萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 1

English (machine translation) 1

Language: English

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Preface to the Recarving of the Four Masters' Recorded Sayings in the Record of Equanimity

Ever since the Buddha-Patriarch held up the flower and Kāśyapa smiled subtly, although it is said to have silently revealed the ancestral wind, in truth it leaked out from complete wholeness. Furthermore, later busybody descendants, not knowing how to cherish the family treasure, each risked body and lost life: raising dust on level ground, stirring waves in clear water, scattering sky-flowers in confusion, deceiving by rubbing the eyes, and falsely transmitting through many mouths. The gong'ans have branched into many threads; since the leftover spittle of Tiantong and Xuedou could not be gathered up, the dream-talk of Yuanwu and Wansong has mostly gone unwakened. Fortunately, the Old Man of Qingliang long knew the calamity of the ancestors' uncompleted affairs. Today, his disciple Gu Yan has brought out all these antiquities, divided them into the four masters, and newly recarved them. Alas, the stolen goods are present; the real thief cannot escape! I dare invite the vajra-precious sword to sever them all at once. Only then can his scattered words of commentary and appraisal be joined with the living beings of the four seas to sing a song of great peace!

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Inscribed by Luo Rufang (Jinxi) of Nancheng.

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Written by Shen Xian of Changzhou in mid-autumn of the dingwei year.

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Preface to the Recarving of the Four Masters' Commentary and Appraisal

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Ever since the Buddha-Patriarch held up the flower and Kāśyapa smiled subtly, sharp dynamics have changed like clouds and the ancestral source has remained deep. For it is a special transmission outside the teachings, the truth within it, which mundane human language can hardly describe by one part in ten thousand. Yet in opening up later students, preaching the Dharma, and benefiting sentient beings, this is especially suited to meeting the dynamic and entering awakening. In the former printing of the four masters' recorded sayings, the carvers were not very skilled; the format was cramped and crude, and the appraisals and notes were cramped and constrained, so that readers suffered over them. Yet it was already like climbing the Great Treasure Mountain or entering the Ocean of the Flower-Treasury: they groped with all their might without regretting their toil. Zen elders in the imperial capital waving fly-whisks to discuss the ancestral teaching were frequently found; recently, however, things had become blurred and indistinguishable. The Lecturer Juexu gave rise to great, vast compassion and wished to recommission block-carvers, but his strength did not suffice, so he consulted me. I indeed had a past vow; how could I dare not exhaust my strength? Thereupon, I gathered artisans and carved three of them, while comrades among monks and laymen carved one. Thus the former dynamic of matching needle to thread, blows and shouts, raising eyebrows, and holding up fingers became even more transparent and brightly clear. In this way Master Jue's wish was fulfilled, and the merit is likewise boundless. I only fear my inability to serve; what need is there for further thought?

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Written on an auspicious morning in the ninth month of the dingwei year of Wanli by Xu Lin of Huating, Prefect of Chuxiong Prefecture in Yunnan.

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Preface to the Record of the Hermitage of Equanimity: Old Man Wansong's Commentary and Appraisal on Venerable Tiantong Jue's Verses on Old Cases

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Formerly, when I was in the capital, there were very many Zen elders, but only Venerable Master Cheng of Sheng'an had an awe-inspiring, clear spirit and an open, dignified manner in his words; I alone esteemed him. Therefore I once visited him regarding the Way of the Patriarchs and repeatedly questioned him using what I had attained from the encounters and sayings of ancient venerable elders. Master Cheng occasionally granted approval, and I also considered myself to have attained it. When I later met with sorrow and hardship, my ambition for official rank and fame was shelved high away, and my seeking of the Way of the Patriarchs became ever more urgent. Thereupon, taking up those previous matters again, I visited Master Cheng of Sheng'an. Sheng'an overturned his previous verdict and did not approve my view. I was greatly perplexed. Sheng'an leisurely said to me: 'Formerly, you held an important official position, and moreover, Confucians mostly do not firmly believe in Buddhist scriptures, but merely gather sayings and encounter-stories to furnish conversation; therefore I did not dare to apply the awl and hammer severely. Now I gauge your heart: you are indeed asking me for the sake of the fundamental affair. How could I still follow my past mistake and not speak bitter words? I am old; I have never been versed in Confucianism and cannot instruct you. There is Old Man Wansong, who is fully equipped in both Confucianism and Buddhism, thoroughly versed in doctrine and realization, and unhindered in eloquence. You may go see him.' After I had an audience with Wansong, I cut off all human callers and cast aside household affairs. Even in severe cold and great heat, there was no day I did not practice. Burning the lamp to continue through the night, forgetting sleep and food, for nearly three years, I mistakenly received the Dharma grace and erroneously obtained his seal of succession. He named me Layman Zhanran Congyuan. In the course of studying with him, his sharp dynamic was unfathomable and his transformations were limitless: towering like a ten-thousand-fathom peak that cannot be climbed or gazed up to, billowing like a ten-thousand-acre wave that cannot be bounded. Look at it before you, and suddenly it is behind. Looking back at what I had studied in the past, it was all merely broken clods and gravel. Ah! When one ascends the Eastern Mountain, Lu appears small; when one ascends Mount Tai, the empire appears small—how could this be empty talk? Those who have not entered the inner threshold, hearing these words, will surely say that I have forgotten the root and am fond of the strange. Only Pingshan Xianxian can reflect with me! Thereafter, by imperial order, I attended the traveling camp and accompanied the Western Expedition, separated from the Master by I know not how many thousands of miles. The Master's usual Dharma words, verses, and hymns were all collected by my Dharma brother Master Long; now I could no longer obtain their outlines. In our lineage, there is Tiantong, whose one hundred verses on old cases are hailed as supreme masterpieces. I firmly requested Wansong to provide commentary and appraisal on these verses to inspire later students. Back and forth through nine letters, across the obstacles of seven years, I was finally favored with his sending them. While stranded solitary in the Western Regions for several years, I suddenly received this book; it was like waking from drunkenness, like reviving from death. Leaping and cheering, I faced east and bowed my head to the ground. Opening and reading it again and again, I caressed the volume and sighed, saying: 'Wansong has come to the Western Regions!' Every single word and single character points to the ultimate aim; he draws the verdict and brings forth the eye, surpassing antiquity and the present, fully serving as a model for ten thousand generations. If not one who is a teacher and model to humans and gods and balances creation, who could take part in this? Together with several friends in the traveling palace, I swam and roamed in this book day and night, as if climbing the Great Treasure Mountain or entering the Ocean of the Flower-Treasury: rare and precious objects mutually arranged in vast and complete supply. Meeting them left and right, the eyes were enriched and the heart satisfied. How could worldly language describe even one ten-thousandth of it? Not daring to monopolize its beauty, I thought to share it with all under Heaven. In the capital, only my Dharma brother Congxiang has a friendship with me that forgets age. I respectfully sent a letter, requesting that it be printed and circulated in the world to bequeath to future generations. Thereupon I preface it, saying: The Buddha-patriarchs and various masters buried their roots a thousand fathoms deep; their hundred cases of encounter appear in the world and sprout shoots. Tiantong should not have sprouted branches; how could Wansong bear to extend the vines? Zhanran has added a hemp cord on top of the branches and vines, piercing through the nostrils of those who chase scents and pursue wind, tripping up the heels of those who walk the mystery and embody subtlety. If you wish to set your heels firmly on the ground and raise your nostrils to the heavens, you must first pass right through these entangling vines before you can succeed. Written on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the jiashen year, by Yila Chucai Jinqing of Qishui, in the city of Alima in the Western Regions.

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Letter Sent to Layman Zhanran Concerning the Commentary and Appraisal on Tiantong's Hermitage of Equanimity Record

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In our lineage we have Xuedou and Tiantong, just as the school of Confucius had Ziyou and Zixia. The two masters' verses on old cases are like Li Bai and Du Fu in the poetic arena. The world says that Xuedou had the talent of an Academician of the Hanlin, picking our flowers without gathering our fruit. It is also said: 'If you have not traveled ten thousand leagues and read ten thousand volumes, do not read the poems of the Ministry of Works Director [Du Fu],' speaking of his breadth and abundance. Comparing this to Old Master Tiantong's verses on old cases: every single word and single character flows forth from the deep source of the Buddha-patriarchs; students cannot fathom them. The Collection of the Great Hermit of Baishan brings out the historical incidents, among which there are occasionally loose and unfitting matters; as for raising the case, he was merely brief and relied solely on the text. In the past, Wansong once provided commentary and appraisal, but since the time of warfare and turmoil, the ancestral manuscripts were lost. Recently, having retired to Ba'en in Yanjing, I quickly built a snail-shell cottage, naming it the Hermitage of Equanimity, and planned to complete the old project. Just at that time, Layman Zhanran urged and requested me to complete it. My old eyes are dim and blurred; most of it was dictated orally and written down by my disciples. In between, historical incidents of the encounters are profusely recorded: first, to display the billowing waves of Tiantong's ocean of learning and his skillful adaptability; second, to save students the labor of searching and investigating; third, to reveal that Wansong transmits and does not fabricate, and that it is not arbitrary judgment. Secretly compared to Foguo's Blue Cliff Record, it is complete in that every case has an instruction to the assembly. Secretly compared to the Record of the Ocean of Awakening of Yuantong, it is whole in that every phrase is never fragmented. As for attaching remarks, bringing forth the eye, and editing, I also do not yield when confronting the dynamic. At the end of the renwu year, Layman Zhanran's letter arrived, firmly demanding that I bring it forth; I could not avoid exposing our domestic disgrace, burdening me and burdening you. Sent by Old Man Wansong with the wind on the Shangsi festival in the guiwei year. Not fully said.

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Table of Contents of the Record of the Hermitage of Equanimity

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Fascicle One

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(1) The Bhagavān Ascends the Seat (Expounding the Dharma); (2) Bodhidharma's Vast Emptiness (Emperors and Kings)

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(3) East India Invites the Patriarch (Emperors and Kings); (4) The Bhagavān Points to the Ground (Monasteries)

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(5) Qingyuan's Price of Rice (Inquiring about Dharma); (6) Mazu's White and Black (Patriarchs and Teachings)

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(7) Yaoshan Ascends the Seat (Expounding the Dharma); (8) Baizhang's Wild Fox (Cause and Effect)

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(9) Nanquan Cuts the Cat (Cats and Dogs); (10) The Old Woman of Mount Tai (Nuns and Women)

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(11) Yunmen's Two Illnesses (Dharmakāya); (12) Dizang Plants the Field (Fields and Grounds)

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(13) Linji's Blind Donkey (Passing Away); (14) Attendant Kuo Serves Tea

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(15) Yangshan Plunges His Hoe (Fields and Grounds); (16) Magu Shakes His Staff (Bottles and Staffs)

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Fascicle Two

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(17) Fayan's Hairbreadth (Confronting the Dynamic); (18) Zhaozhou's Dog (Cats and Dogs)

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(19) Yunmen's Mount Sumeru (Roaming the Mountains); (20) Dizang's Intimacy (Awakening to the Way)

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(21) Yunyan Sweeps the Ground (Moving and Sweeping); (22) Yantou Bows and Shouts (Studying and Inquiring)

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(23) Luzu Faces the Wall (Dhyāna Concentration); (24) Xuefeng Looks at the Snake (Hares and Snakes)

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(25) Yanguan's Rhinoceros Fan (Mirrors and Fans); (26) Yangshan Points to the Snow (Lions and Elephants)

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(27) Fayan Points to the Screen (Curtains and Screens); (28) Huguo's Three Ashamed Expressions (Antiquities)

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(29) Fengxue's Iron Ox (Ministers and Officials); (30) Dasui's Kalpa Fire (Water and Fire)

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(31) Yunmen's Bare Pillar (Buddhas and Patriarchs); (32) Yangshan's Mind and Object (Examination and Discernment)

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Fascicle Three

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(33) Sansheng's Golden Scales (Turtles and Fish); (34) Fengxue's Single Particle of Dust (Instruction to the Assembly)

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(35) Luopu's Submission of Heart (Hermitage Dwelling); (36) Master Ma Unwell (Inquiring after Illness)

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(37) Guishan's Karmic Consciousness (Examination and Discernment); (38) Linji's True Person (Person and Environment)

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(39) Zhaozhou Washes the Bowl (Meals and Porridge); (40) Yunmen's White and Black (Confronting the Dynamic)

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(41) Luopu's Nearing the End (Passing Away); (42) Nanyang's Pure Water-Bottle (Bottles and Staffs)

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(43) Luoshan's Arising and Ceasing (Awakening to the Way); (44) Xingyang's Wondrous Wings (Birds and Beasts)

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(45) Four Sections of the Complete Enlightenment Sūtra (Sūtras and Teachings); (46) Deshan Completes His Studies (Buddhas and Patriarchs)

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(47) Zhaozhou's Cypress Tree (Patriarchs and Teachings); (48) Vimalakīrti Sūtra's Non-duality (Gates and Doors)

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(49) Dongshan Offers to the True Image (True Portraits); (50) Xuefeng's 'What Is It?' (Hermitage Dwelling)

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(51) Fayan's Boat and Land (Boats and Oars); (52) Caoshan's Dharmakāya (Dharmakāya)

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(53) Huangbo Eats Distillers' Grains (Instruction to the Assembly)

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Fascicle Four

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(54) Yunyan's Great Compassion (Mind and Eye); (55) Xuefeng as Rice Steward (Robes and Bowls)

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(56) Master Mi's White Hare (Oxen and Deer); (57) Yanyang's Single Thing (Awakening to the Way)

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(58) Diamond Sūtra's Being Despised (Sūtras and Teachings); (59) Qinglin's Dead Snake (Hares and Snakes)

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(60) Tiemo's Cow (Meals and Porridge); (61) Qianfeng's Single Stroke (Bridges and Roads)

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(62) Mihu's "Enlightened or Not?" (Awakening to the Way) / (63) Zhaozhou Inquires About Death (Person and Realm)

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(64) Zizhao Succeeds to the Lineage (Dharma Kin) / (65) Shoushan's Bride (Buddhas and Patriarchs)

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(66) Jiufeng's Head and Tail

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Fascicle Five

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(67) The Avataṃsaka-sūtra's Wisdom (Scriptural Teachings) / (68) Jiashan Brandishes the Sword (Buddhas and Patriarchs)

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(69) Nanquan's White Bull / (70) Jinshan Inquires About Nature (Miscellany)

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(71) Cuiyan's Eyebrows (Untying Knots) / (72) Zhongyi's Monkey (Flying and Running)

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(73) Caoshan Fulfills Mourning (Clothing and Adornment) / (74) Fayan Questions the Name (Scriptural Teachings)

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(75) Ruiyan's Constant Principle (Awakening to the Way) / (76) Shoushan's Three Phrases (Instruction to the Assembly)

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(77) Yangshan According to Capacity (Circular Figures) / (78) Yunmen's Sesame Flatbread (Sesame Flatbread)

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(79) Changsha Takes a Step (Miscellany) / (80) Longya Passes the Block (Patriarchs' Teachings)

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(81) Xuansha Goes to the County (Miscellany) / (82) Yunmen's Sound and Form (Sesame Flatbread)

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Fascicle Six

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(83) Daowu Attends the Sick (Inquiring After Illness) / (84) Juzhi's One Finger (Dwelling in a Hermitage)

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(85) The National Preceptor's Stūpa Model (Sovereigns) / (86) Linji's Great Awakening (Staff and Yell)

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(87) Shushan's Existence and Nonexistence (Plants and Trees) / (88) The Śūraṅgama-sūtra's Not Seeing (Scriptural Teachings)

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(89) Dongshan's Grassless Land (Untying Knots) / (90) Yangshan's Respectful Statement (Expounding the Dharma)

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(91) Nanquan's Peonies (Flowers and Fruits) / (92) Yunmen's Single Jewel (Precious Jewels)

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(93) Luzu Does Not Understand (Precious Jewels) / (94) Dongshan Is Unwell (Inquiring After Illness)

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(95) Linji's Single Line (Provisions) / (96) Jiufeng Does Not Approve (Passing Away)

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(97) Emperor Guang's Turban (Sovereigns) / (98) Dongshan Always Stirs (Expounding the Dharma)

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(99) Yunmen's Bowls and Pails (Meals and Gruel) / (100) Langya's Mountains and Rivers (Scriptural Teachings)

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Table of Contents of the Record of the Hermitage of Equanimity (End)

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Recorded by the Attendant Lizhi

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Collated by the junior scholar Xingyi

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Engraved by the Daoist of Shengsheng

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Case 1: The Bhagavān Ascends the Seat

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Instruction to the assembly: Closing the doors and sleeping catches those of the highest faculty; looking and reflecting repeatedly accommodates the middling and lower. How can one bear climbing upon the crooked wood to play with ghost eyes? If an unconsenting bystander steps forward, one cannot blame him either.

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Case: One day the Bhagavān ascended the seat (Today it does not suit). Mañjuśrī struck the gavel and said, "Clearly observe the Dharma of the Dharma King; the Dharma of the Dharma King is like this" (Who knows what mental action this is?). The Bhagavān immediately descended from the seat (We shall discuss it again another day).

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The Master said: Completely encompassing the ten epithets, uniquely honored in appearing in the world, shaking his eyebrows, raising high his nostrils. Lecture halls call it "ascending the seat"; Chan groves name it "entering the hall." Before you all arrived at the Dharma Hall, before Wansong had come out of the abbot's quarters—if you comprehended it at that time, you were already lagging behind by three or four steps. Have you not seen Xuedou say: "If there were a saindhava guest in the assembly, why would Mañjuśrī need to strike a single blow with the gavel?" Checking into it thoroughly: Xuedou ought not to have asked for salt, and how could Wansong bear to present a horse? Even if the teacher of the seven buddhas said, "Clearly observe the Dharma of the Dharma King; the Dharma of the Dharma King is like this," one must pull out the nails from his eyes and extract the wedges behind his skull before he has it. Down to the present day, when concluding the opening of the hall, striking the gavel and saying, "Clearly observe the Dharma of the Dharma King; the Dharma of the Dharma King is like this," cites this precedent. The Bhagavān immediately went down from the seat—this at least rescues one half. The other half is handed over to Tiantong. The verse says:

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"A spell of authentic breeze—do you see it? (Do not let it blow into your eyes; it will be especially hard to get out.) / Unceasingly the Transforming Mother works the loom and shuttle. (Uneven and mistaken, crosswise threads.) / Woven into ancient brocade containing the image of spring, (Great skill seems like clumsiness.) / What can be done about the Lord of the East leaking it out? (Yin and yang show no crooked partiality; the solar terms show no leniency.)"

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The Master said: Tiantong says, "A spell of authentic breeze—do you see it?" Is the place where the Bhagavān ascends the seat a spell of authentic breeze? Is the place where Tiantong raises the verse a spell of authentic breeze? Is the place where Wansong requests instruction a spell of authentic breeze? In that case, it has become three spells! What is the single spell of authentic breeze? Moreover, you each have a share in it—it is indeed worth investigating thoroughly! He also says: "Unceasingly the Transforming Mother works the loom and shuttle." The Transforming Mother is an alternate name for the Creator and the Fashioner of Things. The two teachings of Confucianism and Daoism take their source in the single qi; the lineage of the Buddhists is based on the one mind. Guifeng said: "The original qi is also made by the mind; it is entirely subsumed under the objective aspect (nimitta-bhāga) of the ālayavijñāna." Wansong says: This is the correct lineage of Caodong, the life-artery of the patriarchs and buddhas. The mechanical latch is engaged at the pivot: where it turns is subtle and profound. The continuous thread is cast from the shuttle's belly: its application is close and continuous. How can it be spoken of on the same day as evil causation or causelessness? Below, versifying how the Bhagavān had it kept inside, he says, "Woven into ancient brocade containing the image of spring." Although it is like an insect gnawing wood accidentally forming patterns, what can be done when closing the door to build a cart results in fitting the ruts when leaving the door? At the end, Mañjuśrī dismantles it, and he says instead, "What can be done about the Lord of the East leaking it out?" Mañjuśrī struck the gavel, and the Bhagavān immediately descended from the seat. Yet when Kāśyapa struck the gavel, hundreds of thousands of Mañjuśrīs immediately manifested. Equally being such a time, why are holding back and letting go not the same? Tell me: where is the place where the Lord of the East leaks it out? Attentively untying the lilac knot, releasing the free and easy spring upon the branch.

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Case 2: Bodhidharma's Vast and Empty

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Instruction to the assembly: Bian He presenting [the jade] three times could not avoid undergoing punishment; when the luminescent jewel is tossed at people, few fail to clasp their swords. A sudden guest has no sudden host; one should use the fake, not the real. Rare treasures and extraordinary gems cannot be used—bring forth the dead cat's head and look!

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Case: Emperor Wu of Liang asked Great Master Bodhidharma (Rising early in the morning, business was not brisk), "What is the primary meaning of the holy truths?" (For now, ask toward the secondary realm.) / Bodhidharma said, "Vast and empty, nothing holy" (Splitting the belly and gouging out the heart). / The Emperor said, "Who is facing Us?" (Recognizing teeth in the nostrils.) / Bodhidharma said, "Do not know" (Seeing the cheekbones from behind the skull). / The Emperor did not connect with it (A square peg does not fit into a round hole). / Thereupon he crossed the river, reached Shaolin, and faced the wall for nine years (Without stagnant goods, a house is not rich).

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The Master said: Prajñātāra once instructed Great Master Bodhidharma: "Sixty-seven years after my demise, you should go to China to administer the great Dharma medicine and directly point to those of superior root. Take care not to proceed hastily and decline under the sun. Furthermore, when you arrive, do not stay in the south; they only prefer active merit and do not perceive the principle of the Buddha. Even if you reach there, you must not remain long." There was indeed the business of traveling through Liang and entering Wei, remaining sluggish for nine years. In recent times, Cizhou gave the robe and Dharma to Renshan. Shan said, "I am not such a person." Cizhou said, "If you are not such a person, it will naturally not bring harm to you." Because the sentiment of Dharma milk was deep, Shan bowed his head and accepted it. Cizhou said again: "Since you are like this, above all you must not easily emerge in the world. If you advance rashly and act heedlessly, there will certainly be misfortune in between." This is contemporaneous with Prajñātāra's threefold instruction and Bodhidharma's nine years. Zhaxi's verse says: "Not begrudging passage through autumn frost, / Hoping to let the flavor grow long. / Even if plucked raw, / In the end it is not fragrant." This can serve as an admonition for those who come after. If one is a person of the Way in true colors, in emerging or staying secluded one naturally knows the season. Although Emperor Wu did not connect, setting up a beginning of inquiry did not prevent carving and chiseling. Down to the present day, when striking the gavel at the opening of the hall in all quarters, they still say: "The assembly of dragons and elephants at the Dharma feast should observe the primary meaning." Just like the primary truth: is it permitted to be observed? Are Emperor Wu and Bodhidharma's question and answer permitted? Wansong says: Set aside the primary meaning for now; what do you want with the holy truths? Tianhuang said: "Simply exhaust ordinary sentiment; there is no separate holy understanding." The Śūraṅgama says: "If one forms a holy understanding, one falls subject to all manner of demons." Just this Bodhidharma saying "Vast and empty, nothing holy"—in the sparks of flint and flash of lightning, he did not fail to have hands ready and eyes open. Emperor Wu's stubborn slobber did not recede, and he further asked, "Who is facing Us?" On the Liang King's part, it was also a good intention; little did he realize that on Bodhidharma's part, it was like being spat upon right in the face. Inevitably he further offered a "Do not know." Already the delicate flower easily withers; how can it bear adding frost on top of snow? Bodhidharma saw that his eyes were fixed and wavering, and immediately turned around to take another path. For the ancients, whether emerging or staying secluded, whether silent or speaking, all were Buddha works. Later, Emperor Wu indeed thought of the noble man after he had passed, and personally composed an inscription stating: "Seeing him, yet not seeing him; meeting him, yet not meeting him; past and present, regretting it and lamenting it! Although We are an ordinary man, We dare to take him as Our teacher in the future." Ever since Emperor Wu covered himself in dust and Bodhidharma returned to the West, no one has raised the primary truth. Fortunately there is Tiantong, who raises it for the assembly. The verse says:

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"Vast and empty, nothing holy; (Each time drinking water, each time choking.) / The incoming dynamic was wide of the mark. (A red face is not as good as straight speech.) / In gaining, did he not wield the axe without touching the nose? (Boasting of a good hand among good hands.) / In losing, he did not look back at the broken pot. (Do not blame the past.) / Forlornly sitting coldly at Shaolin, (Old, yet his mind does not rest.) / Silently upholding the correct order in full. (Still speaking of military maneuvers.) / Autumn is clear; the moon turns the frost wheel; (Raise your eyes high to look.) / The River is faint; the Dipper hangs its nightly handle. (Who dares to undertake it?) / Continually the robe and bowl were entrusted to descendants; (Do not have deluded thoughts.) / From this, humans and gods developed medicine and sickness. (The pestilence has already passed; the courier must know.)"

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The Master said: 'Vast and void, with nothing holy'—'The responsive dynamic was far apart.' These words originally come from Zhuangzi: 'greatly far apart, contrary to human feeling.' The First Patriarch at that time was also somewhat lacking in expedients. Little did he know: 'If the medicine does not induce dizziness, the disease will not be cured.' At the outset he wielded a thunderous hand, yet now it has already become private favoritism and indulgence. Therefore, 'How is hitting the mark not brandishing the ax without touching the nose?' Zhuangzi, attending a funeral, passed by the tomb of Huizi. Turning to his followers, he said, 'A man of Ying had white plaster smeared on the tip of his nose like a fly's wing. He had Artisan Shi chop it off. Artisan Shi swung his ax, creating a wind; listening, he chopped it off. With eyes closed and hand unrestrained, he removed all the plaster without injuring the nose. The man of Ying stood without losing his composure. Since the Master died, I have had no one to take as my match.' 'Failing, not looking back at the dropped pot.' In the Later Han, Meng Min was lodging in Taiyuan; once carrying a cooking pot, it fell to the ground, and he walked on without looking back. Guo Linzong saw this and asked him the reason. He replied, 'The pot is already broken; what benefit is there in looking at it?' Linzong regarded him as extraordinary for this, and accordingly encouraged him to travel and study. The meaning is: had Emperor Wu acknowledged it himself, Bodhidharma would never have bent himself to follow others. If the King of Liang did not accord, [Bodhidharma] shook his sleeves and walked away without regret. On the golden palace, exposing the lack of face and eyes was only saying half; sitting nine years at Shaolin with his mouth hung on the wall was finally eighty percent. Like 'Autumn is clear, the moon turns its frosty wheel'—secretly using Fayan's 'At the end, the frosty night's moon / falls freely into the front stream' to illuminate the principle reaching the ultimate, the Way beyond metaphor. 'The River is faint, the Dipper hangs its night handle.' Tiantong went up to the hall and said, 'A single point within the ring illuminates the infinitesimal; / where wisdom has no function, knowledge yet remains. / When conditions and thoughts are utterly purified, there is no further affair: / at midnight, across the starry River, the Dipper's handle hangs down.' These two lines are like a mute acting as an interpreter: pointing it out to others, yet unable to spit it out. How much less can master and disciple pass it on and receive it, or medicine and illness treat each other—it would become even more irrelevant! How can one fully wield the correct command? 'How many threads of tortoise hair are wasted on sky-flowers? / In vain the barren woman picks up the needle with closed eye.' (Bah!)

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Case 3: East India Invites the Patriarch

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Instruction to the assembly: The dynamic unmanifest prior to the kalpas—a tortoise facing the fire. A phrase of the special transmission outside the teachings—flowers bloom on the pestle's tip. Now tell me: is there any share of receiving, upholding, reading, and reciting?

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Case: The king of an East Indian country invited the Twenty-seventh Patriarch, Prajñātāra, to a vegetarian meal. (More often than not, going off to pay oral debts.) The king asked, 'Why do you not read the scriptures?' (Receiving emolument without merit makes eating and sleeping uneasy.) The Patriarch said, 'This poor path-farer's inhalation does not abide in the skandhas or dhātus; exhalation does not involve the myriad conditions. I constantly turn such a scripture in hundreds, thousands, myriads, and kotis of scrolls.' (Carried away by praising and eulogizing boundless excellent causes.)

1.89

The Master said: The Twenty-seventh Patriarch was originally named the Necklace Youth. Because the Twenty-sixth Patriarch, Puṇyamitra, was sharing a chariot with King Firm of East India, he asked the youth, 'Can you recall past events?' He replied, 'I remember in a past kalpa dwelling together with the Master; the Master expounded the Mahāprajñā, and I upheld the profound sūtras. Because of taking turns in right teaching, I waited for the Master here.' The Patriarch told the king, 'This is no small holy one; he is a responsive body of Mahāsthāmaprāpta.' The king ordered him to mount the chariot and come to the palace for offerings, even to the point of shaving his head. The Patriarch took the matter of the prajñā and sūtras and named him Prajñātāra. The Liang dynasty regarded Bodhidharma as Avalokiteśvara; the Western regions regarded the Patriarch as Mahāsthāmaprāpta. Only Amitābha Buddha has had no whereabouts down to the present. After a long pause he said: Fenggan's loose tongue! Later, on the occasion of an imperial banquet, the Venerable was the guest of honor. This old fellow showed strange behavior to delude the multitude; at that time he should have been knocked down, cutting off the entangling vines. Waiting right until the question 'Why does the Venerable not read the scriptures?'—indeed he could not let it pass. This old fellow also had no features of a great man; overturning the gourd and the ladle in one go, the king then made prostrations. What did he know of pain or itch? Wansong says: The king coveted his single grain of rice; the Venerable lost his ten thousand years of provisions. Only knowing the iron spine props up heaven, he did not realize his forehead was on the ground. If you want to lift him up, none other than Tiantong [can do so]. The verse says:

1.90

'A cloud rhinoceros enjoys the moon, radiant and containing brilliance; (Secretly communicating a single thread, the pattern is already manifest.) / A wooden horse wanders in spring, galloping unrestrained. (Passing through the thicket of a hundred flowers, not a single leaf clings to the body.) / Beneath the brows, a pair of cold green eyes; (Never following the ranks of snakes and mayflies.) / How does reading the scriptures reach penetrating the cowhide? (Gone beyond.) / The lucid mind transcends countless kalpas; (An arrow before the Sound of King.) / Heroic strength shatters the multi-layered siege. (Shooting through two barriers.) / The wondrously rounded pivot-hole turns the spiritual dynamic; (When was it ever moved?) / Cold Mountain forgets the road by which he came; (Not staying for an instant, just like a dead man.) / Taking Pickup along, hand in hand they return.' (One must be a man of that home village.)

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The Master said: The opening two lines versify 'does not abide in the skandhas or dhātus' and 'does not involve the myriad conditions' completely. As for the doctrinal enumerations of the Storehouse Teaching, the five skandhas, twelve bases, and eighteen dhātus are called the three categories. The Venerable briefly raised the head and tail, subsuming what lies between. In Sanskrit, ānāpāna is translated as 'exhalation and inhalation.' Its method has six [aspects]: first, counting; second, following; third, stopping; fourth, contemplating; fifth, returning; sixth, purifying. These are fully set forth in Tiantai's Shamatha-Vipaśyanā; those preparing against the unforeseen cannot afford not to know them. Guishan's Admonitions says, 'If one never applies one's mind to doctrine and principle, the mysterious Way has no cause to be realized.' The Precious Store Treatise says: 'Pitiable is the priceless jewel hidden in the pit of the skandhas and bases; when will the spiritual light shine alone, far detached from sense organs and dusts?' Tiantong's 'A cloud rhinoceros enjoys the moon, radiant and containing brilliance'—an ancient poem has 'The rhinoceros, through enjoying the moon, grows patterns on its horn.' Such good words are a pity to reduce to literary talent and emotional thought. 'A wooden horse wanders in spring, galloping unrestrained'—this versifies exhalation not involving the myriad conditions; it may be called 'good walking leaves no tracks.' 'Beneath the brows, a pair of cold green eyes'—Luopu said, 'Merely clarifying oneself, the Dharma-eye is not yet clear; this person possesses only a single eye.' If you want both eyes to be fully round and clear, none other than not abiding in the skandhas and dhātus and not involving the myriad conditions will do; only then, in the shadowless forest, high hangs the sun and moon, and on the unsprouting branch, one secretly discerns spring and autumn. 'How does reading the scriptures reach penetrating the cowhide?'—Changqing said, 'What fault has the eye?' The Śūraṅgama-sūtra says, 'Now look closely upon the holy assembly in this gathering; scanning them with the eyes, the eyes see all around, yet just as in a mirror, there is no differential analysis.' Here it was missed. Yaoshan said, 'Even the cowhide at the bottom must be pierced through.' Wansong says: Yet he possessed the vajra-eye. 'The lucid mind transcends countless kalpas'—the Third Patriarch said, 'Simply do not hate or love, and it is thoroughly lucid.' A single thought for ten thousand years, upheld without exhaustion. Lumen said, 'The entire great earth is a single scroll of scripture for this student; the whole universe is a single eye for this student. With this eye, reading such a scripture, through thousands, myriads, and kotis of kalpas, constantly without interruption.' Wansong says: Reading and reciting is not easy! 'Heroic strength shatters the multi-layered siege'—Wang Mang of the Later Han sent his younger brothers Wang Xun and Wang Yi to Kunyang, where they surrounded Emperor Guangwu in dozens of layers. Guangwu's troops were weak and wished to surrender to Xun and Yi, but Yi refused. Guangwu thereupon further strengthened his generals, went out to fight, and heavily defeated Xun and Yi. The Venerable was complete in both civil and military arts, going out as general and entering as chancellor; the skandhas, dhātus, and myriad conditions are not merely a multi-layered siege. 'The wondrously rounded pivot-hole turns the spiritual dynamic'—Erya says, 'The pivot is called the wei.' Guo Pu's commentary says, 'It is the doorleaf pivot.' Flowing water does not stagnate; the center pivot is not worm-eaten—this speaks of its liveliness. Before being prompted, the Venerable moved; without being turned, he rotated naturally. On this side or that side, nothing was unacceptable. Tiantong sifted gold from sand, weighed by the star and divided by the ounce, and passed flower-judgment completely. In the final two lines he has yet more surplus talent, saying: 'Cold Mountain forgets the road by which he came; / taking Pickup along, hand in hand they return.' This versifies the sea-like assembly at the state banquet drilling through paper and boring through windows; the Venerable's grandmotherly kindness briefly hooks up the screen to let the young swallow return, and bores through the paper to let the foolish fly out. Using Han Shan's poem, it fits like tally and token. The poem says: 'Wishing to find a peaceful resting place, / Cold Mountain can be long preserved. / A gentle breeze blows through hidden pines; / listening close, the sound is ever sweeter. / Beneath sits a white-haired man, / chattering on, reading Huang-Lao. / In ten years he cannot return, / forgetting the road by which he came.' When Lüqiu Yin visited, [Han Shan] took Shi De by the hand, walked out the pine gate, and never returned to the monastery. Some editions have 'muttering, reading Huang-Lao.' This versifies losing one's way in youth and forgetting to return, pointing out the road to one who is lost. Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang invited Chan Master Huayan Xiujing into the palace for a vegetarian feast. The Great Masters and Virtuous Ones all read scriptures; only the Master's entire assembly remained silent. The Emperor asked, 'Why do you not read the scriptures?' Jing said, 'When the Way is exalted, the Son of Heaven's decree is not proclaimed; when times are peaceful, singing songs of great peace is ceased.' The Emperor said, 'It is well if you alone do not read, Master; why do your disciples also not read?' Jing said, 'In the lion's den there are no other beasts; where the Elephant King walks, foxes' tracks are cut off.' The Emperor said, 'Why do the Great Masters and Virtuous Ones all read?' Jing said, 'The jellyfish originally has no eyes; to seek food it must rely on shrimp.' The Emperor was greatly pleased. Furthermore, Patriarch Venerable [Prajñātāra], from distant kalpas, was named Mahāsthāmaprāpta and recited profound sūtras; thus following his teacher he was named Prajñātāra. Turns out his habitual tendencies were not eliminated after all; he yielded to Huayan, who had the patchrobed monk's handle! Reaching here, Wansong cannot help laughing out loud. Now tell me: what is there to laugh at? Where Yunju Arhat bares his chest; when the Gong County tea pitcher joins its spout.

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Case 4: The Bhagavān Points to the Ground

1.93

Instruction to the assembly: A single speck of dust is barely raised, and the great earth is completely taken in. With a single horse and a single spear, opening territory and expanding land—who is the person who can act as master everywhere and take the source at every encounter?

1.94

Case: When the Bhagavān was walking with the assembly, (Following right behind his heels.) he pointed to the ground with his finger and said, 'This place is suitable for building a sanctuary.' (It is unfitting to disturb the earth on the head of the Grand Duke.) Śakra took a blade of grass, inserted it into the ground, and said, 'The sanctuary has been built.' (Building and constructing is not easy.) The Bhagavān smiled. (Distinguishing clearly between reward and punishment.)

1.95

The Master said: When the Bhagavān spread his hair to cover the mud and offered flowers to Dīpaṃkara Buddha, the Buddha pointed to the place where the hair was spread and said, 'This parcel of ground is suitable for building a sanctuary.' At that time there was the Elder Bhadrapāla, who planted a marker at the pointed place and said, 'The sanctuary has been built.' The devas scattered flowers, praising: 'The commoner's son has great wisdom!' Tiantong raised the case with broad similarity and minor differences. Wansong says: The Bhagavān mortgaged his ancestral estate to Dīpaṃkara, and thereupon an elder took charge and settled the aftermath. Now handing it over to Tiantong, a joint contract deed must be issued. The verse says:

1.96

'On the tips of the hundred grasses, boundless spring; (Jiashan is still here.) / Reaching out a hand to pick it up, it is used intimately. (Entering overgrown fields, making no choice.) / A sixteen-foot golden body, an accumulation of merit; (Inquiring after health.) / Casually hand in hand entering the red dust. (Playing the part as the occasion requires.) / Able to act as master within the dust, (Once power is in one's hands,) / from outside the transformation [subjects] naturally come as guests. (Look and see when the command is executed.) / At every touch, life's needs are amply sufficient to one's lot; (Not obtained from others.) / Never minding that one's skills are not equal to others.' (The face shows no shame.)

1.97

The Master said: Tiantong first versified the gong'an with four lines, and then laid out the outline, displaying the transforming style. Zhaozhou picked up a blade of grass and used it as a sixteen-foot golden body; the Bhagavān pointed it out in the face of the wind, and Śakra casually picked it up. Tiantong versified it with person and environment intermingled. Not only the ancient sages: if you right now can act as master within the dust, from outside the transformation [subjects] will also come as guests. Now tell me: the romantic Consort Liu founding this Bao'en Hermitage—is it the same as or different from Śakra planting the grass? The Master held up his whisk and said: 'A thousand years of permanent property; a single morning's monk.'

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Case 5: Qingyuan's Price of Rice

1.99

The Master instructed the assembly, saying, "Jāti cutting off his flesh to serve his parents does not enter the Biographies of Filial Sons; Devadatta pushing down a mountain to crush the Buddha—how could he fear a sudden crash of thunder? Passing through the forest of brambles, felling the sandalwood trees, one waits until the year has drawn to its close, and as ever the first month of spring remains cold. Where is the Buddha's Dharmakāya?"

1.100

Case: A monk asked Qingyuan, "What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?" (A petty official often recites the statutes.)
Qingyuan said, "What is the price of rice in Luling?" (An old general does not discuss warfare.)

1.101

The Master said: Chan Master Xingsi of Mount Qingyuan in Jizhou first called upon the Sixth Patriarch and asked, "What task should one apply oneself to so as not to fall into stages?"
The Patriarch said, "What have you been doing up to now?"
Qingyuan said, "I do not even practice the noble truths."
The Patriarch said, "Into what stage do you fall?"
Qingyuan said, "When even the noble truths are not practiced, what stages could there be?"
The Patriarch deeply regarded his capacity. Although the disciples in his assembly were many, the Master sat at their head. It was just like the Second Patriarch remaining silent, of which Shaolin said he had obtained the marrow.
Judging by this monk asking about the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma, he too was an adept freshly entering the monasteries, wishing to follow Mañjuśrī on a tour of Mount Cakravāḍa.
Qingyuan was a person who 'does not even practice the noble truths', yet he merely made the ordinary greeting and asked, 'What is the price of rice in Luling?'
Some say, 'The price of rice in Luling does not permit bargaining.' Little do they realize they have already entered the bushel-and-peck shop!
If you wish not to enter this mutual-aid association, ask Tiantong.
His verse says:

1.102

"The undertaking of great peace has no outward sign; (Has the broom star appeared yet?)
The rustic elder's family tradition is supremely pure. (How does that compare to my plowing fields here to trade for food to eat?)
He cares only for village songs and communal drinking; (The poor fellow's merriment is never exhausted!)
How would he know of the virtue of Shun or the benevolence of Yao? (Only now are loyalty and filiality fulfilled.)"

1.103

The Master said: In the sixth year of the Taihe era of Emperor Wenzong of the Tang, Niu Sengru was Prime Minister. The Emperor asked, "When will there be great peace in the realm?"
Sengru replied, "Great peace has no outward sign. At present the four barbarian tribes do not invade each other, and the common people are not scattered. Though this is not supreme governance, it may be called modest prosperity. If Your Majesty seeks great peace elsewhere, it is beyond my capability." Retiring, he repeatedly submitted memorials requesting to be relieved of his duties, and went out to serve as Military Commissioner of Huainan.
Wansong says: He had already set a pattern and drawn a model. Therefore, in the rustic elder's family tradition, drumming on the ground and chanting songs, rites, music, culture, and refinement on the contrary become something artificial.
'The price of rice in Luling' can be mocked as deep and profound. With the virtue of Shun and the benevolence of Yao, the pure atmosphere transforms naturally. In village songs and communal drinking, each finds their proper place. Under the white moon and fresh breeze, each rests content in their own lot.
Do you understand? As it is convenient, return to the hall!

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Case 6: Mazu's White and Black

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The Master instructed the assembly, saying, "When the mouth cannot be opened, the tongueless person understands speech. Where feet cannot be lifted, the footless person understands walking. If you fall into their snare and die beneath their phrases, how can you have any share of freedom? When the four mountains press in upon you, how will you break through and escape?"

1.106

Case: A monk asked Great Master Ma, "Free from the four propositions and cutting off the hundred negations, please, Master, point directly to me the meaning of coming from the West." (If you recognize this monk's opening question, how much mental effort it saves!)
The Great Master said, "I am tired and worn out today; I cannot explain it to you. (Already there is the moon inside the boat.) Go ask Zhizang." (Adding more wind to the sail.)
The monk asked Zang. (Receiving another's instructions instead.)
Zang said, "Why do you not ask the Venerable?" (Fine texts are mostly identical.)
The monk said, "The Venerable instructed me to come ask." (Deserving praise for his cleverness!)
Zang said, "I have a headache today; I cannot explain it to you. Go ask Brother Hai." (I cannot fail to be a disciple of Master Ma!)
The monk asked Hai. (A bitter gourd is bitter right to its root.)
Hai said, "Having reached here, I don't understand either." (A sweet melon is sweet right to its stem.)
The monk reported this to the Great Master. (Demanding payment for his straw sandals.)
The Great Master said, "Zang's head is white; Hai's head is black." (Study for another thirty years!)

1.107

The Master said: The Sixth Patriarch said to Venerable Rang, "The prophecy of the Twenty-Seventh Patriarch of the Western Heavens says that beneath your feet a young colt will emerge and trample to death everyone under heaven. The illness is in your heart; there is no need to speak of it prematurely." Later he ground a brick and beat the ox, and the divine colt entered the stable, being titled Mazu. He walked like an ox and gazed like a tiger; he could extend his tongue past his nose, and on the soles of his feet were wheel marks. He had one hundred and thirty-nine Dharma heirs, each becoming a Dharma master of a region. Zhizang and Brother Hai were Xitang and Baizhang.
Looking closely, this monk too was someone studying the Buddha Dharma; he took the four propositions and the hundred negations to test the doctrine of the special transmission outside the teachings.
The Mahāyānasaṃgraha says that existence is the slander of addition; nonexistence is the slander of reduction; both existence and nonexistence is the slander of contradiction; neither existence nor nonexistence is the slander of frivolous assertion. If the four propositions are left behind, the hundred negations are naturally cut off.
Huangbo said, "If you want to understand directly and swiftly: everything without exception is not it." Wansong says: "If you want to understand thoroughly and in detail: everything without exception is it." Looking at it inside and out: not leaving the four propositions, not cutting off the hundred negations, in what respect is the ancestral intention of coming from the West not clear?
Great Master Nāgārjuna said, "Prajñā is like a great mass of fire; it cannot be entered from any of its four sides." Yet he also said, "Prajñā is like a cool and refreshing pond; it can be entered from all four sides."
This monk said, "Free from the four propositions and cutting off the hundred negations, please, Master, point directly to the meaning of coming from the West." Everywhere this is called a "mouth-locking question."
Mazu was in no hurry; he merely said, "I am tired and worn out today; I cannot explain it to you. Go ask Zhizang." He spared his own eyebrows and pierced that monk's nostrils. That monk could not help being driven along by him and genuinely went to ask.
Zhizang also, as if by coincidence, said, "Why do you not ask the Venerable?" This monk did not open his eyebrows and eyes, but said, "The Venerable instructed me to come ask." Zang said, "I have a headache today; I cannot explain it to you. Go ask Brother Hai." It can truly be called: "no father fails to bear such a son."
The monk asked Hai. Hai said, "Having reached here, I don't understand either." One might think that after Hou Bai there would be another Hou Hei. Although this monk lacked grit, he had a beginning and an end; he returned to report it to Mazu. Mazu said, "Zang's head is white; Hai's head is black." This single phrase has perplexed everyone under heaven to death.
Zhaojue of Donglin composed a verse: "The hundred negations and four propositions cut off without a word; / Black and white are distinctly defined, determining partial and upright." Wansong says: "Four in the evening and three in the morning, giving rise in vain to joy and anger."
One day the three men were enjoying the moon with Nanquan. The Patriarch asked, "Right at such a moment, what about it?"
Zhang said, "It is just right for practice."
Zang said, "It is just right for making offerings."
Nanquan brushed out his sleeves and left.
The Patriarch said, "The scriptures enter the canon (Zang); Chan returns to the sea (Hai). Only Puyuan alone transcends beyond things." Here, black and white should indeed be distinctly differentiated.
Wansong says: Zang's head is white, Hai's head is black; the duck's head is green, the crane's head is red. The divine colt of ten shadows stands south of the sea; the auspicious qilin of five colors treads north of heaven. People everywhere, do not borrow the spirit of a fox; Tiantong naturally has genuine news.
His verse says:

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萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 — Classical Chinese