景德傳燈錄 17

English (machine translation) 17

Language: English

17.1

Dharma heirs of Chan Master Xingsi of Mount Qingyuan in Jizhou
Twenty-six people under the fifth generation:
Twenty-six Dharma heirs of Chan Master Liangjie of Mount Dong in Yuanzhou:
Chan Master Daoying of Mount Yunju in Hongzhou
Chan Master Benji of Mount Caoshan in Fuzhou
Chan Master Daoquan, second generation of Mount Dong
Chan Master Judun of Mount Longya in Hunan
Chan Master Xiujing of Huayan Monastery in the Capital (Jingzhao)
Upādhyāya Xianzi of the Capital (Jingzhao)
Great Master Puman of Jiufeng in Yunzhou
Chan Master Daoyou of Youqi in Taizhou
Chan Master Shiqian, third generation of Mount Dong
Chan Master Dunru of Baima in the Eastern Capital (Luojing)
Upādhyāya Qianfeng of Yuezhou
Upādhyāya Heshan of Jizhou
Chan Master Xianqi of Mount Tiantong in Mingzhou (listed in fascicle eleven without biography)
Upādhyāya Baogaishan of Tanzhou
Chan Master Tong of the Northern Cloister in Yizhou
Chan Master Benren of Baishui in Gao'an
Chan Master Guangren of Shushan in Fuzhou
Chan Master Wensui of Qinshan in Lizhou (the eighteen persons above are recorded)
Chan Master Yi of Mount Tiantong in Mingzhou
Chan Master Fang of Zisheng in Taiyuan
Upādhyāya Jinzang of the kingdom of Silla
Chan Master Bai of Yizhou
Upādhyāya Wenshu of Tanzhou
Upādhyāya Baishuishan of Shuzhou
Upādhyāya Xihu of Shaozhou
Upādhyāya Tongxuan of Qingyang (the eight persons above have no recorded encounter dialogues and are not included)
Forty-three people of the first division under the sixth generation:
Nine Dharma heirs of Chan Master Quanhuo of Yantou in Ezhou:
Chan Master Shiyan of Ruiyan in Taizhou
Chan Master Yan of Xuanquan in Huaizhou
Chan Master Huizong of Lingyan in Jizhou
Chan Master Daoxian of Luoshan in Fuzhou
Chan Master Congfan of Xiangxi in Fuzhou
Chan Master Yan of Shengshou in Luoyuan, Fuzhou (six persons are recorded)
Chan Master Haiyi of Daning in Hongzhou
Upādhyāya Shao of Mount Ehu in Xinzhou
Upādhyāya Ne of Daning in Hongzhou (the three persons above have no recorded encounter dialogues and are not included)
One Dharma heir of Upādhyāya Ziguo of Gantan in Hongzhou:
Chan Master Zhiyuan of Mount Baizhao in Anzhou (one person is recorded)
One Dharma heir of Upādhyāya Siming of Haozhou:
Chan Master Shanben of Jiuling in Xiangzhou (one person is recorded)
Thirteen Dharma heirs of Chan Master Juhui of Mount Daguang in Tanzhou:
Chan Master Youyuan of Gushan in Tanzhou
Upādhyāya Longxing of Tanzhou
First-generation Upādhyāya of Mount Fulong in Tanzhou
Chan Master Shanzang of Baiyun in the Capital (Jingzhao)
Second-generation Upādhyāya of Mount Fulong in Tanzhou
Upādhyāya of Mount Longjun in Shan Prefecture
Third-generation Upādhyāya of Mount Fulong in Tanzhou (the seven persons above are recorded)
Chan Master Xuan of Mount Daguang
Upādhyāya Tengxia of Zhangzhou
Upādhyāya Jingjue of Songzhou
Upādhyāya Zheng of Chongsheng in Huazhou
Upādhyāya Yongsheng of Ezhou
Upādhyāya Lingzhu of Ezhou (the six persons above have no recorded encounter dialogues and are not included)
Ten Dharma heirs of Chan Master Daoqian of Jiufeng in Yunzhou:
Upādhyāya Qingyuan of Silla
Chan Master Shendang of Letan in Hongzhou
Chan Master Xingxiu of Mount Nanyuan in Jizhou
Chan Master Ming of Letan in Hongzhou
Upādhyāya Qiushan of Jizhou
Chan Master Yanmao of Letan in Hongzhou
Chan Master Changcha of Tong'an in Hongzhou
Chan Master Wu of Letan in Hongzhou
Chan Master Wuyin of Heshan in Jizhou
Upādhyāya Mou of Letan in Hongzhou (the ten persons above are recorded)
One Dharma heir of Chan Master Jingxin of Yongquan in Taizhou:
Chan Master Shao of Liutong Cloister in Taizhou (one person is recorded)
Three Dharma heirs of Chan Master Zhiyuan of Mount Yugai in Tanzhou:
Chan Master Zhihan of Mount Yugai
Upādhyāya Wolong of Silla
Upādhyāya Tiantai of Pengzhou (the three persons above are recorded)
Three Dharma heirs of Chan Master Zang of Gushan in Tanzhou:
Upādhyāya Ruiyan of Silla
Upādhyāya Boyan of Silla
Upādhyāya Daling of Silla (the three persons above are recorded)
One Dharma heir of Upādhyāya Zhongyugai of Mount Yugai in Tanzhou:
Upādhyāya Jing of Mount Yugai (one person is recorded)
One Dharma heir of Chan Master Cunshou of Qiyan in Hezhong Prefecture:
Chan Master Daode (one person has no recorded encounter dialogues and is not included)

17.2

Fifth Generation of Chan Master Qingyuan Xingsi of Jizhou

17.3

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Dongshan Liangjie of Yuanzhou

17.4

Chan Master Daoying of Mount Yunju in Hongzhou was a native of Yutian in Youzhou. His surname was Wang. As a young boy, he relied on a teacher to receive instructions. At twenty-five, he took full ordination at Yanshou Monastery in Fanyang. His root teacher had him study the sections and categories of the Śrāvaka [Vinaya], upon which he sighed and said, “How could a great man be fettered by disciplinary rules?” He then departed and went to Mount Cuiwei to inquire into the Way. After three years, an itinerant monk came from Yuzhang and spoke lavishly in praise of the Dharma seat of Chan Master Liangjie of Dongshan. The Master thereupon went there. Dongshan asked, “Ācārya, what is your name?” He said, “Daoying.” Dongshan said, “Speak further towards the transcendental.” The Master said, “If I speak towards the transcendental, it will not be named Daoying.” Dongshan said, “This is no different from the reply I gave when I was at Yunyan.” Later, the Master asked, “What is the intention of the ancestral master?” Dongshan said, “Ācārya, in the future when you have a bundle of thatch over your head and someone suddenly asks you, how will you reply?” He said, “Daoying is guilty of an offense.” Dongshan once said to the Master, “I hear that Upādhyāya Dasi was born in the country of Wa (Japan) to be a king; is this true or false?” He said, “If it was Dasi, he would not even become a Buddha, much less a king.” Dongshan agreed with him. One day, Dongshan asked, “Where have you come from?” The Master said, “I have come from treading the mountains.” Dongshan said, “Which mountain is fit to dwell in?” He said, “Which mountain is not fit to dwell in?” Dongshan said, “If so, then every mountain in the realm has been occupied by you, Ācārya.” He said, “Not so.” Dongshan said, “If so, then you have found an entry path.” He said, “There is no path.” Dongshan said, “If there is no path, how could you meet with this old monk?” He said, “If there were a path, I would be separated from the upādhyāya by a whole lifetime.” Dongshan said, “In the future, even a thousand or ten thousand people will not be able to hold back this fellow.” The Master followed Dongshan across a stream. Dongshan asked about the depth of the water. He said, “It does not wet.” Dongshan said, “Coarse fellow.” He said, “Please speak, Master.” Dongshan said, “It does not dry.” Dongshan said to the Master, “Formerly, Nanquan asked a monk who was lecturing on the Sūtra of Maitreya's Descent, 'When will Maitreya descend to be born?' The monk said, 'Presently he is in the heavenly palace; in the future he will descend to be born.' Nanquan said, 'In heaven there is no Maitreya; beneath the earth there is no Maitreya.'” The Master immediately brought this up and asked, “As for 'in heaven there is no Maitreya and beneath the earth there is no Maitreya', I wonder who gave him his name?” Dongshan caused his meditation seat to shake, and then said, “Ācārya Ying!” Once, while the Master was mixing soy paste, Dongshan asked, “What are you doing?” The Master said, “Mixing paste.” Dongshan said, “How much salt do you use?” He said, “I add it gradually.” Dongshan said, “What flavor does it make?” The Master said, “It is just right.” Dongshan asked, “A person of great icchantika kills his father, harms his mother, sheds the Buddha's blood, and breaks the harmony of the Saṅgha. Where is filial devotion in such various things?” The Master said, “Only then is filial devotion attained.” From then on, Dongshan acknowledged him as the leader within his chamber. At first, he stayed at Sanfeng, where his teaching was not yet widespread. Later, he opened Mount Yunju, and the four assemblies gathered like clouds. One day, he went up to the hall. He cited an ancient who said, “Hell is not yet suffering; beneath these robes, failing to clarify the great matter and losing it—that is the greatest suffering.” The Master then addressed the assembly, saying, “Since you people are walking this path, having gone nine parts out of ten is not very much more; exert a little more effort, and you will be a sthavira who has not wasted a lifetime, whose itinerant wandering has not failed the monasteries. An ancient said, 'If you wish to preserve this matter, you must stand on the highest mountain peak and walk on the deepest ocean floor.' Only then will you have a bit of strength. If your great matter is not yet accomplished, you must walk the dark and profound path.” A monk asked, “What does a śramaṇa value?” The Master said, “The place where mental cognition does not reach.” He asked, “What stages are there between the Buddhas and the patriarchs?” The Master said, “They are all stages.” He asked, “What is the meaning of [Bodhidharma's] coming from the West?” The Master said, “On the ancient road, one meets no one.” Sthavira Keguan asked, “The pointing finger has indeed been set aside; please, Master, receive me quickly.” The Master said, “What is it right now?” Guan said, “Speaking is not non-existent, but it is best not to take up words.” The Master said, “Why must you, Ācārya?” He asked, “What is the oral secret?” The Master said, “Come forward and I will tell you.” The monk stepped forward and said, “Please speak, Master.” The Master said, “I know, I know.” The Master threw down his back-scratcher and asked, “Does the assembly understand?” The assembly said, “We do not understand.” The Master said, “You cannot even understand chasing a sparrow!” A monk asked, “How can one avoid bothering the upādhyāya?” The Master said, “Call Chude here for me.” The monk then went and called him. The Master said, “Shut the door for me.” A monk asked, “Mazu produced eighty-eight kalyāṇamitras; I wonder how many the upādhyāya will produce?” The Master stretched out his hand to show him. A monk asked, “What is the conduct of a transcendental person?” The Master said, “The world is at peace.” A monk asked, “What is it like when a traveler returns home?” The Master said, “Rejoice for the time being that he has returned.” The monk said, “What should be offered to him?” The Master said, “In the morning strike three thousand blows, in the evening strike eight hundred.” The Master addressed the assembly, saying, “It is like a good hunting hound, which only knows how to track where there are traces. When it suddenly meets an antelope hanging by its horns, do not speak of traces—it does not even recognise its scent.” A monk asked, “What about when an antelope hangs by its horns?” The Master said, “Six times six is thirty-six.” He also said, “Do you understand?” The monk said, “I do not understand.” The Master said, “Have you not heard it said: 'there are no traces'?” (A monk brought this up to Zhaozhou. Zhaozhou said, “Senior brother Yunju is still around.” The monk then asked, “What about when an antelope hangs by its horns?” Zhaozhou said, “Six times six is thirty-six.”) While the monks were in evening instruction, the attendant brought a lamp. Seeing a shadow on the wall, a monk immediately asked, “What is it like when two are similar?” The Master said, “One is a shadow.” A monk asked, “What is it like when a student intends to return to his home village?” The Master said, “It is just this.” A monk from Silla asked, “Buddh关注pāla saw Mañjuśrī; why did he return back?” The Master said, “Just because he did not bring it, he therefore returned back.” The Master addressed the assembly, saying, “People who study the Buddha Dharma must be like cutting through nails and cleaving iron before they can succeed.” At that time, a monk came forward and said, “I invite the upādhyāya to nail and cleave iron.” The Master said, “What is that in your mouth?” A monk asked, “It is said in the teachings: 'If this person, because of evil karma from past lives, ought to fall into the evil destinies, but by being despised by people of the present life [that karma is expiated]'—what does this mean?” The Master said, “If you stir, you ought to fall into the evil destinies; if you are still, you will be despised by people.” (Chou of Chongshou replied, “If there are dharmas outside the mind, one ought to fall into the evil destinies; if one holds fast to oneself, one will be despised by people.”) A monk asked, “Who gets to eat the food of Fragrant Accumulation?” The Master said, “One must know that even for a person who gets to eat it, when it enters the mouth, it must still be pulled out.” There was a monk who was reciting a sūtra inside his room. The Master asked through the window, “Ācārya, what sūtra are you reciting?” He replied, “The Vimalakīrti Sūtra.” The Master said, “I am not asking about the Vimalakīrti Sūtra; what is the sūtra that recites?” The monk gained entry from this. A monk asked, “What about when it is solitary, towering, steep, and lofty?” The Master said, “Solitary, towering, steep, and lofty.” The monk said, “I do not understand.” The Master said, “You do not even understand the front table-mountain before you.” A monk from Silla asked, “What is it that is so hard to express?” The Master said, “What is there that is hard to express?” He said, “Then please, Upādhyāya, express it.” The Master said, “Silla! Silla!” A monk asked, “Why is a person of clear sight pitch-black as lacquer?” The Master said, “Why find it strange?” Cheng Rui, the military commissioner of Jingnan, sent a general into the mountain to present offerings, and asked, “'The World-Honoured One had a secret word; Kāśyapa did not conceal it.' What is the World-Honoured One's secret word?” The Master called out, “Minister!” The man responded. The Master said, “Do you understand?” He said, “I do not understand.” The Master said, “If you do not understand, it is the World-Honoured One's secret word; if you understand, it is Kāśyapa not concealing it.” A monk asked, “Why is it that as soon as one is born, one does not know of it?” The Master said, “Not born together.” He asked, “What about before being born?” The Master said, “Never ceased.” He asked, “Where is it before being born?” The Master said, “There is a place that does not gather it in.” He asked, “What kind of person undergoes cessation?” The Master said, “It is the one who cannot be extinguished.” The Master addressed the assembly, saying, “You monks must have grounds when you utter words and breathe out. Whenever asking about a matter, you must distinguish between good and bad, superior and inferior, fine and coarse; blabbering without restraint is of no benefit. Going everywhere from house to house searching for similar words—this is why I usually say to the brothers: do not blame it for not being similar; I fear you have too many classmates. Above all, do not bring it forward; if you bring it forward, it will not be similar. An eighty-year-old man entering the examination hall is no child's play. If a single word is awry, it will be difficult to rein in across a thousand or ten thousand miles. Right down to striking the bones and hitting the marrow, there must be grounds. Words must be like pincers and chain links continuing without interruption; only then will everything be fully present, and every single thing be fresh. Is this not a matter of the most refined and wonderful? I tell you: a person who knows of it never acts carelessly. If he intends to speak ten times, nine times he desists. Why is it so? He fears it will be of no benefit. The mind of one who has realised the substance is like a fan in the twelfth month; mold grows right out from around his mouth. It is not that you force it—it is naturally so. If you want such a matter, you must be such a person. Since you are such a person, why worry about such a matter? Studying matters on the Buddha side is a misdirection of mind. Even if one understands a thousand sūtras and ten thousand treatises, lecturing until heavenly flowers fall and rocks nod their heads, it still does not concern one's own self. How much less do the rest have any use? If you use limited mental cognition to serve an unlimited function, it is like fitting a square peg into a round hole—how great the error! Even if you gather flowers and cluster brocade, reaching every affair and exhausting all matters, you are still only called a person who has finished affairs, a person without fault; you are never called noble. You must know: in the realm of the noble, what thing can be placed? Have you not seen: 'What enters through the gate is not the family treasure'? Dragons are not made under the staff—do you understand?” In this manner, the Master unlocked the dark bolt for thirty years, and his disciples often numbered fifteen hundred. The Zhou family of Nanchang especially revered his style. In the autumn of the first year of the Tianfu reign era of the Tang dynasty, he showed a slight illness. On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth month, he opened the final skillful means for the great assembly, recounting the intention of his going forth into the world from beginning to end. The assembly was deeply grieved. On the third day of the first month of the following year, he sat in the lotus posture and passed away forever. Today, the memorial hall on this mountain still remains. He was imperially bestowed the posthumous title of Great Master Hongjue, and his pagoda was called Yuanji (Complete Quiescence).

17.5

Chan Master Caoshan Benji of Fuzhou was a native of Putian in Quanzhou. His surname was Huang. In his youth he admired Confucian learning. At the age of nineteen he left household life, entering Mount Lingshi in Futang County, Fuzhou. At twenty-five he took the full precepts. At the beginning of the Xiantong era of the Tang, the Chan school flourished. Meeting Chan Master Dongshan Liangjie holding a bodhimaṇḍa, he went back and forth to seek instruction. Dongshan asked, "Ācārya, what is your name?" He answered, "Benji." Dongshan said, "Speak further toward the transcendental." The Master said, "I will not speak." Dongshan said, "Why will you not speak?" The Master said, "It is not named Benji." Dongshan deeply valued him. From then on, the Master entered his room; with his understanding secretly sealed, he lingered for several years. He then took his leave of Dongshan. Dongshan asked, "Where are you going?" He said, "I am going to the place that does not change." Dongshan said, "If it does not change, how can there be going?" The Master said, "Going is also unchanging." Thereupon he took his leave and departed, living unfettered according to conditions. At first, he accepted an invitation to reside at Mount Cao in Fuzhou. Later he lived on Mount Heyu. At both places, students gathered like clouds at his Dharma seat. A monk asked, "What kind of person is it who does not take the myriad dharmas as companions?" The Master said, "Where do you say the many people in Hongzhou have gone?" A monk asked, "Do the eyebrows and the eyes know each other or not?" The Master said, "They do not know each other." The monk said, "Why do they not know each other?" The Master said, "Because they are in the same place." The monk said, "If so, then they are not divided." The Master said, "Yet the eyebrows are not the eyes." The monk said, "What are the eyes?" The Master said, "Go straight to the point." The monk said, "What are the eyebrows?" The Master said, "Caoshan rather doubts." The monk said, "Why does the upādhyāya rather doubt?" The Master said, "If I did not doubt, I would have gone straight to the point." A monk asked, "In forms, what is real?" The Master said, "Forms are themselves the real." The monk said, "How should it be revealed?" The Master raised his saucer. A monk asked, "How is the origin of illusions real?" The Master said, "The origin of illusions is fundamentally real." (Fayan said in an alternate phrase, "The origin of illusions is not real.") The monk said, "When illusion occurs, how is it revealed?" The Master said, "Illusion itself is revelation." (Fayan said in an alternate phrase, "Illusion has no occurrence.") The monk said, "If so, then from beginning to end one never leaves illusion." The Master said, "Seeking the form of illusion cannot be attained." A monk asked, "What is the person who is always present?" The Master said, "Just when Caoshan steps out for a while." The monk said, "What is the person who is always absent?" The Master said, "Hard to find." Monk Qingrui asked, "I am solitary and poor; I beg the Master to rescue and aid me." The Master said, "Ācārya Rui, come forward." Rui came forward. The Master said, "Three cups of Master Bai's wine of Quanzhou, yet you still say your lips are not wet." (Xuanjue said, "Where did he give him wine to drink?") A monk asked, "Is not conjecturing still of a kind?" The Master said, "Even if one directly does not conjecture, it is also of a kind." The monk said, "What is difference?" The Master said, "Could one fail to know ache and itch?" Jingqing asked, "When the principle of pure emptiness ultimately has no body, how is it?" The Master said, "The principle is indeed like this; how is the matter?" Jingqing said, "Like the principle, like the matter." The Master said, "Deceiving the single person Caoshan is fine, but what can you do about the eyes of all the sages?" Jingqing said, "If there were no eyes of all the sages, how could one discern that which is not so?" The Master said, "An official [gate] does not admit a needle; privately, carts and horses pass through." Yunmen asked, "When a person who does not change comes, does the Master still receive him?" The Master said, "Caoshan has no such idle leisure." A monk asked, "An ancient said, 'Everyone has disciples; do those shrouded in dust have them or not?'" The Master said, "Hand over your hand." He then counted on his fingers, saying, "One, two, three, four, five are complete." A monk asked, "What does Ruzu's facing the wall express?" The Master covered his ears with his hands. A monk asked, "I have received an ancient saying: 'There is no one who falls to the ground and does not rise by relying on the ground.' What is falling?" The Master said, "Consent is it." The monk said, "What is rising?" The Master said, "Rising!" A monk asked, "I have received the teaching's saying: 'The great ocean does not harbor dead corpses.' What is the ocean?" The Master said, "It encompasses the myriad beings." The monk said, "Why does it not harbor dead corpses?" The Master said, "Those who have ceased breathing do not adhere." The monk said, "Since it encompasses the myriad beings, why do those who have ceased breathing not adhere?" The Master said, "The myriad beings are not its merit; ceasing breath has its virtue." The monk said, "Is there still a matter in the transcendental or not?" The Master said, "Saying there is or saying there is not would be fine, but what can you do about the Dragon King holding his sword?" A monk asked, "Equipped with what understanding is one skillfully able to confront the assembly with questions and challenges?" The Master said, "Not presenting phrases." The monk said, "What does one question and challenge?" The Master said, "Knives and axes cannot cut into it." The monk said, "Being able to question and challenge like this, is there still someone who does not approve?" The Master said, "There is." The monk said, "Who is it?" The Master said, "Caoshan." A monk asked, "How is the wordless revealed?" The Master said, "Do not reveal it here." The monk said, "Where is it revealed?" The Master said, "Last night at the third watch, three copper coins were lost by the head of the bed." A monk asked, "How is it when the sun has not yet risen?" The Master said, "Caoshan has also come this way." The monk said, "How is it after the sun has risen?" The Master said, "Still half a month's journey short of Caoshan." The Master asked a monk, "What are you doing?" The monk said, "Sweeping the ground." The Master said, "Do you sweep in front of the Buddha or behind the Buddha?" The monk said, "In front and behind are swept at the same time." The Master said, "Bring Caoshan his sandals." The Master asked Sthavira Qiangde, "A bodhisattva in samādhi hears a fragrant elephant crossing the river—from what sūtra does this come?" Qiangde said, "It comes from the Nirvāṇa Sūtra." The Master said, "Is it heard before samādhi or after samādhi?" Qiangde said, "The upādhyāya is drifting with the flow." The Master said, "You have said a great deal, but you have only said half." Qiangde said, "How about the upādhyāya?" The Master said, "Catch it below the rapids." A monk asked, "How does a practitioner preserve it through the twelve periods of the day?" The Master said, "Like passing through a realm of gu poison: not a single drop of water may touch you." A monk asked, "Who is the master of the Dharma body?" The Master said, "Saying that Qin has no men." The monk said, "Isn't this it?" The Master said, "Beheaded!" A monk asked, "What companion on the Way should one stay close to so that one constantly hears the unheard?" The Master said, "Covered by the very same quilt." The monk said, "This is still what the upādhyāya can hear; what is constantly hearing the unheard?" The Master said, "Not the same as wood and stone." The monk said, "Which is first and which is after?" The Master said, "Haven't you heard it said: constantly hearing the unheard?" A monk asked, "Who is it in the country that grasps the sword?" The Master said, "Caoshan." (Fadeng said in an alternate phrase, "You are not such a person.") The monk said, "Whom does he intend to kill?" The Master said, "Whenever there is anything at all, he kills it completely." The monk said, "What if he suddenly encounters his own parents?" The Master said, "Why make distinctions?" The monk said, "What can you do about oneself?" The Master said, "Who can do anything to me?" The monk said, "Why not kill [oneself]?" The Master said, "No place to lay a hand." A monk asked, "How is it when one ox drinks water and five horses do not neigh?" The Master said, "Caoshan knows how to abstain from food." He also said in an alternate phrase, "Caoshan's mourning is complete." A monk asked, "Who is the person perpetually submerged in the ocean of birth and death?" The Master said, "The second moon." The monk said, "Does he still seek deliverance or not?" The Master said, "He also seeks deliverance, but there is simply no way." The monk said, "When he seeks deliverance, who can receive him?" The Master said, "One who carries an iron pillory." A monk brought up: Yaoshan asked a monk, "How old are you?" The monk said, "Seventy-two." Yaoshan said, "Are you seventy-two years old?" The monk said, "Yes." Yaoshan thereupon struck him. "What is the meaning of this?" The Master said, "The first arrow was still tolerable; the second arrow shot the man deeply." The monk said, "How could he have avoided the staff?" The Master said, "When the imperial decree is carried out, the feudal lords make way." (Dongshan Qi said, "Caoshan clarifies Yaoshan's meaning and takes action himself, or is there another principle? Can you judge? Take this monk who brought this up and asked Caoshan: did he have any understanding? If suddenly asked, 'Sthavira, how old are you?' how else would you answer?") A monk asked, "What is the great meaning of the Buddha Dharma?" The Master said, "Filling the ditches and plugging the ravines." A monk asked, "What is a lion?" The Master said, "The myriad beasts cannot approach it." The monk said, "What is a lion cub?" The Master said, "Able to swallow its parents." The monk said, "Since the myriad beasts cannot approach it, why is it swallowed by its cub?" The Master said, "If the cub roars, grandparents and parents are all exhausted." The monk said, "As for the grandparents, are they also exhausted?" The Master said, "Also exhausted." The monk said, "After they are exhausted, how is it?" The Master said, "The whole body returns to the father." The monk said, "Why did you say earlier that the grandparents are also exhausted?" The Master said, "Haven't you heard it said: a prince can accomplish the affairs of an entire state, and on a withered tree, a few more flowers are gathered?" A monk asked, "Just when right and wrong arise, confusingly losing the mind, how is it?" The Master said, "Behead, behead!" A monk brought up: Someone asked Xiangyan, "What is the Way?" Xiangyan answered, "A dragon roaring in a withered tree." The student said, "I do not understand." Xiangyan said, "An eyeball in a skull." Later, [the student] asked Shishuang, "What is a dragon roaring in a withered tree?" Shishuang said, "It still carries joy." He also asked, "What is an eyeball in a skull?" Shishuang said, "It still carries consciousness." Thereupon the Master presented a verse, saying:

17.6

A dragon roaring in a withered tree truly sees the Way; / An eyeball in a skull without consciousness begins to be bright. / When joy and consciousness are exhausted, the消 remains unexhausted; / How can that person discern purity amidst turbidity?

17.7

The monk then asked the Master, "What is a dragon roaring in a withered tree?" The Master said, "The lifeline is unbroken." The monk said, "What is an eyeball in a skull?" The Master said, "Not completely dry." The monk said, "I wonder if there is anyone who hears it?" The Master said, "In the entire great earth, there is not a single person who does not hear it." The monk said, "I wonder what lines and verses the dragon roar is?" The Master said, "I do not know what lines and verses it is either; all who hear it perish." In this way the Master enlightened those of superior capacity, leaving behind no track that could be traced. When he received Dongshan's appraisal of the five ranks, he became an exceptional standard for the monasteries. At that time, the Zhong clan of Hongzhou repeatedly invited him, but he did not rise; he merely copied a mountain-dwelling verse of Upādhyāya Damei in reply. On a midsummer night in the xinyou year of Tianfu, the Master asked the monk in charge of affairs, "What day of what month is today?" He answered, "The fifteenth day of the sixth month." The Master said, "Caoshan has traveled on foot throughout his life, everywhere taking ninety days as one summer." Arriving at the chen hour the next day, he announced his demise. His age was sixty-two; his monastic age was thirty-seven. His disciples enshrined his true relics and erected a stupa. By imperial decree he was posthumously titled Great Master Yuanzheng, and the stupa was called Fuyuan.

17.8

Chan Master Dongshan Daoquan (who resided for the second generation, also called Central Dongshan) first asked Upādhyāya Dongshan Liangjie, "What is the essential point of deliverance?" Dongshan said, "Smoke rises beneath the ācārya's feet." The Master was immediately awakened and traveled nowhere else. (Yunju Daoying came forward and said, "I would never dare fail the upādhyāya; smoke rises beneath my feet." Dongshan said, "One whose every step is mysterious has reached accomplishment.") When Upādhyāya Liangjie passed away, the assembly requested him to follow in his footsteps and serve as abbot. The vast assembly was pleased and convinced, and the profound style did not decline. A monk asked, "When the Buddha entered the royal palace, was that not the Great Sage coming again?" The Master said, "Prabhāpāla does not descend to be born." The monk said, "Since he was the Great Sage coming again, why did he undergo six years of austerities?" The Master said, "An illusory person displays illusory affairs." The monk said, "How about one who is not illusory?" The Master said, "He cannot be found in the royal palace." A monk asked, "'A pure practitioner does not enter nirvāṇa; a precept-breaking bhikṣu does not enter hell'—how is this?" The Master said, "When all are ferried across with no remaining trace, allow him to transcend nirvāṇa." A monk asked, "Gazing as far as the eye can see for a thousand li—what kind of style is that?" The Master said, "It is the ācārya's style." The monk said, "I wonder, what is the upādhyāya's style?" The Master said, "I do not cast wandering eyes."

17.9

Chan Master Judun of Mount Longya in Hunan was a native of Nancheng in Fuzhou. His family name was Guo. At age fourteen, he left home at Mantian Temple in Jizhou. Later he went to Mount Song to receive the precepts. He then took his monk’s staff and travelled among the various Chan assemblies. When calling on the Upādhyāya Cuiwei, he asked, “Your student has been at your seat of Dharma for more than a month. Every day when the Upādhyāya ascends the hall, I do not receive a single word of Dharma instruction. What is the intention in this?” Cuiwei said, “What are you disliking?” (A monk quoted this previous exchange to ask Dongshan. Dongshan said, “How could the ācārya blame this old monk?” Fayan said otherwise, “The ancestral master has arrived.” Qi of Dongchan said, “Is there intimacy or estrangement in the words of these three venerable elders? If there is, which one is intimate? If there is no intimacy or estrangement, where is their eye?”) He also visited Deshan and asked, “From afar I heard of Deshan’s single phrase of Buddha-Dharma, yet now that I have arrived, I have never seen the Upādhyāya speak a single phrase of Buddha-Dharma.” Deshan said, “What are you disliking?” The Master did not accept this, and so he went to Dongshan and asked him as before. Dongshan said, “How could you blame this old monk?” The Master again brought up the key words from Deshan, and thereby realized his own fault. Thereupon he stayed at Dongshan, joining the assembly in asking for instruction. One day he asked, “What is the ancestral master’s intention?” Dongshan said, “Wait until the waters of the Dong stream flow backward, and then I will tell you.” From this, the Master began to awaken to its purport. He then hitched up his robes and stayed for eight years. He accepted the invitation of the Ma family of Hunan to reside at Miaoji Chan Cloister on Mount Longya, with the title Great Master Zhengkong. He had over five hundred followers, and no seat was left empty in his Dharma hall. Ascending the hall, he instructed the assembly, saying: “Those who study Chan must pass beyond the ancestral masters and Buddhas before they attain it. Upādhyāya Xinfeng said, ‘Only when the ancestral teachings and Buddha teachings resemble sworn enemies does one begin to have a portion of study.’ If you cannot pass beyond the ancestral masters and Buddhas, you will be deceived by the ancestral masters and Buddhas.” At that time a monk asked, “Do the ancestral masters and Buddhas still have the intention to deceive people or not?” The Master said, “Tell me, do rivers and lakes have the intention to obstruct people or not?” He also said, “Although rivers and lakes have no intention to obstruct people, because the people of the time cannot cross them, rivers and lakes turn out to obstruct people; one cannot say that rivers and lakes do not obstruct people. Although the ancestral masters and Buddhas have no intention to deceive people, because the people of the time cannot pass through them, the ancestral masters and Buddhas turn out to deceive people; one cannot say that the ancestral masters and Buddhas do not deceive people. If one can pass beyond the ancestral masters and Buddhas, this person surpasses the ancestral masters and Buddhas. Only then has one embodied the intention of the ancestral masters and Buddhas, and just then is one the same as the ancients of the transcendental. If one has not yet passed through, merely studying the Buddhas and studying the ancestral masters, then in ten thousand kalpas there will be no time of attainment.” The monk also asked, “How can one avoid being deceived by the ancestral masters and Buddhas?” The Master said, “You must simply awaken for yourself.” When the Master was with Cuiwei, he asked, “What is the ancestral master’s intention?” Cuiwei said, “Bring me the meditation board.” The Master then passed the meditation board to him. Cuiwei took it and struck him. The Master said, “If you strike, strike as you will, but essentially there is no ancestral master’s intention.” He also asked Linji, “What is the ancestral master’s intention?” Linji said, “Bring me the sitting cushion.” The Master then passed the cushion to him. Linji took it and struck him. The Master said, “If you strike, strike as you will, but essentially there is no ancestral master’s intention.” Later, a monk asked, “When the Upādhyāya was on pilgrimage, you asked two venerable elders about the ancestral master’s intention. I wonder whether the two venerable elders’ Dharma eyes were clear or not?” The Master said, “As for being clear, they were clear, but essentially there is no ancestral master’s intention.” (Qi of Dongchan said, “In the assembly they say the Buddha-Dharma exists, but there is merely no ancestral master’s intention. If understood in this way, what connection is there? How else would one understand the principle of there being no ancestral master’s intention?”) A monk asked, “What is the Way?” The Master said, “A mind without divergence from others is it.” He also said, “If a person embodies the Way, a mind without divergence from others is truly a person of the Way. If it is words and speeches, then there is no connection. Practitioners of the Way, do you know the person of the Way who has struck home? Throughout the twelve hours of the day, except for wearing clothes and eating food, there is not a hair’s breadth of difference from the minds of others, and no deceitful mind toward others. This one is truly a person of the Way. If you say ‘I have attained, I understand,’ then there is no connection. It is not at all easy.” A monk asked, “What is the meaning of the ancestral master’s coming from the West?” The Master said, “Wait until the stone tortoise can speak, and then I will tell you.” The monk said, “The stone tortoise is speaking.” The Master said, “What did it say to you?” A monk asked, “What did the ancients attain, such that they could just cease?” The Master said, “Like a thief entering an empty room.” A monk asked, “Why did the Bodhisattva of Boundless Body not see the uṣṇīṣa mark of the Tathāgata?” The Master said, “Tell me, does the Tathāgata still have an uṣṇīṣa mark?” A monk asked, “What happens when it cannot be lifted on the summit of Mount Dayu?” The Master said, “Why was the Sixth Ancestor able to carry it off?” A monk asked, “What happens when the two rats gnaw at the vine?” The Master said, “One must have a hiding place to manage it.” The monk said, “What is the hiding place?” The Master said, “Do you still see this fellow?” A monk asked, “Vimalakīrti held the world in his palm. I wonder where Vimalakīrti was standing?” The Master said, “Practitioner, you say: Vimalakīrti held the world in his palm.” A monk asked, “Does a person who knows there is that which exists still have birth and death or not?” The Master said, “Just like when the practitioner had not yet awakened.” A monk asked, “What is the meaning of coming from the West?” The Master said, “This one question is the most bitter.” (Baoci said, “This question is the best.”) A monk asked, “Are the intention of the ancestral masters and the intention of the teachings the same or different?” The Master said, “The ancestral masters came afterward.” A monk asked, “An ancestral master is a śramaṇa of no-affairs.” The Master said, “If one is a śramaṇa, one cannot be without affairs.” The monk said, “Why can one not be without affairs?” The Master said, “To find one is hard to come by.” A monk asked, “When the toad lacks the light of shining back, and the jade rabbit has no thought of accompanying the moon, what then?” The Master said, “Even the rulers Yao and Shun still had transforming influence.” (Qi of Dongchan said, “What greeting is this? In the twelve hours of the day, what season is it for the sthavira?”) A monk asked, “How can this body attain peace?” The Master said, “Only when you are not deceived by another body will you manage it.” (Fayan said otherwise, “Who is troubling you?”) In the eighth month of the third year of Longde of the Liang, the guisi year, the Master manifested a slight illness. In the middle of the night on the thirteenth day of the ninth month, a large star fell before the abbot’s quarters. At dawn, he sat upright and passed away. His age was eighty-nine.

17.10

Chan Master Xiujing of Huayan Temple in Jingzhao. The Master once served as karmadāna at Lepu. Striking the gavel for general work, he said, “The upper hall carries firewood; the lower hall hoes the ground.” At that time, the head monk asked, “What about the holy monk?” The Master said, “Sitting upright in the hall, he does not attend to the activities of the two ends.” When the Master was at Dongshan, he asked, “Your student has not yet seen the path of principle and has not avoided emotional consciousness.” Dongshan said, “Do you still see the path of principle or not?” The Master said, “I see that there is no path of principle.” Dongshan said, “Where did you get emotional consciousness?” The Master said, “Your student asks sincerely.” Dongshan said, “If so, you must stand where there is not an inch of grass for ten thousand miles.” The Master said, “Is one still allowed to stand where there is not an inch of grass?” Dongshan said, “You must go straight on like that.” While carrying firewood, Dongshan grabbed the wood and asked, “What happens when meeting on a narrow path?” The Master said, “Turning sideways, what good fortune!” Dongshan said, “Remember my words: if you dwell toward the south, you will have a thousand people; if you dwell toward the north, there will be only two or three hundred.” The Master at first resided at Huayan on Mount Dong in Fuzhou. Before long, Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang summoned him to the capital. He vastly propagated the profound tradition, and his followers indeed numbered three hundred. A monk asked, “Are the intention of the ancestral masters and the intention of the teachings the same or different?” The Master said, “Though one explores all the treasures of the Dragon Palace, the multitude of meanings cannot express it.” A monk asked, “Why is a person of great awakening instead deluded?” The Master said, “A broken mirror does not reflect again; fallen blossoms find it hard to climb back onto the branch.” A monk asked, “The great army offers a Heavenly King vegetarian feast to seek victory, and the rebel army also offers a Heavenly King vegetarian feast to seek victory. I wonder whose wish the Heavenly King attends to?” The Master said, “Heaven sends down rain and dew, not choosing between the flourishing and the withered.” One day the imperial carriage entered the temple to burn incense. The emperor asked, “What deity is this?” The Master replied, “A benevolent deity that protects the Dharma.” The emperor said, “During the purge, where did it go?” The Master said, “Heaven sends down rain and dew; it does not act for the flourishing or the withered.” Later, the Master travelled to Heshuo and demonstrated extinction in Pingyang. From the cremation, relics were obtained, and four stūpas were erected: first at Jinzhou, second at Fangzhou, third at Xiaoyao Park on Mount Zhongnan, and fourth at Huayan Temple on Mount Zhongnan. An imperial edict bestowed the posthumous title Great Master Baozhi, and the stūpa was named Wuwei.

17.11

Upādhyāya Xianzi (‘Clam’) of Jingzhao: it is not known where he was from. His deeds were quite eccentric, and he had no fixed residence. After receiving the mind-seal at Dongshan, he mingled with the common folk in Minchuan. He kept no monastic implements and observed no vinaya rules. During the day, he would regularly gather shrimp and clams along the riverbank to fill his belly; at dusk, he would sleep amid the paper money in the White Horse Shrine on Mount Dong. The local inhabitants called him Upādhyāya Clam. When Master Jing of Huayan heard of him, wishing to determine whether he was genuine or false, he first slipped in advance into the paper money. Late at night, the Master returned. Jing grabbed hold of him and asked, “What is the meaning of the ancestral master’s coming from the West?” The Master immediately replied, “The wine table-tray in front of the deity.” Jing marveled at him, apologized with bows, and withdrew. Later, when Master Jing’s teaching was active in the capital, the Master also arrived there. In the end, he never gathered disciples to expound the Dharma, but merely feigned madness.

17.12

Great Master Puman of Jiufeng in Yunzhou asked a monk, “Where did you just leave?” The monk said, “Minzhong.” The Master said, “Travelling so far was not easy.” The monk said, “It was not difficult; taking a step, I arrived.” The Master said, “Is there one who does not take a step?” The monk said, “There is.” The Master said, “How could that one arrive here?” The monk had no reply. The Master said, “You cheat people to death.” A monk asked, “What is the Upādhyāya’s house style?” The Master said, “What is it right now?” The monk said, “Your student does not understand.” The Master said, “An iris flower at the crossroads.”

17.13

Chan Master Daoyou of Youqi in Taizhou. Jingqing asked, “What is the young father?” The Master said, “No target.” Jingqing said, “With no target, do you take that to be the young father?” The Master said, “What fault is there?” Jingqing said, “Just as it is, what is the young father like?” The Master said, “Practitioner, what kind of mental activity is that?” A monk asked, “What is the Buddha?” The Master said, “You do not believe that you are a sentient being.” The monk said, “Your student has great faith.” The Master said, “If you form a notion of superiority, you will receive all kinds of demons.” When the Master was about to demonstrate extinction, a monk asked, “After a hundred years, where will the Upādhyāya go?” The Master said, “Far, far away; far, far away.” Having spoken, he passed away sitting upright.

17.14

Chan Master Shiqian of the Later Dongshan (the third generation residing there; also called Upādhyāya Qinglin) first came from Jiashan to call on [Dongshan]. The former Upādhyāya Liangjie of Dongshan asked, “Where have you recently left?” The Master said, “Wuling.” Dongshan said, “How is the Dharma way of Wuling compared to here?” The Master said, “In barbarian lands, bamboo shoots sprout in winter.” Liangjie said, “Cook fragrant rice in a separate cauldron to make an offering to this person.” The Master then went out. Dongshan said, “This fellow in the future will run the people of the world to death!” While the Master was planting pine trees at Dongshan, an Old Man Liu asked the Master for a gāthā. The Master composed a gāthā, saying:

17.15

Growing long, more than three feet tall,
Lush and green, covering the wild weeds.
I know not in what age a person
Will get to see this pine grow old.

17.16

Elder Liu obtained the verse and presented it to Dongshan. Dongshan said: 'Congratulations, Elder! It is precisely this person who is the third generation.' The master first resided at the Little Qinglin Hermitage in Tumen, Suizhou, and later indeed returned to Dongshan to succeed [to the abbacy]. Whenever there was a newly arrived monk, he first made him carry firewood for three rounds before admitting him to the hall. There was a monk who refused. He asked: 'Within the three rounds, I do not ask; what about outside the three rounds?' The master said: 'An edict of the Iron-Wheel Emperor throughout his realm.' The monk had no answer. The master then struck him and drove him away. A monk asked: 'In past years I suffered from illness and was also poisoned; I ask the master to heal me.' The master said: 'Pry open the skull with a golden needle and pour ghee onto the crown.' The monk said: 'If so, then I thank the master for the cure.' The master then struck him. A monk asked: 'What is it like when one has long borne [talent] but not met the times?' The master said: 'One inch on the ruler of the ancient emperor.' A monk asked: 'I request the master to reply to my words.' The master said: 'The asura holds the sun and moon in his palm.' The master entered the hall and said to the assembly: 'The ancestral masters' essential tenet is put into effect today. Since the Dharma ordinance is already manifest, what further business is there?' At that time a monk asked: 'The treasury of the true Dharma eye is co-sealed by ancestral master after ancestral master. I wonder to whom the upādhyāya transmits it?' The master said: 'Numinous sprouts grow where there is ground; great awakening does not retain a teacher.' A monk asked: 'What is the Way?' The master said: 'Turning the ox around to seek the distant mountain stream.' The monk said: 'What is the person within the Way?' The master said: 'Embracing snow, raising the head, and lifting the eyebrows.' A monk asked: 'Among a thousand diverse roads, how can one awaken in an instant?' The master said: 'Underfoot, you turn your back on the black dragon's pearl, in vain resenting the moon in the vast sky.'

17.17

Chan Master Dunru of Baima in the Eastern Capital of Luoyang. A monk asked: 'What is the monk's fundamental matter?' The master said: 'The wind does not pass through the ten directions; a mute delivers a distant letter.' The monk said: 'What letter does he deliver?' The master then joined his palms and raised them to his head. A monk asked: 'What is the person in the secret room?' The master said: 'Just born, he cannot be attained; not valued when unborn.' The monk said: 'What is this that is not valued when unborn?' The master said: 'It is your father.' A monk asked: 'Three thousand li away, I looked toward Baima. Yet when I arrived, why do I not see it?' The master said: 'It is you who do not see it; what business is that of this old monk?' The monk said: 'Please, upādhyāya, point it out.' The master said: 'If pointed out, there would be no relation.' A monk asked: 'What is the student's fundamental matter?' The master said: 'Last night at the third watch, the sun was at high noon.' A monk asked: 'What is the transcendental matter of the Dharma body?' The master said: 'The frog at the bottom of the well swallows the moon.' (A monk asked Huanglong: 'What is the frog at the bottom of the well swallowing the moon?' Huanglong said: 'Nothing can be done.' The monk said: 'If so, then it has swallowed it.' Huanglong said: 'Let it swallow.' The monk said: 'What about after it is swallowed?' Huanglong said: 'A fine frog!') A monk asked: 'What is the student's most urgent point?' The master said: 'Even an agile bird is deemed slow; in the blink of an eye it is already too late.' A monk asked: 'What is the meaning of [the Patriarch's] coming from the West?' The master said: 'A monkey with a mark on its forehead reaches for the moon in the waves.'

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景德傳燈錄 — Classical Chinese