Ten Verses of Unfathomable Depth

TEN VERSES OF UNFATHOMABLE DEPTH

1. The Mind Seal

I ask you, “What does the Mind Seal look like?”
And “What sort of person dares to transmit it?”
Throughout the ages, it has remained firm and unshaken.
As soon as you call something the Mind Seal, it is already meaningless.
You must know that in essence all things originate from infinite emptiness.
You can compare it to a lotus flower in a red-hot kiln.
Don’t say that a free and empty mind is the Way;
A free and empty mind is still separated from it by a great barrier.


2. The Mind of the Enlightened Ones

This mind is like emptiness, but it isn’t empty.
How could the unfathomable function ever degenerate to being the result of achievement?
The bodhisattvas at the three stages of wisdom have still not clarified this.
And how can the higher ranks of bodhisattvas ever reach it?
The golden carp that has passed through the net remains trapped in the water.
But the stone horse still on the way leaves its sand cage suddenly.
Why have the meaning of Bodhidharma coming from the West explained in every detail?
Don’t ask about the coming from the West, nor about the East.


3. The Unfathomable Function

You cannot rely on looking far ahead to the end of the universe.
And why would you tie yourself down to tainted worldliness?
Essentially, the miraculous body is not bound anywhere.
It is already throughout the whole body, so what other traces could there be?
A single efficacious word transcends the multitudes.
It is far beyond the Three Vehicles and does not require cultivation.
Shake off your hands and get away from the sages of all ages.
Then your path of return will resemble an ox in the midst of fire.


4. The Transcendent within Dust and Dirt

That which is impure is impure by itself; that which is pure is pure by itself.
Highest wisdom and delusion are likewise empty and even.
Who could say that nobody can appreciate Bianhe’s jade?
I say that the jewel of the black dragon shines everywhere.
Only when the myriad dharmas disappear does the whole thing appear.
The Three Vehicles split up and assumed only provisional names.
Truly outstanding people have determination that knows no bounds.
Do not try to go where the buddhas have already gone.


5. The Buddhist Teaching

The Three Vehicles spoke golden words one after another.
But the buddhas of the past, present, and future only declared the same thing.
In the beginning, when they expounded the reality of skandhas and
then complete emptiness, everyone grew attached to it.
Later, when they negated both reality and emptiness, everyone discarded it again.
The complete treasury of sutras in the Dragon Palace is meant to be prescriptions.
Even the Buddha’s last teaching does not reach the unfathomable.
If even one deluded thought arises in the world of true purity,
This already means spending eight thousand years in the world of human beings.


6. The Song of Returning Home

Don’t be distracted by the King of Emptiness when you are still on the Way.
You must drive your staff forward, moving on until you reach home.
If you travel for a long time like clouds and water, don’t get attached to it.
Even in the deep recesses of snowy mountains, don’t forget your mission.
Ah! I regretted that in past days my face was like jade.
And I lamented that at the time of my return my hair had turned white.
Returning to my old home with dangling arms, there was no one who recognized me.
Also, I had nothing to offer my parents.


7. The Song of Not Returning Home

Having the intention of going to the source, of returning to the origin, is already a mistake.
Essentially, there is nowhere to settle down, no place to call one’s home.
The ancient path through the pines is covered with deep snow.
The long range of mountain peaks is furthermore blocked by clouds.
When host and guest are tranquil and serene, everything is incongruous.
When lord and vassal are united, there is wrong in the midst of right.
How will you sing the song of returning home?
In bright moonlight, the dead tree is blooming in front of the hall.


8. The Revolving Function

It is still dangerous even inside the castle of nirvana.
Strangers come across each other without appointment.
People call someone who provisionally puts on a dirty robe “a buddha.”
But if someone wears precious clothes, what should you call him?
In the middle of the night, the wooden man puts on shoes and leaves.
At dawn, the stone woman puts on a hat and goes home.
An ancient emerald pool, the moon in the empty sky.
Screening and filtering over and over to catch the moon, for the first
time you will really know.


9. Changing Ranks

Growing hair and horns, you enter town,
Resembling a blue lotus flower blooming in the midst of fire.
All afflictions become like rain and dew in the vast sea.
All ignorance becomes like clouds and thunder on a mountain.
You completely blow out the furnace below the cauldron of hell,
Smashing to pieces a forest of swords and a mountain of daggers with a single shout.
Even golden chains cannot hold you back at the entrance.
Going into the realm of other beings, you transmigrate for a while.


10. Before the Rank of the Absolute

In front of many dead trees and steep boulders, there are many wrong tracks heading off course.
Those travelers who have reached this place all trip and stumble.
A crane stands in the snow but does not have the same color.
The bright moon and the flower of reeds do not really resemble each other.
“I’m finished, I’m finished, I’m finished!” When you think so, you cannot really be finished.
If you say, “This is it! This is the ultimate source!” you also need a good shout.
From the bottom of your heart, you play a melody on the harp with no strings.
How would it be possible to grasp the moonlight shining in the empty sky?


-- Sekkei Harada tr.