萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 4

English (machine translation) 4

Language: English

4.4

Case Fifty-Four: Yunyan's Great Compassion

Instruction to the assembly: The eight sides are open and latticed; the ten directions are unimpeded and free. Everywhere emitting light and shaking the earth; at all times marvelous functions and spiritual penetrations. But tell me: how is this manifested?

4.6

Case: Yunyan asked Daowu, 'What does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion use so many hands and eyes for?' (You asking like this—what are you aiming at?) Daowu said, 'Like a person in the night reaching back with his hand searching for a pillow.' (A single surge of spiritual penetration, not of a small kind.) Yunyan said, 'I understand.' (Do not pretend to be clever!) Daowu said, 'How do you understand?' (Sure enough, he does not let him off.) Yunyan said, 'All over the body are hands and eyes.' (Nowhere is there a gap or flaw.) Daowu said, 'You have said quite a lot, but you have only gotten eighty percent.' (My tongue is too short.) Yunyan said, 'How about you, senior brother?' (Where the principle is superior, one submits.) Daowu said, 'Throughout the body are hands and eyes.' (Nowhere is there an obstruction.)

4.7

The Master said: Li Ao asked Ehu, 'What does Great Compassion use a thousand hands and eyes for?' Ehu said, 'What does the present Emperor use you for, sir?' In the past, there was a blind hermit who sold fortunes. After rain, when the road was muddy, he put on fresh white shoes and entered the marketplace. People asked, 'Hermit, you have lost your sight; how is it that the mud does not soil your shoes?' The hermit raised his staff and said, 'There is an eye on the head of my staff.' Taking the hermit as verification: reaching for a pillow in the night, there is an eye on the hand; when eating, there is an eye on the tongue; when listening to words to recognize a person, there is an eye in the ear. Su Zizhan spoke with a deaf person only by writing characters. He laughed again and said, 'He and I are both extraordinary people: I use my hand as a mouth, and he uses his eyes as ears.' The Buddha taught the mutual functioning of the six sense faculties; truly there is no doubt of it! Layman Wujin's record of the Great Compassion Hall at Ziyan in Luzhou cites the Great Compassion Sūtra and the Śūraṅgama-sūtra most exhaustively. I have once seen an account that Great Compassion was formerly Princess Miaoshan, which was related by a deva to Vinaya Master Xuan. Yet the thirty-two responses and hundred billion transformation bodies also vary according to different perspectives, each relying on its own account. Tianjue said: 'The thousand hands show the multitude of guiding the deluded and receiving beings; the thousand eyes show the vastness of emitting light to illuminate darkness. If there were no sentient beings and no defiling toils, then not even a single finger would remain, let alone ten million arms? Not even a single wink would be complete, let alone ten million eyes?

4.8

One aperture emptily penetrating, / (Extending vertically through the three times;) / The eight sides are open and latticed. / (Pervading horizontally across the ten directions.) / Formless and selfless, spring enters the musical pitches; / (Responding to the season, receiving blessings.) / Unhindered and unobstructed, the moon travels through the sky. / (Moving at will, it drops into the stream ahead.) / Pure precious eyes and arms of merit, / (Looking before and behind, picking up here and lifting there.) / How does 'all over the body' compare to 'throughout the body'? / (Unable to explain it away.) / The manifest hands and eyes reveal the complete dynamic; / (The stolen goods are already exposed.) / The great function acts freely and openly—what taboos could there be? / (Nothing acceptable, nothing unacceptable.)

4.9

The Master said: Tiantong says that through one aperture being open and clear, all eight directions are latticed and luminous. Consider, for instance, a willow-lined pond, a flower-covered bank, the warm sun, and the gentle breeze: where is spring? What shape and form does it take? Yet it is able to respond to things and take advantage of the season without lingering or obstruction, just like the moon in the sky revolving at will. Know, then: who is it that, 'throughout the body' and 'all over the body', reaches behind the back to feel for the pillow? Inside the puppet booth, there must be someone pulling the strings. The Śūraṅgama[-sūtra] speaks of eighty-four thousand pure, precious eyes, eighty-four thousand mudrā arms, and eighty-four thousand vajra heads. Xinghua's verse upon falling from a horse and breaking his arm says: 'The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion has a thousand hands; / What real man does not have them?' Now tell me: which are the hands and eyes of the entire body? The Master pulled his eyes open with his hands and said: 'Meow!'

4.10

Case 55: Xuefeng as the Cook

4.11

Instructing the assembly, he said: Ice is colder than water; blue comes from indigo. Only when one's insight surpasses the teacher's is one fit for the transmission. If the son raised does not match the father, the family line declines in a single generation. Now tell me: who is the person who seizes the dynamic from the father?

4.12

Case: Xuefeng was serving as cook under Deshan (not exerting effort when young). One day the meal was late. Deshan carried his bowl up to the Dharma Hall (not resting his mind when old). Xuefeng said, 'The bell has not rung, and the drum has not sounded, yet this old fellow carries his bowl—where are you going?' (having taught the child so well that he can curse his mother). Deshan then returned to the Abbot's quarters (all contained in speechlessness). Xuefeng related this to Yantou (the family turns contrary and the house is in disorder). Yantou said, 'Even great Deshan does not understand the last word' (the father covers for the son; straightness lies right therein). Deshan heard of this and ordered an attendant to call Yantou, asking, 'Do you not approve of this old monk?' (pouring oil to put out a fire). Yantou then disclosed his meaning (private whispers among mortals sound like thunder to heaven). Deshan then desisted (indeed, he did not understand). When the next day arrived, he ascended the hall, and it was truly different from usual (trimming the sails to the wind). Yantou clapped his hands and laughed, saying, 'How wonderful that the old fellow understands the last word! (washing dirty linen in public). Hereafter, no one in the world will be able to do anything to him' (why are the nostrils in my hands?).

4.13

The Master said: Xuefeng lowered his head and returned to the hermitage; Deshan simply returned to the Abbot's quarters. This is best investigated thoroughly. Yantou secretly disclosed his meaning—now tell me, what did he say? Deshan then desisted again. One might call it: 'Meeting each other, nothing is brought out; raise an intention, and one already knows it is there.' When Deshan ascended the hall the next day, it was truly different from usual. That too was going along with error to make an error work. Yantou went down to the front of the Sangha Hall, clapped his hands, and laughed aloud, saying, 'How wonderful that the old fellow understands the last word! Hereafter, no one in the world will be able to do anything to him.' But take great care not to cover it up! Even though this is so, it was only good for three years: Deshan indeed passed away in three years. Tianjue's verse says: 'The sound of bells and drums was silent when he returned holding his bowl; / Yantou gave a thrust, his words like thunder. / Indeed he had only three years to live; / Could it be that he had received his prediction of passing?' Wansong says: 'Knowing your quilt was torn, he once slept in the same bed with you.' Mingzhao spoke on Deshan's behalf: 'Tut-tut! Nowhere to go, nowhere to go.' Wansong says: 'The nostrils are in another's hands.' Xuedou said: 'I had once heard people talk of the One-Eyed Dragon, but he turned out to have only a single eye. Little did they know that Deshan is a toothless tiger! Had Yantou not seen through him, how could tomorrow have been different from yesterday?' Do you all want to understand the last word? 'Only the old foreigner is allowed to know, not allowed to understand.' Half-concealed and half-revealed, leaking out and slipping up, he did not know either. Dagui Zhe said: 'Yantou was very like a rock splitting on a high mountain, making the wild beasts for a hundred li hide their tracks. Were it not for Deshan's magnanimity and deep clarity, how could yesterday have been different from today?' Wansong says: 'A toothless tiger still has its claws and talons.' Whenever Luzu saw a monk coming, he would face the wall. Nanquan heard of this and said: 'I usually tell people to take responsibility before the empty kalpa, to understand before the Buddha appeared in the world, yet I still haven't found even half a person. For him to act like that—not until the year of the donkey!' If you recognize Nanquan, you will see Yantou, and walk hand-in-hand together with Tiantong. The verse says:

4.14

Did he understand the last word, or did he not? (Here, 'understanding' or 'not understanding' will break your waist.)
Deshan and his sons were far too vague. (Bright on the outside, unaware of the darkness within.)
Among those seated, there are also guests from Jiangnan; (Do not say there is no one in Qin!)
Do not sing 'The Partridge' before others! (Stop right there!)

4.15

The Master said: The last word is like this: hard to clarify, unyielding like Deshan, sharp and brilliant like Yantou—even today, it cannot be explained away. Have you not heard it said: 'Stepping forward into the world may still be easy; / Shedding the body and uttering the word must be hard.' Zheng Gu's poem says: 'Towers of flowers and moon stand close to the thoroughfares; / A single tune of clear singing empties the golden jar. / Among those seated, there are also guests from Jiangnan; / Do not sing "The Partridge" to the spring breeze.' Tiantong uses the last two lines, conveying the sense of not bothering to raise it again. What about after raising it? The Master stepped down from his seat and went straight back to the Abbot's quarters.

4.16

Case 56: Uncle Mi's White Rabbit

4.17

Instructing the assembly, he said: Better to sink in delusion for eternal kalpas than to seek liberation from the holy ones. Devadatta enjoys the bliss of the third dhyāna in the Avīci Hell; Udraka Rāmaputra falls into the body of a flying fox from the peak of existence heaven. Now tell me: where does the benefit or harm lie?

4.18

Case: When Senior Uncle Mi was walking along with Dongshan, they saw a white rabbit run past in front of them. Mi said, 'Splendid!' (How can it help running in the wild weeds?) Dongshan said, 'In what way?' (Blaming you for being late.) Mi said, 'Like a commoner appointed as prime minister.' (Ascending into the sky from the ground is easy.) Dongshan said, 'An old man of your years making such talk!' (Almost letting it pass.) Mi said, 'What about you?' (A person has no mind to harm the tiger, and the tiger has no intent to hurt the person.) Dongshan said, 'An illustrious clan for generations, temporarily fallen into poverty.' (Letting go from empty space is hard.)

4.19

The Master raised the case: Dongshan and Chan Master Sengmi of Mount Shen in Tanzhou were crossing a stream. Dongshan asked, 'How is the matter of crossing the stream?' Mi said, 'Not getting the feet wet.' Dongshan said, 'An old man of your years making such talk!' Mi said, 'What about you?' Dongshan said, 'The feet are not wet.' In the teachings there are the two gates of nature and cultivation; the Dongshan lineage calls it 'borrowing cultivation to clarify the stage.' Generally, awakening by means of cultivation is entering sagehood from the ordinary: a commoner in plain clothes directly appointed chief minister. But if there is awakening first and cultivation afterward, it is entering the ordinary from sagehood: an illustrious clan of hairpins and tassels is noble by origin; though tossed about in myriad plights, the bone structure still remains. Therefore it is said: 'In the parable of the poor son this principle is clarified; / In the verse on offering the pearl, the great net is revealed.' Do all of you wish to see the insight of these two venerable masters? Look to Tiantong's taking charge of the indictment. The verse says:

4.20

Enduring frost and snow (in poverty, perfecting oneself alone);
Walking flat on clouds and mist (in success, benefiting all under heaven).
Liuxia Hui leaves his home state (the bitter gourd is bitter right to the root);
Sima Xiangru crosses the bridge (the sweet melon is sweet right to the stem).
The strategies of Xiao and Cao could establish the Han (sunflowers turning to the sun);
The minds and bodies of Chaofu and Xu You wished to shun Yao (willow catkins drifting with the wind).
'Favor and disgrace seem alarming'—having deep self-confidence (awakening requires true awakening, practice requires genuine practice);
With true feeling, one blends one's traces among fishermen and woodcutters (unable to avoid the sacred turtle dragging its tail).

4.21

The Master said: Mugwort and weeds crave rain and dew; pines and cypresses endure wind and frost. 'Only when the year grows cold do we know that pine and cypress are the last to fade.' This is the principle of according with conditions without changing, the discourse on hairpins and tassels falling into poverty: only a great person of power can shoulder this task. 'Walking flat on clouds and mist, directly entering the Tathāgata's stage in a single leap'—this is already too late! Little do they know that an illustrious clan of hairpins and tassels is originally wealthy and noble. The Analects says: When Liuxia Hui was a judge, he was dismissed three times. People said, 'Can you not yet leave?' He said, 'Serving others with straight principles, where could I go and not be dismissed three times? If I served others with crooked principles, why would I need to leave the land of my parents?' Sima Xiangru, style Quanzi, lost his parents when young. At nine, he herded pigs for others. Hearing that Lin Xiangru had become a minister of state, he changed his name to Xiangru, abandoned the pigs, and went to study. The pig owner beat him with a staff. The teacher recognized his worth, kept him in a thatched hut outside the gate, and for ten years gave him no books to read before sending him away. Crossing the Bridge of Ascending Immortals, he wrote on a pillar: 'If I do not ride in a four-horse carriage, I will not cross this bridge.' Later he composed the 'Zixu Rhapsody.' General Yang Deyi stayed overnight in the palace and recited this rhapsody. The Emperor said, 'I regret not being of the same time as this person!' The general reported, 'He is currently in the land of Shu.' The Emperor ordered him summoned; riding a four-horse carriage, he crossed the bridge and was appointed Palace Attendant. Xiao He and Cao Shen established Emperor Gaozu's imperial enterprise in the Han; Chaofu and Xu You shunned Yao, washing their ears and watering their cattle. Laozi says, 'Favor and disgrace seem alarming: getting it is alarming, losing it is alarming.' The four pairs of eight matters above are each one line for old Mi, and one line for Dongshan. Wonderful was Guifeng's parable: for example, a member of the imperial clan falls into destitution and lowliness, and habits become second nature; later, when he is recommended and elevated, although he returns to his original rank, the three upright principles and six arts must be relearned and practiced anew before his power and functioning are complete. Even so, on Tiantong's part, it still falls into gradual stages. Have you not heard it said: 'Favor and disgrace seem alarming—having deep self-confidence; / With true feeling, one blends one's traces among fishermen and woodcutters'?

4.22

Case 57: Yanyang's Single Thing

4.23

Instructing the assembly, he said: Playing with shadows tires the body, not knowing the body is the root of the shadow. Raising the voice to stop an echo does not realize that sound is the root of the echo. If it is not riding an ox to look for an ox, it is driving out a wedge with a wedge. How can one avoid this error?

4.24

Case: Venerable Yanyang asked Zhaozhou, 'What when not bringing along a single thing?' (Still something extraneous.) Zhaozhou said, 'Lay it down.' (Even skin-tight clothes must be stripped off.) Yanyang said, 'When I do not bring along a single thing, what is there to lay down?' (A person does not know their own faults; an ox does not know its own strength.) Zhaozhou said, 'If so, then carry it away.' (Unable to call him back, what can be done?)

4.25

Venerable Xinxing Yanyang of Wuning County in Hongzhou first visited Zhaozhou and asked, 'What when not bringing along a single thing?' This is like the monk who asked Baoci: 'When sentiment arises, wisdom is obstructed; when characteristics change, the substance differs. What when sentiment has not yet arisen?' Baoci said, 'Obstructed.' The monk held fast and said, 'Sentiment has not even arisen—what is there to obstruct?' This is largely the same as, 'When not bringing along a single thing, what is there to lay down?'—like a rough-and-ready fellow. When Zhaozhou said, 'If you cannot lay it down, carry it away,' Yanyang had great awakening at his words. Foguo's Dharma Words cited Huanglong's verse: 'Not bringing along a single thing, / Yet both shoulders cannot bear the load (Guo said: A clear-eyed person is hard to deceive). / At his words he suddenly knew his error (stepping back, he fell into a deep pit); / In his heart was boundless joy (like a poor man obtaining a jewel). / Venom and malice once forgotten (purified when beginningless past karma is exhausted), / Snakes and tigers become close friends (equal understanding across different species). / Desolate through a thousand years, / The pure breeze has not yet ceased (who would not look up in reverence?).' At the place where the Master lived, a snake and a tiger would regularly take food from his hands, so people referred to him as a Venerable who had attained the fruit. Old Buddha Zhaozhou and the Venerable were both people unfathomable by sages or mortals. Uttering a single word or posing a single question, through a thousand ages they serve as a tortoise and mirror for people. Tiantong saw that the coarse minds of contemporary monks were growing more prevalent, so he beat the grass to startle the snake. The verse says:

4.26

Not guarding against subtle actions, he lost the opening move; (Before black and white are distinguished, it is still the partial within the correct.)
Realizing his own mind was coarse, he was ashamed to clash head-on. (Placing a piece in the tiger's mouth.)
The game broken, at his waist the axe-handle rotted; (Now tell me, what season is it right now?)
Having washed clean his mortal bones, he roams together with the immortals. (Head light and eyes clear.)

4.27

The Master said: Wang Jiefu's riddle on playing chess says: 'Neither dares take the lead, nor does this side dare go first. Precisely because neither dares take the lead, there is nothing to contend over. Precisely because there is nothing to contend over, one enters into non-dying and non-arising.' Chess is an art of contending for the initiative: if you win, you win an opening move; if you lose, you lose by a clash of heads. Long before you place a stone, Zhaozhou has already seen several moves ahead. Yanyang was only concerned with flying horizontally and leaping straight ahead, capturing a few extra territories, not knowing that the axe handle was already rotten. The Wang Family's Biographies of Immortals states: During the Long'an era of the Jin dynasty, Wang Zhi of Xin'an County was gathering firewood when he reached Xuan Shi slope. He saw four boys in a stone cave playing chess. They gave Zhi an object like a date; holding it in his mouth, he felt no hunger. By the time the game ended, the axe handle at his waist had rotted, and his clothes fluttered in the wind. Reaching home at dusk, decades had already passed. Zhaozhou's two turning words—'Put it down' and 'Carry it away'—extract the sinews and marrow, change the bones and wash the entrails; then one walks hand in hand with Zhaozhou, pacing the void and soaring lightly. There are those who say: 'Pure leisure is the true root of the Way; having no business makes one a minor immortal.' Even so, do not take having no business to be having no business; often business arises precisely from having no business.

4.28

Case 58: Contempt in the Diamond Sūtra

4.29

Instructing the assembly, he said: 'To explain the meaning according to the sūtra is an injustice to the buddhas of the three periods; to depart from the sūtra by a single character is tantamount to Mara's preaching.' For a person whom causes do not contain and results do not admit, do they still experience karmic retribution or not?

4.30

Case: The Diamond Sūtra says: 'If [this person] is held in contempt by others (I become a worm in dung), this person's sinful karma from prior lives would warrant falling into the evil realms (this old monk enters first). Because they are held in contempt by people in this present life (in the monastic grove, donkeys and mules trample dragons and elephants), their sinful karma from prior lives will be eliminated (where has it gone?).'

4.31

The Master said: Taking seeing and hearing as the seed, the eight difficulties surpass the stages of the ten grounds. When understanding and practice abide in oneself, a single lifetime perfects the fruit of vast kalpas. Guifeng divided this sūtra under the heading of 'transforming sins into becoming a buddha.' Here, bodhi and defilement are non-dual; saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are non-dual. Prince Zhaoming of the Liang classified this section of the sūtra as 'The Division of Being Able to Purify Karmic Obstacles.' Mahāsattva Fu's verse says: 'In past lives there were retributive obstacles; today one receives and upholds the sūtra. Temporarily held in contempt by others, what is heavy is reversed and becomes light.' This is precisely explaining the meaning according to the sūtra. The subsequent four lines then have the atmosphere of a patch-robed monk, saying: 'If one understands dependent origination (paratantra), one can eliminate the passions of conceptual fabrication (parikalpita). Constantly relying on the contemplation of prajñā, why worry about not achieving complete perfection (pariniṣpanna)?' The first four lines pertain to the power of merit; the latter four lines pertain to the power of contemplative practice. The Sixth Patriarch's Oral Explanation says: 'The Buddha said: A person who upholds the sūtra ought to receive reverence and offerings from all people. Because of heavy karmic obstacles from many lifetimes, though they uphold this sūtra in the present life, they are constantly held in contempt by people and do not receive reverence and offerings. Because they personally uphold the sūtra, they do not give rise to the marks of self or others; without questioning whether someone is foe or kin, they constantly practice reverence. When offended, they do not retaliate, and constantly cultivate the perfection of wisdom (prajñāpāramitā); heavy sins over many kalpas are entirely eliminated.' Furthermore, speaking from the perspective of principle: the prior life is the preceding thought of the deluded mind; the present life is the subsequent thought of the awakened mind. Using the awakened mind of the subsequent thought to hold in contempt the deluded mind of the preceding thought, delusion cannot abide, hence it says that sinful karma from prior lives is eliminated. Once deluded thoughts are extinguished, sinful karma is not formed, and one immediately attains bodhi. Both of these explanations, of principle and phenomena, pertain to contemplative practice. A monk asked Yunju: 'I have heard that the teaching says: "This person's sinful karma from prior lives would warrant falling into the evil realms. Because they are held in contempt by people in this present life, their sinful karma from prior lives will be eliminated." What is the meaning of this?' Yunju said: 'If you move, you warrant falling into the evil realms. If you remain still, you are held in contempt by others.' Chongshou Chou said: 'Having dharmas outside the mind warrants falling into the evil realms. Guarding oneself warrants being held in contempt by others.' Wansong says: Both of these old fellows have not shed their worldly habits either. Tell me, how is it on Tiantong's part? The verse says:

4.32

Continuously, merit and fault— (Only excepting one who awakens suddenly.) / Stiffly bound by cause and effect; (Even phenomena do not accord.) / Outside the mirror, frantically running, Yajñadatta! (Smoke arises beneath the feet.) / The head of the staff strikes down the Broken Stove; (Shattered into a hundred pieces.) / The stove breaks down— (From where does numinous power arise? Whence does sanctity arrive?) / He comes to offer congratulations: (Humbly prostrating before the fallen stove.) / But turns and says, 'All along you have failed me!' (Why didn't you say so earlier?)

4.33

The Master said: Merit is upholding the sūtra; fault is past karma. Once a deluded cause is established, it will inevitably incur a deluded result. The Śūraṅgama says: 'Have you not heard? In the city of Śrāvastī, Yajñadatta suddenly, one morning, looked into a mirror to see his face. He loved the eyes and brows visible in the mirror, but raged at his own head for not seeing its face, regarding it as an evil spirit and running madly without reason. What do you think? For what reason did this person run madly without cause?' Pūrṇa said: 'This person's mind was mad; there was no other reason.' This is being deluded about the real and clinging to the false. The contemplation and illumination of prajñā is the real; merit, fault, cause, and effect are the false. When true wisdom appears before one, deluded karma is eliminated, and anuttara-bodhi is luminous and inherently present. This is the intended meaning of the doctrinal teachings. How is it on the part of a patch-robed monk? Venerable Pozaoduo of Mount Song: in a mountain cove there was a temple, in whose hall a cooking stove was enshrined; slaughtering and offering sacrifices never ceased. Duo led his attendants into the temple, tapped the stove three times with his staff, and scolded it, saying: 'This stove is an aggregation of mud and tiles. Whence comes your sanctity? From where does your numinous power arise, that you should thus slaughter living beings?' He struck it three more times, and the stove toppled and collapsed. National Teacher Anguo called him 'Broken Stove Duo' (Pozaoduo). In an instant, a person wearing green clothes and a tall hat made a bow and said: 'I was originally the god of this temple, having long suffered karmic retribution. Today, thanks to the Master expounding the Dharma of the unarisen, I have shed this place and been born in the heavens; I have come specially to express my thanks.' The Master said: 'This is your inherent nature; it is not my forced assertion.' The god bowed again and vanished. Aggregated of earth and tiles—whence comes sanctity? Free from the marks of self and other—this is prajñā wisdom. Treating true wisdom as deluded karma: 'All along you have failed me; today I offer congratulations.' Slaughtering countless living beings yielded no blessed benefit at all; the old Chan master strikes three blows of the staff, and one is immediately born in heaven. Bah! Ghosts fear wicked people and find it hard to show their palms; a thief caught with stolen goods easily admits the charge.

4.34

Case 59: Qinglin's Dead Snake

4.35

Instructing the assembly, he said: 'If it departs, detain it; if it abides, send it away. Neither departing nor abiding, it has no country. Where can one encounter it? Everywhere, in every place. Tell me, what kind of thing is it that is so extraordinary?'

4.36

Case: A monk asked Qinglin: 'What is it like when a student goes straight forward?' (Take a step and you are already circuitous.) / Lin said: 'A dead snake blocks the main road; I advise you not to confront it head-on.' (Used to getting poisoned.) / The monk said: 'What happens when one confronts it head-on?' (Granting you great courage.) / Lin said: 'You lose your life-root.' (As expected.) / The monk said: 'What about when one does not confront it head-on?' (How could it be up to you?) / Lin said: 'There is also nowhere to avoid it.' (Bumping and knocking into it.) / The monk said: 'What about right at such a time?' (Do not panic just yet.) / Lin said: 'It has been lost!' (Though it is a dead snake, handle it skillfully and it becomes alive.) / The monk said: 'I do not know where it has gone.' (If you do not believe it, search your bosom.) / Lin said: 'The grass is deep; there is nowhere to look for it.' (Vast overhead, vast underfoot.) / The monk said: 'The Venerable must also take precautions!' (It has returned.) / Lin clapped his hands and said: 'Equally, it is a single poisonous vapor!' (Thinking it was Hou Bai, there is also Hou Hei.)

4.37

Chan Master Shiqian was the third generation of Dongshan in Junzhou. At first, he came from Jiashan to call upon Wuben. Wuben asked: 'Where have you recently left?' Lin said: 'Wuling.' Wuben said: 'How is the Dharma Way in Wuling compared to here?' Lin said: 'In barbarian lands, bamboo shoots sprout in winter.' Wuben said: 'Cook fragrant rice in a separate cauldron to make offerings to this man.' The Master then went out. Wuben said: 'In the future, this fellow will run the people of the world to death.' When Lin was planting pines at Dongshan, there was an Old Man Liu who requested a verse from the Master. The Master showed him: 'Pointed, more than three feet tall, / Verdantly blanketing the desolate grass. / I wonder in what generation people / Will see this old pine tree.' The old man presented it to Wuben. Wuben said: 'I congratulate you on your joy; this man is the third generation of Dongshan.' Lin took leave of Wuben and went to Mount Qingcuo in Shannan Prefecture, dwelling in a hermitage for ten years. Suddenly recalling Wuben's parting words, he said: 'I ought to benefit the multitudes; how could I be bound by minor constraints?' He then went to Suizhou, where circumstances coalesced and the assembly invited him to reside at the Little Qinglin Hermitage at Tumen; hence he was called Qinglin. He once said: 'You people must directly investigate apart from mind, intellect, and consciousness, and study outside the paths of ordinary beings and sages; only then can you maintain it. If not like this, you are not my offspring.' A monk asked: 'What is it like when a student goes straight forward?' This monk wanted to go to the Central Capital from under the Great Compassion Pavilion, and even boasted of knowing the direct and shortcut road. Little did he know that directly beneath his feet he was already far too circuitous. Lin rebuffed him with 'a dead snake blocks the main road.' This monk, heedless of peril and death, said: 'What happens when one confronts it head-on?' He had already caught the poison. There are those who say: 'Why didn't he apply the staff and shout to carry out the mandate?' When did Lin ever let him off? He said: 'You lose your life-root.' This monk felt a slight itch of pain and, trying to find a way out, said: 'What about when one does not confront it head-on?' Lin said: 'There is also nowhere to avoid it.' Even Qinglin could not avoid it. This monk, with sinews exhausted and strength spent, said: 'Right at such a time, when there is nothing to be done left or right, what is correct?' Lin said: 'It has been lost!' The methods of bringing people to life are seen here: able to dismiss and summon, possessing capture and release. Handed over to your body, it cannot be plucked off; taken away from you, it has a whereabouts. The monk said: 'I do not know where it has gone.' Lin said: 'The grass is deep; there is nowhere to look for it.' He did not say it does not exist, only that it cannot be seen. This monk was also strange, saying: 'The Venerable must also take precautions!' Qinglin took a dead snake to stir up this monk, but in the end it coiled around his waist and legs. He then clapped his hands once and said: 'Equally, it is a single poisonous vapor.' Wansong says: Smoking the heavens and scorching the earth! The Lamp of the Endless says: 'Qinglin's dynamic workings were sharp and steep; not only a brilliance of his own time, but a model for vast ages.' Wansong says: Distrubing the spring breeze, it has never ceased. Look further as Tiantong blows the flowers and sways the willows. The verse says:

4.38

The helmsman secretly turns the rudder; (Hiding a boat in a night ravine.) / The solitary skiff turns its head in the night. (Dipping oars in the clear source.) / Reed flowers on both banks like snow; (Profound communion between self and other.) / Misty water, a whole river of autumn. (Above and below, dark penetration.) / The wind's force supports the sail, moving without oars; (Following the current, one attains the marvelous.) / The flute's sound calls the moon down upon the grey islet. (Spontaneously falling into the front creek.)

4.39

The Master said: Chan Master Danxia Chun's verse says: 'The long river is clear and thorough, reflecting the toad's flower; / Pure light filling the eyes is still not home. / May I ask where the fishing skiff goes? / In the depth of night, it still rests among reed flowers.' Both elders alike praise dipping the oars of a solitary skiff in the clear source and tranquil water. Danxia made use of Xuedou's verse on Venerable Xuansha: 'Originally a guest aboard a fishing boat, / By chance shaving beard and hair to wear the kaṣāya. / In the ranks of patriarchs and buddhas he could not be detained; / When night came, he still lodged among reed flowers.' Wansong says: Thinking there was something else! Ancient and Modern Poetic Discussions says: In Sichuan and the Gorges, boatmen and pole-handlers are called 'elderly helmsmen' (changnian sanlao). Du Fu's poem says: 'Sichuan salt and Wu hemp have been traded since ancient times; / Ten-thousand-bushel boats move like the wind. / Elderly helmsmen sing long songs, / In broad daylight pitching coins amidst high waves.' This matter is similar to a person sailing a boat: not clinging to either bank, not abiding in midstream. Danxia rests at night among reed flowers; Tiantong trusts the wind with a transverse flute. Tell me, what about when turning the rudder and swinging the skiff around? In the depth of night, do not go lodge in the reed bend; transcend far beyond both the middle and the two ends.

4.40

Case 60: The Iron Grinder's Cow

4.41

The assembly was instructed: "The nostrils stand high and proud—each possesses the demeanor of a great man. The heels are planted firm and solid—who would be willing to study grandmotherly Zen? Only when you penetrate the mechanism without handles or nostrils do you first see the technique of an authentic adept. Now tell me: who is such a person?"

4.42

Case: Iron Grinder Liu came to Guishan (they have already met). Guishan said, "Old cow, so you have come!" (stirring up bees and picking at scorpions). Grinder said, "Tomorrow there is a great communal feast on Mount Tai; will the Venerable go?" (poisonous vapour, blazing fire). Guishan lay down flat (withdrawing midway). Grinder then went out (a single push and she turns).

4.43

The Master said: "Guishan called himself a water buffalo, and regarded Iron Grinder as a cow. Giving names and bestowing titles—this is the meeting of adepts. Although she was a nun, she had long studied under Guishan and had built a hermitage ten li away from the mountain. One day she went to study under Zihu. Hu asked, 'Could you be Iron Grinder Liu?' Grinder said, 'I dare not [presume].' Hu said, 'Do you turn to the left or turn to the right?' Grinder said, 'Do not be upside-down, Venerable.' Hu thereupon struck her. Look at her with Guishan: when letting go, both let go; when gathering in, both gather in. Foguo called them 'body-separating phrases'—the meaning penetrates while the words are separated. Do you wish to know how meaning and phrase both arrive together? Look further at Tiantong's verse that directly embodies it. The verse says:"

4.44

"A hundred battles won, an old man in peaceful times (at home and happy with his lot); / gentle and leisurely, who would be willing to struggle fiercely? (yielding to others is not foolishness). / With a jade whip and golden horse, idle all day long (though having them, it is as if without); / the bright moon and pure wind, wealthy his whole life (enjoyment without end)."

4.45

The Master said: "Junior monks talk much of Buddha; veteran generals do not discuss war. Before the mountain, the wheat has not yet distinguished green from yellow; in Luling, the price and profit of rice are unknown. If one further discourses on the Buddhadharma, who has ever even dreamed of it? The 'Biography of Chen Fan' in the Book of the Later Han says: 'Fan was able to establish a moral reputation and protest against corrupt customs, yet he exerted himself in perilous straits, struggling for supremacy with convicts and castrated men.' When these two met, they did not establish a moral reputation, nor did they exert themselves in perilous straits. Leisurely and calm, seasoned and ripe. Why did Tiantong praise them without end? Having attained it, one naturally forgets calculation; when applying it, no effort is wasted at all."

4.46

Case 61: Qianfeng's Single Line

4.47

The assembly was instructed: "Indirect talk is easy to understand: handed over with a single hand. Direct talk is hard to understand: opened wide across the crossroads. 'I advise you not to use clear words; / when spoken clearly, escaping is all the more difficult.' If you do not believe it, test it by raising [this case]. Look!"

4.48

Case: A monk asked Qianfeng, "'Bhagavāns of the ten directions have one road to the gate of nirvāṇa.' I wonder: where is the head of the road?" (A fast horse is not as good as a slow ditch.) Qianfeng drew a line with his staff and said, "Here" (believe only half of it). The monk raised this and asked Yunmen (when in doubt, seek another interview). Yunmen said, "The fan leaps up to the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven and pokes Śakra's nostril (beggar's talk). Strike the carp of the Eastern Sea a single blow, and the rain pours down as from a basin. Do you understand? Do you understand?" (explaining like this is even harder to comprehend).

4.49

The Master said: "Chan Master Qianfeng of Yuezhou was asked by a monk: 'Bhagavāns of the ten directions have one road to the gate of nirvāṇa. I wonder: where is the head of the road?' This question originally comes from fascicle five of the Śūraṅgama-sūtra: 'This Abhidharma of the Bhagavāns of the ten directions is the one road to the gate of nirvāṇa.' I wonder: where is the head of the road and its doorway? If one explains this meaning according to the sūtra, the Tathāgata spoke it himself as the premise for complete penetration; only in the sixth fascicle does Mañjuśrī select complete penetration. As for the matter of patch-robed monks, Tiantong once said: 'In the ten directions there are no walls; from the very beginning there was originally no obstruction. On four sides there are also no gates; right here is the place of entry.' Therefore Qianfeng drew a line and said, 'Here.' Those who do not know often call this Qianfeng pointing out the road for this monk; or else they say he drew a boundary line for this monk so that he would wander elsewhere no more. It is definitely not this principle. Have you not seen? Yunmen commented on it, sifting eight parts of rice to nine parts of chaff. Huanglong Nan said, 'Qianfeng pointing out the road for a time was an accommodation for beginners. Yunmen then adapted to the change, thereby keeping later people from tiring.' Wansong says: 'If the waves of Caoxi were alike, countless innocent people would drown on dry land.' Yunmen had long stayed with Qianfeng, Caoshan, and Shushan; this monk thought he would surely know Qianfeng's function, so he sought further instruction. If he had instead used Qianfeng's needle and thread, that would have been a tethering peg for a donkey. Suddenly he brought out Muzhou's axle-drill from Qin times, causing only the cup to hit the ground and the plate to shatter into seven pieces. This monk did not understand Qianfeng's meaning, so Yunmen gave another living path, very much like pouring oil to put out a fire, or fanning to melt ice. Zhu'an already exposed it earlier in a verse, saying: 'Qianfeng need not point it out; / Yunmen should stop the mishmash. / Naturally, the carp of the Eastern Sea / pokes Śakra's nostril.' Zhu'an was even more excessively compassionate than Yunmen, and people found it all the harder to understand. It is better that Tiantong, catching one off guard with a cold eye, is rather somewhat better. The verse says:"

4.50

"At hand, he still treats a dead horse as if alive (dealing a thunderbolt blow, using wolf-and-tiger medicine); / the soul-returning incense intends to revive you from danger (lifting the coffin lid to save the dead, he has a different miraculous prescription). / For a time pressed until sweat drenches the whole body (if the medicine does not make one dizzy, the illness will not be cured), / only then does one believe this fellow does not spare his eyebrows (along with the crown of his head, totally lost)."

4.51

The Master said: "Qianfeng treated a dead horse, but the treatment did not work; this monk was already a person who had lost his body and life. Yunmen had obtained the soul-returning incense, which can bring the already dead back to life. The Shiyi zhuan says: 'In the first year of the Yanhe era of the Han, the Western barbarian kingdom of the Yuezhi sent an envoy to offer four ounces of incense, as large as sparrow eggs and the colour of mulberries. In the first year of the Shiyuan era, a great pestilence struck the capital, and more than half the people died. The emperor took the incense and burned it; those who had been dead for less than three days all revived, and the fragrance did not cease for three months.' The incense comes from Mount Ren'niao on Jukuzhou; the tree resembles a sweetgum, and its fragrance is smelled for several li. It is called the soul-returning tree. Cutting the root and boiling the sap in a jade cauldron yields a black, sticky resin. Its first name is 'startling the vital spirit'; its second is 'returning to life'; its third is 'quaking sandalwood'; and its fourth is 'averting death.' Tiantong's informal sermon said: 'Fully obtaining the soul-returning incense, yet at the same time coming to strike the poison-smeared drum.' Yunmen's entanglement—Tiantong called it the soul-returning incense; throughout the quarters it turned into the poison-smeared drum, directly rendering one unable to turn around or breathe, cutting off the throat and blocking the nostrils, and also bringing a drench of sweat over the whole body. Master Baozhi said: 'Suddenly awakening to original nature as fundamentally empty / is just like a fever breaking into sweat.' Even so, how many hairs do Wansong's eyebrows have?"

4.52

Case 62: Mi Hu's Awakening or Not

4.53

The assembly was instructed: "Bodhidharma's supreme truth of the first principle—Emperor Wu of Liang was confused about it. Vimalakīrti's Dharma gate of non-duality—Mañjuśrī committed a verbal fault. Is there still any share of entry into action?"

4.54

Case: Mi Hu sent a monk to ask Yangshan, "Do people nowadays still rely on awakening?" (have they ever been deluded?). Yangshan said, "Awakening is not absent, but how can one help falling into the secondary?" (how can it be avoided?). The monk returned and related this to Mi Hu (what number is this?). Hu deeply concurred with it (concurring is not absent, but how to avoid the secondary?)."

4.55

The Master said: "Chan Master Mi of Jingzhao was called Master Mi Qi by some, and Mi Hu by others. He was the seventh son of his secular household and had a handsome beard, hence the two names. His 'Jewels of the Eight Directions' succeeded Xuefeng; now according to him being a fellow student of Yangshan, he succeeded Guishan. This monk was just asking, 'Have the superior sages since ancient times realized the true and upright principle?' Hu said, 'They have realized it.' The monk said, 'Just as for the true and upright principle, how is it realized?' This is no different from the time of relying on awakening. Hu said, 'When Huo Guang sold the fake silver city and made the deed with the Chanyu, who was it that drew it up?' Foguo praised Hu as a great good spiritual friend, a reputation not unearned. The monk said, 'I am brought completely to silence without a word.' Hu said, 'On level ground, making someone stand as guarantor.' As for Mi Hu saying 'realized', Yangshan said, 'Awakening is not absent, but how can one help falling into the secondary?' If one does not rely on awakening, it is also said, 'Only when a person self-concurs does it become intimate.' Venerable Shengmo used to say that Touzi's raising of old cases had an inner refinement and elegance without equal. He once raised this dialogue and said: 'While it was fine for Yangshan to speak thus, could he avoid falling into it himself? If he could avoid it, there is still another person who greatly refuses to approve. If he could not avoid it, he too fell into the secondary. Although Mi Hu approved of him, did he himself have a way to extricate himself? Try examining it, everyone! If you can examine it thoroughly, the two of them will dissolve like tiles crumbling and ice melting. If you cannot examine it, do not act rashly.' His verse says: 'Asking someone at the peak of the green crags, / he points to where the mountain ends, yet the body is not settled. / Although avoiding the order of Double Ninth, / how could that compare to the numinous sprout not encroaching on spring?' Wansong says: 'Without the spring wind, flowers do not bloom; when flowers do bloom, they are blown down again.' National Teacher Zhong asked Palace Attendant Zilin, 'What is the meaning of Buddha?' Lin said, 'It means awakening.' The National Teacher said, 'Has the Buddha ever been deluded?' Lin said, 'He has never been deluded.' The National Teacher said, 'What use is awakening?' Lin had no reply. This also conveys the meaning that fundamentally there is neither delusion nor awakening. I have always loved Xuedou's words: 'Fundamentally there is neither delusion nor awakening—they are as numerous as hemp seeds; / I acknowledge only Lingyun as an adept.' If awakening means falling into the secondary, while not awakening relies only on self-concurrence, what is right? Tiantong naturally has an expedient means. The verse says:"

4.56

"In the secondary division, awakening breaks delusion (the man of Puzhou sending off a thief); / quickly must one let go of the hands and abandon the fish-trap and snare (put it down!). / If the achievement is not exhausted, it becomes an extra thumb (in the end, superfluous); / wisdom is difficult to perceive, awakening [comes only to] biting one's navel (where Yu's strength does not reach, the sound of the River flows west). / The rabbit grows old in the ice disc, weeping autumn dew (lingering attachments are unbearable); / the bird is cold on the jade tree, the morning wind chilling (sitting still is impermissible). / Bring it to Great Yang to discern true from false (not a bit can be deceived); / completely without blemish or flaw, the white jade disk is prized (be very careful not to break it)."

4.57

The Master said: To distinguish enlightenment and smash delusion in the 'second head'—light arriving and darkness receding, wisdom arising and confusion perishing—are all matters along the road. The *General Remarks on the Changes of the Zhou* says: 'A snare is that by which one catches a hare; once the hare is obtained, one forgets the snare. A trap is that by which one catches a fish; once the fish is obtained, one forgets the trap. Thus, words are snares for images, and images are traps for meaning. One who preserves the words does not obtain the images; one who preserves the images does not obtain the meaning.' If, toward the second head, one says that his enlightenment is deficient, he will never attain it; yet what about the saying: 'Even if there is wondrous enlightenment, you must still spit it out'? You must swiftly let go your hands; when you arrive home where not a single thing remains, only then do you forget the snare and abandon the trap. Effort and intellectual knowledge both belong to the second head; when effort is exhausted and cannot be known by intellect, only then do you attain a small measure of accord. Chapter eight of the outer chapters of the *Zhuangzi*, 'Webbed Toes', says: 'Webbing on the feet joins useless flesh; an extra branch on the hands grows a useless finger.' The commentary says: 'Webbed toes mean the big toe joins the second toe; an extra branch means a sixth finger.' If effort is not exhausted, it is like webbed toes joining useless flesh. The *Spring and Autumn Annals* records: When King Wen of Chu attacked Shen, he passed through Deng. Marquis Qi of Deng said, 'He is my nephew,' and detained him to feast him. The three nephews, Zhui, Dan, and Yang, asked permission to kill the Viscount of Chu, but the Marquis of Deng refused. The three nephews said: 'The one who destroys the state of Deng will certainly be this man. If we do not make plans early, later our lord will bite his navel.' The commentary says: 'It will be too late.' Where intellect does not reach, intellect cannot know. The 'hare growing old' refers to the round moon. Venerable Danxia Chun said: 'When the water clears and the moon is full, the person of the Way grieves; on the icy platter, autumn dew weeps'—to cling and attach is indeed unbearable. The *Classic of the Great Wilderness* says: 'On the Kunlun Mound there are langgan gem trees, bearing fruit like pearls but smaller.' The *Inscription on the Dark and Central* says: 'The spiritual tree is vast and solitary; the phoenix has nothing to rely upon, and the crane does not halt its loom'—both do not permit keeping, clinging, or settling into sitting. When the bird is cold and chilled, it does not wish to fall into its root, trunk, branches, or leaves. The 'Yi' poem of the *Classic of Odes* says: 'A flaw in a white jade mace may still be ground away.' An internal defect in jade is called a flaw (breaking the body); an external defect is called a stain (soiling the colour). This verse praises Dayang's valuing the white jade mace without stain, not falling into the second head. What is the first head? Only after great enlightenment do you know it is not.

First 57 of 83 passages. Read on

Linked texts (1)

萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 — Classical Chinese