景德傳燈錄

THE JINGDE RECORD OF THE TRANSMISSION OF THE LAMP — FASCICLE 18

• Sixth generation: fourteen masters.
• Fourteen Dharma successors of Chan Master Yicun of Xuefeng Yunfeng,

– Dharma successors of Chan Master Yicun of Xuefeng, Fuzhou.

1. Great Master Zongyi, whose Dharma name was Shibei, of Xuansha, Fuzhou.

The Master was a native of Min County in Fuzhou, and his family name was Xie. In his youth he delighted in fishing, sitting in a small boat on the Nantai River and sporting with the fishermen. In the first year of the Xiantong era of the Tang dynasty, when he had just turned thirty, he suddenly aspired to leave the household life. Abandoning his fishing boat, he went to Chan Master Lingxun on Mount Furong and had his head shaved. He then received the full precepts from Vinaya Master Daoxuan at Kaiyuan Monastery in Yuzhang. He wore coarse cloth and sustained himself on vegetables and gruel.

He would often sit silently throughout the entire day, which everyone found remarkable. The Master and Yicun of Xuefeng were originally Dharma brothers, yet they were as close as master and disciple. Because of the Master's ascetic practices, Xuefeng called him the Dhuta. One day Xuefeng asked, “What is it, Bei the Dhuta?”

The Master said, “I would never dare deceive anyone.”

On another day Xuefeng called to him and said, “Bei the Dhuta, why do you not travel everywhere to seek instruction?”

The Master replied, “Bodhidharma did not come to the Eastern Land, and the Second Patriarch did not go to the Western Heaven.”

Xuefeng approved of this. When the Master ascended Mount Xianggu, he and the Master joined their efforts to establish the monastery. Chan students came in great numbers. The Master entered the abbot's quarters to inquire morning and evening, never neglecting his studies. He also studied the Surangama Sutra and awakened to the three stages. Thereafter, his responses to circumstances were swift and keen, secretly accordant with the sutras. Students of the Mystery from various regions who had unresolved questions all came to request instruction from him. Moreover, in his probing exchanges of questions and answers with the Venerable Xuefeng, he was in no way inferior. Xuefeng said, “Bei the Dhuta is one who has come again.”

One day Xuefeng ascended the Dharma hall and said, “To understand this matter, you must be like an ancient mirror upon its stand: when a Hu person comes, it reflects a Hu person; when a Han person comes, it reflects a Han person.”

The Master asked, “What if a bright mirror suddenly comes?”

Xuefeng said, “Both Hu and Han disappear.”

The Master said, “The old Venerable's heels have not yet touched the ground.”

The Master once ascended the Dharma hall and remained there for a long while. The assembly all thought that he would not preach the Dharma and began to depart. The Master then shouted, “Taken altogether, you are all alike—not one of you possesses wisdom! You merely watch me open and close these two pieces of skin. You all gather together, seeking words and comparing meanings. I speak truthfully, yet none of you understands. See what a great calamity this is—a great calamity!”

At another time the Master said, “Virtuous Chan practitioners, you have all traveled on foot and come here to me to investigate Chan and study the Way because you suppose there is something extraordinary. Thus you ask about the East and inquire about the West. If anyone should come having truly penetrated it, I would ascertain for you what is right and what is wrong. I know clearly whether there is genuine attainment. If you have not attained it, you should know that you are merely chasing after things, even though you have arrived at that place.

“Now I ask you: do you have eyes? If you do, you should know it immediately, right now. Do you know it? If you do not know, may I call you a gang of blind and deaf people? Can you bear to have it said this way? Virtuous Chan practitioners, do not belittle yourselves. Are you truly such people? The Buddhas of the ten directions are above your heads; I would not dare deceive you in the slightest. I merely say that I alone know this matter. Do you understand?

“Nowadays everyone says that the Way has been transmitted in succession from Sakyamuni. I say that Sakyamuni and I studied under the same teacher. Tell me, under whom did we study? Do you understand? It is exceedingly difficult. Know that only through great awakening can this be known. If your awakening is confined to a particular place, you will not even see it.

“Do you know great awakening? It cannot be found in your talk of existence or nonexistence, in worldly dharmas on this side or that side, or in some one thing that is not a worldly dharma. The empty sky spoken of by dead old Venerables—and even that very empty sky—is also born from deluded, illusory thinking. If you are now willing to proceed, where could there be such a thing to speak of? If there are not even any tidings of empty space, where could the three realms be?

“Once there is karma, you arise through the conditions of father and mother, bound to you by deep affection from beginning to end. To say now that there is nothing is already deception; how much more so to claim that there is something to know? You have often traveled on foot and become Venerables, claiming that you accord with the Way and have awakened. I now ask you: in a lofty mountain wilderness utterly devoid of human tracks, is there still Buddhadharma? Can you discern it? If you cannot discern it, you are ultimately not yet finished.

“I always say that before the eyes of a departed monk, everything encountered is bodhi, while the mark of divine radiance shines a thousand miles behind the crown of his head. If one can see it, one may freely emerge from the skandhas and dhatus and escape the notions preceding your skull. Arriving here, there is only your true human substance. Where could there separately be a single dharma that opens up or conceals you? Do you know? Can you believe it? Do you know how to undertake it? You must exert yourselves greatly.”

The Master further said, “I now ask you: through what matter have you gained a basis, and in what world do you settle your body and establish your life? Can you reveal it? If you cannot discern it, it is like pressing on your eyes and producing illusory flowers; whatever you see is mistaken. Do you understand?

“The mountains, rivers, and great earth presently seen before your eyes, together with form, emptiness, brightness, darkness, and all the various things, are entirely the appearances of illusory flowers. This is called inverted seeing and knowing. Those who leave the household life penetrate the mind and comprehend the source, and therefore are called sramanas. Since you have now shaved your heads and donned robes, assuming the appearance of sramanas, you should have a share in benefiting yourselves and others. Yet now, everywhere I look, the land is dark as ink. You cannot even save yourselves; how could you concern yourselves with others?

“Benevolent ones, the great matter of the causes and conditions of Buddhadharma is not something about which you should idly put your heads together, speak recklessly, and make wild guesses merely to pass the time. Time is difficult to obtain. What a pity that great men do not examine themselves and see what this matter is!

“In accordance with the ancestral style, this is the crown lineage, the noble family of all Buddhas, yet you have been unable to undertake it. Therefore, I now encourage you simply to continue through Kasyapa's gate and leap beyond all at once. This one gate transcends your ordinary and holy states, causes and results; transcends Vairocana's ocean of worlds of wondrous adornments; and transcends Sakyamuni's other gates of skillful means. Right here, it is forever impossible to say that there is a single thing that can serve as an object of vision for you. Why do you not urgently investigate and realize it? Do not say, ‘I shall wait another two or three lifetimes,’ accumulating pure karma.

“Benevolent ones, what is this matter of the causes and results of your ancestral vehicle? It cannot be attained by using your body and mind to cultivate and adorn it. Nor can it be understood through knowledge of others' minds or recollection of former lives. Do you understand? Since Buddha Sakyamuni appeared in the world, he has repeatedly expounded the twelve divisions of the teachings, as though pouring water from one vessel into another, and performed many kinds of Buddha-work, all directed toward you. Yet within this gate, not even a single dot can be employed, nor can the slightest trace of clever ability be used. Do you understand? It is like an event in a dream, or words spoken in one's sleep.”

Have śramaṇas failed to attain liberation because of discriminating consciousness? If discriminating consciousness is understood, that itself is great liberation—great liberation. Therefore it is said that transcendence means rising beyond.

One goes beyond both ordinary beings and sages, completely departs from birth and death, and transcends cause and effect. Vairocana surpasses Śākyamuni; one is not deceived by the causes and effects of ordinary beings and sages, and nowhere can anyone comprehend you. Do you understand?

If you remain perpetually deluded in the net of birth and death and attached to craving, bound and led away by good and evil karma, you will have no freedom. Even if you train until body and mind alike become empty, you will merely arrive at a state of lucid emptiness that is unmoving and does not arise, without going beyond the consciousness-skandha. The ancients compared this to swiftly flowing water.

Not recognizing the rapid current, one mistakenly regards it as serene and still. If you continue cultivating in this way, you will not escape saṃsāra but will still be swept along as before. Therefore it is said that all conditioned activities are impermanent, extending even to the attainments and fruits of the Three Vehicles.

This is truly fearful. Without the Eye of the Way, even these are not ultimate. How could it compare with an ordinary worldling who, from this very moment, without employing the slightest effort, immediately transcends and awakens to the power of mind?

Do you delight in this? Do you cherish it? I urge you: as I now stand here, I wait for you to see clearly; there is no need for you to apply additional effort in cultivating practices.

If not now, then when will it be? Are you willing? Are you willing?

– On one occasion, the Master ascended the Dharma hall and addressed the assembly: “You are truly thus.” On another occasion he said: “Bodhidharma is here at this very moment. Do you see him?”

The Master said: “When you see perilous and dreadful things—great beasts, swords, and blades of every kind threatening your bodies and lives—you immediately become terrified beyond measure. What is this like? A worldly painter depicts the transformations and torments of hell, painting great beasts, swords, and blades.

Looking at them repeatedly, people themselves become frightened. You are just the same now. The hundred kinds of things you perceive as existing are all produced by your own illusory perceptions, and then you frighten yourselves.

It is not that someone else has wronged you. Do you now wish to recognize these illusory delusions? You need only look with the vajra eye.

If you understand, you will see that I have never taught you that even an atom of dust can be revealed. Where, then, could there be tigers, wolves, swords, or blades capable of intimidating you? Even one as capable as Śākyamuni could not find a place from which to emerge and escape.

Therefore I tell you: when a śramaṇa’s eye securely contains the world within the box of heaven and earth, without the slightest leakage, where could there be a single thing that could make itself known to you? Do you understand? This is liberation; this is the extraordinary.

Why do you not seize it?”

The Master said: “All of you are like people sitting in the great ocean, your heads submerged in water, yet stretching out your hands to ask others for drinking water. Do you understand? Those who study prajñā as bodhisattvas must possess great faculties and great wisdom.

If they have great wisdom, they can immediately attain liberation. Those whose faculties are dull must endure hardship patiently day and night, forgetting fatigue and forsaking food as though their parents had died. If they maintain such urgency throughout their lives, and if they are resolute, deeply committed, steadfast, genuine, and unimpeded, they too will be able to see.

Yet who today is willing to study? Worthy ones, do not merely utter empty words. You behave like people reciting a spell: your feet step forward while your mouths mutter incantations.

When someone stops you and presses you with a question, you fall silent, then glare and say, ‘The和尚 does not answer my question.’ Studying in this way is very painful—do you know that?

“There is a kind of和尚 who sits upon the rope-seat and calls himself a good spiritual friend. When questioned, he immediately moves his body and hands, winks, sticks out his tongue, and glares. There is another kind who says, ‘The lucid and keen awareness, the knowing nature of the numinous platform that can see and hear, acts as the sovereign within the body of the five skandhas.’ Such a good spiritual friend is highly suspect. How do I know? I now ask you: if you recognize lucid, keen awareness as your true activity, then why is it absent when you are asleep? Do you understand? This is conditioned and defiled; it is mistaking a thief for one’s own son. It is the conditioned energy of deluded thought, the root of birth and death.

“If you wish to know where this root comes from, I shall explain it to you. You regard your lucid, keen awareness as arising through discrimination of objective phenomena such as form, sound, and scent; then you call this the state of lucid, keen awareness. If there were no objective phenomena before you, that lucid, keen awareness would be like a turtle’s hair or a rabbit’s horn. Worthy one, where is the truth?

“If you now wish to escape the illusory sovereign of the body of the five skandhas, you need only recognize your secret vajra essence. The ancients said to you, ‘Perfectly accomplished and rightly pervasive throughout worlds as numerous as the sands.’ I shall now explain a small portion of this for you. You are wise and can understand by analogy. Do you see the sun over this Jambudvīpa? Worldly people rely upon it to sustain their lives, and all their various mental activities and karmic actions are established by relying upon the light of that sun. Yet does the sun itself possess these many kinds of mental activity? Is there anywhere it does not pervade?

“If you wish to understand this vajra essence, it is just like this. The mountains, rivers, and great earth; the lands throughout the ten directions; form and emptiness, light and darkness; and your own body and mind—are they not all manifested through your perfectly accomplished majestic radiance? Gods, humans, and all kinds of living beings create karma, undergo birth, and receive its results; sentient and insentient beings alike all depend upon your majestic radiance. Even the Buddhas’ attainment of the Way and realization of the fruit, their reception of beings and benefiting of living creatures—all depend upon your majestic radiance.

“Does the vajra essence itself contain ordinary beings or Buddhas? Does it contain your mental activities? Yet one cannot say that they are nonexistent, for then one would fall into nihilism. Do you understand? You already possess something this extraordinary. It is directly before you, the very place from which you emerge—why do you not illuminate and realize it? Instead, you pursue other things and scheme to make a living amid the ghostly realm of the field of the body’s five skandhas. Right there, you deceive yourselves.

“When the ghost of impermanence suddenly arrives and deceives your eyes and ears, your views concerning the body, and your views concerning life, the great calamity at that time will be as harsh and painful as stripping the shell from a living turtle. You people subject to cause and effect, do not proceed with the understanding of one who is asleep. Who knows how many hairs it can conceal? Do you understand? The three realms afford no peace; they are like a burning house. You have not yet become people at ease, but merely join the ranks of worldly people, like a herd of wild deer running here and there, concerned only with food and clothing.

“If so, how could you practice the Royal Way? Do you understand? The king and his ministers do not arrest you. Your parents permit you to leave home. Donors throughout the ten directions provide you with food and clothing, and the spirits of the earth, dragons, and devas protect you. You must possess a full sense of shame and gratitude. Do not betray these good people.

“You lie endlessly upon your beds, spreading out your legs, passing the time, and call this peace and ease. Yet the rice and gruel you consume may not necessarily sustain you. Like a melon that becomes soft, rotten, and decomposes when buried in the earth, your karmic consciousness remains dim and obscure, with no root upon which to rely. How has a śramaṇa come to such a state? Creatures crawling upon the level ground are what I call inhabitants of the hells enduring an entire kalpa.

“If you do not awaken now, tomorrow or the day after you will enter the womb of a donkey or the belly of a horse. You will have to pull plows and carts, bear iron bits, saddles, and bridles, and be ground, pounded, boiled, and burned amid water and fire. Escape will not be easy, and what you must endure will be truly terrifying. It is best that you clearly know this for yourselves. If you have awakened, you will never again be made to receive such tidings. If you have not awakened, the causes and conditions of evil karma and affliction cannot be exhausted in merely one or two kalpas. Their duration rivals that of the vajra—do you understand?”

– Elder Nanji came to Master Xuefeng. Xuefeng told him to question the Master. The Master asked: “The ancients said, ‘Only I can know this matter.’ What about you, Elder?”

Nanji replied, “You should know that there is someone who does not seek to know.” The Master said, “Why did the venerable abbot of the mountain endure so much bitterness?”

Once, while Xuefeng was burning grass, he saw a snake. He took his staff and drove it away, saying to the assembly, “Look, look! Here is a knife cutting it into two pieces.” The Master threw his staff behind his back without looking around. The assembly was greatly astonished. Xuefeng said, “Excellent!”

One day, the Master accompanied Xuefeng on a walk through the mountains. Xuefeng pointed to a plot of ground and said, “A seamless stupa could be built here.” The Master asked, “How high would it be?” Xuefeng looked upward and downward. The Master said, “As a circumstantial reward for devas and humans, it would indeed be unequaled, Venerable Abbot. But if this were the prediction bestowed on Vulture Peak, it would be far removed.” Xuefeng said, “If the world is one foot wide, the ancient mirror is one foot wide; if the world is one fathom wide, the ancient mirror is one fathom wide.” The Master pointed to the furnace and asked, “How wide is the furnace?” Xuefeng said, “As wide as the ancient mirror.” The Master said, “Old Venerable, your heels have not yet touched the ground.”

At first, the Master was invited to reside at Puying Monastery in Meixi. Later, he moved to Mount Xuansha. From then on, the oceanic assemblies of monastics throughout the land all revered him and came from distant places. Commander Min, Lord Wang, invited the Master to expound the Supreme Vehicle and honored him as his teacher. More than eight hundred students gathered, and the monastery gates were never closed.

The Master ascended the Dharma hall, remained silent for a long while, and then said to the assembly, “I have exhausted myself entirely for your sake. Do you understand?”

A monk asked, “What is it like when there is utter stillness and no speech?”

The Master said, “Why talk in your sleep?”

The monk said, “I ask the Master to speak of the fundamental matter.”

The Master said, “Why doze off?”

The monk asked, “The student is dozing off, but what about the Venerable?”

The Master said, “How could I be unaware of pain and itching?”

He further said, “What a pity! Great monks such as you travel on foot for thousands and tens of thousands of miles to come here, yet you cannot dispel your drowsiness and sleep-talking; you are immediately subdued and led away.”

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

The Master replied, “What would you do with an own self?”

A monk asked, “Regarding the matter of the Chan school, what teachings does the Master expound here?”

The Master said, “Few people hear.”

The monk said, “I ask the Venerable to speak directly.”

The Master said, “Why suffer from deafness?”

He further said, “Virtuous ones, the matter cannot be completed today. You say that I suppress my majestic radiance, yet I bitterly exhort you in this way, employing hundreds of thousands of skillful means, saying this and saying that. When I seek to become acquainted with you, everything you hear turns into inverted views. With this throat, lips, and mouth, I incur the karma of a wild fox-spirit, deceiving both you and myself. Would you accept that? Whether there is fault or no fault, only I myself know; how could you understand?

“If a person like this comes forward and willingly accepts rebuke, it is truly not easy to become a mature person; only a good spiritual friend can recognize such a one. Even though I now employ skillful means to assist you, you still cannot see. You may be sincere and pure, but if it is the vehicle of the Chan school, toward what place will you turn to act? Do you understand?

“The forty-nine years were skillful means. Even in the assembly on Vulture Peak, where there were millions in the congregation, only Kasyapa personally heard; all the others did not hear. Tell me, what was the matter that Kasyapa personally heard? You cannot say that the Tathagata did not speak and Kasyapa did not hear, and consider that sufficient. Nor can it be your cultivation of causes and attainment of fruits, adorning the work of merit and wisdom.”

He further said, “Do you understand it in this way? What do you understand when you speak in this way? ‘I possess the treasury of the true Dharma eye and entrust it to Mahakasyapa.’ My speaking is also like speaking of the moon; at Caoxi, raising the whisk was likewise pointing to the moon.

“Therefore I say: Regarding the matter of the Chan vehicle, throughout the great Tang realm I have never seen a single person bring it forth. If someone were to bring it forth, all the people upon the great earth would lose their lives. It would be like an iron hammer without a hole: in an instant, every sharp point would be forgotten and every tongue tied.

“You idlers have encountered me. Sparing neither body nor life, I deal with your inverted views and accommodate your wild madness, so that there may be a place for you to raise a question. If I did not share in your hearing, toward what place could you turn to see me? Do you understand? The great difficulty is exceedingly difficult. Strive diligently and be careful.”

He then spoke this verse:

For ten thousand miles, divine light shines behind the head;
Once the head is lost, where can one look?
The matter is accomplished—the intention also ceases;
This, from the beginning, leaves traces everywhere.
The wise laboriously raise it up;
Do not wait a moment, or you will lose your head.

He also spoke this verse:

A monk asked, “Apart from the four deportments, how does one serve the sovereign?”

The Master said, “You are a criminal under the Dharma king; how could you understand how to ask about this matter?”

A monk asked, “What was the meaning when the ancients held up a mallet and raised a whisk?”

The Master raised his whisk.

A monk asked, “What is the matter of the Chan vehicle within the Master?”

The Master said, “Wait until you awaken; only then will it do.”

A monk asked, “What is a vajra warrior?”

The Master immediately blew out a breath.

Wentong was about to descend the mountain. The Master asked, “When will you return from the mountain?”

Wentong replied, “In three or five days.”

The Master asked, “When you return, will you carry the bucket back?”

Wentong could not answer.

At one time, the Master said, “These old fellows in various places all speak of receiving beings and benefiting living beings. Let me ask you: How would you receive three kinds of afflicted people—the blind, the mute, and the deaf? If you hold up a mallet or raise a whisk, the blind cannot see it. If you speak with them, the deaf cannot hear you, while the mute cannot speak. If you cannot receive them, then all the Buddhadharma is entirely ineffectual.”

At that time, a monk came forward and said, “Regarding these three afflicted people, does the Venerable permit others to deliberate on the matter?”

The Master replied, “What would I have you deliberate for?”

The monk respectfully withdrew.

The Master said, “Not so, not so.”

Luohan asked, “When a native of Shen possesses eyes and ears, how does the Venerable receive him?”

The Master replied, “Where are those three afflicted people now?”

Another monk said, “Not only does one deceive others, one also deceives oneself.”

Changqing Ling arrived. The Master asked, “When medicinal prohibitions are set aside, how would you speak?”

Ling said, “Why be foolish?”

The Master said, “You resemble someone who has come from Mount Xuefeng and enjoys eating sparrow droppings.”

When the Master saw a monk coming to bow, he said, “Because you bow to me, I am able to bow to you. Bowing to me cannot compare with bowing to you.”

One day, during a general summons to gather firewood in a ravine, they saw a tiger. The Master said, “Venerable Tiger.” He then said, “It is you, tiger!”

After they returned to the monastery, a monk asked, “Just now, when you saw the tiger, you said, ‘It is you.’ I do not yet understand your honored meaning.”

The Master said, “In the Saha world there are four grave offenses. If a person penetrates this, then you will escape the skandhas and dhatus.”

The Master asked the Venerable Changsheng Ran, “Vimalakirti saw that the Buddha of the previous kalpa did not come, the Buddha of the following kalpa would not go, and the present Buddha does not abide. How do you contemplate this?”

Changsheng replied, “Once the radiance is released, there is room for deliberation.”

The Master asked, “Why do you release it?”

Changsheng remained silent for a long while.

The Master said, “Whom are you teaching to entrust it to?”

Changsheng replied, “It is a waste of effort to incline the ear.”

The Master said, “I knew you would seek a livelihood in a demon’s cave.”

A monk asked the Master, “Why is the student unable to speak?”

The Master said, “Your mouth is tightly obstructed; how could you know how to speak?”

The monk asked, “Every spoken phrase falls into something. I ask the Venerable to deliberate upon what does not fall into anything.”

The Master said, “Smash the scale-beam, and then I will deliberate with you.”

A monk asked, “The ancients received people by blinking their eyes. How does the Venerable receive people?”

The Master replied, “I do not receive people by blinking my eyes.”

The monk asked, “Why is it so difficult to see?”

The Master said, “Only because it is too near.”

When the Master was residing at Xuefeng, Attendant Guang said to him, “Uncle-Master, if you succeed in learning Chan, I will sail an iron boat down into the sea.” Later, when the Master was residing there, he asked Attendant Guang, “Have you yet sailed the iron boat?” Guang could not answer.

One day, the Master sent a monk to deliver a letter to the Venerable Xuefeng. Xuefeng opened it and saw only three blank sheets of paper. He asked, “Do you understand?”

The monk replied, “I do not understand.”

Xuefeng

Fengbao did not speak of seeing it. “Noble men a thousand miles apart share the same wind.” (?) The monk returned and related this. The Master said, “That old和尚 was mistaken, yet he did not even know it.”

The Master asked Jingqing, “The teaching of the Middle Way says that for a bodhisattva-mahasattva not to see a single dharma is a great fault; yet it also speaks of not seeing any dharma.” Jingqing pointed to a pillar and said, “Should one not see this dharma?” The Master said, “The clear water and white rice of central Zhejiang are yours to consume, but you still do not understand the Buddha-Dharma.”

A monk asked, “The和尚 once said, ‘The worlds throughout the ten directions are a single luminous pearl.’ How should this student understand it?”

The Master said, “The worlds throughout the ten directions are a single luminous pearl. What use is understanding?”

The monk asked, “When the worlds throughout the ten directions are a single luminous pearl, what use is understanding?”

The Master said, “Now I know that you are scheming within a demon’s cave.”

Someone asked, “What is the seamless stupa?”

The Master replied, “One seam, large and small.”

Military Commissioner Wei came to see the Master and remarked, “The和尚 of Caoshan is truly extraordinary.” The Master then asked, “How far is it from Fuzhou to Caoshan?” Wei pointed to a monk beside him and asked, “Venerable, have you ever been to Caoshan?”

The monk replied, “I have.”

Wei asked, “How far is it from Fuzhou to Caoshan?”

He answered, “One hundred and twenty li.”

Wei said, “Then you have not been to Caoshan.” Wei immediately rose and bowed to the Master.

The Master said, “Military Commissioner, you should bow to this monk. This monk is fully possessed of a sense of shame.”

A Tripitaka Master named Qingming came from India. The military governor of Min sent him to see the Master. The Master took a flame used to light a bronze lamp, raised it high, and asked, “What sound is this?”

The Tripitaka Master replied, “The sound of bronze and iron.”

The Master said, “Great King, do not be deceived by a foreigner.”

The Tripitaka Master could not answer.

The Master traveled south to Putian County, where a hundred entertainments were arranged to welcome him. The next day the Master asked Elder Xiaotang, “Where did all yesterday’s commotion take place?”

Xiaotang lifted a corner of his patched robe.

The Master said, “Careless and frivolous—do not become involved.”

The Master asked, “Monk, how do you understand the City of the Gandharvas?”

The monk replied, “Like a dream, like an illusion.”

The Master and Dizang Tan conversed in the abbot’s quarters until late at night. The attendant shut the door. The Master said, “All the doors are closed. How will you get out?”

Tan said, “What are you calling a door?”

One day the Master planted his staff on the ground and asked Changsheng, “Monastics see, laypeople see, men see, and women see. How do you see?”

Changsheng replied, “Does the和尚 also see brightness and see places?”

The Master replied, “Those who know one another fill the realm beneath heaven.”

Someone asked, “The和尚 once said, ‘The nature of hearing pervades the Dharma-realm.’ When Xuefeng beats the drum within it, why is it not heard?”

The Master said, “Who knows that it is not heard?”

Someone asked, “On a perilous and treacherous road, what should one use as a bridge and ferry?”

The Master replied, “Use your eyes as the bridge and ferry.”

The questioner asked, “What about one who has not yet attained it?”

The Master replied, “Quickly, save him!”

The Master was eating fruit with Military Commissioner Wei. Wei asked, “What is it that is used daily without being known?”

The Master held up a fruit and said, “Eat.”

After Wei had eaten the fruit, he asked again.

The Master replied, “It is simply that which is used daily without being known.”

A general summons was issued to gather firewood. The Master said, “All of you depend entirely upon my strength.”

A monk said, “If we depend upon the Master’s strength, why is there any need for a general summons?”

The Master shouted, “If a general summons had not been issued, how could the firewood have been brought back?”

The Master asked Great Master Mingzhen, “Sudhana visited Maitreya; Maitreya directed him back to Manjusri; and Manjusri directed him to the Buddha. Tell me, to where did the Buddha direct him?”

He replied, “I do not know.”

The Master said, “Your discriminating knowledge knows that you do not know.”

Dapu Xuantong came and bowed. The Master told him, “While staying there, do not deceive the householders, whether men or women.”

He replied, “Xuantong merely opens the gate of offerings, arriving in the morning and leaving in the evening. How would I dare do such a thing?”

The Master said, “A difficult matter.”

He asked, “That very sentiment is the difficulty. Master, where is the difficult place?”

He replied, “It is because they refuse to accept and assume it.”

The Master immediately entered the abbot’s quarters and left his staff at the door.

Someone asked, “This student entered the monastery only yesterday. I beg the Master to show me the path of entry.”

The Master said, “Do you hear the sound of the stream ceaselessly falling?”

He replied, “I hear it.”

The Master said, “That is the place through which you enter.”

Lord Wang, the Military Governor of Quanzhou, invited the Master to ascend a tower. He first told the reception officer, “Wait until I have led the Great Master to the tower, then carry away the ladder.” The reception officer reported these instructions. The lord then invited the Great Master to ascend the tower. The Master looked at the tower, then looked at the man, and said, “The Buddha-Dharma is not this sort of principle.”

The Master was conversing indoors with the military governor of Quanzhou. A novice lifted the curtain, entered, saw them, and then stepped back and withdrew.

The Master said, “That novice deserves twenty blows.”

The novice said, “That was my fault.”

The Master said, “The Buddha-Dharma is not like that.”

For thirty years the Master responded to circumstances and received those who came to him. From Qingyuan and Shitou, the lineage has continued unbroken down to the present day, guiding people and expounding the essential Dharma. A Longer Record and a Shorter Record circulated throughout the country. Apart from these, there were various questions and answers recorded by his disciples and by people from different regions.

On the twenty-seventh day of the eleventh month in the second year of the Kaiping era of Later Liang, the wuxin year, the Master fell ill and passed away. He was seventy-four years old and had been a monk for forty-four years. The military governor of Min erected a wooden stupa for him.

2. Chan Master Huileng of Changqing, Fuzhou

The Master was a native of Yanguan in Hangzhou, and his family name was Sun. From childhood his natural disposition was pure and unassuming. At the age of thirteen, he left home at Tongxuan Monastery in Suzhou and received the precepts. The Master traveled widely, visiting various Chan communities.

In the fifth year of the Qianfu era of the Tang, the Master entered central Min. He met Xiyuan and questioned Lingyun, yet some obstruction remained. After he went to Xuefeng, all his doubts were completely extinguished.

On one occasion he asked, “The sages of old transmitted a single path. I beg the Master to reveal it.”

Xuefeng remained silent. The Master bowed and withdrew. Xuefeng smiled.

On another day Xuefeng said to the Master, “I ordinarily tell the monks, ‘There is a turtle with a snake’s nose on South Mountain. All of you should watch it carefully.’”

The Master replied, “Today in the Dharma hall there is someone who has lost both body and life.”

Xuefeng approved.

The Master entered the abbot’s quarters for an interview. Xuefeng said, “What is it?”

The Master said, “The weather is fine today; please issue a general summons.”

From then onward, his responses never departed from the profound purport. He then related his realization in a verse:

Amid the myriad phenomena, the solitary body stands revealed;
Only one who personally accepts it knows it as the body.
Formerly, deluded, I sought it midway along the road;
Today I behold ice within fire.

While the Master was at Xiyuan, he asked Venerable Xian, “There is a mountain here called Xianggushan. Have you ever been there?”

The Master asked, “Why have you not gone?”

Xian replied, “There is inherently the matter of one’s original responsibility.”

The Master said, “What is the venerable’s matter of original responsibility?”

Xian then raised a corner of his patched robe.

The Master said, “It is merely that there is this separate thing.”

Xian asked, “What does the Venerable see?”

The Master said, “How could you have a dragon’s head and a snake’s tail?”

The Master stayed with Baofu in Xuanzhou. Later, when he took leave to return to Xuefeng, Baofu asked him, “If someone questions the和尚 on the mountaintop, Venerable, how will you respond?”

The Master said, “Though one avoids the stench of raw flesh, a little still remains.”

Baofu asked, “What will you say?”

He replied, “Whom would you have me entrust this to?”

Baofu said, “Although Congzhan has these words, he may not necessarily have the matter itself.”

The Master said, “If so, the entire road ahead rests with you, Acarya.”

The Master and Baofu were walking in the mountains. Baofu asked, “The ancients spoke of the summit of Mount Miaofeng. Is that it?”

The Master said, “It is indeed, yet it is deeply regrettable.”

The Master remained at Xuefeng for twenty-nine years. In the third year of the Tianyou era, he accepted an invitation from Wang Tingbin, the prefect of Quanzhou, to open the Dharma hall at Zhaoqing. In the morning, Wang came in court dress and asked the Master to preach the Dharma.

The Master said, “Do you hear?”

Wang bowed.

The Master said, “Even so, I fear there are some who will not accept it.”

Thereupon he expounded the patriarchal intent, responding to circumstances and sometimes taking away what people clung to. Thus, with hair and beard grown long and disheveled, he daily assisted in spreading the Way.

Later, the military governor of Min invited the Master to leave Xiyuan at the prefectural seat of Changle. He submitted a petition requesting the horizontal plaque bearing the name “Changqing” and the title “Great Master Chaojue.”

The Master ascended the Dharma seat and, after a long while, addressed the assembly: “Is there anyone here who can recognize another by so much as an inch? If you do not recognize one another, then you deceive…”

Brothers, right now, whatever the matter may be, do not speak of whether it is full or empty. Moreover, whose household affair is it? If you will not undertake it now, when will you? Those of sharp faculties who engage in study do not arrive at that place; yet when they come, do they understand? Nowadays there is a kind of itinerant practitioner whose ears are stuffed full and hardened. Even if he has gathered a great deal, is it still the affair of you itinerant practitioners? At that time a monk asked, “How should one learn the practice of itinerancy?” The Master said, “You only know how to go to others and demand it from them.” He further asked, “What is the single path spoken of separately?” The Master said, “Why trouble yourself to ask again?”

Another asked, “The subtle meanings of names and words are explained in the teachings; without becoming entangled in the three categories, I ask the Master to speak.” The Master said, “Fellow!”

The Master said, “Take care.” He then addressed the assembly, saying, “When it is plainly and clearly chanted before you, you still do not understand. If suddenly a dark affair bears down upon you, what will you do?”

Another monk asked, “What is the coming of the dark affair?” The Master said, “Go drink tea.” The monk replied, “I ask the Venerable to accompany me.”

He asked, “What is the pivotal matter from which not even a hairbreadth separates one?” The Master replied, “Is it fitting or unfitting?”

He asked, “How may one be free from doubt and error?” The Master spread open both hands. The monk said nothing. The Master said, “Ask me again, and I shall tell you.” The monk asked again. The Master bared his arms and sat. The monk bowed. The Master said, “How do you understand it?” The monk said, “Today the wind has arisen.” The Master said, “Speaking thus, your understanding is still unsettled. What essential thing have you ever possessed that could compare with Changqing? If you can bring it forth, you may serve as the chief interlocutor.” The monk merely stood still. The Master then asked him, “Where are you from?” He replied, “I am one who heads north.” The Master said, “Nanhua is more than three thousand li away; why study false speech?” The monk could not reply.

The Master ascended the Dharma hall and, after a long while, said, “Do not say that tonight there was only a slight examination.” Then he descended from the seat.

A monk asked, “What is a saying that accords with the sages?” The Master said, “Great or small, Changqing has been asked one question by you, and his mouth is covered over like a winnowing basket.” The monk asked, “Why is it so?” The Master said, “What did you just ask?”

The Master addressed the assembly, saying, “If I were to present solely the matter of the vehicle of the school, the doors of the Dharma hall would have to be shut. Thus the Dharma would come to an end and there would be no people.” At that time a monk asked, “Without fearing that there will be no people, I ask the Master to speak of the end of the Dharma.” The Master said, “Is this also a place of entrustment?”

A monk asked, “What is the meaning of the coming from the Western Land?” The Master said, “Xiangyan said, ‘Sit for a while.’”

The Master once addressed the assembly, saying, “It seems that tonight the old Hu still has expectations.” Baofu heard this and said, “It seems that tonight the old tiger has abandoned his expectations.”

When Venerable Cao of Anguo had newly received an honorific title from the Master, the Master went to congratulate him. Cao came out to receive him. The Master asked, “Has the honorific title arrived there?” He replied, “It has arrived.” The Master asked, “What is the title?” He replied, “Mingzhen.” The Master then swung out both hands. Cao asked, “From where have you come?” The Master said, “When have I ever failed to ask this before?”

The Master asked a monk, “Where have you come from?” He replied, “From Gushan.” The Master asked, “At Gushan there is the saying, ‘Do not pass beyond the stone gate.’ If someone borrowed this to question you, what would you say?” He replied, “Last night I informed Zisu.” The Master asked, “What would it matter if I struck your back with the staff?” He replied, “If the Venerable strikes me with this staff, you will not have received the offerings of humans and devas in vain.” The Master said, “How many times shall I let you off?”

A monk asked, “An ancient said, ‘When meeting, nothing is spoken, yet the meaning is immediately known to be present.’ What of that moment?” The Master said, “Do you know it is present yet?”

The Master entered the Sangha hall, pulled the chief of the registry to his feet, and asked, “You see, yet do not see; do you nevertheless see?” The assembly could not reply.

The Master went to Luoshan and saw someone constructing a new shrine. Raising his staff high, the Master said, “Preparing for a great slaughter!” Luoshan said, “A clumsy contrivance!” The Master said, “Will you consent to enter it or not?” Luoshan said, “Hoh!”

The Master ascended the Dharma hall. After the great assembly had gathered, he pulled out a monk and said, “Great assembly, bow to this monk.” He then said, “What excellent quality does this monk possess that I should instruct the great assembly to bow to him?” The assembly could not reply.

A monk asked, “What is the matter before form and color have arisen?” The Master said, “You speak first, and I shall speak afterward.” The monk merely stood still. The Master asked, “What have you presented?” The monk replied, “I have my share of a severed tongue.”

When Baofu passed away, someone asked the Master, “Having cast off his leaking shell, where did Baofu go?” The Master said, “Why do you still say that Baofu was within that leaking shell?”

The wife of the military governor of Min, of the Cui clan, sent an envoy bearing robes and other articles, with the message: “Preceptor Lian asks the Great Master to come and bring back a reply.” The Master said, “Have Preceptor Lian receive and take back the reply.” In a moment the envoy arrived. The Master came forward, answered, “Yes,” and returned. The next morning the Master entered the government residence. Preceptor Lian said, “Yesterday I thanked the Great Master for giving a reply.” The Master said, “Please show me yesterday’s reply.” Preceptor Lian spread open both hands.

The military governor of Min asked the Master, “Did the reply that Preceptor Lian just presented accord with the Great Master’s meaning?” The Master replied, “To some small extent.” He asked, “I do not yet know what the Great Master’s essential meaning is.” The Master remained silent for a long while. The governor said, “Truly inconceivable! The Great Master’s Buddha-Dharma is profound.”

A monk related: “In Goryeo there was a monk who made an image of Guanyin. When it was at Ningzhou, the assembly exerted themselves but could not carry it aboard the ship. Consequently, they invited the Master to Kaiyuan Monastery to make offerings to it and asked him, ‘There is no realm in which you do not manifest a body; why do you refuse to go to Goryeo?’” The Master said, “Though the manifested body is everywhere, only the marks of arising are seen.”

Someone asked a monk, “What lamp are you lighting?” He replied, “I am lighting the ever-bright lamp.” He asked, “When did you light it?” The monk replied, “I lit it last year.” He asked, “Where is the ever-brightness?” The monk could not reply. Speaking on his behalf, the Master said, “If it were not so, how would I know that you do not allow others to deceive you?”

At the place where the Master expounded the Dharma, his community numbered fifteen hundred. He spread the teaching throughout Min and Yue for twenty-seven years.

In the third year of Changxing of the Later Tang dynasty (the renchen year), on the seventeenth day of the fifth month, the Master passed away. He was seventy-nine years old and had attained sixty Dharma years. The Wang clan erected a stupa for him.

3. Chan Master Xuantong of Mount Dapu, Fuzhou

The Master was a native of Futang in Fuzhou and received his monastic training at Mount Doushuai. He followed Xuefeng for several years, received the Dharma of the mind, and then went to dwell at Mount Dapu.

A monk asked, “How can one obtain the pearl beneath the jaw of the black dragon?” The Master clapped his hands and glared at him.

A monk asked, “What is foremost among skillful means?” The Master pushed the monk away—or pulled him up.

A monk asked, “What is the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the Western Land?” The Master said, “Old bones, get out!”

A monk asked, “What is it like when, brushing away the dust, one sees the Buddha?” The Master said, “Cast off the cangue, come here, and let us discuss it.”

A monk asked urgently, “I take refuge and ask the Master to receive me.” The Master said, “Old fool!”

4. Great Master Shunde Daofu of Longce Monastery, Hangzhou

The Master was a native of Yongjia, and his family name was Chen. From childhood he did not eat fish or meat. If someone nearby ate dried fish, he would become nauseated. He therefore asked to leave home and received the complete precepts at Kaiyuan Monastery in Hangzhou. He then traveled in various regions and, upon reaching Minchuan, met Xuefeng.

Xuefeng asked, “Where are you from?” He replied, “I am from Wenzhou.” Xuefeng said, “Then you are a fellow townsman of the One-Night Awakened One.” The Master asked, “Just so, but where is the One-Night Awakened One from?” Xuefeng said, “You deserve one blow, but I shall let you off.”

One day the Master asked, “Did not the ancient worthies transmit mind by mind?” Xuefeng said, “Moreover, they did not establish written words or spoken phrases.” The Master asked, “If written words and spoken phrases are not established, how does the Master transmit it?” Xuefeng remained silent for a long while. The Master then bowed in thanks. Xuefeng said, “Would it not be good to ask me another turning phrase?” The Master replied, “Venerable, please grant me one question and a turning phrase.” Xuefeng said, “Only this is something separately open to discussion.” The Master replied, “If the Venerable is thus, then you have attained it.” Xuefeng said, “What does it have to do with you?” The Master replied, “You have wrongfully killed a man.”

Once Xuefeng addressed the assembly, saying, “It must be majestic, hidden, and secure.” The Master stepped forward and said, “What is majestic, hidden, and secure?” Xuefeng rose and asked, “What did you say?” The Master stepped back and stood. Xuefeng said, “The matter”

was honored in this way and heard in such intimate detail. Someone asked:
“Daofu has been here for several years, yet I have never heard the Venerable teach him
like this.” Xuefeng said, “Although I was not formerly as I am today, I already had doubts and questions.”
He replied, “I dare not say so; this is merely what the Venerable does when left with no other choice.” Xuefeng
said, “You have brought me to this.” From then on, the Master gained faith and again followed the assembly. In Minzhong,
he was called Little Fu of the Patch-Robe. Once, during a general invitation at Xuefeng’s place,
the saying of Guishan, “Upon seeing form, one immediately sees mind,” was raised, and the Master was asked, “Is there
any fault in this, without asking what the ancients were doing?” Xuefeng said, “Although it is so,
I wish to discuss it with you.” The Master said, “If so, it is not as good as Daofu
hoeing the ground.” One day Xuefeng asked the Master, “Where have you come from?” He replied, “From outside.”
Xuefeng asked, “Where did you meet Bodhidharma?” He replied, “Where else would it be?” Xuefeng
said, “I still do not believe you were there.” He replied, “Venerable, do not be so smeared with grease.”
Xuefeng then acknowledged him. Later, the Master traveled throughout the regions, using skillful wisdom to benefit others.
Once he called upon Venerable Ji at Caoshan. Ji asked, “Where have you come from?” He replied, “Yesterday
I left Mingshui.” Ji asked, “When did you reach Mingshui?” He replied, “When the
Venerable arrived.” Ji asked, “When do you say I arrived?” He replied, “Having just arrived, I can still
remember it.” Ji said, “So it is, so it is.” The Master ceased his travels and accepted an invitation to Qing
Chan Garden in Yuezhou, where he expounded Xuefeng’s essential teaching. Students gathered in great numbers.
Assistant Commissioner Pi Guangye was the son of Rixiu. Abandoning his extensive learning,
he repeatedly posed difficult questions. Upon withdrawing, he told others, “Master Fu is a man of lofty discourse;
do not try to peer into his ultimate place.” A newly arrived monk came for an interview. The Master raised his whisk.
The monk asked, “I have long heard that Qing also possesses this.” The Master said,
“Today I have met a person, yet again have not met a person.” He asked, “What is the single straight road
of the numinous source?” The Master said, “The waters of Mirror Lake are deep enough to drown in—deep indeed.” The Master
asked, “Where have you come from?” The monk replied, “From Yingtian.” The Master said, “Did you
see the manli fish?” He replied, “I did not.” The Master asked, “Did the Acarya fail to see the manli,
or did the manli fail to see the Acarya?” He replied, “Neither is so.” The Master said, “Acarya, you know only
how to be cautious at the beginning and guard the end.” A monk asked, “This student does not know that source; I ask the Master
to instruct me through skillful means.” The Master asked, “What primal source is it?” The monk replied, “That primal
source.” The Master asked, “If it is that primal source, how could it admit of skillful means?” The monk
bowed and withdrew. Afterward, the attendant asked, “When the Venerable first arrived, was any other question established?”
The Master replied, “No.” He asked, “Or was no other question established?” The Master
replied, “No.” He asked, “I still do not know what the ultimate meaning is.” The Master replied, “One drop of ink,
and in two places dragons are formed.” While the Master was sitting inside a curtain, a monk came to inquire. The Master
flung open the curtain and asked, “What ought to be severed is not severed, and disorder is caused again.” The monk asked,
“Since it ought to be severed, why is it not severed?” The Master replied, “If I exhausted the Dharma, I fear there would be no
people left.” He said, “Do not fear that no one will remain; I ask the Master to exhaust the Dharma.” The Master said, “Karmadana,
drag this monk out.” He further said, “Enough, enough! In the South I knew that Venerable would come.”
Once, during a general request to go hoe the weeds, the monk in charge of the bath invited the Master to bathe. The Master did not look
back. After being invited three times in this manner, the Master took up his hoe and made as if to strike. The monk in charge of the bath
then ran away. The Master called, “Come here!” The monk turned his head. The Master said, “Later, when you meet a true adept,
clearly raise this precedent and present it.” Later that monk went to Baofu and began recounting the exchange. Before he had finished,
Baofu covered the monk’s mouth with his hand. The monk then returned and related this to the Master. The Master said, “Even after all this,
you still have not met a true adept.” The Master asked, “Heyu, where have you come from?” He replied, “I have returned from Tiantai.”
The Master said, “How could I have been asking you about Tiantai?” He replied, “Venerable, how can you have a dragon’s head
and a snake’s tail?” The Master said, “Qing has lost the advantage today.” While the Master was reading a sutra, a monk asked,
“What sutra is the Venerable reading?” The Master said, “I am engaging the ancients in a hundred-grass contest.” The Master then asked,
“Do you understand?” He replied, “Even when young I understood; why ask again?” The Master asked, “What will you do now?” The
monk raised his fist. The Master said, “I return it to you.” A monk came for an interview.
The Master asked, “Acarya, where have you come from?” He replied, “From the Buddha-land.” The Master asked, “What does the Buddha take
as his land?” He replied, “Purity and adornment constitute the land.” The Master asked, “What does the land take as its Buddha?”
He replied, “Wondrous purity and true constancy constitute the Buddha.” The Master asked, “Acarya, did you come from wondrous purity,
or from adornment?” He replied, “Neither admits of an answer.” The Master said, “Hush, hush! Elsewhere, if someone asks you,
you must not make such a reply.” Prince Qian wished to establish a Chan assembly in the regional headquarters and therefore had
the Master reside at Tianlong Monastery. Upon first seeing the Master, he immediately said, “A true man of the Way,” and paid him
profound and generous reverence. Consequently, the study of the Mystery flourished greatly throughout the lands of Wu and Yue. Later,
he also established Longce Monastery and welcomed the Master there to reside. The Master ascended the Dharma hall and said:
“Now, only because there is no other choice do I speak to you. If you personally examine what is true before you, then intimacy
will fall to your own share. Why should you deliberately remain so distant and negligent? It is only because you have abandoned home
for increasingly long and have drifted ever farther with each passing year, single-mindedly following sensory conditions until your
seeing has become like this. Therefore, it is called turning one’s back on awakening and joining with the dust; it is also called
forsaking one’s father and fleeing. I now urge you, brothers: whoever has not yet brought it to an end should bring it to an end.
How can a great man possess such spirit and yet still be dejected? You remain muddled all day long; why not seek out the road
that carries and sustains you? Very well—no one asks me what the road that carries and sustains is.” At that time a monk asked,
“What is the road that carries and sustains?” The Master said, “Hush, hush! You must be struck before I will tell you.” The monk said,
“That is this student’s fault.” The Master said, “When were you struck so that Shazhou was shattered?” A monk asked,
“When there is no source, yet there is a path from which one does not return, what then?” The Master replied, “This monk has obtained
a seat; let him sit down at once.” A monk asked, “What is mind?” The Master said, “Affirming it immediately makes two ends.”
He asked, “What if it is not?” The Master replied, “Would that not, in turn, establish the end of affirmation?” He asked,
“When neither affirmation nor negation is so, what then?” The Master replied, “That only multiplies the faults.” A monk asked,
“Throughout the 12 periods of the day, what should one take as verification?” The Master said, “When you have gained strength,
come and tell me.” The monk said, “Yes.” The Master said, “One hundred and eight thousand may still be near.” A monk asked,
“What is the gate of skillful means by which accomplishment comes quickly and easily?” The Master said, “Accomplishment comes
quickly and easily.” He asked, “Why has this student not yet comprehended it?” The Master said, “If you can substitute for it,
then substitute for it.” A monk asked, “What is the mystery within the mystery?” The Master asked, “Is it not—what?” He asked,
“Can one still accord with it or not?” The Master said, “Even wood knows how to speak.” A monk asked, “How does a person without mind
accord with the Way?” The Master said, “Why not ask how the mindless Way accords with a person?” He asked, “How does the mindless Way
accord with a person?” The Master said, “Why not ask how the mindless Way accords with a person?” He asked again, “How does the
mindless Way accord with a person?” The Master said, “White clouds suddenly arrive at the green mountain; who says the bright moon
does not descend from the azure sky?” A monk asked, “This student asks about the place not reached by asking.” The Master did not answer.
“If the Venerable answers about the place not reached, then this student will not ask.” The Master then clenched his fist and asked,
“Is my principle right, or is yours right?” He replied, “If the Venerable strikes this student, then this student will strike back.”
The Master replied, “Good—plow onward facing your opponent.” A monk asked, “A monk once took leave of Guizong. Guizong asked,
‘Where are you going?’ He replied, ‘To Baizhang to study the Chan of the Five Ranks.’ Guizong said nothing.” The Master then said,
“Because of the matter, Guizong went alone.” The monk asked, “What does it mean that, because of the matter, Guizong went alone?”
The Master said, “Strike him and drive him out of the monastery.” The monk bowed. The Master said, “What do you understand?”
He replied, “This student is at fault.” The Master said, “You may reckon it that way.” Once the Master said, “Those throughout the regions,
if they do not run about outside, are instead confined within a cage.” A monk asked, “I do not know how it is with the Venerable.”
The Master said, “This single question of yours has trapped me all the way into old age.” A monk asked, “What is the intimate and
closely guarded matter?”

The Master said: “It is always ready for use by people.”
A monk asked: “What is one who does not know like?”
The Master said: “Fine when it clears, fine when it rains.”

The Master asked a monk: “What sound is there outside the gate?”
He replied: “The sound of raindrops.”
The Master said: “Sentient beings are deluded and inverted; they lose themselves and pursue external things.”

A monk asked: “What is the characteristic of sameness?”
The Master took the fire tongs and thrust them into the furnace.
The monk asked again: “What is the characteristic of difference?”
The Master again thrust the fire to one side.

A monk brought a young boy and said: “This boy often likes to question monks about the Buddha-Dharma. I now ask the Venerable Master to examine him.”
The Master then had tea poured. The boy poured the tea and offered it to the Master. After drinking, the Master handed the cup back to the boy. The boy approached to receive it, whereupon the Master immediately drew back his hand and asked: “Can you say something?”
The boy said: “Ask me in the future.”
The monk asked: “Venerable Master, what do you think of this boy’s understanding?”
The Master said: “He is merely a monk who upheld the precepts for one or two lifetimes.”

The Master opened the Dharma and expounded its essentials in three places. His disciples recorded his teachings, of which only a general outline is given here.

In the eighth month of the second year of Tianfu of the Later Jin, a dingyou year, the Master entered parinirvana at the age of seventy-four. Monastics and laypeople mourned and wept for him in great numbers. At his cremation ceremony on Mount Daci, many relics were obtained. His stupa was erected to the south, on the left side of Mount Longmou.

5. Chan Master Jiaoran of Mount Changsheng, Fuzhou

The Master was a native of the local prefecture. He entered Xuefeng’s chamber and privately received the mind seal, attending upon him for ten years.

Once, while the Master and another monk were chopping wood, Xuefeng said: “When chopping wood, let the mind abide.”
The Master said: “Chop this away.”
Xuefeng said: “The ancients transmitted mind by mind. Why do you speak of chopping?”
The Master threw down the axe and said: “Transmit!”
Xuefeng struck him once with his staff and departed.

A monk asked Xuefeng: “What is the first statement?”
Xuefeng remained silent for a long while. After the monk withdrew, he related the exchange to the Master.
The Master said: “That is the second statement.”
Xuefeng then had that monk go and ask the Master: “What is the first statement?”
The Master said: “Blue sky! Blue sky!”

When Xuefeng had everyone gather firewood, he asked the Master: “An ancient said, ‘Who knows that beneath the woven rush hat there was originally a man burdened by ancient sorrow?’ What was the ancient’s meaning?”
The Master tilted his hat and asked: “Who said that?”

Xuefeng asked the Master: “A person of the scriptures can bear the Tathagata. What is it to bear the Tathagata?”
The Master immediately struck him.
Xuefeng went to the meditation couch and sat down.

When Xuefeng returned from a general gathering, he was carrying a bundle of rattan canes. Meeting a monk on the road, he threw down the bundle and stood with folded arms. The monk came forward and grasped it, whereupon Xuefeng kicked the monk and returned to the monastery. Later, he asked the Master about the incident, saying: “Today I took pleasure in kicking that monk.”
The Master replied: “The Venerable Master helped that monk enter the house of nirvana.”

The Master once questioned a hermitage master about truthful words. The hermitage master said: “Recently a monk asked me, ‘What is the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the Western Land?’ I raised my whisk to show him. I do not know whether that was acceptable.”
The Master said: “How would I dare say that it was acceptable or unacceptable?”

Someone asked the hermitage master: “Regarding this matter, one person says accepting it is like adding horns to a tiger’s head, while another doubts and rejects it as not worth a single coin. Why do praise and blame differ concerning this matter? Please try to distinguish between them.”
He replied: “It arose just now by chance; how could it be distinguished?”
The Master said: “If so, you will not be able to become a human being in the future.”

Xuefeng asked the Master: “When both illumination and objects have vanished, what is it?”
The Master said: “Forgive Jiaoran for daring to deliberate upon it.”
Xuefeng said: “I forgive you. How would you deliberate upon it?”
He replied: “Jiaoran also forgives Venerable Xuefeng.”
Xuefeng acknowledged him and immediately gave the Master a prediction, sending him to dwell on Mount Changsheng and teach in accordance with conditions.

A monk asked: “How is the vehicle of the lineage transmitted from above presented?”
The Master said: “I cannot let Mount Changsheng become desolate on the acarya’s account.”

He asked: “An ancient said, ‘Ignorance is itself Buddha-nature; afflictions need not be eliminated.’ What does it mean that ignorance is itself Buddha-nature?”
The Master suddenly assumed an angry expression, raised his fist, and scolded him: “Today I will strike this monk and drive him away!”
The monk asked: “What does it mean that afflictions need not be eliminated?”
The Master clasped his head in his hands and said: “How could this monk provoke people’s karma like this?”

A monk asked: “When meeting a man of the Way midway, one should not use words but silently respond. I do not yet know what one should use to respond.”
The Master said: “What can ink on paper accomplish?”

The military governor of Min appointed the Master Chan Lord and Great Master. It is not known where the Master later resided.

6. Chan Master Zhifu of Ehu, Xinzhou

The Master was a native of Fuzhou. At first, he received instruction at the lecture seat in Chang’an. Reflecting upon the principle of the Ultimate Mystery, he went to attend Master Xuefeng for several years. After comprehending the essential teaching of mind, he followed conditions and came to reside at Ehu, where he greatly opened a Dharma assembly.

A monk asked: “The myriad dharmas return to the one. To where does the one return?”
The Master replied: “The acarya is not the only one bustling about in haste.”

A monk asked: “When empty space expounds the sutras, what does it take as its cardinal principle?”
The Master said: “Acarya, you are not one of the audience. Go out!”

A monk asked: “Does a rebellious son who commits the five heinous offenses still accept his father’s covenant?”
The Master replied: “Although he sets limits upon himself, he still cannot avoid harming himself.”

A monk asked: “What is a Buddha who has gone beyond?”
The Master said: “Given what the acarya knows through discriminating consciousness, nothing can be done.”
He asked: “Why can nothing be done?”
The Master said: “It is not certain that a child can recognize a noble man.”

Someone reported that Venerable Jingshan had passed away. A monk asked: “Venerable Jingshan has passed away. Where has he gone?”
The Master said: “He was far more astute than the acarya.”

A monk asked: “Before the single statement, I ask the Master to speak.”
The Master said: “What are you seeking beneath your heels?”
He replied: “I am asking right now.”
The Master said: “Look! The acarya cannot transform his body.”

A monk asked: “What was Xuefeng’s meaning in throwing down his staff?”
The Master took the incense spoon and threw it to the ground.
The monk asked: “I still do not know what this means.”
The Master said: “You are not good seed. Go out!”

A monk asked: “What is it like when there is neither question nor answer?”
The Master replied: “How would the questioner know?”

A monk asked: “What is it like when the deluded person has not yet returned home?”
The Master replied: “There is no road left to travel.”
He asked: “What is it like after returning?”
The Master replied: “Still going astray.”

A monk asked: “What is the matter at the source?”
The Master replied: “What are you seeking midway?”

Qingjing asked: “What is the present?”
The Master said: “Why speak of the present again?”
Qing said: “How many lotus branches are there already?”
The Master said: “Contrary words, accordant speech.”

7. Chan Master Huaiyue of Baoyin Monastery in Zhangzhou

The Master was a native of Quanzhou. In his youth, he received instruction at Shengshou Monastery in his native prefecture. After completing his inquiry under Master Xuefeng, he came to reside at Longxi, where Chan practitioners gathered in great numbers.

A monk asked: “How should one conduct oneself throughout the twelve periods of the day?”
The Master said: “Move, and you immediately die.”
He asked: “What about when one does not move?”
The Master said: “You are still a ghost guarding an ancient grave.”

A monk asked: “What is the place where this student escapes?”
The Master replied: “What is binding the acarya?”
He asked: “Why can I not escape?”
The Master said: “Whose fault is that?”

A monk asked: “What was Niutou like before he met the Fourth Patriarch?”
The Master said: “A single patch of cloud across ten thousand miles.”
He asked: “What was he like after meeting him?”
The Master said: “Vast, open, empty, and still.”

A monk asked: “What is the great meaning of the Buddha-Dharma?”
The Master said: “Last night, during the third watch, the fire went out.”

A monk asked: “The dark clouds are so black—who will bring the rain?”
The Master replied: “The lofty mountain topples forward.”

A monk asked: “How is the vehicle of the lineage presented without immediately stating it?”
The Master said: “The mountain does not praise itself; the water flows without interruption.”

A monk asked: “What was it like before the Buddha appeared in the world?”
The Master replied: “How could you know?”
He asked: “What is it like when the dust is swept away and the Buddha is seen?”

The Master said: “In what year
will it be seen again therein?” Someone asked, “What is it like when the lion is in its cave?” The Master said, “What household implement is the
lion?” Someone asked, “What is it like when the lion leaves its cave?” The Master
asked, “Where is the lion?” Someone asked, “What is the Buddha before one’s eyes?” The Master replied, “Quickly, bow down!”

When the Master was about to pass away, he ascended the Dharma hall and instructed the assembly, saying: “For the past twelve
years, this mountain monk has expounded the tenets of the School. Where do you find fault with me? If you wish to hear
the three sutras and five treatises, Kaiyuan Monastery is only a few feet and inches from here.” Having spoken, he
passed away.

8. Great Master Wuzhen of Huadu Cloister, Xixing, Hangzhou.

The Master was a native of Shiyu in Quanzhou. After receiving the mind-seal from Master
Xuefeng, his transforming influence flourished throughout the region between Hangzhou and Yue. Later, the Master took up residence
at Huadu Cloister in the town of Xixing, where the Dharma assembly became exceedingly prosperous. A monk asked,
“What is the meaning of the coming from the Western Land?” The Master raised his whisk. The monk said,
“This student does not understand.” The Master said, “Go drink tea.” Someone asked, “What is the
seamless stupa?” The Master said, “Five feet, six feet.” Someone asked, “What is a single mote of dust?” The Master
said, “Nine generations within a kshana.” Someone asked, “What is it that encompasses the Dharma realm,
and where is it?” He then asked, “Valleys and ravines are all different; how does the Master know they are one?” The Master said, “Why are you
snorting so heavily?” Someone asked, “This student is a beginner; I beg the Venerable to show me the way in.”
The Master said, “Where are you carrying your reproaches against Huadu?” Someone asked, “What is the mani jewel that follows
color?” The Master said, “Blue, yellow, red, and white.” Someone asked, “What is the mani jewel
that does not follow color?” The Master said, “Blue, yellow, red, and white.” Someone asked, “What is the meaning of the coming from the Western Land?”
The Master replied, “Coming from the east, coming from the west.” Someone asked, “What was it like before Niutou
met the Fourth Patriarch?” The Master replied, “Birds and beasts were all bewildered.” Someone asked, “What was it like after he met him?” “The mountains are deep,
and the water is cold.” Someone asked, “What did Vimalakirti and Manjushri discuss with each other?” The Master
said:

“Only the mirror-like lake before the gate remains;
the cooling breeze does not alter the waves of former times.”

From then on, the Master’s fame was heard far and near. The Prince of Qian held the Master’s virtue in the highest esteem
and memorialized the emperor, who bestowed upon the Master an honorific title and a purple robe.

9. National Preceptor Shenyan of Xingsheng on Mount Gushan in Fuzhou:

The Master’s family name was Li. As a child, he disliked fish and meat and delighted in hearing the bells of monasteries.
When he was twelve years old, several streams of white vapor rose from the wall of his house. The Master
then took up a brush and inscribed this verse upon the wall:

White vapor suddenly rises from this place;
At rest, it clearly reveals an auspicious sign.
Casting off deviant conduct and returning to true vision,
One shall surely transcend the ordinary and become a sage.

When he had finished writing the verse, the streams of vapor vanished. Just as he reached the age devoted to learning, he fell
gravely ill. In a dream, he saw a deity give him medicine; when he awoke, his illness was cured. The following year, he again
dreamed of a Brahman monk from the Western Regions, who told him that the time had come for him to leave the household life. He then
went to Chan Master Daogui on Mount Bailu in Weizhou and had his head shaved, after which
he ascended Mount Song and received the full precepts. The Master said to his fellow students, “An ancient worthy said
that once the fourfold jñapti-karman has been completed, morality, samadhi, and wisdom are fully present. Why should one cling
to the forms of the Dharma?” Thereupon, he took up his staff and wandered among the Chan establishments, remembering their sayings and retaining them
as intellectual interpretations. When he reached Mount Xueling, everything became luminously accordant.

One day,
the Master went to consult Xuefeng. Xuefeng knew that his conditions were ripe, suddenly
stood up, clenched his fist, and asked, “What is this?” The Master suddenly attained awakening and even forgot his own mind;
he merely refrained from reaching out to pull or shake it. Xuefeng said, “What principle are you making of it?”
The Master replied, “What principle could there be?” Xuefeng examined the Master’s profound understanding and
confirmed it.

When Xuefeng entered parinirvana, the military governor of Min opened up Mount Gushan, twenty
li north of the prefectural city, established a Chan monastery there, and invited the Master to propagate the teaching.
The Master ascended the Dharma hall and gathered the assembly. After remaining silent for a long while, he said, “When Nanquan
was still alive, there were also people who could raise the essential point, yet they did not know Nanquan. Is there anyone
now who knows Nanquan? Step forward and let the assembly examine you.”

At that time, a monk came forward, bowed, and had just risen when the Master asked, “What are you doing?”
The monk stepped forward and said, “I seek instruction from the Venerable.” The Master said, “Useless fellow—withdraw!”

He further said, “The sutras have masters of sutras, the treatises have masters of treatises, and the Vinaya has masters of Vinaya. There are cases, titles,
sections, and fascicles, and each has people who transmit and preserve it. Moreover, the Buddha-Dharma establishes teachings, while
the Chan path employs words and shouts. All the sages, from the time they appeared in the world until now, did so only
because people’s minds are not the same; skillfully opening expedient means, they therefore established many
gates. Since illnesses are not alike, the medicines differ. Abiding in existence, they break through existence; abiding in emptiness,
they break through emptiness with a shout. Once these two illnesses have been eliminated, even the Middle Way is immediately dismissed.

“Thus Gushan speaks: if a phrase does not accord with the occasion, words do not disclose the matter. To follow words is death;
to stagnate in phrases is delusion. I do not speak of the word before words, nor do I discuss the phrase beyond phrases. Even
Shakyamuni closed the door of his chamber, and Vimalakirti sealed his lips. The Mahasattva of the Liang dynasty and
the Youth of that time—at the first question, the second question, and the third question, there were all people who understood. Worthy ones,
what are you doing?”

At that time, a monk came forward and bowed. The Master said, “Ask! Speak loudly!” The monk
said, “This student wishes to discuss the matter and seek instruction from the Venerable.” The Master then shouted and drove him out.

Someone asked, “When one’s own matter is not yet clear, by what can it be tested?” The Master acted as though he had not heard clearly.
The monk repeated the question. The Master said, “A single point follows the current; eating together, it does not value anything.”

Someone asked, “What is the phrase that encompasses heaven and earth?” The Master said, “Come forward.” The monk came
forward. The Master said, “A dullard who kills people.”

Someone asked, “How can the succession be continued?” The Master
replied, “On the bank of desire, though there is no wind, one vainly opens one’s hands.”

Someone asked, “What is right?”
The Master said, “Wrong.”

Someone asked, “What is it like when a student accepts the words?” The Master said, “What do
you undertake?”

Someone asked, “What is the place where this student is rightly established?” The Master said,
“Not following the conduct of the sages.”

Someone asked, “Among a thousand peaks and ten thousand mountains, which is the true
mountain?” The Master replied, “What would you do with the true mountain?”

The Master and Zhaoqing met each other.
Zhaoqing said, “The ordinary family fare.” The Master said, “Insatiably clinging to life.” Zhaoqing said, “Still too
slow.” The Master then said, “The ordinary family fare.” Zhaoqing said, “There is no fire today.” The Master said,
“How foolishly you cling to life!” Zhaoqing said, “Take the traces away at once.”

Someone asked, “How may one escape
the wheel of birth and death?” The Master said, “Bring birth and death here.”

Someone asked, “What is the matter within the School?” The Master turned his palm and said, “Hong! Hong!”

Someone asked, “What is the single upward-facing door-bolt?” The Master struck him.

Someone asked, “Who is the true host of Gushan?” The Master replied, “What would you do with him?”

The Master asked Baofu,
“An ancient said, ‘Wrong is not wrong, and right is not right.’ What is the meaning of this?”
Baofu raised a bowl of tea. The Master said, “It would be best not to regard wrong as right.”

Someone asked, “What is the true essential body?” The Master said, “Right now, what body is it?”

Someone asked, “What is it ultimately?” The Master said, “How could it ever come to that?”

Someone asked, “What is the great meaning of the Buddha-Dharma?” The Master said, “A single point of the golden crow; for ten thousand miles, not a cloud.”

The Master asked a monk, “Gushan has a phrase that does not leap beyond Shimen. What do you say?” The monk
said, “Master, please.” The Master then struck him.

Someone asked, “Where did the ancients save their mental effort?” The Master said, “Why do you waste your effort?”

Someone asked, “Though one speaks throughout the world, there is no fault of the mouth. What does it mean to have no fault of the mouth?” The Master said, “What fault is there?”

Someone asked, “What is the essential place where effort is saved?” The Master said, “Are you ashamed of yourself again?”

The Master and the military governor of Min were gazing reverently upon an image of the Buddha. The governor asked, “What is Buddha?”
The Master replied, “I ask Your Majesty to examine it.” The governor said, “Examination itself is not Buddha.” The Master asked,
“Then what is it?” The governor gave no reply. The Master said, “Very well.”

Someone asked, “How is the vehicle of the School transmitted from above to be presented and spoken of?” The Master suddenly took his whisk
and struck him on the mouth.

Someone asked, “What is the special transmission outside the teachings?” The Master said, “Go drink tea.”

He further said, “Now, worthy ones, because you thrust the sharp point into others, you cannot rouse yourselves and emerge from within
the transforming gate of the sages. Therefore, when the teaching is spoken to you, instruction and demonstration cannot reach you; the Patriarch”

neither east nor west; the Buddhas of the three times cannot expound it, the twelve divisions of the teachings cannot contain it, ordinary beings and sages cannot encompass it, and from ancient times to the present it cannot be transmitted.

If suddenly you, an old fellow who has not yet understood this news, speak to others in such a way and someone suddenly strikes you on the mouth, can you still blame that person? Even so, you must not strike at random. Gushan ordinarily says that there is also one person who does not pass beyond the Stone Gate.

There must be a phrase that does not pass beyond the Stone Gate. What is the phrase that does not pass beyond the Stone Gate? For more than thirty years here at Gushan, when people from the five lakes and four seas have come, I have directed them to the summit of the high mountain to gaze upon the waters, yet I have not seen a single person swiftly attain penetrating benefit.

If now there should be someone capable of penetrating it, I too would not delude the brethren. He then instructed the assembly with a verse:

The Commander of Min held the Master in great esteem and often inquired of him about the essentials of the Dharma.

10. Great Master Shaoqing of Longshu at Xingfa in Yangzhou.

The Master was from Quanzhou, and his family name was Chen. When young, he studied sutras and treatises at Lingyan Monastery. Having completed his work of lecturing on the scriptures, he came to admire dhyana and therefore inquired into the Dharma of Master Xuefeng, diligently practicing for several years and awakening in accordance with conditions.

Once, while walking in meditation, the Master saw taro leaves stirring. Xuefeng pointed at the moving leaves and looked at him. Shaoqing became greatly frightened. Xuefeng said, “That is your own household. What is there to fear?” At this, the Master suddenly awakened and ceased traveling about to visit other teachers.

He was then invited to reside at Longxi. Someone asked, “An ancient said that the mani-jeweled palace has four corners, and one corner is always exposed. What is the corner that is always exposed?” The Master raised his fly-whisk.

Someone asked, “If not a single grain of rice is stored, how can ten thousand hungry people be saved?” The Master said, “Before a swordsman, it is like having one’s sword snatched away; from the look of you, you are no true man.”

Someone asked, “When a blind man comes clapping his hands, will the Master still receive him?” The Master said, “From beginning to end, one must gain this advantage.”

The monk asked, “Then is gaining the advantage itself receiving him?” The Master said, “This old fellow has again stuck his beak into it.”

Someone asked, “What is it like where eyes and ears do not reach?” The Master said, “You do not make this.”

The monk asked, “If so, is it hearing?” The Master said, “Truly an old deaf man.”

The Military Commissioner of Hanzhang, Lord Wang, held Xuefeng in great esteem and memorialized the throne, whereupon the emperor bestowed upon the Master an honorific title and a purple robe.

11. Great Master Xingtao Renhui of the Zong Monastery in Fuzhou.

The Master was from Quanzhou, and his family name was Wang. He received ordination at Kaiyuan Monastery in Fuzhou. He participated in Master Xuefeng’s Chan assembly, and his reputation was heard everywhere. The Commander of Min invited the Master to turn the Dharma wheel, and Chan companions gathered in great numbers.

The Master ascended the Dharma hall and said, “I studied under the same teacher as Shakyamuni. Tell me, whom did we consult?” At that time, a monk stepped forward, bowed, and was about to ask a question. The Master said, “Wrong.”

Someone asked, “What is the meaning of the coming from the Western Land?” The Master said, “A bear’s ears have never been concealed.”

Someone asked, “Regarding the matter right here, I beg the Master to speak expediently.” The Master said, “Were it not for your asking, I would not speak either.”

Someone asked, “What is the meaning of the coming from the Western Land?” The Master said, “In broad daylight, there are no idle people.”

12. Great Master Songyan Chaozheng of Yongfu Monastery on Lotus Mountain in Fuzhou.

A monk asked, “The Confucian school takes the five constant virtues as its ultimate standard. I do not yet know what the Chan school takes as its ultimate standard.” The Master remained silent for a long while.

The monk said, “Then this student has been hasty and impatient.” The Master said, “You deserve a beating.”

Someone asked, “The teachings say that there is only the Dharma of the One Vehicle. What is the Dharma of the One Vehicle?” The Master asked, “What do you say I am doing within it?”

The monk asked, “Then does the Master not understand the meaning of the teachings?” The Master said, “Even so, I have not let you down.”

Someone asked, “Understanding without directing oneself toward the place of inquiry is also what this student asks about. What of the Venerable?” The Master said, “Go drink tea.”

Changqing often said, “Exhaust the law, and there will be no people.” The Master said, “At Yongfu it is not so. If the law is not exhausted, how can there be people?”

At that time, a monk said, “Master, please exhaust the law.” The Master said, “I do not require you to pay taxes.”

Someone asked, “I do not ask about other matters. At the monks’ quarters, I respectfully ask the Master compassionately to speak.” The Master said, “Why do you not quickly make three bows?”

The Master ascended the Dharma hall and said, “Look at this uncanny arrow!” He then returned to the abbot’s quarters.

Someone asked, “Master, please instruct me.” The Master said, “Do not bury it.”

Someone asked, “The great assembly has gathered like clouds. Master, please expound the Dharma.” The Master asked, “Do you hear?”

Someone asked, “If one stands for long and deliberates, one will surely find it difficult to catch up.” The Master said, “You have truly attained it.”

Someone asked, “The mani-jeweled palace has four corners, and one corner is always exposed. What is the corner that is always exposed?” The Master said, “It cannot be pointed out again.”

The Master ascended the Dharma hall, stood beside the seat, and told the assembly, “Two honored ones do not teach together.” He then returned to the abbot’s quarters.

13. Great Master Lingzhao Zhenjue of Longhua Monastery in Hangzhou.

The Master was from Goryeo. Traveling in search of the Dharma, he reached Min and Yue, entered Xuefeng’s chamber, and silently accorded with the profound principle. The Master wore only a single robe and diligently performed the assembly’s work. In Min, he was called “Zhao the Cloth-Robed Monk.”

One day, the Master pointed to a half-moon and asked Elder Bo, “Where has the other piece gone?” Bo said, “Do not indulge in deluded thoughts.” The Master said, “One piece has been lost.”

Though praised by the assembly, he lived simply and maintained his own discipline. The Master first resided on Qiyun Mountain in Wuzhou.

The Master ascended the Dharma hall and remained silent for a long while. Suddenly extending his hand, he looked at the assembly and said, “Please take a little; please take a little.” He also said, “One person transmits what is false; ten thousand people transmit it as true.”

A monk asked, “A rustic child is fond of singing and dancing. I do not know whether there is such a thing nowadays.” The Master descended from the seat, danced, and asked the shramanera, “Do you understand?”

The monk said, “I do not understand.” The Master said, “This mountain monk answered with a crooked tune, yet you still do not understand.”

Someone asked, “At the assembly on Vulture Peak, each Dharma was transmitted in succession. I do not yet know what Qiyun entrusts to others.” The Master said, “I cannot lay all of Qiyun waste merely for you alone.”

The monk asked, “Then is there no personal entrustment?” The Master said, “Do not make the great assembly laugh.”

Someone asked, “One pellet of cinnabar turns iron into gold; one word of ultimate truth turns an ordinary being into a sage. Master, please make one transforming touch.” The Master said, “Do you know that Qiyun turns gold into iron?”

The monk replied, “I have never before heard of turning gold into iron. I venture to hope for instruction in one word of ultimate truth.” The Master said, “If you cannot bring it forth after this statement, regret will come too late.”

Afterward, the Master went to reside at Jingqing Monastery in Yuezhou, and the oceanic assembly joyfully followed him.

One day, the Master told the assembly, “Offer instruction.” A monk said, “Master, please issue your command to the utmost.” The Master said, “Hong! Hong!”

Someone asked, “What is the fundamental matter of this student?” The Master said, “Jingqing does not begrudge words.”

The monk asked, “Master, please carve it out.” The Master said, “Eighty percent complete.”

The monk asked, “Why not completely so?” The Master said, “Do you know that Jingqing produces principles through cultivation?”

The Master asked a monk, “Where have you come from?” He replied, “I have come from Wufeng.” The Master asked, “What have you come to do?” He replied, “To bow to the Venerable.” The Master said, “Why do you not bow to yourself?” He replied, “I have already bowed.” The Master said, “The waters of Mirror Lake have dried up.”

Someone asked, “What is the first phrase?” The Master said, “Do not err beneath names and words.”

The monk asked, “Does the Master have no expedient means?” The Master said, “The crow raises her young.”

Someone asked, “The single road beyond has not been transmitted by the thousand sages. I do not yet know who can transmit it.” The Master said, “Even the thousand sages doubt me.”

The monk asked, “Then is there no transmission?” The Master said, “Emperor Wu of Jin executed Ji Kang.”

Someone asked, “Shakyamuni closed the door in Magadha, and Vimalakirti kept his mouth shut in Vaishali. What is the meaning of this?” The Master said, “Under the eastern corridor, in twos and threes.”

The Master told the assembly, “In various places, they take Vairocana’s Dharma body as the ultimate standard. Here at Jingqing it is not so. You must know that Vairocana has a teacher and the Dharma body has a master.”

Someone asked, “Who is Vairocana’s teacher and the master of the Dharma body?” He replied, “How dare the two of you discuss it?”

Someone asked, “An ancient said, ‘Upon seeing form, one immediately sees mind.’ This, then, is form; what is mind?” The Master said, “Does that question not deceive this mountain monk?”

The monk asked, “Before it has been dissected, Master, please judge it.” The Master said, “Where does it fall?”

Answer: That is precisely a fault of the mouth (losing the mouth). The Master said: “Hanshan presents Guishan.”
He further said: “Wait, wait. Has the Acarya faulted (lost) his mouth, or has this mountain monk faulted (lost) his
mouth?” Answer: “A fierce tiger does not eat the flesh of its cubs.” The Master said: “A donkey’s head emerges; a horse’s head enters.”
The Master suddenly asked a monk: “Can you remember it?” He answered: “I can remember it.” The Master asked: “What was
said?” He answered: “What was said?” The Master said: “Oh! In Huainan, a young boy enters the monastery.” Asked: “What
is it that even a fine hawk and a fine kite cannot overtake?” The Master said: “Acarya, ask separately,
and this mountain monk will answer separately.” Asked: “I beg the Master to answer separately.” The Master said: “One who travels ten miles
has one stage of the journey.” Asked: “Although gold dust is precious, it cannot remain in the eye;
what about at that moment?” The Master said: “If it cannot adhere, can it nevertheless adhere?”
The monk bowed. The Master said: “The spirits of the pavilion are profound.” Asked: “Under the Bodhi tree, sentient beings are
liberated. What is the Bodhi tree?” The Master answered: “It greatly resembles a bitter neem tree.” Asked: “Why
does it resemble a bitter neem tree?” The Master said: “If it were truly not a fine horse, why trouble it with the shadow
of the whip?” — After Hu Shu, Qian Gong selected a site west of Hangzhou and established
Baoci Monastery, inviting the Master to come and expound the Dharma. The Chan assembly came together to rely upon him. At that time,
King Qian also founded Longhua Monastery, welcomed the sacred remains and ritual implements of the Great Master of Jinhua’s
lineage, and enshrined them there, appointing the Master as abbot. — In the twelfth year of the Later Jin Thiên Phước era
(the Dingwei year), on the twenty-sixth day of the intercalary seventh month, the Master passed away at that monastery, at the age of seventy-eight.
His stupa stands on Mount Daci.
14. Great Master Lingsen Yongming of Cuiyan, Mingzhou.
The Master was a native of Huzhou. After receiving Xuefeng’s prediction of awakening, he went to dwell at
Cuiyan and greatly propagated the Dharma of quiescence. — Asked: “Without relying upon the three-inch tongue, I beg the Master to speak.”
The Master said: “Drink tea inside the house, yet go about criticizing others.” Asked: “What was the purport of the National Master
calling his attendant three times?” The Master said: “Why press people so?” Asked: “I do not inquire about all the other matters.”
The Master remained silent. The monk asked: “What is it to raise up one who resembles a true person?” The Master called
his attendant to pour tea and bring it. The Master ascended the Dharma hall and said: “This summer, in speaking and discussing with all you
brothers, tell me: where are Cuiyan’s eyebrows?” Asked: “Whatever is expressed in words
is altogether a stain. What is the matter beyond?” The Master said: “Whatever is expressed in
words is altogether a stain.” Asked: “What is the essential point?” The Master said: “The entire assembly is
laughing at you.” Asked: “What is it like when one is at ease and does not become caught on the point of the blade?”
The Master said: “There are indeed many who form such an understanding.” Asked: “Ultimately, what is it?” The Master said:
“At ease, not caught on the point of the blade.” — Asked: “What was the purport of the ancients holding up the mallet
and raising the fly-whisk?” The Master said: “A heterodox Dharma is difficult to uphold and assist.” — Asked: “Why was the monk Yao
unable to paint a portrait of Zhigong?” The Master said: “Why press them together?” — Asked: “On a perilous and treacherous
road, what serves as the bridge and ferry?” The Master said: “Yaoshan repeatedly gave admonitions.”
Asked: “Without being encumbered by ordinary beings or sages, how is it directly revealed in response to the occasion?”
The Master said: “Go and tell people that Cuiyan is astute.” Asked: “When subtle workings and verbal expressions are all
inapplicable to the matter of the ancestral vehicle, what then?” The Master said: “Go and bow.”
Asked: “This student does not understand.” The Master said: “You have left home to travel on foot, yet you do not even understand
bowing.” King Qian heard of the Master’s reputation in the Way and accordingly invited him to reside at Longce Monastery. The Master passed away there.