宏智禪師廣錄 5.31

5.31

At an informal gathering, a monk asked, "'Dense and continuous, admitting no gaze; lucid and bright, mutually transmitting the mind.' What is the mind that is transmitted?" The Master said, "When blended, it has no image; where discerned, it leaves no trace." The monk said, "The precious seal facing the wind is wondrous; layer upon layer of brocade seams open up." The Master said, "The threads on the loom are not hitched at all; within it, wondrously, there is no seam." The monk said, "With mind emptied, one passes the examination!" The Master said, "When you say 'with mind emptied, one passes the examination,' to what place have you arrived?" The monk said, "The entire world says there is no position for the positions; meeting the occasion, one must discern the mysterious of the mysterious." The Master said, "Pass the examination as you will; stand out from the crowd as you will." The monk said, "I recall: A monk asked Daowu, 'What is the student's place of exerting effort?' Daowu said, 'Though a thousand or ten thousand call, he does not turn back.' What does this mean?" The Master said, "The doing of a fellow carrying a board on his shoulder." The monk said, "What is the student's place of exerting effort?" The Master said, "Before the loom's wheel has ever turned, take it upon yourself directly." A monk asked, "I have heard the Master say just now: 'The threads on the loom are not hitched at all; within it, wondrously, there is no seam.' Just at such a time, is there any discerning or not?" The Master said, "Pushing open the bright moon's door, the atmosphere is just like autumn." The monk said, "Over empty mountains, clouds are at ease; a sliver of the moon visits the night." The Master said, "When turning into a single colour, it is still the same single colour." The monk said, "Zhaozhou said, 'Why does a clay Buddha not cross the water?'" The Master said, "It dissolves and shatters completely." The monk said, "Why does a metal Buddha not cross the furnace?" The Master said, "It is smelted and refined away completely." The monk said, "Why does a wooden Buddha not cross the fire?" The Master said, "It burns and blazes away completely." The monk bowed. The Master then said: "For this matter, each and every person must arrive at it for themselves, each and every person must realise it for themselves. One can then transcend birth and death, pass through past and present, and share the attainment with the Buddhas and patriarchs. Therefore it is said: 'All sentient beings possess the wisdom and virtuous marks of the Tathāgata, but because of delusion and attachment, they do not realise it.' If you leave behind delusion and leave behind attachment, there is not a speck of an issue. Nowadays you take earth, water, fire, and wind to be yourself—is this not delusion and attachment? What do you call yourself? It is precisely your thinking and discrimination that are delusion; your seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing that are delusion. You must bring them to a complete halt until you are empty and without marks, crystal-clear and devoid of conditions, universally uniting with the Dharmadhātu and empty space. At that time, that is your fundamental body. When it is like this, seeing clearly and penetrating thoroughly, it is like empty space that cannot hold a needle. At that time, the marks of birth are already departed—what mark of death could there be? Therefore it is said: 'Birth and cessation are both originally departed; this is called the eternally real.' This is called the principle of non-arising. Because it cannot arise, there is no death. Just as before your physical womb was formed, where were you situated? If you say it existed, what were its characteristics? If you say it did not exist, what were its characteristics? At that time, if it resembles a single thing, it becomes an obstruction. It cannot be named, it cannot be described. Being able to be like this, you return to your original dwelling place. If you are not clear about it and do not see through it, how could you know it comes like this? Therefore, it troubled the Buddhas to appear in the world and the patriarchs to establish [the teachings]. It is fully possessed by each person. At that juncture there are no distinctive marks of male or female; it is purely one, clear, pure, and wondrously bright, called the true mark. Everything is exhausted; then you see what Zhaozhou meant by 'a clay Buddha does not cross water, a wooden Buddha does not cross fire, and a metal Buddha does not cross a furnace.' Arriving here, what has causes and conditions, what has form and appearance, and what has names and terms—none of them can be established. If the true Buddha sits inside the house, at that time the Buddhas of the three periods cannot gaze up to it, the successive generations of patriarchs cannot transmit it, and the venerable old monks of the realm cannot hit upon it whether explaining horizontally or vertically. Only through your own profound realization can you attain it. Like a person drinking water, naturally knowing whether it is cold or warm, you alone clearly understand it, unseen by others. If you are clear about this juncture, you will know: 'Darkness within the interacting light; / when effort is equal, turning becomes difficult. / When strength is exhausted, advancing and retreating are forgotten; / the golden lock's mesh is tightly strung.' If you can discern it like this, you crack the marrow of the Buddhas and obtain the lifeblood of the patriarchs. If you do not arrive at such a juncture, you enter the cycle of birth and death once again. In hell and heaven, when will there be rest? This is simply because you have never originally become a Buddha or patriarch. If you had become a Buddha or patriarch, you could not be tossed about: bright and clear, in hells and among animals, you would attain complete ease in all of them, distinctly knowing that all are realms manifested by my own mind. Therefore, being in hell is like experiencing the bliss of the third dhyāna. Taking this mortal shell, you function at will in heaven and the human world. In a male or female body, you are likewise acting as a Buddha and patriarch. That which cannot be deluded anywhere is Buddha; that which cannot be destroyed anywhere is Dharma; that which cannot be mingled anywhere is Saṅgha. The Three Jewels are fully present within your own lot. Furthermore, have you not seen Layman Pang say: 'Gathering together from the ten directions, / each studies non-action. / This is the arena for selecting Buddhas; / with mind emptied, one passes the examination and returns.' If the mind-ground is empty and tranquil, that is the juncture of passing the examination. If there is a single strand of thread, it becomes an obstructing phenomenon. Arriving here, good and evil are like the two ends falling off a pointed shoulder-pole. At that time, body and mind are vast as the Dharmadhātu, ultimately equal to empty space. When it is distinctly clear, you will know: 'The golden branch knocks upon the jade door; / the harmony emerges into the azure sky.' If you can penetrate through from here, brightly aware and vividly illuminating, stride forward to respond to the world and walk atop all dharmas. At that time, mountains are not mountains, and rivers are not rivers. If fully accomplished, mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers, the small is small, and the large is large. Arriving at such a ground, when does one not realize the Way? When does one not expound the Dharma? When does one not act for others? When does one not illumine oneself? Therefore Xuefeng said: 'Taking the entire great earth and gathering it up, it is the size of a grain of rice. Flung before you, you lacquer tubs do not understand; strike the drum and invite all to look!' If you see through it, breaking open a single dust mote brings forth the sutra scrolls of a great trichiliocosm. Just do not let a single word take root in the mind-ground, and naturally you will be thoroughly unimpeded everywhere. Now tell me, just at such a time, what is it like? Mountains and rivers do not obstruct; everywhere is radiance."