續傳燈錄 23

English (machine translation) 23

Language: English

23.1

Table of Contents for Fascicle Twenty-Three of the Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp

Fifteenth Generation below Dajian
Eighteen Dharma heirs of Chan Master Huanglong [Lingyuan] Qing:
Chan Master Changling Shouzhuo
Chan Master Shangfeng Bencai
Chan Master Falun Yingduan
Chan Master Baizhang Yixi
Chan Master Boshan Zijing
Chan Master Huanglong Defeng
Chan Master Xianxiao Tanqing
Chan Master Guangxiao Dezhou
Court Scribe Upāsaka Dai Daochun (the above nine persons have records)
Chan Master Manyue Ning
Chan Master Falun Shi
Chan Master Tianning Zongjue
Magistrate Upāsaka Xiao Cong
Chan Master Lingfeng Weigu
Chan Master Qinshan Yuande
Chan Master Guanghua Ruoxiu
Chan Master Longqing Hai
Chan Master Guifeng Senglin (the above nine persons have no records)

Sixteen Dharma heirs of Chan Master Huanglong Sixin Xin:
Chan Master Heshan Huifang
Chan Master Nandang Fakong
Chan Master Jiuding Huiquan
Chan Master Shangfeng Zuxiu
Hermitage Master Xingkong Miaopu
Chan Master Zhongshan Daolong
Head Monk Qi Mi of Yangzhou
Daoist Kongshi Zhitong (the above eight persons have records)
Chan Master Zhuyuan Daozhu
Chan Master Tianning Huifu
Chan Master Xixian Tan
Chan Master Jianfu Huilian
Chan Master Luohan Shoujie
Chan Master Quchi Zongyi
Chan Master Ningguo Daozong
Head Monk Huixuan (the above eight persons have no records)

Eight Dharma heirs of Chan Master Caotang Qing:
Chan Master Xuefeng Huikong
Chan Master Yuwang Puchong
Chan Master Wannian Fayi
Chan Master Huanglong Daozhen (the above four persons have records)
Chan Master Jinshan Yi
Chan Master Yunyan Yin
Chan Master Ciyun Long
Chan Master Shoushan Liaoru (the above four persons have no records)

Five Dharma heirs of Chan Master Qingyuan Weixin:
Chan Master Zhengfa Ximing
Chan Master Liangshan Huan
Hermitage Master Yueshan Zu (the above three persons have records)
Chan Master Fushan Guangxuan
Chan Master Zhaojue Fu (the above two persons have no records)

Three Dharma heirs of Chan Master Jiashan Chun:
Chan Master Qinshan Puchu (has a record)
Chan Master Luopu Weifang
Head Monk Qizu (two persons have no records)

One Dharma heir of Chan Master Baizishan Song:
Chan Master Dongchan Weizi (has a record)

Three Dharma heirs of Chan Master Fuyan Feng:
Chan Master Huguo An'you
Chan Master Beiyan Farong
Chan Master Longji Yiding (the above three persons have no records)

Two Dharma heirs of Chan Master Wanshan Ci:
Chan Master Baima Yuan
Chan Master Dezhangshan Chudang (the above have no records)

One Dharma heir of Chan Master Shanglan Zhao:
Chan Master Daning Wenguang (has no record)

Two Dharma heirs of Chan Master Baoqin Yourui:
Chan Master Shouning Daowan (has a record)
Chan Master Xingguo Chang (has no record)

Three Dharma heirs of Chan Master Zhihai Qing:
Chan Master Qianfeng Yuanhui
Chan Master Sizhu Zhongxuan (the above two persons have records)
Chan Master Baima Ruhong (has no record)

Three Dharma heirs of Chan Master Lushan Luohan Nan:
Chan Master Yunfeng Huichang
Chan Master Fushan Dexuan (the above two persons have records)
Upāsaka Zhang Jie (has no record)

One Dharma heir of Chan Master Shigong Ming:
Chan Master Sanzu Mei (has no record)

One Dharma heir of Chan Master Langye Qi:
Old Woman Yu of Jinling (has a record)

One Dharma heir of Chan Master Guangxiao Lan:
Chan Master Lushan Fazhen (has a record)

Seven Dharma heirs of Chan Master Xiangtian Qing:
Chan Master Xuedou Chi
Chan Master Shifo Yi (the above two persons have records)
Chan Master Guangxiao Jingyuan
Chan Master Jiuyan Zhongwen
Chan Master Xiangtian Zhen
Chan Master Guangxiao Zongyi
Upādhyāya Huayan (the above five persons have no records)

Two Dharma heirs of Chan Master Huiri Ya:
Chan Master Jiuxian Faqing
Hermitage Master Juehai Fa'yin (the above two persons have records)

One Dharma heir of Chan Master Dongshan Yan:
Chan Master Dongshan Zeyan (has a record)

One Dharma heir of Chan [Master] Daolin Yi:
Chan Master Dawei Zhi (has a record)

23.3

Continued Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Fascicle Twenty-Three: Table of Contents (End)

23.4

Fifteenth Generation below Dajian

23.5

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Huanglong [Lingyuan] Qing

23.6

Chan Master Changling Shouzhuo of Tianning in the Eastern Capital was a son of the Zhuang family of Quanzhou. Ascending the hall, he said: "Among three thousand swordsmen, only Zhuang Zhou was acknowledged. Why could he not jump out? At the door of a good physician, patients abound. Why did it not take even a single needle? Let those who have already passed through the barrier examine this!"
Ascending the hall, he said: "It is like the eye faculty not seeing itself; its nature is inherently equal. If there is no one who is equal, then go forth just like this! Set aside for a moment the unpierced iron hammer. Even if you succeed in entering the forest without stirring the grass or entering the water without making a wave, this is merely a temporary expedient. If bamboo inside the hedge sprouts shoots outside the hedge, and flowers blooming east of the ravine show red west of the ravine, wait until you are further interrogated before being beaten!"
A monk asked, "When Danxia burned the wooden Buddha, why did the monastery director's eyebrows and beard fall off?"
The Master said, "A cat can climb a tree."
The monk said, "Had I known it was like this, I would never have done it like this."
The Master said, "Cherish your eyebrows!"
He asked, "What is the matter beneath the patch-robed gown?"
The Master said, "During a drought in heaven, one worries for the people."
He asked, "What was it like before the Buddha appeared in the world?"
The Master said, "Not a hair's breadth."
He asked, "What was it like after he appeared in the world?"
The Master said, "Filling the gullies and choking the ravines."
He asked, "How far apart are appearing and not appearing?"
The Master said, "When people are at peace, they do not speak; when water is level, it does not flow."
Ascending the hall, he said: "Flattening the high to fill the low invites thieves to ruin the house. Cutting through iron and severing nails, the fox still clings to its den. If you do neither at all, what will you do? Therefore it is said: 'Releasing one's hands directly atop a ten-thousand-fathom cliff requires the right person.' Just tell me: how do you say a single phrase on holding the bowl in the land of Fragrance Accumulated?" After a long pause, he said, "Be sure not to let the wind blow you into another tune!"
Ascending the hall, he said: "Śākya shutting his room—his transgression filled the heavens. Vimalakīrti holding his tongue—he could not even save himself. How to put it? How to put it? The mouth is too small!"
On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month in the fifth year of the Xuanhe era, he peacefully manifested cessation. On the day of the cremation, the Emperor dispatched an imperial envoy to present incense and hold a gold platter to solicit śarīra. When the burning of incense ended, there was a clinking sound in the platter. Looking at it, there were several five-colored pieces as large as beans. The envoy brought them back, and upon seeing them, the Emperor was greatly pleased.

23.7

Chan Master Faxin Cai of Shangfeng in Tanzhou was a son of the Yao family of Fuzhou. He was ordained and received full ordination while young, and traveled to various regions. Arriving at Dazhong, he relied on Chan Master Haiyin Long. He saw a senior monk who had attained the Way reading a sūtra. Coming to the line, "The lion on the tip of a single hair, in a single instant appears on the tips of a hundred million hairs," the Master pointed to it and asked, "How does the lion on the tip of a single hair appear on the tips of a hundred million hairs in a single instant?"
Dadao said, "You have just entered the monastery; how can you understand such matters?"
The Master felt doubt over this. He thereupon resolved to take on the post of latrine attendant. One night while he was sweeping, Haiyin happened to hold an evening assembly. When the Master arrived, it was just as Haiyin concluded the seat, threw down his staff, and said: "When understood, the tip of a hair swallows the great sea; only then do you know the great earth is a single speck of dust." The Master had a sudden realization.
When he left Fujian, he went to Mount Huanglong in Yuzhang. His capacity did not tally with Sixin, so he went to practice under Lingyuan. Whenever he exited the abbot's room, he would weep and reproach himself, saying, "I see this matter with utter clarity; it is just that when facing the opportunity I cannot speak it out. What can be done?"
Lingyuan knew the Master was earnest and diligent, and told him, "You must achieve a great awakening before you can attain freedom."
Not long after, he secretly observed a monk at a neighboring desk reading the Extensive Record of Caodong. Arriving at the passage where Yaoshan returned from gathering firewood, a monk asked, "Where have you come from?" Yaoshan said, "I have come from gathering firewood." The monk pointed to the knife at his waist and said, "Crack-crack—what is this?" Yaoshan drew the knife and made a slashing motion. The Master suddenly rejoiced, slapped the monk at the neighboring desk, parted the curtain, rushed out, and blurted out a verse:
"Completely penetrated, completely penetrated! / The great sea dries up and empty space bursts open. / Obstructed on none of the eight sides or four directions, / The ten thousand phenomena leak out all at once!"
Later he shared the seat at Zhencheng. Answering the invitation of Shangfeng, he successively moved through famous monasteries. While residing at Qianyuan, he opened the hall and addressed the assembly: "The gates of hundreds of thousands of samādhis, the inexhaustible treasury of blessings and virtues: releasing them is like opening an armory, where weapons clash and glisten in dazzling brilliance; holding them back is like snow covering reed blossoms, undistinguishable across the whole body. Let those who see it hitch up their robes and go; let those who hear it charge straight in with a single blade! Every single one possesses the correct eye atop the crown of the head; every person hangs the wondrous talisman behind their elbow. Sweep away the conceptual views of Buddhas and Patriarchs; become a disaster to the monasteries! I recall that on the day Baoshou opened the hall, Sansheng pushed forward a monk, and Baoshou struck him at once. Sansheng said, 'Acting like this for the sake of others blinds the eyes of everyone in the whole city of Zhenzhou!' Now, as Qianyuan opens the hall today, if a monk comes forth, this mountain monk will also strike him. Not only will this story circulate widely, but it will also open the eyes of everyone in the whole city of Fuzhou! Why so? 'The sword leaves its jeweled scabbard because of injustice; medicine comes out of the golden vial because of illness.'"
Ascending the hall, he said: "Before Bodhidharma had come to this Eastern land, everyone harbored a pearl that outshone the waters, and each person held a jade from Mount Jing. It could be called a cliff standing a thousand fathoms high! But after the Second Patriarch made his three prostrations, one by one they traveled south to seek friends and bowed north to worship Mañjuśrī. How unmanly! If there were one or a half who did not seek the sages and did not hold dear their own numinous nature, who threw themselves unarmed with a single horse and a single spear into empty space and took up the blade, it would be thoroughly gratifying for a lifetime! Are there any such persons today? 'Naturally you do not return; if you returned, you would have it: who contends for the misty scenery of the five lakes?'"
Ascending the hall, he said: "The instructional discourse of the ancestral vehicle wonderfully transcends names and words. A single phrase comprehensively covers heaven and earth. It is just like the correct eye of Śūra, set vertically right between the eyebrows; or like the three dots of the character ∴, horizontally encompassing the Dharma realm." He then struck his staff and said: "If you understand under this first dot, leaving behind this body is still easy, but shedding the substance of the Way must be difficult." He struck his staff again and said: "If you understand under the second dot, you move freely outside the three realms, appearing and disappearing as the body of the ten directions." He struck his staff again and said: "If you understand under the third dot, fish and dragons are locked within the gate, and Buddhas and Patriarchs conceal their tracks. If not, I let one move pass: 'According to one's lot there is the color of spring; on a single branch are three or four flowers.'"
Ascending the hall, he said: "'A single phenomenon has form, encompassing the moving and the rooted; a hundred streams rush forth, competing to pay homage to the court. The zither of Zhao is not played, the cloudy sky is pale; imagine the old sick gentleman of Vaiśālī.' If Vimalakīrti is sick, then Shangfeng is sick; if Shangfeng is sick, then the staff is sick; if the staff is sick, then all phenomena in the universe are sick; if all phenomena in the universe are sick, then both ordinary beings and sages are sick. Do all of you perceive the place where the root of illness arises? If you perceive it, sentient and insentient share the same substance; everywhere is the identical true Dharma realm. If not yet so: 'A sweet melon is sweet down to its stem; a bitter gourd is bitter right to its root.'"

23.8

Chan Master Yingduan of Falun in Tanzhou was a son of the Chu family of Nanchang. In his youth, he relied on Shanyue of Huadu to shave his head and receive full ordination. He visited Chan Master Zhenjing Wen, but their dynamic did not harmonize. He then went to the assembly at Yunju. Lingyuan shared the seat and vigorously inspired the assembly. The master inquired into his tenets, but took pride in his own wondrous entry into the various scriptures. Lingyuan once severely pricked him [with testing words]. The master thereupon cited the dynamic sayings of Mazu and Baizhang as well as the lineage tenets of the Huayan as justification. Lingyuan laughed and said, "Mazu and Baizhang were certainly mistaken, and the lineage tenets of the Huayan have absolutely no connection to this matter!" The master, indignant, wanted to leave for elsewhere and took his leave. As he lifted the curtain, he suddenly experienced great awakening, with sweat pouring down his back. Seeing this, Lingyuan said, "This fellow knows good from bad now! Mazu, Baizhang, Mañjuśrī, and Samantabhadra were nearly implicated by you." From this, his reputation spread in all directions. Famous literati vied to invite him to appear in the world [as abbot], but he declined them all. At the end of the Zhenghe era, the Grand Historian Lord Zhang Sicheng firmly commanded him to open the Dharma [hall] at Baizhang. Having no alternative, the master finally complied. He ascended the hall, cited the story of the conflagration of the kalpa blazing at Dasui, and then said: / "The six directions overturn, rushing right at one's face; / For a time donning hemp clothes, mingling with the dust. / Blowing on fire with the wind is purely a casual affair, / Yet it entices the wayfarer not to return. / Does it perish or not? Does it follow along or not? / In vain one forcefully applies needles and awls using what is heard and seen. / The thirty-six thousand qing of Lake Tai— / The moon is in the heart of the waves; to whom can it be told?" / A monk asked, "What is the guest within the guest?" / The master said, "Straw sandals and bamboo staff walking in the red dust." / The monk said, "What is the host within the guest?" / The master said, "At the crossroads, meeting the supreme ancestor." / The monk said, "What is the guest within the host?" / The master said, "An imperial horse with a golden whip mingling among the four classes of people." / The monk said, "What is the host within the host?" / The master said, "At the golden gate, who dares raise an eye to look?" / The monk said, "Having received the master's instruction on guest and host, what about the supreme ancestral vehicle?" / The master said, "Last night the frosty wind scraped the earth cold; / An old ape on the ridge wails at the waning moon."

23.9

Chan Master Yixi of Baizhang in Longxing Prefecture was a native of Xinghua. He ascended the hall [and said], "Mātanga entered the Han, and Bodhidharma came to the Liang. Once the tracks of their carts were formed, later descendants opened their eyes only to lose their way. If one is an alert fellow, one will never pick flowers in the sky or clutch at the moon in the waves. To vainly exhaust one's mind and energy—what is the point after all? Today this mountain monk is already piling up a mound of bones on flat ground. When everyone walks, let each look closely with spirit!"

23.10

Chan Master Wuyin Zijing of Boshan in Xinzhou ascended the hall on New Year's Day [and said]: / "Harmonious qi gives birth to dry stumps; / Cold clouds disperse over the distant suburbs. / The wooden man divines an auspicious omen; / In the middle of the night, the tortoise shell's cracks appear. / Venerable Chan practitioners! Where the tortoise shell's cracks appear, the patterns are already manifest. Then one sees that in the twelve months of a year, month after month is just so; in the twelve periods of a day, period after period is alike. Reaching here, it is directly like the yellowness of yellow gold, the whiteness of white jade—never having changed color since vast, distant kalpas. Do you still see? If not yet so, let us casually go along with Zhang Three in observing the seasonal order, and let Li Four's temples turn grizzled and gray."

23.11

Chan Master Tongzhao Defeng of Huanglong in Longxing Prefecture was a son of the Hu family of Jing'an in that prefecture. When born, he had thick eyebrows. At the age of seventeen, he shaved his head under Chan Master Pu of Shanglan. Going to rely on Lingyuan, he immediately understood the profound tenets. He ascended the hall and brought up the story of Jiashan's environment. The master said, "Fayan made this statement in vain; he scarcely knew that the old fellow Jiashan was gently pressed by that monk until he was stumbling forward and backward. Even if one does not understand it as speaking of the environment, one inevitably remains halfway on the road."

23.12

Chan Master Tanqing of Guangxiao in Shaozhou ascended the hall [and said], "Killing father and mother is repented before the Buddha; killing Buddha and patriarchs requires no repentance. Why does it require no repentance? For the time being, one gains release from enemies."

23.13

Chan Master Dezhou of Guangxiao in Wenzhou was a son of the Qu family of Xinzhou. He was tonsured at Jingde Zunsheng Cloister and inquired into the Way for years. Later he went to Huanglong. Hearing the story of Shaolin wall-gazing brought up, he was suddenly awakened and composed two verses to present. Huanglong approved him. From then on, his renown flowed through Jiangnan and Zhejiang. He ascended the hall and said, "The entire body is exposed, grand and clear; / In the ten directions, there are no hindrances. / The thousand sages cannot transmit it; / The myriad spirits come to crown it upon their heads. / If one intends to deliberate about it together, / Opening the mouth breaks it into a hundred fragments. / Just what was it like before opening the mouth? Du!" / He ascended the hall [and said]: / "Interpenetration or non-interpenetration? / Staring to look, there is nothing to be seen. / Penetrating through the ancestral barrier, / One treads and severs the path of humans and devas. / Ha, ha, ha! Awakened or unawakened? / Falling flowers and flowing water—who knows where they are?"

23.14

Upāsaka Court Supervisor Dai Daochun, styled Fuzhong, consulted Lingyuan. One day he had an insight and presented a verse: / "At the bottom of the profound source, where total dynamic functions, / A single petal of the mind-flower reveals its imprinted pattern. / Knowing how many lifetimes of offerings have been made, / Time and again a subtle smile stirs the fragrant clouds."

23.15

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Sixin Wuxin of Huanglong

23.16

Chan Master Fang of Heshan in Jizhou was a son of the Gong family of Linjiang. He instructed the assembly, saying: "Illumination after function tests the expert; function after illumination leaves no trace behind. Illumination and function simultaneously stand like a precipitous cliff of a thousand fathoms; illumination and function not simultaneous can be reflected in sense faculties and dusts. The ancients used these four turning words to test the patch-robed monks of the world. Unless one possesses genuine eyes and has intimately awakened to clear understanding, it is difficult to approach. Today, I have clearly brought it out for all of you. Do you fully comprehend? If you comprehend it, you may be said to transcend the ground of awakening suddenly without moving a single hair. If not yet so, you must be extremely meticulous!" He also held up his fly-whisk and said, "Look, look! Just this: in Linji, illumination and function proceed together; in Yunmen, phenomenon and principle are both fully present; in Caodong, the biased and the right harmoniously correspond; in Guiyang, subtle functions roundly unite; in Fayan, how could it be limited to mind-only? However, the stylistic provisions of the five houses' lineages are not nonexistent. Even if you can discern them vividly and clearly, that is still an affair on the side of light and shadow. If you want to withstand birth and death, there is the distance between heaven and earth. So tell me, how do you say a sentence that transcends birth and death?" After a long pause, he said, "I almost added the wrong footnote."

23.17

Chan Master Fakong of Nandang in Hangzhou was a native of Jiangxi. By nature unyielding, he served Sixin for a long time and obtained the tenets. Later, when he wished to take leave and depart, Sixin gave him a prediction, saying, "Your blessings are meager; you should nourish yourself with the Way." The master then took his leave and departed. Master Qing of Caotang also had a verse to send him off: / "For ten years we met together at Longfeng Temple; / Once awakened to true emptiness, the myriad realms are at leisure. / Departing now, accord with conditions and hide high away; / Do not let your name fall into the human world." / Later, he appeared in the world at Nandang in Hangzhou. In less than a month, the monastery was consumed by fire, leaving nothing behind. The master sighed, saying, "Because I went against my late master's words, I met today's disaster." A wealthy man wished to host a meal for him alone while donating to the triple gate. The master said, "You wish to give wealth to invite blessings, but it is not for the elder to accept such a favor. If you make me eat turning my back on the assembly, that is not what I desire." Because the master was immersed in construction and earthworks, the Way did not prevail. Caotang once sent a monk carrying a set of robes to seek him out. Monks heard of this and went to rely on him, but the master was already old. Later, he showed extinction on his home mountain.

23.18

Chan Master Jixing Huiquan of Jiuding in Jiading Prefecture was a son of the Zhang family of Chengdu. A monk asked, "'When the mind is deluded, the Lotus turns it; when the mind is awakened, it turns the Lotus.' I wonder, what is the meaning of this?" The master said, "The wind is warm and birds' songs are broken up; the sun is high and flower shadows are heavy." He ascended the hall [and said], "In former days, Yunmen had three phrases: the phrase that covers heaven and earth, the phrase that cuts off all streams, and the phrase that follows the waves and pursues the billows. Jiuding today also has three phrases: the phrase of eating rice when hungry, the phrase of facing the fire when cold, and the phrase of sleeping when tired. If evaluated in terms of the Buddha Dharma, Jiuding stands directly downwind from Yunmen. If evaluated in terms of worldly truth, Yunmen stands directly downwind from Jiuding. The two statements contradict each other. So how is it that Jiuding helps people?"

23.19

Chan Master Zuxiu of Shangfeng in Tanzhou was a son of the He family of Changde Prefecture. He ascended the hall [and said]: / "Before the dead-tree cliff, flowers bloom at night; / The iron ox still lies in the misty sands. / This fellow's shadow of the whip is brought forth again." / Striking the fly-whisk, he said: / "With a single thought turning the mind, one arrives right at home!" / He then gave a shout and stepped down from the seat.

23.20

Hermitage Master Xingkong Miaopu of Huating in Jiaxing Prefecture was a native of Hanzhou. Having long relied on Sixin and attained realization, he then arrived at Xiushui to follow the lingering style of Chuanzi. He thatched a hut in the wilds of Qinglong and amused himself by blowing an iron flute. He composed many chants and verses; whoever acquired them would surely treasure them. His verse on living in the mountains said: / "Mind and phenomena both forgotten, delusion still intervenes; / When form and dust are non-dual, dust yet remains. / The hundred birds do not come, and spring passes once more; / I do not know who this person dwelling in the hermitage is." / He also admonished the assembly, saying: / "Studying the Way is like guarding a forbidden citadel; / By day beware of the six bandits, by night stay alert. / If the commander of the central army can execute orders, / Without moving weapons, great peace will be governed." / He also said: / "Eating without plowing, wearing clothes without sericulture; / Leisure beyond worldly things accords with the sacred times. / If you have not yet penetrated the Patriarch's mechanism, / You must still keep your attention and seize advantage." / He also said: / "During the twelve periods of the day, do not cease your work; / Exhausting and probing along, you arrive at the inexhaustible. / You must directly penetrate to the bottom of the inexhaustible, / And kick down the first peak of Mount Sumeru." / At the beginning of the Jianyan era, Xu Ming rebelled. Passing through Wuzhen, he slaughtered indiscriminately, and most of the people fled. The Master alone carried his staff and went forward. When the rebels saw his towering and extraordinary appearance, they suspected he was surely an ambusher. Asking where he came from, the Master said, "I am a Chan practitioner wishing to reach Miyin Temple." The rebels grew angry and wanted to behead him. The Master said, "A great man takes a head when wanted; why be angry? My death is certain. I wish only for a meal as my farewell." The rebels offered him meat; the Master served it out as in his regular vegetarian meal. When the offering [to spirits] was finished, he then said, "Who will compose a funeral eulogy for me to make an offering?" The rebels laughed without answering. The Master asked for a brush and wrote in large characters: / "Alas, O spirit! / To toil me with life is the fault of the Great Earth; / To burden me with longevity is the lapse of yin and yang; / To impoverish me with destitution is the irregularity of the five elements; / To distress me with fate is the ill fortune of the season and day. / Ah, how profound! / Fortunately there is the way that transcends the dust, / Awakening to my nature and its wondrous mind. / Then, with what is this wondrous mind a neighbor? / Above, it accords with the true transformation of all Buddhas; / Below, it unites with the ignorance of common mortals. / Without a fine speck of dust stirring, it is fundamentally complete of itself. / How wondrous! How wondrous! / The sun and moon are not sufficient to be its brightness; / Heaven and earth are not sufficient to be its greatness. / Lofty and unrestrained, without hang-up or hindrance. / For over sixty years blending the light with the dust of the world, / For forty-two monastic summers unfettered and at ease. / Meeting people I am glad, seeing the Buddha I do not bow. / Laughable, oh laughable! / What a pity for the handsome young fellow, / Whose refined elegance was so radiant! / Calmly returning, entrusted to the spring wind; / The body is like empty space, never decaying in the end. / May you enjoy this offering!" / He then raised his chopsticks and ate his fill. The band of rebels laughed heartily. After eating, he spoke again: / "Having met with chaotic times in the kalpa's course, / I am a joyful and resolute hero. / Now is precisely the right time to take advantage: / Pray cut me in two with a single blade!" / He then shouted loudly, "Chop! Chop!" The rebels, utterly astonished, bowed repeatedly to apologize for their fault and ordered guards to escort him out. That the huts of Wuzhen were spared from burning was indeed the Master's kindness. Both monastics and laypeople respected him all the more upon hearing this. There was a monk who, seeing the Master's song about seeing the Buddha and not bowing, confronted him with the question: "Since you see the Buddha, why do you not bow?" The Master slapped him and said, "Do you understand?" The monk said, "I do not understand." The Master slapped him again and said, "A family does not have two masters." In the winter of the gengshen year of the Shaoxing era, he made a large tub, bored holes in it, and plugged them. He wrote a letter to Chan Master Chi of Xuedou, saying, "I am going to have a water burial." In the renxu year, Chi arrived, saw that he was still alive, and composed a verse to tease him: / "Bah, old Xingkong! / Bent on feeding the fish and turtles! / If you are going, why don't you just go straight off, / Instead of constantly talking to others about it?" / The Master read the verse, smiled, and said, "I was only waiting for my elder brother to come and witness it." He ordered the fourfold assembly to be notified everywhere. When the assembly gathered, the Master expounded the Dharma essentials for them and further spoke a verse: / "Passing away sitting or dying standing is not as good as a water burial; / First, it saves firewood for burning; second, it saves digging a grave. / Letting go of hands and walking off does not hinder joy; / Who is the sympathetic friend? Upādhyāya Chuanzi! / His lofty style is hard to continue for hundreds and thousands of years; / A single tune of the fisherman's song has few to sing it." / He then sat cross-legged in the tub and drifted down with the tide. The assembly all followed him to the seashore, gazing until their eyes were nearly strained. The Master removed the plug, bailed out the water, and returned. The assembly crowded around to watch; no water had entered. He rode the current again and went off, singing: / "Chuanzi in those years returned to his native village; / The place where traces are lost is wondrous and hard to measure. / The true wind is entrusted everywhere to sympathetic friends; / Blowing the iron flute horizontally marks the end of the show." / The sound of his flute was plaintive. Soon, amidst the vast expanse of waters, he was seen tossing the flute into the air and disappearing. The assembly cried out in longing, made portraits of him, and made offerings to them. Three days later, he was sitting cross-legged on the sand as if alive. Monastics and laypeople vied to welcome him back, keeping his remains for five days. At the cremation (jhāpita), the relic grains (śarīra) as large as beans were countless. Two cranes hovered in the sky and left only when the fire was extinguished. Reverently taking the relic grains and holy bones, they built a stupa at Qinglong.

23.21

Head Monk Daolong of Zhongshan in Yanzhou was a son of the Dong family of Tonglu. He received ordination at Zhongshan Temple. Wherever he traveled during his itinerant pilgrimage, the senior patch-robed monks all praised and esteemed him. Later he reached Huanglong, where Sixin invited him to be the head monk. After Sixin passed away, he went into secluded retirement at Zhongshan. Admiring the exalted, world-transcending style of Venerable Chen, he closed his gate and engaged in no affairs, daily selling several hampers to content himself; no one recognized him. On his hand he always wore a single sock, and whenever a Chan practitioner arrived, he would hold it up to show them, saying, "This old monk has worn this sock for thirty years." A temple monk playfully asked, "What is the samādhi of non-contention?" The Master immediately slapped him.

23.22

Head Monk Qimi of Yangzhou was a native of that prefecture. Sixin praised him as one who had thoroughly practiced. Various literati repeatedly invited him to famous mountains, but he would not go. Later, when he manifested transformation at Gushan in Tan[zhou], his extraordinary traces were quite numerous. A disciple once painted his portrait and asked for an eulogy. He wrote for him: / "This fellow with ash on his head and dirt on his face, / Usually does not wish to reveal himself. / Now painted before others, / He is very much like an arrow stuck in empty space. / How lamentable! How lamentable! / What a pity for three feet of worldly silk!"

23.23

Person of the Way Kongshi Zhitong was the daughter of Drafter of the Longtu Pavilion Fan Xun. Intelligent from childhood, when she grew up she was married to Ti, the grandson of Grand Councilor Su Song. Before long, weary of worldly forms, she returned home and sought to shave her head. Her father objected, so she practiced pure cultivation [at home]. Due to reading the Contemplation of the Dharmadhātu, she suddenly had an awakening, and composed two successive verses to express her understanding. The first said: / "Vast and surging amidst the dust, the essence is one suchness; / Crisscrossing and mutually interpenetrating, it seals Vairocana. / All waves are water, yet waves are not water; / All water becomes waves, yet water itself is distinct." / The second said: / "Things and self are fundamentally not different; / The myriad phenomena are like images in a mirror. / Bright and distinct, surpassing host and companion; / Lucidly penetrating true emptiness. / A single essence encompasses multiple phenomena, / Interpenetrating within Indra's net. / Layer upon layer in endless places, / Movement and stillness are all completely pervasive." / Later, after both her parents died, her brother Juan took up the post of military inspector of Fenning. Zhitong went with him, and hearing of Sixin's great reputation, she went to pay respects to him. Sixin saw her, recognized what she had attained, and thereupon asked, "When Sadāprarudita Bodhisattva sold his heart and liver, whom did he have study prajñā?" Zhitong said, "If you are without mind, I also rest." He asked again, "Nourished by a single rain, roots and shoots differ; on ground without yin or yang, what is produced?" Zhitong said, "A single flower with five petals." He asked again, "During the twelve periods of the day, where do you settle body and establish life?" Zhitong said, "The Upādhyāya would do well to spare his eyebrows!" Sixin struck her and said, "This woman creates a disorderly sequence!" Zhitong bowed. Sixin approved of her. Thereupon her reputation in the Way became celebrated. During the Zhenghe era, she lived in Jinling, where she often set up baths at Baoning, posting a placard on the gate saying: / "Not a single thing exists—what is there to wash? / If a fine speck of dust exists, from where does it arise? / Speak a single turning phrase of mystery, / And only then may everyone enter the bath. / Guling only knew how to scrub backs; / How could that open-minded monk ever have clarified the mind? / When wishing to realize the Stage Free of Defilement, / One must sweat all over the body. / Everyone says water can wash away defilement; / How do they know water is also dust? / Even granting that water and defilement are suddenly eliminated, / Arriving here, this too must be washed away." / Later she became a nun named Weijiu, hanging her staff at Xizhu in Gusu. Monastics and laypeople came day and night to question her as their teacher, and those who attained her Way were quite numerous. Presently, she manifested demise, wrote a verse, sat cross-legged, and passed away. Her Record of Clarifying the Mind circulates in the world.

23.24

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Caotang Qing

23.25

Chan Master Dongshan Huikong of Xuefeng in Fuzhou was a son of the Chen family of that prefecture. At age fourteen he tonsured his head, and thereupon traveled to various regions, paying respects everywhere to the senior masters. Later he tallied with awakening under Caotang. In the guiyou year of the Shaoxing era, he opened the Dharma hall at Xuefeng. On the day he accepted the invitation, he ascended the hall and said, "One who is sharp and quick acts as soon as touched; one who is foolish and dull cannot be moved even when pushed and pulled. Acting immediately, everyone rejoices; failing to move, each person gives rise to resentment. This mountain monk right now transforms this foolish and dull into the sharp and quick!" Snapping his fingers once, he said, "Formerly, though pushed and pulled, I did not emerge, but now I emerge. Formerly, though having a monastery, I did not dwell there, but now I dwell. Formerly, disliking Buddha, I did not act as one, but now I act as one. Formerly, disliking Dharma, I did not expound it, but now I expound it. Emerging or not emerging, dwelling or not dwelling, let that be set aside for a moment. I venture to ask you all: what Buddha is the one who acts? Is it Empty King Buddha? Dīpaṃkara Buddha? Śākyamuni Buddha? Maitreya Buddha? And what Dharma is the one being expounded? Is it the fundamental Dharma? The unborn Dharma? Worldly Dharma? Transmundane Dharma? Is there anyone in the assembly who can say? If someone can say, this mountain monk's business of appearing in the world is finished. If not yet so, upon meeting others do not cite this mistakenly!" He gave a shout and descended from the seat. Ascending the hall, he cited Yunmen addressing the assembly, saying: "'Only this implicates people to death.'" The Master said, "Yunmen usually had an air like a king, yet speaking like that is very much like a poor man resenting having too much to his single body. This mountain monk is not like that: only this delights people to death! Why is that? When the heavy rain comes, one sits inside the house; when the wind of karma blows, one walks around the mountain again. Although that is so, it is also a beggar seeing a petty profit. For now, without harming the sense of things, how do you say a phrase?" Ascending the hall, he said, "'With one punch, the Yellow Crane Tower is knocked down; / With one kick, Parrot Isle is overturned. / When there is spirit, spirit is added; / Where there is no romance, there is still romance.' / How sharp! How sharp! What delight! What delight! Just like a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old top civil examination graduate—who cares about your heaven, who cares about your earth? 'The mind king does not move recklessly; / The six states are penetrated at once. / Cease wielding the three-foot sword; / Stop playing with a single bow.' / At ease, at ease! What delight! What delight! Just like a seventy- or eighty-year-old man serving as prime minister—the wind comes in season, the rain comes in season, the five grains are planted, and the myriad people are at peace." Holding up his staff, he said, "Great assembly, these two verses together with this mountain monk's staff together make a brown-robed patch-robed monk! Coming to the gate of Xuefeng, merely knowing how to eat steamed cakes according to custom also gets you three coins to buy straw sandals." He gave a shout, planted his staff, and descended from the seat. A monk asked, "How was it before the Upādhyāya saw Caotang?" The Master said, "There was in Jiangnan." The monk said, "How was it after you saw him?" The Master said, "There is none in Jiangbei."

23.26

Chan Master Yetang Puchong of Yuwang in Qingyuan Prefecture was a native of that prefecture. Addressing the assembly, he cited: "Upādhyāya Baling said: 'It is not the wind that moves; it is not the banner that moves. It is neither wind nor banner—where else will you set it down? If anyone vents anger on behalf of the Patriarch, let him come out and meet Baling!' Upādhyāya Xuedou said: 'Wind moves, banner moves; since it is wind and banner, where else will you set it down? If anyone vents anger on behalf of Baling, let him come out and meet Xuedou!'" The Master said: / "Neither wind nor banner, there is nowhere to set it down; / Being banner and being wind, there is no place to set it down. / The swift falcons soaring in the far sky all lose their tracks; / The golden-haired lion crouching on the ground also loses his composure. / Ha, ha, ha! Awakened or not awakened? / It makes one think again of Xie Sanlang, / A single line fishing alone in the cold river rain."

23.27

Chan Master Xuechao Fayi of Wannian in Taizhou was a great-great-grandson of Grand Preceptor Li Zunmian, Prince of Xiangyang Commandery. For generations his family had resided in Xiangfu County, Kaifeng. His mother dreamed that an old monk arrived, whereupon she gave birth to him. At age seventeen he passed the exams for the Imperial Academy, and followed his grandfather on official service to Huainan. His family wished to have him enter officialdom, but he would not take office. Preparing to renounce household life, he went to serve Chan Master Cijue Ze of Changlu. His grandfather would not permit it, but his mother said, 'He must have been a śramaṇa in past lives; please do not thwart his aspiration.' Not long after, Cijue passed away. In the first year of the Daguan reign era, he paid homage to Chan Master Tongzhao Yuan of Lingyan, shaved his head, and received full ordination. He stayed with Yuan for ten years, bewildered and depressed, unable to enter [the way]. He went to visit Yuanwu at Jiangshan. Yuanwu said, 'This is a vessel of the Dharma.' Yuanwu received an imperial summons to move to Tianning in the capital, and the master accompanied him as his attendant. At the end of the Jingkang era, he visited Caotang at Shushan; upon the exchange of a single word, the Great Dharma suddenly became clear to him. In the seventh year of the Shaoxing reign era, the Prefect of Quanzhou, Baowen [Scholar] Liu Yanxiu, invited him to dwell at Yanfu. Later he moved four times to major monasteries. Ascending the hall, he held up his staff and said, 'Sometimes the staff acts as a flood dragon surging from the waters, mist and clouds stretching unbroken for ten thousand miles. Sometimes it acts as a lion crouching on the ground, monsters of a hundred years concealing their traces. Sometimes mind and phenomena are both forgotten, the illuminating substance standing alone. Sometimes illumination and function are simultaneous, host and guest functioning interchangeably.' Drawing a line with his staff, he said, 'At Yanfu's gate, none of this can be used. Tell me, what does Yanfu usually use?' Striking his staff and giving a shout, he descended the seat. Ascending the hall, he said, 'Lifting the face, one does not see heaven; lowering the head, one does not see earth. Before the skull of the ancient sword, the great ocean's billows boil.' Retiring from Changlu, he returned to the Guanyin Cloister at Wannian on Mount Tiantai. Suddenly showing signs of slight illness, he wrote a verse: 'This year seventy-five, / I return to be master of the hermitage. / Take care, Avalokiteśvara: / The mud snake swallows the stone tiger.' Entering his casket, he sat cross-legged and passed away.

23.28

Chan Master Shantang Daozhen of Mount Huanglong in Longxing Prefecture was a son of the Zhao family of Jinling. In his youth he relied on Chan Master Jueyin Ying as a postulant. Ying moved to Puzhao in Sizhou, just when the Virtuous Consort was selecting postulants for ordination; the master thus obtained full ordination. After a long while he took his leave, visiting Chan Master Danxia Chun. One day, while discussing the lineage tenets of the Dongshan school with him, the master presented a verse: 'White clouds deeply cover the ancient cold cliff; / Rare grasses and wondrous flowers are held in the colorful phoenix's beak. / At midnight heaven is bright; the sun is at high noon; / Riding an ox backward, wearing boots and robe.' Chun saw him as a Dharma vessel. Yet the master considered himself still hindered, so he left to rely on Caotang; upon their first meeting they accorded. Daily he took the Tripiṭaka and read it. One evening, hearing the drum for the evening gathering, he walked out of the scripture hall. Lifting his head, he saw the moon, and thereupon attained great awakening. He hurried to the abbot's room; as soon as Caotang caught sight of him, he conferred the seal of approval. First he resided at Caoshan, then moved to Guangshou and Huanglong. Ascending the hall, he said, 'If I cite an ancient nidāna to ask you ācāryas, you must not understand it as ancient. If you understand it as ancient, you lose the eye right in front of your face. If I cite a present nidāna to ask you ācāryas, you must not understand it as present. If you understand it as present, you obstruct your original eye. Even if you do not lose it and do not obstruct it, being neither ancient nor present, this is still medicine and illness counteracting each other, talk to stop a child's crying. Just tell me, can you ācāryas speak a sentence of thorough penetration, or not? If you cannot speak it, wait until Luohan Peak discourses deeply on true reality, then I will speak it for you.' Ascending the hall, he said, 'Sitting coldly at Shaolin, the disciples each spoke different opinions, much like the crowd of blind men touching an elephant. Shenguang made three bows and stood according to his place. Bodhidharma said, "You have attained my marrow." This dark-faced Brahmin's heels had not yet touched the ground!' Ascending the hall, he said, 'A stone man asked a withered stump, / "When will you bloom with flowers?" / The withered stump was angered by the stone man: / "Why does your mouth chatter on?" / The stone man chuckled and laughed; / The withered stump put forth rare blossoms. / Rosy clouds illuminate the jade elephant; / White jade grinds golden sand. / May I ask the master who penetrates the mystery, / Who has not yet arrived home?'

23.29

Dharma Heirs of Chan Master Qingyuan Xin

23.30

Chan Master Zhengfa Ximing of Chengdu Prefecture was a native of Hanzhou. Upon the conclusion of the summer retreat, he ascended the hall and said: 'Forest leaves fall in profusion; / Heaven and earth announce early autumn. / Clearly it is the Western Patriarch's intent; / What need to gallop about in search?' If you understand it in this way, you will begin to believe that the path of the Buddhas and Patriarchs is originally level and smooth, and the gate of great liberation fundamentally has no bolt or key. Encompassing the universe and filling empty space, its measure cannot be exhausted, its wisdom cannot be fathomed. If you have not yet clarified this essential tenet and not reached its source, even through a hundred kalpas of perfume-cultivation and a thousand lifetimes of forging conduct, it will merely be wearying toil, entirely irrelevant. If you deeply clarify this essential tenet and thoroughly reach its source, then you will know that in motion and rest, action and conduct, walking, standing, sitting, and lying, every single thing accords with the Way, every thought turns toward the source. Did not the Patriarch say: "Delusion gives birth to quietude and turmoil; awakening knows neither fondness nor dislike. Gain and loss, right and wrong, let them go all at once." If it is thus, who is deluded and who is awakened? Who is right and who is wrong? It is simply that you people independently generate disparate views, observing the great and observing the small, grasping existence and grasping nonexistence. Your own numinous nature shines alone, yet you are unwilling to acknowledge it; the solitary fullness of the mind-moon, you turn against of your own accord. How is this different from abandoning the father in one's own house, or forgetting the jewel inside one's garment? Consequently, upon the road of bodhi brambles grow into a forest, and in the sky of liberation delusive clouds obscure the sun. Today, this mountain monk happens to meet with the community of monks' pravāraṇā and the temple stewards returning to the mountain. You eminent, virtuous people have specially honored us with a visit. I cannot remain silent; according with my lot, I entangle myself in vines and bend slightly to accommodate the present times to open up an expedient means. But you must also fix your eyes and each examine closely. If you still deliberate and muse, white clouds will lie ten thousand miles away.' Thereupon he held up his staff and said, 'If you understand it here, the assembly on Gṛdhrakūṭa is present right before your eyes. If not yet so, wait for tomorrow morning to have it entrusted to you.'

23.31

Chan Master Huan of Mount Liang in Tanzhou. A monk asked, 'The great assembly has gathered like clouds; we request the Master's instruction.' The master said, 'When the sky is calm, one knows not where the clouds go; when the earth is cold, the snow is retained for a long time.' The monk said, 'Your student does not understand these mysterious words; I beg the Master to grant another expedient.' The master said, 'Beyond a layer of mountains, another layer of people.'

23.32

Hermit Zu, after meeting Qingyuan, built a thatched hut in the Heng Mountains. For more than thirty years, no one knew of him. Once, giving vent to his feelings, he composed a verse: 'In a small pot boiling vegetables, on top steaming rice; / When the vegetables are done and the rice fragrant, a person is just hungry. / Once the hungry storehouse is patched, there is nothing to do; / Tomorrow morning, follow the pattern and paint the cat.' Thereupon patch-robed monks parted the brambles to consult him. Lord Zhang Wujin strongly urged him to open the Dharma hall, but he would not comply, and in the end passed away on this mountain.

First 32 of 60 passages. Read on

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續傳燈錄 — Classical Chinese