Calligraphy by famous abbots of temples in Japan 1-7

noba · 14 Jul 2015

I received a beautiful calendar from Japan with 14 sayings. I enclose the first 7. Please help translate.

Majestic · 18 Jul 2015

The second one is hakuba roka ni iru. 白馬入蘆花. Its a zen phrase. Perhaps the others are similarly zen-related.

"A white horse enters a tail flower field (hakuba roka ni iru). From a distance the two are indistinguishable, yet the white horse remains the white horse, the tail flower, tail flower--an illustration of the Zen paradox of not one, not two.
Tradition of Tea: Contact
(midway down the page in the section on "susuki")

Majestic · 18 Jul 2015

All of these seem to be zen phrases - I have found some of them on a site called "Zen Words from the Tea Ceremony". Others are too stylized for me to pick out. Alas, there is no handy English reference to describe the meanings of these rather cryptic phrases. I might give it a go later on today. In the meantime...

5. 一剣天倚寒
Ikkenten ni yotte samushi

6. 春来草自生
Haru kitarite kusa onozukara shouzu

7. 緑水青山
ryokusui seisan

(from the site 茶席の禅語選

noba · 19 Jul 2015

Majestic said:
The second one is hakuba roka ni iru. 白馬入蘆花. Its a zen phrase. Perhaps the others are similarly zen-related.

"A white horse enters a tail flower field (hakuba roka ni iru). From a distance the two are indistinguishable, yet the white horse remains the white horse, the tail flower, tail flower--an illustration of the Zen paradox of not one, not two.
Tradition of Tea: Contact
(midway down the page in the section on "susuki")

Thank you for your help. I also appreciate all the information on your reference site.

Re: scroll #1, I understand in Chinese the characters are Tranquility / Calmness + View = Contemplation when together. Could you type the characters and give me the romaji for that?

Toritoribe · 20 Jul 2015

It's 静観[seikan].

noba · 20 Jul 2015

Majestic said:
All of these seem to be zen phrases - I have found some of them on a site called "Zen Words from the Tea Ceremony". Others are too stylized for me to pick out. Alas, there is no handy English reference to describe the meanings of these rather cryptic phrases. I might give it a go later on today. In the meantime...

5. 一剣天倚寒
Ikkenten ni yotte samushi

6. 春来草自生
Haru kitarite kusa onozukara shouzu

7. 緑水青山
ryokusui seisan

(from the site 茶席の禅語選

A Thousand Thanks! Inspired by your characters and romaji, I found a resource where I could search by romaji, confirm by kanji and get an english translation by using their number cross index.
http://terebess.hu/zen/ZenForest.pdf

If you have any further thoughts on these, please comment.

A Question and Notes Regarding:
#4 ？I only found one saying about a lone fisherman. Could the scroll be a portion of this saying?
Koshu saryu no o; Hitori tsuru, kanko no yuki.
A grass-coat-clad old man on a solitary boat
Fishing alone in the snowy river.
#315
http://terebess.hu/zen/ZenForest.pdf

#5 note 一剣天倚寒 = Ikkenten ni yotte samushi
(from Ryoto tomo ni setsudan shite, ikken ten ni yotte susamaji)
Having cut off the two heads, yes and no, the sword soars alone into the sky
#1206
http://terebess.hu/zen/ZenForest.pdf

#6 note 春来草自生 = Haru kitarite kusa onozukara shouzu
Spring comes, grass grows.
# 550
http://terebess.hu/zen/ZenForest.pdf

#7 note 緑水青山 = ryokusui seisan
Suhen no hakuun koji o kome; Ichijo no ryokusui seizan o meguru.
Several dots
of white cloud
wrap the old temple; A stream
of green water surrounds the blue mountain.
#640
http://terebess.hu/zen/ZenForest.pdf

Majestic · 20 Jul 2015

noba said:
I only found one saying about a lone fisherman. Could the scroll be a portion of this saying?

Yes! You got it. But a very unique stylization of this poem. The long version is here Liu Zongyuan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia . Seems the Japanese zen version in your series is truncated to 雪江獨釣.

Toritoribe · 20 Jul 2015

#4 would be 寒江獨釣 "Fishing alone in the cold river", not 雪江獨釣.

noba · 20 Jul 2015

Toritoribe said:
It's 静観[seikan].

Great! Thank you!

noba · 20 Jul 2015

Toritoribe said:
#4 would be 寒江獨釣 "Fishing alone in the cold river", not 雪江獨釣.

Thanks again!

noba · 20 Jul 2015

Would you like to take a stab at scroll #3?

Majestic · 20 Jul 2015

A stab at the meanings (although I can't figure out 4...)

#4. This one eludes me. It's a poem specific to a person (柳宗元) and location (永州), and refers to the loneliness of his banishment there, but I can't grasp the deeper zen meaning.
漢詩について。江雪柳宗元の漢詩なんですが。山という山はすべて、鳥の飛... - Yahoo!知恵袋
柳宗元『江雪』書き下し文と現代語訳（口語訳）/解説 / 漢文 by 走るメロス |マナペディア|

#5. I like this explanation
質問させて下さい☆｢両頭截断すれば一剣天によって寒し｣の詳し... - Yahoo!知恵袋
Coming to a fork in a road in which either path may lead to life/death or good/evil, and you do not know which road will lead where, the right choice is to choose neither (cut off both choices), and follow your heart/soul/conscience. Very zen. I like it.

#6. http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/s.kubota/zengo/sub5.htm
This one doesn't do much for me. Just as the Spring brings grass, and Autumn brings colored, falling leaves, the teachings of the buddha come to us in the course of our lives. We need not search far or long for them, or search for hidden meanings.

#7. 五文字 (17) : 書作品と漢語集
茶道｜茶席の禅語
A bit elusive, this one. Something about how the clear water reflecting the trees is one with the mountains, just as the natural heart/soul of a person is one with buddhism.

noba · 21 Jul 2015

Majestic said:
A stab at the meanings (although I can't figure out 4...)

#4. This one eludes me. It's a poem specific to a person (柳宗元) and location (永州), and refers to the loneliness of his banishment there, but I can't grasp the deeper zen meaning.
漢詩について。江雪柳宗元の漢詩なんですが。山という山はすべて、鳥の飛... - Yahoo!知恵袋
 柳宗元『江雪』書き下し文と現代語訳（口語訳）/解説 / 漢文 by 走るメロス |マナペディア|

#5. I like this explanation
質問させて下さい☆｢両頭截断すれば一剣天によって寒し｣の詳し... - Yahoo!知恵袋
Coming to a fork in a road in which either path may lead to life/death or good/evil, and you do not know which road will lead where, the right choice is to choose neither (cut off both choices), and follow your heart/soul/conscience. Very zen. I like it.

#6. http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/s.kubota/zengo/sub5.htm
This one doesn't do much for me. Just as the Spring brings grass, and Autumn brings colored, falling leaves, the teachings of the buddha come to us in the course of our lives. We need not search far or long for them, or search for hidden meanings.

#7. 五文字 (17) : 書作品と漢語集
 茶道｜茶席の禅語
A bit elusive, this one. Something about how the clear water reflecting the trees is one with the mountains, just as the natural heart/soul of a person is one with buddhism.

Thank you, These will certainly be something to meditate on.

Calligraphy by famous abbots of temples in Japan 1-7

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