景德傳燈錄 28.11

28.11

Great Master Shibei, Zongyi of Xuansha, entered the hall and said: "The solar disk in the great void is that by which all people establish the view of the great void. What do you all have? Before your very eyes you do not see it; filling your ears you do not hear it. If you do not realize it in these two places, you are just a slumbering fellow. If you clearly penetrate it, you sit and cut off ordinary beings and sages; you sit and cut off the dream-like body and mind of the three realms; not a single thing as fine as a needle's point serves as condition or object. Even if all the Buddhas were to appear and manifest limitless divine transformations, and even if they set forth so many teaching nets, they would not have touched upon the slightest hair of it; they only aid the gate of sincere faith for beginners. Do you understand? The water birds and groves of trees are well able to raise the essential outline; they are extremely accurate, yet naturally few people listen. This is no small matter. Heavenly demons and non-Buddhists turn their backs on kindness and betray righteousness; heavenly beings and the six destinies deceive and delude themselves. If śramaṇas nowadays do not recognize this matter, they turn into fellows who manipulate shadows; floating and sinking in the sea of birth and death, when will they ever rest? While you fortunately possess this vast and great house tradition, you are unable to carry it on; instead, you act as master within the field of the body of the five aggregates. Have you ever even dreamed of it? Over such a vast territory, who can be made master? The great earth cannot bear it; empty space cannot contain it. How could this be a small matter? If you wish to penetrate it, right here and now clearly penetrate it! I do not have you, benevolent ones, grasp a single phenomenon the size of a dust mote; I do not have you, benevolent ones, abandon a single phenomenon the width of a hair. Do you understand?" Just then, a monk asked: "What is the ancestral aim from ancient times?" The Master remained silent. The monk asked again; the Master scolded him. A monk asked: "Through which gate of skillful means can a student enter?" The Master said: "Entering is the skillful means." A monk asked: "When a beginner arrives, how does the Master instruct him?" The Master said: "From where does a beginner come?" A monk asked: "The student has just entered the monastic community and begs the Master to guide and receive him." The Master pointed at him with his staff. The monk said: "The student does not understand." The Master said: "When I act like this for you, it turns out to be an injustice to people. If you now truly approve of yourself on your own part, regardless of whether you are a beginner entering the monastic community, you can be said to have practiced with everyone for a long time, lacking nothing compared to the past Buddhas. Just as in the water of the great ocean, all fish and dragons, from their birth to old age, swallow, spit, and enjoy it in complete equality. Therefore it is said: 'One who first resolves [on bodhi] stands shoulder to shoulder with the ancient Buddhas.' Yet, because through beginningless accumulated kalpas you have activated various false sentiments that have knotted into afflictions, you are like a seriously ill person whose mind is frantic with fever and distress, having inverted and chaotic perceptions that are completely without reality. Everything you see nowadays is also like this; facing your senses, it all becomes inverted. The ancients used inexhaustible wondrous medicines to cure and remedy this, yet even up to the tenth stage they had not attained full wakefulness; you should know this is by no means easy. The ancients contemplated this as if mourning their parents; nowadays, you brothers regard it as an ordinary matter. Where else will there be someone who can settle it for you? It is a pity to pass time in vain. What harm is there in secretly and carefully investigating and observing for yourself? Search until you reach the place where no effort can be applied, and naturally bring all conditions to rest. Even if it has not sprouted, the seed is still there. If you merely take my side, beat the drum, and waste the energy from your congee and rice, using this rashness to dismiss birth and death, you will have cheated away your whole life—what benefit will there be? You must know it as it truly is. Be free of affairs! Take care!"