A POEM FOR SPIRITUAL CULTIVATION IN BEAUTIFUL CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY

The Poem in Chinese

While in a poetic mood, I recalled a poem about spiritual cultivation recited by a friend about 30 years ago in the 1980s. I could not remember the exact wording of the poem, so I thought I could do better by composing one my own. I composed it in Chinese (Cantonese) as follows:

The Mandarin transliteration, provided by Mark Bholm, is as follows:

The following is the English translation:

Those who are of another religion can replace the word "Buddha" by a suitable word like "God".

It is worthy of note that "Buddha" in the first line refers to the transformation body of the Buddha, like Siddhārtha Gautama, or the reward body of the Buddha. "Buddha in the third line refers to the spiritual body of the Buddha, i.e. everything there is. The triple-body of the Buddha corresponds to the trinity concept in Christianity, i.e. God the Son, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit.

It is also worthy of note that "Buhhha" is not religious, i.e. it can be used in any religion. The word means "the Enlightened One". In Christianity, it refers to Jesus Christ.

Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit
13th December 2016

Epilogue

Mark (Sifu Mark Blohm) of Taiwan has supplied the beautiful Chinese calligraphy for the poem. The Chinese characters are read from left to right, like in English, below:

In traditional Chinese, the poem is read from right to left, from top to bottom, as follows:

The Chinese character "佛“, which literally means "Buddha" is found in every line of the poem. In the first line, figuratively it refers to the transformation body of the Supreme. It may also refer to the reward body. In the second line it refers to spiritual cultivation. In the third line it refers to the spiritual body of the Supreme. In the fourth line it refers to the highest spiritual attainment in the phenomenal, or Cosmic Reality in the transcendental.

Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit
19th December 2016

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