[Poetry Chaikhana] P'ang Yun (Layman P'ang) - When the mind is at peace

May 20, 2009

A poem sent by Ivan Granger

Here's your Daily Poem from the Poetry Chaikhana --

When the mind is at peace

By P'ang Yun (Layman P'ang)(740? - 808)

English version by Stephen Mitchell

When the mind is at peace,the world too is at peace.Nothing real, nothing absent.Not holding on to reality,not getting stuck in the void,you are neither holy nor wise, justan ordinary fellow who has completed his work.

-- from The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, by Stephen Mitchell

Amazon.com / Photo by makani5 /

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Thought for the Day:

If I turn a blind eye to the suffering of another, I automatically bring suffering to myself...and I become a little more blind.

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C Lanzbom

Dreams

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Hi Alan -You know, it feels like one of those odd days -- nothing wrong, just a day of irregular rhythms, strange thoughts, quirky synchronicities. Does it feel that way to you too?Maybe Layman Pang has something to say to us on an odd day...When the mind is at peaceThe world too is at peace.What more is there to add other than to experience it for oneself?Nothing real, nothing absent.Not holding on to reality,not getting stuck in the void...Enlightened awareness is not a game of carefully constructed definitions. It is not a feat of the intellect, which can only separate and categorize perceived reality. Even at its most subtle and incisive, when the intellect tries to separate the real from the non-real, it is setting up a filter upon the awareness.When the mind is truly at peace, not only have thoughts come to a

rest, but more importantly those unconscious mental filters no longer pre-sift the perception of reality. He seems to be describing a trail for us to follow, a path found precisely where reality meets void, and we must gracefully walk between the two.With no clinging to either "reality" or "void," the whole and unfiltered vision comes upon us.Engulfed by this truth, we are not "wise" or "holy" -- those are further categories that others may or may not heap upon you. No, we just ARE. We are not this or that, we are. ...an ordinary fellow who has completed his work.We no longer feel the need to do something to validate our existence; we undeniably are -- and our work is therefore completed.===The Sayings of Layman P'ang is an important Chinese Zen / Chan classic, a collection of short, sometimes enigmatic dialogs and poems from this unusual sage. He is one of the first of the great Chinese

Buddhist masters to reject the life of a monk even after enlightenment, choosing instead to remain a simple "layman." That act opened the way for subsequent generations of non-monastic seekers, and householder sages.Have a beautiful day...Ivan

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Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or publishers.

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