大慧普覺禪師語錄 27

English (machine translation) 27

Language: English

27.1

Presented to the Emperor by his subject, Yunwen, Abbot of Nengren Chan Monastery on Mount Jing, Song Dynasty, Successor to the Dharma and Chan Master Huiri

Presently the weather is steamy and humid. I wonder whether you are residing at ease and undisturbed, unfettered and free, without harassment from any demons? In your daily activities within the four postures, are you at one with the phrase "a dog has no buddha-nature"? In the two aspects of motion and stillness, are you able not to discriminate? Do dream and waking state merge? Do principle and phenomena unite? Are mind and objects both thus? Old Pang said, "Mind is thus, objects are also thus; there is neither reality nor unreality. Being is disregarded, non-being is unconfined; not a sage or worthy, just an ordinary person who has finished the business." If you can truly be an ordinary person who has finished the business, what lumps of clay and dirt are Śākya and Bodhidharma? What clinking noises of hot bowls are the teachings of the three vehicles and twelve divisions? Since you already have unwavering self-confidence in this gate, it is no small matter. You must make the unfamiliar familiar and let the familiar become unfamiliar; only then will you begin to accord slightly with this matter. Often literati mostly catch a glimpse unexpectedly, yet lose it amidst favorable circumstances; I cannot fail to make you aware of this. Amidst favorable circumstances, you must constantly keep in mind the seasons of adversity; under no circumstances should you forget it even for a moment. Just attain the root, do not worry about the branches; just know how to be a buddha, do not worry that the buddha cannot speak. This move is easy to obtain but difficult to maintain; you must never neglect it. You must ensure that both head and tail are upright, expand and fulfill it, and then extend your surplus to other things. Since what you have attained is not stuck in a single corner, I imagine that in your daily activities you do not deliberately make an effort to maintain it or dry up your mind and forget all thoughts. In recent years the Chan Path and the Buddha Dharma have declined and decayed severely. There are a sort of fabricated elders who originally had no awakening themselves; their karmic consciousness is vast and unfathomable with no foundation to rely on, lacking any genuine skill, yet they take in students and teach everyone to be just like them—shutting their eyes tightly in pitch darkness, calling it "silent yet constantly illuminating." Yanchong has been ruined by these people—what misery! What misery! If you had not awakened to "a dog has no buddha-nature," Jingshan would have no way to speak of this topic. By all means, pull down your face, apply stern methods, and rescue this man. This is my earnest prayer and wish. However, there is one matter that you must also know: this gentleman has dwelt in purity and detachment from worldly flavors for many years, and he certainly clings to this as something extraordinary. If you wish to rescue him, you should engage in the same activities with him, causing him to feel joyful and not produce doubt, so that he may come to have faith in it and be willing to turn his head. This is what Vimalakīrti meant by "first lead them with desire, then cause them to enter the Buddha's wisdom." The Yellow-Faced Old Man said: "Observe phenomena, prior and subsequent, discriminating them with wisdom; critically ascertain right and wrong without violating the dharma seal; establish boundless gates of practice in due sequence, and cause all sentient beings to sever all doubts." This is setting a standard for living beings and serving as a model for ten thousand generations. Furthermore, this gentleman's capacity is completely different from yours: he is one who will certainly be reborn in heaven before Lingyun, but will certainly achieve buddhahood after Lingyun. This gentleman definitely cannot be gathered in through wisdom; he should be gathered in according to his inclinations, wearing him down over days and months. Perhaps he will realize his mistake on his own and suddenly be willing to let go—this cannot be predetermined. If he is willing to turn his head, he will indeed be a fellow of strength. You must also take a step back and let him stick his head out first before you can succeed. Recently, when Chan monk Wei returned, he transcribed the letter that Yanchong wrote in reply to Old Man Ziyan. I rejoiced and read it through, praising and delighting in it for several days. It is truly a fine piece of writing, resembling a great philosophical treatise; at the very end he appended a respectful reply to it. I wonder what you think of it? In the past, Bodhidharma said to the Second Patriarch: "If you just externally put an end to all conditions, have no panting within the mind, and let your mind be like a wall, you can enter the Path." The Second Patriarch spoke of mind and nature in various ways, but none accorded. One day he suddenly realized the essential gate shown by Bodhidharma, and immediately told Bodhidharma: "This time, your disciple has finally put an end to all conditions." Bodhidharma knew he had already awakened and did not press him further, merely saying: "Does it not end up as annihilation?" The Patriarch replied: "No." Bodhidharma said: "How do you see it?" He replied: "Because it is clearly and constantly known, words cannot reach it." Bodhidharma said: "This is the mind-substance transmitted by the buddhas and patriarchs from of old; now that you have attained it, doubt it no more." Yanchong said: "Dreaming by night and thinking by day for ten years, I was unable to completely master it; occasionally I sat upright in silence and emptied my mind completely, so that thoughts had nothing to condition upon and affairs had nothing to rest on, feeling quite light and at ease." Reading up to this point, I could not help bursting into laughter. Why? Since thoughts have nothing to condition upon, is this not what Bodhidharma called "having no panting within the mind"? If affairs have nothing to rest on, is this not what Bodhidharma called "externally putting an end to all conditions"? At first, the Second Patriarch did not recognize the skillful means shown by Bodhidharma, thinking that externally putting an end to all conditions and having no panting within the mind meant that one could speak of mind, speak of nature, speak of the Path, and speak of principle, citing textual evidence to seek confirmation; thus Bodhidharma rejected them one by one. Having nowhere to apply his mind, only then did he take a step back and contemplate: the words "mind like a wall" were not Bodhidharma's ultimate dharma. Suddenly, upon the wall, he abruptly put an end to all conditions; at that moment he saw the moon and forgot the pointing finger, and thus said, "Because it is clearly and constantly known, words cannot reach it." This phrase was also information pressed out of him by Bodhidharma at the moment; it was not the Second Patriarch's ultimate dharma either. As for the fabricated elders, since they have attained no realization themselves, they simply fabricate and patch things together on the fly. Although they teach others to rest, their own mental fire blazes day and night without ceasing, just like commoners who are short on their two taxes. Yanchong does not have that much fuss and turmoil, but the poison has penetrated deeply into him; he simply runs around wildly on the outside, speaking of motion, speaking of stillness, speaking of speech, speaking of silence, speaking of gain, and speaking of loss, further citing the Book of Changes and inner canonical scriptures, forcibly arranging and harmonizing them—truly producing ignorance on account of other people's trivial matters. He does not consider at all that this great gong'an of birth and death has not yet been resolved. On the thirtieth day of the twelfth month, how will he settle accounts? When the light in your eyes is about to fall, you cannot say to Old Man Yama: "Wait for me to clarify my spirit and settle my thoughts for a little while, then may we meet?" At that moment, talk of being unhindered horizontally and vertically is of no use; letting the mind be like wood and stone is also of no use. One must break through one's own mind of birth and death; only then will it do. If you break through the mind of birth and death, what further need is there to speak of clarifying the spirit and settling thoughts? What further need to speak of freedom horizontally and vertically? What further need to speak of inner and outer scriptures? When one is resolved, all are resolved; when one is awakened, all are awakened; when one realizes, all are realized—just like cutting a bundle of silk: in one stroke it is severed all at once. Realizing the boundless dharma gates is also like this; there is no sequence. Since you have awakened to the phrase "a dog has no buddha-nature," have you attained this yet? If you have not attained this, you must definitely reach such a stage. If you have already reached such a stage, you should use this dharma gate to give rise to great compassion, mixing in the mud and water amidst both adverse and favorable circumstances, sparing neither body nor life, fearing no oral karma, and rescuing all beings to repay the Buddha's kindness—only then is it the conduct of a great man. If it is not like this, there is no truth in it. Yanchong cited Confucius saying that the Way of the Changes shifts repeatedly, harmonizing this into a single thread with the Buddhist scripture's "one should give rise to that mind which abides nowhere," and further cited "quiescent and unmoving" as being no different from earth and wood; this is especially laughable. Tell him: "If you wish not to incur the karma of the Avīci hell, do not slander the Tathāgata's wheel of the true dharma." Therefore the sūtra says: "One should not give rise to a mind that abides in form; one should not give rise to a mind that abides in sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas." This means that this vast, quiescent, wondrous mind cannot be seen through form or sought through sound. "Should abide nowhere" means this mind has no real substance; "and give rise to that mind" means this mind is not established apart from the true—the place where it is established is itself the true. When Confucius praised the Way of the Changes as shifting repeatedly, he did not mean this. "Repeatedly" means successively; "shifts" means transforms; auspiciousness, inauspiciousness, regret, and humiliation arise from movement. The purport of shifting repeatedly is returning to the constant to accord with the Dao. How can it be merged into one lump with "one should give rise to that mind which abides nowhere"? Yanchong not only fails to understand the Buddha's meaning, but also fails to understand Confucius's meaning. You move in and out of Confucius's teaching as if strolling in a garden, and have also deeply entered the inner sanctum of our teaching; is this rustic monk fabricating like this correct or not? Therefore Guifeng said: "Originating, penetrating, advantageous, and correct are the virtues of Qian, beginning from the one qi; permanence, bliss, self, and purity are the virtues of the Buddha, rooted in the one mind. Focus the one qi to attain softness; cultivate the one mind to accomplish the Path." Only when this elder harmonized them in this way was there no partiality or regret between the two teachings of Confucianism and Buddhism. Yanchong takes "one should give rise to that mind which abides nowhere" to run through the same great purport as the Changes shifting repeatedly; I dare not agree with him. If we follow Yanchong's arrangement, then Confucius and Old Man Śākya would have to kill each other to buy straw sandals. Why? One repeatedly shifts, while the other abides nowhere. I imagine that when you read up to this point, you will surely collapse with laughter.

27.4

Reply to Vice Prefect Liu (Yanchong)

27.5

Your elder brother, the Academician, at first never knew of such matters as attending and forgetting thoughts; casually reaching out he touched his own nostrils, and though he has not fully discerned the heterodox and orthodox of all quarters, his foundation is firm and solid, so heterodox poisons cannot invade him, and forgetting thoughts and attending are already contained within it. If one exclusively forgets thoughts and attends, the mind of birth and death is not broken, and the skandha-demons find their advantage, inevitably partitioning empty space into two places, experiencing boundless bliss when in quietude and experiencing boundless suffering when in noise. If you wish to make suffering and bliss equal and uniform, simply do not give rise to the intention to attend, nor use the mind to forget thoughts; throughout the twelve periods of the day, leave things completely open and vast. If old habits suddenly surge up, you also need not use your mind to suppress them; just at the place where they surge up, observe this huatou: 'Does a dog have buddha-nature or not?' 'No.' Just at such a time, it is like a speck of snow upon a red-hot stove. One whose eye is keen and hand is dexterous catches it at a single snatch, only then knowing that when Lanrong said: 'Right when you use the mind, / Right then there is no mind to use; / Roundabout discourse on names and characteristics is tiresome, / Speaking directly brings no burden. / With no mind, you precisely use it; / In constant use, precisely there is none. / Now speaking of the place of no-mind, / It is not different from having a mind'—these were no deceiving words. Formerly, Vasubandhu constantly took one meal [a day] and did not lie down, worshipping the Buddha throughout the six periods of the day, pure and free from desire, a refuge for the multitude. The Twentieth Patriarch, Jayata, wishing to deliver him, asked his disciples: 'This dhūta of comprehensive practice can cultivate pure conduct; can he attain the Buddha Way?' His disciples said: 'Our master is as vigorous as this; why could he not?' Jayata said: 'Your master is far from the Way. Even if he practices austerities for dust-like eons, it is all the root of delusion.' His disciples were overcome with indignation, all changing countenance and speaking harshly, saying to Jayata: 'What virtuous conduct does the Venerable One possess that you disparage our master?' Jayata said: 'I do not seek the Way, nor am I inverted; I do not worship the Buddha, nor am I disrespectful; I do not sit for long, nor am I indolent; I do not eat one meal, nor do I eat diversely; I am not content, nor am I greedy; having no longing in mind is what I call the Way.' Hearing this, Vasubandhu gave rise to undefiled wisdom; this is what is called: 'First shake with concentration, later extract with wisdom.' When the fabricated elders teach you to sit quietly and wait to become a buddha, how is that not the root of delusion? And they say: 'In a quiet place there is no loss; in a noisy place there is loss.' Is this not destroying worldly characteristics to seek the true characteristic? If one cultivates like this, how can one tally with Lanrong's saying: 'Now speaking of the place of no-mind, / It is not different from having a mind'? Please reflect carefully and precisely on this. Vasubandhu at first also thought: 'Sitting long without lying down, one can become a buddha.' But as soon as Jayata pointed it out, he recognized where to return right upon these words and gave rise to undefiled wisdom; truly, he was a fine horse that runs at the sight of the whip's shadow. The frantic confusion of sentient beings is an illness, and the Buddha used the medicine of the pāramitā of tranquil silence to treat it; when the illness is gone yet the medicine remains, the illness becomes all the more severe. Picking up one and putting down another, when will there ever be an end? When birth and death arrive, neither quiet nor noise can be used in the slightest. Do not say that in noise there are many losses and in quiet there are few losses; it is better to bundle up few and many, gain and loss, quiet and noise into a single bundle and fling it away to another world. Instead, right in the midst of daily activity, at the place that is neither many nor few, neither quiet nor noise, neither gain nor loss, briefly raise it and look: what is this? Impermanence is swift, and a hundred years of time passes in the snap of a finger. What spare time do you have to attend to gain and attend to loss, attend to quiet and attend to noise, attend to many and attend to few, attend to forgetting thoughts and attend to attending? Master Shitou said: 'Respectfully I tell those who investigate the mystery: / Do not pass the time in vain.' To this single phrase, opening the eyes applies, closing the eyes applies, forgetting thoughts applies, attending applies, frantic confusion applies, and tranquil silence applies; this is how Jingshan arranges it. I imagine the fabricated elders have another way of arranging it. Bah! Let us put this matter aside.

27.6

Another

27.7

You have done the work of quiet superiority for accumulated years. I wonder, at the place where you open your eyes and respond to things, have you attained leisure and ease of mind? If you have not yet attained leisure and ease, then your work of quiet superiority has not gained power. If after so long it still has not gained power, you should seek a shortcut where it gains power, only then not letting down so much effort of the past. Doing the work of quiet superiority in the past was merely to ward off what is noisy; when right in the midst of noise, one is instead clamorously disturbed by the noisy within one's own square inch, it is just as if one had never done the work of quiet superiority in the past. This principle is merely too close—it does not go beyond your own eyes. Opening your eyes, it immediately pierces you; at the place where you close your eyes, it is also not lacking. Opening your mouth, you immediately speak of it; at the place where you close your mouth, it is also self-evident. Intending to give rise to mind and stir thoughts to take it up, you have already missed it by a hundred and eight thousand [leagues]. Truly there is nowhere for you to use your mind; this is what saves the most effort. Nowadays, most students of this Way want to seek with effort; seeking it, they lose it all the more; facing it, they turn their backs all the more. How much worse is it to fall into the conceptual path of gain and loss, saying that in noisy places there are many losses and in quiet places there are few losses? You have dwelt in the place of quiet superiority for more than twenty years; try bringing forth a bit of what has gained power for me to see! If you take what is rigid and immovable as gaining power in quietude, why is it lost when facing noise? Now, if you want to save effort and have quiet and noise be as one, simply penetrate Zhaozhou's character 'Wu'. Once you suddenly penetrate it, only then will you know that quiet and noise do not hinder each other; you will also not need to exert effort to prop things up, nor will you make an understanding of having no propping up.

27.8

In Reply to Grand Dowager Madame of the State of Tai

27.9

When Chan monk Qian returned, I received the teachings you bestowed and the verses written in your own hand; at first I was quite doubtful of them, but upon inquiring into Qian's details, I only then knew that you do not deceive yourself. The matter that had not been clarified for boundless eons has clearly appeared before you without being obtained from another; only then do you know that the joy of the Dharma and the pleasure of Chan cannot be compared to worldly pleasures. This rustic monk was so joyful for the Grand Dowager that for several days I forgot both sleep and food. For a son to be prime minister and for oneself to be a Grand Dowager of the state is not yet sufficient to be noble; to pick up a priceless jewel from atop a dung heap, an inexhaustible resource for hundreds of eons and thousands of lives, is only then true nobility. Yet you must never cling to this nobility; if you cling to it, you will fall into rank and nobility, no longer giving rise to compassion and wisdom to pity sentient beings. Keep this in mind! Keep this in mind!

27.10

In Reply to Prime Minister Zhang (Deyuan)

27.11

Respectfully I contemplate that you dwell at ease in an araṇya, gathering in one place with that venerable one, disporting in the ocean of Vairocana's treasury, performing buddha-affairs as appropriate, with little sickness and few afflictions; may your activities and rests be blessed with myriad fortunes. From antiquity, all the sages have been like this; therefore, in thought after thought, they enter the cessation samādhi of all phenomena, not retrogressing from the bodhisattva path, not abandoning bodhisattva deeds, not forsaking the mind of great loving-kindness and compassion, cultivating the pāramitās without ever resting, contemplating all buddha lands without weariness, not forsaking the vow to deliver sentient beings, uninterruptedly turning the wheel of the Dharma, not abandoning the task of teaching and transforming sentient beings, and even fulfilling all supreme vows, fully knowing the distinctions of all lands, entering the buddha lineage, and arriving at the other shore: this is the domestic affair that a great hero enjoys in the four deportments. As you, great lay practitioner, vigorously practice this without weariness, Miaoxi likewise plays the role of a man of Puzhou here. Furthermore, I wonder: do you still permit an outsider to put in a hand? Hearing that upon reaching Changsha you closed your mouth like Vimalakīrti at Vaiśālī and deeply entered non-duality, this is also nothing outside your measure, for the Dharma is just so. I hope that the lay practitioner will enjoy it in this way; then all demons and non-Buddhists will certainly come to be good spirits protecting the Dharma. As for the other various differing doctrines, they are all the realm of your own mind's direct perception, not something else. I wonder what the lay practitioner thinks of this?

27.12

In Reply to Judicial Commissioner Zhang (Yangshu)

27.13

What you do and how you act, venerable lay practitioner, silently accord with the Way; you have merely not yet attained that single 'ah!' of realization. If in your daily activities responding to conditions you do not lose your original footing, then even without that single 'ah!', on the thirtieth day of the twelfth month even the Old Man of the Yama court must fold his hands and surrender, not to mention when a single thought accords [with reality]! Although this old fellow Miaoxi has not seen your conduct with his own eyes, you find the golden mean between small and great, without excess or deficiency; this alone is the place of accord with the Way. Reaching this point, you need not form notions of worldly defilement, nor need you form notions of the Buddha Dharma: the Buddha Dharma and worldly defilement are both external matters, yet you must not form notions of them as external matters either. Simply turn your own light back to illuminate within: this one who forms such thoughts—where does it come from? At the time you do what you do and act as you act, what shape or form does it have? When what was to be done is accomplished, it accords with your mind in every respect, leaving nothing left over. Right at such a time, through whose grace and power is it that you practice like this? As the days and months deepen, like someone learning archery, you will naturally hit the bullseye. Sentient beings are inverted; confusing themselves, they pursue external objects, indulge in a petty taste of desire, and willingly suffer limitless pain. Day after day, before opening their eyes, before getting out of bed, when half awake and half conscious, their mental consciousness is already fluttering in disorder, drifting away following deluded thoughts. Whether doing good or doing evil, even before it is manifest, while still in bed, heaven and hell are already formed at once within the square inch of the heart. By the time it manifests, they have already fallen into the eighth [consciousness]. Does not the Buddha say: 'All sense faculties manifest from one's own mind; the storehouses of vessels, bodies, and so forth are posited and revealed from one's own deluded signs, like a river's flow, like seeds, like a lamp, like wind, like clouds, destroyed successively from moment to moment, restless like a monkey, delighting in impurity like a fly, insatiable like wind and fire, the cause of beginningless false habit-energy, like the revolving bucket of a well-wheel, and the like.' If you can see through this, it is called the absence of person and absence of self; you will know that heaven and hell are nowhere else, but solely within the square inch [of the heart] when half awake and half conscious before getting out of bed—they do not come from the outside at all. When it has arisen or not arisen, when you are aware or not aware, you must take care of it with utmost diligence. When taking care of it, you also must not struggle against it with effort; if you struggle against it, you waste effort. Does not the Patriarch say: 'Trying to stop motion to return to rest, the stopping makes it all the more restless.' As soon as you feel that within daily worldly affairs you are gradually saving effort, right that is where you gain strength, right that is where you become a buddha and patriarch, right that is where you turn hell into heaven, right that is where you sit securely, right that is where you step out of birth and death, right that is where you place the ruler above Yao and Shun, right that is where you raise the exhausted people from sickness and distress, right that is where you give shelter to your children and grandchildren. Reaching this point, speaking of buddhas, speaking of patriarchs, speaking of mind, speaking of nature, speaking of the abstruse, speaking of the wondrous, speaking of principle, speaking of phenomena, speaking of good, speaking of bad—all are external matters. If such matters as these are still external, how much more so doing things in the midst of worldly defilement that were reproached by the former sages? If one is unwilling even to do good deeds, how could one be willing to do bad deeds? If you can have faith in this discourse, and what Yongjia called 'Walking is also Chan, sitting is also Chan; speaking or silent, moving or still, the essence is at peace' is not empty words, please practice according to this, unchanging from beginning to end; then although you have not yet thoroughly verified your own original scenery, although you have not yet clearly seen your own original face, what was unfamiliar will have become familiar, and what was familiar will have become unfamiliar. Keep it earnestly in mind: the very point where you feel you are saving effort is where you gain strength. Whenever this old fellow Miaoxi speaks of this with people within the lineage, seeing it spoken of frequently, they often disregard it and are unwilling to treat it as a matter of concern. Let the lay practitioner try to practice like this: in only ten days or so you will see for yourself whether you are saving effort or not saving effort, whether you are gaining strength or not gaining strength. Like a person drinking water, naturally knowing whether it is cold or warm, it cannot be explained to others, nor presented to others. An ancient worthy said: 'Speaking of realization, it cannot be shown to others; speaking of principle, without realization it cannot be understood. The place of self-realization, self-attainment, self-belief, and self-awakening—except for those who have realized, attained, believed, and awakened—can only be silently matched; those who have not realized, not attained, not believed, and not awakened not only do not believe it themselves, but also do not believe that others have such a realm.' Venerable lay practitioner, your natural endowment is close to the Way; what you presently do and how you act needs no further alteration. Compared to others, out of ten thousand parts you have already spared nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine parts; all that is lacking is a single explosive breakthrough to be finished. When literati study the Way, most do not truly apprehend it; once they set aside oral debate and mental deliberation, they are bewildered and have nowhere to put their hands and feet. They do not believe that the place where there is nowhere to put hands and feet is precisely the good place; they only want their minds to conceive it and their mouths to explain it clearly, entirely unaware that this is a mistake. The Buddha said: 'The Tathāgata uses all metaphors to speak of various matters, but there is no metaphor that can speak of this Dharma. Why is that? Because the path of mental cognition is cut off and it is inconceivable.' Know with certainty that deliberation and discrimination inevitably obstruct the Way. If you can sever the front and back extremes, the path of mental cognition will naturally be cut off. If you can cut off the path of mental cognition, all the various matters spoken of will be this Dharma. Once this Dharma is clear, this very clarity is the inconceivable realm of great liberation, and this realm itself is also inconceivable. Since the realm is inconceivable, all metaphors are also inconceivable, various matters are also inconceivable, and this very inconceivability is also inconceivable. This discourse also has no place to settle, and this very absence of a place to settle is also inconceivable. In this way, investigating through and through, whether matters or Dharmas, whether metaphors or realms, like a ring without an end, without a place of arising and without a place of cessation, all are inconceivable Dharmas. Therefore it is said: 'Bodhisattvas abide in this inconceivable [realm], wherein conceiving is inexhaustible; entering this inconceivable place, both thought and non-thought are tranquil and extinguished.' Yet one also must not abide in the place of tranquil extinction; if one abides in the place of tranquil extinction, one is governed by the measure of the dharmadhātu. In the teachings, this is called the affliction of dharma-dust. Extinguish the measure of the dharmadhātu, completely sweep away all superior states at once, and only then will you be fit to look at 'the cypress tree in the courtyard', 'three pounds of hemp', 'a dry shit-stick', 'a dog has no buddha-nature', 'swallowing all the water of the West River in one gulp', 'the Eastern Mountain walks on the water', and the like. If you suddenly penetrate under a single phrase, only then can it be called the measureless dedication of the dharmadhātu: seeing as it truly is, practicing as it truly is, applying as it truly is. Then you can manifest the precious king's lands on the tip of a single hair, and sit within a fine dust-mote to turn the great wheel of Dharma, accomplishing various dharmas and destroying various dharmas, all depending on oneself, like a strong man stretching out his arm without relying on another's strength, or a lion roaming without seeking companions. When various wonderfully superior realms appear before you, your mind is not astonished; when various realms of bad karma appear before you, your mind is not terrified; in the four postures of daily life, you are broad and free following conditions, easy and unfettered following your nature. Once you reach this ground, only then can you say there is no heaven and no hell, and the like. Yongjia said: 'There is no person, and there is no buddha; the great chiliocosm of worlds are bubbles in the ocean, all sages and worthies are like flashes of lightning.' If this old fellow had not reached this ground, how could he have spoken this? There are many who misunderstand these words: if they have not penetrated to the root source, they inevitably generate understanding based on words, saying that everything is non-existent, negating cause and effect, taking the verbal teachings spoken by all buddhas and patriarchs entirely to be false, and calling them deceptions. If this disease is not eliminated, it is precisely 'rashly and recklessly bringing on disaster and calamity'. The Buddha said: 'The false and floating mind has many clever views; if it does not cling to existence, it clings to non-existence; if it clings to neither of these two, it speculates and conjectures between existence and non-existence in various ways; even if it recognizes this disease, it is bound to settle on neither-existence-nor-non-existence.' Therefore, the former sages took great pains to earnestly instruct, causing one to depart from the four propositions and cut off the hundred negations, cutting directly through in two with a single blade, no longer thinking of before or pondering after, cutting off the top of the heads of the thousand sages. The four propositions are: existence, non-existence, neither existence nor non-existence, and both existence and non-existence. If you penetrate these four propositions, then when you hear that all phenomena truly exist, you also accord with it and speak of existence to them, yet without being obstructed by this true existence; when you hear that all phenomena are truly non-existent, you also accord with it and speak of non-existence to them, yet it is not the worldly voidness of non-existence; when you hear that all phenomena both exist and do not exist, you also accord with it and speak of both existence and non-existence to them, yet it is not frivolous discourse; when you hear that all phenomena neither exist nor do not exist, you also accord with it and speak of neither existence nor non-existence to them, yet it is not contradictory. As Vimalakīrti said: 'Falling into that into which the six non-Buddhist masters fall, you also fall along with them'—this is it. When literati study the Way, most are unwilling to empty their minds and listen to the instructions of a good spiritual friend; as soon as the good spiritual friend opens his mouth, they have already comprehended it before the words. But when they are made to pour it all out, they have completely misunderstood; what they should have grasped before the words, they get stuck on the words instead. There is another kind who consistently act clever and speak of principles, saying: 'Among all worldly skills and arts, there is none I cannot do; only Chan is the one thing I do not understand.' In their official quarters, they summon a few fabricated elders, give them a meal to eat, let them talk wildly at will, and then use their mental consciousness to remember what these fabricators said, and go around interrogating people—one phrase back, one phrase forth, calling it 'wrestling Chan': 'In the end, if I have one more phrase and you have no words, then I have gained the advantage.' When they happen to run into a truly clear-eyed fellow, they do not recognize him; even if they recognize him, they lack decisive faith and are unwilling to let go completely, flat on all four sides, to consult the master, still seeking his seal of approval. When the master presents the hammer and tongs of the fundamental duty amidst adversity and prosperity, they become terrified and dare not draw close; such people are called pitiable. Venerable lay practitioner, in your youthful years you passed the examinations with high honors and began your career; wherever you were, you carried out beneficial deeds according to the occasion. Your writings and accomplishments surpass others, yet you have never boasted. With one mind and one intent, you only wish to take a step back and truly understand this great matter of the causal condition. Seeing your utmost sincerity, I have unconsciously been so earnest and painstaking; this is not only so that you, lay practitioner, will recognize this sort of affliction, but also to serve as provisions for initial bodhisattvas entering the Way.

27.14

Reply to Hanlin Academician Wang (Yanzhang)

27.15

I understand that you have closed your gates to practice wall contemplation; this is fine medicine for setting the mind at rest. If you were instead to bore into old papers, you would surely stir up the root sprouts of birth and death that have been in the storehouse consciousness from beginningless time, unquestionably creating difficulties for your good roots and creating obstacles to the Way. Having attained the setting of the mind at rest, just let it rest. Concerning past matters—whether good or bad, adverse or favorable—think about none of them. In present matters, simplify whenever you can simplify; cut them in two with a single blade without hesitating. Future matters will naturally not continue. Old Śākya said: 'The mind does not falsely grasp past phenomena, nor is it greedy for or attached to future matters; it does not abide in the present, thoroughly realizing that the three periods of time are entirely empty and quiet.' Just observe this: A monk asked Zhaozhou, 'Does even a dog have buddha-nature?' Zhaozhou said, 'No (wu).' Please take the mind of idle deliberation and turn it onto this word 'wu'; try deliberating upon it. When you suddenly break through this single thought at the place where deliberation cannot reach, that is the place where you thoroughly realize the three periods of time. When you thoroughly realize it, it cannot be arranged, cannot be calculated, and cannot be proven by citations. Why is this? The place of thorough realization does not allow arranging, does not allow calculating, and does not allow proving by citations. Even if you could prove it by citation, calculate it, and arrange it, it has no relation whatsoever to one who has thoroughly realized it. Just let it be vast and open: do not think of good or evil, neither paying deliberate attention nor sinking into forgetfulness. If you pay deliberate attention, you will drift; if you sink into forgetfulness, you will be torpid. Neither paying deliberate attention nor sinking into forgetfulness, good is not good, and evil is not evil. If you thoroughly realize it like this, where can the Māra of birth and death lay a hand on you? You are the one Wang Yanzhang whose fame fills the world. What you have arranged, calculated, and cited throughout your life are writings, reputation, and official posts; at the place where you reap the fruit in your later years, which of these is real? Having composed countless phrases of 'zhi hu zhe ye', which line brings you strength? Now that your reputation is renowned, how far apart is it from one who conceals virtue and hides his light? You have attained the high office of the Two Drafting Academies; how much difference is there from when you were an ordinary scholar? Now you are nearly seventy years old; exhausting your skills, what do you intend to do? On the thirtieth day of the twelfth month, how will you settle the account? The murderous ghost of impermanence does not halt for a single instant. Zhenjue of Xuefeng said: 'Time passes swiftly in a mere instant; / how could one dwell long in this floating world? / Crossing the ridge, I reached the age of thirty-two; / entering Min, I had already passed forty. / There is no need to constantly raise others' faults; / one's own errors must be continually removed. / Send word to the city full of purple and red robes: / King Yama is not afraid of those wearing the golden fish talisman.' Why did the ancients urge this with bitter mouths? The foolish and mediocre people of the world are pressed by hunger and cold; in their daily life they have no other thoughts. If only their bodies are somewhat warm and their bellies not hungry, it is enough; merely because of these two matters, the Māra of birth and death cannot trouble them. Compared with those who enjoy wealth and rank, the weight is not equal. For those who enjoy wealth and rank, their bodies are already constantly warm and their bellies constantly full; not being pressed by these two matters, they have an additional, unspeakable recklessness. Thus they are constantly in the demonic net of birth and death, without any way to escape, unless they possess extraordinary innate capacity from past lives to see through and break through it. The former sage said: 'The sudden arising [of a thought] is the sickness; not continuing it is the medicine. Do not fear thoughts arising; only fear realizing it late.' 'Buddha' means awakened; because he is constantly awakened, he is called the Great Awakened One and the King of Awakening. Yet all of this is achieved from within the ordinary person. If he is a true man, why should I not be as well? How much time can one have in a hundred years of fleeting light? Thought after thought, it is like rescuing one's head from fire. One still fears not being able to accomplish good deeds; how much more so when, thought after thought, one is in the worldly defilements without awakening! It is truly fearful, truly fearful. Recently I received a letter from Lü Juren in the fourth month, reporting the deaths of Zeng Shuxia and Liu Yanli. Juren said: 'Among my acquaintances, one or two are taken away from time to time; it is truly fearful.' Recently he has been very earnest about this matter, and he also regrets having turned his head somewhat late. I have recently written a letter in reply saying: 'Just take the final single thought of knowing the error as correct, regardless of whether it is late or early.' The single thought of knowing the error is the very foundation for becoming a buddha and making a patriarch, the sharp weapon for breaking the demonic net, and the starting path for escaping birth and death. I hope you will also apply your effort in this way. When your effort gradually matures, you will feel it saving effort during the twenty-four hours of daily life. When you feel it saving effort, do not relax; just push forward from the place where effort is saved. Pushing back and forth until you do not even know there is a place where effort is saved, you will not be far off. Just look into the word 'wu', and do not care whether you attain it or not. This is my most earnest prayer.

27.16

Another letter:

27.17

I respectfully understand that you have closed your gates and cut off social interactions, setting aside all worldly affairs, and day and night you only bring up and examine the huatou that I presented previously. Excellent, most excellent! Having resolved this mind, you should take awakening as the standard. If you give rise to discouragement of your own accord, saying that your faculties are base and poor and seeking further for an entry point, this is precisely asking where Chang'an is while standing inside Hanyuan Hall. At the very moment of bringing it up and examining it, who is it? Who is it that can know that the faculties are base and poor? Who is it that seeks an entry point? Miaoxi does not shun verbal karma, but clearly exposes it for you, Layman: it is just this one Wang Yanzhang, there are not two. There is only one Wang Yanzhang; where else could you get one who brings it up and examines, one who knows the faculties are base and poor, and one who seeks an entry point? You should know that all of these are the shadows of Wang Yanzhang; they have nothing to do with Wang Yanzhang himself. If it were the genuine Wang Yanzhang, his faculties would certainly not be base and poor, and he would certainly not seek an entry point; if you merely have faith reaching your own master, you do not need all this bustling turmoil. Formerly, a monk asked Yangshan: 'What is the ultimate meaning of the entry point into sudden awakening in the Chan school?' Yangshan said: 'This meaning is extremely difficult. If it is one of superior faculties and superior wisdom under the ancestral gate who hears one thing and awakens to a thousand, attaining the great dhāraṇī, people of such faculties are hard to find. As for those whose faculties are feeble and wisdom is inferior, therefore an ancient worthy said: "If they do not sit in meditation and quiet their thoughts, coming to this point they will all be bewildered."' The monk asked: 'Apart from this exceptional way, is there another expedient to allow students to enter?' Yangshan said: 'Saying there is another or there is not another will make your mind uneasy. Now I ask you: where are you from?' The monk said: 'I am from Youzhou.' Yangshan said: 'Do you still think of that place?' The monk said: 'I often think of it.' Yangshan said: 'In that place there are towers, pavilions, forests, gardens, and crowded people and horses. When you turn your thought back to that which thinks, are there still so many kinds of things?' The monk said: 'When I arrive here, I do not see anything existing at all.' Yangshan said: 'Your understanding is still in the realm of objects. The stage of faith is correct, but the stage of the person is not.' Miaoxi's grandmotherly compassion is already earnest, yet I must add an explanatory footnote: the stage of the person is precisely Wang Yanzhang; the stage of faith is precisely knowing that the faculties are base and poor and seeking an entry point. When you are bringing up and examining the huatou, if you turn your thought back to that which is able to bring it up and examine, is it still Wang Yanzhang? Arriving here, not a hair's breadth is admitted; if you hesitate and pause the mechanism, you will be deluded by shadows. Please quickly summon your spirit; you must not overlook this, you must not overlook this! Remember that in my previous letter I wrote: 'Having attained the setting of the mind at rest, just let it rest. Concerning past matters—whether good or bad, adverse or favorable—pay attention to none of them. In present matters, simplify whenever you can simplify; cut them in two with a single blade without hesitating. Future matters will naturally not continue.' I wonder whether you have observed and investigated like this? This is the foremost place to apply effort that saves effort. This is my most earnest prayer.

27.18

Another letter:

27.19

I respectfully learn that your fifth son has passed away from illness. The affection between father and son is the outflow of the habit energy of affection through thousands of births and hundreds of kalpas; when confronting such a circumstance, I imagine there is nowhere one can find relief. In the world of the five turbidities, all the various things are illusory, without a single reality. Please constantly maintain this contemplation whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down; then as days lengthen and months deepen, it will gradually wear away. However, right when you are distressed, examine closely and investigate to the end: where does it arise from? If you cannot reach its source of arising, where then did that which is presently distressed come from? Right when you are distressed, does it exist or not exist, is it empty or is it real? Investigating back and forth, the mind has nowhere to go; if you need to deliberate, just deliberate; if you need to weep, just weep. Weeping and weeping, deliberating and deliberating, when all the habit energy of affection in the storehouse consciousness is shaken out and exhausted, naturally it will be like water returning to water, restoring to you that which originally has no distress, no deliberation, no sorrow, and no joy. When one can enter into the worldly, leaving the world is without remainder; worldly phenomena are Buddhist phenomena, and Buddhist phenomena are worldly phenomena. The innate nature of father and son is just one; if a son dies and the father does not grieve or deliberate, or if a father dies and the son does not grieve or deliberate, would that be acceptable? If you forcibly repress it, not daring to weep when weeping and not daring to deliberate when deliberating, this is merely wishing to oppose heavenly principle and destroy innate nature, like raising one's voice to stop an echo or pouring oil to extinguish a fire. Right at the moment of distress, it is not an external matter at all; furthermore, you must not regard it as external. Yongjia said: 'The true nature of ignorance is itself buddha-nature; the empty body of illusory transformation is itself the dharmakāya.' These are words that are true, actual, not deceptive, not false. Having seen in this way, if you want to deliberate or want to be distressed, they cannot be found either. One who makes this contemplation is called having right contemplation; if one makes other contemplations, it is called wrong contemplation. When wrong and right are not yet distinguished, it is precisely the right time to exert effort. This is Miaoxi's definitive meaning; do not speak of it before those without wisdom.

27.20

Reply to Transport Commissioner Xia

27.21

Your instruction says: 'When the Way tallies, sky and earth share the same dwelling; when the inclinations differ, face-to-face they are as far apart as Chu and Yue.' Truly, these words are authentic! This itself is the unwritten marvel. When you gave rise to the intention wishing to write to Miaoxi, before you grasped the writing tablet and unfurled the paper, it had already been entrusted with both hands. Why wait for enduring perseverance to reach the ultimate in order to wait for another day? This principle is silently tallied with only by those who have verified it; it is difficult to speak of with worldly people. Yanping is a fine place in the ridges of Min. If you can subdue yourself and not be turned by the triggers of adversity and prosperity, you will be a person of great liberation. Such a person can turn all triggers, lively and vibrant in daily life, unable to be constrained or entangled. If you directly take responsibility in this manner, naturally not a single hair will become an obstacle to you. An ancient worthy said: 'The Buddha taught all teachings in order to liberate all minds; I have no mind at all, so what use do I have for all teachings?' Moreover, Lanrong said: 'Precisely when using the mind, / precisely there is no mind to use. / To talk in roundabouts of names and characteristics is tiresome; / speaking directly is without complication. / Having no mind, it is precisely used; / constantly used, it is precisely non-existent. / Now speaking of the place of no-mind, / it is no different from having a mind.' Not only was Lanrong like this, but Miaoxi and you are also within it. The matter within this is difficult to bring out before people; it is what is called 'silently tallying with one another.'

First 21 of 23 passages. Read on

Linked texts (1)

大慧普覺禪師語錄 — Classical Chinese