An Inscription on Buddha's Shadow (by Hui Yuan - part 3)

Now we're getting a bit closer to the heart of the matter - entering into the inner recesses of the cave where Hui Yuan sits and contemplates the painting of Buddha's shadow hanging on the wall.  This is part three of the inscription that Hui Yuan composed; you can read the first two parts on the immediately preceding blog posts.   But whatever has come before somehow hasn't quite prepared Hui Yuan (or us for that matter) for the sudden tremor and gust of insight that intrudes upon his quiet contemplation:

In an instant

To lose one’s grip

Devoid of thought

Devoid of knowing

Sun moon and stars

Stripped of their light

All ten thousand things

Become the same color

Entering the courtyard

Of the cosmos

Delving into obscurity

Hidden yet welcoming

Where measure is none

I become aware

Of stillness and quiet

And then feel

A forceful tremor

A gust of insight

Coming from a distance

Compounded of dust

This news from afar

Unable to see into

The mysterious depths

Who or what it is

That stirs me

From this extremity

旋踵忘敬

罔慮罔識

三光掩暉

萬象一色

庭宇幽藹

歸塗莫測

悟之以靜

震之以力

慧風雖遐

維塵攸息

匪伊玄覽

孰扇其極