December 08, 2024

Stonehouse ~ Master Shiwu 石屋 ~ Nothing to Do or Change ~ Zen Buddhism (Chan)

15 minutes

A selection of poems read from the text, "The Mountain Poems of Stonehouse" - translated by Red Pine (Bill Porter)

The Zen master, Shiwu 石屋, or Stonehouse (1272–1352) was a Chinese Chan poet and hermit monk who lived during the Yuan Dynasty. He was considered one of the greatest Chinese Buddhist poets and used poetry as his medium of instruction for Dharma.

In 1312 at the age of forty he moved to Xiamu Mountain near Huzhou to live as a hermit and it is here that he composed his "Mountain Poems" (Shan-shih), one-hundred and eighty-four verses expounding Dharma and the facets of living in the mountains.

Near the end of his life, monks asked him to record what he found of interest on his mountain; Stonehouse delivered to them hundreds of poems and an admonition: "Do not try singing these poems. Only if you sit on them will they do you any good."

The text can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Mountain-Po...

Music: Time for Peace - Bridge - Stillness and Voices of the Land

www.timeforpeace.bandcamp.com.

With deepest thanks to Swami Madhuram Puri for his kind offering of this exquisite music for this channel.

Art/image: Anna Vladi

🙏 May whatever goodness arises from these readings/offerings be for the benefit of all sentient beings.

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