佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 7

English (machine translation) 7

Language: English

7.1

The pointer says: Establishing the Dharma banner and setting forth the essential teaching belongs to an authentic lineage master. Determining dragons from snakes and distinguishing monks from layfolk requires an adept kalyāṇamitra. Let us set aside for the moment discussing killing and giving life on the edge of a sword, or discerning dynamic fitness at the tip of a staff. But tell me: how do you discuss the single phrase of alone holding sway over the realm? To test, I cite it: look!

7.2

[Case 61] Citing: Fengxue gave a guiding phrase, saying: (Bringing forth clouds and causing rain; one must also act as host and guest.) / "If one speck of dust is established, (I am the Dharma King, sovereign over phenomena. Flowers in clusters, brocades in heaps.) / the country flourishes; (This is not an affair of his house.) / if not one speck of dust is established, (Sweeping away traces and extinguishing tracks. Losing eyes and losing nostrils along with them.) / the country perishes." (Radiance everywhere. What use is a country? Entirely an affair of his own house.) / Xuedou held up his staff and said: (One must stand steep like a thousand-fathom cliff; only then will it do. Bodhidharma has come!) / "Are there any patch-robed monks who will live together and die together?" (Return my topic to me! Even though it is like this, to level uneven affairs, you must deliberate with Xuedou before it will do. Do you understand? If you understand, I grant you freedom and ease; if you do not understand, three thousand blows in the morning and eight hundred in the evening.)

7.3

When Fengxue instructed the assembly, saying: "If one speck of dust is established, the country flourishes; if not one speck of dust is established, the country perishes." Tell me: is establishing one speck of dust right, or is not establishing one speck of dust right? Reaching here, the great function must appear before you; only then will it do. Therefore it is said: "Even if grasped before words, one is still stuck in the shell and blind in confinement; even if thoroughly penetrating beneath phrases, one cannot avoid mad views when confronting situations." He was a venerable elder under Linji; he directly used the proper measure of fodder. "If one speck of dust is established, the country flourishes"—the rustic elder knits his brows. His intention is on establishing the state and securing the country, which requires relying on scheming ministers and fierce generals; only then do the qilin appear and the phoenix soar, which are auspicious omens of great peace. How could people in a three-family hamlet know of such affairs? "If not one speck of dust is established, the country perishes"—the wind blows briskly. Why does the rustic elder come out singing ballads? It is just because the country has perished. In the Dongshan lineage this is called the place of turning and transformation, where there is no longer Buddha or sentient beings, no right or wrong, no good or evil, utterly cut off from sound and tracks. Therefore it is said: "Though gold dust is precious, falling into the eye it causes a cataract." It is also said: "Gold dust is a cataract in the eye; the jewel in the robe is dust on phenomena. When one's own spirit is not even valued, what kind of persons are the Buddhas and ancestral masters?" Seven penetrations and eight holes, supernatural powers and wondrous functions are not considered extraordinary. Arriving here: with patch-robe covering the head, ten thousand affairs cease; at this time, this mountain monk understands nothing at all. If one further speaks of mind, speaks of nature, speaks of the mysterious, speaks of the marvelous, none of it can be used. Why? His family naturally has the realm of immortals. Nanquan instructed the assembly, saying: "The seven hundred eminent monks at Huangmei were all people who understood the Buddhadharma, yet none obtained his robe and bowl. Only Worker Lu did not understand the Buddhadharma, and therefore obtained his robe and bowl." He also said: "The Buddhas of the three periods do not know it exists; wildcats and white oxen know it exists." The rustic elder either knits his brows or sings ballads—tell me, how do you understand this? And tell me, what eye does he possess to act like this? You must know that before the rustic elder's gate, there are separate regulations. Xuedou brought up both sides, and then picked up his staff, saying: "Are there any patch-robed monks who will live together and die together?" At that time, if someone had stepped forward and uttered a phrase, acting reciprocally as host and guest, it would have saved this old fellow Xuedou from patting his own chest later.

7.4

Let the rustic elder not unfurl his brows; (Three thousand miles away there is a person. Fine food is not fit for a sated person to eat.) / For now, I aim to establish a mighty foundation for the country. (Everyone knows the tune of Great Peace. Going if one wants to go, staying if one wants to stay. Heaven, earth, and the great universe are entirely a gate of liberation. How will you establish it?) / Where are the scheming ministers and fierce generals now? (Are there any? Are there any? The land is wide, people are few; those who meet are rare. Do not pat your chest for now!) / The pure wind across ten thousand miles is known only to itself. (Acting as if no one is around. Whom do you tell to sweep the ground? He is also an arhat of Yunju.)

7.5

Just now both sides were brought up together; here, he brings up only one side and leaves the other side alone, trimming the long to mend the short, forgiving the heavy and applying the light. Therefore he says: "Let the rustic elder not unfurl his brows; for now, I aim to establish a mighty foundation for the country. Where are the scheming ministers and fierce generals now?" When Xuedou held up his staff and said, "Are there any patch-robed monks who will live together and die together?" it was just like saying, "Are there any scheming ministers and fierce generals?" In one mouthful he swallowed everyone up. Therefore it is said: "The land is wide, people are few; those who meet are rare." Is there anyone who understands? Come forth, and I will bury you in one pit! "The pure wind across ten thousand miles is known only to itself"—this is where Xuedou patted his own chest.

7.6

The pointer says: With teacherless wisdom, launching non-arising wondrous function; with unconditioned compassion, acting as an uninvited excellent friend. Beneath a single phrase, there is killing and giving life; within a single dynamic action, there is releasing and capturing. But tell me: who has ever acted like this? To test, I cite it: look!

7.7

[Case 62] Citing: Yunmen instructed the assembly, saying: "Within heaven and earth, (The land is wide, people are few. The six directions cannot contain it.) / in the midst of the universe, (Stop making a living in a ghost cave! You have missed it.) / there is a jewel inside, (Where is it? Radiance is born! Strictly avoid seeking it in a ghost cave.) / hidden in the mountain of form. (Pressing and checking.) / Pick up the lantern and bring it into the Buddha shrine; (Still open to discussion.) / take the triple gate and put it onto the lantern." (Though Great Master Yunmen is right, it inevitably creates confusion. It is still somewhat close; yet if inspected closely, it cannot avoid the stench of excrement.)

7.8

Yunmen said: "Within heaven and earth, inside the universe, therein lies a treasure, concealed within the mountain of form." Now tell me: was Yunmen's intention at the tip of the fishing pole, or was his intention on top of the lantern? These are several lines from Master Zhao's Treasure Store Treatise. Yunmen brought them up to instruct the assembly. When Master Zhao was at Xiaoyao Garden during the Later Qin composing treatises and copying the Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra, he finally realized that Zhuangzi and Laozi had not exhausted the wondrous. Zhao thereupon bowed to Kumārajīva as his teacher, and also called upon the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla at Waguan Temple, who had brought the transmission of the mind-seal from the twenty-seventh ancestor of the Western Heavens; Zhao penetrated deeply into its inner sanctum. One day Zhao met with disaster; when about to face execution, he begged for a seven-day reprieve to compose the Treasure Store Treatise. Yunmen then brought up four lines from the treatise to instruct the assembly. The overarching meaning says: how could an invaluable treasure be concealed within the skandhas and dhātus? The words in the treatise all tally with the discourse of our lineage. Have you not seen: Jingqing asked Caoshan, "When the principle of clear void is ultimately without body, how is it?" Caoshan said, "The principle is indeed like this; how about the phenomenon?" Jingqing said, "Like principle, like phenomenon." Caoshan said, "You might deceive me alone, but what will you do about the eyes of all the sages?" Jingqing said, "If there were no eyes of all the sages, how would one know it is not so?" Caoshan said, "Officially, not even a needle is admitted; privately, carts and horses may pass." Therefore it is said: "Within heaven and earth, inside the universe, therein lies a treasure, concealed within the mountain of form." The overarching meaning clarifies that everyone is fully endowed, each completely perfected. When Yunmen brought it up to instruct the assembly, it was already fully ready-made; he could not go further like a lecturer-monk, providing annotations for you. In his compassion he added another explanatory footnote for you, saying: "Take the lantern into the Buddha hall; bring the triple gate onto the lantern." Now tell me, when Yunmen spoke like this, what was his meaning? Have you not seen how the ancients said: "The real nature of ignorance is itself the Buddha-nature; the phantom-like empty body is itself the Dharma-body." They also said: "Directly through the ordinary mind one sees the Buddha-mind." The mountain of form is simply the four great elements and the five aggregates. "Therein lies a treasure, concealed within the mountain of form." Therefore it is said: "The Buddhas are in the mind; confused people seek outside. Harboring an invaluable treasure within yet failing to recognize it, a whole lifetime is wasted." It is also said: "The Buddha-nature is magnificently manifest; sentient beings who abide in marks find it hard to see. If one realizes that sentient beings are without self, how does my face differ from the Buddha's face? The mind is the original mind; the face is the face born of one's mother. The kalpa-rock may shift, but within this there is no change." Some merely recognize this clear and luminous awareness as the treasure; they just fail to attain its function, and also fail to attain its wondrousness. Therefore they cannot move or turn, cannot open up and clear away. The ancients said: "When exhausted, it changes; when it changes, it penetrates." "Take the lantern into the Buddha hall"—if ordinary sentiment could measure this, can you still measure "bring the triple gate onto the lantern"? Yunmen all at once shattered feelings, consciousness, discursive thoughts, gain, loss, right, and wrong for you. Xuedou said: "I love Shaoyang's newly established dynamic function; all his life he pulled out nails and drew out pegs for people." He also said: "How many occupy the seat on crooked wood? With a sharp blade he cuts them away, winning people's love." When he said, "Take the lantern into the Buddha hall," this single phrase had already cut off everything. And again, "Bring the triple gate onto the lantern"—if one discusses this matter, it is like sparks struck from flint, like a flash of lightning. Yunmen said: "If you can correspond to it, then find an entryway. The Buddhas of dust-specks are beneath your heels; the sacred teachings of the Tripiṭaka are on the tip of your tongue. You had better awaken to it! Monks, do not entertain false thoughts: heaven is heaven, earth is earth; mountains are mountains, waters are waters; monks are monks, laypeople are laypeople." After a long pause he said: "Bring the table-mountain in front of me for me to see!" Then a monk came forward and asked, "When a student sees mountains as mountains and waters as waters, how is it?" Yunmen said, "Why does the triple gate pass through here?" Fearing you would die away, he then made a stroke with his hand and said, "If you recognize it, it is the supreme taste of clarified butter (ghṛta); if you fail to recognize it, it turns into poison." Therefore it is said: "When completely understood, there is nothing to understand; at the mysterious of the mysterious, one must directly reprove it." Xuedou also brought it up, saying: "'Within heaven and earth, inside the universe, therein lies a treasure, concealed within the mountain of form'—hung upon the wall. For nine years Bodhidharma dared not look straight at it with his true eye; yet now patch-robed monks want to see it, so a blow of the staff right across the spine!" Look at that authentic lineage master: in the end he never binds people with actual Dharmas. Xuansha said: "It refuses to remain in a cage; call to it, and it will not turn its head. Even though it is like this, it is also a spiritual turtle dragging its tail." Xuedou's verse says:

7.9

"Look, look! (Set your eyes high. What is the use of looking? The black dragon sports with the jewel.) / On the ancient bank, who holds the fishing pole? (Extremely solitary and precipitous; extremely sheer like a cliff. Drawing the bow after the thief has passed. Cheeks visible from behind the head. Do not associate with him.) / Clouds drift gently, (Only when cut off will it do. Bound a hundredfold and a thousandfold. A hat smeared with grease, a smelly felt shirt.) / Waters stretch boundlessly— (To the left, to the right; blocking in front, crowding behind.) / The bright moon and the reed flowers: look for yourself!" (Look at them and you go blind. If you recognize Yunmen's words, you will see Xuedou's final line.)

7.10

If you recognize Yunmen's words, you will see where Xuedou helps people. Following the last two lines of Yunmen's instruction to the assembly, he provides a footnote for you, saying, "Look, look!" If you immediately understand this as staring with wide-open eyes, you will have no connection at all. An ancient said: "The spiritual light shines solitary, far transcending sense roots and dusts. The essence reveals the true and constant, unconfined by words and letters. The mind-nature is undefiled, originally perfected of itself; merely depart from delusive conditions, and it is the Tathāgata just as it is." If you just sit to death in staring and glaring eyes, how could you transcend sense roots and dusts? Xuedou says, "Look, look!" Yunmen is like one holding a fishing pole on the ancient bank; the clouds drift gently, the waters stretch boundlessly; the bright moon reflects on the reed flowers, and the reed flowers reflect the bright moon. Right at such a time, tell me: what realm is this? If you see directly through it, before and after are just like a single phrase. Staring (chōu gēng qiè, meaning looking straight).

7.11

The pointer says: Where the paths of thought cannot reach, it is best to bring it up and remind; where verbal explanations fall short, one should swiftly set one's eyes. If lightning turns and stars fly, one can overturn the deep pools and topple the mountain peaks. Is there anyone in the assembly who can discern it? Consider the following:

7.12

[63] Case: One day, at Nanquan, the eastern and western halls were contending over a cat. (It wasn't just today that they ought to be noisy; also a whole scene of blunders.) / Nanquan saw it, picked it up, and said, "If you can speak, I will not cut it." (The authentic imperative is put into practice; the ten directions are cut off. This old fellow has the hands and feet to settle dragons and snakes.) / The assembly had no reply. (A pity to let it go. What use is a band of lacquer buckets? Spurious chan monks, like hemp and millet.) / Nanquan cut the cat into two pieces. (Delightful, delightful! Were it not like this, they would all be fellows playing with mud balls. Drawing the bow after the thief has passed. It is already the second head; before it was raised, he should have been beaten.)

7.13

Regarding lineage masters, look at their every movement and stillness, every coming out and going in—now tell me: what is their meaning? This case of cutting the cat has been discussed endlessly throughout the chan groves under heaven. Some say it is right where he held it up; others say it lies in the cutting. None of this has any connection whatsoever. Even before he held it up, they had already completely exhausted all kinds of reasoning in circles. Little do they know that the ancients possessed the eye to stabilize heaven and earth, and the sword to stabilize heaven and earth. Now you tell me: who ultimately cut the cat? Just as Nanquan held it up and said, "If you can speak, I will not cut it"—if at that moment someone had suddenly spoken, tell me: would Nanquan have cut it or not? Therefore it is said: "When the authentic imperative is put into practice, the ten directions are cut off. Look out beyond heaven: who is the person within this?" In fact, originally he did not cut it at that moment. Nor does this matter lie in cutting or not cutting. This matter is clearly known; it is so distinct, not to be sought within emotional dusts and conceptual views. If you seek it within emotional dusts and conceptual views, you betray Nanquan. Just look on the blade of the sword right at the clash: being is acceptable, nonbeing is acceptable, neither being nor nonbeing is acceptable. Therefore the ancients said: "When exhausted, it changes; when it changes, it penetrates." People nowadays do not understand changing and penetrating; they merely run after verbal phrases. When Nanquan held it up like that, could he have been telling someone to produce some specific words on the spot? He only wanted to make people realize it for themselves, each using it and knowing it for themselves. If you do not understand it like this, in the end you will never grope your way to it. Xuedou's verse right to the point says:

7.14

"Both halls were spurious chan monks; (Direct words come from his own mouth. A single phrase cuts off everything. Settling the case according to the confession.) / Stirring up smoke and dust, they could do nothing about it. (See how you settle this! A ready-made gong'an; there is something to it.) / Fortunately, Nanquan was able to execute the imperative: (Holding up the whisk, he said: "Just like this. Master Wang is still somewhat better. What a fine precious sword of the Vajra King, used to cut mud!") / In one blade, two pieces, letting it be biased or skewed." (Shattered into a hundred fragments. If someone had suddenly held down the knife, see what he would have done. He must not be let off; hit him at once!) / Skewed (pǔ hé qiè; biased, pronounced pō).

7.15

"Both halls were spurious chan monks." Xuedou does not die under the words, nor does he follow along before donkeys and behind horses; where there is a place to turn, he immediately says, "Stirring up smoke and dust, they could do nothing about it." Xuedou walked hand in hand with Nanquan; in a single phrase he stated it completely. The head monks of both halls had nowhere to rest; everywhere they merely stirred up smoke and dust, powerless to do anything. Fortunately, Nanquan settled this gong'an for them and gathered it in cleanly. What could they do, reaching neither the village ahead nor the inn behind? Therefore it is said: "Fortunately, Nanquan was able to execute the imperative: in one blade, two pieces, letting it be biased or skewed." Directly cut into two pieces with a single blade, paying no heed to whether it is biased or skewed. Now tell me: what imperative did Nanquan rely on?

7.16

[64] Case: Nanquan later brought up the previous case and asked Zhaozhou. (There must be one mind and one intent; only those on the same path can know.) / Zhaozhou thereupon took off his straw sandals, put them on his head, and walked out. (Inevitably trailing through mud and water.) / Nanquan said, "Had you been there, you would have saved the cat." (Singing and clapping in accord. Those who know the tune are few. Taking error as error.)

7.17

Zhaozhou was Nanquan's true heir. When the head was spoken, he understood the tail; as soon as it was brought up, he knew where it settled. In the evening Nanquan brought up the previous case again to ask Zhaozhou. Zhou was an old adept; he immediately took off his straw sandals, put them on his head, and walked out. Nanquan said, "Had you been there, you would have saved the cat." Now tell me, was it truly like this or not like this? Nanquan said, "If you can speak, I will not cut it"—like sparks struck from flint, like a flash of lightning. Zhaozhou immediately took off his straw sandals, put them on his head, and walked out. He investigated the living phrase, not the dead phrase; daily new, hourly new, a thousand sages cannot alter it by a single thread. One must bring forth one's own family treasure to see his total dynamic function. He said: "I am the Dharma King, sovereign in the Dharma." Many people mistakenly understand, saying: "Zhaozhou expediently treated the straw sandals as the cat." Some say: "Waiting for him to say 'If you can speak, I will not cut it,' he put the straw sandals on his head and went out—naturally it was you cutting the cat, it had nothing to do with me." None of this has any connection whatsoever; it is merely toying with the spirit. Little do they know that the ancient's intention was like heaven covering universally, like earth supporting universally. Father and son were in accord, dynamic sharpness matching. When one raised the head, the other understood the tail. Students nowadays do not know the ancient's turning point; in vain they guess and calculate on the path of thought. If you want to see, just go to that turning point of Nanquan and Zhaozhou, and you will see it well. The verse says:

7.18

"The gong'an completed, he came to ask Zhaozhou; (The words are still in our ears. There is no need to execute [it] again. Hanging a medicine bag behind the hearse.) / In the city of Chang'an he strolled about freely at ease. (So joyful! So unrestricted! Picking up grass with hands unrestricted. I cannot but let you go on like this.) / With straw sandals placed atop his head, no one understood; (Still there are one or two. That is of another family tradition. Matching on the bright side, matching on the dark side.) / Returning to his native mountain, he immediately desisted." (Thirty blows of the staff right under his heels! And tell me, where is the fault? Only because you raised waves where there was no wind. If both lay it down, I only fear it is not so; but being so is also exceedingly marvelous!) / 𡎺 (Ce-liu fan: to obstruct, block.) 磕 (Ke-he fan: sound of stones; homophonous with 榼 [ke]).

7.19

"The gong'an completed, he came to ask Zhaozhou." The Hall Director Qing said, "It is like someone settling a case: eight blows of the staff are eight blows, thirteen are thirteen—it was already decided. Yet he brought it up to ask Zhaozhou." Zhaozhou was someone of his household; he understood Nanquan's essential intent. He was someone who had penetrated completely through; bumping and striking against it, he immediately turned. Possessing the eyes and brains of an authentic master, the moment he heard it brought up, he kicked it away and departed. Xuedou says, "In the city of Chang'an he strolled about freely at ease." He reveals not a little leaking! An ancient said, "Though Chang'an is pleasant, it is not a place to stay long." And another said, "Chang'an is extremely noisy, while my state is completely tranquil." One must indeed recognize the dynamic opportune moment and distinguish good fortune from ill before one can attain this. "With straw sandals placed atop his head, no one understood." The place of putting straw sandals on the head—this bit, though it has not many matters, yet it is said, "Only I can know it, only I can verify it." Only then can one see where Nanquan, Zhaozhou, and Xuedou were together in attainment and together in application. And tell me, how will you understand it now? "Returning to his native mountain, he immediately desisted." What place is the native mountain? If he had not understood, he certainly would not have spoken thus; since he did understand, tell me, where is the native mountain? [The master] then struck.

7.20

The Pointer says: Formless yet taking shape, filling the ten directions of space it is square and wide. Mindless yet responding, permeating the oceans of lands without wearying. Raising one to illuminate three, his eye gauges the dynamic function down to grains and ounces. Even if blows of the staff fall like raindrops and shouts rush like thunder, one has still not yet measured up to the conduct of the transcendent person. And tell me, what is the affair of a transcendent person? To test, I cite:

7.21

[65] The Case: A non-Buddhist asked the Buddha, "I do not ask about the spoken; I do not ask about the unspoken." (Though it is so, someone of the household also has a bit of fragrance. Twin swords leaning against emptiness fly. Fortunately, he does not ask.) / The World-Honoured One sat silently for a long time. (Do not slander the World-Honoured One! Its sound is like thunder. Whether sitting or standing, none can move him.) / The non-Buddhist praised him, saying, "The World-Honoured One, with great benevolence and great compassion, has cleared away the clouds of my delusion and enabled me to enter." (A sharp fellow—with a single nudge he turns at once. A bright pearl in a plate.) / After the non-Buddhist had departed, Ānanda asked the Buddha, "What did the non-Buddhist realize that he spoke of gaining entry?" (No harm in making people doubtful about it. We must also let everyone know. Soldering iron to pig iron.) / The Buddha said, "Like a fine horse in the world that runs on seeing the shadow of the whip." (And tell me, what do you call the shadow of the whip? Striking once with the whisk. There is an eye on the staff's head, bright as the sun. If you wish to know genuine gold, look into the fire. Shide eats rice with his mouth.)

7.22

If this matter lay in words and phrases, does the teaching of the three vehicles and twelve divisions lack words and phrases? If one says that wordlessness is indeed it, why would there be any need for the ancestral master to come from the West? Just as with the many gong'ans from antiquity down to the present, in the end how are their outcomes to be seen? In this gong'an, there are not a few who interpret it verbally. Some call it "silence for a long time"; some call it "sitting firmly"; some call it "remaining silent without answering." I am glad to say that none of this has any connection—when have they ever managed to touch it? This matter is genuinely neither in words and phrases nor separate from words and phrases. If one engages in even the slightest deliberation, one is off by a thousand or ten thousand miles. Look at that non-Buddhist: only after he awoke did he realize that it is neither here nor there, neither this nor not this. And tell me, what is it? Venerable Tianyi Huai's verse says: / "Vimalakīrti was not silent, nor did he pause for long; / Sitting firmly and conferring turns into fault and blame. / The hair-severing blade in the scabbard has a chilly glint; / Non-Buddhists and celestial Māras all fold their hands." / Venerable Baizhang Chang visited Fayan, and Fayan had him look into this dialogue. One day Fayan asked, "What dialogue are you examining?" Chang said, "The dialogue of the non-Buddhist asking the Buddha." Fayan said, "Try bringing it up for me to see." Chang was about to open his mouth when Fayan said, "Stop! Stop! Were you about to understand it toward the place of 'remaining silent for a long time'?" At these words Chang suddenly experienced great enlightenment. Later he instructed the assembly, saying: "Baizhang has three secrets: drink tea, take care, rest. If you deliberate and ponder further, I know you have not yet penetrated thoroughly." Cuiyan Zhen "Pointing-to-his-Chest" took it up and said, "Six joins with nine; there are blue, yellow, red, and white, each intertwining." The non-Buddhist understood the treatises of the four Vedas and said of himself, "I am an omniscient person." Everywhere he demanded debate with people. Setting up the point of his question, he intended to cut off old Śākyamuni's tongue. The World-Honoured One did not expend the slightest ounce of effort, yet the man suddenly came to realization and praised him, saying: "The World-Honoured One, with great benevolence and great compassion, has cleared away the clouds of my delusion and enabled me to enter." And tell me, what is the place of great benevolence and great compassion? The World-Honoured One's single eye penetrates the three times; the non-Buddhist's twin pupils pierce the five regions of India. Guishan Zhenru took it up and said: "The non-Buddhist harboured a supreme treasure, and the World-Honoured One personally held it up high for him. The dense forest is made apparent; the myriad phenomena are distinctly clear." And in the end, what did the non-Buddhist awaken to? It is like chasing a dog against a wall: when pushed to the ultimate point where there is no way out, it must turn back—and then it is vividly alive! If you calculate right and wrong, once you lay them down at the same time, when feelings are exhausted and views eliminated, naturally all is clearly understood through and through. After the non-Buddhist departed, Ānanda asked the Buddha, "What did the non-Buddhist realize that he spoke of gaining entry?" The Buddha said, "Like a fine horse in the world that runs on seeing the shadow of the whip." Later, various teachers said, "Again blown by the wind into another tune." Others said, "A dragon's head and a snake's tail." What place is the World-Honoured One's shadow of the whip? What place is the seeing of the shadow of the whip? Xuedou says, "Not distinguishing heterodoxy from orthodoxy, the fault stems from the shadow of the whip." Zhenru says, "Ānanda struck the golden bell a second time, and the four assemblies heard it together. Even though it is so, it is much like two dragons contending for a pearl, enhancing the terrible majesty of the wise." Xuedou's verse says:

7.23

"The dynamic wheel has never yet turned; (It is right here. Truly it does not stir by a single hair.) / When it turns, it must run to both extremes. (If not falling into existence, it must fall into non-existence. If not east, then west. The left eye half a pound, the right eye eight ounces.) / Suddenly a bright mirror comes before the stand; (Do you still see old Śākyamuni? With a single nudge it immediately turns. Smashed! Smashed! Defeated! Defeated!) / Right on the spot beauty and ugliness are distinguished. (The entire great earth is a gate of liberation. Well deserved thirty blows of the staff! Do you still see old Śākyamuni?) / Beauty and ugliness distinguished, the clouds of delusion clear; (Leaving an open path, conceding that you have a way to turn yourself around. What can be done? He is merely a non-Buddhist.) / Where could the gate of compassion produce any dust? (Pervading the realm, it was never hidden. Step back! Step back! Bodhidharma has arrived.) / Recalling the fine horse catching sight of the whip's shadow, (I have a staff; no need for you to give me one. And tell me, what place is the whip's shadow? What place is the fine horse?) / Chasing the wind for a thousand leagues, it is called back. (Riding the Buddha hall out through the triple gate! To turn oneself around is already an error; to let it pass by is impermissible. [He] then struck.) / Having called it back, he snaps his fingers thrice." (Ahead, one does not reach the village; behind, one does not arrive at the inn. Snapping the staff in two—where will you go? Xuedou's thunder is extremely loud, but of rain drops there are none at all.)

7.24

"The dynamic wheel has never yet turned; when it turns, it must run to both extremes." The dynamic function is the numinous dynamic function of the thousand sages; the wheel is the life-pulse of everyone from the fundamental origin onward. Do you not see what an ancient said? "The numinous dynamic function of the thousand sages is not easy to approach; if a dragon bears a dragon's child, do not procrastinate. Zhaozhou seized the jade worth multiple cities; both the King of Qin and Xiangru lost their lives." The non-Buddhist, however, held firm and remained master; he had never stirred. Why? Because he said, "I do not ask about the spoken; I do not ask about the unspoken." Is this not the place of the full dynamic function? The World-Honoured One was able to trim his sail to the wind and prescribe medicine according to the disease; therefore, he remained silent for a long time. The full dynamic function was raised up, and the non-Buddhist understood the whole substance. The dynamic wheel then turned briskly round and round—it did not turn toward existence, nor did it turn toward non-existence; it did not fall into gain or loss, nor was it constrained by the ordinary or the sacred; both sides were cut off at once. No sooner had the World-Honoured One remained silent for a long time than he bowed. Nowadays, people mostly fall into non-existence, or else they fall into existence; they just run to both extremes within existence and non-existence. Xuedou says, "Suddenly a bright mirror comes before the stand; right on the spot beauty and ugliness are distinguished." This matter has never been touched; it requires only a long silence, like a bright mirror brought before the stand: the myriad forms cannot escape their shapes and substances. The non-Buddhist said, "The World-Honoured One, with great benevolence and great compassion, has cleared away the clouds of my delusion and enabled me to enter." And tell me, what place is the non-Buddhist's place of entry? Arriving here, each and every person must investigate for themselves, examine for themselves, realize for themselves, and understand for themselves before they can attain it. Then in all places—walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, without asking whether high or low—all is accomplished at once, never shifting by a single hair. If you engage in calculation, having the slightest trace of doctrine, it will obstruct you to death, leaving no portion of entry at all. Later, eulogizing the World-Honoured One's great benevolence and great compassion clearing the clouds of delusion and granting entry: right on the spot, beauty and ugliness are suddenly distinguished. "Beauty and ugliness distinguished, the clouds of delusion clear; where could the gate of compassion produce any dust?" The entire great earth is the portal of the World-Honoured One's great benevolence and great compassion. If you can penetrate it, it does not require a single pinch. This is also an open gate. Do you not see? For three weeks the World-Honoured One contemplated this matter: "Rather than teach the Dharma, I shall swiftly enter into nirvāṇa." "Recalling the fine horse catching sight of the whip's shadow, chasing the wind for a thousand leagues, it is called back." A horse chasing the wind, upon seeing the shadow of the whip, traverses a thousand leagues; told to return, it immediately returns. Xuedou's meaning praises him, saying that only if one finds an outstanding individual can he be turned with a single nudge and called back with a single call. If he can be called back, he then snaps his fingers thrice. And tell me, does this point it out, or does it scatter sand?

7.25

The Pointer says: Facing the dynamic occasion directly, he raises the mechanism that entraps the tiger. Pressing from the front and seizing from the side, he deploys the strategy that captures the bandit. Meeting openly and meeting covertly, releasing both and holding both—knowing how to handle a dead snake requires an authentic creator.

7.26

[Case 66] Case: Yantou asked a monk, "Where have you come from?"
(Before opening his mouth, he had already exposed his defeat and shortcoming. Piercing through the skull. Wanting to know where he comes from is not difficult either.)
The monk said, "I come from the Western Capital."
(Sure enough, a petty thief.)
Yantou said, "After Huang Chao passed through, did you retrieve the sword?"
(All his life he never acted as a grass thief. Not fearing having his head lopped off, he thus asks this. Quite bold!)
The monk said, "I retrieved it."
(Defeated! He does not yet know the place to turn about. Like wild weeds, Mao Guanghans are as numerous as hemp and millet.)
Yantou stretched his neck forward and said, "Heh!"
(One must also recognise the opportune dynamic to begin with. The trap-the-tiger dynamic—what sort of mindset is this?)
The monk said, "Master, your head has fallen."
(He sees only that the point of the awl is sharp, but does not see that the head of the chisel is square. What discernment of good and bad does he possess? Right on the mark!)
Yantou roared with great laughter.
(All the patch-robed monks under heaven can do nothing with him. He completely deceives everyone under heaven. You cannot find where this old fellow's head fell.)
The monk later arrived at Xuefeng's place.
(Muddled and obtuse as before. This monk inevitably exposed his complete defeat and shortcoming.)
Xuefeng asked, "Where have you come from?"
(He cannot but state where he comes from; he too must examine him.)
The monk said, "I come from Yantou."
(Sure enough, he exposes his defeat and shortcoming.)
Xuefeng said, "What words were spoken?"
(Recounting them, he will not avoid taking the staff.)
The monk related the previous dialogue.
(He ought to be driven out straight away.)
Xuefeng struck him thirty blows with his staff and drove him out.
(Although it cuts iron and shears nails, why did he strike only thirty blows? The staff has not yet been broken. Still, it is not yet the proper measure. Why not three thousand in the morning and eight hundred in the evening? If they were not fellow trainees, how could they discern the reality? Even though it is so, tell me: where did Xuefeng and Yantou alight?)

7.27

Generally speaking, shoulder-pole carrying the bag and bowl, parting the grasses to gaze for the wind, one must also be equipped with the eye of itinerant pilgrimage to begin with. This monk's eyes were like shooting stars, yet he was thoroughly examined and pierced through on a single string by Yantou. At that time, if he had been a true fellow, whether killing or giving life, he would have applied it as soon as it was raised. But this monk was clumsy and careless, responding instead, "I retrieved it." Wandering on pilgrimage like this, Old Yama will interrogate you and demand payment for your food! Who knows how many straw sandals he wore out until he reached Xuefeng? If at that time he had had a bit of an eye, he would have understood how to catch a glimpse—would that not have been delightful? In this case, there are jagged joints and deceptive entanglements. Although this matter has no gain or loss, the gain and loss are exceedingly great; although there is no choosing, when it comes to this, one must possess the eye to choose. Look at when Longya was on pilgrimage: he raised a question, asking Deshan, "When a student brandishes the Moyeda sword and intends to take the master's head, what then?" Deshan stretched his neck forward and said, "Heh!" Longya said, "Master, your head has fallen." Deshan then returned to the abbot's quarters. Later, Longya recounted this to Dongshan. Dongshan said, "What did Deshan say at that time?" Longya said, "He had no words." Dongshan said, "Setting aside his having no words for the moment, lend me Deshan's fallen head to look at." Upon these words, Longya had a great awakening; he then burned incense, faced Deshan from afar, bowed, and repented. A monk reported this to Deshan. Deshan said, "That old fellow Dongshan does not know good from bad. That fellow has been dead for how long now? What is the use of reviving him?" This gong'an is just like Longya's. Deshan's returning to the abbot's quarters is most wondrous in secret. Yantou laughed heartily, and in his laughter there was poison. If someone can discern it, they can stride freely throughout the world. If that monk had discerned it at that time, he would have avoided being checked and blamed for a thousand ages. At Yantou's gate, it was already a total miss. Look at that old man Xuefeng: being fellow trainees, he immediately knew where he landed; he did not lay it bare for him either, but only struck him thirty blows and drove him out of the monastery. This can illumine the past and surpass the future! This is the technique of grabbing the nostrils of an adept patch-robed monk for the sake of helping someone. He did not bother debating with him at all, but caused him to awaken for himself. When a lineage master of the proper measure acts for someone, sometimes he covers them over, not allowing them to poke their head out; sometimes he lets them fall stone-dead, yet they must have a place of escape. Great, immense Yantou and Xuefeng were, on the contrary, examined and seen through by a rice-eating Chan monk! But tell me: when Yantou said, "After Huang Chao passed through, did you retrieve the sword?" what words should have been spoken here to avoid his laughter, and also to avoid Xuefeng applying the staff and driving him out? Here it is deceptive and entangled: if one has not personally experienced and personally awakened to it, even if one's mouth is sharp and nimble, in the end one cannot break through and escape birth and death. I usually instruct people to look closely at the turning point of this mechanism; if you deliberate, you are far, far away. Have you not seen: Touzi asked a monk from Yanping, "After Huang Chao passed through, did you retrieve the sword?" The monk pointed to the ground with his finger. Touzi said, "For thirty years I have ridden horses, yet today I am thrown by a donkey!" Look at this monk: he was indeed an adept. He neither said he retrieved it nor said he did not retrieve it. Compared to the monk from the Western Capital, they are separated as if by an ocean. Zhenru commented: "Those ancients—one acted as the head, and the other definitely acted as the tail." Xuedou's verse says:

7.28

"After Huang Chao passed through, he once retrieved the sword;"
(What use is an uncouth fellow like Meng Balang? It is merely a tin knife.)
"The great laughter must still be known by an adept."
(One son truly grasps it; how many could there be? If it were not for him, how could he attain freedom?)
"Thirty blows of mountain rattan are, for the moment, a lenient pardon;"
(Born on the same branch, dying on the same branch. Three thousand in the morning, eight hundred in the evening. When someone dies in the eastern house, the western house joins in mourning. Yet he revives him.)
"To gain an advantage is to lose an advantage."
(Settling the case based on the confession. Regretting not being cautious at the beginning. There is also a little bit.)

7.29

"After Huang Chao passed through, he once retrieved the sword; the great laughter must still be known by an adept." Xuedou then versified this monk and Yantou's great laughter. This slight point is something no one in the world can grope out. Tell me, what was he laughing at? Only an adept can know. In this laughter, there is the provisional and the real, illumination and function, killing and giving life. "Thirty blows of mountain rattan are, for the moment, a lenient pardon" versifies that this monk later came before Xuefeng. This monk was crude and reckless as before; Xuefeng then acted according to the authentic imperative, struck him thirty blows, and drove him out. And tell me, why was it like this? If you wish to understand these words thoroughly: to gain an advantage is to lose an advantage.

7.30

[Case 67] Case: Emperor Wu of Liang invited Mahāsattva Fu to lecture on the Diamond Sūtra.
(Bodhidharma's brother has arrived! It might pass in fish markets and wine shops, but under the gate of patch-robed monks, it is impermissible. This old fellow, so old and grand, acts like this!)
The Mahāsattva then, on his seat, struck the desk once, and immediately stepped down from the seat.
(Directly causing sparks of fire to burst forth. Seeming like it, it resembles it, but is not yet it. No need to entangle with vines.)
Emperor Wu was astonished.
(Twice, thrice deceived by others. It also leaves him unable to grope it out.)
Master Zhi asked, "Does Your Majesty understand?"
(Siding with principle, not with personal affection. The elbow does not bend outward. It would be right to give him thirty blows as well.)
The Emperor said, "I do not understand."
(What a pity!)
Master Zhi said, "The Mahāsattva has finished lecturing on the sūtra."
(He should also be expelled from the country to begin with! At that time, driving out Master Zhi together with him from the country at the same time—that would be an adept. Two fellows in the same pit, no different earth.)

7.31

Emperor Wu, the Founding Ancestor of the Liang, surnamed Xiao, taboo name Yan, courtesy name Shuda, established achievements until he received the abdication of the Qi. After ascending the throne, he wrote separate commentaries and lectures on the Five Classics, and revered Laozi and the Yellow Emperor very devoutly. By nature, he was extremely filial. One day, he thought of obtaining a world-transcending teaching to repay the toil of his parents. Thereupon he renounced Daoism and served the Buddha; he then received the bodhisattva precepts from Dharma Master Louyue, donned the Buddha's kāṣāya, and personally lectured on the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra to repay his father and mother. At that time, Master Zhi the Mahāsattva was detained in prison for confusing the multitude by displaying anomalies. Master Zhi then divided his body and went about transforming cities and towns. One day the Emperor learned of this, was deeply moved and awakened, and esteemed him greatly. Master Zhi frequently shielded and protected him, his hidden and manifest ways being unfathomable. At that time, in Wuzhou, there was a Mahāsattva who dwelt on Mount Yunhuang; he planted two trees with his own hands and called it the Twin Trees [Grove], calling himself the Future Shanhui Mahāsattva. One day, he wrote a letter and ordered a disciple to present a memorial to the Emperor. At that time, the court rejected it because it lacked the etiquette of minister to sovereign. Mahāsattva Fu was about to enter the city of Jinling to sell fish. At that time, Emperor Wu happened to invite Master Zhi to lecture on the Diamond Sūtra. Master Zhi said, "This poor monk cannot lecture on it; in the marketplace there is a Mahāsattva Fu who can lecture on this sūtra." The Emperor issued an edict summoning him into the palace. Once Mahāsattva Fu arrived, from the lecture seat he struck the desk once and immediately stepped down from the seat. At that time, he should have been pushed over right away, avoiding a messy scene. Instead, Master Zhi said, "Does Your Majesty understand?" The Emperor said, "I do not understand." Master Zhi said, "The Mahāsattva has finished lecturing on the sūtra." One acted as the head, and the other acted as the tail. When Master Zhi spoke like this, did he even dream of Mahāsattva Fu? Both are playing with spirits; this one in particular is extraordinary. Although it is a dead snake, if you know how to handle it, it comes alive. Since it is lecturing on the sūtra, why did he not make great dualistic distinctions, like an ordinary lecture master saying, "The substance of the vajra is firm and indestructible by any object; through its sharp function it can crush all things"? Only expounding like this is called lecturing on the sūtra! Even though it is so, you all do not realise at all that Mahāsattva Fu merely seized the transcendent trigger, slightly exposed the sharp edge, and caused people to know where it lands; cutting straight through for you, like a precipice rising ten thousand fathoms! Just then, Master Zhi, not knowing good from bad, instead said, "The Mahāsattva has finished lecturing on the sūtra." This is truly good intentions not receiving a good reward: like a cup of fine wine being diluted with water by Master Zhi, or a pot of soup being contaminated by a piece of rat dung from Master Zhi! And tell me: since it is not lecturing on the sūtra, what after all is it called? The verse says:

7.32

"Not lodging this body in the Twin Trees,"
(Only because he could not hold back. How could an awl be concealed in a bag?)
"Instead he stirred up dust in the land of Liang."
(If one does not enter the grass, how can one see the reality? In a place devoid of elegance, there is also elegance.)
"If not for Old Master Zhi at that time,"
(To be a thief requires no capital; there is a scabby fellow tagging along.)
"He too would have been an unsettled man driven from the country."
(Just right to accept the charge and take the beating!)"} ],

7.33

"Not lodging his body at Twin Trees, / He rather stirred up dust and dirt in the land of Liang." Mahāsattva Fu and that old fellow without teeth were met with in just the same way. When Bodhidharma first arrived in Jinling, he met Emperor Wu. The Emperor asked: "What is the paramārtha of the holy truths?" Bodhidharma said: "Vast and empty, with nothing holy." The Emperor said: "Who is facing Us?" Bodhidharma said: "I know not." The Emperor did not connect with him, so [Bodhidharma] crossed the Yangtze River into Wei. Emperor Wu brought this up and asked Baozhi about it. Baozhi said: "Does Your Majesty recognize this man or not?" The Emperor said: "I know him not." Baozhi said: "This is the Mahāsattva Guanyin, transmitting the Buddha mind-seal." The Emperor was full of regret, and forthwith dispatched an envoy to bring him back. Baozhi said: "Do not say just Your Majesty sending an envoy to bring him back—even if everyone in the entire country went, he would still not return." Therefore Xuedou says: "Had he not had old Baozhi at the time, / He too would have been an exile hurried from the realm." At that time, had it not been for Baozhi standing up for Mahāsattva Fu, he would also have had to be driven out of the realm. Once Baozhi became talkative, Emperor Wu was taken in and hoodwinked by him instead. Xuedou's general idea is: there was no need for him to come to the land of Liang to lecture on the sūtra and strike the lectern. Therefore it is said: why didn't he lodge his body at Twin Trees, eating congee and eating rice, passing the time according to his lot? Yet he came to the land of Liang, gesturing and explaining like this, striking the lectern once and stepping down from the seat—that was precisely where he stirred up dust and dirt. If one wants to be supreme, one's eyes look to the clouds and sky: above, one does not see any Buddha; below, one does not see any sentient beings. But if one speaks of the matter of world-transcending, one cannot avoid getting ash on the head and mud on the face, turning nothing into something, turning something into nothing, taking right as wrong, turning the coarse into the fine, going through fish markets and wine shops, picking things up crosswise and applying them upside down, causing all people to understand this matter. If one did not let go and give free rein in this way, even until Maitreya descends to be born, there would not be even one or half a person [awakened]. Since Mahāsattva Fu was dragging in mud and dripping with water, fortunately he had an understanding companion. Had he not had old Baozhi, he would almost have been driven out of the realm. Now tell me: where is he right now?

First 33 of 51 passages. Read on

Linked texts (1)

佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 — Classical Chinese