Monday, April 23, 2012

"Singing Madly in Vine Clothing"

Mugwart springs up together on hillsides and in the wasteland.
The families of orchids grow thickly on the south side of mountains.
The sun progresses like the journey of a flying arrow.
In the cycle of the four seasons, people go to death.
The leaves of the willow open in Spring rain.
The flower of the chrysanthemum withers in the autumn frost.
Autumn cicada cry in the fields.
Crickets sadly chirps behind a curtain.
Pine and cypress break on south passes (i.e., between peaks).
In northern cemeteries white aspen are scattered.
People are born and die in solitude .
(Like) lightening is this impermanence (mujō).
Wild geese and swallows alternately come and go.
The red peach formerly dropped the fragrance of the red flower.
The beautiful is robbed by the enemy named time.
Gray hair is not a lucky omen.
People of the past are not seen today.
People of today, why grasp for longevity?
Heat avoids the blowing wind over rocks.
Coolness follows the mist of the waterfall.
Singing madly in vine clothing
In a house of rocks and pine, drinking (wine) and chanting (verse). [11]
If thirsty one drinks ravine water.
If hungry one eats the food of hazy mist.
White Okera (白朮, a medicinal plant for longevity) conditions the heart and stomach.
Yellow Spirit (黄精, a medicinal plant for longevity) fills up the bones and flesh.
The colorful rainbow shines on the mountain.

-KUKAI/KOBO DAISHI

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