佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 9
English (machine translation) 9
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- English
9.1
The pointer says: Seizing flags and capturing drums, even a thousand sages cannot fathom it. Sitting through and cutting off deceptions, ten thousand dynamic workings cannot reach it. It is not supernatural wondrous functioning, nor is it the fundamental essence being as it is. But tell me: relying on what can one attain such extraordinary wonder?
9.2
[81] Case: A monk asked Yaoshan, "On the flat fields with shallow grass, the elk and deer form herds. How can one shoot the elk of elks?" (Seizing his topknot and surrendering to the magistrate. Coming out with head aloft and horns brandished. Pulling an arrow from behind his skull.) / Yaoshan said, "Watch the arrow!" (Robbery in plain sight. Running downhill without stopping. A swift stroke rarely met with. Hit!) / The monk let his body fall straight down. (Distinctly different. Dead once, never to revive again. A fellow playing with his soul.) / Yaoshan said, "Attendant, drag this dead fellow out!" (Acting in accord with the imperative. No need for further examination. The first arrow was still light; the second arrow penetrated deep.) / The monk thereupon ran away. (Staring eyes inside a coffin. Gaining life in the midst of death. There is still breath left.) / Yaoshan said, "What limit is there to a fellow playing with mud balls?" (Pity he let him go. Acting in accord with the imperative. Adding frost on top of snow.) / Xuedou brought this up and said, "Though alive after three paces, he must die at five paces." (One hand lifting up, one hand pressing down. Even if he ran a hundred paces, he would still lose his body and life. Again he said, "Watch the arrow!" But tell me, where did Xuedou's intent land? If they died together and lived together, Yaoshan would simply be left staring with mouth agape. Utterly like a hammer without a hole—what use can be made of it?) / 麈 (pronounced zhǔ). / 瞪 (the initial and final zhí and gēng; staring straight ahead with angry eyes). / 呿 (the sounds qū, zhē, or lì, jiā; the appearance of opening the mouth).
9.3
This gong'an is what the Dongshan lineage calls a "question borrowing an event," and also a "question distinguishing the host," used to clarify the dynamic occasion. Deer and elk are ordinarily easy to shoot; only the elk among elks, being the king among deer, is the most difficult to shoot. This elk constantly sharpens its horns on craggy rocks so that they are sharp as spear points; shielding the herd of deer with its own body, even tigers cannot approach. This monk also seemed sharp; he brought this forward to question Yaoshan, using it to clarify the primary dynamic. Yaoshan said, "Watch the arrow!" As an adept lineage master, he was indeed extraordinary—like sparks struck from stone, like a flash of lightning. Have you not seen? When Sanping first visited Shigong, as soon as Shigong saw him coming, he assumed the posture of drawing a bow and said, "Watch the arrow!" Sanping parted his robes at the chest and said, "Is this a person-killing arrow or a person-reviving arrow?" Shigong twanged the bowstring three times, and Sanping made prostrations. Shigong said, "For thirty years, with one bow and two arrows, today I have only shot half a sage," and snapped his bow and arrows in two. Later, Sanping brought this up to Dadian. Dadian said, "If it was a person-reviving arrow, why did you discern it upon the bowstring?" Sanping was speechless. Dadian said, "Thirty years from now, to find someone who can bring up this topic will also be difficult." Fadeng composed a verse saying: / "Anciently there was Master Shigong, / Who sat with bow and arrows drawn. / For thirty years like this, / Not a single intimate knower appeared. / Sanping came and hit the bullseye; / Father and son joined in harmony. / When you reflect upon it carefully, / He was originally the shooting target." / Shigong's strategy was identical to Yaoshan's. Sanping had an eye in his forehead, hitting the mark beneath a single phrase, just as when Yaoshan said "Watch the arrow," the monk acted like the elk and let his body fall down. This monk also seemed like an adept, only he had a head but no tail. Since he set a snare wishing to entrap Yaoshan, how could it be helped that Yaoshan was an adept who pressed him straight on? Yaoshan said, "Attendant, drag this dead fellow out!"—just like deploying battle lines forward. That the monk thereupon ran off was well enough; it was indeed so, yet he was not unattached and nimble, but sticky in hands and feet. Therefore Yaoshan said, "What limit is there to a fellow playing with mud balls?" At that time, had Yaoshan lacked these later words, down through a thousand ages he would have suffered people's scrutiny. Yaoshan said, "Watch the arrow!" and this monk fell down: but tell me, did he understand, or did he not understand? If you say he understood, why did Yaoshan then say, "A fellow playing with mud balls"? This point is the most sinister. It is just like when a monk asked Deshan, "What is it like when a student brandishes the Moyé sword and intends to take the master's head?" Deshan stretched out his neck, came forward, and cried, "Gah!" The monk said, "The master's head has fallen!" Deshan bowed his head and returned to the abbot's quarters. Also, Yantou asked a monk, "Where do you come from?" The monk said, "I come from the Western Capital." Yantou said, "After Huang Chao passed through, did you retrieve a sword?" The monk said, "I retrieved one." Yantou stretched out his neck, came forward, and cried, "Gah!" The monk said, "The master's head has fallen!" Yantou gave a hearty laugh. Gong'ans of this sort are all dynamics for trapping tigers, precisely of this class. It was just that Yaoshan paid him no heed; because he saw through him, he simply kept pressing forward. Xuedou said, "Though alive after three paces, this monk must die at five paces." Although this monk understood very well how to "watch the arrow" and let his body fall down, when Yaoshan said, "Attendant, drag this dead fellow out," the monk ran away. Xuedou said, he feared only that beyond three paces he would not be alive. At that time, if he had leaped out beyond five paces, no one in the world could have done anything to him. When adepts meet, guest and host must interchange from beginning to end without interruption; only then is there a share of unfettered freedom. Because this monk at that time could not carry it through from beginning to end, he suffered Xuedou's scrutiny. Afterward, [Xuedou] also used his words in his verse, saying:
9.4
"The elk among elks— (Look with eyes raised high. He goes off brandishing his horns on his head.) / Look at it, sir! (What is it like? Running off toward secondary heads. If you want to shoot, then shoot; what are you looking for?) / Releasing one arrow, (Hit! One must recognize Yaoshan's skilled hand.) / He runs three paces; (Alive and kicking. He manages only three paces; he has been dead for a long time.) / If he lives at five paces, (What are you doing? Leaping a hundred paces. What if someone suddenly gains life in the midst of death?) / He will chase the tiger with the herd. (Both are simultaneously illuminated. One must step back for him. Even if patch-robed monks of the world let him stick his head out, it is still only in the thicket of grass.) / From the start, the true eye has been entrusted to the hunter." (Yet Yaoshan was not willing to accept these words. Yaoshan is already like this; what about Xuedou? It is none of Yaoshan's business, none of Xuedou's business, none of this mountain monk's business, and none of your business, elder.) / Xuedou raised his voice and said, "Watch the arrow!" (Accepted in a single deposition. One must also step back for him. Striking, he said: It has already blocked your throat!)
9.5
"The elk among elks, look at it, sir!" Patch-robed monks must possess the eye of the elk among elks, and have the head and horns of the elk among elks, possessing dynamic devices and active strategies. Even an eagle-winged ferocious tiger or a horned beast can only save its whole body and keep far away from harm. This monk at that time let his body fall straight down, saying to himself, "I am the elk." "Releasing one arrow, he runs three paces": Yaoshan said, "Watch the arrow!" and the monk fell down; Yaoshan said, "Attendant, drag this dead fellow out!" That this monk then ran away was quite good, yet he managed only to run three paces. "If he lives at five paces, he will chase the tiger with the herd": Xuedou said he feared only that at five paces he must die. If at that time he had leaped beyond five paces and lived, he could have joined the herd to chase the tiger. The horns of the elk among elks are as sharp as lances; when a tiger sees them, it too fears them and runs away. The elk is the king among deer; it constantly leads the herd of deer to chase tigers into other mountains. Later in the verse, Xuedou also shows that Yaoshan possessed a way to escape on the dynamic occasion: "From the start, the true eye has been entrusted to the hunter." Yaoshan was like a hunter skilled at shooting, while that monk was like the elk. At that time, when Xuedou ascended the hall, he brought up these words, gathered them into a single bundle of talk, and loudly called out a single phrase, saying, "Watch the arrow!" Those sitting and standing were all at once unable to rise.
9.6
The pointer says: The silk line at the tip of the pole—only those with the eye know it. The dynamic outside the pattern—only an adept can discern it. But tell me, what is the silk line at the tip of the pole, the dynamic outside the pattern? Test and bring it up to see!
9.7
[82] Case: A monk asked Dalong, "When the physical body decays, what is the firm Dharma-body?" (Dividing the words into two halves. Splitting them apart is also good.) / Dalong said, "Mountain flowers bloom like brocade; the stream water runs clear as indigo." (A fluteless pipe colliding with felt clappers. Complete and whole, it cannot be split open. A person coming from Chenzhou goes instead toward Xuzhou.)
9.8
If you seek this matter within words and speech, it is like waving a staff to strike the moon—it has no connection whatsoever. An ancient said clearly: 'If you wish for intimate nearness, do not bring questions to question.' Why? The question is at the place of the answer; the answer is at the place of the question. This monk carried a load of crudeness and exchanged it for a load of muddleheadedness; raising such a line of questioning, he was riddled with defects. If it had not been Dalong, how could [the response] have covered heaven and earthed the earth? He asked thus, and Dalong answered thus: they formed a single complete whole, without deviating by a single hair's breadth. It was just like releasing a hawk upon spotting a hare, or fitting a peg upon seeing a mortise. Within the three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teachings, is there still such a time? It is certainly extraordinary, yet words are flavorless and block people's mouths. Therefore it is said: 'A patch of white cloud lies across the valley mouth; / How many returning birds at night lose their way to the nest?' Some say [Dalong] was just answering off the cuff. If you understand it that way, you are all people who extinguish the barbarian race. Little do they know that in every dynamic function and every state of the ancients, they smash the cangues and break the locks; in every phrase and every word, there is unrefined gold and uncut jade. If one has the eyes and brains of a patch-robed monk, at times holding fast and at times letting go, illumination and application are simultaneous, both person and environment are taken away, both released and both gathered, adapting to circumstances as they arise. Without great application and great dynamic function, how could one cover heaven and earth like this? It is very much like a bright mirror set upon its stand: when a barbarian comes, a barbarian appears; when a Han Chinese comes, a Han Chinese appears. This gong'an is identical to the dialogue on the herbal railing, yet the intention is different. Where this monk asked was unclear; where Dalong answered hit the mark exactly. Have you not seen a monk ask Yunmen, 'How is it when the trees wither and the leaves fall?' Yunmen said, 'The body is exposed in the autumn wind.' This is called arrowheads meeting point to point. This monk asked Dalong, 'When the physical body perishes, what is the indestructible Dharmakāya?' Dalong said, 'The mountain flowers bloom like brocade; / The ravine waters run clear as indigo.' This is just like 'you head to western Qin while I go to eastern Lu.' Since he went like that, I did not go like that—it is completely opposite to Yunmen. That way of going like that is easy to see; this way of not going like that is hard to see. Dalong certainly kept his three inches very tight. Xuedou's eulogy says:
9.9
The questioner never knew; (East and west not distinguished. Playing with an object without knowing its name. Buying a hat according to the head.) / The answerer still did not understand. (North and south not divided. Exchanging the skull. South of the river, north of the river.)
Cold moon, high wind; (What is it like? Today is just such a time. People of the world have eyes yet have never seen it; they have ears yet have never heard it.)
An ancient crag, a chilly cypress. (Even better when it is not raining. A holeless flute hits a felt clapper.) / How laughable: encountering a person of the Way on the road, (You must arrive here in person to attain it. Give me back my staff! Coming like this in droves.)
Not greeting them with speech or silence. (At what place do you see Dalong? With what should you greet him?)
Holding a white jade whip in hand, (From one to seven, broken off.) / He smashed every black dragon pearl to pieces. (Leave them for later generations to see. A pity!)
If not smashed to pieces, (Letting a move pass by. Going like that again.) / Flaws and blemishes will multiply. (What are you doing playing with mud balls? Even more sloppy. A crime filling heaven.)
The state has its statutes— (Those who know the law are fearful. Three thousand blows in the morning, eight hundred in the evening.) / Three thousand crimes. (You have only spoken half of it. From eighty-four thousand immeasurable kalpas falling into avīci karma, not even half has been repaid.)
9.10
Xuedou's verse eulogy is the most skillful. Previously, when eulogizing Yunmen's dialogue, he said: 'Since the question had a premise, / The answer also matched.' This one is not like that; he instead says: 'The questioner never knew; / The answerer still did not understand.' Dalong's answer took a side glance; it was truly extraordinary. Clearly, whoever asked like that had already suffered defeat before ever asking. In his answer, [Dalong] was able to fit it right on the mark, matching the dynamic opportunity by saying, 'The mountain flowers bloom like brocade; / The ravine waters run clear as indigo.' How do you people understand Dalong's meaning now? His answer took a side glance; it was truly extraordinary. Therefore, Xuedou produced a eulogy to let people know: 'Cold moon, high wind,' and furthermore encountering 'An ancient crag, a chilly cypress.' Tell me, how should his meaning be understood? That is why just now I said: 'A holeless flute hits a felt clapper.' With just these four lines, the eulogy is complete. Yet Xuedou feared people would make up rationalizations, so he said: 'How laughable: encountering a person of the Way on the road, / Not greeting them with speech or silence.' This matter is not seen, heard, felt, or known, nor is it deliberation and discrimination. Therefore it is said: 'Distinctly, without side entanglements; / Operating alone, on what does it rely? / Encountering a person of the Way on the road, / Not greeting them with speech or silence.' This is Xiangyan's verse, cited by Xuedou for his use. Have you not seen a monk ask Zhaozhou, '"Not greeting them with speech or silence"—I wonder, with what should one greet them?' Zhaozhou said, 'Present a lacquer vessel.' This is just like the dialogue just mentioned: it does not fall into your emotional dust or conceptual thought. What is it like? 'Holding a white jade whip in hand, / He smashed every black dragon pearl to pieces.' Therefore, when the ancestral imperative is put into practice, the ten directions are sat through. This is an affair on the edge of a sword; one must possess such a strategy. If not, one completely disappoints all the sages from above. When you arrive here, there should not be the slightest affair; it has its own fine point, which is precisely the place of conduct for transcendent people. 'If not smashed to pieces, / Flaws and blemishes will multiply'—then defects will be revealed. In the end, how can one be right? 'The state has its statutes—three thousand crimes.' Among the three thousand crimes under the five punishments, none is greater than unfilial piety. Statutes are the law; articles are the clauses. The three thousand crimes are committed all at once. Why is it like this? Only because he did not receive people with the fundamental matter. Were it Dalong, he certainly would not be like that.
9.11
Case: Yunmen instructed the assembly, saying: "The ancient Buddha and the exposed pillar intersect—which dynamic is this?" (Three thousand miles away, no connection. Shattered into seven flowers and eight splits.) He spoke on their behalf, saying: (When someone dies in the eastern family, the western family joins the mourning. A single complete whole cannot be attained.) "Clouds arise on the southern mountain; (Heaven and earth cannot see. A knife cannot cut in.) / Rain falls on the northern mountain." (Not a drop shed. Half south of the river, half north of the river.)
9.12
Master Yunmen produced over eighty kalyāṇamitras. More than seventy years after his passing, his stūpa was opened and inspected: he was dignified as before. His insight was clear, and his dynamic situations were swift. In general, his instructive words, alternative words, and substitute words were straightforwardly solitary and steep. This gong'an alone is like flint-struck fire, like a flash of lightning—truly manifesting like spirits and vanishing like ghosts. Head Monk Qing said, 'Does the entire Tripiṭaka teaching still have this kind of talk?' Nowadays, people mostly make a living based on emotional interpretations, saying: 'The Buddha is the guide of the triple world and the compassionate father of the four kinds of beings; since he is the ancient Buddha, why would he intersect with the exposed pillar?' If you understand it this way, you will never grasp it. Some call it 'singing out from within nothingness.' Little do they know that when lineage masters speak, it cuts off conscious thinking and cuts off emotional calculation; it cuts off birth and death and cuts off Dharma dust. Entering the true position, not a single dharma is preserved. The moment you formulate a rationalization and make calculations, your feet and hands are bound. Tell me, what was that ancient's meaning? He merely made mind and environment as one, so that good and bad, right and wrong could not shake him. Then speaking of existence works, and speaking of nonexistence works; having dynamic function works, and lacking dynamic function works. Arriving here, every clap is the imperative. My late teacher Wuzu said, 'Yunmen, big and small, turned out to be faint-hearted. Had it been this mountain monk, I would simply have told him: the eighth dynamic.' He said, 'The ancient Buddha and the exposed pillar intersect—which dynamic is this?' Temporarily, he wrapped it up before their eyes. A monk asked, 'I wonder, what is the meaning?' Yunmen said, 'A braided cord bought for thirty cash.' He possessed the eye that fixes heaven and earth. Since no one understood, later he spoke on their behalf: 'Clouds arise on the southern mountain; / Rain falls on the northern mountain,' tentatively opening an entry path for later students. Thus Xuedou merely brought up his place of fixing heaven and earth to let people see it. If you slightly lapse into calculations or expose a sharp tip, you will miss it face to face. One only needs to trace back to Yunmen's fundamental principle and clarify his precipitous dynamic. Therefore, he produced a eulogy saying:
9.13
Clouds on the southern mountain; (Heaven and earth cannot see. A knife cannot cut in.) / Rain on the northern mountain; (Not a drop shed. Half south of the river, half north of the river.)
The four-seven and two-three look each other in the face. (Sought in many places without being found. Dragging in bystanders. The exposed pillar hangs a lantern.)
In the land of Silla, he once entered the hall; (Surging in the east and sinking in the west. Going east without seeing the profit of going west. From where was this news obtained?)
In the land of the Great Tang, the drum has not yet sounded. (One moment late. Give me back the topic! Going first does not arrive; coming last goes too far.)
Joy within suffering; (Who can be made to know?) / Suffering within joy. (A double gong'an. Who is made to cite it? Suffering is just suffering, joy is just joy. Where are there two ends and three faces?)
Who says gold is like dirt and clay? (Those with eyes can discern. Try wiping it and seeing. Ah-la-la! What a pity! Tell me, is it the ancient Buddha, or is it the exposed pillar?)
9.14
'Clouds on the southern mountain; rain on the northern mountain'—Xuedou buys a hat according to the head, trims his sails to the wind, and provides you with a footnote on the blade of a sword, directly bringing about 'The four-seven and two-three look each other in the face.' Do not misunderstand: this merely completes the eulogy on 'The ancient Buddha and the exposed pillar intersect—which dynamic is this?' Afterward, hacking open a path and beating about the entangling vines so you may see his intention: 'In the land of Silla, he once entered the hall; / In the land of the Great Tang, the drum has not yet sounded.' In the place where lightning flashes and stars shoot, Xuedou immediately says: 'Joy within suffering; / Suffering within joy.' It is as if Xuedou had piled up a heap of the seven treasures and eight jewels right here. Therefore, at the very end he has this phrase: 'Who says gold is like dirt and clay?' This phrase is from Chanyue's poem 'The Difficult Road', which Xuedou cited for use. Chanyue said: 'The mountain is high and the sea deep, unfathomable to man; / From ancient times to the present, turning blue and azure. / Do not associate with the shallow, near, light, and frivolous; / Low ground only knows how to produce thorns and brambles. / Who says gold is like dirt and clay? / Zhang Er and Chen Yu cut off communication. / The road is difficult! The road is difficult! / See for yourself.' For now, do not let the land be wide and people few—Yunju's Arhat.
9.15
The pointer says: If you say it is right, there is nothing that can be right; if you say it is wrong, there is nothing that can be wrong. Right and wrong are already gone; gain and loss are both forgotten. Clean and naked, stripped and bare—tell me, what is in front and what is behind? If a patch-robed monk were to step forward and say, 'In front is the Buddha Hall and the triple gate; behind is the sleeping hall and the abbot's quarters'—tell me, does this person still have eyes or not? If you can discern this person, I grant that you have personally seen the ancients.
9.16
[84] Case: Vimalakīrti asked Mañjuśrī, (This fellow makes a great commotion. Shut your mouth!) "What is the bodhisattva's entrance into the Dharma-gate of non-duality?" (Knowingly committing the offense.) Mañjuśrī said, "As I understand it, (What is he saying? He cannot sort it out at all; carrying the cangue and presenting a deposition, taking the topknot and surrendering to the magistrate's court.) with respect to all phenomena, (What do you call 'all phenomena'?) there is no word and no speech, (What is he saying?) no indication and no consciousness, (Deceiving someone else would do.) divorced from all questions and answers— (What is he saying?) this is the entrance into the Dharma-gate of non-duality." (What is the use of entering? What is the use of so many entangling vines?) Thereupon Mañjuśrī asked Vimalakīrti, "We have each spoken. Virtuous Sir, you should speak: what is the bodhisattva's entrance into the Dharma-gate of non-duality?" (This lean—do not speak of the Tathāgata Golden Grain; even if it were the Buddhas of the three periods, they could not open their mouths either. He has turned the spearhead around! Stabbing someone dead; when hit by the arrow, it is still like when shooting at others.) Xuedou said, "What did Vimalakīrti say?" (Bah! Ten thousand arrows piercing the heart. Explaining principles on his behalf.) He also said, "Exposed!" (Not only back then; right now it is also like this. Xuedou also pulls the bow after the thief has passed. Although exhausting his strength for the community, how can it prevent misfortune from coming out of his own private gate? Now tell me: did Xuedou still see where it lands? Not even in a dream. What talk of being exposed? Precarious! Even the golden-haired lion cannot grope for it.)
9.17
Vimalakīrti had the great bodhisattvas each speak of the Dharma-gate of non-duality. At that time, thirty-two bodhisattvas all combined the dual views—conditioned and unconditioned, the two truths of ultimate and conventional—into a single view, taking it as the Dharma-gate of non-duality. Afterward he asked Mañjuśrī. Mañjuśrī said, "As I understand it, with respect to all phenomena, there is no word and no speech, no indication and no consciousness, divorced from all questions and answers—this is the entrance into the Dharma-gate of non-duality." Because the thirty-two people used words to dispense with words, Mañjuśrī used wordlessness to dispense with words, sweeping away everything at once and wanting none of it, [taking it as] the entrance into the Dharma-gate of non-duality. Little did he know that the spiritual tortoise drags its tail, brushing away tracks only to form traces; it is also like using a broom to sweep away dust: though the dust is gone, the tracks of the broom still remain. In the end, one still must remove the footprints as before. Thereupon Mañjuśrī asked Vimalakīrti in turn, saying, "We have each spoken. Virtuous Sir, you should speak for yourself: what is the bodhisattva's entrance into the Dharma-gate of non-duality?" Vimalakīrti remained silent. If he were a lively fellow, he would never go to immerse himself in dead water. If one forms such an understanding, it is like a mad dog chasing a clod. Xuedou does not say "after a good while," nor does he say "he sat silently holding his seat"; he only goes to the urgent place and says, "What did Vimalakīrti say?" Just as Xuedou speaks this way, did he still see Vimalakīrti? Not even in a dream! Vimalakīrti was an ancient Buddha of the past; he also had a retinue, assisted the Buddha in proclaiming the teaching, possessed inconceivable eloquence, had inconceivable realms, and possessed inconceivable supernatural powers and wondrous dynamic functioning. In a room ten cubits square, it could accommodate thirty-two thousand lion throne-seats along with an assembly of eighty thousand, without being either too wide or too cramped. Now tell me: what principle is this? Can it be called supernatural powers and wondrous dynamic functioning? Do not mistakenly understand it! When it comes to the Dharma-gate of non-duality, only those who attain together and realize together can mutually attest to and know it. Only Mañjuśrī could match words with him. Even though it was like this, could he avoid Xuedou's examination and censure? For Xuedou to speak this way, he also had to meet with these two people, saying, "What did Vimalakīrti say?" and also saying, "Exposed!" Now tell me, what place was the place of being exposed? Only this bit: not bound by gain or loss, not falling into right or wrong; like a cliff of ten thousand fathoms, if above it you can give up your life and leap across, I grant that you personally see Vimalakīrti. If you cannot give it up, you are very much like a flock of sheep ramming a hedge. Xuedou was naturally a person who could give up his life, which is why he brought it out in verse, saying:
9.18
"Bah! This old Vimalakīrti, (Why 'Bah' him? Three thousand blows in the morning, eight hundred in the evening; saying 'Bah' does no good—thirty blows of the staff should be given!) / Out of compassion, emptily gives rise to grief. (Why pity him? One naturally has the precious sword of the Vajra King; increasing ignorance over someone else's idle business—laboring without achievement.) / He lies ill in Vaiśālī, (Brought about because of whom? Implicating all people.) / His whole body utterly emaciated. (Put illness aside for a moment; why is his mouth like a shoulder-pole? He cannot eat rice, and he cannot draw breath.) / When the ancestral master of the seven Buddhas came, (When a guest comes, one must attend to him; when a thief comes, one must beat him. Flocking in groups, one must indeed be an adept to handle it.) / The single room was swept again and again. (This still remains! So it turns out he was making a living in a ghost cave.) / When asked about the non-dual gate, (If there were anything that could be said, he had already said it. Striking, he said, "Venerable Sir, it cannot be found either.") / At that moment he was leaned against and knocked down. (Heavens, heavens! What did he say?) / Not leaned against and knocked down— (Gaining life amid death; breath still remains.) / Nowhere to search for the golden-haired lion." (Bah! Do you still see it? Heavens, heavens!)
9.19
Xuedou said, "Bah! This old Vimalakīrti." Why does he first cast a "Bah!" on top of his head? Using the precious sword of the Vajra King, he cuts directly overhead; only three thousand blows in the morning and eight hundred in the evening would suffice. In Sanskrit it is called Vimalakīrti; here it is translated as Undefiled Fame, or also Pure Name; he was an ancient Tathāgata Golden Grain of the past. Have you not seen a monk ask Reverend Jian of Yunju: "Since he was the Tathāgata Golden Grain, why did he listen to the Dharma in the assembly of the Tathāgata Śākyamuni?" Jian said, "He does not contend over self and other. A person of great liberation is not constrained by becoming a Buddha or not becoming a Buddha." If you say that his cultivation aimed at accomplishing the Buddha Way, it has even less to do with it. For example, the *Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment* says: "With a mind of transmigration, giving rise to views of transmigration, trying to enter the Tathāgata's great ocean of total extinction—in the end one can never reach it." Yongjia said, "Whether right or wrong, people do not know; / Whether moving against or with the grain, even the gods cannot fathom." If one moves with the grain, one heads toward the stage of the fruit of buddhahood; if one moves against the grain, one enters the realms of sentient beings. Chan Master [Yongming Yan]shou said, "Even if your tempering reaches this territory, you still may not follow your own wishes; only when you have realized the undefiled noble body can you move against or with the grain." Therefore Xuedou said, "Out of compassion, emptily gives rise to grief." The *Vimalakīrti Sūtra* says, "Because sentient beings are sick, I too am sick." Grief means overwhelming sorrow. "He lies ill in Vaiśālī": Vimalakīrti manifested illness in the city of Vaiśālī. In the Tang dynasty, Wang Xuance went as an envoy to the Western Regions and passed by his residence, whereupon he measured his room horizontally and vertically with an笏 tablet, obtaining ten笏; hence it was named "ten cubits square" [fangzhang]. "His whole body utterly emaciated": because of the bodily illness, he widely preached the Dharma for them, saying, "This body is impermanent, without strength, without power, without firmness; a phenomenon that quickly decays, it cannot be trusted. It is suffering, it is affliction, the gathering of all illnesses, and even compounded together by the aggregates, realms, and entrances." "When the ancestral master of the seven Buddhas came": Mañjuśrī was the ancestral master of the seven Buddhas; receiving the Bhagavat's order, he went there to inquire after his illness. "The single room was swept again and again": inside the ten-cubit-square room, everything was removed, leaving only a single couch to await Mañjuśrī's arrival to ask about the Dharma-gate of non-duality. Therefore Xuedou said, "When asked about the non-dual gate, / At that moment he was leaned against and knocked down." Vimalakīrti's mouth was like a shoulder-pole. Nowadays Chan students say that being wordless is being leaned against and knocked down; do not mistakenly recognize the zero mark on the steelyard! Xuedou pressed to the cliff of ten thousand fathoms, but then said, "Not leaned against and knocked down." Raising with one hand and pressing down with the other, he had this kind of maneuver, truly employing it with complete transparency. This eulogizes his earlier citation: "What did Vimalakīrti say?" "Nowhere to search for the golden-haired lion": not only back then, right now it is also like this. Do you still see old Vimalakīrti? Even if the entire mountains, rivers, the great earth, grasses, trees, and dense forests were all to transform into golden-haired lions, they still could not be groped for.
9.20
The pointer says: Holding the world fast without leaking a fine hair, causing the people of the entire earth to lose their sharp edges and tie up their tongues—this is the patch-robed monk's authentic imperative. Emitting light from the crown of the head to illuminate and shatter the four worlds—this is the patch-robed monk's diamond eyes. Turning iron into gold, turning gold into iron, suddenly capturing, suddenly releasing—this is the patch-robed monk's staff. Sitting cut off the tongues of everyone under heaven, so that there is no place to let out breath, retreating three thousand miles—this is the patch-robed monk's bearing. Now tell me, when none of this is so at all, after all what kind of person is it? Look at the following case:
9.21
[85] Case: A monk arrived at the place of the hermitage master of Tongfeng and asked, "If you suddenly met a tiger here, what then?" (An adept shadow-player. In the grass thicket, there is half a one or one.) The hermitage master made the sound of a tiger. (Turning an error to advantage; nevertheless he has fangs and claws. Dying together and living together; taking up words, one must comprehend the source.) The monk made a posture of fear. (Two mud-ball manipulators. Acting according to the dynamic; it resembles it, to be sure, but right it is not yet.) The hermitage master chuckled with loud laughter. (Somewhat better. There is a knife in the laugh; he can also release and can also gather.) The monk said, "This old thief!" (One must see through it too. Defeated! Both of them are let go.) The hermitage master said, "What can you do about this old monk?" (A slap across the ears! Pity he let it go. Adding another layer of frost on top of snow.) The monk desisted. (To desist like this—neither has finished. Heavens, heavens!) Xuedou said, "To be sure, they are two wicked thieves; they only understand covering their ears to steal the bell." (The words are still in the ears; they suffer Xuedou's examination. Tell me, at that time what should they have done to avoid his examination? The patch-robed monks of the world cannot reach it.)
9.22
Under the school of Daxiong, four hut masters emerged: Damei, Baiyun, Huxi, and Tongfeng. Look at how the eyes of those two were so intimate and their hands so discerning; yet tell me, where was the mistake? The dynamic function and dynamic realm, the one word and one phrase of the ancients, although appearing on the spur of the moment, if their eyes are upright and true, are naturally lively and leaping with vitality. Xuedou brought this forward to teach people to distinguish the crooked from the upright, to discern gain and loss. Even so, on the part of an attained person, though dwelling amidst gain and loss, there is no gain or loss. If you view those ancients through gain and loss, you have no connection at all. People today must individually penetrate to the place where there is neither gain nor loss, and only then discern others through gain and loss. If you focus your mind wholly on picking and choosing among words and phrases, when will you ever be done? Have you not seen Great Master Yunmen say: 'You itinerant pilgrims, do not merely wander aimlessly through prefectures and hunt through districts, only wanting to take hold of idle chatter. Waiting for the old venerable's mouth to move, you immediately ask about Chan and ask about the Dao, about what is transcendent and what is directed downward, how and what; copying it down in great scrolls, cramming it into your bellies to calculate and reckon. Everywhere by the fireside, three or five of you gather your heads and open your mouths, chattering away, saying, "This is an expression of public talent; this is an expression struck out from oneself; this is an expression spoken on the basis of facts; this is an expression within the essence." Essence your father and mother at home! Having gulped down your rice, you do nothing but speak of dreams, and then say, "I understand the Buddha-dharma." You should know that with such itinerant pilgrimages, even in the year of the donkey you will find no rest.' When the ancients briefly brought things forward and toyed with them, how could they have had views of victory and defeat, gain and loss, right and wrong? Tongfeng saw Linji; at that time he had erected a hut deep in the mountains. This monk arrived there and asked: 'If you suddenly encounter a tiger here, what then?' Feng then made the sound of a tiger. It would have been good to act directly on the matter at hand. This monk also knew how to make the best of a mistake, and immediately made a posture of fear. The hut master laughed heartily: 'Ha, ha!' The monk said: 'You old thief!' Feng said: 'What can you do about this old monk?' True, both left it unsettled, and throughout a thousand ages they have met with people's critique. Therefore Xuedou said: 'True, they are two malicious thieves, but they only know how to cover their ears to steal the bell.' Though both were thieves, when faced with the dynamic moment they did not employ it; therefore, they covered their ears to steal the bell. These two old fellows were like lining up an army of a million, yet only fighting with brooms. If you discuss this matter, you must have the methods of someone who kills people without blinking an eye. If you wholly release without capturing, or wholly kill without giving life, you will inevitably invite the ridicule of others. Even so, those ancients did not have so many concerns. Look at how the two of them acted; it was entirely acting upon seeing the dynamic moment. Wuzu said: 'The samādhi of playing with supernatural powers, the samādhi of the torch of wisdom, the samādhi of the majestic king.' It is simply that the heels of later people do not touch the ground; they only go about critiquing the ancients and saying, 'There is gain, there is loss.' Some say: 'It is obvious that the hut master fell from grace.' This has no connection whatsoever. Xuedou said: 'When the two met, both had places where they let things pass.' The monk said: 'If you suddenly encounter a tiger here, what then?' Feng made the sound of a tiger; this was letting it pass. Even up to saying: 'What can you do about this old monk?'—this too was letting it pass. Move after move, they fell into the second dynamic. Xuedou said: 'If you want to use it, use it!' When people today hear such words, they say that at that moment one should have carried out the authentic imperative. But do not use blind cangues and sightless staffs! Just like Deshan giving a blow of the staff as soon as someone enters the gate, or Linji giving a shout as soon as someone enters the gate—tell me, what was the ancients' intention? At the end, Xuedou simply versified it in this way. But tell me, after all, how can one avoid covering one's ears to steal the bell? The verse says:
9.23
Seeing it and not taking it, (A miss; already a thousand, ten thousand miles away.) / Pondering it, a thousand miles off. (Regretting not having been careful from the start. Heavens, heavens!) / What a fine striped beast! (Ācārya, take it away yourself. How lamentable that he did not yet know how to use it.) / Its claws and teeth are not yet complete. (I only fear that its application is not clear. Wait until the claws and teeth are complete to tell you.) / Do you not see: under Mount Daxiong, they suddenly meet; (Follow the rules where there are rules; follow precedent where there are none.) / Clear and distinct, sound and light both shake the earth. (This tiger went off like that. Still somewhat better. How many men are true heroes?) / Has the great man seen it or not? (Grandmotherly heart is eager. If you know how to open your eyes, you live together and die together. Xuedou entangles in vines.) / Taking hold of the tiger's tail, stroking the tiger's whiskers! (Suddenly bursting forth, how to take hold? Gathering the patch-robed monks of the world here. If someone suddenly steps forward, press him immediately. If there is no gathering and releasing, thirty blows of the staff to let you turn around and breathe. Shouting and striking, he says, 'Why didn't you say: "You old thief!"?')
9.24
'Seeing it and not taking it; pondering it, a thousand miles off.' Right at the precipitous place, neither could use it. Waiting for him to say: 'What can you do about this old monk?'—he should have given him his proper measure of fodder! If he had employed this method at that time, the other would certainly have had a subsequent word. The two only knew how to release, not how to capture. 'Seeing it and not taking it'—already it is ten thousand miles of white clouds; what more to speak of 'pondering it, a thousand miles off'? 'What a fine striped beast! Its claws and teeth are not yet complete.' True, it is a tiger, and it knows how to conceal its teeth and hide its claws, but lamentably it does not know how to bite people. 'Do you not see: under Mount Daxiong, they suddenly meet; clear and distinct, sound and light both shake the earth.' One day Baizhang asked Huangbo: 'Where have you come from?' Huangbo said: 'I have come from gathering mushrooms down the mountain.' Baizhang said: 'Did you see the tiger?' Huangbo then made the sound of a tiger. Baizhang took an axe from his waist and made a chopping gesture; Huangbo held him back and gave him a slap. In the evening, Baizhang went up to the hall and said: 'At the foot of Mount Daxiong there is a tiger; all of you must watch out carefully when going out and coming in. This old monk was personally bitten once today.' Later, Guishan asked Yangshan: 'What about Huangbo's tiger conversation?' Yangshan said: 'What is your venerated opinion, Venerable?' Guishan said: 'At that time Baizhang should have killed it with a single blow of the axe. Why did it end up like this?' Yangshan said: 'Not so.' Guishan said: 'What do you say?' Yangshan said: 'Not only did he ride the tiger's head, he also knew how to take hold of the tiger's tail.' Guishan said: 'Jizi, you have truly precipitous phrases.' Xuedou cited this to clarify the preceding gong'an. The sound and light are clear and distinct, shaking the great earth. This little bit of turning and shifting is completely free; within the phrase there must be an escape route. 'Has the great man seen it or not?' Do you see it yet? 'Taking hold of the tiger's tail, stroking the tiger's whiskers.' It must also be of one's own proper share. Even if you take hold of the tiger's tail and stroke the tiger's whiskers, you inevitably have your nostrils pierced at the same time.
9.25
The pointer says: Holding fast the world without leaking a hair's breadth; cutting off the myriad streams without retaining a drop. Opening the mouth is already an error; deliberating is already a mistake. Tell me, what is the eye that penetrates the barrier? Try to speak.
9.26
[Case 86] Bringing forward: Yunmen addressed the assembly, saying: 'Everyone without exception possesses radiance; (A black lacquer tub.) / When looking, they do not see it, and it is pitch dark. (When looking, they are blind.) / What is everyone's radiance?' (Mountains are mountains, waters are waters. Washing black ink in a lacquer tub.) / Speaking on their behalf, he said: 'The storeroom, the triple gate.' (Grandmotherly heart is eager. Why get entangled in vines?) / He also said: 'A good thing is not as good as nothing.' (He himself knows it is half a step better. Still somewhat better.)
9.27
Yunmen addressed the assembly in his room to receive people: Under the heels of every one of you, each possesses a radiance that blazes through past and present, far transcending views and knowledge. Although there is radiance, as soon as you are questioned, you do not understand; is this not being pitch dark? For twenty years he gave this pointer, and no one understood his meaning. Later, Xianglin requested an alternative answer; Yunmen said: 'The storeroom, the triple gate.' He also said: 'A good thing is not as good as nothing.' Usually an alternative answer is just one phrase; why are there two phrases here? The former phrase opens a crack of a path for you to see. If you are a true fellow, upon hearing it brought forward, you immediately prick up your ears and walk. Fearing that people might linger here, he also said: 'A good thing is not as good as nothing'—once again sweeping it away for you. Nowadays, as soon as people hear radiance mentioned, they stare wide-eyed and say: 'Where is the storeroom? Where is the triple gate?' This has no connection at all! Therefore it is said: 'Recognize the intention at the hook's tip; do not settle upon the marks of the steelyard.' This matter does not lie in the eyes, nor does it lie in the realm of objects. You must cut off knowledge and views, forget gain and loss, be bare and stark, naked and clean, and investigate it for yourselves individually before you will attain it. Yunmen said: 'Coming and going in daylight, you discern people in daylight. If suddenly at midnight there is no light of sun, moon, or lamp, in places you have been you may still manage, but in places you have never been, can you pick up an object?' The Sandokai says: 'Right within light there is darkness, do not view it as darkness; right within darkness there is light, do not meet it as light.' If you sit through and cut off both light and darkness, tell me, what is it? Therefore it is said: 'The mind-flower unfolds in radiance, illuminating the lands of the ten directions.' Panshan said: 'Radiance does not illuminate objects, nor do objects exist; when both radiance and objects are forgotten, what is it again?' He also said: 'This very hearing and seeing is not hearing and seeing; there is no remaining sound or form to present to you. If you thoroughly understand within this, there is nothing at all to do; what harm is there whether essence and function are divided or not?' Just understand the final phrase, and then go and play in what went before; ultimately, do not make your living within it. The ancients said: 'Based on non-abiding, establish all phenomena.' You must not play with shadows and play with spirits here, nor should you understand it as having nothing to do. The ancients said: 'Better to give rise to a view of existence as vast as Mount Meru than to give rise to a view of non-existence as tiny as a mustard seed.' People of the Two Vehicles mostly fall into this one-sided view. Xuedou's verse says:
9.28
Illuminating itself, it displays a solitary radiance; (The myriad forms arrayed. Host and guest interpenetrate. It lines up and turns your nostrils. What is this blind fellow doing?) / For you, he opens a single line. (Why only a single line? Ten suns shining together. Releasing a single line is acceptable.) / Flowers wither, the tree casts no shadow; (What end is there to entangling in vines? Where are you groping? Holding black ink in a black lacquer tub.) / When looking, who does not see? (Blind! You cannot all just lean on fences and grope along walls. Two blind men, three blind men.) / Seeing or not seeing? (Both ends are cut off. Blind!) / Riding the ox backwards, one enters the Buddha hall. (Right on target! With palms joined at the triple gate. Give me back my topic! Striking, he says, 'Where did you go?' Xuedou is also just making a living in a ghost's cave. Do you understand yet? At midnight the sun comes out; at high noon strikes the third watch.)
9.29
'Illuminating itself, it displays a solitary radiance.' Under your own heels, there is originally this stretch of radiance; it is just that you routinely use it in darkness. Therefore, Great Master Yunmen arrays this radiance before you. But what is everyone's radiance? 'The storeroom, the triple gate.' This is where Yunmen displays the solitary radiance. Panshan said: 'The mind-moon is solitary and round, its light swallowing myriad forms.' This is the true and eternal singularly exposed. 'Then, for you, he opens a single line.' He also feared people would attach to the storeroom and the triple gate. Setting aside the storeroom and the triple gate, in the morning the flowers wither and the tree casts no shadow; the sun sets and the moon darkens; the entire universe and great earth are pitch black. Do you all still see? 'When looking, who does not see?' Tell me, who does not see? Arriving here, within light there is darkness, within darkness there is light; just like the steps before and behind, one can naturally see. Xuedou says: 'Seeing or not seeing?' versifying 'A good thing is not as good as nothing.' Should see, yet does not see; should be clear, yet is not clear. 'Riding the ox backwards, one enters the Buddha hall'—entering into the black lacquer tub! You must ride the ox backwards into the Buddha hall for yourself and see what principle this is.
First 29 of 52 passages. Read on
Linked texts (1)
- 佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄 — Classical Chinese