景德傳燈錄 8
English (machine translation) 8
- Language
- English
8.1
Fifty-six persons of the second generation under Chan Master Huairang (Dharma heirs of Mazu):
Chan Master Wuye of Fenzhou
Chan Master Guangcheng of Datong in Lizhou
Chan Master Puyuan of Nanquan in Chizhou
Chan Master Deng Yinfeng of Wutai
Upādhyāya of Fo'ao in Wenzhou
Upādhyāya of Wujiu
Upādhyāya Dashan of Mount Shishuang in Tanzhou
Upādhyāya of Shijiu
Upādhyāya of Benxi
Upādhyāya of Shilin
Lecturer Liang of Xishan in Hongzhou
Upādhyāya Heiyan
Upādhyāya of Miling
Upādhyāya of Qifeng
Upādhyāya of Dayang
Upādhyāya of Mount Hongluo
Chan Master Wuliao of Guiyang in Quanzhou
Upādhyāya of Lishan
Upādhyāya of Ruyuan in Shaozhou
Upādhyāya of Songshan
Upādhyāya Zechuan
Chan Master Tancang of Xiyuan on Mount Nanyue
Upādhyāya of Bailing
Upādhyāya Jinniu of Zhenzhou
Upādhyāya of Dong'an
Upādhyāya Dadi of Xinzhou
Upādhyāya of Xiuxi in Tanzhou
Chan Master Shencang of Matou Peak in Cizhou
Chan Master Shanjue of Hualin in Tanzhou
Upādhyāya of Shuitang in Tingzhou
Upādhyāya of Gusi
Upādhyāya Paishu of Jiangxi
Upādhyāya of Caotang in the Capital District
Chan Master Zhenshu of Mount Yangqi in Yuanzhou
Upādhyāya of Mengxi
Upādhyāya of Heijian in the Western Capital
Upādhyāya of Xingping in the Capital District
Upādhyāya Xiaoyao
Upādhyāya of Fuxi
Upādhyāya Shuilaomao of Hongzhou
Upādhyāya Fubei
Upādhyāya of Longshan in Tanzhou
Upāsaka Pang Yun of Xiangzhou
(The above forty-three persons appear in the records.)
Chan Master Mingjue of Mount Tianmu
Chan Master Xingming of Mount Wangwu
Chan Master Zhizang of the Capital District
Chan Master Xiding of Mount Dayang
Chan Master Dingjue of Kunshan in Suzhou
Great Master of Hongshan in Suizhou
Chan Master Yuandi of Lianzhou
Chan Master Wuliao of Quanzhou
Chan Master Huizhong of Quanzhou
Chan Master Huaikong of Mount Anfeng
Chan Master Daoxing of Mount Luofu
Chan Master Fazang of Mount Lu
Chan Master Ningben of Mount Lühou
(The above thirteen persons have no encounter dialogues and are not recorded.)
8.2
Dharma Heirs of the Second Generation under Chan Master Huairang
8.3
Chan Master Wuye of Fenzhou was a native of Shangluo in Shangzhou. His family name was Du. Initially, his mother, of the Li family, heard a voice in the empty air asking, "May I lodge here?" She thereupon realized she was pregnant. On the night of his birth, divine light filled the room. When he reached boyhood, when walking he always looked straight ahead, and when sitting he sat cross-legged. At the age of nine, he relied on Chan Master Zhiben of Kaiyuan Temple and received the Mahāyāna sūtras; reading five lines at a glance, he recited them without omission. At twelve he shaved his head. At twenty he received full ordination under Vinaya Master You of Xiangzhou. He studied the commentary on the Fourfold Vinaya; as soon as he finished, he was able to expound it. He regularly lectured on the great text of the Nirvāṇa Sūtra for the monastic assembly, without interruption through winter and summer. Later, hearing that Great Master Ma's Chan gate was flourishing, he went specially to pay homage. When Mazu observed his imposing appearance and voice like a bell, he said, "A majestic Buddha hall, but no Buddha inside!" The Master made prostrations, knelt, and asked, "I have roughly investigated the purport of the literature of the three vehicles. I have often heard it said in the Chan school that 'mind itself is Buddha,' but truly I have not yet understood." Mazu said, "The very mind that has not yet understood is it; there is nothing else." The Master asked further, "What is the mind-seal secretly transmitted when the ancestral master came from the west?" Mazu said, "Virtuous One, you are right in the midst of clamor. Go away for now and come another time." As the Master was just leaving, Mazu called out, "Virtuous One!" The Master turned his head. Mazu said, "What is it?" The Master immediately attained awakening and bowed. Mazu said, "What is this dull fellow bowing for?" (Yunju Xi commented: "Where was Fenzhou right in the midst of clamor?") Having attained the purport, he soon went to Caoxi to pay homage at the ancestral stupa, and searched for holy traces throughout Mount Lu and Tiantai. From Luoyang he arrived in Chang'an, resting at Ximing Temple. The monastic assembly nominated him to serve as Virtuous One of the Two Streets. The Master said, "This is not my original intention." Later he arrived in Shangdang. The military commissioner Li Baozhen respected the Master's renown and conduct, waiting upon him morning and evening. The Master often showed a weary countenance, and said to people, "I originally came to escape the bustle of the imperial capital, but now I am once again burdened with attending upon lords and nobles. How could this be my intent?" He then went up into the county to Mount Baofu. Not long after, he went to Jin'ge Temple on Qingliang, re-reading the entire Tripitaka, completing it in eight years. He went south again to Xihe. The Prefect Dong Shuchan invited him to reside at Kaiyuan Hermitage. The Master said, "My affinity is here." From then on, he rained down the great Dharma rain for nearly twenty years (his extensive sayings are detailed in a separate record). Monastics and laypeople of the Bing and Fen regions all turned to his teaching. Whenever students raised questions, the Master mostly answered them saying, "Do not engage in false thinking." Emperor Xianzong of the Tang repeatedly sent envoys to summon him, but the Master always declined on account of illness and did not go. When Muzong ascended the throne, he wished to pay homage, so he ordered Lingfu, the monastic register of the Two Streets, and others to deliver an imperial decree inviting him. Arriving there, they made prostrations and said, "His Majesty's gracious decree this time is unlike ordinary times. We pray the upādhyāya will comply with the imperial wish and not speak of illness." The Master smiled and said, "What virtue does this poor monk have to repeatedly trouble the lord of the world? Please go ahead; I will depart by another road." Thereupon he bathed and shaved his head. At midnight, he addressed his disciples Huiyin and others: "The nature of your seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing has the same lifespan as the great void; it is neither produced nor destroyed. All realms are fundamentally empty and quiescent, with not a single dharma to be attained. The deluded do not understand and are thus confounded by external realms. Once confounded by external realms, they transmute continuously without end. You should know that mind-nature is fundamentally self-existent, not produced by conditioned action; it is like a diamond, indestructible. All dharmas are like shadows and echoes, possessing no reality. Therefore the sūtra says: 'Only this one matter is real; the remaining two are not true.' Constantly understanding that everything is empty, without a single thing confronting the mind—this is where all Buddhas apply their minds. Strive diligently to practice it!" Having spoken, he sat cross-legged and passed away. On the day of cremation, auspicious clouds of five colors and an extraordinary fragrance pervaded everywhere. The relics obtained were dazzling like jade pearls. His disciples placed them in a golden coffin. On the twenty-first day of the twelfth month of the third year of Changqing, he was entombed in a stone stupa. He lived sixty-two years and had been a monk for forty-two years. He was imperial-conferred the posthumous title "State Preceptor Dada" (Great Penetration), and his stupa was named Chengyuan (Pure Source).
8.4
Chan Master Guangcheng of Datong in Lizhou. A monk asked, "What is the cessation of the six sense faculties?" The Master said, "Spinning a sword and tossing it into the air (in an older edition, 'into the clouds') causes no harm to anything." He asked, "What is the original person?" The Master said, "Sitting together, not knowing each other." The monk said, "In that case, the student makes prostrations and takes his leave." The Master said, "Secretly writing down one's sorrowful thoughts, to whom would one send them?"
8.5
Chan Master Puyuan of Nanquan in Chizhou was a native of Xinzheng in Zhengzhou, surnamed Wang. In the second year of the Zhide era of the Tang dynasty, he received training under Chan Master Dahui of Mount Dawei. At the age of thirty, he went to Mount Song to receive the full precepts. At first, he studied the old rules of the Xiangbu school and investigated the sections and categories of the vinaya. Next, he traveled among the lecture halls, attending lectures on the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra and Avataṃsaka-sūtra, and engaged in the contemplation of the Madhyamaka and Śata-śāstras, mastering their abstruse principles. Later, he knocked at the chamber of Daji [Mazu] and suddenly forgot the snare, attaining the samādhi of playful freedom.
One day, as he was serving porridge to the monks, Master Ma asked, "What is in the bucket?"
The Master said, "Why is this old fellow talking like this with his mouth shut tight?"
None of the other fellow practitioners dared to cross-examine him.
In the eleventh year of the Zhenyuan era, he rested his staff at Chiyang and built his own meditation retreat, not coming down from Nanquan for more than thirty years. At the beginning of the Dahe era, Governor Lu Gen of Xuancheng, aspiring to the Master's teaching style, invited him down the mountain together with the army supervisor. Offering the courtesies of a disciple, he greatly stimulated the abstruse guidelines. From then on, his students numbered no fewer than hundreds; his words filled all quarters, and he was regarded as a master craftsman of Ying.
One day, the Master instructed the assembly, saying, "To speak of 'suchness' is already to change. Nowadays, monks must walk among different kinds [of beings]."
Guizong said, "Although one walks the walk of beasts, one does not receive the karmic retribution of beasts."
The Master said, "Meng the Eighth Son goes off like that again!"
The Master sometimes said, "At the third watch last night, I gave Mañjuśrī and Samantabhadra twenty blows of the staff each and drove them out of the monastery."
Zhaozhou said, "Whom does the Upādhyāya have take the blows?"
The Master said, "Tell me, where was Old Wang's fault?"
Zhaozhou made a prostration and walked out. (Xuanjue said, "Tell me, when Zhaozhou left, did he approve of Nanquan, or did he not approve of Nanquan?")
The Master planned to visit the farmstead the next day. That night, the local earth deity informed the head of the farmstead beforehand. The farmstead head made preparations in advance. When the Master arrived, he asked the farmstead head, "How did you know the old monk was coming and arrange things like this?"
The farmstead head said, "Last night, the earth deity reported that the Upādhyāya would come today."
The Master said, "Old Wang's cultivation is weak, so he was peeked at by ghosts and spirits!"
A monk then asked, "Since the Upādhyāya is a kalyāṇamitra, why was he peeked at by ghosts and spirits?"
The Master said, "Serve another portion of rice before the earth deity." (Xuanjue said, "What place is 'serving another portion of rice before the earth deity'?" Yunju Xi said, "Is this rewarding him or punishing him? Just as before the earth deity: did he see Nanquan, or did he not see Nanquan?")
The Master sometimes said, "Mazu of Jiangxi said, 'Mind itself is Buddha.' Old Wang does not speak like that. It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing. Is there still any fault in speaking like this?"
Zhaozhou made a prostration and walked out. At the time, a monk followed Zhaozhou and asked, "The sthavira bowed and then went out—what was the meaning?"
Zhaozhou said, "You should go back and ask the Upādhyāya."
The monk went up and asked, "What was the meaning of Sthavira Shen just now?"
The Master said, "He has indeed grasped this old monk's intention."
One day, the Master went up to the hall carrying his bowl. Upādhyāya Huangbo was sitting in the first seat. Seeing the Master, he did not rise. The Master asked, "In what year did the elder practice the Way?"
Huangbo said, "In the time of the Buddha King of Emptiness."
The Master said, "You are still Old Wang's grandson. Get down!"
One day, the Master asked Huangbo, "Gold is the world, and silver is the wall. What kind of person resides in such a place?"
Huangbo said, "A noble one resides there."
The Master said, "There is another person—in what land does he reside?"
Huangbo then stood with folded hands.
The Master said, "If you cannot speak, why not ask Old Wang?"
Huangbo then asked, "There is another person—in what land does he reside?"
The Master said, "What a pity!"
At another time, the Master asked Huangbo, "'Equal cultivation of concentration and wisdom'—what is this principle?"
Huangbo said, "Throughout the twelve periods of the day, do not depend on a single thing."
The Master said, "Is that not the elder's own view?"
Huangbo said, "I would not dare say so."
The Master said, "Leave aside the price of rice-water for a moment; who will pay for the straw sandals?"
The Master saw a monk chopping wood. The Master struck the wood three times. The monk set down his axe and returned to the Sangha hall. The Master returned to the Dharma hall. After a long while, he entered the Sangha hall and saw the previous monk sitting beneath his robes and bowl. The Master said, "You deceive people to death!"
A monk asked, "When the Master returns to the abbot's quarters, what will you use to give guidance?"
The Master said, "Last night at the third watch I lost the ox; at daybreak I lost the fire."
Because the eastern and western halls were contending over a cat, the Master came upon them, addressed the assembly, and said, "If you can speak, you will save the cat; if you cannot speak, I will cut it in two."
The assembly had no reply. The Master then cut it in two.
Zhaozhou returned from outside, and the Master brought up the previous words and showed them to him. Zhaozhou took off his sandals, put them on his head, and went out.
The Master said, "If you had been here just now, you would have saved the cat."
While the Master was warming himself by the fire with Shanshan in the abbot's quarters, the Master said, "No need to point east and point west—speak directly of the fundamental matter."
Shanshan inserted the fire-tongs [into the embers] and stood with folded hands.
The Master said, "Although it is like this, you are still a thread away from Old Wang."
A monk paid his respects and stood with folded hands. The Master said, "Too secular!" The monk then joined his palms. The Master said, "Too much like a monk!" The monk had no reply.
While a monk was washing his bowl, the Master snatched the bowl away. The monk stood with empty hands. The Master said, "The bowl is in my hand; what are you mumbling with your mouth?" The monk had no reply.
The Master entered the vegetable garden and saw a monk. The Master threw a broken tile at him. The monk looked back. The Master then raised one foot. The monk said nothing. The Master then returned to the abbot's quarters. The monk followed him in, paid his respects, and said, "Just now the Upādhyāya threw a tile and hit me; was that not to alert me?"
The Master said, "What about raising a foot?"
The monk had no reply. (Later, a monk asked Shishuang, "What was the meaning of Nanquan raising his foot?" Shishuang raised his hand and said, "Is it still like this, or not?")
The Master instructed the assembly, saying, "Old Wang wants to sell his body; who wants to buy it?"
A monk came forward and said, "I will buy it."
The Master said, "He does not ask a high price, nor does he ask a low price. How will you buy it?"
The monk had no reply. (Wolong spoke in his place: "It belongs to me!" Mishan spoke in his place: "What reason is this?" Zhaozhou spoke in his place: "Next year I will come and sew a cloth tunic for the Upādhyāya.")
The Master, together with Guizong and Magu, went to pay respects to National Teacher Nanyang. On the road, the Master first drew a circular figure and said, "If you can speak, we will go."
Guizong sat down within the circular figure. Magu bowed like a woman.
The Master said, "Then we will not go."
Guizong said, "What kind of mind-state is this?"
The Master called them to turn back, and they did not go to pay respects to the National Teacher. (Xuanjue said, "When Nanquan spoke like this, were these words of approval or non-approval?" Yunju Xi said, "They had set out to pay respects to the National Teacher; why did Nanquan call them to turn back instead? Tell me, what was the ancient's intention?")
The Master asked Shenshan, "What are you doing?"
He replied, "Sifting with a sieve."
The Master said, "Do you sift with hands or with feet?"
Shenshan said, "Please speak, Upādhyāya."
The Master said, "Remember it clearly and present it to an adept." (Dongshan gave an alternative: "Only one who has neither feet nor hands understands sifting with a sieve.")
A lecturing master took his leave of the Master. The Master asked, "Where are you going?"
He replied, "Down the mountain."
The Master said, "Above all, do not slander Old Wang."
He replied, "How would I dare slander the Upādhyāya?"
The Master spat water and said, "How much?"
The lecturing master went out. (The former Yunju said, "That was not the Master's original intention." The former Caoshan said, "Fortunately so." Shishuang said, "He does not weigh things for others." Changqing said, "Please accept his words." Yunju Xi said, "When the lecturing master went out at that time, did he understand or not?")
One day, the Master shut the door of the abbot's quarters, surrounded the outside of the door with ashes, and said, "If someone can speak, I will open it." Several responded, but mostly without satisfying the Master's intention. Zhaozhou said, "Blue Heaven!" The Master immediately opened the door.
While the Master was enjoying the moon, a monk asked, "When can one be like this?"
The Master said, "Twenty years ago, Old Wang was also like this."
The monk said, "What about right now?"
The Master returned to the abbot's quarters.
Grand Master Lu Gen asked, "I come from the six directions; is there still a body within them?"
The Master said, "Remember it clearly and present it to an adept."
Lu also said to the Master, "The Upādhyāya is exceedingly inconceivable; wherever he reaches, worlds are all accomplished."
The Master said, "What was just said is entirely a matter of the Grand Master's own lot."
On another day, Lu again said to the Master, "I also have a slight understanding of the Buddha Dharma."
The Master then asked, "How is it with the Grand Master throughout the twelve periods of the day?"
Lu said, "Not hanging a single inch of thread."
The Master said, "You are still a fellow below the steps." The Master added, "Have you not heard it said: 'A ruler possessed of the Way does not accept a minister possessed of intellect'?"
When the Master went up to the hall, Grand Master Lu said, "Please, Upādhyāya, preach the Dharma for the assembly."
The Master said, "How do you want this old monk to preach?"
Lu said, "Does the Upādhyāya have no skillful means?"
The Master said, "What is lacking in them?"
Lu said, "Why are there the six destinies and four modes of birth?"
The Master said, "This old monk does not teach them."
Grand Master Lu and the Master saw people playing double-six. Picking up the dice, Lu said, "Like this or not like this? How is it when one simply trusts to fortune like this?"
The Master picked up the dice and said, "Stinking bones, eighteen!"
Lu also asked, "There is a slab of stone in my home; sometimes I sit on it, sometimes I lie on it. Now I intend to carve it into a Buddha—may I?"
The Master said, "You may."
The Grand Master said, "Might it not be impermissible?"
The Master said, "Impermissible, impermissible!" (Yunyan said, "When sitting, it is Buddha; when not sitting, it is not Buddha." Dongshan said, "When not sitting, it is Buddha; when sitting, it is not Buddha.")
Zhaozhou asked, "The Way is not outside things; outside things is not the Way. What is the Way outside things?"
The Master struck him. Zhaozhou caught the staff and said, "Do not mistakenly strike people hereafter!"
The Master said, "Dragon and snake are easy to distinguish, but a patched-robe monk is hard to deceive."
The Master called the monastery director. The monastery director responded. The Master said, "For ninety days, the Buddha was in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven preaching the Dharma for his mother. At that time King Udayana longed for the Buddha and asked Maudgalyāyana to exercise supernatural powers to transport artisans three times to carve an image of the Buddha. They were only able to carve thirty-one marks. Why could they not carve the mark of the Brahma-sound?"
The director asked, "What is the mark of the Brahma-sound?"
The Master said, "You deceive people to death!"
The Master asked the karmadāna, "What are the monks doing for the communal labor today?"
He replied, "Turning the mill."
The Master said, "You may turn the mill, but do not disturb the spindle in the center of the mill."
The karmadāna had no reply. (Baofu spoke in his place: "We intended to turn the mill, but now it cannot be done." Fayan spoke in his place: "Then we will not turn it.")
One day, an eminent monk asked the Master, "'Mind itself is Buddha' is not acceptable; 'neither mind nor Buddha' is also not acceptable. What is the Master's view?"
The Master said, "Eminent monk, just believe that 'mind itself is Buddha' and be done with it. Why talk about acceptable and not acceptable? Just as when you, eminent monk, have finished eating and go from the eastern corridor to the western corridor, you surely do not ask people all along the way whether it is acceptable or not acceptable!"
When the Master lived in a hermitage, a monk came to the hermitage. The Master said to the monk, "I am going up the mountain. When it is mealtime, prepare food, eat it yourself, and bring a portion up to the mountain for me." Shortly after, the monk ate it himself, smashed the household utensils all at once, and lay down on the bed. The Master waited, but seeing that he did not come, returned to the hermitage and found the monk lying down. The Master also went to one side and lay down. The monk then got up and left. After the Master became an abbot, he said, "When I lived in a hermitage in the past, there was a sharp-witted practitioner of the Way; even up to now I have not seen him again."
The Master picked up a ball and asked a monk, "How does that one compare to this one?"
He replied, "It does not compare."
The Master said, "Where did you see that one, that you say it does not compare?"
The monk said, "If you ask where I saw it, Upādhyāya, put down the object in your hand."
The Master said, "I grant that you possess one eye."
Grand Master Lu Gen said to the Master, "Dharma Master Zhao was extraordinary indeed; he said that the myriad things have the same root, and right and wrong are of one substance."
The Master pointed to a peony flower in the courtyard and said, "Grand Master, people of the day see this single blossom as if in a dream."
Lu did not comprehend.
Lu asked again, "In what stage does a Heavenly King abide?"
The Master said, "If he is a Heavenly King, he is not in any stage."
Lu said, "I have heard that a Heavenly King abides in the first stage."
The Master said, "'To those who should be saved by the body of a Heavenly King, he manifests the body of a Heavenly King and preaches the Dharma.'"
When Lu took his leave to return to his administrative seat in Xuanzhou, the Master asked, "When the Grand Master goes there, how will you govern the people?"
Lu said, "I will govern the people with wisdom."
The Master said, "If so, then the living beings there will all suffer misery and ruin!"
The Master entered Xuanzhou. Grand Master Lu came out to welcome him. Pointing to the city gate, he said, "Everyone calls this the Urn Gate; I wonder what the Upādhyāya calls it?"
The Master said, "If this old monk speaks, I fear it will disgrace the Grand Master's moral transformation."
Lu said, "What if bandits suddenly arrive?"
The Master said, "Old Wang's transgression!"
Lu asked again, "What does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion use so many hands and eyes for?"
The Master said, "Just as the state uses the Grand Master—what for?"
The Master hosted a vegetarian feast for Master Ma and asked the assembly, "Has Master Ma come or not?"
The assembly had no reply.
Dongshan said, "When there is a companion, he will come."
The Master said, "Although you are a youngster, you are quite fit to be carved and polished."
Dongshan said, "Upādhyāya, do not oppress a free person into slavery."
While the Master was washing clothes, a monk asked, "Does the Upādhyāya still have this?"
The Master held up the garment and said, "What can be done about this?" (Xuanjue said, "Tell me, is it one or is it two?")
The Master asked the monk Liangqin, "During the empty kalpa, was there still a Buddha?"
He replied, "There was."
The Master said, "Who was it?"
He replied, "Liangqin."
The Master said, "In what land did he abide?"
There was no reply.
A monk asked, "From patriarch to patriarch in succession, what should properly be transmitted?"
The Master said, "One, two, three, four, five."
He asked, "What is that of the ancients?"
The Master said, "When there is one, I will tell you."
The monk said, "Why does the Upādhyāya speak falsely?"
The Master said, "I do not speak falsely; Practitioner Lu speaks falsely."
A monk asked, "Throughout the twelve periods of the day, what should be taken as the object?"
The Master said, "Why not ask Old Wang?"
The monk said, "I have already asked."
The Master said, "Was it ever an object for you?"
A monk asked, "What is it when the blue lotus is not scattered by wind and fire?"
The Master said, "What is it when there is no wind and fire not to be scattered by?"
The monk had no reply.
The Master then asked, "Thinking of neither good nor evil, when thoughts do not arise at all, return my original face to me!"
The monk said, "There is no countenance to be revealed." (Dongshan said, "Did you ever show it to anyone?")
The Master asked a lecturing master, "Can you lecture on the sūtras for me?"
He replied, "If I lecture on the sūtras for the Upādhyāya, the Upādhyāya must speak of Chan for me before it is acceptable."
The Master said, "One cannot exchange a gold pellet for a silver pellet."
The lecturing master said, "I do not understand."
The Master said, "Tell me, is a wisp of cloud in the sky nailed fast with nails, or tethered with vine ropes?"
A monk asked, "There is a jewel in the sky; how can it be taken?"
The Master said, "Chop bamboo, set up a ladder, and take it in the sky."
The monk said, "How can a ladder be set up in the sky?"
The Master said, "How do you intend to take it?"
A monk took his leave and asked, "When I arrive in other quarters and someone asks how the Upādhyāya has been recently, I wonder how I should reply?"
The Master said, "Just tell them: 'Recently he understands wrestling.'"
The monk said, "How so?"
The Master said, "With a single strike, both are obliterated."
A monk asked, "Before father and mother gave birth to me, where were my nostrils?"
The Master said, "After father and mother have given birth to you, where are your nostrils?"
When the Master was about to pass away, the first seat asked, "After the Upādhyāya passes away, where will you go?"
The Master said, "Down the mountain to become a water buffalo."
The monk said, "May I follow the Upādhyāya?"
The Master said, "If you follow me, you must bring a blade of grass in your mouth."
The Master then showed signs of illness. On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month in the eighth year of the Dahe era, a jiayin year, at dawn, he said to his disciples, "The stars' dimming and the lamp's illusion have lasted long enough. Do not say that I have coming or going!" Having spoken, he passed away. His age was eighty-seven; his monastic years were fifty-eight. In the spring of the following year, he was placed in a stupa.
8.6
Chan Master Yinfeng of Mount Wutai was a native of Shaowu in Fujian. His surname was Deng (at the time he was called Deng Yinfeng). In his youth, he seemed dull-witted, and his parents permitted him to leave household life. At first he visited the gate of Mazu, but was not yet able to see into its profundity. He then went back and forth to Shitou; although on two occasions he was not successful (the words appear in the chapter on Mazu), later he had an accord under Master Ma's words. When the Master was at Shitou's place, he asked, "How can one attain harmony with the Way?" Shitou said, "I too do not harmonize with the Way." The Master said, "Ultimately, how is it?" Shitou said, "How long have you been caught by this?" One day, as Upādhyāya Shitou was weeding grass, the Master stood at his left side with folded hands. Shitou swung the hoe toward the Master's front and chopped a weed. The Master said, "Upādhyāya, you only chop this one; you do not chop that one." Shitou held up the hoe. The Master took the hoe and made a chopping gesture. Shitou said, "You only chop that one; you do not know how to chop this one." The Master had no reply. (Dongshan said in his place, "Are there still any mounds?") One day, as the Master was pushing an earth-cart, Master Ma sat on the road with his legs stretched out. The Master said, "Please withdraw your legs, Master." Master [Ma] said, "Already stretched out, they do not withdraw." The Master said, "Already advancing, I do not retreat." Thereupon he pushed the cart and ran over them. Master [Ma's] legs were injured. Returning to the Dharma hall, he held an axe and said, "The one who just now ran over and injured this old monk's legs, come forward!" The Master then went forward before the Great Master and stretched out his neck. The Great Master then put down the axe. The Master arrived at Nanquan's. Seeing the monks gathering for instruction, Nanquan pointed to a water pitcher and said, "The bronze pitcher is an object; inside the pitcher is water. Without moving the object, bring the water to this old monk." The Master then took the pitcher and poured it out in front of Nanquan. Nanquan then stopped. The Master later arrived at Guishan's. At the head of the elder monks' seats, he set down his robe and bowl. When Guishan heard that his martial uncle had arrived, he first donned his formal monastic vestments and went down into the hall. Seeing him coming, the Master immediately lay down and feigned sleep. Guishan then returned to his abbot's quarters; the Master then departed. Shortly after, Guishan asked his attendant, "Is my martial uncle still here?" He answered, "He has already left." Guishan said, "When he left, were there any words?" He answered, "There were no words." Guishan said, "Do not say there were no words—his sound was like thunder!" The Master resided on Mount Heng in winter and stayed at Mount Qingliang in summer. In the Yuanhe era of the Tang, he climbed Mount Wutai again. His route went through Huaixi, which coincided with Wu Yuanji raising troops and rebelling against the imperial command. The imperial army and the rebels were locked in battle, with victory yet undecided. The Master said, "I must go and relieve their suffering." Thereupon he tossed his staff into the air and flew over them. The officers and soldiers of both armies looked up and saw that the event matched their earlier dreams, and their combative minds instantly ceased. Having revealed his supernatural powers, and fearing this might mislead the multitude, the Master then entered Mount Wutai. Before the Vajra Cave, when he was about to show his decease, he first asked the assembly, "I have often seen people in various quarters pass away sitting or lying down. Has anyone passed away standing?" The assembly said, "Yes, there have been." The Master said, "Has anyone ever passed away upside down?" The assembly said, "We have never seen such a thing." The Master then stood on his head and passed away. His robes hung straight along his body. The assembly at that time discussed carrying him to the cremation, but he stood firm and immovable. Those from far and near gazed upon him in ceaseless wonder. The Master had a sister who was a nun; she was there at the time, approached, and scolded him, saying, "In the old days, elder brother, you did not follow the standard rules; now in death you still bewilder people!" Thereupon she pushed him with her hand, and he tumbled over to the ground. They then carried out the cremation, collected the relics (śarīra), and enshrined them in a stupa.
8.7
Upādhyāya Foaowen of Wenzhou. Ordinarily, when he saw someone coming, he would plant his staff on the ground and say, "The previous Buddhas were just like this; the subsequent Buddhas were also just like this." A monk asked, "What about when it is right like this?" The Master drew a circular figure. The monk bowed like a woman. The Master then struck him. A monk asked, "What is the great meaning of the Buddhadharma?" The Master said, "Thief! Thief!" A monk asked, "What is an anomalous species?" The Master tapped a bowl and said, "Huanu! Huanu! Come eat!"
8.8
Upādhyāya Wujiu. There were two sthaviras, Xuan and Shao, who came from Jiangxi to visit the Master. The Master then asked, "From where did you two venerable dhyāna masters set out?" The monk said, "Jiangxi." The Master struck him with his staff. Xuan said, "I have long known the Upādhyāya possesses this crucial dynamic." The Master said, "Since you do not understand, let the monk behind you answer!" As the monk behind was about to step forward, the Master immediately struck him and said, "Indeed I know that belonging to the same nest, there is no different earth. Go to the hall!"
8.9
Upādhyāya Dashan of Shishuang (also written 'Shilong') in Tanzhou. A monk asked, "What is the great meaning of the Buddhadharma?" The Master said, "A cock crows on a spring day." The monk said, "I do not understand." The Master said, "A dog barks in mid-autumn." The Master entered the hall and said, "Come out, assembly, come out! This old fellow has an essential Dharma: after a hundred years it will not burden you." The assembly said, "We invite the Upādhyāya to speak it." The Master said, "It does not take a heap of fire." Dongshan asked, "The boy in front of the table was very capable in affairs; now he is not seen—where has he gone?" The Master said, "He could not stay atop the flames, so he returned to the world of cool clarity."
8.10
When Upādhyāya Shijiu first visited Mazu, [Mazu] asked, "Where have you come from?" The Master said, "I come from Wujiu." The Patriarch said, "What words and phrases does Wujiu have these days?" The Master said, "How many people here are completely at a loss!" The Patriarch said, "Put aside being at a loss for a moment; what about a phrase of utter quietude?" The Master then stepped forward three paces. The Patriarch said, "I have seven blows of the staff to send to Wujiu; would you take them willingly?" The Master said, "After you, Upādhyāya, take them first, then I will accept them willingly." He then returned to Wujiu.
8.11
Upādhyāya Benxi. Layman Pang asked, "When Danxia struck the attendant, what was his intention?" The Master said, "The old gentleman is occupied with seeing others' strengths and weaknesses." The Layman said, "It is because you and I were fellow students that I ventured to ask." The Master said, "If so, bring it up from the beginning and we will discuss it together." The Layman said, "The old gentleman must not talk with you about people's rights and wrongs." The Master said, "I take pity on the gentleman's advanced age." The Layman said, "My fault, my fault!"
8.12
Upādhyāya Shilin. One day Layman Pang came. The Master held up his fly-whisk and said, "Without falling into Danxia's dynamic, try saying a phrase!" The Layman snatched the fly-whisk away and raised his own fist instead. The Master said, "That is precisely Danxia's dynamic!" The Layman said, "Show me without falling into it!" The Master said, "Danxia suffers from muteness; Old Pang suffers from deafness." The Layman said, "Just so, just so!" The Master was silent. The Layman said, "As I said, it just happened to be like that." The Master was again silent. Another day, the Master asked the Layman, "I have a question to ask; Layman, do not begrudge your words." The Layman said, "Please bring it up." The Master said, "So you do begrudge your words after all." The Layman said, "Without realizing it, this greeting fell into his trap." The Master simply covered his ears. The Layman said, "An adept! An adept!"
8.13
The Lecture Master Liang (of West Mountain in Hongzhou) was originally a native of Shu. He lectured considerably on the sūtras and treatises. When he visited Mazu, the Patriarch asked him, "I hear that you, Lecture Master, are very capable of lecturing on the sūtras and treatises; is that so?" Liang said, "I would not dare claim so." The Patriarch said, "What do you use to lecture?" Liang said, "I use the mind to lecture." The Patriarch said, "The mind is like a performer; the intellect is like an accompanist. How can they understand lecturing on the sūtras?" Liang said in a raised voice, "If the mind cannot lecture, can empty space lecture?" The Patriarch said, "It is precisely empty space that can lecture." Liang did not accept this and was about to descend the steps to leave. The Patriarch called out, "Lecture Master!" Liang turned his head, had a sudden great enlightenment, and bowed. The Patriarch said, "Why is this dull-rooted master bowing?" Liang returned to his monastery and announced to his listeners, "Regarding the sūtras and treatises I have lectured on, I used to think no one could equal me. Today, with a single question from Great Master Ma, the effort of my entire life has melted away like ice." Thereupon he went into hiding at West Mountain and was never heard from again.
8.14
Upādhyāya Heiyan. A monk asked, "What is a master who does not appear in the world?" The Master said, "Sudhana's walking staff." [The monk] asked, "What is the great meaning of the Buddhadharma?" The Master said, "A charcoal seller of ten years does not know the dot on the steelyard beam."
8.15
Upādhyāya Miling. A monk asked, "What is the matter beneath the patch-robe?" The Master said, "Ugly as it is, you are free to dislike it; it bears no color of clouds or mist." When the Master was about to manifest his decease, he left behind a verse that said:
8.16
"The patriarchs are inconceivable, / Not permitted to abide constantly in the world. / Multitudes, contemplate carefully: / Ultimately, it is just this."
8.17
Upādhyāya Qifeng. One day Layman Pang entered the monastery. The Master said, "What is a layman repeatedly seeking by coming into a monks' monastery?" The Layman looked to both sides and said, "Who speaks thus? Who speaks thus?" The Master scolded him. The Layman said, "Right here!" The Master said, "Could it be spoken facing the sun?" The Layman said, "It is behind your back." The Master turned his head and said, "Look! Look!" The Layman said, "The petty bandit is defeated! The petty bandit is defeated!" The Master was silent. The Layman asked again, "How many li from here to the peak?" The Master said, "Where have you come from?" The Layman said, "Terrifyingly steep and unyielding; one cannot ask about it." The Master said, "How much is it?" The Layman said, "One, two, three." The Master said, "Four, five, six." The Layman said, "Why not say seven?" The Master said, "As soon as you say seven, there is eight." The Layman said, "Fine, fine!" The Master said, "Add as much as you like." The Layman then scolded him and left. The Master scolded him from behind.
8.18
Upādhyāya Dayang. When Chan Master Yi visited for instruction, the Master said, "Chan Master Yi, ordinary Chan masters these days give instruction before people's eyes and take things before people's eyes to help them. Do you still understand that which precedes any sign of pattern?" Yi said, "I intend to raise a question here to ask the Upādhyāya, but I do not know if it is permissible or not." The Master said, "I have already answered you; do not speak of permissible or not." Yi said, "Do you still recognize what is before your eyes, or not?" The Master said, "Since it is before your eyes, how can it be recognized?" Yi said, "In the end, you will suffer someone's scrutiny." The Master said, "Whose?" Yi said, "Mine." The Master immediately scolded him. Yi stepped back and stood there. The Master said, "You only know how to look forward; you do not know how to look back." Yi said, "Adding frost on top of snow." The Master said, "Neither of us has the upper hand."
8.19
Upādhyāya Hongluo. In Youzhou, he gave a verse to instruct his disciples, saying:
8.20
"Mount Hongluo is close to the frontier barbarians; / Half of those who are delivered are Xi tribesmen. / In talking together and questioning and answering, they understand nothing at all; / Pitifully, they only know how to say 'na-si-qi.'"
8.21
Chan Master Wuliao of Mount Guiyang in Quanzhou was a native of Hengtang in Hugong, Putian county. His surname was Shen. At the age of seven, his father took him into Baizhong Monastery; he looked upon it as home and consequently renounced worldly affections. At eighteen, he shaved his head and took full ordination at Lingyan Monastery. Later he visited Chan Master Daji, completely comprehended the ancestral vehicle, and then returned to his original monastery. To the north of the monastery, paths for woodcutting were cut off. One day, the Master took up his staff and walked through the brambles, encountering a giant tortoise with six eyes, which disappeared in an instant. Thereupon he thatched a hut on this peak, and was therefore called Upādhyāya Guiyang. One day, a tiger chased a deer into the hut; the Master struck the tiger with his staff and thus saved the deer's life. When he was about to manifest his transformation, he composed a verse that said:
8.22
"For eighty years discerning west and east, / Now there is no need for this white-headed old man. / Neither long nor short, neither great nor small, / Still of the same nature as all people. / Neither coming nor going, nor having any abiding, / Fully realizing that originally its own nature is empty."
8.23
When the gāthā was finished, he serenely announced his passing. He was interred in the main hall. After nearly twenty years, the grave was submerged by a mountain spring. His disciples opened the stūpa and saw that his whole body was floating on the water. Hearing of this, the King of Min dispatched an envoy to carry it to the courtyard of his residence for veneration. Suddenly, a foul odour spread far and wide. The King burned incense and prayed, saying: "We may relocate to the former site at Guiyang and build a stūpa." As soon as he finished speaking, an extraordinary fragrance wafted everywhere, and the entire city turned out to pay homage. The provincial circuit memorialized [the court] to bestow the posthumous title Master Zhenji ('True Serenity'), and the stūpa was named Lingjue ('Spiritual Awakening'). Later, during the purge of the clergy, his disciple Huizhong ended his days as a layman. He was buried two hundred paces to the east of the stūpa, and it was called the Eastern Stūpa. Today, the gentry and commoners rely on these two true bodies at Guiyang as their sanctuary, like the legacy and influence left behind by Sangha. Huizhong received the Dharma from Upādhyāya Cao'an, as related in his own chapter.
8.24
Upādhyāya Lishan: A monk asked, "All forms return to emptiness; where does emptiness return?" The master said, "The tongue does not leave the mouth." The monk asked, "Why does it not leave the mouth?" The master said, "Because the inside and the outside are one and the same." The monk asked, "Without passing through asaṃkhyeya [eons], one attains the Dharmakāya. Please, Master, point to it directly." The master said, "The son inherits his father's estate." The monk asked, "How should one understand this?" The master said, "No demotion or stripping away is applied." The monk said, "In that case, the assembly has something to rely upon." The master said, "Set the assembly aside for now. What is the Dharmakāya?" The monk had no reply. The master said, "You ask, and I will tell you." The monk then asked, "What is the Dharmakāya?" The master said, "Flowers in the sky, mirages in the sun." The monk asked, "What is the meaning of [Bodhidharma's] coming from the West?" The master said, "Not seeing how it is." The monk said, "Why is it like this?" The master said, "Just because it is like this."
8.25
Upādhyāya Ruyuan of Shaozhou went up to the hall and said: "The precise meaning of [Bodhidharma's] coming from the West is undeniably difficult to speak of. If anyone in the great assembly can speak of it, let him come forward and try to speak of it!" A monk came forward, and no sooner had he bowed than the master struck him, saying, "What sort of time is this to stick your head out?" (Later someone cited this to Changqing. Changqing said, "No harm, no harm." Zifu said in his place, "For the sake of the Master, he did not spare his life.") Seeing Yangshan chanting sūtras while he was still a novice, the master scolded him, saying, "This novice! Your chanting sounds just like weeping!" Yangshan said, "Huiji's chanting sounds like weeping; I wonder what the Master's is like?" The master merely stared at him.
8.26
Upādhyāya Songshan: One day he invited Upāsaka Pang to drink tea. The upāsaka lifted up the saucer and said, "Everyone has a share. Why is it that nobody can speak of it?" The master said, "Precisely because everyone has it, nobody can speak of it." The upāsaka said, "Why, then, can elder brother speak of it?" The master said, "One cannot be without words." The upāsaka said, "Truly so! Truly so!" The master then drank tea. The upāsaka said, "When elder brother drinks tea, why don't you salute your guest?" The master said, "Who?" The upāsaka said, "Old Pang." The master said, "What need is there for another salute?" Later Danxia heard this recounted and said, "If not for Songshan, he would almost have been thrown into confusion by that old man." When the upāsaka heard this, he sent someone to convey a message to Danxia, saying, "Why didn't you grasp the moment when I lifted up the saucer?"
8.27
Upādhyāya Zechuan: Upāsaka Pang went to see the master. The master said, "Do you still remember the principle from when you first met Shitou?" The upāsaka said, "It still needs you, Master, to bring it up again." The master said, "I well knew that with long practice comes negligence in affairs." The upāsaka said, "Master, you are no less aged than Old Pang." The master said, "When two are of the same age, how much difference is there?" The upāsaka said, "Old Pang is fresh and vigorous, surpassing you, Master." The master said, "It's not that you surpass me; you are merely missing a headscarf." The upāsaka said, "I am just like you, Master." The master simply laughed heartily. When the master went into the tea garden to pick tea, Upāsaka Pang said, "The Dharma realm does not accommodate one's body; Master, do you still see me?" The master said, "It is not that this old teacher is afraid to answer your words." The upāsaka said, "Having questions and answers is quite ordinary." The master simply picked tea and did not listen. The upāsaka said, "Do not blame me for casually asking just now." The master still paid no attention. The upāsaka shouted, "This unmannerly old fellow! Wait until I recount this point by point to clear-eyed people!" The master then threw down his tea basket and entered the abbot's quarters.
8.28
Chan Master Tancang of the Xiyuan Hermitage on Nanyue originally received the mind-seal from Chan Master Daji. Later he visited Upādhyāya Shitou Qian, becoming clear and thoroughly enlightened. In the second year of the Zhenyuan era of the Tang, he hid away on the highest peak of Mount Heng, where people rarely visited him. Soon, owing to an ailment in his legs, he moved to Xiyuan, where fellow practitioners flourished. One day the master was preparing his bath himself. A monk asked, "Why not have a novice do it?" The master clapped his hands three times. (Dongshan said, "Both are the conditions of the moment; among them, Xiyuan's was exquisitely subtle." A monk asked Caoshan, "When the ancient clapped his hands, did he not clarify the matter concerning the novice?" Caoshan said, "What is the transcendental matter?" The monk had no reply. Caoshan said, "This novice!") The master kept an intelligent dog. Once, when he was walking in meditation at night, the dog tugged at the master's robe. The master immediately returned to his room. The dog then lay in wait beside the door, barking and repeatedly lunging as if ready to bite fiercely. At dawn, there was a great python in the eastern kitchen, several tens of feet long, opening its mouth and blowing breath, blazing with poisonous flames. An attendant asked to flee from it. The master said, "Can death be avoided? It approaches with poison; I receive it with compassion. Poison has no substantial nature; when stimulated, it is strong. If compassion is without attachment, foe and friend are the same." When he finished speaking, the python lowered its head, moved slowly away, and suddenly vanished. On another night there was a band of thieves, and the dog again tugged at the master's robe. The master said to the thieves, "In this thatched hut there may be things to your liking; take whatever you wish, I grudge you nothing." Moved by his words, the thieves all bowed their heads and dispersed.
8.29
One day Upādhyāya Bailing met Upāsaka Pang on the road. The master asked, "Have you ever cited to anyone the line where you gained realization on Nanyue in the past?" The upāsaka said, "I have cited it." The master said, "To whom did you cite it?" The upāsaka pointed to himself with his hand and said, "Old Pang." The master said, "Even Mañjuśrī and Subhūti would praise you as surpassing them!" The upāsaka in turn asked, "Who knows the master's line of power?" The master simply put on his bamboo hat and walked away. The upāsaka said, "Take good care on your journey!" The master walked on and never once looked back.
First 29 of 63 passages. Read on
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- 景德傳燈錄 — Classical Chinese