Dew in the moonlight
A river of stars
Snow-covered pines
Clouds hovering on mountain peak
~ Chan Master Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091 - 1157)
The twelfth-century Chan Master Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091 - 1157) is the founder of Silent Illumination meditation school, known as Soto Zen, a non dual, objectless practice. His writings are poetic expressions of meditative concentration and insight, and of the working of awakened mind. Each of the paragraphs encapsulates the whole teaching.
This calligraphy was inspired by my first Silent Illumination retreat with my first Buddhist teacher, Master Sheng Yen, based on the teaching of Hongzhi's poem. During the retreat, a huge snowstorm took over the entire retreat center, covered it with 14 inches pure white snow overnight. I walked out the meditation hall at night after long meditation practice and experienced vividly the landscape of this poem live.
The clouds in the night sky were not hovering on mountain peak, but they were free just as my heart was free, still and present to experience Hongzhi's teaching live.
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