Yongjia Xuanjue
“The Song That Attests to the Way” or “The Song of Awakening” (Cheng-dao ke) is an aphoristic poem written in Chinese by Buddhist Master Yongjia Xuanjue (in Japan: Yoka Genkaku, 675-713 CE). This work has remained popular through the centuries and is still often memorised in Zen practice.
Within our Original Nature, serene and free from defiling passions, there is no need to raise questions or search for anything.
And, as the mirror of mind which is covered with the dust of age-old ignorance has not yet been wiped clear,
Now is the day to be scrupulous in our cleansing of it.
With thanks to Shasta Abbey, on whose website there is a series of talks devoted to this text, by Reverend Master Meian Elbert.
