Summary

　　　　  The inherent suitability  of the poetic form for

　　   communicating  the ineffable  has long been known to

　　   poet-practioners in all mystical traditions.  Poetry

　　   offers  possibilities  of indirection  and evocation

　　   far   beyond   those   of  any  prose   style.   The

　　   open-endedness of a poem serves the same function as

　　   the blank  space  in a Ch'an painting, allowing  the

　　   audience  to resonate  (yu-yun, Japanese  yoin) with

　　   the work and, most importantly, with the artist.  In

　　   this  way, "Artistic  appreciation  is...transformed

　　   into meditation."

　　　　  This paper discusses the pivotal role played by

　　   poetry,as it evolved from the Sanskrit gaathaa found

　　   in  Buddhist  suutras,  within  the  Ch'an  sect  of

　　   Buddhism.   After  a  brief  review  of  the  poetic

　　   component  in  early  Buddhist  literature, we  will

　　   consider   the  indigenous   Chinese  tradition   of

　　   poetically-expressed  philosophy that influenced the

　　   evolution of sinitic Buddhism. The creative mergence

　　   of  these  diverse  sources  within  Ch'an  is  then

　　   considered   through   examples   of   the   upaayic

　　   application  of  poetry  in  terms  o f a three-fold

　　   process of awakening.

　　　　  The opening section describes the poetic path to

　　   enlightenment, focussing on the function of gaathaas

　　   in the Buddhist  literature.  Of primary  importance

　　   here is an understnading of why and how poetry could

　　   function  as a vehicle of Dharma in the suutras from

　　   the very inception of Buddhism.

　　　　  The poetic  precursors  in the Taoist  tradition

　　   are then considered. Two roots of the Chinese poetic

　　   tradition  generally  have been identified-the  Shih

　　   Ching   (Classic   of  Poetry)  emphasized   by  the

　　   Confucian school and the Ch'u Tz'u. (Elegies of Ch'u

　　   or Song  of the  South) displaying  affinities  with

　　   Taoist  philosophy.  The latter  currents  were best

　　   able   to  resonate   with   Buddhist   thought,  as

　　   exemplified   in  Lao  Tzu's   Tao   Te  Ching,  the

　　   Neo-Taoist  currents in Liu I-ch'ing's  New Tales of

　　   the World (Shih-shuo Hsin-yu), and the transitional,

　　   Buddhist tinged lines of T'ao

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