Solitude is Wondrous
(To the tune “Cutting Magnolia Flowers”)
To live above, in solitude, is wondrous.
Ten thousand laws, each empty-hearted, stand upraised.
Borderless, boundless.
A piece of radiant, far-off sky.
One’s body, luminous and clean.
Without letting go, a star is concealed by dust as the landing of a fly.
Interior and exterior, utterly integrated.
An upright life in emptiness within the boundaries of the Law.
减字木兰花·忘机索妙
刘志渊
忘机索妙。万法皆空心上了。
无徼无边。一片清光万里天。
明明净体。不放星尘蝇点翳。
内外圆融。正住空空法界中。
Notes
Why I started translating this poem: awhile back, CQL blogger hunxi-guilai wrote an exploratory post partially about the meaning of the character Xiao Xingchen’s name (晓星尘), in which this poem came up as a possible source/allusion. (Along with my beloved Li Shangyin’s “Chang E”.)
(We did end up using this poem to generate a thematically matching, Buddhist-flavoured moniker for an original character to be Xiao Xingchen’s senior martial sister: Zhengkong (正空).)