景德傳燈錄 11.3

11.3

Chan Master Huiji of Mount Yang in Yuanzhou was a native of Huaihua in Shaozhou. His secular surname was Ye. When he was fifteen he wished to leave home, but his parents would not permit it. Two years later, the master chopped off two of his fingers, knelt before his parents, and vowed to seek the correct Dharma in order to repay their toil and care. He thereupon took tonsure under Chan Master Tong at Nanhua Temple. Before receiving full ordination, he set out to travel on pilgrimage. When he first visited Danyuan, he was already enlightened to the profound purport. Later he studied under Guishan and thereupon ascended to the inner sanctum. Guishan asked him, 'Are you a novice who has a master, or a novice who has no master?' The master said, 'I have a master.' Guishan said, 'Where is he?' The master crossed from the west to the east and stood there. Guishan knew he was an extraordinary person and at once gave him instruction. The master asked, 'What is the dwelling place of the true Buddha?' Guishan said, 'By the wonder of thinking without thought, reflect back upon the boundlessness of the numinous flame. When thought is exhausted, return to the source; nature and characteristics are eternally abiding, phenomena and principle are not two: this is the true Buddha of suchness.' Upon these words, the master was suddenly enlightened. From this time on he served as attendant. Soon he went to Jiangling to receive the precepts, stayed for the summer retreat, and investigated the Vinaya Piṭaka. Later he visited Yantou. Yantou raised his whisk. The master spread out his sitting cloth. Yantou picked up the whisk and placed it behind his back. The master draped his sitting cloth over his shoulder and went out. Yantou said, 'I do not approve your letting go; I only approve your taking in.' He also asked Shishi, 'How far apart are the Buddha and the Way?' Shishi said, 'The Way is like opening the hand; the Buddha is like making a fist.' He then took his leave of Shishi. Shishi saw him to the gate, called out, and said, 'Do not just go off in one direction; later you should come back to my side.' (Yunju Xi said, 'Do you want to understand? For now, return to the hall; come up again tomorrow.') Wei Zhou went to Guishan and requested a gāthā. Guishan said, 'To present it face-to-face would still make one a dullard, how much more to put it into paper and ink?' He then went to the master and made the request. The master drew a circular figure on paper and wrote a note: 'To know it through reflection falls into the secondary; to know it without reflection falls into the tertiary.' One day he accompanied Guishan in clearing a field. The master asked, 'Why is this end so low and that end so high?' Guishan said, 'Water can level things; just level them with water.' The master said, 'Water is also unreliable. Upādhyāya, just let high places be level with the high, and low places be level with the low.' Guishan agreed. A donor sent some silk. The master asked, 'The Upādhyāya receives such offerings from a donor; with what will you repay him?' Guishan knocked on his meditation chair to show him. The master said, 'How can the Upādhyāya take the property of the assembly for his own use?' Guishan suddenly asked the master, 'Where have you come from?' The master said, 'I have come from the fields.' Guishan said, 'How many people were in the fields?' The master thrust his spade into the ground and stood there. Guishan said, 'Today on the south mountain there are plenty of people cutting thatch.' The master picked up his spade and walked away. (Xuansha said, 'Had I seen him, I would have kicked over the spade.' A monk asked Jingqing, 'What was the meaning of Yangshan thrusting the spade into the ground?' Jingqing said, 'A dog carries the imperial pardon in its mouth; the feudal lords yield the road.' He also asked, 'What was Xuansha's meaning in kicking over the spade?' Jingqing said, 'Unable to do anything about the boat, one smashes the bailing scoop.' He also asked, 'What was the meaning of cutting thatch on the south mountain?' Jingqing said, 'General Li Jing's third elder brother has long been experienced in battle formations.' Yunju Xi said, 'Tell me, did Jingqing hit the mark with this judgment or not?' Another monk asked Heshan, 'What was the meaning of Yangshan thrusting the spade into the ground?' Heshan said, 'You ask me.' The monk said, 'What was the meaning of Xuansha kicking over the spade?' Heshan said, 'I ask you.') While the master was herding cattle at Guishan, the head monk said, 'On hundreds of millions of hair-tips, hundreds of millions of lions appear.' The master did not answer. He returned and stood in attendance. When the head monk came up to inquire after him, the master brought up the previous remark and asked, 'Just now you said that on hundreds of millions of hair-tips, hundreds of millions of lions appear. Was it not so?' The sthavira said, 'It was.' The master said, 'Right when they appear, do they appear before the hair or behind the hair?' The sthavira said, 'When they appear, one does not speak of before or behind.' The master then went out. Guishan said, 'The lion's back is broken.' The sthavira of Guishan raised his whisk and said, 'If someone can speak a principle, I will give it to him.' The master said, 'I can speak a principle. May I have it?' The sthavira said, 'As long as you can speak a principle, you may have it.' The master then snatched the whisk and walked off with it. (Yunju Xi said, 'Where was Yangshan's principle?') One day rain fell. The sthavira said, 'Good rain, Ācārya Ji!' The master said, 'Where is it good?' The sthavira had no words. The master said, 'I, on the contrary, can say it.' The sthavira said, 'Where is it good?' The master pointed to the rain. Once, when Guishan was strolling with the master, a crow holding a red persimmon dropped it before them. Guishan was about to give it to the master. The master took it, washed it with water, and returned it to Guishan. Guishan said, 'Where did you get this?' The master said, 'This was evoked by the Upādhyāya's virtue and Way.' Guishan said, 'You shouldn't get nothing for it either,' and then divided it in half with the master. (Xuansha said, 'Great and small Guishan was pinned down by Yangshan in one stroke and to this day cannot get up.') Once, while the master was washing his patchwork robe, Danyuan said, 'Right at this very moment, what is happening?' The master said, 'Right at this very moment, where can it be seen?' The master lingered at Guishan for fifteen years in all. Whenever he spoke words, none among the assembly of students failed to submit. Having received Guishan's secret seal, he led an assembly and dwelled on Mount Wangmang. His affinity for transforming others was not yet aligned, so he moved and stayed on Mount Yang, where students gathered in great numbers. The master ascended the hall and instructed the assembly, saying: 'All of you, each of you must turn your light around and reflect back upon yourselves; do not memorize my words. For beginningless kalpas you have turned your backs on the light and plunged into darkness. The roots of your delusive thinking are deep, and it is difficult to uproot them suddenly. Therefore, provisional skillful means are devised to strip away your coarse consciousness, like using yellow leaves to stop a child's crying—what truth is there in it? It is also like a person who stocks hundreds of kinds of goods together with gold and jewels in one shop to sell, only aiming at the weight of the incoming faculties. Therefore it is said: Shitou is a pure gold shop; here of mine is a general store. If someone comes seeking rat dung, I pick it up and give it to him; if he comes seeking pure gold, I also pick it up and give it to him.' At the time a monk asked, 'I do not want rat dung; please give me the Upādhyāya's pure gold.' The master said, 'If you bite the arrowhead intending to open your mouth, you will not understand it even in the year of the donkey.' The monk had no reply. The master said, 'If there is demand and calling, then there is commerce; if there is no demand and calling, then there is none. If I speak of the Chan school, having even one person at my side to keep me company is lacking; how much less five or seven hundred people! If I speak this way and that, you will vie with one another to rush forward and pick it up, like fooling little children with an empty fist, with no reality in it whatsoever. Now I speak clearly to you of matters on the side of the sages: for now, do not try to match your mind to them. Just cultivate in accordance with reality toward your own ocean of nature. You do not need the three clarities and six supernatural penetrations. Why? These are matters on the peripheral side of the sages. For now, you must recognize the mind and penetrate to the root. If you only attain the root, do not worry about the branches. In other days and later times, they will naturally be complete. If you have not attained the root, even if you try to study others with your emotional consciousness, you will not succeed. Have you not seen what Upādhyāya Guishan said? "When the sentiments of ordinary person and sage are exhausted, the body reveals the true and constant; phenomena and principle are not two—this is the Buddha of suchness."' A monk asked, 'What is the ancestral master's intention?' The master drew a circular figure in the air with his hand and wrote the character 'Buddha' inside the figure. The monk had no words. The master said to the head monk, 'Not thinking of good, not thinking of evil, right at this very moment, what is it?' He replied, 'Right at this very moment is where I cast away my body and life.' The master said, 'Why don't you ask this old monk?' He replied, 'Right at this very moment, I do not see that there is an Upādhyāya.' The master said, 'You cannot uphold my teaching.' The master once returned to Guishan to pay his respects. Guishan asked, 'Since you are called a kalyāṇamitra, how do you distinguish whether those coming from all quarters know it is there or do not know it is there, have a master's transmission or have no master's transmission, are scholars of doctrine or scholars of the mysterious? Try to tell me.' The master said, 'Huiji has a testing place: whenever I see a monk come from any quarter, I immediately hold up my whisk and ask him, "Do they also speak of this in all quarters, or do they not speak of it?" Furthermore, I say, "Leaving this aside for now, what is the meaning of the venerable elders in all quarters?"' Guishan sighed and said, 'These are the fangs and claws of our ancestral school from antiquity.' Guishan asked, 'The karmic consciousness of sentient beings across the great earth is vast and indistinct, with no root to rely upon. How do you know whether they have it or do not have it?' The master said, 'Huiji has a testing place.' At that moment a monk walked past in front of them. The master called out, 'Ācārya!' The monk turned his head. The master said, 'Upādhyāya, this very one is vast and indistinct karmic consciousness, with no root to rely upon.' Guishan said, 'This is a single drop of lion's milk, scattering six bushels of donkey's milk.' Minister Zheng Yu asked, 'What is it like when one enters nirvāṇa without severing defilements?' The master held up his whisk. The minister said, 'It would also be fine not to use the word "enter".' The master said, 'The word "enter" is not for the minister.' (Fadeng gave an alternative reply: 'The minister need not be troubled.') The master asked a monk, 'Where have you come from?' He said, 'Youzhou.' The master said, 'I just happen to need news from Youzhou: what is the price of rice there?' He said, 'When I was coming, without reason I passed through the market and trampled down their bridge.' The master then ceased. The master saw a monk coming and held up his whisk. The monk immediately shouted. The master said, 'A shout is not without its point; tell me, where is this old monk's fault?' The monk said, 'It was not fitting for the Upādhyāya to show an objective realm to a person.' The master then struck him. The master asked Xiangyan, 'Junior brother, how has your view been recently?' Xiangyan said, 'I cannot speak of it at once.' He then offered a gāthā: 'Last year's poverty was not yet poverty; / this year's poverty is true poverty. / Last year there was no ground to plant an awl; / this year even the awl is gone.' The master said, 'You have only attained the Tathāgata Chan; you have not yet attained the ancestral master Chan.' (Xuanjue said, 'Tell me, are Tathāgata Chan and ancestral master Chan divided or not?' Changqing Leng said, 'Both are settled at once.') Guishan wrapped up a mirror and sent it to the master. The master ascended the hall, held it up, and said, 'Tell me, is this Guishan's mirror or Yangshan's mirror? If someone can say, I will not smash it.' The assembly had no reply. The master then smashed it. The master asked, 'Junior brother Shuangfeng, how has your view been recently?' He replied, 'According to my view, truly not a single phenomenon can engage the sentiments.' The master said, 'Your understanding is still in the objective realm.' Shuangfeng said, 'Mine is only like this; how is it with elder brother?' The master said, 'Are you without that which is able to know that not a single phenomenon can engage the sentiments?' Guishan heard of this and said, 'A single phrase from Ji completely perplexes the world.' (Xuanjue said, 'The Diamond Sūtra says, "There is truly no phenomenon by which the Buddha Dīpaṃkara bestowed a prediction upon me." He says, "Truly not a single phenomenon can engage the sentiments." Why did he say, "Your understanding is still in the objective realm"? Tell me, where does the crux lie?') A monk asked, 'Does the Dharma body know how to expound the Dharma or not?' The master said, 'I cannot expound it, but someone else can.' The monk said, 'Where is the person who can expound it?' The master pushed forward a pillow. Guishan heard of this and said, 'Ji uses matters on the edge of a sword.' While the master was sitting with his eyes closed, a monk crept over and stood beside him. The master opened his eyes, drew a circular figure on the ground, wrote the character 'water' inside the figure, and looked at the monk. The monk had no words. The master was carrying a staff. A monk asked, 'Where did you get it?' The master immediately swung it behind his back. The monk had no words. The master asked a monk, 'What do you understand?' The monk said, 'I understand divination.' The master held up his whisk and said, 'Among the sixty-four hexagrams, which hexagram encompasses this?' The monk had no reply. The master said on his behalf, 'Just now it was Thunder and Heaven: Great Strength (Dazhuang); now it changes into Earth and Fire: Darkening of the Light (Mingyi).' The master asked a monk, 'What is your name?' He said, 'Lingtong (Numinous Penetration).' The master said, 'Please enter the lantern then.' The monk said, 'I entered it long ago.' (Fayan gave an alternative reply: 'What do you call a lantern?') A monk asked, 'The ancients said, "Upon seeing form, one immediately sees mind." The meditation chair is form; please, Upādhyāya, point out the student's mind apart from form.' The master said, 'Which one is the meditation chair? Point it out.' The monk had no words. (Xuanjue said, 'If suddenly he had pointed right back to the meditation chair, how would it be best to respond to him?' A monk said, 'I ask the Upādhyāya to speak.' Xuanjue clapped his hands three times on his behalf.) A monk asked, 'What is the teacher of Vairocana?' The master shouted at him. He asked again, 'What is the Upādhyāya's teacher?' The master said, 'Do not be impolite.' The master was speaking with a monk. A monk nearby said, 'The one who speaks is Mañjuśrī; the one who is silent is Vimalakīrti.' The master said, 'Is the one who neither speaks nor is silent not you?' The monk fell silent. The master said, 'Why don't you manifest supernatural powers?' The monk said, 'I do not shrink from manifesting supernatural powers; I only fear the Upādhyāya would subsume it under the teachings.' The master said, 'Discerning where you come from, you do not yet have the eye that is outside the teachings.' A monk asked, 'How far apart are heaven and hell?' The master drew a line on the ground with his staff. When the master dwelled at Guanyin, he posted a placard saying, 'While reading the scriptures, one must not ask about matters.' Later a monk came to pay respects, saw the master reading a scripture, and waited standing at his side. The master rolled up the scripture and asked, 'Do you understand?' The monk said, 'I was not reading the scripture, so how could I understand?' The master said, 'You will understand later on.' (That monk arrived at Yantou's place. Yantou asked, 'Where have you come from?' The monk said, 'I have come from Guanyin in Jiangxi.' Yantou said, 'What words did the Upādhyāya have?' The monk brought up the previous remark. Yantou said, 'This old master! I thought he was buried under old paper, but it turns out he is still there.') A monk asked, 'What is the essential meaning of ultimately entering the gate through sudden enlightenment in the Chan school?' The master said, 'This meaning is extremely difficult. If it is someone of superior capacity and superior wisdom under the ancestral masters, who upon hearing one thing awakens to a thousand and attains the great dhāraṇī—people of this capacity are rare. For those of slight capacity and inferior wisdom, the ancient virtues therefore said: "If one does not calm Chan and quiet thought, upon arriving here one will inevitably be entirely at a loss."' The monk said, 'Apart from this exceptional path, is there any other skillful means to enable a student to gain entry?' The master said, 'To say there is another or there is no other makes your mind unsettled. Where are you from?' The monk said, 'A person of Youzhou.' The master said, 'Do you still think of that place?' The monk said, 'I often think of it.' The master said, 'In that place, there are towers, pavilions, groves, and gardens, with people and horses crowding together; in your reflecting back, are there still so many kinds of things?' The monk said, 'When I arrive here, I see nothing whatsoever.' The master said, 'Your understanding is still in the objective realm. It is correct for the stage of faith, but not correct for the stage of person. According to your understanding, you have only attained one mystery. Take your seat and put on your robe; examine yourself hereafter.' The monk bowed in thanks and departed. The master began at Mount Yang and later moved to Guanyin, responding to faculties and benefiting beings, becoming a standard for the Chan school. Several years before his passing, he spoke a gāthā: