禪林寶訓 1
English (machine translation) 1
- Language
- English
1.1
Preface to the Precious Lessons from the Chan Monasteries
1.2
As for the *Precious Lessons*, they were originally compiled jointly by Miaoxi and Zhu'an in the past, when they cleared thatch [to build their huts] at Yunmen in Jiangxi. During the Chunxi era, when I was visiting Yunju, I obtained them from the elder monk Zu'an. It was a pity that over the course of many years, having suffered worm damage, the beginning and the end were incomplete. Later, I came across some of them in recorded sayings and biographies, and after accumulating them for ten years, there were barely over fifty chapters. Therefore, taking the surviving words of various elders from Huanglong down to Fozhao and Jiantang, I edited and arranged them into roughly three hundred chapters. The times I acquired them varied, so they are not arranged according to chronological order. The general purpose is simply to cause students to cast aside worldly power, gain, self, and others, and to turn toward the Way and virtue, benevolence and righteousness. Their prose style is gentle, peaceful, and straightforward, free from any traces of boastful wildness, remoteness, or deceitful eccentricity; they can truly assist the far-reaching scheme of entering the Way. Now, about to carve the woodblocks to circulate them widely, there will certainly be scholars of like mind who will approve of them at first glance. Even though I may grow old and die among the hills and valleys, my aspirations will have been fulfilled. Written by Jingshan, a śramaṇa of Dongwu.
1.3
Recompiled by Jingshan, a śramaṇa of Dongwu
1.4
Master Mingjiao Song said: “Nothing is more honorable than the Way; nothing is more beautiful than virtue. Where the Way and virtue reside, even an ordinary fellow is not impoverished. Where the Way and virtue do not reside, even a ruler of the world is not unimpeded. Boyi and Shuqi were starving men of the past, yet if nowadays someone is compared to them, everyone is pleased. Jie, Zhou, You, and Li were rulers of men in the past, yet if nowadays someone is compared to them, everyone is angered. Therefore, students should worry that the Way and virtue are not replete within themselves; they should not worry that power and position do not belong to them.” (*Collection of Tianjin*)
1.5
Mingjiao said: “The learning of the sages and worthies is certainly not something achieved in a single day. When the day is not enough, they continue it through the night, and accumulating it over months and years, it naturally can be accomplished. Thus it is said: ‘Through learning one gathers it; through questioning one discerns it.’ This means that unless one discerns and questions, there is no way for learning to be realized. Nowadays, wherever students go, rarely does anyone utter a single word to question and discern with others. I do not know how they will thereby benefit the ground of nature and bring about the profit of renewing themselves day by day.” (*Collection of Jiufeng*)
1.6
Mingjiao said: “When the Grand Historian read Mencius and reached King Hui of Liang asking, ‘How can you profit my state?’, he unwittingly set aside the scroll and sighed deeply: ‘Alas! Profit is truly the beginning of disorder.’ Therefore, the Master rarely spoke of profit, always guarding against its source. The source is the beginning. Between the honored, the lowly, the poor, and the rich, how is the harm of fondness for profit any different? For those in public office, if they take profit unjustly, the law falls into disorder. For those in private life, if they take profit through deceit, affairs fall into disorder. When affairs are in disorder, people contend with a sense of unfairness; when the law is in disorder, the common people harbor resentment and do not submit. Their rebellion, defiance, and fighting without regard for death or life burst forth from this. Is not profit truly the beginning of disorder? Furthermore, sages and worthies strictly admonished people to cast away profit and give precedence to benevolence and righteousness, yet in later generations, to what extent have there still been those who rely on profit to deceive one another and corrupt customs and damage teachings? How much more so if one openly displays the way of levying profit and practices it—how could one hope for the customs of the realm to be correct and not become frivolous and base?” (*Collection of Tianjin*)
1.7
Mingjiao said: “As for the evil done by ordinary people, there is that which has form and that which is formless. Formless evil harms people; evil with form kills people. The evil of killing people is small, but the evil of harming people is great. For this reason, there is poison within banquets; there are spears and shields within laughter and talk; there are tigers and leopards within inner chambers; there are barbarian tribes within neighboring alleys. Unless sages and worthies cut it off before it sprouts and guard against it with ritual and law, would not the harm it causes be extreme?” (*Extensive Record of the Western Lake*)
1.8
Mingjiao said: “When Master Dajue Lian resided at Ayuwang, two monks were quarreling incessantly over alms, and the administrator could not settle the matter. Dajue called them over and rebuked them, saying: ‘In the past, when Lord Bao was magistrate of Kaifeng, a commoner came forward stating, “A man who entrusted one hundred ounces of silver to me has died. Now I am returning it to his family, but his son will not accept it. I hope your lordship will summon his son and return it to him.” The Lord, sighing in admiration, summoned his son and spoke to him. The son declined, saying, “During my late father’s lifetime, he never secretly deposited silver with another family.” The two stubbornly deferred to one another for a long time. The Lord had no choice but to order it entrusted to a monastery in the city to perform rituals for post-mortem blessings, dedicating them to the deceased. I witnessed this matter with my own eyes. Even people in the midst of worldly toil can still make light of wealth and admire righteousness like this; you, as disciples of the Buddha, fail to recognize shame to such an extent!’ Thereupon, in accordance with the monastic regulation, he expelled them.” (*Extensive Record of the Western Lake*)
1.9
When Master Dajue Lian first traveled to Mount Lu, Chan Master Yuantong Ne took one look at him and directly expected him to become a great vessel. Someone asked how he knew this. Ne said: ‘This man is upright and unbiased; his movements and stillness are dignified. Added to this, his conduct conforms with the learning of the Way, and his speech is concise and fully conveys the principle. Whenever a person has such endowments, rarely do they fail to become a great vessel.’ (*Collection of Jiufeng*)
1.10
In the beginning of the Huangyou era of Renzu, a silver-badged junior envoy was sent, holding an imperial letter of one foot and one inch written on green silk, summoning Yuantong Ne to reside at the Xiaoci Great Monastery. Ne pleaded illness and did not rise, submitting a memorial recommending Dajue to respond to the imperial order. Someone said: ‘The sage Son of Heaven honors the Way and virtue, and his grace covers the springs and rocks [of recluses]. Why do you stubbornly decline?’ Ne said: ‘I have improperly entered the ranks of monks, and my seeing and hearing are not sharp. Fortunately, I am at ease among the groves, eating coarse greens and drinking water. There are things even the buddhas and patriarchs would not do, so how much less for other things? A former philosopher had a saying: “Beneath great fame it is difficult to dwell for long.” Throughout my life I have practiced the principle of knowing contentment, not entangling myself with reputation and gain. If one is dissatisfied in mind, on what day will it ever be enough?’ Therefore Dongpo once said: ‘Knowing ease brings honor; knowing contentment brings wealth. Avoiding fame to preserve integrity, having a good beginning and a good end—in Yuantong, these were attained.’ (*Record of Deeds*)
1.11
Master Yuantong Ne said: “The life of a lame man depends on his staff; if he loses his staff, he stumbles. The life of a ferryman depends on his boat; if he loses his boat, he drowns. Whenever a person among the groves possesses no self-restraint and relies on external power to give himself weight, once he loses what he relied on, he cannot avoid the disasters of stumbling and drowning.” (*Unofficial Records of Mount Lu*)
1.12
Yuantong Ne said: “In the past, Chan Master Baizhang Dazhi established the monastic grove and instituted monastic regulations, wishing to remedy the corrupt abuses of the semblance age. He could never have known that students of the semblance age would steal the monastic regulations to destroy Baizhang’s monastic grove! In high antiquity, although people nested in trees and dwelled in caves, every person disciplined himself. After Dazhi, although there are high halls and vast mansions, every person abandons himself. Therefore it is said: ‘Safety and peril depend on virtue; rise and fall depend on destiny.’ If virtue can guide, what need is there for a monastic grove? If destiny can be relied upon, of what use are monastic regulations?” (*Unofficial Records*)
1.13
Yuantong said to Dajue: “The ancient sages governed the mind before it sprouted and guarded against passions before they fell into disorder. For if there is preparation, there will be no calamity. That is why they ‘doubled the gates and sounded the watchman's clapper to guard against violent intruders,’ drawing this from [the hexagram] Yu (Enthusiasm / Preparation). If a matter is prepared beforehand, it is easy; if done hastily, it is truly difficult. That the worthy philosophers of old had lifelong concerns but never a single morning’s calamity—truly it lies in this!” (*Collection of Jiufeng*)
1.14
Master Dajue Lian said: “Jade uncarved does not become a vessel; a person unlearned does not understand the Way. It is by means of the present that one knows the past, and by means of what is after that one knows what came before. The good can serve as a model; the bad can serve as a warning. Looking through the predecessors who established themselves and made their names renowned in their times, rarely was it not achieved through learning and inquiry.” (*Collection of Jiufeng*)
1.15
Dajue said: “The principle of the wondrous Way was once lodged by the sages in the *Changes*. When the Zhou declined, the laws of the former kings decayed and ritual and righteousness were lost; thereafter, strange words and heterodox arts emerged by turns to disorder the customs. When our Śākya entered the central lands, he showed people the unadulterated ultimate truth, and throughout set forth compassion to transform the multitude of beings, which was also a way to adapt to the times. Since the dawn of humanity, before the original simplicity was dispersed, the teachings of the Three Sovereigns were concise and plain—this was spring. When the openings of the passions were daily carved out, the teachings of the Five Emperors became detailed and refined—this was summer. As the times differed from the world and passions shifted with each passing day, the teachings of the Three Kings were dense and strict—this was autumn. In the past, regarding the proclamations and oaths of the Shang and Zhou, later scholars naturally could not understand them; yet when the people of those times listened to them, they did not disobey—how then do ancient customs compare to today? When their decline turned into the Qin and Han, there was nothing to which [depravity] did not reach; thus there were things in the realm that people could not bear to hear. Thereupon, our Buddha, the Tathāgata, deduced everything back to the principle of nature and destiny—this was winter. Heaven has the four seasons cycling to generate and complete the myriad things; the sages established teachings to assist one another in turns so as to transform and complete the world—it is also merely like this. Yet when reaching their culmination, none can be free from abuses. Abuses are merely traces; what is essential is that sages and worthies arise through the generations to remedy them. For more than a thousand years since the Qin and Han, customs have degenerated and grown ever more base. The teachings of the sages stand arrayed like a tripod, slandering and reviling one another. The Great Way is desolate and there is none to return to it; how truly lamentable!” (*Letter in Reply to Vice Minister Sun Xinlao*)
1.16
Dajue said: “One who acts as the leader of a region, wishing to practice the Way he has attained and benefit others, must first conquer himself, confer kindness upon things, and humble his mind toward all. After that, regarding gold and silk as dung and dirt, the fourfold assembly will honor him and turn to him.” (*Letter to Master Xu of Jiuxian*)
1.17
Dajue said: “Predecessors possessed the endowment of intelligence but lacked concern for safety and peril. People such as Shimen Cong and Qixian Shun can serve as warnings. However, although the fixed karma of human life is indeed difficult to discern clearly, if one closely examines its origin, how can one fail to know that it was the fault of negligence and lack of forethought? Thus it is said: ‘Disasters and calamities lurk in what is hidden and subtle, and burst forth from what people neglect.’ Viewed in this light, one should be all the more cautious and fearful.” (*Collection of Jiufeng*)
1.18
Master Yunju Shun, styled Laofu, resided at Qixian on Mount Lu. Due to a private grudge, the prefectural administrator Huai Docguan framed him on perverse charges and forcibly defrocked him into civilian clothes. He went to the capital to visit Dajue. Upon reaching Shanyang (that is, Chuzhou), he was blocked by snow at an inn. One night, a guest leading two servants arrived, pushing through the snow. Seeing Laofu, it was as if they were old acquaintances. Shortly after, changing his clothes, he bowed before him. Laofu questioned him, and the guest said: ‘In the past at Dongshan, I followed the master as a capable servant from Hanyang carrying your baggage, Song Rong.’ Laofu spoke with him of the past, and the guest sighed for a long time. At dawn, he prepared food and presented five ounces of silver. He also called over a servant and said: ‘This boy has traveled back and forth to the capital many times and knows the obstacles of the road thoroughly. The master will surely have no worries on his journey.’ From this, Laofu was able to reach the capital. Inferring from this, one can know even more clearly what both of them maintained in their ordinary lives.” (*Collection of Jiufeng*)
1.19
Dajue said: “Shun Laofu was endowed with a simple and straightforward nature, not knowing matters such as weighing and measuring or trading and accumulating. Every day he had fixed routines that he never altered in the slightest. Even tending the lamps and sweeping the floor he did with his own hands. He once said: ‘The ancients had the admonition, “A day without work is a day without food.” What kind of person am I?’ Even in declining old age, his resolve became firmer. Someone said: ‘Why do you not employ attendants?’ Laofu said: ‘Passing through the cold and heat, rising and sitting are irregular; I do not wish to fatigue them.’”
1.20
Shun Laofu said: “In transmitting and maintaining this Way, what is valued in all things is reality. Distinguishing the heterodox from the orthodox and casting away deluded sentiments is the reality of governing the mind. Recognizing causes and effects and understanding transgressions and blessings is the reality of one's personal conduct. Propagating the Way and virtue and receiving visitors from all directions is the reality of an abbot. Assessing abilities to appoint duty-holders is the reality of employing people. Observing words and deeds to determine approval or disapproval is the reality of seeking worthies. If one does not preserve these realities and merely flaunts an empty reputation, it is of no benefit to the principle. Therefore, in personal conduct one must only be sincere and genuine. If one holds to it without wavering, one can remain unified through both ease and adversity.” (*Two Matters from the Collection of Tanran'an*)
1.21
The Old Man Shun said to Master Lu Yuan of Fushan: "One who wishes to investigate the unsurpassed, wondrous Way must become firmer as poverty deepens, and become stronger as old age approaches. One must not follow common vulgarity, unlawfully snatching fame and profit to the ruination of one's supreme virtue. Jade is valued for its pure luster, and therefore vermilion or purple cannot alter its substance; the pine displays its nature in the cold of the year, and frost and snow cannot wither its integrity. From this we know that integrity and righteousness are the greatest things in the realm. As your demeanor is worthy of esteem, can you fail to exert yourself? The ancients said: 'With unhindered wings flying alone, solitary in the wind without a peer.' Indeed it should be so!" (From the Extensive Records).
1.22
Venerable Yuan of Fushan said: "The ancients drew close to masters and chose friends, not daring to be negligent day or night. As for tending the hearth, pounding the mortar, and doing base and menial chores, they never shrank from the labor. I personally experienced all of this when I was at Yexian. However, once a mind arises that calculates advantage and disadvantage, weighing gain and loss, then one becomes compromised and complacent, stopping at nothing. Moreover, if one's own conduct is not upright, how can one study the Way?" (From Dharma Words to Attendant Yue).
1.23
Master Yuan said: "Between heaven and earth, there are indeed things that grow easily, yet if one exposes them to the sun for one day and chills them for ten, one has never seen any that could live. The unsurpassed, wondrous Way is clearly present before one's mind and eyes; therefore it is not difficult to see. What is essential is firmness of will and vigor of practice; it can be awaited while sitting or standing. If one believes for one day and doubts for ten, is diligent in the morning and shrinks back in the evening, how could it be difficult to see only in the present? I fear that throughout one's whole life one will turn one's back on it!" (From A Letter to Head Monk Yun).
1.24
Master Yuan said: "Among the essentials of an abbot, nothing comes before discerning what to adopt and what to reject. The ultimate outcome of adopting and rejecting is determined within; the sprouting of safety or peril is settled without. Yet safety is not the safety of a single day, nor is peril the peril of a single day; both arise from gradual accumulation, which must be examined. If one acts as abbot with the Way and virtue, one accumulates the Way and virtue; if one acts as abbot with propriety and righteousness, one accumulates propriety and righteousness; if one acts as abbot through extortion and exploitation, one accumulates resentment and hatred. When resentment and hatred accumulate, those inside and outside become estranged and turn away; when propriety and righteousness accumulate, those inside and outside are harmonious and pleased; when the Way and virtue accumulate, those inside and outside are moved to submit. Therefore, when the Way, virtue, propriety, and righteousness are pervasive, those inside and outside are joyful; when extortion, exploitation, resentment, and hatred reach their extremity, those inside and outside are sorrowful. The resonance of sorrow and joy brings the corresponding response of misfortune or fortune."
1.25
Master Yuan said: "There are three essentials for an abbot: humaneness, discernment, and courage. One who is humane practices the Way and virtue, promotes teaching and transformation, pacifies superiors and subordinates, and pleases travelers coming and going. One who has discernment abides by propriety and righteousness, recognizes safety and peril, scrutinizes the worthy and the foolish, and distinguishes right from wrong. One who has courage is resolute in handling affairs, decisive without doubt, sure to purge villainy, and sure to expel sycophancy. To be humane without discernment is like having fields and not plowing them. To have discernment without courage is like having sprouts and not weeding them. To have courage without humaneness is like reaping without knowing how to sow. When all three are complete, the monastic grove flourishes; when one is lacking, it declines; when two are lacking, it is endangered; and when none of the three is present, the way of the abbot is abandoned." (Two entries; from A Letter to Venerable Zhen of Jingyin).
1.26
Master Yuan said: "The wise and the foolish, the worthy and the unworthy, are like water and fire in different vessels, or winter and summer in different seasons—their native allotments differ. The worthy and wise are pure, refined, upright, and generous; they plan with the Way, virtue, benevolence, and righteousness. In speaking and acting, their only fear is not according with human sentiments or not comprehending the principles of things. The unworthy are treacherous, perilous, deceitful, and fawning; they boast of themselves and display their abilities; they crave desires and illicit gains, disregarding everything. Therefore, when a Chan monastery secures worthy individuals, the Way and virtue are cultivated, guidelines and order are established, and a seat of Dharma is thereby realized. If an unworthy person is mixed in among them, he stirs up the crowd, brings chaos to the assembly, and leaves inside and outside in unease. Even if there were great wisdom and the rites and rules, what use would they be? Such is the difference in superiority and inferiority between the wise and the foolish, the worthy and the unworthy. How could one not choose carefully?" (From A Letter to Venerable Fang of Huili).
1.27
Master Yuan said: "When an abbot occupies the superior position, he should be modest and respectful in receiving subordinates; when administrators occupy the inferior position, they must be fully devoted in serving the superior. Once superiors and subordinates are harmonious, the way of the abbot succeeds. If the one in the superior position is arrogant, proud, and self-important, and those in the inferior position are negligent, remiss, and estranged, then the feelings of superiors and subordinates do not connect, and the way of the abbot is obstructed. When the virtuous ones of antiquity served as abbots, in their leisure without business, they conversed unhurriedly with students on all matters without exception. Thus even a single word or half a phrase was recorded in the chronicles and praised down to the present day. What was the reason for this? First, they wished to let the sentiments of superiors communicate with subordinates so that the Way would not be blocked or concealed. Second, they wished to know in advance the capacity, nature, and ability of the students, so that their promotion or dismissal would all be appropriate. Naturally, superiors and subordinates were harmonious and reverent, and those near and far returned in respect. The flourishing of the monastic grove was brought about by this." (From A Letter to Qing Huayan).
1.28
Master Yuan said to Zhen of Daowu: "Before one's learning has attained the Way, to flaunt what one has seen and heard, give free rein to intellectual understanding, and strive to surpass others through eloquence and sharp debate is just like smearing vermilion and cinnabar on an outhouse: it only increases its foul stench." (From Recorded Hear-Say at West Lake).
1.29
Master Yuan said to Head Monk Yan: "The mind is the master of the whole body, the root of the myriad practices. If the mind does not achieve wondrous awakening, delusional emotions naturally arise. Once delusional emotions have arisen, one's perception of principle is not clear. When perception of principle is not clear, right and wrong become confused and disordered. Therefore, in governing the mind, one must seek wondrous awakening. When one is awakened, the spirit is harmonious and the qi is tranquil, the demeanor is reverent and the expression dignified; delusional thoughts and emotional concerns are all fused into the true mind. Governing the mind in this way, the mind naturally becomes spiritual and wondrous. Thereafter, when one guides beings and points out delusion, who will not follow and be transformed?" (From The Veritable Records of Fushan).
1.30
Venerable Yan of Wuzu said: "Nowadays, those studying the Way in the monastic groves whose reputations do not flourish and who are not trusted by people are so because their pure conduct is not immaculate and their personal integrity is not dependable. Instead, they rashly seek fame and profit, broadly flaunting their showy embellishments, and thus are mocked by those with discernment, thereby obscuring their essential wondrousness. Even if they had the Way and virtue like the buddhas and patriarchs, those who hear and see them would doubt and not believe. In the future, if you people have a patch of thatch to cover your heads, you should encourage yourselves with this." (From A Letter from Fojian to Foguo).
1.31
Patriarch Yan said: "When my grandfather in the Dharma first resided at Yangqi, the old roof and decaying rafters barely warded off wind and rain. It happened to be late winter; snow and sleet covered his bed, and he had no place to rest in comfort. Monks sincerely offered to carry out repairs and construction. The grandfather in the Dharma rejected them, saying: 'Our Buddha said: This is the time of the decrement kalpa, when high banks become deep ravines, changing impermanently. How could one obtain complete satisfaction to seek one's own sufficiency? You have left home to study the Way, yet before your footing is steady, you are already forty or fifty years old. How could you have leisure time to occupy yourselves with building a lavish house?' In the end he did not consent. The next day he ascended the hall and said: / 'Living for the first time at Yangqi, the walls are sparse and bare; / Across the whole bed scatter pearls of snow. / Pulling in my neck, I silently sigh, / Turning back to remember the ancients living beneath trees.'" (From the Extensive Records).
1.32
Patriarch Yan said: "A monk guards the citadel of his mind and upholds the monastic regulations, reflecting on them day and night, practicing them morning and evening. Practice does not exceed reflection; reflection does not exceed practice. Having a beginning and bringing it to completion is like a plowman having balks between fields; his errors will be few indeed."
1.33
Patriarch Yan said: "What is called a monastic grove is a place that molds sages and ordinary people, nurturing talents and capacities; it is that from which teaching and transformation issue forth. Although people dwell in groups according to their kind, guiding and unifying them, each has his master's transmission. Nowadays, various quarters do not strive to uphold the rules of the former sages, but indulge biased personal likes and dislikes, often using their own views to alter things. What then are the later generations to take as their model?" (Two entries; from The Tanran Collection).
1.34
Patriarch Yan said: "Benefiting beings and transmitting the Way depends entirely on obtaining the right people. Yet knowing people is difficult—something even sages and worthies found troublesome. If one listens to their words, one cannot guarantee their deeds; if one seeks their deeds, one fears overlooking their talents. Unless one has associated with them over time and knows their beginning and end in full detail, probing their aspirations and deeds and observing their capacity and ability, then those who preserve the Way and conceal their abilities can never be recognized, and those who seek fame and disguise their appearance cannot be prevented from their pretense. Even if they remain hidden and secretive, their source will be seen. The principle of observing, probing, examining in detail, and listening is certainly not something that can be accomplished in a single morning or evening. For this reason, after Nanyue Rang saw Dajian, he still served as an administrator for fifteen autumns; when Mazu saw Rang, he also followed him for more than ten years. From this we know that when the former sages conferred and received [the transmission], it was certainly not something shallow people dared to transmit and uphold. Only like pouring water from one vessel into another can one succeed to the grand model, like a true son taking up the ancestral lineage. This is the clear proof of the principle of observing, probing, examining in detail, and listening. How could one allow clever words, a fawning countenance, craftiness, and flattery to fill the selection?" (From A Letter to Yuanwu).
1.35
Patriarch Yan said: "The great authority of an abbot lies in benevolence and virtue. Both must be practiced together; neither can be discarded. If there is benevolence without virtue, people will not respect him; if there is virtue without benevolence, people will not cherish him. If he knows that benevolence can be cherished and adds virtue to aid it, then the benevolence he extends will be just enough to pacify superiors and subordinates and attract visitors from all four quarters. If he knows that virtue is worthy of respect and adds benevolence to support it, then the virtue he upholds will be just enough to succeed the earlier awakened ones and guide the foolish and deluded. Therefore, one who is skilled as an abbot cultivates virtue to practice benevolence, and proclaims benevolence to uphold virtue. When virtue can be cultivated, he does not yield; when benevolence can be practiced, there is grace. Thus virtue and benevolence nurture each other, and benevolence and virtue operate reciprocally. In this way, virtue need not be deliberately cultivated, yet his respect matches that of the buddhas and patriarchs; benevolence entails no laborious expense, yet he is cherished like a father and mother. Under such circumstances, among those from lakes and seas who have their will set on the Way, who would not come and take refuge? If an abbot intends to transmit the Way and virtue and promote teaching and transformation, without understanding this essential, he will never achieve it." (From A Letter to Foyan).
1.36
When Patriarch Yan moved from Haihui to Dongshan, Fojian of Taiping and Foyan of Longmen went to the mountain summit to pay their respects. The Patriarch gathered the seniors and administrators, prepared refreshments and fruit, and had a night talk. The Patriarch asked Fojian: 'Was there a good harvest in Shuzhou?' He replied: 'It was good.' The Patriarch said: 'Was there a good harvest at Taiping?' He replied: 'It was good.' The Patriarch said: 'How much grain was harvested in total from all the estates?' While Fojian was deliberating and calculating, the Patriarch put on a stern expression and said in a harsh voice: 'You presumptuously act as the master of a monastery; whether affairs are great or small, you must examine them with all your heart. The annual budget of the permanent property of the saṃgha is what the entire assembly depends on; yet you still do not know it! Other minor matters can be seen without speaking of them. When the administrators of the monastery know cause and understand effect, are they like our Dharma grandfather assisting the Dharma patriarch Ciming? Do you not consider that the property of the saṃgha is heavy as a mountain?' Patriarch Yan's responsive wit was ordinarily sharp and prompt, but since Fojian was observing the etiquette of a disciple, his hesitant responses reached such a point. An ancient said: 'Only when the master is strict is the Way that is learned held in esteem.' Therefore, among the descendants of Dongshan's gate, many were worthy, virtuous, and preeminent; truly, the source was deep and the stream flowed long." (From Academician Geng's Letter to Gao'an).
1.37
When Patriarch Yan saw a monk who possessed integrity and righteousness and was capable of establishing himself, he sternly rejected him in the abbot's room without showing any pleasant expression or gentle words. But when he observed one who was biased, perverse, fawning, sycophantic, whose actions were vulgar and could not be taught, he cherished and respected him all the more. No one could fathom this. Alas! The Patriarch's adopting and rejecting certainly had a method to it!" (From Academician Geng's Postscript to the Dharma Words).
1.38
Patriarch Yan said: "The ancients delighted in hearing of their own faults and rejoiced in doing good; they were adept at tolerating offenses and magnanimous in concealing others' evils. They were humble in making friends and diligent in helping the multitude, not dividing their minds over gain or loss. Therefore, their brilliance was magnificent and grand, shining upon both past and present." (From A Letter in Reply to Lingyuan).
1.39
Patriarch Yan said to Fojian: "As for the essentials of an abbot, in overseeing the assembly, value lies in magnanimity; in conducting oneself, one must strive for simplicity. As for all other petty matters, none should concern the mind. In employing people, deeply show sincerity; in choosing words, take care that they carry weight. When words carry weight, the master naturally commands respect; when one treats people with sincerity, the minds of the assembly are naturally moved. When one is respected, people submit without severity; when people are moved, things are accomplished without issuing orders. Naturally, the worthy and the foolish each express their sentiments, and the minor and the great alike exert their strength. Compared to those who maintain control through power and coerce people with shouting and commands so that they comply only out of necessity, how could it not be ten thousand times better?" (From A Letter to Fojian, seen in Attendant Chan's Daily Record).
1.40
Yanzu said to Guo Gongfu, “Human nature and feelings indeed have no permanent constancy; they shift with daily influence. From antiquity, although the flourish and decline of the Buddha-Dharma have their destined cycles, the principle behind flourishing and decay has never failed to be brought about by teaching and transforming. In the past, when the various patriarchs of Jiangxi and Nanyue benefited living beings, they fanned them with a pure and simple wind, regulated them with purity, cloaked them in the Way and virtue, and instructed them in propriety and righteousness. They caused students to rein in their seeing and hearing, block depravity and perversity, sever cravings and desires, and forget gain and support. Therefore, day by day, they moved toward goodness and distanced themselves from faults; their Way was fulfilled and their virtue complete without their being aware of it themselves. People of today fall far short of the ancients. If one is determined to investigate this Way, one must be firm of purpose, never alter it, and take awakening as the deadline. After that, one should entrust misfortunes, gains, and losses to the Creator, not seeking improper escape. How could one worry in advance about not succeeding and so not do it? The moment the slightest thread of anxious concern sprouts within the breast, not only will this life remain unsettled, but even for thousands of lives and myriads of kalpas, there will never come a time of accomplishment.” (Collected Works of Tanran'an)
1.41
From Dangtu (which is Taiping Prefecture), Gongfu crossed the river to visit the Venerable Baiyun Duan at Haihui. Baiyun asked the gentleman, “Is the ox tamed?” The gentleman said, “It is tamed.” Baiyun shouted at him, and the gentleman stood with folded hands. Baiyun said, “Tamed indeed, tamed indeed! Nanquan and Dawei were no different from this.” He then presented him with a verse: / “The ox comes into the mountains, / Water is plenty and grass is plenty. / The ox goes out of the mountains, / Goring to the east, goring to the west.” / He also said, “The great person above transforms three thousand; one can know propriety!” (Account of Conduct)
1.42
Baiyun said to Gongfu, “In the past, Cuiyan Zhen Pointing-Breast was deeply absorbed in the taste of Chan contemplation. Using his sharp tongue and eloquence, he berated and scolded all the various quarters, and no one ever satisfied his mind; yet the Great Dharma was truly not clear to him. One day Attendant Shan of Jinluan saw him, laughed, and said, ‘Senior brother, though you have practiced Chan much, you have no wondrous awakening. You may truly be called an idiot Chan practitioner!’” (Baiyun Night Talks)
1.43
Baiyun said, “How could the flourish and decline of the Way be constant? It depends only on human beings to broaden it. Thus it is said, ‘Hold on to it and it is preserved; let it go and it is lost.’ However, it is not that the Way abandons people; it is that people abandon the Way. The ancients dwelled in the mountain forests or withdrew to the court and marketplaces; they were not dragged along by fame and gain, nor were they deluded by sound and form. Consequently, they were able to arouse pure renown in their own time and let their excellence flow for ten thousand generations. How could it be that it was feasible in antiquity, yet infeasible today? It is simply that teaching has not reached them and practice has not been vigorous. Some say that ancients were pure and simple, so they could be taught, while people today are superficial and frivolous, so they cannot be taught. These are truly words that agitate and delude, sincerely not worthy of examination.” (Letter in Reply to Gongfu)
1.44
Baiyun said to Wuweizi, “What can be spoken of but cannot be practiced is better left unsaid; what can be practiced but cannot be spoken of is better left undone. In speaking words, one must consider their final outcome; in establishing practice, one must examine its potential harms. Thereupon, the former wise ones were cautious in their words and discerning in their deeds. In speaking words, it was not merely to show off their principles, but to inspire unawakened students; in establishing practice, it was not merely for personal perfection, but to instruct students who had not yet matured. Therefore, their spoken words had structure and their established practices had propriety; consequently, their words did not accumulate misfortune, and their actions did not court disgrace. Their words became classics, and their actions became models. Thus it is said, ‘Words and deeds are the hinge and spring of the gentleman, the great root of personal cultivation.’ They move heaven and earth and affect ghosts and spirits—how could one not be reverent toward them?” (Baiyun's Broad Records)
1.45
Baiyun said to Yanzu, “The wisdom of Chan practitioners is mostly seen after the fact; they cannot see before the fact. Śamatha, vipaśyanā, concentration, and wisdom guard before the fact. Creation, stopping, letting go, and extinguishing are realized after the fact. Therefore, the function of creation, stopping, letting go, and extinguishing is easy to see, while the workings of śamatha, vipaśyanā, concentration, and wisdom are difficult to discern. Only the ancients had their resolve set on the Way, cutting off thoughts before they sprouted. Although there are śamatha, vipaśyanā, concentration, wisdom, creation, stopping, letting go, and extinguishing, they are all discourses on the fundamental and the derivative. Therefore it is said: ‘If there is even a hair's tip of talk about the fundamental and derivative, it is all self-deception.’ This is where the ancients saw through completely and did not deceive themselves.” (Veritable Records)
1.46
Baiyun said, “I often see patch-robed monks who have never turned their minds to far-reaching and great plans. I fear that the monastic groves will become feeble and shallow from now on. My late master Yangqi often said that superiors and inferiors settling for temporary ease is the greatest malady of the Dharma gate. Formerly, when I lived in retirement at the Guizong study hall, I browsed and read the scriptures and histories no less than several hundred times. My eyes saw the bamboo slips and texts wear out to the utmost. Yet every time I opened a volume, there was always newly attained understanding. Considering it by this, study never disappoints a person like this.” (Baiyun Veritable Records)
1.47
Baiyun first resided at Chengtian in Jiujiang, and next moved to Yuantong, when his years were still very few. At that time, Huitang was at Baofeng, and he said to Yue Gonghui, ‘The new [abbot of] Yuantong has penetratingly seen the primal origin, not shaming the lineage of Yangqi. What a pity, though, that his deployment of function is too early; it is not a blessing for the monastic groves.’ Gonghui then asked him the reason. Huitang said, ‘Merit, fame, and fine vessels are begrudged by the Creator, who will not grant them entirely to anyone. If humans obstinately desire them, Heaven will certainly snatch them away.’ When Baiyun passed away at Haihui in Shu, he was just fifty-six years old. Those who knew said that Huitang understood the subtle signs and the incipient; he was truly a wise person.” (Things Heard and Recorded by Zhandang)
1.48
Venerable Huitang Xin studied under Yue Gonghui at Baofeng. Gonghui had penetratingly clarified the profound intent of the Śūraṅgama-sūtra, walking alone beyond the seas. Every time Huitang heard a single phrase or word, he was overjoyed beyond measure, as though he had obtained an ultimate treasure. Among the patch-robed monks, there were some who secretly criticized this. When Huitang heard of it, he said, ‘I strike his strengths to sharpen my weaknesses. What dissatisfaction have I?’ Ying of Shaowu said, ‘Senior brother Huitang's knowledge of the Way was revered by Chan patch-robes, yet he still considered honouring virtue and overcoming oneself to be strength, and felt ashamed of what he had not yet seen and heard. For him to provide a model to those in the monastic groves who broaden themselves while narrowing others—was this a small remedy?’ (Gleanings of Lingyuan)
1.49
Huitang said, ‘The essential of being an abbot is that one should adopt what is far-reaching and great, and overlook what is near and petty. When a matter is truly undecided, one should consult experienced and mature people. If one is still in doubt, one should further inquire of those with discerning vision. Even if there are shortcomings, they will not reach an extreme. If the leader loves to indulge personal desires and exclusively decides taking and giving on his own, once he falls prey to the plots of petty persons, upon whom will the blame fall? Thus it is said, ‘Deliberation rests with many, but decision rests with one.’ When deliberation rests with many, one can observe the extremes of benefit and harm; when decision rests with myself, one can settle the right and wrong of the monastic grove.’ (Letter to Caotang)
1.50
Huitang did not accept the invitation to Guishan. Chen Yingzhong of Yanping sent a letter encouraging him, saying, ‘When the ancients were abbots, there were no bureaucratic affairs; they selected those of virtue to reside in the post. Those who undertake this responsibility must awaken these people with this Way, never changing on account of power, position, renown, or gain. Nowadays, students have not clarified the Great Way and each rushes toward aberrant studies, drifting into names and characteristics and consequently being moved by sound and form. The worthy and the unworthy are jumbled together and cannot be distinguished. This is precisely the time for experienced elders to harbour a commiserating heart and take the Way upon themselves as their own duty; blocking and turning back the hundred rivers would certainly not be difficult. As for retreating to seek tranquility and making ease one's main pursuit, this is what is liked by those who only perfect their own persons, not what the monastic grove hopes of you.’ (From Gleanings of Lingyuan)
1.51
One day, Huitang saw that Huanglong had an unhappy expression, and so he took the opportunity to ask him about it. Huanglong said, ‘We have not yet found the right person to supervise the harvest.’ Huitang then recommended Vice Prior Gan. Huanglong said, ‘Gan is still violent; I fear he will be plotted against by petty persons.’ Huitang said, ‘Attendant Hua is somewhat incorruptible and cautious.’ Huanglong said that although Hua was incorruptible and cautious, he was not as magnanimous and loyal as Estate Manager Xiu. Lingyuan once asked Huitang, ‘For Huanglong to employ a single harvest supervisor, why did he worry so excessively like this?’ Huitang said, ‘Those who have states and families have never failed to take this as their root. How could it be so only for Huanglong? The former sages also once gave warnings about this.’ (Dawei Xiu, Shuangling Hua, and Iron-Face Gan were the three people; Wall Record of Tong'an)
1.52
Huitang said to Supervising Secretary Zhu Shiying, ‘When I first entered the Way, I was self-confident that it was very easy. After I met my late master Huanglong, I withdrew and reflected on my daily activities, finding that they contradicted principle in a great many instances. I then practiced it vigorously for three years, and though in bitter cold or damp summer heat, my firm purpose did not waver. Only after that did I manage to have every single affair accord with principle. And now, even coughing, spitting, or swinging my arms is also the ancestral master's intention in coming from the west.’ (Zhangjiang Collection)
1.53
Zhu Shiying asked Huitang, ‘When a gentleman unfortunately has a minor error, people cannot point it out and look at it fast enough; but when a petty person commits evil all day long, people do not take it as significant. What is the reason for this?’ Huitang said, ‘The virtue of a gentleman is compared to fine jade: if a flaw arises inside, it must show on the outside; therefore, those who see it remark on its abnormality and cannot help but point it out and look. As for the petty person, his daily activities and deeds are nothing but errors and evil; what would be the use of speaking of them?’ (Zhangjiang Collection)
1.54
Huitang said, ‘The Way of the sages is like heaven and earth nurturing the myriad things: there is nothing that is not complete within the Way. The way of ordinary people is like the Yangzi, the Yellow River, the Huai, and the Ji, the mountains, streams, hills, valleys, plants, trees, and insects: each exhausts its own capacity, that is all, not knowing that outside of this there is nothing not complete. Is the Way two? It is because the depth or shallowness of attaining it makes the accomplishment small or great!’ (Letter in Reply to Zhang Wujin)
1.55
Huitang said, ‘What has long been neglected cannot be quickly accomplished; accumulated abuses cannot be suddenly eliminated; leisurely roaming cannot be long indulged in; human feelings cannot be exactly satisfied; misfortunes cannot be improperly avoided. If a kalyāṇamitra penetrates these five matters, he can navigate the world without distress.’ (Letter to the Venerable Xiang)
1.56
Huitang said, ‘My late master's deportment was grave and dignified; those who saw him revered and feared him. When patch-robed monks asked for leave on account of personal affairs, he mostly rejected them sternly and would not comply. Only when he heard of visiting and tending to aged parents would a solemn, harmonious expression appear on his face, and he would send them off with complete propriety. His love for people and his reverence for filial piety were like this.’ (Letter to Xie Jingwen)
1.57
Huitang said, ‘Formerly, my late master Huanglong spent the summer retreat at Fenglin in Jingnan together with the Venerable Yunfeng Yue. Yue loved debate. One day he caused a clamour with a patch-robed monk; my late master read his scripture calmly, as if he neither heard nor saw it. Soon after, Yue came to my late master's desk, glared with wide eyes, and rebuked him, saying, ‘Are you here practicing the measure of a kalyāṇamitra?’ My late master bowed his head and apologized to him, reading the scripture as before.’ (All the above appear in Gleanings of Lingyuan)
1.58
Venerable Huanglong Nan said, ‘Formerly, when I was traveling in Hunan with Wenyue, we saw a patch-robed monk traveling on foot carrying a shoulder-pole basket. Yue was astonished and knitted his brows; soon after, he scolded him, saying, ‘He is unwilling to put down the things in his own inner chambers, and instead burdens others to shoulder and carry them—is that not too laborious!’” (Records from the Groves)
1.59
Huanglong said: "The essential point of being an abbot lies in winning the assembly. Winning the assembly lies in understanding human feelings. Former buddhas said: 'Human feelings are the field of merit for the world; they are indeed that from which the principle and the Way arise.' Therefore, the adversity or prosperity of the times, and the loss or gain in affairs, must depend upon human feelings. When feelings have flow or blockage, adversity and prosperity arise; when affairs are generous or meager, loss and gain arrive. Only sages can penetrate the feelings of all under heaven. Therefore, in the distinct hexagrams of the Book of Changes, Qian below and Kun above is called 'Peace' (Tai); Qian above and Kun below is called 'Stagnation' (Pi). As for its taking of emblems: decreasing the upper to increase the lower is called 'Increase' (Yi); decreasing the lower to increase the upper is called 'Decrease' (Sun). Now, Qian is Heaven and Kun is Earth. Heaven being below and Earth being above is certainly contrary in position; yet that it is conversely called 'Peace' is because upper and lower interact. The master being above and the guest abiding below is certainly compliant in duty; yet that it is conversely called 'Stagnation' is because upper and lower do not interact. Thus, when Heaven and Earth do not interact, the myriad things are not nurtured; when human feelings do not interact, the myriad affairs are not harmonious. The principle of increase and decrease also arises from this. Now, for one who is above others to be able to restrain oneself so as to enrich those below—those below will surely rejoice and serve the superior. How could that not be called 'Increase'? If one above slights those below and indulges oneself, those below will surely resent and rebel against the superior. How could that not be called 'Decrease'? Therefore, when upper and lower interact, there is peace; when they do not interact, there is stagnation. One who diminishes oneself is increased by others; one who increases oneself is diminished by others. How could the gaining and losing of feelings be [taken] lightly? Former sages once compared people to a boat and feelings to water: water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn a boat. When water complies, the boat floats; when it is contrary, it sinks. Therefore, when an abbot wins human feelings, [the monastery] flourishes; when he loses human feelings, it falls into ruin. If he wins them entirely, it flourishes entirely; if he loses them entirely, it falls into ruin entirely. Therefore, sharing in good brings much fortune; sharing in evil brings grave calamity. Good and evil of the same kind are straight as a string of pearls; the signs of flourishing and decline are as clear as gazing at the sun. This is the primal tortoise-shell [mirror] of successive generations." (Letter to [Master] Sheng of Huangbo)
First 59 of 83 passages. Read on
Linked texts (1)
- 禪林寶訓 — Classical Chinese