Moments:
Winter Sunlight

One day while taking a break to sweep the path, at the moment a pebble shot up and knocked against a bamboo, the great matter suddenly became clear. Then he [Xiangyan] composed a verse saying

With one blow, subject and object vanish.
I no longer practice to solve things on my own.
In all my activities I celebrate the ancient path,
And do not fall into passivity.

方丈に「慈」の大軸や冬日射

ほうじょうに「じ」のおおじくやふゆひざし

hōjō ni “ji” no ōjiku ya fuyu hizashi

In the abbot’s quarters
“compassion” on a large scroll—
winter sunlight

Two monks were washing their bowls in the river when they noticed a scorpion that was drowning. One monk immediately scooped it up and set it upon the bank. In the process, he was stung. He went back to washing his bowl and again the scorpion fell in. The monk saved the scorpion and was again stung. The other monk asked him, ‘Friend, why do you continue to save the scorpion when you know its nature is to sting?’ ‘Because,’ the monk replied, ‘to save it is my nature.’

Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings