景德傳燈錄 18
English (machine translation) 18
- Language
- English
18.1
The second part of the sixth generation under Chan Master Xingsi of Mount Qingyuan in Jizhou, fourteen persons:
The fourteen persons above are Dharma heirs of Chan Master Yicun of Mount Xuefeng in Fuzhou:
Chan Master Shibei of Xuansha in Fuzhou;
Chan Master Huileng of Changqing in Fuzhou;
Chan Master Xuantong of Mount Dapu in Fuzhou;
Chan Master Daofu of Longce Monastery in Hangzhou;
Chan Master Jiaoran of Mount Changsheng in Fuzhou;
Chan Master Zhifu of Mount Ehu in Xinzhou;
Chan Master Huaiyue of Bao'en in Zhangzhou;
Chan Master Shiyu of Xixing Huadu in Hangzhou;
National Teacher Shenyan of Mount Gushan in Fuzhou;
Chan Master Shaoqing of Longshou in Zhangzhou;
Chan Master Xingdan of Xianzong in Fuzhou;
Chan Master Congyan of Yongfu on Mount Lianhua in Fuzhou;
Chan Master Lingzhao of Longhua Monastery in Hangzhou;
Chan Master Lingcan of Cuiyan in Mingzhou (the above fourteen persons are recorded).
18.2
Dharma heirs of Chan Master Yicun of Mount Xuefeng in Fuzhou
18.3
Great Master Zongyi of Xuansha in Fuzhou, whose Dharma name was Shibei, was a native of Min County in Fuzhou. His surname was Xie. In his youth he was fond of angling, drifting in a small skiff on the Nantai River in company with the various fishermen. Early in the Xiantong reign period of the Tang, when he had just turned thirty, he suddenly longed to leave the dust [of the world], so he abandoned his fishing boat and went to Chan Master Lingxun of Mount Furong to have his head shaved. He went to Vinaya Master Daoxuan at Kaiyuan Monastery in Yuzhang to receive full ordination. In a hemp robe and straw sandals, his food only just kept him breathing, and he would often sit in tranquil meditation all day long, so that everyone was amazed by him. He and Xuefeng Yicun were originally brothers in the Dharma, yet they were as close as master and disciple. Xuefeng called him an ascetic (dhūta) on account of his austere practices. One day Xuefeng asked, "Which one is Ascetic Bei?" He replied, "To the end I would not dare deceive anyone." On another day Xuefeng called out, "Ascetic Bei, why do you not go on an extensive pilgrimage?" The Master said, "Bodhidharma did not come to the Eastern Land; the Second Patriarch did not go to the Western Heavens." Xuefeng approved of this. When [Xuefeng] ascended Mount Xianggu, [the Master] joined forces with him to establish [the monastery]. Students of the profound gathered like clouds. The Master entered [Xuefeng's] room to resolve doubts without interruption morning and night. Furthermore, upon reading the Śūraṅgama-sūtra, he clarified his mind-ground. From this, his responsiveness to situations was swift and keen, in silent accord with the sūtras. Whenever students of the profound from all quarters had unresolved questions, they invariably sought instruction from him. When it came to inquiring and challenging Upādhyāya Xuefeng, he also did not defer even to his teacher. Xuefeng said, "Ascetic Bei is a person who has returned [from a past life]."
One day Xuefeng ascended the hall and said, "If you want to understand this matter, it is like an ancient mirror on its stand: when a foreigner comes, a foreigner appears; when a Han person comes, a Han person appears." The Master said, "What happens when the clear mirror suddenly arrives?" Xuefeng said, "Both foreigner and Han person are concealed." The Master said, "The old upādhyāya's heels have not yet touched the ground."
The Master sat in the hall for a long time; the assembly all thought he would not preach the Dharma, and all at once each returned [to their quarters]. The Master then scolded them, saying: "Look! They are all of one kind—not a single one has wisdom. As soon as they see me open these two flaps of skin, they all crowd around seeking words and mental calculations. What is my reality, for their sake they never know at all. See how exceedingly difficult, how exceedingly difficult it is!"
The Master sometimes said: "Virtuous Chan monks, you all travel about on pilgrimage and claim, 'I practice Chan and study the Path.' Is it because there is some extraordinary place, or is it just wandering about asking here and there? If you have something, try to present it; I will verify right and wrong for you. I know all of it—do you still have anything? If not, you should know you are merely pursuing amusement. Since you have come here, I now ask you: do all of you have eyes? If you do, right now you ought to recognize [it]. Do you recognize it? If you do not recognize it, then when I call you people born blind and born deaf, is that so? Do you agree with this statement? Virtuous Chan monks, do not put yourselves down either! In your reality, when were you ever such people? The Buddhas of the ten directions place you upon the crowns of their heads, not daring to err by the slightest fraction. They only say, 'This matter only I can know.' Do you understand? Nowadays those who succeed one another all claim to inherit from Śākyamuni. I say Śākyamuni is a fellow practitioner with me. Who do you say he practiced with? Do you understand? It is not at all easy! Know that only with great awakening can one begin to understand and know it. If it is an awakening of defined limits, one cannot see it either. Do you recognize great awakening? It certainly cannot be that you recognize its reflection before a skull! It certainly cannot be your speaking of emptiness, speaking of nonexistence, speaking of this side or that side, of mundane dharmas, or of something that is not a mundane dharma! O monks, space itself is still phantom-born from delusion and error; if you now truly accept [the real], where would there be such designations? When there is not even any news of space, where are the three realms? The sequence of karma, the conditions of parents, birth, and setting you up before and after—to speak of nonexistence now is still deceptive speech, how much more so [to speak of] existence, you know? You monks who have been on pilgrimage for a long time claim that there is a matter of awakening. I now ask you: on the summit of a mountain or a sheer cliff, in a place completely cut off from human beings, is there still the Buddha Dharma? Can you still discern it? If you cannot discern it, you are not there yet. I usually say: directly before a deceased monk, that is right where bodhi meets the eye, the sign behind the crown shining with spiritual light for ten thousand leagues. If a person can see it, they can effortlessly emerge from the realm of the aggregates and cast off the mental concepts before their skull. In the end, it is merely your true person. Where else could there be another separate dharma capable of covering it? Do you know? Do you still have faith? Can you take charge of it? You must make great effort!"
The Master also said: "I now ask you people: for now, what matter have you undertaken? In what world have you settled your body and established your life? Can you discern it? If you cannot discern it, it is just like pressing the eyes and producing flowers—whatever you see is mistaken. Do you know? Right now, seeing before you the mountains, rivers, the great earth, form, emptiness, light, darkness, and all various things—these are all the marks of flowers of wild agitation, called inverted knowledge and views. Now, one who leaves the household life recognizes the mind and penetrates the root, therefore they are called a śramaṇa. Now that you have already shaved your head, donned the robes, and taken on the appearance of a śramaṇa, you ought to have a share in benefiting oneself and benefiting others. Look at you now: all pitch-black, resembling black ink! You cannot even save yourselves; how can you understand how to act for others? Worthy ones, the cause and conditions of the Buddha Dharma are a great matter. Do not take it lightly, gathering your heads together, talking wildly and chattering, wasting time in pursuit of amusement! Time is hard to regain; what a pity for great men! Why do you not examine yourselves and see what matter this is? Take the ancestral tradition from of old: it is the crown clan of all Buddhas. Since you cannot take charge of it, therefore I use skillful means to urge you: just continue through Kāśyapa's gate and transcend suddenly! This one gate transcends your ordinary and sacred, cause and effect; it transcends his ocean of the wondrously adorned worlds of Vairocana; it transcends his skillful means gate of Śākyamuni; directly, for eternal eons, it does not allow a single thing to become an object seen by your eyes. Why do you not urgently investigate it? You must not say, 'Let me wait for two or three lifetimes to accumulate pure karma for a long time.' Worthy ones, what matter is your ancestral vehicle? It cannot be attained by your physical and mental effort and adornment; the Dharma cannot be attained through knowledge of other minds or recollection of past lives. Do you understand? Take Śākyamuni's emergence [in the world]: he performed so many transformations and taught the twelve divisions of the canon, like pouring water into a vase, performing a great Buddha-work for your sake. In this gate, not a bit of it can be used; not a hair's breadth of artifice can be used. Do you know? It is like a dream event, also like talking in one's sleep. A śramaṇa should not have to show his head—it is precisely because he recognizes and knows it! Do you know? Recognizing it is the great release, the great showing of one's head. Therefore it is said: transcending the ordinary and surpassing the sacred, emerging from birth and departing from death, departing from cause and departing from effect, transcending Vairocana and surpassing Śākyamuni, not deceived by ordinary, sacred, cause, or effect; in all places no one recognizes you. Do you know? Do not merely harbor long-standing longing for the net of love of birth and death, dragged along by good and bad karma with no share of freedom! Even if you refine your body and mind to be equal to empty space, even if you reach the place where pristine clarity is settled and unmoving, you still do not emerge from his aggregate of consciousness. The ancients called it like rushing water: flowing so swiftly that one is unaware, mistakenly taking it to be clear and still. Such cultivation never emerges from his boundary of saṃsāra; as before, one is spun around by it. Therefore it is said: 'All conditioned things are impermanent.' Even the fruits of practice of the three vehicles are fearsome like this; if one lacks the eye of the Path, it is also not ultimate. How much better from this day, as an ordinary person tied to the ground, without using a fraction of effort, to simply transcend suddenly! Do you understand how to save mental energy? Do you still wish and delight in it? I urge you: right now I am standing here waiting for you to see it; it does not require you to add effort and practice austerities. If not right now, what other time are you waiting for? Do you agree? Do you agree?"
The Master sometimes ascended the hall and addressed the assembly, saying: "Your reality is just like this." At other times he also said: "Bodhidharma is present right now. Do you all see him?"
The Master said: "You people see dangers and evils, see tigers, knives, and swords, all sorts of things threatening your life, and immediately boundless fear arises. What is it like? It is just like a painter in the world who paints an image of hell, and paints tigers, knives, and swords; after finishing, he looks closely at it and then becomes afraid of it himself! You people right now are also like this: seeing all kinds of things as existent, they are phantoms you produced yourselves, and you generate fear yourselves. It is also not another person's fault. Do you now wish to awaken from this phantom delusion? Just recognize your diamond eye! If you recognize it, it has never allowed a speck of dust to be exposed. Where would there still be tigers, wolves, knives, and swords capable of terrifying you? Even with such artifices as Śākyamuni had, he also could not find a way to show his head. Therefore I say to you: the eye of a śramaṇa holds the world fast, enclosing heaven and earth, not leaking a single hair. Where is there still a single thing to be your knowledge and perception? Do you know? Such release! Such wonder! Why do you not investigate it?"
The Master said: "You people are like someone sitting in the great ocean, submerged over your head in water, yet still stretching out a hand to beg people for water to drink. Do you understand? Now, a bodhisattva who studies prajñā must be of great capacity and have great wisdom before they succeed. If you have wisdom, right now you can find release. If your capacity is sluggish, you must endure toil and hardship day and night, forgetting fatigue and neglecting food, just like mourning deceased parents. Being so earnest and urgent throughout a whole lifetime, and further having someone to carry and guide you, investigating the truth to the marrow of your bones, you may also come to see it. What is more, nowadays who is a person capable of undertaking study? Worthy ones, do not merely memorize phrases and words just like reciting dhāraṇīs, stepping forward with mouths chattering away, and when held fast and questioned by someone, having nowhere to turn, you become angry and say, 'The upādhyāya does not answer my questions!' Studying things like this is great suffering! Do you know? There is a sort of upādhyāya sitting on a rope chair, claimed to be a kalyāṇamitra; when questioned, he immediately moves his body and hands, winks his eyes, sticks out his tongue, and stares blankly. There is another sort who says, 'Luminous and spiritual, the intellect of the spiritual terrace can see and hear, acting as the master within the bodily field of the five aggregates.' To be a kalyāṇamitra like this greatly misleads people! Do you know? I now ask you: if you recognize what is luminous and spiritual to be your reality, why is it that when you are asleep, it does not become luminous and spiritual? If it is not so when you are asleep, why is there a time when it is luminous? Do you understand? This is called 'mistaking a thief for one's son'—it is the root of birth and death, the conditioned breath of deluded thoughts. Do you wish to know this source? I tell you: your luminosity and spirituality only arise from distinguishing previous sense data such as form, sound, and fragrance, and then you say, 'This is luminous and spiritual.' If there were no preceding sense data, this luminosity and spirituality of yours would be the same as the horns of a hare or the hairs of a tortoise. Worthy ones, where is reality? If you now wish to emerge from that master within the bodily field of the five aggregates, just recognize your secret diamond body! An ancient said to you: 'Perfected, correct, and pervasive, it pervades the sand-realms.' Now I shall explain a little for you wise people, so that you may understand through a metaphor. Do you see this sun of Jambudvīpa? The enterprises, nourishment of the body, livelihoods, and various mental activities and deeds performed by worldly people—are they not all established relying on its sunlight? But does the body of the sun itself have diverse kinds and mental activities? Is there any place it does not pervade? If you wish to know this diamond body, it is also like this. Right now, the mountains, rivers, the great earth, the lands of the ten directions, form, emptiness, light, darkness, and your body and mind—are they not all manifested relying on your perfected, awesome light? Even the karmic sequence of gods and humans, the various kinds of living beings receiving birth and retribution, both sentient and insentient—are they not all relying on your awesome light? Even the Buddhas realizing the Path and attaining the fruit, receiving beings and benefiting living creatures—are they not all relying on your awesome light? But does the diamond body have ordinary people and Buddhas? Does it have your mental activities? You cannot just say 'there is none' and have it suffice! Do you know? Since you have such wonder, why do you not realize and clarify the place where you show yourself in plain sight? Instead, you follow along within the bodily field of the five aggregates making a livelihood in the ghost realm, directly deceiving yourselves. Suddenly, when the killing realm of impermanence arrives, with eyes wide in terror, clinging to body and clinging to life, at such a time it will be exceedingly difficult to withstand, just like a turtle having its shell stripped off alive—great suffering! Worthy ones, do not just treat sleepy views as sufficient; they cannot cover even a hair's breadth! Do you know? The three realms have no peace, just like a burning house. Moreover, you are not people who have attained peace and happiness; you merely gather in great herds to meddle in the mundane world, like wild deer running here and there, only knowing how to seek clothing and food. If you are like this, how can you practice the royal way? Do you know? Kings and great ministers do not constrain you; parents allow you to leave the household; donors of the ten directions provide you with food and clothing; the earth spirits and dragon gods protect you. You must have a sense of shame and know gratitude before you are worthy! Do not disappoint people. Sprawled out on the long platform beds, letting time waste away, saying, 'This is peace and happiness'—not at all! It is all nourished by gruel and rice; you will rot away like rotten winter melons, buried away in the soil, your karmic consciousness boundless with no root to rely upon. For what reason have śramaṇas reached such a state? Take the wriggling creatures on the great earth: I call them dwelling in the eon of hell. If you do not resolve it now, tomorrow or the next day, see yourselves transformed into the womb of a donkey or the belly of a horse, pulling plows and rakes, holding the iron bit and bearing the saddle, pounded in mortars and ground in mills, burned and boiled in fire and water—going there is not at all easy! Suffering it requires great dread. It is your own burden, you know! If you resolve it, directly and for eternal eons you will never be allowed to have news of this. If you do not resolve the causes and conditions of these afflictions and evil karma, it will not cease after one eon or two eons—it will last as long as your diamond [nature]! Do you know?"
Elder Nanjie arrived at Xuefeng's place. Xuefeng instructed him to visit the Master. The Master asked, "An ancient said, 'This matter only I can know.' What do you say, Elder?" Nanjie said, "One must know there is one who does not seek to know." (Guizong Rou offered an alternative by clapping three times.) The Master said, "Why does the upādhyāya at the peak of the mountain undergo so much hardship?"
Xuefeng, while doing communal labor clearing fields, saw a snake. Raising it with his staff, he called to the assembly, "Look! Look!" and cut it into two pieces with a blade. The Master tossed his staff behind his back and did not even look back. The assembly was astonished. Xuefeng said, "How sharp!"
One day, while accompanying Xuefeng on a walk in the mountains, Xuefeng pointed to a patch of ground and said, "A seamless stūpa could be built here." The Master said, "How tall would it be?" Xuefeng looked up and down. The Master said, "As for the dependent retribution of humans and gods, it is not as good as the upādhyāya; but as for receiving the prophecy on Vulture Peak, you are still far from it."
Xuefeng said, "When the world is one foot wide, the ancient mirror is one foot wide; when the world is ten feet wide, the ancient mirror is ten feet wide." The Master pointed to the brazier and said, "How wide is the brazier?" Xuefeng said, "As wide as the ancient mirror." The Master said, "The old upādhyāya's heels have not touched the ground."
The Master first accepted an invitation to dwell at the Puying Cloister at the Meixi salt-tax office. Later, he moved to Mount Xuansha. From then on, the monastic assemblies of the forests throughout the world all looked up to his reputation and submitted to him. Wang, the Military Commissioner of Min, invited him to expound the unsurpassed vehicle and treated him with the etiquette due a master. His students numbered over eight hundred, and the doors of the rooms were never closed.
The Master ascended the hall. After remaining silent for a long time, he addressed the assembly, saying: "I have exhausted myself to the utmost for your sakes; do you still understand?"
A monk asked, "What is it like when all is quiet and without words?" The Master said, "Why talk in your sleep?" The monk said, "Please, Master, speak of the fundamental matter." The Master said, "Why doze off?" The monk said, "I am dozing off; what about the upādhyāya?" The Master said, "How can you be so oblivious to pain and itch?" He also said: "What a pity for such great master-monks, traveling on pilgrimage for thousands and tens of thousands of miles to come here, yet unable to withstand a bit of dozing and sleep-talk, and so they give in!"
[A monk] asked, "What is the student's self?" The Master said, "What use do you have for a self?"
A monk asked, "Regarding the matter of the ancestral school from of old, what are the Master's words here?" The Master said, "Few listen." The monk said, "Please speak directly, Upādhyāya." The Master said, "Why suffer from deafness?"
He also said: "Worthy ones, nowadays matters leave me no choice, making me hold down such awesome light, earnestly advising you with bitter mouth, using hundreds of thousands of skillful means to say this and that. When I share knowledge and hearing with you, it all turns into inverted knowledge and views. Using this throat, lips, and mouth only results in the wild-fox karma of deceiving you. Do you agree? Whether there is fault or no fault, only I myself know; how could you understand? If such a person steps forward, they willingly submit to rebuke. Being a teacher and model for people is not at all easy; one must be a kalyāṇamitra before one can know it. Now, when I help you with such skillful means, you still cannot see it; if I were to uphold the ancestral vehicle purely, where would you place yourselves? Do you understand? The forty-nine years were skillful means. Take the assembly at Vulture Peak: there were a million in the assembly, yet only Kāśyapa alone personally heard it; all the rest did not hear. What do you say Kāśyapa personally heard? You cannot say that the Tathāgata's teaching without words was what Kāśyapa heard without hearing, and have it suffice! It certainly cannot be the matter of your cultivating causes to achieve results, adorned with blessings and wisdom! Do you know? Take the statement, 'I have the correct Dharma eye, which I entrust to Mahākāśyapa'—I say it is like talking about the moon. Caoqi raising the whisk was like pointing to the moon. Therefore it is said: in the realm of the Great Tang, regarding the matter of the ancestral vehicle, I have never seen a single person proclaim it. If someone were to proclaim it, everyone in the whole world would lose their lives, just like an iron hammer without a hole, all losing their sharpness and their tongues tied at once. You people are fortunate to have met me, who, disregarding body and life, share inverted knowledge and views with you and follow your wild ideas, so that you only then have a place to bring questions. If I did not have such hearing in common with you, where would you be able to see me? Do you understand? It is exceedingly difficult! Strive on! Take care!"
He then delivered a verse, saying:
18.4
Ten thousand miles of divine light, a mark behind the crown;
When submerged over the crown, where can one gaze?
The affair is accomplished, the intent has also ceased;
The tracks of this coming pervade everywhere.
The wise person, touching it, immediately seizes it;
Do not wait an instant and lose your head.
18.5
He also spoke a verse, saying:
18.6
Xuansha's path of wandering is distinct;
People of the time must urgently know it:
In the depth of winter the yang energy flourishes;
In the sixth month it is the time frost descends.
There are words that do not concern the tongue;
Silence is the most essential speech.
If you understand my final phrase,
Leaving the world, few will understand.
18.7
[A monk] asked, “Beyond the four comportments, how does one serve the king?”
The Master said, “You are a criminal against the king's law; how can you understand how to ask about this matter?”
[A monk] asked, “When the ancients raised the mallet or held up the fly-whisk, did that pertain to the matter of our ancestral vehicle or not?”
The Master said, “It did not.”
[The monk] asked, “What was the ancient’s intention?”
The Master held up his fly-whisk.
The monk asked, “What is the matter of the ancestral vehicle?”
The Master said, “Only when you are awakened will it be possible.”
[A monk] asked, “What is a vajra-warrior?”
The Master thereupon blew at him.
When Bucket-head Wen went down the mountain, the Master asked, “Bucket-head, going down the mountain, when will you return?”
He said, “In three to five days.”
The Master said, “When you return, bring back a carrying-pole load of bottomless buckets.”
Wen had no reply. (Guizong Rou spoke in his place: “What would the Venerable use them for?”)
The Master sometimes gave this instruction: “Old masters in all quarters all talk about receiving people and benefiting living beings. Now let me ask you: suppose there are three kinds of afflicted persons—the blind, the deaf, and the mute—how would you receive them? If you raise a mallet or hold up a fly-whisk, their eyes cannot see it. If you speak with them, their ears cannot hear, and moreover their mouths are mute. If you cannot receive them, the Buddha-Dharma has no efficacy at all.”
At the time, a monk came forward and asked, “Regarding the three kinds of afflicted persons, does the Venerable permit someone to deliberate?”
The Master said, “I permit it; how do you deliberate?”
The monk said, “Take care,” and walked out.
The Master said, “Not it, not it.”
(Fayan said, “At that time, when I saw Master Luohan bring up this monk’s words, I then understood the three kinds of afflicted persons.” Yunju Xi said, “Just taking this monk, did he understand or not? If you say he understood, Xuansha also said ‘Not it.’ If you say he did not understand, why did Fayan say, ‘Because of this monk’s words, I then understood the three kinds of afflicted persons’? Sthaviras, if you have nothing to do, come forward and deliberate; everyone needs to know.”) Luohan said, “Guichen sees that they have eyes and ears; how does the Venerable receive them?” Zhongta said, “Where are the three kinds of afflicted persons right now?” Another monk said, “Not only do you deceive others, but you also deceive yourself.”
When Changqing Leng arrived, the Master asked, “Leaving aside dietary avoidances, what would you say?”
Leng said, “Why act foolish?”
The Master said, “On Mount Xuefeng, acorns have just been eaten; here, sparrows drop dung.”
Seeing a monk come to bow, the Master said, “Keep on bowing; through me, you are able to bow to yourself.”
One day during communal work, they went to Haikeng to chop firewood and saw a tiger. The monk said, “Venerable, a tiger!”
The Master said, “It is your tiger.”
After returning to the monastery, a monk asked, “Just before, when seeing the tiger, you said it was mine. I do not understand: what was your venerable intention?”
The Master said, “In the sahā world there are fourfold heavy obstacles. If someone can penetrate them, I allow that you have escaped the realm of the skandhas.”
(Dongshan Qi said, “Sthaviras, an ancient, having seen the truth, said: ‘My body and mind are like the great earth and empty space.’ Can people nowadays still penetrate it?”)
The Master asked Master Changsheng Ran, “Vimalakīrti observed the Buddha: ‘The past does not come, the future does not go, and the present does not abide.’ How do you observe?”
[Changsheng] replied, “Permit Jiaoran to pass, and there can be deliberation.”
The Master said, “If I permit you to pass, how would it be?”
Changsheng was silent for a long while.
The Master said, “Whom are you having understand?”
He said, “Tilting an ear in vain.”
The Master said, “I clearly knew you were making a living inside a mountain ghost’s cave.”
(Chongshou Chou said in place of Changsheng, “What do you call the Tathāgata?”)
A monk asked the Master, “Why is this student unable to speak [it]?”
The Master said, “Filling and blocking your mouth, how could you be able to speak [it]?”
(Fayan said, “The ancient spoke like that; it was extraordinary indeed. Now let me ask the sthavira: what is the mouth?”)
[A monk] asked, “Whenever there are words and phrases, they all fall into a storage chest. Leaving aside falling into a storage chest, I ask the Venerable to deliberate.”
The Master said, “Snap and break the steelyard beam, and then I will deliberate with you.”
[A monk] asked, “The ancients received people with a wink of the eye. How does the Venerable receive people?”
The Master said, “I do not receive people with a wink of the eye.”
The monk asked, “What is it that is so hard to see?”
The Master said, “Just because it is too close.”
(Fayan said, “There is also nothing that can be close; right underneath it is the sthavira.”)
When the Master was at Xuefeng, Attendant Guang said to him, “If my Dharma-uncle manages to learn Chan, I will forge an iron boat and go out to sea.”
After the Master became abbot, he asked, “Attendant Guang, have you managed to forge the iron boat yet?”
Guang had no reply.
(Fayan said in his place, “The Venerable would never do such a thing.” Fadeng said in his place, “I ask the Venerable to step down into the boat.” Xuanjue said in his place, “A poor fellow broods over old debts.”)
One day the Master sent a monk to deliver a letter to Master Xuefeng. Xuefeng opened the envelope and found only three sheets of blank paper. He asked the monk, “Do you understand?”
He replied, “I do not understand.”
Xuefeng said, “Have you not heard it said: ‘Exemplary persons a thousand li apart share the same wind’?”
The monk returned and related this to the Master.
The Master said, “This old upādhyāya has missed it without even knowing it.”
(Dongshan Qi said, “In what place was it missed? If it was truly missed, could the Master not understand his disciple’s intention? If it is not understood in that way, what was Xuansha’s intention? If you understand, then study with Xuansha.”)
The Master asked Jingqing, “In the teachings it is said, ‘A bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s not seeing a single dharma is a great fault.’ Tell me, what dharma is not seen?”
Jingqing pointed to an exposed pillar and said, “Could it be not seeing this one?”
(Tong'an Xian gave an alternative reply: “I know that the Venerable does not act rashly.”)
The Master said, “You may eat clear water and white rice in Zhejiang, but as for the Buddha-Dharma, you have not yet grasped it at all.”
(Xuanjue said, “Tell me, where was Xuansha’s intention when he spoke like that? Have you not heard that a monk asked Dongshan, ‘Not seeing a single dharma is a great fault; what is the meaning of this?’ Dongshan said, ‘Not seeing a single dharma—fine words, sthavira!’ Yisu Jue said, ‘Not seeing a single dharma is precisely the Tathāgata; only then can one be called the Bodhisattva Contemplator of Sovereignty and Samantabhadra.’ He also said, ‘“Not seeing a single dharma is a great fault”—is it one or is it two? Try to judge it.’”) A monk asked, “I have heard that the Venerable said: ‘The entire universe in the ten directions is a single bright pearl.’ How can this student understand it?”
The Master said, “The entire universe in the ten directions is a single bright pearl; what is the use of understanding?”
The next day the Master asked that monk in turn, “The entire universe in the ten directions is a single bright pearl; how do you understand it?”
He replied, “The entire universe in the ten directions is a single bright pearl; what is the use of understanding?”
The Master said, “I know you are making a living inside a mountain ghost’s cave.”
(Xuanjue said, “He spoke in the same way; why did it turn into a mountain ghost’s cave?”)
[A monk] asked, “What is the seamless stūpa?”
The Master said, “How large is this seam?”
(Xuanjue said, “In the monasteries they talk like this. Where can there be seamlessness? Did he understand correctly or not?”)
Army Supervisor Wei came to visit and remarked, “Master Caoshan is very extraordinary.”
The Master then asked, “How far is it from Fuzhou to Caoshan?”
Wei pointed to a monk beside him and asked, “Has the sthavira ever been to Caoshan?”
He said, “I have been there.”
Wei asked, “How far is it from Fuzhou to Caoshan?”
He said, “One hundred and twenty li.”
Wei said, “If so, then the sthavira has not been to Caoshan.” Wei then rose and bowed to the Master.
The Master said, “The supervisor should instead bow to this monk; this monk indeed possesses a sense of shame.”
(Yunju Xi said, “Where is it that this monk possesses a sense of shame? If you can search it out, I grant that the sthavira has the eye of an itinerant monk.”)
A Sanskrit grammarian tripiṭaka master from India arrived, and the Military Commissioner of Min had him meet with the Master. The Master struck a bronze brazier with fire-tongs and asked, “What sound is this?”
The tripiṭaka master replied, “The sound of bronze and iron.”
(Fayan gave an alternative reply: “Please let the Great Master speak for the Great King.” Fadeng gave an alternative reply: “Listen to the Venerable’s question.”)
The Master said, “Great King, do not be deceived by a foreigner.”
The tripiṭaka master had no reply.
(Fayan said in his place, “The Great Master has long received the Great King’s offerings.” Fadeng said in his place, “It is rather the Venerable who is deceiving the Great King.”)
The Master traveled south to Putian County, where a hundred varieties of theatrical entertainment were arranged to welcome him. The next day, the Master asked Elder Xiaotang, “Where did all that clamour of yesterday go?”
Xiaotang lifted a corner of his patchwork robe.
The Master said, “Vain and distracted; it has no connection.”
(Fayan gave an alternative reply: “How much clamour was there yesterday?” Fadeng gave an alternative reply: “Today it is even more laughable.”)
The Master asked a monk, “How do you understand a gandharva city?”
The monk said, “Like a dream, like an illusion.”
(Fayan gave an alternative action: he struck an object to show it to him.)
The Master and Dizang Chen were talking inside the abbot's quarters late into the night. An attendant closed the door. The Master said, “The doors are completely shut; how will you get out?”
Chen said, “What do you call a door?”
(Fadeng gave an alternative reply: “Would the Venerable not like to rest?”)
One day the Master propped his staff on the ground and asked Changsheng, “Monks’ views, lay views, men’s views, women’s views—how do you view?”
Changsheng said, “Does the Venerable see Jiaoran's point of view?”
The Master said, “Acquaintances fill the world.”
[A monk] asked, “I have heard that the Venerable said, ‘The hearing-nature everywhere pervades the Dharma realm.’ When Xuefeng beats the drum, why is it not heard here?”
The Master said, “Who knows it is not heard?”
[A monk] asked, “On a treacherous and dangerous road, what serves as a ferry and bridge?”
The Master said, “Your eyes serve as the ferry and bridge.”
[The monk] asked, “What about for those who have not attained it?”
The Master said, “Quickly rescue them.”
The Master was eating fruit with Army Supervisor Wei. Wei asked, “What is ‘using it daily without knowing it’?”
The Master picked up a fruit and said, “Eat.”
After Wei had eaten the fruit, he asked again.
The Master said, “Just this is ‘using it daily without knowing it.’”
During communal work carrying firewood, the Master said, “All of you rely entirely on my power.”
A monk said, “Since we rely on the Master’s power, what is the need for communal work?”
The Master scolded him, saying, “If you do not do communal work, how will you get the firewood back?”
The Master asked Great Master Mingzhen, “Sudhana visited Maitreya, and Maitreya directed him back to Mañjuśrī. Mañjuśrī directed him to where the Buddha was. Tell me, where does the Buddha direct him?”
He replied, “I do not know.”
The Master said, “I clearly knew you did not know.”
(Fayan gave an alternative reply: “What do you call a Buddha?”)
Dapu Xuantong arrived and paid respects. The Master said to him, “While dwelling there, do not deceive and bewilder the sons and daughters of families.”
He replied, “Xuantong merely opened a gate of offerings; coming in the evening and leaving in the morning, how would I dare do such a thing?”
The Master said, “The matter is difficult.”
He said, “Its sentiment is indeed difficult.”
The Master said, “What place is the difficult place?”
He said, “Because they are unwilling to undertake it.”
The Master then entered the abbot’s quarters and barred the door.
[A monk] asked, “This student has just entered the monastery; I beg the Master to point out an entry path.”
The Master said, “Do you hear the sound of the water of Yanxi Stream?”
He said, “I hear it.”
The Master said, “That is your entry point.”
Wang Gong, the Prefect of Quanzhou, invited the Master to ascend a tower. He said to the guest prefect beforehand, “Wait until I lead the Great Master before the tower, then carry away the ladder.” The guest prefect received his instructions. The Prefect said, “I invite the Great Master to ascend the tower.”
The Master looked at the tower, looked back at the man, and thereupon said, “The Buddha-Dharma is not this principle.”
(Fayan said, “Before carrying away the ladder, how many times a day did you ascend the tower?”)
The Master was talking with the Prefect of Quanzhou in the room. A novice pulled up the curtain, entered and looked, then stepped back and went out.
The Master said, “That novice deserves twenty blows with the staff.”
[The Prefect] said, “If so, then it is my fault.”
(Tong'an Xian gave an alternative reply: “The ancestral master has arrived!”)
The Master said, “The Buddha-Dharma is not like that.”
(Jingqing said, “It was not for carrying water.” A monk asked, “What is the meaning of ‘It was not for carrying water’?” Jingqing said, “Even if the green mountain is ground to dust, I dare guarantee there are no idle persons.” Dongshan Qi said, “Just taking this, what was Xuansha’s intention? Some say: ‘Even if he went like that, he would still deserve blows with the staff.’ Some say: ‘The matter lies in meeting the moment.’ Some say: ‘It broke through what he understood.’ Do these three explanations understand Xuansha’s intention or not?”)
The Master responded to faculties and received beings for nearly thirty years, causing the profound stream of Qingyuan and Shitou to flow unbroken down to the present day, guiding future times. The essentials of the Dharma he expounded were contained in the Great and Small Records circulating throughout the realm. His other sayings were brought forward in the writings of his disciples and cited across various quarters. On the twenty-seventh day of the eleventh month in the second year of Kaiping of the Liang dynasty, a wuchen year [908 CE], he manifested illness and passed away. His age was seventy-four; his monastic age was forty-four. The Military Commissioner of Min erected a stūpa for him.
18.8
Chan Master Huileng of Changqing in Fuzhou was a native of Yanguan in Hangzhou, surnamed Sun. From his youth, his nature was pure and tranquil. At the age of thirteen, he left household life and took the precepts at Tongxuan Monastery in Suzhou. He traveled to practice at Chan quarters. In the fifth year of Qianfu of the Tang dynasty, he entered Min, paid respect at Xiyuan, and visited Lingyun, but still had stubborn obstacles. Later he went to Xuefeng, where the ice of his doubts melted away. He then asked, 'Please give instruction on the single road transmitted and received by the sages from antiquity.' Xuefeng remained silent. The Master bowed and retreated, and Xuefeng smiled faintly. On another day, Xuefeng said to the Master, 'I usually say to the monks: There is a poisonous snake on South Mountain; all of you should look closely!' The Master replied, 'In the hall today, many people have lost their lives.' Xuefeng approved of this. The Master entered the abbot's quarters to consult him. Xuefeng said, 'What is it?' The Master said, 'Today the weather is clear, good for general labor.' From this point on, his replies and questions were never at odds with the profound purport. He then expressed his awakening and understanding in a verse:
18.9
Among all phenomena, the body stands revealed alone; / Only when one affirms it oneself does it become intimate. / Formerly I sought in error along the road; / Today, seeing it, it is like ice in the midst of fire.
18.10
While at Xiyuan, the Master asked Sthavira Shen, 'There is Elephant Bone Mountain here; have you ever been there?' Shen said, 'I have not been there.' The Master said, 'Why have you not been there?' Shen said, 'I naturally have my own fundamental matter.' The Master said, 'What is the sthavira's fundamental matter?' Shen then lifted up the corner of his patched robe. The Master said, 'Is it just this, or is there something else?' Shen said, 'What does the sthavira see?' The Master said, 'Why have a dragon's head and a snake's tail?'
While the Master was at Baofu in Xuanzhou, he later took his leave to return to Xuefeng. Baofu asked the Master, 'If the upādhyāya at the mountain top asks, how will the sthavira reply with news?' The Master said, 'Without avoiding the taint of meat and fish, there is also a little.' Baofu said, 'What does the news say?' The Master said, 'Whom do you tell me to entrust it to?' Baofu said, 'Although Congzhan has spoken these words, there may not necessarily be such a matter.' The Master said, 'If so, what lies ahead is entirely up to the ācārya.'
The Master went rambling on the mountain with Baofu. Baofu asked, 'The ancients said "the summit of Mount Wonderful Peak"—could it be just this one?' The Master said, 'It is indeed, but what a pity!' (A monk asked Gushan, 'What did Master Leng mean by speaking like that?' Gushan said, 'If Master Sun had not spoken these words, one could say skulls would cover the wilderness and white bones would stretch across the mountains.')
The Master traveled back and forth to Xuefeng for twenty-nine years. In the third year of Tianyou, he accepted the invitation of Wang Yanbin, Prefect of Quanzhou, to reside at Zhaoqing, opening the hall for the first time. On that day, Lord Wang, in his court robes, approached the corner and said, 'Please, Master, preach the Dharma.' The Master said, 'Do you still hear it?' The lord bowed. The Master said, 'Although it is like this, I fear someone will not approve.' Thereupon he expounded the ancestral meaning, taking and giving according to the capacity [of the listener]. Thus those in patched robes bustled to and fro, daily supported by his conversion through the Way.
Later, the Military Commissioner of Min invited him to go to Xiyuan in Changle Prefecture, memorializing the throne for the temple plaque named 'Changqing', and he was granted the title of Great Master Chaojue.
Taking the high seat, after a long silence he said to the assembly, 'Is there still anyone who understands? If you do not understand, you are deceiving your brothers. Right now, what is the matter? Is there any obstruction? Whose household matter is it again? If you do not accept and bear it, what time are you waiting for? If one has sharp faculties, in studying and practicing one does not come here. Do you understand yet? Nowadays there is a sort of wandering traveler whose ears are entirely stuffed full. Even if they could gather it all up, would that serve the matter of everyone's wandering travels?'
Then a monk asked, 'How should one study the matter of wandering travels?' The Master said, 'Only knowing to go to others and make demands.'
He also asked, 'What is the single road of solitary emancipation?' The Master said, 'Why bother to ask again?'
He also asked, 'Nominal words and wondrous meanings are what the teachings explain; without involving the three categories, please speak directly, Master.' The Master said, 'Take care.'
The Master then said to the assembly, 'Though clearly sung and chanted, you still do not understand; if suddenly an obscure matter arrives, what will you do?'
Another monk asked, 'What is an obscure matter?' The Master said, 'Go have some tea.' (Zhongta said, 'Then please accompany me, upādhyāya.')
A monk asked, 'What is the matter that is not separated by the tip of a hair?' The Master said, 'Is it fitting or not?'
He asked, 'How can one become free of doubt and delusion?' The Master then stretched out both hands. The monk made no further remark. The Master said, 'Ask again and I will tell you.' When the monk asked a second time, the Master sat with his shoulder bared. The monk bowed. The Master said, 'How do you understand?' The monk said, 'Today the wind is rising.' The Master said, 'Speaking like that does not determine a person's view. What crucial point do you have from antiquity to the present to match Changqing? If you can bring one up, I will allow you to be the host of the talk.' The monk just stood there. The Master then asked, 'Where are you from?' He said, 'A man from the north.' The Master said, 'Three thousand li from north to south—why study telling lies?' The monk had no reply.
The Master took the high seat, and after a long silence said, 'Do not say that tonight is a little better,' and then descended from the seat.
A monk asked, 'What is a word that accords with the sage?' The Master said, 'Great and small Changqing, questioned by you once, has a mouth like a carrying pole.' The monk said, 'Why is it like this?' The Master said, 'What did you ask just now?'
The Master said to the assembly, 'If I were purely to raise and proclaim the tradition of the school, I would have to close the Dharma hall doors. Therefore, if the law is exhausted, there are no people.' At that time a monk said, 'Not fearing that there are no people, please exhaust the law, Master.' The Master said, 'Do you understand where it falls?'
A monk asked, 'What is the meaning of the Western Come?' The Master said, 'What Xiangyan said is all sat upon at once.'
The Master sometimes instructed the assembly, saying, 'If all were like tonight, the Old Barbarian would have hope.' Baofu heard this and said, 'If all were like tonight, the Old Barbarian would despair.' (Xuanjue said, 'Speaking like this—are these words of meeting or not words of meeting?' Dongshan Qi said, 'The words of these two venerable elders are uniform, yet each has its reason. In the assembly it is said: If all were like this, what is to be disliked? It is also said: If all were like tonight, what could it be used for? If understood like this, awakening is still lacking.')
Upādhyāya Tao of Anguo had newly received a master title. The Master went to congratulate him. Tao came out to receive him. The Master asked, 'Has the master title arrived?' Tao said, 'It has arrived.' The Master said, 'What is the title?' Tao said, 'Mingzhen.' The Master then stretched out his hand. Tao said, 'Where have you been?' The Master said, 'I almost did not question you thoroughly.'
The Master asked a monk, 'Where have you come from?' He said, 'From Gushan.' The Master said, 'Gushan has a phrase about not striding over the stone gate. If someone were to ask you, what would you say?' He said, 'Last night I lodged at Baoci.' The Master said, 'How about a blow of the stick on your back?' He said, 'If the upādhyāya applies this stick, he does not accept the offerings of humans and devas in vain.' The Master said, 'I almost let you off.'
A monk asked, 'The ancients had a saying: "Meeting without revealing, as soon as an intention is raised one knows it is there." How is it at such a time?' The Master said, 'Do you know it is there or not?' (A monk took this remark and asked Baofu. Baofu said, 'Whose words are these?' The monk said, 'The words of Danxia.' Baofu said, 'Go, do not prevent me from sleeping!')
The Master entered the monks' hall, held up the heading of a donation register, and said, 'Seeing is not seeing; do you still see?' The assembly had no reply. (Fayan said in their place, 'Even if I received it and reached another place, I would not dare present it to anyone.')
The Master arrived at Luoshan and saw a newly made niche. The Master tapped it with his staff and said, 'Quite a lot of preparation!' Luoshan said, 'Clumsy arrangement.' The Master said, 'Are you willing to enter or not?' Luoshan said, 'Hūṃ!'
The Master took the high seat, and once the great assembly had gathered, he pulled out a monk and said, 'Assembly, bow to this monk!' He also said, 'What strong point does this monk have that I should make the assembly bow?' The assembly had no reply.
A monk asked, 'How was the matter before literary pattern arose?' The Master said, 'You bring it up first, and I will bring it up later.' The monk just stood there. (Fayan gave an alternative: 'Please bring it up, upādhyāya.') The Master said, 'How do you bring it up?' The monk said, 'I deserve to have my tongue cut out.'
Baofu passed away. Someone asked the Master, 'Baofu has cast off his skin-bag; where has he gone?' The Master said, 'Tell me, in which skin-bag is Baofu?' (Fayan gave an alternative: 'Which one is Baofu's skin-bag?')
Lady Cui, the wife of the Military Commissioner of Min (who practiced Daoism and styled herself 'Refined Master'), sent an envoy delivering clothing and items, saying, 'The Refined Master requests that I ask the Great Master for a reply.' The Master said, 'Pass word to the Refined Master to receive the reply.' Soon the envoy came before the Master, cried 'yes', and returned. The next day, the Master entered the prefectural office. The Refined Master said, 'Yesterday I thanked you, Great Master, for the reply.' The Master said, 'Please show me yesterday's reply.' The Refined Master stretched out both hands. The Military Commissioner of Min asked the Master, 'Did the Refined Master's presentation of the letter just now satisfy the Great Master's mind?' The Master said, 'It is still a little better.' (Fayan gave an alternative: 'This single turning word—let the Great King speak it himself.') The commissioner said, 'I do not know what the Great Master's intention is.' The Master remained silent for a long time. The commissioner said, 'Inconceivable! The Great Master's Buddha-Dharma is profound and far-reaching.'
A monk related: In Goryeo a monk made an Avalokiteśvara statue. When loading it onto a boat in Mingzhou, the strength of the crowd could not lift it. Consequently they invited it to be placed in Kaiyuan Monastery for offerings. He asked the Master, 'Not a land where the body is not manifested—why was it unwilling to go to Goryeo?' The Master said, 'Although the manifestation of the body is universal, looking at the marks produces bias.' (Fayan gave an alternative: 'Do you recognise Avalokiteśvara yet?')
Someone asked a monk, 'What lamp are you lighting?' He said, 'The everlasting lamp.' He asked, 'When was it lit?' He said, 'It was lit last year.' He asked, 'Where is the everlasting?' The monk was speechless. The Master said in his place, 'Were it not so, how would one know you are not deceived by others?' (Fayan gave an alternative: 'Profit moves the gentleman.')
The Master opened the Dharma at two places, his disciples numbering one thousand five hundred. His teaching was practiced throughout Minyue for twenty-seven years. On the seventeenth day of the fifth month in the renchen year, the third year of Changxing of the Later Tang, he returned to stillness at the age of seventy-nine, with sixty years as a monk. The Wang clan erected a stūpa for him.
First 10 of 26 passages. Read on
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- 景德傳燈錄 — Classical Chinese