大慧普覺禪師語錄 18

English (machine translation) 18

Language: English

18.1

Presented to the throne by your subject Yunwen, Successor to the Dharma, Abbot of Nengren Chan Monastery on Mount Jing, Chan Master Huiri

Zheng Chengzhong requested a general address. The Master said: "The faithful layman Zheng Si of Pingjiang, knowing of this great matter of causal conditions, has specially come to see Miaoxi, wanting to hear prajñā. The merit of offering a precious stūpa with genuine relics of the body, hosting a vegetarian meal for the pure Chan assembly in the Cloud Hall, and requesting a general address, is for no other purpose than specifically dedicating it toward unsurpassed buddhahood, awakening. Observing the arising of his intention, it is already immense. Just this single thought of an immense mind can transform the great earth into yellow gold and churn the long rivers into ghee. There are those who do not believe this sort of talk, mostly clinging to phenomena and questioning principle, just like Pūrṇa who clung to phenomenal characteristics and questioned the nature, asking the World-Honoured One: 'If the nature of earth is all-pervading, how can it accommodate water? If the nature of water is completely pervasive, fire would not arise. Furthermore, how can it be explained that the two natures of water and fire both pervade empty space without encroaching upon and extinguishing one another? World-Honoured One! The nature of earth is obstructive, and the nature of space is void and open. How can both completely pervade the dharmadhātu?' Here, clinging to phenomenal characteristics gave rise to doubt. Therefore, old Śākya first explained to Ānanda that the nature of water is true emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is true water, and so forth, up to earth, water, fire, and wind, each and every one completely pervading the dharmadhātu, manifesting in accordance with the minds of sentient beings and following their karma. I recall that in former years when this mountain monk was on pilgrimage, about to enter the capital, I arrived at Tianning in Dengzhou. There was a Daoist from Caizhou, whose name I have forgotten, who had come to Nanyang practicing medicine. One day I saw him send someone to the canon repository to borrow the two sūtras, the *Ratnakūṭa* and the *Avataṃsaka*. This mountain monk privately knew he was a fine gentleman. The next day we met and talked, and we were indeed in accord. I therefore asked: 'What was your intention in borrowing the sūtras?' He said: 'I have casually listened to the talk of good people; if one wants to understand the whereabouts of one's fundamental destiny and primal stars, one must turn to old Śākya before one can succeed.' In the course of our conversation, he suddenly asked this mountain monk: 'The Buddha possesses correct and universal knowledge; he expounded every single matter in the world. Why have I never seen him speak of the causal arising of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth? If you, Reverend, have heard or seen anything of this, please do not withhold your instruction.' At that time, my own lacquer bucket had not yet been broken open; I had no leisure to attend to such things, and merely said to him: 'Could it not be spoken of in the Canon? I am still dwelling in the stage of study, and am just setting out to see teachers.' Both of us dropped it in embarrassment. When I reached Yimen and settled this matter, I read the *Śūraṅgama Sūtra* and found that it was explained extremely clearly therein. The Buddha said to Pūrṇa: 'Sameness and difference disturb each other; their mutual dependence gives rise to toil. Prolonged toil produces dust, bringing about mutual turbidity; from this, dust-toil defilements are stirred up. Arising, they become the world; settling into stillness, they become empty space. Empty space is sameness; the world is difference. That which has neither sameness nor difference is the true conditioned dharma. The luminosity of awareness and the darkness of emptiness depend on each other and produce oscillation; hence there is the wind mandala, which holds and maintains the world. From this one knows that the formation of the world is maintained by relying on the wind mandala. Because the nature of wind is dynamic oscillation, oscillating without cease, it suddenly gives rise to solid obstruction; hence it is said: "Due to emptiness, oscillation arises; solidification and illumination establish obstruction." In the case of metals and jewels, illuminated awareness establishes solidity; hence there is the metal mandala, which sustains the lands. Because wind and metal, these two things, come into contact, fire is generated in their midst; hence it is said: "Solid awareness completes jewels; oscillating illumination causes wind to issue forth; wind and metal rub against each other, so there is the light of fire, which has a transformative nature." The clarity of jewels gives rise to moisture; the light of fire steams upward; hence there is the water mandala, which contains the realms of the ten directions. Fire ascends and water descends; their mutual emergence establishes solidity: the wet becomes the great oceans, and the dry becomes continents and shoals. For this reason, within those great oceans, the light of fire constantly arises; in those continents and shoals, rivers and streams constantly pour forth. When the force of water is weaker than fire, it congeals into high mountains; therefore, when mountain stones are struck they produce flames, and when melted they turn into water. When the force of earth is weaker than water, it sprouts into grasses and trees; therefore, when forests encounter burning they turn into earth, and when squeezed they turn into water. Delusion mutually arising, they reciprocally serve as seeds; through these causal conditions, the continuity of the world persists.' Look at old Śākya: explaining metal, wood, water, fire, and earth in such a way is exceedingly clear. What a pity that I never saw that Daoist again to point it out to him! It turns out that when reading the words of the scriptural vehicles, one also needs the Great Dharma to be clear; afterward it naturally takes no effort. Once you have personally investigated Chan, taking a single look, you then see how Pūrṇa clung to phenomenal characteristics and questioned the nature, and you also see how the Tathāgata, addressing the nature for Ānanda, explained that earth, water, fire, and wind are each fundamentally pure and naturally pervade the dharmadhātu, with nothing whatsoever obstructing your breast. Nowadays, those whose mind-ground is not yet clear inevitably wonder: from where does the world arise, and where will it perish in the future? Was there first a world, or was there first a human? If you say there was first a world, the ancient virtuous ones should not have said: 'The three realms are only manifestations of mind; the ten thousand dharmas are only transformations of consciousness.' If you say there was first a human, since there was not yet a world, where could the human be settled? This bit inevitably obstructs them: saying there was first a world is wrong, and saying there was first a human is also wrong. Once the Great Dharma is clear, without having to discard or arrange anything, it is naturally understood. Just now what was referred to as transforming the great earth into yellow gold and churning the long rivers into ghee are not mistaken matters; extending even to a mustard seed containing Mount Sumeru, and Mount Sumeru containing a mustard seed, such things also do not rely on other techniques. It is obvious enough that Mount Sumeru contains a mustard seed, but how can a mustard seed accommodate a Mount Sumeru inside it? When you arrive here, you must personally see it once before you can succeed. This matter is fundamentally possessed by everyone, naturally authentic in each; it is only because from beginningless time it has been covered by ignorance and karmic consciousness that it cannot appear before you, and you instead go outside looking for a home elsewhere. Usually in my room, I ask the brothers: 'It is not mind, it is not buddha, it is not a thing—what is it?' Before being asked, you were fortunately sitting naturally in your own house; as soon as you are asked what it is, you immediately leave your original place and run out the front door. For example, if you ask someone: 'Where are you?' he says: 'At home.' But when you ask him about the affairs and things inside the house, he immediately forgets his home and goes outside seeking words to reply. This is what is meant by 'A fraction of an inch off, and you miss it by a thousand miles.' If you want to truly understand, this matter decidedly does not lie in words. Contemporary students cannot get out of these several paths: when you tell them, 'It does not lie in words,' they immediately make an understanding based on dynamic functioning and objects. When you again tell them, 'It does not lie in dynamic functioning and objects,' they immediately take it up where it is raised: 'It is not mind, it is not buddha, it is not a thing'—once it is raised, they immediately understand it. My late teacher Yuanwu often said: 'Lately, all quarters have completely become lairs. Under Wuzu, I, along with Fojian and Foyan, the three of us, formed a group to investigate Chan.' Now flaws have already shown up. Under Fojian, there is a kind that barks like a dog and coos like a dove to make fun of people; under Foyan, there is a kind that stares at lanterns and exposed pillars, pointing east and gesturing west, as if seeing ghosts with their own eyes. Here with me, for now there are no such sicknesses.' This mountain monk said: 'How fine that there are no sicknesses!' The late teacher said: 'What do you mean?' This mountain monk said: 'Spark of struck flint, flash of lightning—this leads countless people to play with karmic consciousness. Once it is raised, they immediately understand it; is this not a great lair of the Buddha Dharma?' The late teacher unconsciously stuck out his tongue and then said: 'Never mind them. I only take personal verification as the standard; if there is no personal verification, I definitely will not let them pass.' This mountain monk said: 'Speaking of personal verification is fine, but I only fear that later on people will just transmit it like this: once raised, they immediately understand it, rigidly asserting the spark of struck flint and the flash of lightning, with their karmic consciousness vast and unending, with no day of completion.' The late teacher deeply agreed with this. There is still another sort who say that stillness is the root and awakening is the branches and leaves, and that if you remain still for long, you will naturally become awakened. This mountain monk dares to say they speak nonsense. They also cite 'When purity reaches its peak, light penetrates through' as proof. Do not misunderstand this! The ancient sages could not help but say: 'When purity reaches its peak, light penetrates through; quiescent illumination contains empty space'—just as a good physician gives medicine according to the illness. Nowadays, those who do not believe there is wondrous awakening instead say: 'Awakening is an established construct.' Is this not taking the medicine to be the illness? Even worldly writing, arts, and crafts still require a gate of awakening before achieving excellence and subtlety, not to mention the supramundane Dharma! If it could be settled just like that, among the one thousand two hundred patch-robed monks here, each possesses a bit of knowledge and a half understanding; whenever they enter the room, those who speak accurately are very numerous. Yet after taking two leaps, when given one more squeeze, they immediately cannot go forward. This is because they ultimately have not been able to abandon their bodies and cast away their lives. Therefore it is said: 'Releasing one's hold on the cliff, one personally assents to shoulder it; reviving after extinction, no one can deceive you.' Do not say there is no such matter. I recall Zhang Wujin once had a saying: 'What the past Buddhas spoke of—manifesting the precious king's realm on the tip of a single hair, turning the great wheel of the Dharma while sitting inside a speck of dust—is the true meaning. At the Lotus Assembly, Prabhūtaratna Tathāgata within the precious stūpa shared half his seat with Śākyamuni Buddha, the past Buddha and the present Buddha sitting together in one place. There truly was such an event; it does not merely signify a teaching.' When Great Master Tiantai Zhiyi read the *Lotus Sūtra* and came to 'This is true vigor; this is called true offering of the Dharma to the Tathāgata,' he awakened to the Lotus Samādhi and saw that the assembly on Vulture Peak was solemnly gathered, not yet dispersed. This mountain monk always loved how the old master Gao, whenever promoting and expounding up to this point, never failed to leap with joy, waving his hand and saying: 'There truly is such an event; it does not merely signify a teaching.' How could you winter melons and bottle gourds know of this? It was because his foundation was bright, but he was clumsy in the samādhi of words to bring forth its essential subtleties. This is what is meant by 'Only through personal verification is it known; it is difficult to fathom.' Today, the intention of Zheng Chengzhong in asking this mountain monk for a general address is to hear the principle of how Chan practitioners apply effort. Do you not see Yunmen saying: 'It is present when it cannot be spoken, and absent when it is not spoken; it is present when deliberated, and absent when not deliberated'? Just as when not deliberated, what is it again? Fearing you would not understand, he then followed up, saying: 'What else could it be?' These venerable elders, out of compassion, were extremely thorough for people's sake. In the days when this mountain monk was in the assembly, under the Guiyang, Caodong, Yunmen, and Fayan lineages, I went to apply effort in all of them, and under Linji it was of course so. Later I finally knew: upon awakening, things are of the same single family; without awakening, there are ten thousand differences and a thousand distinctions. Since it is the same single one, where did Patriarch Bodhidharma get so many kinds of distinctions? What is Buddha? A dry shit-scraper. What distinction is there here? When Deshan saw a monk enter the gate, he immediately struck him; the monk was at a loss, and Deshan added: 'Do not understand it as a blow.' When Linji saw a monk enter the gate, he immediately shouted; this was already delivering it with both hands. If you intend to look and capture it, your eyeballs will already fall to the ground. How much more so when speaking of principle and speaking of phenomena, weaving threads back and forth—this is precisely a lion biting a person, or a mad dog chasing a clod of earth. Impermanence is swift; the matter of birth and death is great. In the snap of a finger, the next life arrives. Just empty your mind and investigate thoroughly in detail; investigating back and forth, once wholesome thoughts continue, unwholesome thoughts naturally do not arise. Merely cultivate according to reality; when the season and causal conditions arrive, you will naturally become awakened. If you are not awakened, even speaking until Maitreya Buddha descends to be born is merely talking. Now, how should one cultivate? Listen to a verse:"

18.3

"When evil thoughts no longer arise, / And good thoughts continually succeed one another, / The gates of all the pāramitās / Are all spontaneously complete in oneself."

18.4

At the request of Vice Prefect Sun for a general sermon, the Master said: “Preaching the Dharma out of season is invariably unseasonal talk. Therefore it is said: ‘Before leaving Tuṣita he had already descended to the royal palace; before emerging from his mother's womb he had already finished liberating people.’ Elder Li wrote the *Huayan Treatise*, stating: ‘This sūtra was definitely preached ten days after the Buddha attained enlightenment, when he first arose from concentration before the Mountain of True Awakening. Seeing the morning star, he suddenly awakened to the Way, immediately beholding his own original face.’ Know for certain that when the time arrives, the principle naturally reveals itself. I, Miaoxi, often reflect that Layman Wujin, having studied prajñā across who knows how many hundreds of lifetimes, has achieved such immense practical functioning in this present life! In his commentary on the *Qingjing haiyan jing*, expounding the eight fulfillments, concerning ‘Thus have I heard, at one time the Buddha was dwelling...’, he said: ‘Principle having nothing not thus (ru) is called “thus” (shi); phenomena having nothing not right (shi) is called “right” (ru).’ Never before had anyone spoken like this; it was because he penetrated to the marrow of Old Man Śākyamuni that he could draw freely from either side and encounter the source. When the Buddha was first born, pointing one hand to heaven and one hand to earth, he said: ‘Above heaven and below heaven, I alone am revered.’ Hence it is said: ‘The solely revered of the three realms is called “I”.’ What is called ‘I’ is not the ‘I’ of person and self, just as Mencius said, ‘All things are fully present within me.’ The mind penetrating the ten directions is called ‘heard.’ For worldly people hear all sounds with their ears, but only Bodhisattva Samantabhadra hears with his mind. Thus the sūtra says: ‘The mind hearing penetrates the ten directions, born of the power of great causal conditions.’ The foundation of the many is called ‘one.’ Consider the present great assembly of one thousand monks: counting from the head monk, from one to one hundred, and from one hundred to one thousand. Hence it is said: ‘One is that which the many take as their foundation.’ The arising of the one is called ‘time.’ This ‘time’ is precisely the time when Layman Miaoxin requests Miaoxi to preach the Dharma for the great assembly. You should know that this time is able to encompass the ten directions and the three times, even as many as dust motes and sands of buddhas, the six destinies and four modes of birth, ordinary beings and sages, grasses and trees, sentient and insentient.” He then struck the meditation platform once with his fly-whisk and said: “All realize equal, perfect enlightenment right here; nothing exceeds this time. Furthermore, it is said: ‘Initial enlightenment merging with the original is called “Buddha”.’ This means that present initial enlightenment merges with original enlightenment. Often, heretical teachers regard wordless silence as initial enlightenment, and the other side of King of Awesome Voice as original enlightenment—which is certainly not this principle. Since this is not the principle, what is awakening? If all is awakening, how could there still be delusion? If you say there is no delusion, how is it that when the morning star appeared, Old Man Śākyamuni suddenly realized and knew his own true destiny, that originally it was right here? Thus it is said: ‘Due to initial enlightenment, it merges with original enlightenment.’ Like Chan practitioners suddenly grasping their own nostrils, this is the very principle. Yet this matter is fully present without deficiency in everyone. Yesterday, while speaking with Layman Miaoxin, I mentioned that his uncle the Minister's writings and scholarship can be called an exemplar among the literati, but when it comes to hearing of this Way, he considers it difficult for himself. Often literati only know that a so-called Buddha practiced deportment for a thousand kalpas, cultivated the marks of excellence for ten thousand kalpas, and only attained it after three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas of cultivation. They think: ‘How can an ordinary mortal walking the earth, active in ignorance and trapped by wealth and status, ever accord with the Way?’ The moment they form this thought, they push forward a Mount Sumeru within their mental consciousness, obstructing the eye of the Way with a single barrier, unable to clearly see the scenery of their native place and their original face. This is precisely what is meant by: ‘The known is not an obstacle; it is the obstacle that obstructs the known.’ Modern literati mostly hold this view. For instance, Han Zicang and I were together in Linchuan, our nostrils pressed against each other for half a year, yet he still lacked self-confidence, often saying: ‘Regarding this matter, our sort need only know to take refuge in it; how could we actually enter into it?’ This too is creating one’s own obstacles and difficulties. Or others mistakenly understand the ancient Buddha's words: ‘Great Penetrating Wisdom Excellence Buddha sat at the place of awakening for ten kalpas, yet the Buddha Dharma did not appear before him, and he could not attain the Buddha Way,’ claiming that attaining the Buddha Way is this difficult. Little do they realize: ‘In a single thought, comprehensively observing boundless kalpas, without coming, without going, and without abiding; understanding the matters of the three periods of time like this, transcending all expedients, one realizes the ten powers.’ The moment Old Man Śākyamuni caught a glimpse, he said: ‘Miraculous! All sentient beings possess the wisdom and virtuous characteristics of the Tathāgata, but because of delusive thoughts and attachments, they do not realize it.’ What is called delusive thoughts and attachments speaks directly to the illness of today’s literati. This is why former sages pointed out: under everyone’s heels, it is completely fulfilled, lacking nothing. Hence there is the saying: ‘A father cannot pass it to his son, nor can a minister present it to his ruler.’ It must be self-verified and self-awakened; it cannot be obtained from others. Therefore, without destroying conventional designations, true reality is discussed. Master Sengzhao said: ‘Serene and desolate, vast and spacious, divided and distinct. Above there is the ruler, below there is the minister; father and son dwell together in intimacy; noble and lowly hold different stations. Teachings are instituted and their origins explained; then countries delineate their borders, people reside in their families, and each keeps to their station.’ Is this not ‘the Dharma abides in its Dharma position; the characteristics of the world are permanently abiding’? Does not the Buddha say: ‘To those who should be liberated by the body of a Buddha, he manifests the body of a Buddha and preaches the Dharma; to those who should be liberated by the body of an official, even up to the body of an elder, layman, brāhmaṇa, monk, or nun, he manifests all their bodies and preaches the Dharma’? And he also said: ‘When responding to the eye, it is like a thousand suns, and the myriad phenomena cannot hide their shadows or forms; when responding to the ear, it is like a deep valley, and loud or soft sounds are all fully received.’ Since the Dharma gate is so sublime, why do practitioners mostly fail to comprehend it at this time, but instead withdraw and feel discouraged, precisely because they do not believe in their own excellence and willingly make themselves inferior people? If one is a sharp fellow, taking it up right here, one will then know: ‘A single speck of dust arises and the great earth is completely embraced; a lion on a single tip of hair appears on a hundred million tips of hair; among a thousand heads and ten thousand heads, just recognize a single head.’ And what is that single head? Have you not seen Master Nantai, upon hearing the clapper sound, make a verse saying: ‘Excellent is the striking of the clapper three times; / The spiritual teachers all come to inquire. / Since they skillfully know the season and time, / I will not repeat it a second or third time.’?” He again struck the meditation platform once with his fly-whisk and said: “What was just said about all realizing equal, perfect enlightenment right here is the true meaning. Therefore National Teacher Deshao said: ‘The Tathāgata realizes equal, perfect enlightenment everywhere: he realizes equal, perfect enlightenment on mountains of knives and trees of swords; he realizes equal, perfect enlightenment in boiling cauldrons and burning coals; he realizes equal, perfect enlightenment under the blow of the staff; he realizes equal, perfect enlightenment under the shout.’ Yet although it is like this, like a person drinking water, one knows for oneself whether it is cold or warm. Have you not seen: when the youth Sudhana arrived before the Great Pavilion of Vairocana, he threw his whole body to the ground, rose from the ground, and thought: ‘This great pavilion is the dwelling place of those who understand emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness; it is the dwelling place of those who make no distinctions regarding all phenomena; it is the dwelling place of those who practice entering all kalpas in a single kalpa and entering a single kalpa with all kalpas without destroying their characteristics; it is the dwelling place of those who enter all buddhas with a single buddha and enter a single buddha with all buddhas without destroying their characteristics; ... it is the dwelling place of those who do not cling to any worldly dens and dwellings.’ What is called ‘worldly dens and dwellings’? It is precisely creating obstacles and difficulties for oneself regarding the unexcelled Way. If one clings to all worldly dens and dwellings and cannot let them go, then we so-called elders should not reside in monasteries either, but should entirely cut off worldly affairs in order to practice this Way. If so, that would be destroying worldly characteristics to speak of true reality—what Way would there be? I have always loved Dongpo’s writings; he was close to being one who attained the Way. Even if he did not fully arrive at the Way, his samādhi of words was truly close to it. People say he was the rebirth of Master Jie of Wuzu, yet they do not know through what circumstances he forgot this intention midway; it was merely that he was temporarily out of advantage. Looking at his eulogy on the portrait of Vimalakīrti, from beginning to end he was not trapped under words. His text says: ‘I observe many craftsmen serving a single master, / Each holding a medicine to treat a disease: / Wind exhaustion wants cold, energy wants warmth, / Lungs, liver, stomach, and kidneys overcoming one another; / Prescriptions and stored medicines piled like mounds and mountains, / Yet in the end not a single medicine is fit to be applied.’ A great medicine king claps his hands and laughs, / Dismissing the craftsmen, and the disease is immediately cured. That is to say, the medicine king dismissed the physicians, saying: ‘Your use of medicine is entirely without merit.’ Once the craftsmen left, the disease was cured. Someone asked the medicine king: ‘With what medicine did you relieve the illness?’ He said: ‘It does not go beyond what the craftsmen used; they merely did not use it well.’ Thus it says: ‘Ask the great medicine king what medicine was used: / It was still what the craftsmen used. / I observe the thirty-two bodhisattvas, / Each expressing the non-dual gate through conception, / While Vimalakīrti remained silent without words, / And the thirty-two meanings collapsed all at once. / I observe that this meaning did not collapse either: / Vimalakīrti from the start never departed from this exposition.’ Although this is playing with a dead snake to make it come alive, if the discourse of those thirty-two people had truly been defeated, then wordlessness would surpass having words. One clearly knows the ancients' intent was definitely not like this. Therefore he established an analogy, saying: ‘Just as lamp oil and wax make lamps and candles, / Without lighting them with fire they will never be bright; / Suddenly seeing the place of silent wordlessness, / The thirty-two expositions all blaze with light. / If disciples of the Buddha read the *Vimalakīrti Sūtra*, / They should take this thought as right mindfulness. / I observe Vimalakīrti’s ten-foot-square room: / It can accommodate nine million bodhisattvas / And thirty-two thousand lion seats, / All accommodated without being cramped.’ Recorded in the sūtra, this is Layman Vimalakīrti's power of inconceivable great liberation and spiritual penetrations, which is why he borrowed seats from King of Lamps, brought food from Fragrance Accumulated, and severed and took the world of Abhirati like a potter’s wheel, or like holding a needle’s point to lift a jujube leaf. True reality cannot be known through intellect, nor discerned through consciousness. Thus it says: ‘Furthermore, he could distribute a single bowl of rice / To satisfy boundless assemblies in the ten directions, / Severing and taking the Buddha world of Abhirati / Like lifting a jujube leaf on the tip of a needle; / Saying this is the bodhisattva's inconceivable / Power of spiritual penetrations dwelling in great liberation. / I observe Recluse Shi, / In hemp shoes and torn hat with both elbows exposed, / Able to make Vimalakīrti emerge from the tip of his brush; / His spiritual power surpasses even Vimalakīrti. / If you say this painting lacks real characteristics, / Inside the city of Vaiśālī was not real either. / If disciples of the Buddha see the portrait of Vimalakīrti, / They should take this contemplation as right contemplation.’ This is the Chan that Dongpo spoke of; did his words not reach it? If not perfumed and practiced in previous lives, how could he speak like this? Therefore Miaoxi’s intent is also to have the Minister have complete faith in this matter. Layman Miaoxin, please take these words and relate them to your uncle; perhaps through Miaoxi's words, he may directly have faith, and one day suddenly erupting with a burst, he will cut off the flow of birth and death, take the seat of buddhas and patriarchs, and become an immeasurable great person transcending the world, thereby not failing Miaoxi’s expectations. Layman Miaoxin recently painted Guanyin entering samādhi, and inscribed upon it a eulogy Miaoxi composed in past years. That was when I was in Hengyang, requested by my fellow practitioner Lin Tingyan; at that time I wrote it in one stroke following my inspiration. Although the words differ from the Vimalakīrti eulogy, the general meaning is similar. It says: ‘The various signs of sounds in the world / Are heard by the multitude with their ears, not seen with their eyes; / All sounds must be heard with ears, / But Guanyin perceives them with the eyes.’ Hence it is said that only this Great Being can perceive with the eyes. How is this seen? It says: ‘Closing the eyes and contemplating carefully is performing the Buddha's work.’ Reaching here, it turns, saying: ‘Taking nothing in the sphere of the eyes.’ Since the sphere of the eyes cannot be taken, the eye-sphere is extinguished in stillness; since the eye-sphere is extinguished in stillness, the ear-sphere cannot fail to be extinguished in stillness. Therefore it is said: ‘Ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are also like this; / Excellent is the mind penetrating the emptiness of the ten directions, / The six sense faculties mutually manifesting this meaning.’ Bodhisattva Guanyin hears with the eyes, while Bodhisattva Samantabhadra hears with the mind; this is precisely the meaning of mutual manifestation. What is called mutual manifestation is: performing the Buddha's work of the ear at the eye; performing the Buddha's work of the nose at the ear; performing the Buddha's work of the tongue at the nose; performing the Buddha's work of the body at the tongue; performing the Buddha's work of the mind at the body; and within the mind-sphere performing boundless, vast Buddha works. Having attained such functional freedom, the eyes still observe forms, the ears still listen to sounds, and down to the nose, tongue, body, and mind, each abides in its proper role. Thus it is said: ‘Eye to form, ear to sound, nose smelling fragrance, / Body tactile and mind thought have no distinction.’ This is what was mentioned earlier: ‘the Dharma abides in its Dharma position; the characteristics of the world are permanently abiding.’ ‘One should contemplate like this with this contemplation; / Taking this as real becomes delusive thought.’ Reaching here, it turns again, saying: ‘If one departs from delusive thoughts to grasp a real dharma, / One becomes increasingly confused and loses the original mind; / Once the original mind is lost, one follows inversions, / And does not see the Great Being’s wondrous form body.’ What is inversion? When the eyes see form, one turns along with form; when the ears hear sound, one turns along with sound. This is called sentient beings’ inversion, losing oneself and chasing after objects; because of chasing after objects, one does not see the Great Being’s wondrous form body. Having no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind—this has clear textual authority in the teachings. Since eyes, ears, and the rest have no substance, upon what can the meaning of mutual manifestation be established? Thus it is said: ‘The meaning of mutual manifestation is also extinguished in stillness; / There is also no wondrous form body of the Great Being, / Nor are there the various signs of sounds; / If disciples of the Buddha can make such a contemplation, / They will forever leave the suffering of birth and death in the world.’ Generally speaking, writing must be made to work; if it does not work, it does not constitute literature. Just before, because of discussing seasonal causes and conditions, I spoke of how when Sudhana was standing before the pavilion, he had already praised many sublime matters, yet had not been able to enter. He addressed Bodhisattva Maitreya, saying: ‘I only pray that the Great Sage will open the door of the pavilion and let me enter.’ Then Bodhisattva Maitreya stepped forward to the pavilion and snapped his fingers, making a sound; the door immediately opened, and he bade Sudhana enter. Sudhana’s heart rejoiced; once he entered, it closed again. How was it when it closed? It was the news of Guanyin entering the flow and forgetting the object. Then, inside the pavilion, Sudhana saw a hundred million four-continents and a hundred million Tuṣita heavens, each having Bodhisattva Maitreya descending his spirit and taking birth, taking seven steps, observing the ten directions, manifesting as a youth dwelling in palaces, for the sake of all-knowledge leaving home to practice austerities, subduing the demons, attaining equal, perfect enlightenment, requested by the Brahmā kings to turn the wheel of the true Dharma, and ascending to heavenly palaces to expound the Dharma—the number of kalpas, lifespan, adornment of assemblies, purified lands, practiced vows, and sustained teachings were all different. Sudhana not only saw Bodhisattva Maitreya’s entire cycle of Buddha works, but also saw his own body in the presence of all those Tathāgatas, and also saw himself in all those assemblies and all Buddha works, sealed by the ocean-seal samādhi with a single seal, without the slightest leak. Having seen such immeasurable, sublime, adorned, and sovereign realms, Bodhisattva Maitreya withdrew his spiritual power, entered the pavilion, snapped his fingers again with a sound, and told Sudhana: ‘Noble son, arise! The nature of dharmas is like this. This is the mark manifested by the assembly of a bodhisattva’s causes and conditions of the wisdom that knows all dharmas; such self-nature is like an illusion, like a dream, like a shadow, like an image, none of it truly established.’ At that time Sudhana heard the sound of the finger-snap and arose from samādhi. At this time, he suddenly dropped his cloth bag. Then Maitreya showed him that the above realms have no place of departure and no place of abiding, being neither quiet nor permanent, far removed from all things.” The Master addressed the assembly, saying: “Since there is no place from which it comes and no place to which it goes, then when Great Master Yunmen’s handheld fan leapt up to the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven and bumped into Indra's nostrils, striking the carp of the Eastern Sea with a blow so that rain poured down like basins, what fault could there be? You should know that this season and time is endowed with boundless gates of vast wisdom, boundless gates of spiritual penetrations, boundless gates of verbal expression, and boundless gates of sovereign enjoyment of all buddhas and bodhisattvas that can be spoken of yet cannot be spoken of. If you people can have faith like this and enter like this, only then will you know what the ancient sage said: ‘All past kalpas / Are placed in the future and present; / Future and present kalpas / Are placed back into the past.’ ” He then gave a shout and said: “If I do not shout to stop spinning entanglements, it will go on until tomorrow morning.” Striking the meditation platform, he stepped down from his seat.

18.5

General Discourses of Chan Master Dahui Pujue, Fascicle Eighteen

Linked texts (1)

大慧普覺禪師語錄 — Classical Chinese