景德傳燈錄 7.7

7.7

Chan Master Huaiyun of Zhangjing Temple in Jingzhao Prefecture was a native of Tong'an in Quanzhou. His family name was Xie. He received the mind-seal from Daji. At first he resided at Boyan in Dingzhou, and next he stayed at Mount Zhongtiao. At the beginning of the Yuanhe era of the Tang, Emperor Xianzong summoned him to reside at the imperial temple, and students of the profound rushed to gather there. The master ascended the hall and instructed the assembly, saying: “The ultimate principle transcends speech; people of the world do not understand it. They forcefully practice other matters, taking them to be spiritual achievements, not knowing that self-nature is fundamentally not an object of dust, but is a wondrous, great dharma-gate of liberation. All perception and awareness are undefiled and unimpeded; such radiance has never ceased. From past eons to the present, it is indeed without alteration, just like the solar disc shining near and far: though it reaches all colors, it does not blend with anything. The marvelous brightness of the spiritual candle does not rely on forging and tempering. Because people do not realize this, they grasp at material forms, which is just like rubbing one's eyes and delusionally producing flowers in the sky—pointlessly exhausting oneself and passing through eons in vain. If one can turn the light around to shine inward, there is no second person; every movement and action does not fall short of the true mark.” A monk asked, “When mind and dharmas are both forgotten, where does one point and return?” The master said, “When the man of Ying has no stain, it is in vain to swing the axe.” The monk said, “I request from the master words that do not return.” The master said, “That is a phrase without return.” (Later, someone brought this up to Dongshan. Dongshan said, “Speaking of it is very easy; it is rare to meet an adept.”) Upādhyāya Baizhang sent a monk to attend on him. As the master ascended the hall, the monk spread his sitting mat and bowed, then stood up, took one of the master's slippers, dusted it off with his sleeve, and placed it upside down. The master said, “This old monk is at fault.” Someone asked, “The mind-ground dharma-gate transmitted by the patriarchs—is it the true-suchness mind, the delusional-thought mind, or the neither-true-nor-delusional mind? Or is it a mind established separately outside the teachings of the three vehicles?” The master said, “Do you see the empty space before your eyes?” The person said, “I truly know it is constantly before my eyes, but people themselves do not see it.” The master said, “Do not mistake an image.” The person said, “What should one do, Upādhyāya?” The master brushed the empty space three times with his hand and said, “How is that?” The person said, “You will understand later on.” A monk came, circled the master three times, shook his staff, and stood there. The master said, “Right, right.” (Changqing said in his place: “Where are the Upādhyāya's body and mind of the Buddha Dharma?”) The monk then went to Nanquan, also circled Nanquan three times, shook his staff, and stood there. Nanquan said, “Wrong, wrong. This is driven by the power of the wind; from beginning to end, it forms and decays.” The monk said, “Zhangjing said ‘Right’; why does the Upādhyāya say ‘Wrong’?” Nanquan said, “Zhangjing was right; it is you who are wrong.” (Changqing said in his place: “What kind of mental activity is this of the Upādhyāya?” Yunju Xi said: “Zhangjing did not necessarily say ‘Right,’ and Nanquan did not necessarily say ‘Wrong.’” He also said: “If that monk had simply walked out holding his staff at the beginning, that would have been just right.”) The master had a junior disciple who returned from traveling. The master asked him, “How many years have you been away from here?” The disciple said, “I have been away from your presence, Upādhyāya, for nearly eight years.” The master said, “What have you accomplished?” The junior disciple drew a circular figure on the ground. The master said, “Is it only this, or is there anything else?” The junior disciple then drew a line through the circular figure and bowed. A monk asked, “Within the body of the four elements and five aggregates, which one is the original Buddha-nature?” The master then called the monk by name. The monk answered, “Yes?” The master remained silent for a good while and said, “You have no Buddha-nature.” On the twenty-second day of the twelfth month of the thirteenth year of the Yuanhe era of the Tang, he showed extinction. A stūpa was built at the Ba River. By imperial order, he was posthumously titled Chan Master Dajue, and his stūpa was called Dabaoxiang.