|
The
Crazy Guy
•Guru's
Talk•
(By
Living Buddha Lian-Sheng, Sheng-Yen Lu)
(Translated by Cheng Yew Chung.
Edited by TBN)
When I was reading Venerable
Master Xu Yun's (Empty Cloud) biography, I came across one of
his poems:
Why should this crazy guy
Try so hard to teach the dharma
When the way of dharma in this
world is on the wane—
(sigh) The sacred link held only
by a strand of hair, indeed at a crisis point?
My dedicated task should be the
concern for others
I try to climb the highest peak,
[from there] to plumb the depths to catch the carp,
I try to dive to the ocean bottom
to make a fire to cook the gull
I try so hard, but have no
listeners, no understanding of my teachings
I feel sorry for myself
[Then] Laughing loudly, breaking
through the silent sky, at all who scold me
Their grumblings endless like an
endlessly weaving loom
Why not let everything go?
[Because] The people’s
suffering never ends.
When I read this poem, my heart
was touched. The two words “crazy guy” left me sighing for
awhile.
I recalled two incidents
experienced by Master Xu Yun which left an impact on me.
Xu Yun wanted a monastery built,
and midway through the construction, the temple was destroyed
in a battle. He rebuilt it, and again it was destroyed in a
bombing. Again he rebuilt the monastery. Someone advised him
to wait until the war was over before he started construction
again. Xu Yun replied, "Building a monastery is my
business, and bombing it is someone else's business. I only
mind my own business."
Another incident involved one of
Xu Yun's disciples who had once been ordained as a monk. He
went up the mountain looking for Master Xu Yun and beat the
old monk senseless, leaving him for dead.
Master Xu Yun was almost beaten
to death by this disciple and his accomplice. Xu Yun recalled
later that while he was lying unconscious, he ascended in
spirit to the Tusita Heaven and met Maitreya.
Through these two little
incidents and his poem, I thought of myself and felt that I,
being a crazy guy [also], am much too fortunate and blessed.
Just look at Master Xu Yun's life and you will know that he is
the true crazy guy.
I shall pen a verse in praise of
Xu Yun:
It takes many rounds of
refining before the finest steel is formed.
Throughout the ages, crazy guys
like he who liberates sentient beings share similar traits.
Unorthodox, he must go through
the tests and trials that await him,
Just to fulfill the mission of
propagating the Buddha Dharma throughout the Ten Directions.
--->回目錄
| 
