- Gordon Dumoulin
A new step in the perpetual cyclical change...

A fierce wind from last night along with the sudden frosty cold this morning in Beijing, autumn leaves falling from the trees and the air and view crystal clear.
A new step in the perpetual cyclical changeโฆ
Last night I read following poem from ็็ถญ (Wang Wei, 699-759), a Chinese poet, musician, painter, and politician of the middle Tang dynasty.
๐๐บ ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ก๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ
๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐๐ข๐บ; ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐โ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ.
๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฃ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ โ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆโ๐ด ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ณ๐ด, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.
๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณโ๐ด ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ด๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ต๐ค๐ฉ ๐ข๐ด ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ.
๐๐บ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ, ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ; ๐๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ โ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ.
็ตๅๅฅๆฅญ
ไธญๆญฒ้ ๅฅฝ้๏ผๆๅฎถๅๅฑฑ้ฒ
่ไพๆฏ็จๅพ๏ผๅไบ็ฉบ่ช็ฅ
่กๅฐๆฐด็ชฎ่๏ผๅ็้ฒ่ตทๆ
The concept of impermanence, the state of not lasting forever (or not for a long time) and one of the essential doctrines in Buddhism is revealed in this poem. Also known as the โphilosophical problem of changeโ, impermanence has been addressed in different cultures and philosophies.
The poem deals with the acceptance of impermanence through another emotion of Buddhist practiceโฆ imperturbability; remaining calm amid storm and a clearness of judgment in unstable moments or times of suffering.
The ultimate form of imperturbability is equanimity; having a constant calm and clear state of mind under any kind of circumstance and the perpetual cyclical change.
Imperturbability is often misperceived as impassiveness, indifferent or unmoved, especially during times of suffering. On the contrary, it is about mindful non-reactivity and non-impulsivity โ the capacity to respond to suffering in a balanced, harmonious, and wholesome manner, keeping oneโs composure in times of hardship.


My morning walk to office, with fallen leaves, icy cold ears and enjoying warm baozi on the way ๐
#beijing #buddhism #wintertime