雪
生涯事事是非亂
對物失眞虛實間
多歲徒看山有雪
今冬忽覺雪成山
Snow
Doing right or wrong is a lifetime of work—it is such a mess;
Facing the world we lose the truth between illusion and realness;
Thinking that the mountains bear the snow—years are wasted in excess;
Waking up this winter that the snow’s the mountain—and nothing less.
The tricky part here is 事. While karma specifically is 業, for example 善事/惡事 is good deeds / bad deeds. Therefore I get a strong karmic connotation with 事. 事事 means “everything”. “A lifetime of work”, “Everything right or wrong”, “Doing right or wrong” are all the connotations I get. Therefore I tried to blend them all in the verse.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 生 涯 事 事 是 非 亂 life edge matters matters right wrong chaos shēng yá shì shì shì fēi luàn しょう がい じ じ ぜ ひ らん shou gai ji ji ze hi ran 對 物 失 眞 虛 實 間 facing things lose truth illusion real between duì wù shī zhēn xū shí jiān たい ぶつ しつ しん きょ じつ かん tai butsu shitsu shin kyo jitsu kan 多 歲 徒 看 山 有 雪 many years in vain watch mountain have snow duō suì tú kàn shān yǒu xuě た さい と かん さん ゆう せつ ta sai to kan san yuu setsu 今 冬 忽 覺 雪 成 山 this winter suddenly realize snow becomes mountain jīn dōng hū jué xuě chéng shān こん とう こつ かく せつ せい さん kon tou kotsu kaku setsu sei san