[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [人天眼目](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2006) › [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2006~en-mt) › 3.4 # 人天眼目 3.4 English (machine translation) 3.4 - **Language:** English ### [3.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2006~en-mt.3.4) A monk asked Caoshan about the essential instructions of the Five Ranks of Lord and Vassal. Caoshan said, "The rank of the upright belongs to the realm of emptiness; fundamentally there is not a single thing. The rank of the partial belongs to the realm of form; there are myriad images. 'The upright within the partial' means setting aside phenomena to enter principle. 'Arriving from within the upright' means turning one's back on principle to approach phenomena. 'Integration' means implicitly responding to all conditions without following various existences, being neither defiled nor pure, neither upright nor partial. Therefore it is called the vacuous, abstruse Great Way, the non-attached true lineage. Forebears and past worthies from of old have exalted this single rank as the most wondrous and most abstruse. One must carefully examine and clearly distinguish it. The lord is the rank of the upright; the vassal is the rank of the partial. The vassal turning toward the lord is the upright within the partial. The lord looking upon the vassal is the partial within the upright. The Dao of lord and vassal harmonizing is the phrase of integration." Then a monk came forward and asked, "What is the lord?" Caoshan said, "Wondrous virtue honored throughout the realm; exalted brilliance illuminates the great void." "What is the vassal?" He said, "Numinous dynamic broadens the sacred Dao; true wisdom benefits all living beings." "What is the vassal turning toward the lord?" He said, "Not falling into different destinies, with gathered mind gazing at the sacred countenance." "What is the lord looking upon the vassal?" He said, "Though the wondrous countenance does not move, its illuminating light is fundamentally without partiality." "What is the Dao of lord and vassal harmonizing?" He said, "Confounded together without inside or outside, harmonious and blended, above and below are level." He also said, "Speaking in terms of lord and vassal, partial and upright, is because one does not wish to violate the center; thus when the vassal addresses the lord, he dares not speak directly. This is the cardinal essential of our Dharma." He then composed a gāthā: "Students must first recognize their own school; / Do not mix the true limit with inert voidness. / When the wondrous, bright essence is fully exhausted, know how to avoid injury and touch; / Power lies in facing conditions without borrowing from within. / Utter words in a way that truly cannot be burned; / In your hidden practice you must be identical to the ancients. / Having no body yet having affairs transcends divergent paths; / Having no affairs and having no body falls into beginning and end." - [Previous: 3.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2006~en-mt.3.3) - [Next: 3.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2006~en-mt.3.5) - [Up: 3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2006~en-mt.3) ## Linked texts (1) - [人天眼目](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2006.3.4) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2006~en-mt.3.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2006~en-mt.3.4) · Pramāṇa