景德傳燈錄

THE JINGDE RECORD OF THE TRANSMISSION OF THE LAMP — FASCICLE 11

VOLUME 11
In the fourth generation descending from Chan Master Huai Rang, there were 89 persons.

– There were 34 Dharma-successor disciples of Chan Master Ling You of Mount Gui in Tan Prefecture:

– There were ten Dharma-successor disciples of Chan Master Da An of Fu Prefecture.

1. Chan Master Fa Zhen of Da Sui in Yi Prefecture
2. Chan Master Ru Man of Ling Shou in Shao Prefecture
3. Chan Master Shi Jie of Shou Shan in Fu Prefecture
4. Venerable Rao Shan of Rao Prefecture
5. Great Master Hui Ri Chong Fu of Putian in Quan Prefecture
6. Venerable Fu Jiang of Tai Prefecture
7. The Venerable of Lu Shui in Lu Prefecture
8. Chan Master Yuan of Manjusri Cloister in Guang Prefecture
(The eight persons above are recorded in the records.)
9. Chan Master Ling Yang of Wen Prefecture
10. Venerable Zhi Yi of Hong Prefecture
(The two persons above left no recorded encounters or sayings and therefore are not included in the records.)

– There were three Dharma-successor disciples of Great Master Jian Zong of Mount Jing in Hang Prefecture.

1. The Chan Master of Xian Qi Mountain, Tian Tong, in Ming Prefecture
2. Chan Master Xing Zhen of Bei Shan
3. Chan Master Xing Man of Great Ci Mountain in Hang Prefecture
(The three persons above left no recorded encounters or sayings and therefore are not included in the records.)

– There were thirteen Dharma-successor disciples of Chan Master Cong Shen of the Eastern Cloister in Zhao Prefecture.

1. Venerable Yan Yang of Xin Xing in Hong Prefecture
2. Chan Master Hui Jue of Guang Xiao Cloister in Yang Prefecture,
3. Chan Master Feng of Guo Qing Cloister in Long Prefecture
4. Chan Master Cong Lang of Mu Chen in Wu Prefecture
5. Chan Master Xin Jian of Wu Prefecture
6. Venerable Duo Fu of Hang Prefecture
7. Venerable Xi Mu of Yi Prefecture
(The seven persons above are recorded in the records.)
8. The Venerable of Ma Gu Mountain in Tan Prefecture
9. Chan Master Ding E of Guanyin Cloister
10. The Venerable of Ming Ping Mountain in Xuan Prefecture
11. Daoist Mian of Taiyuan
12. Prince Yan of You Prefecture
13. Prince Zhao of Zhen Prefecture
(The six persons above left no recorded encounters or sayings and therefore are not included in the records.)

– There were four Dharma-successor disciples of Chan Master Li Zong of Zi Hu Mountain in Qu Prefecture.

– There was one Dharma-successor disciple of Chan Master Xing Kong of Xiao Yi Monastery in Ji Prefecture.

1. Chan Master Shou Run of Shou Xing Cloister in Ang Prefecture (he left no recorded encounters or sayings)

– There was one Dharma-successor disciple of Venerable Zhu Yu of E Prefecture.

1. Venerable Shi Ti (recorded in the records).

– There were two Dharma-successor disciples of Venerable Tian Long.

1. Venerable Ju Zhi of Jinhua in Wu Prefecture (recorded in the records)
2. Chan Master Yan Zhong, a native of Silla (he left no recorded encounters or sayings)

– There were two Dharma-successor disciples of Chan Master Chang Sha Jing Cen.

1. Chan Master Chang Tong of Xue Dou Mountain in Ming Prefecture (recorded in the records)
2. Chan Master Yan Ling of Jinhua Mountain in Wu Prefecture (he left no recorded encounters or sayings)

– There were two Dharma-successor disciples of the Chan Master of Guan Na:

1. Venerable Dao Wu of Guan Nan
2. Venerable Luo Han of Zhang Prefecture

– A Dharma-successor disciple of Chan Master Tan Zhao of Bai Ma:

1. Chan Master Wu Ming of Huo Shan in Jin Prefecture (he left no recorded encounters or sayings)
There were two Dharma-successor disciples of Chan Master Da Zheng of Silla:
1. Great King Wen Tan
2. Great King Xian An (they have no recorded sayings)

– There was one Dharma-successor disciple of Chan Master Xiao Ma of Shen Zhao:

1. Chan Master You Yuan of Lian Yun Cloister in Jinyun Commandery (he left no recorded encounters or sayings)

– There was one Dharma-successor disciple of Venerable Da Yu of Gao An:

1. Bhiksuni Liao Ran of Mo Shan in Jun Prefecture (recorded in the records)

– There were two Dharma-successor disciples of Chan Master Hong Zhi of Silla:

1. Great King Xing De.
2. Crown Prince Xuan Kang (the two persons above left no recorded encounters or sayings and therefore are not included in the records)

– There was one Dharma-successor disciple of Venerable Wu Ji of Xu Prefecture.

1. Chan Master Dao Sui (he left no recorded encounters or sayings and therefore is not included in the records)

– A Dharma-successor disciple of Chan Master Ling You of Mount Gui, in the fourth generation descending from Chan Master Huai Rang:

1. Chan Master Hui Ji of Mount Yang in Yuan Prefecture.
The Master was a native of Huaihua in Shao Prefecture, and his family name was Ye. At the age of fifteen, he wished to leave the household life, but his parents would not permit it. Two years later, the Master cut off two joints of his fingers, knelt before his parents, and vowed to seek the True Dharma in order to repay their laborious kindness. He then relied upon Chan Master Tong at Nanhua Monastery and had his head shaved. Before receiving the full precepts, he set out to travel and study. He first encountered Master Dan Yuan and awakened to the profound purport. Later, he visited Master Gui Shan and entered the inner chamber. Master Ling You asked, “Are you a novice monk with a master, or a novice monk without a master?”
The Master said, “I have a master.”
He asked, “Where is he?”
The Master crossed from the east and stood in the west. Ling You knew that he was an extraordinary person and accordingly instructed him.
The Master asked, “What is the abiding place of the true Buddha?”
Ling You said, “Take the subtlety of thinking that is beyond thinking and turn its illumination back upon yourself, lucid without end. When thought is exhausted, return again to your originally inherent nature, which is the mark of eternal abiding. Principle and phenomena are not two: this is the true Buddha of suchness.”
Upon hearing these words, the Master suddenly awakened and thereafter constantly safeguarded this realization. Later, he went to Jiangling, received the precepts, observed the summer retreat, and studied the Vinaya Pitaka. He later visited Master Yan Tou. When Yan Tou raised his whisk, the Master spread out his sitting cloth. Yan Tou placed the whisk behind his back, whereupon the Master slung the sitting cloth over his shoulder and departed. Yan Tou said, “I do not approve of your letting go; I approve only of your gathering in.”
The Master then went to ask Master Shi Shi, “How far apart are the Buddha and the Way?”
Shi Shi said, “The Way is like opening the hand; the Buddha is like closing the hand into a fist.”
The Master then took leave of Shi Shi. Shi Shi accompanied him to the gate and said, “Do not go away for good; later, return to me.”
Wei Zhu went to Master Gui Shan and requested a gatha. Gui Shan said, “To look one another in the face and present it is already the work of a dullard; how could it be depicted further with paper and brush?” He then came to request one from the Master. The Master drew a circle on a sheet of paper and then

The commentary says: “To know through thought falls into the second head; to know without thought falls into the third head.”

One day, the Master accompanied Guishan while plowing a field. The Master asked, “Why is this end low and the other end high?” Lingyou said, “Water can be used to measure whether things are level, because water always lies flat.” The Master said, “Water, too, is not a reliable standard. Venerable Master, simply level the high place according to the high and the low place according to the low.” Lingyou approved.

A donor once offered silk. The Master asked, “When the Venerable Master accepts such an offering from a donor, with what will you repay it?” Lingyou immediately raised the meditation platform. The Master said, “How can the Venerable Master take everyone’s possessions and use them as his own furnishings?”

Lingyou suddenly asked the Master, “Where have you come from?” The Master replied, “From the middle of the field.” Lingyou asked, “How many people are in the middle of the field?” The Master planted his hoe in the ground and stood there. Lingyou said, “Today many people are cutting thatch on South Mountain.” The Master then shouldered his hoe and departed.

When the Master was tending oxen beside Guishan, the head-seat monk said, “On a hundred billion hair-tips, a hundred billion lions appear.” The Master did not reply but returned and stood in attendance. When the head-seat monk came to inquire after him, the Master recalled his earlier statement and asked, “Was what you said just now—‘On a hundred billion hair-tips, a hundred billion lions appear’—not so?” The head-seat monk said, “It was.” The Master asked, “At the very moment they appear, do they appear before the hair-tips or behind them?” The head-seat monk said, “When they appear, one does not speak of before or behind.” Lingyou said, “The lion’s back is broken.”

The head-seat monk at Guishan raised a fly-whisk and said, “I shall give this to whoever can enact the principle.” The Master said, “I can enact the principle. May I have it?” The head-seat monk said, “If you can enact the principle, you may.” The Master then took the fly-whisk and departed.

One day it rained. The head-seat monk said, “A fine rain, Acarya Ji.” The Master asked, “What is fine about it?” The head-seat monk could not answer. The Master said, “I can say.” The head-seat monk asked, “What is fine about it?” The Master pointed to the rain.

Guishan and the Master went for a walk. A bird carrying a red persimmon dropped it before them. Lingyou picked it up and gave it to the Master. The Master accepted it, washed it clean with water, and handed it back. Lingyou asked, “How did you obtain this?” The Master replied, “It was brought about by the Venerable Master’s virtue.” Lingyou said, “Nor shall you receive nothing,” and split the fruit in half, giving one half to the Master.

The Master was washing his robe. Danyuan asked, “What are you doing at this very moment?” The Master asked, “At this very moment, toward what do you look in order to see?”

The Master remained at Guishan’s side for fifty years. Whenever he uttered a phrase, the entire assembly of students submitted to it. After receiving Guishan’s secret transmission, the Master led an assembly to dwell on Mount Wangmang. Yet because the conditions for transforming beings had not come into accord, he moved to Yangshan, where his disciples gradually became numerous.

The Master ascended the Dharma Hall and instructed the assembly:

“You must all strive to examine yourselves and not merely memorize words. From beginningless kalpas until now, you have turned away from the light and followed darkness. The roots of deluded thinking are deep and ultimately difficult to uproot quickly. Therefore, expedient means must be employed to seize your coarse consciousness—your shallow views—just as yellow leaves are used to stop a child’s crying; how could there truly be such a thing?

“It is also like someone who stocks a shop with a hundred kinds of merchandise and precious gold, conducting trade and calculating their respective weight and value. Thus it is said that tiles and stones constitute a shop of pure gold, while all the things I have constitute a general store. When someone comes seeking excrement and urine, I give them that; when someone else comes seeking pure gold, I give them that.”

On another occasion, a monk asked, “I have no need to request excrement and urine; Venerable Master, please give me pure gold.”

The Master said, “You may bare your sharp teeth and prepare to open your mouth, yet even to the end of your years you will not understand.”

The monk could not reply.

The Master said, “If you demand that it be called something, there must be an exchange; if you do not demand that it be called something, there is no self. If one speaks of the Chan school, there is not even a single person beside you to serve as a companion—how could there be an assembly of five or seven hundred? If I speak of east and west and you all contend with one another to gather up my words, it is like deceiving children with an empty fist. There is, in truth, no matter to be seen.

“Now I tell you clearly: concerning matters on the side of the sages, do not use your minds to seek support in them. Simply turn toward the ocean of your own nature and cultivate in accord with reality. There is no need for the three knowledges and six supernormal powers. Why is this? Because this is the work of sages throughout their lives.

“What is needed now is to penetrate the source and know the mind. If you merely attain the root without attaining the branches, later on they will naturally become complete. If you have not attained the root, then no matter how much conceptual learning you employ, you still will not attain it. Have you not heard Venerable Guishan say: ‘When the sentiments of ordinary beings and sages are utterly exhausted, the essence reveals true permanence. When phenomena and principle are nondual, that is the Buddha of suchness’?”

A monk asked, “What is the Patriarch’s intention?”

The Master immediately traced a circle in the air with his hand and then wrote the character “Buddha” within the circle. The monk could not reply.

The Master said to the head-seat monk, “Not thinking of good and not thinking of evil—what is it at that very moment?”

He replied, “At that very moment, it is where I relinquish body and life.”

The Master said, “Why do you not ask this old monk?”

He replied, “At that very moment, I do not see that there is any Venerable Master.”

The Master said, “You are not fit to help me teach.”

Once, the Master returned to Guishan to pay his respects. Lingyou said, “You are already called a spiritual friend. When monks come from various places, how do you tell whether they know that it is or do not know that it is, whether they have a master’s transmission or lack a master’s transmission, whether theirs is scholastic learning or the study of the mystery? Try to say something.”

The Master said, “Huiji has a way of testing them. Whenever I see a monk arrive from elsewhere, I immediately raise my fly-whisk and ask him, ‘Do they speak of this in the various places?’ Then I say, ‘Leaving this aside, what is the intention of the venerable elders in the various places?’”

Lingyou praised him, saying, “That accords with the claws and fangs of our school.”

Lingyou asked, “Throughout the world, beings’ karmic consciousness is boundless and obscure, without any root upon which to rely. How do you know whether they have it or not?”

The Master said, “Huiji has a way of testing them.”

At that moment, a monk passed before the Master. The Master called loudly, “Acarya!” The monk turned his head.

The Master said, “Venerable Master, this precisely is karmic consciousness, boundless and obscure, without any root upon which it can rely.”

Lingyou said, “This is a single drop of lion’s milk dispersing six dou of donkey’s milk.”

Minister Zheng Yu asked, “What is it like to enter nirvana without cutting off the afflictions?”

The Master raised his fly-whisk.

The minister said, “Would it be acceptable to dispense even with the single word ‘enter’?”

The Master said, “The single word ‘enter’ does not apply to you, Minister.”

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

He replied, “From Youzhou.”

The Master said, “I would like to know how much rice costs in Youzhou.”

He replied, “When I left, I did not pass through the marketplace, for I had already trodden upon and broken the bridge and landing.”

The Master then ceased.

The Master saw a monk approaching and raised his fly-whisk. The monk immediately shouted.

The Master said, “A shout is not absent, but tell me: where is this old monk at fault?”

The monk said, “Venerable Master, you must not use an object to indicate the ultimate.”

The Master then struck him.

The Master asked Xiangyan, “Junior brother, what has your understanding been like recently?”

Xiangyan replied, “In the end, I cannot express it.” He then recited a verse:

The Master said, “You have attained only the Tathagata Chan; you have not yet attained the Patriarchal Chan.”

Guishan wrapped up a mirror and sent it to the Master. The Master ascended the Dharma Hall, unwrapped it, and held it up. He then asked, “Is this Guishan’s mirror or Yangshan’s mirror? If anyone can answer, I shall not smash it.”

The assembly could not reply. The Master then smashed the mirror.

The Master asked Shuangfeng, “Junior brother, what has your understanding been like recently?”

He replied, “According to my understanding, there is not a single dharma that can confront the mind.”

The Master said, “Your understanding still remains within the realm of objects.”

Shuangfeng said, “This is simply how I am. What about you, senior brother?”

The Master said, “Do you not know that there is not a single dharma that can confront the mind?”

When Guishan heard this, he said, “A single phrase from Ji will cast all people under heaven into deadly doubt.”

A monk asked, “Does the Dharma body expound the Dharma?”

The Master said, “I cannot say it; only one person can.”

The monk asked, “Who can say it, and where is he?”

The Master held up his pillow.

When Guishan heard of this, he said, “Ji wields a keen sword.”

The Master

He sat with his eyes closed. A monk secretly approached and stood to one side. The Master opened his eyes, drew a circle on the ground, wrote the character “water” inside it, and then looked back at the monk. The monk could not answer. The Master then picked up a staff. The monk asked, “Where did you get it?” The Master hid it behind his back. The monk could not answer.

The Master asked a monk, “What do you know?”

The monk said, “I know divination.”

The Master raised his whisk and asked, “To which of the sixty-four hexagrams does this belong?”

The monk could not answer. The Master answered for him:

“When it first came, the snow from the heavens was extremely fierce;
Now it has turned into the brilliant fire of the earth.”

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

He replied, “Ling Tong.”

The Master said, “Then please enter the lantern.”

He replied, “I entered it this morning.”

A monk asked, “An ancient said, ‘On seeing form, one immediately sees mind.’ Before us now is form. I ask the Venerable to depart from form and point out mind to this disciple.”

The Master said, “That came out of the meditation platform.”

The monk could not answer.

A monk asked, “What is Master Vairocana?”

The Master immediately shouted.

He asked again, “What is the Venerable Master?”

The Master said, “Do not be disrespectful.”

While the Master was conversing with a monk, another monk standing nearby asked, “Speech is Manjusri, and silence is Vimalakirti. What of it?”

The Master said, “Neither speaking nor remaining silent—why is that not you?”

The monk remained silent.

The Master said, “Why do you not manifest spiritual powers?”

The monk said, “I do not refuse to manifest spiritual powers; I only fear that the Venerable will subsume them under the teachings.”

The Master said, “Judging from where you have come, you have yet to possess the eye beyond the teachings.”

Someone asked, “How far apart are heaven and hell?”

The Master used his staff to draw a line on the ground.

When the Master was residing at Guanyin Cloister, he posted a notice saying, “When I am reading sutras, questions about matters are not permitted.” Later, a monk came to visit. Seeing the Master reading a sutra, he stood to one side and waited. The Master rolled up the sutra and asked, “Do you understand?”

The monk said, “I have not read the sutra, so how could I understand?”

The Master said, “From now on, understand it.”

A monk asked, “What is the ultimate meaning of entering the gate of sudden awakening in the Chan school?”

The Master said, “This meaning is extremely difficult. Under the gate of the patriarchal school, one of superior faculties and superior wisdom, upon hearing one thing, awakens to a thousand and attains the great dharani. Such a person is difficult to find, for there are those whose faculties are weak and whose wisdom is inferior. Therefore, an ancient worthy said, ‘If one does not settle into dhyana and serene contemplation, then upon reaching that place, all will be utterly obscure.’ Apart from this principal method, could there be some other special expedient by which this disciple might gain entry?”

The Master said, “Whether there is something special or nothing special, it causes your mind no peace. Where are you from?”

He replied, “I am from Youzhou.”

The Master said, “Do you think of that place?”

He replied, “I always think of it.”

The Master said, “In that place there are towers, terraces, gardens, groves, and gatherings of people and horses. When you think of it, are there still all those many kinds of things or not?”

The monk said, “When I reach that place, none of them can be seen.”

The Master said, “Your understanding still remains within an object. At the stage of faith this is correct, but at the stage of causation it is not. According to your understanding, you have attained only one mystery. You may sit down, draw your robe around you, and from now on examine it for yourself.”

The monk bowed in thanks and departed.

After the Master moved from Yangshan to Guanyin, his reception and benefit of beings became a standard for the Chan school. Several years before his transformation into stillness, the Master composed this verse:

My years have reached seventy-seven; old age and death come today.
Letting my nature freely sink or float, with both hands I clasp my bent knees.

The Master entered stillness at Dongping Mountain in Shaozhou at the age of seventy-seven, passing away while embracing his knees. The emperor bestowed upon him the posthumous title Great Master Zhitong, and his stupa was named Miaoguang. The stupa was later moved to Yangshan.

2. Chan Master Zhixian of Xiangyan in Dengzhou

The Master was a native of Qingzhou. Weary of secular life, he took leave of his parents and traveled in search of the Way, joining the Chan assembly of Master Guishan. Venerable Lingyou knew that the Master was a vessel of the Dharma and wished to stimulate the brightness of his wisdom. One day he summoned him and said, “I do not ask you about what you have learned and understood throughout your life, nor about the scriptures you have memorized. Before you emerged from the womb, before you could distinguish east from west, speak one phrase concerning the fundamental matter. I wish to remember your words.”

The Master was bewildered and could not answer. After pondering for a long time, he offered several statements expressing his understanding. Lingyou accepted none of them.

The Master said, “I ask the Venerable to explain it for me.”

Lingyou said, “What I might say would only be my own understanding. What benefit would it be to your eyes and ears?”

The Master then returned to the Dharma hall and thoroughly searched through all the phrases and regional sayings, but not a single word could provide an answer. He sighed to himself, “A picture of a cake cannot satisfy hunger.” He then burned them all, saying, “In this lifetime I will no longer study the Buddha-Dharma. I shall merely be a rice-and-gruel monk passing the days, with no need to torment my mind and spirit.”

Weeping, the Master took leave of Guishan and departed. He reached Nanyang, where he saw the remains associated with the National Preceptor, and stayed there. One day, while clearing trees and grass on the mountain, he threw a stone into a bamboo thicket. It struck with a single “tok,” and suddenly the Master was thoroughly awakened. He then returned, bathed, burned incense, and bowed from afar toward Guishan, praising him: “The Venerable’s great compassion has shown me kindness surpassing that of my parents. Had the Venerable explained it to me at that time, how could today’s event ever have occurred?”

He then composed this verse:

The Master ascended the Dharma hall and said, “The Way is attained through awakening, not through words. Moreover, the intimate seeing is resplendent, without the slightest obstruction. There is no need to weary the mind. For the time being, rely upon the complete function of turning the light around; day after day, you will naturally leave the path of delusion behind.”

Someone asked, “What is the realm of Xiangyan?”

The Master said, “Flowers and trees are not soaked.”

Someone asked, “What is Saindhava?”

The Master struck the meditation platform and said, “Bring that here.”

Someone asked, “What is seeing the place of study?”

The Master spun his fan and asked, “Do you see?”

The monk could not answer.

Someone asked, “What is eating by right livelihood?”

The Master clenched his fist and pointed.

Someone asked, “What are the precepts of non-manifest form?”

The Master said, “Wait until the acharya returns to lay life, and then I will tell you.”

Someone asked, “What is the single phrase of encountering one another beyond sound and form?”

The Master said, “Before I resided at Xiangyan, where would you say I dwelt?”

The monk said, “At that time I would not dare say that there was a dwelling place.”

The Master said, “It is like the mind and mental factors of an illusory being.”

A monk asked, “When one does not revere the sages and does not esteem one’s own numinous nature, what is it like then?”

The Master said, “The myriad functions cease their deliberations; the thousand sages are not it.”

At that time, Shushan, who was among the assembly, made a retching sound and said, “What sort of talk is that?”

The Master asked, “Who was that?”

The assembly said, “Your Dharma uncle.”

The Master said, “Did you not respond to this old monk?”

Shushan said, “Yes.”

The Master said, “Can you say it?”

He replied, “I can.”

The Master said, “Try saying it.”

He replied, “If you want me to speak, the Master must first assist me by performing a bow.”

The Master descended from his seat, bowed, and repeated the previous question.

Shushan asked, “Why not say, ‘Bearing the burden, one cannot remain whole’?”

The Master said, “You know a great deal. Even so, for thirty years you will suffer reverse defecation. If you live in the mountains, there will be no firewood to burn; if you live near water, there will be no water to drink. Remember this clearly.”

Later, the circumstances of Shushan’s dwelling proved exactly as the Master had foretold. After twenty-seven years, the illness abated. He then said to himself, “My elder Dharma brother Xiangyan predicted that I would suffer reverse defecation for thirty years; now it has been three years short.” Whenever he cried out, he would use his hand to induce himself to vomit, thus fulfilling the earlier prediction.

Someone asked, “What is the phrase before sound?”

The Master said, “Virtuous one, before you asked, it was already answered.”

The monk asked, “What about at this very moment?”

The Master said, “That is the question at this very moment.”

Someone asked, “What is it to cut directly across the original place of the Buddha’s seal?”

The Master immediately threw down his staff, swung his arms, and departed.

Someone asked, “What is the great meaning of the Master’s Dharma?”

The Master said, “This year thunder and lightning have caused the buckwheat harvest to fail.”

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

The Master put his hand inside his robe at his belly, pretended to grasp something, and held it out to him. The monk knelt and extended both hands to receive it.

The Master asked, “What is it?”

The monk could not answer.

Someone asked, “What is the Way?”

The Master said, “A dragon chants in a withered tree.”

The monk said, “This disciple does not understand.”

The Master said, “The person within the skull.”

Someone asked, “Apart from the four propositions and beyond the hundred negations, I ask the Venerable to speak.”

The Master said, “Before a hunter, one must not speak of the precepts of the Fundamental Teacher.”

One day, the Master addressed the assembly:

It is like a person atop a thousand-foot-high mountain, holding a tree branch in his mouth. His feet do not touch the ground, and his hands have nowhere to grasp. Suddenly, someone asks, “What is the meaning of the coming from the Western Land?” If he opens his mouth to answer, his body will be shattered and his life lost; if he does not answer, he will go against the question. What should he do at that moment? At that time, Senior Zhaо stepped forward and said, “I will not speak of when he is in the tree; what about before he was in the tree?” The Master merely laughed.

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

The monk said, “From Guishan.”

The Master asked, “Has the Venerable said anything recently?”

The monk said, “Someone asked, ‘What is the meaning of the coming from the Western Land?’ The Venerable then raised his whisk upright.”

Upon hearing this, the Master said, “How do the brothers there understand the Venerable’s intent?”

The monk said, “They discuss it as revealing the mind through form and clarifying the principle by borrowing an object.”

The Master said, “If you understand, then understand at once. If you do not understand, what are you clinging to? Die quickly!”

The monk immediately asked, “What is the Master’s meaning?”

The Master again raised the whisk.

Whenever the Master instructed the assembly, he spoke many concise sayings. He also had more than two hundred verses. Composed according to conditions and in response to those before him, without conforming to rhyme or meter, they circulated widely and became exceedingly popular in many places. Later, the emperor bestowed upon him the posthumous title Great Master Jideng.

3. Great Master Pháp Đoan of Mount Diên Khánh in Tương Châu

Someone asked, “When an earthworm is cut into two sections, both ends move. In which end is the Buddha-nature?”

The Master flung both hands wide open.

After the Master passed away, the emperor bestowed upon him the posthumous title Great Master Thiệu Chân. His stupa was named Minh Kim.

4. Chan Master Hồng Yên of Jingshan in Hangzhou

The Master was a native of Wuxing, and his family name was Wu. At the age of nineteen, he paid homage to Great Master Wushang at Kaiyuan Monastery and shaved his head. At twenty-two, he went to Mount Song to receive the full precepts. He then returned and paid homage to his original master. His original master asked him, “At this very moment, with what will you repay the four benefactions?” Hồng Yên was unable to answer. For three days he forgot to eat, then took leave of his teacher and departed on pilgrimage.

He went to meet Master Yunyan, but their conditions had not yet accorded. Later, he went to Master Guishan, and all his doubts were immediately dispelled. During the Huichang era under Emperor Wuzong of the Tang, when monks and nuns suffered persecution and were forced from the Sangha, the community was sorrowful and distressed. Yên said, “When a great man encounters such adversity, it is not a matter of fate. Why imitate the disposition of women and girls?” Thus, during the Dazhong era, he resumed the appearance of a śramaṇa and returned to his former home at Xifeng Cloister.

In the sixth year of Xiantong, the Master ascended Jingshan. The following year, his original master passed away, and the assembly invited him to succeed to the teaching at Jingshan as its third-generation master. He was a Dharma successor of Guishan.

A monk asked, “What is it like when the breath is silent as ashes?”

The Master said, “It is still the time when a person is performing meritorious work.”

The monk asked, “What about after the work is done?”

The Master said, “A farmer plows the field but does not sow seed.”

The monk asked, “What about in the end?”

The Master said, “When it ripens, it does not reach the threshing floor.”

The monk asked, “What is it like to penetrate Longmen at once without relying on the force of thunder, lightning, wind, and rain?”

The Master said, “That too is merely one grade or two grades.”

The monk asked, “Since these are already stages toward the matter beyond, what is it like?”

The Master said, “I do not know that there is any Longmen of yours.”

The monk asked, “What is it like when it is like frost and snow?”

The Master said, “It is still defilement.”

He asked, “What is it like when there is no defilement?”

The Master said, “It is not the same as form.”

Senior Toàn Minh of Xuzhou once asked Shishuang, “What is it like when a single strand of hair passes through many holes?”

Shishuang said, “Straight on until ten thousand years hence.”

He asked, “What about ten thousand years hence?”

Shishuang said, “If you pass the examination, pass the examination as you please; if you rise above the rest, rise above the rest as you please.”

Later, he asked the Master, “What is it like when a single sprout has many holes?”

The Master said, “If you flourish splendidly, flourish splendidly as you please; if you bear fruit, bear fruit as you please.”

A monk asked, “What is long?”

The Master replied, “A thousand sages cannot fathom it.”

He asked, “What is short?”

The Master said, “It does not fill the eye of the minute jiaoming insect.”

That monk did not accept this, so he recounted the exchange to Shishuang.

Shishuang said, “It is only because it is extremely close to the real.”

The monk asked, “What is long?”

Shishuang said, “Not winding or crooked.”

He asked, “What is short?”

Shishuang said, “Within the two circular disks, it does not drink in the light.”

Elder Phật Nhật visited the Master. The Master asked, “Elder, I have heard that you have been teaching independently in one region. Why do you still roam among the mountain peaks?”

Phật Nhật said, “The bright moon is in the sky; though clothed in ice and frost, it does not feel the cold.”

The Master asked, “Is this not precisely the Elder’s family style?”

Phật Nhật said, “Lofty beyond ten thousand layers of passes, within them is the bright moon.”

The Master said, “This too is literary phrasing. What is the Elder’s family style?”

He replied, “Today I have had the good fortune to encounter Phật Nhật.”

Phật Nhật then asked, “When the hidden and secret is wholly true, a person who knows the Way cannot attain it. When the great function is without fault, a person who knows the Way can attain it. These two paths are also where people of the present age rise and fall. I do not know what the Elder’s personal Way and self-attained Way are like?”

The Master said, “In my family’s Way, there is no such Way.”

Phật Nhật said, “The Tathagata’s path has no private crookedness. I therefore request that the mysterious sound harmonize in a single performance.”

The Master said, “Let your two disks unite and shine together; the jade-green pool beyond the clouds has nothing to do with them.”

Phật Nhật said, “To inform the boundless multitude of white-haired ones: now, remembering childhood, they do not return home.”

The Master said, “Young and old belong to the same company and do not oppose one another; the mysterious road of my house admits no distinctions.”

Phật Nhật said, “One word settles all beneath heaven; for whom are the four phrases preserved?”

The Master said, “You say there are three or four. I say that within it there is not even one.”

On that occasion, the Master composed a verse:

On the twenty-eighth day of the ninth month in the fourth year of Guanghua, the Master addressed the assembly and passed away.

5. Chan Master Chí Cầu of Lingyun in Fuzhou

The Master was a native of Changxi in this prefecture. At first, he stayed with Master Guishan and awakened to the Way upon seeing peach blossoms. The Master composed a verse:

For thirty years I have been a seeker,
How many times have leaves fallen and shoots sprung forth!
Since the moment I first saw the late-blooming peach blossoms,
Straight through to this very day, I have never again doubted.

After Master Lingyou of Guishan read the verse and questioned him about his realization, it accorded perfectly. Master Lingyou said, “Having awakened through conditions, you will never again lose it or regress. Guard it well.”

The Master then returned to Minchuan. Students gathered around him. The Master ascended the Dharma Hall and addressed the assembly:

“People concerned with cause and effect, whatever has length or brevity must all come to impermanence. Simply observe how, through the four seasons, the leaves of plants and trees fall and flowers bloom. How much more so, throughout the many kalpas until now, have devas and humans in the six realms, and earth, water, wind, and fire, undergone formation and destruction, change and transition. Cause and effect are complete in every respect; the suffering of the three evil paths is not increased or diminished by so much as a hair’s breadth. Only the faculties that carry consciousness onward continue to persist.

“Those of superior faculties encounter a good spiritual friend who reveals the place of illumination; the very place of liberation is itself the bodhimaṇḍa. Those of middling and inferior faculties are deluded and foolish, unable to awaken and illuminate. Infatuated with the three realms, they revolve through birth and death. For this reason, the Honored Śākya established the teaching throughout heaven and the human world, bearing witness to and illuminating the wisdom of the Way. Do you understand?”

At that time, a monk asked, “How can one escape birth, old age, sickness, and death?”

The Master said, “The green mountains are fundamentally unmoving; floating clouds pass back and forth.”

The monk asked, “What is it like when the sovereign goes into battle?”

The Master said, “In the bright spring beyond the gate, do not ask about Chang’an.”

The monk asked, “How can one behold the Chan master?”

The Master said, “A blind crane beneath the clear pond; a fish wades past beneath its feet.”

The monk asked, “What is the great meaning of the Buddha-Dharma?”

The Master said, “Before the affair of the donkey has departed, the affair of the horse arrives.”

The monk did not yet understand the intent and again requested instruction.

The Master said, “The luminous vital force often moves at night; the numinous essence is seldom encountered by day.”

Master Xuefeng composed a verse and sent it to Master Shuangfeng so that they might understand it together; the final line

He said that when the thunder ceased, its sound did not cease. The Master further said that when thunder rolls, its sound cannot be heard. When Master Xuefeng heard this, he immediately said, “Above Lingyun’s mountain peak, the ancient moon appears.”

Xuefeng asked, “The ancients spoke of ‘three before and three after.’ What is its meaning?”

The Master said, “Fish in the water, birds upon the mountain.”

Xuefeng asked, “What is the essential meaning?”

The Master said, “What is high can be shot; what is deep can be fished.”

Someone asked, “In all other places they eat mixed fare. I do not know how it is with the Venerable.”

The Master replied, “Minzhong alone is different, standing majestically to guard the seacoast.”

Someone asked, “Having fought long upon the battlefield, why have merit and fame not arrived?”

The Master said, “The sovereign has proclaimed peace on three fronts; what need is there to build a Great Wall for ten thousand miles?”

It was further asked, “When all warfare has been quelled and one returns to court with folded hands, how is it then?”

The Master said, “Clouds everywhere moisten the boundless realm; how could a withered tree without blossoms attain long life?”

Someone asked, “Before chaos was divided, whence did sentient beings come?”

The Master said, “It is like an exposed pillar giving birth to a child.”

Someone asked, “What about what follows?”

The Master replied, “Like a wisp of cloud amid the blue sky.”

Someone asked, “I do not know whether the blue sky admits another speck.”

The Master did not answer.

The questioner said, “Then sentient beings do not arrive.”

Again, the Master did not answer.

Someone asked, “At the very moment one attains completeness within and all specks are extinguished, how is it?”

The Master replied, “It is still an outflow from true constancy.”

Someone asked, “What is an outflow from true constancy?”

The Master said, “Like a mirror forever bright.”

Someone asked, “Is there still something beyond?”

The Master replied, “There is.”

Someone asked, “What is the matter beyond?”

The Master replied, “Smash the mirror, and then we shall see one another.”

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

The Master said, “At the bottom of a well, plant crabapple and rose blossoms.”

The questioner replied, “This student does not understand.”

The Master said, “This year peaches and plums are dear; a single fruit costs a thousand pieces of gold.”

Someone asked, “The mani jewel does not follow the various colors; what color does it have?”

The Master said, “White.”

The monk said, “That is following the various colors.”

The Master said, “The jade disk of Zhao was originally without blemish; Xiangru deceived the king of Qin.”

Someone asked, “When the sovereign goes into battle, how is it?”

The Master replied, “It is merely Lü Cai burying the tiger.”

Someone asked, “How is that matter?”

The Master said, “Sitting, one sees the white-robed heaven.”

The monk asked, “Where is the king now?”

The Master said, “Do not encounter the dragon countenance.”

6. Venerable Yingtian of Yizhou

A monk asked, “Everyone possesses Buddha-nature. What is the Venerable’s Buddha-nature?”

The Master asked, “What do you say Buddha-nature is?”

The monk said, “Then the Venerable has no Buddha-nature.”

The Master cried aloud, “Excellent! Delightful!”

7. Chan Master Cihui of Jiufeng, Fuzhou

Previously, while staying at Guishan, the Master encountered Lingyou ascending the Dharma Hall and saying, “You have attained only the great essence, but not the great function.” The Master turned around and walked away. Guishan called to him, and the Master immediately looked back. Guishan said, “This man is worthy to be a vessel of the Dharma.”

One day, the Master took leave of Guishan to enter the mountains, saying, “Though I take leave of the Venerable and shall be a thousand miles distant, we shall not be separated by even an inch.” Guishan’s expression changed, and he said, “Excellent!”

8. Venerable Mi of Jingzhao, also called Master Mishi

After completing his travels in search of instruction, he returned to Shouye Monastery. An elder adept asked, “Under white light, a severed length of rope at the bottom of a well is called a snake. When Master Shi sees the Buddha, what does he call him?”

The Master said, “If there is a Buddha, he is seen as being like sentient beings.”

The elder adept said, “A thousand-year-old peach pit.”

The Master sent a monk to ask Yangshan, “Nowadays, must one still rely upon awakening or not?”

Yangshan said, “It is not that there is no awakening, but how could one fall into a secondary position?”

The Master was greatly pleased. He again sent a monk to ask Dongshan, “Ultimately, what about this?”

Dongshan said, “You must ask someone else.”

The Master also approved.

A monk asked, “What is the matter beneath the patched robe?”

The Master said, “You may disparage it as ugly, but it bears none of the colors of rosy clouds.”

9. Venerable Huoshan of Jinzhou

A monk came from Yangshan, proclaiming himself to be “the clouds gathering beneath the mountain, the trees racing beneath Yunfeng,” and seeking an audience with the Great Chan Buddha of the realm. The Master then called the rector and ordered him to gather firewood at once. The Great Chan Buddha abruptly stepped out and departed.

The Master had heard that whenever a monk bowed before Venerable Mima Yan, Mima would place a wooden disk around his neck. One day, the Master went to visit him. As soon as he saw Mima, he did not bow but leapt straight into his arms. Mima struck the Master three times on the back. The Master stood up, clapped his hands, and said, “Elder brother, I have come a thousand miles to reach this place.” He then turned and departed.

10. Palace Attendant Wang Jingchu of Jingzhou

When Venerable Mi arrived, Lord Wang raised his writing brush. Mi asked, “Can you pass judgment upon empty space?” Lord Wang threw the brush into the hall and did not come out again. Mi was deeply perplexed.

Early the next morning, the patron Feng from Pinggu Mountain came to inquire into Lord Wang’s meaning. Mi secretly followed him inside and hid behind a screen to listen. As soon as the patron sat down, he asked, “What did Venerable Mi say yesterday that caused you to refuse to see him again?”

Lord Wang said, “The lion bites the man; the donkey chases the clod of earth.”

When Master Mi overheard this remark, he immediately awakened to his former error. He ran out, laughing loudly, and said, “I understand! I understand!”

Lord Wang once asked a monk, “Do all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature?”

The monk said, “All possess it.”

Lord Wang pointed to a picture of a dog painted on the wall and asked, “Does this possess it?”

The monk could not answer. Lord Wang answered on his behalf, “Look at it bite.”

– Dharma heirs of the aforementioned Chan Master Da’an of Fuzhou

1. Chan Master Fazhen of Dasui, Yizhou

A monk asked, “In the fire at the end of the kalpa, when the entire great trichiliocosm is empty and utterly destroyed, will that be destroyed?”

The Master said, “It will be destroyed.”

The monk said, “Then it follows the other things.”

The Master said, “It follows the other things.”

Someone asked, “What is the mark of a person of the Way?”

The Master said, “There is no placard pasted upon his belly.”

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

The monk said, “I have come from a hermitage on the Western Mountain.”

The Master said, “If I call to you while facing the Eastern Mountain, can you come?”

The monk said, “That is not how it is.”

The Master said, “You have not yet attained dwelling in a hermitage.”

Someone asked, “When birth and death arrive, how is it?”

The Master said, “When tea is served, drink tea; when rice is served, eat rice.”

The monk asked, “From whom can one accept offerings?”

The Master said, “Take up the alms bowl and bring its halves together.”

Beside the Master’s hermitage there was a tortoise. A monk asked, “All sentient beings have bones inside their skin, but why does this sentient being have skin inside its bones?”

The Master placed a straw sandal beside the tortoise. The monk could not answer.

Someone asked, “What is the essential Dharma of all Buddhas?”

The Master raised his fly-whisk and asked, “Do you understand?”

The monk said, “I do not understand.”

The Master said, “Dust on the tail of the fly-whisk.”

Someone asked, “What is the student’s own self?”

The Master replied, “It is my own self.”

The monk said, “Why is it the Venerable’s own self?”

The Master said, “It is your own self.”

Someone asked, “What is the stupa without seams?”

The Master said, “Five feet high.”

The monk said, “This student does not understand.”

The Master said, “Pile up bricks.”

Someone asked, “After the Venerable reaches a hundred years, to whom will you entrust the Dharma?”

The Master said, “Frost pillar, fiery furnace.”

The monk asked, “Will the recipient accept it?”

The Master said, “Fiery furnace, frost pillar.”

A practitioner led a group to the Master. The Master asked, “Having already visited someone, what do you call the East?”

He replied, “It cannot be called the East.”

The Master sighed, “You stinking donkey! If you do not call it the East, what do you call it?”

The practitioner could not answer, and the assembly dispersed.

Someone asked, “What is the Venerable’s family style?”

The Master said, “On red earth, paint a rice winnowing basket.”

The monk asked, “What is ‘on red earth, paint a rice winnowing basket’?”

The Master said, “Does the mouth of the basket prevent the rice from jumping out?”

The Master asked a monk, “What teaching do you lecture on?”

The monk said, “The Treatise on the Hundred Dharmas.”

The Master took up his staff and said, “From where does it arise?”

He replied, “It arises from conditions.”

The Master said, “How painful! How painful!”

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

He replied, “I have come from paying homage to Samantabhadra.”

The Master raised his fly-whisk and said, “Manjushri and Samantabhadra are both within this.”

The monk drew a circle, tossed it behind him, and then bowed. The Master said, “Attendant, bring this monk a cup of tea.”

One day, when the assembly of monks came for an interview, the Master pretended that his mouth was afflicted and asked, “Is there anyone who can cure my mouth’s illness?” At that time, the monks vied with one another in bringing him medicines. Some laypeople who heard of it also brought many medicines, but the Master accepted none of them. Seven days later, the Master slapped his mouth, setting it right, and said, “I have struck these two lips many times, yet to this day no one has been able to cure my mouth’s illness.” The Lord of Shu held him in the highest reverence and repeatedly sent envoys to invite him to the palace, but the Master always declined on account of old age and illness.

When the Master passed away, the king bestowed upon him the posthumous title Great Master Divine Illumination.

2. Chan Master Rumin of Lingshou, Shaozhou.

The Master was a native of Minchuan. The Lords of Guang of the Liu clan revered him for generations and bestowed upon him the title Great Master Who Knows the Sages. A monk asked, “What is the ultimate principle of the Buddha-Dharma?” The Master merely waved his hand.

He asked, “What is the family style of the Venerable?” The Master said, “A thousand-year-old field with eight hundred owners.” The monk asked, “What is a thousand-year-old field with eight hundred owners?” The Master said, “The houses are collapsing, yet no one repairs them.” He asked, “What is the meaning of the coming from the Western Land?” The Master said, “Child, do not dissect it.” The monk said, “I beg the Master to instruct me.” The Master said, “You have come from Qianzhou.” He asked, “Why is that so difficult to understand?” The Master said, “The chief cook has already mounted the wind-cart.”

A nun offered the Master an alms bowl. The Master held it up and asked, “Where did this come from?” The nun said, “It came from Dingzhou.” The Master then smashed the bowl. The nun could not reply.

Someone asked, “How old is the Venerable?” The Master said, “Born today, dead tomorrow.” He further asked, “Where is the Venerable’s birthplace and affinity?” The Master said, “The sun rises in the east; the moon sets in the west.”

For more than forty years, the Master spread the teaching far and wide, leaving many extraordinary traces. When the Lord of Guang was about to raise an army, he personally entered the monastery and asked whether the Master would open the storehouse. The Master, having known this beforehand, naturally passed away while seated.

The Lord of Guang angrily asked the monastery administrator, “When did the Venerable fall ill?” He replied, “The Master was never ill. He sealed a box and instructed that it be presented when Your Majesty arrived.” The lord opened the box and found a letter that read, “The eyes and ears of devas and humans are the senior monks within your own house.” The lord understood the Master’s meaning and withdrew his army. He then invited the First Seat to open the Dharma Hall and preach the Dharma.

After the Master’s passing, his whole body did not decay. When he was interred, the Lord of Guang provided everything required for the burial shrine and stupa. The stupa is now called the True-Body Stupa of Lingshou.

3. Chan Master Shijie of Shoushan, Fuzhou.

While journeying on foot, the Master came to the Dharma seat of Dongshan. Dongshan asked, “Acarya, where is your birthplace and affinity?” The Master replied, “Venerable, if you are truly asking, then I am a man of Central Min.” Dongshan asked, “What is your father’s name?” The Master replied, “Today, upon receiving one direct question from the Venerable, I immediately forgot both what came before and what came after.”

At Shoushan, the Master ascended the Dharma seat and said, “Senior monks, fortunately there are true words with which we may exhort one another. Each of you brothers must personally penetrate them. When attachment to ordinary beings and sages is severed, the essence of suchness is revealed. In a single instant, cast off all delusions accumulated throughout many previous kalpas; relinquish the mind that clings to conditions and the defilements of sensory objects, and be like empty space. On another day, at another time, when you meet, you will know what is fine and what is base.”

Master Min asked, “How old is Shoushan?” The Master replied, “The same age as empty space.” He asked, “How old is empty space?” The Master said, “The same age as Shoushan.”

4. Venerable Raoshan of Raozhou.

A monk asked, “What is the meaning of the coming from the Western Land?” The Master said, “The midwinter season is bitterly cold.” He asked, “What is the Venerable’s most profound place?” The Master said, “Wait until your tongue falls to the ground, and then I shall tell you.” He asked, “What is the sixteen-foot golden body?” The Master said, “When the magistrate renders judgment, the minister alters it.”

Changqing asked, “Since inheriting the essential principle of the lineage, how have you expounded it?” The Master said, “I vow not to betray the former sages in the slightest.” Changqing asked, “What do you do so as not to betray the former sages in the slightest?” The Master said, “Do not reveal it.” Changqing said, “If that is so, I ask the Master to reveal it.” The Master asked, “Where do you come and go?” Changqing said, “Just this—where does it come and go?”

5. Great Master Huiri of Chongfu Guohuan Monastery, Putian County, Quanzhou.

The Master was a native of Houguan County, Fuzhou, and his family name was Huang. Auspicious signs appeared at his birth. When he grew up, he was named Wenju and served as a prison guard in the county. He frequently abandoned his duties to visit Venerable Lingguan at Shenguang and Chan Master Da’an at the Western Monastery. The officials were unable to restrain him. Later, he paid respects to Chan Master Tankong at the Wansui Stupa and shaved his head, but he did not wear a kasaya or receive the full precepts. He wore only a patchwork silk garment as a short jacket.

The Master again went to Venerable Guang. Guan said, “I am not your teacher. Go and pay respects at the Western Monastery.” The Master then took a green bamboo staff into the Dharma Hall of the Western Monastery. Seeing the Master approach from afar, An laughed and said, “Enter the house of nirvana.” The Master immediately answered, “Yes!” and entered, brandishing and flourishing his bamboo staff. At that time, five hundred monks were suffering from a seasonal epidemic. The Master touched each of them in turn with his staff, and everyone he touched sat up.

The King of Min revered him greatly, built Guohuan Chan Monastery, and invited the Master to reside there. Many extraordinary signs subsequently occurred. The Master passed away during the Qianning era of the Tang dynasty.

6. Venerable Fujiang of Taizhou.

On one occasion, Venerable Xuefeng led his assembly there and asked, “May two hundred people come and spend the summer retreat at this monastery?” The Master used his staff to draw a line on the ground and said, “If it is not permitted, then speak at once.” Xuefeng said nothing.

7. Venerable Lushui of Luzhou.

A monk asked, “What is the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the Western Land?” The Master asked, “Do you see the peonies before the courtyard?” The monk could not reply.

8. Chan Master Yuanming of Manjusri Monastery in Guangzhou.

The Master was a native of Fuzhou, and his family name was Chen. He originally studied under Guishan and attained the essential purport. Later, he went to Xuefeng to seek further benefit, yet the Dharma had no different flavor. The Master once also traveled to Mount Wutai, where he beheld an apparition of the noble Manjusri. He then established a monastery in that region and named it Manjusri.

During the Kaibao era, Li Chongju, former Military Affairs Commissioner, was inspecting and protecting the southern region. Upon entering the Master’s monastery, he saw an image of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and asked a monk, “Why does Ksitigarbha hold out his hand?” The monk replied, “There was a jewel in his hand, but a thief stole it.” Li then asked the Master, “Since he is Ksitigarbha, why did he encounter a thief?” The Master said, “He has been caught today.” Li then took his leave and departed.

In the first year of the Chunhua era, the Master entered perfect quiescence at the age of 136.

– Dharma heirs of the former Chan Master Congshen of Zhaozhou.

1. Venerable Yanyang of Xinxing, Wuming County, Hongzhou.

A monk asked, “What is the Buddha?” The Master said, “A clod of earth.” He asked, “What is the Dharma?” The Master said, “The earth moves.” He asked, “What is the Sangha?” The Master said, “Eating gruel and eating rice.”

A monk asked, “What are the waters of Xinxing?” The Master replied, “Right before you, within the river.” The monk asked, “What is manifesting a form in response to beings?” The Master said, “Help me carry that bed over here.”

The Master had a snake and a tiger that always followed beside him and ate food from his hand.

2. Chan Master Huijue of Guangxiao Monastery in the eastern quarter of Yangzhou.

A monk asked, “When the flower of awakening has just burst open, it is seen to fill the entire Saha world. What matter did the Patriarch from the Western Land come to speak of?” The Master said, “When discriminating feelings arise, wisdom is obstructed.” He asked, “Is that the meaning of the teaching?” The Master said, “What clothing are you wearing?” He asked, “What is it like when a single blow of the staff shatters empty space?” The Master replied, “When you are tired, go and rest.”

The Master asked Song Qiqiu, “Do you understand the Way?” Song said, “Even the Way cannot be grasped.” The Master asked, “Is there a ‘cannot be grasped,’ or is there no ‘cannot be grasped’?” Song said, “None of it is like that.” The Master said, “Cannot be grasped?” Song could not reply.

The Master led the assembly outside. Seeing a marker post, the Master joined his palms and said, “I do not recognize the World-Honored One.” A monk said, “Venerable, that is a marker post.” The Master replied, “To weep until blood flows is of no use; it is better to keep one’s mouth closed through the waning spring.”

A monk asked, “Many people come from afar to honor you as their teacher. What is your intention?” The Master replied, “The authorities are strict and permit no arrangements to be made.” He asked, “Do you not have any skillful means?” The Master said, “Spend another night resting in the sea of fire.” Layman Zhang asked, “How can one contend with old age?” The Master asked, “How old are you?” Zhang replied, “Eighty.” The Master said, “You may indeed be called old.” He asked, “What is it ultimately like?” The Master said, “Even upon reaching a thousand years, it has not yet ceased.” Someone asked, “All my life I have delighted in slaughtering oxen. Is this a sin?” The Master said, “No sin.” He asked, “Why is it not a sin?” The Master said, “For every one you kill, repay one.”

3. Chan Master Feng of Guoqing Monastery in Longzhou.

Someone asked, “Are the Patriarch’s intention and the meaning of the teachings the same or different?” The Master said, “Rain soaks the three grasses and flowers emerge; the spring wind does not enter there.” A monk asked, “Ultimately, are they one or two?” The Master said, “How could auspicious clouds arise? The empty mountain valley lacks nothing.” He asked, “What is the house style of the Venerable?” The Master said, “Wooden tables, chairs, the furnace fire, doors and entrances.” He asked, “What is one who has left the household life?” The Master replied, “A copper head, an iron brow, a bird’s beak, and a deer’s body.” A monk asked, “What is the fundamental duty of one who has left the household life?” The Master said, “Rising in the morning,

one does not examine the night—take good care of yourself.” A monk asked, “Before Niutou met the Fourth Patriarch, why did birds and beasts carry flowers in their mouths?” The Master said, “Like a man from Shanfu giving money to an iron ox.” He asked, “After meeting him, why did they no longer carry flowers?” The Master said, “The wooden horse travels eight hundred li in the morning.” He asked, “Throughout all twelve periods of the day, how does one subdue the mind?” The Master said, “Strike ice in search of water; though you discuss it for kalpas, you will not encounter it.” He asked, “The twelve divisions of the teachings are intended to stop a child’s crying.

Leaving that aside, and yet still stopping the crying, I ask the Master to say a word.” The Master said, “Atop the solitary peak, a two-horned woman.” He asked, “What is the great meaning of the Buddhadharma?” The Master said, “Shakyamuni is an ox-headed prison guard; the Patriarch is the horse-faced A-Po.” He asked, “What is the intention of the coming from the Western Land?” The Master said, “The eastern wall strikes the western wall.” He asked, “What is the phrase in which striking misses nothing?” The Master said, “There is not the slightest separation, yet people turn toward what is distant.”

4. Chan Master Songlang of Muchen in Wuzhou.

A monk asked, “When a crane is released from its cage and departs mingling with the snow, what is it like at that moment?” The Master said, “I say there is not a single form; the adamantine man topples over, face to the ground.” The monk asked, “Since it is the indestructible adamantine body, why does it fall to the ground?” The Master struck the Chan platform and said, “Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down.” When the Master was about to pass away, he spoke this verse:

Thirty years dwelling at Muchen,
At all times, not relying on a single achievement.
Should someone ask me the intention of coming from the West,
What purpose would be served by raising my eyebrows?

5. Chan Master Xinjian of Wuzhou.

The Master did not take a young attendant as a disciple. A monk asked, “The Venerable is already advanced in years. Why do you not keep a young novice to attend upon you?” The Master said, “There was a blind and deaf fellow, but I dismissed him.” As the monk took his leave, the Master asked, “Where are you going?” The monk said, “To Kaiyuan Monastery below the prefectural seat.” The Master said, “I have a message for you to deliver to the abbot of the monastery you are approaching. Can you do so?”

The monk said, “Please tell me what it is.” The Master said, “I thought that you would be unable to do it.”

6. Venerable Duofu of Hangzhou.

A monk asked, “What is Duofu’s single clump of bamboo?” The Master replied, “One stalk, two stalks—slanting.” He said, “This student does not understand.” The Master replied, “Three stalks, four stalks—crooked.” A monk asked, “What is the matter beneath the patched robe?” The Master replied, “Many indeed harbor doubts.” He asked, “Why is it so?” The Master replied, “Hiding one’s head within the moon.”

7. Venerable Xilu of Yizhou.

A layman raised both hands and said, “Venerable, you are the head of a donkey.” The Master said, “This old monk has been untied by you.” The man had no reply. Three days later, he returned and said of himself, “Three days ago, I acted like a bandit.” The Master picked up his staff and drove him away. Sometimes the Master would suddenly call his attendant. The attendant would respond, and the Master would say, “The night is deep and still; together with you I shall hang up and exchange our views.”

– Dharma heirs of Chan Master Lisong of Mount Zihu in Quzhou, mentioned above.

1. Venerable Shengguang of Taizhou.

He was asked, “What is the house style of the Venerable?” The Master said, “Fuzhou has lychees; Quanzhou has copper thorns.” He was asked, “What of the two words ‘Buddhadharma’?” The Master replied, “Speak at once.” The monk said, “I ask the Master to speak.” The Master said, “Pierce the foreign monk’s ear; he laughs and nods.” Venerable Zhao of Longhua arrived. The Master seized him firmly and asked, “What are you doing?” Zhao said, “Do not be mistaken!” The Master then released him. Zhao said, “For a long time I have heard the name of Shengguang.” The Master remained silent. Zhao then prepared to take his leave. Escorting him to the gate, the Master said, “Once we part here, how shall we meet again?” Zhao laughed heartily and departed.

2. Venerable Fuze of Zhangzhou.

The Master ascended the Dharma Hall and said, “This mountain monk has opened a fortune-telling shop, where I divine whether people will be rich or poor and determine whether they will live or die.” At that time, a monk stepped forward and asked, “Apart from birth and death, wealth and poverty, and without falling into the five phases, I ask the Master to speak directly.” The Master said, “Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.”

3. Venerable Zitong.

A monk asked, “What is the realm of Zitong?” The Master replied, “Could sand be stuck in your eyes?” The monk replied, “There is a most beautiful realm of Zitong, yet you do not know it.” The Master said, “This old monk does not shrink from this matter.” The monk withdrew. The Master descended from the Chan platform, seized him firmly, and said, “Today there is a fine public case, but this old monk has not yet gotten the written document into his hands.” The monk said, “Unfortunately, you have encountered me, a monk.” The Master said, “A fault does not travel alone.”

4. Venerable Rirong.

Senior Monk Kuo came to inquire. The Master clapped three times and said, “A fierce tiger before the cart—who can withstand it?” Kuo said, “A skilled crane soaring into the heavens—who can catch it?” The Master said, “Neither this nor that is easy to withstand.” Kuo replied, “Resting once more has not yet concluded this public case.” The Master then brandished his staff and returned to the abbot’s quarters. Kuo could not reply. The Master said, “Be dead and gone, that old fellow—that damned old fellow!”

– Dharma heirs of Venerable Zhuyu of Ezhou.

1. Venerable Shiti.

A newly arrived monk stood before the Master for a while and then went out. The Master asked, “Is there some matter that needs to be discussed?” The monk again stood for a long time. The Master said, “It can be discussed thus; it can be discussed thus.” The monk asked, “After discussing it, what then?” The Master said, “You may bury it at once.” The monk said, “Blue sky! Blue sky!” The Master said, “You were like this as soon as you arrived, yet now you still cannot bear it.” The monk then withdrew.

– Dharma heirs of Venerable Tianlong.

1. Venerable Juzhi of Mount Jinhua in Wuzhou.

Previously, the Master lived in a hermitage. A nun named Shiji came to the hermitage wearing a bamboo hat and carrying a staff. She circumambulated the Master three times and said, “If you can speak, I will take off my hat.” She asked three times, but each time the Master was unable to reply.

The nun then departed. The Master said, “The sun is about to set. Stay for the night.” The nun said, “If you can speak, I will stay.” Again the Master could not reply, and the nun left.

Afterward he lamented, “Although I possess the form of a man, I lack a man’s spirit.” He then resolved to leave the hermitage and travel in all directions seeking understanding. That night, the mountain spirit told him, “There is no need to leave this mountain. A great bodhisattva will come and expound the Dharma for the Venerable.” Sure enough, ten days later, Venerable Tianlong came to the hermitage.

The Master welcomed him, bowed reverently, and recounted the entire previous incident. Tianlong raised one finger to instruct him. At that very moment, the Master attained great awakening.

From then on, whenever a monk came to inquire and study, the Master merely raised one finger and offered no other instruction. There was a young attendant who, while outside, was questioned by someone, “What essential Dharma does the Venerable teach?” The boy raised one finger. Upon returning, he recounted this to the Master.

The Master took a knife and cut off the tip of the boy’s finger. Crying out in pain, the boy ran away. The Master called to him.

The boy turned his head, and the Master raised one finger. The boy suddenly understood. When the Master was about to pass away, he told the assembly, “I received Tianlong’s one-finger Chan, and throughout my life I have never exhausted it.” Having spoken these words, he passed away.

– Dharma heirs of Chan Master Jingcen of Changsha, mentioned above.

1. Chan Master Changtong of Mount Xuedou in Mingzhou.

The Master was a native of Xingzhou. His family name was Li, and he entered monastic life at Mount Que. At the age of twenty

He received the precepts at Kaiyuan Monastery in that prefecture and studied the sutras and Vinaya for seven years. He said, “When Master Matanga entered Han China, he translated and composed these texts. When Bodhidharma came to Liang, what further matter did he speak of?” He then journeyed afar to seek instruction from the Venerable Cen of Changsha. Cen asked, “Where are you from?” The Master replied, “I am from Hengzhou.” Cen said, “I say that you did not come from there.” The Master asked, “Has the Venerable ever been here?” Cen said, “Indeed.” He then admitted him into his chamber. Later, the Master went to Dongshan and Shishuang, yet the flavor of the Dharma was no different.

At the end of the Xiantong era of the Tang dynasty, the Master went to Xuancheng. The prefectural governor assembled and established a Chan cloister on Mount Xiexian, named it Duansheng Cloister, and invited the Master to reside there.

A monk asked, “What is the secret chamber?”

The Master said, “It lets no wind pass through.”

The monk asked, “Who is the person within the secret chamber?”

The Master said, “All the sages seek to see him but cannot.”

He further said, “A thousand Buddhas cannot conceive of it; ten thousand sages cannot discuss it. Can heaven and earth destroy it or not? Can empty space contain it or not? In all things there is no person who is born; the three times cannot speak of it.”

Someone asked, “What is the place from which the Buddhas of the three times emerge?”

The Master replied, “They do not know that you have three times.”

After a long while, he further said, “Will you advance? If it is not thus, you cannot realize that the Buddha’s essence is forever abiding. When understanding is complete and the work accomplished, even raising the eyes and rising up will immediately harm others—how much more so speech!”

During the Guangqi era, bandits rose in rebellion. The Master led the assembly to Siming. In the second year of Dashun, the prefectural governor invited him to reside at Xuedou, where his propagation of the teaching flourished. In the yichou year, the second year of Tianyou, during the seventh month, the Master fell ill. He assembled the community, lit incense, gave his final instructions, joined his palms, and passed away. He was seventy-two years old. On the seventh day of the eighth month that year, a stone stupa was erected at the southwestern corner of the cloister.

– Dharma successor of Chan Master Daochang of Guannan, mentioned above.

1. Venerable Daowu of Guannan in Xiangzhou

Previously, when the Master returned to his native village, he heard a spirit-medium called the Spirit of Luo say that the consciousness-spirit did not exist. The Master suddenly awakened. Later, he called upon Chan Master Chang and received confirmation of his understanding. When the Master traveled to Master Deshan, the flavor of the Dharma remained the same.

When ascending the Dharma Hall to instruct the assembly, the Master would often wear a lotus hat, don a long robe, hold a tablet, beat a drum, and blow a flute, calling himself Lu Sanlang. At times he said, “Beat the Guannan drum and sing the Deshan song.”

A monk asked, “What was the intention of the Patriarch’s coming from Western India?”

The Master immediately held up his tablet, bowed, and said, “Yes.”

At times, the Master would hold a wooden sword level with his eyebrows and dance. A monk asked, “Where did the sword in your hand come from?” The Master threw it to the ground. The monk picked it up again and placed it in the Master’s hand. The Master said, “Where did you get it from?” The monk did not reply. The Master told him, “Within three days, you must say one word.” The monk still could not answer. The Master answered on his behalf, holding the sword level with his eyebrows and dancing, saying, “Only thus will do.”

Someone asked, “What is the Venerable’s family style?”

The Master descended from the Chan platform, pretended to be a young woman, bowed, and said, “Thank you for coming from afar; I had no expectation at all.”

The Master asked, “What is Guanxi doing?”

Guanxi said, “There is no rank.”

The Master asked, “Is that not the same as empty space?” He then said, “That butcher!”

The Master said, “If there is anything alive, he can kill it without weariness.”

When Zhangzhou first awakened to the essential meaning after receiving a blow from Chan Master Chang of Guannan, he composed a song:

In the seventh year of Xiantong, I first sought the Way;
When I arrived there and encountered his words, I knew how to speak.
Within my mind, the lump of delusion was like a basket;
For three springs I took no pleasure in dwelling among forests and streams.
Suddenly I met the Dharma King, clad in a fur robe and seated upon a cushion;
Sincerely I presented my doubts before the Master.
The Master rose while sitting cross-legged
And struck me once directly in the belly beneath my short robe.
Startled, the lump of delusion fled entirely;
Raising my head, I clearly saw the round face of the sun.
From then on, I was like an insensible, bare rock;
Straight down to the present, I have always been joyful.
I hear only that my belly is full and bulging;
No longer do I carry my bowl east and west.

He also composed a verse:

– Dharma successor of Chan Master Dayu of Gao’an, mentioned above.

1. The nun Liaoran of Moshan in Junzhou

When Venerable Xian of Guanxi arrived at the mountain in the course of his travels, he first said, “If she is suitable, I will stay; if not, I will overturn her Chan seat.” He then entered the Dharma Hall. The nun instructed her attendant to ask, “Venerable, have you come while traveling among the mountains, or have you come for the sake of the Buddha-Dharma?”

Xian replied, “I have come for the sake of the Buddha-Dharma.”

The nun then ascended the Dharma seat, and Xian came forward for instruction.

Liaoran asked, “Venerable, from where did you depart today?”

Xian replied, “I departed from the mouth of the road.”

Liaoran asked, “Why did you not cover it?”

Xian was unable to reply. He then bowed and asked, “What is Moshan?”

Liaoran replied, “Its summit is not revealed.”

Xian asked, “Who is the master of Moshan?”

Liaoran replied, “It is not marked as male or female.”

Xian then shouted, saying, “Why do you not transform yourself and depart?”

Liaoran replied, “I am neither a spirit nor a demon. What should I transform into?”

Because of this, Xian admired her and remained there as a gardener for three years.

A monk came to seek instruction. Liaoran asked, “Why are your robes so torn and shabby?”

The monk replied, “Even so, I am a lion cub.”

Liaoran asked, “Since you are a lion cub, why are you ridden by Manjusri?”

The monk was unable to reply.

The monk asked, “What is the mind of the ancient Buddhas?”

Liaoran replied, “The world topples over.”

The monk asked, “Why does the world topple over?”

Liaoran replied, “Better that there be no self.”