宏智禪師廣錄 5

English (machine translation) 5

Language: English

5.1

Preface to the Recorded Sayings of Informal Gatherings by the Venerable Jue of Tiantong

The Old Man of Tiantong early on became renowned in Handong for his brilliant subtlety. His Dharma and teachings gradually flourished in the Jiang and Huai regions, and widely covered Wu and Yue. Wherever he traversed, capitals and cities turned out for him; the eminent and prominent figures of the time vied to hasten to him, as if fearing they would not make it. At the end of the Jianyan era, responding to conditions, he succeeded to the post at the foot of Mount Taibai. In this secluded corner of the sea, he built a hut and practiced quiet meditation. Those who gathered to study, coming and going, were constantly numbered in the thousands. The Master was guiding the assembly with stillness, motionless like a propped tree-stump; yet shoes filled the doorway, so that he could not remain silent to the end. Therefore, taking the main seat, he would raise up [the teachings], or respond with Dharma essentials according to inquiries, or conclude his discourses based on principle. His disciples caught his words and recorded them; before long, they overflowed the bamboo tablets. Only the correct lineage of Wuben was roughly continued and barely preserved; the original school of Dayang was on the brink of ruin and rose again. Passing through three or four generations, it has now attained flourishing succession. Swift thunder in the sky shakes through the nine earths; sprouts and shells burst open, naturally flourishing into life. Yet how could the vast creation of that primal energy have had any intention from the start? Future students, reading this book, will know the valley's response to a sound; realizing this principle, they will be like water passing through vessels. Only then will they believe that Buddhas and sentient beings all receive the power of his grace—how could these be empty words? Preface by the practitioner Ping Wenshu on New Year's Eve of the dingsi year of Shaoxing [1137 CE].

5.3

Informal Gatherings of the Venerable Jue of Mount Tiantong in Mingzhou

5.4

Compiled by Attendant Zhongyi Tanxiang

5.5

Informal gathering. A monk asked, "What was the meaning of Lingyun's awakening to the peach blossoms?" The Master said, "Where visual power does not reach, Lingyun instead bowed his head." The monk said, "It was precisely broad daylight." The Master said, "What was Lingyun's insight like?" The monk said, "Once seeing the peach blossoms, it was inevitable that dust fell into his eyes." The Master said, "Is there still any muscle in your eyes, Elder?" The monk said, "Nowadays I do not play that drum and flute." The Master said, "A blind donkey following the herd." The monk said, "Just as for Xuansha, why on the contrary did he say: 'Extremely fitting, it is indeed fitting; yet I dare guarantee that the venerable brother has not penetrated through'?" The Master said, "That is the time of a patch-robed monk's interposition." The monk said, "That too is a fan in the twelfth month." The Master then said: "Lingyun saw the peach blossoms and awakened to the Way. Everyone says: 'Accords with the spirit through things; reveals principle through events.' What kind of talk is that? Arriving here, pick away all eyes and let go of all bodies; with your whole body come thus, completely see thus—only then do you penetrate your own mind and unite with the essence of the myriad phenomena. It was he who said: 'For thirty years I sought a swordsman; / How many times did leaves fall and branches sprout again? / Ever since I once saw the peach blossoms, / Right up until now I doubt no more.' Brothers, it took him thirty years of doing so! If today you are willing to cease and rest, willing to let go and abandon, constantly keeping things completely open and clear—first of all, do not bring anything along. If you bring anything along, it will not resemble it. Then you can ride upon sounds and stride across forms, leap beyond seeing and surpass hearing, be at ease everywhere, penetrate and slough off everywhere, respond and manifest everywhere, and be perfectly complete everywhere. Where could there ever be the slightest obstruction? Therefore, one cultivates the myriad practices of sky-flowers, sits quietly in the bodhimaṇḍa of the water-moon, subdues the demon army in the mirror, and accomplishes the dreamlike Buddha-fruit. If it is such a time, is it not an unobstructed transcendence? Within the illusion-like samādhi, one accords precisely with it. Not only is it thus when the eye sees forms and the ear hears sounds; even down to every sense-faculty and every sense-dust, large and small, all are entirely thus. Have you not seen Master Shitou's words: 'Every sense-gate, all objective realms: / Interposing and not interposing; / Interposing, they further mutually relate, / Otherwise, each abides in its own position.' If you penetrate and slough off sense-faculties and sense-dusts here, and thoroughly illuminate the Dharmadhātu, that is this and this is that, with no more mark of coming and going—this is the time of interposition. Just what about 'otherwise, each abides in its own position'? The long is long, the short is short; the high is high, the low is low. Therefore it is said: 'Spring colors have no high or low; / The flowering branches are naturally short or long.' Why did Xuansha say, 'Extremely fitting, it is indeed fitting; yet I dare guarantee that the venerable brother has not penetrated through'? That was casting an advance shadow and testing with a pole. Tell me, how is it in the end? A person of the Way without mind can be like this; before attaining no-mind, it is also exceedingly difficult."

5.6

Informal gathering. A monk asked, "What is the Master's intimate phrase for instructing people?" The Master said, "Before patterns have formed a mark; the juncture where the first news is difficult to convey." The monk said, "It may be called empty clarity shining of itself, without expending mental effort." The Master said, "Lofty and unreliant on things; numinous, how could it involve conditions?" The monk said, "Might that not be the time of complete perfection?" The Master said, "Look penetrating through that side; only then is there a way out." The monk said, "Unlocking the golden lock and looking inside, the faint scenery is originally distinct." The Master said, "It is not the affair of that side." The monk said, "What is the affair of that side?" The Master said, "Walking upon the lapis lazuli palace; if you stumble and fall, you must be shattered to powder."

5.7

The Master then said: "Brothers, if it comes to this matter, you must first understand it clearly. If you understand it clearly, you will be able to transcend Vairocana and surpass Śākyamuni, make the pure and marvelous Dharma-body, and produce the diamond eye. You need only rest; when you rest completely, it is vividly wondrous and unobscured. Furthermore, you must take a step back and turn toward yourself; only then can you respond thoroughly. At such a time, if there is an illumination of solitude, it still carries function. Have you not heard it said: 'The son returns to the father; why does the father pay him no heed at all?' Principle should be like this. 'Where is the affection between father and son?' Only then is the affection between father and son accomplished. 'What is the affection between father and son?' Even axes and cleavers cannot sever it. It is also said: 'The newly born prince must have a father; the moment he turns around, none is seen.' That time is called 'marvelous culmination and dark concord.' If you realize this toweringly, take a step forward into this realm—like a jewel emitting light, which light still illuminates itself—there is a principle of succession. You must also turn your head back to observe the original position, taking regard of the position; turning back, you will then be able to stride broadly past the present time. Dawn breaks without one noticing the morning; distinct illumination does not fall into shadows; extending response does not involve conditions. Having situated this body, amidst bustling clamor, one is untrammeled and unmixed by things. Therefore it is said: 'This very seeing and hearing is not seeing and hearing; / There are no sounds and forms to present to you. / If within this you understand there is entirely no affair, / What harm is there whether substance and function are divided or not?' / You brothers who practice Chan, knocking the bones and piercing the marrow, work in just such a way. Some fellows immediately say: 'Before speech, it was already spoken.' Have you not heard it said: 'Words carry the mystery without a path; the tongue speaks without speaking.' Cutting off the tongues of everyone under heaven is not without merit; how do you make a tongueless person understand words? Have you not also seen a monk ask an ancient worthy: 'What is the master's original mind?' The ancient worthy said: 'Because the rhinoceros contemplates the moon, patterns form on its horn; / Because the elephant is startled by thunder, designs enter its tusk.' If you realize this clearly, you will stride over the heads of all dharmas, unobstructed by all dharmas. Arriving at such a time, one sets up no language and is bound by no images. Therefore it is said: 'The Buddhas did not appear in the world, / Yet they preached for forty-nine years; / The ancestral master did not come from the West, / Yet Shaolin has a wondrous secret.' Since the Buddhas did not appear in the world, why did they preach for forty-nine years? Since the ancestral master did not come from the West, why does Shaolin have a wondrous secret? You must believe it when it is said: 'These dharmas abide in their dharma-positions; the worldly characteristics are constantly abiding.' Here, not a single thread shifts, not a single speck stirs. At that moment, a single phrase thrown to the ground makes a golden sound. Then you know the bias within the upright: 'A bright, pure wheel squarely in the sky.' If you can discern it like this, speech is wondrous, and silence is also wondrous. When speaking, one is constantly silent; when silent, one is constantly speaking. One is then able to transcend the four formless realms and escape the three realms. This is what a liberated fellow accomplishes. And tell me, how do you walk like this? 'The kingfisher treads over the rain on lotus leaves; / The egret bursts through the smoke of the bamboo grove.'"

5.8

At an informal gathering, a monk asked: "Reed flowers, snow, and the moon—at that time, of a single color, one is still deluded. Wild waters and autumn sky—in that place, great achievement remains. How can one turn form and forget achievement?" / The Master said: "If coming and going find the road, the two places do not obstruct each other." / The monk said: "The jade wheel mechanism turns with a chuckle; meeting face-to-face, they do not recognize each other." / The Master said: "You have fallen into great achievement again." / The monk said: "Over there, not guarding the Empty King's palace, how could one be willing to plow the fields facing the sun's wheel?" / The Master said: "To have been like this earlier would be a bit better." / The monk said: "What about when the place of attainment is just right?" / The Master said: "In the intimate place, it is hard to speak; in the minute realm, do not stir." / The monk said: "When called back, what about the place of unhindered, thoroughgoing passage?" / The Master said: "Everywhere they meet without separation—Avalokiteśvara of the thousand hands and thousand eyes." / The Master then said: "It is my own; it is all of yours; it is that of the Buddhas of the three periods; it is that of the ancestral masters of the six generations. On each one's part: six times six is thirty-six. Here, giving rise to mind immediately goes awry; stirring thought is immediately a mistake. If there is a fellow whose four edges touch the ground and who cannot be overturned, he is somewhat closer. He can then stand toweringly in the present time, with not a single dharma clinging to the other, and not a single dharma clinging to oneself. Unfettered among humans, there are no marks of coming and going. The other fully is me; I fully am the other. Dharma after dharma abides in its own position. Therefore it is said: 'Nature is inherently equal; there is no equalizer.' If you go on like this, you are a patch-robed monk who has settled the matter. Furthermore, you must take a step back; furthermore, you must turn toward yourself. Then you will know that the nature of the four elements naturally restores itself, like a child finding its mother. Here, not a single speck clings, not a single thread hangs. Turn around the skin bag and merge with empty space. What is it that merges? If there is none that merges, how can one discern empty space? If there is one that merges, it becomes two instead. At that moment, one clearly needs eyes; stark naked, one needs a body. Turning the mechanism wheel, one can function in the present time. If you recognize the original head, all minds are this one mind; all dharmas are this one dharma. Broad and equal, precisely complete. Then you will know: 'The fruit is full, Bodhi is round; / The flower blooms, the world arises.' If it is ten tenths complete like this, what a fine fellow of Chan! But people nowadays say: 'Caodong Chan has no need of so many words; silence itself is it.' I also say: at that moment you are reckless; I also know that you are conjecturing in between. You completely fail to realize that it is empty yet efficacious, vacant yet wondrous. Have you not seen: a monk asked Shimen, 'What is the master's family style?' Shimen said, 'Beyond things, riding alone on a thousand-mile elephant; beneath a ten-thousand-year pine, striking a golden bell.' It is by walking thus and penetrating thus that one is not soaked in dead water. Have you not also seen: a monk asked Liangshan, 'Could this be the master's place of settling body and establishing life?' Liangshan said, 'Dead water does not hide dragons.' 'What is a dragon in living water?' Liangshan said, 'The blue pool does not spit mist.' If you recognize it, the dead one is a living fellow; if you recognize it, the living one is a dead fellow. You must be alert in quiet stillness, and distinct amidst bustling clamor. Then you will know that within death there is constant life, not obstructed by emptiness; within life there is constant death, not obstructed by things. Existence is not existence; nonexistence is not nonexistence. Venerable Bajiao said: 'If you have a staff, I will give you a staff; if you have no staff, I will take your staff away.' Therefore the Sixth Patriarch said: 'The mind-ground contains all seeds; / Under the universal rain, all of them sprout. / Once the flower's sentiment is awakened, / The fruit of bodhi ripens of itself.' Only then do you know that 'produced right where it is, it is extinguished right along with it.' Take care!"

5.9

At an informal gathering, a monk asked: "Mazu mounted the hall, and Baizhang rolled up the mat. What was the meaning?" / The Master said: "I also know his nose still hurts." / The monk said: "Although father and son understand each other, it was also trying to be clever only to blunder." / The Master said: "Do you know the painful place yet?" / The monk made the gesture of rolling up the mat. / The Master said: "Over the three-tiered waves, the fish transforms into a dragon; / A fool still bails water from the nighttime pond." / The monk said: "What about when Mazu gave a single shout, and Baizhang was deaf for three days?" / The Master said: "Sound is in the place of the ear; the ear is within the sound." / The monk said: "It can be said that sense-bases and dust fell away, and all news sank flatly away." / The Master said: "By all means, do not force the needle and awl." / The monk bowed. / The Master then said: "Mazu and Baizhang were walking along and heard the sound of wild ducks. Mazu said: 'What is that?' Baizhang said: 'Wild ducks.' Mazu said: 'Where did they go?' Baizhang said: 'They flew away.' Mazu twisted Baizhang's nose; Baizhang cried out in pain. Mazu said: 'When did they ever fly away?' Baizhang suddenly had an awakening. The next day, Mazu mounted the hall; Baizhang rolled up the mat. Look at the time of their encounter—where was it? Nowadays there are some fellows who fabricate stories and say: 'The moment you mount the hall, I roll up the mat; what use is it?' It is completely a thousand or ten thousand miles off. Later, Baizhang studied with Mazu again and was shouted at by Mazu, remaining deaf for three days. As for Mazu's single shout, did it admit of any extraneous affair? Did it admit of any contrived principle? If at that time you accept it without care, it is again the flowing stream of karmic consciousness. If you can sit through it and cut it off clean, so that not a single thread or grain can be established, what is called studying with Mazu again? Within it, not a hairsbreadth is tolerated. If an extraneous bit is attached, it is not called being deaf for three days. Have you not seen Xuedou say: 'The refined gold from the great smelter should have no change of color'? But nowadays some fellows do not embody it and do not see through it; they use hooks, use awls, make doctrines and principles, burying themselves and implicating the former ancestors. If it is not washed clean and completely settled, another layer is added here again; this is called washing a clump of dirt in mud. Later, Huangbo asked: 'How is the ancestral vehicle handed down from above pointed out?' Baizhang was silent for a good while. Huangbo said: 'You cannot let later generations be cut off.' Baizhang said: 'I thought you were a person.' The ancients also had such times: although free from language, language was fully complete; although producing sounds, the sounds were distinct. Why did Baizhang instead say: 'I thought you were a person'? Some say that the place of silence is it. Have you not seen a non-Buddhist ask the Buddha: 'I do not ask about what has words; I do not ask about what is wordless.' The World-Honoured One was silent for a good while. The non-Buddhist praised him: 'The Great Compassionate One has cleared away the clouds of my delusion and enabled me to enter.' Ānanda asked: 'What did the non-Buddhist realize that he said, "enabled me to enter"?' The World-Honoured One said: 'Like a fine horse in the world that runs upon seeing the shadow of the whip.' Have you not also seen: Emperor Suzong asked National Teacher Zhong: 'After a hundred years, what will you need?' The National Teacher said: 'Make a seamless stūpa for this old monk.' The Emperor said: 'Please provide the stūpa's design, Master.' The National Teacher remained silent for a good while and said: 'Do you understand?' The Emperor said: 'I do not understand.' The National Teacher said: 'I have a Dharma-heir disciple, Danyuan, who is well versed in this matter; please summon him and ask him.' The Emperor asked Danyuan. Danyuan said: 'South of the Xiang and north of the Tan, / Therein is pure gold filling a whole country. / Beneath the shadowless tree, board the same boat together; / In the emerald hall, there is no spiritual friend.' This is the time when the Buddhas and ancestral masters extend their hands. Then you will know: when silent, not a single word or dot is lacking; when speaking, not a single word or phrase is extraneous. Where speech and silence do not reach, past and present are inexhaustible. How do you walk? Bias and upright never leave their original positions; how does the unborn involve the conditions of words?"

5.10

At an informal gathering, a monk asked: "I recall that a monk asked Yunju, 'What is it like ultimately for a monk?' Yunju said, 'Dwelling in the mountains is good.' I have not yet understood: what is the meaning of this?"
The Master said, "Dwelling in the mountains is good."
The monk said, "What about someone who has not yet reached the bottom, when there is no road on all four sides—how should he place his feet?"
The Master said, "For now, sit at the foot of the mountain."
The monk said, "If he suddenly finds a living road, how is it then?"
The Master said, "Have you ever crossed Flying Ape Ridge?"
The monk said, "Step by step, / the white clouds grow deeper and deeper."
The Master said, "Entangling vines are creeping over your feet again."
The monk said, "Just as to Flying Ape Ridge, ultimately how high is it?"
The Master said, "Only when a native of this very homeland comes walking past can it be known."
The monk said, "I have crossed it."
The Master said, "Still your heels do not touch the ground."
The Master then said: "Where a completely secure and secret fellow acts, fundamentally there must be no seams and an utter absence of sharp edges; only then can he be completely rounded and smooth, uncontainable anywhere, and able to roll along everywhere. Sometimes, when he needs to speak, he immediately says what is precisely fitting. Therefore, when the monk asked Yunju, 'What is it like ultimately for a monk?' Yunju said, 'Dwelling in the mountains is good.' Some say, 'The mountain is the unchanging substance; going toward the green and shadowy place'—what connection does that have? Some say, 'White clouds layer upon layer; that is the circumstance within'—what connection does that have? If you understand it: 'Dwelling in the mountains is good'—what is there that is not attained? Responding in accord with capacity, answering according to the question—is this not precisely fitting? If you treat it as an undertaking, as a burden to shoulder, as Buddha, as Dharma, you will see it as not fitting. It was just his ordinary functioning. If one is a genuine patch-robed monk, he nods in agreement. If it is not so, it becomes another thousand layers, ten thousand layers. An ancient said, 'A single word exhausts the ten directions, / before the slightest thread is raised.' What kind of words are these? Then you know: mountains are mountains, waters are waters; people are people, dharmas are dharmas. The worlds are just so, every dust mote is just so; each dharma is just so, every thought is just so. Here, you cannot add or subtract a hair's breadth. If there is the slightest trace of a principle, it is torn to pieces again. Have you not heard it said: 'At all times, do not give rise to delusive thoughts; toward various delusive minds, also do not extinguish them; dwelling in the realm of delusive ideation, do not add comprehension; toward non-comprehension, do not discern truth.' Just at such a time, how should one conduct oneself? A single level bosom / vanishes naturally of itself."

5.11

At an informal gathering, a monk asked: "Vast and boundless, not establishing a single dust mote; profound and uniquely persisting, universally responding to the ten directions. How is it just at such a time?"
The Master said, "There are also no ten directions to respond to."
The monk said, "Like space merging with space, like water returning to water."
The Master said, "Though it is indeed so, what is it like?"
The monk said, "I also need you to point it out clearly."
The Master said, "Try pointing it out where it is clear, and let us see."
The monk said, "The night moon shines, embracing the ancient ford; / White clouds bring no rain, wrapping the autumn mountain."
The Master said, "Turning sideways within the upright position; returning from inside the biased position."
The monk said, "Who is the one who does not engage in coming and going?"
The Master said, "The host outside the luminous curtain of night."
The monk said, "White clouds cover the green mountain; / The peak of the green mountain is not exposed."
The Master said, "This is still an affair on the side of the biased and upright."
The monk said, "How is it when not falling into bias and uprightness?"
The Master said, "It falls."
The monk made prostrations.

5.12

The Master then said: "Fundamentally there are not this many matters. Doing this and doing that, there come to be this many matters. Now, conversely, from within the many matters, subtract and subtract, seeking to reach the place where there are not this many matters. It is only your ordinary arising and ceasing that is birth and death. If arising and ceasing are exhausted, that is the fundamentally pure, with nothing to point to, nothing to compare to. Hanshan said: 'My mind is like the autumn moon, / Clear and bright in the emerald pool.' Even if it is sparkling bright like the autumn moon, I still fear that is not it. He also said: 'No thing can compare with it; / Tell me, how can I speak of it?' Since there is no thing, how can one speak of it? Therefore it is said: 'Impermissible is also impermissible; even this phrase is not accepted.' It is called utterly transcendent without resting place. It cannot rest in any place. This is the all-pervading mind; where could it be placed? Clean and naked, stripped bare and unburdened, not the slightest thread can stand. Just as the senior monk asked a moment ago, 'Profound and uniquely persisting, universally responding to the ten directions,' I told him, 'There are also no ten directions to respond to.' At that time, is there still the principle of responding? Murky and blended, it is called the Great Clod. If one is a clear-sighted fellow, he is completely lucid and luminous. If one is not a clear-sighted fellow, he is seen to be mediocre and bustling. One must be like a jewel emitting light, its light returning to illuminate itself. Yet although this is an affair of the second head, one must nevertheless discern it at the second head. If there is the slightest disturbance, at that moment one will revolve along with karma. The place where resting is exhausted, where there is nothing left to rest, is bodhi. The supreme, pure, luminous mind is not obtained from others. Great Master Yongjia said: 'It cannot be grasped, it cannot be rejected; / within the unobtainable, it is obtained just so.' Is this not opening wide like the character eight, entrusting it with both hands? Take care!"

5.13

At an informal gathering, a monk asked: "I recall that a monk asked Shaoshan, 'Where right and wrong do not reach, is there still a phrase or not?' Shan said, 'A single wisp of solitary cloud does not expose ugliness.' What is the meaning?"
The Master said, "Inside there is a little something difficult to explain to people."
The monk said, "How is it after it is spoken?"
The Master said, "Horns sprout."
The monk said, "If so, then ugliness and clumsiness are exposed."
The Master said, "Coming among different species to share the work of transformation, / what harm is there in meeting again in the shadows?"
The monk said, "Holding an over-the-head staff in hand, / meeting spring, one points out strange flowers."
The Master said, "Is it really so or not?"
The monk said, "It directly results in every thing being it, each object being that."
The Master said, "Unable to return for ten years, / having forgotten the road by which one came."
The monk said, "Why is it like this?"
The Master said, "One must forget it completely before it is attained."
The Master then said: "This matter of investigating Chan is truly about liberating oneself from birth and death. If you cannot be liberated from birth and death, what do you call Chan? Tell me, how does birth arise? How does death occur? How does liberation occur? If for a single thought you are deluded about the root and follow emotion, you are dragged into all places, in confusion and tangled turmoil. Since you are born from what is not free, you will also die from what is not free. If you are a clear-sighted fellow, fundamentally there is no place from which you come; clearly functioning in this way, you are at all times and in all places completely freed with nothing to rely on, standing head and shoulders above all phenomena. At that time, not bringing along the four great elements and five aggregates, you will then have a way to step forward. On the thirtieth day of the twelfth month, you go on just like this as before. It is said, 'Coming with no place from which one comes, going with no place to which one arrives.' At that time, pure without conditions, vast without location, the three time periods are severed and the six gates are empty. Therefore it is said: 'Vast and expansive! Bright and radiant! Utterly transcending thought and discussion.' Thought cannot reach it, discussion cannot touch it. As soon as a mental thought sprouts, it becomes a continuous flow. If all mental thoughts are exhausted, no heaven reaches you, and no hell reaches you. The empty space of the ten directions is purely clean and undefiled, vast and clear. Coming alertly in this way is where all buddhas and bodhisattvas are born. Planting seeds with delusion and love is where sentient beings are born. Mixed with good and evil between them, they become good destinies and evil destinies. If good and evil are like floating clouds, with nowhere for arising and ceasing to exist, neither sentient beings nor buddhas can stand here. The Sixth Patriarch said: 'Do not think of good, do not think of evil. Just at such a time, return to me Senior Monk Ming's original face before his parents gave birth to him.' Brothers, why not quit right now? Why not rest right now? If you can rest completely and quit securely, the thousand sages cannot lead you along. Where you cannot be led along is yourself. Do not make up principles and chew on words and phrases. Wild strikes and random shouts are all the revolving of karmic consciousness. Furthermore, if you take instructions from another and accept his pointing out, that is again relying on grass and clinging to wood. You must have teacherless wisdom and spontaneous wisdom: seeing nature does not retain a buddha; great awakening does not preserve a teacher. Only then will you have a bit of the flavor of a patch-robed monk. And tell me: how should one conduct oneself so as to sever birth and death and transcend the ordinary and the sacred? Beneath the shadowless tree, the same boat; / on the lapis lazuli palace, no good friend."

5.14

At an informal gathering, a monk asked: "Venerable Yanyang asked Zhaozhou, 'When not bringing a single thing, how is it?' Zhaozhou said, 'Lay it down.' What does this mean?" The Master said, "Piling it up over the head, he comes; washing the entire body clean, he goes." The monk said, "Taking away sense-bases and sense-objects, all is empty; vast and completely pervasive, it encompasses worlds like grains of sand." The Master said, "Nor is there any principle of pervasiveness." The monk said, "How then can it be that the valley echoes yet is ever hollow, and the jewel emits light yet illuminates itself?" The Master said, "That is still the season of responding." The monk said, "How to achieve exact correspondence?" The Master said, "The sword has long since fallen in the water, yet you are only now notching your boat." The monk asked, "What is taking away the person but not taking away the environment?" The Master said, "Completely concealing one's own body, shadows manifest throughout the entire realm." The monk said, "What is taking away the environment but not taking away the person?" The Master said, "Vastly sweeping all away without a thread of hair remaining, everywhere dividing the body to pervade the great trichiliocosm." The monk said, "What is taking away neither person nor environment?" The Master said, "Yesterday was the twenty-ninth; this morning is the thirtieth." The monk said, "What is taking away both person and environment?" The Master said, "Sit down upon your tongue." The monk bowed. The Master then said: "Brethren, there are those who say: 'For thirty years, twenty years, three years, five years, I have practiced like this in the monastic groves, and I say that I am investigating Chan and studying the Way.' If one has never reached the very bottom, what use is it? You must only let go, causing everything on the ground of the mind to be entirely empty and completely exhausted. This is the original season. Therefore it is said: 'All things are born from the ground of the mind.' When all that is born is removed, it is still the original ground of the mind. This ground of the mind is equal and all-pervasive; all-pervasive, there is nowhere it is not present, nowhere it does not fill. Since forms arise upon the ground of the mind, throughout all the ten directions and the three times, not the slightest thing comes from outside—all manifests from right here. Then one knows: 'The ten thousand dharmas are the light of mind; all conditions are illuminated solely by the nature. Originally there is no one who is deluded or awakened; one only needs to understand today.' Mind has neither form nor shadow; facing conditions, it immediately illuminates. Therefore, one borrows empty space as the substance of the myriad forms, and borrows the myriad forms as the function of empty space. All phenomena are merely the conditioned reflections of deluded thoughts upon the ground of the mind. For example, clear water forms waves on account of the wind; only because the wind ceases do the characteristics of motion cease accordingly, not that the water ceases. If within your mind-ground you retain so many characteristics such as good and evil, those are precisely the waves upon the water. When the wind ceases, the waves cease; it is not that the water ceases. When characteristics of good and evil are exhausted, it is not that the mind ceases. This original affair cannot be emptied out. If one is a person who sits in Chan, when the dust stirs in the wind and the grass moves, one naturally sees through it. One must not say this is expounding sūtras and treatises—this is what Patriarch Aśvaghoṣa stated. Clear and distinct, it is truly clear and distinct. If you all reach such a season, it will naturally be just right and fitting. An ancient said: 'The person sitting on top of a hundred-foot pole, / Though having attained entry, is not yet true. / At the top of the hundred-foot pole, one must take a step forward; / Throughout the worlds of the ten directions, the entire body is revealed.' This is the entire body responding and manifesting. Sometimes one takes away the person but not the environment: standing toweringly upon all dharmas. Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara takes money to buy a sesame cake; putting down her hand, it turns out to be a steamed bun. Where could any stray sounds and forms come from? Sometimes one takes away the environment but not the person: recognizing it on the tips of the hundred grasses, grasping it at the entrance of the bustling market; the foolish skin-bag barring the street and cutting across the lane, knocking and bumping everywhere. Sometimes one takes away neither person nor environment: level and smooth, every single dharma is ready-made. When a person is even-tempered, they do not speak; when water is level, it does not flow. One coming from the east sits in the east. Thus, when Venerable Yanyang asked Zhaozhou, 'When not bringing a single thing, how is it?' Zhaozhou said, 'Lay it down.' The Venerable said, 'Since I do not bring a single thing, what should I lay down?' Zhaozhou said, 'In that case, carry it away.' Is this not such a season? Sometimes one takes away both person and environment: news is completely cut off, edges and corners disappear; penetrating top and penetrating bottom, like a jewel emitting light, the light still illuminating itself. Being so adaptable—only this is a patch-robed monk. If it is not so, in the twelve periods of the day, where are you going and coming? Take care."

5.15

At an informal gathering, a monk asked: "What is the season when needle and thread run through?" The Master said, "Walking forward finely, coming along densely within it." The monk said, "Lamentable: on the day of departure, the face was like jade; yet one sighs that on returning, the temples are like frost." The Master said, "Casting open the two ends, how do you discern what is in between?" The monk said, "Family ugliness must not be aired outside." The Master said, "How would you utter an extraordinary phrase?" The monk said, "Arriving here, one sheds the body into a single color, not keeping to the common style." The Master said, "A single stretch sits [all] to death." The monk said, "I recall: a monk asked Yunju, 'When there is nowhere at all to learn, how does one establish oneself?' Yunju said, 'There is no place to establish oneself.' The monk said, 'Why labor at Buddhist affairs?' Yunju said, 'Not the same as Xinghua.' I wonder: what does this mean?" The Master said, "Just like the elder's going just now." The monk said, "Though having a mouth, it is hard to speak." The Master said, "Not the same as Xinghua." The monk bowed. The monk asked: "I recall: Yunyan asked Daowu, 'What does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion use so many hands and eyes for?' Daowu said, 'Like a person in the night reaching back with a hand to search for a pillow.' I wonder: what does this mean?" The Master said, "Without mind, it is able to function; functioning, it is naturally without mind." The monk said, "If so, then it is exquisitely clear on all eight sides, all eight sides exquisitely clear." The Master said, "Where it responds, nothing is brought along; throughout the entire body, it can transform." The monk said, "Why did Daowu then say, 'Speaking indeed speaks too much, yet it only says eighty percent'?" The Master said, "He distinguishes the seasons of 'throughout the body' and 'the whole body.'" The monk said, "Just as to 'throughout the body' and 'the whole body,' how far apart are they?" The Master said, "Separated by merely the breadth of a single thread, it becomes tens of thousands of miles." The monk said, "How is it when pushing through that single thread?" The Master said, "It fits precisely with that time." The Master then said: "A monk asked Yunju, 'When there is nowhere at all to learn, how does one establish oneself?' Yunju said, 'There is no place to establish oneself.' The monk said, 'Why labor at Buddhist affairs?' Yunju said, 'Not the same as Xinghua.' Arriving here, not a speck can be placed. You must reach the very bottom and exhaust it completely, where there is no place for you to make reasonings and distinctions, no place for you to be vague and indistinct. Like letting go one's hold on a hanging cliff, directly letting go of everything completely—only then do you accord with Yunju's practice. Just because at that time it is not the same as Xinghua. Again, Yunyan asked Daowu, 'What does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion use so many hands and eyes for?' Daowu said, 'Like a person in the night reaching back with a hand to search for a pillow.' At that time, equipped with so many hands and equipped with so many eyes, one makes no before and after, nor does one engage in thinking. Right at such a time, what is that which is able to respond? Have you not seen it said: 'In the eyes it is called seeing; in the ears it is called hearing; in the nose it smells fragrance; on the tongue it speaks; in the hands it grasps; in the feet it runs. When recognized, it is called the buddha-nature; when not recognized, it is called the conscious spirit.' If you make reasonings and make arrangements, that is precisely the continuous flow of karmic consciousness. Therefore Venerable Changsha said: 'Practitioners of the Way do not realize the true, / Solely because they have always recognized the spirit of consciousness; / The root of birth and death for countless kalpas, / Fools call it the original person.' You must thoroughly return before you understand how to perform such transformations. If you recognize sounds and forms, recognize grasping, recognize salty and bland, none of it is correct. Simply let go of the spirit of consciousness completely, and you will respond just like this—similar to a mirror reflecting images or a valley echoing sounds. For this reason, Old Śākya divided into hundreds of thousands of myriads of bodies, and the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion was equipped with a thousand hands and eyes: entering right concentration in a man's body, arising from concentration in a woman's body; entering right absorption in a single dust mote, arising in samādhi from all dust motes. And tell me: right at such a time, how is it? Spreading wings, soaring through the clouds of the six directions; beating the wind, stirring the waters of the four seas."

5.16

At an informal gathering, a monk asked: "When above there is nothing to climb or revere, and below one has cut off one's own body, how is it?" The Master said, "Pervading heaven and covering the earth." The monk said, "Everywhere one encounters it." The Master said, "Where did you run into it?" The monk said, "Amidst the myriad forms, the entire body is uniquely revealed." The Master said, "Tell me: do you brush aside the myriad forms, or do you not brush aside the myriad forms?" The monk said, "Both ends are completely cut through; within, there is natural communion." The Master said, "Even that inside must be overturned as well." The monk said, "What can be done about it pervading heaven and covering the earth?" The Master said, "It must be Tiantong to manage it." The monk said, "It directly clashes nose-to-nose with the Venerable." The Master said, "Even that 'directly' is not needed." The monk said, "I have emptied out the myriad forms." The Master said, "Why empty them out?" The monk said, "Ultimately, how is it?" The Master said, "Tiantong today finds it truly difficult to explain." The monk said, "Riding an ox, one walks on foot; holding a hoe, the hands are empty." The Master said, "Being like this is a bit better." The Master then said: "The place of real arrival is vast and without reliance. What else would you call the walls of the ten directions? What else would you call the dynamic triggers of the three times? Not receiving a single speck of dust, all dharmas are of the same substance, and all people share the same mind. Merely this body of self-enjoyment pervades the ten directions without exception. Since one knows it is completely pervasive, upon every single dharma and within every buddha's mind, the original substance is fully present—what further matter could there be? Just this single dust mote is also your original substance, your original mind, your original form, and your original wisdom. Therefore it is said: 'Whether form is pure, or knowledge of all modes is pure, or the perfection of wisdom is pure—they are non-dual and without division, because they are without distinction and without interruption.' Brethren, it must be like this. Have you ever emptied out the mind's conditions? Have you ever emptied out bodily characteristics? If you can empty them completely, it is not merely empty; at that time, vividly clear and distinct, it is bright within the void. When it is like this, it is not empty. In the season of realization, the bottom is like this, the surface is also like this; in the dust it is like this, in the Dharma it is like this. There are no buddhas who are not like this, and no sentient beings who are not like this. Sentient beings are fully endowed like this, and buddhas are fully endowed like this. Sentient beings can let it drop; buddhas can lift it up. Therefore, buddhas and sentient beings share the same body and the same life; this single thought is originally identical with the Dharmadhātu. Therefore it is said: 'Above there is nothing to climb or revere, and below one has cut off one's own body.' Truly it is open and unobstructed, vast and boundless. Right at such a time, how do you experience it? The path of words is cut off; it is neither past, future, nor present. Take care."

5.17

At an informal gathering, a monk asked: "Zhaozhou said: 'The Great Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing. As soon as there are words and speech, this is picking and choosing, this is clarity. This old monk is not within clarity; do you still cherish and protect [it] or not?' Since Zhaozhou was not within clarity, where did he go?" The Master said: "Ordinarily it has no apertures; in that place, it cuts off brilliance." The monk said: "If so, then everywhere one treads upon Zhaozhou's nostrils." The Master said: "Once again, going out of your way, you are separated by three thousand miles." The monk said: "What was Zhaozhou's meaning?" The Master said: "Only a fellow without seams knows." The monk said: "At the time, a monk came forward and said: 'Since the Venerable is not within clarity, what do you cherish and protect?' Zhaozhou said: 'I do not know either.' Although this monk was able to ask in this way, it was much like Han Lu chasing a clod." The Master said: "Today another one has been added." The monk said: "Had this student been that monk at the time, I would have simply picked up the sitting mat and said: 'I ordinarily would not dare offend the Venerable.'" The Master said: "Again this is ascending the gate and climbing the threshold." The monk said: "That monk further said: 'Since the Venerable does not know, why do you say you are not within clarity?' Zhaozhou said: 'It is enough to ask about the matter; bow and withdraw.' Zhaozhou had iron lips and nails for a tongue; why did he instead stop in shame and silence?" The Master said: "I too cannot explain it away." The monk said: "Having reached this point, is there still any explanation?" The Master said: "Do not say Tiantong has no explanation; when it comes down to it, even Zhaozhou was knocked over." The monk said: "One thought the barbarian's beard was red, yet there is another red-bearded barbarian." The Master said: "Just this one phrase is somewhat better." The monk said: "Just as for the Venerable and Zhaozhou, how far apart are you?" The Master said: "Tiantong, however, is a man of Xizhou." The monk said: "The sunflower faces the sun; the willow catkins follow the wind." The Master said: "Being ordinary and without business is good; making complications out of the ordinary [is not]." The Master then said: "When a patch-robed monk achieves it and settles it securely, naturally step by step he treads upon it without wasted effort; phrase by phrase he expresses it without wasted cadence. Therefore Zhaozhou said: 'The Great Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing. As soon as there are words and speech, this is picking and choosing, this is clarity. This old monk is not within clarity; do you still cherish and protect [it] or not?' If the Great Way is not difficult and only dislikes picking and choosing, it is directly a time when there is not a single thread of going out of one's way. Do not fall into clarity; let go of everything completely—what could there be of so many affairs? Therefore, for patch-robed monks, as soon as there is Buddha-Dharma or Chan and the Way, they deserve a painful thrashing. That monk said: 'Since the Venerable is not within clarity, what do you cherish and protect?' Zhaozhou said: 'I do not know either.' Look here! In his answer, originally no reasoning based on 'knowing' could be applied. That monk further said: 'Since the Venerable does not know, why do you say you are not within clarity?' Zhaozhou said: 'It is enough to ask about the matter; bow and withdraw.' When Zhaozhou reached the ultimate point, he was able to deflect it. This old fellow was ordinarily entirely seamless, cutting off sharp corners; reaching this point, he was nearly pressed up against the wall by that monk, seeming to have seams and sharp corners. Later, Xuedou praised in verse:

5.18

"The Great Way is not difficult; / The words are direct, the speech is direct. / One has many kinds; / Two has no two sorts. / On the horizon, the sun rises and the moon sets; / In front of the railing, the mountains are deep and the waters cold. / When consciousness is exhausted in the skull, how can joy stand? / The dragon hums in the withered wood, not yet dried up. / Difficult, difficult! / Picking and choosing, clarity—look for yourself!"

5.19

"He said: 'Difficult, difficult! Picking and choosing, clarity—look for yourself!' Here, shed picking and choosing, shed clarity, and you must accord with Zhaozhou. Brothers, once you have penetrated picking and choosing, you then say: 'On the horizon, the sun rises and the moon sets; in front of the railing, the mountains are deep and the waters cold.' Once you have penetrated clarity, you then say: 'When consciousness is exhausted in the skull, how can joy stand? The dragon hums in the withered wood, not yet dried up.' These two lines are precisely the season of penetrating clarity under the Dong lineage. The place where Zhaozhou worked was entirely noncommittal and free of edges. Therefore, a monk asked Xiangyan: 'What is the Way?' 'A dragon humming in withered wood.' 'What is a person of the Way?' 'An eyeball in a skull.' Later, a monk asked Shishuang: 'What is the meaning of a dragon humming in withered wood?' Shuang said: 'It still carries joy.' 'What is the meaning of an eyeball in a skull?' Shuang said: 'It still carries consciousness.' Brothers, go and embody this: let it rest and exhaust it thoroughly; let the news be cut off, and penetrate through completely. Therefore it is said: 'Look after shifting the single color of practice; naturally, at all times, one will be distinctly clear, cutting off leaks, penetrating sound and form, without location, leaving no trace.' Then one will know: arriving within the interpenetrating is thoroughly arriving like this; attaining within the interpenetrating is thoroughly attaining like this. It is solely within this that emerging and submerging are entirely exhausted. If you are a person within this, you will know that Tiantong tonight has leaked profusely, grinding his teeth, killing the Buddhas and killing the Patriarchs. A hot-tempered fellow who truly recognizes this is determined to have no basis—no basis on this side, and no basis on that side. An unclear fellow adds yet another layer over all words and explanations. What should be done on your part? If you are a person of comprehensive passage, within this you will naturally have your own place of practice. Take care!"

First 19 of 47 passages. Read on

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宏智禪師廣錄 — Classical Chinese