景德傳燈錄 7.11

7.11

Chan Master Baoji of Panshan in Youzhou. A monk asked, "What is the Way?" The Master said, "Get out." The monk said, "I have not yet grasped your meaning." The Master said, "Go away." The Master took the high seat in the hall and instructed the assembly, saying: "If the mind is without affairs, the myriad phenomena do not arise. If the intellect cuts off mystic machinations, how can a fine speck of dust stand? The Way is originally without substance; because of the Way, names are established. The Way is originally nameless; because of names, titles are acquired. If one speaks of 'mind itself is Buddha,' nowadays people have not yet entered its subtle profundity. If one speaks of 'neither mind nor Buddha,' it is still the ultimate rule of pointing to the tracks. The one road of the transcendental is not transmitted by the thousand sages; students wear out their bodies like monkeys grasping at shadows. Now, within the Great Way there is no center; who is there to come first or follow after? The vast sky has no boundaries; what use is measuring it? Since space is like this, what more is there to say of the Way? The moon of the mind is solitary and round; its light swallows the myriad phenomena. The light does not shine on objects, nor do objects exist. When light and objects are both extinguished, what thing is it again? Virtuous Chan monks! It is like hurling a sword through empty space; do not discuss whether it reaches or does not reach. This is the wheel of space leaving no trace, and the sword's blade suffering no nick. If you can be like this, thought after thought without knowing, the whole mind is itself Buddha, and the whole Buddha is itself the person. When person and Buddha are not different, only then is it the Way. Virtuous Chan monks! If one is truly able to study the Way, it is like the earth holding up a mountain, not knowing the mountain's solitary steepness; like a stone enclosing jade, not knowing the jade's lack of blemish. If one is like this, it is called leaving home. Therefore the Guide said: 'Phenomena are originally unhindered by each other; so too it is with the three periods of time. Even a person of non-action and no affairs is still entangled in the difficulty of golden chains.' Therefore, the numinous source shines alone; the Way cuts off the unborn. Great wisdom is not illumination; true emptiness leaves no trace. Suchness, ordinary beings, and sages are all words of a dream; Buddha and nirvāṇa are both superfluous talk. Virtuous Chan monks! You must simply look for yourselves; no one can take your place. The three realms are without phenomena; where would you seek the mind? The four elements are originally empty; on what could a Buddha abide? The pivot of the mechanism does not move; silent, it is without words. Meeting face to face, there is nothing else. Take care." When the Master was about to pass away, he said to the assembly, "Is there someone who can paint my portrait?" The assembly all presented portraits they had drawn to the Master, and the Master beat them all. His disciple Puhua came forward and said, "I can paint it." The Master said, "Why do you not present it to this old monk?" Puhua then turned a somersault and went out. The Master said, "In the future, this fellow will receive people like a lunatic!" After the Master passed away, he was granted the posthumous title Great Master Ningji ("Consolidated Serenity") and his stūpa was named Zhenji ("True Limit").