大慧普覺禪師語錄 20

English (machine translation) 20

Language: English

20.1

Presented by your servant Yunwen, abbot of Nengren Chan Monastery on Jingshan, dharma heir and Chan Master Huiri

20.2

Instruction to Layman Wuxiang (Deng Zili, Attendant in the Palace Hall)

If you wish to study this Way, you must possess decisive faith, so that when encountering adverse and favorable circumstances, your mind does not waver; only then will you have a share in proceeding. The Buddha said: 'Faith can forever extinguish the root of afflictions; / Faith can direct oneself solely toward the Buddha's merits; / Faith is without attachment to realms; / Far removed from all difficulties, one attains freedom from difficulties.' He also said: 'Faith can transcend the paths of the hosts of māras, / and display the unexcelled path of liberation.' As stated above, there is clear textual evidence in the teachings; would the Buddha deceive people? If you are half-bright and half-dark, half-believing and half-doubting, then when contacting objects and meeting conditions, doubts arise in your mind. This is having attachment in the mind toward realms, being unable to have decisive freedom from doubt regarding this Way, to extinguish the root of afflictions, and to leave all difficulties far behind. As for 'all difficulties', because of lacking decisive faith, one is disturbed by one's own skandha-demons. If in a single thought conditioned arising is unborn, then without surpassing this thought, you instantly transcend the path of māras. The so-called 'path of māras' is also nothing else: it is obscuring this mind, falsely generating various differentiated views outside this mind, so that this mind turns around following differentiated false thoughts, thereby accomplishing the realm of māras. If you can directly believe that this mind is decidedly originally a buddha, and suddenly obliterate all views, then this very path of māras is the person's bodhi path of leaving birth and death.

20.4

When a Chan practitioner reads the sūtras and teachings and the ancients' circumstances of entering the Way, he should just empty his mind, without needing to seek the mysterious and wondrous or seek awakening in words, names, phrases, and meanings. If you generate this mind, it will obstruct your own right knowledge and view, and for eternal kalpas you will have no entry point. Panshan said: 'It is like throwing a sword into empty space: do not discuss whether it reaches or does not reach; it cannot be neglected.' Vimalakīrti said: 'The Dharma transcends the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind; if you wish to penetrate this Dharma, you must first clear away the gates of the six sense faculties, leaving no slight flaw.' What is a flaw? Being turned around by form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas and unable to stay far from them, and seeking knowledge, views, and intellectual understanding in the sūtras, teachings, and words of the ancient worthies—this is it. If in the sūtras, teachings, and the ancients' circumstances of entering the Way you can avoid giving rise to a second thought and directly know where to return, then regarding your own realm and other realms, there is nothing that will not be as you wish and nothing that will not be free and unhindered. When Deshan saw a monk enter the gate, he immediately struck him; when Linji saw a monk enter the gate, he immediately shouted at him. The venerable elders of the various quarters call this 'bringing it out directly to the face and handing it over straightforwardly'; Miaoxi calls it 'dragging through mud and dripping with water of the first degree.' Even if you take it upon your whole body under a single blow and a single shout, you are already no true fellow, having had a ladle of foul water poured over your head by him. How much more so if beneath a single blow and a single shout you seek something extraordinary and look for wondrous understanding—that is being clumsy among the clumsy.

20.5

When a superior person hears the Way, it is like a seal stamping empty space. When a middling person hears the Way, it is like a seal stamping water. When an inferior person hears the Way, it is like a seal stamping mud. This seal has no difference with respect to space, water, or mud; it is merely that because of superior, middling, and inferior persons, there are differences. Now, if you wish to enter directly into this Way, smash the seal completely, and then come see Miaoxi.

20.6

Instruction to Daoist Zhenru

20.7

When will worldly toil in the burning house ever end? If you can attain peace and joy for a single day, that is the model for thousands of myriad days. In a single day, if the mind does not race about seeking, does not indulge in false thoughts, and does not attach to sensory objects, you will tally with all the buddhas and great bodhisattvas of the three times. Without striving to harmonize, you naturally become one piece. The World-Honoured One spoke the parable of the burning house precisely for this reason. The sūtra says: 'This house has only one gate, and it is narrow and small. The children are young and ignorant, clinging fondly to their play places; they may fall and be burned by fire. I must speak to them of fearful matters.' All of this is in the sūtra. That this house has only one gate and is narrow and small means that their faculty of faith is narrow and inferior; being in the burning house, without wisdom they cling to the affairs of worldly toil as joy, not believing that there is the pure, wondrous joy of leaving the burning house to sit in the open ground. If, while inside it, one has full faith and sees through it, not clinging fondly to the childish play places, the mind not racing about seeking, not indulging in false thoughts, and not attaching to sensory objects, then this very burning house and worldly toil is the place of liberation and transcendence of the three realms. Why is this? Has not the Buddha said: 'Toward all objects, have no reliance and no abiding, have no discrimination, clearly seeing the vast establishment of the dharmadhātu, comprehending that all mundane worlds and all dharmas are equal and non-dual.' Therefore, a bodhisattva of the Far-Reaching Ground (Dūraṅgamā-bhūmi), through the power of his own practiced wisdom, surpasses all two vehicles. Though having attained the treasury of the Buddha's realm, he manifests abiding in Māra's realm; though transcending Māra's path, he appears to practice Māra's methods; though manifesting the practices of non-Buddhists, he does not abandon the Buddha-Dharma; though manifesting compliance with all worldly things, he constantly practices all world-transcending dharmas. This is the true expedient means within the burning house and worldly toil. If a student of prajñā abandons this expedient means and complies with worldly toil, he is sure to be seized and held by Māra. Moreover, amid compliant conditions, he forcibly rationalizes, claiming that afflictions are themselves bodhi and ignorance is itself great wisdom; with every step he practices existence, while with every breath he talks of emptiness. Failing to reprove himself for being dragged along by karmic force, he further teaches others to negate cause and effect, saying: 'Drinking wine and eating meat do not hinder bodhi; committing theft and engaging in sexual misconduct do not obstruct prajñā.' With people of this sort, heterodox demons and evil poison have entered their hearts and entrails without them being aware of it at all. Wishing to escape worldly toil, it is like throwing oil to extinguish a fire—is it not lamentable? That the lot of worldly toil is the seed of the Tathāgata is explicitly stated in the teachings: 'Just as lotus flowers do not grow on high plateaus or dry ground, but grow only in low, damp mud.' In the burning house and worldly toil, head bobbing up and down, suffering immeasurable pain, if one suddenly gives rise to disgust and renunciation amid suffering and for the first time generates the mind of unsurpassed bodhi, that the lot of worldly toil is the seed of the Tathāgata refers precisely to this. For laypeople to study the Way is vastly different from home-leavers. Home-leavers stay far away from worldly toil from their youth; their parents are not served sweet delicacies, and their six relations have firmly been abandoned. Their bodies reside in pure monasteries, their eyes behold the purplish-gold sacred images, thought after thought they abide in the Way, mind after mind without interruption. The books they look at are none other than Buddhist books; the affairs they conduct are none other than Buddhist affairs. Seeing nothing desirable, they receive the Buddha's prohibitive precepts; what the Buddha praised, only then do they dare rely upon and practice; what the Buddha rebuked, they dare not transgress. There are clear-eyed ancestral masters they can visit and inquire of, and good friends and companions with whom they can consult and resolve doubts. Even if one has uneliminated habitual defilements and temporarily breaks the Buddha's Vinaya, he is immediately expelled by the assembly. Comparing laypeople to them, they do not match one in ten thousand. Laypeople are in the burning house; within the four deportments, greed, anger, and delusion are their companions; what they do, hear, and see is nothing but evil karma. Yet if they can break through thoroughly in the midst of this, their strength will surpass that of us home-leavers by hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of times. Once you have broken through thoroughly, only then can you speak of afflictions being bodhi and ignorance being great wisdom. Within the originally vast, quiescent, wondrous mind, it is pure, round, and bright, utterly empty without a single thing that can serve as an obstruction, just like vast space. The single character 'Buddha' is also an external thing, not to mention having worldly toil, afflictions, and affectionate attachments set in opposition! Once you have broken through thoroughly within the burning house, there is no need to seek to leave home, acting weird and bizarre, altering your appearance and destroying your robes, extinguishing natural disposition, cutting off ancestral offerings, and becoming a transgressor against the orthodox moral teachings. The Buddha did not teach people to do this; he only said: 'To those who can be liberated by the body of a Buddha, he manifests the body of a Buddha and preaches the Dharma for them; to those who can be liberated by the body of an official, he manifests the body of an official and preaches the Dharma for them; down to those who can be liberated by the body of a monk, nun, layman, or laywoman, he manifests all of these and preaches the Dharma for them.' Furthermore, it says: 'Managing livelihood and industries all accords with the correct principle and does not contradict the true mark.' Merely keep to your own duty, transform those of your own kind according to what you have realized, and enter this gate together—this is repaying the Buddha's profound kindness. Just do not let thought after thought be interrupted; never mind whether you attain it or not. Even if in the past you lacked affinity with prajñā and do not break through thoroughly in this life, when facing the end of life you will not be dragged away by evil karma; throughout the twelve periods of the day in daily activities, you will not be trapped by worldly toil; and when you emerge in future lives, you will also attain ready-made enjoyment. Studying the Way has no other technique; taking awakening as the standard. If you do not awaken in this life, even if you exhaust your strength to the end of future time, constantly preserve this mind. Though you have not awakened in this life, you have also planted the seed of prajñā on the nature-ground; life after life you will not fall into evil destinies, birth after birth you will not lose a human body, you will not be born into a family of wrong views, and you will not enter the ranks of Māra's army—how much more so if the mind-flower suddenly blossoms! At that time, you will have a share in the verification of all buddhas of the three times, and all the great ancestral masters will have nowhere to place you. This is not forced; the Dharma is just so. If Daoist Zhenru wishes to study this Way, just apply effort according to this; after a long time you will naturally bump into it. What was said above is merely dispensing medicine according to the illness for a given time; if you take it as real Dharma, you will be wrong again. An ancient said: 'Seeing the moon, stop looking at the finger; returning home, cease asking the route.' Writing to this point, although my inspiration was not yet exhausted, the paper was finished, so I temporarily cut off the entanglements. After several more days, Daoist Zhenru again joined and pasted this scroll, coming to express thanks, saying: 'Hearing that the teacher's inspiration had not yet ended the other day, I hope for flowers to be added onto the brocade; I wonder if it may be permitted?' I replied to him: 'Having unfolded, it does not shrink.' Again I continued these entanglements for him, saying: 'Having returned home, one naturally does not ask the route; having seen the true moon, one naturally does not look at the finger.' The Buddha expounded the entire great canon of teachings—three thousand major parables and eight hundred minor parables, sudden and gradual, biased and round, provisional and real, half and full—none of which is not this principle. The Vimalakīrti says: 'Rely on the meaning, not on the words; rely on the sūtras of definitive meaning, not on the sūtras of non-definitive meaning.' The Buddha only spoke of entering the meaning by relying on words, not entering words by relying on the meaning. The thousands of differences and myriad distinctions of the Chan school, its various phrases, are also like this. Practitioners of the Way nowadays, whether monks or laity, all have two major sicknesses: one is learning many phrases, forming extraordinary notions within phrases; the other is being unable to see the moon and forget the finger so as to awaken and enter through phrases, and upon hearing it said that the Buddha-Dharma and Chan Way do not lie in phrases, they completely reject them, persistently closing their brows and shutting their eyes, putting on a dead appearance, calling it sitting quietly contemplating the mind in silent illumination. They further use this wrong view to entice ignorant, mediocre types, saying: 'If you can attain stillness for one day, that is one day's effort.' How distressing! Little do they know that this is all the livelihood of ghosts. Only when one rids oneself of these two major sicknesses can one begin to have a share in study and inquiry. A sūtra says: 'Do not attach to what sentient beings speak of, all conditioned, false matters; although not relying on the path of speech, neither attach to having no speech.' It also says: 'Contemplate words and meaning as neither different nor not different; contemplate meaning and words in the same way. If words were different from meaning, then one would not distinguish meaning by relying on words; yet entering meaning by relying on words is like a lamp illuminating form.' Therefore it is said: 'Rely on the meaning, not on the words; rely on the sūtras of definitive meaning, not on the sūtras of non-definitive meaning.' If the two sicknesses of speech and silence cannot be eliminated, they will definitely obstruct the Way; one cannot fail to know this. Only after fully knowing this can one have a share in progressing toward the goal. First of all, do not treat what you understand as your career, no longer seeking wondrous awakening, saying 'I know and others do not know, I understand and others do not understand,' falling into the net of self-view, driven by the mark of self, generating a notion of satisfaction in the midst of insufficiency—this illness is especially severe. Toward these two sicknesses of speech and silence, fine physicians fold their hands. If this illness is not eliminated, one is called a person of overweening pride and wrong views. Only someone with spiritual bones from past lives can reach here and attain a path of turning the body around. Once able to turn the body around, one can turn things; only once able to turn things can one be called a person of definitive meaning. Once one comprehends its meaning, one comprehends this mind; once one comprehends this mind, try to examine it subtly at the place of comprehension—originally there is nothing to comprehend. At the place where there is nothing to comprehend, pick it up and walk on. Sometimes hold up a single stalk of grass to make a sixteen-foot golden body; sometimes take the sixteen-foot golden body and turn it into a single stalk of grass. With various transformations, fulfilling all dharmas and destroying all dharmas, topsy-turvy and chaotic, none of it goes outside this mind that has nothing to comprehend. Exactly at such a time, it is not Tathāgata Chan, it is not Patriarchal Chan, it is not mind-nature Chan, it is not silent illumination Chan, it is not stick-and-shout Chan, it is not Chan of cessation, it is not Chan of extremes, it is not the Chan of a special transmission outside the teachings, it is not the Chan of the five lineages, and it is not Chan fabricated by old man Miaoxi. Since it is not Chan as described above, what ultimately is it? Arriving here, do not say others cannot comprehend it; old man Miaoxi himself also cannot comprehend it. Daoist Zhenru, please see for yourself.

20.8

Instructions to Daoist Konghui

20.9

To shoulder this matter, you must directly possess determined resolution, like someone who will not turn his head back even when struck by a blow. If you half-advance and half-retreat, seemingly believing and seemingly not believing, even if you attain an entry point, you will not be able to withstand smelting in the great furnace and bellows, much less wish to be master amidst the thousands of differences and myriad distinctions. For Miaoxi to speak like this is like hurling a stone in a crowded market—only the one who gets hit knows it. Daoist Konghui, do not doubt it.

20.10

When you initially attain tranquility of body and mind, you must diligently exert effort; you must not immediately bury your roots in the place of tranquility. In the teachings this is called the fearful place of the deep pit of liberation. You must make it roll smoothly like a gourd on water, free and self-at-ease, not subjected to restraint, entering the pure and entering the defiled without obstruction and without sinking; only then will you have a slight share of intimacy in the school of patch-robed monks. If you only hold a child who does not cry, what use is it? Konghui, think on this.

20.11

Venerable Dazhu said: 'The mind chasing after things is heterodox; things following the mind is orthodox.' Although this was an instance of dispensing medicine according to the illness, it inevitably set up a target that invited arrows. Now, if those who have not understood hear these words and do not doubt them, then Dazhu wasted his grandmotherly mind in vain; if those who have understood hear these words and do not doubt them, then both mind and things are redundant dharmas. Ultimately, how is it? Night travel is not permitted, yet you must arrive before dawn.

20.12

Since you have an orientation, calmly and casually bring up and reflect on the topic 'a dog has no buddha-nature.' If you say knowing it is this sort of matter is enough, I say this person's wisdom-eye is not yet clear. Although Miaoxi seems to raise wind and thunder on level ground, nevertheless it does not go beyond what Xuefeng said.

20.13

An immortal with five supernormal powers asked the Buddha: "The Buddha has six supernormal powers, and I have five supernormal powers. What is that other power?" The Buddha thereupon called to the immortal with five powers. The immortal with five powers answered, "Yes?" The Buddha said: "Which power are you asking me about?" Nowadays there is a sort of fellow playing with clumps of mud who very often mistakenly takes the zero point on the steelyard to be at that one power.

20.14

The National Teacher's thrice calling his attendant, Ruiyan's calling his master, Muzhou's carrying the board, Touzi's tub of lacquer, Xuefeng's rolling the ball, and Fengxue's speaking of the Buddha—these six old awls each still lacked awakening. In Miaoxi speaking like this, it is very much like brandishing a stick to strike the moon; onlookers viewing it do not consider it out of line.

20.15

Instruction to Layman Kuoran (Xie Jiyi)

20.16

Studying mundane dharmas relies entirely on oral debate and mental deliberation; in studying supramundane dharmas, if one uses oral debate and mental deliberation, one is far off indeed. Has not the Buddha said: "This Dharma is not something that can be understood by thinking and conceptual discrimination"? Yongjia said: "Wasting the wealth of Dharma and annihilating merit—nothing is not caused by this mind, intellect, and consciousness." Mind, intellect, and consciousness are indeed the den of thinking and conceptual discrimination. If you are determined to shoulder this great cause, please summon up fierce energy and, with a single slash of the blade, sever this root of the demon of birth and death that comes as the vanguard and departs as the rearguard; this will be the time of thorough penetration. Precisely at such a time, oral debate and mental deliberation may first be put to use. Why is this? Once the eighth consciousness is eliminated, the demon of birth and death has nowhere to roost; with nowhere for the demon of birth and death to roost, that which thinks and discriminates is entirely the wondrous wisdom of prajñā, without the slightest hair remaining to form an obstacle for me. Therefore it is said: "Observe the sequence of dharmas, discriminate with wisdom, deliberate and determine right and wrong, not violating the seal of Dharma." Having reached this ground, completely displaying cleverness and completely explaining principles are all the realm of great cessation, great consummation, and great liberation, and nothing else. Therefore Panshan said: "The whole mind is just Buddha; the whole Buddha is just man." This is it. Before attaining this, you must simply not let the mind, intellect, and consciousness have their way while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down. After a long time, when it has become completely ripe, naturally you will not need to exert effort to dismiss them. Reflect upon this.

20.17

One day Layman Pang was sitting alone in his thatched hut and suddenly said: "Difficult! Difficult! Ten pecks of sesame seeds spread on the tree!" Pang's wife, hearing this, chimed in: "Easy! Easy! On the tips of the hundred grasses, the Patriarch's meaning!" His daughter Lingzhao said: "Neither difficult nor easy: when hungry, eat rice; when tired, sleep." Miaoxi says: "These three people walk together but do not take the same step; they attain together but do not lose together." If one calculates and surmises with the mind, intellect, and consciousness, not only will one fail to see the resting place of these three people, but throughout the twelve periods of the day one will also be blind to one's own original ground and scenery, not seeing one's original face, unavoidably dragged along by difficult, easy, neither difficult, nor easy, unable to attain ease. If you wish to attain ease, please take what these three people said and look at it as a single phrase. Miaoxi has already dragged mud and water, adding footnotes for him. An ancient worthy said: "Just generate a consenting mind, and you will certainly not be deceived." One only fears that the person lacks sufficient faith, and in daily life, responding to conditions, is carried away by external objects, unable to apply effort single-mindedly, thereby creating interruptions. When there are interruptions, the mind is unavoidably perturbed; but right when it is perturbed, it is actually an excellent time. The Buddha said: "Dwelling at all times without giving rise to deluded thoughts; toward all deluded minds, not putting them to rest; abiding in the realm of delusive thoughts, not adding understanding; and regarding non-understanding, not distinguishing the real." This is just this principle. This principle cannot be explained to others; only one who has verified awakening knows where it lands as soon as it is raised.

20.18

Emperor Wu of Liang asked Bodhidharma: "I have built temples and ordained monks beyond count; what merit is there?" Bodhidharma said: "No merit." The Emperor asked: "Why is there no merit?" Bodhidharma said: "These are only the lesser fruits of humans and gods, causes with outflows, like a shadow following the body: though they exist, they are not real." The Emperor asked: "What is true merit?" He answered: "Pure wisdom, wondrous and round, its essence naturally empty and serene—such merit cannot be sought through the worldly." The Emperor then asked: "What is the primary truth of the holy truths?" He answered: "Empty, with nothing holy." The Emperor asked: "Who is facing me?" He answered: "I do not know." The Emperor did not accord with it, so Bodhidharma crossed the river to Wei. Nowadays, if you want to see true merit, there is no need to seek elsewhere; just take it in directly at the point of 'I do not know.' If you can penetrate these two words, your lifelong pursuit of study will be completed.

20.19

The Patriarch said: "The mind turns in accord with ten thousand conditions; the place where it turns is truly profound. Following the flow, recognize the nature: there is neither joy nor sorrow." One who truly accords with this mind inwardly sees no person capable of realization, and outwardly sees no dharma that can be realized. The Patriarch's speaking of a place of turning and following the flow was solely to set a provisional stage for those who are confused about this mind and seek outward realization. The Buddha's expounding of the entire canon of teachings—the three thousand great metaphors and the eight hundred small metaphors—is merely writing that speaks of provisional stages. If one says that the Tathāgata really had such a thing, that is slandering the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha.

20.20

The fire of the mind blazes fiercely, flaring without rest; greed, anger, and delusion follow upon it like the interlocking links of an iron chain, continuously uninterrupted. If one lacks a resolute determination, as days and months accumulate, one will unconsciously be seized by the demons of the five aggregates. If in a single thought one realizes that conditioned arising is unproduced, without departing from greed, anger, and delusion, one can turn the demon king's seal upside down and drive the demon retinues to become benevolent guardian spirits of the Dharma; moreover, this is not done by force, for the Dharma is just so. Therefore the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa says: "For people of superior pride, the Buddha said that departing from lust, anger, and delusion is liberation." For those without superior pride, the Buddha said that the nature of lust, anger, and delusion is itself liberation. 'Superior pride' refers to great icchantikas whose good roots are ruined, beings who are not vessels, who do not believe there is a Buddha-vehicle on the shore of birth and death to rely upon and trust. Although such people do not believe, they nonetheless lack nothing in the equal Dharma.

20.21

Layman Pang asked Great Master Ma: "When one is like water without sinews and bones, yet capable of bearing a ten-thousand-hogshead boat, what then?" The Patriarch said: "Here I have neither water nor boat; what further talk of sinews and bones is there?" At these words, the layman suddenly put all conditions to rest, and then returned to Nanyue to see Venerable Shitou. One day Shitou asked the layman: "Since seeing this old monk, what have your daily affairs been like?" The layman said: "If you ask about my daily affairs, there is simply no place to open my mouth." Shitou said: "Knowing you were like this, only then did I ask you." The layman then recited a verse, saying: / "In daily affairs there is no difference, / Only I myself naturally harmonize. / In everything, neither grasping nor rejecting, / In every place, do not act contrarily. / For red and purple robes, who makes a name? / The rolling hills are without a speck of dust. / Supernormal powers and wondrous functions: / Carrying water and hauling firewood." / This is the model of Chan practice among laymen. If you are determined to bring this matter to its ultimate conclusion, please follow this old man's pattern. Since he was a great hero, how could I not be so? Do not neglect this; make effort, make effort!

20.22

Instruction to Layman Juekong (Controller General Tang)

20.23

Awakening these people with this Way is the affair of Ruist scholars; our Buddha also said: "The nature of awakening is wondrously luminous; original awakening is luminous and wondrous." Furthermore, 'Buddha' means 'awakened one': having already awakened oneself, one uses this awakening to awaken all the confused multitudes, and is therefore called 'the Great Awakened One.' Deshan also said: "Groping in emptiness and chasing after echoes exhausts your mind and spirit; when the dream is awakened from, one realizes it was false, and awakening too is not awakening." Fellow practitioner Yanju has studied both Confucianism and Buddhism without bias; therefore, taking this meaning, he named his dwelling 'Awakening Veranda' (Juexuan), and brought this scroll to request Dharma words, further writing an injunction at the end, saying: "The meaning of Awakening Veranda is the great divine mantra, the great bright mantra, the unsurpassed mantra, the unequalled mantra." Since Yanju already knows this meaning is the great divine, the great bright, the unsurpassed, and the unequalled, why must Miaoxi add footnotes again? Yet Yanju's intention was not merely to clarify this meaning for his own awakening alone; it was also to use this meaning to awaken those who are not yet awakened. The universality of giving the Dharma is also the aspiration of buddhas and bodhisattvas. Commending his aspiration, I have written directly to instruct him. All who mount this veranda should see its meaning and forget the veranda, and that will be fine; if one clings to the veranda as the meaning, not only will one fail to understand its meaning, but one will also not have truly seen its veranda. When both veranda and meaning are forgotten, and the awakened mind shines alone, only then can one discuss awakening with him. The meaning of awakening is deep and far-reaching, beyond the exhaustion of words; I follow it with a verse: / "Awakening is empty, emptiness is awakened, empty, empty awakening; / Awakening, awakening, empty, empty, emptiness is also empty. / If you want to know the infinite good news, / It is entirely within this veranda." / Giving free rein to the brush and intention, I toss this off merely to fulfill the request that came.

20.24

Instruction to District Defender Huang of Xinyu

20.25

Miaoxi and the Old Man of Suchness were entirely unacquainted in the past. In late spring of the bingzi year of Shaoxing, we met by chance at the river pavilion in Yuchuan. Upon a single meeting, we understood each other; though words and expressions had not yet been exchanged, my mind had already approved him. Soon after, he came to the post station, and what he disclosed was like the joining of tally and contract. I rejoiced that my eye for assessing people did not yield to the ancients, and was also delighted that within the prajñā society we had gained a spirited fellow who can uphold this great Dharma banner, light this great Dharma torch, and act as an inner and outer protector for our house. The next day we went together to Magistrate Ren's for a meal; after eating, we sat again in the Wuzhai study. The Old Man of Suchness completely revealed what he harbored: every character and sentence had its resting place, unlike the so-called mouth-drum Chan spoken by present-day literati. Because of this, we talked of dreams for a round. Arriving here, one only then believes that the buddhas of the three periods spoke of dreams, the six generations of patriarchs spoke of dreams, and the old venerable monks throughout the world spoke of dreams; right now, Miaoxi and the Old Man of Suchness are also speaking of dreams within a dream. Suddenly, if there is a boundless fellow who awakens within the dream, only then will he believe that what the buddhas of the three periods spoke was not a dream, what the six generations of patriarchs spoke was not a dream, and what the old venerable monks throughout the world spoke was not a dream. Why is this? Dream and awakening are one; speech and silence are one; speaking and non-speaking are one. Therefore it is said: "Two arises from one; do not keep even the one. When not a single thought arises, the ten thousand dharmas are without fault." The Dharma of Suchness is like this in speech, and like this in silence; the buddhas of the three periods are like this, the six generations of patriarchs are like this, and the old venerable monks throughout the world are like this. What Miaoxi and the Old Man of Suchness speak right now is also like this; what they realize is also like this. The Old Man of Suchness should enjoy it like this, practice like this, speak of such matters with such people, cause those who have not attained it to enter such a realm, together repaying the Buddha's benevolence, and cause the Dharma of Suchness to continue uninterrupted in the realm of sentient beings. Then the Old Man of Suchness will not have spoken of dreams in vain, and old fellow Miaoxi will not have certified it in vain. Tell me: what is the principle of not certifying in vain? Do you thoroughly understand yet? Like this, like this! (Bah!) Cut off the vines for now.

20.26

Instruction to Magistrate Luo (Mengbi)

20.27

Men of cleverness and sharp intelligence often slip past this matter right beneath their feet. Because the clever and sharp-witted have an open flow of intellectual reasoning, as soon as they hear someone bring up matters of this realm, they immediately comprehend and survey them with their mind, intellect, and consciousness. Yet when it comes to the real, substantial root, all is pitch black, and they do not know where to turn. Then they take what they usually learned with mind, intellect, and consciousness as verification; wanting to speak it with their mouths and having pondered and deliberated it in their minds, they forcefully arrange it, wishing to make it distinct and clear. Little do they realize that the household ghosts are working havoc, and that it definitely does not come from outside. Thus Yongjia said: 'Damaging the wealth of Dharma and extinguishing merit is all due to this mind, intellect, and consciousness.' Looked at in this way, the hindrance to the Path caused by mind, intellect, and consciousness is worse than venomous snakes and fierce tigers. Why is this? Venomous snakes and fierce tigers can still be avoided; but men of cleverness and sharp intelligence make their den of mind, intellect, and consciousness, and in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down they never cease for an instant to interact with them. As days grow long and months deep, unknowingly and imperceptibly, they form a single mass with them. It is not that they intend to form a single mass, but because from beginningless time they have grown practiced in walking this path; even if they momentarily see through it, they still cannot distance themselves from it. Hence it is said: 'Venomous snakes and fierce tigers can still be avoided, but from mind, intellect, and consciousness you truly have nowhere to flee.' Unless one has innate spiritual bones, so that in the midst of everyday actual practice one can hold fast, be the master, see through it, cut it directly in two with a single blade, and work on it straight from beneath one's feet, one need not set one's mind on waiting for awakening, nor is there any need to calculate when it will be attained. Simply treat what the ancient sages rebuked as if avoiding venomous snakes and fierce tigers, or passing through a land of poison potions, not letting a single drop enter your mouth; and then, with what the sages of the Three Teachings praised, in tea and in food, in joy and in anger, when interacting with friends, when attending upon elders, when gathering with wife and children, when walking, standing, sitting, lying down, encountering circumstances and meeting conditions, whether good or bad, when sitting alone in a dark room—let there not be a moment's interruption. If you do the work like this and the business of the Path is not accomplished, then the sages of the Three Teachings are all liars. Scholars usually amuse themselves within the Nine Classics and Seventeen Histories, with rises and falls, order and disorder, adversity and prosperity, rectitude and wickedness; there is not a single thing they do not know, not a single thing they do not understand. Past and present, they know all and understand all; if there were one thing they did not know, one thing they did not understand, people would call them shallow and lacking insight. Regarding the affairs of others' households, they know all, see all, and recognize all; when they put brush to paper to compose essays, it is like water pouring from a jug, citing antiquity and invoking the present—they certainly have an exquisite mind and eloquent mouth; their minds can ponder it, and their mouths can speak it distinctly. As for others' conduct, others' adversity and prosperity, others' wickedness and rectitude, they know the bottom of each and every one, and can point them out one by one without the slightest leak. But when you calmly ask them: 'Before you were born into the Zhang, Huang, Li, or Deng families as a son, where did you settle your body and establish your life?' Right now you act cleverly and talk of principles, fighting over self and other, giving rein to ignorance, using karmic consciousness to inspect others; you are not one who can distinguish wicked from upright, good from bad—after a hundred years, where will you go? Not knowing whence you came is the greatness of birth; not knowing whither you go is the greatness of death. That impermanence is swift and the matter of birth and death is great—these are just such truths. The Confucians also say: 'Birth and death are also great.' A stick strikes the stone man's head, crack-crack, talking of real things! On the thirtieth day of the twelfth month, when the murderous ghost of impermanence arrives, it will not accept your glib tongue. 'Not shifting anger, not repeating faults'—Confucius praised Yan Hui alone, meaning that the sage has no anger, and having no anger, he is not swayed by physical temperament; it means that the sage has no faults, and having no faults, right mindfulness stands alone and emancipated; when right mindfulness stands alone and emancipated, it becomes a single whole; becoming a single whole, it is not twofold. As soon as thoughts of wickedness and error infringe upon rectitude, they break into two pieces; breaking into two pieces, how could their faults stop at two? The meaning of 'not shifting anger, not repeating faults' is just this; one need not discuss it as something mysterious or exceptional. When scholars study the Way of the ancient kings, it is only to rectify the disposition of the mind; once the disposition of the mind is rectified, wickedness and error naturally have no concern with it; since wickedness and error do not concern it, then in the midst of responding to conditions in everyday life, all is naturally clear at every turn and manifest in every thing. The disposition of the mind is the root; literary skill and scholarship are the branches. Scholars of recent times mostly abandon the root and pursue the branches, picking phrases and plucking lines, learning ornate words and clever speech to outdo each other, regarding the classic arts of the sages as useless words—is this not lamentable? This is what Mencius meant by not measuring the base and wishing to level the top, so that a piece of wood an inch square can be made taller than a high pavilion. Mengbi is precisely in the prime of his years; you have had an early flash of insight, can turn around the mind that engages in worldly toil and unwholesome karma, and wish to study the Dharma of release from birth and death. If you had not planted roots of virtue in past lives, you could not have such firm faith, hold fast, act as the master, and constantly keep birth and death in mind—truly a lotus in fire. Since the matter of birth and death is in your thoughts, the disposition of your mind is already rectified; once the disposition of the mind is rectified, then in responding to conditions in daily life you need not exert effort to banish things; since you need not banish things, there is no wickedness or error; with no wickedness or error, right mindfulness stands alone and emancipated; when right mindfulness stands alone and emancipated, principle transforms according to events; when principle transforms according to events, events are harmonized with principle; when events are harmonized with principle, it saves effort; and as soon as you feel it saves effort, that is the place where you gain strength in studying this Path. Where you gain strength, you save boundless effort; where you save effort, you gain boundless strength. When you reach such a time, mind, intellect, and consciousness need not be suppressed, but naturally settle peacefully. Even though this is so, you must strictly avoid falling into the place of no words and no speech; if this ailment is not eliminated, it is no different from when mind, intellect, and consciousness are not yet at peace. Therefore the Yellow-Faced Old Man said: 'Do not grasp at the speech of sentient beings, nor at all conditioned, illusory matters; although one does not rely on the path of verbal speech, neither does one cling to the absence of speech.' As soon as you abide in the place of wordlessness, you are deluded and confused by the heterodox Chan of silent illumination. What was said earlier—that venomous snakes and fierce tigers can still be avoided, but mind, intellect, and consciousness are hard to guard against—is just this principle. When according with conditions in daily life, set things aside, and when you can attain a quiet place, then be quiet; when stray thoughts arise, simply bring up the huatou. For the huatou is like a great mass of fire, not allowing mosquitoes, gnats, mole crickets, or ants to alight on it. Bringing it up over and over, as the days and months deepen, suddenly the mind has nowhere to go, and without your realizing it, there is a sudden burst. At just such a time, you do not need to ask anyone about birth, you do not need to ask anyone about death, you do not need to ask anyone about that which is unborn and undying, you do not need to ask anyone about the one who speaks like this, and you do not need to ask anyone about the one who receives such speech. Just as when a person eats food until full and satisfied, thoughts of desiring food naturally do not arise. Thousands of explanations, myriad explanations, crooked explanations, straight explanations—all are only because Luo Mengbi's doubt has not been broken. On some future day, should you suddenly slip and kick your own nostrils, where will you place all the sharp, scolding words Miaoxi has chattered on and on? Miaoxi himself says: 'Falling due to the ground, rising due to the ground; rising and falling depend on the person, and ultimately have nothing to do with this piece of ground.' Having written to this point, a scroll of paper has run out; so let us cut through the trailing vines.

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Dharma Words of Chan Master Dahui Pujue, Fascicle Twenty

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大慧普覺禪師語錄 — Classical Chinese