佛果圜悟禪師碧巖錄

Part 10

CASE NINETY-ONE

YANGUAN’S RHINOCEROS

POINTER: Transcending emotion and departing from views, untying bonds and freeing what clings, raising the supreme vehicle of the school, and upholding the treasury of the true Dharma eye—one must respond fully throughout the ten directions, be clear in all eight directions, and proceed directly to such a realm. Tell me, is there anyone who attains together, realizes together, dies together, and is born together? Let us see it brought forth.

CASE: One day Yanguan called to his attendant, “Bring me the rhinoceros-horn fan.” The attendant said, “The fan is broken.” Yanguan said, “If the fan is broken, then bring me the rhinoceros.” The attendant could not reply.

Touzi said, “It is not that I refuse to bring it, but I fear the horn on its head is not whole.” Xuedou remarked, “I want the pair of horns that is not whole.”

Shishuang said, “If I bring it to the Venerable, then I will no longer have it.” Xuedou remarked, “The rhinoceros is still there.”

Zifu drew a circle and wrote the character “rhinoceros” inside it. Xuedou remarked, “Why did you not lead it here just now?”

Baofu said, “The Venerable is advanced in years; would it not be better to stop asking others?” Xuedou remarked, “What a pity—to expend effort and gain nothing at all.”

COMMENTARY: One day Yanguan called to his attendant, “Bring me the rhinoceros-horn fan.” Although this matter does not lie in words and speech, if one wishes to test a person’s lifelong spirit and mettle, one must nevertheless borrow words to reveal it. On the final day of the final month, if you can still exert yourselves and remain masters of the situation, then even amid ten thousand circumstances you can gaze calmly without being stirred. This may be called function without function, strength without strength.

Yanguan was Chan Master Qi’an. Formerly, he had a fan made of rhinoceros horn. At that time, could Yanguan really not have known that the fan was broken? He deliberately asked his attendant anyway, and the attendant said, “The fan is broken.” See how the ancients were within it throughout the twenty-four hours of the day, always in contact with it. Yanguan said, “If the fan is broken, then bring me the rhinoceros.” Tell me, what did Yanguan want the rhinoceros for? He merely wished to test whether the other person understood the purport of the case.

Touzi said, “It is not that I refuse to bring it, but I fear the horn on its head is not whole.” Xuedou said, “I want the pair of horns that is not whole.” He, too, used a maneuver to respond within those words.

Shishuang said, “If I bring it to the Venerable, then I will no longer have it.” Xuedou said, “The rhinoceros is still there.”

Zifu drew a circle and wrote the character “rhinoceros” inside it. Because he was a Dharma heir of Yangshan, throughout his life he was very fond of using objects and circumstances to receive people. Xuedou said, “Why did you not lead it here just now?” He pierced straight through Zifu’s nostrils.

Baofu said, “The Venerable is advanced in years; would it not be better to stop asking others?” These words were uttered in an exceedingly subtle and secure manner. The three preceding sayings are easy to see, but this saying alone has profound meaning. Xuedou also exposed it completely. This mountain monk understood it while staying with Chief Scribe Qing. He said, “The Venerable is old and aged: getting the head, he forgets the tail. Just now he was looking for the fan, and now he is searching for the rhinoceros. He is truly difficult to please. That is why Baofu said, ‘Venerable, would it not be better to stop asking others?’” Xuedou said, “What a pity—to expend effort and gain nothing at all.”

All these sayings belong to the method of “offering a turning word” as a comment. The ancients saw through this matter. Although each differed from the others, whenever they spoke, every shot struck the mark. They always had a way to emerge, and not a single phrase lost the lifeblood of the school. When people today are questioned, they know only how to reason and calculate. That is why I want everyone under heaven to chew on this matter throughout the twenty-four hours of the day, causing every drop of water to become a drop of ice, while seeking the place of realization. See how Xuedou strings it together in verse:

VERSE

The rhinoceros fan was used for a long time;

But when asked about it, no one knew.

Boundless cool breezes with the pair of horns,

Like passing clouds and rain, hard to pursue.

Xuedou further said, “If you want the cool breeze to return and the pair of horns to grow again, I invite each Chan guest to offer a turning word. The fan is broken; I want you to bring me the rhinoceros.” At that moment a monk stepped forward and said, “May the assembly please enter the Chan hall for inquiry.” Xuedou shouted, “Casting a line to hook a whale, I have instead caught a frog.” He then descended from the seat.

COMMENTARY: “The rhinoceros fan was used for a long time; but when asked about it, no one knew.” Everyone has a rhinoceros-horn fan and benefits from it throughout the twenty-four hours of the day; why, when asked about it, does no one know? The attendant, Touzi, and even Baofu—not one of them knew. Did Xuedou know?

Have you not heard that when Wuzhuo went to visit Manjusri, as they were drinking tea Manjusri raised a crystal cup and asked, “Do they have this in the South?” Wuzhuo said, “No.” Manjusri said, “What do they ordinarily use to drink tea?” Wuzhuo could say nothing. If you understand the essential point of this case, you will know that the rhinoceros horn possesses boundless cool breezes, and you will also see the pair of horns towering upon the rhinoceros’s head.

The way these four old fellows spoke was like morning clouds and evening rain: once they had passed, they were difficult to pursue. Xuedou further said, “If you want the cool breeze to return and the pair of horns to grow again, I invite each Chan guest to offer a turning word. The fan is broken; I want you to bring me the rhinoceros.” At that moment a Chan guest stepped forward and said, “May the assembly please enter the Chan hall for inquiry.” This monk seized the authority of the host.

Although he spoke in an exceedingly close and fitting manner, he had expressed only eighty percent. If you want the full one hundred percent, overturn the Chan seat for him. Tell me, did this monk understand the rhinoceros?

If he did not understand, how did he know to speak in this way? If he understood, why did Xuedou refuse to accept him? Why did Xuedou say, “Casting a line to hook a whale, I have instead caught a frog”?

Tell me, ultimately, how is it? You should simply remain free of concerns; try to append a comment yourselves!

CASE NINETY-TWO

ONE DAY THE WORLD-HONORED ONE ASCENDED THE SEAT

POINTER: Upon merely hearing the sound of the lute string, one discerns the melody; such a person is difficult to encounter even in a thousand years. Seeing a rabbit, one releases the falcon—agile in that very instant. Gather all words and speech into a single phrase; encompass great trichiliocosms as numerous as the sands of the Ganges within a single mote of dust; be born together and die together, applying yourselves vigorously and refining one another—is there anyone who can bear witness? Let us see it brought forth.

CASE: One day the World-Honored One ascended the seat. Manjusri struck the gavel and said, “Attend carefully to the Dharma of the Dharma King. The Dharma of the Dharma King is thus.” The World-Honored One then descended from the seat.

COMMENTARY: Before the World-Honored One held up the flower, this hidden meaning was already present. From the time he first began at Deer Park until he concluded at the Bạt Đề River, how many times did the World-Honored One wield the Jeweled Sword of the Vajra King? If at that time there had been anyone possessing the mettle of a patch-robed monk who could transcend it, he would surely have escaped that final confused spectacle of holding up the flower.

When the World-Honored One remained silent, Mañjuśrī pressed him so that he had to descend from the seat. Even then, this hidden meaning was still present. Śākyamuni's closing the door and Vimalakīrti's keeping his mouth shut were likewise, and thus the matter had already been explained. It was also like Emperor Suzong asking National Teacher Zhong about constructing a seamless stupa, and like the outsider asking the Buddha, “I do not ask about speech, nor do I ask about non-speech.” Look at the provisions of those who journey upward—when have they ever entered a demon's cave to make their home?

Some say the meaning lies in tacit understanding; others say the meaning lies within silence. Speech elucidates what cannot be spoken; non-speech elucidates what can be spoken.

Yongjia said, “Speaking while silent, silent while speaking.” Yet if you understand it in this way, then throughout the three times and sixty kalpas you will not see it even in a dream. If you can take direct responsibility for it, you will no longer see anything as ordinary or sacred. This Dharma is fundamentally equal, without high or low; day after day, hand in hand, you walk together with all the Buddhas.

Finally, see how Xuedou perceived it and composed his verse:

VERSE

If an adept had discerned it within the forest of sages,

The Dharma King's decree would not have been thus.

Had there been a Saindhava guest in the assembly,

Why would Mañjuśrī have needed to strike the gavel?

COMMENTARY: “If an adept had discerned it within the forest of sages.” The eighty thousand members of the great assembly on Vulture Peak were all sages: Mañjuśrī, Samantabhadra, Maitreya, and all the hosts and guests gathered together. Only one accomplished among the accomplished, extraordinary among the extraordinary, could understand the essential intent of the World-Honored One. Xuedou means that in that forest of sages there was not a single person who knew.

Had an adept been present, he would surely have understood that it was not like this. Why? Mañjuśrī struck the gavel and said, “The Dharma King's decree is not thus.” Why?

If someone in the assembly at that time had possessed an eye atop his head and a talisman beneath his arm, he would have seen through the matter even before the World-Honored One ascended the seat. What need would there have been for Mañjuśrī to strike the gavel?

A monk asked Xiangyan, “What does it mean when the king seeks saindhava?” Xiangyan said, “Come here and look.” The monk stepped forward. Xiangyan said, “Hopelessly stupid!” The monk also asked Zhaozhou, “What does it mean when the king seeks saindhava?” Zhaozhou stepped down from the Chan platform, bent forward, and folded his hands. If at that time there had been a saindhava man who could see through it even before the World-Honored One ascended the seat, he might have attained something. The World-Honored One had no sooner ascended the seat than he descended from it, without ever mentioning the matter. Why should it have come to Mañjuśrī striking the gavel? This inevitably made the World-Honored One's Dharma discourse appear dull. Yet tell me: where was it dull?

CASE NINETY-THREE

MASTER DAGUANG DANCES

POINTER: A monk asked Daguang, “Changqing said, ‘Taking advantage of the vegetarian feast to offer praise.’ What does this mean?” Daguang immediately danced. The monk bowed. Daguang immediately danced again. The monk bowed. Daguang said, “What did you see that made you bow?” The monk immediately danced. Daguang said, “You wild-fox spirit!”

COMMENTARY: The twenty-eight Indian patriarchs and the six Chinese patriarchs transmitted only this. But do you understand its essential intent? If you know, you can avoid these words; if not, you remain nothing but wild-fox spirits as before.

Some say that Daguang merely circled around the monk's nostrils to deceive people. If that were truly so, what principle would it embody? Daguang was exceedingly skillful in helping others; in his words there was always a way out. Generally, a master of the lineage must pull out nails and wrench free pegs, loosen what is stuck and untangle what is bound for everyone under heaven; only then can he be called a good spiritual friend.

Daguang danced, and the monk bowed. Finally the monk also danced, whereupon Daguang said, “You wild-fox spirit!” This was not merely turning the monk around. Ultimately, if you do not understand and only dance about wildly like this, when will it ever end? Daguang said, “You wild-fox spirit!” These words cut off Jinniu; they are truly extraordinary. Thus it is said, “Our teacher investigates the living phrase, not the dead phrase.” Xuedou especially appreciated Daguang's saying, “You wild-fox spirit!” Is it the same as or different from “Zang's head is white, Hai's head is black,” “You black lacquer bucket!” or “Good teacher!” Tell me: are these the same or different? Do you understand? Everywhere you go, you encounter this matter. Xuedou's verse says:

VERSE

The first arrow is still light; the second arrow strikes deep.

Who says yellow leaves are pure gold?

If the waves of Caoxi's waters were all alike,

How many ordinary people would be drowned?

COMMENTARY: “The first arrow is still light; the second arrow strikes deep.” Daguang's dancing was the first arrow. He also said, “You wild-fox spirit!” That was the second arrow. From ancient times to the present, these have always been the teeth and claws.

“Who says yellow leaves are pure gold?” Yangshan instructed the assembly: “Each of you must turn the light around and illuminate yourselves; do not memorize my words. Since beginningless kalpas, you have turned your backs on the light and plunged headlong into darkness. The roots of your deluded thoughts are too deep to be uprooted all at once.

Therefore, I provisionally establish expedient means to take away your coarse consciousness, just as one uses yellow leaves to soothe a crying child.” It is like exchanging sweet fruit for a bitter gourd.

The ancients provisionally established expedient means to help everyone under heaven. Once the children had stopped crying, how could the yellow leaves be pure gold? The World-Honored One's teachings throughout his lifetime were also merely words used to soothe crying sentient beings. “You wild-fox spirit!” Daguang merely wished to transform another's karmic consciousness. Within this are both the provisional and the real, as well as illumination and function. Only here can you see the foundation of a patch-robed monk. If you understand, you will be like a tiger that has grown wings.

“If the waves of Caoxi's waters were all alike.” If students everywhere were suddenly concerned only with dancing in this way, and at every moment did nothing but this, countless ordinary people would surely be drowned. Where would there be any place left from which to rescue them?

CASE NINETY-FOUR

SEEING WHAT IS NOT SEEN IN THE ŚŪRAṄGAMA SUTRA

POINTER: A phrase before sound, which the thousand sages do not transmit. A thread before the face, never severed throughout eternity. Free and untrammeled—the white ox on open ground. Eyes intent and ears intent—the golden-haired lion. Setting these aside for the moment, tell me: what is the white ox on the vast open ground?

CASE: The Śūraṅgama Sutra says, “When I do not see, why do you not see the place of my not-seeing? If you see the place of my not-seeing, naturally it is no longer the characteristic of that not-seeing. If you do not see my not-seeing, naturally it is not an object; why, then, is it not you?”

COMMENTARY: The Śūraṅgama Sutra says, “When I do not see, why do you not see the place of my not-seeing? If you see the place of my not-seeing, naturally it is no longer the characteristic of that not-seeing. If you do not see my not-seeing, naturally it is not an object; why, then, is it not you?” Here Xuedou does not quote the entire passage; if the whole passage were quoted, it could be understood more clearly.

The Sutra says, “If seeing were an object, you could see my seeing. If that very seeing were called seeing my seeing, then when I do not see, why do you not see the place of my not-seeing? If you see my not-seeing, naturally it is not the characteristic of not-seeing.

If you do not see my not-seeing, naturally it is not an object; why does it not see? If you do not see my not-seeing, naturally it is not an object; why, then, is it not you?” The passage is very long and is not recorded here in full. Ānanda said, “The lamps and pillars in this world can all be given names. I still wish the Buddha to point out the wondrous, originally luminous nature.

What is it called? Please let me understand the Buddha’s meaning.” The Blessed One said, “I see the incense stand.” Ānanda said, “I too see the incense stand. How do you see it?” Ānanda said, “When I do not see, I myself know it; when you say that you do not see, you yourself know it.

How could you know the place of another person’s not-seeing?” When the ancients spoke to this point, could you only know it for yourselves? When the ancients spoke to this point, you could only know it for yourselves and could not explain it to another. It is like the Blessed One saying, “When I do not see, why do you not see my not-seeing?

If you see my not-seeing, naturally it is not the characteristic of that not-seeing. If you do not see my not-seeing, naturally it is not an object; why, then, is it not you?” If you say that you regard seeing as an object, you have not yet erased all traces. “I do not see” is like the antelope hanging by its horns.

When sound and echo, tracks and traces, and even scent have all vanished, where will you direct your groping? At first, the Sutra’s meaning breaks through by granting; afterward, it breaks through by taking away. Xuedou goes beyond the eye of the doctrinal teachings to compose his verse.

Our teacher does not versify the object, nor does he versify seeing; he versifies only seeing the Buddha.

VERSE

The whole elephant and the whole ox both obstruct the eye;

Even the adepts can only describe them.

If you wish to meet the old yellow-faced one,

In every land and every mote of dust, he is halfway along the road.

COMMENTARY: “The whole elephant and the whole ox both obstruct the eye.” The Nirvana Sutra tells of a group of blind men feeling an elephant, each of whom then offered his own shallow opinion. A monk asked Yangshan, “When someone asks about Chan or the Way, Your Reverence draws a circle and writes the character ‘ox’ inside it. What is your meaning?” Yangshan said, “That too is merely a trifling matter.

If you understand it immediately, it has not come from outside. If you do not understand it immediately, you certainly will not understand it. Let me ask you this: when the venerable adepts in various places point out the Buddha-nature within you, what is it?

Do you regard what speaks as it, or what remains silent? Or is it that which neither speaks nor remains silent? Or do you regard everything as it, or regard nothing at all as it?

If you regard language as it, you are like a blind man grasping the elephant’s tail. If you regard silence as it, you are like a blind man feeling the elephant’s ear. If you regard that which is neither language nor silence as it, you are like a blind man feeling the elephant’s trunk.

If you regard everything as it, you are like a blind man feeling the elephant’s four legs. If you regard nothing at all as it, you cast away the elephant and fall into the view of emptiness. What these blind men feel is only the same elephant, though they describe it differently.

If you wish to do better, do not feel the elephant. Do not say that seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing are it, and do not say that they are not.”

The Sixth Patriarch said, “Bodhi originally has no tree; the bright mirror also has no stand. Originally there is not a single thing—where could dust alight?” He also said, “The Way originally has neither form nor appearance; wisdom itself is the Way. Understanding it in this manner is called true prajñā.” A clear-eyed person sees the elephant in its entirety; seeing the Buddha-nature is also like this.

“The whole ox” comes from the book of Zhuangzi: when Cook Ding carved up an ox, he never saw the ox as a whole. He simply followed its natural patterns in making his cuts, wielding his knife freely without needing to exert any strength. The moment he cast his eyes upon it, the head, horns, legs, and flesh were all already seen distinctly in their proper places.

He worked like this for nineteen years, yet his knife remained as sharp as though it had just been honed. This is called the “whole ox.” Although Cook Ding was extraordinary in this way, Xuedou says that even if you attain such a state, the whole ox and the whole elephant alike merely obstruct your eyes. “Even the adepts can only describe them.” Even the adepts who enter into it still cannot grope it out.

From Kāśyapa down through the Indian and Chinese patriarchs, all the old reverend monks have merely described it.

Xuedou says directly, “If you wish to meet the old yellow-faced one, in every land and every mote of dust, he is halfway along the road.” Thus it is said that if you wish to meet him, meet him directly; but if you insist on searching before meeting him, you are still thousands upon tens of thousands of miles away. Now, if you wish to meet him, in every land and every mote of dust he is still halfway along the road. Ordinarily we say that every mote of dust is a Buddha-land and every leaf is a Śākyamuni.

Even when all the three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system is seen within a single mote of dust, you are still only halfway along the road; half the journey yet remains. Tell me, where is it? Old Śākyamuni himself originally did not know; how could you expect this mountain monk to explain it?

NINETY-FIFTH CASE

CHANGQING’S THREE POISONS

POINTER: Do not abide in a place where there is a Buddha; if you abide there, horns will grow on your head. Pass quickly through a place where there is no Buddha; if you do not pass through quickly, the grass will grow a fathom high. Even if you are free and untrammeled, with no functioning apart from phenomena and no phenomena apart from functioning, you still cannot avoid clutching the tree stump while waiting for a rabbit. Tell me, if it is not like this, how should you proceed? Let us see it brought forth.

CASE: Changqing once said, “I would rather say that an arhat has the three poisons than say that the Tathagata has two kinds of speech. I do not say that the Tathagata is without speech; I only say that the Tathagata does not have two kinds of speech.”

Baofu said, “What is the language of the Tathagata?” Changqing said, “How could a deaf person hear it?” Baofu said, “I know that you are speaking at the second level.” Changqing said, “What is the language of the Tathagata?” Baofu said, “Go drink some tea!”

COMMENTARY: While Changqing and Baofu were in Xuefeng’s assembly, they often admonished and discussed matters with one another. One day, during an ordinary conversation of this kind, Changqing said, “It would be better to say that an arhat possesses the three poisons than to say that the Tathagata has two kinds of speech.” The Sanskrit word arhat means “slayer of the enemy,” a name derived from the arhat’s function. An arhat has severed nine times nine, or eighty-one, kinds of affliction; the outflows have been exhausted and the holy life established.

This is an arhat beyond learning, one who has nothing more to learn. The three poisons are greed, anger, and delusion, the fundamental afflictions. Once the eighty-one kinds of affliction have been severed, what significance could the three poisons possibly have?

Changqing said, “It would be better to say that an arhat possesses the three poisons than to say that the Tathagata has two kinds of speech.” His essential meaning was that no word of the Tathagata is anything but true speech. The Lotus Sutra says, “Only this one matter is true; any second matter is not true.” The sutra also says, “There is only the Dharma of the One Vehicle; there is neither a second vehicle nor a third.” Throughout more than three hundred assemblies, the Blessed One observed beings’ capacities and established teachings accordingly, prescribing medicine in accordance with the illness.

Though he expounded the Dharma in ten thousand ways and a thousand words, ultimately these were never two kinds of speech. How are you to understand the intention of all the Buddhas today? That the Buddha expounded the Dharma with a single sound is certainly not false, yet even in a dream Changqing had never seen the language of the Tathagata.

Why? It is just like someone talking about food: in the end, such talk can never fill the stomach. Baofu saw him expounding doctrine on level ground, and so he asked, “What is the language of the Tathagata?” Changqing said, “How could a deaf person hear it?” Baofu knew that Changqing had been dwelling in a cave for some time, and so he said, “I know that you are speaking at the second level.” Changqing, true to his words, then said, “Then, according to you, elder Dharma brother, what is the language of the Tathagata?” Baofu said, “Go drink some tea!” Changqing had his spear snatched away.

He had lost his money and was charged with a crime besides.

Let me ask you: how many kinds of language does the Tathagata have? You must understand it in this way before you can see; only then will you see where those two old fellows failed. If you examine the matter closely, each of them deserves a beating.

I point out a road so that others may understand. Some say that Baofu was right and Changqing was wrong. They are merely concerned with understanding through words, and so they speak of gain and loss.

Little do they know that the ancients were like sparks struck from flint, like flashes of lightning. People today do not examine the place where the ancients turned themselves around; they merely look at the words and say, “At that time Changqing did not know how to function, and so he fell to the second level. Baofu’s words, ‘Go drink some tea!’ constitute the first level.” If you view the matter in this way, even when Maitreya descends to be born, you still will not see the intention of the ancients.

If you are experts, you will never entertain such an understanding. Leap beyond this framework, and naturally you will have a road that leads upward.

If you ask, “What is wrong with ‘How could a deaf person hear it?’ and what is right with ‘Go!’?” then you are even further from the mark. Thus it is said, “My teacher investigates the living phrase, not the dead phrase.” This story is also like the story of “the whole body, throughout the body”; both are alike in leaving you no opportunity to deliberate over what is right and what is wrong. You must be naturally free and unfettered before you can see where the ancients met one another.

The old teacher Wuzu said, “It is like wrestling before the battle lines.” You need discerning eyes and skillful hands. If you look at this koan with the true eye, you will be able to distinguish gain and loss where there is neither gain nor loss, and distinguish intimacy and estrangement where there is neither intimacy nor estrangement. Changqing ought to have bowed to Baofu.

Why? At precisely this point Baofu acted with consummate skill, like rolling thunder and a shooting star. Baofu was indeed adding teeth upon teeth and growing claws upon claws.

The verse says:

VERSE

Cast away first and second!

A sleeping dragon does not look upon stagnant water.

Where there is none, the moon shines and the waves are clear;

Where there is one, though there is no wind, waves arise.

Chan traveler Ling! Chan traveler Lang!

In the third month, at the Gate of Yu, the forehead is marked.

COMMENTARY: “Cast away first and second!” If people are only concerned with understanding in terms of first and second, they are truly bustling about in dead water. If you can never feel out this subtle mechanism, consider Xuedou’s words: “A sleeping dragon does not look upon stagnant water.” How could a hidden dragon dwell in stagnant water? If there is only “first and second,” that is indeed living in shallow water.

Only where great waves surge and billows reach the heavens can an azure dragon coil itself. Have you not heard it said, “Stagnant water cannot contain a dragon”? And also, “Even the Sleeping Dragon fears the azure pool”?

Therefore Xuedou says that where there is no dragon, there is a clear moon and limpid waves; there is a cool breeze and tranquil waters. Where there is a dragon, waves arise even though there is no wind. It is exactly like Baofu’s saying, “Go drink some tea!” This is truly waves arising without wind.

Here Xuedou sweeps away all your attachments at once and could have ended the verse. Yet he still had lingering resonance with which to complete his composition. As before, he looked directly at the matter—it is altogether extraordinary.

He said, “Chan traveler Ling! Chan traveler Lang! In the third month, at the Gate of Yu, the forehead is marked.” Although Changqing was a dragon that had passed through the Dragon Gate, he nevertheless had his forehead marked by Baofu.

CASE NINETY-SIX

ZHAOZHOU’S THREE TURNING PHRASES

POINTER: Zhaozhou used three turning phrases to instruct the assembly.

COMMENTARY: After giving three turning words, Zhaozhou finally said, “The true Buddha sits within the house.” This statement is exceedingly subtle. The ancient brought forth one eye and extended one hand to receive people everywhere; provisionally borrowing these words to express an idea, he sought to help everyone. If you once again impose the full force of the decree, grass will surely grow ten feet high before the Dharma hall.

Xuedou disliked the final sentence for being too careless, so he omitted it and chanted only the other lines. If a Buddha of clay passes through water, it will surely disintegrate; if a Buddha of gold passes through a furnace, it will surely melt; if a Buddha of wood passes through fire, it will surely burn. What is difficult to understand about that?

Xuedou’s verses on the hundred old cases are filled with entangling vines; only these three lines directly possess the mettle of a patched-robed monk. Yet these three lines of verse are also exceedingly difficult to understand. If you can penetrate these three lines, you will be spared any further need to study and inquire.

VERSE

A Buddha of clay does not pass through water;

Divine Light illumines heaven and earth.

If he had not persisted in the snow,

Who would not be an impostor?

COMMENTARY: “A Buddha of clay does not pass through water; Divine Light illumines heaven and earth.” This single line is already enough to make the verse perfectly clear; yet tell me, why does our master bring up Divine Light? When the Second Patriarch (Divine Light) was born, a divine radiance illuminated the entire house and rose high into the heavens. One night, a divine being appeared and said to the Second Patriarch, “Why have you lingered here so long?

The time for you to attain the Way has now arrived; quickly go south.” Because the Second Patriarch encountered this divine being, he came to be named Divine Light. Divine Light remained in the region of Yi and Luo for quite a long time, studying extensively all manner of books. He often lamented, “The teachings of Confucius and Laozi transmit only customs and rules.

Recently I heard that Great Master Bodhidharma is residing at Shaolin.” He therefore went there and sought an audience morning and evening. Bodhidharma merely sat upright facing the wall and gave no teaching whatsoever. Divine Light thought to himself, “When people of old sought the Way, they broke their bones and drew out their marrow, let their blood to relieve hunger, spread their hair over the mud, cast themselves down from lofty peaks, and gave up their bodies to save starving tigers.

If people of old acted like this, what should I do?”

That year, on the night of the ninth day of the twelfth month, there was a great snowfall. The Second Patriarch stood below the steps until dawn, when the snow had risen to his knees. Bodhidharma took pity on him and asked, “You stand there in the snow like this; what is it that you seek?” The Second Patriarch wept and said, “I only pray that the Master, in his compassion, will open the gate of the ambrosial Dharma and widely deliver sentient beings.” Bodhidharma said, “The wondrous Way of all Buddhas requires diligent cultivation through countless kalpas, practicing what is difficult to practice and enduring what cannot be endured.

How could one hope to attain the true vehicle through petty virtue and petty wisdom, with a frivolous and arrogant mind? No such thing is possible.” Hearing this instruction, the Second Patriarch’s resolve to seek the Way grew still more earnest. Secretly taking up a knife, he cut off his left arm and presented it before Bodhidharma.

Bodhidharma knew that he was a vessel for the Dharma and asked, “You stood in the snow and then cut off your arm like this; what was it for?” The Second Patriarch said, “My mind is not yet at peace; I humbly implore the Master to pacify my mind.” Bodhidharma said, my mind is not yet at peace; I humbly implore the Master to pacify my mind.” Bodhidharma said, “Bring me your mind, and I will pacify it for you.” The Second Patriarch said, “I have searched for the mind, but cannot find it.” Bodhidharma said, “I have pacified your mind for you.” Bodhidharma later changed Divine Light’s name to Huike.

Huike subsequently received Sengcan, the Third Patriarch, as his successor.

Therefore Xuedou said, “If he had not persisted in the snow, who would not be an impostor?” All impostors imitate Divine Light standing in the snow, turning it into an outward fashion; they are nothing but a band of flattering hypocrites. Xuedou chants, “A Buddha of clay does not pass through water”; why, then, does he bring up this story? Our master investigated Chan to the point where not a single thing remained within the faculty of thought; he was completely free, serene, and detached. Only thus could he compose such a verse.

The Fifth Patriarch often instructed people everywhere to contemplate these three lines of verse. Have you not heard that the Venerable Dongshan Shouchu composed a verse to instruct the assembly, saying, “Atop Mount Wutai, clouds are rice; before the Buddha hall, a dog urinates toward the sky. A fried cake sits atop a bamboo staff; three monkeys count coins at night.” Venerable Dushun said, “An ox in Huaizhou eats grain; a horse in Yizhou has a swollen belly.

Seeking physicians everywhere, they needle the left thigh of a pig.” Mahasattva Fu chanted, “Empty-handed, I grasp a hoe; walking on foot, I ride an ox. A man saunters across the bridge; the bridge flows, but the water does not.” He also said, “If the stone man resembles you, he too knows how to sing at ease. If you resemble the stone man, you must sing in harmony with one another.” Only if you understand these words can you understand Xuedou’s verse.

VERSE

A Buddha of gold does not pass through a furnace;

A visitor comes to see Zihu.

A few words upon the signboard—

Where is there no refreshing breeze?

COMMENTARY: “A Buddha of gold does not pass through a furnace; a visitor comes to see Zihu.” A single line would already be enough to conclude the verse, so why did Xuedou also have to add, “A visitor comes to see Zihu”? It requires the anvil and bellows of an adept. Venerable Zihu erected a signboard before the monastery gate.

On it was written, “Zihu has a dog: above, it takes a person’s head; in the middle, it takes a person’s belly; below, it takes a person’s legs. If you hesitate, you will lose your body and your life.” Whenever he saw someone newly arriving, Zihu would shout, “Watch out for the dog!” As soon as the monk turned his head to look, Zihu would return to the abbot’s quarters. Now tell me, why could it not bite Zhaozhou?

One day, late at night, Zihu shouted loudly from the rear of the house, “Catch the thief! Catch the thief!” Bumping into a monk in the darkness, Zihu seized him by the chest and said, “I have caught him! I have caught him!” The monk said, “Venerable, it is not me.” Zihu said, “Indeed it is; you simply do not dare admit it.” If you understand this story, I will let you bite everyone in the world to death.

Wherever the pure wind blows, it is piercingly cold. If you do not understand, you will be unable to do anything with those “few words upon the signboard.” If you wish to see our master, you must penetrate this before you can see the meaning of the verse.

VERSE

A Buddha of wood does not pass through fire;

I often think of Master Stove-Breaker.

His staff suddenly struck—

Only then did he know he had failed himself.

COMMENTARY: “A wooden Buddha does not pass through fire; one always thinks of the Master Who Broke the Stove.” This single line alone would have sufficed to complete the verse. Because of “A wooden Buddha does not pass through fire,” Xuedou therefore always “thinks of the Master Who Broke the Stove.” No one knew the true name of the Venerable Posao, “Stove Breaker,” of Mount Song. His words and conduct were so profound as to be unfathomable, and he lived in seclusion on Mount Song.

One day he led his disciples on a visit to the local villagers. The villagers had a temple that was reputed to be highly efficacious. In its main hall there was nothing but a single stove.

People from near and far came continually to make offerings, slaughtering a great many living beings. The Master entered the temple, struck the stove three times with his staff, and said, “Ah! You are merely made of bricks and earth.

Whence comes your numinous power? Whence does your sanctity arise? How can you have the authority to take life in this way?” Having said this, he struck it three more times.

The stove immediately collapsed and shattered into pieces. In an instant, a man wearing blue robes and a tall cap suddenly appeared before the Master, bowed, and said, “I am the spirit of this stove. For a long time I have endured karmic retribution.

Today, through the Master’s exposition of the Dharma of non-arising, I have been liberated from this place and gained rebirth in heaven. I have therefore come especially to express my gratitude.” The Master said, “That is your inherently existent nature; it did not come from anything I forcibly preached.” The stove spirit bowed once more and disappeared.

The attendant said, “We have studied under the Venerable for a long time, yet we have received no such instruction. What principle did that stove spirit grasp that enabled him to be reborn in heaven like this?” The Master said, “I merely told him: You are only made of bricks and earth. Whence comes your numinous power? Whence does your sanctity arise?” The monk was unable to say anything. The Master asked, “Do you understand?” The monk replied, “I do not understand.” The Master said, “Bow!” The monk bowed. The Master said, “Break apart, break apart! Collapse, collapse!” The attendant monk suddenly attained great awakening.

Later, a monk related this story to National Teacher An. The National Teacher praised it, saying, “This man thoroughly understood the principle that things and self are one suchness.”

The stove spirit awakened, and therefore this occurred. That monk’s body was likewise formed from the five skandhas, so the Master also said, “Break apart, break apart! Collapse, collapse!” Both attained awakening; yet tell me, are the four great elements and five skandhas the same as bricks, tiles, mud, and earth, or are they different? If this is so, why did Xuedou say, “When the staff suddenly strikes, only then does one realize that one has failed oneself”? Why does one become someone who has failed oneself? Only because one has not yet attained the staff.

Tell me, when Xuedou versifies “A wooden Buddha does not pass through fire,” why does he invoke the case of breaking the stove? This old monk will explain it directly for you: his intention is simply to cut off gain and loss and one-sided attachments. Only when you are free, unbound, and liberated will you see the depth of his earnestness.

CASE NINETY-SEVEN

THE DIAMOND SUTRA’S BEING DESPISED

POINTER: To think of one and abandon one is still not the work of an adept. To raise one and understand three still runs counter to the essential principle. Even if heaven and earth suddenly transformed, the four directions fell utterly silent, thunder roared and lightning flashed, clouds swept by and rain poured down, lakes overturned and mountains toppled, bottles emptied and basins were upended, still not even half of it could be brought forth. Is there anyone who knows how to turn the heavenly hinge and revolve the earthly axis? Let us bring it up and see.

CASE: The Diamond Sutra says, “If a person is despised by others, that person committed sinful obstructions in a previous life for which he should have fallen into an evil realm; but because he is despised in this life, the sinful karma of his previous life is thereby extinguished.”

COMMENTARY: The Diamond Sutra says, “If a person is despised by others, that person committed sinful obstructions in a previous life for which he should have fallen into an evil realm; but because he is despised in this life, the sinful karma of his previous life is thereby extinguished.” According to the ordinary explanation, this is a commonly discussed theme in the Sutra. Xuedou raised it and composed a verse on the meaning of this passage because he wished to demolish the erroneous interpretations of the doctrinal schools. Crown Prince Zhaoming [1] cited this passage and held that it has the efficacy of extinguishing karmic obstructions.

The doctrinal schools generally explain the Sutra’s efficacy in this way: a person created karma for hell in a former life but, owing to the power of good karma, has not yet had to undergo its retribution. Because that person is despised by others in this life, all the sinful karma from former lives is thereby extinguished. Thus, this Sutra can extinguish the evil karma of immeasurable kalpas, turn what is heavy into something light, and turn what is light into something that need not be undergone; moreover, it can lead people to attain the Buddha-fruit of bodhi.

According to the doctrinal schools, turning through a little more than twenty chapters of the Sutra is called upholding the Sutra. What significance could there be in speaking this way? Some say that the Sutra itself possesses miraculous efficacy. If so, try taking a copy of the Sutra and leaving it somewhere at random, and see whether any response occurs. Fayan said, “Only realization of Buddhahood can be called upholding the Sutra.” The Sutra says, “All Buddhas, and the Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi [2] of all Buddhas, arise from this Sutra.” Yet tell me, what is meant by “this Sutra”? Is it merely yellow paper wound around red rollers? Do not mistake the balancing point of the scale beam.

Diamond is regarded as the indestructible embodiment of Dharma because nothing can destroy it; moreover, it is so sharp that it can cut through anything. Place it upon a mountain, and the mountain collapses; place it in the sea, and the sea dries up. Therefore it is taken as the title of the Sutra, for the Dharma of the Sutra is likewise so.

Prajnaparamita [3] is of three kinds: first, prajnaparamita as true reality; second, contemplative prajnaparamita; third, literary prajnaparamita. Prajnaparamita as true reality is true wisdom: it is precisely the one great matter right beneath your feet, shining brilliantly through past and present, transcending knowledge and views, free, unbound, and liberated. Contemplative prajnaparamita is the true scripture, illuminating and shaking the earth throughout all twenty-four hours of the day, hearing sounds and seeing forms.

Literary prajnaparamita consists of the words used in exposition—that is, the speaker and the listener here at this very moment. Tell me, is this prajnaparamita or is it not prajnaparamita? An ancient said, “Everyone possesses a single scripture.” He also said, “Empty-handed, one holds the scripture, yet constantly turns its pages.”

If one relies on the miraculous efficacy of this Sutra, why stop at saying that it turns the heavy into the light and the light into what need not be undergone? Even if one could equal the sages, what would be extraordinary about that? Have you not heard that when Layman Pang listened to an exposition of the Diamond Sutra, he asked the lecturer, “This layman has a small question.

I wonder whether I may ask it?” The lecturer said, “If you have any doubt, simply ask.” Layman Pang said, “There is no characteristic of self and no characteristic of person. Since there is neither the characteristic of self nor the characteristic of person, who is preaching and who is listening?” The lecturer could not answer and merely said, “I only rely on the written words to explain their meaning; I do not understand the purport of that statement.” Layman Pang then composed a verse:

This verse is utterly superb; in a single moment, it makes everything completely clear.

Guifeng expounded the four-line verse: “All forms whatsoever are illusory and false. If one sees that forms are not forms, one thereby sees the Tathagata.” The meaning of this four-line verse is entirely the same as that of the statement, “Only upon realizing the stage of Buddhahood can one be said to uphold the sutra.” The sutra also says, “If one sees me through form or seeks me through sound, that person practices a deviant path and cannot see the Tathagata.” This too is a four-line verse, but here only those lines whose meaning is complete have been extracted. A monk asked Huitang, “What is the four-line verse?” Huitang said, “Merely speaking without understanding.”

Xuedou points it out on the basis of the sutra. If someone upholds this sutra, it is everyone’s original landscape, the original face. But if you act according to the Patriarchs’ command, the original landscape and the original face are immediately cut into three sections.

The twelve divisions of the teachings of the Buddhas of the three times are not worth a thing. Once this point is reached, even a hundred thousand abilities would be incapable of bearing it. People nowadays know only how to turn the pages of sutras without understanding their meaning at all.

They merely say, “Today I turned through so many pages.” They know only how to look at yellow paper and red scrolls, counting lines of ink. How could they know that all of it arises solely from their own minds? At most, this is only a slight turning point.

Master Dazhu said, “Pile heaps of sutras in a room and see whether they emit light.” When one’s own mind arises in a single thought, that itself is merit and virtue. Why is this so? Because the myriad dharmas all arise from one’s own mind.

A single thought is numinous; being numinous, it penetrates; once it penetrates, it transforms. An ancient said, “The green, green bamboo is entirely true suchness; the fresh yellow flowers are entirely prajna.” If you see through it completely, it is true suchness. But if you have not yet seen through it, tell me: what do you call true suchness?

The Avatamsaka Sutra says, “If one wishes to fully understand all Buddhas of the three times, one should know that the nature of the entire Dharma realm is nothing but mind.” If you understand, then in every circumstance and under every condition, you are the host and the sovereign. If you have not yet seen clearly, you should listen to the judgment. Xuedou composed a verse to elucidate the sutra’s wondrous efficacy.

VERSE

The bright jewel is in the hand;

Merit is rewarded.

Neither Hu nor Han comes;

There is utterly no skill.

Since there is no skill,

Mara Papiyan loses his way.

Gautama, Gautama!

Do you know me or not?

Again he said, “Seen through!”

COMMENTARY: “The bright jewel is in the hand; merit is rewarded.” If someone upholds this sutra efficaciously, that person will certainly be rewarded with the perfect jewel. Having obtained this jewel, that person will naturally know how to use it. When a Hu comes, a Hu appears; when a Han comes, a Han appears. The myriad phenomena, dense and profuse, manifest freely in every direction. This indeed is meritorious achievement. Fayan said, “Only upon realizing the stage of Buddhahood can one be said to uphold the sutra.” These two lines complete the verse on the entire koan.

“Neither Hu nor Han comes; there is utterly no skill.” Xuedou turns the nose around. When Hu and Han come, they appear; but what is it like when neither Hu nor Han comes? Upon reaching this point, even the Buddha-eye cannot see it.

Tell me: is this meritorious achievement or sinful karma? Is it Hu or Han? It is like an antelope hanging by its horns: not only are there no sounds or traces, there is not even a breath.

In what direction could you go to seek it? One has reached the place where the devas have no path by which to scatter flowers and outsiders have no gate through which to peer. Thus, throughout Master Dongshan’s life as abbot, the local earth deity searched for his traces but could not find them.

One day, someone spilled rice flour in the kitchen, and Dongshan gave rise to the thought, “How dare you treat the property of the community so lightly?” The earth deity then caught sight of him and bowed in reverence.

Xuedou said, “Since there is no skill.” If you reach this place of no skill or capability, even Mara Papiyan will lose his way. The World-Honored One regards all sentient beings as his own infant children. If a person arouses the resolve to practice, Papiyan’s palace begins to collapse; therefore, Papiyan comes to torment the practitioner. Xuedou says that even if Papiyan should come in this way, he would still lose his way as usual and have no means of drawing near.

Xuedou further said, “Gautama, Gautama! Do you know me or not?” Never mind Papiyan—even if the Buddha came, would he know me or not? Even Shakyamuni Buddha cannot see it; where will you grope for it? Again he said, “Seen through!” Did Xuedou see through Gautama, or did Gautama see through Xuedou? Those who have eyes, look carefully and see!

CASE NINETY-EIGHT

MASTER TIANPING’S TWO ERRORS

POINTER: Creating entanglements throughout an entire summer retreat, nearly ensnaring the monks of the five lakes. Only when the Diamond Treasure Sword cuts straight down does one realize that from the beginning there has been a lack of ability. Tell me: what is the Diamond Treasure Sword? Open your eyes; I will reveal its blade for you to see!

CASE: While Master Tianping was traveling on pilgrimage, he went to visit Xiyuan. He would often say, “Do not say that you understand the Buddha Dharma; try to find even one person capable of bringing up the key phrase—you will not find one.” One day, Xiyuan saw Tianping from afar and called, “Congyi!” Tianping raised his head. Xiyuan said, “Wrong!” Tianping took two or three steps forward, and Xiyuan again said, “Wrong!” Tianping came closer. Xiyuan said, “Regarding those two errors just now, was Xiyuan wrong, or was the senior monk wrong?” Tianping said, “Congyi was wrong.” Xiyuan said, “Spend the summer retreat here, and then I will discuss those two errors with you.” Tianping nevertheless departed.

Later, when Tianping became an abbot, he said to the assembly, “At first, when I was traveling on pilgrimage, I was blown by the winds of karma all the way to the place of Elder Ziming. The Elder said, ‘Wrong!’ twice in succession and then urged me to stay for the summer retreat so that we might discuss it. It was not only then that I was wrong; as soon as I set out for the south, I already knew it was wrong.”

COMMENTARY: Ziming first studied with Dajue and later became Baoshu’s Dharma heir. One day he asked, “What is it like when the conjured city is smashed to pieces?” Baoshu said, “A sharp sword does not cut a dead man.” Ziming said, “Cut!” Baoshu struck him. Ziming said, “Cut!” ten times; Baoshu likewise struck him ten times and said, “This fellow does not understand.

Why are you in such a hurry to bring out a dead man to endure such painful blows?” Then he shouted and drove Ziming outside. At that time, a monk asked Baoshu, “The monk’s question just now was most reasonable. I beg you, Master, to receive him skillfully.” Baoshu struck him as well and drove that monk outside too.

Tell me: when Baoshu drove that monk outside, was it merely because he spoke of right and wrong, or was there some other reason? What was the Master’s intention? Later, both of them—Ziming and the monk—became Baoshu’s Dharma heirs.

One day, Ziming went to see Nanyuan. Nanyuan asked, “Where have you come from?” Ziming said, “From Xuzhou.” Nanyuan said, “What have you brought with you?” Ziming said, “I have brought a razor blade from Jiangxi to present to the Venerable.” Nanyuan said, “If you have come from Xuzhou, how is it that you have a razor blade from Jiangxi?” Ziming took Nanyuan’s hand and pinched it. Nanyuan said, “Where is the attendant? Drag this fellow outside and see!” Ziming flicked his sleeves and departed. Nanyuan said, “Alas!”

Tianping once went to call upon Xianshan. Because he had traveled everywhere and stuffed his belly full of this turnip Chan, wherever he went he would open his mouth and loudly proclaim, “I understand Chan; I understand the Way.” He would often say, “Never mind understanding the Buddha-Dharma—not even one person can be found who can raise a critical phrase.” His foul stench clung to others and merely engendered contempt.

Before the buddhas appeared in the world, before the Patriarch came from the Western Land, before there were questions and answers and before there were public cases, was there still a Way of Chan? The ancients had no choice but to teach in response to circumstances; people of later generations called these teachings “public cases.” Once, the World-Honored One held up a flower and Kasyapa smiled. Later, Ananda asked Kasyapa, “Besides transmitting the golden robe, did the World-Honored One transmit any special teaching?” Kasyapa called, “Ananda!” Ananda replied, “Yes?” Kasyapa said, “Take down the flagpole before the gate.” Yet before the flower was held up, before Kasyapa was questioned, where could any public case have existed?

It is only that those everywhere take a watermelon seal and stamp away with it; once they have been stamped, they say, “I understand the extraordinary Buddha-Dharma; do not let anyone else know.”

Tianping was just like this. When Xiyuan twice in succession said to him, “Wrong!” he became flustered and confused, unable to distinguish anything at all. Truly, “ahead he could not reach the village, and behind he could not reach the inn.” Some say that merely speaking of the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the Western Land was already wrong.

They understand absolutely nothing of what Xiyuan’s two utterances of “Wrong!” meant. Tell me, what was the meaning of these two utterances of “Wrong!”? Thus it is said, “He investigated the living phrase, not the dead phrase.” As soon as Tianping raised his head, he immediately fell into duality and multiplicity.

Xiyuan said, “Wrong!” Yet Tianping did not comprehend the point of Xiyuan’s direct functioning and merely said, “My belly is full of Chan.” Paying no heed to Xiyuan, he walked another two or three steps. Xiyuan again said, “Wrong!” Tianping remained as much in the dark as ever and approached Xiyuan. Xiyuan said, “Regarding those two utterances of ‘Wrong!’ just now, was Xiyuan wrong, or was the senior monk wrong?” Tianping said, “Congyi was wrong.” Fortunately, none of it mattered.

Tianping had already fallen into the seventh or eighth rank. Xiyuan said, “Spend the summer retreat here, and then I shall discuss those two utterances of ‘Wrong!’ with you.” Tianping nevertheless departed at that time. He appeared to be right, but was not truly right.

I do not say that he was not right; I merely say that he was unable to bring it forth. Even so, he still possessed a little of the mettle of a patched-robed monk.

Later, when Tianping was abbot of a monastery, he told the assembly, “At the beginning of my pilgrimage, the winds of karma blew me all the way to the place of Elder Ziming. The Elder said, ‘Wrong!’ twice in succession, and then urged me to remain for the summer retreat so that we could discuss it. It was not only then that I was wrong; the very moment I set out for the south, I already knew it was wrong.” This old fellow was not bad, yet he had fallen into the seventh or eighth rank, and none of it mattered.

When people nowadays hear him say, “The very moment I set out for the south, I already knew it was wrong,” they speculate and say, “Before setting out on pilgrimage, there was not much of any Way or Chan; once he went on pilgrimage, he was deceived by teachers everywhere. Before he went on pilgrimage, he called earth heaven and mountains rivers; fortunately, there was no matter at all.” If you possess such commonplace understanding, why not buy a hat and wear it while sitting at home?

What use is it? The Buddha-Dharma is not such a principle. If this matter is discussed, how could there be so many entangling vines?

If you say, “I understand; others do not,” and carry a load of Chan around the world, when someone with clear eyes exposes you, you will be unable to use even the slightest bit of it. Xuedou’s verse is precisely about this.

VERSE

Chan practitioners

Delight in contemptuous frivolity.

They investigate until their bellies are full, yet cannot put it to use;

Pitiful and laughable is old Tianping.

He even regrets having first set out on pilgrimage.

Wrong, wrong!

The cool breeze of Xiyuan melts everything away at once.

Xuedou further said, “If a monk were to step forward and say, ‘Wrong!’ how should Xuedou’s ‘wrong’ be compared with Tianping’s ‘wrong’?”

COMMENTARY: “Chan practitioners delight in contemptuous frivolity. They investigate until their bellies are full, yet cannot put it to use.” This fellow did understand, but he was unable to put it to use. He would often raise his eyes to the high heavens and declare how thoroughly he understood Chan; yet when someone exposed him even slightly, he could make no use of it whatsoever.

Wuzu said, “Some people investigate Chan as though they were inside a glass bottle: they cannot turn and cannot move, but the moment it is touched, it shatters. If you want to be lively and free, investigate leather-bag Chan; even if it is thrown down from a high mountain, it will not break.” An ancient said, “Even if you understand before words are spoken, you are still sealed up; even if you thoroughly master the phrase, you still cannot avoid insane views.”

“Pitiful and laughable is old Tianping. He even regrets having first set out on pilgrimage.” Xuedou says that he was pitiful because he could not explain it to others, and laughable because his belly was full of Chan yet he could not put it to use. “Wrong, wrong!” Some say that these two utterances of “wrong” mean that his failure to speak was wrong.

But what does that matter? They do not know that these two utterances of “wrong” are like a spark struck from flint or a flash of lightning. This is precisely the place of activity of one who has transcended; it is like wielding a sword to cut down a person, seizing another directly by the throat, so that at that moment the vital cord is severed.

If you can walk upon the edge of this sword, you may roam freely in every direction. If you understand these two utterances of “wrong,” only then can you see the cool breeze of Xiyuan blowing until all melts away. After Xuedou ascended the hall and finished teaching this public case, he intended to say, “Wrong!” Let me ask you: how should Xuedou’s “wrong” be compared with Tianping’s “wrong”?

Go and investigate Chan for another thirty years!

CASE NINETY-NINE

EMPEROR SUZONG’S TEN-BODIED TAMER

POINTER: When the dragon cries, mist rises; when the tiger roars, wind is born. Within the marks of one who has transcended the world, gold and jade strike against each other; in the strategy of one who has mastered all directions, arrowheads meet. Nothing in the world is concealed; far and near are plainly revealed, and ancient and present are clearly discerned. Tell me, whose realm is this? Let us raise it and see.

CASE: Emperor Suzong asked National Teacher Huizhong, “What is the ten-bodied Tamer?” The National Teacher said, “Benefactor, walk over the head of Vairocana.[4]” Suzong said, “We do not understand.” The National Teacher said, “Do not acknowledge your own pure Dharma body.”

COMMENTARY: While Emperor Suzong was still in the Eastern Palace as Crown Prince, he had already studied under National Teacher Huizhong. Later, when he ascended the throne, he revered the National Teacher even more deeply. Whenever the National Teacher entered or left the palace, Suzong would welcome him and personally hold the ceremonial parasol over him.

One day he asked the National Teacher, “What is the ten-bodied tamer?” The National Teacher said, “Benefactor, you are walking atop the head of Vairocana.” Throughout his life, the National Teacher had a spine as hard as iron and steel; yet when he came before the emperor, he became as soft as mud. Although the National Teacher answered in meticulous detail, there was still something excellent in it. The National Teacher said, “If Your Majesty wishes to understand...” The emperor replied, “We do not understand.” The National Teacher then, out of profound concern, entered the weeds and explained his first statement more clearly: “Do not take your own pure Dharmakaya to be it.” This is what everyone possesses, what is perfect and complete in every person.

See how the master now releases, now grasps, meeting adversaries from all eight directions.

Have you not heard that one who serves as a teacher must know how to teach in accordance with circumstances? One must watch the wind and set the sail. If one merely clings to a single corner, how can one respond with flexibility?

See how skillfully old Huangbo received people everywhere. When he encountered Linji, he struck him sixty painful blows on three occasions, and through this Linji attained understanding. Yet when he guided Chancellor Pei Xiu, the affair became exceedingly intricate.

Was Huangbo not a fine teacher? National Teacher Huizhong used skillful means to receive Emperor Suzong because he was able to meet adversaries from all eight directions. The ten-bodied tamer means the ten enjoyment bodies.

The three bodies—the Dharma Body (Dharmakaya), Reward Body (Sambhogakaya), and Transformation Body (Nirmanakaya)—are the Dharmakaya. Why is this? Because the Reward Body and Transformation Body are neither the true Buddha nor the one who expounds the Dharma.

So long as one still relies upon the Dharmakaya, it is merely a single expanse of empty, congealed luminosity, numinously quiescent and shining.

When Senior Monk Fu of Taiyuan was lecturing on the Nirvana Sutra at Guangxiao Monastery in Yangzhou, a traveling monk who had formerly served as cook at Jiashan was stranded at the monastery by snow and therefore went in to attend the lecture. When the lecture reached the three causes of Buddha-nature and the three virtues of the Dharmakaya, Senior Monk Fu was extensively explaining the wondrous principle of the Dharmakaya when the cook suddenly burst out laughing.

Senior Monk Fu glanced at him. After the lecture was over, he invited the Chan practitioner to come forward and asked, “My understanding is narrow and shallow, and I merely follow the text in explaining its meaning. Just now, while I was lecturing, I saw you laugh, Venerable One.

There must be some error in what I said. Please point it out to me.”

The cook said, “Had the lecturer not asked, how would I dare speak? But now that the lecturer has asked, I cannot remain silent. In truth, I laughed because the lecturer does not understand the Dharmakaya.” Senior Monk Fu said, “I explained it in this way; where was I wrong?” The cook said, “Please lecture on it once more.” Senior Monk Fu said, “The principle of the Dharmakaya is like empty space: vertically, it exhausts the three times; horizontally, it extends throughout the ten directions; it fills the three ultimates and encompasses the two principles.

Responding according to causes and conditions, there is nowhere it does not pervade.” The cook said, “I do not say that the lecturer’s explanation is incorrect, but the lecturer knows only the measure of the Dharmakaya and does not truly know the Dharmakaya.” Senior Monk Fu said, “If that is so, Chan practitioner, please explain it to me.” The cook said, “If the lecturer wishes, please suspend your lectures for one week.

Simply sit quietly in a secluded room, gather in the mind and collect your thoughts, relinquish all wholesome and unwholesome conditions at once, and investigate it for yourself.”

Senior Monk Fu did as instructed. From the beginning of the night until the fifth watch, he sat; when he heard the watch drum, he suddenly awakened in accord with the truth and went to knock on the Chan practitioner’s door. The cook asked, “Who is it?” Senior Monk Fu said, “It is I.” The cook scolded him, saying, “I want you to uphold the great teaching and expound the Dharma on behalf of the Buddha. Why, in the middle of the night, are you lying drunk beside the road?” Senior Monk Fu said, “Until now, in lecturing on the sutras, I have merely fattened the nostrils my parents gave me. From this day forward, I will never dare do so again.”

Look at this extraordinary man! Would he merely recognize that shining, numinous awareness and then become obscure and confused? One must shatter karmic consciousness until there is nothing whatsoever to attain; even then, one has reached only halfway. An ancient said, “Without giving rise to the slightest thought of cultivation or study, one is ever at ease within the light of no-form.” One must know only constant quiescent extinction and not recognize sights and sounds; know only numinous awareness and not recognize deluded thoughts. Thus it is said, “Even if iron wheels revolved upon your heads, if samadhi and wisdom are perfect and radiant, they will never be lost in the end.”

Bodhidharma asked the Second Patriarch, “You have stood in the snow and cut off your arm; what is it that you seek?” The Second Patriarch said, “My mind is not yet at peace. I implore you, Master, to pacify my mind.” Bodhidharma said, “Bring me your mind, and I will pacify it for you.” The Second Patriarch said, “I have searched for the mind, but cannot find it.” Bodhidharma said, “I have pacified your mind for you.” The Second Patriarch suddenly awakened. Tell me, at that very moment, where was the Dharmakaya? Changsha said, “Students of the Way do not know the Real, simply because they have always recognized the conscious spirit. The root of birth and death through immeasurable kalpas, fools call it the original person.”

People today recognize only this shining, numinous awareness. They raise their brows, glare with their eyes, and perform all manner of tricks—but what relevance does any of it have? The National Teacher said, “Do not take your own pure Dharmakaya to be it.” As for your own Dharmakaya, however, you have not seen it even in a dream.

How, then, can one speak of not recognizing it? The doctrinal schools regard the pure Dharmakaya as the ultimate principle, so why does he not permit others to recognize it? Have you not heard it said, “If you recognize it, you are still mistaken as before”?

Ah, it would be better to strike you once with a staff. Only one who understands this can understand the National Teacher’s words: “Do not take your own pure Dharmakaya to be it.” Xuedou did not care for the National Teacher’s excessive earnestness, yet there are thorns in the mud—what can be done?

Do you not know that Dongshan had three roads by which he received people everywhere? They were called the “Mystic Road,” the “Bird Path,” and “Extending the Hand.” Those who are beginners in studying the Way should endeavor to follow these three roads. A monk asked, “Master, you often teach students of the Way to follow the ‘Bird Path.’ May I ask what the Bird Path is?” Dongshan said, “Simply proceed without self-concern.” The monk said, “If this disciple merely follows the ‘Bird Path,’ would that not be this disciple’s original face?” Dongshan said, “Why are you so inverted, Acarya?” The monk said, “In what way is this disciple inverted?” Dongshan said, “If you are not inverted, why do you take a servant for the master?” The monk asked, “What is the original face?” Dongshan said,

“Not walking the Bird Path.”

One must see to this extent before there can be some measure of accord. Even if you sweep everything clean, eliminate every trace, and remain silent, within the tradition of the patch-robed monks this is merely the understanding of novices and children. You must turn your head back toward the dust of the world and activate the great function. Xuedou’s verse says:

VERSE

Teacher of a nation—merely a forced name;

Nanyang alone spreads his fragrant fame.

He assisted the true Son of Heaven of the Great Tang,

Who once walked atop Vairocana’s head.

An iron hammer smashes the golden bones;

Between heaven and earth, what is this thing?

Throughout three thousand oceans of worlds, the night is silent;

Who knows who has entered the blue dragon’s cave?

COMMENTARY: “Teacher of a nation is merely a name imposed by force; only Nanyang’s fragrant fame resounds.” This verse is also like a eulogy offered before a portrait. Have you not heard it said that the consummate person has no name? To call him National Teacher is merely to force a name upon him. The National Teacher’s Way was originally beyond comparison. Our teacher skillfully receives people in this fashion.

Only Nanyang is regarded as an adept. “He assisted the true Son of Heaven of the Great Tang and once walked upon the crown of Vairocana’s head.” If you possess the eyes and brains of patch-robed monks, you must walk upon Vairocana’s head before you can behold these ten bodies of the Tamer. The Buddha is also called the Tamer; this is one of the Buddha’s ten epithets. One body transforms into ten bodies, ten bodies transform into a hundred bodies, and so on to hundreds of millions of bodies, yet altogether they are only one body. This line of verse provides an explanation; the following line versifies the National Teacher’s words: “Do not take your own pure Dharma-body for it.” He versifies it so that even water poured upon it could not wet it. It is truly difficult to explain.

“An iron hammer smashes the golden bones.” This versifies the saying, “Do not take your own pure Dharma-body for it.” Xuedou praises Huizhong to the utmost: with a single blow, the golden bones are shattered. “Between heaven and earth, what is this thing?” Only when one is free and untrammeled, with not a single thing to be attained, is it the scenery of the original ground. “Throughout three thousand oceans of worlds, the night is silent.” The trichiliocosm contains boundless lands, and within each land there is an ocean. In the silent depths of night, when heaven and earth are crystal clear, tell me: what is this? Above all, do not understand it as closing your eyes and stopping your nose. If you understand it that way, you will fall into a poisonous sea.

“Who knows who has entered the blue dragon’s cave?” Beneath the foot that steps out is the foot that steps in; tell me, who is it? Xuedou has pierced everyone’s noses all at once.

CASE ONE HUNDRED

BALING’S SHARP SWORD

POINTER: Gathering in the results, exhausting the beginning and the end. Face to face, without partiality, nothing has ever been said. If someone should suddenly step forward and say, “Throughout the entire summer you have continually asked for instruction; why do you say that nothing has ever been said?” Wait until you awaken, and then I shall tell you. Tell me: is this the pivotal encounter, or is there some other advantage? Try to bring it forth.

CASE: A monk asked Baling, “What is the sharp sword?” Baling said, “Each branch of coral supports the moon.”

COMMENTARY: Baling did not move sword or spear, yet throughout the four seas and five lakes, how many people’s tongues fell out! Yunmen received the people of the world in precisely this fashion. Baling belonged to Yunmen’s lineage, and therefore fully possessed Yunmen’s methods. Thus Xuedou said, “I delight in Shaoyang’s fresh and lively workings; throughout his life, our teacher concerned himself solely with pulling out nails and extracting pegs for the people of the world.”

This story is exactly like that: within one phrase, the three phrases are naturally complete—the phrase that contains heaven and earth, the phrase that cuts off all streams of thought, and the phrase that follows the waves. Our teacher’s answer is truly extraordinary. Master Yuanlu of Fushan said, “Those who have not penetrated deeply investigate the meaning rather than the phrase. Those who have penetrated, however, investigate the phrase rather than the meaning.” In Yunmen’s school, three venerable adepts responded to this question about the “sharp sword.” They all said, “Complete.” Baling alone gave an answer that surpassed that word “complete.” This is indeed a phrase of attainment.

Yet tell me: are “complete” and “each branch of coral supports the moon” the same or different? Earlier, Xuedou said, “The three bridges may change; a single arrow flies through space.” If you wish to understand this phrase, you must cut off the defilements of emotion and conceptual thought and become utterly pure; only then can you understand the meaning of the words “each branch of coral supports the moon.” If you merely embroider additional arguments upon it, you will never be able to grope your way to it.

These words come from Chan Master Guanyue’s poem “Remembering a Friend”: “Thick as iron upon Iron Mountain, thin as the soft silk upon Shuangcheng’s body. Phoenixes and chickens in the land of Shu are often entangled; each branch of coral supports the moon. Hidden in Wang Qi’s house, it is hard to find; the starving Yan Hui grieves beneath the snowy sky.

The upright pine’s root is not broken by lightning; the stone maiden, robed in snow, unties a pearl, wears it into the Dragon Palace, and walks at ease. How could brocade curtains and silver mats compare? The black dragon has lost its pearl—does anyone know?” Baling took one line from this poem to answer the question about the “sharp sword.” How agile he was!

Blow a strand of hair against the sword’s edge to test it; if the strand severs of itself, it is a sharp sword, called the “Hair-Blowing Sword.” Baling relied solely upon the monk’s question and answered him directly. The monk’s opening words fell away, yet he did not even realize it.

VERSE

Leveling what is uneven,

So skillful it seems clumsy.

On the fingertip, in the palm,

Leaning against heaven, reflecting the snow.

A skilled swordsmith cannot file and polish it;

A master craftsman has yet to finish burnishing its point.

Extraordinary—

Each branch of coral supports the moon.

COMMENTARY: “Leveling what is uneven, so skillful it seems clumsy.” In ancient times there were chivalrous swordsmen who, if they encountered injustice on the road—such as the strong oppressing the weak—would brandish their swords and take the heads of the strong. Thus the masters of the lineage concealed precious swords beneath their brows and carried golden hammers within their sleeves to judge all matters of injustice. So skillful it seems clumsy. Baling’s reply was intended to level what was uneven; because his words were exceedingly skillful, they appeared instead to be clumsy. Why was this? Because he did not charge straight ahead, but circled around to one side and secretly took the heads of the people of the world without their knowing it.

“On the fingertip, in the palm, leaning against heaven, reflecting the snow.” If you understand, it is like the long Heaven-Leaning Sword, awe-inspiring in its divine majesty. An ancient said, “The mind-moon is solitary and full, illuminating the myriad forms. When illumination and objects are both forgotten, what is it?” This precious sword appears at times on the fingertip and at times in the palm.

Long ago, when Storehouse Master Qing reached this point in his discourse, he raised his hand and asked, “Do you see?” Yet it is not necessarily on the fingertip. Xuedou merely borrows a shortcut to help you see the ancient’s meaning. Nevertheless, there is nowhere that is not the “Hair-Blowing Sword”; thus it is said, “Above three tiers of towering waves, the fish transforms into a dragon, while fools still draw water from the lake at night.”

Xuedou says that this sword can lean against heaven and reflect the snow. It is commonly said that a long sword leaning against heaven for a long time can cast its radiance upon the snow. With only this slight point of application, even a skilled swordsmith cannot file and polish it, and a master craftsman has yet to finish burnishing it. After completing his verse, Xuedou finally declares plainly, “Extraordinary!” It is indeed extraordinary and possesses a unique excellence, unlike ordinary swords. Tell me: in what respect is this sword extraordinary? “Each branch of coral supports the moon.” Truly, nothing like it existed before or came after; it stands alone beneath heaven, without equal.

Ultimately, what is it like? Your heads have already fallen off. This old monk has one more short verse:

“A boat filled with ten thousand hu of cargo—just keep hauling it along;
All because a single seed of the bottle gourd swallowed a snake.
I raise a hundred ancient cases—
Into how many people’s eyes am I flinging sand?”

Notes:

[1] Crown Prince Zhaoming was the son of Emperor Wu of Liang. He was highly versed in the Buddha-Dharma and wrote many commentaries and subcommentaries on the scriptures.

[2] Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi is Sanskrit and means unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.

[3] “If one sees me through form or seeks me through sound, that person follows a deviant path and cannot see the Tathagata.”

[4] “Vairocana” is the Sanskrit term that the Chinese transliterated as “Piluzhena,” and it means the true body of the Buddha. The various Buddhist schools explain this term in many different ways. Ordinarily, however, “Vairocana” is used to refer to the Buddha’s Dharma Body.