景德傳燈錄

THE JINGDE RECORD OF THE TRANSMISSION OF THE LAMP — VOLUME 9

– The Dharma successors of the aforementioned Chan Master of Xitang, Qianzhou,

numbered 4:
1. Chan Master Chu Wei of Qianzhou (This one master is recorded in the records.)
2. Chan Master Dao Yi of Jilin
3. Chan Master Hui of Silla
4. Chan Master Hong Zhi of Silla (The above three masters have no recorded encounters
or sayings and therefore are not included in the records.)

– The Dharma successors of the aforementioned Chan Master Bao Che of Mount Magu, Puzhou,

numbered 2:
1. Chan Master Liang Sui of Shouzhou (This one master is recorded in the records.)
2. Chan Master Wuran of the kingdom of Silla (This one master has no recorded encounters or
sayings and therefore is not included in the records.)

– The Dharma successors of the aforementioned Chan Master Ru Hui of Dong Monastery, Hunan,

numbered 4:
1. Chan Master Hui Chao of Shushan, Huzhou (This one master is recorded in the records.)
2. Chan Master Jing Zhu of Shuzhou
3. Chan Master Guang Zhao of Zhuangyan Monastery
4. Chan Master Zhao of Mount Maipu, Tanzhou (The above three masters have no
recorded encounters or sayings and therefore are not included in the records.)

– The Dharma successors of the aforementioned Chan Master Huai Yun of Zhangjing Monastery, Jingzhao,

– The aforementioned Dharma successors of Chan Master Huai Hai of Baizhang,

in the third generation.
1. Chan Master Ling You of Mount Gui, Tanzhou.
The Master was from Zhangxi in Fuzhou, and his family name was Zhao. At the age of fifteen, he bade
farewell to his parents and left home, relying upon Vinaya Master Fa Chang at Jianshan Monastery
in his native commandery to have his head shaved. He received the precepts at Longxing Monastery in Hangzhou.
He thoroughly mastered the sutras and Vinaya of both the Mahayana and the Lesser Vehicle. At the age of twenty-three, the Master went to Jiangxi
to inquire of Chan Master Dazhi at Baizhang. As soon as Master Baizhang saw
the Master, he admitted him into his chamber. He subsequently became foremost among those studying there. One day,
while standing in attendance, Baizhang asked, “Who is it?” The Master replied, “Ling You.” Baizhang
asked, “Rake through the hearth and see whether there is any fire.” The Master raked through it and said, “There is none.”
Baizhang rose, raked deeply, and found a little ember. Holding it up, he instructed him, saying,
“Is this not fire?” The Master awakened, bowed in gratitude, and presented his understanding.
Baizhang said, “This is merely a temporary fork in the road. The sutra says
that if one wishes to see Buddha-nature, one must contemplate the causes and conditions of the proper time. When the time has arrived,
it is like suddenly awakening from delusion, like abruptly remembering something forgotten; only then does one know that it is one’s own possession,
not something obtained from another. Therefore, the Patriarch said: ‘After awakening, one is the same as before awakening. With no-mind, one attains no Dharma;
there is merely no vainly discriminating mind regarding ordinary beings, sages, and so forth.’ From the beginning,
the Dharma of mind has always been complete in itself. Now that you understand it well, guard it yourself.”
At that time, Headman Sima came from Hunan. Baizhang summoned him
and said, “This old monk wishes to go to Mount Gui. Would that be suitable?” He replied, “Mount Gui
is most extraordinary and could gather a community of fifteen hundred, but it is not a place
for the Venerable to reside.” Baizhang asked, “Why is that?” He replied, “The Venerable
is a man of bone, whereas that is a mountain of flesh. If you dwell there, the assembly will not reach one thousand.”
Baizhang asked, “Is there anyone in my assembly who could reside there?” He replied,
“Let me examine them.” Baizhang then instructed an attendant to summon the Head Seat
(namely Venerable Hualin) and asked, “How about this man?” The Headman
cleared his throat once and walked a few steps. He replied, “This man will not do.” Baizhang then
instructed him to summon the cook (namely Ling You). The Headman said, “This man is indeed
the master of Mount Gui.” That night, Baizhang called the Master into his chamber and charged him, saying, “My
HISTORICAL RECORDS 9
conditions for teaching are here; as for the excellent site of Mount Gui, you shall dwell there, so that the Dharma successors
of our lineage may widely guide later students.” When Hualin heard this, he immediately said, “I
hold the position of head of the assembly. How can that You be appointed abbot?” Baizhang said,
“If, before the assembly, you can utter one outstanding statement, you shall go and become abbot together.” He then pointed
to a pure-water bottle and asked, “Without calling it a pure-water bottle, what do you call it?” Hualin
said, “It cannot be called a wooden stump.” Baizhang did not accept this and then asked
the Master. The Master kicked over the pure-water bottle. Baizhang laughed and said, “The Head Seat has lost
the mountain.” He then sent the Master to dwell on Mount Gui. That mountain was lofty, remote, and devoid of human habitation. The Master
kept company with monkeys and gibbons and ate wild greens and fruit. The inhabitants below the mountain gradually
learned of him and came together to build dwellings. Li Jingrang petitioned the emperor, who bestowed upon it the name
Tongqing Monastery. Chancellor Pei Xiu once came to inquire about and study its profound mysteries.
Thereafter, students of Chan from throughout the realm came in ever greater numbers. The Master ascended the Dharma hall
and instructed the assembly, saying, “The mind of one who cultivates the Way must be upright, without deceit,
without front or back, and without engaging in crooked conduct. At all times, seeing and hearing should remain
ordinary and unwarped. Nor does this mean covering one’s ears and remaining insensible; it is only necessary that feelings
not pursue external things. What the sages from ancient times onward called the turbid harbor of transgression is precisely this. If it is not
so, abundant emotional consciousness and evil will become habitual appearances. It is like autumn water,
settled, still, and utterly clear, yet not silent extinction; settled without obstruction. Such a one is called
a person of the Way and also a person with nothing to do.” At that time, a monk asked, “Does one who has suddenly
awakened still cultivate?” The Master said, “If one has truly awakened, then when one attains the fundamental, one knows it for oneself;
cultivation and non-cultivation are dualistic words. Although now the initial resolve of mind may arise through conditions,
and in a single thought one may swiftly awaken to one’s own principle, the habitual tendencies accumulated through many kalpas since beginningless time have not yet
been swiftly purified. One must therefore teach that person to exhaustively eliminate present karma and the flow of consciousness; that is precisely

In teaching practitioners, he did not say that there was some separate Dharma by which to instruct them in cultivation and the direction of their progress. Rather, they entered the principle through hearing it; upon hearing the profound and wondrous principle, the mind naturally became luminous and no longer dwelt in delusion. Even though hundreds of thousands of wondrous meanings might be expounded, at that moment the outer robe would naturally come off, and one would establish a way of life.

In brief, within the principle of ultimate reality, not a single mote of dust is admitted; within the gateway of the myriad practices, not a single Dharma is abandoned. If one can enter by this single path, all sentiments concerning ordinary beings and sages will cease, the true and constant essence will be revealed, and principle and phenomena will be nondual: this is the Buddha of Suchness.

Yangshan asked, “What is the meaning of the coming from the Western Land?”

The Master said, “It truly is that lantern.”

Yangshan said, “Do not merely point to that. What is it?”

The Master said, “What is that?”

Yangshan said, “It is the lantern.”

The Master said, “Indeed, you do not understand.”

One day the Master addressed the assembly, saying, “There are many who have attained the Great Function, but have not attained the Great Application.”

Yangshan took these words and asked the hermitage master below the mountain, “What is the purport of the Venerable’s statement?”

The hermitage master said, “Present it and let me see.”

As soon as Yangshan repeated it, the hermitage master kicked him and knocked him headlong to the ground. Yangshan returned and related this to the Master, who laughed loudly.

The Master was sitting in the Dharma Hall. The storekeeper struck the wooden board, while the fire attendant kindled the fire, clapped his hands, and laughed loudly. The Master said, “There is also such a person in the assembly.” He called him over and asked, “What are you doing?”

The fire attendant said, “I did not announce the gruel; therefore, because I am hungry, I rejoice.”

The Master nodded.

During the general tea-picking, the Master said to Yangshan, “All day long while picking tea, I have heard only your voice but have not seen your form. Show me your original form.”

Yangshan shook the tea plant.

The Master said, “You have attained only the application, but not the essence.”

Yangshan said, “I wonder how it is with the Venerable.”

The Master remained silent for a long while.

Yangshan said, “The Venerable has attained only the essence, but not the application.”

The Master said, “I pardon you twenty blows.”

The Master ascended the Dharma Hall. A monk came forward and asked, “I beg the Venerable to expound the Dharma for the assembly.”

The Master said, “For your sake, I have penetrated the cause.”

The monk bowed.

The Master said to Yangshan, “You, Ji, realize the Way swiftly, without entering the skandhas and dhatus.”

Yangshan said, “Huiji does not even establish faith.”

The Master asked, “Do you have faith but do not establish it, or do you have no faith and do not establish it?”

Yangshan said, “There is only Huiji; in whom else should I have faith?”

The Master said, “If so, you are a shravaka of fixed nature.”

Yangshan said, “Huiji does not even see a Buddha.”

The Master asked Yangshan, “Of the forty-nine fascicles of the Nirvana Sutra, how many were spoken by the Buddha, and how many by Mara?”

Yangshan said, “All of them were spoken by Mara.”

The Master asked, “Later, when there is no one present, what will you do?”

Yangshan said, “As for Huiji’s affair, I have arranged to know where to go.”

The Master said, “I value only the correctness of your eye; I do not speak of the steps by which you proceed.”

Yangshan threw off his robe, stood up, and asked the Master, “At precisely that moment, what did the Venerable do?”

The Master said, “At precisely that moment, I was within it, doing nothing at all.”

Yangshan said, “The Venerable has a body, but no application.”

The Master remained silent for a long while, then pulled himself upright and asked, “At precisely that moment, what did you do?”

Yangshan said, “At precisely that moment, did the Venerable see it?”

The Master said, “You have application, but no body.”

The Master suddenly asked Yangshan, “In the spring your words were not yet complete. Now try saying something.”

Yangshan said, “At precisely that moment, one must greatly beware of reversing things.”

The Master said, “Ceasing toil gives rise to wisdom.”

One day the Master called the director. The director came.

The Master asked, “I called the director. Why did you come?”

The director could not answer. Caoshan answered on his behalf, “I also know that the Venerable did not call me.”

Again, the Master ordered the attendant to summon the head seat. The head seat came.

The Master asked, “I called the head seat. Why did you come?”

He too could not answer.

The Master asked a newly arrived monk, “What is your name?”

The monk replied, “Moon Disc.”

The Master drew a circle and asked, “What resembles this?”

The monk said, “Why does the Venerable speak this way? Everywhere there are those who will not accept it.”

The Master said, “As for this poor monk, what of you, Acarya?”

The monk asked in return, “Have you ever seen the moon disc?”

The Master asked, “What are you saying, Acarya? Here there is one who will not accept the various directions.”

The Master asked Yunyan, “I have heard that you long resided with Yaoshan. Is that so?”

Yunyan said, “It is.”

The Master asked, “What was the mark of Yaoshan’s Great Man?”

Yunyan said, “Existence after nirvana.”

The Master asked, “What is it like after nirvana?”

Yunyan said, “Sprinkled water does not adhere.”

Yunyan then asked the Master, “What was the mark of Baizhang’s Great Man?”

The Master said, “Lofty and majestic, dignified and radiant, blazing red; before sound, it is not sound; after form, it is not form. An iron ox upon a mosquito—there is nowhere for you to set your mouth.”

HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHIES 9

The Master handed a water vase to Yangshan. Yangshan was about to receive it, but the Master drew back his hand and asked, “Why?”

Yangshan asked, “What does the Venerable see?”

The Master said, “If so, why did I need to seek you?”

Yangshan said, “Even so, within the Way, in accordance with human feeling and righteousness, when the Venerable hands me the vase to fetch water, that too is my duty.”

The Master then handed the water vase to Yangshan.

The Master was walking with Yangshan. Pointing to a cypress tree, he asked, “What is before us?”

Yangshan said, “That is a cypress tree.”

The Master then pointed behind them to an old farmer and said, “Behind this old man there is also an assembly of five hundred.”

The Master asked Yangshan, “Where have you come from?”

Yangshan said, “I have come from the fields.”

The Master asked, “Was the good rice harvested?”

Yangshan said, “It was well harvested.”

The Master said, “Did you see green, see yellow, or see neither green nor yellow?”

Yangshan said, “What is behind the Venerable?”

The Master said, “Do you see it?”

Yangshan held up an ear of rice and said, “Did the Venerable not ask about this?”

The Master said, “This is an unselected wild goose.”

In the winter month, the Master asked Yangshan, “Is the weather cold, or is the person cold?”

Yangshan said, “The Great Assembly is within it.”

The Master asked, “Why do you not speak directly?”

Yangshan said, “Upon arriving, it is not crooked. What about the Venerable?”

The Master said, “Straightforwardly, one must follow the current.”

A monk came and bowed. The Master made as if to rise.

The monk said, “Why does the Venerable not stand up?”

The Master said, “This old monk has never sat down.”

The monk said, “I too have never bowed.”

The Master said, “Why did you not bow?”

The monk could not answer. Tongan answered on his behalf, “The Venerable does not find it strange.”

Two Chan travelers from Shishuang’s assembly arrived and said, “There is not a single person here who understands Chan.” Later, during the general woodcutting, Yangshan saw that the two Chan travelers had finished splitting their firewood. He brought over a large piece of wood and asked, “Can you say something?”

Neither could answer.

Yangshan said, “Do not say that there is no one who understands Chan.”

He returned and related this to Guishan, saying, “Today Huiji exposed those two Chan travelers.”

The Master said, “At what point did you expose them?”

Yangshan then recounted the preceding incident.

The Master said, “You, Ji, have instead been exposed by me.”

The Master was sleeping. Yangshan came to inquire after him, and the Master turned to face the wall.

Yangshan said, “How can the Venerable be like this?”

The Master sat up and said, “I just had a dream. Try to interpret its meaning for me.”

Yangshan immediately brought the Master a basin of water with which to wash his face.

A little later, Xiangyan also came to inquire after him.

The Master said, “I just had a dream, and Ji has already understood it. Now you too interpret its meaning for me.”

Xiangyan then poured the Master a cup of tea.

The Master said, “The understanding of you two surpasses that of Shariputra.”

A monk said, “Unless one makes a hat for Guishan’s head, there is no way to reach Yao Village. What is the hat on Guishan’s head?”

The Master immediately kicked him.

The Master ascended the Dharma Hall and instructed the assembly, “After this old monk dies, I shall become a water buffalo beneath the mountain. On my left side will be written five characters: ‘I am the monk of Guishan.’ At that time, if people call the monk of Guishan a water buffalo, or alternatively call the water buffalo the monk of Guishan, then tell me: what should it be called?”

The Master expounded the teachings of the School for more than forty years, and those who attained penetration were exceedingly numerous. Forty-one disciples entered his chamber.

On the ninth day of the first month in the seventh year of the Dazhong era of the Tang dynasty, the Master rinsed his mouth, spread out his sitting mat, sat down joyfully, and entered quiescence. He was eighty-three years old, and his monastic age was

He lived to the age of sixty-four. His stupa was erected on that mountain. The King bestowed upon him the posthumous title Chan Master Great Perfection, and upon his stupa the name Purity.

2. Chan Master Xiyun of Mount Huangbo in Hongzhou

The Master was a native of Min (Fujian). In his youth he left the household life at Huangbo in his native prefecture. A rounded prominence of flesh rose upon his forehead. His speech was gentle and clear, and his aspiration lofty and pure.

Later, he went to Mount Tiantai, where he met a monk with whom he talked and laughed as though they had known each other for a long time. Whoever looked at that monk saw light issuing from his eyes. The Master then accompanied him until they came to a stream swollen by a violent flood. Wearing his hat and leaning on his staff, the Master stopped, while the monk urged him to cross through the water.

The Master said, “Brother, if you wish to cross, cross by yourself.”

The monk lifted his robes and walked upon the waves as though upon level ground. Turning his head, he called, “Come across! Come across!”

The Master said, “Ah, you self-liberated fellow! Had I known this earlier, I would have cut off your legs.”

The monk praised him, saying, “You are truly a vessel of the Great Vehicle Dharma. I am indeed not your equal.” Having spoken, he disappeared.

Later, the Master traveled to the capital. At someone’s urging, he went to consult Master Baizhang and asked, “Since you expounded the teaching, what has the school revealed?”

Baizhang remained silent for a long while.

The Master said, “You must not cause the teaching to be cut off for those who come later.”

Baizhang said, “I was just about to say that you are such a person,” and then rose and entered the abbot’s quarters.

The Master followed him and said, “I have come here especially.”

Baizhang said, “If so, then in the future do not fail me.”

One day Baizhang asked the Master, “Where have you come from?”

He replied, “I have come from gathering mushrooms below Mount Daxiong.”

Baizhang asked, “Did you see the great worm?”

The Master immediately growled like a tiger. Baizhang took up an axe and made as though to strike. The Master at once slapped Baizhang. Baizhang chuckled and laughed loudly, then returned.

Baizhang ascended the Dharma hall and told the assembly, “Below Mount Daxiong there is a great worm. You should look carefully. Old Baizhang himself encountered one today.”

When the Master was staying with Nanquan, he went everywhere gathering vegetables. Nanquan asked, “Where are you going?”

He replied, “To gather vegetables.”

Nanquan said, “What will you use to gather them?”

The Master held up his knife.

Nanquan said, “You have taken away all the vegetables of the entire community.”

One day Nanquan said to the Master, “This old monk has casually composed a song about herding the ox. I ask the Elder to compose one in response, using the same rhymes.”

The Master said, “I already have a teacher of my own.”

When the Master took leave of Nanquan, Nanquan escorted him to the gate, pointed seven times at the Master’s hat, and said, “Elder, your bodily endowment is rather large, but your hat is too small.”

The Master said, “Even so, the entire great trichiliocosm is contained within it.”

Nanquan said, “And what of the lofty Teacher Wang?”

The Master immediately put on his hat and departed.

Later, the Master stayed at Da’an Monastery in Hongzhou, where an oceanic assembly gathered in great numbers. Chief Minister Pei Xiu, while governing Wanling, established a great Chan monastery and invited the Master to teach the Dharma. Because the Master greatly cherished his former mountain, he was called Huangbo.

Pei Xiu later invited the Master to the prefectural seat and presented him with a written discourse concerning the Master for his explanation. The Master received it, placed it beside his seat, and did not open it to read. After remaining silent for a long while, he asked, “Do you understand?”

Pei Xiu said, “I do not understand.”

The Master said, “If it can be understood through such forms as paper and ink, how could it be our school?”

Pei then presented this poem:

Since the Great Being transmitted the mind-seal,
A round pearl adorned his brow, his body seven feet tall.
Bearing his staff for ten years beside the Shu River,
Today his pendant tally crosses the Zhang ford.
A thousand dragons and elephants follow his lofty steps;
For ten thousand miles, fragrant flowers form supreme affinities.
I wish to serve the Master and become his disciple,
Yet know not to whom the Dharma will be entrusted.

The Master showed no expression of pleasure. From that time onward, the fame of Huangbo’s gate resounded far and wide.

One day the Master ascended the Dharma hall. When the great assembly had gathered, he said, “What are you all seeking?” He then took his staff and drove them all away, saying, “You are all merely drinkers of dregs! Traveling about on foot in this way, you only make people laugh. Whenever you see a place with eight hundred or a thousand people, you immediately go there. You cannot merely concern yourselves with noisy crowds.

“When this old monk traveled on foot, if I encountered an old fellow beneath the roots of the grass, I would strike him once on the head and observe him carefully. If he truly knew pain and fear, I would fill a sack with rice and make an offering to him. How could it be as easy as it is with fellows like you? Where today can such a matter be found?

“You call yourselves itinerant monks, so you must also possess such spirit. Do you know that in the great realm of Tang there are no Chan masters?”

At that time a monk came forward and asked, “Venerable elders everywhere gather assemblies and teach and transform them. Why do you say that there are no Chan masters?”

The Master said, “I do not say that there is no Chan; I merely say that there are no masters. Ācārya, do you not see? After Great Master Ma, eighty-eight persons sat in places of awakening, but only two or three received the Great Master’s true eye. The monk of Mount Lu was one of them. Those who have left the household life must know the responsibility that has always been theirs.

“Again, after the Fourth Patriarch there was Great Master Niutou Farong, who spoke freely in every direction. Yet was he able to stand beneath the gate? Only with such understanding can one distinguish the orthodox from the heterodox within the school.

“Moreover, those concerned with this matter cannot comprehend it. They know only how to study words and carry about a bag of skin, saying wherever they go that they understand Chan. How can that help you in the matter of birth and death? If you slight the ancient worthies, you will fall into hell as swiftly as an arrow flies. As soon as I see you enter the gate, I know you completely.

“Do you understand? You must strive urgently. This matter is not easy. Do not carelessly pass the days and waste an entire lifetime, only to be ridiculed by those with clear eyes. Before long, all of you will be sold off by worldly schemers. You must examine for yourselves, whether near or far, whose original face it is. If you understand, then understand at once; if you do not understand, disperse.”

Someone asked, “What is the meaning of the coming from the Western Land?”

The Master immediately struck him.

All the Master’s expedient teachings were intended to liberate those of the highest capacity; persons of middling or lesser capacity should not imitate them.

In the Dazhong era, the Master passed away on this mountain. The King bestowed upon him the posthumous title Chan Master Duanji, and upon his stupa the name Guangye.

3. Chan Master Huanzhong of Mount Daci in Hangzhou

The Master was a native of Puban, and his family name was Lu. The crown of his head was round and elevated, and his voice resounded like a bell. His mother died when he was young. The Master remained at her grave in mourning for three years. When the mourning period ended, wishing to repay her kindness, he went to Tong and left the household life at Zixing Monastery in the prefecture. He later received the precepts and studied the Vinaya at Mount Song.

Afterward, he consulted Master Baizhang and received the mind-seal. He then went to Changle Monastery at Nanyue, where he built a thatched hermitage on the summit and dwelt there.

One day Nanquan came and asked, “Who is the host within the hermitage?”

The Master replied, “Blue sky! Blue sky!”

Nanquan said, “Set aside the blue sky for the moment. Who is the host within the hermitage?”

The Master said, “If you understand, then understand; do not remain anxiously preoccupied.”

Nanquan brushed out his sleeves and departed.

Later, the Master stayed on the northern side of Mount Daci in Zhejiang. Ascending the Dharma hall, he said, “This mountain monk does not understand words and answers; he needs only to recognize the illness.”

A monk came forward and stood before the Master. The Master immediately descended from his seat and returned to the abbot’s quarters.

Zhaozhou asked, “What does prajna take as its essence?”

The Master said, “What does prajna take as its essence?”

Zhaozhou laughed loudly and went out.

The next day the Master saw Zhaozhou sweeping the ground and asked, “What does prajna take as its essence?”

Zhaozhou threw down the broom, clapped his hands, and laughed loudly. The Master immediately returned to the abbot’s quarters.

A monk came to take leave. The Master asked, “Where are you going?”

The monk said, “For the time being, I am going to Jiangxi.”

The Master said, “May I trouble you with a matter?”

The monk asked, “What matter does the Venerable have?”

The Master said, “Take this old monk with you.”

The monk said, “I must again offend the Venerable, for I cannot take the Venerable with me.”

The Master then let the matter rest.

Later, that monk recounted the incident to Dongshan. Dongshan said, “Ācārya, how could that accord with the Way?”

The monk asked, “What would the Venerable have done?”

Dongshan said, “I would have taken him.”

Dongshan then asked the monk, “Did Daci have any distinctive saying?”

The monk said, “At times he instructed the assembly, saying, ‘To speak one zhang is not as good as to practice one chi; to speak one chi is not as good as to practice one cun.’”

Dongshan said, “I would not say that.”

The monk asked, “How would you say it?”

Dongshan said, “Speaking, one cannot practice it; practicing, one cannot speak it.”

After Emperor Wuzong of the Tang suppressed the Buddhist teaching, the Master wore short garments and went into hiding. In the renshen year of the Dazhong era, he shaved his head again and widely proclaimed the essential doctrine of the school.

On the full-moon day of the second month in the third year of Xiantong, the Master passed away without illness. He was eighty-three years old and had completed fifty-four Dharma summers.

Emperor Xizong of the Tang bestowed upon him the posthumous title Great Master Nature of Emptiness; his stupa was named Concentration and Wisdom.

4. Chan Master Puyan of Pingtian on Mount Tiantai

The Master was a native of Hongzhou and attained the essential purport under Baizhang. Later, hearing that many sages and worthies dwelt on Mount Tiantai, he thought of traveling afar to seek their traces. He therefore built a thatched hermitage beneath a secluded forest. As the days and months passed, many among the fourfold assembly came to know of him, so they established a monastery named Pingtian Chan Monastery.

On one occasion, he addressed the assembly, saying, “The divine light is never obscured and has shone brilliantly throughout the ages. Upon entering this gate, do not cling to intellectual understanding.”

A monk came for an interview. The Master immediately struck him once with his staff. The monk stepped forward and seized the staff. The Master said, “This old monk was just now exceedingly hasty.” The monk then struck the Master once with the staff. The Master said, “An adept! An adept!” The monk bowed. Holding up the staff, the Master said, “This acarya is in a great hurry.” The monk laughed loudly. The Master said, “This monk has suffered a great failure today.”

He then taught the assembly with this verse:

The Master passed away at that monastery. His memorial stupa still remains at the mountain monastery. It was restored during the Song dynasty and made even more magnificent, and a plaque bearing the name Shouchang was bestowed upon it. Chan Master Puyan was thus the founding abbot of Shouchang.

5. Chan Master Changguan of Wufeng in Junzhou

A monk asked, “What is the realm of Wufeng like?”

The Master said, “Extremely precipitous.”

The monk asked, “What are the people within that realm like?”

The Master said, “Extremely cold.”

A monk was taking his leave. The Master asked, “Where are you going, Acarya?”

The monk said, “I am going to Mount Wutai.”

The Master raised one finger and said, “If you see Manjusri, then as you come and go there, look upon one another.”

The monk could not reply.

The Master asked a monk, “Have you seen the ox?”

The monk said, “I have.”

The Master asked, “Did you see the left horn or the right horn?”

The monk could not reply. The Master answered for him, “Seeing has neither left nor right.”

Again, when a monk was taking his leave, the Master said, “As you travel from place to place, do not disparage this old monk as being within it.”

The monk replied, “I do not say that the Venerable is within it.”

The Master asked, “Where do you say this old monk is?”

The monk raised one finger.

The Master said, “There—you have already disparaged this old monk.”

6. Chan Master Xingkong of Mount Shishuang in Tanzhou

A monk asked, “What is the meaning of the coming from India in the West?”

The Master said, “If a person at the bottom of a well a thousand feet deep could emerge by means of a mere inch of rope, that person could answer your question about the meaning of the coming from India in the West.”

The monk said, “Recently, Venerable Chang has appeared in Hunan; he too is an easterner speaking words of the West.”

The Master called to a novice and said, “Drag away this corpse’s robe.”

Later, the novice related this exchange and asked Danyuan, “What about the person who emerges from the well?”

Danyuan said, “Fool! Who is at the bottom of the well?”

Later, he asked Guishan, “What about the person who emerges from the well?”

Guishan immediately called, “Huiji!”

Huiji responded, “Yes!”

Guishan said, “Out!”

While at Yangshan, he cited this exchange and told the assembly, “At Danyuan’s I obtained the name; at Guishan’s I obtained the ground.”

7. Chan Master Da’an of Fuzhou

The Master was a native of Fuzhou, and his family name was Chen. In his youth, he received ordination and studied the Vinaya vehicle at Mount Huangbo. He once reflected, “Although I have practiced diligently and endured hardship, I have not yet heard the principle of the profound ultimate.” He therefore set out alone with his staff and traveled from place to place.

When he reached Hongzhou, on the road leading out toward Shangyuan, he met an old man who called to him and said, “Master, if you go to Nanchang, you will attain something.” The Master hurried to Baizhang, bowed, and asked, “This disciple wishes to seek knowledge of the Buddha. What is correct?”

Baizhang said, “It is like riding an ox while searching for the ox.”

The Master asked, “What is it like after one knows?”

Baizhang said, “It is like riding the ox home.”

The Master said, “I do not know how one should care for it from beginning to end.”

Baizhang said, “It is like an oxherd holding a staff and watching over it, not allowing it to trespass upon another’s rice fields.”

From that moment, the Master understood the essential purport and sought no further.

His fellow practitioner, Chan Master You, founded the monastery at Guishan, and the Master went there to assist him in the Way. When Chan Master You entered quiescence, the assembly asked the Master to succeed him as abbot. The Master ascended the Dharma Hall and said:

“What have all of you come seeking? If you wish to become Buddhas, you yourselves are Buddhas, yet you turn away and search elsewhere, rushing about like a thirsty deer pursued by the heat of the sun. When will you ever accord with it?

“If you wish to become Buddhas, let your minds be free from the many delusions, entangling conditions, false thoughts, evil conceptions, defiled desires, and impurities found in the minds of sentient beings. Then yours will be the mind of the first awakening to Buddhahood. Toward what other place would you turn to cast aside some separate cause?

“I have dwelt peacefully at Guishan for more than thirty years, eating Guishan’s rice and defecating at Guishan. I have not studied Guishan Chan; I have merely watched over a single bull. If it strayed from the road into the grass, I would immediately pull it out. If it trespassed upon another’s rice seedlings, I would whip and discipline it. For a long time, pitiably, it endured people’s words of reproach. But now it has changed into a white ox that is always right before me. All day long it goes out onto the road and lies down on the ground; even if driven away, it will not leave.

“You each possess a priceless jewel. From your eyes it emits light that illuminates all rivers, mountains, and the great earth. From your ears it emits light that gathers in all sounds, good and evil. Day and night, the six gates constantly emit light; this is also called the samadhi of emitting light. You yourselves do not recognize it and instead take the physical form composed of the four great elements to be yourselves. From within and without, it supports and preserves you, not allowing you to topple over—just as a person carrying a heavy burden crosses a precarious single-plank bridge without falling. What, then, is it that can support and preserve you in this way? Yet when you search for it, you cannot find even the slightest trace.

“Therefore, Venerable Zhigong said, ‘Seeking within and without, all is nonexistent; when contrivance regarding objects ceases, natural vastness is realized.’”

Someone asked, “All actions and activities are precisely functions of the Dharmakaya. What is the Dharmakaya?”

The Master said, “All actions and activities are functions of the Dharmakaya.”

The monk said, “Apart from the five skandhas, what is the body that has existed from the beginning?”

The Master said, “Earth, water, fire, wind, sensation, perception, formations, and consciousness.”

The monk said, “Those are the five skandhas.”

The Master said, “That is different from the five skandhas.”

Someone asked, “When this group of skandhas has died and the next group has not yet arisen, what then?”

The Master said, “If you understand this group of skandhas, you will know the next.”

Another asked, “When the great function manifests before one and there are no longer any rules, what then?”

The Master replied, “If you are able to use it, then use it.”

The monk bared his chest and walked three times around the Master. The Master said, “Why do you not speak of the matter beyond?”

The monk was about to open his mouth when the Master immediately struck him and said, “You wild fox! Get out at once!”

A monk ascended the Dharma Hall, looked east and west, and, not seeing the Master, said, “Alas, there is simply no one in this Dharma Hall.”

The Master emerged through the doorway and said, “What is it?”

The monk could not reply.

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORDS, BOOK 9

Venerable Yunfeng once entered the mountains and obtained a tree branch shaped like a snake. On its back he inscribed, “Originally natural of itself, without depending upon carving,” and sent it to the Master.

The Master said, “This object from the mountains bears no trace of a human axe.”

Someone asked, “Where is the Buddha?”

The Master said, “Not apart from mind.”

Another asked, “What did the superior man of Shuangfeng attain?”

The Master said, “The Dharma has nothing that can be attained. If there were something attained, what was attained would originally be unattainable.”

A monk asked, “When the troops of Huang Chao arrived, where did the Venerable hide?”

The Master said, “In the mountain of the five skandhas.”

The monk asked, “What if you were suddenly captured and bound?”

The Master said, “Why trouble the general?”

The Master propagated the teaching in Mincheng for more than twenty years. On the twenty-second day of the tenth month in the third year of the Zhonghe era of the Tang dynasty, he returned to Huangbo Monastery, fell ill, and passed away. His stupa was erected on Mount Lankavatara. The emperor bestowed upon him the posthumous title Chan Master Perfect Wisdom; his stupa was named Realization of the True.

8. Chan Master Shenzan of Guling in Fuzhou

The Master resided at Dazhong Monastery in that prefecture. After receiving ordination and instruction there, he set out on pilgrimage. He encountered Baizhang and awakened under his guidance, after which he returned to his former monastery.

The teacher under whom he had received ordination asked, “After leaving me and going abroad, what undertaking did you accomplish?”

He replied, “I accomplished nothing at all.”

He was then assigned duties. One day, while his teacher was bathing, he ordered the Master to scrub his back.

The Master then patted his teacher on the back and said, “Alas, though this is a Buddha hall, the Buddha is not a sage.” His teacher turned his head and looked at him. The Master said, “Though the Buddha is not a sage, he nevertheless emits light.”

One day, while the Master’s teacher was reading a sutra beside a window, a bee repeatedly struck its head against the window paper, trying to fly out. Seeing this, the Master said:

“The vast world lies open, yet it refuses to go out;
It burrows into old paper—when will it ever emerge?”

His teacher put down the sutra and asked, “Whom did you meet on your pilgrimage? I have noticed that, ever since you returned, your words have been extraordinary.”

The Master replied, “I received instruction from Venerable Baizhang. Now I merely wish to repay the kindness of your virtue.”

His teacher therefore invited the assembly to partake of the meal and then asked the Master to expound the Dharma. The Master ascended the Dharma seat and spoke of Baizhang’s tradition, saying:

“The numinous light shines alone, transcending the sense faculties and their objects. Its essence reveals true constancy and is not constrained by written words. The mind-nature, originally undefiled, is naturally complete and perfect. Merely depart from delusive conditions, and you are the Buddha of suchness.”

Upon hearing these words, his teacher immediately awakened and said, “How could I have known that in my old age I would hear the ultimate matter?”

Later, the Master resided at Guling, where he gathered and taught disciples for several years. As he was about to pass away, he shaved his head, bathed, struck the bell, and said to the assembly, “Do you know the Samadhi of No Sound?”

The assembly said, “We do not know it.”

The Master said, “Listen attentively, and do not think of anything else.”

They all listened in silence, whereupon the Master serenely passed away. His stupa still remains on that mountain.

9. Chan Master Tong of He’an Monastery in Guangzhou

The Master received ordination and training at Shuanglin Monastery in Wuzhou. From childhood he spoke little, and people at the time called him “Tong Who Cannot Speak.”

Once, while he was bowing to the Buddha, a Chan practitioner asked, “What are you bowing to, Scripture Lecturer?”

The Master said, “I am bowing to the Buddha.”

The Chan practitioner pointed to the image and asked, “What is this thing?”

The Master did not answer. That night, having donned his robes and arranged himself with full dignity, he bowed to the Chan practitioner and asked, “What was the purport of the question you asked this morning? I do not understand it.”

The Chan practitioner said, “How many summer retreats have you completed, Scripture Lecturer?”

The Master said, “Ten summer retreats.”

The Chan practitioner said, “Do you yet understand what it means to leave the household life?”

The Master became even more bewildered. The Chan practitioner said, “If you still do not understand, what difference would even a hundred summer retreats make?” He then instructed the Master to go and consult Mazu.

When the Master reached Jiangxi, Mazu had already passed away, so he paid a visit to Baizhang and soon resolved his doubt.

Someone asked, “Are you a Chan master?”

The Master said, “This poor monk has never studied Chan.” He remained silent for a long while and then called to the man. The man responded. The Master then pointed to a palm tree.

One day, the Master had Yangshan bring him a bench. The Master said, “Take it back to its former place.” Yangshan did so.

The Master asked, “What is that bench?”

Yangshan said, “No thing.”

The Master said, “What is that thing?”

Yangshan said, “No thing.”

The Master then called, “Huiji!”

Yangshan responded.

The Master said, “Go!”

10. Chan Master Tai of Longyun in Jiangzhou

A monk asked, “What is the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from India?”

The Master replied, “Last night this old monk lost his ox.”

11. Chan Master Dao of Weiguo Cloister in Jingzhao

A monk came for an interview. The Master asked, “Where have you come from?”

The monk said, “I have come from south of the Xiang River.”

The Master asked, “Has the water of the Yellow River become clear yet?”

The monk could not answer.

When the Master was ill, someone came to visit him, but the Master did not come out. The visitor said, “I have long heard of the Venerable’s virtue in the Way. Now that your Dharma body has unexpectedly become indisposed, I ask the Venerable to grant me an audience.”

The Master placed a stone bowl inside a wooden bowl and had his attendant carry it out and present it. The visitor could not answer.

12. Venerable Wansui of Zhenzhou

A monk asked, “What matter has the great assembly gathered to discuss?”

The Master said, “The first chapter, the Introductory Chapter.”

13. Chan Master Weizheng of Mount Baizhang in Hongzhou

One day, the Master called to a monk and said, “Till the field for me, and I shall explain the great meaning to you.” After the monk had finished tilling the field, he returned and asked the Master to explain the great meaning. The Master simply spread out both hands.

An elder monk saw sunlight shining through a window and asked the Master, “Does the window reach the sun, or does the sun reach the window?”

The Master said, “A guest has returned to Elder Zhang’s room.”

The Master asked Nanquan, “Among the spiritual teachers in various places, is there anyone who does not speak in conformity with this Dharma?”

Nanquan said, “There is.”

The Master asked, “What is it?”

Nanquan replied, “It is neither mind nor Buddha.”

The Master said, “If so, then you have spoken in conformity with others.”

Nanquan replied, “What am I to do?”

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORDS, VOLUME 9

The Master asked, “What do you do, Senior Uncle?”

Nanquan replied, “I am not a spiritual teacher, so how would I know whether there is a Dharma that is spoken or unspoken?”

The Master said, “I do not understand. I ask Senior Uncle to explain it.”

Nanquan replied, “I have already fully explained it to you.”

A monk asked, “What is the Way in which all Buddhas are equal?”

The Master replied, “Concentration.”

While traveling to the capital, the Master encountered an official who invited him to eat and drink. Suddenly, a donkey brayed loudly. The official called, “Dhutanga!” The Master raised his head. The official pointed to the donkey, and the Master immediately pointed to the official.

14. Venerable Hui of Dongshan in Hongzhou

While roaming that mountain, the Master saw a cave. A monk asked, “Does this cave have a master?”

The Master said, “It does.”

The monk asked, “Who is it?”

The Master said, “What are you seeking among the three households in the village?”

The monk entered and asked, “What is the master within the mountain cave?”

The Master asked in return, “Is it so urgent?”

A young monk returned from pilgrimage. The Master asked, “How long has it been since you left me and went away?”

The young monk said, “Ten years.”

The Master said, “There is no need to point east or point west. Come straight along the road ahead.”

The young monk said, “Before the Venerable, I dare not speak falsely.”

The Master shouted at him and had him beaten with the staff.

One day, Venerable Qingtian and Senior Monk Cao were boiling tea. The Master struck the bench three times. Cao likewise struck it three times, repeating this three times.

The Master said, “When this old monk strikes, there is a masterful function. What principle is there in the Senior Monk’s striking?”

Cao said, “My striking possesses an expedient means. What does the Venerable present?”

The Master raised the cup. Cao said, “Spiritual teacher, what need is there for eyes?”

After the tea had been prepared, Cao asked, “What did the Venerable mean just now by raising the cup?”

The Master said, “There can be nothing separate.”

Venerable Dayu and Nanyong went to a house to drink tea. Seeing a monk before them who paid them no heed, Yong said, “I do not recognize you, and you do not see me. Who, then, are you?”

The monk did not answer.

The Master said, “You cannot ask people like that without any connection to an ancient precedent.”

Yong said, “Dayu cannot answer either.”

The Master then seized that monk and said, “Why do you implicate me? You too deserve a slap.”

Yong smiled and said, “The bright moon and the blue sky.”

An attendant came for an interview. The Master asked, “In the Vajra Right Samadhi, all things are thus. When autumn departs and winter arrives, what is produced?”

The attendant said, “It does not hinder the Venerable from posing the question.”

The Master said, “That may do for now, but what will you do hereafter?”

The attendant said, “Who would dare question me?”

The Master asked, “What did you obtain from Dayu?”

The attendant replied, “I too wish others to examine it.”

The Master said, “In assisting the master of the school, you have not forfeited its honor.”

The attendant immediately bowed with his head to the ground.

– Dharma heirs of Chan Master Zang of Xitang in Qianzhou, mentioned above

1. Chan Master Chuwei of Qianzhou

A monk asked, “Do the twelve divisions of the teachings of the Three Vehicles, whose essence and principle attain the wondrous, agree with or differ from the Patriarch’s intent?”

The Master said, “For this, you must turn toward the six phrases and must not turn outward following other sounds and forms.”

The monk asked, “What are the six phrases?”

The Master said, “Speaking, silence, neither speaking nor silence, both, and neither—is that the whole of it? How would you bring them together?”

The monk could not answer.

The Master asked Yangshan, “What is your name?”

He replied, “Huiji.”

The Master asked, “What is hui, and what is ji?”

He replied, “They are right before your eyes.”

The Master said, “There is still a before and an after.”

Huiji replied, “Set before and after aside for the moment. What does the Venerable see?”

The Master replied, “Go drink tea.”

– Dharma heirs of Chan Master Baoche of Mount Magu in Puzhou

1. Chan Master Liangsui of Shouzhou

At first, the Master went to consult Magu. Magu called, “Liangsui!”

The Master responded, “Yes!”

Magu called him three times, and three times he responded. Magu said, “You dull-witted fellow!”

The Master then awakened and said, “Venerable, do not deceive Liangsui. Had I not come to bow before the Venerable, I would have lived this entire life in vain.”

Magu immediately confirmed his realization.

– Dharma successor of Chan Master Ruhui, formerly of Dong Monastery in Hunan.

1. Chan Master Huichao of Shushan in Jizhou.

Dongshan came to pay his respects. The Master said, “You have already been dwelling in one place; why have you come here?”

He replied, “Liangjie has no doubts; I have come only to visit the Venerable.”

The Master called, “Liangjie!”

Liangjie responded, “Yes!”

The Master asked, “What is it?”

Liangjie was unable to answer.

The Master said, “You are a fine Buddha, but you emit no radiant light.”

– Dharma successors of Chan Master Huaiyun of Zhangjing Monastery in Jingzhao.

1. Chan Master Hongbian of Great Jianfu Monastery in Jingzhao.

Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang asked, “Why does the Chan school bear the designations Southern and Northern?”

The Master replied, “The Chan gate originally had neither South nor North. Long ago, the Tathagata entrusted the treasury of the True Dharma Eye to Mahakasyapa. It was transmitted successively until it reached the Twenty-Eighth Patriarch, Bodhidharma.

When the Patriarch journeyed to this land, he became its First Patriarch. By the time of the Fifth Patriarch, Hongren, the Dharma of Dongshan had been established in Qizhou. At that time, he had two disciples.

One was Huineng, who received the robe and Dharma in Lingnan and became the Sixth Patriarch. The other was Shenxiu, who spread the teaching in the North. Later, Shenxiu’s disciple Puji established his own master as the Sixth Patriarch and styled himself the Seventh Patriarch.

Although the Dharma they received was one, their methods of revealing it and awakening others differed as sudden and gradual. Thus people spoke of ‘Sudden in the South, Gradual in the North.’ It is not that the Chan school originally possessed the names Southern and Northern.”

The Emperor asked, “What is called the precepts, Master?”

The Master replied, “Guarding against transgressions and preventing evil is called the precepts.”

The Emperor asked, “What is called samadhi?”

The Master replied, “When the six faculties encounter their objects and the mind does not follow after them, this is called samadhi.”

The Emperor asked, “What is wisdom?”

The Master replied, “When both mind and objects are empty, yet illumination is unobscured, this is called wisdom.”

The Emperor asked, “What are skillful means?”

The Master replied, “Skillful means are an expedient gate that conceals the real and veils its characteristics. Through ingenious and subtle methods, those of middling and lesser capacities are carefully guided; this is called skillful means. If, for those of superior capacity, one relinquishes skillful means and speaks only of the unsurpassed Way, this too is skillful means. Even the Patriarchs’ mysterious utterances, which efface achievement and cut off words, are all skillful means.”

HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHIES, VOLUME 9

The Emperor asked, “What is the Buddha-mind?”

The Master replied, “‘Buddha’ is an Indian word; in the language of Tang it means ‘Awakened One.’ The wisdom that awakens and illuminates is the Buddha-mind. Mind is another name for Buddha. Though there are hundreds of thousands of different designations, their essence is only one.

Fundamentally it has no form and possesses none of the characteristics of blue, yellow, red, or white, male or female. Dwelling among devas, it is not a deva; dwelling among humans, it is not a human. Yet it manifests as a deva or a human, as male or female.

It has neither beginning nor end, neither birth nor death; therefore, it is called the nature of numinous awareness. Your Majesty’s daily response to the myriad affairs is precisely Your Majesty’s Buddha-mind. Even if a thousand Buddhas transmitted it together, there would be no separate thought and nothing whatsoever to attain.”

The Emperor asked, “Why, then, do people today practice mindfulness of the Buddha?”

The Master replied, “The Tathagata appeared in the world as the spiritual friend of devas and humans, teaching the Dharma according to their capacities. For those of superior faculties, he revealed the Supreme Vehicle so that they might suddenly awaken to the ultimate principle. Those of middling and lesser faculties, however, could not understand it immediately. Therefore, for Vaidehi, the Buddha provisionally opened the gate of sixteen contemplations, enabling her, through mindfulness of the Buddha, to be born in the Land of Utmost Bliss. Thus the sutra says: ‘This mind is the Buddha; this mind becomes the Buddha.’ Outside the mind there is no Buddha; outside the Buddha there is no mind.”

The Emperor asked, “What of those who uphold sutras, practice mindfulness of the Buddha, uphold mantras, and seek the Buddha?”

The Master replied, “All the various teachings revealed and praised by the Tathagata belong to the supreme One Vehicle. Just as hundreds of rivers all flow into the sea, the many different streams all return to the ocean of sarvajna.”

The Emperor asked, “The Patriarchs have already realized the mind-seal. What is meant when the Diamond Sutra says that there is no Dharma to attain?”

The Master replied, “In liberating beings, the Buddha in truth had not a single Dharma to bestow upon anyone. He merely showed all people that within their own nature they equally possess the single treasury of Dharma. At that time, Dipankara Tathagata merely confirmed the Dharma that Sakyamuni inherently possessed. Having nothing newly attained, he accorded with Dipankara’s original intent. Therefore, the sutra says: ‘No self, no person, no sentient being, and no life span.’ This is the Dharma of equality: cultivating all wholesome dharmas without clinging to characteristics.”

The Emperor asked, “Having understood the Patriarchs’ intent, do Chan masters still bow to the Buddha and recite sutras?”

The Master replied, “Sramanas are children of the Buddha, so they bow to the Buddha and recite sutras. These are constant practices for maintaining the Dharma, and there are four ways of repaying kindness. Moreover, they cultivate themselves in accordance with the Buddha’s precepts, seek out spiritual teachers, gradually cultivate pure conduct, and follow in the tracks of the Tathagata’s deeds.”

The Emperor asked, “What is sudden seeing, and what is gradual cultivation?”

The Master replied, “Suddenly one knows that one’s own nature is equal in rank to the Buddha. Yet because beginningless habitual defilements remain, one relies on gradual cultivation to counteract them, allowing function to arise in accord with the nature. It is like eating a meal: one does not become full with a single mouthful.”

That day, Master Hongbian answered the Emperor’s questions for seven double-hours. The Emperor bestowed upon him a purple robe and conferred on him the title Chan Master Yuanzhi. He also issued an order throughout the realm that all stupas of the Patriarchs be restored and preserved.

2. Chan Master Zhizhen of Guishan in Fuzhou.

The Master was a native of Yangzhou, and his family name was Liu. He received his early training at Hualin Monastery in Fuzhou. In the first year of the Yuanhe era of the Tang, he moved to Runzhou and received the precepts at Shanxiang Monastery. He did not study sutras or treatises, but delighted only in dhyana. He first went to visit Chan Master Huaiyun.

Huaiyun asked, “Where have you come from?”

Zhizhen replied, “Coming, there is nowhere from which one comes; going, there is nowhere to which one goes.”

Although Huaiyun remained silent, Zhizhen awakened on his own.

He then went to Wuzhou, where, on Mount Wuxie, he met Chan Master Zhengyuan of Baizhang. In the second year of the Changqing era, they traveled together to Jianyang. Ye Fen, a resident of Sha Prefecture, invited the Master to reside at Dongchan Monastery. In the first year of the Kaicheng era, the Master moved to Fuzhou. Chen Liang and Huang Yu of Changxi District invited him to reside at Guishan and establish the monastery there.

One day, the Master instructed the assembly, saying, “Every movement, every act of seeing and hearing, never lies outside the person presently here. This single thought of the pure mind has from the beginning been the Buddha.” He then spoke this verse:

The mind is originally free of dust; why need it be cleansed?
Within the body there is no illness; what need is there for medicine?
If you wish to know that Buddha, it is not this body;
A bright mirror hangs on high before it casts its light.

Later, when Emperor Wuzong of the Tang suppressed the monasteries and expelled monks and nuns, the Master instructed the assembly with two verses:

1)

The bright moon divides its form in every place;
Clad in white, one thus becomes a person who understands emptiness.
Who says that laypeople are hindered from cultivating the Way?
Kanakamuni once appeared in the body of an elder.

2)

Beneath the forest, the Rsi Ksanti sat cultivating dhyana;
Once, King Kali severed his hands and feet.
How much less do we face such a thing in this dynasty;
Though the Way declines today, what is there to fear?

When Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang restored the Dharma, the Master no longer put on the robes of the Way. In the sixth year of the Xiantong era, the Master passed away on this mountain at the age of eighty-four, having spent sixty years in the Sangha. The Emperor bestowed on him the posthumous title Chan Master Guiji, and his stupa was named Bizhen.

3. Chan Master Huaizheng of Dongyi in Langzhou.

Yangshan came to seek instruction.

The Master asked, “Where are you from?”

Yangshan said, “I am from Guangnan.”

The Master asked, “I have heard that Guangnan possesses a bright pearl that calms the sea. Is that so?”

Yangshan said, “It is.”

The Master asked, “What is the shape of that pearl?”

Yangshan said, “When the moon is bright, it immediately appears.”

The Master asked, “Have you brought it here?”

Yangshan said, “I have brought it.”

The Master asked, “Why do you not present it for this old monk to see?”

Yangshan said, “Yesterday, when I arrived at Guishan, Huiji also demanded that I produce this pearl. Yet there were no words with which to answer and no principle that could be presented.”

HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHIES, VOLUME 9

The Master said, “Clearly, you are a lion cub who roars the great lion’s roar.”

4. Chan Master Cao of Jinzhou.

One day, he invited Venerable Mi to a vegetarian meal but did not arrange a seat for him. Venerable Mi arrived, spread out his sitting cloth, and bowed. The Master stepped down from the Chan platform. Mi then ascended to the Master’s place and sat there, while the Master spread out a mat and sat on the floor. When the meal was finished, Mi immediately departed.

The attendant said to the Master, “Venerable, you are revered by everyone, yet today another person took your seat.”

The Master said, “Within three days, he will come back to rescue me.”

Sure enough, three days later, Mi came and said, “The other day, I encountered a bandit.”

5.

The ancient Venerable Đê of Lãng Châu.
Whenever he ordinarily saw a monk coming, he would say, “Go, go! You have no Buddha-nature.”
The monk would be unable to reply; or, if someone did reply, he did not understand the essential meaning.
One day, Huệ Tịch of Mount Ngưỡng came to inquire. The Master said, “Go, go! You have no Buddha-nature.” Tịch folded his hands, stepped forward, and answered, “Yes.” The Master laughed and replied, “Where did you attain this samadhi?” Tịch said, “I attained it from Mount Quy.” Tịch asked, “From whom did the Venerable attain it?” The Master said, “I attained it from Chương Kính.”

6. Venerable Công Kỳ of Hà Trung.

A monk asked, “What is the Way, and what is Chan?” The Master said, “What has a name is not the Great Way; right and wrong are both not Chan. If you wish to know the meaning within, yellow leaves prevent the sound of coins from being heard.”

– The Essential Dharma of Mind Transmission by Chan Master Hy Vận of Mount Hoàng Bá.

(Compiled by Bùi Hưu of Hà Đông)

There was a Great Chan Master named Hy Vận, who dwelt beneath Vulture Peak on Mount Hoàng Bá in Cao An County, Hồng Châu. He was a direct Dharma descendant of the Sixth Patriarch of Tào Khê, a son of Bách Trượng, and a grandson of Tây Đường. He devoted himself exclusively to cultivating the Supreme Vehicle and received the seal that transcends written words.

He transmitted only the One Mind, apart from which there is no other Dharma. The essence of mind itself is empty, and the myriad conditions are utterly cut off. It is like the radiant orb of the sun shining in a clear sky without the slightest speck of dust.

In realization, there is neither new nor old, neither shallow nor profound. In speaking, he established no conceptual interpretation, founded no school, and opened no gates or approaches. This very place is it; once a thought stirs, one departs from it.

Only then is it the Original Buddha. Therefore, his words were simple, his manner direct, his Way lofty, and his practice solitary. Students from the four quarters sought out the mountain and came; upon seeing his appearance, they awakened.

The oceanic assembly coming and going numbered more than a thousand.

In the second year of the Hội Xương era, while I was in Chung Lăng, I invited him down from the mountain to the prefecture, where he stayed at Hưng Long Monastery, and morning and evening I inquired about the Way. In the second year of Đại Trung, while in Uyển Lăng, I again respectfully invited him to the administrative seat and asked him to reside at Khai Nguyên Monastery, where morning and evening I received the Dharma.

After withdrawing, I recorded what I had heard, but of ten parts I retained only two or three. Because it was concerned solely with the mind-seal, I dared not propagate it. Now, fearing that later generations may never hear this profound meaning that penetrates the spirit, I bring it forth and entrust it to my disciples.

I asked the monk Pháp Kiến of Thái Châu to return to Quảng Đường Monastery on the old mountain and invite the elders and the Dharma assembly to determine whether what had been heard and seen of the Master in former days was the same or different. Respectfully recorded on the eighth day of the tenth month in the eleventh year of the Tang Đại Trung era.

All Buddhas and all sentient beings are nothing but the One Mind, apart from which no other Dharma exists. From beginningless time, this mind has never arisen and never ceased. It is neither blue nor yellow, has neither form nor appearance, belongs neither to existence nor nonexistence, and is reckoned as neither new nor old.

It is neither long nor short, neither large nor small, and transcends all limits, measures, names, words, traces, and oppositions. In its very essence, it is so; the moment a thought stirs, one goes astray. It is like empty space, which has no boundaries and cannot be fathomed.

This One Mind itself is Buddha, and there is no difference between Buddha and sentient beings. Yet sentient beings cling to appearances and seek outwardly, thereby falling into error. They use Buddha to seek Buddha and employ mind to grasp mind; though they continue for an entire kalpa, they can never attain it.

They do not know that when thoughts cease and conceptualization is forgotten, Buddha naturally appears before them.

– This mind itself is Buddha; Buddha is sentient beings, sentient beings are Buddha, and Buddha is mind. When one is a sentient being, this mind does not diminish; when one becomes a Buddha, this mind does not increase. Even the six paramitas and myriad practices, and merits as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, are inherently complete within it and do not depend upon further cultivation. When conditions are encountered, it functions; when conditions cease, it is quiescent. If one does not resolutely believe this and instead wishes to cultivate by clinging to appearances in pursuit of attainment, all of that is deluded thinking and contrary to the Way.

This mind itself is Buddha; there is no other Buddha and no other mind. This mind is pure and luminous, like empty space, without a single speck of form or appearance. To arouse the mind and stir thoughts is immediately to depart from the Dharma-essence; this is attachment to appearances. Yet from beginningless time there has been no Buddha who clings to appearances. To suppose that a Buddha cultivates the six paramitas and myriad practices in order to seek Buddhahood is to posit stages; yet from beginningless time there has been no Buddha of gradual stages. Simply awaken to the One Mind; there is not even the slightest Dharma that can be attained. This is the true Buddha.

Buddha and sentient beings are of one mind without distinction. It is like empty space, which is neither mixed nor destroyed, and like the orb of the sun illuminating the four continents. When the sun shines, brightness pervades the world, yet empty space does not become brighter. When the sun sets, darkness pervades the world, yet empty space does not become darker. The phenomena of brightness and darkness displace one another, but the nature of empty space remains open and unchanged. So too are Buddha, sentient beings, and mind.

If one regards Buddha as an appearance of purity, luminosity, and liberation, and regards sentient beings as an appearance of defilement, darkness, birth, and death, then one who holds such an understanding will never attain bodhi, even after kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, because of attachment to appearances. There is only this One Mind, and not the slightest Dharma whatsoever can be attained; this itself is Buddha. Students of the Way today do not awaken to this essence of mind. Instead, they produce another mind upon mind, seek Buddha outwardly, and cultivate while clinging to appearances. All these are unwholesome dharmas, not the Way of bodhi.

– Making offerings to all the Buddhas of the ten directions does not equal making an offering to

BIOGRAPHICAL COLLECTION 9

one person of no-mind who cannot be apprehended. No-mind means the absence of all mind; its essence is suchness. Inwardly and outwardly, it is like wood or stone, neither moving nor turning. Inwardly and outwardly, it is like empty space, unobstructed and unhindered, with neither subject nor object, neither location nor form, neither gain nor loss. When people approach it, they dare not enter. They fear that this Dharma will cause them to fall into emptiness, with nowhere to rely upon, and so, glimpsing the shore, they retreat.

It accords with the principle of Mañjuśrī and the practice of Samantabhadra. Principle is the principle of true emptiness without obstruction; practice is the inexhaustible practice free from appearances. It accords with Avalokiteśvara’s great compassion and Mahāsthāmaprāpta’s great wisdom. It is Vimalakīrti, the Pure Name. “Pure” is nature, and “name” is appearance. Since nature and appearance do not differ, it is called the Pure Name. This is represented by all the great bodhisattvas. Whatever qualities each possesses do not depart from the One Mind; awakening to it is precisely right.

Students of the Way today do not awaken within their own minds but instead seek outside. Clinging to appearances and grasping at objects, they are all contrary to the Way. The Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges are spoken of in terms of sand. When Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and the devas Śakra and Brahmā tread upon it, the sand does not rejoice. When oxen, sheep, insects, and ants trample over it, the sand does not become angry. It does not covet precious treasures and fragrant scents, nor does it loathe the stench of excrement and urine.

– This mind is precisely the mind of no-mind, free from all appearances. Sentient beings and all Buddhas are again without distinction. If only one can be of no-mind, then everything is ultimately complete. If students of the Way do not become of no-mind at this very point, then even though they cultivate for many kalpas, they will never accomplish the Way. Bound by the meritorious practices of the Three Vehicles, they cannot attain liberation.

Nevertheless, realization of this mind may be slow or swift. Some hear the Dharma and in a single thought immediately attain no-mind. Some reach the Ten Faiths, Ten Abodes, Ten Practices, and Ten Dedications of Merit before attaining no-mind. Some reach even the Ten Grounds before they are said to attain no-mind. Whether the time is long or short, once no-mind is attained, one abides there; there is nothing further to cultivate and nothing further to realize. Truly there is no place of attainment; this is genuine and not false. Whether one attains it in a single thought or at the Ten Grounds, the efficacy is equal, with neither shallow nor profound. The only difference is that one may have passed through many kalpas, undergoing hardship and toil entirely in vain.

Doing good and doing evil are both attachment to appearances. To commit evil while attached to appearances is to suffer the cycle of rebirth in vain; to perform good while clinging to appearances is to undergo hardship and toil in vain. In short, nothing is better than personally recognizing the fundamental Dharma immediately upon hearing these words. This Dharma itself is mind; outside mind there is no Dharma. This mind itself is Dharma; within Dharma there is no mind. Mind is itself no-mind, yet neither is there any absence of mind. To take this mind of no-mind, then mind

it immediately becomes existence; one must only tacitly accord with it and put an end to all deliberation and conceptual thought.
Therefore, the sutra says, “The path of language is cut off, and the domain of mental activity ceases” (the way of speech ends, and the realm of thought is extinguished). This mind is the pure source of Buddhahood, possessed by everyone. Beasts and all sentient creatures capable of movement are of the same single essence as all Buddhas and bodhisattvas, without difference.

It is only because deluded thoughts and discriminations create various kinds of karma. In truth, within Buddhahood there is not a single thing—there is only openness, perfect penetration, quiescence, wondrous illumination, and bliss. Awaken deeply to this within yourself.

Right here, it is entirely complete and lacks nothing whatsoever. Even if one diligently practices throughout three asamkhyeya kalpas, passing through all the stages, when realization occurs in a single thought, one realizes only the Buddha one has always been; not a single thing can be added to it. Looking back, the effort expended throughout many kalpas was all deluded activity within a dream.

Therefore, the Tathagata said, “As for anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, I truly attained nothing.” If there had falsely been something attained, Dipankara Buddha would not have conferred a prediction upon me. He also said, “This Dharma is equal, without high or low; this is called bodhi.” It is precisely this originally pure mind. Together with sentient beings, all Buddhas, worlds, mountains, and rivers—with form or without form—throughout the realms of the ten directions, all is equal, without the marks of self and other.

This originally pure mind is always of itself perfectly luminous and all-pervading. People of the world do not awaken to it, but take seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing to be the mind, and are therefore obscured by seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing. Thus, when one sees the essential nature of one’s own nature, its essence manifests of itself precisely in no-mind, like the radiant orb of the sun in empty space, illuminating the ten directions without obstruction.

Therefore, students of the Way merely take seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing to be activities. If they do not identify with seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing, then the present mind is cut off and there is no place to enter. Simply recognize the original mind within seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing; yet the original mind does not belong to seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing, nor is it apart from them.

Just do not give rise to interpretations based upon seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing. Do not stir thoughts apart from seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing; do not seek the mind apart from seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing; and do not grasp the Dharma apart from seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing. Neither identical with nor separate from them, neither abiding nor attaching—free in every direction, there is nowhere that is not the bodhimanda.

– When people of the world hear it said that all Buddhas transmit the Dharma of mind, they suppose that within it there is some separate mental Dharma to be realized. They then use the mind to seek the Dharma, not knowing that mind itself is Dharma and Dharma itself is mind. One cannot use the mind to seek the mind; even after thousands and tens of thousands of kalpas, there will never be a day when it is attained. It is better to be without mind right here; this itself is that Dharma. It is like the strong man who, when he finds the jewel, merely finds the jewel that was already on his forehead; by seeking outwardly, he would never find it. A wise person points it out directly, and at that very moment he sees for himself that the jewel is where it has always been. Students of the Way are deluded about their own original mind and do not recognize that they themselves are Buddha. They therefore turn outward, undertaking practices and seeking, relying upon successive stages and realizations. Though they seek diligently through many kalpas, they do not accomplish the Way. Nothing equals being without mind right here. Then one knows with certainty that all dharmas have never truly existed, that there is no attainment, no abiding, no reliance, no subject, and no object. Without stirring deluded thoughts, one immediately realizes bodhi. When one realizes the Way, one realizes only one’s original Buddha-mind. The effort expended throughout many kalpas was all futile cultivation. It is like the strong man finding the jewel: he merely finds the jewel on his forehead, and this has nothing to do with the effort he spent searching outside. The Buddha said, “As for my anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, there truly was nothing attained.”

HISTORICAL TRANSMISSION COLLECTION 9
Fearing that people would not believe him, he invoked what is seen by the five eyes and the five kinds of speech: these words are true and not false; this is the truth of the supreme meaning.

• Students of the Way, do not doubt. The four great elements constitute the body; the four great elements are without self, and the self also has no master. Therefore, know that this body is without self and without master. The five skandhas are without self and without master; therefore, know that this mind is without self and without master. The six sense faculties, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses arise and cease through conjunction, and are likewise so. Since the eighteen dhatus are empty, everything is empty; there is only the vast and pure original mind. There is food of consciousness and food of wisdom. When the body of four great elements suffers hunger and sores, nourishing it according to its needs without craving or attachment is called food of wisdom. Indulging freely in delicious or unpleasant flavors, falsely giving rise to discrimination, merely seeking to satisfy the palate without becoming disenchanted and detached, is called food of consciousness. As for shravakas, because they awaken through hearing the voice, they are called shravakas. They simply do not understand their own mind and form interpretations only on the basis of verbal teachings. Whether through spiritual powers or extraordinary signs, through speech or activity, they hear that bodhi and nirvana are attained and that the Buddha Way is accomplished through practice over two asamkhyeya kalpas. All of this belongs to the shravaka path; therefore, they are called shravakas. The Buddha directly points out that one should swiftly understand that one’s own mind has always been Buddha. There is not a single Dharma that can be attained, nor a single practice that can be cultivated. This is the unsurpassed Way; this is the Buddha of true suchness. Students of the Way need only fear the arising of a single thought of existence, for it immediately separates them from the Way. Thought after thought is without marks; thought after thought is without contrivance—this itself is Buddha. If students of the Way wish to become Buddhas, they need not study any of the Buddha-Dharmas; they need only learn neither to seek nor to attach. When there is no seeking, the mind does not arise; when there is no attachment, the mind is undefiled. To be unborn and undefiled is Buddha. The eighty-four thousand Dharma gates counteract the eighty-four thousand afflictions; they are methods of teaching and guidance, but originally there is not a single Dharma. Detachment itself is Dharma; knowing detachment is Buddha. Simply abandon all afflictions, and there is no Dharma whatsoever to be attained.
• If students of the Way wish to know the essential secret, they must simply refrain from attaching to anything whatsoever in the mind. It is said that the Buddha’s Dharma-body is like empty space. This is an analogy; it means that the Dharma-body itself is empty space and empty space itself is the Dharma-body. People commonly say that the Dharma-body extends throughout empty space, as though empty space contained the Dharma-body, yet they do not know that empty space itself is the Dharma-body and the Dharma-body itself is empty space. If one definitively says that empty space exists, then empty space is not the Dharma-body. If one definitively says that the Dharma-body exists, then the Dharma-body is not empty space. Simply do not form conceptual understanding about empty space, and empty space is immediately the Dharma-body. Do not form conceptual understanding about the Dharma-body, and the Dharma-body is precisely empty space. Empty space and the Dharma-body bear no differing marks. Samsara and nirvana bear no differing marks; affliction and bodhi bear no differing marks. To be free from all marks is Buddha. Ordinary beings cling to objects; cultivators of the Way cling to mind. When both mind and objects disappear, this is the true Dharma. Forgetting objects is easy, but forgetting mind is exceedingly difficult. People dare not forget the mind because they fear falling into an emptiness where nothing exists. They do not know that emptiness is originally not empty; it is simply the one realm of reality. This spiritually aware nature, since beginningless time, has shared the lifespan of empty space. It has never arisen and never ceased, has never existed and never not existed, has never been defiled and never been pure, has never been noisy and never been still, has never been young and never been old. It has no direction, neither inside nor outside; it has no quantity, shape, form, color, appearance, or sound. It cannot be sought or pursued, cannot be understood through wisdom, and cannot be discriminated through speech. It cannot be understood through objects, nor reached through effort. All Buddhas and bodhisattvas, together with all sentient beings—whether crawling, flying, or moving—share the same nature of great nirvana. Nature itself is mind, mind itself is Buddha, and Buddha itself is Dharma. A single thought that departs from truth is entirely deluded thought. One cannot use the mind to seek the mind again, use Buddha to seek Buddha again, or use the Dharma to seek the Dharma again.

Therefore, one who cultivates the Way is, right here, without mind and silently accords with it;
to fix the mind is already an error. To transmit mind by means of mind—this is Right View.
Take care not to pursue external objects and make them into mind, for that is to take a thief
for one’s own son. Because greed, anger, and delusion exist, morality, samadhi, and wisdom are established. If originally there were no afflictions,
how could there be bodhi? Therefore, the Patriarch said: “The Buddha taught every Dharma in order to eliminate
all minds. Now that I have none of these minds, what need have I of any Dharma?” The Buddha, from ancient times
to the present, is originally pure and does not cling to a single thing. It is like empty space: although
adorned with immeasurable kinds of precious treasures, it ultimately does not adhere
to any of them. Buddha-nature is the same as empty space: although adorned with immeasurable merit and wisdom,
it ultimately cannot become attached to them. It is only because one is deluded about the Original Nature
that one fails to see it.

– Regarding the Dharma gate of the Mind Ground, the myriad dharmas all depend upon this mind

to be established: encountering objects, they appear; without objects, they are absent. One must not,
upon the pure nature, form an understanding of objects. Samadhi and wisdom are spoken of as means
to illuminate with clear awareness while remaining quiescent. Seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing all arise as understanding
in relation to objects. Provisionally speaking in this way to practitioners of middling and lesser capacities is acceptable. But
if one wishes to realize it personally, none of these can be regarded as understanding, for all are bound by objects.
Where dharmas are present, there is loss; the loss lies precisely in their being present. One need only, in relation to
all dharmas, not perceive them as existent; then one sees the Dharma.

– Since Great Master Bodhidharma came to China, he spoke only of one nature and transmitted

only one Dharma. Transmitting Buddha by Buddha, he did not speak of any other Buddha; transmitting Dharma
by Dharma, he did not speak of any other Dharma. The Dharma is the inexpressible Dharma; Buddha is precisely
the Buddha who cannot be grasped—namely, the originally pure mind. There is only this one matter;
if there were a second matter apart from it, it would not be true. Prajnaparamita is wisdom, and this wisdom is precisely
the root of signlessness.

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORDS, VOLUME 9

– Ordinary beings do not turn toward the Way; they merely follow the six sense faculties and enter

the six paths. Even after studying the Way, if a single thought calculating birth and death arises, they immediately fall into the path
of the maras; if a single thought gives rise to views and attachments, they immediately fall into the paths of non-Buddhists. Seeing birth as existent
and turning toward cessation, they fall into the Way of the sravakas. Not seeing birth as existent but seeing only cessation
is the Way of the pratyekabuddhas. Dharmas originally do not arise, and now they also do not cease.
Do not give rise to the two attachments; neither reject nor crave. All dharmas are only the one mind;
only then is this truly the Buddha Vehicle. All ordinary people
pursue objects and give rise to mind; the mind then craves and rejects. If one wishes objects to disappear,
one must forget that mind. When the mind is forgotten, objects vanish; when objects vanish,
the mind is extinguished. If one does not forget the mind but merely tries to eliminate objects, they cannot be eliminated;
this only produces ever greater agitation and confusion. Therefore, the myriad dharmas are only mind;
and since mind itself is not truly existent, what is there to seek? Those who study the Dharma of prajnaparamita
do not see a single Dharma that can be attained. Its intent cuts off the Three Vehicles; there is only the one reality,
which cannot be realized as an attainment. Those who say, “I have realized; I have attained,” are all persons of overweening pride.
Those who shook out their robes and departed from the Lotus Sutra assembly were all people of this kind. Therefore, the Buddha said:
“With respect to bodhi, I truly have nothing whatsoever to attain; I merely silently accord with it.”

– Ordinary people who wish to cultivate and realize should simply contemplate that the five skandhas are all empty,

the four great elements are without self, and the true mind is signless, neither coming nor going. At birth,
the nature does not come; at death, the nature does not depart. Luminous, perfect,
and quiescent, mind and objects are one. If one can only be thus, one will understand swiftly, right where one stands.
One will not be bound by the three times and will immediately become one who has transcended the world. In all things,
there must not be the slightest inclination toward anything. If one sees auspicious signs, such as Buddhas coming to welcome one,
or various other manifestations appearing before one, the mind should not follow after them. If one sees
inauspicious signs, the mind should likewise have no fear. Simply forget the mind itself and become one with the dharmadhatu;
then one immediately attains freedom.

As for the Conjured City, the Two Vehicles, the Ten Grounds, and even Equal Enlightenment,
Wondrous Enlightenment, and so forth are all expedient teachings provisionally established to guide beings; all are Conjured Cities. As for
the Place of Jewels, it is precisely the treasure of the true mind of one’s own nature, the Original Buddha. This treasure
does not belong to ordinary conceptual calculation and cannot be established. When there is no Buddha and no sentient being,
no subject and no object, where could there be a city?
If one asks, “Since this is the Conjured City, where is the Place of Jewels?” the Place of Jewels cannot be pointed out.
If it could be pointed out, there would be a Place of Jewels, and it would not be the true place. Therefore, it is said merely to be nearby.
“Nearby” cannot be defined or measured; one must simply embody it and accord with it.
An icchantika is one who has no faith. Thus, all sentient beings of the six paths,
and even those of the Two Vehicles, who do not believe in Buddha are called icchantikas whose wholesome roots are cut off. Bodhisattvas
have profound faith in the Buddha-Dharma and do not perceive any Great Vehicle or Lesser Vehicle. The Buddha and sentient beings
share the same Dharma-nature; therefore, they are called icchantikas of wholesome roots. In general, one who awakens through hearing
the teachings is called a sravaka. One who awakens by contemplating causes and conditions is called
a pratyekabuddha. If one does not awaken by turning toward one’s own mind, then even if one reaches Buddhahood,
one is still called a sravaka Buddha. If a student of the Buddha’s Way awakens through dharmas
but does not awaken within the mind, then even after cultivating for many kalpas, one will never be the Original Buddha. If one does not
awaken within the mind but awakens through dharmas, one thereby esteems dharmas and slightens the mind, becoming one who follows a clod of earth,
for one has forgotten the Original Mind. If one simply accords with the Original Mind, there is no need to seek the Dharma,
for mind itself is the Dharma.

– Ordinary people mostly say that objects obstruct the mind and phenomena obstruct principle. They always wish to flee from objects

so that the mind may be at peace, and to eliminate phenomena so that principle may remain. They do not know that it is precisely the mind that obstructs objects
and principle that obstructs phenomena. One need only make the mind empty, and objects will naturally be empty; one need only make principle quiescent,
and phenomena will naturally be quiescent. Do not employ the mind contrary to this. Ordinary people mostly refuse to empty the mind,
fearing that they will fall into emptiness. They do not know that their own mind is originally empty. The foolish eliminate phenomena but do not eliminate the mind;
the wise eliminate the mind but do not eliminate phenomena. The bodhisattva’s mind is like empty space, relinquishing everything.
Whatever merit one may perform, one should not become attached to it. Yet relinquishment has three levels. To relinquish everything,
inside and outside, body and mind, without abiding anywhere, and thereafter to respond to beings in accordance with circumstances,
with both subject and object forgotten—this is called Great Relinquishment. If, on the one hand, one practices the Way and bestows virtue,
while, on the other, relinquishing everything without any expectation or seeking, this mind is called Middling Relinquishment. If one extensively
cultivates wholesome deeds while still harboring expectations, but upon hearing the Dharma and knowing emptiness does not become deluded or attached,
this is called Lesser Relinquishment. Great relinquishment is like a torch held before one, so there is no longer delusion or awakening.
Middling relinquishment is like a torch held at one’s side, sometimes bright and sometimes dark.
Lesser relinquishment is like a torch held behind one, so one does not see pits and hollows. The bodhisattva’s mind is like
empty space, relinquishing everything. Not seeing the past mind as existent is relinquishing the past.
The present mind cannot be obtained—this is relinquishing the present. The future mind cannot be obtained—this is relinquishing the immeasurable future.
This is called relinquishing all three times. From the time the Tathagata transmitted the teaching to Kasyapa until now,
mind has been used to seal mind, with mind after mind no different. If the seal is impressed upon emptiness, it produces no mark;
if the seal is impressed upon a thing, it does not become the Dharma. Therefore, mind is used to seal mind, and mind does not change.
Both that which seals and that which is sealed are difficult to accord with and comprehend; therefore, few attain it. Yet
mind is precisely no-mind, and attainment is precisely non-attainment.

The Buddha has three bodies. The Dharma-body refers to the numinous penetration of one’s own nature. The reward-body refers
to complete purity. The transformation-body refers to the six paramitas and myriad practices. When the Dharma-body expounds the Dharma,
it does not use words, sounds, forms, or written characters; there is nothing spoken and nothing realized,
only the numinous penetration of one’s own nature. Therefore, it is said: “There is no Dharma that can be spoken; this is called speaking the Dharma.”
As for the reward-body and transformation-body, both manifest to expound the Dharma in response to beings’ capacities and receptivity, and they likewise gather beings in
by responding appropriately to their faculties.

As for transformation, it is not the true Dharma; therefore it is said that the reward-body and transformation-body are not the true Buddha, nor are they the one who expounds the Dharma.

Regarding identity, one luminous essence is divided into six harmonies. The one luminous essence is the one mind; the six harmonies are the six sense faculties, each united with its object. The eye unites with form, the ear with sound, the nose with fragrance, the tongue with taste, the body with touch, and the mind with dharmas.

Between the faculties and their objects arise the six consciousnesses, forming the eighteen dhatus. If one understands that the eighteen dhatus have no true existence, one gathers the six harmonies into one luminous essence. The one luminous essence is precisely mind.

Those who study the Way all know this. Yet because they cannot avoid forming an understanding of the one luminous essence and the six harmonies, they become bound by the Dharma and fail to accord with the original mind. The Tathagata appeared in the world intending to teach the Dharma of the One Vehicle, but sentient beings did not believe it and disparaged it, and thus drowned in the ocean of suffering.

Yet if he had not taught, the Buddha would have fallen into miserliness. Rather than withhold the giving of the entire wondrous Way to sentient beings, he expediently taught the Three Vehicles. The vehicles are great and small, and their attainments profound and shallow, but none is the original Dharma.

Therefore it is said that there is only this Way of the One Vehicle; the other two vehicles are not true. Yet it was still utterly impossible to reveal directly the Dharma of the one mind. Therefore he invited Kasyapa to share the Dharma seat and privately transmitted to him the Dharma of the one mind, which is apart from speech.

This single branch of Dharma is now practiced separately; if one can awaken in accord with it, one immediately reaches the Buddha-ground.

The Gatha on the Transmission of Mind by Chancellor Pei Xiu

At Wanling and Zhongling, I personally received the essential teaching of mind in its entirety from Chan Master Xiyun of Huangbo. I therefore composed this Gatha on the Transmission of Mind:

I have heard that the Great Being of Hedong personally beheld the Master of the Way at Gao’an transmit the essential teaching of mind. In this life he composed a gatha to reveal it to later generations, swiftly opening the deaf and enlightening the blind, radiant as cinnabar and azure. Fearing that it would become scattered and lost, I have copied it into this work. In the Wuzi year, during the Qingli era of the Southern Song, respectfully recorded by one styled Tianzhen.

(In this work, eleven places have been amended, three characters were missing, and nine characters have been added. Records from four sources were consulted. This work is now copied separately here.)

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY, SECTION 9