shen-hsiu's and HUI-NENG's poems

—from The Sutra of Hui-neng,

poems translated by Sol Ta Triane

Shen-hsiu's Poem 

Our bodies function as mind-holding frames,

Securing our mind-mirrors: edificial stands

Keep your mind-mirrors clean, ever wiping them down,

So the muck won’t build as it constantly lands

Hui-neng's Responding Poem

Noting originalness, that's all you'll need,
This mirror of mind has no bodily stand
If our pristine divinity is ineffable, beyond structure,
Then where would it be that this filth would land?