Poems from Chinese Buddhis Nuns

Here is a nice book: Daughters of Emptiness--Poems of Chinese Buddhist Nuns, by Beata Grant. It has brief biography from these (often little known) nuns, many having achieved enlightenment or some sort of prominence in their times. The book contains the original Chinese poems as well.

I selected some of the poems below. Suffering from occupational addiction, I had to re-translate some of them, mosly on the airplane between Seattle and San Jose.

Don’t you know that afflictions are wisdom itself
But to cling to afflictions is foolishness
You must recognize when afflictions arise and when they cease
Yet the hawk flies through Silla without anyone noticing
--Bhiksuni (Buddhist nun) Benming

不識煩惱是菩提
若隨煩惱是愚癡
起滅之時須要會
鷂過新羅人不知
--本明尼

The nun Benming lived in the 12th century. Not much was known about her, but her poems impressed several important Chan Masters.

I suddenly find myself upside down on level ground
Picking myself up, I find there is nothing to say!
Should someone ask me what this is all about
Smiling, I’d point to the gentle breeze and the bright moon.
--Bhiksuni Zhenru

平地偶然著顛
起來都無可說
若人更問如何
笑指清風明月
--真如尼

As a young girl, because of her talents, Zhenru was inducted into the inner palace as an attendant to an imperial concubine. The lady was a Buddhist, and gave permission when Zhenru expressed her desire to become a nun. Her poems are highly regarded by the great master Dahui Zonggao.

A Self-Description

I try to characterize myself, but I cannot
I try to make a self-portrait, but failed!
There is such a thing as original face
But how can I show it to anyone!
Alive, lively, unborn
The nostrils still hang over the upper lip.
--Bhiksuni DeYing

自贊
自贊贊不出
自畫畫不成
有箇本來相
如何呈似人
活潑潑 本無生
鼻孔依然搭上唇
--德英

Buddhist nun DeYing came from an elite family; she was also a descendant of an eminent scholar that edited the famous Chan genealogy book Jinde Chuan Deng Lu (Transmission of the Lamp). She became a Dharma heir and taught in many monasteries.

Is she a woman or a man, in reality?
When Guanyin manifests—which is the real person?
Peeling away the skin, down to the bare core prior to any function
I ask you: is this the body of a man or a woman?
--Bhiksuni One-Eyed Vajra

男女何須辨假真
觀音出現果何人
皮囊脫盡渾無用
試問男身是女身
--獨目金鋼

This nun lost eyesight in one eye from studying the Diamond Sutra too intently. She lived a simply lifestyle and gave away everything she owned. When she lectured monks, nuns, and laipeople came to listen, and she converted many to Buddhism.

The vast expanse of dust-world is essentially one-suchness
Whether vertical or horizontal, everything bears the seal of Vairochana
Although the entire wave is made of water, wave is not water;
Although all the water may turn into waves, water is not wave.
--Bhiksuni Zhitong

浩浩塵中體一如
縱極交互印毘盧
全波是水波非水 全水是波水自殊
--智通尼

On this frosty day, clouds and mist congeal,
On the mountain moon, the icy chill glows.
At night I receive a letter from my home,
At dawn I move on without anyone knowing.
--Bhiksuni Fahai

霜天雲霧結
山月冷涵輝
夜接故鄉信
曉行人不知
–法海尼

In the shade of two trees and the hanging green of the cliffs
A light from the ancient lamp shutteres the dark barriers
I too now realize that phenomena are like illusions
And happily grow old among the mist, the rivers, and the stones.
--Bhiksuni Miaozhan

雙樹陰陰落翠岩
一燈千古破幽關
也知諸法皆如幻
甘老煙霞水石間
–妙湛