Master Yee posted a poem on his wall during the student reunion. Written in Chinese we were able to find a helpful friend to translate. Below is the translation:
It was written by Su Shi (1036-1101), a well-known poet in Song Dynasty (960-1279). When Su Shi was young, he performed brilliantly in the official examinations and occupied a few official positions until he was banished and became friends with a famous monk, Fo Yin. In addition to being a poet, Su Shi was also an expert in Buddhism. One day, he wrote the poem you showed me:
稽首天中天，毫光照大千；
八风吹不动，端坐紫金莲。
稽首(kowtow ; show respect)
天中天 (the sky within the sky; actually refers to Buddha)
毫光(small light)
照(illuminate)
大千(the world or universe)
八风(eight winds; actually refers to eight situations or feelings: compliment, blame, slander, fame, success, defeat, suffering, happiness.)
吹不动(cannot blow away)
端坐紫金莲(sit steadily on the lotus platform)
Simply put, the poem describes the different life experiences. Normally when people are successful, they tend to be arrogant. But people feel depressed when they are defeated or slandered. However, there is only one person who is not influenced by his surroundings, i.e. Buddha.
Su Shi, the poet, was smart in that he seemed to be praising Buddha while, in fact, he was also complimenting himself, alluding to his expertise in Buddhism and his understanding of this supernatural state.
Therefore, he was so happy and arrogant that he sent the poem to Monk Fo Yin, who lived across the river, assuming that the latter would compliment him. However, the reply from Fo Yin contained only two words (in Chinese)— “bullshit.” It is no wonder, then, that Su Shi became furious and immediately went to Fo Yin, who was actually waiting for him. On the door of Fo Yin’s house, Su Shi found the following two lines:
八风(eight winds)吹不动(cannot blow you away)，
一屁(one bullshit)过江来(blows you across the river)。
So Fo Yin was actually making fun of Shu Shi, who thought he had reached the supernatural state, where a person cannot be influenced by his surroundings. However, he was angered by just the word “bullshit” and wanted to argue with Fo Yin. As a result, Su Shi became ashamed and respected Fo Yin, who was the real master of Buddhism.