Michael Armenia art

OPENING TO YOU
Zen-inspired translations of the PSALMS
by NORMAN FISCHER
Viking Compass
$19.95 (hardcover)

Reviewed by Michael Armenia

Opening to You is a select group of Psalms translated by poet and Zen priest, Norman Fischer. In his interesting collection of poetry, he has chosen 93 of the 150 Psalms that he finds most inspiring for religious practice. But, this work is not so much a translation as it is a version inspired by the Psalms, all written with artistic license in a poetic style. The result is a refreshing look at traditional scripture in which spirituality and devotion lives.

Part of the refreshing aspect is due to Fischer's choice of words. He says himself in his introduction that "the word God has been all but emptied of its spiritual power". He chooses to emphasize relationships as opposed to the absolute. Choosing to often translate 'God' as 'you', he succeeds in developing a relationship between 'I' and 'you' and 'them'. The idea of relationships and polarities - the persecutors and the persecuted, those who struggle and those who prosper, friends and enemies, et cetera - brings to light the Taoist notion of Yin-Yang, the being and non-being that is at the heart of Zen.

Because of using 'you', I often felt empowered as if I were the 'you' of whom he writes and connected to some great mystery. I was first struck by this in Psalm 5.

For you do not take pleasure in the crooked
The heedless can never reach your courts
The arrogant fall away when you look at them
The wicked are distasteful to you
Liars you cut off
The violent ones, the deceivers you cast away

Another translation choice that brings Zen quality to the Psalms is the use of 'what is' for 'the Lord'. In Psalm 37, it's amazing how this substitution in some stanzas is reminiscent of Zen scriptures.

Trust what is and do good
Be where you are in truthfulness
Take delight in what is
And your heart's desire will be fulfilled

Be committed to life
Trust what is
And all will be what it must be
And your rightness will shine forth as the dawn
And your goodness as the sun at high noon

Be quiet before what is
Wait patiently and simple
Don't worry about those who easily prosper
The manipulators and seducers

The only disillusionment for me was my expectation that all of these Psalm versions could be read outside the context of Judeo-Christian references. However, Fischer has chosen many inspirational Psalms in which he has left 'God', 'Lord', or references to Israel (though often the latter is translated 'the strugglers'). In Psalm 6, we read "How long, O Lord, how long." In Psalm 14, we read "The useless fool says in his heart 'God is nothing'". And, in Psalm 18, we read "I love you, O God, my strength."

On the surface, one might expect that there would be some softening of the Psalm content in a Zen treatment. But, to have such an expectation would be a trap. Psalm 88 is wrought with suffering and little sign of hope:

For my soul is heavy with trouble
And my life is a living death
...
Like a murdered corpse, forgotten and denied
Cut off in prime by your hand
...
You pummel me with your fury
Pound me with your waves
...
Why do you throw my soul away?
Why do you hide your face from me?

In a like manner, we find a lack of compassion and very merciless language in Psalm 109:

Let his days be few
Let him know that someone else has taken his place
May his children be fatherless
His wife a widow

I was reconciled by the fact that this is a translation in the spirit of Zen, not the compassionate or pacifist translation one might expect from a Buddhist. Suffering is a part of life and is not something that can be avoided. Peace comes, not by an end to suffering, but, by recognizing it and letting go. Suffering itself is a path. It is Fischer's notion that the Psalms express this very well in so far as the strugglers, Israel, must in righteousness accept 'what is' and justice will follow.

I found Opening to You to be very inspiring.