Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Layman P'ang: "When the Mind Is at Peace"













When the mind is at peace,
the world too is at peace.
Nothing real, nothing absent.
Not holding on to reality,
not getting stuck in the void,
you are neither holy nor wise, just
an ordinary fellow who has completed his work.



"When the Mind Is at Peace" by Layman P'ang, from The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry, edited by Stephen Mitchell. Translated from the Chinese by Stephen Mitchell. © HarperCollins, 2001.

Image credit: "Peace Among Chaos," acrylic on canvas, by Bonnie Peacher (originally color).


 

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