大慧普覺禪師語錄 2

English (machine translation) 2

Language: English

2.1

Respectfully submitted by Abbot of Nengren Chan Monastery on Mount Jing, Dharma Heir, Chan Master Huiri, Imperial Servant Yunwen

Ascending the great hall, [the Master] brought up: "Grand-master Baiyun Duan said, 'If you truly work up a sweat once, then on a single blade of grass there will appear jade halls and jasper palaces; if you have not truly worked up a sweat once, even if there are jade halls and jasper palaces, they will instead be covered up by a single blade of grass.'" The Master said, "That jade halls and jasper palaces appear on a single blade of grass is definitely credible; do not be recklessly deceived into thinking that jade halls and jasper palaces are covered up by a single blade of grass. When Jingshan speaks like this, he speaks for those who have already worked up a sweat once. Those who have not yet worked up a sweat once must by no means doubt it."

2.3

Ascending the hall on the Tianshen Festival: "I bow to the one who can deliver all worlds, an accumulation of immeasurable, extraordinary blessing and merit, who with the golden wheel governs the four continents and universally bestows peace and joy upon all living beings. Is there anyone who recognizes kindness and repays kindness?" After a long pause, he said, "Among the three hundred and sixty days of the year, only today is the most auspicious."

2.4

Ascending the hall, [the Master] brought up: "Bailing asked Layman Pang, 'Have you ever brought up to anyone the phrase from Shitou in which you found strength?' The Layman said, 'I have indeed brought it up to someone.' Bailing said, 'To whom did you bring it up?' The Layman pointed to his own chest and said, 'Old Pang.' Bailing said, 'Even Mañjuśrī and Subhūti could not praise it enough.' The Layman then asked Bailing, 'Ācārya, have you ever brought up to anyone the phrase from Shitou in which you found strength?' Bailing said, 'I have indeed brought it up to someone.' The Layman said, 'To whom did you bring it up?' Bailing put on his bamboo hat and walked away." The Master said, "As for this story, if it had not been for Old Pang, it would almost have been brought up to the wrong person. Even though this is so, Bailing lost a move to Old Pang. Why? At that time, if he had not had a broken bamboo hat to cover his skull, what face would he have had to see Old Pang?"

2.5

Ascending the hall: "When inverted thoughts arise, birth and death continue; when inverted thoughts perish, birth and death are severed. Where birth and death are severed, nirvāṇa is empty; where nirvāṇa is empty, there is grit in the eye. Since nirvāṇa is already empty, what do you call grit in the eye? / White clouds may easily drift across the green peaks, / But the bright moon cannot be made to drop from the blue sky."

2.6

Ascending the hall, [the Master] brought up: "Wuzhuo went to Mount Tai to pay homage to Mañjuśrī. Mañjuśrī asked, 'From where has the Venerable come?' Wuzhuo said, 'From the south.' Mañjuśrī said, 'How is the Buddha Dharma maintained in the south?' Wuzhuo said, 'In the age of the Degenerate Dharma, monks rarely uphold the monastic precepts.' Mañjuśrī said, 'How large is the assembly?' Wuzhuo said, 'Sometimes three hundred, sometimes five hundred.' Wuzhuo then asked, 'How is the Buddha Dharma maintained here, Venerable?' Mañjuśrī said, 'Commoners and sages dwell together; dragons and snakes intermingle.' Wuzhuo said, 'How large is the assembly?' Mañjuśrī said, 'Three-three in front, three-three in back.'" The Master said, "If Jingshan had seen him at that time, I would have said to him: 'Venerable, maintaining it in such a way is exceedingly difficult.'"

2.7

Ascending the hall, [the Master] took up his staff, struck once, gave a shout, and said, "Deshan's blow, Linji's shout—today I bring them up again for you. How high the heavens, how wide the earth! Stop adding trash on top of a heap of sweepings. Change your bones, wash out your guts; Jingshan takes three steps back and permits you all to deliberate. But how will you deliberate?" Throwing down the staff, he gave a shout and said, "With rouge and powder, it is easy to become an upright lady; without money, it is hard to be a fine fellow."

2.8

Ascending the hall, a monk asked, "Xuefeng went three times to Touzi and nine times to Dongshan; why did he attain the Way at Mount Ao?" The Master said, "Peddling Yangzhou while inside the house." The monk advanced and said, "Later, while living in a hermitage, a monk knocked on the door; Xuefeng thrust himself out and said, 'What is it?' The monk also said, 'What is it?' Is there any superiority or inferiority?" The Master said, "If superior, then all is superior; if inferior, then all is inferior." The monk advanced and said, "Why did Xuefeng lower his head and return to his hermitage?" The Master said, "Suspicion kills the people of the world." The monk advanced and said, "The monk brought this up to Yantou. Yantou said, 'If at that time I had spoken the final word to him, no one in the world could have done anything to old Xue.' What is the final word?" The Master said, "If you do not sleep in the same bed, how do you know the quilt is torn underneath?" The monk advanced and said, "Yantou said, 'Xuefeng was born on the same branch as me, but does not die on the same branch as me. If you want to know the final word, it is just this.' What does this mean?" The Master said, "To kill a person, you must use a person-killing knife; to bring a person to life, you must use a person-enlivening sword." He then said, "An ancient worthy said: 'Creepers climb directly to the top of the cold pine; pale clouds drift smoothly in and out of the great void. The ten thousand phenomena are fundamentally at ease; it is only people who agitate themselves.' Also, in the teachings it says: 'Ordinary beings see all phenomena only following after appearances; failing to understand that phenomena are without appearances, they therefore do not see the Buddha.'" He then held up his fly-whisk and said, "Is this appearance, or is that non-appearance? At present, right before our eyes, all the vast array of myriad phenomena, seen by the eyes and heard by the ears, are entirely the Dharma—when have they ever been agitated? Since they have never been agitated, what thing does [the scripture] teach to follow after appearances?" Again holding up his fly-whisk, he said, "This is non-appearance, but how is it understood? Since there is nothing that can be understood, where do you see the Buddha? Tell me, is the ancient worthy right, or is the teaching right? What is 'right' anyway? If you can dissect this clearly here, Śākyamuni is not earlier, and Maitreya is not later. Even though this is so, you still cannot avoid having your nostrils pierced by this mountain monk's fly-whisk." Again holding up his fly-whisk, he said, "Follow appearances, and your nostrils are pierced by the fly-whisk; do not follow appearances, and your nostrils are pierced by the fly-whisk. See the Buddha, and your nostrils are pierced by the fly-whisk; do not see the Buddha, and your nostrils are pierced by the fly-whisk." He then looked around at the assembly and said, "How can you avoid this fault? / In the end, the water must surge toward the ocean; / In the close, the clouds will certainly seek the mountains to return." Striking the meditation couch, he descended from the seat.

2.9

Ascending the hall, he cited: "A monk asked Mihu, 'From ancient times, have the superior sages yet penetrated the true principle or not?' Hu said, 'They have penetrated it.' The monk said, 'As for the true principle itself, how is it penetrated?' Hu said, 'When Huo Guang sold the false silver city to the Chanyu back then, who made the contract?' The monk was speechless." The Master said, "If Jingshan had been that monk back then, I would have immediately uttered a turning phrase to stop that old fellow's mouth. Tell me, what phrase would I have uttered?" After a long pause he said, "'If made too easy to obtain, it is treated as commonplace.'"

2.10

Ascending the hall: "Today this mountain monk provides congee as an offering to the great assembly. After the congee, together we will go to the Dragon King Hall for recitation; after recitation, there is a general call to send off Alms-fund Director Yan for cremation. There are so many affairs like this; if it is the meaning of the Patriarch's coming from the West, there has not yet been time to speak of it."

2.11

Ascending the hall, he cited: "When my late master Yuanwu was at Jiashan, he instructed the assembly, saying: 'The whole body is eye, yet cannot see; the whole body is ear, yet cannot hear; the whole body is mouth, yet cannot speak; the whole body is mind, yet cannot discern.' Letting alone the whole body for a moment—suppose there were no eye, how could one see? No ear, how could one hear? No mouth, how could one speak? No mind, how could one discern? If you can clear a path through this, then you will participate together with the ancient buddhas. Tell me, what person would you participate with?" The Master said, "A pity Jingshan was not there at the time! If I had been there, I would have struck a torch to see how thick that old fellow's face was. Right now, someone unable to bear it from the sidelines might come forth and say, 'The Venerable is also a man from Puzhou—what about that?' I would immediately say to him, 'In the Western Heavens heads are severed and arms cut off; here you take yourself away!'"

2.12

Ascending the hall: "Before the fifteenth day, all of you could speak of it, but Jingshan could not speak of it. After the fifteenth day, Jingshan can speak of it, but all of you cannot speak of it. Exactly on the fifteenth day, how is it?" After a long pause he said, "Everywhere."

2.13

Ascending the hall, a monk asked, "How is it when it blocks and fills empty space?" The Master gave a shout. The monk went on, "Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra have come." The Master said, "Blocking and filling empty space, where will you meet Jingshan?" The monk also shouted. The Master said, "Why do Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra pass beneath your heels?" The monk hesitated. The Master struck him at once, and then cited: "Yongjia said: 'Clearly seen, there is not a single thing; / there is neither person nor buddha. / The great thousand sand-worlds are bubbles in the ocean; / all the noble sages are like flashes of lightning.' An elder master took this up and said, 'Since there is not a single thing, what is that which is clearly seen?'" The Master said, "Tell me, in speaking like this, did this elder master have eyes or not?"

2.14

Ascending the hall: "When the moon is on its first day, the Iron-Wheel Emperor issues an edict throughout the realm; when the moon is on its second day, Fenggan rides a tiger into the bustling market; when the moon is on its third day, a giant sea-turtle flips within the midge's eye." Suddenly taking up his staff, he said, "Is there anyone who shares life and shares death? Come forth to meet Jingshan's staff!" After a long pause he said, "'Seeing what is right and not doing it—where is the courage in that?'" He threw down his staff.

2.15

Ascending the hall: "When mind arises, phenomena perish; when nature stirs, sentiments cease. If you awaken here, what difficulty is there in working wonders?" Raising his fly-whisk, he said, "Look, look! Avalokiteśvara, Maitreya, Samantabhadra, and Mañjuśrī are all gathering atop Jingshan's fly-whisk and tangling in vines. If let loose, their mouths may labor and tongues boil over as they please; if held tight, it takes not even a single strike." Striking the meditation bench with his fly-whisk, he stepped down from the seat.

2.16

Ascending the hall, he cited: "Muzhou asked the Monastic Rector, 'Can you lecture on the Treatise on Consciousness-Only?' The Rector said, 'I would not dare claim so, but in my youth I did study the texts.' Muzhou picked up a sugar cake, broke it into two pieces, and said, 'What do you say?' The Rector was speechless. Muzhou said, 'Is calling it a sugar cake right, or is not calling it a sugar cake right?' The Rector said, 'It cannot not be called a sugar cake.' Muzhou then called to a novice, 'Come, come! What do you call it?' The novice said, 'A sugar cake.' Muzhou said, 'You too can lecture on the Treatise on Consciousness-Only.'" The Master said, "The Rector and the novice truly could lecture on the Treatise on Consciousness-Only; they merely did not know where the sugar cake came from. Although Old Man Muzhou was a good friend of one quarter, when it comes to 'the three realms are mind-only, the ten thousand phenomena are consciousness-only,' he ultimately failed to understand it."

2.17

Ascending the hall: "'Turning the wheel of Dharma thrice in the great thousand worlds, / that wheel is originally always pure. / Gods and humans attain the Way as proof of this; / the Three Jewels thereupon appear in the world.'" Taking up his staff and tapping it three times, he said, "The wheel of Dharma has already been turned thrice. What is the news of the Three Jewels appearing in the world?" After a long pause he said, "'In my king's treasury there is no such sword.'" He tapped it once more.

2.18

Ascending the hall, he cited: "Anciently, the Buddha ordered five hundred venerables to subdue a venomous dragon. The venerables each exercised their supernatural powers, but none could subdue it. Suddenly a venerable from another realm arrived. The Buddha commanded him to subdue it. The venerable snapped his fingers once before the dragon, and the dragon immediately submitted." The Master said, "Since the supernatural powers of the five hundred venerables were the same as those of the venerable from another realm, why could they not subdue the dragon? Since the supernatural powers of the venerable from another realm were the same as those of the five hundred venerables, why could he subdue it?" He then raised his fly-whisk and said, "Do you understand? / The mandarin ducks are embroidered for all to see, / but the golden needle is never handed over to another." Striking the meditation bench, he stepped down from the seat.

2.19

Second-Rank Graduate Chen arrived. Ascending the hall, he cited: "In the scriptures it says: 'When I do not see, why do you not see the place where I do not see? If you see my not seeing, it is naturally not that mark of not seeing. If you do not see the place of my not seeing, it is naturally not an object; how is it not you?' Grandfather Master Baiyun said in verse: / 'The open pillar before the hall has long been pregnant; / the child brought forth is remarkably handsome. / Before understanding speech, he first composes rhapsodies; / with a single sweep of the brush, he takes first place in the examinations.'" The Master said, "I venture to ask all of you: do you know Grandfather Master's landing place? If you know the landing place, you will recognize the first-place graduate; if you do not yet know, Jingshan will point it out for you: / Profit or no profit, do not leave the marketplace; / letting a single move pass by, one falls into second place."

2.20

Ascending the hall, a monk asked, "Ciyan instructed the assembly, saying: 'All summer I have chattered east and west with the brothers; look and see if Cuiyan's eyebrows are still there.' What was the meaning?" The Master said, "One who confesses voluntarily has his crime pardoned." The monk went on, "Baofu said, 'The thief's heart is timid.' What about that?" The Master said, "A donkey chooses a wet spot to piss." The monk went on, "Changqing said, 'Grown.' Yunmen said, 'Barrier.' What about those?" The Master said, "A broken dung-basket facing a bald broom." The monk went on, "Later an elder master said, 'Cuiyan makes waves without wind.' How is that seen?" The Master said, "How is it not seen?" He then said, "Vast and without holiness—no need to hesitate. Covering form and riding sound, it relies entirely on its power. The buddhas use this to deliver sentient beings; patch-robed monks use this as their life-force. Stark naked and bare-stripped, with nothing to grasp: when walking just walk, when sitting just sit; when hungry eat rice, when cold face the fire. Even if you are like this, you do not yet deserve to be called a patch-robed monk. Have you not seen what Grandfather Master Baiyun said: / 'Sometimes the pestle's tip blooms with flowers; / sometimes the Buddha's face suffers a hundred uglinesses. / Master Li falls drunk in the street, / but naturally it was Master Zhang who drank the wine. / The lantern wrinkles its brow completely; / the open pillar claps its hands with a hearty laugh.' / Tell me: what sort of matter on the edge is accomplished by the open pillar clapping its hands? Examine!"

2.21

Ascending the hall: "Layman Chaoran provides congee / as an offering to a hall of nāga-elephants. / Having eaten, hang up your alms bowls— / a fine model of coming from the West."

2.22

On the memorial day of the Venerable Yuanwu, the Master offered incense and said, "This venerable compassion in ordinary times was stiff-necked, his spirit overpowering the various quarters. He showed off excessive muddleheadedness and applied extraordinary vagueness, saying of himself: 'I can replace the eyes of everyone under heaven with soapberries.' Little did he know that his nostrils would be pierced through with a broken tether by an unfilial son! Since the end of the nostril-tether is in Jingshan's hands, letting him live is up to Jingshan, and having him die is up to Jingshan. Tell me, what serves as proof?" He then burned the incense and said, "Take this as proof."

2.23

Ascending the hall: "The people of last year watched the Mid-Autumn moon; the people of this year watch the Mid-Autumn moon. The people of this year are the people of last year; the moon of last year is the moon of this year. Is there anyone here who can set a single eye on this? If you can set an eye on it, Jingshan will share half the courtyard for you to live in; if it is not yet so, return to the hall and drink tea."

2.24

Ascending the hall: "An ancient said, 'Understand the One, and the ten thousand affairs are finished.' Today is the first day of the ninth month; how do all of you understand it?" Suddenly taking up his staff, he said, "You must not call it a staff, and then you had better just understand it. Since it is not called a staff, how do you understand it?" Throwing it down, he said, "'Miss it by a hair's breadth, and you lose it by a thousand miles.'"

2.25

Ascending the hall, he cited: "Yunmen said: 'Since you know where it comes from, tell me: in which kalpa is there no patriarch?' Speaking on his own behalf, he said, 'I today am out of sorts.'" The Master said, "Yunmen, too, is a thief whose heart is timid. Jingshan is not so: since you know where it comes from, tell me, in which kalpa is there no patriarch? I do not intend to beat the grass, but just want the snake to be startled."

2.26

Ascending the hall: "Today is the fifth day of the ninth month; the weather is half clear and half rain. Patch-robed monks' nostrils and eyes must strictly avoid mixing with mud and blending with dirt." He then looked around at the great assembly and said, "Awake indeed is awake, and clever is undeniably clever; casually ask ten people, and five pairs do not know the landing place. Since they are both awake and clever, why do they not know the landing place? Have you not heard it said: 'Trouble arises from giving instructions'?"

2.27

Ascending the hall, he took up his staff, showed it to the assembly, and said, "Deluded people call this a staff; awakened people also call this a staff. Although there is a difference between delusion and awakening, what is seen is without difference. Since the seeing is without difference, let the deluded be deluded and let the awakened be awakened; it has nothing to do with this matter at all." Raising it up again, he said, "Right now it is raised up before all of your eyes: is it delusion? Is it awakening? Is it seeing? Is it not seeing? Is it different? Is it not different?" He gave a shout, tapped the staff once, and said, "Beginning all over again from the start."

2.28

Participant in Determining Governmental Matters Liu requested [the Master] to ascend the high seat at Tianzhu. A monk asked, "How is it when one bows high to Śākya and does not prostrate to Maitreya?" The Master said, "Sober in a dream." [The monk] advanced and said, "I had thought the Venerable had forgotten." The Master said, "You remember it—try to say it and see." [The monk] advanced and said, "Although I cannot express it, in the end it is not lost." The Master said, "All along you have not understood." [The monk] advanced and said, "To whom is the matter from above transmitted?" The Master said, "Transmitted to a blind fellow." [The monk] advanced and said, "The single school of Linji relies entirely on his power." The Master said, "Fortunately, it has nothing to do with you." [The monk] asked, "In former days, seven worthy women wandered in the śītavana. One woman said, 'The corpse is here; where has the person gone?' Another woman said, 'What, what?' At that moment they all simultaneously awakened to the endurance of the non-arising of dharmas. What is the endurance of the non-arising of dharmas?" The Master said, "Cast aside what is inside the skull." [The monk] advanced and said, "Radiating brilliantly through past and present, blazing through heaven and earth." The Master said, "This field-hoarding slave." [The monk] advanced and said, "Just as for the Fourth Assistant Magistrate, where is he right now?" The Master raised the fly-whisk and said, "He is here." [The monk] advanced and said, "Relying solely on this power, thought after thought there is no error." The Master said, "The order implemented at Magadha is transmitted for ten thousand ages." He then said, "Bringing up and expounding the essential and wondrous is digging into the earth to seek heaven; clarifying truth according to principle is gazing into empty space to make an announcement. Even if mind after mind does not touch objects, and thought after thought cuts off associative grasping; even if one contemplates the dharmadhātu within a single speck of dust and sees a single speck of dust pervading the dharmadhātu; and dust after dust is thus, thought after thought is thus, and dharma after dharma is thus—this is still the ultimate of the doctrinal vehicles, not yet the place where a patch-robed monk casts away body and life. If you recognise the place where a patch-robed monk casts away body and life, then you will leave birth and enter death with great ease, treating birth and death as a roaming playground without being detained or hindered by birth and death. If not, you will inevitably be entangled in vines. The wondrous nature is completely luminous and free from all names and characteristics. Originally there are no worlds or sentient beings. Because of delusion there is arising; because of arising there is cessation. Arising and cessation is called delusion; the cessation of delusion is called truth." He then looked around at the assembly and said, "Today the Minister, Participant in Determining Governmental Matters, on the morning marking the end of the seventh week [of mourning] for his deceased son, the Assistant Magistrate, has ordered this mountain monk to ascend this seat to bring up and illuminate [the Dharma] for the assembly, where monks and laity intermingle and jointly attend this gathering. What is this, after all? If you say it is delusion, what then is this that is presently speaking the Dharma and listening to the Dharma, distinct and solely luminous? If the eye were delusion, with what would you contemplate forms? If the ear were delusion, with what would you hear sounds? If the nose were delusion, with what would you smell fragrances? If the tongue were delusion, with what would you discern tastes? If the body were delusion, with what would you perceive tangibles? If the mind were delusion, with what would you make distinctions? If eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, and form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and phenomena do not belong to delusion, on what does the One Truth depend? Since it has no dependence, the single path is equal. Reaching here, only then do you know that the Assistant Magistrate, though born in former days, was originally never born; and though passing away today, originally has never passed away. Since there is neither birth nor cessation, what more can be called the completely luminous wondrous nature? Where can the names and characteristics of truth and delusion be placed? Do you understand thoroughly? Leaping and casting oneself outside of great space, the nostrils as before hang down over the upper lip." He stepped down from the seat.

2.29

Ascending the high seat: "'The Buddha's true dharmakāya is like empty space.'" He struck the meditation couch once with his fly-whisk and said, "'Responding to things, it manifests forms like the moon in water.'" He again raised [the fly-whisk] and said, "Old Śākya has arrived! Do you see him? If you say you do not see him, having eyes is like being blind; if you say you see him, tell me: is he inside the fly-whisk, outside the fly-whisk, or in between the fly-whisk? Even if you say, 'He is not inside, not outside, and not in between,' and you see it so clearly like this, under Jingshan's gate it is just right for you to take a beating." Striking the meditation couch, he stepped down from the seat.

2.30

Ascending the high seat: "Panshan said, 'The one road upward is not transmitted by the thousand sages.' Ciming said, 'The one road upward is not so for the thousand sages.' Jingshan says, 'The one road upward: the sound of a hot bowl ringing.'" He stepped down from the seat.

2.31

Upon returning from outside the region, he ascended the high seat and cited: "Dharma Master Zhao said, 'Moving like floating clouds, resting like the valley spirit; since there is no mind toward this or that, how could there be signs of going or coming?' Mountain Master Xiu said, 'Going and going, there is really no going; on the road, act skillfully. Coming and coming, there is really no coming; on the path, do not fall into peril.'" The Master said, "What a pity these two old fellows did not live at the same time as Jingshan! If they had lived at the same time, I would have tied them into a single bundle and sent them into the Qiantang River. Why? Ancient and modern mountains and rivers, ancient and modern sun and moon, ancient and modern human relations: when it is cold, heaven and earth are universally cold; when it is hot, heaven and earth are universally hot. Going and going, coming and coming, moving and resting—what fault is there in that? If a patch-robed monk were to step forward and say, 'When Jingshan talks like this, he too should be tied into a single bundle and sent into the Qiantang River,' this mountain monk would heat up a bowl to brew tea and give it to him to drink. Why so? A great hero stroking the tiger's whiskers—how could that be improper?"

2.32

Ascending the high seat: "A thousand explanations, ten thousand explanations; explanations of praise, explanations of slander; conventional explanations, colloquial explanations; explicit explanations, concealed explanations—all are mounds of broken tiles." Raising the staff, he said, "How does that compare to directly recognising this, not turned by birth and death, not shifted by cold and heat? If a patch-robed monk were to step forward and say, 'It is just a staff; what is the use of recognising it?' nowadays there is a sort of bogus Chan monk who mostly holds this kind of view." Throwing down the staff, he stepped down from the seat.

2.33

Ascending the high seat: "On the fifteenth of the twelfth month, snow falls from the sky; / It serves as an auspicious sign without omission. / Mañjuśrī reveals his broad and long tongue; / The Great Being Samantabhadra obtains one piece. / What is that one piece? / Look at the mender fitting pig iron."

2.34

Ascending the high seat, he cited: "A monk asked Zhaozhou, 'How is it when there is a hair's breadth of difference?' Zhou said, 'Heaven and earth are separated as by a chasm.' The monk said, 'How is it when there is not a hair's breadth of difference?' Zhou said, 'Heaven and earth are separated as by a chasm.'" The Master said, "Do you want to know Zhaozhou? Accustomed to passing before the Five Phoenix Tower, he holds a golden whip in hand to congratulate on the era of great peace."

2.35

Ascending the high seat, he picked up the staff and said, "Today is the twenty-fifth of the twelfth month. In all quarters they sing the tune of Yunmen; Jingshan follows custom and joins in with a sound." He then struck once and said, "Do you hear it? Do not say that the stone of Chu is not equivalent to jade."

2.36

Ascending the high seat on the founding patriarch's memorial day: "Today's gathering is the very season when the founding patriarch of this mountain, State Master Guoyi Dajue, completely brings forth the turning of the unsurpassable wheel of Dharma everywhere for everyone. The great earth shakes in the six ways and eighteen aspects, emitting a great sound; the music of the devas plays without being struck; Brahma-chants and songs naturally spread and perform; and precious flowers of the devas rain down simultaneously. Just at such a time, buddhas as numerous as the sands of dust, great bodhisattvas, arhats, the eight classes of devas and nāgas, and various ghosts and spirits arrive and assemble from other directions, all filled with joy, leaping and celebrating, simultaneously giving voice to say: 'Excellent! Rare Great Awakening Patriarch, swiftly preach this Dharma; we all come together to bear witness!' Bearing witness is certainly not absent, but what is this Dharma?" After a pause, he said, "Clouds have the momentum to leave the mountains; water has no sound plunging into the ravine."

2.37

Ascending the high seat on New Year's Day: "Today last year was also just this; today the year before last was also just this; today the year before that was also just this; today the year before that was also just this. Today next year will also be just this; today the year after next will also be just this; today the year after that will also be just this; today the year after that will also be just this. Tell me, what is this? The prime month begins good fortune; the myriad things are all renewed. In accordance with the season, receiving blessings; in celebration, nothing is unfitting." Giving a shout, he said, "The worldly air has not been eliminated."

2.38

Magistrate Chen requested [the Master] to ascend the high seat: "The Patriarch said, 'Penetrating the original dharma mind, there is no dharma and no non-dharma; after awakening it is the same as before awakening—there is neither mind nor dharma.' Since there is neither mind nor dharma, what then is called the original dharma? And how does one penetrate the original dharma? The yellow-faced old fellow said, 'The mind does not falsely grasp past dharmas, nor does it greedily crave future matters; it does not abide in the present, thoroughly realizing that the three periods of time are completely empty and tranquil.' Do you understand thoroughly? If you do not yet understand thoroughly, I will clearly annotate and break it open for you: not abiding in the present is called samādhi; not craving the future is called discernment; not grasping the past is called wisdom. It is also called Tathāgata Chan; it is also called Patriarch Chan. If in your daily activities throughout the twelve periods of the day you can penetrate like this and awaken like this, then this samādhi, this discernment, and this wisdom are each, like empty space, without boundary. Since samādhi, discernment, and wisdom are without boundary, then one's daily spiritual penetrations and radiance are also without boundary. Since spiritual penetrations and radiance are without boundary, the pāramitās and gates of liberation are also without boundary. Since the pāramitās and gates of liberation are without boundary, this non-abiding mind is also without boundary. Since the non-abiding mind is without boundary, today Jingshan, using this boundaryless mind to preach this boundaryless Dharma, on behalf of the subject and official Chen Yaqing, wishes that our sovereign's longevity be enduring as heaven and earth, also without boundary. Just at such a time, what can be said as a phrase attuned to the season and occasion?" Raising the fly-whisk, he said, "Offering this profound mind to the dust-like lands / Is named requiting our sovereign." He stepped down from the seat.

2.39

Ascending the high seat: "On the fourteenth and fifteenth of the first month, / Shuangjing strikes the gongs and beats the drums. / If you want to know the Patriarch's intent coming from the West, / Observe the village songs and community dances."

2.40

Ascending the high seat on the great auspicious sacrifice (two-year memorial) for Emperor Huizong, having offered incense, he took his seat and said: "'The body receives birth from within the formless, / Just like various forms produced by illusion; / An illusory person's mind and consciousness are originally non-existent; / Sins and blessings are both empty, having no place to abide.' From ancient times, the sages without exception have brought sentient beings to completion from the place of non-abiding. From the place of non-abiding they manifested descending the spirit and dwelling in the womb for ten months; from the place of non-abiding they manifested taking birth; from the place of non-abiding they manifested walking seven steps; from the place of non-abiding they manifested residing in the royal palace; from the place of non-abiding they manifested leaving the household; from the place of non-abiding they manifested practising the bodhisattva conduct; from the place of non-abiding they manifested sitting under the Bodhi tree and realising equal and perfect awakening; from the place of non-abiding they manifested subduing Māra's army; from the place of non-abiding they manifested sitting in the bodhimaṇḍa, turning the Dharma wheel, and saving sentient beings; from the place of non-abiding they manifested conferring on bodhisattvas the prediction of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi; from the place of non-abiding, having completed the buddha-work, they manifested entering parinirvāṇa." Addressing the assembly, he said, "Since the past sages manifested like this, today the subject-monk Zonggao also preaches the Dharma like this. Solely using such Dharma, I respectfully adorn the celestial carriage of Emperor Huizong, Sage of Literary Arts, Benevolent and Virtuous, Manifestly Filial, and Empress Xiansu, humbly praying that without abiding in their own nature, they manifest universally among the dusts, their firm and secret bodies identical to those superior beings, dwelling in the ocean of inconceivable liberation." He stepped down from the seat.

2.41

Ascending the hall, [the Master] said: "Mind is Buddha; the Buddha is not far from humanity. No-mind is the Way; the Way is not outside things. The buddhas of the three periods expound the Dharma only with this mind, and save sentient beings only with this Way. Saving sentient beings with this Way, there are no sentient beings to be saved; expounding the Dharma with this mind, there is no Dharma to be expounded. Having no Dharma to be expounded is truly expounding the Dharma; having no sentient beings to be saved is truly saving sentient beings. You should know that the buddhas of the three periods are also like this, and the great assembly present here is also like this." Thereupon he raised his fly-whisk and said, "Do you understand thoroughly?" Again he struck the meditation bed and said, "Like this, like this."

2.42

Ascending the hall, a monk asked, "What kind of person is one who does not take the myriad dharmas as companions?" The Master said, "A person whom neither heaven above nor earth below can do anything with." [The monk] advanced and said, "Why is he nevertheless under the seat of Jingshan?" The Master said, "Without a servant in the house, one does not make a gentleman." He then said, "In every speck of dust and every world there is not the slightest strand; the vibrant, ready-made activity of daily functioning stands out clearly. The buddhas of the three periods stand downwind; the patriarchs of all generations are frightened out of their wits. Now tell me: on the basis of what principle does one attain such marvelous distinction? Do you understand thoroughly? If you do, a single thought is ten thousand years, and ten thousand years are a single thought. If you do not yet understand thoroughly, let those on the east sit on the east side, and those on the west sit on the west side."

2.43

Ascending the hall, [the Master said]: "Just as the year turned, we congratulated the new year; / Today is already the first of the second month. / Entering the place of realization, there is no discussion— / Mahā-prajñā-pāramitā."

2.44

Ascending the hall, [the Master said]: "'A golden buddha cannot pass through a furnace; a wooden buddha cannot pass through fire; a clay buddha cannot pass through water; the true buddha sits within the house.' Venerable Zhaozhou poured out his heart and guts to inform you like this. Is there anyone who recognizes the kindness and repays the kindness?" He then stepped down from the seat.

2.45

Ascending the hall, [the Master] struck the meditation bed once with his fly-whisk and said: "This decree was personally carried out in Magadha. The eyes of the buddhas of the three periods are like nostrils. In terms of patch-robed monks, what affair is accomplished? Is there anyone who can speak? If so, bring forth a phrase on solid ground. If you cannot speak, Jingshan will speak for himself." He then stepped down from the seat.

2.46

Ascending the hall, a monk asked: "'When the cow in Huaizhou eats grain, the horse's belly in Yizhou swells; searching throughout the world for a doctor, he moxas the left shoulder of a pig.' Is this a wondrous application of supernatural powers, or is it phenomena being naturally so?" The Master said, "It is neither a wondrous application of supernatural powers nor phenomena being naturally so." [The monk] advanced and said, "What is it ultimately?" The Master said, "Eyebrows eight feet long grow under the chin." He then said, "The Great Way is right before your eyes, yet right before your eyes it is difficult to see. If you wish to know the true substance of the Great Way, do not depart from sounds, forms, and words. If you seek the true substance of the Way through sounds, forms, and words, it is precisely raking through ashes searching for floating bubbles. If you depart from sounds, forms, and words to seek the true substance of the Way, it is very much like searching for Chang'an while inside Hanyuan Hall. If it is entirely not like this, what is it ultimately? / A kingfisher kicks over the rain on lotus leaves; / An egret breaks through the smoke of the bamboo grove."

2.47

Ascending the hall for Bathing the Buddha, [the Master said]: "In the Lumbinī Grove he was never born; / Beneath the twin trees how could he ever have perished? / To see Gautama as unborn and unceasing / Is to add yet another speck of dust into the eyes."

2.48

Ascending the hall at the start of the summer retreat, [the Master said]: "On this day in monasteries everywhere, none fail to mount the bodhisattva vehicle to cultivate the practice of quietude and extinction, taking Great Perfect Awakening as their saṅghārāma, with body and mind dwelling peacefully in the wisdom of equality. Jingshan is not so: from today onward, for ninety days, I will join all you patch-robed monks in eating rice without grains, chewing udumbara roots, drinking water that does not wet, and speaking words in a sleep-dream. Now tell me, how far apart is such practice from the retreat rituals everywhere?" After a long pause he said, "'Offering this profound mind to worlds like dust, / This is termed repaying the Buddha's kindness.'" He stepped down from the seat.

2.49

Ascending the hall, [the Master said]: "Purity of body, speech, and mind is termed the Buddha appearing in the world; impurity of body, speech, and mind is termed the Buddha entering extinction. I now maintain this matter for you; it is never in vain. But what is this matter? And how do you maintain it? Have you not seen: a monk asked Guizong, 'What is the Buddha?' Guizong said, 'If I tell you, will you believe it?' The monk said, 'The Venerable's words are sincere; how would I dare not believe?' Guizong said, 'It is none other than you.' The monk said, 'How do I maintain it?' Guizong said, 'A single speck in the eye, and flowers in the sky fall in confusion.'" The Master said, "Guizong let go too perilously and pulled back too swiftly. If that monk at that moment had clapped his hands and laughed aloud in ha-ha for a round, where would that old fellow Guizong have put his face? I dare ask you all, right now what should be done? / One breath without speaking encompasses all forms; / Where can the myriad spirits offer thanks for impartiality?"

2.50

Ascending the hall, [the Master said]: "The twenty-fifth of the fourth month: after prolonged clear skies, rain suddenly falls. The mind of the Great Immortal of India is intimately transmitted between East and West. This is still a matter of conditions and season, not yet the news of patch-robed monks. But what is the news of patch-robed monks?" After a long pause he said, "The big tiger of the North Mountain bites to death the tiger of the South Mountain."

2.51

Ascending the hall, [the Master] cited: "When Gaoting first went to study under Deshan, he inquired after him from across the river. Deshan beckoned to him with his hand. Gaoting suddenly had an awakening, whereupon he turned aside and walked away without looking back. Later he opened his dharma seat as an heir to Deshan." The Master said, "Gaoting's turning aside and walking away shows he was an agile patch-robed monk, but if he wanted to be an heir to Deshan's dharma, it was not yet permissible. Why? He was still separated from Deshan by a river."

2.52

Ascending the hall, [the Master said]: "What is it like? A falcon in the distant sky dashes through ten thousand layers of clouds in a single swoop. When the ancients spoke like this, it was very much like someone with eye disease seeing sky-flowers. Jingshan is not so: what is it like? Do not entertain false thoughts! Even if you penetrate past and present, it is still a monkey's trick."

2.53

Ascending the hall, [the Master] cited: "Gentleman Liu Yu went up to Yunju to give thanks for rain and asked Hongjue, 'Where does the rain come from?' Hongjue said, 'It comes from the place where you ask.' Liu Yu then made three prostrations and retreated joyfully. After walking several steps, Hongjue called out, 'Gentleman Liu!' He turned his head, and Hongjue said, 'Where does the asking come from?' The gentleman had no words; upon returning home he died after three days." The Master said, "Gentleman Liu Yu had no words, went home, and died after three days; he had scratched right where Hongjue itched, yet he simply did not know the path to turn his body around. At that time, when Hongjue said, 'Where does the asking come from?' had he only made three prostrations as before and retreated joyfully, he would have made Hongjue doubt for thirty years."

2.54

Ascending the hall, [the Master] held up his staff, showed it to the assembly, and said: "Do you see?" He struck it once and said, "Do you hear? If you say you truly see and truly hear, you are someone chasing sounds and pursuing forms." He lifted it up again and said, "Do you see?" He struck it once again and said, "Do you hear? If you say you do not see and do not hear, you are someone avoiding forms and fleeing from sounds. What is it ultimately?" Throwing it down, he said, "A crane trapped in the ninefold marsh finds it hard to spread its wings; a horse lacking the capacity for a thousand leagues pursues the wind in vain."

2.55

Ascending the hall, [the Master] cited: "Whenever a monk came to study, Luzu would sit facing the wall. One day Nanquan arrived, and Luzu also sat facing the wall. Nanquan then slapped him once on the back. Luzu said, 'Who is it?' Nanquan said, 'Puyuan.' Luzu said, 'What are you doing?' Nanquan said, 'Nothing out of the ordinary.'" The Master said, "Casting a hook across the four seas is only to catch ferocious dragons; the mystery beyond norms is to search for a kindred spirit. Although old man Nanquan was good at discerning the turning points of potential and well understood good and ill omens, nevertheless he still did not know Luzu's resting place. Now, is there anyone who knows the resting place? Take care not to divine it in a ghost's cave!"

2.56

At the request of Lady Jiang, [the Master] ascended the seat: "Life is the life of death, death is the death of life; both paths are level and even, with neither that nor this. Since there is neither life and death nor that and this, vividly at the tip of the hundred grasses, vividly the Patriarch's meaning: universally covering like heaven, universally sustaining like earth, in a single thought corresponding, in one moment pure." Calling to the assembly, he said, "Since there is neither birth nor death, what was the patron Supervising Secretary fifty-seven years ago, and what will he be fifty-seven years hence?" After a long pause he said, "Assembly, look up all at once and see how many hairs my eyebrows have."

2.57

Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Dahui Pujue while Dwelling at Nengren Chan Monastery on Mount Jing, Fascicle Two

Linked texts (1)

大慧普覺禪師語錄 — Classical Chinese