景德傳燈錄 30
English (machine translation) 30
- Language
- English
30.1
Inscriptions, Records, Admonitions, and Songs:
"Inscription on the Mind King" by Great Master Fu
"Inscription on Faith in Mind" by the Third Patriarch, Great Master Sengcan
"Mind Inscription" by Zen Master Farong, First Patriarch of Mount Niutou
"Inscription on Ceasing the Mind" by Monk Wangming
"Brief Explanation of the Four Practices for Entering the Way of the Mahāyāna" by Bodhidharma (Preface by disciple Tanlin)
"Record of Revealing the Doctrine" by Great Master Heze
"Accord of Difference and Sameness" by Great Master Shitou of Nanyue
"Answers to the Crown Prince's Inquiries on the Essentials of Mind" by Great Master Chengguan, Protector of the Realm, of Mount Wutai
"Admonition on Seated Meditation" by Monk Wuyun of Hangzhou
"Song of Realizing the Way" by Great Master Zhenjue of Yongjia
"Song of Comprehending the Origin" by Monk Tengteng
"Song of Lazy Zan" by Monk Lanzan of Nanyue
"Song of the Thatched Cottage" by Monk Shitou
"Song of Rejoicing in the Way" by Monk Daowu
"Song of the Single Bowl" (Another record says it was composed by Zen Master Beidu)
"Song of the Floating Bubble" by Monk Lepu
"Song of Herding and Protecting" by Monk Suxi
"Three Songs of the Ancient Mirror" by Zen Master Fadeng
"Song of Traversing and Inquiring into Samādhi" by Daoxun of Longhui in Tanzhou
"Two Chants on Playing with the Pearl" by Monk Danxia
"Chant on Obtaining the Pearl" by Elder Guannan
"Two Chants: Encouraging Awakening and Returning to Quiescence" by Monk Xiangyan
"Song of the Mind Pearl" by Monk Shaoshan
30.2
"Inscription on the Mind King" by Great Master Fu
30.3
Contemplating the empty Mind King: profound, wondrous, and difficult to fathom. / Devoid of form and devoid of marks, it possesses great spiritual power. / Capable of extinguishing a thousand calamities and accomplishing myriad virtues, / Though its substance and nature are empty, it can dispense Dharma and rules. / Look at it, it has no form; call to it, it has a voice. / Serving as the great general of the Dharma, the mind-precept transmits the sutras. / Like the flavor of salt in water, or clear glue in color, / It is definitely there, though its form cannot be seen. / The Mind King is also like this: / Residing inside the body, entering and exiting through the facial gates. / Responding to things according to circumstances, sovereign and without hindrance, / All that it undertakes is accomplished. / Comprehending the original, know the mind; knowing the mind, see the Buddha. / This mind is the Buddha; the Buddha is this mind. / Thought after thought is the Buddha-mind; the Buddha-mind is mindful of the Buddha. / If you wish to achieve it quickly, discipline your mind with precepts and self-restraint. / Pure precepts are the pure mind; the mind itself is the Buddha. / Aside from this Mind King, there is no other Buddha. / If you seek to become a Buddha, do not be tainted by a single thing. / Though the mind-nature is empty, greed and anger are real in substance. / Entering this dharma-gate, sit upright and become a Buddha; / Having reached the other shore, one attains pāramitā. / True practitioners who aspire to the Way, observe your own minds: / Know that the Buddha is within, and do not seek outside. / Mind itself is Buddha; Buddha itself is mind. / When the mind is bright, it recognizes the Buddha; when one is fully awakened, one knows the mind. / Apart from mind, there is no Buddha; apart from Buddha, there is no mind. / If not for the Buddha, it cannot be fathomed; there is nothing it cannot bear. / Grasping emptiness and clinging to stillness, one drifts and sinks here. / The Buddhas and bodhisattvas do not settle their minds in this. / Great beings of illuminated mind awaken to this profound sound. / The nature of body and mind is wondrous, its functioning without alteration. / Therefore the wise give free rein to the mind in sovereignty. / Do not say the Mind King is empty and devoid of substantial nature; / It can cause the physical body to act evilly or act uprightly. / Neither existent nor non-existent, its hiddenness and manifestation are not fixed. / The mind-nature is free from emptiness; it can be common and it can be holy. / Therefore I urge you: take good care to be cautious and guard yourself, / For creating [karma] in kṣetras will cause you to drift and sink again. / The pure wisdom of mind is like worldly gold; / The treasury of prajñā-dharma is all within body and mind. / The unconditioned Dharma-jewel is neither shallow nor deep. / The Buddhas and bodhisattvas comprehended this original mind; / Those with conditions who encounter it belong not to past, present, or future.
30.4
"Inscription on Faith in Mind" by the Third Patriarch, Great Master Sengcan
30.5
The Great Way is not difficult; it only dislikes picking and choosing. / Merely do not harbor hatred or love, and it will be completely clear. / A fraction of a hair's breadth of difference, and heaven and earth are set far apart. / If you wish for it to appear before you, do not harbor favor or adversity. / Favor and adversity contending with each other: this is a disease of the mind. / Not recognizing the profound principle, in vain does one labor to calm thoughts. / Perfectly complete like great space, lacking nothing, with nothing in excess. / Truly because of grasping and rejecting, one is therefore not as it is. / Do not pursue conditioned existence; do not dwell in the tolerance of emptiness. / In the single equality of mind, [duality] vanishes and ceases of itself. / Halting motion to return to rest, that rest stirs all the more. / Clinging only to the two extremes, how can you know the single kind? / If you do not penetrate the single kind, both sides lose efficacy. / Discarding existence, you sink into existence; pursuing emptiness, you turn your back on emptiness. / Many words and many worries become ever more unaccordant. / Sever words and sever worries, and there is nowhere you do not penetrate. / Returning to the root, one attains the principle; following illumination, one loses the source. / For a moment turning illumination inward, one surpasses the emptiness before. / Changes in that previous emptiness all arise from delusive views. / No need to seek the true; one only must cease views. / Do not abide in dual views; take care not to pursue them. / As soon as there are right and wrong, the mind is chaotically lost. / Duality arises from oneness, yet do not preserve oneness either. / When the one mind does not arise, myriad dharmas are without fault. / No fault, no dharmas; non-arising, no mind. / The subject is extinguished following the object; the object sinks pursuing the subject. / The object is an object because of the subject; the subject is a subject because of the object. / If you wish to understand both parts, they are originally a single emptiness. / A single emptiness is identical to both, equally containing myriad phenomena. / Seeing neither subtle nor coarse, how could there be partiality? / The substance of the Great Way is vast; it is neither easy nor difficult. / Small views harbor doubt and suspicion: the more hurried, the slower. / Grasping it, one loses measure and will surely enter evil paths. / Letting it go naturally, the substance has no going or staying. / Accord with nature and unite with the Way, carefree and free of vexations. / Tying thoughts strays from truth; sinking into stupor is not good. / It is not good to labor the spirit; what use are distance and closeness? / If you wish to take the One Vehicle, do not despise the six dusts. / Not despising the six dusts is itself identical to correct awakening. / The wise act with non-doing; the foolish bind themselves. / Dharmas have no different dharmas; deludedly one loves and clings. / Using the mind to employ the mind, how could this not be a great mistake? / Delusion gives birth to quietude and disturbance; awakening has no like or dislike. / All pairs of extremes truly arise from calculation. / Dreams, illusions, empty flowers: why labor to grasp them? / Gain, loss, right, wrong: discard them all at once. / If the eyes do not sleep, myriad dreams naturally vanish. / If the mind does not differentiate, myriad dharmas are as one. / The substance of the One Suchness is profound; serenely forget conditions. / View myriad dharmas as equal, returning again to nature. / Erasing its reason, it cannot be compared or paralleled. / Halting motion, there is no motion; moving what is halted, there is no halt. / Since duality does not stand, how can oneness exist? / Reaching the ultimate and final limit, no rules or standards remain. / Accord the mind with equality, and all undertakings cease. / Doubts are thoroughly purged; correct faith is tuned and straight. / Nothing remains behind; there is nothing to remember. / Empty and luminous, it shines of itself, without labor of mental effort. / Not a place for thought or reflection, difficult for consciousness and emotion to fathom. / In the Dharma-realm of true suchness, there is no other and no self. / If you urgently wish to accord with it, speak only of non-duality. / In non-duality all is identical, nothing is not contained. / The wise of the ten directions all enter this school. / This school neither shortens nor extends: one thought is ten thousand years. / Neither present nor absent, the ten directions are before the eyes. / The extremely small is identical to the great, forgetting and transcending realms. / The extremely large is identical to the small, boundaries and markers unseen. / Existence is non-existence; non-existence is existence. / If it is not like this, you must definitely not keep to it. / One is all; all is one. / If you can only be thus, what worry of not being complete? / Faith and mind are non-dual; non-dual are faith and mind. / The path of language is cut off; it is not of the past, present, or future.
30.6
"Mind Inscription" by Zen Master Farong, First Patriarch of Mount Niutou
30.7
The mind-nature does not arise; what need is there for knowledge and views? / Originally there is not a single dharma; who speaks of fumigating and refining? / Going and returning have no beginning; seeking it, it cannot be seen. / Do not do anything at all; luminous quiescence will manifest of itself. / The past limit is like empty space; where knowing abides, one loses the source. / Distinctly illuminating the objective realm, following illumination one is obscured. / If the one mind is obstructed, myriad dharmas do not penetrate. / Going and coming are naturally so; why resort to inferring and investigating? / Arising has no mark of arising; arising and illuminating are identical. / If you wish to attain mind's purity, make effort with no-mind. / In all directions without illuminating is the most wondrous. / Knowing dharmas is without knowing; without knowing, one knows the essential. / Using the mind to guard stillness is not yet free from disease. / Forgetting thoughts of birth and death is itself the original nature. / The supreme principle cannot be expressed; it is neither liberation nor entanglement. / Spiritually penetrating, it responds to things, ever before one's eyes. / Before the eyes there are no things; no things, yet vividly present. / Not laboring the mirror of wisdom, its substance is naturally empty and profound. / Thoughts arise and thoughts perish; before and after there is no distinction. / When the subsequent thought does not arise, the prior thought ceases of itself. / In the three periods of time there are no things, no mind, and no Buddha. / Sentient beings are without mind; they emerge reliant on no-mind. / Discriminating common and holy, afflictions become ever more intense. / Calculating goes against the constant; seeking truth turns one's back on the upright. / Both remedies vanishing, it is calm, clear, bright, and pure. / No need for clever effort; preserve the practice of the infant. / Alertly understanding, the net of views expands further. / Silently without seeing, one does not move from the dark room. / Alert without delusion, silent and brightly luminous. / Myriad phenomena are ever true; the array of forms is a single mark. / Going, coming, sitting, standing: do not grasp anything at all. / Definitely without fixed direction, what is entering and exiting? / Neither uniting nor dispersing, neither slow nor hurried. / Luminous quiescence is natural; it cannot be spoken of. / The mind has no different mind; do not sever greed and lust. / The nature being empty, it is naturally free; let it float and sink at will. / Neither clear nor turbid, neither shallow nor deep. / Originally it is not ancient; presently it is not modern. / The present has no abiding; the present is the original mind. / The original does not exist; the original is the present. / Bodhi is originally present; there is no need to guard it. / Afflictions are originally non-existent; there is no need to eliminate them. / Spiritual knowing illuminates of itself; myriad dharmas return to suchness. / Without returning and without receiving, sever contemplation and forget guarding. / The four virtues do not arise; the three bodies are originally possessed. / The six sense faculties face objects; discrimination is not consciousness. / The one mind without delusion, myriad conditions are tuned and straight. / Mind and nature are originally equal; living together, they do not part. / Non-arising complies with things; everywhere it dwells in seclusion. / Awakening arises from non-awakening; yet awakening is non-awakening. / Gain and loss, the two sides: who discusses good and bad? / All conditioned things originally have no doing. / Knowing mind is no-mind, there is no illness and no medicine. / When deluded, one abandons phenomena; once awakened, they are not different. / Originally there was nothing to grasp; now what use is discarding? / Saying there is existence, demons arise; speaking of emptiness, forms are complete. / Do not extinguish worldly passions; only teach the cessation of thought. / When thought is absent, mind is extinguished; when mind is absent, action ceases. / No need to realize emptiness; it is naturally luminous and clear. / Extinguishing birth and death entirely, one merges the mind and enters principle. / Opening the eyes and seeing forms, the mind arises following objects. / Where mind is, there are no objects; where objects are, there is no mind. / Using mind to extinguish objects, both encroach on one another. / When mind is quiescent, objects are as such: neither expelled nor held. / Objects perish following the mind; the mind is absent following objects. / When neither arises in both places, there is quietude, emptiness, and luminosity. / The reflection of bodhi appears; the water of the mind is ever clear. / The nature of virtue is like foolishness, not establishing intimacy or distance. / Unchanged by favor or disgrace, not selecting where one dwells. / Myriad conditions suddenly cease; one remembers nothing at all. / The long day is like night; the long night is like day. / Outwardly seeming stubborn and crude, inwardly the mind is empty and true. / Facing conditions without moving: this is a great person of strength. / No person and no seeing; non-seeing ever manifests. / Penetrating everything, it has never failed to be pervasive. / Speculation becomes ever more bewildered, confusing and agitating the spirit. / Using the mind to halt motion, the more it is halted, the more it runs. / Myriad dharmas have no location; there is only a single gate. / Neither entering nor exiting, neither quiet nor noisy. / Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas: their wisdom cannot discuss it. / In truth there is not a single thing; wondrous wisdom alone abides. / The original limit is empty and serene, not to be exhausted by the mind. / Correct awakening is non-awakening; true emptiness is not empty. / The Buddhas of the three periods of time all ride upon this school. / In this school, a hair's tip contains the sand-worlds. / Pay no regard to anything; settle the mind nowhere. / Nowhere to settle the mind, emptiness and luminosity naturally reveal themselves. / Quiescent and unarisen, carefree, unrestrained, and expansive. / All that is done is unhindered; going and staying are equally level. / The sun of wisdom is serene; the light of samādhi is bright and clear. / Illuminating the markless garden, brightening the city of nirvāṇa. / All conditions completely forgotten, elucidate the spirit and fix the substance. / Not rising from the Dharma-seat, peacefully sleep in the empty chamber. / Rejoicing in the Way, tranquil and composed, leisurely strolling in the real. / Non-doing and without attainment, emerging naturally based on nothingness. / The four immeasurables and the six perfections are the path of the One Vehicle. / If the mind does not arise, dharmas are without disparity. / Knowing that arising is non-arising, it ever abides before the eyes. / Only the wise know this; it is not awakened to through verbal explanations.
30.8
"Inscription on Ceasing the Mind" by Monk Wangming
30.9
In the realm of phenomena there is a wish-fulfilling jewel; / a person kept his mouth long sealed, / and on his chest inscribed these words: / "The one of old who gathered in the mind! / Take heed, take heed! / Do not ponder much, do not know much. / Much knowing brings much trouble; it is better to rest the mind. / Much pondering brings much loss; it is better to guard the one. / Pondering much, the resolve is scattered; knowing much, the mind is disordered. / When the mind is disordered, affliction arises; when the resolve is scattered, it hinders the Path. / Do not say, 'What harm is there?' Its suffering is long and drawn out. / Do not say, 'What is there to fear?' Its disaster boils like a cauldron. / If drops of water do not cease, the four seas will soon brim full. / If fine dust is not swept away, the five peaks will soon be formed. / Guard against the branches by staying at the root; though small, it must not be taken lightly. / Close your seven apertures, shut your six sense-emotions. / Do not look at sights; do not listen to sounds. / Those who hear sounds become deaf; those who see sights become blind. / A single text, a single craft is a tiny gnat in the sky; / a single art, a single ability is a lone lamp beneath the sun. / Heroic virtue, talent, and craft: these are folly and delusion. / Casting aside plain simplicity, one is drowned in luxuriant glamour. / The horse of consciousness is easily galloped; the ape of the mind is hard to subdue. / Once the spirit is overtaxed, the physical form is bound to be damaged and perish. / Heterodox conduct leads in the end to delusion; the path of cultivation is forever bogged down. / Do not prize talent and ability; day by day you grow more dim and benighted. / Boasting of clumsy ways and envying cleverness, one's virtue will not be broad. / With a weighty reputation and thin practice, one's high standing quickly collapses. / Harbouring pride and arrogance within invites resentment and hatred without. / Whether spoken by the mouth or written by the hand, / courting the praise of others is exceedingly vile. / The ordinary call it auspicious; the sage calls it a fault. / Delighting in it is fleeting; sorrow over it is enduring. / Fearing your shadow, fearing your footprints: the further you run, the more exhausted you become; / sit upright in the shade of a tree: footprints vanish and the shadow disappears. / Loathing birth and dreading old age: following your thoughts, you bring them to pass; / if conceptual thought in the mind is extinguished, birth and death are cut off forever. / Neither dying nor being born, without characteristic and without name, / the one Path is empty and serene, and the ten thousand things are equal and level. / What is noble? What is base? What is disgraceful? What is glorious? / What is superior? What is inferior? What is heavy? What is light? / The clear sky is ashamed of its purity; the bright sun is humbled by its radiance. / Secure like Mount Tai, firm like that city wall of metal, / with reverence this is bequeathed to worthy sages: for this Path, perseverance brings benefit."
30.10
Bodhidharma's Brief Discourse on the Four Practices for Entering the Path of the Great Vehicle (with a preface by his disciple Tanlin)
30.11
The Dharma Master was from Southern India in the Western Regions, the third son of a great Brahmin king. His spiritual wisdom was open and bright; whatever he heard he comprehended. His aspiration lay in the Great Vehicle; thus he renounced the white robes of a layperson for the black robes of a monastic, continuing and prospering the sacred lineage. Merging his mind in the empty and serene, he thoroughly perceived worldly affairs. Luminous both within and without, his virtue surpassed the worldly plane. Lamenting that the correct teachings were decaying in borderlands, he was able to journey far across mountains and seas, traveling to convert the Han and Wei regions. Those of non-discriminating mind without exception took refuge and believed; those who clung to views gave rise to ridicule and slander. At that time, there were only Daoyu and Huike; these two śramaṇas, though younger in years, possessed extraordinary resolve and high aims. Fortunate to encounter the Dharma Master, they served him for several years, reverently inquiring and receiving instruction, well grasping the master's intent. Moved by their sincerity, the Dharma Master instructed them in the true Path: causing them to pacify the mind in this way, to arouse practice in this way, to accord with things in this way, and to employ skillful means in this way. This is the Mahāyāna method of pacifying the mind, preventing any error. 'Pacifying the mind in this way' is wall-contemplation. 'Arousing practice in this way' is the four practices. 'According with things in this way' is guarding against ridicule and blame. 'Employing skillful means in this way' is letting them go without attachment. This is a brief preface explaining the reasons thereof.
30.12
Entering the Path has many routes. To speak of the essentials, they do not exceed two kinds: the first is entry through principle, and the second is entry through practice. Entry through principle means awakening to the fundamental principle by relying on the teachings, having deep faith that sentient beings share one identical true nature, which is merely covered by adventitious dust and false thoughts and cannot be manifest. If one abandons the false and returns to the true, abiding steadily in wall-contemplation, where there is neither self nor other, ordinary and sage are equal and one, firmly abiding without moving, no longer following written teachings—this is to merge silently with principle, without differentiation. Serene and unconditioned, it is named entry through principle. Entry through practice refers to the four practices; all other practices are encompassed within these. What are the four? First, the practice of requiting enmity. Second, the practice of according with conditions. Third, the practice of seeking nothing. Fourth, the practice of being in accord with Dharma. What is the practice of requiting enmity? When a practitioner cultivating the Path encounters suffering, they should think to themselves: 'Throughout countless kalpas in the past, I abandoned the root to pursue the branches, drifting through realms of existence, repeatedly giving rise to hostility and hatred, harming without end. Although I have not offended in the present, this is the fruit of my past misfortunes and evil karma ripening; it is not bestowed by gods or humans. I will endure it willingly, with no resentment or complaint.' A sūtra says: 'Encountering suffering, one does not grieve. Why? Because one thoroughly understands.' When this mind arises, it accords with principle; realizing enmity to advance on the Path, it is therefore called the practice of requiting enmity. Second, the practice of according with conditions: sentient beings have no self; they are entirely shifted by karma and conditions. Suffering and joy are received together, all arising from conditions. If I obtain superior rewards, honor, and the like, this was elicited by my past causes and only now received; when the conditions are exhausted, they return to nothingness, so what joy is there? Gain and loss follow conditions, and the mind neither increases nor decreases; the wind of delight does not move it, silently according with the Path. Therefore it is called the practice of according with conditions. Third, the practice of seeking nothing: people of the world are perpetually deluded, greedily attached at every turn; this is called seeking. The wise awaken to the true, using principle to reverse the worldly; pacifying the mind in the unconditioned, their bodies move with the turns of fortune. All existences are empty; there is nothing to desire or take pleasure in. Merit and dark calamity ever follow one another; dwelling long in the three realms is like being in a burning house; having a body is suffering, who can obtain ease? Thoroughly understanding this, they cast aside all existences, resting their thoughts and seeking nothing. A sūtra says: 'Where there is seeking, all is suffering; having nothing to seek is joy.' Discerning and knowing that seeking nothing is truly the practice of the Path, it is therefore called the practice of seeking nothing. Fourth, the practice of being in accord with Dharma: the principle of intrinsic purity is designated as Dharma. In this principle, all characteristics are empty; there is no defilement and no attachment, no this and no that. A sūtra says: 'In the Dharma there are no sentient beings, because it is free from the defilement of sentient beings. In the Dharma there is no self, because it is free from the defilement of self.' If the wise can believe and understand this principle, they should act in accord with Dharma. The substance of the Dharma has no stinginess; in body, life, and wealth, one practices giving (dāna) without a begrudging mind. Understanding the three empties, neither relying nor attaching, simply to remove defilement one guides sentient beings without grasping at characteristics. This is one's own practice, and it can also benefit others; it can also adorn the path of awakening. Since this is so for giving, it is likewise so for the remaining five [perfections]. To eliminate false thoughts, one cultivates the six perfections without having anything cultivated. This is the practice of being in accord with Dharma.
30.13
Great Master Heze's Record of Manifesting the School
30.14
Non-thought is the principal school; non-action is the foundation. True emptiness is the substance; wondrous existence is the function. Now, suchness has no thought: it is not through thought that one can know the true mark. Non-arising has no form: how could physical form or mind see it? Thinking of non-thought is thinking of suchness. Arising with non-arising is arising with the true mark. Abiding without abiding, one permanently abides in nirvāṇa. Walking without walking, one instantly crosses to the other shore. Tathatā does not move; its dynamic function is inexhaustible. In thought after thought there is no seeking; seeking is fundamentally non-thought. Bodhi has nothing to attain; purifying the five eyes, one comprehends the three bodies. Prajñā has no knowing; wielding the six superknowledges, it propagates the four wisdoms. Thus one knows: just concentration is without concentration; just wisdom is without wisdom; just practice is without practice. The nature is equal to empty space; the substance is identical with the realm of phenomena. The six perfections are thereby perfected; the requisites for awakening are thereupon complete. Thus one knows that the substance of self and dharmas is empty, and both existence and non-existence are eliminated. The mind is fundamentally without action; the Path is constantly non-thought. Without thought, without reflection, without seeking, without attainment; neither that nor this, neither departing nor coming. Realizing the three knowledges, the mind masters the eight liberations. Accomplishing the ten powers, one is rich in the seven treasures. Entering the non-dual gate, one obtains the principle of the one vehicle. The wondrous of the wondrous is the wondrous Dharma body; the heaven among heavens is adamantine wisdom. Calm and ever serene, its responsive application is without limit. Functioning yet constantly empty; empty yet constantly functioning. Functioning without being existent, it is true emptiness. Empty without being non-existent, it becomes wondrous existence. Wondrous existence is Mahāprajñā; true emptiness is pure nirvāṇa. Prajñā is the cause of nirvāṇa; nirvāṇa is the fruit of prajñā. Prajñā has no seeing, yet can see nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa has no arising, yet can give rise to prajñā. Nirvāṇa and prajñā have different names but the same substance. Names are established according to meaning; hence it is said that phenomena have no fixed characteristics. That nirvāṇa can give rise to prajñā is named the true Buddha-Dharma-body. That prajñā can establish nirvāṇa is called the Tathāgata's knowledge and vision. Knowledge is knowing that the mind is empty and serene. Vision is seeing that the nature is unarisen. Knowledge and vision are clearly distinct, neither one nor different. Therefore dynamic action and serenity are ever wondrous, principle and phenomena are both such-like. Such-like, it is everywhere unobstructed; principle and phenomena are unhindered. The six sense-bases being undefiled is the efficacy of concentration and wisdom. The six consciousnesses not arising is the power of suchness. The mind is such, and objects fade; objects are extinguished, and the mind is empty. When mind and objects are both obliterated, substance and function are not different. The nature of suchness is pure, and the illumination of wisdom is inexhaustible. Like water dividing into a thousand moons, it can see, hear, perceive, and know. Seeing, hearing, perceiving, and knowing, yet ever empty and serene. Emptiness is characteristicless; serenity is unarisen. It is not bound by good or evil; it is not constrained by quiet or turmoil. It neither loathes birth and death nor delights in nirvāṇa. Non-being cannot negate it; being cannot substantiate it. In walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, the mind does not stir. At all times, one attains having nothing to attain. Such is the doctrinal instruction of the Buddhas of the three periods, which the compassion of bodhisattvas successively transmitted. Since the World-Honoured One passed away, the twenty-eight patriarchs of the Western Heavens together transmitted the mind of non-abiding and together spoke of the Tathāgata's knowledge and vision. Down to Bodhidharma, who arrived here as the first, it has been inherited from generation to generation without interruption until now. Transmitting this secret teaching requires finding the right person; like the jewel in the king's topknot, it is never given carelessly. Adorned with the two types: merit and wisdom, only when practice and understanding accord can it be established. The robe is the token of faith in the Dharma; the Dharma is the core of the robe. Pointing solely to the mutual transmission of robe and Dharma, there is no other Dharma. Internally transmitting the mind-seal seals the original mind; externally transmitting the kāṣāya manifests the essential school. Without the robe, the Dharma is not transmitted; without the Dharma, the robe is not received. The robe is the robe of faith in the Dharma; the Dharma is the Dharma of non-arising. Non-arising is free from falsity; it is the empty and serene mind. Knowing the empty and serene, one comprehends the Dharma body; comprehending the Dharma body, there is true liberation.
30.15
Harmony of Difference and Sameness, by Upādhyāya Shitou of Nanyue
30.16
The mind of the Great Sage of India / was secretly transmitted from west to east. / Human capacities may be sharp or dull, / but the Path has no northern or southern patriarchs. / The spiritual source is clearly bright; / its tributary streams flow in the dark. / Grasping phenomena is fundamentally delusion; / matching principle is not yet awakening either. / Each gate and all its objects / interpenetrate and do not interpenetrate. / Interpenetrating, they mutually merge; / otherwise, each abides in its own place. / Forms fundamentally differ in matter and appearance; / sounds originally vary in pleasure and pain. / Darkness merges high and middle words; / brightness distinguishes pure and turbid phrases. / The four great elements return to their own nature, / like a child finding its mother: / fire is hot, wind moves, / water is wet, and earth is solid. / Eyes [see] forms, ears [hear] sounds, / the nose smells fragrance, the tongue tastes salty and sour. / Thus, depending on each and every dharma, / leaves branch out according to the root. / Root and branches must return to the source; / noble and base use their own speech. / Within light there is darkness, / do not take it as darkness. / Within darkness there is light, / do not look at it as light. / Light and dark contrast with each other, / like footsteps walking front and back. / All things have their own function, / depending on their use and place. / Phenomena exist like box and lid fitting together; / principle accords like arrowheads meeting point-to-point. / Receiving these words, you must comprehend the source; / do not set up your own standards. / If you do not understand the Path right before your eyes, / how can you know the road as you walk? / Stepping forward is neither near nor far; / delusion creates a barrier of mountains and rivers. / I respectfully say to those who study the mystery: / do not pass your time in vain.
30.17
The Essentials of Mind: State-Protecting Great Master Chengguan of Mount Wutai Answers the Crown Prince's Questions
30.18
The supreme Way is rooted in the mind; the dharmas of the mind are rooted in non-abiding. The substance of the non-abiding mind is numinously aware, unfailingly clear, its nature and characteristics completely tranquil. Comprehending all virtues and functions, it embraces both the internal and the external. It can be deep and it can be vast; it is neither existent nor empty. It is neither born nor destroyed; it has neither end nor beginning. Seeking it, one cannot obtain it; abandoning it, one cannot depart from it. Deluded about direct perception, one is beset by the turmoil of affliction and suffering; awakened to the true nature, the clear emptiness is open and thoroughly unobstructed. Although this mind is the Buddha, only those who realize it can know it. Yet if there is realization and knowing, the sun of wisdom sinks into the realm of being; if there is no illumination and no awakening, dark clouds veil the gate of emptiness. If not a single thought arises, the limits before and after are severed; the body of illumination stands solitary and independent, and both objects and self are as such. Reaching directly to the source of the mind, there is neither wisdom nor attainment; there is no grasping and no discarding, no opposition and no cultivation. Yet delusion and awakening mutually depend on each other, just as the true and the false stand in opposition. If one seeks the true and discards the false, it is like running away from one's shadow to tire the body; if one realizes that the false is identical with the true, it is like resting in the shade, where the shadow vanishes. If, being free of mind, one forgets illumination, then the myriad thoughts are completely cast away; if, letting things take their course, one is tranquil and aware, then the myriad practices arise from it. Free and unconstrained, let it go or stay; in quiet reflection, perceive its source and flow. Speech and silence never depart from the dark subtlety; motion and stillness have not left the dharmadhātu. Speaking of cessation, both knowing and tranquility are forgotten; discussing contemplation, tranquility and knowing are both illuminated. Speaking of realization, it cannot be shown to others; explaining the principle, it cannot be understood without realization. Therefore, awakening to tranquility, there is no tranquility; true knowing has no knowing. With the one mind of non-dual knowing and tranquility, one accords with the Middle Way wherein emptiness and existence are both fused. Neither abiding nor clinging, neither gather nor retract. Both right and wrong are forgotten; subject and object are both extinguished. When this extinction itself is tranquil, prajñā appears before you. Prajñā is not newly born outside the mind; the nature of wisdom is inherently complete. Yet original tranquility cannot manifest on its own; it truly depends on the function of prajñā. Prajñā and the nature of wisdom reciprocally accomplish each other; original wisdom and initial cultivation truly do not have two separate substances. When both are forgotten and one correctly enters, marvelous enlightenment is perfectly luminous. When beginning and end encompass each other, cause and effect completely interpenetrate. In thought after thought one becomes a Buddha, for there is not a single thought that is not the Buddha-mind; everywhere one attains the Way, for there is not a single particle of dust that is not a Buddha-realm. Therefore, the true, the false, objects, and self—raise one, and all are completely gathered in; mind, Buddha, and sentient beings blend seamlessly into one and the same end. Hence we know that in delusion, the person follows dharmas, and dharmas have ten thousand differences, so people are not the same; in awakening, dharmas follow the person, and all persons share one wisdom that fuses the ten thousand realms. When words are exhausted and thoughts are extinguished, what cause and what effect can there be? The substance is inherently tranquil and solitary; who is identical and who is different? Only when one forgets mental attachments and remains empty and luminous will the ebb and flow blend harmoniously. It is like the moonlight penetrating the water, empty yet visible; or a mirror reflecting forms without a mind, illuminating yet ever empty.
30.19
Admonition on Sitting Meditation by Upādhyāya Wuyun of Hangzhou
30.20
Sitting does not constrain the body; meditation does not involve objects. If one constrains [the body], one will surely tire; if one involves [objects], then it is not stillness. Neither involving nor constraining, the true light is lofty and solitary; the six sense gates respond together, and the myriad practices unfold in unison. Alas! You of initial capacity have not yet attained the dark subtlety; abiding in sinking, you follow agitation, subject and object falling into disarray. Without skillful expedients, how can you apply remedies? Spur on or suppress, evenly balance dullness and distraction; rest thoughts and forget conditions, as if suddenly a dead fellow. According to suitability, combine or open; do not dedicate yourself solely to wall-contemplation (Master Bodhidharma, besides directly transmitting the Dharma eye, gave detailed instructions to those of initial capacity on the essentials of cultivating the mind, establishing the four gates and the four practices, not dedicating solely to one). When galloping thoughts are overly numerous, [practice] ānāpānasmṛti (if agitation is intense or dullness abides, one should change the contemplation and cultivate counting the breaths, breathing out or in without alternation). Flow along the Sword Gallery; do not be held back by the wooden goose. Like fire meeting water, like illness meeting a physician; when the illness is cured, the physician is dismissed; when the fire is quenched, the water is poured away. With one thought pure, the substance is tranquil and ever numinous. Is it numinous? Is it tranquil? It is neither numinous nor tranquil. Right and wrong arise alternately, committing faults without limit; former ones perish, later ones arise, like pacing back and forth. The trouble lies in not knowing; if one knows, there is no fault. The sun departs from night at its back; how could a mirror illuminate behind itself? This, however, is not so: it is perfectly bright and thoroughly penetrating. It illuminates without conditions; it is tranquil, yet who guards it? The myriad phenomena are ocean foam; empty space is a flash of lightning. It destroys the demon palaces and knocks down the Buddha halls; the lame receive shoes, and the blind gain sight. The dharmadhātu and the dust realms appear simultaneously in equal wheels. Free and unconstrained on the wild moors, whether sitting or sleeping; having understood skillful means, one is termed a Golden Immortal. Though I speak forcibly, it accords with the holy words. What are the holy words? They must be spoken again: 'Neither moving nor meditating is unproduced meditation.' It is also said: 'If you study the various samādhis, that is movement, not sitting meditation. If the mind flows along with objective realms, how can it be called absorption?' Therefore we know that the ancestral masters of all generations transmitted only this one mind. Since the light of the ancestors is vast and far-reaching, fortunately, you, my disciple, can bear the responsibility. I have briefly related the wordless meaning, and thus call it the Admonition on Sitting Meditation.
30.21
Song of Realizing the Way by Great Master Zhengjue of Yongjia
30.22
Do you not see / the person of the Way who has cut off learning, free of action, at ease, / who neither eliminates false thoughts nor seeks the true? / The real nature of ignorance is itself Buddha-nature; / the illusory, empty body is itself the Dharma body. / When the Dharma body is awakened to, there is not a single thing; / originally inherent self-nature is the naturally true Buddha. / The five aggregates are floating clouds, vainly coming and going; / the three poisons are bubbles of water, emptily rising and vanishing. / When true reality is realized, there are neither persons nor dharmas; / in a single instant, the karma of Avīci is eradicated. / If one uses false words to deceive sentient beings, / one will bring upon oneself [the punishment of] having the tongue pulled out for dust-sand kalpas. / When one suddenly awakens to the Tathāgata-dhyāna, / the six perfections and myriad practices are complete within its substance. / In the dream, clearly, there are the six destinies; / after waking, emptily, there is no great chiliocosm. / There are neither sins nor merits, neither losses nor gains; / within the quiescent nature do not search or seek. / Up to now, the mirror of the dusts was never polished; / today it must be clearly analyzed. / Who is without thought? Who is unborn? / If truly unborn, there is nothing not born. / Call forth a wooden puppet and ask it: / if one strives to achieve Buddhahood, early or late will it be accomplished? / Let go of the four great elements, do not grasp them; / within the quiescent nature follow drink and peck. / All conditioned things are impermanent, everything is empty; / this is the Tathāgata's great and complete awakening. / The decisive discourse reveals the true vehicle; / if anyone does not agree, let them examine as they please. / Directly cutting to the source is sealed by the Buddhas; / plucking leaves and searching branches is something I cannot do. / People do not recognize the maṇi-jewel, / personally obtained inside the tathāgatagarbha. / Its six spiritual functions are empty yet not empty; / the round light of this single gem is visible form yet not form. / Purifying the five eyes, gaining the five powers, / only through realization is it known; who can measure it? / Seeing the form in a mirror is not difficult to view; / catching the moon in water—how could one pluck it out? / Always walking alone, always stepping alone, / the reached ones travel together on the path of nirvāṇa. / The ancient tune and pure spirit have naturally high demeanor; / with worn appearance and hardy bones, nobody pays heed. / The poor son of Śākya speaks of poverty; / in truth his body is poor, but the Way is not poor. / Poor, so his body is always draped in patched hemp; / the Way means the mind harbors a priceless treasure. / The priceless treasure's function is inexhaustible; / benefiting beings in accord with the time, never stingy. / The three bodies and four wisdoms are complete within the substance; / the eight liberations and six supernormal knowledges are stamped on the mind-ground. / The superior person, once resolved, understands all; / the middling and inferior hear much and doubt much. / Simply remove the dirty robe from one's own bosom; / who can boast of vigorous advancement toward the outside? / Let others slander, let them criticize; / holding a torch to burn the sky only wearies oneself. / When I hear it, it is just like drinking sweet dew; / melted and dissolved, suddenly entering the inconceivable. / Regard harsh words as merit; / these then become my kalyāṇamitra. / Without giving rise to enmity or affection due to slander and mockery, / how could the power of unborn, compassionate patience be displayed? / Thorough in the lineage and thorough in discourse, / samādhi and prajñā are completely bright, not stuck in emptiness. / Not only have I alone now reached and understood; / the Buddhas of the river sands are all identical in substance. / The lion's roar, the fearless discourse— / when the hundred beasts hear it, their brains all burst; / fragrant elephants rush about, losing their dignity; / heavenly dragons listen in silence and give rise to joyful delight. / Wandering over rivers and seas, traversing mountains and streams, / seeking teachers and inquiring into the Way for the sake of practicing Chan. / Ever since recognizing the road of Caoxi, / I clearly know that birth and death are of no concern. / Walking is also Chan, sitting is also Chan; / speaking or silent, moving or still, the substance is at ease. / Even meeting sharp blades, always calm and composed; / even if given poison, relaxed and unbothered. / My teacher met Dīpaṃkara Buddha / after being a sage of patience for many kalpas. / How many returns of birth? How many returns of death? / Birth and death stretch boundlessly with no fixed stop. / Ever since sudden awakening to the realization of the unborn, / why be sad or glad over honor and disgrace? / Entering deep mountains, dwelling in an araṇya, / precipitous and secluded under the tall pines; / leisurely and quietly sitting in the wild monk's lodge, / peacefully residing in stillness is truly carefree. / Awakening is total; no effort is applied; / it is not like all conditioned dharmas. / Giving while dwelling in appearances generates heavenly blessings, / like shooting an arrow upward into empty space. / When its force is exhausted, the arrow falls back down, / bringing about discontent in future lives. / How can that compare to the gate of unconditioned true reality, / leaping straight into the Tathāgata-ground with one single leap? / Just grasp the root, do not worry about the branches, / like pure lapis lazuli containing the precious moon. / Once able to understand this wish-fulfilling pearl, / benefiting oneself and others will never run out. / River moon shines, pine wind blows; / through the long night and clear evening, what is there to do? / The Buddha-nature precept-jewel is stamped on the mind-ground; / mists, dews, clouds, and rosy glow are the robes upon the body. / The dragon-subduing bowl, the tiger-reconciling staff; / the two-pronged golden rings ring out clearly. / This is not a mere external display of useless practice; / it is the personal trace of the Tathāgata's precious staff. / Neither seek the true nor sever the false; / clearly know that the two dharmas are empty and without form. / Without form, without emptiness, and not un-empty: / this is the Tathāgata's true reality. / The mind-mirror is clear, illuminating without hindrance; / openly shining through, permeating sands of worlds. / The myriad phenomena are reflected within; / a single round clarity is neither inside nor outside. / Vastly [falling into] emptiness and repudiating cause and effect, / boundless and reckless, incurs disaster and calamity. / Rejecting existence to cling to emptiness is the same disease, / like jumping into fire to avoid drowning. / Abandoning the false mind to grasp the true principle, / the mind of grasping and discarding becomes clever deceit. / If practitioners do not understand this in their practice, / they truly take a thief for their son. / Depleting Dharma-wealth and destroying merit / is entirely due to this mind, intellect, and consciousness. / Therefore, the Chan school puts an end to the mind, / suddenly entering the power of the vision of unborn wisdom. / A great hero holds the sword of wisdom, / its prajñā blade, a vajra flame! / Not only can it crush the mind of non-Buddhists, / it has already struck dread into the heavenly māras. / Strike the Dharma-thunder, beat the Dharma-drum, / spread clouds of compassion, and sprinkle sweet dew! / Dragon-elephants tread, moistening boundlessly; / the three vehicles and five natures are all awakened. / The snowy mountain is rich and pure without impurities, / producing pure ghee that I constantly partake of. / One nature completely penetrates all natures; / one dharma universally contains all dharmas. / One moon universally appears in all waters; / all water-moons are gathered in the one moon. / The Dharma bodies of all Buddhas enter my nature; / my nature is in turn united with the Tathāgatas. / One stage is fully endowed with all stages; / it is neither matter, nor mind, nor action. / In the snap of a finger, eighty thousand gates are completely fulfilled; / in an instant, the karma of Avīci is eradicated. / All numeric propositions and non-numeric propositions— / what do they have to do with my spiritual awareness? / It cannot be defamed, it cannot be praised; / its substance is like empty space, without shores or banks. / Never leaving the present place, always serene; / if you search for it, know that you cannot see it. / It cannot be grasped, it cannot be rejected; / within the ungraspable it is grasped just so. / In silence it speaks, in speaking it is silent; / the gate of great giving is open without obstruction. / If someone asks me what lineage I understand, / I report to them: the power of mahāprajñā. / Whether right or wrong, people do not know; / whether moving against or along, the heavens cannot fathom. / I already practiced through many kalpas; / this is not idle deception. / Erecting the Dharma banner, establishing the tradition of the school, / the Buddha's clear decree was Caoxi. / The first, Kāśyapa, initiated the transmission of the lamp; / twenty-eight generations recorded in the Western Heavens. / The Dharma flowed east and entered this land; / Bodhidharma became the first patriarch. / The robe was transmitted for six generations, known to all under heaven; / how could one count the later people who attained the Way? / The true is not established, the false is originally empty; / both existence and non-existence are cast aside, and the non-empty is empty. / The twenty gates of emptiness are fundamentally unattached; / the one-nature Tathāgata is identical in substance. / The mind is the sense-organ, dharmas are the dusts; / the two are like marks upon a mirror. / Only when the stains of the marks are completely removed does the light appear; / when both mind and dharmas are forgotten, the nature is real. / Alas, the degenerate age of the Dharma, the evil time and world! / Sentient beings have little merit and are hard to regulate. / Far removed from the sage, heterodox views run deep; / māras are strong, the Dharma weak, with much resentment and harm. / Hearing the discourse on the Tathāgata's sudden teaching gate, / they resent not destroying it, smashing it like tiles. / Made in the mind, the calamity falls upon the body; / there is no need to complain and blame others. / If you wish not to incur the karma of Avīci, / do not slander the Tathāgata's wheel of the correct Dharma. / In a sandalwood forest there are no mixed trees; / dense and deep, the lions dwell. / In the quiet realm among the woods they roam alone; / walking beasts and flying birds all flee far away. / The lion cubs follow behind the pride; / at three years old they can already roar loudly. / If a jackal pursues the Dharma King, / a hundred-year-old monster opens its mouth in vain. / In the complete and sudden teaching, there is no human sentiment; / where there is doubt and no decision, one must contest it directly. / It is not that this mountain monk shows off self and other; / in practice I fear falling into the pits of annihilation and permanence. / Not non-wrong, is non-right; / a hair's breadth of discrepancy misses by a thousand miles. / The 'right' is the dragon girl instantly becoming a Buddha; / the 'wrong' is Sunakṣatra falling alive [into hell]. / In my early years I accumulated learning; / I also once probed commentaries and sought through sūtras and treatises. / Distinguishing names and characteristics without rest, / entering the ocean to count the grains of sand, I only wearied myself in vain. / But I was severely rebuked by the Tathāgata: / what benefit is there in counting another's treasures? / Looking back on my stumbling, I realize it was futile action; / for many years I acted in vain as a guest in wind and dust. / Their seed-nature is perverse, their understanding mistaken; / they do not comprehend the Tathāgata's complete and sudden ordinance. / The two vehicles are vigorous but lack the mind of the Way; / non-Buddhists are clever but lack wisdom. / Both foolish and naive, / they conceive real understanding upon an empty fist and fingers. / Grasping the finger as the moon, their effort is wasted; / within faculties, objects, and dharmas, they conjure up phantom monstrosities. / Not seeing a single dharma is itself the Tathāgata; / only then can one be called Avalokiteśvara. / When understood, karmic hindrances are originally empty; / if not understood, one must still repay past debts. / When hungry, encountering royal feasts yet unable to eat; / when sick, meeting the King of Doctors, how can one be cured? / Practicing Chan in desire through the power of knowledge and vision, / a lotus born in fire is never destroyed. / Śūra committed grave offenses yet awakened to the unborn; / he achieved Buddhahood long ago and abides even today. / The lion's roar, the fearless discourse! / Deeply lament the ignorant, tough-skinned dullards: / they only know that grave offenses obstruct bodhi, / and fail to see the Tathāgata open the secret key. / There were two monks who broke the precepts of lust and killing; / Upāli's firefly-light increased the knots of guilt. / The great being Vimalakīrti suddenly dispelled their doubts, / just like the blazing sun melting frost and snow. / The inconceivable power of liberation: / this becomes my kalyāṇamitra. / How could I begrudge labor for the fourfold offerings? / Even ten thousand ounces of gold could be consumed. / Shattering bones and breaking the body would not suffice to repay; / a single phrase clearly understood transcends billions. / The King among Dharmas is the highest and supreme, / jointly realized by Buddhas [numerous as] river sands. / I now understand this wish-fulfilling pearl; / those who believe and accept it will all correspond. / Clearly seeing that there is not a single thing, / there are neither persons nor Buddhas. / The great chiliocosm is a bubble in the ocean; / all sages and worthies are like flashes of lightning. / Even if an iron wheel were spun atop one's head, / the round brightness of samādhi and prajñā would never be lost. / The sun may turn cold, the moon may turn hot, / but the hordes of māras cannot destroy the true discourse. / When the elephant-carriage towers up and moves down the road, / who has seen a mantis able to block its wheel-ruts? / The great elephant does not stroll along a rabbit's path; / great awakening is not restricted by minor details. / Do not slander the blue heavens with your tube-bound vision; / for those who have not yet understood, I now decide it for you.
First 22 of 78 passages. Read on
Linked texts (1)
- 景德傳燈錄 — Classical Chinese