佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 2

English (machine translation) 2

Language: English

2.1

The pointer says: The great dynamic function of the Buddhas and ancestral masters is entirely within one's grasp; the lifelines of humans and devas all obey one's call. An ordinary phrase or single word startles the crowd and stirs the assembly; a single dynamic action or circumstance breaks locks and smashes cangues. It receives those of transcendent capacity and brings up transcendent affairs. Tell me, who has ever been like this? Does anyone know where this lands? Try to cite it and see.

2.2

[11] Case: Huangbo instructed the assembly, saying (Beating the water hinders the basin. Swallowed down whole in a single gulp. The world's patch-robed monks cannot leap out.), 'All of you people are dreg-slurpers! Walking on pilgrimage like this (Spoken accurately. Treading through straw sandals. Upending heaven and shaking the earth.), where can there be a today? (What use is "today"? It certainly startles the crowd and stirs the assembly.) Do you even know that in all the great empire of Tang there are no Chan masters?' (This old monk does not understand. Swallowed down whole in a single gulp. An arhat of Yunju indeed.) At that time a monk came forward and said, 'What about those in various quarters who gather disciples and lead assemblies?' (Good to give him a squeeze. Facing the dynamic function, one cannot help but do so.) Huangbo said, 'I do not say there is no Chan, only that there are no masters.' (Straightaway he cannot explain it away. Tiles crumble and ice melts. A dragon's head and snake's tail fellow.)

2.3

Huangbo stood seven feet tall, with a round pearl-like bump on his forehead. By nature he understood Chan. Formerly, when the master was traveling in Tiantai, he met a monk along the road and chatted and laughed with him like an old acquaintance. Looking at him closely, his gaze pierced people, and he possessed exceptional features. They traveled together. It happened that the mountain stream swelled suddenly, so Huangbo planted his staff, took off his conical hat, and stopped. The monk urged the master to cross together with him. The master said, "Please cross first." The monk immediately hitched up his robes and stepped across the waves as if walking on level ground. Looking back, he called out, "Come across, come across!" The master scolded him, "You self-liberated fellow! Had I known earlier you worked such wizardry, I would have cut off your shins!" The monk sighed and said, "A true vessel of the Great Vehicle!" As soon as he finished speaking, he disappeared.

When he first arrived at Baizhang, Baizhang asked, "Towering and imposing, where have you come from?"
Huangbo said, "Towering and imposing, I have come from within the mountains."
Baizhang asked, "What have you come for?"
Huangbo said, "Not for any other business."
Baizhang valued him deeply as an exceptional vessel.

The next day he took his leave of Baizhang. Baizhang asked, "Where are you going?"
Huangbo said, "I am going to Jiangxi to pay homage to Master Ma."
Baizhang said, "Master Ma has already passed away."
Do you say that when Huangbo asked like this, did he ask knowing, or did he ask not knowing? Yet he said, "I had set out especially to pay homage, but my blessings and conditions are shallow and thin; I missed seeing him. I wonder, what sayings did he usually have? I wish to hear them cited."

Baizhang then cited the circumstances of his own second visit to Mazu: "When the Patriarch saw me coming, he held up his whisk. I asked, 'Is this in accordance with this function, or detached from this function?' The Patriarch then hung the whisk on the corner of the meditation couch. After a long silence, the Patriarch asked me back, 'Later on, when you flap your two lips, how will you act for people?' I took the whisk and held it up. The Patriarch said, 'Is this in accordance with this function, or detached from this function?' I hung the whisk back on the corner of the meditation couch. The Patriarch gave a shout with stirring majesty. At that moment, I was deafened for three straight days." Huangbo involuntarily shuddered and stuck out his tongue. Baizhang said, "Will you not succeed Master Ma in the future?"
Huangbo said, "Not so. Today, because of the master's citation, I have been able to see Master Ma's great dynamic function. If I were to succeed Master Ma, in the days ahead I would ruin my descendants."
Baizhang said, "Just so, just so! 'One whose view equals his master diminishes his master's virtue by half; only one whose wisdom exceeds his master is qualified to transmit the teaching.' Today, your insight truly possesses the capacity to surpass the master."

Tell me, everyone, when Huangbo asked like that, did he ask intentionally while already knowing, or did he ask without knowing? You must personally witness where this father and son walked before you can understand.

Another day, Huangbo asked Baizhang, "How does one indicate the ancestral lineage's vehicle from above?" Baizhang remained silent for a long time. Huangbo said, "You must not cause later people to cut it off completely." Baizhang said, "I had thought you were a real person." Thereupon he got up and entered his abbot's quarters.

Huangbo and Prime Minister Pei were friends beyond the mundane world. When Pei governed Wanling, he invited the master to the commandery and presented him with a treatise he had written. The master took it and placed it on his seat without browsing through it in the least. After a long silence he said, "Do you understand?"
Pei said, "I do not understand."
Huangbo said, "If you could understand directly like this, it would still amount to something. But if it is expressed in paper and ink, where would our lineage be?"
Pei then praised him with a verse:
"Ever since the Great Being transmitted the mind-seal, / A forehead with a round pearl and a seven-foot body. / Hanging up his staff for ten years, he roosted beside the Shu waters; / Today, floating his bowl, he crosses the banks of the Zhang. / Eight thousand dragons and elephants follow his lofty strides; / Ten thousand miles of fragrant flowers forge sublime causes. / I intend to serve the master as a disciple, / But do not know to whom he will entrust the Dharma."
The master showed no sign of pleasure and said:
"The mind is like a boundless ocean; / The mouth spouts red lotuses to nourish this sickly body. / Having naturally a pair of hands free of affairs, / I have never bowed in greeting to an ordinary man."

After Huangbo took up residence [as abbot], his dynamic sharpness was steep and sheer. Linji was in his assembly, and Muzhou was the head monk. Muzhou asked him, "Senior monk, you have been here a long time; why do you not go ask a question?"
Linji said, "What question would you have me ask?"
The head monk said, "Why do you not go ask, 'What is the clear and authentic meaning of the Buddha Dharma?'"
Linji went to ask, and three times he was beaten and driven out. Linji took leave of the head monk, saying, "Thanks to the head monk directing me three times to ask, I was beaten and driven out. I fear my conditions do not lie here, so I will temporarily leave the mountain."
The head monk said, "If you leave, you must bid farewell to the Venerable before you can go."
The head monk went ahead of time and told Huangbo, "The senior monk who asked the questions is very rare and hard to come by. Why does the Venerable not carve and polish him into a tree that can provide shade for later people?"
Huangbo said, "I already know."
When Linji came to take his leave, Huangbo said, "You must not go elsewhere; go straight to the riverbank at Gao'an and see Dayu."
Linji reached Dayu and cited the preceding events, saying, "I do not know where my fault was."
Dayu said, "Huangbo had such a grandmotherly heart, exhausting himself for you, yet you still speak of having a fault or having no fault!"
Linji was suddenly greatly enlightened and said, "Huangbo's Buddha Dharma is not much after all!"
Dayu grabbed him and said, "Just now you said you had a fault, and now you say the Buddha Dharma is not much after all!"
Linji gave Dayu three punches under the ribs. Dayu pushed him away and said, "Your teacher is Huangbo; it has nothing to do with me."

One day Huangbo addressed the assembly, saying, "Master Niutou Rong spoke horizontally and spoke vertically, yet he still did not know the pivotal mechanism of the transcendent." At that time, under Shitou and Mazu, Chan practitioners were bustling about everywhere, speaking of Chan and speaking of the Dao. Why did he nevertheless speak like this? Therefore he addressed the assembly, saying, "All of you people are swillers of dregs! Making an itinerant pilgrimage like this will only bring ridicule from others. Wherever you see eight hundred or a thousand people, you just go there; you must not merely pursue the lively crowd. If it were altogether as easy as you take it to be, where would there still be today's matter?" In Tang times people liked to scold others by calling them "swillers of dregs." Most people call this Huangbo scolding people, but those with the eye naturally see where he lands. His general intent was to cast a hook to fish for someone to ask. Among the assembly there was a Chan practitioner who did not begrudge his body or life, who knew how to step forward from the assembly and ask him, "What about those in various quarters who direct followers and lead assemblies?" This was indeed a pressing challenge! This old fellow was truly unable to explain it away, so he let out a leak, saying, "I do not say there is no Chan, only that there are no masters."

Tell me, what was the meaning in this? His lineage's ancestral principle from above at times seizes, at times releases, at times kills, at times gives life, at times lets go, and at times pulls back. I venture to ask everyone: what is a master in Chan? For this mountain monk to speak like this has already buried my head and all! Where are everyone's nostrils? [After a long silence, he said:] Pierced through!

2.4

Chilly and stern, the solitary wind does not boast of itself; (He still does not know it exists. He too is a Luohan of Yunju.) / Residing peacefully across the realm, he determines dragons and snakes. (He also needs to distinguish black from white; he also needs to make black and white clear.) / The Son of Heaven of Dazhong once lightly touched it, (Why speak of the Son of Heaven of Dazhong? No matter how great, he still had to rise from the earth. Even higher, what can be done about heaven?) / And three times in person met with the baring of claws and fangs. (What is the dead toad using its big mouth for? Not yet extraordinary; still a petty contrivance. If the great dynamic function appears before us, the worlds of the ten directions and even the mountains, rivers, and great earth all beg for their lives from Huangbo.)

2.5

This verse of Xuedou is very much like a portrait eulogy for Huangbo, yet people must not understand it as a portrait eulogy. Beneath his lines there is an escape route. It clearly states: "Chilly and stern, the solitary wind does not boast of itself." When Huangbo addressed the assembly like this, he was not competing with others, nor belittling others, nor bragging and boasting of himself. If you understand this message, you are entirely free to stride horizontally and vertically in all directions: at times standing alone atop a solitary peak, at times lying across the bustling marketplace. How could one narrow-mindedly guard a single corner? The more you try to abandon it, the less it stops; the more you seek it, the less you see it; the more you take it on, the deeper you sink. The ancients said, "Without wings, one flies across the world; without a name, it is transmitted throughout the realm." Completely cast aside the principles of the Buddha Dharma, the mysterious, and the extraordinary; drop them all at once, and it will amount to something. Naturally, wherever you touch, it is ready-made.

Xuedou said, "Residing peacefully across the realm, he determines dragons and snakes." Whether a dragon or a snake, examine and test them as soon as they enter the gate; this is called the eye that determines dragons and snakes, the dynamic function that seizes tigers and rhinos. Xuedou also said, "In determining dragons and snakes, how upright is the eye! In seizing tigers and rhinos, the dynamic function is incomplete." He also said, "The Son of Heaven of Dazhong once lightly touched it, / And three times in person met with the baring of claws and fangs." Could it be that Huangbo only now possessed such rough hands and feet? He had always been like this.

As for the Son of Heaven of Dazhong, it is recorded in the Continued Biographies of Xiantong: Emperor Xianzong of the Tang had two sons, one named Muzong, and the other named Xuanzong. Xuanzong was Emperor Dazhong. At age thirteen, he was young and clever, and always loved to sit cross-legged. During Muzong's reign, after the morning court session ended, Dazhong playfully climbed onto the imperial dragon bed and made a gesture of bowing to the assembled ministers. When a high minister saw this, he considered it a mental ailment and reported it to Muzong. When Muzong saw him, he stroked him, sighed, and said, "My younger brother is truly an outstanding descendant of our clan!" Muzong passed away in the fourth year of Changqing. He had three sons: Jingzong, Wenzong, and Wuzong. Jingzong succeeded to his father's throne; after two years, palace officials conspired to replace him. Wenzong succeeded to the throne for fourteen years. When Wuzong ascended the throne, he regularly called Dazhong a foolish slave. One day Wuzong, resenting Dazhong's having playfully climbed onto his father's throne in the past, beat him to death and threw him into the back garden, pouring foul waste over him, but he revived. Thereupon he fled in secret to the assembly of Venerable Xiangyan Xian. Later, he was tonsured as a novice, but had not yet received the full precepts. Later, traveling on pilgrimage with Zhixian, they reached Mount Lu. Zhixian inscribed a poem on a waterfall, saying, "Piercing clouds and penetrating rock without begrudging toil, / Only from afar does one know its source is high." Xian recited these two lines and pondered for a long time, wishing to fish for his train of words to see how he would respond. Dazhong continued, "How could a ravine stream hold it back? / In the end it returns to the great sea to make waves." Only then did Xian realize he was no ordinary person, and silently noted it. Later, when he went to Yanguan's assembly, he invited Dazhong to serve as scribe. Huangbo was serving as head monk there.

One day, while Huangbo was paying homage to the Buddha, Dazhong saw him and asked, "Not seeking from the Buddha, not seeking from the Dharma, not seeking from the Saṅgha, what do you seek in paying homage?"
Huangbo said, "Not seeking from the Buddha, not seeking from the Dharma, not seeking from the Saṅgha—I always pay homage like this."
Dazhong said, "What is the use of paying homage?"
Huangbo immediately slapped him. Dazhong said, "Too coarse!"
Huangbo said, "What place is this to speak of coarse or refined?" and Huangbo slapped him again.

Later, when Dazhong succeeded to the imperial throne, he bestowed upon Huangbo the title "Coarse-Behaving Śramaṇa." When Prime Minister Pei was at court, he later memorialized to have him bestowed the title "Chan Master Duanji." Xuedou knew the lineage origin of this, so he applied it skillfully. Nowadays, is there anyone who bares claws and fangs? [He struck.]

2.6

The Pointer says:
The sword that kills and the sword that brings life were the customs of high antiquity, and are also the pivotal essentials of the present day. If one speaks of killing, not a hair is harmed; if one speaks of giving life, body and life are lost. Therefore it is said: "The transcendent path is not transmitted by the thousand sages; students wear out their bodies like monkeys grasping at shadows." Tell me, since it is not transmitted, why then are there so many entangling gong'an? Those with the eye, try to say.

2.7

Case 12: A monk asked Dongshan, "What is the Buddha?" (An iron caltrop; the patch-robed monks of the world cannot leap out.)
Dongshan said, "Three pounds of hemp." (Clearly so! A broken straw sandal. Pointing at the locust tree to revile the willow. Serving as a steelyard weight.)

2.8

How many people have misunderstood this gong'an! It is truly difficult to chew on; there is nowhere for you to sink your teeth in. Why? Because it is insipid and without flavor. How many answers did the ancients give to questions about the Buddha! One said, 'The one inside the hall.' Another said, 'The thirty-two marks.' Another said, 'A staff of bamboo shoots from Mount Zhanglin.' But when it came to Dongshan, he said instead, 'Three pounds of hemp.' This indeed cuts off the tongues of the ancients! Many people take it as an ordinary conversational remark, saying, 'Dongshan was in the storehouse weighing hemp at that time, and when a monk asked him, he answered like that.' Some say, 'Dongshan was asked about the east and answered about the west.' Some say, 'You are the Buddha, yet you go seeking a Buddha, so Dongshan gave a roundabout answer.' Even worse, there is a brand of corpses who say, 'Just these three pounds of hemp are the Buddha!' This has no connection at all! If you go searching under Dongshan's words in this way, even if you investigate until Maitreya Buddha's descent, you will not have even dreamed of it. Why? Words are merely vessels to carry the Way. Not knowing the ancient's intention, you just seek within the phrasing—what hold is there in that? Have you not seen the ancient who said: 'The Way is fundamentally wordless; through words the Way is revealed. When the Way is perceived, words are forgotten.' If you reach this realm, you must return the foremost dynamic function to me before you can succeed! Just these three pounds of hemp are just like the great road to Chang'an: lifting a foot or setting down a foot, nowhere is it not [the road]. This case is the same as Yunmen's 'sesame cake' case; it is indeed hard to understand. My late teacher Wuzu said in verse:
'Selling cheap the fellow carrying a board,
Throwing in three pounds of hemp on the scale.
Dead stock for a thousand or a hundred years,
Nowhere to place his whole body.'
If only you can sweep away feelings, defilements, thoughts, and concepts, along with calculations of gain and loss, right and wrong, making them utterly clean all at once, you will naturally come to understand.

2.9

"The golden crow is swift; (The left eye is half a pound. A fast hawk cannot catch up. Stretching out his body in the flames.)
The jade rabbit is rapid. (The right eye is eight ounces. Making a nest in Heng'e's palace.)
How could a skillful response ever touch upon things lightly? (Like a bell when struck; like a valley receiving an echo.)
Displaying matters and matching dynamic sharpness, he meets Dongshan; (Mistaking the mark on the steelyard. Naturally it is the Ācārya who sees it this way.)
A lame turtle and a blind tortoise enter an empty valley. (He admits it and walks away. In the same pit there is no different dirt. Who killed your hawk?)
Clustered flowers, clustered brocade— (A two-fold gong'an. Bound over on a single indictment. Just the same as before.)
Bamboo of the south, wood of the north! (A three-fold one too. A four-fold gong'an. Adding a head on top of a head.)
One recalls Minister Lu of Changqing, (A lazy boy pulls a companion along. This mountain monk is also like this; Xuedou is also like this.)
Who understood that one ought to laugh and not weep. (Haha! Blue sky! In the middle of the night, adding further grievance and bitter pain.)
Bah!" (Bah! What is that? Striked at once!)

2.10

Xuedou saw through thoroughly; therefore, right from the start he said: 'The golden crow is swift; the jade rabbit is rapid.' This is not two different things from Dongshan's answer, 'Three pounds of hemp.' The sun rises and the moon sets; day after day it is like this. Many people form emotional interpretations, continually saying, 'The golden crow is the left eye; the jade rabbit is the right eye.' As soon as they are asked, they glare with wide eyes and say, 'What connection is there right here?' If understood like this, Bodhidharma's entire lineage is swept cleanly away. Therefore it is said: 'Lowering a hook into the four seas, one only angles for ferocious dragons; transcendent, mysterious dynamic function seeks out an intimate friend.' Xuedou was a man who had stepped outside the realm of the aggregates; how could he hold such a view? Xuedou gently knocked at the barrier and struck the rhythm, revealing just a little bit for you to see, and then added a footnote, saying: 'How could a skillful response ever touch upon things lightly?' Dongshan did not repay this monk lightly. Like a bell when struck, like a valley receiving an echo, responding in accordance with great or small, he dared not touch upon it lightly. In a single moment, Xuedou brought forth his heart, liver, and five viscera, presenting them to all of you. Xuedou had a verse on 'Quiet and Skillfully Responding':
'Presenting face to face does not depend on many turns;
Dragons and snakes are easy to tell apart, but a patch-robed monk is hard to deceive.
The shadow of the golden hammer moves; the light of the precious sword is cold.
It comes straight down! Hurry, look closely!'
When Dongshan first studied under Yunmen, Yunmen asked, 'Where have you come from recently?' Dongshan said, 'Zhadu.' Yunmen said, 'Where did you spend the summer retreat?' Dongshan said, 'Baoci in Hunan.' Yunmen said, 'When did you leave there?' Dongshan said, 'August twenty-fifth.' Yunmen said, 'I spare you three rounds of blows with the staff; go to the hall.' In the evening, the Master entered Yunmen's room, approached him, and asked, 'Where was my fault?' Yunmen said, 'You rice bag! Passing through Jiangxi and Hunan just like that!' At these words, Dongshan had a great, thorough awakening. He then said, 'Someday I will go to a place where there is no human smoke, set up a small hut, not store a single grain of rice, not plant a single stalk of greens, and constantly receive and host the great kalyāṇamitras coming and going from the ten directions. I will pull out all their nails and extract their wedges for them, take off their greasy caps, strip off their smelly robes, and make each one thoroughly clear and free, acting as someone with nothing to do.' Yunmen said, 'Your body is as big as a coconut, yet you can open such a big mouth!' Dongshan then bowed and took his leave. His awakening at that time was completely unconstrained and liberated; how could it be compared to small views? Later, when he appeared in the world and responded to dynamic function with the words 'Three pounds of hemp,' people in various quarters merely took it as an answer to the question about the Buddha: 'What is the Buddha? A staff of bamboo shoots from Mount Zhanglin,' or 'The Bingding Boy comes seeking fire.' They only make up conceptual theories about the Buddha. Xuedou said: 'If you interpret it as displaying matters and matching dynamic sharpness in this way, it is just like a lame turtle and a blind tortoise entering an empty valley—in what year or month will they find a way out?' 'Clustered flowers, clustered brocade'—this refers to a monk asking Venerable Zhimon, 'What was Dongshan's meaning in saying "Three pounds of hemp"?' Zhimon said, 'Clustered flowers, clustered brocade.' 'Do you understand?' The monk said, 'I do not.' Zhimon said, 'Bamboo of the south, wood of the north!' The monk returned and brought it up to Dongshan. Dongshan said, 'I will not speak for you; I will speak for the great assembly.' He then ascended the hall and said, 'Words do not display matters; speech does not match dynamic sharpness. Those who accept words are lost; those who stagnate in phrases are deluded.' Xuedou broke through people's emotional views, deliberately citing them in a single string in his verse. Yet later people turned around and generated emotional views, saying, 'Hemp is the mourning garment; bamboo is the mourning staff. Therefore it is said: "Bamboo of the south, wood of the north." "Clustered flowers, clustered brocade" refers to the flowers and grass painted on the front of a coffin.' Do you have any sense of shame? Little do they realize that 'Bamboo of the south, wood of the north' and 'Three pounds of hemp' are just like calling one's father 'Dad' and 'Papa.' When the ancients gave a turning word, their intention was definitely not like that. It is just like Xuedou saying, 'The golden crow is swift; the jade rabbit is rapid.' It is naturally of the same broad expansiveness. It is just that gold and brass are hard to distinguish, and fish and Lu get mixed up. Xuedou's grandmotherly heart was earnest; wishing to shatter your doubt, he further cited a dead fellow: 'One recalls Minister Lu of Changqing, / Who understood that one ought to laugh and not weep.' As for his verse, it was already completed all at once in the first three lines. Let me ask you: it was altogether just three pounds of hemp, yet why did Xuedou have so many entangling vines? It was simply because his compassion was exceedingly great; therefore he was like this. Minister Lu Gen served as the Surveillance Commissioner of Xuanzhou and studied under Nanquan. When Nanquan passed away, Gen heard the mourning, entered the monastery to offer sacrifice, and burst into hearty laughter. The director of the cloister said, 'The late master had the bond of master and disciple with you, Minister. Why do you not weep?' The Minister said, 'If you can say a word, I will weep.' The director was speechless. Gen wailed loudly and said, 'Blue sky, blue sky! The late master has departed far away!' Later Changqing heard of this and said, 'The Minister should have laughed, not wept.' Xuedou borrowed this general meaning to say: If you make such emotional interpretations, it is truly laughable, not something to weep over. Though that is so, the very last word is indeed awkward and difficult. He further said: 'Bah!' Can Xuedou wash himself clean of it?

2.11

The pointer says: Clouds congeal over the vast wilderness; nothing in the entire realm is concealed. Snow covers the reed blossoms; traces and signs are hard to discern. Where it is cold, it is cold as ice and snow; where it is minute, it is fine as powdered rice. In the deep recesses, even the Buddha's eye can hardly peer; in the dense secrecy, Māra and outsiders cannot fathom it. Raising one and clarifying three is set aside for the moment; when sitting and cutting off the tongues of everyone under heaven, how do you speak? Tell me, whose affair is this? Try to bring it up and see.

2.12

Case 13: A monk asked Baling, "What is the school of Deva?" (A white horse entering reed blossoms. What point are you making?)
Baling said, "A silver bowl filled with snow." (Choking off your throat. Broken into seven flowers and eight splits.)

2.13

Regarding this gong'an, many people misunderstand it, saying, "This is an externalist school; what connection does it have?" The fifteenth ancestor, Venerable Deva, was also originally numbered among the externalists. Because he went to see the fourteenth ancestor, the Venerable Nāgārjuna, who cast a needle into a bowl, Nāgārjuna deeply valued his capacity, transmitted to him the Buddha Mind-Sect, and he succeeded as the fifteenth ancestor. The *Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra* states, "The Buddha's word takes mind as its source and gatelessness as its Dharma-gate." Master Ma said, "Whenever there are words and phrases, it is the Deva school; it takes only this as primary." You all are guests beneath the patch-robed monks' gate—have you ever thoroughly investigated the Deva school? If you have thoroughly investigated it, the ninety-six kinds of externalists in the Western Heavens are subdued by you all at once. If you have not thoroughly investigated it, you will inevitably have to wear your kaṣāya inside-out and depart. Now tell me: what is it like? If you say words and phrases are it, that has no connection. If you say words and phrases are not it, that also has no connection. Now tell me, where did Master Ma's meaning lie? Later, Yunmen said, "Master Ma had good words, but nobody asked [about them]." A monk then asked, "What is the Deva school?" Yunmen said, "Out of ninety-six kinds, you are the lowest kind." Formerly, a monk took leave of Dasui. Dasui asked, "Where are you going?" The monk said, "I am going to pay homage to Samantabhadra." Dasui raised his fly-whisk and said, "Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra are both right here." The monk drew a circle, held it up with his hands to present it to the Master, and then threw it behind his back. Dasui said, "Attendant, bring a packet of tea and give it to this monk to depart." Yunmen gave an alternate phrase: "In the Western Heavens, your head would be lopped off and your arms severed; here, you take yourself out!" He also said, "The red banner is in my hands!" In the Western Heavens, the victor in debate held a red banner in his hand, while the defeated wore their kaṣāyas inside-out and entered and exited by the side gate. When they wished to debate in the Western Heavens, they had to receive the king's decree, sound the bell, and strike the drum in a great monastery; only then would they debate. Thereupon, the externalists sealed off the bells and drums in the sangha monasteries to purge them. At that time, Venerable Kāṇadeva knew the Buddha-Dharma was in distress. He then exercised supernormal powers, climbed the tower, and struck the bell, wishing to expel the externalists. The externalists then asked, "Who is sounding the bell up in the tower?" Deva said, "The heavens." The externalists asked, "Who are the heavens?" Deva said, "I." The externalists asked, "Who am I?" Deva said, "I am you." The externalists asked, "Who are you?" Deva said, "You are a dog." The externalists asked, "Who is the dog?" Deva said, "The dog is you." Seven times like this, the externalists realized they were defeated. Subdued in debate, they then opened the gates themselves. Thereupon Deva came down from the tower holding the red banner. The externalist said, "Why do you not come behind?" Deva said, "Why do you not go ahead?" The externalist said, "You are a base person." Deva said, "You are a good person." Exchanging inquiries back and forth in this way, Deva broke them down with unobstructed eloquence, and because of this they submitted. At that time, Venerable Deva held the red banner in hand; those defeated in debate stood beneath the banner. The externalists all prepared to lop off their heads to apologize for their fault. At that time, Deva stopped them, only transforming them so that they shaved their hair and entered the Path. Thereupon the Deva school greatly flourished. Later, Xuedou used this affair to eulogize it. Among the assembly, Baling was called "Jian the Chatterbox." He often carried his sitting mat on itinerant pilgrimage. He had deeply attained the great matter under Yunmen's heels; hence he was extraordinary. Later he came into the world as a Dharma successor of Yunmen, and first resided at Baling in Yuezhou. He never composed a letter of Dharma inheritance; he only presented three turning phrases up to Yunmen: "What is the Way?" "A clear-eyed person falls into a well." "What is the blow-on-a-hair sword?" "Branches of coral support the moon." "What is the Deva school?" "Snow piled in a silver bowl." Yunmen said, "On the future memorial day of this old monk, just bring up these three turning phrases; that will be enough to repay the kindness." Thereafter, as expected, they did not prepare a memorial day feast, but in accordance with Yunmen's instruction, they only brought up these three turning phrases. However, when various quarters answered this phrase, they mostly answered in terms of concrete matters; only Baling spoke thus, which is exceedingly solitary and towering, certainly hard to understand, yet does not reveal the slightest sharp point. Subject to attack from all eight sides, every step has a path of escape and the dynamic to trap a tiger, stripping away human emotional views. If one discusses the affair on the side of uniform whiteness, when one arrives here, one must have personally penetrated and shed it; but then one must encounter the right person to succeed. Therefore it is said: "Daowu's dancing with a tablet, fellow travelers understand; / Shigong's drawing the bow, adepts know. / If this principle is not sealed and conferred by a master, / By what Dharma could one aim to speak of profound discourse?" Xuedou subsequently brought it up for others; thus he praised it in verse.

2.14

Old Xinkai (Easy to find a thousand troops, hard to find one general. A chatterbox of a master!) / Is genuinely distinctive. (What is the genuine? A move atop the crown. Have you even dreamed of it?) / / He is capable of saying, "Snow piled in a silver bowl." (A shrimp cannot jump out of a bushel. A double gong'an. How many people lose their bodies and forfeit their lives?) / The ninety-six should know for themselves. (Including his own body inside. Does the ācārya know yet? Buried together in one pit.) / / If they do not know, then ask the moon at the edge of the sky. (Far, far away! Take yourself out. Pleading empty space.) / / The Deva school, the Deva school! (What did he say? The mountain monk is right here. A mouth full of frost.) / / Beneath the red banner, a pure wind arises. (Shattered to a hundred bits. Hitting, he says: Already hit! You go lop off your head and sever your arms, and then come back, and I will say a phrase for you.)

2.15

"Old Xinkai"—Xinkai was the name of a cloister. "Is genuinely distinctive"—Xuedou had good reason for his praise. And tell me, where is the distinctive place? All words are Buddha-Dharma. When this mountain monk speaks like this, what kind of principle does it amount to? Xuedou slightly revealed a bit of his meaning, saying: It is just genuinely distinctive. Later he opened it up, saying: "He is capable of saying, 'Snow piled in a silver bowl.'" He further added a footnote for you: "The ninety-six should know for themselves." Only when they are defeated in debate will it do! If you do not know, go ask the moon at the edge of the sky. An ancient once answered this topic saying, "Ask the moon at the edge of the sky." When Xuedou finished eulogizing, there had to be an active path at the very end—phrases of the lion springing backward. He again brought it up to say to you: "The Deva school, the Deva school! Beneath the red banner, a pure wind arises." Baling said, "Snow piled in a silver bowl." Why did Xuedou instead say, "Beneath the red banner, a pure wind arises"? Do you know that Xuedou kills people without using a knife?

2.16

[14] Case: A monk asked Yunmen, "What is the teaching of a whole lifetime?" (Unresolved straight through to the present. The lecturer does not understand. In a nest of entangling vines.) / Yunmen said, "An exposition facing one." (An iron hammer without a hole. Shattered to pieces. A rat gnawing raw ginger.)

2.17

Followers of Chan, if you wish to know the meaning of Buddha-nature, you should observe the causes and conditions of the seasons. This is called a special transmission outside the teachings, transmitting solely the mind-seal, pointing directly to the human mind, seeing one's nature and becoming a Buddha. Old Śākyamuni dwelt in the world for forty-nine years, in three hundred and sixty assemblies, expounding the sudden and gradual, provisional and real; this is called the teaching of a whole lifetime. This monk picked it up and asked, "What is the teaching of a whole lifetime?" Why did Yunmen not give him a discursive explanation, but instead said to him, "An exposition facing one"? In his ordinary phrases, Yunmen always included three phrases: the phrase that covers heaven and earth, the phrase that follows the waves and pursues the currents, and the phrase that cuts off the myriad streams. Letting go and gathering in, he was naturally extraordinary, like severing nails and cleaving iron, leaving people with no way to interpret or conjecture about it. The great Tripiṭaka teaching requires only three characters; on all sides, there is nowhere for you to bore into. Many people misunderstand it, instead saying, "It was spoken facing the circumstances of a single time; hence the statement." Others say, "The dense array of myriad phenomena are all sealed by the One Dharma; this is called 'an exposition facing one.'" There are still others who say, "It simply speaks of that One Dharma; what connection does it have?" Not only do they fail to understand, they enter hell as swiftly as an arrow. Little do they know that the ancients' intention was not like this. Therefore it is said: "Grinding one's bones and shattering one's body is not enough to repay; / one phrase clearly understood surpasses hundreds of millions." Truly extraordinary! "What is the teaching of a whole lifetime?" It only requires saying, "An exposition facing one." If you directly grasp it here, you can return home and sit securely. If you cannot grasp it, then wait humbly for disposition.

2.18

An exposition facing one (Lively and flapping. The words are still in the ears. Truly solitary and towering.) / Is exceedingly solitary and absolute. (A bystander has a share. Far more than standing like a wall of a thousand fathoms! How could there be such a thing?) / / Driving the wedge again into an iron hammer without a hole. (Misunderstanding famous phrases! That old fellow Yunmen is also washing dirt clods in the mud. Xuedou is also embellishing.) / / Laughing ha-ha beneath the jambu tree: (Four prefectures and eight counties have never seen this fellow! Only fellow travelers can know. How many people can know?) / / Last night, the black dragon's horn snapped. (Not only was the black dragon's horn snapped. Who saw it come about? Is there any proof? Mute!) / Distinctive, distinctive! (Well-deserved praise. It takes Xuedou to manage it. What is distinctive about it?) / / The old man of Shaoyang obtained one half of the piece. (Where is it? There is still another half piece—entrusted to whom? Deshan and Linji would also have to fall back three thousand [li]. What about that other half piece? He then strikes!)

2.19

"An exposition facing one is exceedingly solitary and absolute"—Xuedou could not praise it enough. These words stand uniquely independent, solitary and precipitous, shining before and cutting off behind, just like a ten-thousand-fathom cliff, or like an army of millions where you find no place to enter. It is just exceedingly solitary and precipitous. An ancient said, "If you want intimacy, do not bring a question to question. The question is at the place of the answer; the answer is on the tip of the question." It is downright solitary and towering. And tell me, where is the solitary and towering place? Nobody in the world can do anything about it. This monk was also an adept, which is why he asked like this; Yunmen also answered thus, very much like driving a wedge again into an iron hammer without a hole. Xuedou's use of literary language was extremely skillful. "Laughing ha-ha beneath the jambu tree"—the *Sūtra on the Arising of the World* says: South of Mount Meru, the vaḍūrya tree reflects all green onto Jambudvīpa. This continent is named after the great tree, called Jambudvīpa. The tree is seven thousand yojanas in breadth and length. Beneath it is a mound of Jāmbūnada gold twenty yojanas high; because the gold is produced from beneath the tree, it is called the jambu tree. Therefore Xuedou said of himself that he was laughing ha-ha beneath the jambu tree. And tell me: what was he laughing at? Laughing that "last night, the black dragon's horn snapped." One can only gaze up at it; Xuedou has a share in praising Yunmen. Yunmen's saying "an exposition facing one"—what is it like? It is like snapping a horn of the black dragon. When arriving here, if one did not have such an affair, how could one speak such words? When Xuedou had finished the verse all at once, at the very end he said instead: "Distinctive, distinctive! The old man of Shaoyang obtained one half of the piece." Why did he not say he obtained the whole? Why did he only obtain one half of the piece? And tell me: where is that other half of the piece? It goes straight through to penetrate a second person.

2.20

Pointer: The sword that kills people, the sword that revives people—this is the custom of ancient times and the pivotal essential of the present day. Now tell me: which one nowadays is the sword that kills people, the sword that revives people? Try to bring it up and see.

2.21

[15] Case: A monk asked Yunmen, "When it is not the dynamic before the eyes, and not the affair before the eyes, what then?" (Why are you leaping about? Retreating three thousand li!) / Yunmen said, "An inverted exposition." (Levelly coming out. An admission comes from the prisoner's mouth. Nor can he be let go. Lying sideways in the wild grass.)

2.22

This monk is quite an adept, understanding how to ask like this. The former side is called asking for instruction; this is an inquiry presenting one's understanding, also called an inquiry concealing sharpness. Were it not for Yunmen, he could not have dealt with him either. Yunmen possesses such capability; since the other came with a question, he could not help but respond to it. Why? An adept lineage master is like a bright mirror standing on its stand: when a barbarian comes, a barbarian appears; when a Han Chinese comes, a Han Chinese appears. The ancients said: 'If you wish to attain intimacy, do not bring questions to ask.' Why? The question is in the place of the answer; the answer is in the place of the question. From the past onward, how did the myriad sages ever give a single dharma to people? Where is there any Chan path to come to you? If you do not create the karma of hell, you will naturally not incur the fruit of hell; if you do not create the cause of heaven, you will naturally not receive the fruit of heaven. All karmic conditions are self-made and self-received. The ancients clearly said to you: if we discuss this matter, it does not lie in words and phrases. If it lay in words and phrases, how could the three vehicles and twelve divisions of teachings lack words and phrases? What further use would there have been for the ancestral master to come from the west? Previously it said 'an utterance in response'; here it says instead 'an upside-down utterance'. They differ by only a single word—why then are there thousands of differences and myriad distinctions? Tell me: where does the difficulty lie? Therefore it is said: Dharma follows dharma's action; the dharma-banner is erected anywhere. 'When it is not the dynamic function before one's eyes, nor the affair before one's eyes, how is it?' It requires only a single tap right on the head. If it is a fellow with the eye, even a single tap cannot fool him. Since the place of questioning is difficult, the place of answering must be like this. In truth, Yunmen rides the thief's horse to pursue the thief. Some mistakenly understand, saying: 'It was originally the host's words, but it was the guest who spoke them; therefore Yunmen said "an upside-down utterance".' What deadly hurry is there? This monk asked well: 'When it is not the dynamic function before one's eyes, nor the affair before one's eyes, how is it?' Why did Yunmen not answer him with other words, but only said to him, 'An upside-down utterance'? Yunmen shattered his [ground] in an instant. Having reached here, saying 'an upside-down utterance' is also gouging a wound on healthy flesh. Why? When traces of words arise, white clouds are ten thousand miles away—this is whence divergent paths arise. Even if for a time there were no words and no phrases—have the bare pillars and lanterns ever had words and phrases? Do you still understand? If you do not understand, reaching here you must also turn around before you can know where it settles.

2.23

"An upside-down utterance" (He cannot let go. Smashed to pieces. South of Mount Meru. It rolls up all five thousand and forty-eight [scrolls].)—
Dividing a joint (On your side, on my side. Half south of the river, half north of the river. Walking hand in hand together.),
Together in death, together in life, deciding it for you (Washing a clod of earth in the mud. What reason is there for this? I cannot let you go.).
Among the eighty-four thousand, none have phoenix feathers (Their plumage is similar. It excessively diminishes people's awe-inspiring prestige. Lacquer buckets like hemp and millet.);
Thirty-three persons enter the tiger's den (Only I can know. A single general is hard to find. A pack of wild fox spirits.).
Different! Different! (What is different about it? Don't show off so much. Let him leap about as he pleases.)—
Turmoil and hurry, the moon in the water (Broad daylight under the blue sky. Confusing the head and recognizing the shadow. What are you rushing for?).

2.24

Xuedou is also quite an adept. Beneath a single phrase he immediately says, 'Dividing a joint'—clearly letting a move go by, walking hand in hand with him. He has always had the technique of releasing: he dares to enter the mud and water with you, dying together and living together. Therefore Xuedou eulogized it like this. In truth there is nothing else: he only wants to untie your bonds and undo your ropes, pull out your nails and extract your wedges. Nowadays, however, people instead produce emotional understandings on account of words and phrases. Just as Yantou said: 'Although Xuefeng was born on the same branch as me, he does not die on the same branch as me.' Were one not a person who has completely penetrated through the whole dynamic function and attained great sovereignty, how could one die together and live together with you? Why? Because he has no such leakages of gain and loss, right and wrong. Thus Dongshan said: 'If you want to distinguish the true from the false in a person of the transcendent, there are three kinds of leakages: leakage of feelings, leakage of views, and leakage of speech. In the leakage of views, dynamic function does not leave its position, falling into a sea of poison. In the leakage of feelings, wisdom is always opposed, and the place of view is one-sided and withered. In the leakage of speech, the wondrous essence loses its principle, and dynamic function is dim from beginning to end. These three leakages should be known.' There are also three mysteries: the mystery within essence, the mystery within the phrase, and the mystery within mystery. When the ancients reached this realm, with the whole dynamic function and great application, encountering life they lived together with you, and encountering death they died together with you. Lying across the tiger's mouth, giving free rein to their limbs, whether a thousand miles or ten thousand miles, they let it carry them away. Why? Only when one can match this move does it count. 'Among the eighty-four thousand, none have phoenix feathers': the eighty-four thousand holy assembly on Vulture Peak had no phoenix feathers. The *History of the Southern Dynasties* says: In the Song dynasty, Xie Chaozong of Yangxia in the Chen commandery was the son of Xie Feng. Learned, with preeminent literary talent, he was without equal at court and was peerless in his time. Excelling in writing, he served as attendant in the prince's estate. When the prince's mother, Lady of Handsome Demeanour Yin, passed away, Chaozong composed an elegy and presented it. Emperor Wu saw his composition, greatly praised and admired it, and said: 'Chaozong truly has phoenix feathers!' An ancient poem says: 'The morning audience ended, incense smoke fills the sleeves; / The poem finished, pearls and jade flow from the wielding brush. / If you wish to know the beauty of holding the silk-threaded imperial edicts for generations, / By the pond today there are phoenix feathers.' Formerly, when the four assemblies gathered like clouds at the Vulture Peak assembly, the Bhagavat held up a flower, and only Kāśyapa alone broke into a smile; the rest did not know what principle it was. Therefore Xuedou says: 'Among the eighty-four thousand, none have phoenix feathers; thirty-three persons enter the tiger's den.' Ānanda asked Kāśyapa: 'Apart from transmitting the golden brocade robe, what other dharma did the Bhagavat transmit?' Kāśyapa called: 'Ānanda!' Ānanda responded: 'Yes?' Kāśyapa said: 'Knock down the temple flagpole before the gate.' Ānanda thereupon awakened. Thereafter it was transmitted from ancestor to ancestor: in India and in this land, thirty-three persons had the skill to enter the tiger's den. The ancients said: 'If you do not enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the tiger's cub?' Yunmen is such a person, skilled at dying together and living together. A lineage master helping people must reach this point: sitting on a curved-wood chair, letting you smash it, allowing you to stroke the tiger's whiskers. One must also reach such a stage before it counts. Equipped with the seven items at hand, one can live together and die together: suppressing the high, raising the low, giving to the deficient; for those on a solitary peak, rescuing them to enter the desolate grass; for those who fall into the desolate grass, rescuing them to dwell on a solitary peak. If you enter the cauldron of boiling water and burning coals, I also enter the cauldron of boiling water and burning coals. In truth there is nothing else: he only wants to untie your bonds and undo your ropes, pull out your nails and extract your wedges, take off the halter, and unload the pack-saddle. Venerable Pingtian had a verse that is best: 'The spiritual radiance is never dimmed, / An admirable model for ten thousand ages. / Having entered this gate, / Harbor no intellectual understanding.' Different! Different! 'Turmoil and hurry, the moon in the water'—it does not fail to have a path of escape, and also has the dynamic function of giving life to people. Xuedou brought it up to make people clearly awaken on their own to the living dynamic, not following along with his words and phrases. If you follow along with him, it is precisely 'turmoil and hurry, the moon in the water.' Now, how can you attain peace and stability? Let a move go by.

First 24 of 52 passages. Read on

Linked texts (1)

佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 — Classical Chinese