佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 3

English (machine translation) 3

Language: English

3.1

The pointer says: To set up the Dharma banner and establish the lineage's tenets is to add flowers upon brocade. To slip off the halter and take off the saddle-bags is a time of great peace. If one can distinguish the phrase beyond conventions, grasping one and comprehending three—if one has not yet done so, one remains as before, respectfully listening to the verdict.

3.2

[Case 21] A monk asked Zhiman, "What about when the lotus flower has not yet emerged from the water?" (The hook is in a place free from doubt. Washing a clod of dirt in the mud. Where did this news come from?) Zhiman said, "A lotus flower." (One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Causing the whole world to doubt to death.) The monk said, "What about after emerging from the water?" (Do not make a living in a ghost cave. Off he goes again like that.) Man said, "Lotus leaves." (Youzhou is still tolerable; most bitter is Jiangnan. Two-headed and three-faced. Laughing the whole world to death.)

3.3

If Zhiman were responding to dynamic conditions to engage with beings, that would be somewhat close. But if it is cutting off the myriad streams, it is thousands and tens of thousands of miles away. Tell me, as for this lotus flower, are its emerging from the water and its not yet emerging from the water one or two? If you can see it like this, I grant that you have an entry. Even so, if you say they are one, you blur the Buddha-nature and homogenise suchness. If you say they are two, mind and object are not yet forgotten, and falling along the path of conceptual understanding, what rest could you ever have? Tell me, what was the ancient's intention? In reality there is no such clutter of matters. Therefore Touzi said: You need only avoid attaching to names and phrases. If you comprehend all things, naturally there is no attachment and no manifold different ranks. You encompass all dharmas; all dharmas cannot encompass you. Originally there is no gain or loss; names like dreams and illusions are so numerous that one cannot forcibly assign names to them. Could they deceive you people? Because you people ask, therefore there are words. If you did not ask, what would I have to say to you? All matters are brought along by you; none of it concerns me. An ancient said: If you wish to know the meaning of Buddha-nature, you should observe the causes and conditions of the time. Have you not seen: Yunmen cited a monk asking Lingyun, "What about before the Buddha appeared in the world?" Lingyun held up his whisk. The monk said, "What about after he appeared in the world?" Lingyun also held up his whisk. Yunmen said: "The former hit the mark; the latter did not hit the mark." He also said: "Without speaking of appearing or not appearing, where would there be a time for his asking?" When the ancients asked and answered, they responded to the time and season without such clutter of matters. If you trace words and pursue phrases, there is no connection at all. If in words you can penetrate beyond words, in meaning penetrate beyond meaning, and in dynamic action penetrate beyond dynamic action, letting yourself rest in leisure, only then will you see the place of Zhiman's answer. When asked, "What about before the Buddha appeared in the world?" "What about before Niutou met the Fourth Ancestor?" "What about inside the mottled stone before chaos was divided?" "What about before father and mother gave birth?" Yunmen said: "From antiquity to the present, it is just a single matter—no right and no wrong, no gain and no loss, no being born and not being born." When the ancients reached here, they opened a pathway of emerging and entering. If one is an unenlightened person, one leans against fences and grasps walls, relies on grasses and attaches to trees; or if told to let go, one falls again into a vast, desolate place. If one is an enlightened person, through the twelve periods of the day, one does not rely upon a single thing. Although not relying upon a single thing, if he reveals a dynamic action or a realm, how could one grope after him? This monk asked, "What about when the lotus flower has not yet emerged from the water?" Zhiman said, "A lotus flower." Cutting off the question with a single answer, it is certainly extraordinary. All quarters call it reversed speech—how could it be like that? Have you not seen Yantou say: "Always valuing what is prior to opening the mouth is somewhat close." Where the ancients revealed dynamic function was already a leak. Scholars nowadays do not understand the ancient's meaning; they merely go on discussing emerging from the water and not yet emerging from the water—what connection is there? Have you not seen: A monk asked Zhiman, "What is the substance of prajñā?" Man said, "A clam holding the bright moon." The monk said, "What is the function of prajñā?" Man said, "A hare conceiving a fetus." Look at him answering like this: people across the world cannot trace his line of words. Someone asked Jiashan, "What about when the lotus flower has not yet emerged from the water?" He merely answered him, "The bare pillar and the lantern." Tell me, is this the same as or different from the lotus flower? "What about after emerging from the water?" He answered him, "The tip of the staff carries the sun and the moon; underfoot the mud is extremely deep." Tell me, is it or is it not? Do not mistakenly recognize the zero mark on the steelyard. Xuedou was excessively compassionate and broke through people's emotional understanding; therefore he brought out his verse:

3.4

"Lotus flowers and lotus leaves, I announce to you: (Grandmotherly heart is earnest. An accomplished gong'an. The pattern is already manifest.) / How can emerging from the water compare to when it has not yet emerged? (Washing a clod of dirt in the mud. It is fine to separate them; one must not homogenise them.) / North of the river, south of the river, you ask Old Wang; (Where is the host? Why ask Old Teacher Wang? You only wear out your own straw sandals.) / One fox-doubt resolved, another fox-doubt arises." (Buried together in a single pit. It is you who doubt. Inevitably the feeling of doubt has not ceased. Striking, he says: "Do you understand?")

3.5

Zhiman was originally a man of Zhejiang. He took the trouble to enter Sichuan to study with Xianglin. Having thoroughly penetrated, he returned to reside at Zhiman in Suizhou. Xuedou was his heir; seeing clearly, he exhausted the mysterious and reached the ultimate marvel, directly saying: "Lotus flowers and lotus leaves, I announce to you: / How can emerging from the water compare to when it has not yet emerged?" Here he wants people to understand directly. This mountain monk says: What about when it has not yet emerged from the water? The bare pillar and the lantern. What about after emerging from the water? The tip of the staff carries the sun and the moon; underfoot the mud is extremely deep. Do not mistakenly recognize the zero mark on the steelyard. Nowadays, how many people are there who bite into other people's words and phrases without limit? Tell me, what season is it when emerging from the water? What season is it when not yet emerging from the water? If you can see into this, I grant that you have personally seen Zhiman. Xuedou says: If you do not see it, "North of the river, south of the river, you ask Old Wang." Xuedou's meaning was: You merely go north of the river and south of the river, asking venerable adepts about emerging from the water and not yet emerging from the water. South of the river two phrases are added; north of the river two phrases are added. Layer upon layer is added, successively giving rise to doubt. Tell me, when will you be able to be free from doubt? Like a wild fox full of doubts, walking on ice, it listens for the sound of water; only if there is no sound can it cross the river. If practitioners resolve one fox-doubt only for another fox-doubt to arise, when will they ever attain peace and stability?

3.6

The pointer says: The vast square has no outside; the minute is like neighboring emptiness. Seizing and releasing do not depend on another; rolling up and rolling out rest with oneself. If one truly wishes to untie bonds and loosen fetters, one must directly obliterate traces and swallow one's voice. Everyone cuts off the crucial ford; each stands like a thousand-fathom wall. Tell me, whose realm is this? Try to bring it up and see.

3.7

[Case 22] Xuefeng instructed the assembly, saying, "On South Mountain there is a turtle-nosed snake." (Seeing the strange without taking it as strange, the strange is destroyed by itself. What a very strange matter! It certainly causes people to doubt.) / "All of you people, you must watch out for it carefully!" (Oh! A display of leaks.) / Changqing said, "In the hall today, many people have lost their bodies and lives." (A man of Puzhou escorting thieves. Comparing others to oneself.) / A monk related this to Xuansha. (In the same pit there is no different dirt. A male servant seeing a female servant is attentive. Those who suffer from the same sickness pity each other.) / Xuansha said, "Only Brother Leng could do it. Even so, as for me, I would not be like that." (Inevitably holding the views of a wild fox spirit. What sort of news is this? The venomous vapors harm people.) / The monk said, "What about the Venerable?" (Fine to press this old fellow.) / Xuansha said, "What use is South Mountain?" (The third son Xie on the fishing boat. Just this wild fox spirit is somewhat close. He does not even know he has lost his body and life.) / Yunmen took his staff, tossed it in front of Xuefeng, and made a gesture of fear. (Why fear it? One son has personally attained it. Equally playing with the ghost spirit. Everyone try to distinguish and see!)

3.8

If you wish to unfold it openly, allow it to unfold openly; if you wish to smash it down, allow it to be smashed down. Xuefeng was a traveling companion with Yantou and Qinshan. He went three times to Touzi and nine times up to Dongshan, and only after studying with Deshan did he smash the black lacquer bucket. One day he led Yantou to visit Qinshan; they were snowbound at the hostel at Mount Ao. Yantou spent every day just sleeping, while Xuefeng sat in meditation all the time. Yantou shouted at him, saying: “Go to sleep, gorge yourself on sleep! Every day upon the bench you are just like the local earth god of seven villages. Sometime in the future you will go around bewitching other people's sons and daughters!” Xuefeng tapped his chest and said: “In here, I am not yet at peace; I dare not deceive myself.” Yantou said: “I thought that later on you would build a thatched hut on the peak of a solitary mountain to propagate the great teaching, yet you still talk like this!” Xuefeng said: “I am truly not yet at peace.” Yantou said: “If it is truly like this, bring forth your views one by one; where you are right, I will confirm it for you, and where you are wrong, I will cut it away for you.” Xuefeng then cited how, upon hearing Yanguan ascend the hall and raise the meaning of form and emptiness, he had found an entry point. Yantou said: “From now on for thirty years, by no means mention it.” Xuefeng also cited how, seeing Dongshan's verse on crossing the water, he had found an entry point. Yantou said: “If so, you cannot even save yourself!” Later, he arrived at Deshan and asked: “Regarding the affair of the ancestral vehicle from ancient times, does a student still have a share in it or not?” Deshan struck him a blow with his staff and said: “What are you saying?” Xuefeng said: “At that moment, it was like the bottom dropping out of a bucket.” Yantou then gave a shout and said: “Have you not heard it said: ‘What enters through the front gate is not the family treasure’?” Xuefeng said: “In the future, what should I do to be right?” Yantou said: “In the future, if you wish to propagate the great teaching, let it flow out one by one from your own breast to cover heaven and cover earth for me!” At these words Xuefeng was greatly enlightened. He bowed, got up, and shouted repeatedly: “Today at last Mount Ao has attained the Way! Today at last Mount Ao has attained the Way!” Later he returned to Minzhong to live at Mount Xianggu, where he wrote a verse to admonish himself: / “Human life is fleeting, lasting but a brief instant; / in this floating world, how could one abide for long? / Just crossing the ranges, I was already thirty-two; / entering Min, I was soon past forty. / There is no need frequently to bring up others’ wrongs; / one’s own faults should be eliminated continuously. / I respectfully inform the court full of vermilion- and purple-robed nobles: / King Yama does not fear the golden fish [talisman] you wear!” / Whenever he ascended the hall to instruct the assembly, he would say: “Everything covers heaven and covers earth.” He did not speak of the mysterious or the wondrous, nor did he speak of mind or nature; suddenly it stood exposed alone, like a great mass of fire—if you approach it, it singes your face; like the sword Tai'e—if you deliberate upon it, you lose your body and forfeit your life. If you hesitate in thought and stay your dynamic function, then there is no connection. Just as when Baizhang asked Huangbo: “Where have you come from?” Huangbo said: “I have come from gathering mushrooms at the foot of Mount Daxiong.” Baizhang said: “Did you see the big tiger?” Huangbo then made the roar of a tiger. Baizhang picked up an axe and made a hacking motion. Huangbo then gave Baizhang a slap. Baizhang chuckled, returned, ascended the seat, and addressed the assembly: “On Mount Daxiong there is a big tiger; all of you people must watch out for it carefully! Today I, this old monk, was personally bitten by it.” Whenever Zhaozhou saw a monk, he would ask: “Have you been here before?” If the monk said, “I have been here,” or said, “I have not been here,” Zhaozhou would always say: “Go have some tea.” The director of affairs asked: “Whenever you usually ask a monk whether he has been here or not, you always say, ‘Go have some tea.’ What is the meaning?” Zhaozhou said: “Director of affairs!” The director answered: “Yes?” Zhaozhou said: “Go have some tea.” In front of Zihu's gate a placard was erected, on which was written: “Zihu has a dog: up above it takes people's heads, in the middle it takes people's waists, and down below it takes people's legs. If you hesitate, you lose your body and forfeit your life.” Or when newcomers had just arrived for an interview, the master would shout: “Watch out for the dog!” As soon as the monk turned his head, the master would return to his abbot's quarters. It is just like Xuefeng saying: “On the South Mountain there is a turtle-nosed snake; all of you people must watch out for it carefully.” Right at such a moment, how do you respond? Without treading in their previous footsteps, try to say something and let us see. Coming to this point, you must also understand the words outside the framework; only then will you get it. When any gong'an or phrase is brought forward, you will immediately know where it lands. Look at how he instructed the assembly: he did not speak of practice or understanding with you; could you measure it with feelings and consciousness? Being a son of his house, one naturally speaks properly. Therefore an ancient said: “To receive words, you must understand the source; do not set up your own rules. Words must go outside the framework; phrases must penetrate the barrier.” If words do not leave the nest, you fall into a sea of poison. Xuefeng instructing the assembly in this way can be called flavorless talk that blocks people's mouths. Changqing and Xuansha were both people inside his house, and only then could they understand his talking like that. Just like Xuefeng saying, “On the South Mountain there is a turtle-nosed snake”—do you people know where it lands? Coming to this point, you must possess an eye that sees in all directions; only then will you get it. Do you not see that Zhenjing has a verse: / “Beating the drum and playing the pipa, / two masters of the art meet one another. / Yunmen can sing and harmonize; / Changqing understands how to follow along with the crooked. / An ancient tune has no rhyme or meter: / the turtle-nosed snake of South Mountain. / Who knows this meaning? / It is truly Xuansha.” / Just like Changqing responding in that way, tell me, what was his meaning? Coming to this point, it is like sparks from struck flint, like a flash of lightning; only then can you grasp it. If there is even the slightest hair not cleared away, you will not grasp what is his. What a pity! Many people generate emotional understanding under Changqing's words, saying: “As soon as there is something heard in the hall, that is losing your body and forfeiting your life.” Some say: “Originally there was not the slightest thing; on flat ground he speaks such words to make people doubt: when people hear him say, ‘On the South Mountain there is a turtle-nosed snake,’ you become suspicious.” If you understand it like this, it has no connection whatsoever; you are just making a living on his words. Since you should not understand it like this, how should you understand it? Later a monk recounted this to Xuansha. Xuansha said: “It must be Brother Leng to manage it. Even so, I would not be like that.” The monk said: “What about you, Venerable?” Xuansha said: “What use is the South Mountain?” Just look: in Xuansha's words there is an escape; he immediately said: “What use is the South Mountain?” Were it not for Xuansha, it would indeed be very difficult to respond. Just as he said, “On the South Mountain there is a turtle-nosed snake”—tell me, where is it? Coming to this point, only a person of transcendence can understand such talk. An ancient said: “Third Son Xie on the fishing boat does not care for the turtle-nosed snake of South Mountain.” Yet it came to Yunmen: he threw his staff down in front of Xuefeng and made a posture of fear. Yunmen had the skills for handling snakes: without violating the sharp point, he struck whether in light or in darkness. In his usual ways of guiding people, it was like brandishing the sword Tai'e: sometimes it flew toward people's eyebrows and eyelashes, and sometimes it flew three thousand leagues away to take a person's head. When Yunmen threw his staff and made a posture of fear, he was certainly not playing with his spirit. Could it be that he also lost his body and forfeited his life? An accomplished lineage master never makes a living on a single word or a single phrase. It was only because Xuedou loved how Yunmen tallied with and verified Xuefeng's meaning that he brought it out in verse.

3.9

Elephant Bone Cliff is high; no man reaches it (Thousands and myriads grope without finding it. It is not your realm).
One who arrives must be a hand at handling snakes (A spirit recognizes a spirit, a thief recognizes a thief. What are you doing flocking in crowds? One must be of the same gang).
Master Leng and Master Bei could do nothing about it (Acknowledging the indictment in full. Let him off one move).
How many have lost their bodies and forfeited their lives? (A crime is not punished twice. Dragging in innocent people).
Shaoyang knew (Still slightly better. This old fellow only possesses one eye. The old fellow cannot avoid playing tricks),
And parted the grass once again (What is the use of a fellow who falls into the grass? Sure enough, where is it? Then struck).
North, south, east, west—nowhere to search (Is there? Is there? Ācārya, your eyes are blind)!
Suddenly it shot out from the head of the staff (Look high and raise your eyes! Then struck),
Thrown before Xuefeng, its mouth gaping wide (Suffering the results of his own deeds. Swallowing thousands and myriads—what help is it? People under heaven cannot grope it out)!
The mouth gaping wide is like a flash of lightning (A double gong'an. Sure enough. Fortunately there is the final word),
Raise your eyebrows, and still it is not seen (You have missed it. In the five lakes and four seas, such a person is hard to find. Where is it now?).
Now it is hidden before Milk Peak (Where did it go? The great and small Xuedous also make such moves. Today this mountain monk also suffered a bite).
Let those who come each observe the expedient means (Blind! Do not look under your heels. Look under the elder's heels! Hit by an arrow)!
The Master shouted loudly: “Watch your step!” (Drawing the bow after the thief has fled. A second head, a third head. A repeated word is not worth eating).

3.10

"At Elephant Bone Cliff, the high place people do not reach; / Those who do reach it must be hands at handling snakes." Below Mount Xuefeng is Elephant Bone Cliff. Xuefeng's dynamic sharpness was lofty and precipitous, and rarely did anyone reach his place. Xuedou was a person from inside his house: their feathers and plumage resembled each other, "like sounds responding to each other, like vital energies seeking each other." It still takes an adept who has penetrated all directions to bear witness together. But this turtle-nosed snake is indeed not easy to handle; one must understand how to handle it to succeed. If one does not understand how to handle it, one is instead bitten by the snake. My late teacher Wuzu said: "This turtle-nosed snake requires dynamic function that does not injure one's hands and feet: seizing it with one squeeze on its seven inches, one then walks hand in hand with this old monk." Changqing and Xuansha possessed this kind of hands and feet. Xuedou says, "Master Leng and Master Bei could do nothing about it." Most people say Changqing and Xuansha could do nothing about it, and therefore Xuedou solely praised Yunmen, which has no connection whatsoever! Little do they know that among the three, their dynamic functions had no gain or loss, but only intimacy and distance. Now I ask you all: where was the place Master Leng and Master Bei could do nothing about it? "How many have lost their bodies and lives?" This eulogizes Changqing's saying, "In the hall today, many people have lost their bodies and lives." Reaching here, one must be a hand at handling snakes and be meticulous to succeed. Xuedou brought out Yunmen, and therefore brushed them all aside at once, leaving only Yunmen alone, saying, "Shaoyang knew, / And parted the grass again." Because Yunmen knew the landing place of Xuefeng's saying that "On South Mountain there is a turtle-nosed snake," he therefore parted the grass again. When Xuedou's verse reaches here, there is an even more wondrous place: "North, south, east, and west, nowhere to search for it." Tell me, where is it? "Suddenly it thrusts out from the staff head." Originally it was right here! You must not make a living upon the staff head. Yunmen hurled the staff before Xuefeng and made a posture of fear; Yunmen then used the staff as the turtle-nosed snake. Sometimes it is said, "The staff turns into a dragon and swallows up heaven and earth; where do the mountains, rivers, and the great earth come from?" It is just a single staff: sometimes it acts as a dragon, sometimes as a snake. Why is it like this? Reaching here, one finally knows that an ancient said, "Mind turns along with the ten thousand realms; where it turns is truly abstruse." The verse says: "Tossed before Xuefeng, opening wide its mouth: / Opening wide its mouth, it is like lightning." Xuedou had surplus talent: picking out Yunmen's poisonous snake, he said that this opening wide of its mouth is just like lightning. If you deliberate, you lose your body and forfeit your life. "Twitching up one's eyebrows, one still does not see it." Where has it gone? Having eulogized this, Xuedou must go to a living place to act for people; taking Xuefeng's snake, he picked it up and handled it himself, not shrinking from killing and giving life on the spot. Do you want to see? It says: "Now it is hidden in front of Milk Peak." Milk Peak is the name of Mount Xuedou. Xuedou has a verse: "All around, the stones survey the dark ocean as narrow; / So vast and desolate, not permitting the white clouds to be white." Though Changqing, Xuansha, and Yunmen handled it till it disappeared, he nevertheless says: "Now it is hidden in front of Milk Peak; / Let all who come examine the expedient means." Xuedou still gets entangled in fine nuances: instead of speaking and immediately using it, he shouts in a loud voice, "Watch beneath your feet!" From of old, how many people have picked it up and handled it? Tell me: has it ever bitten anyone, or not bitten anyone? The master then struck.

3.11

The pointer says: Jade is tested by fire; gold is tested by stone; a sword is tested by a hair; water is tested by a staff. As for under the patch-robed monks' gate: a single word, a single phrase, a single dynamic action, a single state, a single exit, a single entrance, a single push, a single press—one wants to see the depth or shallowness, one wants to see the facing toward or turning away. Tell me: what is used to test? Please bring it forward to see.

3.12

[23] Case: Baofu and Changqing were touring the mountains. (These two fellows fallen into the grass.) / Baofu pointed with his finger and said, "Right here is the peak of the Wondrous Summit." (Heaping up a pile of bones on level ground. Avoid speaking of it. Dig the earth and bury it deep.) / Qing said, "So it is, yet what a pity!" (Were it not for iron eyes and copper pupils, he would almost have been deluded. Those with the same disease pity each other. The two are buried in a single pit.) / Xuedou gave an interlinear remark, saying, "Touring the mountains with this fellow today, what did he expect to achieve?" (Not shrinking from diminishing people's weight. Still a bit better. A bystander touches his sword.) / He also said, "A hundred or a thousand years later, I do not say there will be none, only that they will be few." (Don't show off. He is also a Yunju Arhat.) / Later it was related to Jingqing. (There is good and bad.) / Qing said, "Were it not for Elder Sun, skulls would cover the wilderness." (Only those of the same Path know. The great earth is vast and boundless, distressing people to death. A manservant sees a maidservant attentively. Even if Linji and Deshan were to come forth, they too would have to take a beating.)

3.13

Baofu, Changqing, and Jingqing all inherited Xuefeng. The three of them attained together and verified together, saw together and heard together, picked up together and applied together, exiting and entering, mutually pushing and pressing one another. Because they were born from the same branch, whenever something was brought up, they immediately knew its landing place. In Xuefeng's assembly, the everyday questions and answers were just between the three of them. The ancients walked, stood, sat, and lay down keeping this Path in mind, so as soon as something was brought up, they knew its landing place. One day, while touring the mountains, Baofu pointed with his finger and said, "Right here is the peak of the Wondrous Summit." Nowadays Chan practitioners, when asked like this, have mouths like flat carrying poles. Fortunately, it was asked of Changqing. Tell me, when Baofu spoke like this, what did he expect to achieve? The ancients did this to test whether someone had eyes or lacked eyes. Being a person of his house, he naturally knew his landing place, and immediately said to him, "So it is, yet what a pity!" Tell me: when Changqing spoke like this, what was the intended meaning? One cannot keep going like this all the time. Similar as it is, rarely is there an idle moment without the slightest trace. Fortunately, Changqing saw through him. Xuedou gave an interlinear remark, saying, "Touring the mountains with this fellow today, what did he expect to achieve?" Tell me: where did it land? He also said, "A hundred or a thousand years later, I do not say there will be none, only that they will be few." Xuedou understood how to point to his own chest, just like Huangbo saying, "I do not say there is no Chan, only that there are no teachers." Xuedou speaking like this was indeed steep and dangerous. Were it not for "like sounds responding to each other," how could he achieve such solitary, precipitous wonder? These are called interlinear remarks, which fall into the two sides; though falling into the two sides, they do not abide in the two sides. Later it was related to Jingqing. Qing said, "Were it not for Elder Sun, skulls would cover the wilderness." Elder Sun was Changqing's secular surname. Have you not seen: a monk asked Zhaozhou, "What is the solitary peak of the Wondrous Summit?" Zhou said, "This old monk does not answer you this question." The monk said, "Why do you not answer this question?" Zhou said, "If I were to answer you, I fear it would fall onto level ground." In the teachings it is said of the solitary peak of the Wondrous Summit that Bhikṣu Deyun never came down the mountain. Sudhana went to call on him, but after seven days did not meet him; one day, he met him instead on another peak. When he finally met him, [Deyun] spoke to him of the Dharma door of the wisdom-radiance of all Buddhas of the three periods of time in a single thought, seeing all universally. Since Deyun did not come down the mountain, why did they meet on another peak? If you say he came down the mountain, the teachings say: "Bhikṣu Deyun has never come down the mountain, and is always on the solitary peak of the Wondrous Summit." Reaching here, where exactly are Deyun and Sudhana? Later, Elder Li spun entangling vines very well, saying: "The solitary peak of the Wondrous Summit is the Dharma door of one-flavor equality: every single thing is real, every single thing is complete, uniquely revealed where there is no gain and no loss, no right and no wrong. Therefore Sudhana could not see him." Reaching the place that matches the nature, it is like the eye not seeing itself, the ear not hearing itself, the finger not touching itself; like a sword not cutting itself, fire not burning itself, water not washing itself. Reaching here, in the teachings there is much grandmotherly helping of others; therefore a crack of an opening is let go, establishing guest and host in the gate of secondary truth, establishing dynamic function and objective sphere, establishing question and answer. Thus it is said, "The Buddhas do not appear in the world, / Nor do they enter nirvāṇa; / By expedient means to liberate sentient beings, / They therefore manifest such affairs." Tell me, ultimately how does one avoid Jingqing and Xuedou speaking like this? At that time, they were not able to clap together in accord, and therefore, people throughout the entire earth had skulls covering the wilderness. Jingqing verified it like this, and those two used it like this. Later, Xuedou's eulogizing verse makes it even more radiant. The verse says:

3.14

"On the solitary peak of the Wondrous Summit, the grass grows thick and tangled; (Drowned, body and all. Beneath his feet it is already several fathoms deep.) / Taking it up clearly, to whom is it handed? (What is it used for? On the great earth, no one knows. What use is a dry shit-stick? Having picked up the nostrils, one loses the mouth.) / Were it not for Elder Sun discerning the truth, (Looking wrongly at the arrow. Taken by thieves without even knowing it.) / Skulls lying on the ground—how many would know?" (Never to live again. Like hemp and millet. The ācārya picked up the nostrils and lost the mouth.)

3.15

"On the solitary peak of the Wondrous Summit, the grass grows thick and tangled." Rolling around in the grass, when will it end? "Taking it up clearly, to whom is it handed?" Where is the clear place? Eulogizing Baofu's saying, "Right here is the peak of the Wondrous Summit." "Were it not for Elder Sun discerning the truth." What principle did Elder Sun see that he then said, "So it is, yet what a pity!" Just like "Skulls lying on the ground—how many would know?" Do you all know? Blind!

3.16

The pointer says: Standing on the high, high peak, māras and outsiders cannot know; walking in the deep, deep seabed, Buddha's eye cannot catch sight. Even if one's eyes are like shooting stars and dynamic sharpness like lightning, one cannot avoid the divine turtle dragging its tail. Reaching here, what should be done? Try to bring it forward to see.

3.17

[24] Case: Iron Grinder Liu arrived at Guishan. (Indeed hard to approach. This old woman does not keep to her proper lot.) / Mountain said, "Old cow, so you have come!" (Spotting. A probing pole and shadow grass. In what place do you see the awkwardness?) / Grinder said, "Tomorrow there is a great communal vegetarian feast on Mount Tai; will the venerable monk go?" (An arrow not shot in vain. The Great Tang beats the drum, Silla dances. Letting go too fast, gathering in too slow.) / Guishan lay down flat. (Hit the mark. In what place do you see Guishan? Who knows that across the distant misty waves there are other fine thoughts?) / Grinder immediately went out. (Too far. Acting upon seeing the dynamic function.)

3.18

Liu Tiemo (a nun) was like sparks struck from flint, like a flash of lightning. If you deliberate, you lose body and life. When the Way of Chan reaches the crucial point, what place is there for so many things? When adept masters meet, it is like seeing horns over a wall and immediately knowing an ox is there, or seeing smoke across a mountain and immediately knowing fire is there. Push them and they move; press them and they turn. Guishan said: “A hundred years after my death, I will become a water buffalo at the foot of the mountain at the house of a donor. On my left flank will be written five characters: ‘Guishan monk so-and-so.’ At just such a time, if you call it a monk of Guishan, it is one; if you call it a water buffalo, it is one.” Nowadays, if people are asked about this, they will certainly be unable to explain it. Liu Tiemo had practiced for a long time, and her dynamic sharpness was steep and sheer; people called her “Liu the Iron Grinder.” Ten leagues from Guishan she had erected a hermitage. One day she went to visit Guishan. Seeing her coming, Shan immediately said: “Old cow, you have come!” The Grinder said: “Tomorrow there is a great feast at Taishan. Is the Venerable going?” Guishan let his body fall and lay down. The Grinder thereupon walked out. Look at them: it is just like ordinary conversation, yet it is neither Chan nor the Way. Could you understand it by calling it “nothing the matter”? From Guishan to Taishan is separated by several thousand leagues. Why did Liu Tiemo instead tell Guishan to go to the feast? Tell me, what was the intention? This old woman understood his, Guishan's, words: silk coming and thread going, one letting go and one reeling in, chanting back and forth to each other, like two mirrors reflecting one another without any image to be seen. Dynamic functions matched one another; phrases accorded with each other. Nowadays, people are tapped three times and still do not turn their heads, but not a bit could be concealed from this old woman. This is not worldly emotional views. It is like a clear mirror on its stand, a bright pearl in the palm: when a foreigner comes, a foreigner appears; when a Han comes, a Han appears. It was because she knew there is the transcendent matter that she was like this. Nowadays, people simply interpret it as “nothing the matter.” Master Sizuling Yan said: “Do not take having affairs as having no affairs; often affairs arise from having no affairs.” If you penetrate through, you see that their doing so is just like ordinary people talking; because most are obstructed and hindered by words, they do not understand. Only an intimate knower could understand them. Take Qianfeng addressing the assembly: “Lifting up one, you must not lift up two; letting go of the first move, you fall into the second.” Yunmen stepped out of the assembly and said: “Yesterday a monk came from Tiantai and went toward Nanyue.” Qianfeng said: “Today the head cook will not have communal work.” Look at the two of them: when letting go, both let go; when reeling in, both reel in. Under the Guiyang school this is called a “scenic atmosphere”: when the wind and dust stir the grass, every trace is thoroughly investigated. It is also called an “isolated-body phrase”: the meaning communicates, but the words are separated. When arriving here, you must turn left and pivot right before you are an adept master.

3.19

Once riding an iron horse, she entered the layered cities; (A veteran adept in battle; a general beyond the border; with the seven things kept close.) / When the edict came down, it was reported that the six states were cleared. (A dog carrying an amnesty in its mouth; the Son of Heaven within the realm; how can it not be that the seas are calm and the rivers clear?) / Still grasping the golden whip, he asks the returning guest: (What news is this? One staff supported by two people; inviting each other to go together and return together.) / “In the deep of night, who walks along the imperial street together?” (You head to the Xiao and Xiang; I head to Qin. And tell me, what are they walking for?)

3.20

Xuedou’s eulogy is considered by all quarters to be the ultimate standard. Among the one hundred eulogies, this one possesses the clearest line of reasoning, and in its midst is supremely wondrous, fitting the case intimately and clearly eulogizing it out: “Once riding an iron horse, she entered the layered cities” eulogizes Liu Tiemo coming like that. “When the edict came down, it was reported that the six states were cleared” eulogizes Guishan asking like that. “Still grasping the golden whip, he asks the returning guest” eulogizes the Grinder saying: “Tomorrow there is a great feast at Taishan. Is the Venerable going?” “In the deep of night, who walks along the imperial street together?” eulogizes Guishan letting his body fall and lying down, and the Grinder thereupon walking out. Xuedou had this sort of talent and style: where it was urgent, he eulogized toward urgency; where it was leisurely, he eulogized toward leisure. Fengxue also once brought this up with the same meaning as Xuedou; this eulogy is praised by all quarters. Standing on the highest mountain peak, demons and outsiders cannot know; walking on the deepest sea floor, the Buddha-eye cannot catch sight. Look at them: one lays his body down, and the other simply walks out. If they had been further involved in complications, they would instantly have lost sight of the road. Xuedou’s eulogistic meaning is finest: it is “Once riding an iron horse, she entered the layered cities.” Were they not of identical attainment and identical realization, how could they have been like this? And tell me, what meaning was attained? Do you not see a monk who asked Fengxue: “Guishan said, ‘Old cow, you have come!’ What was the intention?” Fengxue said: “Deep within the white clouds, the golden dragon leaps.” The monk said: “Just as Liu Tiemo said, ‘Tomorrow there is a great feast at Taishan. Is the Venerable going?’ What was the intention?” Fengxue said: “In the core of the blue waves, the jade rabbit is startled.” The monk said: “Guishan then took the posture of lying down. What was the intention?” Fengxue said: “Old, clumsy, and indolent on an idle day; sleeping at ease and lying high facing the blue mountains.” This meaning is also the same as Xuedou’s.

3.21

The pointer says: If dynamic function does not leave its position, it sinks into a sea of poison. If words do not startle the crowd, they fall into common conventions. If you suddenly distinguish black from white within the spark of a flint, and discern killing and giving life in a flash of lightning, you can sit and cut off the ten directions, standing like a wall a thousand fathoms high. Do you still know there is such a juncture? To test, I cite this:

3.22

[Case 25] Case: The Hermit of Lotus Flower Peak held up his staff and showed it to the assembly, saying: (Look! On the crown of his head he possesses a single eye; this too is a nest of the people of the time.) / “When ancient people reached here, why were they unwilling to stay?” (One must not drive stakes into empty space; provisionally erecting a conjured city.) / The assembly was silent. (Thousands and myriads like hemp and millet. That’s a bit better; what a pity, a flock of handsome falcons!) / He spoke in their place: “Because on the road they had no purchase.” (If you discern on the road, there is still half a month’s journey at stake. Even if they had purchase, what would it be good for? How could there be entirely none?) / He said again: “Ultimately, what about it?” (Thousands and myriads just sit down right here; among thousands and myriads, one or two understand.) / And again spoke in their place: “Carrying his staff horizontally across his shoulders, paying no regard to anyone, he goes straight into the thousands and myriads of peaks!” (It would be fitting to give him thirty blows of the staff. Just because he carries a board, cheeks visible from behind the head, do not associate with him!).

3.23

Can you all evaluate and discern the Hermit of Lotus Flower Peak? The soles of your feet have not yet touched the ground. In the early years of this dynasty, he had erected a hermitage on Lotus Flower Peak at Tiantai. After ancient people had attained the Way, in thatched huts or stone chambers, inside broken-legged pots, they boiled wild vegetable roots to eat and passed the days, neither seeking fame nor profit, being carefree and following conditions. Setting forth a turning word was merely to repay the kindness of the buddhas and ancestral masters, and to transmit the Buddha mind-seal. As soon as he saw a monk come, he would hold up his staff and say: “When ancient people reached here, why were they unwilling to stay?” For more than twenty years, in the end not a single person could answer. In this single question alone, there is the provisional and the real, illumination and function. If you know his ring and snare, it does not require a single pinch. And tell me, why did he ask like this for twenty years? Since this was the doing of a lineage master, why did he keep to only one peg? If you see into this, naturally you will not run toward emotional defilements. Throughout twenty years, how many people leveled their statements, submitted phrases, presented their understandings, and exhausted all their tricks with him! Even if there was one who could speak, they still did not reach his ultimate standard. What is more, although this matter is not within words and phrases, without words and phrases it cannot be discerned. Do you not see it is said: “The Way is originally without words; because of words the Way is made manifest.” Therefore, to test someone's true ground, the moment they open their mouths you know their sound. When ancient people set forth a single word or half a phrase, it was for nothing else; they only wanted to see whether you knew there is [the transcendent matter] or did not know there is. Seeing that people did not understand, he spoke in their place, saying: “Because on the road they had no purchase.” Look at how he spoke it: naturally according with principle and according with dynamic function, when had he ever lost the ancestral tenet? An ancient said: “Inheriting the words, one must understand the tenet; do not establish your own rules.” Nowadays people just blindly charge forward and consider it done; if they get it, they get it, but how can they help being muddled and indistinct? If they come before an adept master who tests them with the three essential words—imprinting space, imprinting mud, imprinting water—it will immediately be seen that a square peg is meeting a round hole, with no place to settle. When arriving here and searching for one of identical attainment and identical realization, where at the moment can one be sought? If it is someone who knows there is [the transcendent matter], opening one's bosom and sharing the news, what objection could there be? If you do not encounter the right person, for now roll it up and hold it in your bosom. And let me ask you all: the staff is what patch-robed monks use routinely, so why did he say that on the road they had no purchase? When ancient people reached here, they were unwilling to stay; in reality, although gold dust is precious, falling into the eye it causes a cataract. Master Shandao of Shishi, who had met with the laicization at that time, often held up his staff and showed it to the assembly, saying: “Past buddhas were also like this, future buddhas will also like this, and present buddhas are also like this.” One day, in front of the monks’ hall, Xuefeng held up his staff and showed it to the assembly, saying: “This is only for people of middling and lower faculties.” At that time a monk came forward and asked: “If one suddenly encounters someone of the supreme faculties coming, what then?” Xuefeng held up his staff and walked away. Yunmen said: “I would not be like Xuefeng, smashing things into an utter mess.” A monk asked: “I do not know what the Venerable would do.” Yunmen struck him immediately. In general, visiting and asking has no such myriad matters; it is because externally you see mountains, rivers, and the great earth, internally you see seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing, above you see buddhas to be sought, and below you see sentient beings to be saved. You must directly spit it all out at once, and then, throughout the twelve periods of the day, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, weld it into a single piece. Though situated on a single hair-tip, it is as vast as the great thousand worlds; though dwelling amid boiling cauldrons and burning coals, it is as if in a land of peace and bliss; though dwelling amid the seven treasures and eight jewels, it is as if under a thatched roof among weeds. In this sort of matter, if one is a completely open adept who reaches the ancient's real ground, naturally one expends no effort. Seeing that no one grasped his meaning, he again questioned himself: “Ultimately, what about it?” And being unable to do anything, he said himself: “Carrying his staff horizontally across his shoulders, paying no regard to anyone, he goes straight into the thousands and myriads of peaks!” What was this intention again? Tell me, what place was pointed to as the destination? There is no harm that within the phrase there is an eye, and beyond the words there is an intention: rising on his own and falling on his own, letting go on his own and reeling in on his own. Do you not see: Venerable Yanyang met a monk on the road, held up his staff, and said: “What is it?” The monk said: “I do not know.” Yanyang said: “You don't even know a staff!” Yanyang again planted the staff on the ground and said: “Do you know it yet?” The monk said: “I do not know.” Yanyang said: “You don't even know an earthen hole!” Yanyang again carried the staff on his shoulder and said: “Do you understand?” The monk said: “I do not understand.” Yanyang said: “Carrying his staff horizontally across his shoulders, paying no regard to anyone, he goes straight into the thousands and myriads of peaks!” When ancient people reached here, why were they unwilling to stay? Xuedou has a eulogy: “Who can bring it up according to the dynamic function without deception? That too is rare! / Crushing the steep and sheer, melting down the mysterious and subtle. / The heavy barrier was once opened wide, / But the adepts did not return together. / The jade rabbit is briefly full and briefly wanes; / The golden crow seems to fly yet does not fly. / Old Lu—one knows not where he has gone: / White clouds and flowing water stay together lingering.” Why did this mountain monk say: “Cheeks visible from behind the head, do not associate with him”? As soon as you make calculations, that is making a livelihood inside a black mountain demon cave. If you see through thoroughly and believe completely, then thousands and myriads of people naturally cannot ensnare or constrain you, nor can they do anything to you. Touched or pressed, naturally there is killing and there is giving life. Xuedou understood his meaning of “he goes straight into the thousands and myriads of peaks,” and only then formed his eulogy. If you want to know where it lands, look at Xuedou’s eulogy which says:

3.24

Dust and sand in the eyes, dirt in the ears— (Three hundred loads of confusion. A limitless muddiness. Is there still such a fellow?)
Refusing to stay among the thousand peaks and myriad peaks. (Where are you going? Tell me, what news is this?)
Fallen blossoms, flowing streams: vast and boundless! (Splendid news! Dynamic function like lightning. Staring and thinking in vain. Glancing left, a thousand births; looking right, ten thousand kalpas.)
Raising the eyebrows, where did he go? (Presenting him with another pair of eyes beneath his heels! Turns out he was right here all along. Can you sever the master's heels? Even so, you still must reach this terrain before you can. Striking, he said: Why is he right here?)

3.25

Xuedou's verse eulogy is very fine. It has a turn-around point; he does not guard one corner. So he said: "Dust and sand in the eyes, dirt in the ears." This one line eulogises the master of Lotus Peak Hermitage. For patch-robed monks reaching this point, above there is nothing to climb or revere, below there is an end to self and person; at all times they are like fools, like stumps. Don't you see Nanquan saying: "For a practitioner of the Way, to be like a fool, dull and blunt, is also hard to come by." The poem by Chanyue says: "I often recall Nanquan's fine words: / One who is dull and blunt like this is rare indeed." Fadeng said: "Who knows this meaning, / That makes me recall Nanquan?" Nanquan also said: "The seven hundred eminent monks were all people who understood the Buddha Dharma; only Worker Lu did not understand the Buddha Dharma—he only understood the Way. That is why he received the robe and bowl." Tell me, how much distance is there between the Buddha Dharma and the Way? Xuedou cited this and said: "Sand cannot be put into the eyes; water cannot be put into the ears. If there is a fellow who has complete faith and can hold fast, not deceived by others—what is the verbal teaching of the buddhas and ancestral masters but the sound of a heated bowl ringing? Then please hang high the alms-bag, snap the staff, and be assured of being a person of the Way of no-concerns." He also said: "Mount Meru can be put into the eyes; the great ocean's water can be put into the ears. There is a sort of fellow who accepts others' deliberations, to whom the teachings of buddhas and ancestral masters are like a dragon reaching water, like a tiger relying on a mountain. Then he must shoulder his alms-bag and carry his staff crosswise; this too is a person of the Way of no-concerns." Again he said: "Like this will not do; not like this will not do either; and after that, no connection whatsoever. Among these three persons of the Way of no-concerns, if you want to choose one to be master, it is precisely this sort of fellow forged of pig iron." Why? Whether encountering an evil realm or an extraordinary realm, when it comes before him, it is completely like a dream: he does not know of the six sense-bases, nor does he know of morning or evening. Even if you reach this terrain, take utmost care not to guard cold ashes and dead fire, plunging into pitch darkness; you must have the single road of turning around before it will do. Don't you see an ancient saying: "Do not guard the green of strange grasses on a cold crag; / Sitting in the white clouds, the lineage is not wondrous." That is why the master of Lotus Peak Hermitage said: "Because on the road, he found no leverage; he had to go straight into the thousand peaks and myriad peaks before it would do." Tell me, what is called the thousand peaks and myriad peaks? Xuedou simply loved his saying: "Carrying his staff crosswise, paying no heed to others, he went straight into the thousand peaks and myriad peaks." Therefore he eulogised it in verse. Tell me, where did he go? Is there anyone who knows the place he went? "Fallen blossoms, flowing streams: vast and boundless!" The fallen blossoms are fluttering; the flowing streams are vast and boundless. Dynamic function like lightning! What is before your eyes? "Raising the eyebrows, where did he go?" Why did Xuedou also not know the place he went? Just as when this mountain monk recently raised the whisk—tell me, where is it right now? If you people can see it, you join in practice with the master of Lotus Peak Hermitage. If not yet, then under the three rafters, before the seven-foot mat, try going to investigate and see!

First 25 of 49 passages. Read on

Linked texts (1)

佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 — Classical Chinese