四相詩
Poems on the Four States
Bu Fu-Ta-shih ［傅大士］ (497–569)
Fu Ta-shih was a householder, whose teachings and actions led him to be revered as an incarnation of the Bodhisattva Maitreya.
Birth
Relying upon the ovum, consciousness arises, birth arises from love and desire.
In a time now past he grew up, today he returns as a child.
The stars follow the cycle of human life, red lips open for milk.
Because we are deluded to our true Dharma nature, we still suffer in the cycle of birth and death.
Old Age
Look into the mirror and see how your face has changed, how climbing the stairs can take your strength.
You let out a sigh: now you are old, going forward to bow, still your body is lacking.
Your body is like a tree grown near a precipice; your mind is like a sea turtle longing for the ocean.
Still indulging in your outflows, yet unwilling to study the unconditioned Dharma.
Sickness
Suddenly you contract a fatal illness, and because of this, become bedridden.
Wife and children are silent and sad, friends dislike being near you.
You suffer—pains in thousands of veins, groaning so that the entire neighborhood hears.
Not knowing the dangers that lurk ahead, you still indulge in desire and anger.
Death
Consciousness bids farewell to life, a wandering spirit enters the gates of death.
Countless numbers have departed—I have not seen a single person return.
The favored horse waits with a shrill neigh in vain, the flowers in the courtyard will no longer be picked.
Hurry and seek the supreme Way and avoid the four sufferings.1
1: Literally “the four mountains,” a reference to the four masses of suffering mentioned in the poem: birth, old age, sickness, and death.
Master Fu Ta Shih (Literally) Bodhisattva Fu, (alias) Shan Hui. From Ch’an and Zen Teaching, Series One by Lu K’uan Yü (Charles Luk), Rider & Co., London, 1960, pp. 143-145. Translated from The Imperial Selection of Ch’an Sayings (Yu Hsuan Yu Lu) [Yuxuan yulu 御選語錄 (Imperial Selections of Recorded Sayings / Emperor’s Selection of Quotations)]
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In