景德傳燈錄 28.13

28.13

Chan Master Great Fayan Wenyi went up to the hall and said: "Sthaviras, in this cold weather, why do you bother coming up? Tell me, is coming up good, or is not coming up good? Perhaps some sthavira will say, 'Not coming up is actually good. Where is not [the Way]? Why bother coming up anymore?' Then another sthavira might say, 'That person cannot go entirely one way either; one still must go to the upādhyāya's place before it is all right.' Sthaviras, tell me, do these two people have any entry or progress in the Buddha-Dharma or not? Sthaviras, in truth, neither can manage it; neither has the slightest entry or progress. The ancients called such a one a 'holeless iron hammer', no different from being born blind or born deaf. If yet another sthavira comes forward and says, 'Both of those two are entirely in the wrong. Why so? Because they have attachments, they are in the wrong.' Sthaviras, if you all go wandering on pilgrimage like this, and if you all deliberate like this, what indeed are you aiming at? Do you merely want to flap your lips, or do you have something else in view? You fear that they are attached—well, attached to what? Attached to principle? Attached to phenomena? Attached to form? Attached to emptiness? If it is principle, how can principle be attached to? If it is phenomena, how can phenomena be attached to? The same goes for being attached to form or to emptiness. This is why this mountain monk always says to you sthaviras: The Buddhas of the ten directions and the kalyāṇamitras of the ten directions are constantly lowering their hands; you sthaviras are constantly receiving their hands. There are times when the Buddhas of the ten directions lower their hands; where is the place where you sthaviras constantly receive them? If you have an understanding, it is best to understand it. If you have not understood it, do not say, 'It all comes down to complete integration.' Sthaviras, wandering about on pilgrimage, you must also be thorough and bring forth some spirit. Do not merely scrape by through your days on a pittance of wisdom. This mountain monk has seen this often among the assembly. There is another sort of sthavira who does not even know his own east from west, yet runs here and there, listening east and listening west, and having caught a few words, takes them as his own mind's breadth, and even goes on to annotate them for others, considering them his own eye. Sthaviras, if you all wander on pilgrimage like this, you cheat yourselves and cheat others as well. I urge you sthaviras: it would be better first to clarify your eye of the Way. A bit of rice-gruel wisdom is not to be relied upon. If you commit various infractions in the mundane world, when entering hell there are still numbers of kalpas and there will be a time of emergence. But if you mistakenly open others' eyes [to falsehood], you will sink into the dark, long night of hell with no time of emergence. Do not take it lightly! I urge you: you had better rely on the ancient sages' gate of compassion. All the realms perceived by the ancient sages were seen merely as their own minds. The Patriarch said: 'It is neither the wind moving nor the banner moving; it is the minds of you benevolent ones moving.' You had better just understand it like this; there is nothing more intimate than this intimate place." The Master paused for a good while, and then said: "Sthaviras, whether you demote it or strip it away, it will do." At that time a monk asked: "This student has come not for anything else; I ask the Master to speak directly." The Master said: "Are you indeed here not for anything else?" A monk asked: "What is the mind that is neither born nor extinguished?" The Master said: "Which one is the mind that is born and extinguished?" The monk said: "How can it be that this student does not see it?" The Master said: "If you do not see it, then that which is neither born nor extinguished is not it either." A monk asked: "What is the great meaning of the Buddha-Dharma?" The Master said: "Just go ahead and understand it." A monk asked: "When an ancient saw someone coming like this, he immediately cried out, 'Lost!' What was the ancient's intention?" The Master said: "If you do not believe it, just ask someone else." A monk asked: "What matter were Vimalakīrti and Mañjuśrī discussing together?" The Master said: "You are remarkably clever." A monk asked: "The ancient text says, 'Phenomena are identical with the Dharma-nature, and thereby enter into all phenomena.' What was the ancient's meaning?" The Master said: "You are a pilgrim monk." A monk asked: "What sort of person understands practice?" The Master said: "What kind of person are you?" The monk said: "In that case, then one does not fall into cause and effect." The Master said: "Do not make the howl of a wild fox." A monk asked: "What happens when one recognizes the root and returns to the source?" The Master said: "Falsehood." A monk asked: "What happens when brightness and darkness are not divided?" The Master said: "What are you saying?" A monk asked: "What is the mind that arises repeatedly in confrontation with objects?" The Master said: "You have hit right upon it." A monk asked: "What is the student's inherent lot?" The Master said: "Thank you for pointing it out." A monk asked: "When making a decisive choice, it is like treading on thin ice. How should one decide?" The Master said: "Wait until you have doubt, and then I will speak." The monk said: "This student is in doubt right now." The Master said: "Whom are you trying to scare?" A monk asked: "How does one tread the ancestral vehicle?" The Master said: "The thunder is very loud, but there are no raindrops at all." A monk asked: "What is the final phrase?" The Master said: "Suffering." A monk asked: "What are the profound words and wondrous gist?" The Master said: "What use are profound words and a wondrous gist?" A monk asked: "What is speaking directly?" The Master said: "I fear it would be hard to match this question." A monk asked: "In accordance with the teachings it is said: 'The Buddha's true Dharma-body is like empty space; manifesting shapes in response to things, like the moon in water.' How can one attain this?" The Master said: "How can one attain this?" A monk asked: "The teaching says: 'The Buddha expounds the Dharma with a single voice, and sentient beings each attain understanding according to their kind.' How should the student understand it?" The Master said: "You understand very well!" The Master then said: "This question itself already shows you did not understand the ancient's words. Why then did I say to him, 'You understand very well'? Where is his understanding? Could it be that on his own part I directly pointed it out to him? Could it be that because he did not understand how to ask, I reflected it back upon him? In fact, it was never such a principle! Be careful not to misunderstand. Aside from these two interpretations, how else would you deliberate? Sthaviras, if you can understand these words, then you will understand the dhāraṇī-gate of all the sages. And how will you understand it? If you understand the expounding with a single voice, but do not understand each attaining understanding according to their kind, does speaking like this have fault or is it faultless talk? You had better not misunderstand. Since it is not understood like that, how should it be said? 'Expounding with a single voice, each attains understanding according to their kind'—there must be a place where it goes to before it is right. Day after day you come up in vain and go down in vain, without fulfilling human matters either. First you must investigate the eye of the Way! That ancient said: 'All sounds are Buddha sounds; all forms are Buddha forms.' Why not just understand it like that?" A monk asked: "Following the sound from afar, I ask the Master to give me a reception." The Master said: "What sound is it that you are following? Is it a monk's sound, a lay sound, an ordinary sound, or a holy sound? Do you have an understanding? If you truly do not understand, sthavira, clamor is sound, clamor is form; you cannot do anything about sound and form. Do not take it lightly! Sthavira, if you understand it, it is real; if you do not understand, it is illusory. If you do understand it, it is illusory; if you do not understand, it is real. That ancient also said to you sthaviras: 'Only I can know it.' Apart from this, there is no other place to make calculations. Sthavira, from where does accomplishing or not accomplishing come forth? From where does right or not right come forth? Principle is not revealed without phenomena; phenomena do not dissolve without principle. Phenomena and principle are not two; neither phenomena nor principle, neither principle nor phenomena. Such is the annotation given to you sthaviras. If you still do not understand, you had better rely on the ancient words. The ancient saw that you sthaviras could not manage in a hundred ways, so he extended compassion to say to you: 'Directing your hearing to hold to the Buddha's Buddha-nature—why not hear your own hearing?' If there is nothing further, take care."