吳傅朋郎中書來。甞得李伯時所畫震旦第一祖西歸像。相需以贊。說偈寄之
Wu Fupeng, a court official, wrote to me saying he had obtained a painting by Li Boshi depicting the return to the West of the
其來何求。 其去無得。 寂漠度嶺兮萬里獨行。
清白傳家兮九年一默。 針芥投而妙不可名。
毫釐差而敝不可塞。 知過而改。 知難而退。 誰去誰來。
自買自賣。 當面諱却兮滿眼烏華。 望涯贊之兮隔身鯨海。
Why do they come seeking? When they leave, they gain nothing. In silence they cross the mountains—a solitary journey of ten thousand miles.
Purity and integrity pass through the family—nine years in a single silence. When needle and mustard seed meet, the wonder cannot be named. When a hair’s breadth goes astray, the flaw cannot be mended.
Knowing one’s faults, one corrects them. Knowing the difficulty, one withdraws. Who goes? Who comes? They buy and sell for themselves.
Facing it directly, yet veiled—the eyes are filled with dark blossoms. Gazing toward the shore and praising it—yet a vast ocean separates the self.