47Zhaozhou's Cypress Tree趙州柏樹
Introduction 示眾
庭前柏樹，竿上風幡。如一華說無邊春，如一滴說大海水。間生古佛，逈出常流，不落言思。若為話會？
The cypress tree in the yard. The flag snapping on the pole. One flower can tell the whole of an endless spring; one drop, the whole of the ocean. Once in a long age an old buddha appears, head and shoulders above the common run, never caught in words or thought. So how do you talk about that?
僧問趙州：「如何是祖師西來意？」州云：「庭前柏樹子。」
A monk asked Zhaozhou, "What is the point of Bodhidharma's coming from the West?"
Zhaozhou said, "The cypress tree out in the yard."
Verse 頌
岸眉橫雪，
河目含秋。
海口鼓浪，
航舌駕流。
撥亂之手，
太平之籌。
老趙州，老趙州，
攪攪叢林卒未休。
徒費工夫也，造車合轍；
本無伎倆也，塞壑填溝。
Snow lies level along his brows,
autumn pools in his eyes.
His mouth, an ocean drumming up waves;
his tongue, a boat astride the current.
A hand that quiets the chaos,
a plan that keeps the peace.
Old Zhaozhou, old Zhaozhou,
forever stirring the monasteries, never letting up.
Wasted labor, and yet the cart he builds fits the ruts.
No tricks up his sleeve, and yet he fills every gully and ditch.