景德傳燈錄 28.9

28.9

Upādhyāya Congshen of Zhaozhou entered the hall and said: "A golden Buddha does not endure the furnace; a wooden Buddha does not endure fire; a clay Buddha does not endure water. The true Buddha sits within. Bodhi, nirvāṇa, thusness, and Buddha-nature are all clothes clinging to the body; they are also called afflictions. If one does not ask, there are no afflictions. Where then can the principle of the limit of reality be placed? When not a single thought arises, the ten thousand phenomena are without fault. You need only investigate the principle and sit watching for twenty or thirty years; if you do not understand the Way, cut off this old monk's head. Dreams, phantoms, and empty flowers—why labor to grasp them? If the mind does not differ, the ten thousand phenomena are as one. Since it is not obtained from without, why be further bound and attached? You are just like sheep, randomly picking up things and putting them into your mouths. This old monk saw Upādhyāya Yaoshan say: 'If anyone asks, just make him close his mouth.' This old monk also teaches to close the mouth. Grasping at me is purity; you are just like hunting hounds, intent only on eating things. Where is the Buddhadharma? The thousand people here are all fellows seeking to become Buddhas; among them, not a single person of the Way can be found. If you are disciples of the King of Emptiness, do not let illness of the mind become the most difficult to cure. Before there was a world, this nature already existed; when the world is destroyed, this nature is not destroyed. From the moment you see this old monk, it is no longer someone else; it is just a single master. What use is there in further seeking things outward from this? Right at such a time, do not turn your head and twist your brain; if you turn your head and twist your brain, you immediately lose it." Just then, a monk asked: "We have received the Master's words saying, 'When the world is destroyed, this nature is not destroyed.' What is this nature?" The Master said: "The four great elements and the five aggregates." The monk said: "These are still things that are destroyed. What is this nature?" The Master said: "The four great elements and the five aggregates." (Fayan said: "Are they one or two? Are they destroyed or not destroyed? How do you understand this? Try to judge it!")