From "Cai Gen Tan" collected and compiled by Hong Yingming, a Taoist in the early Ming Dynasty.

The original text is as follows:

The wild geese cross the cold pond, but the geese pass by but leave no shadow in the pond; the wind blows and thins the bamboos, but the wind passes by but the bamboo leaves no sound. Therefore, when things come, a gentleman's mind begins to appear; when things go, his mind becomes empty.

Definition: Describes the scene of wild geese flying over the icy cold pond.

Zen Buddhism advocates "seeing everything with a whisk of dust", and "wild goose crossing the cold pool" is one of the essences. It is the so-called "wild goose crossing the cold pool, and the wild goose leaving the pool leaves no trace behind". However, what can really be done , how many people can achieve it?

Extended information:

Introduction to the work

"Cai Gen Tan" is a collection of aphoristic essays focusing on life thoughts. It adopts the style of quotations and combines Confucianism with The philosophy of life includes the doctrine of the mean, the Taoist thought of inaction, and the Buddhist thought of transcendence.

The content of "Cai Gen Tan" is a popular Confucian book. It adopts the essence of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. It takes the study of mind and Zen as its core. It has the principles of self-cultivation, family order, country governance and world peace. At the same time, Because it integrates the philosophy of life, the art of life, and aesthetic taste, it is also an inspiring Chinese literary work.

About the author

Hong Yingming, also known as Zicheng, also known as Huanchu Taoist, has an unknown place of origin and has "Cai Gen Tan" handed down from generation to generation. According to another of his works, "The Strange Traces of Immortals and Buddhas", we learned that he was keen on official career and fame in his early years. In his later years, he retired to the mountains and forests to cleanse his mind and worship Buddha. Around the 30th year of Wanli (1603), he lived in the Qinhuai River area of ??Nanjing and devoted himself to writing. He had contacts with Yuan Huang, Feng Mengzhen and others.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Cai Gen Tan