圓悟佛果禪師語錄 12

English (machine translation) 12

Language: English

12.1

Compiled by his disciple Shaolong and others on Mount Huqiu in Pingjiang Prefecture of the Song

During the informal gathering for entering the summer retreat while residing at Mount Yunju, [the master said:] “The thousands and hundreds of Yunju's assembly are as if nonexistent, solely because within and without, all news is severed. Within this, an openness equal to empty space; killing and giving life entirely rely on this beneficent power. Therefore it is said: ‘To protect life, one must kill; only when killing is exhausted does one abide in peace.’ If you wish to discuss the meaning within this: an iron boat floats upon the water. Considering it carefully, even having an iron boat float upon the water—what is extraordinary about that? Just as ‘to protect life, one must kill,’ tell me: what is killed? Then there are Chan fellows who say: ‘It is not killing the lives of sentient creatures, it is merely killing the thief of ignorance, killing the thief of afflictions, killing the thieves of the six sense faculties and six sense dusts, killing the thief of contending over other and self.’ Although for a time this seems so, nevertheless they have not yet dreamt of the patch-robed monk’s heels. Since it is protecting life, one must clarify the intention of killing. What is the intention of killing? Perilous! If you can distinguish it within this, then you may open a line of path; amidst the boundless vastness, be sure to cut off the tongues of everyone in the world, and only then will killing be exhausted. Although this is so, old man Śākya could not kill it completely, Kāśyapa could not kill it completely, the twenty-eight patriarchs of the Western Heavens could not kill it completely, and the six patriarchs of the land of Tang could not kill it completely. If you wish to clarify that which is inexhaustible, you must cast aside views from the past and into the future, the bright and dark, mysterious and wondrous rational nature, and the supreme, extraordinary, pure and clean; rake it away without leaving a hair's tip, yet you will still not reach the utmost limit. Just as at the very point of purity, what should be done? Do you still understand in detail? Deep mountains and great marshes where no one reaches—gathering together is just the right time to confer.” He further said: “Old man Śākya said: ‘With the great perfect enlightenment as my saṅghārāma, body and mind abide peacefully in the wisdom of equality.’
” The Master said: “Old man Śākya was exceedingly compassionate, deeply afraid that you people would not know, and gave you a talisman to protect the body. Although it is like this, examining it closely, it still bears shadows. If it were this mountain monk, it would not be so: namely Mount Yunju, an already-manifest saṅghārāma; in ninety days of peaceful retreat, every clap of the hand is the command.”

12.4

Elder Ru requested an informal gathering. A monk asked: “The old woman east of the city was born at the same time as the Buddha; why did she not see the Buddha?” The Master said: “She possesses the mettle of a great hero.” [The monk] advanced and said: “Covering her face with her hands, through all ten fingers she saw the Buddha; why could she not evade him?” The Master said: “Only because that one obtained freedom.” [The monk] advanced and said: “Xuedou said: ‘Although she is a woman, she nonetheless has the conduct of a hero.’ Did he approve of her? Or did he not approve of her?” The Master said: “Words repeated need not be eaten.” The Master then said: “Sentient and insentient are of one substance, everything touching the eye is real; Buddha and sentient beings are not different, entirely manifesting right in the substance itself. Acting as master wherever one is, encountering conditions is none other than the lineage: at times letting go, then ditches and broken tiles all bring forth brilliance; at times taking hold, then pure gold and the seven treasures all lose their luster. Therefore it is said: ‘Do you all wish to know life? The flowing spring is life, serene stillness is the body; a thousand waves contending to rise is Mañjuśrī's realm, a single stretch of clear sky is Samantabhadra's bed.’ Next, borrowing a single phrase is pointing at the moon; the matter within it is speaking of the moon; the matter from above is similar to the military commissioner's sign of authority. As for before the ancient virtuous ones established so many ploys, coming to this place, how can it be discussed? Without relying on three inches [of tongue], try to speak and see; without relying on eyes, try to observe and see; without relying on ears, try to listen and see. Therefore it is said: ‘The entire universe of the ten directions is completely a single real person's body; where else would you apply eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind?’ Therefore this mountain monk has always said to you all: ‘Block your eyes and make you unable to look; block your ears and make you unable to hear; block your nose and make you unable to smell; block your mouth and make you unable to speak; take away your body and make you unaware of pain and itch; halt your mind faculty and make you unable to discriminate.’ Right at such a time, it is indeed a fine message. Moreover, it is not a realm of emotional dust and intentional thoughts, discrimination and calculation, gain and loss, right and wrong; you must also put an end to dynamic states, not establish views and understanding, not create rational principles, discard intellectual grasp, and not see that there are Buddhas and patriarchs; only then can you cut off the heads of the reward and transformation Buddhas, and the people of the world will not be able to cage you. For this reason, Xuansha said: ‘A śramaṇa's eyes must take hold of the world directly, without leaking the slightest bit.’ Just when taking hold, can you all give a shout here? Can you strike with the sitting mat? Can you flick your sleeves and walk out? Can you go from east to west and from west to east? Can you do ‘six times six is thirty-six, nine times nine is eighty-one’? Can you say it is entirely the matter within your own house? Can you call it the fundamental lot? Can you point to the exposed pillar and speak of the lantern? Can you say ‘mind-only and nature-only’? If it is like this, it is wholly a confusion and none of it is right view. If there is one of right knowledge and right view, they will know there is the fundamental lot; having known there is the fundamental lot, in the end they will not make a nest of calculations and rational principles. How do you speak? Do you still understand in detail? Rousing and shaking without front or back, the lion turning its body—let everyone see!”

12.5

At an informal gathering [the Master said]: “The single move directly facing the sun—the thousand sages cannot catch sight of it; the single dynamic at the face-gate—expert masters are helpless. ‘Like this, like this; not like this, not like this’—cast them to one side; applying the staff and applying the shout, the spark struck from flint and the flash of lightning—let that move pass. Right at such a time, not a drop of water leaks through, heaven and earth are cut off; having eyes, it cannot be seen; having ears, it cannot be heard; having a mouth, it cannot be distinguished; having a mind, it cannot be thought. Even if the entire body is eyes, and throughout heaven, earth, the great earth, grasses, trees, and monastic groves, fine and coarse, long and short are each and every one interwoven, performing measureless, boundless supernatural powers and wondrous functions—arriving here, they are not worth a single needle-prick. And tell me: possessing what principle is it so extraordinary, so straightforward, able to cut off like this? Clean and naked, stripped bare and free, the whole body exclusively exposed—then you can shoulder it, walk through, and penetrate out; the Buddhas of the three periods, the patriarchs of the six generations, down to the old venerable monks throughout the world can only swallow their breath, hold their tongues, stare with eyes wide, and gape with mouths open. Although this is so, right now, what are all of you doing here? What can this mountain monk base his words on to be right? True though it is, it is exceedingly contrary to human sentiment; I cannot avoid opening a line of path. Do you still understand in detail? The four seas are now clear as a mirror; the curved rainbow's upright vapor penetrates the blue sky.”

12.6

"For twenty-seven years this mountain monk has set up a shop for all people to untie knots and remove fetters, pull out nails and extract wedges, causing each and every one to be free of ruts and free of contrivance, not uttering matching words, not uttering approximate words, not relying on a single thing, bringing the actions and deeds of the twenty-eight patriarchs, Master Ma, Baizhang, Huangbo, Linji, and the great lineage masters of the world into complete, manifest display. Not only today, but habitually I have never uttered worldly phrases upon the jewel-flower king's seat; nor do I speak of dynamic Chan subtleties or discuss arising and ceasing—how could I talk nonsense and create hellish karma? Relying solely on this one real place, I have directly spoken out before all people. Those who can take it up truly awaken and enter, obtaining great application without any further stagnation. Having now already retired to private quarters, this mountain monk did not wish to ascend the seat again for an informal gathering; however, the Grand Dowager, the Prefectural Governor, the Court Gentleman for Consultation, the Assistant Magistrate, the Grandees, and all officials have day and night repeatedly illumined me with this Path, earnestly requesting again and again that I hold an informal gathering for the assembly, so I have responded to their bidding according to my duty. Yet this matter is neither difficult nor easy. If you call it difficult: when Yongjia came to the Sixth Patriarch's place, he was able to take it up beneath a single phrase. When he first arrived at Caoxi, he circled the meditation seat three times, shook his staff, and stood there. The Patriarch said, 'A śramaṇa is endowed with the three thousand deportments and the eighty thousand subtle practices; from where does the Virtuous One come, giving rise to such great conceit?' Yongjia said, 'The matter of birth and death is great; impermanence is swift.' The Sixth Patriarch opened a gate of expedient means and said, 'Why not embody the unborn and comprehend the unswift?' Everyone, tell me: how does one embody the unborn, and how does one comprehend the unswift? Yixiu Jue ('He Who Awakened Overnight') took it up directly on the spot, saying, 'The embodiment is itself the unborn; comprehension is originally unswift.' Like water entering water, like milk blending with water, like arrowheads meeting point-to-point, it naturally hit the mark. When the Sixth Patriarch saw that he had penetrated through, he said, 'You have deeply attained the intention of the unborn.' In this single sentence alone, there is the provisional and the real, illumination and function. That Yongjia did not sit dead beneath a dead phrase, nor did he offer matching words; he merely said slowly, 'Venerable Sir, how could the unborn have any intention?' Marvellous indeed! Marvellous indeed! Nowadays, no sooner do people hear a teacher say 'You have deeply attained the intention of the unborn,' than they immediately say, 'The Venerable Sir confirms me and seals me; this kindness is hard to repay.' The third stick of incense is not burnt for anyone else—they just die inside phrases, failing to reach the original source: what bowl are they searching for? When it came time for Yongjia to take his leave, the Patriarch said, 'Are you returning too swiftly?' He replied, 'Originally, by nature there is no motion; how could there be swiftness?' The Patriarch said, 'Who knows there is no motion?' He replied, 'Benevolent One, you yourself give rise to discrimination.' At that moment he fortunately had the spirit of a great man; it is a pity he let it pass. If he had overturned the meditation seat, it would not have been going too far; yet he simply followed convention and stayed for one night. Furthermore, when Shitou was a novice in the Sixth Patriarch's assembly, he asked the Patriarch one day, 'After the Venerable Sir passes away, what should I do?' The Patriarch said, 'Go seek thoughts (Xingsi).' After the Sixth Patriarch passed away, he merely devoted himself exclusively to sitting meditation, constantly pondering the principle of the unborn, making a livelihood in a ghost cave. At that time, a fellow practitioner asked him, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'The Venerable Sir instructed me to seek thoughts (Xingsi), so I am sitting in meditation.' The fellow practitioner said, 'You are mistaken! There is Senior Brother Si of Qingyuan; he was directing you to go see him.' Only then did Shitou realize it; he then went to Qingyuan. Qingyuan asked, 'Where do you come from?' He said, 'I come from Caoxi.' Si held up his fly-whisk and asked, 'Does Caoxi have this?' Nowadays, when brothers are asked this, they immediately give a shout or utter words: 'A wild-fox spirit's understanding!' They widen their brows and glare with their eyes, forcing themselves to act as the host, but none of it has any connection. Shitou understood at once and answered, 'Not only does Caoxi not have it, even the Western Heavens do not have it.' Si said, 'Have you not been to the Western Heavens?' He said, 'If I had gone, it would exist.' He was truly unbroken and seamless; his words did not lose the ancestral lineage, and with every step he trod upon the ground. Si said, 'Not yet; speak further.' Shitou said, 'The Venerable Sir must also speak half; do not rely entirely on me.' Si said, 'I do not refuse to speak to you, but I fear that hereafter there will be no one to take it up.' Another day, he asked Qingyuan, 'When the Venerable Sir was at Caoxi, did you know the Sixth Patriarch?' Si said, 'Do you know this old monk right now?' He said, 'Even if I knew, how could I truly know? Though the common horns are many, a single qilin is enough.' Naturally their qualities were of the same kind, their feathers resembled each other, joined like glue and lacquer. Nowadays, people speak one sentence to the east and another to the west, sometimes talking of mind and talking of nature, begging others for verification—what connection does that have? Furthermore, while Yaoshan was sitting in Shitou's assembly, Shitou came, saw him, and asked, 'What are you doing here?' He said, 'I am not doing a single thing.' Shitou said, 'Then you are sitting idly.' Nowadays people do not understand, so they say, 'What do you call sitting idly?' Or they say, 'Had it not been for the Venerable Sir's question, I would not have known.' Their minds are pitch black; they just talk wildly. He had his own purport, so he said, 'If I were sitting idly, that would be doing something.' Shitou said, 'You say you are not doing anything; what is it that you are not doing?' He replied, 'Even the thousand sages do not know it.' Thereupon Shitou composed a verse of praise: 'Always dwelling together, yet not knowing its name, / Moving along naturally, we just go on this way. / From ancient times, even supreme sages have not known it; / How could careless, ordinary folk ever comprehend it?' And tell me: ultimately, what is that which does not do anything? Why does it not even know the thousand sages? Since it does not know, how do they dwell together? Therefore, these matters do not tolerate your calculating and deliberating; you cannot approach them, and ghosts and spirits cannot pry. Cast off thousands and tens of thousands of layers of wicked knowledge and wicked understanding, and the mind's eye will naturally see. If the thorn of views is not removed, and gain and loss, right and wrong occupy your thoughts, then there will eternally be no connection. This is where this mountain monk, having no choice, speaks of Chan illnesses for you all; it is also called profound talk entering the principle. Take, for instance, when Xuansha sent a monk to convey a letter up to Xuefeng. Xuefeng ascended the hall, opened the envelope, saw three sheets of blank paper, and held them up to show the great assembly, saying, 'Do you understand? Have you not heard it said: "A noble man shares the same wind across a thousand leagues"?' Then he stepped down from the seat. The monk reported this back to Xuansha, and Xuansha said, 'The old fellow on the mountain peak missed it and did not even realize it.' I venture to ask the assembly: Where was Xuefeng's missing it? Could it be that Xuansha's understanding surpassed his master's? Rest assured, it has no connection to that! If you try to understand it all within the dust of emotions, how could you ever understand? Therefore Master Zhenru Zhe has a verse that says: 'Xuansha seals blank paper; / Old Xue shares the wind. / Missing it is hard for people to understand; / The ancient tune's melody is different.' Arriving here, the feelings of ordinary and sacred are exhausted, the barrier of birth and death is penetrated, and gain and loss, right and wrong clearly do not arise. The entire substance is suchness, and even suchness is not wanted. After that, ride the Buddha hall out through the triple gate; clash the foreheads of Silla and Campā together; smear yourself with ash and mud; unfold your bowl and eat your meal; wear clothes to ward off the cold; roam free at ease. Originally there are no two conditions, nor are there two marks: it is not mind, it is not Buddha; the whole mind is itself Buddha, the whole Buddha is itself person; person and Buddha are non-dual, and even this non-duality is not needed. Therefore, when the thousand sages appear, there is no place for you to lift it up, no place for you to approach: like a blazing mass of fire, if you come near it, it scorches your face; like leaning on the sword Tai'e, if you intend to grasp it, you lose your body and life. Only when you reach such a stage will you begin to understand your own livelihood. Thus the ancients said: 'To seek the ox, one must track its footprints; / To learn the Way, what is prized is no-mind. / Where the footprints are, the ox remains; / With no-mind, the Way is easy to find.' It is also said: 'The Buddha taught all Dharmas / To save all minds. / I have no mind at all; / What use are all the Dharmas?' There is a companion here to deliberate with you: everyone has a mind; why on earth is it said to be 'no-mind' in all our actions and deeds? Since there is no mind, what is that which opens the mouth and moves the tongue to speak, and what is that which the minds of the assembly comprehend? Arriving here, if you do not see through it thoroughly, it only becomes a mutual deception. Therefore, when the Second Patriarch met Bodhidharma, cutting off his arm and standing in the snow, Bodhidharma said, 'Bring your mind, and I will pacify it for you.' The Second Patriarch said, 'I have sought the mind, but it is completely unobtainable.' Nowadays, if the brothers are asked, 'Bring your mind, and I will pacify it for you,' they act recklessly like Meng the Eighth—either drawing a circle, or taking three steps forward and three steps backward, making a woman's bow, clapping once, shouting once, widening their brows and glaring with their eyes, or speaking of mind and speaking of nature—this is merely the dust of emotion and karmic consciousness. As the saying goes: 'Students of the Way do not recognize the real / Only because they have hitherto recognized the conscious spirit. / The root of birth and death for countless kalpas, / Fools call it the original person.' Take the Second Patriarch: could he not have produced many principles? Why did he only answer, 'I have sought the mind, but it is completely unobtainable'? You must know that when Bodhidharma gave that head-on push, the Second Patriarch immediately became like one who finds a lamp in the dark, like a pauper who finds a treasure, seeing through to the root source. Herein, it is not called mind, it is not called Buddha, nor is it a thing: it is just like placing a speck of snow upon a red-hot furnace. Some time ago, this mountain monk asked Master Wuzu: 'The Second Patriarch said, "I have sought the mind, but it is completely unobtainable"—what was it ultimately?' He said, 'You must investigate it yourself before you can attain these fine points; others cannot exert strength for you.' Investigating back and forth, suddenly, because of the quotation, 'She frequently calls for Xiaoyu, though there is really nothing the matter; / She only wants her lover to recognize her voice,' suddenly the bottom of the tub fell out! The cypress tree in front of the courtyard was penetrated; the three pounds of flax was also it; Xuansha's missing it was also it; Muzhou's carrying the board was also it; not falling into cause and effect was also it; not obscuring cause and effect was also it. The three vehicles and the twelve divisions of the canon, throughout the twelve periods of the day, in the eyes and in the ears, even the ringing of bells and striking of drums, the braying of donkeys and barking of dogs—none of it was not this message! Only then did I awaken to Master Huai's verse: 'The cuckoo cries through consecutive nights; / The partridge calls through the long darkness. / The gate of perfect penetration is flung wide open; / Why be separated by clouds and mud?' For a great man, all equally tread to shreds their straw sandals, cast down the emotional dust of calculating gain and loss, right and wrong, recognize the fundamental root, leave not a single thing behind, cling not to a single hair: 'Though the hundred bones all crumble and scatter, the one thing remains eternally luminous'—and even this 'one luminous thing' is not wanted! Afterwards, according to the hour and season, wear clothes and eat food. Now when the brothers hear such talk, they immediately say, 'This is just doing somersaults in empty space.' Brothers! Even this empty space is hard to attain. Have you not seen the Ancestral Master's verse on transmitting the Dharma: 'The mind is like the realm of empty space; / It demonstrates Dharmas equal to empty space. / When one realizes empty space, / There is neither right nor wrong Dharma'? Furthermore, the Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: 'The empty space of the ten directions is born within your mind, just like a fleck of cloud in the great clear sky.' Brothers! Since you visit and seek out spiritual friends and keep birth and death in mind, quiet the monkey of the mind and the horse of the will, shoulder the great potential and great function, and sit securely in the place where buddhas and patriarchs do not act! At times stand on the highest peak, at times walk on the bottom of the deepest sea; moving with conditions just like an unfeeling, foolish person, one naturally has the love of people of thorough understanding. For ten years this mountain monk was among the assembly without a single moment of divergent conditions; I merely investigated Chan, and only when I reached the tenth year did I break through thoroughly. Gradually knowing my errors, only then was I on solid ground. If there is a single thought of love and hate, gain and loss, right and wrong, that is a soiled garment. You must recognize the mysterious purport before you will succeed. Therefore it is said: 'If you do not recognize the mysterious purport, in vain do you labor to quiet your thoughts. Cast off gain and loss, right and wrong all at once; just have no love or hate, and it will be brightly clear.' As Yangqi said: the chestnut burr has prickles and is hard to swallow; the diamond cage is tiny and hard to leap through. Where there are no words, there are words; untying knots and removing fetters for others is not a matter of human sentiments. Brothers, in investigating Chan, you must not adopt deviant interpretations; you must be meticulous. Take, for example, Zhaozhou checking a hermitage master. As soon as he entered the door, he asked, 'Is there? Is there?' The hermitage master raised his fist. Zhaozhou said, 'The water is shallow; this is no place to moor a boat.' He also visited another hermitage master and said, 'Is there? Is there?' That master also raised his fist. Zhaozhou said, 'Able to release and able to seize, able to kill and able to give life.' Now, where was the water shallow and no place to moor a boat? Where was the ability to release and seize, kill and give life? Some say, 'Zhaozhou knew beforehand that the first hermitage master did not understand, which is why he said, "no place to moor a boat"; he knew beforehand that the latter hermitage master understood, which is why he said, "able to kill and able to give life."' Others say, 'The tongue was in Zhaozhou's mouth; it was up to him to grant or take away.' Such views are all the emotional reckonings of deviant factions; not having attained the genuine lineage eye, they are unable to swallow or leap through the diamond cage and the chestnut burr. Master Wuzu often said, 'The Chan that people in various places have investigated and attained is like a lapis lazuli vase: they cherish it and cannot let it go. Above all, do not let this old monk see it, for if I strike it once with an iron hammer, yours is sure to be smashed to pieces!' When this mountain monk first saw him say this, I dedicated my whole heart to investigating under him. He often asked, '"Being and non-being are like wisteria leaning on a tree"—how do you understand this?' This mountain monk would shout or offer words, but none of it matched. He said, 'You must understand it at the place where emotional consciousness is completely clean and contrivance is utterly forgotten.' The next day, at the place without contrivance, this mountain monk babbled and talked wildly, having even less of a connection. Later, when I awakened thoroughly, with real vision and real application, it was like a bright mirror on its stand, like a luminous pearl in the palm, obtaining great freedom. Old Man Śākya said, 'If there were any Dharma surpassing nirvāṇa, I would say it is like an illusion, like a transformation.' This one move, through all of antiquity and up to the present, is stably changeless: fire cannot burn it, water cannot drown it, knives and axes cannot chop it. It is called the fundamental root; all defiled and undefiled, Buddha-realms and Māra-realms, pure lands and defiled lands, are nothing other than real. If you awaken, you can stride alone in the cinnabar sky, without taking orders from anyone else; if you have not reached such a stage, you are certain to be snared in someone's cage. Having now retired from the monastery, this mountain monk knows that conditions for each other have their proper times; therefore, requested today by the Court Gentleman's Dowager to hold an informal gathering, I have spoken exhaustively for you all. Each of you, investigate and examine for yourselves! The Buddha Dharma originally has no this and that; the various houses are all the descendants of the Sixth Patriarch. Never say, 'I am a man of Linji; our house's lineage must flourish and spread!' Even if it means powdering my bones and shattering my body, I would never harbor such a view." He then brought up: "A monk asked Baoshou, 'When the myriad conditions come to invade, what then?' Baoshou said, 'Pay no attention to them.' The monk bowed. Baoshou said, 'Do not stir; if you stir, I will break your back.'" The Master said, "Assembly! Master Baoshou wielded the Vajra King jewel sword: all adversity and conformity, gain and loss, length and shortness, right and wrong—the boundless realms do not require a single glance. This monk acted seeing the opportunity and bowed at that moment; why did [Baoshou] then say 'Do not stir'? Inspecting it closely, it is very much like a dragon's head and a snake's tail. This mountain monk would not do so. If someone were to ask, 'When the myriad conditions come to invade, what then?' I would also tell him, 'Pay no attention to them.' If this monk were to bow, I would simply say to him, 'A sharp patch-robed monk turns at a single poke!'"

12.7

The Master said: "Before your parents gave birth to you, you were utterly naked and unencumbered, without a single thread established; and after entering the womb and being born, you are also utterly naked and unencumbered, without a single thread established. Yet, being born into the world and falling into the four elements and five aggregates, for the most part sentiments arise to form cataracts and obstructions, taking the body as an impediment and deluding one's own mind. If one is a person with clear eyes, who clearly understands that the four elements are empty and still and the five aggregates are fundamentally void, they know that within the four elements and five aggregates there is an affair that radiates through past and present and completely transcends intellectual views. If you can reverse the light to illumine inward, there is no second person: beneath your feet it is utterly naked and unencumbered, at the gates of the six sense faculties it is also utterly naked and unencumbered, and extending to the mountains, rivers, and the great earth, to the ends of the realms of empty space and the boundless oceans of fragrant water, it is likewise utterly naked and unencumbered. Speaking in this way, is it not perhaps setting aside existence to return to nothingness? Fortunately, it has no relation [to that]! If one sets aside existence to return to nothingness, dim and obscure, falling into the realm of wide-open emptiness that denies cause and effect, then for eternal kalpas one cannot escape the causes and effects of hell and the three wretched realms. If one truly and thoroughly realizes and arrives at the true, pure, bright, and wondrous ground of the ultimate reality, then the four sages, the six types of ordinary beings, the Buddhas of the three periods, the ancestral masters across the world, and both sentient and insentient beings all flow forth and manifest within it. Therefore Senior Monk Fu asked State Preceptor Yan of Gushan, 'Before your parents gave birth to you, where was your nostril?' Shan said, 'Right now, when you are already born, where is it?' Senior Monk Fu did not agree, and said, 'You ask me.' Shan asked as before, and Fu merely waved his fan. In general, when inquiring into the Way, the inquiry must be real inquiry, the seeing must be real seeing, and the application must be real application. Before your parents gave birth to you, where was your nostril? Senior Monk Fu merely waved his fan—was he not perhaps playing with the spirit? You must know there is an extraordinary affair before you can attain it. Just take Mañjuśrī at birth seeing the ten auspicious extraordinary signs, Subhūti's room manifesting the sign of emptiness at his birth, and Sudhana at birth having ten thousand jewel treasuries well up—all of these flow forth, utterly naked and unencumbered, within this one great jewel light. If one were merely in the dim and obscure, falling into the empty and still, how could there be such extraordinary things? Therefore the ancients saw the great extraordinary in the place of birth, just as the World-Honoured One pointed one hand to heaven and one to earth, saying himself, 'Above heaven and below heaven, I alone am revered.' If he had met Master Yunmen, [Yunmen] still would not have considered it extraordinary, but would have directly executed the patched-robed monk's correct order. Later, a venerable elder said: 'Yunmen knew gratitude, only then did he know how to repay gratitude.' Having known it, he then took the patched-robed monk's fundamental lot and walked amid adverse and favorable circumstances. Now tell me: can this still pass muster? If it is a level discussion, then there is the transcendent affair; if it is based upon the patched-robed monk's fundamental lot, it is not worth half a penny. Why so? His house naturally has a road that reaches the heavens."

12.8

The Master said: "The ready-made gong'an is not separated by a single thread. Filling the sky and covering the earth, it is one great gate of liberation; it is as bright as the sun and moon, and of equal measure with empty space. Whether patriarchs or buddhas, there is no other source; from antiquity to the present, it is the same single right view. If one is of sharp faculties and superior wisdom, there is no need to ask 'what and how'; directly stand like a wall of ten thousand fathoms, bear it beneath your own feet, and you can overshadow past and present and cut off the heads of the reward and transformation buddhas, without the slightest leak. Before King of the Majestic Voice, those who awakened on their own without a master were people of great liberation; after Majestic Voice, because of being prompted by a master, it was unavoidable to establish masters and disciples, and there came to be delusion and awakening. Even though it is like this, in the end these are merely expedient ways of extending hands to receive people. Therefore Bodhidharma came from the west without establishing written words, directly pointing to the human mind to see one's nature and achieve buddhahood. Later, Chan Master Dajian, the Sixth Patriarch, even said: 'Merely these two words "not establishing" are already established. How much more so with words, dynamic situations, and various kinds of intellectual understanding—they must be swept away with a single stroke of the brush before you will get it!' Regarding this one affair, even if the Buddhas of the three periods were to appear in the world and use boundless views and expedients to receive and guide people, there would still be limits; even if the successive generations of patriarchs and the old venerable monks of the world were to set up hundreds of thousands of questions and answers to uphold it, there would still be limits. It is better to investigate beneath your own heels: beyond the empty kalpa before King of the Majestic Voice, your own family treasure is enjoyed wherever you are. One must also be a great fellow of spirit to possess such conduct, not relying on another's words and pointers, not accepting another's deceptions; from morning until night, an inhalation does not abide in the realm of the skandhas, and an exhalation does not involve itself in the ten thousand conditions—this is extremely concise and essential. It is only because each person turns their back on this affair, recognizing lights and shadows at the gates of the six sense faculties, unable to be joyful, and then says, 'What can I do about my doubts?' Now tell me: where do doubts come from? They also say, 'Why can I not speak?' Just what is this of yours that cannot speak? It is because you cannot turn the light around to directly undertake it. An ancestral master said: 'On one's own part, there is such spiritual brilliance and such sovereignty; all sentient beings drift in the dust of sentiments and cannot be liberated.' Even if one takes this one great causal condition and presents it in various ways, there are still dynamics and realms, falling into the dust of sentiments. Do you want to understand? Only when not a single thought arises will there be a slight bit of accord. Therefore my late master said: 'The life-root must be severed before you will get it.' Now tell me: how is the life-root severed? You must pack away your past views and various understandings, just like a person who has died the great death, and when brought back to life, naturally there is no contention; therefore it is said, 'I have attained the samādhi of non-contention, foremost among humans.' Do you not see what Venerable Nanquan said? 'Among the seven hundred eminent monks of Huangmei, all understood the Buddha-Dharma; only the postulant Lu did not understand the Buddha-Dharma, and that is why he obtained his robe and bowl. One must be such a person before one can tally with such an affair.' He also said, 'Such as the sage's fruit being greatly fearsome, it is because there are no such things as holy measures; if one is a great person of immeasurable capacity, in the end they refuse to acknowledge things recklessly and never say, "I am capable, I understand, I am a Chan master." If one acts like this, one falls into the deep pit of liberation.' Do you not see what Master Yunmen said? 'Dead people on level ground are countless; the one who can pass through the bramble forest is a skilled hand.' Now, dead people on level ground are countless, as Yunmen's single sentence hit upon. Here with this mountain monk, it is not so: even if you can pass through the bramble forest, you are not yet a skilled hand. You must also know there are silver mountains and iron walls; you must thoroughly penetrate the silver mountains and iron walls, and only then are you a person who has accomplished everything in every way, only then do you know there is the transcendent affair and can be entrusted with the bowl-bag, no longer opposing the dust of sentiments, noisily producing Buddha-Dharma views and discussing the Chan Way. You must truly have mind and circumstances as one, completely clear, still, inactive, and without affairs, yet not fall into the place of inactivity and having no affairs; arriving here, one must be a transcendent person to attain it. Therefore Venerable Longya said: 'For no reason sent to the edge of the ink pool, / Causing body and mind to be black as smoke; / Turning to the clear place upstream to wash, / Exhausting body and mind, it is still the same.' Venerable Deshan said: 'Whatever has words and phrases is all spirits clinging to grasses and leaning on trees. There must be a path of solitary transcendence; that would still be somewhat better.' As for patched-robed monks today, they must put their energy into investigating it before they will get it. Traveling thousands and tens of thousands of miles on foot, uniformly wearing out straw sandals, one must truly wear them through before getting it; only then will you not let down your whole life, and having come here to Southern Jambudvīpa for a round, it will neither be spent in vain nor will capital be lost. Thereafter, within the four deportments, enjoying it according to the occasion, you will also be naturally at ease. If suddenly one day the frost and dew ripen the fruit, and you are pushed by others onto the curved wood chair to serve as a teacher of gods and humans, undoing stickiness and untying bonds for others, that would indeed be extraordinary. If you are not yet truly settled, you must absolutely not bring disaster upon others! Do you not see what Deshan said? 'Just like a promiscuous woman, constantly setting up questions and answers, setting up guest and host—what relevance does it have?' In general, people who study and practice must be unrestrained and free, thoroughly penetrating directly; would that not be joyful?"

12.9

The Master said: "The ready-made gong'an does not need any further asking of 'what and how'; directly cutting off everything is still somewhat better. The Buddha-Dharma fundamentally does not have so much. If with no-mind, no-thought, no-affairs, non-action, no calculation, and no discrimination, you wear clothes to the very end and eat rice to the very end, how could you ever have stirred a single thread? Then you can cut off the heads of the reward and transformation buddhas and not give rise to the slightest Buddha-Dharma view. Therefore, as soon as the ancients saw a monk coming, they would say: 'A ready-made gong'an—I release you thirty blows of the staff, spreading a net covering the sky to catch the great surf-breaking fish, holding a ten-thousand-mile hook, and driving a thousand-mile black steed.' This too was done out of having no other choice. Therefore Venerable Shishi, as soon as he saw someone coming, would raise his staff and say: 'The past buddhas were like this, the present buddhas are like this, the future buddhas are also like this; I only reveal a little bit of the sharp point to you.' If it is someone [of capacity], as soon as they see him speaking like this, picking up [their robes] and walking away is still somewhat better; if one immediately enters into deliberation, one has already been covered by the sky-spanning net. For thirty years like this, only Venerable Changsha knew where he landed, and then said: 'Venerable, put down your staff and convey another message.' Only then did it tally with his intention. Nowadays, brothers studying and practicing must directly have arrowheads meeting and needle and mustard seed hitting each other, with internal and external messages cut off, before getting it. If you merely search for seeing and hearing, seeking knowledge and seeking understanding, it only becomes the root of birth and death. Why not experience non-arising and understand that fundamentally there is no swiftness? If everyone can see like this, the road of birth and death is cut off in an instant, without stirring a single hair's tip at all. Therefore it is said: 'Dwelling among thousands and tens of thousands of people, it is as though there is not a single person; merely resting body and mind, completely without understanding, just like being useless.' If you follow words and pursue sentences to make principles, with a belly full of Chan, when will you ever escape? Hence Chan Master Nanquan said: 'This mountain monk appeared in the world solely to remove the disease of buddhas and the disease of patriarchs for everyone.' I usually say to the brothers: 'Before your parents gave birth to you, did you have a form and appearance or not?' In other teachings it is said: 'The four elements and five aggregates form the body merely because of a single thought of defiled mind in the sexual union of parents, thereby forming this body.' Let me ask you: when you were a babbling infant, why did you not quarrel with others? When you grew up a little, then there was contending over others and self; once the four elements disperse, you return to your original form and appearance as before. Therefore it is said: 'Bodhi fundamentally has no tree, / Nor is the bright mirror a stand; / Fundamentally there is not a single thing— / Where could dust alight?' Each of you should make effort, taking awakening as your aim; do not pass time in vain, for time waits for no one."

12.10

The Master said: "This Great Matter has already been thrown wide open like the character eight (八). Even if you turn your head and reflect back upon yourself, you are already acting blunted and slow. You must believe thoroughly and see entirely through before a single word is ever uttered. Now, after words have been uttered, tell me: how will you take responsibility for it? Beginners in training should first make it clear under their own heels. Right now, you sit and stand dignified and solemn, each of your sights and hearings unobscured, every person stepping beneath their own heels—just like an imprint stamping space, an imprint stamping water, an imprint stamping clay. At first, no distinction is made between gain and loss, other and self, right and wrong; completely naked and stripped bare, it radiates between past and present, transcending knowledge and views. Reversing the light to illumine inward, how could there be so many complications? Yet before illumining inward, there were actually not so many complications either; it was just like the usual state of not thinking about a hundred things, not being concerned with a hundred things, when thoughts are cut off and external conditions forgotten—it is fully present all at once. But as soon as people hear of 'illumining inward,' they immediately form an understanding based on seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing, fashioning molds and drawing likenesses right within those faculties. At such a time, falling into the karmic fruition of the skandhas of birth and death, there is no way to escape. To clarify this matter, one's inner depth must be profound; only then will one avoid falling into right and wrong, gain and loss, seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing. Only when not a single speck remains can one attain true liberation, beyond all tether and entanglement. Thus it is said: 'Like learning archery, only after a long time does one hit the target.' Have you not seen: When Prime Minister Pei went out to govern Wanling, he visited a monastery and saw a portrait of an eminent monk. He asked the monastic official, 'The eminent monk's features are impressive, but I wonder: where is the eminent monk?' At that moment, the monastic official was at a loss. Prime Minister Pei asked, 'Is there a Chan monk here?' The official replied, 'Recently there is a monk who gave up himself to sweep the grounds, clad in a patchwork robe; he may be a Chan monk.' When he was invited to come, it was Chan Master Huangbo Duanji Yun. Prime Minister Pei cited the previous conversation and asked him. Huangbo called out, 'Prime Minister!' The Prime Minister answered, 'Yes!' Huangbo said, 'Where is he?' Thereupon, Prime Minister Pei was greatly enlightened. All of you, tell me: was the question correct, or was the answer correct? And tell me: what kind of Chan monk was he, that one must truly experience an awakening? Do not merely chase after sounds and sights. Hence, this old monk regularly says: 'Among thousands and myriads of people, recognize just one person; among thousands and myriads of phrases, recognize just one phrase; among thousands and myriads of dynamic potentials, clarify just one dynamic potential.' Ultimately, tell me: what is it? You must know that within the vast furnace and great forge, through thousands of firings and hundreds of temperings, the goal is precisely to find the right person. You must know that at a single word, when one is illuminated, all are illuminated; when one is understood, all are understood. Upon barely hearing it mentioned, it penetrates through top and bottom, thoroughly exhausted with nothing left over. Just take Duanji's single call: why did the eminent monk turn into Prime Minister Pei, and Prime Minister Pei become the eminent monk? If we speak of this matter, one must be an extraordinary talent to be entirely thorough. Therefore it is said: 'If brought up without a look, then error arises; if one intends to deliberate, in what eon will awakening come?' A patch-robed monk of fundamental capacity must not engage in deliberation or discrimination; he must directly seek the place of awakening. Speaking of awakening, it is like finding an object that has been discarded and lost for many years, suddenly recovered in an instant. It is also like having a typhoid fever and suddenly breaking into a sweat—it is an absolute joy and relief! You must understand that awakening the mind and seeing one's nature is not deliberation or discrimination; thus, upon realizing and entering the diamond true essence, it naturally spans eternity past and present, widely encompassing the sand-realms. Water cannot drown it, fire cannot burn it; when the universe is destroyed, this remains constant and unchanging, serving as the basis for the mountains, rivers, and the great earth, the home for the six ordinary realms and four noble realms, yet concealed in the heart of each individual. If you can awaken within your own heart, exposing the true and eternal on its own, then amidst the myriad differentiations of discourses you will never give rise to disparate views, and amid the thousands of varying environments you will never form distinct understandings. You must sweep everything away completely before the entire substance can be realized. Just as when Shuiliao asked Mazu about the fundamental Buddhist Dharma, Mazu kicked him to the ground with a single stomp. Suddenly experiencing great awakening, he got up, laughed loudly, and said: 'Hundreds of thousands of samādhis and immeasurable wondrous meanings—I have instantly recognized their very source right on the tip of a single hair!' Then he laughed loudly again. Later, when he began teaching, every time he ascended the hall he would say of himself: 'Ever since receiving that one kick from Master Ma, up to this day my laughter has not ceased!' And again he laughed loudly. Tell me: what is the source? You must know that if you have recognized this source, you can speak of it at the deepest and most hidden depths, where the thousands of sages cannot reach; or you can take up a single stick and a single shout, drawing in the entire universe and the great earth all at once, just like the Vajra King jewel sword or the crouching lion. If a traveling monk wishes to practice Chan, only with such eyes and brains can he take up the work. You must be meticulous; more words only lead further away from the Way."

12.11

Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Yuanwu Foguo, Fascicle 12

Linked texts (1)

圓悟佛果禪師語錄 — Classical Chinese