大慧普覺禪師語錄 22.17

22.17

Xuefeng went three times to Touzi and nine times to Dongshan, but the conditions and dharma did not harmonize. In the end, only when Yantou swept away his former piecemeal attainments did his mind-ground open up and penetrate through. Yantou said: 'If in the future you wish to broadcast the great teaching, every single thing must flow out from your own breast, covering heaven and covering earth; only then will it be the action of a great man.' Yantou's words not only illuminated Xuefeng's capacity, but can also serve as an eternal model for those who study this Way. What is called 'flowing out from one's breast' is one's own direct perception, inherently complete from beginningless time. As soon as a second thought arises, one falls into inferential perception. Inferential perception is a dharma obtained through the adornment of external conditions; direct perception is the matter from the other side of Bhīṣmagarjitasvararāja, before one's parents were born. What is obtained from direct perception has robust vigor; what is obtained from inferential perception has weak vigor. One with robust vigor can enter the buddha[-realm] and can also enter the māra[-realm]; one with weak vigor can enter the buddha-realm, but in the māra-realm will often beat a retreat, countless times. This matter does not lie in cleverness and sharpness, nor does it lie in dull faculties and shallow understanding. Judged in truth, it takes only the burst of a sudden release as the accurate aim. Once you obtain this news, whenever there are words and phrases, they do not establish their position apart from the real; where they stand is itself the real. What is called 'flowing out from one's breast, covering heaven and covering earth' is just like this. It is not concocting words to seek what is extraordinary, with an exquisite mind and embroidered mouth producing sharp and novel phrases that others cannot utter, and taking that to be flowing out from one's breast. If questioned ten times by the master and unable to reply nine times, there is no harm, [provided] you only fear forcibly acting as master before a skull; for as soon as you see an ancestral master open his mouth and move his tongue, you immediately accept it and take it away. Toward someone like this, even if a buddha appeared in the world, he could not save him. Although Shuchi's capacity is dull, he has on the contrary gained an advantage: because he genuinely wants to confront birth and death, he is untiring and diligent, thought after thought unwilling to let go. What was called earlier 'gaining an advantage' is precisely this family style of the dull. Since you have a resolute will, obtaining it into your own hands will naturally have its time; do not be concerned about when it will be obtained. I often say to the patch-robed monks: 'If you want to practice Miaoxi's Chan, you must be prepared not to understand for an entire lifetime; if you seek quick results, it will surely mislead you.' Why is this? Only because from the beginning there has been no dharma to give to people, but only acting as a man who points out the road for them. An ancient worthy said: 'Having something attained is the howl of a jackal; having nothing attained is the roar of the lion.' The Buddha was a person of universal adaptability: over forty-nine years, in more than three hundred and sixty assemblies, he preached the Dharma, guiding them according to their capacities. Therefore, within the ten dharmadhātus, with a single voice he expounded, and sentient beings each obtained benefit according to their kind. Just as when the east wind brushes by, the ten thousand plants all bloom together, so too is the Dharma spoken by the Buddha. If he had intentional purpose to produce benefit within the ten dharmadhātus, then that would be using 'my' preaching of the Dharma with the desire to cause sentient beings to attain deliverance according to their kinds—would that not be difficult? Do you not see Śāriputra at the Prajñā assembly asking Mañjuśrī: 'Do the buddhas, the Tathāgatas, not awaken to the dharmadhātu?' Mañjuśrī said: 'No, Śāriputra! Buddhas are not even to be found; how could there be a buddha who awakens to the dharmadhātu? The dharmadhātu is not even to be found; how could the dharmadhātu be awakened to by the buddhas?' Look at how the two of them stimulated and expounded like this; how did they ever attach their intent? The way all the buddhas and patriarchs from of old acted for people's sake was entirely of this style. It is simply that descendants of later times lost their essential aim, and thereupon each established their own sects, conjuring up demons and fabricating monsters. Since Shuchi has already become disheartened with worldly matters, he has already been spared countless affairs. 'Without destroying worldly marks, one speaks of the true mark'—buddha hands down to buddha, patriarch transmits to patriarch, without disparity and without distinction. It is merely that those who study this Way mistake the expedient means and thus transmit and practice them further, completely failing to root themselves in the source. What is it to 'not destroy worldly marks and yet speak of the true mark'? Miaoxi will explain it thoroughly for you: serve your elders and comply with their expressions; do not avoid or shirk the duties that younger generations ought to perform; afterwards, accord with conditions, open and free, give free rein to your nature in easy wandering; constantly examine yourself within the four deportments of daily use; furthermore, with the swiftness of impermanence and the great matter of birth and death, remind yourself at all times; when free from affairs, you must also read the books of the sages to enrich your mental consciousness. If you can be like this, in both the worldly and the supramundane there will be no fault or calamity.