WATERSHED By Shih Ru Bin 释如斌《分水岭》

WATERSHED
By Shih Ru Bin
Translated by "Laoha" Mario Li

1.

You talked about things up north in your letter.
What you were thinking of, in a snowy morning,
Was the warmth of the ocean water down south.
What’s the difference between traveling and wandering,
I don’t know .
The only thing I understand is, in an imperfect world,
There has to be some kind of desire to be perfect,
Even it’s just a little bit.

2.

What should I tell you about the way how I feel
When I wanted a candy cane for the very first time.
It’s the same as I don’t know how to describe the grace
With which crane flowers and club fruits
Quietly stay in front of Buddha‘s shrine.
Is it a chance for one to be enlightened, or
It’s the life’s unbearable weight for someone else?
At the end of the year, why don’t we just put aside
All the troubles of the world, and tie bliss into a knot
Together with greeting cards and the bell, brew a pot of tea,
Then just talk the night away. About romance. About fantasy.
About the Buddha in a dream. About the moon in water.

3.

How should it be described any way?
“The heart is an unlimited storage
Taking in all the wonders of the world.”
Bodhisattva is not saying a word.
The reflection of a childhood’s dream
Is after all still a dream.
More and more days are gone.
Are you still wandering between dream and reality?
Still staying on the watershed dividing being awake
And being lost? Hesitating? Watching? While
The new calendar is being filled with another life‘s journey.

*Shih Ru Bin, a Buddhist poetess, pen name "zenyueh", born in 1964, curently living in a convent in Taiwan.

释如斌 《分水岭》

（一）

来信告诉我有关北国的种种
在细雪纷飞的清晨　却眷恋著
南方温暖的海洋
云游和流浪的分野我不懂
只知道
不圆满的世间　总得要有
一丁点求全的心
即使是少分

（二）

该如何向你描述想要一根拐杖糖的心情
犹如不知怎么去形容那鹤蕉和唐棉
端丽且安静地供在佛前
是自性光华再现的契机
或为另一个生命中不可承受之重？
岁末年终　我们
何妨抛开所有人世间的牵缠
将钟声、贺卡、祝福联结
然后泡盏清茗
好好聊他一整夜所谓的
浪漫　荒谬
乃至梦中佛事　水月道场

（三）

到底该如何描述呢？
「心是无尽藏，世间妙宝皆吸纳其中」
菩萨低眉默然
原来
童年梦想的投射
犹是梦呵！
日子渐行渐远
你是否还在梦与现实中徘徊
是否还在觉与迷的分水岭上
蹉跎　观望
新版日历承载著另一个人生旅程

*释如斌，佛门女诗人，笔名“禅岳”，生于1964年，在台湾出家为尼。