景德傳燈錄 15.28

15.28

Chan Master Shanhui of Jiashan in Lizhou was a native of Xianting in Guangzhou, surnamed Liao. At age nine, he went forth from household life at Mount Longya in Tanzhou. When he reached the appropriate age, he received full ordination. He went to Jiangling to study the sūtras and treatises, mastering the three trainings, and then attended Chan assemblies, applying his effort in personal instruction. Initially he resided in Jingkou. One evening Daowu arrived leaning on a staff, just as the Master ascended the hall. A monk asked, "What is the Dharma-body?" The Master said, "The Dharma-body has no form." The monk said, "What is the Dharma eye?" The Master said, "The Dharma eye has no blemish." The Master further said, "Before the eyes there are no phenomena; the intention is before the eyes. It is not phenomena before the eyes, nor is it reached by ear or eye." Daowu chuckled. The Master felt doubt and asked Daowu, "Why did you laugh?" Daowu said, "The Upādhyāya has come into the world with a certain standing, but does not yet have a master. You may go to Huating county in Zhezhong to study under the Boatman Upādhyāya." The Master said, "If I visit him, can I succeed?" Daowu said, "Above that master there is not a single tile to cover his head; below there is not an inch of ground to stick an awl into." The Master thereupon changed his clothes and went straight to Huating. He met the Boatman paddling his oars, and the way of master and disciple meshed without leaving a trace (the words appear in the Boatman's chapter). The Master thereupon escaped from worldly concerns and forgot contrivances. Soon learners gathered like a swarm, their huts dotting the area like stars, visiting him morning and evening. In the eleventh year of the Xiantong era of the Tang (770 CE, gengyin), the assembly gathered from all quarters divined a site at Jiashan and promptly constructed a monastery. The Master ascended the hall and addressed the assembly: "Ever since there have been patriarchs, people of the times have misunderstood, passing it down until today, taking the sayings of the buddhas and patriarchs as models for people. In doing so they become madmen and people without wisdom. They merely pointed out to you: no-phenomena is originally the Way; the Way has not a single phenomenon. There is no Buddha to attain, no Way to achieve, and no phenomenon to discard. Therefore it is said: 'Before the eyes there are no phenomena; the intention is before the eyes.' It is not phenomena before the eyes. If you learn from the side of the buddhas and patriarchs, you do not yet have eyes; you are entirely subject to dependent dharmas and cannot be at ease. Originally it was only because birth and death are boundless and the nature of consciousness has no freedom, that you sought kalyāṇamitras across thousands and tens of thousands of miles. You must have the correct eye to be forever free from false and mistaken views, and determine whether birth and death before your eyes truly exist or truly do not exist. If anyone can determine this, I grant that you have stuck your head out. People of superior capacity understand the Way at a single word; those of medium and lower faculties run about in waves. Why not settle it right in the midst of birth and death? Where else should you doubt buddhas or doubt patriarchs to replace you in birth and death? Wise people will laugh at you." He spoke a gāthā: