禪僧寒山子 我見黃河水，凡經幾度清 I look at the Yellow River's flowing water; O How many times has it been cleansed and filter'd?

我見黃河水，凡經幾度清
I look at the Yellow River's flowing water;
O How many times has it been cleansed and filter'd?



《勸戒詩》 "我見黃河水"   唐 • 禪僧寒山子

我見黃河水，
凡經幾度清 。
水流如激箭，
人世若浮萍。
癡屬根本業，
愛為(無明)煩惱阬。
輪迴幾許劫，
不解了无明。


An Admonitory Poem:
"I look at the Yellow River's flowing water" 
-- by MONK HAN SHAN ZI  (c. 691 -793)(Tang dynasty)
-- Translated by Frank C Yue

I look at the Yellow River's flowing water;
O How many times has it been cleansed and filter'd?
The water rushing past like the arrows flying;
Our life is just like the floating plants a-drifting.
The root of karma grows from attachments firm;
Only a pitful of sorrows your love will earn.
While re-incarnations are most torturing,
Without true understanding, there's no awakening.


from the net as background information:

<寒山子是唐代貞觀年間的高僧，不知姓字，隱於天台幽窟中，以樺皮為冠，布裘弊履，或長廊唱詠，或村墅歌嘯，人莫識之。曾於竹木石壁書詩，並村墅屋壁所寫文句300餘首。人蒐集其詩偈，得300餘首，編為一集，名《寒山子詩》。其詩通俗曉暢，多以佛理闡述人生真諦，勘破生死，流傳頗廣。

只知他好吟詩偈，因長期隱居台州始豐（今浙江天台）西之寒巖（即寒山），故號寒山子。寒山子與台州國清寺豐干、拾得友善，時相過從。據今人余嘉錫考證，玄宗先天年間(西元712年)已見關於寒山子的行跡，其卒年約在德宗貞元9年(西元793年)，年壽可能在百齡以上。

寒山詩云：「有人來罵我，分明了了知，雖然不應對，卻是得便宜。」意思是說：「有人來罵我，我分明聽得很清楚。雖然我不會去應對理睬，卻是已經得了很大的好處。」>