緇門警訓 10

English (machine translation) 10

Language: English

10.1

Verses of Praise for the Buddha and Transmission of the Dharma

I bow my head to Śākyamuni Buddha of hundreds of millions of transformation bodies, / Who practiced through three asaṃkhyeya kalpas, perfecting the myriad practices.
With the finest flaws removed, the dharma-nature settled into clarity; / With every bit of goodness complete, the reward and transformation bodies are wondrous and subtle.
Thereafter, he was reborn above in Tuṣita, and descended into the royal palace; / At thirty years of age, he sat beneath the Bodhi tree and attained buddhahood.
For forty-nine years he remained in the world to teach and transform; / He preached the Dharma three hundred and fifty times,
And expounded eighty-four thousand gates.

10.3

Kings and ministers offered external protection across the four seas and nine provinces; masters and monks transmitted it internally among humans and gods. Its benefit is vast, and the transmission of the Dharma is unfathomable. Therefore, a verse says:

10.4

Even if one were to bear him on one's head for dust-mote kalpas, / Or make one's body a seat filling the three-thousandfold world,
If one does not transmit the Dharma to deliver sentient beings, / In the end one can never repay his kindness.

10.5

There are five ways to transmit the Dharma: first, upholding it; second, reading it; third, intoning and reciting it; fourth, expounding it; fifth, copying it. When external and internal protection ensure its circulation, the Buddharatna, Dharmaratna, and Saṅgharatna will remain unbroken.

10.6

Preface to the Chanlin miaoji

10.7

Composed by Śramana Xuanze of Ximing Monastery in the Capital

10.8

All buddhas possess three bodies: first, the dharmakāya, which is realized by the perfect mind; second, the saṃbhogakāya, which is invoked by the myriad goods; third, the nirmāṇakāya, which appears in accordance with conditions. Now, as for Śākyamuni Buddha, he realized the dharmakāya long ago and perfected the saṃbhogakāya long ago; his appearance at present is merely a nirmāṇakāya. Formerly, in the presence of an ancient Śākya Buddha, he brought forth bodhicitta and vowed to share his name; therefore, upon attaining buddhahood now, he is likewise named Śākya. For three incalculable kalpas he practiced the bodhisattva path, serving immeasurable buddhas in each and every kalpa. Midway, he subsequently encountered Dīpaṃkara Tathāgata, spread his hair in the mud, and offered gold flowers, whereupon he received the prophecy [of buddhahood] and attained the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas. Yet, when all buddhas are about to attain buddhahood, they must pass through a hundred kalpas cultivating the karma for the marks and signs. Śākya brought forth his resolve after Maitreya, but by encountering Puṣya Tathāgata, gazing up at him on one foot for seven days and praising him with fresh verses, he surpassed nine kalpas and attained the Way before him. When he was about to attain it, he was born in the Tuṣita Heaven, named the Bodhisattva Samantaprabha. Having exhausted his lifespan in that heaven, he descended to Jambudvīpa, manifesting himself riding a white elephant to enter his mother's right flank. His mother, Māyā, dreamed of conceiving a white elephant. A brahmacāri divined: "If she dreams of the sun and moon, she will give birth to a king of a country; if she dreams of a white elephant, she will certainly give birth to a holy child." From then on, his mother was tranquil and secure, and her compassionate eloquence grew day by day. When the Bodhisattva was first born, the great earth shook; his body was purple-golden, with the thirty-two marks and eighty minor characteristics, and a halo of one fathom. Having been born, he walked seven steps in each of the four directions, and to subjugate the demons and Brahmās, uttered true words: "In the heavens above and beneath the heavens, I alone am the most honored." When he was carried into the temple of the gods, the statues of the gods all rose up. The ṛṣi Asita joined his palms and sighed: "The marks and signs are distinct; he will certainly be a Dharmarāja. I regret that I must die and will not be able to see the Buddha." He was the crown prince of King Śuddhodana, named Siddhārtha. His grandfather was named Siṃhahanu, his father Śuddhodana, and his mother Māyā. For generations they were wheel-turning kings, of the Gautama clan; furthermore, due to capability, they took the distinct clan name Śākya. His understanding was natural and spontaneous, and arts and skills were naturally complete in him. Although dwelling amid the five desires, he was untainted by the defilements of desire. Touring the four gates of the capital, he saw an old person, a sick person, a dead person, and a śramaṇa; returning to the palace, he gave rise to deep revulsion and renunciation. Suddenly in the middle of the night, heavenly spirits assisted and alerted him; he mounted his precious steed, leaped over the city wall, and renounced the householder life. After practicing austerities for six years, he realized they were not the Way, and thereupon relied on right contemplation to attain bodhi. At that time, a cowherdess boiled milk to make rice gruel; its boiling surged high, which astonished her, and she offered it to the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva ate it, and his physical strength was replenished. He entered the river to bathe; when he was about to climb the bank, a tree lowered its branch on its own to assist him up. From then on, the Bodhisattva received kuśa grass and sat beneath the Bodhi tree. The evil Māra, seeing this, gave rise to anger and distress, saying: "This man intends to empty my realm!" He then led eighteen hundred million of his subordinates, holding instruments of torture to frighten the Bodhisattva, urging him to rise quickly and enjoy the pleasures of the five desires. He also dispatched three daughters of Māra with enchanting intentions to entice the Bodhisattva. At that time, [the Bodhisattva] entered the superior samādhi of loving-kindness and gave rise to pity; the demon army naturally fell away and retreated, and the three enchanting daughters of Māra turned into goiterous hags. Having subjugated the demon army, on the eighth day of the second month when the morning star appeared, he attained complete enlightenment. Having attained buddhahood, he observed the faculties of sentient beings and knew they delighted in the small and were not yet capable of the great Dharma; he then went to the country of Vārāṇasī, delivered the five men including Kauṇḍinya, and turned the wheel of the Dharma of the Four Truths. This was the beginning of the appearance of the Triratna. The number of people delivered by preaching the Dharma thereafter, the great assemblies of bodhisattvas, the profound discourses on signlessness, and the power of miraculous manifestations are all fully recorded in the sūtras. Furthermore, at one time he ascended to the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven and remained in the summer retreat for ninety days to preach the Dharma for his mother. At that time, King Udayana and King Prasenajit, longing for the Buddha's virtue, carved sandalwood and painted fine cloth to depict the Buddha's form. Later, when the Buddha descended from the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, the statues that had been made all arose and left their seats. The Buddha patted their heads and said: "In the future, you will well perform Buddha-work." The arising of Buddha statues began with this. When the conditions for conversion were about to end and the followers at that time grew weary and lax, the Buddha told the assembly: "After three months, I shall enter nirvāṇa." He further prophesied future events, as fully expounded in the sūtras. Yet the Tathāgata's true body is eternal and indestructible; thus the Lotus Sūtra says: "I abide constantly on Gṛdhrakūṭa Mountain and in other dwelling places." The birth and extinction now seen are the Buddha's nirmāṇakāya: wishing to guide beings, he manifested as their peer, which is why he took birth; further wishing to make them realize that conditioned phenomena are impermanent, he manifested extinction. Furthermore, when the capacities of sentient beings are ripe, he manifests birth; when sentient beings' receptivity is exhausted, he manifests extinction. After the Buddha's nirvāṇa, humans and devas made offerings and erected precious stūpas. Furthermore, Mahākāśyapa summoned a thousand arhats to compile the Dharma treasury; Ānanda entered through the keyhole and recited the Buddha's sūtras without any omission, like water poured from one vase into another vessel. Over a hundred years later, there was the Iron-Wheel-Turning King named Aśoka, who commanded spirits and ghosts to build eighty-four thousand reliquary stūpas in a single day throughout heaven and earth. The Buddha's relics—robes, bowl, staff, and his śarīra—manifested countless miraculous transformations. Reaching down to the Han Emperor Ming, who was moved by a dream of a golden body that shone like the sun and bore a sixteen-foot form, exactly like the original appearance of Śākya; and again to Sun Quan, the ruler of Wu, who burned and struck the relics without damaging them; down to the stone statues floating up the river, auspicious forms drifting across the sea, the hidden power of Prajñā, and the secret efficacy of Avalokiteśvara—these are fully recorded in separate accounts and are too numerous to record here.

10.9

Verse of Praise for Puṣya Buddha

10.10

In the heavens above and beneath the heavens, there is none like the Buddha; / In the worlds of the ten directions, he is also peerless.
Of all that exists in the world, I have seen everything; / Among all things, there is none like the Buddha.

10.11

Internal Chronicle of the Origin of the Buddha's Teaching Established by Emperor Xianzong of the Han

10.12

The chronicle states: In the thirteenth year of the Yongping reign of Emperor Ming, the Emperor dreamed of a divine being with a golden body sixteen feet tall, with the light of the sun at the back of his neck. Having awakened, he questioned his ministers. Fu Yi replied to the edict: “There is a Buddha who appeared in Tianzhu (India).” Thereupon messengers were dispatched to go and seek [him]. They obtained scriptures and images, as well as two monks. The Emperor then established a Buddhist monastery for them, painting murals of a thousand chariots and ten thousand horsemen circumambulating the stūpa three times. Furthermore, upon the Qingliang Terrace of the Southern Palace and above the Gaoyang Gate, as well as at the Xianjie Mausoleum, images of the standing Buddha were depicted, and the Sūtra in Forty-Two Sections was sealed in the stone chamber of the Orchid Terrace, as detailed extensively in Mouzi's account in the earlier collection.
The chronicle states: At that time there were the śramaṇas Kāśyapa Mātanga and Dharmaratna, whose stage of practice was unfathomable and whose intent was set on opening up transformation. When the envoy Cai Yin arrived, he invited Mātanga to journey east. Not bound to any region, they accordingly reached Luoyang, instructing the sentiments of beings and exalting the foundation of faith. The Emperor asked Mātanga, “When the Dharmarāja appeared in the world, why did his conversion not reach here?” He replied, “The kingdom of Kapilavastu is the center of the ten billion suns and moons of the great trichiliocosm. The Buddhas of the three periods are all born there. Even the devas, nāgas, ghosts, and spirits who possess vows and practice are all born there to receive the Buddha’s true conversion and all attain awakening to the Way. Sentient beings in other places have no conditions to sense the Buddha, so the Buddha does not go [there]. Although the Buddha does not go, wherever his radiant light reaches, after five hundred years, or one thousand years, or beyond two thousand years, there will always be sages who transmit the Buddha’s spoken teachings and transformatively guide them, extensively expounding the doctrine.” The text being extensive, it is abridged here.
The chronicle shows: On the first day of the first month of the fourteenth year of the Yongping reign, while the Daoists of the various mountains of the Five Sacred Peaks were assembling for the New Year's court audience, they said to one another, “The Son of Heaven has abandoned our teachings of the Way and sought the barbarian doctrine from afar. Now, taking advantage of the court assembly, we may submit a memorial to challenge it.” Their memorial stated in brief: “Chu Shanxin and others, six hundred and ninety disciples of the Supreme Three Caverns from the monasteries of the eighteen mountains across the Five Sacred Peaks, submit this under penalty of death. Your subjects have heard that the Supreme is formless and nameless, limitless and unexcelled. The great Way of empty nothingness and spontaneity emerged before the Creation. High antiquity collectively followed it, and a hundred kings did not change it. Now Your Majesty's virtue surpasses the Sovereign Fuxi and Your grace rises above Yao and Shun. We have privately learned that Your Majesty has abandoned the root to pursue the branches, seeking teachings from the Western Regions. What you serve is merely a barbarian god, and what is spoken does not accord with the Chinese. We pray that Your Majesty forgive your subjects’ offense and permit a trial and contest with them. Among us Daoists of the mountains, many possess far-seeing eyes and far-hearing ears, and are broadly versed in the scriptures and classics. From the time of the Primordial Sovereign onward, regarding the Supreme records and the Great Void talismans and incantations, there are none we have not thoroughly practiced to their utmost limits. Some can command ghosts and spirits, swallow rosy clouds and drink vital breath; some can enter fire without being burned, or tread water without drowning; some can ascend to heaven in broad daylight, or become invisible and unfathomable. As for magical arts, there is nothing we cannot do. We wish to hold a contest with them: first, that the Sagely Sovereign's mind may be set at ease; second, that the true and the false may be distinguished; third, that the Great Way may have its rightful return; and fourth, that the customs of the Chinese may not be thrown into disorder. If your subjects are inferior in this contest, we submit to whatever severe punishment you decide. If we prevail, we beg that the vain and false be abolished.”
An imperial edict dispatched Song Xiang, Director of the Department of State Affairs, to usher them into the Changle Palace: “On the fifteenth day of this month you may assemble at the White Horse Monastery.” The Daoists then set up three altars, each altar opening into twenty-four gates. The Daoist of the Southern Peak, Chu Shanxin; the Daoist of the Western Peak, Liu Zhengnian; the Daoist of the Northern Peak, Huan Wendu; the Daoist of the Eastern Peak, Jiao Dexin; the Daoist of the Central Peak, Lü Huitong; and the Daoists of the eighteen mountains including Mount Huo, Mount Tianmu, Mount Wutai, and Mount Bailu, Qi Wenxin and others, each brought five hundred and nine fascicles including the True Texts of the Numinous Treasure, the Jade Instructions of the Supreme, and the Registers and Talismans of the Three Primes, and placed them upon the western altar. Two hundred and thirty-five fascicles of writings of twenty-seven masters, including Mao Chengzi, Xu Chengzi, Huangzi, and Laozi, were placed upon the central altar. Fine foods and offerings to sacrifice to the hundred gods were placed upon the eastern altar.
The Emperor took his place in the imperial traveling palace at the south gate of the monastery. The Buddha’s relics, scriptures, and images were placed to the west of the path. On the fifteenth day, when the fast was concluded, the Daoists took torches of firewood, reeds, sandalwood, and aloeswood, circumambulated the scriptures, and weeping said, “Your subjects address on high the Great Way of the Supreme Ultimate, the Heavenly Worthy of Primordial Beginning, all the immortals and the hundred spirits: Now a barbarian god brings disorder to China, and the lord of men believes in heresy. The true teaching has lost its path, and the lineage of the profound style has fallen. Your subjects dare to place the scriptures upon the altar to test them by fire, wishing to open and instruct the unenlightened minds, so that the true and false may be distinguished.” Thereupon they set fire to burn the scriptures. The scriptures were transformed by the fire, entirely turning into ash and cinders.
The Daoists looked at one another and paled, overcome with great dread and fear. Those who had intended to ascend to heaven or become invisible possessed no power to perform their arts; those who commanded ghosts and spirits called out and directed them without response. Each harbored shame and disgrace. Fei Shucai, a Daoist of the Southern Peak, died of grief and shock. Grand Tutor Zhang Yan said to Chu Xin, “What you gentlemen tested had no efficacy; thus it is false. You ought to turn to the true Dharma that has come from the West.” Chu Xin said, “Mao Chengzi said that the Supreme is the Heavenly Worthy of the Numinous Treasure. The workings of Creation are called the Great Simplicity. How could this be false?” Yan said, “The Great Simplicity is a designation for exalting virtue, not a term for spoken teachings. Now you claim it has spoken teachings; that is indeed false.” Xin remained silent.
At that time, the Buddha’s relics emitted light of five colors, shooting straight up into the air and swirling like a parasol, completely covering the great assembly and eclipsing the light of the sun. Dharma Master Mātanga leaped into the air and flew high, sitting and reclining in the sky, extensively displaying divine transformations. At that time heavenly jewel flowers rained down upon the Buddha and the Saṅgha, and heavenly music was heard, deeply moving people's sentiments. The great assembly all rejoiced, exclaiming that it was unprecedented. All circumambulated Dharmaratna, listening to him expound the essentials of the Dharma, and he also intoned Sanskrit sounds, praising the Buddha’s merit and virtue. He also led the great assembly to praise and proclaim the Triratna, [explaining] that wholesome and unwholesome karma all have their retributions, and that the various marks of the six destinies and the three vehicles are not identical. He further expounded on the merit and virtue of pravrajyā, that its blessings are supreme, and that the initial founding of a Buddhist monastery matches the measure of Brahmā's blessings.
Grand Master of Works Liu Jun, Marquis of Yangcheng, together with various officials, scholar-gentry, and commoners, more than a thousand people, left home [for pravrajyā]. Lü Huitong and other Daoists from the mountains of the Four Sacred Peaks, six hundred and thirty people, left home. Lady Yin, the Lady of Handsome Demeanour Wang, together with various palace women and ladies, two hundred and thirty people, left home. Thereupon ten monasteries were established: seven outside the city to accommodate monks, and three within the city to accommodate nuns. From this time forward [the Dharma] broadened. The chronicle comprises five fascicles, so this is an abridged account and does not record everything in full. Some people doubt this chronicle, saying it emerged recently and that there was originally no such contest. But examining the Book of Wu, it clearly states that Fei Shucai died of grief; hence the chronicle is a true record.

10.13

The Grand Minister of Song Inquires of Confucius Regarding Sages

10.14

Grand Minister Pi asked Confucius, saying, “Is the Master a sage?”
He replied, “Qiu is merely one of broad learning and strong memory; I am not a sage.”
He asked again, “Were the Three Kings sages?”
He replied, “The Three Kings were skilled in employing wisdom and courage; whether they were sages is not known to Qiu.”
He asked again, “Were the Five Emperors sages?”
He replied, “The Five Emperors were skilled in employing benevolence and righteousness; whether they were sages is not known to Qiu.”
He asked again, “Were the Three Sovereigns sages?”
He replied, “The Three Sovereigns were skilled in employing the governance of the seasons; whether they were sages is not known to Qiu.”
The Grand Minister was greatly astonished and said, “If so, then who is a sage?”
The Master’s expression changed, and after a pause he said, “Qiu has heard that in the west there is a sage: he does not govern, yet there is no disorder; he does not speak, yet he is spontaneously trusted; he does not convert, yet [the Way] is spontaneously practiced. So vast is he that no one is able to name him!”
Judging by this, Confucius well knew that the Buddha was the Great Sage. Because the temporal conditions had not yet ripened, he kept silent and noted it inwardly. When an opportunity arose, he brought it up; yet he was not able to proclaim its import openly.

10.15

Chan Master Tieniu Yin of Zhongshan Instructs Postulant Fahui

10.16

On the fifteenth day of the fifth month in the first year of the Yanzai reign of Empress Wu of the Tang, monks and nuns throughout the realm were first registered and subordinated to the Bureau of Sacrifices. In the sixth year of the Tianbao reign of Xuanzong, it was instituted that when monks and nuns were ordained, the Bureau of Sacrifices was ordered to issue ordination certificates. In the first year of the Zhide reign of Suzong, ordination certificates from the Bureau of Sacrifices began to be conferred upon meritorious ministers to be sold. Judging from this, prior to the Yanzai reign, becoming a monk followed the method of Tianzhu: whenever one's conduct and practice were fit to receive the Way, the master alone accepted him.
For example, when the Tang palace commissioner Huitong visited Chan Master Daolin of Quechao (Bird's Nest), he said, “This disciple does not wish to be an official; my aspiration yearns for pravrajyā. I pray the upādhyāya will accept me.” Daolin said, “Nowadays those who become monks mostly engage in frivolous and lax conduct.” Tong said, “Original purity is not through polishing; primordial brightness does not follow reflection.” Daolin said, “If you comprehend that pure wisdom is wondrous and complete, its essence inherently empty and tranquil, then that is true pravrajyā; what need is there to borrow external appearances?” Tong said, “May you deign to accept me; I vow to follow the master’s teachings.” Daolin thereupon shaved his head. Later on, when conduct and practice had become lax, regulations and controls arose—this is a matter of natural principle. Therefore, that the yellow-faced old fellow entrusted the Dharma to kings and great ministers was precisely on this account.
Now our current dynasty's sagely beneficence pours down like a flood, especially causing its cost to be elevated, which is precisely the way to value the teaching, revere monks, and esteem its Dharma. Chan Master Mingjiao Song said, “As for a monk, his guarding of the body is through śīla; his collecting of the mind is through samādhi; his discerning clearly is through prajñā. He has majesty to be revered and deportment to be modeled; devas and humans look upon him with awe. In recent generations, many despise monks; this is surely brought upon themselves by the monks. Yet to don the saṅghāṭī robe: without the gravity of vow-power over several lifetimes and the mature ripening of the seeds of wisdom perfumed long ago, it is not easily attained.”
For example, in our dynasty, Duke Wang Wenzheng, Wang Dan, when on the brink of death, regretted that he had taken the wrong path in the beginning and had not become a monk. He thereupon instructed his sons to shave his beard and hair, clothe him in the three robes of a monk, and only then place him in the coffin, wanting in his second life to emerge and become a monk. He further entrusted Vice Minister Yang Danian to oversee his final testament. Later, Yang, because a prime minister had passed away and the state had its own precedents, although he did not comply with what had been requested, merely placed the three robes and a razor inside the coffin. Yang also came to regret this, and subsequently investigated the Chan school, awakened to his own mind, received an imperial decree to examine and settle the Records of the Transmission of the Lamp of the Jingde Era, and circulated it in the Western Heavens and this land.
Alas! Regarding the difficulty of being a monk, who knows this? If one is a great hero who arouses a resolute and fierce aspiration, abandons frivolous and lax conduct, cuts cleanly in two right beneath the heel, and glances through beyond the Buddhas and patriarchs, then body and mind will both be completely settled, and it will not be difficult; nor need one worry about not obtaining the protective talisman in hand. Therefore it is said: “In the high mountains and flowing waters there is deep meaning; naturally there will be an intimate knower who smiles and nods.”
Fahui has devoted himself to Master Bao's bodhimanda for years. As a person he is prudent, honest, and sincere, with a resolute and fierce aspiration and without frivolous and lax conduct. Now he plans to purchase an ordination certificate to become a monk, reverently presenting himself to the respectful, faithful, eminent, and outstanding great worthies to bestow funds to help fulfill his aspiration. Requesting an admonition through this scroll, I have accordingly set it forth in detail for him. I also wish that the worthy scholar-officials of the world may arouse the resolve to value the teaching and revere monks, and know that although our predecessors were constrained and worn down by wealth and rank, in the end there were those who regretted it.
In the jiewei year, mid-autumn; Tieniu, residing at Zhongshan.

10.17

Record of the Newly Built Dharma Hall at the Yong’an Chan Monastery in Fuzhou

10.18

Composed by Upāsaka Wujin

10.19

Chen Zongyu of Linchuan attained the Great Dharma in the assembly of the sthavira [Cun]chang of Yong'an. Delighted, he donated his family wealth to build an abbot's quarters and long corridors. Just as he was gathering timber to renew the Dharma hall, Zongyu died. His two sons wailed and made an appeal to Chang, saying: 'Before our late father served the Buddha, he was peaceful and robust; yet once he served the Buddha, he fell ill and passed away. Can the Buddha's cause and effect be believed, or can it not be believed?' Chang said: 'I am a rustic elder, not adequate to instruct you. You need only fulfill your father's aspiration and complete my hall. My late master had a foremost disciple who attained the Dharma, the Layman Wujin. He has penetrated deeply into non-duality, his eloquence is unhindered, and following individual capacities he is skilled at expounding the Dharma sound. When the Dharma hall is finished, I will carry a letter for you to seek his instruction and resolve your doubts.' In the spring of the first year of Shaosheng, Chang sent Mingjian to Shanyang with a letter to explain this. It happened that I had just been recalled as a remonstrance official and had no leisure. The following year, Jian came to the capital again and awaited a reply at the Zhihai Chan monastery. At that time, the Layman was dwelling silently in a single room, clearly understanding illusory realms: though an iron wheel revolved above his head, his body and mind were tranquil and settled. Mingjian wept profusely in sorrow, earnestly entreating three times: 'Greatly compassionate Layman, the outer protection of the Buddhadharma has been entrusted to kings and ministers. Now these sentient beings wander in the sea of suffering, greedy and fearful of birth and death, deluded about cause and effect. We pray only that the Layman act as a great king of physicians and bestow the Dharma medicine.' The Layman said: 'Excellent, excellent! That you could come without regarding a thousand li as far to consult and request on behalf of the sons of the Chen family the Tathāgata's unsurpassed, secret, and profound Dharma essentials! Listen attentively to what I say, and take it back to inform them. Good men, within the great void and stillness the four marks falsely arise. Accumulated breath becomes wind; accumulated form becomes earth; accumulated yang becomes fire; accumulated yin becomes water. They are established as the Three Talents and dispersed into the ten thousand kinds [of things]. All sentient beings rub together water and fire, and form and breath intertwine, possessing the four great realms by means of four minor marks. Because of birth there must be sustenance; because of sustenance there must be wealth. Because of wealth there must be gathering; because of gathering, greed is formed. Because of greed, contention is formed; because of contention, anger is formed. Because of anger, cruelty is formed; because of cruelty, folly is formed. Because of folly, ignorance is formed. This greed, anger, and ignorance are spoken of by the Buddhas as the three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas. In a human life of a hundred-year kalpa, whether ten or twenty years, thirty or forty years, fifty or sixty years, or seventy or eighty years, each takes their own lifespan as a minor kalpa. In this kalpa, to wish to transcend incalculable kalpas is like an earthworm wishing to ascend into the mists and clouds—it is impossible. The Buddhas took pity and revealed the great expedient gate of dānapāramitā, encouraging you to abandon wealth. If you can abandon wealth, you can abandon attachment. If you can abandon attachment, you can abandon the body. If you can abandon the body, you can abandon intention. If you can abandon intention, you can abandon dharmas. If you can abandon dharmas, you can abandon the mind. If your mind can be abandoned, you can accord with the Way. Formerly, when the Venerable Kāśyapa was wandering to convert beings, an impoverished old woman offered him rice water in a broken earthenware vessel. Having drunk it, the Venerable bounded into the empty sky and manifested the eighteen transformations. The old woman looked up with great joy in her heart. The Venerable said to her: "What you have offered yields immeasurable merit. Whether as human or deva, wheel-turning king or Śakra, noble person of the four fruits, or Buddha's bodhi—whatever your mind desires, there is none that you will not attain." The old woman said: "I seek only to be born in heaven." The Venerable said: "As you wish." After seven days she died and was born in the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, enjoying supreme and wondrous bliss. Furthermore, when the king of Jibin was in the Buddha's assembly listening to the Dharma, he stepped forward from the assembly and said: "The Great Sage's appearance in the world is difficult to encounter in a thousand kalpas. Now I wish to resolve to build a vihāra; may the Buddha grant permission." The Buddha said: "Act as you wish." The king of Jibin held a stalk of bamboo, planted it before the Buddha, and said: "The construction of the vihāra is finished." The Buddha said: "Thus it is, thus it is. Because this vihāra contains the dharmadhātu, by this offering your merit surpasses the sands of the Ganges." Jian, come carry these two accounts for me, return, and speak them to the dānapatis; let them choose well. The merit of the halls, chambers, and corridors built by your father is vastly greater than that of a vessel of rice water; his birth in heaven to enjoy bliss is certain without doubt. If compared to the king of Jibin's planting of a single stalk of bamboo, it can contain the immeasurable dharmadhātu. If you wish to advance further into this, listen to my gāthā: / A single stalk of tall bamboo built a vihāra; / The wind swept the tiny midges into the southern sea. / When the foul water is splashed, it becomes the second; / The dull-rooted stumble past and ask about the first three.' Thereupon Mingjian leapt for joy, faithfully accepted it, returned to tell those people, and committed these remaining words to brush, carving them as an inscription.

10.20

Emperor Wen of the Song Gathers the Court Ministers to Discuss Buddhism

10.21

Emperor Wen was the third son of High Ancestor of the Song. He was intelligent, brilliant, heroic, erudite, and universally praised for his refined understanding. During his thirty years on the throne, he once, in a leisurely moment, calmly questioned Attendant Officer He Shangzhi and Minister of Personnel Yang Xuanbao, saying: 'Since my youth I have not read the scriptures much, and recently I have had even less leisure. I have not yet distinguished cause and effect across the three periods of time. That I harbor this in my mind yet dare not set myself apart is precisely because you outstanding figures of the age generally revere and believe in it. Fan Tai and Xie Lingyun often said: "The original purpose of the texts of the Six Classics was to aid the world and govern. If one must seek the true profundity of human nature and spirit, how can one not take Buddhist principles as a compass?" Recently I read Yan Yanzhi's Refutation of the Treatise on Penetrating Nature and Zong Bing's Objection to the Treatise on the White and the Black; their clarification of the profundity of the Buddhadharma provides especially remarkable principles, both sufficient to open and stimulate people's minds. If all within the borders were made to uphold this transformation, I could bring about Great Peace while sitting back—what else would there be to do?' Shangzhi replied, saying: 'The ordinary multitude mostly do not believe in the Dharma. That an unworthy person such as your servant should receive praise and promotion is something I dare not accept. As for the group of heroes of previous generations, they certainly did not fall short of your enlightened edict. The Central Court is already distant, hard to know fully. Since crossing the river, there have been Wang Dao, Zhou Yi, Yu Liang, Wang Meng, Xie Shang, Xi Chao, Wang Tan, Wang Gong, Wang Mi, Guo Wenju, Xie Fu, Dai Kui, Xu Xun, as well as the brothers of the late High Ancestor, and Wang Yuanlin's brothers, Fan Zhu, Sun Chuo, Zhang Xuan, Yin Yi, and others: some were leading figures among the prime ministers, some were models of human ethics; some set their minds between the realm of gods and humans, and some elevated their traces beyond the mists and clouds. All endowed with the aspiration took refuge, and setting their hearts, placed their faith. Among their contemporaries in comparison were Lan, Huo, Kai, Qian, Shen, Dun, Chong, and Sui, who were all men second only to the centered and upright, or men of unfathomable depth. Dharma Master Huiyuan once said: "There is nowhere to which the Śākya conversion cannot adapt. The Way naturally originates from the source of the teaching, and aiding the worldly is also an essential duty." I privately examine this statement and find it accords with the essential truth. If every household were made to observe the precepts, offenses would cease and punishments would be cleared away. What Your Majesty calls bringing about Great Peace while sitting back is truly as your sacred decree states.' Yang Xuanbao stepped forward and said: 'This discourse is between the realm of gods and humans; how is it fitting for your servant to take part? I privately consider that Qin and Chu discussed affairs of strengthening the military, and Sun and Wu exhausted the arts of annexation—they probably would find nothing to take from this.' The Emperor said: 'These are not instruments of the Warring States, truly as you say.' Shangzhi replied, saying: 'If one honors recluses, warriors grow lax; if one values benevolence and virtue, the military spirit declines. If one takes Sun and Wu as the aim, merely desiring to swallow and devour, one would likewise find nothing to take from the Way of Yao and Shun—how could it be only the Buddhist teaching?' The Emperor said: 'In the Buddhist gate there is you, just as in Confucius's gate there was Jilu, of whom it was said that evil words did not enter his ears.' From then on, Emperor Wen directed his mind to Buddhist scriptures. Whenever he met monks such as Yan and Guan, he discussed the principles of the Way, frequently inviting them to palace assemblies. He personally attended upon the floor mats and shared meals with the ranks of monks. At that time there was the śramaṇa Zhu Daosheng, who towered above the crowd, his heroic principles uniquely surpassing. The Emperor esteemed him. He once related Sheng's doctrine of sudden enlightenment, and the monks all raised great objections. The Emperor said: 'If the deceased could be revived, how could he be refuted by you gentlemen?' At that time Yan Yanzhi wrote the Treatise on Departing from Consciousness, and the Emperor ordered Dharma Master Yan to determine its similarities and differences. They went back and forth for the entire day. He smiled and said: 'Today, you gentlemen are not ashamed in comparison with the discourses of Zhi and Xu.'

10.22

Treatise on the Suburban Sacrifices in the Book of the Later Han

10.23

The treatise states: '"Buddha" in the Han language means "Awakened," meaning to awaken all living beings. In general, its teaching takes cultivating goodness and a compassionate mind as primary, not killing living creatures, and exclusively pursuing purity. The vigorous ones become śramaṇas, which in the Han language means "resting the mind." They shave their hair, leave their families, cut off desires, wash away cravings, and return to non-action. Furthermore, it holds that when a person dies, the spirit is not extinguished, and in accordance with this takes on a form again. The good and evil done will all have retribution in a future life. What is valued is doing good to refine one's spirit; refining without ceasing brings one to non-arising, and one can become a Buddha. His body is one zhang and six chi tall, of golden color, with the light of the sun and moon worn around his neck. His transformations are impermanent and there is nowhere he does not penetrate; therefore he can transformatively reach the ten thousand things and greatly save all living beings. There are several thousand fascicles of scripture, taking voidness and nothingness as the core, embracing the refined and the coarse, leaving nothing unguided. They are skilled in vast and supreme words: what they seek is within one body, and what they clarify is beyond sights and sounds. Taking refuge in the dark, subtle, deep, and far, it is difficult to fathom. Therefore, when princes and grandees observe the juncture of birth, death, and retribution, none fail to become suddenly stunned and lose themselves.' The Book of Wei says: 'Its Buddhist scriptures generally say that the kinds of living beings all arise due to actions and karma, and there are three periods of time: past, present, and future. The stages and grades of its cultivation of the Way are not uniform, but all follow from the shallow to the deep, relying on the subtle to reach the manifest. All consist in accumulating benevolence and compliance, getting rid of desires, and practicing emptiness and stillness to achieve thorough illumination.'

10.24

Text of Dedication for Sweeping the Ground by Chan Master Zhen of Shouyi Dharma, Jingci Monastery, Hangzhou

10.25

With this merit of sweeping the ground, I dedicate it to the sentient beings of the dharmadhātu: may the dust of forms be pure. Because dust is pure, the eye faculty is pure; because the faculty is pure, the eye consciousness is pure. Sounds, scents, tastes, touchables, and mental dharmas are also like this. Furthermore, I vow that one world may be pure, even until the entire dharmadhātu and space realm are completely pure, together with all the Tathāgatas' majestic adornment and abiding—the pure ground of enlightenment of the saṅghārāma of complete enlightenment, cutting off habit energies forever, the two extremes of purity and defilement, not a single speck of dust standing upon defilement or purity of ordinary and sage. With such a vow, may pure wisdom likewise be pure.

10.26

Record of the Ten Directions Chan Cloister of Lingfeng Monastery at Mount Dahong in Suizhou

10.27

In the ninth month of the second year of the Yuanyou era, an imperial decree converted Lingfeng Monastery on Mount Dahong in Suizhou from the Vinaya school to Chan. In the first year of the Shaosheng era, the Regional Surveillance Office first invited Sthavira Bao'en of Shaolin Monastery in Luoyang to become the abbot. In the first month of the first year of the Chongning era, an envoy arrived requesting a record of the Ten Directions Chan Cloister. Thus I wrote: Mount Dahong lies southwest of Suizhou, its base stretching over a hundred li. From its peaks one looks down upon the various states east of the Han River; its forests and crags appear as a flat plain. Examining what is heard from elders, 'Hong' is sometimes called 'Hu' [barbarian] and sometimes 'Hu' [lake], but what was meant is unclear. Examining the geography today, between the four mountains there was anciently a great lake inhabited by divine dragons. Its vast waves surged beyond measure. Afterwards, two dragons fought, splitting open the terraced crags, and the lake waters drained southwards. Therefore, the townships leaning against the mountain are now called the 'Drained Lake District.' This is how Mount Dahong got its name. In the Yuanhe era of the Tang dynasty, the monk Shanxin of Kaiyuan Monastery in Hongzhou was the Great Master Ciren of this mountain. The master secretly received the heart essential from Mazu, and traveled north to Mount Wutai to pay homage to Mañjuśrī. Beholding the extraordinary sights, he rejoiced, and making a connection with the Bodhisattva, vowed to cook and boil for the assembly of monks for three years. The monastery monks turned him away, and he wept in sorrow. An old man said to him: 'Your affinities do not lie here; go forth and journey on. Where you meet Sui, stop; when you encounter a lake, stay.' The master then headed south. In the autumn, the seventh month of the second year of the Baoli era, he reached Suizhou. Gazing at the high peaks from afar, he asked a local person: 'What mountain is this?' The local person replied: 'It is Mount Dahu.' The master silently verified the earlier words. Following the mountain and rounding its foot, he arrived beside the lake. In that year there was a severe drought. A local man named Zhang Wuling had prepared sheep and pigs to offer in prayer to the dragon of the lake. Seeing this, the master took pity and said to Wuling: 'Untimely rain and drought are fundamentally induced by the dark karma in people's minds. Harming life to save life further compounds your transgressions. Do not slaughter them for now; wait just three days and I will pray for you.' Wuling was also an extraordinary man; hearing the master's words, he respectfully believed him. The master then parted the brambles, grasped the stones, and found a rock cave on the north side of the mountain. In tranquil ease he sat in meditation, moving his sincerity in hidden prayer. Thunder and rain burst forth copiously. Several days after clearing, Wuling tracked and searched for him. The master was just in samādhi: spiderwebs veiled his face, insects buzzed in his ears and crawled over his body; only after a long time did he awaken. Wuling thereupon donated this mountain to build a vihāra for the master, sending his two sons to attend and serve at his side. Students flocked to him, and it thus became a place of Dharma teaching. On the twenty-ninth day of the fifth month in the first year of the Dahe era, the master secretly said to the dragon spirits: 'Previously, I substituted myself for the beasts, withholding your blood offerings. Now I abandon my body to feed you; you may enjoy my flesh.' He then drew a sharp knife and severed his left knee, and then severed his right knee. His disciples came rushing up; the knees of Ciren could not be cut through, but white fluid flowed forth, and he solemnly entered extinction. The two sons of the Zhang clan stood watching and transformed as well. The Military Commissioner of Shannan East Circuit memorialized this to the throne. Emperor Wenzong of the Tang commended it and bestowed on his residence the plaque 'Youji Chan Cloister.' In the Tianfu era of the Jin dynasty, it was changed to Qifeng Monastery. In the first year of the Yuanfeng era of the present dynasty, it was changed again to Lingfeng Monastery; all were due to prayers receiving response. From the master's extinction until now it has been more than three hundred years. The people of more than ten prefectures between the broad Han, Ru, and Fen rivers revere and serve it as if fulfilling a covenant. Gold, silk, and grain follow one another continuously on the roads. Wealth grew strong while the Dharma grew weak, and monastic discipline was transformed. Prior to this, the mountain peaks were steep and high, and the halls, pavilions, and towers were laid out conforming to the mountain's shape, disorderly before and behind, rubbing shoulders against one another without order. When Elder En arrived, he thoroughly surveyed the topography: he opened up a path entering from the south to set guest and host in order, chiseled the cliffs, built embankments across ravines, shoveled away ant mounds, and laid masonry. The craggy heights of ten thousand fathoms were turned into a flat summit. The three gates and the halls and pavilions spread like wings, true as a plumb line. Continuous covered walkways and spacious galleries had open doors leading everywhere. Pure companions gathered like clouds, flourishing into a forest of practice. The auspicious sign of the precious lanterns of Emei, the golden bridge and circular halo of Qingliang, and bizarre sights and wondrous realms from other regions appeared together here. Just when the old was being abolished and the new was being raised, the followers of the Vinaya clung to their home territory and complained clamorously. It happened that I was demoted to be prefect of the commandery. Setting aside Chan and Vinaya, I reproved them, saying: 'The Vinaya operates by familial succession (jiayi), while Chan belongs to the ten directions. Now regarding what you call succession: where does the first come from, and where is the second established? Yet you insist on saying: "We are the descendants of Ciren. If people are now drawn from the ten directions, then Ciren's posterity will be severed." The second resides in the descendants, and the first resides in Ciren. The second resides in Ciren, and the first resides in Mazu. The second resides in Mazu, and the first resides in Nanyue. The second resides in Nanyue, and the first resides in Caoxi. Tracing it upward, the first and second lie with Bodhidharma and the twenty-eight patriarchs of the Western Heavens. Where, in truth, does this "first and second" reside? Furthermore, regarding what you call the "ten directions": from where do the ten arise, and from where do directions originate? In worldly phenomena, one gives birth to two; one and two make three; two and three make six; three and three make nine. Nine is the culmination. Returning again to one, one and nine make ten, and the meaning of ten is thus accomplished. It is not that without one there is suddenly a ten. And as for what is called directions: is above a direction? Is below a direction? Is east a direction? Is west a direction? Is south a direction? Is north a direction? If above is taken as a direction, it is the dwelling of the devas, not your realm. If below is taken as a direction, it is sustained by the wind circle, not your dwelling. If east is taken as a direction, then the people of Pūrvavideha have faces like the half-moon. If north is taken as a direction, the people of Uttarakuru have long life spans. If west is taken as a direction, the continent of Aparagodānīya has vast, billowing waves. If south is taken as a direction, the continent of Jambudvīpa has diverse lands of elephants and horses. Therefore, succession has no fixed place, and the ten directions have nothing to rely upon. In contending over Vinaya and contending over Chan, what is right and what is wrong?' The followers of the Vinaya said: 'The Bhagavat once dwelt in Anāthapiṇḍada's Park and the Bamboo Grove Vihāra; he must have known what the prefect says. Was the Bhagavat wrong?' I said: 'Have you not heard: "Taking great, perfect awakening as my monastery, body and mind rest peacefully in the wisdom of equality"? This was not spoken by me; it was spoken by the Buddha.' Thereupon the followers of the Vinaya left in silence. The Chan practitioners said: 'Men beyond the world have but one bowl and one water-jar, traversing the world seeking nothing. Like birds flying in the sky, they rest when meeting a branch; like turtles swimming in the ocean, they float when encountering a log. They come like gathering stems and go like vanishing foam. We know not whether the governor speaks of succession or of the ten directions.' I said: 'Excellent, disciples of the Buddha! Not dwelling within, not dwelling without, not dwelling in between; not dwelling in the four cardinal points, above, below, or in empty space; dwelling by having nothing to dwell upon—this is truly being an abbot of the ten directions! What more is there to say? What more is there to say?' Recorded on the fifteenth day, the Shangyuan Festival, of the first month in the first year of the Chongning era.

10.28

Song on Listening to the Recitation of the Lotus Sūtra, by Dharma Master Xiuya of the Tang

10.29

The mountain colours are sombre and deep, the pine smoke dense and hazy.
Beneath the empty woods, on a winding boulder,
Upon the rock there sits a monk, cross-legged with knees resting flat,
Reciting the White Lotus Sūtra from dawn until dusk.
To his left and right are tracks of tigers and wolves;
Scattered about are ten or five exotic blossoms.
Meeting by chance, we are not yet deeply acquainted;
Who knows whether this is a man of ancient times or a man of today—
Is he Tanyan or is he Tanyi?
I have heard that this sūtra has a profound purport;
The Awakened Sovereign praised its truly wondrous meaning.
Closing my eyes and quieting my mind, I listen attentively:
Sarpirmaṇḍa drips into my parched intestines.
The Buddha's intention, the patriarch's marrow!
My own mind, the sūtra's purport!
How pitiable are those who snap their fingers and raise their hands,
Failing to understand that right before their eyes, now it truly is!
How great it is! How exceedingly extraordinary!
Subhūti wished to let all living beings attain radiance:
Eighteen thousand lands,
Every single land turns golden in colour.
The four forms of birth and six destinies in a single beam of light;
Yet the madman still asks Maitreya.
I too, in years past, studied emptiness and tranquility;
Once gaining no-mind, I at once rested.
Today, hearing in person the recitation of this sūtra,
Only now do I realize that the donkey-cart vehicle is not authentic.
I too, in years past, did not step outside my door,
Not wishing the red dust to stain my footsteps.
Today, hearing in person the recitation of this sūtra,
Only now do I realize that every step is a jewel place.
I too, in years past, loved chanting and reciting poetry,
Thinking that searching for subtle phrases would disturb seated meditation.
Today, hearing in person the recitation of this sūtra,
What harm do brush and inkstone do to nourishing one's true nature?
I too, in years past, indulged in childish games,
Thinking that half my time had been wasted in vain.
Today, hearing in person the recitation of this sūtra,
Only now do I realize that gathering sand is no small matter.
I formerly roamed the mountains and waters,
Thinking other mountains were not my native home.
Today, hearing in person the recitation of this sūtra,
Only now do I realize that mountains and rivers have not an inch of separate ground.
Formerly, when the monkey of my mind was not yet subdued,
I often bound it in vain with golden fetters.
Today, hearing in person the recitation of this sūtra,
Only now do I realize that no thing can be clung to.
The master recites this sūtra word by word,
Each word thoroughly chewing the taste of sarpirmaṇḍa.
The taste of sarpirmaṇḍa is precious and exquisite;
It is not on the lips, nor on the teeth,
It is only within the square-inch heart of this toiling life.
The master recites this sūtra phrase by phrase,
With each phrase the white ox personally takes its step.
The steps of the white ox are swift as the wind;
They are not in the west, nor in the east,
They are only within the daily life of fleeting existence.
Ignorant of its daily use, what great suffering!
Intestines of wine, viscera of rice—
The elder raises his voice calling out, yet they do not turn back;
How are they different from the deaf, how different from the blind?
The ears of worldly people are not lacking in acuity,
Yet with acute ears they are particularly deaf to the sūtra.
The eyes of worldly people are not lacking in sight,
Yet with clear sight they are particularly blind to the sūtra.
Those who should listen lack acuity; those who should see lack sight;
Moving up and down like a well-pulley, dying in vain and living for nothing.
Even if worldly people recognize the master's voice,
Who can recognize the master's mind?
Even if worldly people recognize the master's form,
Who can recognize the master's name?
The master is named King of Healers, executing the Buddha's command,
Coming to cure the mental ailments of sentient beings:
Able to awaken the deluded, calm the deranged,
Purify the defiled, correct the heterodox,
And make the ordinary into the holy.
As such, not only do devas pay respect and humans pay respect,
Dragons should also sing praises,
Ghosts sing praises, and Buddhas sing praises.
How could those who turn their backs on awakening to merge with dust
Fail to bow their heads and take refuge in life?

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緇門警訓 — Classical Chinese