景德傳燈錄 28.6.1

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: