大慧普覺禪師語錄 23.7

23.7

The Buddha spoke all dharmas to deliver all minds; I have no minds at all, so of what use are all dharmas? Dharmas are fundamentally without dharma; the mind is also without mind. When both mind and dharmas are empty, this is the true aspect. Nowadays, those who study the Way mostly fear falling into emptiness; those who form such an understanding mistake the expedient and grasp the sickness as the medicine, which is deeply pitiable. Thus Layman Pang said: "Do not dislike falling into emptiness; falling into emptiness is not bad either." He also said: "Only wish to empty all that exists, and never substantiate what does not exist." If you can see through this single phrase, boundless evil karma is destroyed, and ignorance immediately collapses like tiles and melts like ice; even the entire canon taught by the Tathāgata does not go beyond commenting on this single phrase. If you have decisive faith and knowledge, knowing that there is such a dharma of great liberation, then right at the point of knowing, turn the mechanism upside down; then Layman Pang's single phrase and the entire canon taught by the Buddha are without difference or distinction, without before or after, without past or present, with nothing lacking or surplus, nor does one see all dharmas, nor does one see all minds—the worlds of the ten directions are vast and empty. Yet do not form a view of being vast and empty; if you form such a view, there will be one who speaks of emptiness, one who hears the speech on emptiness, all dharmas to be listened to, and all minds to be verified. Since there are things to be listened to and verified, internally there is a mind capable of verifying, and externally there is a dharma that is verified. If this sickness is not eliminated, in the teachings it is called expounding the Dharma based on a self, and it is also called slandering the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. Furthermore, it is said in the teachings: "If one grasps the characteristics of dharmas, one is attached to a self, a person, a sentient being, and a life-span; if one grasps the characteristics of non-dharmas, one is attached to a self, a person, a sentient being, and a life-span." What was said earlier—that internally there is a mind capable of verifying and externally there is a dharma that is verified—is precisely this principle. Disciple of the Buddha Chen Dun, knowing that the body is false and that dharmas are illusory, within the illusory and false is able to investigate Zhaozhou's topic "a dog has no buddha-nature." Suddenly, while washing his face, he touched his nostrils. He sent a letter presenting his understanding, trying his hand at speaking Chan, like a tiger cub three days old whose aura is already capable of eating an ox. In the places where he communicates news, although it is like a crooked stick striking the ground—where it hits, it enters the earth several inches, and where it misses, there is no handle at all—nevertheless, the general foundation is already correct. That the great Dharma is not yet clearly understood is simply a common ailment of beginners entering the Way. If you can know such things and brush them to one side, completely block up the essential and subtle gates of the buddhas and ancestors, and seek a livelihood on that side of King of Awesome Sound, only then will you attain mastery regarding the Dharma. Old Śākyamuni said: "If I were only to praise the Buddha vehicle, sentient beings would sink into suffering." Truly know such a matter, expand and fulfill it through what you have verified, and thereafter you will not be bound by dharma, nor will you seek release from dharma: being thus is fine, not being thus is fine, being thus or not being thus are entirely fine. In all spoken words and all that is experienced, like a strong man extending his arm without borrowing the strength of others, or an arrow having left the bowstring with no momentum to return, it is not forced, because the Dharma is just so. Having attained this, only then can one speak of matters such as neither good nor evil, neither buddha nor sentient beings. Nowadays, before the great Dharma is clearly understood, if one immediately speaks like this, I fear one will fall into what Yongjia called "reckless emptiness that discards cause and effect, wildly bringing on disaster and calamity"—this must be understood! Just grasp the root and do not worry about the branches; after long soaking and maturation, do not worry that it will not become one whole piece. Strive on! Strive on!