景德傳燈錄 28

English (machine translation) 28

Language: English

28.6 — 5 parts

28.1

Extensive sayings of various regions: twelve persons recorded:
Sayings of National Teacher Huizhong of Nanyang
Sayings of Great Master Shenhui of Heze in Luojing
Sayings of Chan Master Daji Daoyi of Jiangxi
Sayings of Upādhyāya Weiyan of Yaoshan in Lizhou
Sayings of Upādhyāya Dazhu Huihai of Yuezhou
Sayings of National Teacher Dada Wuye of Fenzhou
Sayings of Upādhyāya Nanquan Puyuan of Chizhou
Sayings of Upādhyāya Congshen of Zhaozhou
Sayings of Upādhyāya Linji Yixuan of Zhenzhou
Sayings of Great Master Xuansha Zongyi Shibei
Sayings of Upādhyāya Luohan Guichen of Tanzhou
Sayings of Great Chan Master Fayan Wenyi

28.2

National Preceptor Huizhong of Nanyang asked a visiting meditation monk, "Where do you come from?"
The monk replied, "I come from the south."
The Master asked, "What kalyāṇamitras are there in the south?"
The monk said, "There are quite a few kalyāṇamitras."
The Master asked, "How do they instruct people?"
The monk said, "The kalyāṇamitras in that quarter directly instruct students that this mind itself is the Buddha; 'Buddha' means awareness. You now fully possess the nature of seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing. This nature can well raise the eyebrows, blink the eyes, come and go, operate, and pervade throughout the body. Touch the head and the head knows; touch the foot and the foot knows. Therefore it is called right and universal knowledge. Apart from this, there is no other Buddha. This body has birth and death, but the mind-nature from beginningless time has never had birth and death. The birth and death of the body is like a dragon shedding its bones, a snake sloughing its skin, or a person leaving an old house: the body is impermanent, but its nature is eternal. What is taught in the south is roughly like this."
The Master said, "If it is so, then there is no difference from that Śreṇika non-Buddhist. He said, 'Within this body of mine there is a spiritual nature. This nature can know pain and itch. When the body breaks apart, the spirit goes out, just as when a house is burned, the master of the house goes out. The house is impermanent, but the master of the house is eternal.' If it is carefully examined like this, how can heterodoxy and orthodoxy be distinguished? Which is correct? When I recently traveled about, I often saw this sort of thing, and lately it has flourished even more. Gathering three to five hundred people, with eyes gazing at the clouds and Milky Way, they say this is the southern tradition. They have altered and changed his Platform Sūtra, adding and mixing in vulgar talk, excising the sacred intention, and misleading later followers. How can that constitute oral teaching? How bitter! Our school is ruined. If seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing are the Buddha-nature, Vimalakīrti should not have said, 'The Dharma is free from seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing. If one practices seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing, that is seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing, not seeking the Dharma.'"
The monk also asked, "The Lotus Sūtra's definitive teaching reveals the Buddha's knowledge and vision; what about this?"
The Master said, "It says, 'opening the Buddha's knowledge and vision'; it does not even mention bodhisattvas or the two vehicles. How could sentient beings in their delusions and inversions be equal to the Buddha's knowledge and vision?"
The monk also asked, "Which one is the Buddha-mind?"
The Master said, "Walls, tiles, and rubble are it."
The monk said, "This greatly contradicts the sūtras. The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says, 'Apart from walls and insentient objects, it is named Buddha-nature.' Now you say they are the Buddha-mind. I wonder whether mind and nature are different or not different?"
The Master said, "In delusion they are different; in awakening they are not different."
The monk said, "A sūtra says, 'Buddha-nature is eternal; mind is impermanent.' Now you say they are not different; why is this?"
The Master said, "You merely rely on words and do not rely on meaning. For example, in the cold months water freezes into ice; when the warmth arrives, the ice melts into water. When sentient beings are deluded, nature congeals into mind; when sentient beings are awakened, mind melts into nature. If one insists that the insentient have no Buddha-nature, the sūtra should not say, 'The three realms are mind only.' This is completely you yourself contradicting the sūtras; I do not contradict them."
[The monk] asked, "Since the insentient have the mind-nature, do they also understand expounding the Dharma?"
The Master said, "They blaze forth constantly expounding it without interruption."
[The monk] said, "Why does this person not hear it?"
The Master said, "You yourself do not hear it."
[The monk] asked, "Who gets to hear it?"
The Master said, "The Buddhas get to hear it."
[The monk] said, "Do sentient beings have no share in it?"
The Master said, "I speak for sentient beings; I do not speak for the noble ones."
[The monk] said, "I am deaf and blind, not hearing the insentient expound the Dharma; you, Master, ought to hear it."
The Master said, "I also do not hear it."
[The monk] said, "Since you, Master, do not hear it, how do you know the insentient understand expounding it?"
The Master said, "If I were to hear it, I would be equal to the Buddhas, and you would not hear the Dharma I expound."
[The monk] said, "Can sentient beings ultimately get to hear it?"
The Master said, "If sentient beings hear it, they are not sentient beings."
[The monk] said, "What textual authority is there for the insentient expounding the Dharma?"
The Master said, "Have you not seen the Avataṃsaka Sūtra say, 'Lands expound, sentient beings expound, all in the three times expound'? Are sentient beings only the animate?"
[The monk] said, "The Master only says that the insentient have Buddha-nature; what about the sentient?"
The Master said, "The insentient are even so; how much more the sentient?"
[The monk] said, "If it is so, then the previously cited southern kalyāṇamitra who said seeing and hearing are Buddha-nature should not be judged identical to non-Buddhists."
The Master said, "I do not say he has no Buddha-nature. How could non-Buddhists have no Buddha-nature? But because of mistaken views, they give rise to two views within a single dharma; therefore they are wrong."
[The monk] said, "If both have Buddha-nature, killing the sentient forms karma that incurs mutual retribution and harm, while for the insentient we do not hear of retribution."
The Master said, "The sentient are direct retribution: clinging to 'I' and 'mine' and harboring enmity, there is sinful retribution. The insentient are their dependent retribution: having no mind of harboring enmity, therefore retribution is not spoken of."
[The monk] said, "In the teachings, we only see the sentient becoming Buddhas; we do not see the insentient receiving prediction [of Buddhahood]. Moreover, among the thousand Buddhas of the Auspicious Eon, which one is an insentient Buddha?"
The Master said, "It is like a crown prince before ascending the throne: he is only one single body. After he ascends the throne, all the lands of the realm belong to the king. Would the lands receive accession separately? Now, merely at the time when the sentient receive prediction and become Buddhas, the lands of the ten directions are all the body of Vairocana Buddha. How could there be separate predictions received by the insentient?"
[The monk] said, "All sentient beings dwell entirely upon the Buddha's body, defecating and urinating to defile the Buddha's body, excavating and trampling upon the Buddha's body—is there no sin in this?"
The Master said, "Sentient beings in their entirety are the Buddha; who would commit a sin against whom?"
[The monk] said, "A sūtra says, 'The Buddha's body is without obstruction.' Now, taking conditioned, obstructive physical objects to be the Buddha's body—does this not go against the sacred intention?"
The Master said, "The Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra says, 'One cannot depart from the conditioned to speak of the unconditioned.' Do you believe that form is emptiness?"
[The monk] said, "These are the Buddha's sincere words; how would I dare not believe?"
The Master said, "Since form is emptiness, how could there be obstruction?"
[The monk] said, "Since the Buddha-nature of sentient beings is identical, if only one Buddha practiced, all sentient beings should be liberated immediately. Now since that is not so, where is the meaning of identity?"
The Master said, "Have you not seen the Avataṃsaka's doctrine of the six characteristics, which says, 'Within identity there is difference, within difference there is identity; integration and disintegration, totality and particularity—all are analogous to this'? Although sentient beings and Buddhas are of the same one nature, that does not obstruct each cultivating for oneself and obtaining for oneself. One has never seen another person eat and oneself become full."
[The monk] said, "There is a kalyāṇamitra who instructs students: 'Just recognize your nature yourself. At the time of impermanence, cast aside the shell to one side; the luminous platform's cognitive nature departs far away—this is called liberation.' What about this?"
The Master said, "This was already explained before; it is still the measure of the two vehicles and non-Buddhists. The two vehicles loathe birth and death and rejoice in nirvāṇa. Non-Buddhists also say, 'I have a great calamity because I have a body,' and so they head toward the Pradhāna. Stream-enterers abide in absorption for eighty thousand eons, the other three fruits for sixty, forty, and twenty thousand, and pratyekabuddhas for ten thousand eons. Non-Buddhists also abide for eighty thousand eons in [the sphere of] neither-perception-nor-non-perception. When the eons are complete, the two vehicles can still turn their minds toward the Great [Vehicle], while non-Buddhists return again to saṃsāra."
[The monk] asked, "Is Buddha-nature of one kind, or is it different?"
The Master said, "It cannot be of one kind."
[The monk] said, "Why?"
The Master said, "Some are entirely without birth and death; some are half birth-and-death and half without birth-and-death."
[The monk] said, "Who holds this understanding?"
The Master said, "The Buddha-nature here with me is entirely without birth and death. The Buddha-nature in your south is half birth-and-death and half without birth-and-death."
[The monk] said, "How are they distinguished?"
The Master said, "Here, body and mind are suchness; outside the mind there is nothing else. Therefore it is entirely without birth and death. In your south, the body is impermanent and the spiritual nature is eternal. Therefore it is half birth-and-death and half without birth-and-death."
[The monk] said, "How could the Upādhyāya's physical body immediately be identical to the Dharmakāya, without birth and death?"
The Master said, "How have you entered into a heterodox path?"
[The monk] said, "When did this student enter a heterodox path?"
The Master said, "Have you not seen the Diamond Sūtra: 'Seeking me through form, seeking me through sound, one walks a heterodox path'? Is not what you see now just like that?"
[The monk] said, "I have read the teachings of the Great and Small Vehicles, and have also seen passages speaking of the true nature of the Middle Way, neither arising nor ceasing; and I have also seen texts speaking of this skandha perishing and that skandha arising, where the body undergoes alternation while the spiritual nature does not perish. How can they all be rejected as identical to the non-Buddhist dual views of annihilation and permanence?"
The Master said, "Are you studying the unexcelled, truly authentic path of transcending the world, or are you studying the worldly dual views of birth-and-death, annihilation and permanence? Have you not seen Master Zhao say, 'Speaking of the real opposes the worldly; following the worldly violates the real. Violating the real, one is deluded about nature and does not return; opposing the worldly, one's words are bland and tasteless. People of middling capacity hold it as if present yet absent; inferior persons clap their hands and pay no heed.' Do you now wish to emulate the inferior person laughing at the Great Way?"
[The monk] said, "You, Master, also say that this mind itself is the Buddha, and the southern kalyāṇamitras do so too. Where is the difference? The Master should not affirm himself and negate others."
The Master said, "Sometimes names differ while the substance is the same; sometimes names are the same while the substance differs. Confusion arises because of this. Just as bodhi, nirvāṇa, tathatā, and Buddha-nature have different names but the same substance, the true mind, the false mind, Buddha-wisdom, and worldly wisdom have the same name but different substances. Because the south mistakenly takes the false mind to be the true mind, they recognize a thief as their child; some take worldly wisdom and call it Buddha-wisdom, like fish eyes confusing bright pearls. They cannot be lumped together; they must be distinguished."
[The monk] said, "How can one be free from this error?"
The Master said, "You just examine carefully in reverse the aggregates, sense fields, and elements, investigating each one thoroughly: is there the slightest trace to be found?"
[The monk] said, "Examining carefully, I do not see a single thing to be found."
The Master said, "Do you destroy the marks of body and mind?"
[The monk] said, "Body and mind are intrinsically apart [from marks]; what is there to destroy?"
The Master said, "Outside body and mind, is there any further thing?"
[The monk] said, "Body and mind have no outside; how could there be any thing?"
The Master said, "Do you destroy worldly marks?"
The monk said, "Worldly marks are themselves markless; what need is there to destroy them further?"
The Master said, "If it is so, then you are free from error."
The meditation monk obediently accepted the instruction.
Monk Lingjue of Changzhou asked, "Generating the mind to leave household life, I originally intended to seek the Buddha. I wonder: how should one use the mind to attain it?"
The Master said, "Having no mind to use, one immediately attains Buddhahood."
[Lingjue] said, "With no mind to use, who becomes a Buddha?"
The Master said, "No-mind itself becomes Buddha; Buddha also has no mind."
[Lingjue] said, "The Buddha has great inconceivable power because he can deliver sentient beings. If there is also no mind, who delivers sentient beings?"
The Master said, "No-mind is the true deliverance of sentient beings. If one sees sentient beings that can be delivered, that is having a mind, distinctly arising and ceasing."
[Lingjue] said, "Now since there is no mind, when Śākyamuni appeared in the world and expounded so many traces of teachings, how could they be empty words?"
The Master said, "The Buddha expounding teachings also had no mind."
[Lingjue] said, "Expounding the Dharma without mind should mean there is no expounding."
The Master said, "Expounding is itself nothingness; nothingness is itself expounding."
[Lingjue] said, "If expounding the Dharma is without mind, is creating karma with mind?"
The Master said, "No-mind is no-karma. Now since there is karma, the mind arises and ceases; how could there be no-mind?"
[Lingjue] said, "No-mind immediately becomes Buddha. Has the Upādhyāya become a Buddha right now?"
The Master said, "Mind itself does not exist; who speaks of becoming a Buddha? If there is a Buddha that can be become, that is still having a mind. Having a mind is having outflows; where can one attain no-mind?"
[Lingjue] said, "Since there is no Buddha that can be become, does the Upādhyāya still possess the Buddha's function?"
The Master said, "Mind itself does not exist; from where could function exist?"
[Lingjue] said, "Vaguely having nothing at all—does this not fall into the view of annihilation?"
The Master said, "Originally there is no view; who speaks of annihilation?"
[Lingjue] said, "If originally there is nothing, does it not fall into emptiness?"
The Master said, "Since emptiness is nothingness, from where can falling be established?"
[Lingjue] said, "Subject and object are both absent. If suddenly someone comes holding a blade to take your life, is that existent or non-existent?"
The Master said, "It is non-existent."
[Lingjue] said, "Does it hurt?"
The Master said, "Pain also does not exist."
[Lingjue] said, "Since pain does not exist, into what realm will you be born after death?"
The Master said, "There is no death and no birth, nor is there any realm."
[Lingjue] said, "Having attained having no things and being at ease, when hunger and cold press upon you, how do you use the mind?"
The Master said, "When hungry, eat rice; when cold, put on clothes."
[Lingjue] said, "Knowing hunger and knowing cold should be having a mind."
The Master said, "I ask you: if there is a mind, what form and substance does the mind have?"
[Lingjue] said, "The mind has no form and substance."
The Master said, "Since you know it has no form and substance, then originally there is no mind. How can you say it exists?"
[Lingjue] said, "Encountering tigers and wolves in the mountains, how do you use the mind?"
The Master said, "Seeing as if not seeing; coming as if not coming. If you are without mind, evil beasts cannot do harm."
[Lingjue] said, "Still and without affairs, solitary, free, and without mind—what is this called?"
The Master said, "It is called a Vajra Great Being."
[Lingjue] said, "What form and substance does a Vajra Great Being have?"
The Master said, "Originally there is no shape or substance."
[Lingjue] said, "Since there is no shape or substance, what thing is called a Vajra Great Being?"
The Master said, "It is called a Vajra Great Being without shape or substance."
[Lingjue] said, "What merit does a Vajra Great Being have?"
The Master said, "A single thought corresponding with the Vajra can extinguish grave sins of birth and death of Ganges-sands of eons, and allow one to see Ganges-sands of Buddhas. That Vajra Great Being's merit is immeasurable, not to be spoken by mouth nor set forth by intellect. Even if one were to dwell in the world for Ganges-sands of eons expounding it, it could not be exhausted."
[Lingjue] said, "What is a single thought of correspondence?"
The Master said, "Forgetting both memory and cognition is correspondence."
[Lingjue] said, "If both memory and cognition are forgotten, who sees the Buddhas?"
The Master said, "Forgetting is nothingness; nothingness is Buddha."
[Lingjue] said, "Nothingness is called nothingness; how can it be called Buddha?"
The Master said, "Because nothingness is also empty, and Buddha is also empty."
[Lingjue] said, "Nothingness is Buddha, Buddha is nothingness."
[Lingjue] said, "Since not the slightest trace can be found, what is it named?"
The Master said, "Originally it has no name."
[Lingjue] said, "Is there anything similar to it?"
The Master said, "There is nothing similar; the world calls it Incomparable, Solely Honored. Strive to cultivate in accordance with this, and no one can destroy it. There is no further need to ask; roam at will, solitary, free, and fearless. You will constantly be sheltered and protected by sages and worthies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges; wherever you are, you will constantly be revered by devas, dragons, and the eight classes as numerous as the sands of the Ganges; good spirits as numerous as the sands of the Ganges will come to protect you, and there will never be obstacles or difficulties. Where could you fail to be carefree?"
[Lingjue] also asked, "When Kāśyapa was beside the Buddha listening, did he hear or not hear?"
The Master said, "Not-hearing hearing."
[Lingjue] said, "What is not-hearing hearing?"
The Master said, "Hearing not-hearing."
[Lingjue] said, "When the Tathāgata spoke, was it not-hearing hearing, or when he did not speak was it not-hearing hearing?"
The Master said, "The Tathāgata expounded without expounding."
[Lingjue] said, "What is expounding without expounding?"
The Master said, "Words fill all under heaven, yet there is no oral fault."

28.3

Great Master Shenhui of Heze in Luojing addressed the assembly, saying: "Those who study must penetrate to their own source. The four fruits and three stages of worthies are all called 'taming and subduing.' Pratyekabuddhas and arhats have not yet severed their doubts. The two states of awakening, equal and sublime, are clearly and distinctly penetrated. Awakening has shallow and deep; the teachings have sudden and gradual. In the gradual, one passes through asaṃkhyeya kalpas and remains in saṃsāra. In the sudden, in the space of bending or extending an arm, one immediately ascends to sublime awakening. If one fundamentally lacks the seeds of the Way, to study much knowledge is in vain. Everything depends on the mind; crooked and straight come from oneself. Not thinking of a single thing is one's own mind. It is not known by knowledge. There is no other practice for awakening to and entering this. True samādhi: the Dharma has no coming or going, and its boundaries of before and after are severed. Therefore know that non-thought is the supreme vehicle. Vast, clear, and empty, it suddenly opens the treasury of jewels. The mind is not subject to birth and cessation; its nature is beyond movement and change. When one is naturally pure, sensory conditions and thoughts do not arise; where there is no contrivance, grasping conditions naturally ceases. In former days, I turned the irreversible wheel. Now I have attained the cultivation of both meditation and wisdom, like a fist and a hand. Seeing the substance of non-thought, one does not arise following things. Realizing the permanence of the Tathāgata, what else could arise? Now this illusory form is originally true and permanent; self-nature is like space, originally without characteristics. Having penetrated this principle, who fears and who grieves? Heaven and earth cannot alter its substance. When the mind returns to the Dharma realm, the myriad phenomena are one suchness. Far removed from conceptual thought, wisdom is identical to the Dharma nature. The thousands of sūtras and ten thousand treatises merely clarify the mind. Since no mind is established, one embodies true reality and attains nothing at all. I tell you students: do not seek outside. If it is the supreme vehicle, you should be non-contriving. Take care." A person asked, "Does the dharma of non-thought exist or not?" The master said, "It is not spoken of as existing or not existing." [The person] said, "At such a time, what is it like?" The master said, "There is also no 'such a time.' It is like a bright mirror: if it does not face an image, it ultimately does not see an image. If one sees no-thing, that is true seeing." The master had doubts about six points in the Great Canon and asked the Sixth Patriarch about them. The first question was about precepts, concentration, and wisdom: "How are precepts, concentration, and wisdom applied? What thing are precepts? From where is concentration cultivated? Due to what does wisdom arise? What I see does not flow freely through." The Sixth Patriarch replied: / "Concentration settles the mind; / Take precepts to discipline conduct. / In the nature there is always wisdom's illumination; / Knowing oneself and seeing oneself is profound." / The second question was: "Originally non-existent and now existing—what thing exists? Originally existent and now non-existent—what thing does not exist? Chanting sūtras without seeing the meaning of existence and non-existence / Truly resembles riding a donkey while still looking for a donkey." / [The Sixth Patriarch] replied: / "The evil karma of a previous thought was originally non-existent; / The goodness arising in a later thought now exists. / When thought after thought constantly performs good deeds, / Future rebirths among humans and devas will not be long in coming. / As you are now listening to my words, / I am precisely originally non-existent and now existing." / The third question was: "Using arising to eliminate cessation; / Using cessation to eliminate arising. / Not understanding the meaning of arising and cessation, / What is seen resembles being deaf and blind." / [The Sixth Patriarch] replied: / "Using arising to eliminate cessation / Causes people not to grasp at nature. / Using cessation to eliminate arising / Causes people's minds to leave sensory objects. / It is not as good as leaving both extremes behind, / Naturally eliminating the sickness of arising and cessation." / The fourth question was: "First sudden and then gradual; / First gradual and then sudden. / A person who does not awaken to sudden and gradual / Is always confused and troubled in mind." / [The Sixth Patriarch] replied: / "Hearing the Dharma: the gradual within the sudden. / Awakening to the Dharma: the sudden within the gradual. / Cultivating practice: the gradual within the sudden. / Realizing the fruit: the sudden within the gradual. / Sudden and gradual are constant causes; / In awakening there is no confusion or trouble." / The fifth question was: "First concentration and then wisdom, or first wisdom and then concentration? Concentration and wisdom, later and earlier: which arising is correct?" [The Sixth Patriarch] replied: / "Constantly giving rise to a pure mind, / Within concentration there is wisdom. / Having no mind toward sensory conditions, / Within wisdom there is concentration. / Concentration and wisdom are equal without precedence; / Cultivating both, one's own mind is upright." / The sixth question was: "First Buddha and then Dharma, or first Dharma and then Buddha? As for the fundamental root-source of Buddha and Dharma, from what place does its arising come forth?" [The Sixth Patriarch] replied: / "When speaking of it, first Buddha and then Dharma. / When listening to it, first Dharma and then Buddha. / If one discusses the fundamental root-source of Buddha and Dharma, / It comes forth from within the minds of all sentient beings."

28.4

Chan Master Daji Daoyi of Jiangxi addressed the assembly, saying: "The Way does not require cultivation; just do not defile it. What is defilement? As long as there is a mind of birth and death, contriving and pursuing—all of this is defilement. If you wish to understand the Way directly, ordinary mind is the Way. What is meant by 'ordinary mind' is: without contrivance, without right and wrong, without taking and rejecting, without annihilation and permanence, without ordinary beings and sages. A sūtra says: 'It is neither the practice of ordinary people nor the practice of worthies and sages; this is the practice of bodhisattvas.' Just now, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, responding to situations and engaging with things—all of this is the Way. The Way is precisely the Dharma realm, and even wonderful functions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges do not go outside the Dharma realm. If it were not so, how could one speak of the 'mind-ground dharma-gate'? How could one speak of the 'inexhaustible lamp'? All dharmas are mind-dharmas; all names are mind-names. The myriad dharmas are all born from the mind; the mind is the root of the myriad dharmas. A sūtra says: 'Because one recognizes the mind and penetrates the root, one is called a śramaṇa.' Names are equal, meanings are equal, all dharmas are equal—purely one without mixture. If within the teachings one attains freedom according to the time: if one establishes the Dharma realm, everything is the Dharma realm; if one establishes suchness, everything is suchness; if one establishes principle, all dharmas are entirely principle; if one establishes phenomena, all dharmas are entirely phenomena. Raise one and a thousand follow; principle and phenomena are not different. All are wonderful functions; there is no other principle besides. All come from the revolution of the mind. For example, the reflections of the moon are many, but the real moon is not many; the sources of water are many, but the nature of water is not many; the myriad phenomena are many, but space is not many; the doctrines spoken are many, but unhindered wisdom is not many. The various establishments all stem from the one mind. To establish is permissible; to sweep away is also permissible. All are wonderful functions. The wonderful functions are entirely oneself. It is not that apart from the real there is a place of establishment; the place of establishment is precisely the real, and all is one's own substance. If it were not so, who else could it be? All dharmas are Buddha-dharmas. All dharmas are liberation; liberation is suchness. All dharmas do not go outside of suchness. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all inconceivable functions that do not depend on time and season. A sūtra says: 'Everywhere, in all places, there is a Buddha.' A Buddha is one of capable benevolence, possessing wisdom and skill in matching faculties and dispositions; he can shatter all sentient beings' nets of doubt and bring them to escape bonds such as existence and non-existence. Sentiments of ordinary and holy are exhausted; person and dharmas are both empty. Turning the incomparable wheel, he transcends numbers and quantities. What he does is without hindrance, penetrating both phenomena and principle. Like clouds rising in the sky, suddenly present and then non-existent, leaving no obstructive trace; like drawing figures on water, neither arising nor ceasing. This is great tranquil extinction. When bound, it is called the tathāgatagarbha; when freed from bondage, it is called the great Dharma body. The Dharma body is infinite, its substance neither increases nor decreases; it can be large, can be small, can be square, can be round. Responding to things it manifests forms, like the moon in the water. Surging with functioning, it establishes no roots. It does not exhaust the conditioned, nor does it abide in the unconditioned. The conditioned is the unconditioned's functioning; the unconditioned is the conditioned's support. Because it does not abide in support, it is said to have no support, like space. The meaning of the mind's arising and ceasing, and the meaning of the mind's suchness: as for the mind's suchness, it is like a bright mirror reflecting images. The mirror is a metaphor for the mind; the images are a metaphor for the dharmas. If the mind grasps at dharmas, it engages external causes and conditions—this is the meaning of arising and ceasing. Not grasping at dharmas is the meaning of suchness. Śrāvakas see the Buddha-nature through hearing; bodhisattvas see the Buddha-nature with their eyes. Penetrating that there is no duality is called the nature of equality. The nature has no difference, but its functioning is not the same. In delusion, it is consciousness; in awakening, it is wisdom. Conforming to principle is awakening; conforming to phenomena is delusion. Being deluded is being deluded about one's own original mind; being awakened is being awakened to one's own original nature. Once awakened, eternally awakened, never again deluded. Just as when the sun comes out, it does not join with darkness, so when the sun of wisdom comes out, it does not coexist with the darkness of afflictions. When you realize the mind and sensory conditions, vain thoughts do not arise. Once vain thoughts do not arise, that is the patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. Originally existing and now existing, it does not depend on cultivating the Way or sitting in meditation. Not cultivating and not sitting—this is the pure Chan of the Tathāgata. Nowadays, if you see this principle truly and correctly, not creating karma, passing your life according to your lot, with one robe and one bowl accompanying your sitting and rising, your precepts and conduct further perfumed, accumulating pure karma—if you can only be like this, what worry is there that you will not penetrate? You have been standing long, everyone; take care."

28.5

Upādhyāya Weiyan of Yaoshan in Lizhou entered the hall and said: "The ancestral masters taught only protection. If greed and anger arise, you must be extremely vigilant to guard against them; do not let them touch you. If you wish to know withered wood and cold stones, you must take it upon yourself. Truly, there are no branches or leaves to be had. Even though it is like this, you should look into it yourself; you must not completely cut off speech. I am now speaking these words for you to manifest that which is without speech. That one originally has no features such as ears and eyes." At that time, a monk asked, "Why are there the six destinies?" The master said, "Although I am within this vital wheel, I am originally untainted." [The monk] asked, "When one does not understand the afflictions within one's body, what then?" The master said, "What appearance do afflictions have? I want you to examine it for a while." "There is another sort who merely remember words on the backs of paper; they are mostly deluded by sūtras and treatises. I have never read sūtra or treatise booklets. You are only deluded by phenomena, losing yourself and remaining unsettled; therefore, you have a mind of birth and death. Before you have even learned half a phrase, a single sūtra, or a single treatise, you talk like this about whether bodhi and nirvāṇa are subsumed in the worldly or not. If you understand like this, that is birth and death. If you are not bound by these gains and losses, then there is no birth and death. What do you see Vinaya masters talking about? Niḥsargika and duṣkṛta are the very roots of birth and death. Even so, examining birth and death, they cannot be found. From the Buddhas above down to ants below, all have these differences of long and short, good and bad, large and small. If they do not come from the outside, where is there an idle fellow digging a hell to wait for you? If you wish to know the destiny of hell, it is precisely those who are right now boiling and simmering in cauldrons of soup. If you wish to know the destiny of hungry ghosts, it is precisely those who right now are mostly false and seldom true, not causing people to trust them. If you wish to know the destiny of animals, it is precisely those who presently do not know benevolence and righteousness, and do not distinguish between kin and stranger. How could it require being clad in fur, wearing horns, or being butchered and hung upside down? If you wish to know humans and devas, it is precisely those who right now wash cleanly, maintain dignified deportment, and hold the water pitcher and carry the alms bowl. Protect it to avoid falling into the various destinies. Above all, you must not abandon this. This is not easy to obtain. You must stand on the highest mountain peak and walk on the deepest ocean floor. Walking in this place is not easy; only then will there be a little accord. Nowadays, those who come forward are all busybodies; one cannot find a single dull-witted person. Do not merely remember words in booklets and take them to be your own views and knowledge. Seeing that others do not understand, you immediately give rise to arrogance and contempt. People of this sort are all icchantikas and non-Buddhists. This mind is directly unserviceable; you must be extremely discerning. Speaking like this still belongs to the side of the three realms. Do not pass your time in vain under the patch-robe. When reaching this place, it is even more subtle. Do not treat it as ordinary. You should take care."

28.6.1

Master Dazhu Huihai of Yuezhou ascended the hall and said: "All of you are fortunately fine, people of no-affairs. Why strive desperately to make contrivances, wishing to carry a cangue and drop into hell? Daily until night you rush about, saying, 'I practice Chan, study the Way, and understand the Buddha-Dharma.' In this way, there is all the more no connection [to it]. You merely run after sound and form—when will there ever be a rest? This poor monk heard the Master of Jiangxi say: 'Your own treasury is fully equipped with everything. Use it freely without relying on external seeking.' Since then, I rested all at once; my own wealth is used as it attends my person, which may truly be called delightful. There is not a single dharma to be grasped; there is not a single dharma to be abandoned. I do not see the mark of arising and ceasing of a single dharma; I do not see the mark of coming and going of a single dharma. Throughout the realms of the ten directions, there is not even a speck of dust that is not one's own wealth. Only examine your own mind closely. The Three Jewels of one identical substance are constantly present of themselves, with nothing to doubt or ponder. Do not ruminate; do not seek. The nature of the mind is originally pure. Therefore the Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: 'All dharmas are unarisen; all dharmas are unceasing. If one can understand in this way, the Buddhas will constantly appear before one.' Furthermore, the Vimalakīrti Sūtra says: 'To contemplate the real mark of sound, one contemplates the Buddha likewise.' If you do not stir thoughts following sound and form, and do not generate understanding by chasing appearances, you will naturally be without affairs. Do not stand for long. Take care!" On that day the great assembly gathered widely and did not disperse for a long time. The Master said: "Why are you all still here and not leaving? This poor monk has already presented it face to face. Are you still willing to rest? What matter is there to doubt? Do not misuse your mind and waste your energy in vain. If there is any doubtful matter, I leave it entirely to you all to ask freely at once." At that time, a monk named Fayuan asked: "What is the Buddha? What is the Dharma? What is the Saṅgha? What are the Three Jewels of one identical substance? We pray that the Master will deign to instruct us." The Master said: "The mind is the Buddha; there is no need to use the Buddha to seek the Buddha. The mind is the Dharma; there is no need to use the Dharma to seek the Dharma. Buddha and Dharma are not two; harmonious integration is the Saṅgha. This is the Three Jewels of one identical substance. A sūtra says: 'Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—these three are without distinction.' When body, speech, and mind are pure, it is called the Buddha appearing in the world. When the three karmas are impure, it is called the Buddha passing into extinction. By analogy, when angry there is no joy, and when joyful there is no anger; there is only one mind, truly without two substances. Fundamental wisdom is naturally non-outflow and present before you. Just as a snake turning into a dragon does not alter its scales, when sentient beings turn their minds around to become Buddhas, they do not alter their faces. Nature is originally pure and does not depend on cultivation for completion. To have realization and cultivation is to be equal to one with exaggerated pride. True emptiness has no obstruction; it responds and exists endlessly, without beginning and without end. For those of sharp faculties who suddenly awaken, its functioning is without equal; this is anuttarā bodhi. The mind without physical form is itself the subtle and wonderful form-body. The absence of marks is itself the real-mark Dharma-body. The emptiness of the substance of nature and marks is itself the boundless body of empty space. Ornamented with the myriad practices, it is itself the Dharma-body of merit. This Dharma-body is indeed the root of the myriad transformations. Names are established according to context: its functioning of wisdom being inexhaustible is called the Inexhaustible Treasury; its ability to give birth to the myriad dharmas is called the Fundamental Dharma Treasury; possessing all wisdom, it is the Wisdom Treasury; the myriad dharmas returning to suchness is called the Tathāgatagarbha. A sūtra says: '"Tathāgata" means the suchness of all dharmas.' It also says: 'Among all arising and ceasing dharmas of the world, there is not a single dharma that does not return to suchness.'" At that time someone asked: "This disciple does not yet know among Vinaya masters, Dharma masters, and Chan masters, which is the most superior. We pray the Upādhyāya will compassionately point it out." The Master said: "As for the Vinaya master, he opens the treasury of the Vinaya Dharma and transmits the bequeathed style of the lifespan [of the teaching]. He clearly understands upholding and violating, and comprehends exceptions and prohibitions. Holding the dignified deportment, he practices the behavioral standards. Repeating the three karmavācanās, he generates the initial cause for the four fruits. Were he not an elder of long standing and eminent virtue, how would he dare act casually? As for the Dharma master, he sits upon the lion throne and pours forth an eloquence like a suspended river. Facing the crowded and vast assembly, he unbars the profound gate. He opens the wondrous gate of prajñā, giving freely with the three wheels equally empty. Were he not a dragon-elephant treading forth, how could he dare undertake this? As for the Chan master, he grasps the crucial pivot and directly clarifies the mind-source. Appearing and disappearing, rolling up and unfurling, he responds freely to phenomena. Harmonizing principle and phenomena, he suddenly sees the Tathāgata. Pulling out the deep root of birth and death, he attains the samādhi manifested before him. If one does not calm the mind in Chan and tranquilize thought, upon arriving here one will inevitably be thoroughly bewildered. Giving the Dharma according to faculties, the three trainings are indeed different; but when one grasps the meaning and forgets words, what difference is there in the One Vehicle? Thus a sūtra says: 'In the Buddha-lands of the ten directions, there is only the Dharma of the One Vehicle—neither two nor three—except for the Buddha's provisional explanations, merely using provisional names and words to guide sentient beings.'" [The questioner] said: "The Upādhyāya deeply realizes the Buddha's intent and has attained unobstructed eloquence." He also asked: "How are the three teachings of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism identical or different?" The Master said: "When those of great capacity use them, they are identical. When those of small faculties cling to them, they are different. They all arise in function from the one nature; difference in faculties and views makes them three. Delusion and awakening depend on the person, not on identity or difference in the teachings." Daoguang, a lecture master of the Yogācāra school, asked: "With what mind does the Chan master cultivate the Way?" The Master said: "This old monk has no mind to use and no Way to cultivate." [Daoguang] said: "Since you have no mind to use and no Way to cultivate, why do you gather the assembly every day and urge people to study Chan and cultivate the Way?" The Master said: "This old monk does not even have ground enough to plant an awl; in what place would I gather an assembly? This old monk has no tongue; when have I ever urged people?" [Daoguang] said: "The Chan master lies face-to-face!" The Master said: "This old monk does not even have a tongue to urge people; how could I know how to lie?" [Daoguang] said: "I really do not understand the Chan master's discussion." The Master said: "This old monk does not understand either." Zhi, a lecture master of the Avataṃsaka school, asked: "Why does the Chan master not accept that 'the lush green bamboo is entirely the Dharma-body, and the exuberant yellow blossoms are nothing other than prajñā'?" The Master said: "The Dharma-body has no physical form; it takes form in response to the green bamboo. Prajñā has no cognition; it manifests appearances facing the yellow blossoms. It is not that yellow blossoms and green bamboo possess prajñā and the Dharma-body. Thus a sūtra says: 'The Buddha's true Dharma-body is just like empty space; responding to things, it manifests forms, like the moon in the water.' If the yellow blossoms were prajñā, prajñā would be identical to the insentient. If the green bamboo were the Dharma-body, could the green bamboo still respond and function? Does the lecture master understand?" [Zhi] said: "I do not understand this meaning." The Master said: "If one is a person who has seen the nature, to say it is so is acceptable, and to say it is not so is also acceptable. One speaks according to function, without stagnating in right and wrong. If one is a person who has not seen the nature, when speaking of green bamboo one clings to green bamboo; when speaking of yellow blossoms one clings to yellow blossoms; when speaking of the Dharma-body one stagnates in the Dharma-body; when speaking of prajñā one does not recognize prajñā. Therefore, all turns into dispute." Zhi bowed, gave thanks, and left. Someone asked: "Cultivating with the mind, after how long will one attain liberation?" The Master said:

28.6.2

To use the mind to cultivate practice is like using slippery mud to wash away dirt. The profound mystery of prajñā is originally unborn; when its great function appears before you, it is without regard to time." [A monk] asked, "Can an ordinary person also attain it like this?" The master said, "One who sees the nature is no ordinary person. Sudden awakening to the supreme vehicle transcends both the ordinary and the sacred. Deluded people discourse on the ordinary and the sacred; awakened people transcend saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. Deluded people speak of phenomena and principle; the great function of awakened people is boundless. Deluded people seek attainment and seek realization; awakened people are without attainment and without seeking. Deluded people anticipate distant kalpas; awakened people see it suddenly." A lecturer on the Vimalakīrti[-nirdeśa-sūtra] asked, "The sūtra says: 'Those six teachers of non-Buddhist paths are your teachers. Since you left home under them, where those teachers fall, you also will fall. Those who give alms to you do not find a field of merit; those who make offerings to you will fall into the three evil destinies. Slandering the Buddha, reviling the Dharma, and not entering the assembly of the Saṅgha, you will never attain extinction. If you are like this, only then may you take food.' Now I ask the Chan master to explain this clearly." The master said, "Those who are deluded and follow the six sense faculties are called the 'six teachers.' Seeking the Buddha outside the mind is called a 'non-Buddhist path.' When there is a thing to be given, it is not called a 'field of merit.' Giving rise to a mind that receives offerings causes one to fall into the three evil destinies. If you can slander the Buddha, that is not clinging to seeking the Buddha; reviling the Dharma is not clinging to seeking the Dharma; not entering the assembly of the Saṅgha is not clinging to seeking the Saṅgha; never attaining extinction means the functioning of wisdom is manifested before you. If one has such an understanding, one immediately attains the food of Dharma-delight and Chan joy." A practitioner asked, "Someone who, when asked about the Buddha, answers 'Buddha,' and when asked about the Dharma, answers 'Dharma'—this is called the 'one-word Dharma-gate.' I wonder whether that is correct?" The master said, "It is like a parrot learning human speech; it cannot speak for itself because it has no wisdom. It is like using water to wash water, or using fire to burn fire; there is no meaning or purpose in it at all." Someone asked, "Are 'speech' and 'phrase' the same or different?" The master said, "A single character is called 'speech'; when it forms a clause, it is called a 'phrase.' Now, take an eloquent speaker whose words flow on and on, like water flowing in a great river, or whose swift faculties are stacked upon one another, like pearls rolling from a round vessel. Thus, Guo Xiang was called a hanging river, and the spring oriole was called an ocean of meaning. This is 'phrasing.' 'Speech' means a single character expressing the mind: internally revealing the profound and subtle, externally manifesting wonderful forms. When ten thousand triggers agitate, it is not disturbed; when the clear and turbid are mixed together, it is always distinguished. When the King of Qi came to this point, he still felt ashamed before the minister's words; when Mañjuśrī came to this point, he still sighed in admiration at Vimalakīrti's statement. How can ordinary people nowadays understand this?" Vinaya Master Yuan asked, "The Chan master constantly speaks of 'the mind itself is the Buddha,' but this cannot be so. Even a bodhisattva of the first ground can manifest bodies in a hundred Buddha worlds, and on the second ground it increases tenfold. Let the Chan master try to display supernatural powers, and we shall see!" The master said, "Is the ācārya himself an ordinary person or a sage?" He said, "An ordinary person." The master said, "Since you are an ordinary monk, how can you ask about such a realm? A sūtra says: 'Good sir, because your mind has high and low, it does not rely on Buddha-wisdom.' This refers to just such a case." He asked again, "The Chan master always says that if one awakens to the Way in this present body, one is liberated immediately. This cannot be so." The master said, "If a person does good all his life, and suddenly steals something into his hands, is he a thief in that very body?" He said, "Certainly he is." The master said, "If right now one clearly sees the nature, why should one not attain liberation?" He said, "Right now it is certainly impossible; one must pass through three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas before one can attain it." The master said, "Are there still counts to an asaṃkhyeya kalpa?" Yuan raised his voice and said, "Can the principle of comparing a thief to liberation hold up?" The master said, "The ācārya himself does not understand the Way, yet you must not hinder everyone else from understanding it. Your own eyes do not open, yet you are angry that everyone else sees things." Yuan's face changed color and he left, saying, "Though he is old, he is completely without the Way." The master said, "That which just walked away is your Way." Lecturer Hui, who taught cessation and contemplation (zhiguan), asked, "Can the Chan master distinguish Māra?" The master said, "When a mind arises, that is the heavenly Māra; when no mind arises, that is the skandha Māra; whether arising or not arising, that is the kleśa Māra. In my true Dharma, there is no such thing." He asked, "What about the meaning of the three contemplations in one mind?" The master said, "The past mind has already passed; the future mind has not yet arrived; the present mind does not abide. In between these, with what mind will you give rise to contemplation?" He said, "The Chan master does not understand cessation and contemplation." The master said, "Does the lecturer understand it?" He said, "I understand it." The master said, "Like the Great Master Zhiyi, when speaking of cessation, he refuted cessation; when speaking of contemplation, he refuted contemplation. Abiding in cessation, one sinks into saṃsāra; abiding in contemplation, the mental spirit is confused. Now then, should you use the mind to stop the mind, or give rise to the mind to contemplate? If contemplation has a mind, it is the view of eternalism; if contemplation has no mind, it is the view of annihilationism. Being both existent and non-existent becomes the view of dualism. Would the lecturer please explain in detail so we can see?" He said, "If asked like this, neither can be spoken of." The master said, "When was there ever cessation and contemplation?" Someone asked, "Is prajñā large?" The master said, "Large." He asked, "How large?" The master said, "Boundless." He asked, "Is prajñā small?" The master said, "Small." He asked, "How small?" The master said, "Invisible." He asked, "Where is it?" The master said, "Where is it not?" A lecturer on the Vimalakīrti[-nirdeśa-sūtra] asked, "The sūtra says: 'Each of the bodhisattvas entered the Dharma-gate of non-duality; Vimalakīrti was silent.' Is this ultimate?" The master said, "It is not yet ultimate. If the intention of the sage were exhausted, what would the third fascicle speak of?" The lecturer was silent for a long time, then said, "Please, Chan master, explain for me the meaning of its not yet being ultimate." The master said, "In the first fascicle of the sūtra, it leads the assembly and scolds the ten great disciples for fixating their minds. In the second, each of the bodhisattvas speaks of entering the Dharma-gate of non-duality, using words to reveal wordlessness. Mañjuśrī uses wordlessness to reveal wordlessness. Vimalakīrti uses neither words nor wordlessness, and therefore is silent, in order to gather in the preceding speech. The third fascicle arises to speak from silence, further revealing the functioning of supernatural powers. Does the lecturer understand?" He said, "How wonderful it is like this!" The master said, "It is not like this either." He asked, "Why is it not like this?" The master said, "I only spoke like this to break people's attachments. According to the meaning of the sūtra, it only speaks of the emptiness and quiescence of form and mind, to let one see the original nature, teaching one to abandon false practices and enter true practice. Do not seek to measure its meaning upon words and ink on paper. Just understand the two characters 'Jingming' (Vimalakīrti) and that will suffice. 'Jing' (pure) is the original essence; 'ming' (name) is the trace and function. From the original essence arise the trace and function; from the trace and function one returns to the original essence. Essence and function are not two; original and trace are not distinct. Therefore the ancients said: 'Although the original and trace are different, they are an inconceivable unity.' Yet unity is also not unity. If you recognize the two characters 'Jingming' as a provisional designation..."

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景德傳燈錄 — Classical Chinese