圓悟佛果禪師語錄 18

English (machine translation) 18

Language: English

18.1

Compiled by disciples including Shaolong of Mount Huqiu in Pingjiang Prefecture of the Song

He brought up [the following case]: "A monk asked Great Master Ma: 'Departing from the four propositions and extinguishing the hundred negations, please, Master, point out directly to me the meaning of the [Patriarch's] coming from the West.' The Great Master said: 'I am tired today and cannot explain it to you. Go ask Zhizang.'" The Master [Yuanwu] appended the word: "Wrong." "The monk asked Zhizang; Zang said: 'I have a headache today and cannot explain it to you. Go ask Brother Hai.'" The Master appended the word: "Wrong." "The monk asked Hai; Hai said: 'Having come to this point, I nevertheless do not understand.'" The Master appended the word: "Wrong." "The monk returned and recounted this to Great Master Ma. The Great Master said: 'Zang's head is white; Hai's head is black.'" The Master appended the words: "Wrong, wrong." The Master commented: "If one is a person with clear eyes, at a single mention one immediately knows where it lands. My late master Baiyun said: 'This monk carried a load of muddle-headedness and exchanged it for unease.' Great Master Ma said: 'Zang's head is white; Hai's head is black.' Baiyun commented: 'Master Fenghou only knows the first, not the second.' Now, as for this mountain monk giving five 'wrongs'—tell me, where do they land? Do not take idle learning and understanding to bury the Patriarch's mind."

18.4

He brought up [the following case]: "A monk asked Yunmen: 'What is the transcendent matter of the dharmakāya?' Yunmen said: 'It would not be difficult to speak to you of the transcendent, but how do you understand the dharmakāya?' The monk said: 'Please examine it, Venerable.' Yunmen said: 'Let examination aside for a moment. How do you understand the dharmakāya?' The monk said: 'Like this, like this.' Yunmen said: 'This is something learned on the long connecting benches. I ask you: does the dharmakāya still eat food or not?' The monk had no words. Xuedou said: 'About to complete a mountain of nine fathoms, he fails to add a single basket of earth.' Baofu said: 'Lacking even a single grain of his won't do either.' An ancient worthy also said: 'What do you call food?'" The Master commented: "Yunmen may be said to drive away the plowman's ox and snatch away the starving man's food, weighing Buddhas and patriarchs, a tortoise-mirror for the lineage vehicle. Therefore, later venerable adepts each manifested eyes to sustain and establish the lineage style. Even so, this only clarifies matters on the side of the dharmakāya, not yet the transcendent matter of the dharmakāya. And what is the transcendent matter of the dharmakāya? Within the realm there is neither turning toward nor against; beyond the gates there are scales and measures."

18.5

He brought up [the following case]: "When Baoshou opened the hall, Sansheng pushed forward a monk. Baoshou struck him at once. Sansheng said: 'Acting for people like this not only blinds this monk's eyes, but blinds the eyes of everyone in the entire city of Zhenzhou!' Baoshou then returned to the abbot's quarters." The Master commented: "Baoshou shoulders it with full dynamic potential, which is certainly extraordinary; yet he only attained one side. At that time, had he been adept at demonstrating Linji's Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, waiting until Sansheng said, 'Acting for people like this not only blinds this monk's eyes, but blinds the eyes of everyone in the entire city of Zhenzhou,' he would have immediately given him his fundamental lot of fodder. Why? In for a penny, in for a pound."

18.6

He brought up [the following case]: "While Jinniu was distributing food, he asked Layman Pang: 'Vimalakīrti already scolded giving rise to thought while receiving food. Setting aside these two paths, does the layman still accept it or not?' The Layman said: 'At that time, was not Subhūti an adept?' Jinniu said: 'What does it have to do with another's business?' The Layman said: 'The food reached the edge of the mouth, only to be snatched away by someone.' Jinniu then continued distributing food. The Layman said: 'It doesn't even take a single phrase.'" The Master commented: "Subhūti was an adept, and Jinniu was extraordinary; all was completely taken in by Layman Pang at once. As for Layman Pang saying it does not even take a single phrase—tell me, which phrase is it? Sitting upright receiving offerings, may the donor ever be at peace."

18.7

He brought up [the following case]: "A monk asked Shimen: 'How is it when the year is depleted and the months come to an end?' Shimen said: 'Old Wang of the eastern village burns spirit money at night.'" The Master commented: "This may indeed be called miraculous function of spiritual penetrations." "The monk further asked Venerable Xian of Kaixian: 'How is it when the year is depleted and the months come to an end?' Xian said: 'Just as before, the first month of spring is still cold.'" The Master commented: "His ground is certainly steady and dense. If someone suddenly asked Daolin: 'How is it when the year is depleted and the months come to an end?' I would only say to him: 'A windmill spinning on the fixed point of the balance beam.'"

18.8

He brought up [the following case]: "Sansheng said: 'Whenever I meet someone I come out, but coming out, I do not act for the person.' Xinghua said: 'Whenever I meet someone I do not come out, but coming out, I immediately act for the person.'" The Master commented: "One has his face covered with dirt and head with ashes atop an isolated peak; one cuts through nails and shears through iron at the crossroads—with head and tail, dying together and living together. Tell me: is he who comes out and does not act for the person right, or is he who comes out and immediately acts for the person right?" Raising his fly-whisk, he said: "Through countless ages, the moon in the empty realm of the emerald pool; / only by raking again and again will you finally know."

18.9

He brought up [the following case]: "Longya asked Cuiwei: 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?' Cuiwei said: 'Pass me the meditation board.' Longya brought the meditation board to Cuiwei; as soon as Cuiwei took it, he struck him. Longya said: 'As for striking, strike as you will, but still there is no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West.' Longya also asked Linji: 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?' Linji said: 'Pass me the cushion.' Longya brought the cushion to Linji; as soon as Linji took it, he struck him. Longya said: 'As for striking, strike as you will, but still there is no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West.' Later, after becoming abbot, a monk asked: 'When the Venerable saw those two venerable adepts in those years, did you agree with them or not?' Longya said: 'As for agreeing, I agree, but still there is no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West.'" The Master commented: "This fellow's inquiry was reckless, and his study muddled. Although he looks behind and gazes ahead, what can he do about hiding his body while exposing his shadow? Since there is no meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West, what is the use of agreeing? If you can discern within this, this mountain monk will give you a staff; if you cannot discern it, you will lose your nostrils along with it all at once."

18.10

He brought up [the following case]: "A monk asked Yunmen: 'How is it when the tree withers and the leaves fall?' Yunmen said: 'The body is exposed in the autumn wind.'" The Master commented: "Yunmen's skillful means may be called phenomenon as principle, the concealed as the revealed; the three phrases can be discerned, a single arrow piercing the distant sky. Even so, it still sticks to the skin and clings to the bones. If someone asked Jiangshan: 'How is it when the tree withers and the leaves fall?' I would only say to him: 'Propping up heaven and supporting earth.' Tell me: is it the three phrases? Is it the single arrow? Testing jade requires passing through fire; seeking pearls does not depart from mud."

18.11

He brought up [the following case]: "Venerable Lanzan said: 'I have a single word that cuts off thought and forgets conditions; it cannot be skillfully spoken, but only requires mind transmission.'" The Master commented: "This old fellow—where fish move, the water becomes muddy; leaks and blunders are not few. Even so, if there is one among you who can forget conditions and cut off thought, stepping forward to say, 'What is mind transmission?'—if you understand, it has already been transmitted; if you do not understand, setting mind aside for a moment, ultimately what is that single word? Return to the hall and rest."

18.12

He brought up [the following case]: "Xuedou said: 'Within heaven and earth, in the midst of the cosmos, inside there is a jewel hanging on the wall. Bodhidharma faced the wall for nine years, not daring to look straight at it. Nowadays, if a patch-robed monk wants to see it, strike right across his spine!'" The Master commented: "Xuedou is the subtle within the subtle, the extraordinary within the extraordinary; holding it forth above the heads of Buddhas and patriarchs, boring an aperture in the crown of patch-robed monks' heads, certainly at ease. Yet he only sees the sharpness of the awl's point, not the squareness of the chisel's head. As for Jiangshan, it is not so: within heaven and earth, in the midst of the cosmos, inside there is a jewel." Raising his staff, he said: "It is on the tip of the staff. Pick it up, and heaven turns and earth spins; put it down, and grass bends as the wind blows. At times it has eight arms and three heads; at times it stands like a wall a thousand fathoms high. Nowadays, not to mention patch-robed monks wanting to see it—even if a thousand sages were to appear and the rows of patriarchs all arrive together, they would all have to retreat three thousand miles. I venture to ask the great assembly, tell me: what kind of person is fit to enjoy its use? Entrust it to Mount Tiantai's Wooden Elder; suddenly thrusts out the viper of South Mountain." He tossed down the staff and stepped down from the seat.

18.13

He brought up [the following case]: "A monk asked Damei: 'What is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West?' Damei said: 'Coming from the West, there is no meaning.' The monk recounted this to Yanguan. Yanguan said: 'One coffin, two dead fellows.' Xuedou said: 'There are even three.'" The Master commented: "Pierced through on a single string."

18.14

He brought up [the following case]: "Lingyun's verse says: 'For thirty years I have been a guest seeking the sword; / how many times leaves have fallen and branches sprouted again. / Ever since seeing the peach blossoms once, / right up to now I have never doubted again.' Xuansha said: 'Thoroughly correct, most thoroughly correct, but I dare say the elder brother has not yet penetrated through.'" The Master commented: "The higher the singing, the fewer join in—the spring snow tune. The sword that kills people, the sword that brings people to life—the essential for benefiting beings. Some fellows still cling to hearing and seeing, forming understandings according to words, immediately claiming they deceive each other, who does not know this? A lonely lamp beneath the sun has already lost its prior illumination. Ultimately, where is the unpenetrated place? In the gourd, the sun and moon are long."

18.15

He brought up [the following case]: "Xuansha asked a monk: 'Where did you leave recently?' The monk said: 'Ruiyan.' Xuansha said: 'What words does Ruiyan have?' The monk said: 'He constantly calls: Master! and himself answers: Yes, yes! Stay alert! Another day, do not be deceived by others!' Xuansha said: 'Equally playing with the conscious spirit, it is also quite extraordinary.' He asked again: 'Why did you not stay there for a while?' The monk said: 'Ruiyan has passed away.' Xuansha said: 'Can you still call and get an answer now?' The monk had no words. Xuedou said: 'Blue heaven! Blue heaven!'" The Master commented: "A bottomless freezing pool ten thousand fathoms deep, the moon is right in its center; a cliff-hanging pine a thousand feet tall leaning into the sky, the wind rises in the secluded valley. One truly attains an awe-inspiring lonely standard, a pure and limpid bearing; yet when the moon departs from the blue peaks and its shadow falls upon the cloud pathways, one then misses it right before one's face. If that monk at that time had been a real fellow, waiting until he said, 'Can you still call and get an answer right now?' he would have shouted on the spot—not only holding fast Xuansha's crucial pass, but also venting spleen on behalf of old Ruiyan."

18.16

He brought up [the following case]: "A monk asked Fengxue: 'For the reward and labor of the ninety days of summer, please, Master, recommend a word.' Fengxue said: 'No leisure to pick up a handful of fragrant grass; the six-ringed golden staff jingles, shaking the sky.'" The Master commented: "Fengxue uses matters right in the open, certainly refined and elegant, yet he can only speak phrases along the way. If someone asked Daolin: 'For the reward and labor of the ninety days of summer, please, Master, recommend a word,' I would only say to him: 'Beside the Hall of Four Marvels auspicious vapors are displayed; on the bank of the Three Xiang Rivers the high standard is seized.'"

18.17

He cited: "One day Śāriputra was entering the city when he saw the maiden Candrottarā leaving the city. Śāriputra asked, 'Where are you going?' The maiden said, 'I am going just as Śāriputra goes.' Śāriputra said, 'I have just entered the city and you have just left the city; why do you say that you are going just as Śāriputra goes?' The maiden said, 'Where should the disciples of the buddhas abide?' Śāriputra said, 'The disciples of the buddhas should abide in great nirvāṇa.' The maiden said, 'Since the disciples of the buddhas abide in great nirvāṇa, I am going just as Śāriputra goes.'" The Master commented: "Abiding nowhere to abide, walking nowhere to walk, seeing nothing to be seen, functioning nowhere to function—beneath each person's heels it is vast as the great void, like ten suns shining together, radiant wherever they touch. If you understand thus, then together with the maiden Candrottarā you will realize non-arising and attain non-retrogression; wherever you go or come, everything is within the great liberation. The nostrils of the buddhas of the three periods are pierced in a single instant; what talk is there of going just as Śāriputra goes?"

18.18

He cited: "Shizu asked Nanquan, 'The mani jewel, people do not know; in the Tathāgata-garbha one personally receives it. What is the storehouse (garbha)?' Nanquan said, 'My coming and going with you is it.' Shizu said, 'What about when there is no coming and going at all?' Nanquan said, 'It is also the storehouse.' Shizu said, 'What is the jewel?' Nanquan said, 'Shizu!' Shizu responded, 'Yes?' Nanquan said, 'Go! You do not understand my words.'" The Master commented: "Nanquan's extending a hand for a time—taking in, letting go, capturing, and releasing—was certainly present, but fundamentally he had not yet seen the transcendent matter. Just as the entire great earth is the Tathāgata-garbha, in what place will you put the jewel? The entire great earth is the mani jewel; what do you call the storehouse? If one clearly attains a place to turn oneself about, I might grant that he possesses just one eye."

18.19

He cited: "A monk asked Xianglin, 'What is the matter beneath the patch-robed monk's robe?' Xianglin said, 'In the twelfth lunar month, fire burns the mountain.'" The Master commented: "Raising one to illuminate three is the monk's aperture; a thousand distinctions on a single track is the hammer and tongs of the fundamental lot. Even though this is so, if someone were to ask Daolin, 'What is the matter beneath the patch-robed monk's robe?' I would simply say to him, 'Cotton wrapping a special stone.'"

18.20

He cited: "Nanquan asked a monk, 'Was there a fine wind last night?' The monk said, 'There was a fine wind last night.' Nanquan said, 'It blew down and snapped a pine tree in front of the gate.' The monk also said, 'It blew down and snapped a pine tree in front of the gate.' Later, seeing another monk, Nanquan asked, 'Was there a fine wind last night?' The monk said, 'What wind was it?' Nanquan said, 'It blew down and snapped a pine tree in front of the gate.' Nanquan said, 'One gained and one lost.'" The Master commented: "In general, when responding in dialogue, one must keep an eye out according to dynamic capacity, distinguishing dragons from snakes, sorting the black from the white. As it is said: beating the drum and playing the pipa, when met, both are masters. But as for Nanquan saying, 'One gained and one lost,' I venture to ask: Which one gained? Which one lost? To get here, you must be a transcendent person to begin with. Do you fully understand? The king of geese selects the milk; he is by nature not of the duck's kind."

18.21

He cited: "Master of the Mountain Xiu's verse says: 'Broken in two, it does not become one; / The one Dharma eternally abides forever. / If a person understands in terms of one and two, / For eternal kalpas he will suffer drowning and sinking.'" The Master commented: "Directly like a sword leaning against the heavens with awe-inspiring divine majesty, standing wall-like a thousand fathoms high in a flat and level place, yet flat and level where it stands wall-like a thousand fathoms high. Although he was only able to express half of it, Daolin does otherwise: 'Broken in two, it does not become one; / Even the one Dharma does not abide. / Not forming an understanding of one or two, / For eternal kalpas he will suffer drowning and sinking.'"

18.22

He cited: "Daowu asked Yunyan, 'When we shed this skin bag, where shall we meet?' Yunyan said, 'We shall meet where there is neither birth nor death.'" The Master commented: "Far too circuitous!" "Daowu said, 'Why not say we shall meet where it is not neither-birth-nor-death?'" The Master commented: "Far too solitary and steep! In general, when a kalyāṇamitra brings up a single word and presents a single dynamic action, it is essential to clarify the root source of life and death, enabling everyone to understand their minds and see their natures. How exhilarating that is! If someone were to ask Daolin, 'When we shed this skin bag, where shall we meet?' I would simply say to him, 'Where does one not encounter him?'"

18.23

He cited: "Master of the Mountain Xiu's verse says: 'If you wish to know the path of liberation, / The myriad dharmas do not reach one another. / Eyes and ears cut off seeing and hearing; / Sound and form are tumultuous and vast.'" The Master commented: "Sound does not reach the ear; form does not reach the eye. Sound and form interpenetrate, and the myriad dharmas appear completely. And tell me: has one set foot on the path of liberation or not? If you do not comprehend this meaning, your practice will be in vain and futile suffering."

18.24

He cited: "A monk asked Shigong, 'When birth and death arrive, how can one avoid them?' Shigong said, 'Here there is no birth and death.'" The Master commented: "Do you recognize this? / The swift falcon darts through the sky; / The foolish bird perches on the hedge top."

18.25

He cited: "An ancient said, 'If there is a buddha within birth and death, then one is not deluded by birth and death.' Another said, 'If there is no buddha within birth and death, then there is no birth and death.'" The Master commented: "Right though it may be—two sharp vajra jewel swords—they nonetheless brush past empty space. Jinshan does otherwise: Birth and death are the foundation of the buddhas; the buddhas are the smelting furnace of birth and death. If you can take this up in its precipitous extremity, you will directly realize the six supernatural powers and the eight liberations."

18.26

Verses on Ancient Cases, Part One

18.27

He cited: "Deshan instructed the assembly at an informal gathering, saying: 'Tonight this old monk will not answer questions. Anyone who asks a question gets thirty blows of the staff.' At that time, a monk came forward and bowed. Deshan struck him at once. The monk said, 'I have not even asked a question; why do you strike me?' Deshan said, 'Where are you from?' The monk said, 'A man of Silla.' Deshan said, 'Before you even stepped over the ship's gunwale, you deserved thirty blows.' Fayan said, 'Great or small, Deshan severed his talk into two pieces.' Yuanming said, 'Great or small, Deshan had a dragon's head and a snake's tail.' Xuedou said, 'Deshan held the authority outside the borders; he had the sword of not hesitating when one ought to sever, which brings about no disorder. If you want to know that monk from Silla, he was merely a blind fellow who collided with an exposed pillar.'"

18.28

"The great furnace smelts gold; / Sudden thunder startles the spring. / Plants and trees flourish, / Their luster daily renewed. / Without expending an iota of effort, / He captured the celestial qilin. / With complete authority over killing and giving life, he attains ease; / Illumining through a thousand ages, like the icy moon disc. / 'His talk was severed into two pieces'—the eye within the phrase is alive; / 'A dragon's head and a snake's tail'—pointing to a finger with a finger. / The blind patch-robed monk who collided with an exposed pillar / Had his throat choked off, leaving no breath to exhale. / Hesitating and deliberating, separated by ten thousand mountains; / A chattering tongue three thousand miles away!"

18.29

He cited: "Deshan, carrying his bundle under his arm, arrived at Guishan and walked into the Dharma hall, crossing from east to west and from west to east. Guishan sat silently without looking at him. Deshan said, 'Nothing, nothing,' and immediately went out. Then he said, 'I also must not be careless.' Thereupon, possessing full comportment, he met Guishan, held up his sitting cloth, and said, 'Venerable Sir!' As Guishan was about to reach for his whisk, Deshan gave a shout, turned his back on the Dharma hall, put on his straw sandals, and left. In the evening Guishan asked the head monk, 'Where is that newly arrived monk from earlier?' The head monk said, 'At that time he turned his back on the Dharma hall, put on his straw sandals, and left.' Guishan said, 'Do you know that fellow? Hereafter he will build a grass hut on the peak of a solitary mountain, scolding the buddhas and reviling the patriarchs.'"

18.30

"Great function is unrestricted; / A model for past and present. / Turning backward to seize the scorpion's tail, / Plainly stroking the tiger's whiskers. / If one does not deeply discern the subtle clues, / How could one sit and observe success and failure? / At the sharp point, the awl breaks through the bag; / Rising high, it rolls up and unfurls beyond the square. / On the solitary mountain peak, waves surge to the heavens; / When the true command is put into effect, everything is smashed to bits! / Bah!"

18.31

He cited: "Nanquan called upon Baizhang Niepan. Baizhang asked, 'Is there still a Dharma from all the sages of the past that has not been spoken for people?' Nanquan said, 'There is.' Baizhang said, 'What is the Dharma that has not been spoken for people?' Nanquan said, 'It is not mind, it is not buddha, it is not a thing.' Baizhang said, 'You have spoken it!' Nanquan said, 'I, Puyan, am just thus. What about you, Venerable Sir?' Baizhang said, 'I am not a kalyāṇamitra; how should I know whether there is speaking or no speaking?' Nanquan said, 'I do not understand.' Baizhang said, 'I have spoken it for you all too thoroughly!'"

18.32

"Luan-bird glue reconnects the broken string; / Lion's blood transforms donkey's milk. / Never having been for people, / Through past and present it consults buddhas and patriarchs. / Once the arrow has left the bowstring, there is no turning back; / In order to seize it, one must certainly grant it first. / Speaking during silence, silent during speech— / A person comes from Chenzhou, / Yet heads off toward Xuzhou."

18.33

He cited: "Baizhang visited Mazu a second time. Mazu raised his whisk. Baizhang said, 'Right in this function, detached from this function.' Mazu hung the whisk back in its original place. After Baizhang had stood in attendance for a short while, Mazu said, 'Hereafter, how will you move the two flaps of your skin to work for people?' Baizhang took the whisk and held it up. Mazu said, 'Right in this function, detached from this function.' Baizhang hung up the whisk. Mazu then gave a shout, and Baizhang was greatly enlightened. Later, Baizhang said to Huangbo, 'At that time, when I was shouted at once by Mazu, I was completely deaf for three days.'"

18.34

"Raising the whisk and hanging the whisk, / The entire dynamic appears and vanishes. / 'Right in this' and 'detached from this' / Are as clear as can be. / Instantly atop the crown of the head a thunderbolt crashes; / Piercing with a needle the incurable fatal disease deep in the vitals. / Taking up the single shout, deaf for three days; / The lion's divine majesty bounds and tosses at will, / Causing even hundred-fold refined true gold to lose its color." He further said, "Is there anyone? Is there anyone? Bah!"

18.35

He cited: "Daowu went to a family to offer condolences. Jianyuan patted the coffin and asked, 'Alive or dead?' Daowu said, 'I will not say alive, and I will not say dead.' Jianyuan said, 'Why will you not say?' Daowu said, 'I will not say! I will not say!' Later, when he brought this up again with Shishuang, he first understood where it landed. One day, carrying a spade in the Dharma hall, he crossed from east to west and from west to east. Shishuang said, 'What are you doing?' Jianyuan said, 'Searching for the late master's sacred bones.' Shishuang said, 'Vast billows spreading wide, white waves surging to the heavens—what sacred bones are you searching for?' Jianyuan said, 'Just the right time to exert effort.' Taiyuan Fu said, 'The late master's sacred bones are still here.'"

18.36

"Alive or dead? / Striking against it, bumping into it. / 'I will not say, I will not say!' / Hiding the head and revealing the horns. / The golden sacred bones ring clear; / White waves surging to the heavens are transcendent and lofty. / Attentively I speak to the person who has penetrated the barrier: / Across ten thousand miles, the solitary light shines ever radiant. / Nothing to grope for: / Zhaozhou's stone bridge becomes a single-plank bridge."

18.37

He cited: "In the assembly on Vulture Peak, there was a woman who entered samādhi before the Buddha. The Buddha commanded Mañjuśrī to bring her out of it. Mañjuśrī circumambulated the woman three times and snapped his fingers once, but the woman remained solemn in samādhi. Mañjuśrī then used his supernatural powers to carry her up to the Brahmā heaven and hurled her down, yet the woman remained solemn in samādhi as before. The Buddha said, 'Not only can you alone not bring this woman out of samādhi, even if there were hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of Mañjuśrīs, they could not bring her out of it either. In the realm below there is the Bodhisattva Net-Light (Jālinīprabha), who can bring her out of this samādhi.' Before the Buddha finished speaking, Net-Light welled up from the earth. The Buddha commanded him to bring her out of samādhi. Net-Light circumambulated the woman three times and snapped his fingers once, whereupon the woman came out of samādhi. An elder master queried: 'Mañjuśrī is the teacher of the seven buddhas; why was he unable to bring the woman out of samādhi, whereas Net-Light was able to do so?'"

18.38

The great samādhi is like empty space; / who can distinctly discern it in its openness? / The woman and Gautama: / relying on the order, how straightforward! / The lion roars energetically, shaking heaven and tumbling earth; / the elephant king wheels around without expending spare effort. / Who wins and who loses? / Who exits and who enters? / The rain disperses, the clouds clear away: / blue sky and bright sun. / Have you not seen? / The colt trampled everyone under heaven to death; / Linji was not yet a daylight thief.

18.39

Case: Qingyuan said to Shitou, "Everyone says there is news from Caoxi." Shitou said, "There is someone who does not say there is news from Caoxi." Qingyuan said, "Where do the large canon and small canon come from?" Shitou said, "They all come from right here."

18.40

Having news: an excessive grievance; / having no news: even further buried away. / The large canon and small canon emerge from this, / scattering sand and flinging dirt without end. / Sweet as honey, / bitter as phellodendron bark, / bright as the sun, / black as lacquer: / smashing the thousand-year-old wild fox den, / it fills the gullies and chokes the ravines, yet few recognize it.

18.41

Case: A monk asked Yunmen, "Is the Buddhadharma like the moon in the water, or not?" Yunmen said, "Through clear waves there is no path of passage." The monk said, "Where did the Venerable obtain this?" Yunmen said, "Asked once more, where does it come from again?" The monk said, "What about when one goes on like this?" Yunmen said, "Tier upon tier of mountain passes and roads."

18.42

Pervading the realm, nothing is hidden; / clear waves are pure and still. / Mutually shifting, they match the dynamic; / arrowheads squarely meet. / Holding up the hammer and tongs of the transcendent: / sparks struck from flint and flashes of lightning cannot keep up. / Just like this, / separated by mountain passes: / beyond the clouds of the green pool, they have no relation.

18.43

Case: A monk asked Longya, "How is it when the two mice gnaw at the vine?" Longya said, "One must know there is a hiding place before one gets it." The monk said, "What is the hiding place?" Longya said, "Do you still see this fellow?"

18.44

Imposingly, it becomes visible; / so tightly concealed, it is hard to see. / Though the two mice are clever, / they find no opening to exploit. / The vine branch reaches beyond before one was born; / the true eye, facing the sun, skillfully shifts. / Old Longya— / his dynamic is like lightning: / encountering the base, it becomes noble; encountering the noble, it becomes base.

18.45

Case: The Perfect Enlightenment Sūtra says: "Taking great perfect enlightenment as my monastery, body and mind abide peacefully in the wisdom of equality."

18.46

Not a hair is kept; / vertical and horizontal, completely free. / Beyond the threshold, heaven and earth are vast and open; / in the great square without exterior, wandering at ease. / Clearly, the ancestral master's meaning; / clearly, the tips of the myriad grasses. / Piercing through the net of doubts; / severing the river of craving. / Even if one possesses the power to turn back heaven, / how can it compare to resting directly beneath? / In the midst of the crossroads, stark and naked: / letting loose Guishan's water buffalo.

18.47

Case: A monk asked Xuefeng, "How is it when the ancient ravine is a cold spring?" Xuefeng said, "Staring with wide eyes, one cannot see the bottom." The monk said, "What about one who drinks it?" Xuefeng said, "It does not enter through the mouth." Later, a monk cited this to Zhaozhou. Zhaozhou said, "It cannot enter through the nostrils!" The monk then asked, "How is it when the ancient ravine is a cold spring?" Zhaozhou said, "Bitter." The monk said, "What about one who drinks it?" Zhaozhou said, "Dead." When Xuefeng heard of this, he said, "Zhaozhou is an ancient Buddha; from now on I will not answer questions."

18.48

Zhaozhou and Elephant Bone Cliff: / in all the world, without peer. / Together they strum the stringless lute, / purifying people's ears for a thousand years. / An ancient ravine, a cold spring; / staring with wide eyes, utterly still. / Not entering through the mouth: / the one who drinks forgets the snare. / Again speaking out: / bitter, and moreover dead. / Not answering questions: / the same on both sides. / Two masters meeting: / beating the drum and playing the pipa. / Right here, which one is correct? / A white bird enters the reed blossoms.

18.49

Case: A non-Buddhist asked the Buddha, "I do not ask about words, nor do I ask about wordlessness." The World-Honoured One remained silent for a good while. The non-Buddhist said, "The World-Honoured One's great kindness and great compassion have cleared away the clouds of my delusion, allowing me to gain entry." After the non-Buddhist left, Ānanda asked the World-Honoured One, "What did that non-Buddhist realize?" The World-Honoured One said, "Like a fine horse in the world, he runs upon seeing the shadow of the whip."

18.50

Not asking about words or wordlessness: / before words, he sets up the point of inquiry. / Both sides are completely cut off; / a single sword leans cold against the sky. / Before the shadow of the whip moves, / he gallops past mounds and traverses capitals. / Once the gate of compassion opens, / he rides over existence and tramples non-existence. / The sky-soaring nostrils must be pierced through: / who is the celestial colt chasing the wind?

18.51

Case: A monk asked the Sixth Patriarch, "What kind of person attains the intended meaning of Huangmei?" The Patriarch said, "A person who understands the Buddhadharma attains it." The monk said, "Does the Venerable attain it or not?" The Patriarch said, "I do not attain it." The monk said, "Why do you not attain it?" The Patriarch said, "I do not understand the Buddhadharma."

18.52

Cutting nails and shearing iron; / great skill appears clumsy. / A single phrase held up aloft: / "I do not understand the Buddhadharma." / Let the leaves fall and the flowers blossom; / do not ask about spring chill or autumn heat. / Distinct and unique: / for ten thousand eons, the moon in the empty sky of the green pool.

18.53

Case: Senior Monk Fu of Taiyuan asked Gushan, "Before parents gave birth to you, where were your nostrils?" Gushan said, "Right now, being born, where are your nostrils?" Fu did not approve and said, "You ask me, and I will answer you." Gushan said, "Before parents gave birth to you, where were your nostrils?" Fu merely shook his fan.

18.54

Before parents gave birth, / and being born—it is just like this. / Uniformly holding it up and handling it, / remarkably clever, completely unified right underfoot, / like a lotus in the fire: / ascending from the past and brightening the present, / supremely marvelous, exhausting the dark mystery. / Most delightful: / pure wind constantly fills the seats / for eighteen thousand years.

18.55

Case: Qianfeng instructed the assembly, saying, "Holding up the first, you must not hold up the second; letting the first go, you fall into the second." Yunmen came forward and said, "Yesterday a monk came from Tiantai and went instead to Jingshan." Qianfeng said, "Today the head cook will not call for a general communal labor."

18.56

Spring orchid and autumn chrysanthemum: / each and every one takes its proper season. / Where is there no mutual interpenetration? / Whom to blame for distinguishing marrow from skin? / When the wind comes, the birds have already sensed it; / when the dew is heavy, the crane knows it first. / If one asks how they can do so: / they did not know it to begin with.

18.57

Case: Yunyan asked Daowu, "What does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion use so many hands and eyes for?" Daowu said, "It is like someone in the night reaching behind them feeling for a pillow." Yunyan said, "I understand." Daowu said, "How do you understand?" Yunyan said, "All over the body are hands and eyes." Daowu said, "You have said a great deal, but you have only stated eighty percent." Yunyan said, "What about you?" Daowu said, "Throughout the whole body are hands and eyes."

18.58

"All over the body"—yes; / "throughout the whole body"—yes. / Curds and ghee become of a single flavor. / From the tip of a hair, Mount Sumeru surges forth; / a mustard seed swallows dry the waters of the vast ocean. / The ten directions of empty space are swallowed and illumined; / the true eye is vast and open. / Illumination and function occur simultaneously; / person and environment are both snatched away. / Beneath the staff and under the shout, you accept it mistakenly; / reaching behind to pick it up, you also lose it. / Stop, stop! / Water is water, mountains are mountains: / take care not to bind yourself without a rope.

18.59

Case: At the end of summer, Dongshan instructed the assembly, saying, "In early autumn and late summer, you must head straight for where there is not an inch of grass for ten thousand miles." The assembly made no reply. A monk cited this to Shishuang. Shishuang said, "Why didn't they say, 'As soon as one steps out the door, there is grass'?"

18.60

The road to Xinfeng is level: / why bother with biased, correct, and round? / For ten thousand miles not an inch of grass: / what person can step forward? / If the dynamic does not turn, / one falls into worldly conditions; / if one breaks through and gets free, / one braves the wind and smoke. / Liuyang truly breaks through center and extremes: / stepping out the door, the grass is already thick and lush. / If in matching the dynamic you are skilled at discerning the incoming vein, / both shores are dark and mysterious, neither being whole on its own. / He added, "Watch your step!"

18.61

Case: Dingshan and Jiashan were walking together. Dingshan said, "If within birth and death there is no Buddha, then there is no birth and death." Jiashan said, "If within birth and death there is a Buddha, then one is not deluded by birth and death." Each of the two considered his own words intimate, so they went to Damei to present them and ask for his judgment. Damei said, "One is intimate, one is distant." The two stepped down. The next day Jiashan went and asked, "Which one is intimate?" Damei said, "The intimate one does not ask; the one who asks is not intimate." After Jiashan became an abbot, he cited this to the assembly, saying, "At that time I lost an eye." Xuedou commented, saying, "Jiashan after all did not realize that at that time he gained an eye in exchange."

18.62

"Having a Buddha, one is not deluded"; / "lacking a Buddha, one is deluded." / The true eye on Damei's crown / instantaneously tested the intimate and the distant. / In every house they embrace the jade of Mount Jing; / each person holds the jewel of the efficacious snake. / Losing it and gaining it in exchange: / arriving together, though by different paths. / An adept hurls the golden hammer directly in one's face; / in the dynamic of the moment, the swift hawk cannot catch up. / Thinking it was the red-bearded barbarian, / there is yet another barbarian whose beard is red.

18.63

Case: Zhaozhou said, "This old monk is going to answer questions; let anyone who knows how to ask bring forward a question." At that time a monk came forward and bowed. Zhaozhou said, "Just now I cast a brick to draw jade, but I only managed to draw an unbaked tile." He then stepped down from the seat. Later, Fayan cited this and asked Jue Tiezi, "What was the meaning of this?" Jue said, "Let me give the Venerable an analogy: it is like when the state appoints a commander." When asked, 'Who is able to go?' someone says, 'I am able to go.' The answer comes, 'You are not able to go.'" Fayan said, "I understand."

18.64

A thousand-year-old field, eight hundred owners; / who, matching the dynamic, / discerns where it comes from? / Zhaozhou wants to answer questions; / he casts a brick and draws an unbaked tile. / Old Jue speaks of the clue: / it is just like appointing a commander. / Able to go, unable to go: / under the words, black and white are distinguished. / In here, higher than a peak of ten thousand fathoms, / without stirring a hair's breadth, he captures Buddhas and Patriarchs. / Chongning, following the ancient example, is going to answer questions. If someone comes forward, I will simply say to him: "Finished."

18.65

Case: While Mazu, Baizhang, Xitang, and Nanquan were enjoying the moon, Mazu pointed to the moon and asked Xitang, "Just at this time, how is it?" Xitang answered, "Just right for making offerings." He asked Baizhang, and Baizhang answered, "Just right for practicing cultivation." He asked Nanquan, and Nanquan shook his sleeves and walked away. Mazu said, "The sūtras enter the canon, Chan returns to the sea; only Puyuan alone transcends beyond things."

18.66

Brilliantly white, it congeals in the empty azure; / profound and deep, it gives forth bright radiance. / The autumn colors together are pure and clear, / illuminating the oceans across the long night. / Cultivation and offerings accord with the rounded dynamic; / just hearing it, he walks away, transcending beyond the ordinary realm. / The young colt / is truly extraordinary! / For ten thousand eons establishing heaven and earth; / in a single word, killing and reviving completely. / He added, "Look high!"

18.67

Case: While Jinniu was distributing food, he asked Layman Pang, "'Giving rise to thought and receiving food is scolded by Vimalakīrti.' Leaving aside these two approaches, does the Layman still accept it?" The Layman said, "At that time, wasn't Subhūti an adept?" Jinniu said, "What does that have to do with someone else's business?" The Layman said, "The food has reached the mouth, yet it is snatched away by someone." Jinniu then proceeded to distribute food. The Layman said, "Not worth even a single phrase."

18.68

Vimalakīrti scolded Subhūti; / Jinniu examined Old Pang. / Neither yields to the other; / their steep dynamic leaves nowhere to search. / Clouds moving and rain bestowing, / thunder rushing and lightning sweeping: / killing the tiger and trapping the tiger, / coming out of the grass and entering the grass. / Vipaśyin Buddha paid attention to this early on, / yet even down to the present day he has not attained its marvel.

18.69

[Yuanwu] brought up: "Shizu asked Nanquan, 'The mani jewel people do not know; in the Tathāgata-garbha it is personally acquired. What is the storehouse?' Nanquan said, 'Old Teacher Wang's coming and going with you is the storehouse.' Xuedou said, 'A fellow in the grass.' Shizu said, 'When it directly comes to there being no coming and going, how is it?' Nanquan said, 'It is also the storehouse.' Xuedou said, 'Adding frost on top of snow.' Shizu said, 'What is the jewel?' Nanquan said, 'Shizu.' Shizu said, 'Yes.' Xuedou said, 'Making tricks on top of a hundred-foot pole is not yet perilous. If you can fix an eye on this and interchange host and guest, then you will be able to penetrate deeply into the tiger's den. Otherwise, even if Shizu had an awakening, he would still be a fellow with a dragon's head and a snake's tail.'"

18.70

A goshawk pursues a hare; a black dragon toys with a jewel. / Piercing the azure, the eyes do not blink; illuminating things, how could the hands be empty? / Coming and going, not coming and not going—in the grass, an aimless smear. / From the hundred-foot pole entering the tiger's den, clearly upon the moon coral grows.

18.71

[Yuanwu] brought up: "A monk asked Yaoshan, 'What is the supreme treasure in the Way?' Yaoshan said, 'Flattery and deviousness.' The monk said, 'What about when there is no flattery and deviousness?' Yaoshan said, 'A whole kingdom could not exchange for it.'"

18.72

Within the Way is a supreme treasure, unmatched for rescuing the world. / Yaoshan opened the deep storehouse, saying only: 'No flattery and deviousness.' / Free of flattery and deviousness, an entire realm's ransom does not match its worth. / Standing like a wall ten thousand cubits high, this mind is true; no need to ask Maitreya in the future.

18.73

[Yuanwu] brought up: "A monk asked Yunmen, 'When a student does not give rise to a single thought, is there still any fault or not?' Yunmen said, 'Mount Sumeru.'"

18.74

Stone bamboo shoots sprout twigs; the mud ox bellows at the moon. / Who would have guessed those in the same boat would naturally become as Hu and Yue? / Responding to the dynamic, Mount Sumeru surges forth; where can [the claim that] 'not a single thought arises' be wiped clean? / The diamond jewel sword cuts directly overhead.

18.75

[Yuanwu] brought up: "A monk asked Touzi, 'Is there still any extraordinary thing in the entire great canon of teachings or not?' Touzi said, 'Expounding the entire great canon.'"

18.76

Sudden and gradual, partial and complete, provisional and real, empty and existent; / nail-like beaks and iron tongues, eyes wide as rivers and mouths vast as the sea. / A single path of pure emptiness spans ancient and modern; an eight-cornered millstone runs through the void.

18.77

[Yuanwu] brought up: "Zhiman asked Venerable Wuzu Jie, 'I do not ask about the departure of heat and coming of cold; how are matters when meeting beneath the grove?' Jie said, 'Before the Five Phoenix Tower, listening to the jade water clock.' Men said, 'What then of the host mountain being high and the desk mountain low?' Jie said, 'Atop Sumeru, striking the golden bell.'"

18.78

Atop the towering peak, silver waves overturn; deep in the ocean floor, red dust rises. / Golden bell and jade water clock answer each other, baffling to death the rushing masses of the world. / If not an adept, who could ask about the pass? Turning the head while holding the whip—good neighbors of the four seas. / Have you not seen: Zhongni and Wenbo Xue, meeting with carriage canopies tilted together, was also utterly extraordinary!

18.79

[Yuanwu] brought up: "Benren instructed the assembly, saying: 'Ordinarily, I do not wish to manipulate people's sons and daughters before sound and after phrase. Why is that? For sound is not sound, and form is not form.' A monk asked, 'How is it that sound is not sound?' Benren said, 'Could you call it form?' The monk said, 'How is it that form is not form?' Benren said, 'Could you call it sound?' The monk was speechless. Benren said, 'Now tell me: is this speaking for you, or answering your words? If someone can discern this, I grant that you have an entry point.'"

18.80

Sound emerges from the void; form arises from nothingness. / Before sound and after phrase, it turns into an even greater blur. / Not room for a hair to fit—how could it be named or modeled? / Imposing and completely responsive without a fraction of an error; cleverly erecting a furnace and bellows merely wastes analysis. / How does that compare to the forbearance of non-arising under the stick, where the fragrance seen and heard fills the entire path?

18.81

[Yuanwu] brought up: "Yunmen asked a monk, 'When an ancient Buddha and an exposed pillar intermingle, which dynamic is it?' The monk was speechless. Yunmen said, 'You ask, and I will tell you.' The monk then asked. Yunmen said, 'A single cord is thirty cash.' The monk said, 'What does "a single cord is thirty cash" mean?' Yunmen said, 'Give him a beating.' On the monk's behalf, he substituted the earlier response: 'Clouds rise from the southern mountain; rain falls on the northern mountain.'"

18.82

Abundantly, clouds on the southern mountain; torrential, rain on the northern mountain. / The exposed pillar chuckles; the lantern surpasses Buddhas and Patriarchs. / Surging in the middle and disappearing at the edges—Western Heaven and the Eastern Land. / The pavilion doors stand open, idle all day long; the old rustic has gone off to who knows where.

18.83

Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Yuanwu Foguo, Fascicle 18

Linked texts (1)

圓悟佛果禪師語錄 — Classical Chinese