花甲年華惜光陰,餘暇恐少不亂花; 跋 年過五十,心境轉變。年近花甲,知時無多。真純佛事,一心專注。其餘攀緣,能省即省。 二○○六年三月十三日 ----- Original Message ----- As requested by some disciples, two poems are written in calligraphy. May all beings attain Enlightenment soon! Yutang For Chinese readers: The title of this poem is kind of interesting because usually people use the term 花樣年華, flower-like age, to describe youthfulness, and here with just one word changed it conveys a rather different sentiment. The second phrase 餘暇恐少不亂花 ends with the word Hua, which has
the usual meaning of flower, but here as a verb, it means to spend.
So the first phrase begins and the second phrase ends with the same
character. The last phrase is read as 但望 啟蒙 日漸增 means Only hope that
enlightenment activities will increase daily. Nevertheless, if one
reads it as 但望 啟蒙日 漸增, it then means Only wish that days of
enlightenment activities will gradually increase. Thus it also
contains a wish for longer life of Dharma activities. I comprehended
this second reading only after I had done it and sent it out to all
of you. The possibility of two readings is a subtle character found Flower-First Age Yutang Lin At Flower-First age one treasures time on one's hand. Comments: The Chinese count the nine months in the womb as the first year of one's age. Consequently, at age 59 as westerners count it, one is considered 60 years old. For this age 60, the Chinese have a special name Hua Jia, that means a full cycle of the Chinese way of naming years, and I translated it literally as Flower-First. Passing age 50 the state of mind made some turns. As one's age approaches Flower-First, one realizes that the remaining time is scarce. To pure and genuine Dharma activities I devote myself wholeheartedly. As to other engagements I decline as much as I can. Written in Chinese and translated on March 13, 2006 [Home][Back to list][Flower-First Age] |
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