宏智禪師廣錄 6

English (machine translation) 6

Language: English

6.1

Dharma Words of Master Zhengjue of Tiantong in Mingzhou.

6.2

Preface to the Collection by Bhikṣu Puchong.

When the mirror of vast, vacant clarity is opened, its thorough illumination leaves nothing out; when the mechanism of the mysterious pivot is released, its true colors never miss the mark. Is it not thus with one who is endowed with the correct eye and equipped with a vast, surging eloquence? The Master dwelt below Mount Taibai, where dragons and elephants trampled and hammer and chisel struck; his words and ideas flowed expansively, never failing to be refined and precise. Whether scholars and commoners faithful to the Way knocked at his door to seek direction, or clouds and waters on their alms-rounds asked for his instruction, plain silk was laid before him, and he responded as his brush flew. Taking up their names, he gave discourse; following their inquiries, he replied. These are therefore made into his Dharma Words. Having picked out one or two, I have arranged them in order for the time being. Alas, the deep blue of the sky and the vastness of the flowing waters—one has never plumbed their utmost depth! For now, I merely record them here, waiting for those of wondrous accord and spiritual awakening to beat the rhythm and appreciate the tune.

6.4

The field is vast and open; it is what has originally existed from the beginning. You must thoroughly cleanse and polish away all delusive conditions and illusory habits; then you will naturally arrive at the place of pristine purity, round and bright. Empty and vacuous, it is without image; towering and distinct, it leans on nothing. Only vast illumination of original truth leaves behind external sense-objects. Therefore it is said: 'Clearly seeing, there is not a single thing.' This field is where arising and ceasing do not reach, the very bottom of the serene illumination of the deep source. It can emit light and respond outward; clearly distinct amidst the various dusts, it is completely empty and without peer. The wonder of seeing and hearing transcends sounds and forms. Its functioning in all places is without trace, and its mirroring is unobstructed. Naturally, mind after mind and phenomenon after phenomenon step forth together in equanimity. An ancient said: 'Mindlessly realize the mindless Way; having realized the mindless Way, rest.' Jinke, Assistant Director of the Court of the Imperial Clan, your mind is clear and your sitting is silent; wandering into the wonder at the center of the ring, you must investigate and study in just this way.

6.5

The place of genuine practice is solely silent sitting and silent investigation. Penetrating deeply to where one attains: outwardly, one is not turned by causes and conditions. When the mind is empty, it contains; when its illumination is wondrous, it hits the mark. Inwardly, there are no thoughts of grasping at conditions; vast and solitary, it remains without stupor. Spiritually alive and beyond duality, it is self-attained. The place of attainment does not belong to sentiment; it must be spacious and open, entirely without reliance. Towering and distinctly spiritual on its own, only then does it avoid following defiled characteristics. When one can rest at this place, it is pristine and bright; bright and unobstructed, one is then able to adapt and respond, returning to face affairs. Affair after affair is unobstructed, like clouds drifting out of the mountain peaks, or the moon washed clean in a flowing stream. In all places, spiritual transformations of bright illumination are completely without obstructing signs, tallying exactly like a box and its lid or the tips of two arrows meeting. Furthermore, make your training mature and your realization stable; in every place, it will be clearly distinct, without corners or edges, free of conceptual principles. Proceeding in this way, like a white ox or a house cat, one is called a fellow who is completely accomplished. Therefore it is said: 'A person of the mindless Way is capable of this; yet before one has attained mindlessness, it is indeed exceedingly difficult.'

6.6

Broad and vast, it is without boundary; pure and clean, it radiates light. Being spiritual, it is without obstruction; being bright, it is without an object of illumination. It can be called empty and naturally bright; its brightness is naturally pure. Transcending causes and conditions, leaving behind subject and object, its wonder abides and its illumination is vast. Moreover, it cannot be deliberated upon through words or images of being and non-being. Yet right within this, the pivot turns and the latch releases; responding as needed without exertion, the great functioning is unobstructed. In all places, rolling along smoothly, it does not follow conditions nor fall into categories. Securely settled within, when there, it is identical with that; when here, it is identical with this. That and this blend together without any place of distinction. Therefore it is said: 'Like the earth bearing the mountain, not knowing the mountain's solitary steepness; like a stone holding jade, not knowing the jade's lack of blemish.' If one can be like this, this is true home-leaving. Those who have left home must experience and realize it in just this way.

6.7

Patch-robed monks wither their mind's thoughts and put to rest extraneous conditions, single-mindedly polishing this single patch of field until the weeds and overgrowth are completely hoed away. Within its boundaries on all four sides, there is not the slightest taint. Spiritual and bright, vast and translucent, it illuminates right before the substance, thoroughly polished, pure and clean, unable to lodge a single speck of dust. Then turn the ox's nose around: naturally its horns are lofty and distinct. Treading among different species, it never violates others' sprouts and crops. Drifting freely, following conditions; following conditions, drifting freely, there is nowhere to restrain or arrange it. This is precisely the one who plows up the field of the kalpa of emptiness. Coming forth in just this way, it is clearly distinct and unclouded, fully present in every place. A single thought for ten thousand years, it is originally without any abiding characteristic. Therefore it is said: 'The mind-ground contains all seeds; when universal rain falls, all of them sprout. Once enlightened to the sentiment of the blossom, the fruit of bodhi ripens of itself.'

6.8

It does not rely on cultivation and realization; it is originally fully endowed. It is not defiled; it is thoroughly pure. Right at the place of complete endowment and purity, plant an eye: illuminate thoroughly and cast off completely, realize brightly and tread securely. Birth and death originally have no root; appearance and disappearance originally leave no trace. The original light illuminates the crown of the head; it is empty and spiritual. Original wisdom responds to conditions; though quiescent, it shines. Truly arriving where there is neither center nor edge, devoid of before and after, only then does it become a single whole. In every sense-organ and every dust-mote, everywhere and in all places, stick out the broad and long tongue, transmit the inexhaustible lamp, radiate great bright light, and perform great Buddha-work. Originally not borrowing the slightest external dharma, it is distinctly the affair within one's own house.

6.9

Multiplying the body in the midst of bustle, appearing right before you in every encounter, there is not a bit of an external sense-realm. The two principles share the same root; the myriad phenomena are of one substance. Yielding to change and according with transformation, one is not ensnared by conditioning at all. This is precisely one who attains great ease and freedom. Wind moves and the moon shines, neither obstructing things. Afterward, step back to rest, and then come within to take up the burden. Wisdom turns and principle is complete; merit is forgotten and the position is fulfilled. Not falling into the exalted place, one enters the stream and merges with the dust, transcending all and shining alone. Only then do you know that carrying on the lineage is merit, but once it is carried on, it is no longer deemed one's merit.

6.10

Shed the skull completely and break through light and shadow. The place where the myriad mechanisms do not reach, that which the thousand sages do not transmit, is only self-illumined and deeply realized, intimately in accord. Original brightness shatters darkness; true illumination mirrors far. Sentimental measurements of being and non-being are all surpassed. The wonder lies before the substance; the function turns beyond the kalpas. Then, according with conditions and merging with awakening, one does not obstruct the various dusts. Mind after mind does not touch things; step after step is not on the road. This is called one who can carry on the family business. Since you have penetrated through, it is best to draw near to it.

6.11

Spacious and empty, pure and serene; cold, plain, and purely genuine. When the accumulated habits of many lifetimes are cleared away in this manner, and the defilements of past habits are exhausted, original light appears before you, illuminating and shattering the skull, admitting no other thing. Vast and expansive, like sky and water merging in autumn, like snow and moon sharing the same color. This field has no boundaries and transcends spatial locations; vast as a single sheet, it has neither seam nor joint. You must further shed everything inward to attain it. At the very moment of shedding everything, thought and speech are a thousand, ten thousand leagues away; there is not even any principle to discern, so how could there still be any place to point out? Only a fellow whose bucket bottom has fallen out can thoroughly believe in this. Therefore it is said: 'Only realization is in accord.' Right where there is accord, one can stir and turn, enter the world, and playfully roam in samādhi, appearing distinctly before you. Sounds and forms, shadows and echoes, are directly traceless. That and this do not come and go, solely because within it there is no place to receive. This very absence of a place of reception encompasses empty space, the Dharma realm, and the dense array of myriad phenomena, without leaving out a single bit. A fellow of genuine color should investigate and realize in this way.

6.12

A patch-robed monk's place of practice is thoroughly unattached to a single hair; openly translucent and pure, like a mirror reflecting a mirror, without external realms, without separate dust-conditions. Self-illuminating and distinctly clear, it receives nothing at all. This is called taking up the burden within. Having taken up the burden like this, the illumination of wisdom is profound without being dim, and the Way unites with the substance without abiding. From the place of non-abiding, one responds to and transforms beings according to their capacities, exactly without leakage, distinctly undefiled. The valley spirit responds with an echo; the wind master travels through the void—unobstructed and at ease, without entanglements, completely free of traces. And yet, spiritually alive, it cannot be obscured. Completely treading into this kind of field, one is secure in all places and at leisure in all places. The white ox on the open ground is of a single, pure color; even if you drive it, it will not leave. One must personally realize and personally arrive at this to attain it.

6.13

Silently dwelling on one's own, as such and free from conditions, openly bright without dust, one penetrates and sheds directly. Originally arriving at this place is not something newly possessed today; from the ancient home before the vast kalpas, it has been distinctly unclouded, spiritually shining alone. Although it is like this, you cannot fail to practice. When practicing in this way, directly ensure that not a single hair arises, not a single dust-mote obscures. In withered cold, take a great rest; be vast, penetrating, clear, and distinct. If resting is not thorough, and you wish to reach this realm to escape birth and death, there is no such possibility. Directly break through, completely without dusts of thought, purely without conditioned deliberations. Step back and let go: thoroughly complete, you will then be able to radiate light and respond to the world, meeting every thing and fitting perfectly in every place. Therefore it is said: 'The dharmas are not concealed; they are always clearly revealed throughout past and present.'

6.14

The patch-robed monk's place of truth lies in personal practice: thoroughly illuminating the source, the subtlest of the subtle, smoothly bright and translucent, of one color without a trace. You must further turn the body and cross over inside to attain it; therefore it is called being able to carry on the family business. The loom's threads do not snag; light and shadow are utterly vanished. Approaching the single path of the Father, the wonder lies at the substance; dust and dregs vanish, joints and categories disappear. Knowing cannot reach it; turning the head to seek realization, see through the skull. If you can thoroughly attain this within, you can then emerge and transform. Reeds and blossoms in the bright moon; at the ancient ferry, the boat sets sail. The jade thread and golden needle—at that moment, the mechanism turns. Entering the world to respond to conditions, every dust-mote is just this; every dharma is none other. Setting sail with the wind, you are naturally unobstructed.

6.15

The buddhas and patriarchs have no different realization; all arrive at this resting place. The three times are severed and the myriad mechanisms are stilled; directly, there is not the slightest counterpart. The Buddha's spirit illuminates itself, wondrously penetrating the root source. Exhausting your knowledge of the inner depths, multiply the body to respond to affairs: every gate radiates light, every thing displays a shadow. Then you will know that all flows forth from right here. At the tips of the hundred grasses, in all places, there is entirely nothing that serves as cause or condition for me. In this manner, let the whole body be thoroughly penetrated.

6.16

Empty and without trace, its illumination is not sense-dust. Light penetrates quiet depths, utterly clear of blemish or taint. If you can know it of yourself like this and understand it of yourself like this, the pure, wondrously luminous ground is what was originally possessed. That for many lifetimes one has not understood it is merely because doubts, obstructions, darkness, and cataracts have of themselves created barriers. Vastly wandering in wisdom, inwardly forget merit and achievement; directly cast off burdens, turn your body, and take your place. Borrow the path to step forward; the numinous mechanism wondrously moves, and every encounter with things is real. There is not the slightest hair or dust that is a thing coming from outside.

6.17

Phenomena upon phenomena are naturally so, wondrously transcending the path of words. Fully realized without interruption, even the mountains, forests, grass, and trees have never failed to manifest this affair. Only when you see through it do you realize that the form of the broad and long tongue cannot be concealed or shrunk back anywhere. The speaker is the listener; the listener is the speaker. Sense-faculties and sense-dusts merge, principle and wisdom blend, self and other are identical, mind and phenomena are one—where else would one make distinctions? Even though it is like this, having penetrated what is before your eyes, you must swiftly gather it up and return to take up the family business inside the house before you can sit stably.

6.18

The Way wanders within the circle; utmost emptiness forgets forms. Utter purity is of itself bright; brightness solely illuminates itself. Toward the place where dust-realms have not yet arisen and sense-gates have left no trace, one wondrously attains the vanishing of the traces of arising, ceasing, and cyclic wandering. Singly relying on the basis of creation and transformation, within it one accepts not even a shred of shadow-affairs; only experiential realization accords with it. With a single strike from here, the paths of the great chiliocosm open up: each thing and every situation is entirely the place where I emit light and expound the Dharma. Dividing the body into hundreds of millions, singly illuminating yet spiritual, one does not fall into name-and-form at all. Complete response is without effort; like a pure mirror containing [all things], like an empty valley answering [sounds], from the beginning one is never burdened by seeing or hearing. It is the samādhi of truly sovereign and unhindered play. If one realizes it in this way, where would one go that is not advantageous?

6.19

Penetrating a single thread, one possesses the eye that responds to the world and meets circumstances, accurately not falling away; the myriad conditions cannot bury it. The moon descends into water, the wind passes through pines; light and shadows do not confound me, sounds do not halt me. Quietly able to respond, it is indeed an image that transcends restraint. Flowing out into branches according with affairs, precisely without divergence, this is still having penetrated and cast off the dust-net without yet reaching the original home. Rest from remaining conditions, sit until dust-thoughts are emptied, silent yet clear, pure yet illuminating, empty yet accommodating, expansive yet responsive. Do not make an opponent of external dust; clearly and distinctly, singly numinous. Reaching such a ground, only then do you recognize the venerable ancestor.

6.20

Contemplating the true mark of the body, one contemplates the Buddha likewise. If you can truly experience your own boundless realm, then it precisely severs dualities and transcends conceptual thought. Buddhas and Buddhas, mind and mind, are profoundly identical without duality. A patch-robed monk silently wanders and quietly abides, emptily numinous and wondrously penetrating, equal to empty space and traversing kalpas of dust, towering and without reliance, distinctly beyond thought. This is the place originally abided in. Shifting the mechanism and manifesting transformed branches, one passes through the world and responds to affairs, illuminating without effort and functioning without trace. Like idle clouds and flowing water, from the beginning there is no lingering obstruction. Directly make it pure, stable, and settled, unmovable by anything; only then will you not turn along with conditioned causes. Realize it truly!

6.21

The place from which a grandchild is born is called the ancestor; the place from which a stream emerges is called the source. Thoroughly seeing its source and recognizing its ancestor, one then knows that before cyclic wandering, steadfastly towering, it did not follow arising, ceasing, and conditioned causes. Although you do not follow them, you fully possess all shadow-affairs. When summoned forward, distinctly sense-faculties and sense-dusts drop away, understanding and views are transcended, and one is not enclosed by anything. Emotions emptied and thoughts severed, naturally complete, bright, and clearly knowing, drifting within the myriad phenomena, nothing can confound it; within the dusts, expansively more than enough. The hundreds of thousands of samādhis, every gate adorned, every phenomenon complete. You must further gather them and return, arrive at the former place, restore the source and venerate the ancestor, merging into one; only then will you see the entire body go forth.

6.22

Where silent illumination takes place, the sky is clear autumn. Illumination is without the effort of illuminating; light and shadow are severed. This is the very season of completely transcending to the true attainment. The source is pure and its essence numinous; the pivot is empty and its mechanism lively. Distinctly, original brightness manifests within it; then one can bring it forth: atop every single affair, it is precisely complete. Identical with the two primal forces, equal to the myriad phenomena, open and vast, vertical and horizontal. Heavenly along with heaven, human along with humans, adapting one's body and manifesting one's form to expound the Dharma for them. One who can realize it fully like this is vast and without obstruction.

6.23

Wind and tiger, clouds and dragon, precisely follow each other, originally without placing thought between them; this is a natural affair. A patch-robed monk's adaptation and transformation can bring about harmony through causes and conditions, precisely like this. Its coming is not ostentatious; its going is not hidden. Wondrously entering all places, no place can confound it. Drifting out above the myriad phenomena, distinctly within the shadows of the forest of forms, completely without a hair's gap. The ceaseless mechanism of response, the phrase that unerringly arrives home—yet you must investigate it thoroughly! Clouds broken and wind rested, autumn clear and moon setting, water and sky boundless—only when that place is solely bright will you have it.

6.24

The Way is not transmitted by ancestors. Before the ancestors arrived, it encompassed and pervaded, naturally empty and without trace, numinous and without peer. Singly illuminating, it emerges from causes and conditions; constantly alive, it is free of the husk of form. Therefore it is called the ancestor. Only experiential realization accords with it; it cannot be handed over by hand. What Buddhas and Buddhas arrive at takes this as the ultimate. Responsive manifestations divide their bodies—flower by flower, leaf by leaf, faculty by faculty, dust by dust. Wisdom enters the three periods of time; the myriad mechanisms do not disturb me, a single dust does not exclude me. Wondrously emerging from the scrolls of the great chiliocosm, where else could any shadow-affairs be found?

6.25

Abyssal, still, and silent, it thoroughly illuminates the depths of the source. This place is empty yet numinous, vast yet bright. Although there is an image of clearly self-reflecting, there are no shadows or echoes paired with it. When you see through that time, there is still the effort of discerning and carrying burdens; you must take a further step backward before reaching within the circle. Light issues forth from within it, towering and solitary. If you understand borrowing function, it is called 'birth.' These are subtle stirrings of appearing and disappearing, which must be finely and clearly discerned. Once able to divide the body, one can govern affairs. There is a seal that stamps the myriad phenomena, yet this seal leaves no trace. Wandering in the world and confronting conditions, one naturally has the enjoyment of the dust-by-dust samādhi. Its functioning is naturally hollow and cannot be filled: like an empty valley receiving clouds, like a cold stream washing the moon, neither exiting nor residing, remote beyond transformations. If you can further let it be without gain or orientation, in every place, return it to the old ground; not a single hair has ever moved. Limping and stumbling, hundredfold ugly and thousandfold clumsy, naturally harmonious and accordant. Zhaozhou washing his bowl and drinking tea required no arrangement; it was realized from the beginning. If one possesses such an eye and sees through each and every thing, only that is the patch-robed monk's sphere of action.

6.26

In studying the Buddha and investigating the wondrous of the ancestral school, one must purify the mind, submerge the spirit, silently wander, and inwardly contemplate. Thoroughly see the source of Dharma, without the slightest grain of mustard or fine hair forming an obstacle. Expansively forgetting forms, like water containing autumn; brightly shining and clear, like the moon outshining the night. Just at such a time, distinctly not dark, limpidly without taint, fundamentally as it is, constantly quiet and constantly shining. Its quietude is not caused by annihilation; its shining is not touched by shadow-affairs—empty, white, round, and pure, through vast kalpas unmoved, unshakeable, and unobscured. Able to be silent and able to know, in that place step stably. The jade vase turns on its side; with a single touch, the mechanism swivels, dividing the body to respond to the world. The world's locations and distinct realms of images are all established by oneself, arising together with my four elements—what obstruction is there? Since all is unhindered, other and self have no different marks, self and other have no separate names. Amidst sights and sounds, drifting, one transcends and distinctly accords. Therefore it is said: 'Mountains and rivers present no barrier; the bright light penetrates everywhere.' One should experience it like this.

6.27

The spiritual and bright ground has not changed since ancient times; striving to look, one cannot reach its boundaries. Vast and flat, it accepts no trace or defilement. Wandering and treading within it, wild clouds lean against the mountain, the family tradition is calm and indifferent; autumn water holds the moon, the realm is clear and bright. When you unerringly arrive at this place, you will know that the mind-ground and Dharma-field are the source from which the myriad phenomena arise. The seed-nature does not wither; flowers and leaves pervade the realm. Therefore it is said: 'A single grain in the wild field, unweeded, the sprout naturally flourishes.'

6.28

A person of the Way fundamentally has no dwelling place. White clouds obscure the foot of the green mountain; the bright moon embraces the belly of the flowing stream. The clouds open and the mountain appears; the moon shifts and the water is cold. A stretch of autumn scenery is vast, clear, and boundless. The dusts never reach me; the myriad transformations are still and never move me. One who sits stably within this can then stride forward, turn around, respond to the mechanism, and enter the world. Originally there are phrases that transcend conventions, the so-called 'six doors unclosed, four crossroads without tracks.' In every place, nothing can confound it; quietly, it has never been stirred. A fully accomplished fellow knows his destination of himself.

6.29

An empty and vast bosom is equal to the great void; methods of differentiation are matched with the myriad phenomena. Not excluding a single speck of dust outside, one can respond to changes; not retaining a single speck inside, one can abide in Chan. The inside being empty and able to respond, receiving and not receiving are equal; the outside being engaged and constantly empty, abiding and non-abiding are the same. In the family tradition of patch-robed monks, one who enters samādhi in all places should proceed like this.

6.30

The Dharma realms of the ten directions arise from the one mind. When the one mind is quiet, all marks are extinguished. Which is other? Which is self? Precisely because at that time there are no differentiated marks, directly not a single speck of dust is established, not a single thought arises. Piercing through before the womb and after the skin bag, a point of wondrous brightness is round and seamless, without directions or corners, severed of signs and traces—truly it cannot be obscured. The unobscured place is called knowing oneself; just this place of knowing oneself is called original attainment. There is not the slightest hair of anything gained outside. Vast and expansive! Wondrously existing without form, truly heard without sound. Therefore it is said: 'It is not reached by ears or eyes.' This is the place of wondrous accord and ultimate arrival. Light emits from within it, and the great chiliocosm appears as a reflection. Each and every thing is him; all is the patch-robed monk's realm of personal enjoyment. Above all, it does not borrow from another's household affairs. You must unerringly and personally realize it before you have it. The scions of our house should act in this way.

6.31

Completely understanding that all phenomena are empty, mind upon mind is sovereign and dust upon dust is penetrated. Originally a stretch of bright light, there is no place it does not pervade. One then transforms according to circumstances and takes things as the source upon encountering them. Wondrously illuminating the conditions, one expansively forgets dualities. Pines and wind, water and moon, pure and tranquil, they suit each other. There is no mind of coming and going, no mark of lingering or stagnation. What is essential is to be empty within so as to have room, and to respond outwardly without being perturbed, like spring putting forth flowers, like a mirror reflecting images. Amidst the clamor and bustle, one naturally stands head and shoulders above.

6.32

When the ground is steady and secluded, and the livelihood is cold and desolate, you then see the kalpa of emptiness: not the slightest hair creates conditioned entanglements, not a speck of grit creates an obstruction. Empty to the utmost, it shines; pure and round, it gleams. Distinctly there is this one affair that has never been dimmed throughout ten thousand kalpas. If you nod in recognition of its existence, not following arising and ceasing, not abiding in annihilation or permanence—when wanting to transform and respond, one shares transformations with the forest of myriad phenomena; when wanting to quietly abide, one shares the Way with the cover and support of the two primal forces. Emerging and submerging, rolling up and unfurling, all rests with me. A genuine fellow must gather and release like this before he has it.

6.33

In the daytime seeing the sun, at night seeing the moon—a season that does not deceive one another. This is the place of a patch-robed monk's level and steady walking, naturally without seams or corners. If you wish to go forward in such a level and steady way, you must thoroughly exhaust the subtle pounding and weaving under the mental faculty before you can succeed. Do you want it not to be subtle and obscure? You must be able to sit through and sever it, to put it down, to reach to the end, and to illuminate it completely. When light and shadow are both forgotten, the skin peels away, and sense faculties and dusts are completely cleansed, naturally the eyes are clear and distinct, and personal functioning is fully equipped. At all places without entanglement, at all times precisely corresponding. In brightness there is darkness; in darkness there is brightness. A solitary boat carrying the moon, spending the night amid reed blossoms. A patch of radiance is truly like this.

6.34

Pure and clear, surging and bright—the power of the eyes cannot reach its limits. Solitary, empty, and vast—the mind's conditions cannot grasp its corners. A person who truly investigates and genuinely reaches the bottom has faith that this is one's original ground. Buddhas and Māras cannot invade it; dust and defilement cannot stain it. Square and round are fittingly balanced; walking conforms to the measure. Then the wonderful functions, numerous as the sands of the Ganges, precisely assist one another. Emerging from this ground, exhausting everything from this ground—this matter is possessed by everyone. Just step forward and seek it out for me to see! The person who knows it nods in mutual recognition.

6.35

The talisman behind the elbow can respond to all affairs; the eye atop the crown naturally illuminates the solely emancipated body. Simultaneously gathering in and releasing, without inside and without outside. The great trichiliocosm emerges together with me; the three periods of time are naturally transcended. Vast and boundaryless, true illumination shines singly. At this time, images and reflections are all exhausted; what cannot be exhausted is the mysterious spirit beyond duality, untouched by arising and ceasing. Arriving at this ground, wide and open without reliance, untainted by conditioned dusts. At this time the realm intimately accords—box and lid, arrow points meeting—fitting precisely without error. The samādhi of playful ease then belongs to such a person's enjoyment and use. The crown eye and the elbow talisman are the single matter transmitted by patch-robed monks. Embody it completely ten out of ten!

6.36

One who has truly attained the patch-robed monk's grasp does not congeal and does not flow, is not pure and is not mixed. Moving through dry places, one turns the pivot; entering noisy times, one possesses the eye. Penetration and transformation intersect and thoroughly pervade, distinct and unobstructed. The moon follows the current; the wind flattens the grass. Brilliant and flowing, in the end they do not blend with me. Therefore it is said: 'Things of diverse kinds are not uniform, yet there is a path of transcendence.' In the season of responding, you are permitted to go forth like this. Atop the hundred grasses, gathering things up and returning—what should you do? Attaining the seat and draping the robe, look for yourself afterward.

6.37

This single matter is entirely without a place for learning. The essential point is to make body and mind empty and vast, equal in measure to the great void; then naturally in all places it is fully equipped. Luminous, it cannot be obscured; distinct, it cannot be mixed up. The moon follows the flowing water; the rain pursues the moving clouds. Utterly without such a mind, yet able to accomplish such matters. Only do not use the self to obstruct things, and naturally no things will obstruct you. Body and mind are of a single suchness; outside the body there is no remainder. Same substance and same function, one nature and one characteristic. Sense faculties and dusts directly transcend duality. Therefore it is said: 'The sage has no self, yet there is nowhere that is not the self.' Manifesting like this, clearly evident like this, one then knows that gathering in and letting go, one becomes a white ox on the open ground—even if driven, it will not leave.

6.38

A person of the Way's conduct and demeanor is like drifting clouds without intention, like the full moon responding universally, not detained by anything. Distinctly amid the myriad phenomena, preeminently standing out a head above the rest. Meeting and touching according to conditions, unstained and unmixed. Sharing the same function with the other, sharing the same substance with me. Words cannot transmit it; thought cannot reach it. Transcendent and beyond duality, subtly turning and abandoning effort. Wonderfully attained outside the estimations of mind, consciousness, and emotion. Functioning along the way, taking responsibility inside the house. Resolving birth and death, stepping beyond causes and conditions, true vision is spiritually vivid and originally without any dwelling. Therefore it is said: 'The mind pervading the ten directions is not in any place.'

6.39

Resting is just like the great ocean receiving the hundred rivers—none fail to arrive here as a single taste. Letting go into action is just like the swelling tide riding the swift wind—none fail to come along on this side, traveling together. Is this not reaching the bottom of the true source? Is this not attaining the great function manifesting before you? As for the house of patch-robed monks, responding to situations and adapting to changes, it is precisely like this. How could they ever set up mental thoughts and dusty conditions? You must embody this completely ten out of ten.

6.40

True purity leaves no trace; when merited effort is completely exhausted, at that time there is nothing to distinguish. Although there is nothing to distinguish, it is the entire body. The visual faculty does not see itself, nor can it obscure that. Radiance emerges from this place, pristine and universally illuminating. Reed blossoms mingle with snow; the bright moon washes autumn. Then there is the pivot of mutual interpenetration, the path of mutual reflection. Vigorously bring it forth to apply, and it is fitting. Nowhere outside can exclude me; nowhere inside can contain me. Standing out a head above the myriad phenomena, Juzhi's one-finger Chan was not exhausted by thirty years of use. Those who attain the subtlety are succinct; thus in silence they do not engage in speech. Those who attain the function are at ease; thus in responding they do not bump into things. Traveling in the Way and governing the spirit—the principle is originally like this. If suddenly amid it you attach a single hair or a single speck of dust, the central pivot will be obstructed and will not penetrate, the mechanism will be blocked and will not turn. The utterly empty place contains all existence; the place of all existence accords with a patch of emptiness. What further matter could there be?

6.41

The primordial origin is calm and without form, moving and having responses. You must see thoroughly through it: solitary and steep, exposed and manifest, singularly spiritual, clear and distinct, not yet bearing a single speck of external conditioning—this is called the season of solitary brightness. As for emerging and submerging together with the myriad phenomena, the place where the samādhis of the various dusts arise: pure as the ocean-seal, turning like a pearl in a bowl, distinctly pervading all, firmly set without disparate conditions—this can be called the season of solitary illumination without bias. The night moon comes out and the water is bright; the spring wind blows and the flowers bloom. Without relying on effort, naturally and completely equipped. Causes and conditions, fruits and retributions—amid them there is nothing extra. You must further know: when light and realm are both forgotten, what is it then?

6.42

The style of this rustic monk's house takes a single bowl as livelihood and points to the myriad phenomena as property. Marks of this and that can be like reflections in a mirror or the moon in water, blending without outside. First not establishing a mark of self, then thing after thing is not an external condition. The single characteristic is without characteristics; all together it is just this, with no other affair. Having completely understood and applied it ten out of ten like this, the path of the shuttle before the loom does not go through, and outside forms, sense faculties and dusts are both obliterated. At that time you must take a step back and return home; only then will you have a share of full realization. Clouds blend into a single color; snow covers the thousand mountains. Having penetrated through, look again—only then will you see the season of the entire body.

6.43

A person who walks the Way wonderfully transcends words and thoughts. Directly authentic, one naturally possesses a path of assent. Furthermore, do not attach to principles; be vastly and implicitly in accord. The moon flows through the waters; the wind moves through the great void. Naturally not colliding and not obstructing, transcending illumination and function. Although illuminating, there is no trace; although functioning, there are no tracks. Entering samādhi within the various dusts, gathering the myriad phenomena into a single seal. Severing leakages, without straying away—this is called a patch-robed monk who has finished the affair. You must also remember the road for returning home: the clouds exhausted, the sky is cold; autumn is sparse, the mountains are lean. This is the original dwelling place.

6.44

The original ground of a patch-robed monk is pure, vast, and grandly level, with no shore in sight. Within it, plowing the clouds and sowing the moon, distinct, empty, and open, for one's own enjoyment and use. Now emerging, now submerging, freely gathering in, freely releasing, directly causing the two modes of heaven and earth to share its generation and completion, and the myriad phenomena to share its arising and ceasing. Towering and lofty—from where does it come? Solitary and quiet—where does it go? It can be said that empty space cannot contain it, and the great earth cannot support it. Wonderfully existing, its form cannot be grasped; supremely empty, its name cannot be obtained. Existence and nonexistence, effort exhausted, the paths of commoner and sage severed—only then is there the season of arriving home. Exactly at such a time, what do you attain? Across ten thousand acres the cold eyes purely illuminate the snow; look carefully at the person plowing with effort within.

6.45

Wither and cool the body and mind; wash and polish the ground. Dust and confusion completely cleansed, a single realm is empty and bright. Water-moon and clear sky's radiance; cloud-mountains and autumn colors. Green and verdant, dark and deep, pure and tranquil, spiritual and vivid. Naturally illuminating the original root, not following the branches and leaves. At such a time and in such a place, transcending emotional conditioning, not limited by the number of kalpas, a single thought for ten thousand years, ultimately without change. From here emerging to respond: drifting clouds in an empty valley, movement and stillness at ease. Harmoniously entering the various dusts, constantly in samādhi. Therefore it is said: 'The nāga is constantly in concentration; there is no time when it is not in concentration.'

6.46

Distinctly and wonderfully existing, spiritually and solely illuminating. Grasping it, one cannot obtain it; one cannot name it existence. Polishing it, it does not disappear; one cannot name it nonexistence. Transcending the thinking mind, leaving the traces of images and reflections. Emptying that which exists is subtle; in the subtle place, one realizes what is spiritual; in the spiritual place, one calls it back. Mind-moon and body-clouds appear according to the direction. Directly without footprints, releasing radiance everywhere. Responding to things without contrariness, entering dust without being mixed. Penetrating through all obstructive realms, illuminating and breaking through the emptiness of all phenomena. In differentiated conditions, entering pure wisdom. Playfully sporting in samādhi—what is not permissible? You should truly embody and investigate it like this.

6.47

Walking on emptiness and forgetting conditions, penetrating illumination and stepping out of shadows. A single point, spiritually vivid, clearly luminous and unobscured. The mind of the three times severed, the conditions of the four great elements exhausted. Empty, pure, subtle, and bright, solely shining through vast kalpas. If a patch-robed monk can walk like this, he will not be bound by birth and death. At the very moment of walking, letting go of the hands over the cliff, there is nothing to grasp. The thread beneath the feet severed, taking a step that completely transcends. Buddhas and patriarchs all fail to reach my ground of true, subtle illumination. Calling it oneself—this is the season of inheriting the family business. As soon as you involve yourself in thinking, you again belong to cyclic turning. Empty and ever spiritual, pure and ever illuminating. Reed blossoms and the bright moon, pristine and blended together. Rowing the solitary boat inside, do not obstruct subtle adaptation. Exactly at this time, tell me: who is it that urgently applies their eyes to distinguish it?

6.48

Walking and practicing completely ten out of ten, without center or edges, cutting off corners, round and smoothly rolling, further you must be hollow and empty without dregs. The clear autumn moon is cold, its radiance washing the night. Brocade clouds and flowers are gorgeous; the atmosphere turns to spring. The mechanism is empty and penetrating; the wheel of function turns freely. All of these are matters of the patch-robed monk's own enjoyment and use. The various dusts do not obscure me; the myriad dharmas are just the mind's radiance. Step by step transcending directions, the bird's path is unobstructed. Distinctly responding to the world, the valley spirit does not grow weary. Within it, one cannot be mixed; this intention cannot be categorized. Lands and dusts, thoughts and moments, originally without differing characteristics, purely one true brightness. This is the season of returning and attaining the subtlety within function. If you gather up remaining conditions and singularly clarify yourself, washing without blemish, sweeping clean without flaws, solitary brightness solely illuminating, silently savoring the ultimate journey, wisdom reaching the center of the circle, matters separated outside the pass—this is the towering, single matter of non-arising and non-ceasing. You must step back and return home, leisurely discussing this talk before you succeed.

6.49

When a patch-robed monk roams the world, he should make his mind empty and vast, without a single speck of dust or dregs within; only then can he respond skillfully, unhindered by things, unbound by dharmas. Standing tall, emerging and submerging among them, he has a share of freedom. As soon as thought is involved, one becomes buried. If you embody it until it is thoroughly seasoned, you will naturally move the blade amid ten thousand mechanisms, neither colliding nor opposing—box and lid, arrow points meeting, fitting precisely without error. Knowing how to gather things up outwardly, severing leakages—this is called a person who can accomplish the family business. Yet returning from that place, white clouds enter the valley, the bright moon turns behind the mountain—there is a season of approaching the father and being of the same substance. Therefore it is said: 'Three people support a single staff and lie on a single bed.' Inside and outside are completely without trace, blending into a single whole, leisurely as clouds after rain, serene as water holding autumn. All virtuous ones, you must remember this single matter before you succeed.

6.50

Our family's single plot of land is clear and vast, lustrous and bright, distinctly illuminating itself. Empty, it has no conditions yet is numinous; quiescent, it has no thoughts yet is aware. It is the original place where buddhas and patriarchs appear and disappear, transform and manifest, are born and enter nirvāṇa. Wondrous indeed! Everyone possesses it, yet they are unable to polish it bright and clean; muddled and unaware, they let delusion cover wisdom and thus drift on. If in a single thought one illuminates and penetrates it, one transcends kalpas of dust. The brightness is pure and white: the three periods of time cannot transform it, and the four marks cannot alter it. Luminescent alone, serenely enduring, it bridges ancient and modern, unifying sameness and difference, serving as the mother of all creation and transformation. When the dynamic trigger is released from this place, the great thousand worlds simultaneously appear—all are merely shadowy phenomena within this. Truly realize and embody it!

6.51

The eye that responds to changes, the body that roams through the world—empty yet numinous, quiescent yet illuminating—stands a cut above amidst the myriad forms, not buried by dust and earth, not bound by the cocoon of conditions. Like the moon moving through the sky, or clouds emerging from the valleys, without mind it reflects, and without selfishness it acts, providing illumination and offering moisture. Fully ten tenths like this, thoroughly clean and liberated, unbound and free in its function: this is called 'departing from within the gate.' Furthermore, one must realize and embody the time of internally inheriting the family estate: taking emptiness as one's seat and quiescence as one's dwelling. Its wondrous presence is not 'existence,' for it does not take on conditions; its true illumination is not 'nonexistence,' for it does not fall into numbers. Shining alone in the center of the ring, serene and round beyond all measure, the spirit roams supremely, controlling the great realm without corners. Wherever the dynamic trigger is released, one naturally attains unhindered, versatile enjoyment.

6.52

When a person of the Way roams through the world responding to conditions, they are unconstrained and untethered, like clouds forming rain, like the moon following the flowing stream, like an orchid residing in seclusion, like spring abiding in things. Their actions are without mind, yet their responses are accurate. This is the conduct of a person who has settled the great matter. Even more, one must turn back on the path and approach the father, setting foot in a secure place and placing one's body in purity. Standing solitary without a companion, penetrating the single path on the other side of Bhīṣmagarjitasvararāja, only then can one exhaust the center and edges, penetrate from the summit to the bottom, and have freedom in killing and reviving, rolling up and rolling out.

6.53

Vast, it is naturally numinous; pure, it is naturally bright. It can be all-pervading without the effort of grasping at illumination; it can be thoroughly distinct without the burden of conditioned thinking. It emerges beyond existence and nonexistence, transcending thoughts of conceivability. It is only attuned to through personal realization, not obtained from others. This is the matter continuously passed down from buddha to buddha, patriarch to patriarch, leaf to leaf, flower to flower. Responding in time without grasping at marks, illuminating in place without involving conditions, one can then be grand and unobscured. It is just this family style, ready-made everywhere, for you to take up as you will.

6.54

Attaining the skin and attaining the marrow, stages and gradations were forcibly established; stitching together leaves and stringing flowers, transmission and spreading were thereby brought about. A patch-robed monk sees right through this and faults the ancestral master for coming from the West to do so many things—producing branches outside of nodes, putting grit into the eyes. Moreover, there are those fellows who poke their heads out to perform endless tricks, notching the boat to find the sword; when will they ever attain attunement? Right now, directly let everything drop away; let everything be thoroughly exhausted, leaving not a hair, not a grain, not a speck behind. Once cleanly tidied away, there will naturally be a place of penetrating liberation. Round, unified, and bright, numinously penetrating and wondrous, you will know then that fundamentally nothing is lacking, nothing is left over. Words cannot reach it; seeing and hearing cannot attain it. It is like the rhinoceros horn communicating [with light], like the clam conceiving a pearl. This single stretch of clear radiance is one's own true ground of wandering and practice. Apply your energy to realize and embody it!

First 54 of 62 passages. Read on

Linked texts (1)

宏智禪師廣錄 — Classical Chinese