Visiting Master Chao's Court at Dawn to Read the Zen Sutras
English translation and interpretation are being reviewed.
清心拂尘服。
闲持贝叶书，
步出东斋读。
真源了无取，
妄迹世所逐。
遗言冀可冥，
缮性何由熟。
道人庭宇静，
苔色连深竹。
日出雾露馀，
青松如膏沐。
澹然离言说，
悟悦心自足。
English translation
I draw well water and rinse my cold teeth, purify my heart and brush my dusty robe.
At ease I take up the palm-leaf scripture, and walk out of the east study to read.
The true source—nothing can be taken from it, false traces are what the world pursues.
I hope the words left behind may be fathomed, yet how is the nature to be made mature?
The man of the Way's courtyard is still, the moss's color joins the deep bamboo.
The sun rises, the mist and dew remain, the green pines as if anointed.
Tranquil, beyond all speech, I wake to a joy the heart finds sufficient.
Meaning
I draw cool well water to rinse my mouth, and with a cleansed heart brush the dust from my clothes.
Leisurely I take up the pattra-leaf scripture of the Buddha's teaching and stroll out beyond the east study, chanting as I read.
The true meaning of the sutras the world does not grasp, yet men run after wild and foolish things.
The subtle truths of the Buddha and of Confucius may in the end agree; but how am I to perfect myself in cultivating my nature?
How quiet and secluded is this cloister court, where fresh green moss runs deep into the bamboo grove.
The sun comes out and shines upon the lingering dew of the morning mist; the dark green pines look as if freshly washed and anointed.
The stillness fills me with a calm too deep for words; apprehending the truth of the Buddha, my heart is glad and satisfied.
Background
Read the background
This poem was written during the poet's exile at Yongzhou, around 806 (the first year of the Yuanhe era). At the time Liu Zongyuan was lodging at Longxing Temple in Yongzhou. The temple stood south of the city, and its abbot was Chongxun, who sat in meditation in the Pure Land Hall of the temple, adjoining Liu Zongyuan's quarters in the western wing. At Yongzhou, Liu Zongyuan turned to Buddhism and sought its Way, chiefly taking Chongxun as his teacher, either asking him to expound the "Buddhist Way" or going to the Pure Land Hall to read the scriptures.