釋氏稽古略 4.283

4.283

In the Song, Grand Defender Chen Liangbi established a great vegetarian assembly and invited various masters of Chan and doctrinal lectures. There was Dharma Master Shan, a hero of the Xianshou School who was called the "Tiger of Doctrinal Meaning." He posed a question to the Chan masters, saying: "Our Buddha established teachings ranging from the Lesser Vehicle to the Perfect and Sudden, sweeping away emptiness and existence to uniquely realize the truly eternal; only after adorning himself with myriad virtues is one called a Buddha. Yet the Chan school claims to transform an ordinary person into a sage with a single shout. Examining the various sūtras and treatises, this seems mutually contradictory. Now, if this single shout can enter the five teachings, it is an orthodox teaching; if it cannot enter the five teachings, it is a heterodox teaching." At that time the Chan masters were seated in a row. Chan Master Fazhen, the venerable Yi, signaled Chan Master Cishou, the venerable Shen, with his eyes. Shen nudged Jingyin with his elbow to have him respond. Jingyin called Shan forward and said to him: "Receiving the Dharma Master's question, it is not worthy of troubling the great Chan masters to reply; only I, the minor elder Jingyin, am sufficient to resolve the Dharma Master's confusion. As for those five teachings: the Hinayāna Teaching for the Ignorant represents the meaning of existence. The Initial Teaching of the Great Vehicle represents the meaning of emptiness. The Final Teaching of the Great Vehicle represents the meaning of neither existence nor emptiness. The so-called Sudden Teaching of the Great Vehicle represents the meaning of being identical to existence and identical to emptiness. The so-called Perfect Teaching of the One Vehicle represents the meaning of being empty yet not non-existent, and being existent yet not non-empty. This single shout of mine not only can enter the five teachings, but even all the various philosophical schools and all crafts and arts of the mundane world can completely interpenetrate it." Thereupon he shouted and asked, "Do you still hear it?" Shan said, "I hear it." Cheng said, "Since you hear it, then this single shout exists; thus it can enter the Hinayāna teaching." He again called Shan and said, "Do you hear it now?" Shan said, "I do not hear it." Cheng said, "Since you do not hear it, then the shout just now is non-existent; it can enter the Initial Teaching of the Great Vehicle. When I first shouted, you already said it existed. After the shout had long faded and the sound dissolved, you then said it was non-existent. Saying it is non-existent means that originally it truly existed; saying it exists means that right now it is truly non-existent. Since it is thus neither existent nor non-existent, it can enter the Final Teaching. When I shout, existence is not true existence; it exists because of non-existence. When there is no shout, non-existence is not true non-existence; it is non-existent because of existence. Being identical to existence and identical to non-existence can enter the Sudden Teaching. This single shout of mine is not used as a single shout: existence and non-existence cannot reach it, and sentiments and conceptual understandings are both forgotten. When spoken of as existing, not a single hair is established; when spoken of as non-existent, it horizontally pervades empty space. This very single shout enters hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of shouts, and hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of shouts enter this single shout: this is being able to enter the Perfect Teaching." Shan thereupon bowed his head and expressed his thanks. The Master again called Shan and said: "And even a single word and a single silence, a single movement and a single stillness, speaking of antiquity down to the present, the ten directions of empty space and the array of myriad phenomena, the six destinies and four modes of birth, all Buddhas of the three periods and all noble ones and sages, the eighty-four thousand Dharma-doors and hundreds of thousands of samādhis, immeasurable sublime meanings, according with principle and according with capacity, form one substance with heaven, earth, and the myriad things: this is called the Dharma-body. The three realms are mind-only, and the myriad phenomena are consciousness-only; the four seasons, the eight solar nodes, yin and yang are identical: this is called Dharma-nature. Therefore the Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: 'Dharma-nature pervades all places.' Possessing forms or devoid of forms, a single sound and a single color, entirely within a single dust mote containing the four meanings; phenomena and principle are boundless, all-pervading without remainder, intermingled without confusion, blended without becoming identical: all are completely fulfilled within this single shout. This is still merely the threshold of establishing conversion, an expedient according with capacity, called a minor resting place; it has not yet reached the jewel place. Little do you realize that within the gate of our ancestral masters, mind is transmitted with mind and Dharma is sealed with Dharma; without establishing words, seeing one's nature and attaining Buddhahood, there is the single upward path that a thousand sages do not transmit." Shan further asked, "What is the upward path?" Cheng said, "Go and understand it downward for now." Shan said, "What is the jewel place?" Cheng said, "It is not your realm." Shan said, "I look forward to the Chan master's compassion." Cheng said, "Though you let the vast ocean transform, I will never open a way for you." Shan thereupon changed his countenance with distress, bowed his head, and withdrew. At that time, the Emperor secretly visited to observe it, and Grand Preceptor the Duke of the State of Lu was also present. The Emperor turned and said to his attendants, "The profound subtlety of the Chan school reaches such an extreme! Jingyin's talent and eloquence are also rare." The attendant minister reported, "This is merely the surplus of a school's master." Ying Zhongwen's appraisal in the Luohu lu states: "Cheng's learning was abundant and illuminated the Way; he found sources of wisdom wherever he turned, seizing opportunities to blunt the opponents' sharpness before the assemblies of humans and devas. Even if past worthies had upheld the school, they could not have surpassed this." The Chan master was named Jicheng, courtesy-named Pan'an. He was born into the Liu clan of Yichun in Yuanzhou, Jiangxi. By imperial decree he resided at the Jingyin Chan Monastery. The Master was the Dharma heir of Chan Master Zhihai Daoping; Ping was the heir of Dagui Muzhe; Zhe was the heir of Cuiyan Kezhen; Zhen was the heir of Chan Master Ciming Yuan. Cheng had two disciple heirs: Ruiyan Sheng and Yefu Chuan. They belong to the Linji lineage (Luohu wenji, Wudeng huiyuan).