Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonas06
As much as I appreciate it, I just want to make sure that you did not translate it into Japanese yourself but actual got the words (characters) from a legitimate source as I plan to use the poem in a rather formal letter. Thus you may understand my pickiness. Where did you get it from? If online please post the url, and if from a book, the title would be tremendous.
One thing that thus far stood out to me is how "mind" got translated from 心 which according to WWWJDIC (Monash) dictionary means "heart; mind; spirit; heart radical." Could you please elaborate on the meaning of this word since the definition given for it seems to imply manifold connotations not belonging to the word "mind" is used in its strict sense. I.e. it seems to go beyond mere mind (if one were to distinguish between mind and body) as something more inclusive. (Again this may seem obvious since the poem deals with no-mind or sunyata, however I would love to hear your input).
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Unfortunately, I possess neither the intelligence nor the generosity to translate a poem in Modern English into Classical Japanese for a stranger for free. I'm merely a lowly Shinjuku wino.
What I posted is the original by Dougen. If anything, that is guaranteed. We all learn that tanka in high school. However, after 30+ years and 800 gallons of ale, I wasn't able to remember it in its entirety; therefore, I had to google it or rather Yahoo-Japan it.
Yahoo!検索 - ”聞くままに また心なき身にしあれば”
心 means both mind and heart as well as other things such as, feeling, sympathy, attention and mood. It really means anything about a human except for his physical aspects. This is why I always had trouble deciding which word to opt for when studying English as a foreign language.
The 心なき身 means "one's pure mental self without the worldly greed" according to my half-sober brain today. What Dougen is trying to say is that you need to be absorbed in your studies/job to be able to really see and become one with the object.
EDIT: Oops, others beat me to it.