景德傳燈錄 14
English (machine translation) 14
- Language
- English
14.1
Dharma heirs of Chan Master Xingsi of Mount Qingyuan in Jizhou
First Generation: one person
Great Master Shitou Xiqian of Nanyue (one person with record)
Second Generation: twenty-one persons
Twenty-one Dharma heirs of Great Master Shitou Xiqian of Nanyue:
Chan Master Daowu of Tianhuang Monastery in Jingzhou
Chan Master Shili of the capital Jingzhao
Chan Master Tianran of Mount Danxia in Dengzhou
Chan Master Huilang of Zhaoti Monastery in Tanzhou
Chan Master Zhenlang of Xingguo Monastery in Changsha
Chan Master Weiyan of Mount Yaoshan in Lizhou
Upādhyāya Dachuan of Tanzhou
Upādhyāya Shilou of Fenzhou
Upādhyāya Fotuo of Famen Monastery in Fengxiang
Upādhyāya Hualin of Tanzhou
Upādhyāya Dadian of Chaozhou
Chan Master Changzi Kuang of Tanzhou
Upādhyāya Shuikong (the above thirteen persons with records)
Chan Master Baotong
Chan Master Dabian of Hailing
Upādhyāya Zhujing
Chan Master Daoshen of Hengzhou
Chan Master Changqing of Hanzhou
Upādhyāya Suishi of Fuzhou
Upādhyāya Shangling of Shangzhou
Upādhyāya Yixing of Changzhou (the above eight persons have no recorded encounters or sayings, and are omitted)
Third Generation: twenty-three persons
One Dharma heir of Chan Master Tianhuang Daowu of Jingzhou:
Chan Master Longtan Chongxin of Lizhou (one person with record)
Seven Dharma heirs of Chan Master Tianran of Mount Danxia in Dengzhou:
Chan Master Cuiwei Wuxue of the capital Jingzhao
Chan Master Yi'an of Mount Danxia
Chan Master Xingkong of Jizhou
Upādhyāya Bentong
Upādhyāya Micang (the above five persons with records)
Chan Master Dayin of Liuhe in Yangzhou
Chan Master Huiqin of Mount Danxia (the above two persons have no recorded encounters or sayings, and are omitted)
Ten Dharma heirs of Upādhyāya Yaoshan Weiyan:
Chan Master Yuanzhi of Mount Daowu in Tanzhou
Chan Master Yunyan Tansheng of Tanzhou
Chan Master Chuanzi Decheng of Huating
Chan Master Pishu Huisheng of Xuanzhou
Novice Monk Gao of Yaoshan
Chan Master Baiyan Mingzhe of Ezhou (the above six persons with records)
Chan Master Guangfu of Mount Jingyuan in Yingzhou
Chan Master Kui of Yaoshan
Upādhyāya Luoxia of Xuanzhou
Li Ao, Prefect of Langzhou (the above four persons have no recorded encounters or sayings, and are omitted)
One Dharma heir of Chan Master Changzi Kuang of Tanzhou:
Upādhyāya Shishi Shandao of Tanzhou (one person with record)
Two Dharma heirs of Upādhyāya Dadian of Chaozhou:
Chan Master Sanping Yizhong of Zhangzhou (one person with record)
Upādhyāya Shushan of Jizhou (one person has no recorded encounters or sayings, and is omitted)
Two Dharma heirs of Upādhyāya Dachuan of Tanzhou:
Upādhyāya Xiantian
Upādhyāya Puguang of Fuzhou (the above two persons with records)
14.2
Chan Master Xingsi, First Generation
14.3
Great Master Shitou Xiqian was a native of Gaoyao in Duanzhou. His secular surname was Chen. When his mother first conceived him, she disliked fish and meat. Even as an infant, the Master gave his wet nurse no trouble. Once he came of age, he was self-reliant and true to his word. The indigenous tribes of his village feared ghosts and spirits and performed many improper sacrifices, habitually slaughtering cattle and pouring libations of wine. The Master would go straight there, demolish their shrines, seize the cattle, and return; each year this numbered in the dozens, and the village elders could not stop him. Later, he went directly to Caoxi, where the Sixth Ancestor received him as a disciple. Before he was fully ordained, the Ancestor passed into nirvāṇa. Following the posthumous instruction, he went to visit Chan Master Si at Mount Qingyuan in Luling, and followed him with robes gathered up (the phrases of their encounter are related in the chapter on Chan Master Si). One day, Si asked the Master: "Someone says there is news from Lingnan." The Master said: "Someone does not say so." Si said: "If so, from where did the great and small canons come?" The Master said: "They all come from right here; nothing is lacking from the start." Si deeply approved of this. In the beginning of the Tianbao era of the Tang dynasty, the Master was recommended to the South Monastery on Mount Heng. To the east of the monastery there was a boulder shaped like a terrace, so he built a hermitage upon it; at the time he was known as Upādhyāya Shitou ('Stone'). One day, the Master entered the hall and said: "My dharma-gate has been transmitted from the former Buddhas: it does not speak of meditation or vigorous practice, but of attaining the knowledge and vision of the Buddhas, that this mind is itself the Buddha. Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings, bodhi and defilements, differ in name but are one in essence. You should all know that the spiritual substance of your own minds is free from annihilation and permanence, its nature neither defiled nor pure. Serene and complete, commoner and sage are equal in it; its functioning is boundless, separated from mind, intellect, and consciousness. The three realms and six destinies appear only from one's own mind. How could the moon in the water or images in a mirror have arising and ceasing? If you can know this, nothing will be lacking." At that time, his disciple Daowu asked: "Who attains the essential meaning of Caoxi?" The Master said: "One who understands the Buddha-Dharma attains it." Daowu said: "Does the Master still attain it?" The Master said: "I do not understand the Buddha-Dharma." A monk asked: "What is liberation?" The Master said: "Who is binding you?" He also asked: "What is the pure land?" The Master said: "Who is defiling you?" He asked: "What is nirvāṇa?" The Master said: "Who gave you birth-and-death?" The Master asked a newly arrived monk: "Where do you come from?" The monk said: "From Jiangxi." The Master said: "Did you see Great Master Ma?" The monk said: "I saw him." The Master then pointed to a block of firewood and said: "What does Master Ma resemble compared to this?" The monk had no answer; he returned and cited it to Great Master Ma. Ma said: "Did you see how big the block of firewood was?" The monk said: "Immeasurably big." Ma said: "You are very strong." The monk said: "Why?" Ma said: "You carried a block of firewood from Nanyue; are you not strong?" A monk asked: "What is the meaning of the [ancestor's] coming from the West?" The Master said: "Go ask the exposed pillar." The monk said: "This student does not understand." The Master said: "I understand even less." Dadian asked the Master: "The ancients said that speaking of existence and speaking of non-existence are two slanders. I request the Master to eliminate them." The Master said: "Not a single thing exists; what would you eliminate?" The Master then asked: "Leave aside throat, lips, and tongue, and say something!" Dadian said: "There is no such thing." The Master said: "If so, then you have managed to enter the gate." Daowu asked: "What is the great meaning of the Buddha-Dharma?" The Master said: "Not attaining, not knowing." Daowu said: "Is there still any turning point in the transcendental?" The Master said: "The vast sky does not obstruct the flight of white clouds." A monk asked: "What is Chan?" The Master said: "A brick." He also asked: "What is the Way?" The Master said: "A piece of wood." As for how his other disciples received the message, their questions and answers appear in their respective chapters. The Master composed a work titled *Cantongqi* (Harmony of Difference and Sameness); its language and meaning are subtle and profound, and it is widely circulated in the world with numerous commentaries. The spirits and deities of Mount Nanyue frequently manifested traces to listen to the Dharma, and the Master gave precepts to all of them. In the second year of Guangde, his disciples invited him down to Liangduan, where he widely propagated the profound transformation. Jiangxi was presided over by Daji (Mazu); Hunan was presided over by Shitou. Travelers bustling back and forth flocked together to the gates of these two great beings. On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the sixth year of Zhenyuan, a gengwu year, he passed away. He was ninety-one years old, with sixty-three years in the monastic order. His disciples erected a stūpa for him on the Eastern Ridge. During the Changqing era, he was posthumously granted the title Great Master Wuji ('Boundless'), and his stūpa was named Jianxiang ('Seeing the Characteristics').
14.4
Chan Master Xingsi, Second Generation
14.5
Dharma Heirs of the Preceding Shitou Xiqian
14.6
Chan Master Daowu of Tianhuang Monastery in Jingzhou was a native of Dongyang in Wuzhou. His surname was Zhang. His spiritual demeanor was outstandingly exceptional; from childhood he had innate knowledge, and as he grew up he was endowed with extraordinary spirit. At the age of fourteen he earnestly sought to leave home, but his parents would not permit it. Thereupon he made a vow to reduce his food and drink; eating only one meal a day, his body became emaciated. His parents had no choice but to give their permission. Relying upon a Venerable of Mingzhou, he was tonsured. At the age of twenty-five he received the full precepts at Zhulin Monastery in Hangzhou, diligently cultivating pure conduct, and was commended as vigorous. Sometimes, in wind, rain, and dark nights, he would sit peacefully in burial mounds; with body and mind tranquil, he was free from all terrors. One day he travelled to Yuhang and first called upon Chan Master Guoyi of Jingshan, receiving the mind-dharma and serving him diligently for five years. During the Dali era of the Tang, he arrived at Zhongling and visited Great Master Ma. [Master Ma] confirmed his prior realization again, and the Dharma was without divergent teachings. He stayed for two more summers. Then he called upon Great Master Shitou Qian and asked, 'Leaving aside concentration and wisdom, by what dharma do you show people?' Shitou said, 'Here I have no slaves or maidservants; what is there to leave aside?' He said, 'How can one understand it?' Shitou said, 'Can you grasp space?' He said, 'If so, then it does not go from today.' Shitou said, 'I do not know what time you came from over there.' He said, 'Daowu is not a person from over there.' Shitou said, 'I already knew where you came from.' He said, 'Master, why are you falsely incriminating someone?' Shitou said, 'Your body is visibly present.' He said, 'Even if it is so, after all, how should one show it to later people?' Shitou said, 'Tell me, who are later people?' From this the Master had a sudden awakening. Under the words of the two former philosophical adepts, his clinging mind was completely cleared of all traces. Later he divined a dwelling at Mount Chaizi in Dangyang of Jingzhou (the place where the five hundred arhats soared and roamed). Students attached themselves to him, crowding shoulder to shoulder and heel to toe; ladies and gentlemen from the capital arrived following his fame. At that time, the head monk of Chongye Monastery submitted a report to the military commissioner, who welcomed him into the prefectural city. To the left of the city was Tianhuang Monastery, which was a famous monastery; it had been destroyed by fire. The supervising monk of the monastery, Lingjian, intending to restore it, said, 'If we could obtain Chan Master Wu to be the presiding leader of conversion, he would surely bring us blessings.' Thereupon, in the middle of the night, he went secretly and made a tearful request, bringing him in a sedan chair. Thus he resided at Tianhuang. At that time, Pei Gong, the governor of Jiangling and Right Grand Counselor, bowed and asked about the Dharma, performing ceremonies with utmost diligence. The Master was not in the habit of welcoming or sending off guests; whether noble or humble, he sat and bowed to all alike. Pei Gong took refuge in him all the more. Because of this, Shitou's Dharma-way flourished at this seat. A monk asked, 'What is the subtle and profound teaching?' The Master said, 'Do not say that I understand the Buddha-dharma.' The monk said, 'What should be done about the student's doubts and blockages?' The Master said, 'Why not ask the old monk?' The monk said, 'I have already asked.' The Master said, 'Go! This is not your place to settle.' In the fourth month of the dinghai year of Yuanhe, the Master showed illness; he ordered his disciples to announce his passing in advance. When the last day of the month arrived, the assembly asked after his illness. The Master suddenly called the head of the kitchen. The head of the kitchen stepped forward. The Master said, 'Do you understand?' He replied, 'I do not understand.' The Master then picked up a pillow, tossed it onto the ground, and immediately passed away. His age was sixty; his monastic age was thirty-five. On the fifth day of the eighth month of that year, a stūpa was erected for him to the east of the prefecture. (Venerable Jiyin said: 'Chan Master Daowu of Tianwang Monastery in Jingzhou: as recorded in the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, it says: "Daowu attained the Dharma from Shitou; the monastery where he resided was called Tianhuang; he was a native of Dongyang in Wuzhou, with the surname Zhang. He left home at the age of fourteen, was tonsured under a Venerable of Mingzhou, received the full precepts at Zhulin Monastery in Hangzhou at the age of twenty-five, first called upon Chan Master Guoyi of Jingshan, serving him diligently for five years. During the Dali era he arrived at Zhongling and called upon Great Master Ma, spending two summers, and then visited Shitou. In the fourth month of the dinghai year of Yuanhe he showed illness; his age was sixty and his monastic age was thirty-five." Yet when inspecting the Five Houses' Lineages compiled by Chan Master Daguan Ying, it says: "Daowu was a successor of Mazu." It cites a stele inscription of several thousand characters composed by Qiu Xuansu of the Tang, which says in brief: "The Master was named Daowu, a native of Zhugong whose surname was Cui; he was a descendant of Ziyu. At the age of fifteen he left home under Vinaya Master Tanzhu at Changsha Monastery. At twenty-three he went to Mount Song and received the precepts (śīla) from a master of Vinaya virtue. He called upon Shitou and knocked at the quietude for two years without any awakening. Then he entered Chang'an and drew close to National Teacher Zhong. At thirty-four, together with his attendant Yingzhen, he returned south to call upon Great Master Ma and had a great awakening under his words. [Mazu] instructed him, saying, 'In other days, do not leave your old place.' Therefore he returned again to Zhugong. In the fourth month of the wuxu year, the thirteenth year of Yuanhe, he first showed illness; on the thirteenth day he returned to stillness, his age being eighty-two and his monastic age sixty-three." Examining their biographies, they appear genuinely to be two different people. What Xuansu recorded says: "There was one person who transmitted the Dharma, Chongxin, who resided at Longtan in Lizhou." The stele of Chan Master Rang of Nanyue, composed by the celebrated Tang writer Gui Deng, lists several Dharma-grandsons at the end, among whom is the name Daowu. Guifeng's Statement on the Tenets of the Sects in Response to Chancellor Pei lists six successors of Mazu, the first of whom is Daowu of Jiangling, with a note below: "Concurrently received from Jingshan." Today, those who falsely engage in disputes between the two schools of Yunmen and Linji are laughable.' Taken from the Linjian lu. ○ The Preface to the Re-collated Lineages of the Five Houses from the Juemeng Hall says: 'During the Jingde era, the Wu monk Daoyuan compiled the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp in thirty fascicles. Below Caoxi, it divides into two branches: one is Rang of Nanyue, and from Rang came Great Master Ma; one is Si of Qingyuan, and from Si came Qian of Shitou. From these two branches, five houses were further divided: Great Master Ma produced eighty-four kalyāṇamitras, among whom was Hai of Baizhang; Hai produced two people, Yun of Huangbo and You of Dahui; below Yun came Xuan of Linji, hence called the Linji school; below You came Ji of Yangshan, hence called the Weiyang school. Among the eighty-four people there was also Wu of Tianwang; Wu attained Xin of Longtan; Xin attained Jian of Deshan; Jian attained Cun of Xuefeng; below Cun came Yan of Yunmen, called the Yunmen school; next was Bei of Xuansha; Bei produced Chen of Dizang; Chen produced Yi of Qingliang, called the Fayan school. Next, Shitou Qian produced two people: Yan of Yaoshan and Wu of Tianhuang. Below Wu, he attained Huizhen; Zhen attained Youxian; Xian attained Wenfen; after three generations it ended. Only Yaoshan attained Sheng of Yunyan; Sheng attained Jie of Dongshan; Jie attained Zhang of Caoshan; this is the Caodong school. Now the Transmission of the Lamp instead places both the Yunmen and Fayan schools under Shitou, which is an error. This is because at that time there were two people named Daowu: one was Daowu of Tianwang Monastery west of Jiangling City, a native of Zhugong and descendant of Cui Ziyu, who succeeded Mazu and died on the thirteenth day of the fourth month of the thirteenth year of Yuanhe. The Grand Master of Closing Court Counsel Qiu Xuansu composed his stūpa inscription, a text of several thousand words, which says in brief: "Mazu instructed him, 'In other days, do not leave your old place.' Therefore he returned again to Zhugong." The other was Daowu of Tianhuang Monastery east of Jiangling City, a native of Dongyang in Wuzhou with the surname Zhang, who succeeded Shitou and died in the dinghai year, the second year of Yuanhe. Gentleman of the Musical Pitch Fu Zai composed his stūpa inscription. The origins and life-details recorded in the two steles are very detailed. However, because on the day Daoyuan collected the Transmission of the Lamp he did not personally go to seek them out one by one, but merely relied on indirect reports gathered through others, his falling into error is understandable. From the Jingde era down to the present, all under heaven take the Transmission of the Lamp as the standard; even those who occupy seats in renowned monasteries and establish schools are unable to investigate and discern this in the least. Only the two gentlemen, Prime Minister Layman Wujin Zhang Gong and Lü Xiaqing, whenever discussing matters in the ancestral school, used to say: "Shitou had Yaoshan, and Yaoshan had the one school of Caodong, whose doctrine, practice, fruit, and discourses are subtle and winding. Moreover, under Daowu of Tianhuang there emerged a Diamond Zhou, who berated the wind and cursed the rain, so that even Buddhas and Patriarchs dared not face his sharp edge. We fear that from Tianhuang's place there may be an error." Venerable Jiyin also once doubted this, saying, "There seem to be two Daowus." Layman Wujin later obtained the stūpa record of Daowu of Tianhuang composed by Fu Zai of the Tang from Chan Master Daguan Ying, and also obtained the stūpa record of Daowu of Tianwang composed by Qiu Xuansu. Carrying them, he showed them everywhere in all directions, saying: "I used to wonder why Deshan and Dongshan, both emerging under Shitou, had such different ways of using killing and bringing to life when letting down their hands. Now, verifying it with these two records of Qiu and Fu, it is clearly luminous; only now do I trust that my discernment of Dharma and testing of men is not mistaken." Jiyin said: "Guifeng's Statement on the Tenets of the Sects in Response to Chancellor Pei lists six successors of Mazu, the first of whom is Daowu of Jiangling, with a note below: 'Concurrently received from Jingshan.' Today, those who falsely engage in disputes between the two schools of Yunmen and Linji are laughable." This outline is briefly written down so that it may be passed on, in the hope that clear-sighted people may know that the orthodox lineages of the Five Houses are simply like this.)'
14.7
Chan Master Shili of the Capital District first asked Shitou, 'What is the student's fundamental task?' Shitou said, 'Why seek from me?' He said, 'If not seeking from the Master, how can it be attained?' Shitou said, 'Did you ever lose it?' The Master thereupon accorded with its purport.
14.8
Chan Master Danxia Tianran of Dengzhou was a man of unknown origin. At first he studied Confucian learning, and was about to enter Chang'an to sit for the civil examinations. While lodging at an inn, he suddenly dreamed that white light filled his room. A diviner said, "This is an auspicious sign of comprehending emptiness." By chance, a Chan traveler asked him, "Where is the benevolent one going?" He said, "I am going to be selected as an official." The Chan traveler said, "How can being selected as an official compare to being selected as a Buddha?" He said, "Where should one go to be selected as a Buddha?" The Chan traveler said, "Presently, Great Master Ma has appeared in the world in Jiangxi. That is the arena for selecting Buddhas; the benevolent one may go there." He then went straight to Jiangxi. As soon as he saw Great Master Ma, he supported his turban headband with his hand. Master Ma gazed at him for a long time and said, "Shitou of Nanyue is your teacher." He immediately went to Nanyue and presented his previous aspiration to him. Shitou said, "Go to the stables and sheds." The Master bowed in thanks and entered the postulants' quarters, where he took his turn tending the kitchen fires for three years altogether. One day, Shitou suddenly announced to the assembly, "Tomorrow we will cut down the grass in front of the Buddha shrine." When the next day came, the monks and postulants all prepared hoes and mattocks to cut down the grass. Only the Master filled a basin with water, washed his head, and knelt on his knees before the upādhyāya. Shitou saw this, smiled, and shaved his head for him. He also explained the precepts to him, but the Master covered his ears and walked out. He then went to Jiangxi to call on Master Ma again. Before making his bow, he entered the monks' hall, mounted the neck of the sacred monk [statue], and sat there. At that time, the assembly was startled and alarmed, and hastily reported it to Master Ma. Master Ma personally entered the hall, looked at him, and said, "My child, [you are] so natural (tianran)." The Master immediately got down to the ground, bowed, and said, "I thank the Master for bestowing my Dharma name." He was therefore named Tianran. Master Ma asked, "Where do you come from?" The Master said, "From Shitou." Master Ma said, "The road on the stone (shitou) is slippery; did you slip and fall?" The Master said, "If I had slipped and fallen, I would not have come." Thereupon, he took his staff to observe the different regions. He stayed at Huading Peak on Mount Tiantai for three years, and then went to Mount Jingshan in Yuhang to pay homage to Chan Master Guoyi. During the Yuanhe era of the Tang, he arrived at Xiangshan in Longmen, Luoyang, and became an intimate friend of the Upādhyāya of Mount Funiu. Later, at Huilin Temple, encountering bitterly cold weather, the Master took a wooden Buddha and burned it. Someone criticized him. The Master said, "I am burning it to obtain relics (śarīra)." The person said, "How could there be any in a piece of wood?" The Master said, "If so, why do you reproach me?" One day, the Master called on National Teacher Zhong. First he asked the attendant, "Is the National Teacher in?" He replied, "He is in, but he is not seeing guests." The Master said, "How excessively deep and remote!" The attendant said, "Even the Buddha eye cannot see him." The Master said, "A dragon gives birth to a dragon's child; a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix's chick." When the National Teacher woke up from his sleep, the attendant reported this to him. The National Teacher then gave the attendant twenty blows with his staff and dismissed him. When Danxia later heard of this, he said, "Truly, he is not mistakenly called the National Teacher of Nanyang." The next day, he went back to pay homage. Seeing the National Teacher, he immediately spread his sitting cloth. The National Teacher said, "No need, no need." The Master stepped back. The National Teacher said, "Just so, just so." The Master stepped forward again. The National Teacher said, "Not so, not so." The Master circled the National Teacher once and walked out. The National Teacher said, "The time of the sages is far off, and people are largely indolent. Thirty years from now, it will be hard to find another fellow like this." The Master visited Layman Pang and saw his daughter picking vegetables. The Master said, "Is the layman in?" The girl put down her basket, folded her hands, and stood still. The Master said again, "Is the layman in?" The girl simply picked up her basket and walked away. In the third year of the Yuanhe era, the Master lay stretched across Tianjin Bridge. It happened that Administrator Zheng came out and reprimanded him, but he did not get up. An official asked him the reason, and the Master said slowly, "A monk of no affairs." The administrator marvelled at him and offered bundles of plain silk and two sets of robes, and supplied rice and flour daily. The people of Luoyang turned to him in faith as one. In the spring of the fifteenth year, he said to his disciples, "I am thinking of a place among the forests and springs to end my days." At that time, his disciple Lingqi was just divining a site at Mount Danxia in Nanyang, building a hermitage to attend to him. Within three years, students of the profound arrived to the number of over three hundred, and the assembly constructed a great monastery. The Master went up to the hall and said: "All of you people must definitely protect this single luminous thing. It is not something you can fabricate or name and depict. What more is there to say about grasping or not grasping it? When I met Upādhyāya Shitou in former days, he also only taught that one must definitely protect it oneself. This matter is not something you can talk about. Every single one of you has the ground of your own sitting cloth—what more do you doubt? Could Chan be something you can understand? How could there be a Buddha to become? The single word 'Buddha' I never like to hear. Look for yourselves: skillful means, compassion, joy, and equanimity are not obtained from outside, nor do they adhere to your mind. Skillful means is Mañjuśrī; expedient practice is Samantabhadra. What more do you intend to chase after? Without using scriptures, do not fall into emptiness. Modern students bustle about in confusion, all practicing Chan and inquiring about the Way. Here with me, there is no Way to cultivate, and no Dharma to realize. A single drink and a single peck each have their own share; there is no need for doubt and hesitation. Everywhere, in every place, there is this sort of thing. If you recognize Śākyamuni, he is just this ordinary person. You must look for yourselves! Do not let one blind person lead a crowd of blind people into a pit of fire together. Playing double-sixes in the dark of night, competing for the prize—how could that ever come to anything? Take care of yourselves, with nothing to do." A monk came to study. Seeing the Master at the foot of the mountain, he asked, "Which way does Mount Danxia go?" The Master pointed to the mountain and said, "The deep, dark green place." The monk said, "Could it be just this?" The Master said, "A true lion's cub turns around with just a nudge." The Master asked a monk, "Where did you stay overnight?" He said, "I stayed at the foot of the mountain." The Master said, "Where did you eat?" He said, "I ate at the foot of the mountain." The Master said, "Does the person who gave the food to the ācārya to eat possess eyes or not?" The monk had no reply. (Changqing cited this and asked Baofu, "Giving food to someone to eat entails a share of gratitude. Why would he not possess eyes?" Baofu said, "Both the giver and the receiver are blind fellows." Changqing said, "Exerting the function to the utmost, how is it then?" Baofu said, "Could one say that I am blind?" Xuanjue questioned this, saying, "Tell me, did Changqing understand Danxia's meaning, or was he using his own family possessions?") On the twenty-third day of the sixth month in the fourth year of Changqing, the Master said to his disciples, "Prepare hot water for bathing; I wish to go." He then put on his bamboo hat, took up his staff, put on his sandals, and let down one foot, which had not yet touched the ground when he transformed. His age was eighty-six. His disciples carved stone to make a stupa. By imperial decree, he was posthumously titled Chan Master Zhitong, and the stupa was named Miaojue.
14.9
Chan Master Zhaoti Huilang of Tanzhou was a native of Qujiang in Shixing. His surname was Ouyang. At the age of thirteen, he had his head shaved under Chan Master Mo of Denglin Temple. At seventeen, he traveled to Nanyue. At twenty, he received full ordination at Yue Temple. He went to Mount Gonggong in Qianzhou to call on Daji. Daji asked, "What do you seek in coming here?" The Master said, "I seek the Buddha's knowledge and vision." Daji said, "The Buddha has no knowledge and vision. Knowledge and vision belong to the realm of Māra. You come from Nanyue, yet it seems you have not seen the essential mind of Caoxi at Shitou. You should go back." Receiving his instruction, the Master returned to Nanyue and went to Shitou. He asked, "What is the Buddha?" Shitou said, "You do not have Buddha-nature." The Master said, "What about wriggling and crawling sentient beings?" Shitou said, "Wriggling and crawling sentient beings, on the contrary, have Buddha-nature." The Master said, "Why is it that Huilang does not have it?" Shitou said, "Because you are not willing to take responsibility for it." At these words, the Master had faith and entered in. Later he resided at Zhaoti Temple in Liangduan, not stepping out of the gate for more than thirty years. Whenever students came to study, he would say to all of them, "Go, go! You have no Buddha-nature." His way of meeting faculties was generally like this. (At that time he was called Chan Master Dalang.)
14.10
Chan Master Zhenlang of Xingguo Temple in Changsha first called on Shitou and asked, "What is the meaning of the Ancestral Master's coming from the West?" Shitou said, "Ask the exposed pillar." The Master said, "Zhenlang does not understand." Shitou said, "I understand even less." The Master was suddenly enlightened. After taking up residence, a monk came to call on him. The Master called out to him, "Sthavira!" The monk answered. The Master said, "You have let it go to waste." The monk said, "Why does the Master not look clearly?" The Master wiped his eyes and looked at him. The monk was speechless. (At that time he was called Chan Master Xiaolang.)
14.11
Chan Master Yaoshan Weiyan of Lizhou was a man from Jiangzhou with the surname Han. At the age of seventeen, he left home under Chan Master Huizhao of Xishan in Chaoyang. In the eighth year of the Dali era of the Tang, he received the precepts under Vinaya Master Xicao of Mount Heng. He then said, "A great man should leave phenomena and be self-purified; how could he fussily attend to trivial details of conduct upon a cloth napkin?" He immediately went to call on Shitou and secretly comprehended the profound meaning. One day, while the Master was sitting, Shitou saw him and asked, "What are you doing here?" He said, "I am not doing anything at all." Shitou said, "If so, you are sitting idly." He said, "If I were sitting idly, that would be doing something." Shitou said, "You say you are not doing anything; what is it that you are not doing?" He said, "Even the thousand sages do not know." Shitou praised him with a verse:
14.12
"Always dwelling together without knowing the name, / Following its nature, moving along just so. / Since antiquity, even the highest sages have not known it; / How could the hasty, ordinary run of people understand it?"
14.13
Shitou once offered this saying: “Speaking and moving have no concern [with it].”
The Master said, “Not speaking and not moving also have no concern [with it].”
Shitou said, “Here, not even a needle can insert.”
The Master said, “Here, it is like planting flowers on top of a rock.”
Shitou approved of him.
Later, the Master resided at Yaoshan in Lizhou, where followers gathered like clouds from the oceans. (For his extensive sayings, see another fascicle.)
One day while the Master was reading a sūtra, Boyan said, “The Upādhyāya can give up deceiving people!”
The Master rolled up the sūtra and said, “What time of day is it?”
[Boyan] said, “Right at noon.”
The Master said, “There are still these literary patterns here.”
[Boyan] said, “This one possesses neither, and has nothing.”
The Master said, “You are exceedingly clever.”
[Boyan] said, “This one is just like this. What is the Upādhyāya’s venerable mind?”
The Master said, “I am lame and hobbled, with a hundred uglinesses and a thousand clumsinesses, just passing the time like this.”
The Master was talking with Daowu, saying, “Mingxi was a regional inspector in a previous lifetime.”
Wu said, “What was the Upādhyāya in a previous lifetime?”
The Master said, “Paralysed and emaciated, I just pass the time like this.”
Wu said, “Relying on what are you like this?”
The Master said, “I have never unrolled other people’s scrolls.” (Shishuang gave an alternate phrase: “The scrolls have never been unrolled.”)
The director of affairs announced, “The bell has been struck; we invite the Upādhyāya to ascend the hall.”
The Master said, “Go carry my almsbowl for me.”
[The director] said, “How long has the Upādhyāya been without hands?”
The Master said, “You merely wear the kāṣāya in vain.”
[The director] said, “This one is just like this. What about the Upādhyāya?”
The Master said, “I have no such family dependents.”
The Master saw the head gardener planting vegetables. The Master said, “As for planting, I do not hinder your planting, but do not let roots grow.”
[The gardener] said, “If no roots are allowed to grow, what will the great assembly eat?”
The Master said, “Do you still have a mouth?”
There was no reply.
A monk asked, “How can one avoid being deluded by the various sense-objects?”
The Master said, “Let them be—how do they hinder you?”
[The monk] said, “I do not understand.”
The Master said, “What sense-object deludes you?”
A monk asked, “What is the supreme jewel within the Way?”
The Master said, “Do not be flattering or devious.”
[The monk] said, “What about when one is not flattering or devious?”
The Master said, “It would not be exchanged for an entire state.”
A monk came back to rely [on the Master]. The Master asked, “Who are you?”
[The monk] said, “Changtan.”
The Master scolded him, saying, “Before it was also Changtan, and afterwards it is also Changtan!”
One day the director of affairs invited the Master to ascend the hall. Just as the great assembly gathered, the Master remained silent for a long time, then straightaway returned to the abbot's quarters and shut the door.
The director of affairs followed behind and said, “The Upādhyāya promised this one to ascend the hall. Why did you instead return to the abbot's quarters?”
The Master said, “Director of affairs, for sūtras there are sūtra masters; for treatises there are treatise masters; for vinaya there are vinaya masters. How could you blame this old monk?”
The Master asked Yunyan, “What are you doing?”
Yan said, “Carrying nightsoil.”
The Master said, “Where is that one?”
Yan said, “Present.”
The Master said, “For whose sake do you go back and forth?”
[Yan] said, “Doing it in place of that other one, east and west.”
The Master said, “Why not make them walk side by side?”
Yan said, “Upādhyāya, do not slander that one.”
The Master said, “It was not fitting to say so.”
[Yan] said, “How should it be said?”
The Master said, “Did you ever carry [it]?”
While the Master was sitting, a monk asked, “Immovably still, what are you thinking of?”
The Master said, “Thinking of that which does not think.”
[The monk] said, “How can one think of that which does not think?”
The Master said, “Non-thinking.”
A monk asked, “What about when a student intends to return to his home village?”
The Master said, “Your father and mother are covered with red rot, lying within a thicket of brambles and thorns—to what place would you return?”
The monk said, “If so, then I shall not return.”
The Master said, “You, however, must return. If you return to your home village, I will show you a prescription for abstaining from grain.”
The monk said, “Please provide it.”
The Master said, “During the two times when ascending the hall, you must not bite through a single grain of rice.”
A monk asked, “What is nirvāṇa?”
The Master said, “Before you opened your mouth, what was it called?”
The Master saw Zun of the cloth robe washing a Buddha statue, and asked, “This one is washed by you, but can you wash that one?”
Zun said, “Bring that one here.”
The Master then left it at that. (Changqing said, “Deviant dharma is difficult to support.” Xuanjue said, “Tell me, does Changqing’s saying this stand with the guest or with the host? In the assembly, it is called the ‘Buddha-washing phrase’, and also called the ‘phrase of accompaniment’. Tell me, is it completely good or not completely good?”)
A monk asked, saying, “The student has a doubt; please, Master, resolve it.”
The Master said, “Wait until ascending the hall, and come; I will resolve the doubt for the ācārya.”
When evening came and he ascended the hall, the great assembly had settled in. The Master said, “Today the sthavira who requested to have a doubt resolved—in what place is he?”
The monk stepped out from the assembly and stood. The Master stepped down from the meditation seat, seized him, and said, “Great assembly, this monk has a doubt!”
He then pushed him aside and returned to the abbot's quarters. (Xuanjue said, “Tell me, did he resolve the doubt for him or not? If he resolved the doubt, what place was the resolution of the doubt? If he did not resolve the doubt for him, why did he say, ‘Wait until ascending the hall, and I will resolve the doubt for you’?”)
The Master asked the rice-cook, “How long have you been here?”
[The cook] said, “Three years.”
The Master said, “I do not know you at all.”
The rice-cook could not fathom it; he departed in anger.
A monk asked, “What about the urgent point of life and limb?”
The Master said, “Do not plant varied seeds.”
[The monk] said, “With what should offerings be made?”
The Master said, “One who has nothing.”
The Master instructed the master of offerings to collect donations. Practitioner Gan asked, “From what place have you come?”
The monk said, “I have come from Yaoshan.”
Gan said, “Why have you come?”
The monk said, “To convert and solicit.”
Gan said, “Did you bring medicine along?”
[The monk] said, “What illness does the practitioner have?”
Gan thereupon gave two ingots of silver, saying, “If there is a person, then deliver it; if there is no person, then drop it.”
The Master wondered at the monk's too-hasty return.
The monk said, “Questions on the Buddha-Dharma were matched, and I obtained two ingots of silver.”
The Master had him relate his words. When he had related them, the Master ordered the monk to return it quickly to Practitioner Gan’s house.
When the practitioner saw the monk return, he said, “The monk has arrived,” and added more silver to bestow upon him. (Tong’an said in his place, “Had I known earlier that the practitioner would ask like that, I would never have said I came from Yaoshan.”)
The Master asked a monk, “I hear it said that you understand how to calculate true and false fortunes.”
[The monk] said, “I would not presume.”
The Master said, “You try calculating for this old monk and see.”
The monk had no reply. (Yunyan later brought this up and asked Dongshan, “What would you say?” Dongshan said, “Please [tell me] the Upādhyāya’s date of birth.”)
The Master wrote the character ‘Buddha’ and asked Daowu, “What character is this?”
Wu said, “The character ‘Buddha’.”
The Master said, “Chatterbox ācārya!”
A monk asked, “One's own matter is not yet clear; I beg the Upādhyāya's instruction.”
The Master remained silent for a long while and said, “For me to speak a sentence for you now is also not difficult; it is only proper that you perceive it right under the words, which would still be somewhat better. If you further enter into thinking, it will instead become my transgression. It is better that each of us close our mouths for now, to avoid burdening one another.”
When the great assembly gathered for evening instruction, no lamps were lit. The Master offered this saying: “I have a single sentence; I will wait until a bull gives birth to a calf, and then speak it to you.”
At that time, a monk said, “The bull has already given birth to a calf; why not speak it?”
The Master said, “Bring a lamp!”
The monk drew back and entered the assembly. (Yunyan later brought this up to Dongshan. Dongshan said, “This monk did understand, but was merely unwilling to make prostrations.”)
A monk asked, “Before the Ancestral Master came to this land, was there still the Ancestral Master's intention in this land or not?”
The Master said, “There was.”
The monk said, “Since there was the Ancestral Master's intention, why did he come again?”
The Master said, “Precisely because it was there, that is why he came.”
The Master was reading a sūtra. A monk asked, “The Upādhyāya usually does not permit people to read sūtras; why do you read them yourself?”
The Master said, “I merely aim to cover my eyes.”
[The monk] said, “May this one learn from the Upādhyāya or not?”
The Master said, “If it were you, even an ox hide would have to be seen through!” (Changqing said, “What fault do eyes have?” Xuanjue said, “Tell me, did Changqing understand Yaoshan's intention or not?”)
Li Ao, the governor of Liangzhou, was drawn to the Master’s mystical teaching, but despite repeated invitations [the Master] did not rise. [Li Ao] therefore personally entered the mountain to visit him. The Master held the scroll of a sūtra and did not look back. The attendant reported, “The prefect is here.”
Ao, by nature narrow-minded and impatient, thereupon said, “Seeing your face is not as good as hearing your name!”
The Master called out, “Prefect!”
Ao responded, “Yes!”
The Master said, “Why do you value ears and despise eyes?”
Ao clasped his hands and thanked him, asking, “What is the Way?”
The Master pointed up and down with his finger, saying, “Do you understand?”
Ao said, “I do not understand.”
The Master said, “Clouds in the sky, water in the pitcher.”
Ao was thoroughly pleased, bowed in reverence, and composed a verse:
14.14
Tempering the bodily form until it resembles a crane’s shape, / Beneath a thousand pines, two cases of sūtras. / I came asking of the Way, with no further words spoken: / Clouds in the blue sky, water in the pitcher.
14.15
(Xuanjue said: “Tell me, are Prefect Li’s words in praise of him, or elucidating him? One must possess the eye of pilgrimage before one can tell.”)
14.16
Ao asked again, “What are discipline, concentration, and wisdom?”
The Master said, “In this poor monk’s place, there is no such idle furniture.”
Ao could not fathom the profound meaning.
The Master said, “If the prefect wishes to maintain this matter, you must sit on the highest mountaintop and walk on the deepest ocean floor. What is in the bedchambers, if you cannot abandon it, will turn into an outflow.”
One night the Master was walking on the mountain and practicing circumambulation. Suddenly the clouds parted to reveal the moon, and he let out a great laugh, a single sound echoing over ninety li to the east of Liyang. The local residents all thought it was the house to their east. The next morning they inquired back and forth until reaching Yaoshan.
The disciples said, “Last night the Upādhyāya laughed loudly atop the mountain.”
Li Ao again presented a poem:
14.17
Choosing a secluded abode to suit a rustic temper, / All year round without sending off or welcoming. / Sometimes climbing straight up to the peak of the solitary ridge, / Under the moon, parting the clouds, letting out a single laugh.
14.18
In the second month of the eighth year of the Dahe era, when approaching death, the Master cried out, “The Dharma hall is collapsing! The Dharma hall is collapsing!”
The assembly all held up pillars to prop it up.
The Master raised his hand and said, “You do not understand my intention,” and then entered quiescent extinction.
His age was eighty-four; his monastic age was sixty.
His indoor disciple Chongxu erected a stupa at the eastern corner of the monastery. By imperial decree he was posthumously granted the title Great Master Hongdao; the stupa was called Huacheng.
14.19
Upādhyāya Dachuan of Tanzhou (also named Hu).
A monk from Jiangling newly arrived, and after making prostrations, stood to one side.
The Master said, “When did you depart Jiangling?”
The monk lifted up his sitting mat.
The Master said, “Thank you for coming from afar. Go down.”
The monk straightaway went out.
The Master said, “If it were not like this, how would I know that my own eye is precise?”
The monk clapped his hands and said, “Distressing! I almost misjudged the venerable elders of various regions!”
The Master approved of him. (A monk brought this up to Danxia. Xia said, “In Dachuan’s Dharma practice it works, but here with me it is not so.” The monk said, “I do not know what it is like here.” Xia said, “Still three steps behind Dachuan.” The monk made prostrations. Xia said, “Those who misjudge various regions are very many.” When Dongshan heard of this, he said, “Were it not for Danxia, it would be difficult to distinguish jade from stone.”)
14.20
Upādhyāya Shilou of Fenzhou.
The Master ascended the hall. A monk came forward and asked, saying, “Not yet knowing one's original birth, I beg the master for expedient guidance.”
[The Master] said, “Shilou has no ears.”
The monk said, “This one knows his own fault.”
The Master said, “Does this old monk also have a transgression?”
The monk said, “Where is the Upādhyāya’s transgression?”
[The Master] said, “The transgression is in the place of your fault.”
The monk made prostrations; the Master thereupon struck him.
The Master asked a monk, “Where did you set out from?”
The monk said, “The Han state.”
The Master said, “Does the Son of Heaven of the Han state still revere the Buddha-Dharma?”
The monk said, “Woe! Woe! Fortunately, you asked this one; had you asked another person, calamity would have arisen.”
The Master said, “What are you doing?”
The monk said, “People are not even seen; what Buddha-Dharma is there to revere?”
The Master said, “How many summers have elapsed since the ācārya took the precepts?”
The monk said, “Thirty summers.”
The Master said, “Splendidly you ‘do not see anyone’!” and straightaway struck him.
14.21
Upādhyāya Fotuo of Famen Monastery in Fengxiang Prefecture.
The Master constantly held a string of counting beads, reciting three names, saying: “First, Śākya; second, Yuanhe; third, Fotuo. What bowl-shaped mounds are all the rest?” One completed, he would begin anew. His actions were unusual, and contemporaries could not fathom him.
14.22
Upādhyāya Hualin of Tanzhou.
A monk arrived to study and was spreading his sitting mat.
The Master said, “Gently, gently.”
The monk said, “What does the Upādhyāya see?”
The Master said, “What a pity—knocking into and breaking the bell tower!”
The monk was greatly enlightened.
14.23
When Upādhyāya Dadian of Chaozhou first called upon Shitou, Shitou asked the Master, "Which one is your mind?" The Master said, "That which speaks is it." Thereupon he was shouted out. After ten days, the Master returned and asked, "If the previous [answer] was not it, apart from this, what is the mind?" Shitou said, "Setting aside raising the eyebrows and moving the eyes, bring your mind forth." The Master said, "There is no mind to bring forth." Shitou said, "Originally there is a mind; why do you say there is no mind? To say there is no mind is completely equivalent to slander." At these words, the Master had a great awakening. On another day, as he was standing in attendance, Shitou asked, "Are you a monk who investigates Chan, or a monk who idles through prefectures and counties?" The Master said, "I am a monk who investigates Chan." Shitou said, "What is Chan?" The Master said, "Raising the eyebrows and moving the eyes." Shitou said, "Setting aside raising the eyebrows and moving the eyes, present your original face for me to see." The Master said, "I request the Upādhyāya to examine me setting aside raising the eyebrows and moving the eyes." Shitou said, "I have set them aside." The Master said, "I have already presented it to the Upādhyāya." Shitou said, "Since you have presented it, what is my mind like?" The Master said, "Not different from the Upādhyāya's." Shitou said, "It is none of your business." The Master said, "Originally there is no thing." Shitou said, "You too are no thing." The Master said, "Since there is no thing, it is the true thing." Shitou said, "The true thing cannot be attained. Such are the views and import of your mind. You must guard and maintain it well." Later, the Master took his leave and went to live in seclusion on Mount Ling in Chaozhou, where students gathered from all four quarters. The Master entered the hall and instructed the assembly, saying: "Those who study the Path must know their own original mind. Only by showing one another with the mind can one see the Path. I often see people of today who merely identify with raising the eyebrows, moving the eyes, a word, or a silence, abruptly sealing and approving it as the essential of mind. This truly is not understanding. I now explain it clearly for you all; each of you must listen and accept it: simply remove all false operations of thoughts and views, and that is your true mind. This mind has absolutely no connection with dust-realms or with holding on to silence. The mind itself is the Buddha; it does not await cultivation and training. Why is this? Responding to conditions and illuminating accordingly, coolly operating by itself, when you search for its place of operation, it cannot be found at all. Calling it wondrous function is just the original mind. You must guard and maintain it well; it must not be taken lightly." A monk asked, "How is it when those within it meet?" The Master said, "It has long ceased to be within it." The monk said, "How is it for one who is within it?" The Master said, "Do not make such a question." [A monk] asked, "When the waves of the sea of suffering are deep, what serves as a boat and raft?" The Master said, "Wood serves as a boat and raft." The monk said, "If so, then one attains crossing?" The Master said, "The blind remain blind as before; the mute remain mute as before."
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- 景德傳燈錄 — Classical Chinese