景德傳燈錄 6.7

6.7

Chan Master Dazhu Huihai of Yuezhou was a native of Jianzhou, surnamed Zhu. He received his training under Upādhyāya Daozhi at Dayun Monastery in Yuezhou. When he first arrived in Jiangxi to call upon Mazu, Mazu asked him, "Where have you come from?" He replied, "I have come from Dayun Monastery in Yuezhou." Mazu asked, "What do you intend to seek by coming here?" He replied, "I have come seeking the Buddha Dharma." Mazu said, "Ignoring your own treasury and throwing away your home to run wandering about—what are you doing? I do not have a single thing here. What Buddha Dharma are you seeking?" The Master then bowed and asked, "Which is Huihai's own treasury?" Mazu said, "That which is right now asking me is your treasury. Everything is fully provided, lacking nothing whatsoever. You can use it freely—why rely on seeking outside?" Upon these words, the Master recognised his own original mind without relying on intellection. Leaping for joy, he bowed in gratitude. He served his master for six years. Later, because the teacher under whom he had trained had grown old, he hurriedly returned to attend upon him. Thereupon, obscuring his traces and hiding his function, he outwardly appeared foolish and slow of speech. He composed the one-fascicle *Essentials of Entering the Path through Sudden Enlightenment*. His fellow Dharma-nephew Xuanyan secretly carried it beyond the river and presented it to Mazu. After reading it through, Mazu addressed the assembly, saying, "In Yuezhou there is a Great Pearl (Dazhu); its round brilliance is pellucid and unhindered, freely without obstruction." In the assembly there were those who knew that the Master was surnamed Zhu. Telling one another and deducing who it was, they formed companionships and went to Yue to seek him out and attach themselves to him. (His being called at that time Upādhyāya Dazhu was because Mazu had pointed him out.) The Master said to them, "Chan guests, I do not understand Chan, nor do I have a single dharma to show to people. Therefore, do not trouble yourselves to stand for long; go and rest yourselves." At that time, his fellow students gradually increased, knocking and questioning day and night. Things being unavoidable, he answered according to their questions, his eloquence without impediment. (His extensive sayings appear in a separate fascicle.) At that time several Dharma masters came to visit and said, "We intend to put forward a question; would the Master be willing to answer?" The Master said, "The moon's reflection in a deep pool—handle and touch it as you please." They asked, "What is the Buddha?" The Master said, "Facing directly across the clear pool—who is it if not the Buddha?" The assembly was all bewildered. (Fayan said, "To be 'is' has no connection.") After a long pause, the monk asked again, "What dharma does the Master preach to save people?" The Master said, "This poor monk has never had a single dharma to save people." The monk said, "The house of Chan masters is entirely like this." The Master asked back, "What dharma does the Venerable preach to save people?" He replied, "I lecture on the *Diamond Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra*." The Master asked, "How many lecture series have you given?" He replied, "More than twenty series." The Master asked, "Who preached this sūtra?" The monk raised his voice and said, "The Chan master is mocking me! How could you not know that it was preached by the Buddha?" The Master said, "'If one says that the Tathāgata has preached any dharma, that is slandering the Buddha, and this person does not understand the meaning of what I have preached.' If you say that this sūtra was not preached by the Buddha, that is slandering the sūtra. Please explain, Venerable." There was no answer. After a short while, the Master asked again, "The sūtra says, 'If one sees me through form or seeks me through sound, this person walks a false path and cannot see the Tathāgata.' Let the Venerable say: which is the Tathāgata?" He replied, "At this point, I am confused instead." The Master said, "Never having been enlightened, what do you mean by 'confused instead'?" The monk said, "Please let the Chan master explain it for me." The Master said, "The Venerable has lectured on the sūtra for more than twenty series, yet does not recognise the Tathāgata!" The monk bowed again and said, "May you deign to give instruction." The Master said, "'Tathāgata' means the suchness (tathatā) of all dharmas. How could you forget that?" He said, "Yes, it is the suchness of all dharmas." The Master said, "Venerable, 'yes' is still not it." He said, "The sūtra text is clear; how could it not be it?" The Master said, "Is the Venerable 'such'?" He said, "Such." The Master said, "Are wood and stone 'such'?" He said, "Such." The Master said, "Is the Venerable's suchness the same as the suchness of wood and stone?" He said, "Not two." The Master said, "What is the difference between the Venerable and wood or stone?" The monk had no answer. After a long pause, he asked instead, "How does one attain great nirvāṇa?" The Master said, "By not creating the karma of birth-and-death." The monk asked, "What is the karma of birth-and-death?" The Master said, "Seeking great nirvāṇa is the karma of birth-and-death. Abandoning defilement and grasping purity is the karma of birth-and-death. Having attainment and realization is the karma of birth-and-death. Not breaking free from the gates of antidotes is the karma of birth-and-death." The monk asked, "How then does one attain liberation?" The Master said, "Originally there is no bondage; there is no need to seek liberation. Straightforward function and straightforward action are the unequalled." The monk said, "One such as the Chan master Upādhyāya is truly rare!" He bowed in gratitude and departed. A practitioner asked, "'Mind is Buddha'—which is the Buddha?" The Master said, "Which do you doubt is not the Buddha? Point it out and let us see." There was no answer. The Master said, "When one reaches it, the entire realm is it; when one is not enlightened, it is forever remote and alienated." Vinaya Master Faming said to the Master, "Chan masters mostly fall into emptiness." The Master said, "On the contrary, lecturers mostly fall into emptiness." Faming was greatly astonished and said, "How do we fall into emptiness?" The Master said, "The sūtras and treatises are paper and ink words. Paper and ink words are all empty. When, on the basis of sound, words, phrases, and such dharmas are established, none of them are not empty. The lecturer clings stubbornly to the teaching-vehicle; how could you not fall into emptiness?" Faming said, "Does the Chan master fall into emptiness?" The Master said, "I do not fall into emptiness." Faming asked, "Why do you not fall into emptiness?" The Master said, "Words and letters all arise from wisdom. When great function appears before us, how could it fall into emptiness?" Faming said, "Therefore I know: if one dharma is not reached, one is not called Siddhā." The Master said, "The Vinaya master not only falls into emptiness, but also mistakenly uses names and expressions." Faming changed countenance and asked, "Where is the mistake?" The Master said, "The Vinaya master has not distinguished between the sounds of China and India—how can you lecture and preach?" Faming said, "Please, Chan master, point out Faming's mistake." The Master said, "How could you not know that Siddhā is a Sanskrit word?" Although the Vinaya master realized his error, his mind was still indignant. (In full Sanskrit, it is *sarvārthasiddha*, translated in China as 'the accomplishment of all purposes'. The old translation 'Siddhārtha' was still an erroneous abbreviation of the Sanskrit.) He asked again, "The sūtras, vinaya, and abhidharma are the Buddha's words. Reading, reciting, and practicing according to the teachings—why does one not see the nature?" The Master said, "Like a mad dog chasing a clod, while a lion bites the person. The sūtras, vinaya, and abhidharma are the functions of one's own nature; the one who reads and recites is the nature-dharma." Faming asked, "Does Amitābha Buddha have parents and a surname?" The Master said, "Amitābha's surname is Kauśika; his father's name is Candrottara, and his mother's name is Viśiṣṭarūpā." Faming asked, "From what scriptural text does this appear?" The Master said, "It appears in the *Collection of Dhāraṇīs*." Faming bowed in thanks, praised him, and withdrew. A Tripiṭaka master asked, "Does true suchness have mutability?" The Master said, "It has mutability." The Tripiṭaka master said, "The Chan master is mistaken." The Master asked the Tripiṭaka master in turn, "Is there true suchness?" He replied, "There is." The Master said, "If there were no mutability, you would definitely be an ordinary monk. Have you not heard: a kalyāṇamitra can turn the three poisons into the three groups of pure precepts, turn the six consciousnesses into the six supernormal powers, turn afflictions into bodhi, and turn ignorance into the great wisdom of true suchness? If there were no mutability, the Tripiṭaka master would truly be an adherent of the non-Buddhist school of spontaneity." The Tripiṭaka master said, "If that is so, then true suchness does have mutability." The Master said, "If one clings to true suchness having mutability, that too is non-Buddhist." He asked, "The Chan master just said that true suchness has mutability, and now you say it does not have mutability. What then is exact?" The Master said, "If one clearly sees the nature, then like a maṇi jewel displaying colors, to say it changes is fine, and to say it does not change is also fine. If someone has not seen the nature, upon hearing it said that true suchness changes, they form an understanding of change; upon hearing it said that it does not change, they form an understanding of non-change." The Tripiṭaka master said, "Therefore I know that the Southern School is truly unfathomable." A Daoist asked, "Is there any dharma in the world that surpasses the spontaneous (ziran)?" The Master said, "There is." He asked, "What dharma can surpass it?" The Master said, "The one who can know the spontaneous." He asked, "Is primordial qi the Way?" The Master said, "Primordial qi is just primordial qi; the Way is just the Way." He asked, "If it is so, then there should be two." The Master said, "The knower is not two persons." He asked again, "What is heterodox and what is orthodox?" The Master said, "The mind pursuing objects is heterodox; objects following the mind is orthodox." Vinaya Master Yuan came and asked, "Does the Upādhyāya still apply effort in cultivating the Way?" The Master said, "I apply effort." He asked, "How do you apply effort?" The Master said, "When hungry, I eat food; when tired, I sleep." He asked, "Everyone is like this; is their effort the same as the Master's?" The Master said, "Not the same." He asked, "Why is it not the same?" The Master said, "When they eat, they are unwilling to eat, demanding hundreds of things; when they sleep, they are unwilling to sleep, scheming in a thousand ways. Therefore they are not the same." The Vinaya master held his tongue. Venerable Yunguang asked, "Does the Chan master know his own place of birth?" The Master said, "Having never died, what need is there to discuss birth? Knowing birth is precisely the unborn dharma; there is no dharma separate from birth to speak of as being unborn. The Ancestral Master said: 'Right at birth, there is no birth.'" The Venerable asked, "Can someone who has not seen the nature also attain this?" The Master said, "Not having seen the nature oneself is not being without the nature. Why? Seeing is itself the nature; without the nature, one cannot see. Cognition is itself the nature, hence it is called cognitive nature. Understanding is itself the nature, called understanding nature. Being able to produce the myriad dharmas is called the Dharma-nature, and is also called the Dharma-body. Ancestral Master Aśvaghoṣa said: 'What is called the Dharma is the mind of sentient beings. If the mind arises, all dharmas arise; if the mind does not arise, dharmas have nowhere to arise from, nor do they have names.' Deluded people do not know that the Dharma-body is formless, manifesting forms in response to things; so they call green bamboo completely the Dharma-body, and luxuriant yellow blossoms nothing other than prajñā. If yellow blossoms were prajñā, prajñā would be the same as the insentient. If green bamboo were the Dharma-body, the Dharma-body would be the same as grass and trees. If someone ate bamboo shoots, they would be eating the Dharma-body altogether! How could such words be worthy of recording? Bewildered about the Buddha right in front of them, they seek through long kalpas; deluded within the totality of dharmas, they search outside. Therefore, for those who understand the Way, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are nothing other than the Way; for those who awaken to the Dharma, unrestrained and free, nothing is not the Dharma." The Venerable asked again, "Can great emptiness produce spiritual wisdom? Does the true mind take good and evil as objects? Is a person of greedy desires in the Way? Will a person clinging to right and wrong have their mind penetrate later on? Does a person who produces mind upon contact with objects have samādhi? Does a person dwelling in solitude have wisdom? Does a person harboring arrogance toward things have a self? Does a person clinging to emptiness and clinging to existence have wisdom? For those seeking realization in texts, those seeking buddhahood through austerities, those seeking buddhahood separate from mind, and those clinging to mind as Buddha—does such intellect accord with the Way? Please let the Chan master explain each one." The Master said, "Great emptiness does not produce spiritual wisdom. The true mind does not take good and evil as objects. Those whose desires run deep have shallow capacities. Those who contend over right and wrong have not penetrated. Those who produce mind upon contact with objects have little samādhi. Those in solitude who forget their capacity have sunken wisdom. Those arrogant toward things with elevated minds have strong selfhood. Those who cling to emptiness and cling to existence are all foolish. Those who seek realization in texts are increasingly obstructed. Those who seek buddhahood through austerities are all deluded. Those who seek buddhahood separate from mind are non-Buddhists. Those who cling to mind as Buddha are māras." The Venerable said, "If it is so, then ultimately there should be nothing at all." The Master said, "Ultimately it is the Venerable; it is not that ultimately there is nothing at all." Leaping for joy, the Venerable bowed in gratitude and left. (Below this, the old edition had the biography of Chan Master Weizheng of Mount Baizhang in Hongzhou; it is now moved to the ninth fascicle under Upādhyāya Hai of Mount Baizhang.)