Zen Delight: Three Flavors of Zen Poetry

Author: Liang Shenwei
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The translation of Zen into "samatha" refers to settling the mind, calming thoughts, and achieving tranquility. Although Zen schools are diverse, with five houses and seven sects, transcending ordinary beings and sages, and although Zen styles are ever-changing, carrying forward traditions while embracing innovation, they all follow a single lineage. Amidst the rising tide of Zen culture, we have compiled this "Threefold Delight in Zen Series," comprising "The True Charm of Zen Verses," "The Wondrous Charm of Zen Poetry," and "The Exquisite Charm of Zen Lyrics." Together with our readers, we aim to contemplate Zen principles, observe the world, explore Zen wisdom, and savor life. Verses, poems, and lyrics resonate with Zen, offering a rich yet ethereal, passionate yet serene, transcendent yet luminous, and profound yet rational experience. They possess highly penetrating life content and a vast cultural foundation. Reading them is like sweet dew nourishing the heart, and appreciating them is akin to nectar enlightening the mind. They will guide readers to wholeheartedly engage with life, fulfilling the legacy of human nature's brilliance, forgetting the troubles of fame and fortune, avoiding the disputes of ignorance and delusion, shedding the bonds of favor and disgrace, and not sinking passively in the whirlpool of material desires. Instead, they will inspire readers to progress along the path of releasing conceptual attachments. The verses, poems, and lyrics selected in this series are not for interpreting Buddhist principles or doctrines, but for cultivating the self and nurturing the mind. We hope these works can bring readers spiritual insights, the purity of Bodhi, the perspective of Prajna, and spiritual elevation. If one can understand the mind through Zen, preserve truth through verses, see nature through poetry, and infuse spirit through lyrics, it would be as if "sitting in meditation amidst heaven and earth" or "observing this to open the Zen gate." The compilers' wish would be fulfilled, much like "the autumn moon is both void and bright," and even more so, "the Zen mind is also pure and clear."