萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 6

English (machine translation) 6

Language: English

Instructing the assembly, he said: With the whole body turned into illness, Vimalakīrti could hardly recover. When any grass can heal, Mañjuśrī uses it skillfully. How can that compare to inquiring of someone of the transcendence to attain a place of peace and joy? What is this place of peace and joy?

6.4

Case: Guishan asked Daowu, "Where have you come from?" (The place of coming must be clear.)
Wu said, "I have come from visiting the sick." (The first field of merit is indeed not absent.)
Shan said, "How many people are sick?" (Still demanding two sorts.)
Wu said, "There are those who are sick and those who are not sick." (Yet you have a second moon.)
Shan said, "Is the one who is not sick the ascetic Zhi?" (A device to trap a tiger.)
Wu said, "Being sick or not sick has nothing to do with him at all. Speak quickly! Speak quickly!" (Yet the gourd vine is tangled back onto itself.)
Shan said, "Even if you could speak, it would have no connection." (Disaster does not enter the house of the cautious.)

6.5

Chan Master Lingyou of Guishan in Tanzhou went to study under Baizhang Dazhi at age twenty-three and served as chief cook for twenty years. Upon poking the fire, he awakened to the Way. Later, in answering about the pure vase in a contest against Hualin, he won Mount Gui. The Regional Military Commissioner Li Jingrang petitioned that the temple be named Tongqing-si. Chancellor Pei Xiu once inquired into its profound mysteries. The Master once saw a wildfire and asked Daowu, "Do you see the fire?" Wu said, "I see it." Shan said, "From where did it arise?" Wu said, "Setting aside walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, please pose another question, Master." Shan stopped. Fojian raised this and said, "Everyone sees the blazing wildfire; only Daowu saw it completely differently." Wansong says: Equally visiting the sick, none is like Daowu who saw right through the heart, liver, and five viscera. Guishan opened a skillful means, following the table to call the toasts, and said, "Even if you could speak, it would have no connection with him." Only Tiantong said, "The place where there is no connection is precisely the time to speak." The verse says:

6.6

"When did the wonderful medicine ever pass through the mouth? (Cannot be swallowed down, cannot be spat out.)
The divine physician cannot lay a hand on him. (Nowhere to feel or touch.)
As if existing, it is fundamentally not nonexistent; (Only words pervade the world.)
Utterly empty, it is fundamentally not existent. (Not a single fine hair is seen.)
Not extinguished, it gives birth; (Empty like the valley spirit, it is ever undying.)
Not perishing, it enjoys longevity. (The Way precedes the Sovereign of Form; it is naturally long-lived.)
It completely transcends before the King of Majestic Voice; (Stretched out, it reaches no end.)
It walks alone after the kalpa of emptiness. (Rolled up, it has no tail.)
Peacefully accomplished, heaven covers and earth supports; (Holding heaven and earth firmly.)
In its turning and revolving, the crow flies and the hare runs." (Revolving creation.)

6.7

The Master said: When the red silk pulse is broken, medicine and sickness both vanish. Taking the medicine, one forgets the mouth; taking the pulse, one forgets the hand. For what is called an illness that cannot be gathered together, Hua Tuo folds his hands, and Bian Que knits his brows. If you say it exists, the whole body has no image; if you say it does not exist, throughout the realm it is never hidden. Dharma Master Tanluan of the Qi dynasty obtained ten fascicles of immortal scriptures. Later he met Tripiṭaka Master Ruci and asked, "In the Buddha Dharma, is there a method of longevity and immortality that surpasses the immortal recipes of this land?" The Tripiṭaka Master spat on the ground and said, "How could there be a method of longevity in this land? Even if one gains an extension of years, when the retribution is exhausted, one falls back down." Then from his robe he drew out the Contemplation of the Buddha of Immeasurable Life Sūtra and handed it to Luan, saying, "This is the recipe of the Great Immortal: one always attains liberation and eternally transcends birth and death." In the Śūraṅgama, when the retribution of the ten kinds of immortals is exhausted, they still return to turn into the various destinies. Laozi said, "He who dies yet does not perish enjoys longevity." Dongpo wrote in a poem presented to Foyin: "I have not yet had leisure to study longevity; / For now I study being long undying." Completely transcending before the King of Majestic Voice, it precedes heaven and is not yet formed; already formed, it walks alone after the kalpa of emptiness; it succeeds heaven and, already decaying, does not decay. Peacefully accomplished, heaven covers and earth supports; turning and revolving, the crow flies and the hare runs. This is called the whole substance functioning, and gathering the function back into the substance. Stillness is the root of heaven and earth; movement accords with the minds of the sages. Do you still understand such talk as this? Pry open the wondrous, pure, perfectly luminous eye, and recognize the auspicious, peaceful, and joyful person.

6.8

Case 84: Juzhi's One Finger

6.9

Instructing the assembly, he said: Hearing one, one awakens to a thousand; understanding one, one follows a thousand. The superior person makes one decision and settles everything; the middling and inferior hear much and mostly disbelieve. At the point of exact and concise precision, try raising it and look.

6.10

Case: Whenever Venerable Juzhi was asked a question, he would only hold up one finger. (Why waste so much energy?)

6.11

The Master said: Chan Master Juzhi of Mount Jinhua in Wuzhou originally lived in a hermitage on Tiantai. There was a nun named Shiji who arrived wearing a rain-hat and holding a staff. She circled the Master three times and said, "If you can speak, I will take off my hat." Asked three times, Zhi had no answer at all. Shiji then went to leave. Zhi said, "It is getting late; stay overnight." Shiji said, "If you can speak, I will stay." Zhi again had no answer. After Shiji left, Zhi lamented to himself, "Though I have the form of a man, I lack the spirit of a man." He planned to abandon his hermitage and go around visiting teachers. That night, a mountain deity told him, "Master, you need not leave this mountain; a great bodhisattva will come to expound the Dharma for you." Indeed, after ten days Venerable Tianlong arrived. The Master welcomed him with full sincerity, made prostrations, and related the prior events in detail. Tianlong held up a finger to show him, and Zhi was greatly enlightened on the spot. From then on, whenever a monk came, he would only raise one finger and gave no other exposition. A boy he kept was once asked by someone outside, "What essential Dharma does the Master teach?" The boy held up a finger. Returning, he related this to Zhi. Zhi cut off his finger with a knife. The boy ran out screaming; Zhi called out to him once, and as the boy turned his head, Zhi held up a finger. The boy was suddenly enlightened. When Zhi was about to pass away, he said to the assembly, "I obtained Tianlong's one-finger Chan, and in an entire lifetime I have not exhausted its use." Having said this, he passed into extinction. Wansong says: Better to cut off his finger too. Changqing said in his place, "Fine food is not suitable for a full person to eat." Wansong says: Not coveting the taste of fragrant bait, he can truly be called a dragon in the green pool. Xuansha said, "If I had seen him at that time, I would have snapped his finger." Wansong says: Not only would that clear the boy's grievance, but it would also vent the anger of later people. Xuanjue said, "Tell me, when Xuansha speaks like this, what is his meaning?" Wansong says: Sure enough, he doubts it. Yunju Xi said, "Just like Xuansha speaking like this—did he approve of him or not approve of him? If he approved, why did he speak of snapping his finger? If he did not approve, where was Juzhi's fault?" Wansong says: The fault lies in approving or not approving. Former Caoshan said, "The place where Juzhi undertook it was crude; he only recognized one dynamic and one realm. It is like clapping and slapping hands; this was his peculiarity in the South Garden." Wansong says: To separate milk from water requires the king of geese. Xuanjue also said, "Tell me, did Juzhi awaken or not? If he awakened, why is it said that the place where he undertook it was crude? If he did not awaken, why did he say that he had not exhausted the use of the one-finger Chan? Tell me, where was Caoshan's intention?" Wansong says: The tune is high and few join the chorus; he hopes to meet an intimate friend. Later, Chan Master Lai of Jiashan was at West Tianning in Zhenfu. Someone asked, "Where is the pagoda of Venerable Tie'niu?" Shan pointed with his finger and suddenly was awakened, whereupon he composed a verse: 'Tie'niu, Tie'niu, / Seek nothing else besides! / If someone asks me, / I hold up a finger.' Wansong says: Although the undertaking was crude, crucially he did not borrow it from elsewhere. Have you not seen: The One-Eyed Dragon of Mingzhao asked Chan Master Shen of Guotai, "The ancients said that Juzhi only recited a three-line dhāraṇī and was able to have his name surpass all people. How do you take away the three-line dhāraṇī?" Tai held up a finger. Zhao said, "If not for today, how could I have recognized this guest from Guazhou?" Wansong says: Even if the symptoms of illness differ, one must first cure their root. The Sandōkai says: 'Holding to words, you must understand the source; do not set up your own rules.' This can be called recognizing the road by which one came in the deep of night, and passing through the barrier before dawn. Foguo's verse says: 'How could encounters of questions and answers be easy to match? / Without money, it is hard to make a fine display of elegance. / Having something in mind that cannot be spoken, / Only amidst bustle does he hold up a finger.' If you want to make a fine display of elegance and speak of the matter in mind, inquire further of Venerable Tiantong. The verse says:

6.12

"Old Man Juzhi's one-finger Chan: (He drew back the donkey's hooves.)
For thirty years, he used it without exhausting it. (To this day, they raise hands and put them down in confusion.)
Truly there is the Wayfarer's technique beyond the world; (Here, it cannot be used.)
Completely devoid of worldly objects to look upon before his eyes. (Still disliking that it is too little.)
What he attained was extremely simple; (Filling heaven and earth.)
His deployment was ever broad: (Not requiring a single pinch.)
The oceans of realms of the great chiliocosm are drunk by the tip of a hair. (Not leaving a single drop.)
Into whose hands do the endless scaled dragons fall? (Tiantong is still here.)
Take care, Lord Ren holding the fishing rod!" (Indeed, a startling skill.)
The Master again held up a finger and said, "Look!" (Shaming people to death.)

6.13

The Master said: "Ten thousand eons of permanent emptiness, a single morning's wind and moon." How could it merely be thirty years without being depleted? In the 'Great Ancestral Master' chapter of the Zhuangzi, Confucius said, "They roam beyond the realm, whereas I, Qiu, roam within it." If one lacks the art beyond the realm, how could one thoroughly see the root source of both the mundane and supramundane right upon a single finger? An ancient poem states: "Before one's eyes there are no vulgar things; though often ill, the body is light." Tiantong drew close from his own person and used only a single finger. The way of simplicity and ease is essential without being burdensome. In the Vimalakīrti[-nirdeśa], a hair absorbing the great sea is named the Minor Inconceivable Sūtra; in the Avataṃsaka, a speck of dust containing the dharmadhātu is named the Major Inconceivable Sūtra. The Śūraṅgama says that upon a single tip of hair, it is thoroughly able to contain and receive the lands of the ten directions; it also says that upon a single tip of hair, the precious king's realm appears, and seated inside a tiny dust mote, the great wheel of Dharma is turned. In the Zhuangzi, Lord Ren made a great hook and giant black cord, using fifty bullocks as bait. He squatted on Mount Kuaiji and cast his line into the Eastern Sea. Morning after morning he fished, but for a whole year caught no fish. Thereafter a huge fish swallowed it, pulling the great hook down as it submerged; it thrash-leapt and reared its fins, white waves like mountains, the seawater shaking, its sound matching ghosts and spirits, radiating over a thousand li. Lord Ren caught such a fish, chopped it and dried it; from the east of the Zhe River to the north of Cangwu, there was none who did not eat their fill of this fish. Thus it is said: "The fishing rod cut away entirely, bamboo is planted again; without counting the stages of work, stop as soon as it is obtained." Afterwards, receiving the boy of the severed finger, meeting Guotai Dao and Biefeng, and Jiashan Lai mistakenly entering the Peach Blossom Spring—today, after Tiantong's verse, he raised a finger again and said, "Look!" Master Dayin of Baishan said, "Tiantong, great and small, follows right behind others' heels." Master Wuzu Yan cited: A monk asked Touzi, "What is the Son of the Ten-Bodied Tamer?" Touzi stepped down from his meditation platform and stood. Another monk asked the old monk [Wuzu], and he too stepped down from the meditation platform and stood. Why nonetheless draw a cat according to the model? "Wait until my calculation succeeds, then I will explain to you." From this we know that with Juzhi's finger, one gulp of water brings one bout of choking. If you tell Wansong to make some other way to face it—[he] threw down his whisk and said: "I leave it entirely to the various places to inspect."

6.14

Case 85: The National Teacher's Monument Model

6.15

Instructing the assembly, he said: One must have a chisel and hammer to smash open empty space, and the technique to tear apart Mount Hua, before one arrives where there has never been a seam or crack, where no flaw or trace can be seen. But tell me, who is such a person?

6.16

Case: Emperor Suzong asked National Teacher Zhong, "A hundred years from now, what will you need?" (Even right now, there is no lack.) The National Teacher said, "Build a seamless monument for this old monk." (Where can you set to work?) The Emperor said, "I request the Master's monument model." (It cannot be sketched, nor painted.) The National Teacher remained silent for a good while, then said, "Do you understand?" (Here, do not try to understand; neither understanding nor not understanding, seek nothing else.) The Emperor said, "I do not understand." (That is somewhat better.) The National Teacher said, "I have a disciple who received the Dharma, Danyuan, who is well-versed in this matter." (The grandfather fails to finish, and calamity reaches the children and grandchildren.) Later, the Emperor summoned Danyuan and asked, "What does this mean?" (An adept sovereign does not forget the last bequest.) Yuan said: "South of Xiang, north of Tan, (Heaven is high, earth is thick; the sun on the left, the moon on the right.) Within, gold fills an entire country. (Filling empty space.) Under the shadowless tree, the joint-sign boat; (Densely interwoven, a golden knife cannot sever it.) Upon the lapis lazuli palace, no knowledgeable friend." (Quietly the curtain hangs down, showing no face.)

6.17

The Master said: National Teacher Huizhong of Guangzhai Temple in the Western Capital, after receiving the mind-seal, resided in Dangzi Valley on Mount Baiya in Nanyang; for over forty years he did not walk out the mountain gate. His practice of the Way became known in the imperial city. In the second year of the Shangyuan era of Emperor Suzong of the Tang, imperial order sent the palace envoy Sun Chaojin bearing an edict to summon him to the capital, treating him with the rites due to a teacher. At first he resided in the Western Meditation Cloister of Qianfu Temple; when Daizong ascended the throne, he again welcomed him to stay at the Guangzhai monastery. For sixteen years, he expounded the Dharma according to faculties. On the nineteenth day of the twelfth month in the tenth year of the Dali era, he passed away lying on his right side, given the posthumous title Meditation Master Dazheng. Foguo said: "Many people say that the National Teacher's wordlessness was itself the monument model. If you understand it like this, Bodhidharma's single school is swept clean to the ground; a mute would also understand Chan." In the past, two monks lived in hermitages and had not seen each other for ten days. The upper hermitage master asked, "Not seeing you for many days, where have you been?" The lower hermitage master said, "Inside the hermitage making a seamless monument." The upper hermitage master said, "I also wish to make one; may I borrow the model from you, Master?" The lower hermitage master said, "Why didn't you speak sooner? It was just borrowed away by someone." Fayan said, "Tell me, did he lend him the model or not?" Wansong says: The National Teacher was wordless; why did the lower hermitage master make up pretexts and speak of principles? Xuedou said: "Leaving aside Suzong's lack of understanding, did Danyuan understand? With just a single 'I request the monument model,' all the patriarchs of the Western Heavens and this land, meeting this one press, could not avoid mistaking south for north. If someone bystander disapproves, come forth; I want to ask you, which one is the seamless monument?" Wansong says: If not, then speak! Meditation Master Zhenying of Mount Danyuan in Jizhou received instruction under Mazu and served as the National Teacher's attendant for a long time. After the National Teacher passed away, the Emperor summoned Yuan into the palace, raised the previous words, and asked about them. Yuan also remained silent for a good while and said, "Does Your Majesty understand?" The Emperor said, "I do not understand." Yuan recited a verse: "South of Xiang, north of Tan, / Within, gold fills an entire country. / Under the shadowless tree, the joint-sign boat; / Upon the lapis lazuli palace, no knowledgeable friend." Some say "South of the Xiang, north of the Tan." Elder Fushan Yuanlu made it "South of the Ox Head, north of the Horse Head." Provided one grasps the meaning and forgets the fish-trap, none is unacceptable. What Xuedou said about "cannot avoid mistaking south for north" refers precisely to this. A monk asked Daling of Silla, "What is purity everywhere?" Ling said, "Severing a branch of jasper, every inch is a jewel; splitting sandalwood, every piece is fragrant." Venerable Danxia Chun's verse says: "Heaven and earth are entirely a realm of gold; / The myriad existences fully manifest the pure, wondrous body." In Danyuan, gold fills an entire country; in Danxia, the country is also of gold—there is yet a thread's difference between them. "Under the shadowless tree, the joint-sign boat." The General Remarks on the Zhouyi says: "Crossing in the same boat, why should Hu and Yue fear different hearts?" Like the third and fourth lines of the Jian hexagram: differing bodies in harmony and goodness, nothing can come between them; following and mutually protecting, as if together in a single boat. Above and below have different bodies, yet like Hu and Yue, advantageous for repelling invaders, why fear different hearts? This speaks of sharing one body and destiny, with interests identical. Meditation Master Fazhen Yi asked: "Every place is Maitreya, without gates and without Sudhana; why say 'Upon the lapis lazuli palace, no knowledgeable friend'?" Wansong says: When the palace is demolished, we shall meet! Afterwards, see Tiantong bring it before your eyes and hit your nostrils. His verse says:

6.18

Solitary and towering, (Not companion to the ten thousand dharmas.)
Round and full, (Without deficiency, without excess.)
Where eyesight exhausts, towering high! (Shading the forehead, gazing fails to reach it.)
Moon sets, pool empty, the night colour is heavy; (The entire universe of the ten directions is like an ink-cake.)
Clouds gather, mountain lean, autumn countenance abounds. (The essence exposed in the golden wind.)
The Eight Trigrams in their correct positions, (Heaven and earth join their virtue.)
The Five Elements in harmonious breath; (Sun and moon join their brightness.)
Has the body inside beforehand been seen? (Arriving, one leaves no point.)
The father and son of Nanyang seem to know it is there, (Believe half of it for now.)
Yet the Buddhas and Patriarchs of Western India can do nothing about it. (The thousand sages have always stood downstream.)

6.19

The Master said: Xuedou said, "In distinct layers, round like a shadow"—this single phrase is a matching cap. Tiantong said, "Solitary and towering, round and full"—the donkey-tethering post for ten thousand kalpas! "Where eyesight exhausts, towering high"—the Buddhas of the three periods protect and maintain it as the invisible crown mark. Xuedou's verse on "Heaven and earth share the same root, the ten thousand things are of one body," and Nanquan pointing to a flower as like a dream, also said: "Seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing are not single; / Mountains and rivers are not viewed in a mirror. / Frosty sky, the moon sets as night nears midnight; / With whom to reflect the cold shadow in the clear pool?" Try comparing this verse with Tiantong's "Moon sets, pool empty, the night colour is heavy"—the ancients had an immense amount of effort. Later, Fojian pierced through it all at once, his verse saying: "The seamless monument is not a shadow; / Broadly entering the realm of tathatā at once. / The vajra eye streams with lightning flash; / Vast and dark, the top is not seen." This too is "Where eyesight exhausts, towering high." Tiantong's verse on "Needle and thread running through" says: "The towering green mountain wears autumn thinness; / Hair withered, the wind and bone remain old." This too is "Clouds gather, mountain lean, autumn countenance abounds." It can be called "the skin having entirely fallen away, there remains only the single reality." Arriving here, the Eight Trigrams are already in their correct positions, and the Five Elements are also in harmonious breath; functioning, cultivating, and building without taboo, why labor to enter the marketplace and ask Sun Bin? "Has the body inside beforehand been seen?" Meditation Master Tianyi Huai went to attend an invitation at Mount Shan; entering the monastery and ascending the hall, he said: "For twenty years I have joyfully admired this mountain; today, happily, coming here is a convergence of conditions. Before this mountain monk came to this mountain, the body had already arrived at this mountain beforehand. By the time I arrived, Mount Shan turned out to be inside this mountain monk's body." "The father and son of Nanyang seem to know it is there"—he dared not say they did, only saying they seemed to be those who knew it is there. Tell me, why didn't he fully grant it? Lest he disappoint the National Teacher and his son. Why could the Buddhas and Patriarchs of Western India also do nothing about it? Right in the path a golden post is cast; just at mealtime, iron dumplings are served.

6.20

Case 86: Linji's Great Enlightenment

6.21

Instructing the assembly, he said: Bronze head and iron forehead, heavenly eyes and dragon pupils, vulture's beak and fish's gills, bear's heart and leopard's gall. Beneath the vajra sword, no stratagem is admitted, not a single plan is gained. Why is it like this?

6.22

Case: Linji asked Huangbo, "What is the cardinal meaning of the Buddha Dharma?" (Killing a person may be pardoned; this reason is intolerable.) Huangbo immediately struck him. (Every blow shows blood.) This happened three times; then he took leave of Huangbo and went to see Dayu. (It is advantageous to be heavy, not to be light.) Yu asked, "Where do you come from?" (Danger! Watch out!) Ji said, "I come from Huangbo." (The staff wounds are still there.) Yu said, "What words did Huangbo have?" (A good place to take revenge.) Ji said, "I asked three times about the cardinal meaning of the Buddha Dharma, and three times I received the staff. I do not know if I was at fault or not." (Missing another sixty blows.) Yu said, "Huangbo was so grandmotherly, wearing himself out completely for your sake, yet you come again asking whether you were at fault or not!" (A second offense will not be tolerated.) Ji had a great enlightenment at these words. (Only now does he know pain and itch.)

6.23

The Master said: Chan Master Huizhao of Linji Monastery in Zhenzhou, taboo name Yixuan, was a native of Nanhua in Caozhou, whose family name was Xing. At first he thoroughly studied the sūtras and treatises, but realizing they were not the shortcut to the essential, he went to Huangbo. He followed the assembly for three years without even asking a question, merely keeping his discipline and remaining silent. The head monk, marveling at his distinctiveness from the crowd, encouraged him to engage in study. In the Discerning of Errors in the Lamp of the Inexhaustible, it is privately remarked: 'When Linji stayed for three years, could it be that Huangbo did not allow people to ask about the matter? Since he did allow it, with Linji's capacity and understanding, could he not even frame a single question, but had to wait for the head monk to teach him before he could ask?' I once saw Yang Wuwei's eulogy for Linji: 'The treasury of the eye of the true Dharma was extinguished by a blind ass; Huangbo had the heart of a doting grandmother, Dayu was garrulous.' I have also seen Foguo's eulogy for Muzhou: 'Pungent and peppery, snarling and snapping. He pierced through Jinan's boy to make a great tree, and pushed Yunmen down a sheer cliff. His words were like dry firewood, his principle impossible to scale. This is what is called old patched rush-sandals.' The original record says that after his enlightenment, [Linji] directly said, 'After all, the Buddha Dharma is not so very much!' Dayu said, 'You bed-wetting ghost! Just now you were asking whether you were at fault or not, and now you say the Buddha Dharma is not so very much! How much is it? Speak, speak!' grabbing him. Linji struck Dayu three times in the ribs with his fist. Dayu pushed him away and said, 'Your master is Huangbo; it is none of my business.' Linji returned to Huangbo. Huangbo asked, 'Coming and going back and forth, when will there ever be an end to it?' Linji said, 'It is only out of deep grandmotherly compassion.' He then recounted the previous conversation. Huangbo said, 'That old fellow Dayu is so garrulous! Wait until I see him—I will give him a beating.' Linji said, 'Why speak of waiting to see him? Strike him right now!' and thereupon gave Huangbo a slap. Huangbo laughed heartily and said, 'This madman has come here to stroke the tiger's whiskers!' Linji then gave a shout. Huangbo said, 'Attendant, take this madman to the hall to join the assembly.' Guishan asked Yangshan, 'Did Linji attain the strength of Dayu, or the strength of Huangbo?' Yangshan said, 'Not only did he stroke the tiger's whiskers, he also knew how to sit on the tiger's head.' Later, Linji instructed the assembly, saying, 'At my former master's place, three times I asked about the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma, and three times I was beaten, just like being brushed with mugwort branches. Now I long for another beating; who will lend a hand?' At that time a monk came forward and said, 'I will lend a hand.' Linji picked up his staff and handed it to him. As the monk was about to take it, Linji struck him. Xuedou said, 'Where Linji lets go is rather perilous; where he gathers in is too swift.' Tiantong saw that this father and son were extraordinary and peerless—that what Huangbo exerted, Linji inherited—and selecting the most crucial point, brought it out in verse. The verse says:

6.24

A fledgling with nine envelopes, (The wings are already fully formed.) / A steed of a thousand leagues. (Its spiritual prowess is likewise complete.) / The true wind passes through the pipes; (A single aperture is hollow and open.) / The wondrous mechanism springs from the pivot. (With a single turn, it spins.) / Coming head-on, the flashing lightning is swift; (It brooks no hesitation.) / Where deluded clouds break, the sun stands alone. (The radiance of old.) / Stroking the tiger's whiskers— (Who beneath Wansong's gate would dare?) / do you see or not? (Quick, fix your eyes on it!) / Here is a heroic, great man! (Alas for the doting grandmother's deep concern!)

6.25

The Master said: This praises Linji as being truly endowed with phoenix feathers, like Xie Chaozong. In former days Huangbo slapped Baizhang; today he met with Linji's poisonous hand. A true dragon gives birth to a dragon's whelp; a phoenix nurtures a phoenix chick. The Chart of Auspicious Responses says: 'The phoenix has nine envelopes: first, taking refuge in fate; second, the heart conforms to measure—meaning heavenly measure; third, the ears hear comprehensively; fourth, the tongue curves and extends; fifth, its plumage is brilliantly colored; sixth, its crest is short and round—it should be vermilion; seventh, its claws are sharp and hooked; eighth, its voice is stirring and resonant; ninth, its belly has a doorway.' When Jiufang Yin evaluated horses for Duke Mu of Qin, [the horse found] was indeed a thousand-league steed. This is an analogy for Linji's spiritual excellence covering a thousand leagues in a single day. As soon as he was enlightened, he understood the true dynamic and the great function. In the various quarters there is a couplet that goes: 'A resounding slap across Huangbo's cheek; three punches beneath Dayu's ribs.' It is truly because the true wind passed through the pipes that the wondrous dynamic sprang from the pivot. The former line denotes inheriting the master's transmission; the latter line denotes the realization of one's own nature through the school. Laozi says: 'Is not the space between heaven and earth like a bellows?' The tuò is a bottomless sack, also a leather bellows; the yuè is a three-holed flute. Bajiao Che said: 'Just as lutes, harps, and dulcimers, though having wondrous sounds, can never produce them without wondrous fingers'—which originally comes from the Śūraṅgama-sūtra. 'Coming head-on, the flashing lightning is swift' speaks of his lofty dynamic and swift eloquence. 'Where deluded clouds break, the sun stands alone' speaks of his awakening and clarity. 'Stroking the tiger's whiskers'—Zhuangzi says: 'Confucius met Robber Zhi, and upon returning said: “I did what is called moxibustion without an illness. Running swiftly, I stroked the tiger's head and braided the tiger's whiskers, barely escaping the tiger's mouth!”' 'Do you see or not?' Tiantong points it out to people, causing practitioners to personally embody the complete dynamic and great function without yielding in the face of what is right, calling it the patchrobed monk's handle. When Layman Wujin wrote the Continuation to the Records of Clear Coolness, after [witnessing] prayers immediately answered, he heard of Chan Master Jietuo beating Mañjuśrī and unconsciously praised him, saying: 'Truly a great man!' Do you still see the place of Linji's enlightenment? It puts the bride of Heyang to utter shame, and startles to life the doting-grandmother Chan of the Wooden Pagoda.

6.26

Case 87: Shushan's 'Existence and Nonexistence'

6.27

An instruction to the assembly says: A door about to shut opens with a single push; a boat about to sink turns around with a single pole. The carriage enters the gorge with no road of return; the arrow notch points to heaven, where there is a single gate. Now tell me: where will you go?

6.28

A case: Shushan went to Guishan and immediately asked, 'I have heard that the master has a saying: “Phrases of existence and phrases of nonexistence are like wisteria leaning on a tree.” (It catches on your lips and teeth.) If suddenly the tree falls and the wisteria withers, where do the phrases return?' (Those who accept words are lost; those who stagnate on phrases are deluded.) Guishan laughed heartily with a 'ha-ha!' (Where Yu's strength could not reach, the sound of the River flows westward.) Shushan said, 'I sold my cloth quilt and traveled four thousand leagues to come here; how can the Venerable make fun of me?' (Have you repaid your straw-sandal money yet?) Guishan called to the attendant: 'Get some money to pay back this elder!' (Ill-gotten wealth is to me like floating clouds.) He then instructed him, saying, 'Hereafter, there will be a one-eyed dragon who will point it out and break it through for you.' (There are another four thousand leagues to go.) Later, he went to Mingzhao and raised the former words. (One guest troubles two hosts.) Mingzhao said, 'Guishan may be said to be correct from head to tail, but he simply had not met an intimate friend.' (Naturally, the well-rope is short; it has nothing to do with the ancient well being deep.) Shushan asked again, 'If the tree falls and the wisteria withers, where do the phrases return?' (Coming again like this!) Mingzhao said, 'You cause Guishan's laughter to turn ever fresher.' (Drawing on the ground with someone else's fist.) At these words, Shushan had an awakening (He repaid the debt of his cloth quilt.) and thereupon said, 'After all, Guishan had a dagger concealed in his laughter!' (Only now does he feel the skin broken and see the blood.)

6.29

The Master said: Chan Master Guangren of Shushan in Fuzhou visited Dongshan and asked, 'Regarding words that have never yet existed, I invite the master to instruct me.' Dongshan said, 'Without consent, no one approves.' Shushan said, 'Can it still be cut off or not?' Dongshan said, 'Ācārya, right now can you still cut it off?' Shushan said, 'If it cannot be cut off, then there is nowhere to conceal it.' Later, when he was in Xiangyan's assembly, a monk asked Xiangyan, 'How is it when one does not admire the various sages, and does not hold one's own spirit in esteem?' Xiangyan said, 'Ten thousand mechanisms cease; a thousand sages do not accompany.' Shushan made a retching sound in the assembly and said, 'What kind of talk is this!' Xiangyan asked, 'Who is it?' The assembly said, 'The junior uncle.' Xiangyan said, 'Do you not consent to this mountain monk?' Shushan came out from the assembly and said, 'That is so.' Xiangyan said, 'Can you speak of it?' Shushan said, 'I can.' Xiangyan said, 'Try and speak.' Shushan said, 'If you have me speak, you must first render the etiquette of master and disciple.' Xiangyan then stepped down from his seat, prostrated, and repeating the earlier words, questioned him. Shushan said, 'Why did you not say: Consent and approval cannot be complete?' Xiangyan said, 'Consent, and consent to what? Approve, and approve of whom?' Shushan said, 'As for consenting, it is consenting to those thousand sages; as for approving, it is approving of oneself.' Xiangyan said, 'Even if you are like this, you will still have to suffer diarrhea for thirty years! If you stay on a mountain, there will be no firewood to burn; if you dwell by water, there will be no water to drink. Remember this clearly!' Later, when he resided at Shushan, it turned out just as Xiangyan had predicted. After twenty-seven years, his illness was cured, and he said to himself: 'Xiangyan predicted thirty years of diarrhea for me, and now three years are still lacking.' Whenever he finished eating, he would gouge his throat with his fingers to vomit, in order to fulfill Xiangyan's prediction. Shushan later asked Chan Master Daofu of Jingqing, ''Consent and approval cannot be complete'—how do you understand this?' Jingqing said, 'Completely returned to consent and approval.' Shushan said, 'What about when it cannot be complete?' Jingqing said, 'In that realm, there is no road of consent.' Shushan said, 'Only now does this accord with this sick monk's intention.' Guishan Lan'an was one of the Three Lazy Ones of the Chan school, also called Chan Master Da'an of Changqing. He instructed the assembly, saying: 'Phrases of existence and phrases of nonexistence are like wisteria leaning on a tree.' Shushan did not consider four thousand leagues too far, selling his cloth quilt to go and question him. Finding Guishan plastering a wall, he immediately asked, ''Phrases of existence and phrases of nonexistence are like wisteria leaning on a tree'—are these not the Venerable's words?' Guishan said, 'Yes.' Shushan said, 'What happens if suddenly the tree falls and the wisteria withers?' Guishan set down his plastering tray, laughed loudly, and returned to the abbot's quarters. Shushan followed behind him and said, 'I sold my cloth quilt and traveled four thousand leagues especially for this; how can the Venerable make fun of me?' Guishan called to the attendant to fetch money to repay him for the cloth quilt and send him away. He then instructed him: 'Hereafter, there will be a one-eyed dragon who will point it out and break it through for you.' Later, he was indeed enlightened by Mingzhao. Shushan sold his cloth quilt and traveled four thousand leagues especially for this topic. Nowadays, those who travel about visiting teachers should also keep their attention on the fundamental affair: simply establishing according to circumstances and mutually praising one another, one must not make retching sounds in the assembly like Shushan. This is not to say he had no other strengths, but destroying the karmavācanā, destroying the turning of the wheel of Dharma, and destroying the concordant saṅgha will surely bring retribution in this very life. Xiangyan's prediction and Shushan's gouging and vomiting to fulfill the prediction both serve as examples for later generations. Shushan was also a person in an unfathomable state! In customarily receiving students, Shushan held a wooden snake in his hand. A monk asked what object was in his hand, and Shushan held up the snake and said, 'The daughter of the Cao family.' Xuefeng had gone into the mountains, found a piece of wood shaped like a snake, and inscribed on its back: 'Naturally innate from the beginning, not requiring carving or chiseling,' and sent it to Guishan Da'an. Guishan said, 'A true dweller of the mountain, without any trace of knife or axe.' Since Shushan had met Guishan on account of this case, he also used a wooden snake; whether it was directly transmitted or an imitation cannot be known. Mingzhao also asked Shushan, 'A tigress gives birth to seven cubs—which one has no tail?' Shushan said, 'The seventh one has no tail.' Yunmen and State Preceptor Shao both studied under Shushan; the fame of the Short Junior Uncle thus surpassed past and present. Tiantong took merely Guishan's laughter, Shushan's seeing through it, and Mingzhao's bringing it up, and directly set it forth in verse. The verse says:

6.30

The wisteria withers and the tree falls—he questions Guishan; (Having walked to where the water ends, one sits and watches when the clouds arise.) / The loud 'ha-ha' of laughter, how could it be casual? (Perilously taken as making fun.) / The dagger concealed within the laughter was seen through; (Thinking there must be something else!) / Words and thoughts have no path, the clever mechanisms cut off. (Tricked me into coming four thousand leagues!)

6.31

The Master said: Non-Buddhists establish 'a' and 'you' as auspicious. At the head of a sūtra, the character 'a' means sorrowless ('without'), and the character 'you' means 'having'. Therefore, the non-Buddhist questioned the Buddha: 'I do not ask about words of existence, nor do I ask about words of nonexistence.' This is like a whale swallowing all the ocean water. The Bhagavān remained silent for a good while; this is like revealing the coral branches. The non-Buddhist bowed in reverence and praised the Bhagavān: 'With great compassion you have cleared away my deluded clouds and enabled me to enter.' Xiangyan Rui said, 'Speech is slander; silence is deceit. Beyond speech and silence, there is a path.' Da'an of Guishan borrowed this to instruct the assembly. When Shushan saw him add 'like wisteria leaning on a tree,' he immediately said, 'When the tree falls and the wisteria withers, where do the phrases return?' How could this not make Guishan laugh heartily? In Guishan's words there was no development of the affair; his speech did not match the dynamic. For Shushan, 'Those who accept words are lost; those who stagnate on phrases are deluded.' If someone had asked Wansong at that time, I would only say: 'Blue heaven! Blue heaven!' Have you not heard it said: 'Enacting winter regulations in the spring'?

6.32

Case 88: The Śūraṅgama's Not-Seeing

6.33

Instruction to the assembly: Having seeing and having not-seeing: lighting a lamp at high noon. Lacking seeing and lacking not-seeing: splashing ink at midnight. If you believe seeing and hearing are like illusory cataracts, only then will you know that sound and form are like sky-flowers. Now tell me: within the doctrinal teachings, is there still any monk's talk?

6.34

Case: The Śūraṅgama-sūtra says: "When I do not see, why do you not see the place where I do not see? (What kind of mind is this?) If you see my not-seeing, it is naturally not the aspect of that not-seeing. (If one knows for oneself, that is it.) If you do not see the ground of my not-seeing, it is naturally not an object; why is it not you?" (Frantic mind and hurried hands, pushing out and crowding in.)

6.35

The Master said: Tiantong saw that Xuedou cited the sūtra briefly, and also broadly raised the eye of the teaching. Though the citation was brief, his verse is very detailed. In the second fascicle of the Śūraṅgama, it first clarifies that the object which is not seeing is external dust; next it clarifies that the seeing which is not an object is the true nature. Now citing this latter passage in full is precisely this gong'an. The sūtra says: "If seeing were an object, then you could also see my seeing. If you saw the same thing, that would be called seeing mine. When I do not see, why do you not see the place where I do not see? If you see my not-seeing, it is naturally not the aspect of that not-seeing. If you do not see the ground of my not-seeing, it is naturally not an object; why is it not you?" Master Xuan of Changshui commented: "The meaning of this text concludes and returns through five layers in turn. The sūtra text retains three and conceals two meanings. If discussed fully, it should say: 'If you do not see the place where I do not see, you also do not see where I see. Since you do not see where I see, my seeing is naturally not an object. If my seeing is not an object, your seeing is also not an object. Since your seeing is not an object, why is it not your true seeing?'" Foguo raised this: "Ānanda meant, 'The world, lanterns, and open pillars all have names and forms. The essential, bright origin of seeing—what kind of object is it called? Please let me see it.' The Buddha meant, 'When I see the incense burner, what about you?' Ānanda said, 'I also see the incense burner; this is seeing where the Buddha sees.' The Buddha said, 'When I see the incense burner, that can be known. When I do not see the incense burner, what about you?' Ānanda said, 'I also do not see the incense burner; this is seeing the Buddha's not-seeing.' The Buddha said, 'You say you do not see; that is your own knowing. The place where another does not see—how can you know it?' When the ancients reached here, it could only be known for oneself; it cannot be spoken to others." Xuedou brought out the eye of the teaching, solely versifying seeing the Buddha. Tiantong deeply grasped the meaning of the sūtra, versifying the true seeing. The verse says:

6.36

The vast sea drained dry, (As before, white waves swell to heaven.) / Great space filled to the brim. (Not a millimeter or silk thread is seen.) / The monk's nostrils are long; (Cold plum blossoms from a thousand miles away convey a faint fragrance.) / The ancient Buddha's tongue is short. (A one-word true mantra cannot be fully spoken.) / A thread through the nine-curved pearl, (Wasted effort of mind and strength.) / The jade loom just turns once. (The patterned brocade crisscrosses; its meaning is uniquely extraordinary.) / Meeting straight on, who recognizes him? (What kind of face is this?) / One first believes: this person does not join company. (Banish him into the lonely hell.)

6.37

The Master said: Xuedou said, "Though the kalpa-stone is firm, it still can be destroyed; the deep depths of the vast sea must dry up at once." Then, great space is filled to the brim. The heir of Foyan, Venerable Gui of Zhu'an, along with his uncle, Layman Chiyi, both loved the Śūraṅgama-sūtra. Zhu'an said, "If, apart from external dust, there is a discriminative nature, that is precisely the root of birth and death." The layman said in alarm, "Did the Buddha speak falsely?" Zhu'an said, "The Buddha certainly did not speak falsely; but just considering the layman's mind of confronting and interrogating right now—where is it, really?" The layman sighed and said, "The Buddha said that explaining the foremost emptiness is called the lion's roar. You should proceed; do not get stuck here." Later, Zhu'an ascended the hall and said, "At the time of seeing seeing, seeing is not seeing. Seeing is still apart from seeing; seeing cannot reach it. 'Fallen flowers have the intention to follow the flowing water; flowing water has no feelings as it carries off fallen flowers.' All that can be returned is naturally not you; what cannot be returned to you—who is it if not you? 'I always regret having nowhere to seek the return of spring, not knowing it has turned and entered here.'" He gave a shout and said, "Thirty years from now, do not say Śākyamuni led other people's sons and daughters astray." Wansong uses only the first three lines to crack open the gong'an. Regarding Xuedou directly versifying seeing the Buddha, Foguo solely brought up that the Buddha's place of not-seeing can only be known for oneself. Tiantong versified draining dry the vast ocean and cramming great space. Zhu'an directly clarified that the seeing which is not an object is also the root of birth and death. In these, the monk's nostrils are long; they all go beyond the intent of the teaching and bring out another eye. The ancient Buddha's tongue is short: Wansong says, the ancient Buddha accorded with capacities and followed others' intentions; his words accommodated inferior capacities, so he spoke only half a word. Monks have always fully raised the proper command, so there is the Way of special transmission. At Ruilu Temple in Wenzhou, Chan Master Shangfang Yu'an read the Śūraṅgama-sūtra by breaking the syntax: "Consciousness of seeing established—knowledge is the root of ignorance. Consciousness of seeing absent—seeing this is nirvāṇa." Suddenly he had an awakening. People said, "The Venerable has spoken with broken syntax!" Yu'an said, "This is where my awakening lies," and never corrected it. At that time he was called "Śūraṅgama An." Wansong says, this too was using the wrong to strike the right. "A thread through the nine-curved pearl": It is traditionally told that Confucius was stranded in Chen and had to thread a nine-curved pearl. He met a woman among the mulberries, who gave him an instruction: "Think on it closely; closely think on it." Confucius then understood: he tied the thread to an ant and enticed it with honey to thread it through. Venerable Zong of Puzhao in Sizhou, writing the preface to Tiantong's Verses on Old Cases and Raising the Old, said, "Winding and mutually connecting, like the thread and ant through the pearl; hovering and mutually attached, like clouds and dragons releasing rain." Fushan's Nine Belts Collection has "Winding and Hanging the Belt," whose general meaning clarifies accommodating the affairs of the present moment. "The jade loom just turns once": Like a single shuttle on a jade loom before the patterned brocade is formed. When Tiantong cited Dongshan's talk on the beginning of autumn and the end of summer, he then said, "'Stepping out the door, it is all grass'—treading through wild and overgrown places; 'a falling leaf tells of autumn'—dropping into dark and green places. Reaching here, you must intimately grasp the place where the mechanism, though turning on its pivot, has not yet sealed into a pattern, only then will you attain it." After a pause, he said, "'When the water clears, after the old clam conceives a pearl; when the clouds grow heavy, at the time the blue dragon sheds its bones.' Meeting straight on, who recognizes him? One first believes this person does not join company." Jiashan said, "Cut off the host, and do not fall into second-order seeing; you must know there is one person who does not join company." Wansong says, "Coming alone, I thought there were no acquaintances; in the midst of clamor, I suddenly met an old friend."

6.38

Case 89: Dongshan's No Grass

6.39

Instruction to the assembly: If you move, you bury yourself a thousand fathoms deep; if you do not move, sprouts grow on the spot. You must cast off both ends, let go of the middle, and buy another pair of straw sandals for foot-travel; only then will you succeed.

6.40

Case: Dongshan instructed the assembly, saying: "Brethren, at the beginning of autumn and the end of summer, whether heading east or west, you must go directly to a place where there is not an inch of grass for ten thousand miles." (Instigating a cat into a dry well.) He also said: "Just as for a place where there is not an inch of grass for ten thousand miles, how do you go?" (Once a word is spoken, a team of four horses cannot overtake it.) Shishuang said: "Stepping out the door, it is grass." (Look beneath your own feet.) Dayang said: "I would say directly: even without stepping out the door, grass is everywhere overflowing." (You have nowhere to avoid it.)

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萬松老人評唱天童覺和尚頌古從容庵錄 — Classical Chinese