Eight Winds


If you would like to have background music while you are reading, please click on the arrow below.

In the Song dynasty, there lived a famous author, inventor, and statesman, Su Tung-Po (Su Shi). He was respected for his essays and calligraphy art and was good friends with a monk. They often gathered to discuss Buddhist works, as Su respected the monk’s opinion. One day, Su wrote what he thought was an excellent poem. Proud of himself, he sent a messenger to the monk’s temple and asked for comments on the poem. It read, “I bow to the greatest Buddha and receive the baptism of this light. I am as peaceful as Buddha on the lotus flower – so calm and so steady. Nothing can move me at all, not even the eight winds.”

Su Tung-Po (Su Shi)lilliputreview.blogspot.com

There are “eight winds” in Buddhism: prosperity, decline, disgrace, honor, praise, censure, suffering, and pleasure. Su thought his poem stated that he was immune to the eight winds. In reality, the monk felt he tried to boast of his accomplishments and compare himself to Buddha. After reading the poem, the monk laughed. He wrote to Su the Chinese equivalent of “BS.”

Su thought the monk would praise him for what he wrote. Instead, when he opened his correspondence, he became furious. He made his way over to the temple to yell at the monk. When he went to the Jin San Temple where the monk resided, the door was locked. A piece of paper hung on the door, and it read, “8 winds would not have blown you here. But the BS brought you here.”

Su Tung-Po suddenly realized this, and he was very embarrassed!

Jin San Temple news.takungpao.com.hk
It is easy to think that we have already achieved understanding, as Su Shi believed. However, had he attained it, he would not have been swayed to express his grievances with the monk.

宋代文人苏东坡,才华洋溢,堪称文坛上的奇葩,他有一个相知甚笃的方外之交“佛印禅师”,平时二人在佛学、文学上总不忘相互切磋。

有一天,苏写了他认为是一首出色的诗。他为自己感到骄傲,派一个使者到和尚的庙宇里,要求对这首诗发表评论。上面写着:
“稽首天中天,毫光照大千,八风吹不动,端坐紫金莲。”

佛教有“八风”:繁荣,衰落,耻辱,荣誉,称赞,谴责,痛苦和享乐。苏认为他的诗说他不受八风的影响。实际上,佛印禅师觉得他试图夸耀自己的成就并将自己与佛陀相提并论。看完这首诗,佛印笑了。他顺手拈来一枝红笔,即在苏东坡的诗上写了两个斗大的字:“放屁”再交给书童带回。

苏东坡本料想佛印会给他诸多的赞美,怎之一看回信中竟是斗大的两个红字“放屁”,不由得火冒三丈,立刻过江与他理论。当他去佛印居住的金三庙时,谁知早已大门深锁,只在门板上贴了一付对联,上面写着:
“八风吹不动,一屁打过江。”
东坡到此才恍然大悟,惭愧不已!

Previous Countdown
Next How 1 Waiter Stepped In to Soothe a Crying Baby — and Her Sleep-Deprived Mom

MENU

Back
Show Buttons
Hide Buttons