景德傳燈錄 8.40

8.40

Chan Master Zhenshu of Mount Yangqi in Yuanzhou entered the hall and instructed the assembly, saying: "The myriad spirits share one source, provisionally termed 'Buddha.' Though its substance be exhausted and its form perish, it is never extinguished; though gold runs liquid and the unworked timber scatters, it constantly abides. On the sea of nature without wind, the golden waves surge of themselves; the mind-spirit transcends omens, yet the ten thousand phenomena shine forth together. One who embodies this principle traverses the sandy realms without speaking, and aids the mysterious transformation with effortless efficacy. How can you turn your back on awakening and conversely harmonize with worldly dust and toil, vainly imprisoning and grasping yourselves within the aggregates and realms?" When the Master first climbed this mountain, he dwelt in leisure, until a monastery was established, where he gathered disciples and expounded the Dharma for more than forty years. On the thirteenth day of the first month in the fifteenth year of the Yuanhe reign period of the Tang dynasty, he returned to quiescence. From the cremation, seven hundred relics (śarīra) were obtained, and a stūpa was built below the Eastern Peak.