圓悟佛果禪師語錄 16

English (machine translation) 16

Language: English

16.1

Compiled by Disciple Shaolong and Others of Mount Huqiu, Pingjiang Prefecture, Song Dynasty

"The Buddha's words take mind as the source; when the source is penetrated, speech is also penetrated." Since it is called the lineage school, how could it be fragmented, departing from the root to chase after the branches, and making a nest following verbal dynamic states? One must directly cut through and transcendently realize it, penetrate through the profound, wondrous, surpassingly pure realm of mind-nature, and reach straight to the dense, secure, transcendent locus of great liberation, great resting, and great cessation. In ordinary circumstances, though it seems completely empty and vast, its power and function are fully realized without restriction or limitation, and thousands or tens of thousands of people cannot encompass it. Therefore, old Śākyamuni remained silent on this essential for a long time; across more than three hundred assemblies, he did not explicitly reveal it, but merely rescued beings according to their capacities. When the time arrived, he showed his face and held forth [a flower] at Gṛdhrakūṭa. Only the Golden Ascetic took his hook, which is called "a special transmission outside the teachings." If one is conversant with this purport, it was already exposed before Bhīṣmagarjitasvararāja. Transforming beings as time went on, though taking forms according to their categories with a thousand kinds of skills and ten thousand kinds of dynamic situations, all without exception are this single move. How could this be measured by those of partial views and shallow hearing, who preserve intellectual understanding and fall into mechanistic traps? For this reason, from antiquity onwards, applying the stick and applying the shout, rolling balls and raising forks, drinking tea and beating the drum, planting the spade and herding the ox to manifest realm and wisdom, sitting firmly and shutting the door, calling back and reprimanding, striking with the palm and trampling underfoot—all without exception are rooted in this. Only a true patch-robed monk, having himself achieved thorough awakening and then met the harsh methods of a great ancestral master to be refined and tempered, reaching the point where the lion bites the person without following the medicine or taboos, at the place of direct cutting and cleaving open, can know where it lands at a single move. Like a lion entering the den and leaving the den, crouching on the ground and leaping about—who can fathom him? This gate does not discuss dragging through mud and wading through water, rolling in the grass, tangling in vines, having blurred eyes, or failing to turn around after three taps; it is only facing enemies on all eight sides, knowing before anything is raised, tallying before a word is spoken, naturally blending like water and milk, obtaining the seat and donning the robe. Nourish it until ripe; waiting until frost and dew bring the fruit to maturity and it appears, one then uses it in such a way, only then harmonizing with the ancestors' original ground of cause and carrying out a complete round of Buddha-work. Therefore it is said: "To fathom such a matter, one must be such a person; if one is such a person, do not worry about such a matter."

16.5

Shown to Scribe Yi

16.6

An outstanding patch-robed monk harbors lofty insight and exceptional disposition, generously casts off worldly caps, and regards the body, world, and reputation as floating dust, clear clouds, or valley echoes. By virtue of being a vessel of great capacity from past lives, he knows that there is this matter of transcending life and death, cutting off sagehood and surpassing the mundane, which is the adamantine true body realized by the Tathāgatas of the three times and the wondrous mind directly transmitted by the ancestral masters through the ages. Taking strides like a fragrant elephant or a garuḍa, he seeks to gallop and soar above hundreds of millions of classes of beings, cutting off the current and brushing the heavens. How could he be willing to be a swan or a sparrow, cramped in high and low, victory and defeat, and weighing momentary interests within a spark of flint or a flash of lightning? For this reason, the great adepts of old did not mind petty matters or seek the shallow and near; they generated a single determination to transcend the Buddhas and ancestors, shouldered the heavy burden that all others cannot take on, universally ferried across the four modes of birth and nine classes of beings, pulled them from suffering and gave them peace, smashed the folly that obstructs the Way, broke the poisonous arrows of ignorance and mad frenzy, and plucked out the thorns of views from the Dharma-eye, causing the scenery of the original ground to become clear and cloudless, and the original face before the empty kalpa to be clearly revealed. Exerting mind and strength, unfearing of cold and heat, neglecting sleep and forgetting meals, diligently holding noble conduct and purifying the three actions, beneath the three rafters he puts to death the monkey of the mind and slays the horse of the intellect, making them thoroughly resemble dried wood, rotten stumps, and hard stones. When suddenly penetrated through, how could it be obtained from another? Revealing the great hidden treasury, lighting a bright torch in a dark room, positioning a warship at a crucial crossing, he realizes great liberation, instantly completing right awakening without giving rise to a single thought, and opens a gate of entering the principle. Then he ascends to the site of universal brilliance, occupies the seat of the Dharma-emptiness that is undefiled, pure, extraordinary, and peerless, his mouth's ocean surging with waves, rousing the four unimpeded eloquence; no sooner does he set up a device, utter a phrase, or manifest a sublime sign than he universally causes ordinary and sagely, sentient and insentient, to revere the majestic light and receive shelter together—yet this is not yet the place where merit is eradicated. Turning to that other side, the thousand sages cannot trap him, the myriad spirits have no way to look up to him, the devas have no path to offer flowers, and how could māras and non-Buddhists peer from the side? Letting go of views and understanding, casting off the profound and wondrous, throwing away function, he only eats when hungry and drinks when thirsty. At the outset he does not know of having mind or having no mind, gaining mindfulness or losing mindfulness; how much less would he cling to previous learned interpretations, definitive phrases, extraordinary words, divisions of principle and nature, and names and marks—shackled by views of Buddha and views of Dharma, and worldly intellect and clever eloquence that shake the earth and overturn the heavens—entangling and binding himself, entering the ocean to count the grains of sand? What reliance would he have? Being equally a great man, he should strive to overcome rivals and astound the crowd, fulfilling his own original aspiration; only then is he a true person of the Way of the fundamental lot, with great mind, great view, great liberation, non-action, and no affairs.

16.7

Shown to Head Monk Sheng

16.8

When old Śākyamuni shared half his seat before the Stūpa of Many Sons, he had already secretly bestowed this seal; thereafter, holding forth the flower was the second gong'an. As for transmitting the gold-embroidered robe to await Maitreya in Mount Kukkuṭapāda, how many formalities were there? Bodhidharma came far from the West, wandering through Liang and passing through Wei, sitting coldly amidst the deep snow of Shaolin. There was an old fellow who cut off his arm and was able to see through it; inevitably, [Bodhidharma] leaked it and entrusted it to him, which is called the single transmission and secret record. Examining it carefully, it was a complete blunder. From then on, the purport of coming from the West was loudly proclaimed, and the world followed the current, carrying on errors with errors, spreading all over the land and dividing into the five houses and seven lineages, successively setting up schools and proclaiming them. Investigating it in reality, what matter on the verge did it actually accomplish? For this reason, adepts from the past never ate this kind of meal. And what is truly appropriate? One should know that if one can cast an eye beyond the six directions, it is already distinct. Furthermore, looking down from below the surface of the floating banner king-realms of the boundless Fragrant Ocean, few know where it settles. Therefore it is said: "This is the business of a great man." The steps and style of tumbling and overturning can only be well sustained and upheld by those of the same wind and matching realization; they never scatter sand and dirt. Thus, sharing a single mat with Śākyamuni, the Golden Ascetic, the blue-eyed [Bodhidharma], and Shenguang, casually letting down hands, killing people and giving people life, at the outset there is no nest; they only value tightness and sharpness. Through ten thousand hardships and a thousand bitternesses, extremely perilous and extremely virulent, once one can apply life-ending hands and feet, only then is the seal and transmission not in vain. Master Baiyun said: "The secret formula of the immortals is not transmitted between father and son."

16.9

Shown to Daoist Wuzhu

16.10

The *Vimalakīrti Sūtra* states: "Based on the non-abiding root, all phenomena are established." The *Diamond Sūtra* states: "One should produce a mind that abides nowhere." An ancient worthy said: "Everything is no-mind and non-abiding." Worldly and supramundane dharmas are all without exception like this. If there were abiding, one would become rigidly stuck; how could there be adaptability? If the sun and moon abode, there would be no day and night; if the four seasons abode, the accomplishments of the year would be lost. Only because of non-abiding do they flow endlessly; therefore, one abides in having no place to abide. Thus turning the mundane into the sagely is just the wondrous function of non-making, non-action, and non-abiding, attaining great liberation amidst all existence. Having understood this meaning and seen this Way, only by practicing vigorously without weariness is one a true person of the Way.

16.11

Shown to Chan Practitioner Yuanzhang

16.12

"The Buddha's words take mind as the source." Bodhidharma transmitted this. But Master Ma drew legs on a snake, and out of compassion descended into the weeds, saying: "Do you all wish to know the Buddha's words and mind?" This was already giving it away. He further said: "Just what is spoken now is the Buddha's words; this speech coming from one's own mind is the Buddha's mind." If one expounds the orthodox school and understands speech like this, how could eighty-four adepts have emerged? For this reason, those who have carried out the correct command from antiquity look upon this as pouring filthy water over someone—what sort of appearance is that! You should know that this old man was exceedingly roundabout out of sheer necessity. Yet today's students still cannot see through him; they merely fall into language, cling to conceptual understanding, and recognize light and shadow to make a nest—how impatient that makes one! If among them there were someone cast of raw iron, who could crush a stubborn stone to powder in his hand, without blinking or deliberating, penetrating through in a single glance, what further need would there be to talk about the Buddha's words and mind, or how it is? Even if a thousand Buddhas and ten thousand ancestors were personally to shake the earth and emit light like clouds and rain, applying the stick and applying the shout like rushing thunder and flashing lightning, he would not need to pay them the slightest heed; the mundane does not contain him, the sagely does not govern him, and what further would be called life-and-death, bodhi, nirvāṇa, or affliction? Better to eat when hungry and sleep when tired—this slightly resembles the seedlings of his house. Therefore Dizang said: "The Buddha-Dharma in you southern parts is vast and bustling; how can it compare to my farming fields to earn rice to eat?" Completely taking this as one's affair, reaching the point of having no affairs, is like cutting a skein of silk: a single cut cuts everything off, blocking the world without leaking a hairsbreadth, no views arising, completely free of leaks; unmoved and unregressing through long years, by relying on this it naturally accomplishes itself. Xianglin took forty years before blending into a single piece; Guishan spent thirty years herding a water buffalo. Having this aspiration, it should be deep and lasting; only then can one repay the kindness that cannot be repaid, and be a truly renounced patch-robed monk of great liberation.

16.13

Shown to Layman Chaoran, Supervisor Zhao

16.14

When Caoshan took his leave, Wuben asked, "Where are you going?" He said, "To the place that does not change." [Wuben] questioned further, "Can there be any going to the place that does not change?" He answered, "Going is also without change." If one has not stepped upon solid ground, how could one be thorough like this? How could it be fathomed by language and dynamic thinking? Only when one's practice is profoundly deep and reaches the state of no leakage can one not be trapped. When a person studying the Way resolves his mind, he puts outside his bodily form, unifies life and death, blends past and present, and cuts off going and coming. He must aspire to the attainments of the highest stream, reach the realm of the truly real and profound mystery, prepare himself cleanly and expose it purely, without a hairsbreadth of thought falling into worldly conditions; directly beneath, his mind is like dried wood and rotten stumps, like a dead person with no breath at all, mind after mind without knowing, thought after thought without abiding. Even if the thousand sages appear, they cannot alter him. Only then can flowers bloom on dried wood, great potential burst forth, and great function arise; giving rise to loving-kindness and exercising compassion is then the merit of non-merit and the making of non-making. How could he fall into gain, loss, right, or wrong? If even a single hair is retained, it will clash with the realm of birth and death; if one cannot save oneself, how can one save others? The great being Vimalakīrti did not abide in Jinshu, but entered wine shops and brothels to perform the Buddha-work of great liberation. Old Pang, a transformation body in the place of succession, did not abide in Tuṣita; casting aside rare treasures, he wove bamboo strainers by the Han River, engaging in exchanges, giving and taking with great ancestral masters. In this matter, the styles from antiquity have all been like this. One must freeze drop by drop regardless of court or countryside, being smelted and refined like Caoshan, Vimalakīrti, and Old Pang; only then can one not abandon compassionate vows. Is this not fitting! As for the rest of the bustling dust of the human world, how is it worthy of being held in one's breast?

16.15

Noble Consort Qiao Requests Dharma Words

16.16

The matter directly under a person's own feet is originally completely clear and has never stirred. From before the Buddha Awesome Sound down to the present, it has been widely penetrating, numinous and bright, thus and thus in equality. It is only because of giving rise to views and generating mental activity, discriminating and clinging, that there is the turmoil of emotional dust and affliction. If, with sharp faculties and valorous courage, one immediately brings body and mind to a sudden halt, reaching the place where not a single thought arises, that is one's original face. Therefore the ancients said: 'When not a single thought arises, the entire body appears; as soon as the six sense faculties stir, it is veiled by clouds.' One often sees intelligent people who, with their deluded minds, understand clearly yet cannot let go of this deluded mind. When they reach the point where it rests and does not stir, they are unwilling to personally accept their fundamental nature, and simply call it empty and wide-open; then they intend to abandon being and cling to emptiness, which is a great sickness. If there is a mind that abandons one side, that is intellectual understanding, and one cannot see the nature thoroughly. This nature is not being, so there is no need to abandon it; this nature is not empty, so there is no need to cling to it. One must leave behind abandoning and clinging, being and nonbeing, and immediately settle down peacefully: completely clear, empty and congealed, freely tranquil and secure. Then one will naturally be able to trust this truly pure, wonderful mind. When momentarily dragged about by worldly conditions, one will immediately be able to perceive it and not follow along. One must simply maintain an empty leisure for a long time, doing the work oneself to dissolve all delusions, so that one attains a place of personal awakening; only then will it do. An ancient said: 'Not departing from the immediate place, it is always clear; if you seek it, know that it cannot be seen.'

16.17

Instruction for Chan Master Danxia Fozhi Yu

16.18

The lineage style of the ancestral teachers has vast and far-reaching strides, towering far above the scriptural teachings, holding up solely the authentic seal. At Vulture Peak a flower was held up, and Mahākāśyapa smiled in acceptance; Nāgārjuna showed a circle-mark, and Āryadeva hit the mark; at Shaolin the mind was sought, and the Second Patriarch supernormally realized it; Elder Lu spoke a verse, and Daman transmitted the robe and bowl. People all consider these secret transmissions, but investigating their origins, they are merely admissions of defeat. How could the profoundly ultimate purport of the wonder of the Way stop at just this? One must make it like the height of heaven, the thickness of earth, the depth of the ocean, and the breadth of empty space—yet that does not even approximate it. Believe that a person of excessive great liberation turns heaven and rotates earth, sucks the oceans dry, shouts empty space into dispersion, exerts the great potential and reveals the great function. Outside the floating-banner realms of the boundless fragrant waters of the sea, they cut through the net of views of demons and non-Buddhists, destroy the provisional transformations of buddhas and ancestors, and bring forth the unrevealable and hold up the unmentionable secret. Yet even this is not hitting the mark—then Xuefeng's attaining the Way at Aoshan and Yunyan's knowing nothing of it from beginning to end are merely idle chatter. One must forge a heart and liver of pig iron and possess the method of killing people without blinking an eye; only then can one slightly reveal the style and guidelines. Treasuring the wisdom-life so that it flows endlessly—only this somewhat accords with one's wishes.

16.19

Instruction for Layman Yang Wujiu

16.20

The buddhas and ancestral teachers appear in the world through the power of great compassionate vows, giving rise to causeless compassion solely dedicated to guiding and receiving those of sharp intelligence and superior faculties who possess great capacity, capable of being entrusted with the supreme, wondrous, and profound dynamic of great liberation, doing what others cannot do, surpassing the herd and excelling beyond the multitude. They can realize the unarisen in the snap of a finger, and step beyond the fruit-ocean on the spot. Their eyes look east and west while their intent is north and south; like swift falcons and agile sparrows dashing through the sky, braving the wind and braving the sun, brushing the Jade Rabbit and grazing the Golden Rooster, their heroic spirit sweeping and unconstrained, they seize upon the foremost and final move. Like a flash of lightning or a flying star, it allows no room for deliberation. Waiting for the person's entire body to slough off, directly snared without wasting a hair of pointing, they then bare their chest, penetrating from top to bottom; as soon as it is comprehended, they hand it over with both hands. Therefore their style and strides are like a ferocious dragon obtaining water or a fierce tiger leaning against a mountain: clouds puffing, winds gusting, pouring out people's livers and gall, dazzling people's eyes and minds; only then can they be called seedlings of the fundamental house. Thus, when the great being Vimalakīrti held a great assembly, the demon king manifested the Śūraṅgama Samādhi, and practices in the demon realm did not defile the ranks of bodhisattvas; together with Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, and the Golden Ascetic, they all stood out from the ordinary and surpassed the crowd. And when the flower was raised for a secret transmission, how could that be an ordinary matter? Down to Bodhidharma's coming from the West, Shenguang glimpsed it in a flash; since then, many immeasurable great people have been uniquely penetrating and thoroughly expert, only pointing to activities, blinking, raising eyebrows, speech, silence, unfolding, rolling up, releasing, seizing, giving, taking away, and manifesting the fundamental matter. For a long time their thoughts have not been exposed, leisurely and motionless, like people who know nothing and understand nothing; yet when engaged and confronted, they are seen to astound the crowd and stir the multitude. Although when investigating its ultimate purport there are originally not so many things, it is solely to immediately illumine the wonderful and be entirely free of mind. If one can cast aside learned understanding and clinging, letting oneself be thoroughly at leisure, not even practicing the noble truths, one will naturally accord with the lineage guidelines from of old, and will then be able to enter this field of selecting buddhas, converting the uncoverted and transforming the untransformed. How could this not be returning to the human world, relying on not a single thing, as a truly extraordinary person of the great Way of non-action and beyond learning? The Imperial Envoy and Surveillance Commissioner, Lord Yang Wujiu, possesses lofty discernment and far-reaching vision, erudite learning and many abilities, and has attained especially deep mastery of the ancestral Way. His wisdom is discerning and dynamic: knowing before anything is raised, penetrating before anything is spoken. While in the capital, I was fortunate to participate in his company; now, following the imperial command to serve at the Pacification Commission, we meet again in Jin'guan. You have specially graced me with your illumination of the Way and further demanded entangling vines; therefore I put forth this admission of defect.

16.21

Instruction for Layman Leigong Yue of Chengdu Prefecture

16.22

Now, clearly illumining the original mind as completely harmonious and boundless, how could the dusts of form, sound, and the rest stand as an opponent? Towering and uniquely released, empty, pure, bright, and wondrous, one must uphold it thoroughly from the bottom, not letting it become superficial. Directly it is high without anything above, broad beyond limit, purely naked and roundly exposed, without outflows and unconditioned. The thousand sages rely on it as the foundation; myriad things are established because of it. One must suddenly turn around, reverse the light to illumine inward, causing shapes and forms to be severed, distinctly and completely realizing it, unchanging and unshifting through ten thousand changes and thousand transformations. Whose Vajra King is it? It is called penetrating the dharmakāya. At all times, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, there is nothing that is not thoroughly penetrated, and among all things there is no gap. This is called cleanly white and exposed pure, solely clarifying one's own mind. One must not merely keep it this way; if one clings to it, one falls into a nest. Rather, one must sever it vigorously, abandoning it entirely; the more one abandons, the brighter it becomes; the further it is, the closer it becomes. To the death, tidy it up so that life is cut off; only then is one a person whose breath is extinguished, and only then does one understand transcendent practice. If one speaks of transcendent practice, only oneself knows it, and even knowing is not established. Śākyamuni, Maitreya, Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Deshan, and Linji would not dare look straight at it. Is this not an extraordinary person? Above a blow, under a shout, in a single phrase or word, fine or coarse, form or fragrance—penetrating everything at once, only then is it called the realm of no-mind. Nurture it like an infant, pure, harmonious, mild, and bland: though amidst worldly toils, undefiled by worldly toils; though dwelling in the pure and wonderful, the pure and wonderful cannot contain them. Following the nature and according with conditions, hungry, one eats; thirsty, one drinks. When thoughts of good do not even arise, how could evil be committed again? Therefore it is said: 'According with conditions, dissolve old karma, and create no more new calamities.'

16.23

The Way values no-mind; Chan is cut off from names and principles. Only by forgetting thoughts and extinguishing them entirely can one head toward it: reversing the light to illumine within, the entire substance thoroughly penetrating, no longer permitting deliberation. Directly the bottom of the tub falls out, and one enters this great, perfect, quiet-illumination gate of wondrous liberation. When one is resolved, all is resolved; simply keep to leisure. From the beginning, do not distinguish between self and other, victory and defeat. The moment a hair of thorn-like views arises, immediately weed it out painfully, letting it be completely open and thoroughly connected, free and unconstrained. Nurture it seamlessly, so that even the thousand sages cannot catch sight of it. Treat oneself as if an enemy, seeking only to be far removed and not lean on it: freely clear and pure, empty yet numinous, quiet yet illuminating. Sever it valorously and thoroughly, without the slightest disturbance in one's chest. Teacher Wang called it 'making a living'; Zhaozhou regarded eating gruel and rice twice a day as 'scattered mental effort.' Practice it for a long time so that it becomes fully mature, and it will accord with the realization of the Way through no-mind handed down from of old. Functioning intimately, you will naturally see your effort reach the final closing corner, naturally like letting go of your hands over a sheer cliff—how delightful that is!

16.24

Letters

16.25

Letter to Academician Geng

16.26

Miaoxi showed me your letter, showing diligent effort in this matter with very deep feeling; truly, you have not forgotten your compassionate vows. Illumining and shattering the pathways of meaning and emotional understanding with the authentic eye of the lineage, seeing through liver and gall, how clear-sighted you are! The authentic school has long been desolate; later generations practice in stereotyped ruts and cling to ancestral ways, becoming increasingly dull, with none in the world perceiving their error. Everyone generates understanding following words; the ancestral Way is nearly extinguished. Were it not for transcendent and brilliantly awakened persons, how could it be corrected? This genuine right mindfulness is truly an external protector. The times are turbulent; dwelling in the mountains and leading a congregation cannot be guaranteed either, and there is not yet an available opportunity to devise a way to turn around. Your disciple, Gaofori, during one summer sent students to tread the high peak of ancient Yunmen behind the mountain, intending to cut thatch and live in seclusion. His aspiration is very worthy of esteem. Now I am sending Qian to go; I, the old man of the mountain, have written a few words and a preface, and have also spared some extra funds to help complete it, which you may take a look at. His wish to take up the hoe depends precisely on your lofty judgment.

16.27

Critiques of Ancient Masters, Part One

16.28

He cited: 'Baizhang visited Mazu a second time. Seeing him come, the Patriarch picked up his whisk and held it upright. Baizhang said: "Identical to this function, detached from this function." The Patriarch hung the whisk back in its original place. After Baizhang stood in attendance for a while, the Patriarch said: "Hereafter, how will you flap the two flaps of your lips for others?" Baizhang took the whisk and held it upright. The Patriarch said: "Identical to this function, detached from this function." Baizhang hung the whisk back in its original place. Mazu then shouted, and Baizhang was greatly awakened. Later he told Huangbo: "At that time when I was shouted at by Mazu, I was deafened for three days." Fenzhou said: "Once awakened, just rest; why speak of being deaf for three days?" Shimen said: "Had it not been for being deaf for three days, how could he have shouldered this single shout?" Xuedou said: "Do you want to understand being deaf for three days? Fine gold from a great smelting furnace never changes color."' The Master said: 'Although these adept masters brought it forth together, each indeed had an eye to guide people; yet they only clarified Mazu and Baizhang's great potential, and did not clarify Mazu and Baizhang's great function. Not sparing my eyebrows, I will expose a message, but it must also be examined by all quarters. Do you know this single shout? It is just like a raging thunderbolt, making listeners lose their gall and their souls. If you want to understand being deaf for three days, it is just like beating the poison-smeared drum: those who hear it lose their bodies and forfeit their lives.' Holding up the whisk, he said: 'If anyone asks: "Identical to this function, detached from this function," I will strike them along with their voice, and follow it up with a shout.' He further said: 'Do you still see Mazu and Baizhang?'

16.29

He cited: 'A monk asked Yunmen: "Is the Buddhadharma like the moon in the water or not?" Yunmen said: "Through the clear waves there is no path." The monk said: "Where did the Venerable obtain it?" Yunmen said: "Asked again, where does it come from?" The monk said: "What about when one goes like this?" Yunmen said: "Layer upon layer of mountain passes."' The Master said: 'Clear waves for ten thousand miles, clear, still, and congealed; the jewel moon rides across the sky, its light swallowing all phenomena. This monk floated a boat into Yunmen's Dharma ocean and drew a gust of fierce wind. Looking at how he handled the rudder and spread the sail, it was not easy to withstand. Yet when it came to the end, what a pity that he lost a point. Tell me: where was the losing point? Try to discern it.'

16.30

[The Master] cited: "Ciyan addressed the assembly, saying: 'All summer I have talked this way and that with you brethren. Look and see: are Cuiyan's eyebrows still there?'" The Master said: "Losing one's opportunity is the basis for reckoning others. Cuiyan sat upon everyone's tongues so that there was nowhere to peck. Changqing said: 'They have grown! Through affairs one grows in wisdom.' Baofu said: 'A thief at heart feels anxious—one expert recognizes another.' Yunmen said: 'Barrier!' According to the confession, the case is closed; though the lineage masters vied in responding, did they yet sever Cuiyan's heels? Without treading in their previous tracks, try to say something and let us see."

16.31

[The Master] cited: "A monk asked Yunmen: 'At the beginning of autumn and the end of summer, if someone asks about my future path, I wonder what I should say to him?' Yunmen said: 'Assembly, step back!' The monk said: 'Where is the fault?' Yunmen said: 'Give me back the cost of ninety days' meals!'" The Master said: "This monk was greedy to gaze at white waves; Yunmen acted seeing the dynamic. Although he cut through iron and severed nails, it was not yet the fundamental lot's forage. Were someone to ask Chongning, I would only answer him: 'Before the donkey business is finished, the horse business arrives.' Wait for him to do whatever, and strike him right across the back with the staff."

16.32

[The Master] cited: "Zhaozhou said: 'This old monk is going to answer questions; let someone who knows how to ask bring forward a question.' A monk came forward and bowed. Zhaozhou said: 'Lately I cast a brick to draw jade, but only drew an unbaked tile.' Later, Fayan cited this and asked Jue the Iron Mouth: 'What does this mean?' Jue said: 'I will offer the Master an analogy: it is like the state appointing a general.' When it is asked: 'Who can go?' someone says: 'I can go.' The reply is: 'You cannot go.' Fayan said: 'I understand.'" The Master said: "All quarters say that Zhaozhou had the function that excels the herd, and for a time his arrangement was undeniably free and easy. This monk wanted to beat time and knock on the barrier, but within the flash of lightning he was suddenly struck down, his hands and feet helpless. Jue the Iron Mouth was able to draw an analogy from near at hand without letting down the family reputation; Fayan had the mirror that penetrates all directions, and immediately knew the crux. Dare I ask: since he was a lineage master, why in casting a brick did he only draw an unbaked tile? Try to investigate and see."

16.33

[The Master] cited: "The two senior monks Xuan and Shao went to see Wujiu. Wujiu asked: 'Where did you leave recently?' The monk said: 'Jiangxi.' Wujiu immediately struck him. The monk said: 'I had long heard that the Master had this dynamic essential.' Wujiu said: 'Since you do not understand, let the second one come forward.' That monk was bewildered. Wujiu struck him as well, saying: 'The same pit has no different dirt. Go to the sangha hall.' Xuedou said: 'The eyes of a lineage master must be like this—like a garuḍa parting the ocean to seize and swallow dragons directly. There is a sort of fellow whose eyes do not distinguish east from west, who does not know upside-down from right-side-up with his staff, and only talks of simultaneous illumination and function, or depriving both person and environment.'" The Master said: "Xuedou clearly distinguished past and present and discriminated between the heterodox and the orthodox. If he did not know it was there, how could he speak like this? Even so, you have only seen Wujiu letting go; do you want to understand where Wujiu holds fast? Even Śākyamuni and Maitreya would be his runners. Acting in accordance with the command, everyone on the whole earth must take a beating from the staff."

16.34

[The Master] cited: "Muzhou addressed the assembly, saying: 'I see that Baizhang did not know good from bad. As soon as the great assembly gathered, he drove them all away at once with his staff, then called out to the great assembly again. The assembly turned their heads, and Baizhang said: "What is it?" What was there to talk about with them? When Master Huangbo saw the great assembly gather, he drove them all away at once with his staff, then called out to the great assembly again. The assembly turned their heads, and Huangbo said: "The moon is like a bent bow: little rain and much wind." This was still somewhat better.' Xuedou said: 'Why speak of "somewhat better"? It is simply not it yet. Were it Xuedou, driving them away with the staff would be the end of it. If there happened to be a holeless iron mallet capable of shouldering it, he could cover past and present and cut off heaven and earth.'" The Master said: "The ancients each lent a single hand to revive the lineage principles and guide future generations; their efforts were not exerted in vain. Examining it carefully: Baizhang summoned dogs with a staff—inevitably they glared at one another; Huangbo baited the hook with fragrant lure—swallowing it, one loses life and limb; Muzhou brought it up before the assembly, handing a ladder to a thief; Xuedou wanted someone to shoulder it, raising waves where there was no wind. Today it is not like that at all. Please each return to the hall."

16.35

[The Master] cited: "Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva asked the lay practitioner Vimalakīrti: 'We have each spoken. What is the Dharma gate of non-duality spoken of by the Benevolent One?'" The Master said: "Regarding this turning word, the monastic groves have discussed it not a little: some say silence; some say a long pause; some say sitting firmly; some say no response. Yet all fail to grasp it. Truly, its sound is like thunder, universally startling all beings. The Dharma gates spoken of from antiquity to the present by former and later sages were all revealed at once within Vimalakīrti's brief moment. Tell me: right at such a moment, what can be done to see Vimalakīrti?"

16.36

[The Master] cited: "When Fengxue ascended the seat in Yingzhou, he said: 'The ancestral masters' mind-seal is shaped like the dynamic of the iron ox: if it moves, the seal is impressed; if it stays, the seal is broken. Just as it neither moves nor stays, is impressing it right, or is not impressing it right?' At that time Elder Lupi came forward and asked: 'I have the dynamic of the iron ox; I invite the Master not to apply the seal.' Fengxue said: 'Accustomed to angling for whales sinking in the giant deep, instead I find a frog striding in mud and sand.' Lupi hesitated in thought. Fengxue shouted and said: 'Elder, why do you not advance a word?' Lupi deliberated; Fengxue struck him with the whisk, saying: 'Elder, do you still remember the dialogue? Try to cite it and let us see.' Lupi was about to open his mouth when Fengxue struck him again with the whisk. The governor said: 'I know that the Buddha's Dharma and the king's law are identical.' Fengxue said: 'What principle did you see?' The governor said: 'When one should cut off and does not cut off, one invites chaos instead.' Fengxue then stepped down from the seat." The Master said: "Fengxue donned the armor of the three mysteries, deployed the four relations of host and guest, clearly set up the battle banners and densely arrayed the opposing ranks. When Lupi was just about to straddle the iron ox, he was captured in an instant, thereby causing the governor to know where to return. This is what is called dragons galloping and tigers rushing, phoenixes soaring and luan birds hovering. Even so, were it Chongning, waiting for him to say he has the dynamic of the iron ox, I would strike him across the back with the staff. The sword that kills people, the sword that gives people life—do you still know where they land?"

16.37

[The Master] cited: "A monk asked Touzi: 'Is there any extraordinary matter in the entire canon of teachings?' Touzi said: 'To expound the entire canon of teachings.'" The Master said: "To cure an illness does not require donkey-loads of medicine."

16.38

[The Master] cited: "Sanjiao addressed the assembly, saying: 'If we discuss this matter, blinking an eyebrow is already to miss it.' Magu came forward and asked: 'Missing it I do not ask about; what is this matter?' Sanjiao said: 'Missed.' Magu overturned the meditation bench; Sanjiao struck him right across the back with his staff." The Master said: "Displaying killing and reviving on the blade's edge, distinguishing black and white in the flash of lightning, undeniably the eye was capable and the hand deft, bringing the tips of their arrows to clash. Xuedou said: 'The two old fellows have not even blinked an eyebrow—why talk about this matter being missed?'" The Master said: "Accustomed to fletching golden arrowheads, long experienced on the battlefield, bringing down two condors with one arrow, he boasts of his deft hand before others. Even so, it is much like leading someone by the hand up a high mountain—inevitably mocked by onlookers. Judging by Chongning's view, to call it 'this matter' is already carving a wound in healthy flesh. How much more so to further discuss blinking an eyebrow and having already missed it! Magu and Xuedou drew their bows after the thief had gone, but indeed there was still another." He abruptly seized his staff and stepped down from the seat.

16.39

[The Master] cited: "Śāriputra asked Subhūti: 'Is expounding the six pāramitās in a dream the same as or different from when awake?'" The Master commented: "Quiet, quiet!" "Subhūti said: 'This meaning is profound; I cannot speak of it.'" The Master commented: "In soft mud there are thorns." "'In the assembly is the Great Being Maitreya; you may go ask him.'" The Master commented: "Pushing it onto someone else—how can that be acceptable?" "Śāriputra then asked Maitreya." The Master commented: "Making the best of a mistake." "Maitreya said: 'Who is Maitreya? Who is the one who is Maitreya?'" The Master commented: "The skin on his face is three inches thick!"

16.40

[The Master] cited: "A monk asked Wuzu: 'The entire canon of teachings is a fanqie spelling. I wonder: what character does it spell?' Wuzu said: 'Bala niang.'" The Master said: "Sudden thunder leaves no time to cover one's ears."

16.41

[The Master] cited: "Dawei addressed the assembly, saying: 'People of today only attain great potential, not great function.' Yangshan related these words to the Stūpa Master; the Stūpa Master kicked over the bench. Weishan heard of this and roared with laughter." The Master said: "One must know that within great potential there is great function, and within great function there is great potential. Tell me: when both releasing and withholding together, how is it? The upturned lotus heart atop the temple banner pole."

16.42

[The Master] cited: "Yaoshan said to Yunyan: 'Call the novice for me.' Yan said: 'Why is the Master calling him?' Shan said: 'I have a broken-legged pot; I need him to carry it up and down.' Yan said: 'In that case, I will lend the Master a hand.'" The Master said: "To raise one and illuminate three is the everyday conduct of a patch-robed monk. Since Yunyan was informed of what was past and knew what was to come, Yaoshan also did not wrongly entrust him. Although Chongning has a hundred uglinesses and a thousand clumsinesses, I have a bottomless basket, and furthermore hope that all of you will carry it with both hands. Why? Climbing a branch by grasping a branch."

16.43

[The Master] cited: "A monk asked Pozhaoduo: 'What is a person of great cultivation?' Zhaoduo said: 'Bearing a cangue and carrying chains.' The monk said: 'What is a person of great karmic wrongdoing?' Zhaoduo said: 'Sitting in meditation and entering samādhi.' He added: 'Do you understand?' The monk said: 'I do not.' Zhaoduo said: 'You ask me about good: good does not come from evil. You ask me about evil: evil does not come from good.' Later, a monk related this to National Teacher Anguo. An said: 'This fellow thoroughly understands that all dharmas are unproduced.'" The Master said: "Fathoming good: from where does good arise? Investigating evil: from where does evil originate? If you can clearly see this ground, it is precisely that all dharmas are unproduced. Were someone to ask Chongning: 'What is a person of great cultivation?' I would tell him: 'Sitting in meditation and entering samādhi.' 'What is a person of great karmic wrongdoing?' I would tell him: 'Bearing a cangue and carrying chains.' Tell me: are they the same or different?"

16.44

[The Master] cited: "A monk asked Zhaozhou: 'Before the world existed, this nature already was; when the world is destroyed, this nature is not destroyed. What is the undestroyed nature?' Zhaozhou said: 'The four great elements and five aggregates.' The monk said: 'These are still subject to destruction; what is the undestroyed nature?' Zhaozhou said: 'The four great elements and five aggregates.'" The Master said: "A thousand-foot cold pool, clear to the bottom."

16.45

[The Master] cited: "Changsheng asked Changqing, 'How was it before chaos divided?' Changqing said, 'The exposed pillar is pregnant.' Sheng said, 'How is it after the division?' Qing said, 'A wisp of cloud flecks the great clear sky.' Sheng said, 'Take just the great clear sky—does it still admit of flecking or not?' Qing gave no answer. Sheng said, 'If so, then living beings do not come.' Qing again gave no answer. Sheng said, 'At the very point where it is purely clear and devoid of flecks, how is it then?' Qing said, 'It is still the flow of true constancy.' Sheng said, 'What is the flow of true constancy?' Qing said, 'Like a mirror ever bright.' Sheng said, 'I wonder, is there still a transcendent matter or not?' Qing said, 'There is.' Sheng said, 'What is the transcendent matter?' Qing said, 'Break the mirror and come meet.'" The Master said, "Changsheng was skilled at asking, and Changqing was skilled at answering: glue and lacquer joining together, water and milk blending. Have you not seen the ancient saying: 'The body receives birth from within the formless, / Just like conjuring forth various physical shapes; / The conjured person's mind and consciousness are originally nonexistent, / Sin and merit are both empty, having nowhere to abide.' If you understand this verse, then you will see the question and answer of the two venerable elders; only then will you know that before parents gave birth, and after they gave birth, the whole body is exposed and revealed. Tell me: having broken the mirror, how do you meet?" Clapping his hands, he said, "Finished."

16.46

[The Master] cited: "Xuefeng asked a monk, 'Where have you recently left?' The monk said, 'Fuchuan [Overturned Boat].' Feng said, 'The sea of birth and death is not yet crossed; why have you overturned the boat?' The monk had no words. Fuchuan said in his place, 'He has no birth and death.' Xuedou said in his place, 'I have long echoed Xuefeng.' The Master said in his place, 'I would immediately overturn the meditation seat for him.'" The Master said, "Xuefeng had the phrase to test people; Fuchuan had the eye to penetrate the barrier; Xuedou had the dynamic to trap the tiger. Tell me: what aspect of the matter has Chongning accomplished?"

16.47

[The Master] cited: "Xuefeng instructed the assembly, saying, 'When the world is ten feet wide, the ancient mirror is ten feet wide; when the world is one foot wide, the ancient mirror is one foot wide.' Xuansha pointed to the fire stove and said, 'Tell me, how wide is the fire stove?' Feng said, 'As wide as the ancient mirror.' Sha said, 'The venerable monk's heels have not yet touched the ground.'" The Master said, "A ready-made gong'an: the ancient mirror is originally not the fire stove; break open the cage and netting, and the fire stove is the ancient mirror. Were it not for father and son matching potential, how could one see their utter sincerity, piece by piece? How do you all understand his saying, 'This old fellow's heels have not yet touched the ground'? The Tathāgata's precious staff leaves its own footprints."

16.48

[The Master] cited: "Yunmen instructed the assembly, saying, 'If you really have not yet obtained an entry point, the Buddhas of the three periods are under your heels, and the entire great canon of teachings is on your tongue; just understand it at the place of entanglements.'" The Master said, "Chongning adds mud onto earth, daring to say: this directly causes Guishan's water ox to gore to death the carp of the Eastern Sea, and the Iron Ox of Shan Prefecture to swallow down the Great Elephant of Jia Prefecture."

16.49

[The Master] cited: "An ancient master said, 'This patch of field has been entrusted for a long time; standing here, I wait for you to grasp it.' Fayan said, 'This patch of field has been entrusted for a long time; sitting here, I wait for you to grasp it.'" The Master said, "This patch of field has been entrusted for a long time; today, before the assembly, I celebrate and repent."

16.50

[The Master] cited: "Former Baoshou asked Latter Baoshou, 'Before parents gave birth to you, which was your original face?' Latter Baoshou was at a loss. One day in the marketplace he saw two men quarreling; one man urged them, saying, 'How can you be so shameless [faceless]?' Baoshou thereupon had great awakening." The Master said, "Bumping against it, striking it, straight on it displays the scenery of the fundamental ground; responding to sounds, responding to forms, right under it there is not the slightest leak. Do you still understand his saying, 'How can you be so shameless'? The dragon sleeves brush open, and the whole body appears."

16.51

[The Master] cited: "Nanquan instructed the assembly, saying, 'Old Teacher Wang has raised a water ox since youth. If I intend to graze it east of the stream, it cannot avoid eating the king's water and grass; if I intend to graze it west of the stream, it also cannot avoid eating the king's water and grass. It is better to pay a little according to my lot, so it cannot be seen at all.'" The Master said, "Softening the glare to accord with things, blending with the dust of the world, not clashing with spear tips, gathering in and letting go at ease—this is Nanquan's fundamental lot of fodder. This mountain monk has also raised a water ox since youth: sometimes standing solitary on an isolated peak, sometimes bustling through crowded markets; regardless of east of the stream or west of the stream, straightaway shattering dust and striking the mark. Tell me: right now, where is it? Keep your eyes open and look."

16.52

[The Master] cited: "A monk asked Jingqing, 'A learner has not yet reached its source; I beg the master to point it out.' Qing said, 'What source is it?' The monk said, 'Its source.' Qing said, 'If it is its source, how could it accept pointing out?' After the monk left, the attendant asked, 'Was that just now to help him or not?' Qing said, 'No.' The attendant said, 'Was it not to help him?' Qing said, 'No.' The attendant said, 'What was the venerable monk's intention?' Qing said, 'A single drop of water and ink forms dragons in two places.'" The Master said, "Jingqing possessed the pincers and hammer of the fundamental lot and the furnace and bellows of an adept; just like a bright mirror set upon its stand, it completely reflects everything without omission. Although he accommodated the circumstance and responded to the dynamic, it still cost entanglements. If it were this mountain monk, were someone suddenly to ask, 'I have not yet reached its source,' I would reply to him, 'What source is it?' When he said 'Its source,' I would strike him with a staff right across the spine. If someone further asked, 'Was it to help him or not?' 'No.' 'What was the venerable monk's intention?' A staff right across the spine! Not only cutting off the myriad streams, but also glorifying the lineage eye. Can you still distinguish it?"

First 52 of 54 passages. Read on

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圓悟佛果禪師語錄 — Classical Chinese