The Autumn Pond

Text

Autumn water so clear the bottom shows; a white bird lands and does not know its own reflection. The monk on the bank does not move — both bird and water forget they are being seen. When thought does not stir the surface, heaven and earth appear as they are. This is the meditation the patriarchs could not describe: the pond, the bird, and the monk — just as they are.

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Attributed To
  Huyền Quang

Lineage: Trúc Lâm

By Huyền Quang

• The King Tests the Third Patriarchdialogue

Sources

• contentCuong Tu Nguyen — medieval Vietnamese Buddhism scholarship

  Cuong Tu Nguyen

  Huyền Quang Thi Tập (Collected Poems of Huyền Quang); Thiền Uyển Tập Anh, Huyền Quang section; after Cuong Tu Nguyen (1997), pp. 156–175

  Huyen Quang Collected Poems (Huyền Quang Thi Tập): The Autumn Pond