you just have to go with it
there is no way to be in control
you just have to jump
there is nothing behind the mask
but if you see this you can wear any mask you like

People grasp at the Tao
like a falling man grasping for a parachute

But the Tao isn't a parachute
It's the sky

The bad news is
you are falling and there is no rescue
you can fight to slow your descent but you can't stop
there is nothing to grab on to.
You can glide a little but you cannot fly.

the good news is
There is no ground.