宗鏡錄 98
English (machine translation) 98
- Language
- English
98.1
Compiled by Yanshou, Chan Master Zhijue, Abbot of Huiri Yongming Temple.
98.2
Ven. Zhigong's gāthā says:
"Suddenly awakening to the citta-source unlocks the jewel treasury;
Hidden or apparent, spiritual traces reveal the true reality.
Walking alone, sitting alone, ever towering and grand;
Transformative bodies by the hundred billions, beyond count or number.
Even if they packed and filled empty space,
When looked at, not the sign of a single dust mote is seen.
How laughable that empty things have nothing to compare;
The mouth spits out a bright pearl, brilliantly shining.
Constantly in the ordinary world one hears of the inconceivable;
A single word marks the source, hitting the mark as it is spoken."
98.3
Layman Pang's verse says:
"The ten thousand dharmas arise from the citta;
When the citta arises, the ten thousand dharmas arise.
Arising and arising, not comprehending existence,
Coming and going, one travels in vain and emptiness.
A message sent to people cultivating the Way:
Empty arising has no existence arising.
If you can penetrate this principle,
Without moving, you emerge from the deep pit."
98.4
Master Hanshan's poem says:
"A manly person, a great hero,
In handling affairs, do not be reckless and crude.
Make your citta straight as iron and stone;
Take directly to the path of bodhi.
There is no need to travel perverse paths;
Traveling them will surely be bitter hardship.
Do not seek the fruit of Buddhahood;
Recognize and take hold of the ruler, the king of citta."
98.5
The song of Venerable Lanzan says: / Do not falsely seek the true Buddha; / The true Buddha cannot be seen. / The wondrous nature and the luminous terrace— / When have they ever undergone perfuming and smelting? / The mind is a mind free of affairs; / The face is the face born of mother. / The kalpa-rock may move, / But herein there is no change. / He also said: / I have a single word / That cuts off deliberation and forgets conditions. / Clever speech cannot reach it; / It is transmitted only through mind. / I also have a single phrase, / None surpassing direct bestowal: / Finer than the tip of a fine hair, / So vast it has no spatial location. / Originally, naturally complete and fulfilled, / It requires no labor of loom and shuttle.
98.6
The song of Venerable Tengteng says: / In cultivating the Way, there is no Way to cultivate; / In inquiring of the Dharma, there is no Dharma to inquire of. / The deluded do not awaken to non-emptiness; / For the realized, there is fundamentally neither adversity nor favor. / The eighty-four thousand Dharma-gates— / Their ultimate principle does not exceed the square inch [of the mind]. / Kleśa is precisely bodhi; / Pure flowers grow from mud and dung. / Recognize your own city and township; / Do not falsely wander into other provinces and commanderies.
98.7
The eminent monk, the Śākya Faxi, when about to pass away, addressed the assembly, saying: "The three realms are false and illusory; they are only the one mind." Sitting upright, he passed away.
98.8
The eminent monk, the Śākya Lingrun, said: "Relinquishing wrongful attachments to external dusts, one attains discrimination of mental expressions. Relinquishing the notion of consciousness-only, one attains the true dharmadhātu. The former contemplation is without characteristics, relinquishing the characteristics of external dusts. The latter contemplation is non-arising, relinquishing the notion of consciousness-only." Furthermore, he was once climbing a mountain on an excursion with his Dharma companions when a wildfire surrounded them on all four sides. The assembly all scattered in flight, but Lingrun alone walked calmly, ascending and looking around as usual. He spoke to his followers, saying: "Outside of mind there is no fire; the fire is truly one's own mind. Thinking that the fire can be escaped, one has no means of avoiding the fire." When the fire reached Lingrun, it spontaneously subsided.
98.9
The eminent monk, the Śākya Fakong, entered Mount Tiantai for a secluded retreat. A clear voice repeatedly called out, saying: "Dhyāna Master Kong!" This happened more than once. Afterwards, Fakong knew this to be an object-field of his own mind, and dispelled it by means of the Dharma, whereupon it became tranquil. At first he took dhyāna practice as paramount, but ultimately it proved an obstruction; he then studied the Great Vehicle's detachment from characteristics. All who studied under him were instructed in this: taking the Dharma as kin, taking the Dharma as companion.
98.10
The eminent monk, the Śākya Jingmai, said on the brink of death: "Mind is not outside the Way; practice precedes words." Having finished speaking, he passed away seated like a cicada shedding its shell.
98.11
The eminent monk, the Śākya Tongda, struck a clod of earth with a piece of wood. The clod shattered and its form dissolved. Seeing this transformation, he was completely and greatly awakened to the traces of the mind.
98.12
The eminent monk, the Śākya Zhuanming: whenever anyone consulted him for study, he would constantly uphold and offer with aspiration the single Dharma of equal mind-only.
98.13
The eminent monk, the Śākya Daoying, would enter water and lie in snow without feeling the suffering of cold. In this manner, according to the circumstance he confronted it with the Dharma, abandoning himself in ease and freedom, not regarding it as difficult. This was truly because the purport of consciousness-only had thoroughly illuminated his heart and mind; how could the substantiality of external things obstruct him? While lecturing on the Awakening of Faith, when he reached the gate of the mind's tathatā, he abruptly entered samādhi.
98.14
The eminent monk, the Śākya Daoshi, said: "One who vigorously repents, though knowing to rely on principle, must know the mind's false stirrings and distance oneself from the objects before one. A sūtra says: 'For example, a thousand pounds of cotton blossoms are not equal to an ounce of true gold.' This illustrates that when the mind able to contemplate is strong, the eradication of transgressions is strong."
98.15
Dhyāna Master Fotuo said: "Relying on the teachings to clarify the source, deeply believing that all sentient beings share the same single true nature, that commoner and sage walk a single path, firmly abiding without wavering, not following other teachings, darkly tallying with the Way, still and without contrivance—this is named entry through principle."
98.16
The eminent monk, the Śākya Zhitong, said: "As for those who approach the Great Vehicle and cultivate correct contemplation, scrutinizing the fundamental limit of a fine dust-mote and discerning the primordial origin of a single thought, then the brambles and thorns broadcast the sound of impermanence, and owls and beasts preach the profound Dharma. The pure lands of the ten directions do not necessarily surpass this."
98.17
The eminent monk, the Śākya Tansui, constantly said: "The three realms are false and illusory; they are only the one mind. When one pursues external objects, unawakened, it is difficult to rest."
98.18
The eminent monk, Venerable Jietuo, practiced the contemplation of Buddha-light based on the Avataṃsaka. In the light on a clear, moonlit night, he suddenly saw a transformation Buddha, who uttered a verse, saying: / The secret, profound Dharma of all Buddhas, / Cultivated through vast kalpas, is only now attained. / If a person opens and clarifies this Dharma-gate, / All Buddhas will rejoice in accord. / Venerable Jietuo then bowed and asked, saying: 'How is this Dharma-gate to be disclosed to people?' The transformation Buddha thereupon concealed his body and disappeared, answering in verse from the sky: / The wisdom of expedient means serves as a lamp / To illuminate and see the object-fields of the mind. / If you wish to know the true Dharma, / There is nothing whatsoever to be seen.
98.19
Venerable Taiyuan said: "Whoever wishes to resolve to enter the Way must first recognize their own original mind. If one does not recognize one's own original mind, one is like a dog chasing a clod of earth, not a lion king. Good friends, directly pointing to the mind means that your speech right now is your mind; your actions and conduct—who else could it be? Apart from this, there is no other mind. If one says there is another, it is like Yajñadatta searching for his head. A sūtra says: 'Purifying the mind of faith instantly generates the real mark.' Another sūtra says: 'Non-reliance is the mother of the Buddhas; Buddhas are born from no place.'"
98.20
Venerable Tianhuang said: "This present body and mind are precisely the nature. Since body and mind are ungraspable, the three realms are ungraspable, and even having a nature or lacking a nature are altogether ungraspable. There is no Buddha and no sentient being, no teacher and no disciple. When the mind is empty, all within the three realms is entirely empty. To put it concisely, inside and outside the three realms, down to ants and wriggling creatures, all are within a single speck of dust. Each and every one is equal; each and every one is thusness. They do not obstruct one another. The myriad kinds of all Dharma-gates merely clarify seeing the nature; there is nothing else."
98.21
Venerable Xingshan said: "From antiquity onwards, the patriarchs and Buddhas have transmitted to one another the Dharma of the one mind, sealing mind with mind, transmitting no other Dharma. The first patriarch pointed to a single phrase to explain directly, just as a dragon spouting water creates a ford, the ford fills to become a river, and ultimately the great sea; the dragon is the source of the water. From this, know that from now onwards, students who transmit to one another the Dharma of the one mind all speak concisely. When calling it mind, one must not seek a separate Buddha; when it is Buddha, one must not further seek mind. Therefore, if a person believes that their own mind is Buddha, all the words spoken by this person will be able to turn the wheel of the Dharma. If a person does not believe that their own mind is Buddha, all the words spoken by this person slander the vaipulya Great Vehicle. Therefore a sūtra says: 'Attaining bodhi outside the nature is like pressing sand to seek oil; it is not the true cause of oil.'"
98.22
Dhyāna Master Yong was asked: "The Nirvāṇa [Sūtra] clarifies that sentient beings are precisely the Buddha-nature, and the Buddha-nature is precisely sentient beings, differing only in time as pure or impure. I wonder whether insentient things are also sentient beings?" He replied: "A sūtra says: Mañjuśrī asked the Golden Woman, 'Does your body possess the five skandhas, the twelve āyatanas, and the eighteen dhātus?' The woman said, 'As my body possesses the five skandhas, twelve āyatanas, and eighteen dhātus...' The Brahmajāla Sūtra says: 'All earth and water are my past bodies; all fire and wind are my fundamental substance.' Moreover, the two bodies—the supported [environment] and the supporting [sentient being]—rely on each other and are established mutually. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: 'All dharmas are without characteristics; this is the true substance of the Buddha.' A sūtra clarifies that if one calculates that the mind of luminous wisdom is permanent while matter is perishable and impermanent, this is the non-Buddhist view of annihilation and permanence. The Avataṃsaka clarifies that the realm of sentient beings is precisely the realm of the Buddhas, and the realm of the Buddhas is precisely the dharmadhātu; outside the dharmadhātu, there is no other dharma. Even though the ten thousand dharmas differ, their substance is eternally identical. If one is not deluded about that which is identical, substance and function are eternally not two. The principle of non-duality is indeed the essential ford for leaving the world. When a single thought corresponds, without any interval the commoner becomes a sage."
98.23
Dhyāna Master Wolun said: "Examining this mind-nature, it is clear as empty space, fundamentally unarisen and likewise unceasing. Why must one suppress it? Just notice the mind arising, and one must immediately turn inward to reflect back on the source of the mind. Having no root, it has no place of arising. Because it has no place of arising, the mind is tranquil, without characteristics and without contrivance."
98.24
Venerable Nanquan said: "Dīpaṃkara Buddha already explained it. If whatever thoughts and reflections the mind conceives give rise to all dharmas, these are false and conventional collections, and none of them are real. Why? The mind itself does not even exist, so what could be produced? If one grasps at dharmas, it is like distinguishing empty space, or like someone capturing a sound and placing it in a box, or like blowing into a net hoping to fill it with air." He also said: "Nowadays, simply understand the principle of the one thusness and cultivate straight away." He also said: "Simply understanding that the nature has not changed throughout immeasurable kalpas is itself cultivation."
98.25
Venerable Wuye of Fenzhou at first asked Mazu: "Regarding the ultimate principle of the three vehicles, I have roughly researched and fathomed it. I have often heard the Dhyāna Master say that mind itself is Buddha, but I have truly not been able to understand it. I humbly pray for instruction." Mazu said: "Precisely that mind of yours that does not understand is it; there is no other thing. When not understanding, it is delusion; when understanding, it is awakening. It is like the hand making a fist, and the fist making a hand." The Master asked again: "What is the mind-seal secretly transmitted by the Patriarch from the west?" The Patriarch said: "Great Worthy, you are noisy right now; go away for now and come back another time." Just as one foot crossed the threshold, the Patriarch called: "Great Worthy!" He immediately turned his head. The Patriarch said: "What is it?" Thereupon he was completely and greatly awakened. He instructed his disciples, saying: "The Patriarch came to this land, saw that its sentient beings had the capacity for the Great Vehicle, and solely transmitted the mind-seal to seal all your deluded feelings. For one who attains it, it is regardless of commoner or sage, foolish or wise. Much emptiness is not as good as a little reality. A great man had better directly rest and cease right now; abruptly rest the myriad conditions, cut off the flow of birth and death, transcend the ordinary mold, let the luminous light shine alone, unconfined by categories of things, towering and magnificent, walking alone in the three realms. What need is there for a body sixteen feet tall, radiant with purple-sheen gold, a circular halo around the neck, and a long, broad tongue? 'If one sees me by form, this person travels a false path.' Even if there are retinue and adornments, they arrive naturally without seeking. Mountains, rivers, and the great earth do not obstruct the eye's vision. Hearing once, one awakens to a thousand things, attaining the great dhāraṇī." Furthermore, when on the brink of death, he addressed the assembly, saying: "The nature of your seeing, hearing, knowing, and perceiving shares its lifespan with empty space; like a vajra, it cannot be broken. All dharmas are like shadows and echoes; none have reality. A sūtra says: 'Only this one thing is real; the other two are not true.'" Having spoken, he abruptly passed away.
98.26
Great Master Zhenjue said: "The mind-nature is luminously penetrative; the source of movement and stillness is not two. Tathatā cuts off deliberation; the thoughts of conditioned calculation do not differ from it. Deluded views rush about in confusion, but when investigated to the end, there is only a single quiescence. The luminous source has no shape, but when reflecting, there are thousands of distinctions. Because the thousands of distinctions are not the same, the name 'Dharma-eye' is established. Because the single quiescence is not different, the designation 'wisdom-eye' is preserved. When principle and valid cognition are both extinguished, the function of the 'Buddha-eye' is completely manifested. Therefore, with the three truths in a single object-field, the principle of the dharmakāya is eternally pure. With the three wisdoms in a single mind, the brightness of prajñā constantly shines. When object-field and wisdom darkly coalesce, the response of liberation follows capacity. Neither vertical nor horizontal, the way of the perfect letter 'I' mysteriously accords. Thus we know the wondrous nature of the three virtues is distinctly without discrepancy. The one mind is deep, vast, and difficult to conceive; what way of emergence is not a road? Therefore, those who take the mind to be the Way can be said to have traced the stream and reached the source."
98.27
The monk Shenxiu said: All non-sentient things manifest equally by virtue of this mind, because defilement and purity transform in accordance with the mind. There is no other nature; they necessarily rely on conditions. This means that dharmas produced by conditions are all without intrinsic nature. Emptiness and existence do not coexist: at the very moment sentient beings exist, non-sentient things must be empty, because the other is the self. Why is this? The other has no nature of its own; it is made by the self. Thus, the cultivation and realization of sentient beings is the cultivation and realization of non-sentient things. A sūtra says: 'Its body is all-pervading, equal to the true dharmadhātu.' Since it is equal to the dharmadhātu, the approach of non-sentient things is empty, for it is entirely Buddha. Furthermore, at the very moment non-sentient things exist, sentient beings must be empty, because the self is the other. Why is this? The self has no nature of its own; it is made by the other. Thus, the lack of cultivation and lack of realization of non-sentient things is the lack of cultivation and lack of realization of sentient beings. When Sudhana viewed the towers, they completely pervaded the dharmadhātu; the approach of sentient beings was empty, for they were entirely a single tower. A sūtra says: 'Sentient beings do not contravene any kṣetra; kṣetras do not contravene any sentient beings.' Although it is said that existence and non-existence are simultaneous, their distinct characteristics are present here.
98.28
Master Ming of the Sui dynasty, in his Rongxin lun (Treatise on Harmonizing the Mind), said: When a consummate capacity meets the teaching, there is no teaching that is not consummate. When the mind of principle engages in phenomena, there is no phenomenon that is not principle. Since there is no phenomenon that is not principle, what disturbance is not settledness? With no disturbance that is not settledness, then both settledness and disturbance vanish. Since there is no phenomenon that is not principle, therefore principle and phenomena are both transcended. Extending this further, although one is free from the two extremes, there are no extremes that can be abandoned; although words leave behind the four propositions, in truth there is no proposition that can be eliminated. This point is abstruse and profound, understood through harmonizing the mind. If one uses the mind to harmonize the mind, that is not harmonizing the mind. The mind is constantly as it truly is; what is there to harmonize? When in reality no mind is established, that is called harmonizing the mind.
98.29
Chan Master Zhida's Verses on Mind and Object says:
When the object is established, the mind immediately exists;
Without the object, the mind does not arise.
If you tether the mind to the object,
Both mind and object become blind.
When object and mind each abide in their own place,
The natures of mind and object are constantly pure.
Awakened to the object, the mind does not arise;
Deluded about the mind, one moves along with the object.
If you are deluded about the mind and treat it as an object,
Mind and object fall into wild confusion.
Awakened to the object, the mind is fundamentally pure;
Knowing the mind, the object is inherently clear.
Knowing the mind, there is no object-nature;
Comprehending the object, the mind has no form.
The object is empty, the mind is utterly still;
The mind illuminates, the object is cool and clear.
98.30
The monk Ganquan said: Those who wish to generate the mind to enter the Way must first recognize their own fundamental mind. The mind is the root of the myriad dharmas and sentient beings, the source of the Buddhas and patriarchs of the three periods of time, and of the twelve divisions of scriptures. Although upon observing it one does not see its form, its applications and functions are sovereign, its operations unobstructed, thoroughly penetrating and clear, lucid and undifferentiated. If one has not yet recognized it, one must take faith as primary. What does the person of faith believe in? One has faith that the mind is Buddha. Due to beginningless ignorance, one transmigrates through birth and death, receiving various forms in the four types of birth and the six destinies, only because one does not dare to acknowledge that one's own mind is Buddha. If one can recognize one's own mind, outside the mind there is no other Buddha, and outside the Buddha there is no other mind. Furthermore, as for lifting movements and actions, who else could it be? Aside from this mind, there is no other mind. If you say there is another, you are just like Yajñadatta seeking his head with his head; it is just like that. The thousands of sūtras and ten thousand treatises exist only because [people] do not recognize their own minds. If one comprehends that one's own mind is originally Buddha, everything is merely a conventional designation, not to mention the various three realms of existence. Thus a bright mirror can reflect a countenance, and the Mahāyāna can seal the mind. He also said: Seeking sūtras and searching for a Buddha is not as good as examining the mind with principle. If you examine and find your own mind to be originally pure, it does not require polishing; it is inherently present and is not obtained on account of sūtras. How then can this be known? A sūtra says: 'The teachings of the sūtras are like a finger pointing to the moon. If you see the moon, you fully know what was pointed to.' If one can understand in this way, with one thought corresponding, one is named a Buddha.
98.31
Master Pu'an said: The Great Way is vast and empty, only one true mind. Do not think of good or evil; when the spirit is pure and beyond external things, what further worry could there be?
98.32
The monk Guishan said: Know completely that internal and external dharmas are unreal; born from transformations of the mind, they are all conventional designations. Let the dharma-nature circulate everywhere, neither severed nor cut off.
98.33
The monk Linji said: What difference is there between all of you today and the ancient sages? What are you lacking? The spiritual light of your six senses has never paused. If you can be like this, you will simply be a person of no affairs for an entire lifetime. If you wish to be no different from the patriarchs and Buddhas, simply do not chase outward. The pure light of a single thought of yours is the dharmakāya Buddha inside your house. The non-conceptual light of a single thought of yours is the saṃbhogakāya Buddha inside your house. The differentiating light of a single thought of yours is the nirmāṇakāya Buddha inside your house. These three kinds of bodies are the very person right now before my eyes listening to the Dharma. These three kinds are conventional designations; know clearly that they are light and shadow. Worthies, you must recognize the person playing with the light and shadow! This is the fundamental source of all Buddhas, the home to which all followers of the Way return. Your four great elements, six sense faculties, and empty space do not know how to listen to the Dharma or preach the Dharma. What kind of thing is it, distinct and singularly luminous, without any shape or form, that knows how to preach the Dharma and listen to the Dharma? Therefore I tell you: within the field of the body of the five aggregates, there is a true person of no rank, magnificently manifest, without the slightest separation. Why do you not recognize him? Worthies, the mental dharma has no form; it penetrates the ten directions. In the eyes it is called seeing, in the ears it is called hearing. Originally a single brilliant radiance, it divides into the six harmonies. If the mind does not arise, there is liberation everywhere. The monk Guanxi's verse says:
In the mountain of the five aggregates is an ancient Buddha hall;
Vairocana day and night emits a round radiance.
If herein one comprehends neither sameness nor difference,
This is the Avataṃsaka pervading the ten directions.
98.34
The monk Shitou said: The substance of your mind is free from annihilation and permanence; its nature is neither defiled nor pure. Serene and consummate, it is equal in ordinary beings and sages, and its applications and functions are boundless. The three realms and six destinies are manifestations of your own mind alone. Do the moon in the water or the image in the mirror have arising and ceasing? If you can know this, nothing will be lacking. The reason all sages descended spiritually and set down models, speaking extensively in fleeting words, was simply to reveal that the dharmakāya is fundamentally quiescent, causing you to return to the root.
98.35
The monk Huangbo said: Bodhidharma came from the West only to transmit the dharma of the one mind, directly pointing out that the minds of all sentient beings are originally Buddha, not relying on cultivation. Only now recognize your own mind and see your original nature; do not seek another dharma. How to recognize one's own mind? That which is speaking right now is your mind. If it does not speak and does not function, the substance of the mind is similar to empty space: it truly has no shape or characteristics, nor any location. Nor is it entirely non-existent; it is simply existent yet unseen. He also said: Merely awaken to the one mind, and there is not the slightest dharma to be attained; this is the true Buddha. The Buddha and sentient beings are of one mind, with no difference at all. It is better to acknowledge the fundamental dharma for oneself beneath the words. This dharma is the mind; outside the mind there is no dharma. This mind is the dharma; outside the dharma there is no mind.
98.36
The monk Danxia said: You must protect this single spiritual thing; it is not something you can construct, nor something you can name and depict. In my place here there is no Buddha and no nirvāṇa, nor is there any Way to cultivate or any dharma to realize. The Way does not belong to existence or non-existence; what further dharma is there to cultivate? Only this remaining radiance, everywhere and in every place, is the Great Way.
98.37
The monk Shuiliao said: If one dharma is spoken of, the Buddhas of the ten directions are gathered into this single dharma; hundreds of thousands of wondrous gates are on the tip of a single hair. The thousands of sages follow the same path, decidedly not different. Universally illuminating the ten directions, it is like a bright mirror. If the mind-ground is bright, all things are completely seen through. From antiquity down to the present, it has been mind transmitted by mind; the fundamental mind is itself the Dharma.
98.38
The monk Yangshan said: Suddenly awaken to your own mind having no characteristics, being just like empty space. Relying on the sense faculties to manifest, the fundamental mind is endowed with wondrous functions numerous as the sands of the Ganges, without anything else held, without anything else established. This is the fundamental ground; this is the fundamental land.
98.39
The monk Dadian said: In past years, this old monk saw the monk Shitou, who asked, 'Which one is your mind?' I replied, 'That which speaks is the mind.' I was shouted out by the master. After some days, I asked again, 'Since what was said the other day was not the mind, other than this, what is the mind?' The master said, 'Excluding all matters of raising eyebrows and moving eyes, bring your mind directly.' I replied, 'There is no mind that can be brought.' The master said, 'Originally you had a mind; how can you say there is no mind? Having no mind is entirely slandering me.' At that time, beneath his words, I had a great awakening, and so I replied, 'Since you tell me to exclude all matters of raising eyebrows and moving eyes, the Venerable must also exclude them.' The master said, 'I have excluded them.' I replied, 'I have presented it to the Venerable.' The master said, 'Now that you have presented it to me, what is your mind like?' I replied, 'It is no different from the Venerable.' The master said, 'It is none of your business.' I replied, 'Fundamentally there is no thing.' The master said, 'You too are no thing.' I replied, 'Since there is no thing, it is the true thing.' The master said, 'The true thing cannot be attained. Such is the import of the direct perception of your mind. You must take great care to preserve it.'
98.40
The monk Sanping's verse says:
This very seeing and hearing is not seeing and hearing;
There are no other sounds and forms to present to you.
If herein one comprehends that there is totally nothing to do,
It does not matter whether substance and function are distinguished or not.
Another verse says:
Seeing, hearing, knowing, and perceiving are fundamentally not causes;
Their very substance is empty and profound, transcending both delusion and truth.
When seeing characteristics one does not produce the karma of ignorance and attachment,
Thoroughly and completely it is the body of Śākyamuni.
98.41
The monk Anguo said: A sūtra says: 'One should produce that mind without abiding in anything.' 'Without abiding' means not abiding in form, not abiding in sound, not abiding in delusion, not abiding in awakening, not abiding in substance, and not abiding in function. 'Producing that mind' means manifesting the one mind in all places. If one produces mind by abiding in good, good manifests. If one produces mind by abiding in evil, evil manifests, and the fundamental mind is hidden. If there is no abiding, the worlds of the ten directions are only the one mind. Truly know that it is not the wind or the banner that moves; it is the mind that moves. A patron asked, 'Is the Venerable of the Southern School or the Northern School?' He replied, 'I am neither Southern School nor Northern School; the mind is my school.' He asked again, 'Has the Venerable ever read the teachings?' He replied, 'I have never read the teachings. If one recognizes the mind, all teachings have been read.' A student asked, 'What is meant by recognizing the mind and seeing the nature?' He answered, 'It is like a dream at night, seeing good and evil: if one knows that one's body is sleeping peacefully on the bed, entirely free from worry and joy, this is recognizing the mind and seeing the nature. Nowadays there are people who rejoice upon hearing of becoming a Buddha and worry upon hearing of entering hell; they do not realize that the mind-Buddha is sleeping peacefully on the bed of bodhi, and they falsely produce worry and joy.'
98.42
The monk Guizong said: Mind itself is Buddha; through and through it is only the nature. The mountains, rivers, and great earth are sealed by a single dharma. This is the great spiritual dhāraṇī, true and not false; it is the fundamental source of all Buddhas, the root and bone of bodhi. What is the Buddha? It is the very one speaking right now; there is no other person. A sūtra says: 'For example, a single form receives various names according to how sentient beings see it.' All dharmas are only a single dharma, receiving names according to place.
98.43
The monk Dabei said: If one can know that one's own mind-nature contains the myriad dharmas, one will ultimately not seek elsewhere. With effort in thought after thought, one enters into the real mark. If one does not see this meaning, even enduring hardship for countless kalpas, there will be no efficacy.
98.44
The monk Caotang said: If the net of Indra is not spread, how can the thousands of jewels be seen? When the great net is suddenly raised, the ten thousand meshes naturally open. Illuminating both mind and Buddha is contemplation; relinquishing both mind and Buddha is cessation. Once settledness and wisdom are equal, what mind is not Buddha? What Buddha is not mind? Since mind and Buddha are such, the myriad objects and myriad conditions are nothing other than samādhi.
98.45
The Master Baizhang Huihai poked the fire to show it to Weishan Lingyou, who upon this was suddenly enlightened. Baizhang then said to him: 'This is a temporary fork in the road. A sūtra says: "If you wish to see the Buddha-nature, you should observe the conditions of causes and seasons." When the season arrives, it is like sudden enlightenment from delusion, like sudden recollection of what was forgotten. Only then do you realize that what was originally spoken of as your own property was not obtained from another. Therefore the Patriarch said: "Having realized, it is the same as not having realized; having no mind, you attain no dharma. It is merely being without empty and false minds of ordinary and sage." The original dharma of the mind was fully complete from the very beginning. Now that you are like this, guard and maintain it well.' He also asked in the Extensive Words: 'Do you see?' [The student] answered: 'I see.' He asked again: 'What is it like to see?' [The student] answered: 'Seeing is without duality.' Since it is said to be without duality, do not use seeing to see seeing. If seeing sees further, is the prior seeing correct, or is the subsequent seeing correct? A sūtra says: 'At the time of seeing seeing, the seeing is not seeing.' Therefore it is said: 'When one does not practice the dharma of seeing, does not practice the dharma of hearing, and does not practice the dharma of sensing, the buddhas swiftly bestow prophecy upon them.' It is also said: 'One's own mind is the Buddha; illumination and function belong to the bodhisattva. One's own mind is the master; illumination and function belong to the guest. It is like speaking of water in terms of waves: illuminating the ten thousand existences to manifest function. If one can remain in quiescent illumination without clinging, the profound purport will naturally pervade past and present.' It is like saying: 'Spirit has no function of illumination, yet the ultimate function constantly abides.' It is also said: 'If today you wish to attain direct awakening and understanding, simply let persons and dharmas both vanish, both be cut off, and both become empty.'
98.46
Master Panshan said: 'The Great Way has no center; who then is before or behind? The vast sky leaves no trace; why bother to measure it? Since empty space is like this, how could the Way be spoken of? The moon of the mind is uniquely round, its light swallowing the ten thousand images. The light does not illuminate objects, nor do objects exist. When light and objects both vanish, what thing is it again? It is like throwing a sword and slashing through empty space—do not speak of reaching it or not reaching it. In this, the sphere of empty space leaves no trace, and the sword's blade suffers no loss. If you can be like this, thought after thought without knowing, the whole person is just the Buddha, and the whole Buddha is just the person. When person and Buddha are not different, only then is it the Way.'
98.47
Master Damei initially asked Mazu: 'What is the Buddha?' [Mazu] answered: 'It is your very mind.' He asked: 'What is the Dharma?' [Mazu] answered: 'It is also your very mind.' He asked: 'Has the Patriarch no other intention?' [Mazu] answered: 'You just need to recognize your own mind; there is no dharma that is not complete [within it].' Later, dwelling on Mount Mei, he instructed the assembly, saying: 'All of you should each illumine your mind and reach the root; do not pursue the branch tips. Just attain the root, and the branch tips will come naturally. If you wish to attain the root, just recognize your mind. This mind is originally the root of all worldly and world-transcending dharmas. As long as the mind does not arise adhering to any good or evil, you will know that the ten thousand dharmas are originally suchness.' At that time a student asked: 'Is there no other dharma outside the mind?' He answered: 'Patriarchs and buddhas are merely born from your mind. The mind is the root of the ten thousand dharmas; how could there be another dharma surpassing the mind?' The interpretation says: As the Sixth Patriarch said, 'Do not deliberate on good or evil, and you will naturally enter the substance of the mind, clear and constantly quiescent, with wondrous functions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.' Because the buddhas are the utmost boundary of good and sentient beings are the utmost boundary of evil, and good and evil encompass all dharmas, it is said that if one does not deliberate, all returns to the substance of the mind. Even the tiniest dharma is born from the thinking mind. As Han Shanzi's verse says: 'When the ten thousand workings all vanish their traces, only then does one see the original person.' The single word 'vanish' does not necessarily mean having to eliminate them; for originally there is not a single dharma outside the mind, and what is seen is only the mind. It is like an echo answering its own sound, or a mirror reflecting one's own image. It is merely because sentient beings do not understand that they stir the mind's workings, establishing the dust of objective differentiation like flowers rising and vanishing in the sky, and weaving boundless false thoughts like galloping mirage-water, failing to return to the original source of the one mind; therefore they are made to vanish and be cut off. If one enters the substance of the mind, although it is said to be clear and quiescent, it does not fall into annihilation; naturally it gives rise to function from substance, pervasively filling the sands of the Ganges. Moreover, Damei said: 'This Dharma door of the mind is the wondrous principle of tathatā, neither increasing nor decreasing. With various skillful means, it can aptly apply its functions. You should know that all of this is originally complete within this nature, neither arising nor ceasing, able to know all functions of the three periods of time. Therefore it is said: "I look upon the distant past as if it were today; I constantly dwell within it, walking, sitting, and lying down."'
98.48
Master Yantou said: 'In the three realms, whether something exists or does not exist is known only to oneself; there is nothing else. Just recognize your own original face; call it "without reliance," the spirit vast and unconstrained. If you say there is another dharma or another patriarch, it deceives you to the end. Just look into the square inch [of your heart], aloof and brilliantly bright. Merely be without desire and without reliance, and you will achieve decisive realization.' Master Gaocheng's song says: 'The markless mind can operate and shine; responding to sounds and responding to forms, it illuminates according to direction. Although it is in a direction, it is not in a direction; functioning spontaneously in high and low, it is always wondrous. Seeking it, there is no head and no tail; from where does this streaming blaze arise? Just this right now is entirely the mind; the mind's function illumines the mind, and the mind is again like this. Not abiding in any direction, where is it to be sought? Its operation has no footprints and no traces. Recognize the person who is clearly seeking right now; do not vainly seek a separate target all day long. Study with a diligent mind and draw close to the monasteries; do not take the flowers of a diseased eye to be real needles. Expounding the teachings was originally to exhaust the markless principle; reading extensively, one originally does not know the mind. Recognize the mind and understand the objective realm; recognizing the mind and understanding the objective realm, the river of dhyāna is calm. If you can understand the objective realm, you will immediately recognize the mind; the ten thousand dharmas are all like gandharva phantoms.'
98.49
Master Qianqing said: 'All sentient beings—donkeys, mules, elephants, horses, centipedes, millipedes, the ten unwholesome deeds, the five heinous crimes, avidyā and false thoughts, the unresolved dharmas of rāga and dveṣa—all manifest from within the tathāgatagarbha. Originally they are buddha; it is merely that sentient beings, from beginningless kalpas, have fleetingly given rise to a single thought, and from this have rushed downstream down to the present day. Therefore, when the Buddha appeared in the world, he caused them to eliminate the mental faculty and cut off all discriminations. In one thought of resonance, they directly transcend to right awakening. Why should one teach them to have much knowledge and much understanding, perturbing their body and mind, so that the radiant light of bodhi cannot manifest? If you can now simply cut off seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing, give rise to no discrimination regarding external objects, wear clothes and eat food according to the time—the ordinary mind is the Way. This dharma is exceedingly difficult.' A student asked: 'Master, what about when there is no lamp after nightfall?' The Master said: 'For a person who has awakened to the Way, the constant light is present before them; what day or night is there?' [The student] asked: 'Why do I not see the Master's light?' The Master said: 'What eye do you intend to use to see it?' The student said: 'Worldly people all use the present eye to see.' The Master snapped his fingers and said: 'How bitter! All sentient beings have their faculties and dust intermingled; from beginningless time they have taken a thief to be their child, and down to the present day they are constantly shackled. If you intend to seek the Buddha Way using the seeing of the eye and the discrimination of the manovijñāna, that is to turn your back on the original mind and wander following thoughts. Such a person is separated though face to face.'
98.50
Master Weizheng said: 'The ancient sages and present sages are identical in their principle. The sun of former days and the sun of today do not shine with two different brightnesses. The wind of former days and the wind of today do not blow with two different movements. A drop of water moistens; the water of the great ocean moistens.' He also said in a verse: 'In a single thought attaining the mind, / one suddenly transcends the three realms. / Seeing that there is nothing to be seen, / greed and anger decay and crumble.'
98.51
Master Niutoushan Zhong: A student asked: 'For one entering the Way, how should one use the mind?' He answered: 'All dharmas are originally unarisen, and now they are without cessation. You need only let your mind be at ease and natural, with no need to restrain it. Directly see and directly hear; directly come and directly go. If you must walk, then walk; if you must stay, then stay. This is the true Way. A sūtra says: "Dependent origination is the site of awakening, because one knows it as it truly is."' He also asked: 'Now, wishing to cultivate the Way, by what skillful means does one attain liberation?' He answered: 'A person who seeks the Buddha employs no skillful means; they suddenly understand the source of the mind and clearly see the Buddha-nature. The mind itself is the Buddha, neither false nor true. Therefore a sūtra says: "Uprightly setting aside skillful means, I preach only the unsurpassed Way."' He also asked: 'The wondrous dharma of tathatā—its principle and wisdom are unfathomably deep. How can people of shallow understanding see it?' He answered: 'Do not slander the Buddha; the Buddha does not speak like that. All dharmas are neither deep nor shallow; you yourself do not see them and say they are exceedingly deep. If you see them, all that meets the eye is wondrous. Why elevate bodhisattvas on high and separately establish sages? Moreover, Master Daosheng said: "It is not that wisdom is deep; things are deeper than wisdom." These are words lamenting falling short. Do not pick and choose dharmas; do not hold a mind of taking and leaving. Therefore it is said: "Dharmas have no comparison, because they are without relative opposition." Now, sūtras take the body and mind as their meaning. The Avataṃsakasūtra says: "The body is the treasury of the true Dharma; the mind is the unhindered lamp. Illuminating and understanding the emptiness of all dharmas is called saving sentient beings."'
98.52
Master Jiashan said: 'Before the eyes there is no dharma; the intention is before the eyes. It is not the dharma before the eyes; it is not reached by ears and eyes.'
98.53
Master Da'an said: 'Within each of your own bodies, there is an invaluable great jewel. Radiating light from the eye-gate, it breaks open the mountains, rivers, and the great earth. Radiating light from the ear-gate, it receives and perceives all good and evil sounds. The six gates day and night constantly radiate bright light; it is also called the samādhi of radiating light. You yourselves do not recognize it. Within the body of the four great elements, it supports inside and outside without letting them tip over. The soles of your two feet can carry a burden of one or two piculs of stone, and passing over a single-log bridge, it does not allow you to fall to the ground. And what is this? If you seek it by a single hair's breadth, it cannot be seen. Therefore Master Baozhi said: "Searching inside and outside, looking for it, it is totally absent; functioning upon objects, it is entirely grandly present."'
98.54
Master Changsha's verse says: 'Most extremely deep, most extremely deep: / the dharmadhātu and the human body are just the mind. / Deluded people mistake the mind for the multitude of lands; / when awakened, the ocean of lands is the true mind. / The two dusts of body and realm are originally the real mark; / clearly comprehending this, one is called an intimate knower.' A student also asked: 'From what did the discriminating consciousness of sentient beings throughout the entire dharmadhātu originally arise?' The verse of reply said: 'The ground of nature gives birth to the master of the mind; / the mind is the teacher of the ten thousand dharmas. / When the mind ceases, the teacher of the mind ceases, / and only then does one accord with suchness.'
98.55
Master Longya said: 'Speaking of cultivating the Way is a phrase of exhortation, words of guidance. From antiquity onward, no dharma has been given to people; it is merely an inheritance of various skillful means, expounded to bring out the purport and make them recognize their own minds. Ultimately there is no dharma to be attained, and no Way to be cultivated. Therefore it is said: "The bodhi Way is spontaneous." Now, what is called "dharma" is a designation for what upholds and models; the "Way" is the substance and nature of sentient beings. Before there was a world, this nature already existed; when the world is destroyed, this nature is not destroyed. It is called the nature that accords with the flow, constantly without change. In motion and stillness it is equal to empty space. It is called the worldly characteristics being constantly abiding; it is also named the emptiness of the ultimate truth, the fundamental limit, the mind king, tathatā-liberation, and bodhisattva-nirvāṇa. The hundreds of thousands of different designations are all conventional names. Although there are many names, there are not many substances. Gathering many names, they share a single substance; gathering the ten thousand meanings, they return to the one mind. If you recognize your own original mind, this is called returning to the root and attaining the purport. It is like a person who wishes to obtain all flowing waters needing only to seek them in the great ocean; if you wish to recognize the characteristics of the ten thousand dharmas, just resonate and unite with them in the mind. If you understand the profound principle, the entire substance is completely true, and the myriad dense images are imprinted by the single Dharma.'
98.56
Venerable Deshan said: “If there is a single dust mote or a single dharma that can be attained, [and] given to you to grasp and give rise to understanding, you have fallen into the realm of the heavenly māras and non-Buddhists. It is merely a numinous emptiness, where not even a fine mote of dust can be found. Everywhere is pure; [its] radiance penetrates and reaches throughout, luminous and transparent inside and out.” He also said: “Do not cling in love to the holy. ‘Holy’ is an empty name; there is no other separate dharma. It is merely a blazing numinous emptiness, unobstructed and self-sovereign. It is not attained through adornments, cultivation, or realization. From the buddhas to the patriarchs, all transmitted this dharma and thereby achieved transcendence.”
98.57
Venerable Fokū of the Niutou lineage said: “If one does not believe what a single Mañjuśrī speaks, the Mañjuśrīs of the ten directions speak it simultaneously. When one buddha enters nirvāṇa, all buddhas enter nirvāṇa together. Why is this? Because they have not penetrated the root of matter (rūpa).”
Question: “Is understanding that the nature of matter has no existence whatsoever the root?”
Answer: “This is the language of abiding in contemplation, not seeing the root right within phenomena. If one sees it right within phenomena, it is simply your body of birth, old age, and sickness, as well as avidyā, lust, and anger, that are the root of matter. This is because outside of phenomena there is no principle. Therefore, if one penetrates the root of a single [instance of] matter, the matter of all the ten directions is identical; this is termed ‘one speaking is all speaking’ and ‘one nirvāṇa is all nirvāṇa.’ You should know that the substance of matter has no intrinsic nature, and its nature encompasses everything.”
He also said: “Although identical with ordinary beings, it is not an ordinary being; it does not obtain ordinary beings, nor does it destroy ordinary beings. To claim there is something specially superior outside the mind is to fall straight into the snare of Māra. When I now contemplate the true characteristic of my own body and mind and become a buddha, that is precisely where I see the buddhas of the ten directions practicing together and realizing together.”
Question: “That the buddha body is perfumed and cultivated by untainted morality and concentration, so that the five aggregates neither bind nor release, I dare not doubt. Yet as the Great Sūtra says, the body of the unwholesome five aggregates of sentient beings likewise neither binds nor releases—this causes people great alarm and doubt.”
Answer: “If there were a liberation of the buddhas apart from the five aggregates of sentient beings, that would be impossible. If one simply understands that the self-nature of sentient beings, from the very beginning, does not contain a single dharma that can be attained, who binds and who releases? How could there be any distinction between bondage and release?”
Question: “The sūtra says that sentient beings and buddhas are equal and that there is neither bondage nor release; why then do sentient beings of the six destinies sink and drown, unable to attain liberation?”
Answer: “Because sentient beings do not understand that matter and citta are pure, their deluded thoughts are inverted, and they fail to attain liberation. If one knows that persons and dharmas are constantly empty, within them there is truly neither bondage nor release.”
Question: “What contemplative practice and repentance should one perform so that at the time of death one avoids being dragged along by karma?”
Answer: “You must deeply believe that the place where all buddhas practice and speak is no different from the place where I practice and speak today. Even upon attaining buddhahood, one still does not grasp the characteristic of nirvāṇa, so how much less could the deluded karma of sins and merits in between be grasped! This is true right knowledge and right view, true cultivation, and true repentance. If only one does not lose this contemplation in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, at the end of life one will naturally not lose right mindfulness.”
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- 宗鏡錄 — Classical Chinese