The Zen Works of Stonehouse
Shiwu, the 14th century Chinese hermit monk, created an extraordinary canon of poetry that has rarely been seen in English. Red Pine’s new translation of the poetry insists on referring to the monk by the English name Stonehouse, but that is the only flaw in this otherwise fascinating presentation of deeply profound meditations on life, death and nature.
Pine’s book offers his personal Buddhist-tinged journey into researching the life of Shiwu/Stonehouse, including his discovery of the monk’s hut, which still survives intact. However, it is the poetry that offers the greatest surprise: its wisdom, dry humor and sense of intellectual serenity suggests a level of awareness that is very much at home with contemporary concerns.
In his isolation in the mountains, Shiwu/Stonehouse was able to become a wise observer of the simplicity of nature and the futility in trying to reshape it to meet human needs. Observations such as "I often see gibbons and cranes in the forest / but hear no news of the world" calls to mind someone who is at peace with the world without being obsessed with its machinations.
The message of the Shiwu/Stonehouse poetry is the challenge of letting go to the materialist trappings of life and becoming a part of the natural ebb and flow of the wider world. One of the most entertaining points raised is this: "A hermit’s hut is empty encircled by bamboo / a merchant’s gate is high with hundred-foot-long walls / in his empty hut a hermit finds peace / behind his gate a merchant finds none."
For those unfamiliar with Chinese poetry or the Buddhist concepts, this book provides a remarkable introduction to a long-overlooked master of wordplay and theology.
by Translated by Red Pine
