大慧普覺禪師語錄 23.3

23.3

Great Master Tiantai Zhiyi awakened to the Lotus Samādhi and, by means of the three contemplations of emptiness, provisionality, and the middle, subsumed the entirety of the Great Canon without a shortfall and without a surplus: speaking of emptiness, there is no provisionality and no middle that is not empty; speaking of provisionality, there is no emptiness and no middle that is not provisional; speaking of the middle, there is no emptiness and no provisionality that is not the middle. One who attains this essential aim obtains the revolving dhāraṇī; from this we know that all the buddhas and patriarchs from of old have without exception entered through this gate of verification. Therefore, when the Great Master entered realization, it was because in reading the *Lotus Sūtra* he reached 'this is true vigor, this is called the true dharma offering to the Tathāgata,' and thereupon saw the Old Shakya preaching this sūtra on Vulture Peak, solemn and not yet dispersed. Some have called this metaphorical expression. Only Layman Wujin, Lord Zhang, while reading the *Śūraṅgama Sūtra* and reaching the passage 'this person first attains the center of the vajra-mind,' suddenly reflected upon what Zhiyi had verified at that time—seeing the assembly on Vulture Peak solemn and not yet dispersed was not a metaphorical expression. He once said to me: 'When one genuinely enters realization, one's whole body abides in the center of the vajra-mind. As Elder Li said: "The boundless lands and realms, self and other, are not separated by a hair's tip. The ten ages of past and present, beginning and end, are never apart from the present thought." Zhiyi saw the assembly on Vulture Peak solemn and not yet dispersed; only one who verifies this samādhi, without waiting for metaphors to be drawn, will silently nod to himself.' The realms of sentient beings are varied and unequal, and what they see is not the same, mutually having gains and losses. Unless one inherently possesses spiritual bones, is not bound by dharmas, does not seek deliverance from dharmas, and, regarding the scriptural teachings and the conditions for ancient worthies entering the Way, abandons expedient means and enters realization by oneself, then one will also not wait for harmonization and arrangement, but naturally will see the moon and forget the finger. Formerly, when Venerable Yaoshan first generated the mind to seek a good spiritual friend, he went to Venerable Shitou at Nanyue and asked: 'As for the three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teachings, I have roughly investigated them. I have heard that in the south there is the direct pointing to the human mind and seeing into one's nature to become a buddha. Truly I have not understood it; I beg the master to give instruction.' Shitou said: 'Thus will not do; not thus will not do; thus and not thus both will not do at all.' Yaoshan heard this but did not grasp it; for a long time he was speechless. Shitou said: 'Do you understand?' Yaoshan said: 'I do not understand.' Shitou said: 'I fear your affinity does not lie here; go to Jiangxi and question Master Ma.' Yaoshan followed the instruction and went straight to Jiangxi to see Master Ma, and questioned him using the same topic he had asked Shitou. Master Ma said: 'Sometimes I have him raise his eyebrows and blink his eyes; sometimes I do not have him raise his eyebrows and blink his eyes. Sometimes having him raise his eyebrows and blink his eyes is right; sometimes having him raise his eyebrows and blink his eyes is not right.' Upon hearing Master Ma's words, Yaoshan immediately attained the center of the vajra-mind; with no other extraordinary or abstruse marvel by which to convey news, he simply made a bow. Master Ma knew he had entered realization and likewise had no other principle to transmit; he merely said to him: 'What did you see that you make a bow?' Yaoshan also had no principle he could present to Master Ma, but only said: 'When I was at Shitou's, it was like a mosquito on an iron bull.' Master Ma also gave no words of certification. One day, suddenly seeing him, [Ma] asked: 'What is your view these days?' Yaoshan said: 'The skin has completely fallen off; there is only one reality.' Master Ma said: 'What you have attained can be said to accord with the mind-essence and spread through the four limbs. Since it is so, take three strips of bamboo splints to bind your belly, and go dwell in the mountains anywhere.' Yaoshan said: 'What kind of man am I, that I would dare speak of dwelling in the mountains?' Master Ma said: 'There has never been long traveling without stopping; there has never been long stopping without traveling. Desiring to benefit, there is nothing to benefit; desiring to act, there is nothing to act. You should become a boat and raft; do not dwell here long.' Thereupon he took leave of Master Ma to go dwell in the mountains. This is also an efficacy of attaining the center of the vajra-mind. My fellow-practitioner Zhongkan and Miaoxi were completely unacquainted in the past. In the winter of the *bingzi* year of the Shaoxing era, we met by chance in Wanling; at the first sight of his demeanor, before speaking my heart already approved him. I once visited his residence and received his devoted attention, and thereupon questioned him; he said of himself that he had an inclination toward the dharma-gate of the character 'center' (zhong). From then on, whenever I conversed with him, not a single word ever touched upon worldly matters; the ancients' 'running across the river from the opposite bank' was also like this at times. In governing, he was neither harsh nor inquisitorial, yet the treacherous and corrupt were terrified by him—this is also the efficacy of verifying the dharma-gate of the character 'center'. Since parting it has been precisely nine months, when suddenly a special messenger arrived with this scroll to request a religious name. Recalling the words of Lord Zhang Wujin, which are rather similar to the portal Zhongkan has entered, I therefore unintentionally drew forth the preceding entanglements, and have also established a religious name for him, calling him Layman Zhongzheng ('Center-Verification'). The meaning of Zhongzheng: in our Buddha['s teaching] it is called the vajra-mind; when the mind reaches the center, it is called loyalty (zhong); when the center has no fixed place, it appears in deeds, and benefiting others and benefiting oneself, both worldly and supramundane, will be completely without regret. Center-verification is without bias, and above and below correspond with each other, like splitting sandalwood: piece by piece, it is no other wood. It is not like other people, who speak so water-tightly, yet when acting expose both hands and feet. For such fellows as these to wish to enter the dharma-gate of the character 'center' is very much like swinging a staff to strike the moon—is it not difficult? Layman Zhongzheng, exert yourself! If Miaoxi should one day suddenly bump into you face to face, when we meet at that time, if you still cling to this single character, then you will have missed the mark (zhong).