楞嚴經宗通

CHAPTER II: RELYING ON THE PLACE OF AWAKENING TO CULTIVATE

Section 1: Revealing the Faculty in Order to Point Out the Place of Delusion

I. REQUESTING INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO UNTIE THE KNOTS

Sutra: Ananda said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, although the Tathagata has taught the Second Definitive Meaning, I now observe that if people in the world who would untie knots do not know where the knot begins, I believe they will ultimately be unable to untie it. World-Honored One, the learners among the shravakas in this assembly and I are likewise. From beginningless time until now, we have been born and have perished together with every kind of ignorance.

Although we have acquired such wholesome roots through extensive learning and bear the name of those who have left the household life, we are still like people suffering from an intermittent fever! I pray that the Greatly Compassionate One will pity those who are submerged and show us: right here within body and mind, what is the knot, and how is it untied? May this also enable suffering beings in future ages to escape samsara and not fall into the three realms.”

After saying this, Ananda and the entire assembly prostrated themselves with all five limbs touching the ground. Weeping in earnest, they awaited the Tathagata’s unsurpassed instruction.

Commentary: In the preceding passage, Purna asked, “How is it that all beings possess delusion, thereby obscuring their own wondrously luminous nature and undergoing submergence?” Here Ananda asks, “Right here within body and mind, what is the knot, and what is its untying?” Both seek to penetrate to the ultimate root of delusion and closely investigate innate ignorance, so that they may know the origin where the knots are tied and eradicate it.

The preceding passage answered, “When one clearly knows that delusion has no cause, then falsity has no basis on which to depend. Since it has no place of birth, what place is there that one would seek to extinguish?” Here the answer is, “The objective aspect and the perceiving aspect have no self-nature, just as reeds lean upon one another. Examine the nature of their interdependence, and both nonexistence and existence are negated.”

Previously it was said, “The nature of confusion naturally ceases; its cessation is bodhi.” Here it is said, “When seeing and knowing are free of seeing and knowing, that is precisely nirvana.” The former and latter passages penetrate one another as a seamless whole. The preceding passage pertains to the Path of Seeing: to know falsity is itself awakening, and awakening is bodhi. This passage pertains to the Path of Cultivation: to be free from seeing is emptiness, and emptiness is nirvana.

The knot is the bondage of faculty and object caused by delusion, through which one sinks deeply into birth and death. Untying is liberation from faculty and object through awakening, whereby one sees and knows the wondrous constancy. Here, through the faculty of hearing, one reverses the hearing to hear the self-nature, escapes outward entanglement and returns within, subdues the grasping mind, and enters the Buddha’s knowledge and vision. This pertains to the work of cultivation and is therefore called the Second Meaning.

A monk asked Patriarch Shitou, “What is liberation?”

Shitou said, “Who binds you?”

He asked, “What is the Pure Land?”

Shitou said, “Who defiles you?”

He asked, “What is nirvana?”

Shitou said, “Who brings birth and death to you?”

If one can immediately attain the place of peace and bliss here, why turn toward a second head and make a livelihood there!

II. THE TATHAGATAS OF THE TEN DIRECTIONS DECLARE WITH ONE VOICE: THE SIX FACULTIES ARE THE SOURCE OF THE KNOTS OF BIRTH AND DEATH AND OF NIRVANA

Sutra: At that time, the World-Honored One, taking pity on Ananda and the learners in the assembly, and also wishing to establish for all beings of future ages the cause for transcending the world and to provide them with the eye of the Way in times to come, extended his radiant hand and stroked the crown of Ananda’s head. Immediately, throughout all the worlds of the Buddhas in the ten directions, there was a sixfold trembling. Tathagatas as numerous as motes of dust, dwelling in those worlds, each emitted precious light from the crown of his head. All those rays of light simultaneously came from their respective lands to the Jeta Grove and shone upon the crown of the Tathagata’s head. The entire assembly experienced what they had never experienced before.

At that moment, Ananda and the entire assembly heard the Tathagatas in the ten directions, as numerous as motes of dust, speaking through countless different mouths yet all using the same words to instruct Ananda: “Excellent, Ananda! You wish to know the innate ignorance that causes you to flow and turn in samsara, the root from which the knots of birth and death arise. It is precisely your six faculties, and nothing else! You also wish to know the unsurpassed bodhi through which you may swiftly realize the wondrous, constant nature of peace, bliss, liberation, and quiescence. It too is precisely your six faculties, and nothing else.”

Although Ananda heard this Dharma voice, his mind was still not clear. Bowing his head, he said to the Buddha, “How can that which causes me to revolve in birth and death, or to attain wondrous and constant bliss, be precisely the six faculties and nothing else?”

Commentary: Earlier, Ananda said, “My mind not only makes offerings to the Tathagata, but also extends throughout lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges to serve the Buddhas and all good and wise teachers. When I arouse a greatly courageous resolve to undertake every difficult deed, I use this very mind. Even if I slander the Dharma and forever cause my wholesome roots to decline, it is also because of this mind.”

Since the mind is thus not two, the six faculties are likewise not two; why, then, should there be illumination in one place and darkness in another? It is only these six faculties. Following them outward is to turn away from awakening and unite with objects; one thereby enters directly into the current of birth and death. Reversing them inward is to turn away from objects and unite with awakening; one is then within that which neither arises nor ceases. It is like turning the hand palm downward or palm upward! From the beginning, the Tathagata has never spoken otherwise!

Chan Master Pan’an Cheng ascended the Dharma hall and said:

“One thought—the mind is pure;

The Buddha dwells in Mara’s palace.

One thought—an evil mind arises;

Mara enters the Buddha’s hall.”

Chan Master Huai said, “Simply trust it just as it is. This is called walking with your feet firmly planted upon the Ground of Reality. Ultimately, there is no other Dharma and no other principle. This old monk has laid it out directly like this, but I fear that when you see a hare, you will release the hawk, or mark the boat to seek the lost sword! Why is this? Whether benevolent spirits or malevolent ghosts, an intelligent master accepts neither.”

Yet when Chan Master Damei Fachang heard the cry of a flying squirrel, he said, “It is precisely this thing, and nothing else. All of you, take good care to preserve it.”

Having spoken, he passed into quiescence.

Chan Master Yongming Yanshou praised him, saying:

“When the Master first attained the Way,

It was: this very mind is Buddha.

At the end, he taught his disciples:

This thing, and no other thing.

He exhausted the source of the myriad dharmas,

And penetrated to the marrow of a thousand sages.

The true is fundamentally unmoving;

Why be hindered by survival or passing?”

If one can trust that Damei and the cry of the flying squirrel were not different, what distinction could there still be between birth and death and nirvana?

III. CLEARLY SEEING THE NATURE OF THE SOURCE OF THE KNOTS IN ORDER TO ATTAIN IMMEDIATE LIBERATION

Sutra: The Buddha told Ananda, “The faculties and their objects share a common source. Bondage and liberation are not two. The nature of consciousness is false and illusory, like flowers seen in empty space. Ananda, cognition arises because of objects, and appearances exist because of the faculties. Both the objective aspect and the perceiving aspect lack any self-nature, like reeds leaning upon one another.

Commentary: The faculties belong to the perceiving aspect, while objects belong to the objective aspect. Both arise solely because a single thought of ignorance seals and clings to the clear, tranquil nature; therefore, they are said to share a common source. If one looks directly at their source, before the perceiving aspect and objective aspect have taken shape, where could faculties and objects possibly exist?”

From the moment the faculty accords with its object and flows along with it, this is called bondage. From the moment the faculty turns away from its object and returns to the source, this is called release. What is bound is precisely the six faculties, and nothing else. What is released is likewise the six faculties, and nothing else. Their essence is fundamentally nondual. When contemplated within this nondual essence, bondage is not defilement, and release is not purity. In that nondual essence, there has never been any increase or decrease; thus faculty and object are fundamentally of the same source—who could see them as different? Bondage and release are fundamentally nondual—who could see them as two?

The reason distinctions and divisions arise is consciousness. This consciousness discriminates falsely, just as rubbing the eyes causes the delusive perception of flowers in space. Fundamentally there are no faculties and objects, yet faculties and objects are falsely perceived.

Fundamentally there is neither bondage nor release, yet bondage and release are falsely perceived. When one clearly understands that this consciousness exists only as rubbing of the eyes does, one turns consciousness back to its source; the eye then becomes clear and bright, and one swiftly realizes the bliss of liberation—the Quiescent, Wondrous, and Eternal. It is not a matter of turning back at the faculty, but of transforming consciousness.

Why is consciousness said to be false, like flowers in space? This does not mean that, apart from the false nature of consciousness, there is something else separately called the Quiescent, Wondrous, and Eternal. One need only trust that consciousness is false, and the Wondrous and Eternal is right within consciousness.

One need only trust that flowers in space have no self-nature, and the clear, bright eye is right within those flowers in space.

Thus, consciousness arises because of objects; consciousness does not arise by itself. Appearances exist because of the faculties; appearances do not exist by themselves. The three—faculty, object, and consciousness—are established and conjoined through their mutual interaction, like reeds leaning against one another, fundamentally without self-nature. If their nature of mutual interaction were truly existent, why would it not exist before they interacted?

If their nature of mutual interaction were nonexistent, then once they leaned against one another, how could it exist? Since it is neither the nature of emptiness nor the nature of existence, it is said to have no nature. The appearance aspect and the seeing aspect are both without self-nature; their manifest essence is therefore unborn. Thus, one knows that within the faculties—the very root of the knot of birth and death—the Quiescent, Wondrous, and Eternal is inherently complete. Is this not sufficient reason to believe that bondage and release are nondual?

Patriarch Shitou instructed the assembly: “The Dharma gate transmitted by the ancient Buddhas in my lineage does not discuss meditation, concentration, or diligence; it solely penetrates the Buddha’s Knowledge and Vision. Mind itself is Buddha. Mind, Buddha, sentient beings, bodhi, and afflictions: their names differ, but their essence is one.

You should know that your own spiritual mind is in essence free from eternalism and annihilationism; its nature is neither defiled nor pure, but tranquil, perfect, complete, and thus-so. Ordinary beings and sages are equal; its functioning pervades everywhere, beyond mind, thought, and consciousness. The three realms and six paths are manifested solely by one’s own mind.

The moon in water and an image in a mirror—how could they have birth and death? If you understand this, what could possibly be lacking?”

This is the Supreme Meaning of the First Principle.

Is not the statement, “Bodhi and afflictions differ in name but are one in essence,” the same as saying that “faculty and object share the same source”? Is not the statement, “Its essence is free from annihilationism and eternalism; its nature is neither defiled nor pure,” the same as saying that “bondage and release are nondual”? Is not the statement, “The three realms and six paths are manifested solely by one’s own mind; the moon in water and an image in a mirror—how could they have birth and death?” the same as saying that “the appearance aspect and seeing aspect have no nature, like reeds leaning against one another”?

Reeds leaning against one another and flowers appearing in empty space likewise have neither birth nor death. Thus, knowing that the nature of consciousness is false is itself blissful liberation.

Sutra: “Therefore, at this very moment, to establish within Knowledge and Vision an appearance of something known and seen is the fundamental root of ignorance. For Knowledge and Vision to be free of any appearance of something known and seen is true, pure, and uncontaminated nirvana. How could anything else still exist therein!”

At that time, the Blessed One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke this verse:

Commentary: “To establish within knowledge and vision an appearance of something known and seen” means “because of illumination, an object of illumination is established.” Hence one knows that fundamental ignorance, the root of the tying of the knot, the very root of the knot of birth and death, is precisely consciousness and not merely the faculties. Knowledge and vision without any appearance of knowledge and vision means: “When seeing is freed from seeing, that seeing is transcendent.” Thus, one should know that liberation from such knowledge and vision is the uncontaminated fruition; it is the Quiescent, Wondrous, and Eternal, the transformation of consciousness into wisdom, and is likewise not merely the faculties.

Therefore, the verse below chants, “The subtle Adana consciousness,” fully revealing that faculty and consciousness are nondual.

Chan Master Chuilu An often carefully read this passage: “When knowledge and vision establish knowing, this is the root of ignorance. When knowledge and vision are free of seeing, this is nirvana.” Suddenly he awakened and thereafter constantly recited it.

A student said: “The phrases should each be four characters long!”

The Master said: “This is where I awakened; it cannot be altered!”

At that time, he was called An of the Surangama.

When he was about to enter parinirvana, he recited this verse:

“Not even a mountain peak can bring it back;

How could it be transmitted hereafter from Kukkutapada? [Mount Kukkutapada, where the Venerable Kasyapa—who received from Shakyamuni Buddha the treasury of the true Dharma eye and became the first Patriarch of the Chan school—sits absorbed in samadhi awaiting the future Buddha Maitreya.]

Since ancient times, worthies and sages have all been thus;

How could I now fabricate such a tale for you?”

Having completed his final instructions, he himself stepped into the coffin and lay down on his right side.

After three days, his disciples opened the coffin and wept. He then arose, ascended the Dharma seat, and reproached and admonished them: “Anyone who opens the lid of my coffin again is not my disciple.”

He then stepped back into the coffin and departed forever.

Had he not attained true, pure, and uncontaminated liberation, how could he have come and gone so freely?

IV. VERSES

Sutra:

Within True Nature, the conditioned is empty;

Arising through conditions, it is like an illusion.

The unconditioned neither arises nor ceases;

Yet it is unreal, like flowers in space.

Commentary: The conditioned arises and ceases in accordance with conditions; this is the Dharma of arising and cessation. The unconditioned has no arising or cessation; this is the Dharma of nirvana. Within True Nature there is fundamentally no appearance of either samsara or nirvana. From where could the knot of bondage arise? From where could release receive its name? Thus, the conditioned is like an illusion, while the unconditioned likewise arises from rubbing the eyes; both are false. This verse chants that faculty and object share the same source, and that bondage and release are nondual. Within that same source and nonduality, both existence and nonexistence are seen to be false.

Patriarch Baizhang said: “A Buddha is one who seeks nothing; to seek is to go against it. The principle is the principle of seeking nothing; once one seeks, it is lost. If you cling to not seeking, that too is the same as seeking. If you cling to the unconditioned, that too becomes conditioned. Therefore, the Diamond Sutra says: ‘Do not grasp a dharma; do not grasp what is not a dharma; and do not grasp what is neither a dharma nor not a dharma.’”

He also said: “The Dharma attained by the Tathagata is neither real nor false. Simply let the mind remain throughout one’s life like wood or stone, not submerged by the skandhas, dhatus, ayatanas, the five desires, or the eight winds. Then the cause of birth and death is severed, and whether going or remaining, one is free, no longer hooked and bound by any contaminated causes and effects. Only then does one take nonbondage as the cause and, through shared activity, benefit others. With a mind that abides nowhere, one responds to all things. With unobstructed wisdom, one releases all bonds; therefore, this is also called prescribing medicine according to the illness.”

Here Patriarch Baizhang directly points to True Nature, which does not fall into the conditioned, and reveals the skillful means of liberation. This is what is meant by the statement, “Upon illumination, liberation is attained.”

Sutra:

The false is spoken of to reveal the true;

Both false and true are themselves false.

When even the true and the not-true do not exist,

How could there be seeing and what is seen?

Commentary: Conditioned dharmas arise through dependence upon the faculties and sense objects, and are therefore called illusory. But unconditioned dharmas transcend the faculties and sense objects and are apart from the characteristics of arising and ceasing; why, then, are they also said to be unreal, like flowers in the sky? Arising and ceasing are called false in order to reveal the truth of nirvana.

Yet once a truth is posited in opposition to falsity, that truth also becomes false; therefore, both are said to be false. Why is this so? Because there is a truth to be attained.

Within the True Nature, however, neither the true nor the not-true can be attained. It is the true, yet not true; it is Nature, yet without nature. How, then, could there still be a faculty that sees and an object that is seen?

To see Existence is illusory seeing. To see Emptiness also arises from rubbing the eyes. Whenever there is seeing, one immediately falls into a locus; therefore, seeing nirvana as something to be accomplished is itself illusory. What is called the true has never contained any falsity in the first place, much less anything that is not true or untrue. If even the true cannot exist therein, from where could the false arise?

A monk asked Patriarch Huangbo: “Delusion can obstruct one’s own mind. I do not yet understand what should now be used to eliminate delusion.”

The Patriarch said: “To give rise to a delusion in order to eliminate delusion also becomes delusion. Delusion is originally rootless; it exists only because of discrimination. Simply do not give rise to calculation, thought, or recollection concerning the two extremes of ordinary beings and sages, and naturally there will be no delusion. Why would you further contrive to drive it away? When there is absolutely not so much as a strand of silk to cling to, this is called letting go with both hands; one then becomes a Buddha here and now.”

The monk asked: “Since there is nowhere to cling, what is transmitted?”

The Patriarch said: “Mind is transmitted by Mind.”

The monk asked: “If Mind is used to transmit Mind, why is it also said that Mind is empty?”

Patriarch Huangbo said: “Attaining no dharma is called transmitting Mind. If you awaken to this Mind, you truly see neither Mind nor Dharma.”

The monk asked: “If there is neither Mind nor Dharma, how can it be called transmission?”

Patriarch Huangbo said: “When you hear of transmitting Mind, you immediately suppose there is something that can be attained. Therefore, the Patriarch taught:

“When the Nature of Mind is recognized,

Only then is it inconceivable;

Clearly, there is nowhere anything attained;

At the moment of attainment, do not speak of knowing.”

How could this point ever be made clear through instruction? Only when one does not personally carry even the single word ‘knowing’ can it be called the truth.

Sutra:

In their midst there is no real nature;

Thus they resemble reeds leaning upon one another.

Binding and release arise from the same cause;

Sages and ordinary beings follow no two paths.

Contemplate the nature of their interdependence:

Both Existence and Emptiness are denied.

Deluded confusion is ignorance;

Illumination is liberation at once.

Commentary: “In their midst” means between that which sees and that which is seen. When cognition arises because of sense objects, that cognition is consciousness and belongs to that which sees. When characteristics appear because of the faculties, those characteristics are sense objects and belong to that which is seen.

These three—the faculties, sense objects, and consciousness—exist in mutual dependence. Originally they have no real nature, just like reeds leaning upon one another: they stand through mutual support but originally possess no inherent nature. Consider the nature of reeds leaning upon one another.

If one says they are nonexistent, then while mutually supporting one another, they seem to exist. If one says they exist, then while mutually supporting one another, they are originally empty. They neither exist nor do not exist; this is their lack of inherent nature.

In binding, these same six faculties are not diminished in any way. In release, these same six faculties are not increased in any way. On what basis, then, could one call release sagehood and binding the state of an ordinary being?

Because one has not penetrated the essential purport of non-arising, in a single thought one fails to know oneself: inwardly, one sees something that sees; outwardly, one sees something that is seen. Thus one is bound by the faculties and sense objects and loses one’s original freedom. That delusion is precisely the root of ignorance, from which binding arises. If one truly sees the absence of inherent nature and escapes such close attachment, allowing one’s own inherent radiance to shine forth, then light no longer follows the faculties, and seeing need not borrow conditions. The six faculties function interchangeably, transcending all worldly forms. This is the cause whereby “illumination is liberation at once,” and this is why it is called unbinding.

The tying of knots is innate ignorance, the root-knot of birth and death. Thus one is an ordinary being because of these very six faculties, not because of anything else. Unbinding brings swift realization of bliss—the quiescent, wondrous, and eternal—and one is called a sage.

This too is because of these same six faculties; what else could there be? Since they are the same six faculties, how could there be two paths? The former is bound to the conditioned, like the apparent existence of reeds leaning upon one another, though in truth their nature has never existed.

The latter is bound to the unconditioned, like the apparent emptiness of reeds leaning upon one another, though in truth their nature has never been nonexistent. Only by penetrating that which neither exists nor does not exist, and the vision in which there are neither ordinary beings nor sages, can one speak of the True Nature.

A monk asked Patriarch Huangbo: “Since all beings are originally Buddhas, why are there the four kinds of birth, the six paths, and all manner of differing forms?”

Patriarch Huangbo said: “The essential nature of all Buddhas is originally perfect and complete; how could there be any increase or decrease? Drifting into the six paths, it remains perfect and complete everywhere. Among the myriad kinds of beings, each and every one is a Buddha.

It is like a lump of mercury: when dispersed in many places, every droplet is round and complete. When it is not divided, it is simply one mass. This is one being all, and all being one.

The various forms are like houses. One leaves the ‘house’ of a donkey and enters the ‘house’ of a human; one leaves a human body and goes to a body among the devas. Even the ‘houses’ of shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas differ only because of what you grasp and relinquish.

How could the Nature, from time immemorial until now, ever have differed?”

How consummate these words are! If one can awaken to illumination right here, one can enable an ordinary being at the ground of bare ignorance to enter the station of the sages.

Sutra:

Untie the knots in their proper sequence;

When the six are released, the one also vanishes.

Among the faculties, select the perfect penetration;

Enter the stream and accomplish Right Awakening!

Commentary: “Illumination is liberation at once”—this is the Sudden Gate. Why, then, is there still the statement, “Untie the knots in their proper sequence”?

Only when the sudden does not discard the gradual is it the Dharma gate of Perfect and Sudden Awakening. A person of great faculties and great capacity reaches the ground of Buddhahood immediately upon a single awakening; what need would there be to rely upon cultivation and realization? For those of the next capacity, nothing surpasses selecting perfect penetration through the faculty of hearing.

When one faculty returns to the source, all six faculties are immediately liberated. First the six faculties vanish, and next even the one vanishes. This is the Dharma gate of Avalokiteshvara: entering the stream, the object of perception disappears; ultimate quiescence manifests before one, and Right Awakening is accomplished.

Even within the Sudden Gate there are great awakenings and small awakenings beyond all counting. How could there never have been a sequence?

In former times, Chan Master Guanxi Xian first went to seek instruction from Patriarch Linji.

Patriarch Linji seized him and held him standing for a long while.

The Master said: “I understand.”

Patriarch Linji released him and said: “I shall spare you that blow.”

Later, when Chan Master Guanxi resided on a mountain, he taught the assembly: “When I met Patriarch Linji, there were no words exchanged, yet to this day I have remained full and have never gone hungry!”

Afterward, the Master went to Patriarch Moshan, first making a private resolve: “If we are a match, I shall stay; if not, I shall overturn the Chan seat.”

When he entered the Dharma hall, the Patriarch sent an attendant to ask: “Has the Venerable come to visit the mountain, or has he come for the Buddha-Dharma?”

The Master replied: “I have come for the Buddha-Dharma.”

Patriarch Moshan then ascended the teaching seat, but Guanxi still did not bow.

Patriarch Moshan asked: “From where did you depart today?”

He replied: “Lukou” [Revealing the mouth].

Patriarch Moshan said: “Why not cover it up?”

Guanxi had no reply.

Patriarch Moshan answered in his place: “How could you arrive within it?”

Only then did Guanxi bow, and he asked: “What is Moshan?”

Patriarch Moshan said: “Its summit is not revealed.”

Guanxi asked: “What is the master of Moshan?”

Patriarch Moshan said: “It is neither male nor female in appearance.”

Guanxi asked: “Why does it not transform itself?”

Master Moshan said, “It is neither a spirit nor a ghost—what is it that transforms?”

Master Guanxi submitted and served as the garden keeper for three years.

Master Linji had spared him one blow of the staff; only here did the connection become continuous.

Later, he said, “At Linji’s place, I attained liberation once; at Moshan’s place, I attained liberation once.” He also said, “Throughout the ten directions there are no walls, and on the four sides there are no gates. Utterly bare, brilliantly radiant, it cannot be grasped!”

Master Tiantong raised this and said, “Since Master Guanxi spoke in this way, tell me: did he attain it at Linji’s place or at Moshan’s place? Although one arrow struck two birds, at times he ran off, and at times he remained seated. How can this be reconciled? Ultimately, whether opening out or drawing in, it is entirely with me; when taking it up or casting it away, how could it depend on anyone else?”

Only when one penetrates this point does the One disappear; only then is it called True Liberation!

Sutra:

The subtle Adana consciousness,

Its habitual tendencies forming a torrential stream;

Fearing they would mistake the true and the untrue,

I have never expounded it.

Commentary: The six faculties cannot in themselves make one an ordinary being or a sage; it is consciousness that is their master. When the six consciousnesses have ceased but the view of self still remains, this is the domain of the seventh consciousness. When the Six are released and the One disappears, one returns to the ocean of the Tathagata-garbha; this is the domain of the eighth consciousness.

Master Asvaghosa taught, “Dependent upon the Tathagata-garbha, there is the mind of arising and cessation united with that which neither arises nor ceases. They are neither identical nor different; this is called the alaya consciousness.” This consciousness is extremely subtle. It contains seeds as habitual tendencies, yet their hiding place cannot be known.

Their accumulation gives rise to waves of consciousness that become a torrential stream, yet the place from which they arise cannot be known. Therefore, it is called subtle. Because it is based upon the non-arising and non-ceasing, it is called the Tathagata-garbha freed from entanglement [Released from bondage], and thus seems to be true.

Because it is based upon the mind of arising and cessation, it is called the Tathagata-garbha within entanglement [Still within bondage], and thus seems not to be true. Yet both the true and the untrue are this very consciousness, and so they are difficult to distinguish. If it is called true, there is the fear of mistaking a thief for one’s son!

But if it is called untrue, there is the fear of mistaking one’s son for a thief. For this reason, the Blessed One did not speak of it lightly.”

If one can transform the eighth consciousness into the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom, neither true nor untrue, only then can one speak of such things as True Suchness, Buddha-nature, and unsurpassed bodhi. Later generations failed to understand the Nature School solely because they did not thoroughly comprehend the Characteristics School: they took the view of self within the seventh consciousness to be Buddha-nature and took the moment-by-moment marks of arising and cessation within the eighth consciousness to be True Suchness. Hence it is said, “Buddha-nature obscured, True Suchness misunderstood.” To regard the motionless, unwavering state as ultimate means that the One has not yet disappeared.

A monk asked Master Changsha Cen, “Since the sixth, seventh, and eighth consciousnesses ultimately have no intrinsic nature, why is it said that the eighth consciousness is transformed into the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom?”

Master Sha instructed him with this verse:

“The seven ‘arisings’ depend upon one ‘cessation’;

One ‘cessation’ sustains the seven ‘arisings.’

When the one ceases, cessation also ceases;

The six and seven are forever unmoved.”

(Qi sheng yi yi mie

Yi mie chi qi sheng

Yi mie, mie yi mie

Qi liu yong wu qian.)

Viewed from this, it is not merely that “the Six are released and the One disappears”; rather, “the Seven are released and the One disappears.” How wondrous, how wondrous!

Sutra:

One’s own mind grasps one’s own mind;

What is not illusory becomes illusory dharmas.

Without grasping, there is no “non-illusion”;

Even “non-illusion” does not arise—

How, then, could illusory dharmas be established?

Commentary: “Within True Nature, the conditioned is empty. Because it arises through conditions, it is like an illusion.” True Nature is originally empty, so how could illusion arise? Because the eighth consciousness inwardly takes True Suchness as its condition and outwardly gives rise to all conditioned dharmas, they are like illusions. The Sutra Explaining the Profound Secrets says, “The alaya consciousness is exceedingly subtle. All its seeds are like a torrential stream. I do not expound it to ordinary fools, fearing that they will discriminate and cling to it as a self.”

This is one’s own mind grasping one’s own mind—precisely one’s own discrimination grasping it as a self. Once it is grasped as a self, illusory dharmas arise within that which is not illusory. The clear and tranquil nature is thereby divided, and the knot thereby begins.

From that point onward, the six faculties pursue the six sense objects, resulting in cyclic existence. If it is not grasped as a self, then even what is non-illusory does not exist; how much less could the illusory be established? Tranquil clarity merges with tranquil clarity; sharing a single source, there is no duality.

Thus the six faculties are purified, and together with them the One disappears. The six faculties belong to illusion, while the One belongs to non-illusion. Both the One and the Six disappear; hence it is said, “Even non-illusion does not arise—how, then, could illusory dharmas be established?” This is the transformation of consciousness into wisdom, occurring between grasping and non-grasping.

The Lankavatara Sutra says, “Discrimination is consciousness; non-discrimination is wisdom. Arising and cessation are consciousness; non-arising and non-ceasing are wisdom.” Merely by not discriminating, there is the True Nature that neither arises nor ceases. Thus one is not obstructed by the consciousness skandha.”

A monk asked Master Huangbo, “What does it mean that Manjusri held a sword before Gautama Buddha?”

Master Huangbo said, “Five hundred bodhisattvas attained the Knowledge of Past Lives and saw the karmic obstructions of their past lives. Those five hundred are produced by your five skandhas. Because they saw these karmic obstructions from past lives, they sought the Buddha, sought nirvana, and sought the bodhisattva path. Therefore, Manjusri used the sword of liberating wisdom to slay this mind that sees the Buddha. Thus it was said, ‘You have slain well.’”

The monk asked, “What is the sword?”

Master Huangbo said, “The mind of liberation is the sword.”

The monk asked, “Since the mind of liberation is the sword that cuts off the mind that sees the Buddha, how can that which is able to cut off the mind that sees be removed?”

Master Huangbo said, “Use your non-discriminating wisdom in turn to cut off this discriminating mind that sees.”

The monk asked, “If, upon giving rise to the mind that sees and seeks the Buddha, one uses the sword of non-discriminating wisdom to cut it off, what then of that sword of wisdom?”

Master Huangbo said, “If it is truly non-discriminating wisdom that slays the views of existence and nonexistence, then that non-discriminating wisdom is itself also unobtainable.”

The monk asked, “Can wisdom not be used to cut off wisdom, just as a sword cannot be used to cut off a sword?”

Master Huangbo said, “The sword itself harms the sword; sword and sword harm each other, and thus the sword too is unobtainable. Wisdom in turn harms wisdom itself; wisdom and wisdom harm each other, and thus wisdom too is unobtainable. Mother and child bury one another; it is likewise so.”

These subtle discussions allow no raising of the head not only at the point of grasping, but leave no trace even at the point of non-grasping. How exceedingly subtle! One must penetrate it in this way before one can speak of transforming the eighth consciousness into the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom.

Sutra:

This is the Wondrous Lotus Flower,

The Precious Enlightenment, the Vajra King,

The illusion-like samadhi;

In the snap of a finger, one surpasses those beyond training.

This is the unsurpassed Dharma,

The single path to nirvana

Of all Buddhas throughout the ten directions.

Commentary: At first, Ananda said that, from beginningless time until now, he had arisen and ceased together with every kind of ignorance and was unable to overcome the seductive ordeal posed by the daughter of Matanga. He therefore earnestly requested the initial expedients of shamatha, samapatti, and dhyana, by which the Tathagatas of the ten directions attained bodhi. Now the Tathagatas of the ten directions, though speaking with different mouths, declared with one voice: “If you wish to know the co-arising ignorance that causes you to revolve in cyclic existence, the root-knot of birth and death is precisely your six faculties and nothing else.

If you also wish to know the unsurpassed bodhi that enables you swiftly to realize the bliss of liberation, quiescence, wondrous permanence, it too is precisely your six faculties and nothing else.” This is like the previous analogy of ice and water. When water freezes into ice, what other thing is there that makes the ice? When ice melts into water, what other thing is there that makes the water?

The six that act as intermediaries for thieves, robbing the treasures of one’s own household, are these very six faculties. When the six are released and the One vanishes, one immediately attains perfect awakening; this too concerns these very six faculties. Delusion itself is the True, and the True itself is delusion; herein lies wondrous awakening.

The word “wondrous” is extremely difficult to portray in language; consciousness must be transformed into wisdom. Only when one accords with the wondrous luminosity of the nature of awakening and the luminous wondrousness of intrinsic awakening can unsurpassed bodhi be spoken of. It is like a lotus flower, which grows from mud yet remains unstained.

Even the lotus abides thus—how much more the udumbara flower, wholly unlike worldly appearances, called the flower that heralds an auspicious sign, signifying the revelation of the supreme path. Only by entering the Buddha’s seeing and knowing can one receive it.

The Vajra-King Precious Awakening is the Initial Ground of Dry Wisdom within the Vajra Mind. Vajra can destroy everything. All the Ten Grounds are called the Vajra Mind because each destroys the preceding “ground”; this is what is called the sword of wisdom. Once this awakening appears, not only is beginningless ignorance immediately extinguished, but even the views of Buddha and the views of bodhisattvas have nowhere to show their heads.

Samadhi is right concentration. It is described as illusory because it is like an illusory person performing deeds, while fundamentally there is no place where anything is done. Quiescence itself is illumination, and illumination itself is quiescence; emotional discrimination is forgotten and consciousness ceases.

This is inconceivable and is precisely what is called the Vajra Samadhi of hearing, permeation, and cultivation. These wondrous methods of shamatha, samapatti, and dhyana depend solely upon a single moment of awakening. Once awakened, one immediately reaches the ground of Buddhahood; thus, within the time of a finger snap, one surpasses the unlearners of the Two Vehicles.

Even the unlearners remain involved in the effort of cultivation and still cling to the view of nonexistence. When this true nature manifests directly, both existence and nonexistence are utterly transcended. One passes beyond them in a single leap and enters directly, no longer relying upon gradual stages of effort; this is the Sudden Gate.

Just as a crown prince, while still in the womb, is already more noble and illustrious than the ministers, or as the kalavinka bird, while still within the egg, already has a voice surpassing those of all other birds, how could ordinary forms of meditation and contemplative practice compare? Therefore it is said, “Through this incomparable Dharma, one swiftly realizes quiescent permanence.”

A monk asked Patriarch Qianfeng: “On the single road to nirvana taken by all Buddhas of the ten directions, I do not yet understand where the road begins.”

Patriarch Feng drew a line with his staff and said: “It is within this.”

The monk then asked Patriarch Yunmen for further instruction.

Patriarch Men raised his fan and said: “The fan leaps straight up to the Heaven of the Thirty-Three and strikes Indra on the nose. Give the carp in the Eastern Sea a blow with the staff, and rain pours down as though tipped from a basin! Do you understand? Do you understand?”

Patriarch Huangnan said: “Qianfeng pointed out the road in a single stroke, assisting those of beginning capacity. Yunmen penetrated the point of transformation, thereby ensuring that those who came later would not grow weary!”

Master Zhu’an chanted:

“Qianfeng need not offer indications.

Yunmen, cease striking trivial things.

Naturally, the carp in the Eastern Sea strikes Indra on the nose.”

Master Tiantong chanted:

“The prescription comes to hand to save the world;

The ‘soul-restoring incense’ would rescue the imperiled at once.

When one day sweat breaks out over the whole body,

Only then does one believe that no one begrudges his eyebrows.”

What matter is this, that one should suppose people can enter it merely by explaining the principle of liberation? One must personally awaken and penetrate it before attaining its wonder.

Section 2: Tying the Cloth to Reveal the Knots and the Method of Untying Them

I. TYING THE KNOTS

Sutra: At that time, Ananda and the entire assembly heard the Buddha’s unsurpassed compassionate instruction, the essential verses, and the wondrous, lucid principle. Their mind’s eye opened and became clear, and they praised it as a Dharma never before encountered.

Ananda joined his palms, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “Now I have heard the Buddha, out of great compassion, teach these Dharma statements concerning the true, pure, wondrous, and permanent nature. Yet my mind still does not understand the sequence for untying the knots in ‘when the six are released, the One vanishes.’ I pray that the Buddha, moved by great compassion, will take pity upon this assembly and those of future generations and bestow the sound of Dharma upon us, cleansing away our deep defilements.”

Thereupon, while seated upon the lion throne, the Tathagata adjusted his nivāsana robe, gathered up his saṅghāṭī robe, leaned against the seven-jeweled table, raised his hand to the table, and took up the flowered cloth offered by the devas of the Yama Heaven. Before the great assembly, he tied it into a knot, showed it to Ananda, and asked: “What is this called?”

Ananda and the entire assembly replied to the Buddha: “It is called a knot.”

The Tathagata then tied another knot in the flowered cloth and asked Ananda: “What is this called?”

Ananda and the entire assembly again replied to the Buddha: “It too is called a knot.”

In this manner, the Buddha successively tied the flowered cloth into six knots in all. Each time he finished tying a knot, he held the newly tied knot in his hand, showed it to Ananda, and asked: “What is this called?” Ananda and the assembly likewise answered the Buddha each time: “It is called a knot.”

The Buddha said to Ananda: “When I first tied the cloth, you called it a knot. This flowered cloth was originally a single piece; why, then, when I tied it a second and a third time, did you also call them knots?”

Ananda replied to the Buddha: “World-Honored One, this precious embroidered and woven flowered cloth is fundamentally a single body. Yet as I understand it, whenever the Tathagata ties it once, that may be called one knot; if he ties it a hundred times, then in the end they must be called a hundred knots. How much more so when this cloth has only six knots, neither reaching seven nor stopping at five. Why would the Tathagata acknowledge only the first as a knot but not call the second and third knots?”

The Buddha said to Ananda: “You know that this precious flowered cloth was originally only one piece. When I tied it six times, you said it had six knots. Examine this carefully: the substance of the cloth is the same, yet differences arise because of the tying. What do you think? The first knot tied is called the first knot, and so forth until the sixth knot tied is called the sixth knot. Now, if I wished to call the sixth knot the first knot, could I do so?”

“No, World-Honored One. As long as all six knots remain, what is called the sixth can certainly not be the first. Even if I were to argue the point throughout my entire life, I could never cause the six knots to exchange names.”

The Buddha said: “So it is. The six knots are not the same. Examined according to their original cause, they were created from a single cloth, yet in the end the six knots cannot be confused with one another. Your six faculties are also like this. Within what is ultimately the same, there arise ultimate differences.”

The Buddha said to Ananda: “Surely you do not wish for it to become six knots but hope instead that it will remain a single body. What must be done?”

Ananda said, “If these knots remain, distinctions of right and wrong arise, and among them there naturally emerge such notions as: this knot is not that knot, and that knot is not this knot. If the Tathagata now unties them all, no knots will arise, and there will certainly be neither this nor that. Since even what is called ‘one’ would no longer exist, how could there be six?”

The Buddha said, “The release of the six and the disappearance of the one are just like this. Since beginningless time, your mind has been deranged, and deluded seeing and knowing have arisen. Because this deluded arising never ceases, weariness develops in seeing, producing the appearances of sense objects. It is like spots appearing before fatigued eyes. Within the clear, luminous, tranquil Nature, for no reason there arises the restless profusion of the entire world—mountains, rivers, the great earth, birth and death, nirvana, and so forth. All are nothing but inverted and deluded appearances, like flowers in the sky.”

Commentary: It was previously explained that, based upon the single Essential Luminosity, the six harmoniously united faculties are differentiated. Why, then, is this analogy given here?

In the preceding passage, the sense objects—brightness and darkness, movement and stillness, and so forth—adhere to and obscure the clear, tranquil Nature, thereby giving rise to the six faculties. This proceeds from outside inward. Therefore, one need only cease following the appearances of brightness and darkness, movement and stillness, and so forth; then one escapes their obscuring adhesion, withdraws inward, and immediately manifests the inherent radiance, so that the six faculties may function interchangeably. This is to reverse the current and restore the one, thereby subduing what is external.

Here, however, because the mind is deranged, weariness in seeing gives rise to the appearances of sense objects. This proceeds from inside outward. Therefore, once the binding faculty is removed, the appearances of sense objects naturally vanish.

At first one realizes the emptiness of persons, and ultimately attains the Patience with the Non-arising of Dharmas. This is to loosen the bonds upon the mind, thereby rendering the inner nature perfectly unobstructed. Within the clear, luminous, tranquil Nature, restless activity arises without any cause.

Delusion originally has neither cause nor root; because of luminosity, an object of illumination is established. This deluded arising of seeing and knowing is the cause from which the knots originate. Within tranquility there suddenly appear the deluded phenomena of arising and ceasing.

When that arising and ceasing has ceased, quiescent extinction manifests directly. When these six functions no longer operate, this is the meaning of release.

While bound, hearing does not go beyond sounds, and seeing does not go beyond forms. This knot is not that knot, and that knot is not this knot. It is like fatigued eyes separately perceiving flowers in the sky.

When they are untied, the six dissolve and the one also disappears. If even the one has no name by which it may be called, how could it become six? It is like clear eyes, in which there are inherently no flowers in the sky.

Thus, when bound, it is called birth and death, yet nothing has ever been diminished. When released, it is called nirvana, yet nothing has ever been increased. Just as flowers in the sky arise and cease where there is nothing, in what respect is space increased or diminished?

Therefore, when one knows birth and death to be an inversion, the six are immediately released. When one knows nirvana to be a flower in the sky, the one immediately vanishes. In reversing the current and restoring the one, the one seems not yet to have disappeared; when even the one disappears, the bonds upon the mind are immediately cast off.

A monk asked Chan Master Fengxue Yanzhao, “One is the six, and the six are the one. When both one and six have disappeared, what then?”

Patriarch Yanzhao said, “One arrow shoots down two birds.”

The monk asked, “What is the essential meaning?”

Patriarch Yanzhao said, “The body is gone and its traces have vanished.”

The scholar Zhang Zhuo came to see Patriarch Shishuang.

Patriarch Shishuang asked, “What is your name?”

Zhuo replied, “My surname is Zhang, and my given name is Zhuo [Clumsy].”

Patriarch Shishuang said, “Even if one seeks skillfulness, it cannot be found; from where, then, could clumsiness come?”

At these words, Zhang Zhuo immediately awakened in accord with the truth and presented this verse:

“Radiant and still, illumination pervades sands of the Ganges;

Ordinary beings, sages, and all sentient life share a single home.

When not one thought arises, the whole essence manifests;

As soon as the six faculties stir, they are obscured by clouds.

Cutting off deluded thoughts only aggravates the illness;

To turn toward True Suchness is likewise mistaken.

Following worldly conditions, there is no obstruction;

Nirvana and birth and death are all flowers in the sky.”

(Quang minh tịch chiếu biến hà sa

Phàm thánh hàm linh cọng nhất gia

Nhất niệm bất sanh toàn thể hiện

Lục Căn tài động bị vân già

Đoạn trừ vọng tưởng trùng tăng bệnh

Thú hướng Chân Như diệc thị tà

Tùy thuận thế duyên vô quái ngại

Niết Bàn, sanh tử đẳng không hoa).

Zhuo had indeed profoundly realized the meaning of “the six are released and the one disappears.” How could this be reached through sequential stages?

II. THE METHOD OF UNTYING THE KNOTS

Sutra: Ananda said, “That illness of weariness resembles a knot. How can it be untied?”

The Tathagata took in his hand the cloth with its knots, pulled separately on its left end, and asked Ananda, “Can it be untied in this way?”

“No, World-Honored One, it cannot.”

The World-Honored One then pulled its right end with his hand and asked Ananda, “Can it be untied in this way?”

“No, World-Honored One, it cannot.”

The Buddha told Ananda, “I have now pulled its right and left ends with my hands, yet ultimately it cannot be untied. What method would you use to untie it?”

Ananda said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, one must work directly at the center of the knot; then it will immediately come undone.”

The Buddha told Ananda, “So it is, so it is! If you wish to untie the knot completely, you must work directly at the heart of the knot.”

Commentary: Ancient commentators say that pulling the left and right ends symbolizes relying upon the two extremes of emptiness and existence, by which the knot cannot be untied. One must therefore abide in perfect contemplation, giving rise to no discrimination at the faculties and no grasping at objects; then the knot is untied. But if one must wait for contemplation before the knot can be untied, that is still merely pulling the right and left ends. What does it have to do with the heart of the knot? It cannot compare with the exceedingly subtle and wondrous words of the Chan school.

Patriarch Shousheng said, “During the first half of the month, use a hook; during the latter half, use a hammer.”

A monk then asked, “What about right now, in the middle of the month?”

Patriarch Shousheng said, “The clay ox tramples to pieces the moon upon the clear pond.”

Tiantong commented: “Both ends have their uses—such is Shousheng! At once forgetting all effort, who is there to attain anything? Let it go: it changes into an honored guest. Hold it fast: no trace remains. Is there still anything to attain? Late at night, the jade maiden casts aside the brocade she has woven in the western house!”

Patriarch Yunmen also instructed the assembly, saying, “I will not ask you about before the fifteenth day. After the fifteenth day, try to say a word.”

He then answered for them himself: “Every day is a good day.”

Tiantong commented: “For one born in the Year of the Tiger, it is the year of one’s own zodiac sign. For one born in the Year of the Monkey, it is the year of opposition!”

Patriarch Shimen Cong said, “Before the fifteenth day, all Buddhas are born. After the fifteenth day, all Buddhas pass into extinction. Before the fifteenth day, when all Buddhas are born, you must not depart from my Within. If you depart from my Within, I shall hook you with a hook. After the fifteenth day, when all Buddhas pass into extinction, you must not abide in my Within. If you abide in my Within, I shall strike you with a mallet. Now tell me: on the fifteenth day itself, is it right to use the hook, or is it right to use the mallet?”

He then recited:

“Right now, on the fifteenth day,

Hook and mallet cease together.

Just as you would ask what this means,

Turn your head—the sun rises again.”

Patriarch Yunmen, however, would not have it so: “Before the fifteenth day, all Buddhas have never been born. After the fifteenth day, all Buddhas have never passed into extinction. Before the fifteenth day, if you depart from my Within, I still shall not use a hook to hook you. Simply shoulder your staff crosswise and wear out your straw sandals. After the fifteenth day, if you abide in my Within, I still shall not take a mallet to strike you. Simply break your staff and hang your monk’s bag high. Now I ask you: on the fifteenth day itself, what should be done?”

He then said, “Before and after the fifteenth day, what use are hook and mallet? This morning is the fifteenth day—the very time to use mallet and hook! But how are they to be used?”

A dead snake lies across the road—do not strike it;

Place it in that bottomless basket and carry it home.

If one can discover a clue at this critical juncture, the mind that has long been bound will immediately be released.

Sutra: “Ananda, when I teach that the Buddha-Dharma arises from causes and conditions, I am not referring to the coarse and superficial characteristics of combination found in the world. The Tathagata elucidates all worldly and supramundane dharmas, clearly knowing their fundamental causes and the conditions from which they arise. Thus, even the number of raindrops beyond worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges is known. Of all the various things presently before us—the straightness of the pine, the whiteness of the swan, and the blackness of the crow—the reasons for each are clearly known.

Commentary: The Buddha knows that worldly and supramundane dharmas all arise from the mind. Following defiled conditions, the nine realms come into being; following pure conditions, the Buddha Realm is attained. Once these causes and conditions are understood, then even regarding raindrops as numerous as the sands of the Ganges and all the various things presently before us, one knows from what causes and conditions they arise.

The Buddha possesses two kinds of Wisdom: Provisional Wisdom and Real Wisdom. Real Wisdom comprehends principle; Provisional Wisdom illuminates phenomena. Therefore, knowing the reasons for all things is due to Provisional Wisdom illuminating phenomena.

The Tathagata’s Dharma-body is perfectly complete and all-pervasive; not a single thing exists outside the Dharma-body. What, then, could the Tathagata fail to know?

Patriarch Dongshan ascended the hall and said: “What can this mountain monk say? The ancient is precisely the present, and the present is precisely the ancient. Therefore, the Surangama Sutra says, ‘The pine is straight, the thorn is crooked, the swan is white, and the crow is black.’ Do you understand? Although this is so, it is not necessarily the case that the pine is invariably straight, the thorn invariably crooked, the swan invariably white, and the crow invariably black. This Dongshan says: ‘Within this there are also crooked pines, straight thorns, black swans, and white crows.’ You have been standing for a long time. Take good care of yourselves!”

Tell me, did Dongshan turn the Surangama, or was he turned by the Surangama? Ultimately, how should these words be understood?

Sutra: “Therefore, Ananda, choose from among the six faculties according to your own mind. If the knot of a faculty is removed, the characteristics of sense-objects will naturally cease. When all delusions have vanished, what further True Reality need you await?

“Ananda, I now ask you again: This flowered cloth presently has six knots. Can they all be untied simultaneously and completely removed?”

“No, World-Honored One. These knots originally arose from being tied successively, and now they must likewise be untied successively. Although the six knots are of the same substance, they were not tied at the same time. How, then, could they all be removed simultaneously when they are untied?”

The Buddha said: “The release of the six faculties is likewise. When a faculty first begins to open, one first attains emptiness of the person. When the nature of emptiness becomes perfectly luminous, one is liberated from attachment to dharmas. Once liberated from attachment to dharmas, neither emptiness of the person nor emptiness of dharmas arises. This is called a bodhisattva’s attainment, through samadhi, of the Patience with the Non-Arising of Dharmas.”

Commentary: “When one faculty returns to its source, all six faculties are liberated.” This is made perfectly clear by this analogy. In delusion, all six faculties are knotted together; in awakening, the six faculties function interchangeably. What succession could there be?

It is only because delusion accumulates upon delusion that it proceeds from the subtle to the coarse; and as awakening deepens upon awakening, it proceeds from the coarse to the subtle. It is not that there is no sequence, but neither is it the case that after one faculty is uprooted, the others are uprooted successively. The Buddha’s words are perfectly interfused and unobstructed; how could they ever be impeded?

If one knot is called the first, the second and third are likewise knots, yet they cannot be called the first knot. Their names differ, but all are equally knots; thus the first is the sixth, and the sixth is the first.

As a person develops from within the womb until the bodily form is complete, it is not that the six faculties have no order of precedence. Once the eighteen dhatus have been formed, some faculties possess perfect penetration and others do not. By following the faculty of perfect penetration, one has more than enough capacity to realize the Way in a single day. By failing to follow the faculty of perfect penetration, even a hundred kalpas of cultivating the Way would not suffice. Since a day and a kalpa are vastly different, the six faculties likewise differ in swiftness and slowness. Therefore, some faculties are easy to uproot, while others are difficult to uproot.

Confucius said, “At sixty, my ear was obedient.” This means that the faculty of hearing had already been transformed. He also said, “At seventy, I followed my heart’s desires without transgressing the bounds of propriety.” This means that the faculty of mind had already been transformed. Thus there was also a certain degree of succession.

These knots were not accumulated in a single day, and therefore they cannot be untied and removed in an instant. First one attains emptiness of the person, and eventually one attains the Patience with the Non-Arising of Dharmas. This is precisely the successive process of entering the stream and losing the object, serving as an implicit indication that turning the hearing back is the foremost perfect penetration, awaiting Ananda’s own selection.

Emptiness of the person is the destruction of the provisional designation of the five skandhas, meaning that the delusions of views have been cut off. Emptiness of dharmas is the destruction of the supposedly real dharmas of the five skandhas, meaning that the delusions of thought have been cut off. When even the pure dharma of nirvana is shattered, fundamental ignorance is forever severed.

When neither of these two kinds of emptiness arises, there is the nature of emptiness in its equality. When the object of emptiness has ceased, the subject that realizes emptiness also vanishes. Object and wisdom both disappear; subject and object are both quiescent and extinct.

This is precisely the Surangama Samadhi, the “Subtly Abiding, All-Sustaining, Unmoving Honored One.” Therefore, it is said that one attains the Patience with the Non-Arising of Dharmas.

A monk asked Patriarch Baizhang: “What is the essential Dharma of the Mahayana’s sudden awakening?”

Patriarch Baizhang said: “First put an end to all conditions and bring the myriad affairs to rest. Whether wholesome or unwholesome, worldly or supramundane, do not recollect or think about any dharma, and do not become involved with any of them. Let go of body and mind, and you will attain freedom.

Let the mind be like wood or stone, with nowhere for discrimination to arise. Let the mind have nowhere to move. If the ground of mind is empty, the sun of Wisdom will naturally appear, just as the sun appears when the clouds disperse.

Merely end all grasping, greed, anger, craving, and attachment; then all deluded feelings of purity and impurity will cease. Remain unmoved before the five desires and eight winds, and do not be bound by seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing. Then you will naturally possess the complete wondrous functioning of spiritual powers.

Such a person is liberated. In the presence of every object, the mind is neither pure nor disturbed, neither gathered in nor scattered. Passing freely through every sound and form, with nowhere obstructed or impeded, one is called a person of the Way.

One does not employ notions of good or evil, right or wrong. Neither grasping nor rejecting any dharma, one is called a person of the Mahayana. Not being bound by any good or evil, existence or nonexistence, purity or impurity, conditioned or unconditioned, worldly or supramundane, merit or wisdom—this is called Buddha-Wisdom.

When right and wrong, good and bad, what is correct and what is mistaken, and all discriminative consciousness, feelings, views, and knowledge are completely ended, nothing can bind you. Everywhere you remain free, peaceful, and at ease. This is called a bodhisattva who has first brought forth the aspiration, thereby being well placed to realize Buddhahood.”

Patriarch Baizhang’s words secretly accord with the purport of the sutra. If he were not a person of great liberation, how could he have spoken these words of liberation?

Section 3: Asking the Assembly About Perfect Penetration

Sutra: Ananda and the entire assembly, having received the Buddha’s instruction, attained perfectly penetrating wisdom and were freed from doubt and error. Together they joined their palms, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “Today our bodies and minds are lucid and clear; we rejoice in having attained unobstructed understanding. Although we have awakened to the meaning of the One and the Six ceasing altogether, we still do not understand the fundamental basis of perfect penetration.

World-Honored One, for many kalpas we have wandered helplessly and alone. How fortunate that we have now entered the lineage of the Buddha, like a weaned child who suddenly encounters its loving mother. If, through this, we attain the Way, then the secret words we receive will accord with the source of awakening, and there will be no difference between having heard them and not yet having heard them.

We beseech the Buddha, out of his great compassion, to bestow upon us the secret, magnificent Dharma and bring to fulfillment the Tathagata’s ultimate instruction.”

Having spoken these words, they prostrated themselves with their five limbs touching the ground, withdrew deeply into the subtle workings of their minds, and hoped that the Buddha would transmit mind to mind.

At that time, the World-Honored One addressed all the great bodhisattvas and all the great arhats in the assembly who had exhausted the outflows, saying: “You are bodhisattvas and arhats who were born within the Buddha Dharma and attained the state beyond training. I now ask you: When you first brought forth the resolve, through which of the eighteen dhatus did you awaken to perfect penetration, and by what expedient means did you enter samadhi?”

Commentary: The instruction concerning the perfectly penetrating wisdom of awakening is what was previously described as the opening of the Six and the dissolution of the One, culminating in the attainment of the patience with the non-arising of dharmas. Through the opening of the Six, the body becomes thoroughly penetrating and unobstructed. Through the dissolution of the One, the mind becomes unobstructed.

Although they had not yet reached the purification of the six faculties, once the One was uprooted, the Six dissolved; when the Six dissolved, the One disappeared. Thus, they were already lucid and free from doubt and error. Yet they still did not understand where the fundamental faculty of perfect penetration lay.

Which faculty was the most perfectly penetrating? Through which faculty should they enter in order to realize perfect penetration?

Through the faculty of perfect penetration, one realizes the fruition of perfect penetration. For Ananda, this was the cause through which he would attain the Way; for the Tathagata, it was his ultimate revelation and instruction. Therefore, Ananda asked the Buddha to transmit secretly to him the profound and magnificent Dharma.

If we discuss the faculty of perfect penetration, it has already been clearly explained that the Tathagatas of the ten directions cultivate through each of the eighteen dhatus and all attain the perfect fulfillment of unsurpassed bodhi, with no superiority or inferiority among them. Now the Buddha again asked all the bodhisattvas and arhats through which dhatu they had awakened to perfect penetration when they first brought forth the resolve, and by what expedient means they had entered samadhi. One may still speak of comparing the faculties of perfect penetration. But as for the expedient means of awakening and entry, each person knows and realizes it for themselves—how could words ever reach it? Since words cannot reach it, it can only be transmitted from mind to mind.

According to Ananda’s request, he hoped that the Buddha would transmit it from mind to mind rather than express it in words; Ananda himself would likewise receive it with his mind rather than hear it through ordinary hearing. Transmission without words is the secret word. Hearing without ordinary hearing is the source of awakening. Therefore, receiving the Buddha’s secret word is identical with the source of awakening; thus, although one has heard, it is as though one has not heard. To hear without hearing is true hearing. For this reason, it is said: “They withdrew deeply into the subtle workings of their minds and hoped to attain it.”

Suppose that the Buddha could bestow it and Ananda could obtain it; then it would not be secret. If one used that to realize perfect penetration, it would not be perfect penetration. Awakening comes through one’s own awakening—how could anyone give it to another?

Chan Master Panshan Baoji ascended the Dharma hall and said: “The one upward path is not transmitted by the thousand sages. Students weary their bodies, like apes grasping at reflections!”

If a reflection could be grasped, then the Secret Magnificence could indeed be transmitted!

Cheng Rui, the Military Governor of Jingnan, came to make offerings to Master Yunju and asked: “The World-Honored One had a secret saying, yet Mahakasyapa did not conceal it. What does this mean?”

Patriarch Ying called out: “Minister!”

Rui responded: “Yes!”

Patriarch Ying said: “Do you understand?”

Rui said: “I do not understand.”

Patriarch Ying said: “If you do not understand, then the World-Honored One had a secret saying. If you do understand, then Mahakasyapa did not conceal it!”

Thus, know that unless one personally awakens to and penetrates this matter, it cannot be attained.

I. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE OBJECT OF SOUND

Sutra: Kaundinya and the other four bhiksus immediately rose from their seats, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “At the Deer Park and at Jeta Grove, we saw the Tathagata when he had first attained the Way. Through the sound of the Buddha’s voice, we awakened to the Four Noble Truths. When the Buddha questioned the bhiksus, I was the first to declare that I understood. The World-Honored One certified me and gave me the name Ajnata, ‘One Who Understands.’ The wondrous sound was secretly perfect and complete. Through sound, I attained arhatship.

“When the Buddha asks about perfect penetration, according to what I cultivated and realized, sound is foremost.”

Commentary: Kaundinya first awakened to the two words “guest” and “dust,” and so was given the name “One Who Understands.” Through the sound of the Buddha’s voice, he awakened to the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths. At the Deer Park, the Buddha first turned the Dharma wheel of the Four Noble Truths in three ways: first, the turning by indication of their characteristics; second, the turning by exhortation to cultivate; and third, the turning by verification.

First, the turning by indication of characteristics: revealing their characteristics—this is suffering; this is the accumulation of suffering; this is the cessation of suffering; this is the path to the cessation of suffering.

Second, the exhortation to cultivate: instructing one to practice—suffering should be understood; the accumulation of suffering should be understood... the Path should be understood.

Third, verification: presenting himself as testimony to that truth. Suffering I have already understood; it need not be understood again. So too, up to the Path I have already cultivated; it need not be cultivated again.

To awaken to the Four Noble Truths is at first merely to cast off the dharma of arising and cessation. This is awakening to the two words “guest” and “dust,” through which he attained arhatship. Does this not mean that although sounds all arise and cease, I do not arise and cease along with them?

Although sounds are all guest-dust, am I myself guest-dust? Yet when it is said that wondrous sound is secretly perfect and complete, that secret perfection and completeness lies precisely within sound. Though sound is regarded as arising and ceasing, is it not itself beyond arising and cessation?

Though sound is regarded as guest-dust, is it not in truth beyond guest-dust? This awakening was known only to Kaundinya himself; how could it be spoken to anyone else? Therefore, it is called secret.

His realization occurred through sound, and so he took sound as the means of perfect penetration.

When Chan Master Xiangyan Zhixian was staying with Patriarch Baizhang, he was intelligent and quick-witted, yet he could not penetrate Chan.

After Patriarch Baizhang passed away, he went to study under Patriarch Guishan.

Patriarch Guishan said: “I have heard that when you were with my late master Baizhang, whenever you were asked one question, you gave ten answers, and when asked ten, you gave a hundred. Such cleverness and quick wit are the discriminating consciousness of deluded thought, the very root of birth and death. Now, before your parents gave birth to you, say a single phrase!”

Questioned in this way, Zhixian was immediately struck dumb.

He returned to his quarters, took out all the books he had ever read, and searched them from beginning to end for a phrase with which to answer, but could find none. He then lamented: “A painted cake cannot satisfy hunger!” Several times he implored Patriarch Guishan to explain it clearly to him.

Master Guishan said: “If I told you, one day you would revile me. What I say would be mine; what relevance would it have to you?”

Zhixian then brought out all the books he had read and burned them completely, saying: “In this lifetime, I will no longer study the Buddha Dharma! I shall simply remain forever a rice-and-gruel monk and spare my mind from toil and weariness.”

Then, weeping, he took leave of Patriarch Guishan.

When he reached Nanyang, he saw the ruins associated with National Master Huizhong and remained there.

One day, while clearing weeds, he accidentally sent a shard of tile flying against a bamboo stalk, producing a sound. Suddenly, he awakened. He hurried back, bathed, and facing Mount Guishan, bowed in homage and praised him, saying: “The Venerable Master’s compassion exceeds even the kindness of my parents. If at that time you had explained it to me, how could what happened today ever have occurred?”

Then he composed this verse:

“At one touch, acquired knowledge was lost;

What need remained to rely on cultivation?

In every movement of the body, the ancient path is revealed,

Never falling into the mechanism of silent stillness.

Nowhere is there any trace;

Deportment lies beyond form and sound.

Those throughout the ten directions who have attained the Way

All declare: ‘This is a faculty of the highest order.’”

When Patriarch Guishan heard of this, he said to Master Yangshan, “That fellow has penetrated it thoroughly.”

Yangshan said, “This has been produced by the intellectual workings of consciousness and learning from books. Let me personally examine him!”

Then Master Yangshan met Master Zhixian and asked, “The Venerable Master has praised you, my Dharma brother, for illuminating the great matter. Tell me about it!”

Master Zhixian again recited his former verse.

Yangshan said, “This has been produced by accumulated memory. If it is true enlightenment, try saying something else!”

Master Zhixian then recited:

“Last year I was poor, but not truly poor;

This year I am poor, truly poor.

Last year I was poor, with no ground in which to plant an awl;

This year I am poor—even the awl is gone!”

Yangshan said, “I grant that you understand Tathagata Chan, but as for Patriarchal Chan [During the Tang dynasty, Patriarch Yangshan was the first to establish the designation ‘Patriarchal Chan.’ The mind-seal transmitted by Patriarch Bodhidharma is called Patriarchal Chan, the ultimate Chan teaching transmitted separately outside the teachings. ‘Tathagata Chan’ refers to cultivation that has not yet reached the realization of the mind and the seeing of one’s nature], you have not even glimpsed it in a dream!”

Master Zhixian again recited:

“I have a single Function;

In the blink of an eye, It is seen.

If you still do not understand,

Call the novice monk!”

Master Yangshan reported to Patriarch Guishan, “I rejoice that Dharma brother Xian has understood Patriarchal Chan.”

Patriarch Xuanjue said, “Tell me: are Tathagata Chan and Patriarchal Chan separate or not?”

Patriarch Changqing Ling said, “At the same time, free and at ease.”

A monk asked Venerable Master Xing of Yexian about Patriarch Zhaozhou’s koan, “The cypress tree in the courtyard.”

The Venerable Master said, “I do not begrudge telling you, but will you believe me?”

The monk said, “The Venerable Master’s words are worthy of reverence; how would I dare not believe them?”

The Venerable Master said, “Do you hear the sound of the raindrops before the eaves?”

The monk suddenly awakened and involuntarily cried out, “Ah!”

The Master said, “What principle of the Way have you seen?”

The monk replied in verse:

“Raindrops at the edge of the eaves—

Perfectly clear and distinct!

Heaven and earth are shattered;

At that very point, the mind ceases.”

In the realizations of Master Zhixian and the monk above, sound too was regarded as supreme.

II. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE OBJECT OF FORM

Sutra: Upanishada then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said, “I too saw the Buddha when he had first attained the Way. I contemplated the mark of impurity and ultimately gave rise to a mind of revulsion and renunciation. I awakened to the nature of all forms, proceeding from the mark of impurity to the mark of white bones and then to fine dust, ultimately returning to empty space. Both emptiness and form became empty, and I attained the path beyond learning. The Tathagata certified me and gave me the name Nishada (The Nature of Dust Is Empty). When the form-characteristics of dust came to an end, wondrous form became wholly perfect. Through form-characteristics, I attained arhatship.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to my realization, the object of form is supreme.”

Explanation: Upanishada was attached to the object of form, so the Buddha taught him to employ the contemplation of impurity as an antidote. Although form is pleasing, because it is impure it can produce the utmost revulsion; how much more so the marks of white bones and fine dust after death.

First is swelling; second, foul blood and pus; third, discoloration; fourth, bluish bruising; fifth, being eaten by maggots and falling apart; seventh, bare bones; eighth, being burned; ninth, the fact that nothing in the entire world can be preserved. These are the Nine Contemplative Practices. When these Nine Contemplative Practices are accomplished, the nature of form ultimately returns to emptiness.

When emptiness itself has no locus of emptiness, both form and emptiness are empty; one attains the wisdom of liberation and accomplishes the path beyond learning. When the object of form has been completely exhausted, subtle, hidden wondrous form is wholly perfected. Could there be, apart from the object of form, something separately called wondrous form?

Could the absence of form-characteristics mean that the capacity to empty them is wondrous form? Could it be that form-characteristics arise and cease, while the nature of form neither arises nor ceases, and that this is called wondrous form? Or is it that when the mind is free of craving and attachment, all forms are wondrous form?

Upanishada’s realization is truly difficult to describe in words; it can only be called wondrous, secret, and perfect.

Long ago, seven virtuous maidens went wandering in a charnel ground in the forest.

One of them pointed to a corpse and said, “The body is there, but where is the person?”

Another said, “What? What?”

The maidens contemplated carefully, and each attained a corresponding awakening.

This moved Lord Shakra to scatter flowers and say, “Divine sisters, whatever you require, I vow to provide it throughout my life.”

The maidens said, “We already possess the four requisites [clothing, bedding, medicine, and food and drink] and the seven treasures [gold, silver, jade, pearls, coral, amber, and agate] in abundance. We require only three things. First, we require a rootless tree. Second, a piece of ground without yin and yang. Third, a mountain cave in which a shout produces no echo.”

Shakra said, “I possess every kind of requisite, but I truly cannot provide those three things.”

The maidens said, “If you do not possess these things, how can you help others?”

Shakra was bewildered, so he went with the maidens to ask the Buddha.

The Buddha said, “Kausika, even my great arhat disciples do not understand this meaning. Only the great bodhisattvas understand it.”

This too was realization attained through contemplating the mark of impurity.

Again, when Master Lingyun saw peach blossoms, he awakened to the Way and composed this verse:

“For thirty years I wandered in search,

How many times leaves fell and branches sprouted anew!

Since the moment I beheld those peach blossoms,

Until this very day, I have never again doubted.”

He presented his realization to Patriarch Guishan.

The Patriarch instructed him, “What is entered in accord with conditions will never again be lost or regress. Guard it well.”

Master Xuansha said, “It is indeed exact, truly exact; yet I dare say my elder brother has not penetrated what lies within it!”

Master Lingyun said, “Have you penetrated it, elder Dharma brother?”

Master Juefan recited:

“He [Lingyun] saw it once and never saw it again;

Branches white and red—where could flowers be seen?

He would not accept the guest aboard the fishing boat,

And ended up on dry land rescuing fish and clams.”

Master Touzi recited:

“Before the mountain, peaches bloom; spring fills the old garden.

Flowers cover crimson branches; awakening, he returns to himself.

As for your realization, do not betray its power;

Though a smile has opened, the mind gives rise to anger.

Smoke spreads through green willows as orioles release their songs;

Rain pierces the cliffside beside the empty village.

The sun shows its face, yet no message comes;

A wooden horse neighs aloud beyond Han and Qin.”

According to Master Lingyun’s realization, form too was regarded as ultimate.

III. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE OBJECT OF FRAGRANCE

Sutra: The youth Fragrance Adornment then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said, “I heard the Tathagata instruct me to rightly contemplate the characteristics of conditioned phenomena. At that time, I took leave of the Buddha and, early in the evening, sat quietly in a pure chamber. I saw bhikshus burning agarwood incense, and its tranquil fragrance entered my nostrils.

I contemplated that fragrance: it was neither wood nor emptiness, neither smoke nor fire. When it departed, it adhered nowhere; when it arrived, it came from nowhere. Because of this, discriminating thought dissolved, and I realized the unconditioned state free of outflows.

The Tathagata certified me and gave me the title Fragrance Adornment. As soon as the object of fragrance was extinguished, the subtle, secret wondrous fragrance became wholly perfect. Through this adorning fragrance, I attained arhatship.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to my realization, the object of fragrance is supreme.”

Commentary: “Whatever has characteristics is entirely illusory. To see that all characteristics are not characteristics is to see the Tathagata. ‘Tathagata’ signifies the suchness of all dharmas. Coming from nowhere and going nowhere—this is called the Tathagata.” This is the essential purport of the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra.

When Xiangyan heard this teaching, he constantly contemplated it deeply. By chance, upon encountering a fragrance, he thereupon gained insight: “This fragrance is quiescent. Entering my nose, it is neither smoke nor fire, neither wood nor emptiness; it has neither a characteristic of self, nor a characteristic of other, nor a shared characteristic, nor a characteristic of being without a cause. When it drifts away, it adheres nowhere; when it drifts here, it comes from nowhere. It is fundamentally unborn.” This vision is precisely the vision that “all characteristics are not characteristics, and one thereby sees the Tathagata.” Thus he attained the unconditioned freedom from outflows.

Ordinary beings do not attain freedom from outflows because the faculty of mind has not yet dissolved. Because the faculty of mind has not dissolved, they cling to the conditioned. Once they cling to the conditioned, they immediately fall into arising and cessation. When the faculty of mind dissolves, they immediately realize the unconditioned. The unconditioned is free from arising and cessation. Thus, although the object of fragrance suddenly arises and suddenly ceases, how could that wondrous fragrance ever undergo cessation and arising? Xiangyan’s realization cannot be reached by any analysis whatsoever. Therefore it is called esoteric and perfect; it can be known only through personal realization.

Long ago, Grand Historian Huang Shangu, inspired by Master Yuantong Xiu, went to Patriarch Huitang to request instruction on the “swift and direct” point.

Patriarch Huitang [Patriarch Huitang Baojue, a Chan master named Zuxin of the Song dynasty, who resided on Mount Huanglong. He succeeded Chan Master Huanglong Nan in the Dharma] said: “As Confucius said, ‘Do you suppose that I conceal something? I conceal nothing from you!’ How would the Grand Historian explain this?”

The Grand Historian was about to reply when Patriarch Huitang immediately said: “Not so, not so.”

The Grand Historian remained utterly bewildered.

One day, while walking in the mountains with Patriarch Huitang, rock osmanthus trees were in bloom, filling the air with fragrance.

The Patriarch said: “Do you smell the fragrance of the rock-osmanthus blossoms?”

He replied: “Yes, I do.”

The Patriarch said: “I conceal nothing from you.”

The Grand Historian’s doubts dissolved. Bowing, he said: “Venerable Master, your compassionate, grandmotherly heart is exceedingly earnest!”

The Patriarch laughed and replied: “I merely hope that you reach home.”

There was also a nun who awakened to the Way and composed this verse:

“All day I sought for spring but found no spring;

My straw sandals trod across cloud-wreathed peaks.

Returning, I smile and raise a plum blossom to smell;

Spring, already complete, rests upon the branch.”

This nun’s realization and that of Shangu likewise took wondrous fragrance as supreme.

IV. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE OBJECT OF TASTE

Sutra: The two Dharma Princes, Bhaisajyaraja and Bhaisajyasamudgata, together with five hundred Brahma devas in the assembly, then rose from their seats, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “Since beginningless ages long past, we have served as physicians to the world. With our mouths we have continually tasted the grasses, woods, metals, and minerals of this Saha world, numbering one hundred and eight thousand. In this way, we came to know all flavors—bitter, sour, salty, bland, sweet, pungent, and so forth—as well as the transformed flavors produced by combining them.

Whether cold or hot, poisonous or nonpoisonous, we knew them all thoroughly. Having attended upon the Tathagatas, we clearly understood that the nature of the object of taste is neither emptiness nor existence, neither identical with body and mind nor apart from body and mind. By discerning the nature of flavors, we thereby awakened.

The Buddha-Tathagata certified us brothers and bestowed upon us the names Bodhisattva Bhaisajyaraja and Bodhisattva Bhaisajyasamudgata. Now, in this assembly, we are Dharma Princes. Through the object of taste, we awakened and attained the bodhisattva stage.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to our realization, the object of taste is supreme.”

Commentary: Since beginningless kalpas, they had served as physicians to the world, yet they could only recognize flavors well enough to treat illnesses. Only after attending upon the Tathagatas did they understand the nature of flavors: neither nonexistent nor existent, neither identical nor separate. Whatever is neither nonexistent nor existent, neither identical nor separate, is the intrinsically such essence of the wondrous, perfectly luminous mind within the Tathagatagarbha.

Through the object of taste they awakened and discerned their self-nature, thus entering the bodhisattva stage. What is called awakening means that within the Tathagatagarbha, the nature of taste is true emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is true taste—fundamentally pure and pervading the Dharma-realm in its entirety. Taste itself is awakening, and awakening itself is taste.

This realization is truly difficult to explain to others.

Master Dayu [Patriarch Gao’an, styled Dayu, who also called himself Dayushan. He succeeded Patriarch Guizong in the Dharma. Patriarch Guizong succeeded Master Mazu in the Dharma] took leave of Patriarch Guizong.

The Patriarch asked: “Where are you going?”

He replied: “I am going to various places to study the Five Flavors of Chan” [The five kinds of Chan: non-Buddhist, ordinary-being, Hinayana, Mahayana, and Supreme Vehicle].

Patriarch Guizong said: “Other places have Five Flavors of Chan; here I have only One Flavor.”

He asked: “What is One-Flavor Chan?” [One-Flavor Chan: a Chan method of swiftly awakening and swiftly entering, that is, sudden awakening and sudden entry.]

The Patriarch struck him.

Master Dayu said: “I understand! I understand!”

The Patriarch said: “Speak! Speak!”

Master Dayu was about to speak when the Patriarch struck him again.

Later, a monk went to Patriarch Huangbo and related the foregoing story.

The Patriarch ascended the hall and said: “Great Master Mazu had eighty-four spiritual friends, yet when each was questioned, the ground was covered everywhere with excrement. Only Guizong attained a little.”

Only Patriarch Huangbo deeply understood One-Flavor Chan, and so he met Patriarch Guizong face to face. Later, Patriarch Huangbo used this Chan device to seize Linji. Master Linji failed to awaken in accord with it, so he was directed to Patriarch Dayu. When he met Patriarch Dayu, Linji related the circumstances of having been struck three times.

Patriarch Dayu said: “Huangbo went to such lengths to relieve you of all your distress, yet you come here asking whether he was at fault or not.”

Upon hearing these words, Master Linji attained great awakening and said: “So it turns out that Huangbo’s Buddhadharma amounts to nothing much!”

Patriarch Dayu seized him and held him upright, demanding: “Speak quickly! Speak quickly!”

Master Linji jabbed Patriarch Dayu three times in the ribs.

The Patriarch released him and said: “Your teacher is Huangbo; this has nothing to do with me.”

Just as Patriarch Dayu was about to display Guizong’s family style, Linji had already wrested it away. From this one knows that Linji’s insight was one step ahead.

Chan Master Longxing Faju was already advanced in years when he met Patriarch Huanglong and received his seal of approval.

He ascended the hall and said: “This matter is like a physician examining an illness. At present, mixed poisons fill the belly and cannot readily be cured. One must therefore administer medicine to treat the dizziness and obscuration caused by the illness; only afterward can it be eliminated. But if one takes medicine merely according to one’s own notions, it will only increase frenzy and aggravate the illness. Is it not a mistake, then, to hope for recovery? The grass before the Dharma hall has grown thick, yet there is no shame in your hearts!”

If one can penetrate and comprehend the foregoing cases, one will not only know that flavor, but will also be able to cure the illnesses of others.

V. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE OBJECT OF TOUCH

Sutra: Bhadrapala, together with sixteen fellow initiates, then rose from their seats, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “Long ago, in the presence of Buddha King of Awesome Sound, we heard the Dharma and left the household life. When the Sangha bathed, I followed the prescribed order into the bathhouse and suddenly awakened to the nature of water: it washed neither dust nor the body. Resting serenely between the two, I attained nonexistence. I never forgot that former learning. Even to this day, having followed the Buddha and left the household life, I have attained the fruit of no-more-learning. That Buddha of old named me Bhadrapala. Wondrous touch opened forth in radiant clarity, and I attained the Stage of Abiding as a Buddha’s Disciple.”

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to what I have realized, the object of touch is foremost.”

Commentary: Master Xuedou cited an ancient case: “There were sixteen adepts [Bhadrapala and the others, sixteen lay bodhisattvas] who, when it was time for the Sangha to bathe, entered the bathhouse in sequence and suddenly awakened to the nature of water. How do you Chan worthies understand this?” They said: “Wondrous touch was clearly revealed, and they attained the Stage of a Disciple of the Buddha [the abiding place upon which disciples of the Buddha rely]. Yet one must also penetrate the seven apertures and eight cavities [meaning tangled and groundless speech; synonymous expressions include ‘seven scattered and eight fallen’ and ‘seven up and eight down’].”

The verse says:

“The monk whose work is done is truly at ease;

Upon the bed he stretches out and lies at length.

Within a dream he once expounded awakening through perfect penetration;

When washed in fragrant water, he spat directly in its face.”

This became a public case, and later many venerable elders elucidated it in numerous ways.

When National Preceptor Shao first met Patriarch Longya, he asked, “When heaven does not cover and earth does not support, what is the principle?”

The reply was, “The Way accords with just this.”

He presented the question seventeen times, and the Patriarch always answered in this way. He again requested instruction, and the Patriarch said, “Later, you will understand this Way for yourself.”

Later, on Mount Tongxuan, while Master Shao was bathing, he suddenly awakened to the former matter. He then arranged his deportment properly, bowed toward the dwelling place of Patriarch Longya, and said, “Had he explained it to me at that time, he would certainly deserve a scolding today.”

Afterward, he went to study under Patriarch Fayan.

A monk asked Patriarch Fayan, “What is a single drop of water from Caoxi?”

Patriarch Fayan said, “It is Caoxi’s single drop of water.”

The monk withdrew in bewilderment.

Master Shao, who was sitting nearby, suddenly attained awakening, and the doubt that had obstructed him for so long dissolved like ice. Only then did he penetrate the seven apertures and eight cavities.

He composed this verse:

“At Tongxuan’s highest summit,

It is not the human realm.

Outside the mind there is no Dharma;

Before the eyes, green mountains fill the view.”

When Patriarch Fayan heard it, he said, “This one verse can indeed establish my school.”

When an attendant invited Venerable Shixi to bathe, the Venerable asked, “Since you are neither washing away dust nor washing the body, what will you do?”

The attendant replied, “Venerable, go on ahead, and I will bring the soap-pod cleanser [a substance like soap, used for bathing] afterward.”

The Venerable laughed heartily, having nearly been spat in the face by his attendant!

A monk asked Chan Master Tianyou Gai, “There was a monastery called the Stainless Pure Light Chan Monastery, which was converted into a bathhouse. Someone asked, ‘Since it is Stainless Pure Light, why has it been made into a bathhouse?’ I could not answer.”

Master Tiangai answered on his behalf:

“Through the three autumn months, the moon shines brightly at night;

Why then gather together again?”

Master Danxia also versified:

“Although the reply exhausts the profound intent,

Sadly, when brought forth, it still does not come close.

If you wish to understand that ‘originally there is no stain,’

You must enter the water and meet the elder.”

The daughter of Longtu Fan Zun, who had once received Patriarch Zixin’s seal of approval at Jinling, established a bathhouse and hung a sign at its entrance that read: “There is not a single thing—what is there to wash? If even a mote of dust exists, from where does it arise? Only one who can utter a meaningful statement may enter this house to bathe.

“Guling merely knew how to scrub a back! When did the adepts ever understand the Nature? If you wish to realize the Stage of Freedom from Defilement, your entire body must remain unstained. Everyone says that water is used to cleanse filth, but who realizes that water itself is also dust? Even if both water and filth are swiftly eliminated, upon arriving here they must still be washed entirely away!”

Later, she left home and became a bhiksuni named Weijiu.

These venerable masters spoke of dreams within dreams, each pointing directly to the “clear revelation of wondrous touch.” They may well have participated in the inquiry together with the sixteen adepts.

VI. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE OBJECT OF MIND

Sutra: Mahakasyapa and Bhiksuni Purple-Golden Light, together with the others, immediately rose from their seats, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said, “In a former kalpa, a Buddha named Sun-Moon-Lamp appeared in this world. I drew near to him, heard the Dharma, and cultivated it. After that Buddha entered nirvana, we made offerings to his relics and kept lamps perpetually burning. We also plated images of the Buddha with purplish gold. From that time until now, life after life and kalpa after kalpa, our bodies have always been whole and radiant, like pure gold. This group headed by Bhiksuni Purple Light were my retinue at that time, and they aroused the resolve together with me.

“I contemplated how the six objects of the world change and perish. Solely by means of the Dharma of emptiness and quiescence, I cultivated the samadhi of cessation, so that my body and mind could pass through hundreds of thousands of kalpas as though they were the time of a finger snap. Through the emptiness of dharmas, I attained arhatship. The Blessed One declared me foremost in cultivating the dhutanga practices. The wondrous Dharma became luminous, and all outflows were extinguished.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to what I have realized, the object of mind is foremost.”

Commentary: It was previously said that those who attain the samadhi of cessation realize the quiescent cessation of the sravakas. Yet only Mahakasyapa, though his discriminating consciousness had long since ceased, retained complete and perfect awareness without relying upon mental thought. He awakened to the emptiness and quiescence of all dharmas and thereby attained arhatship.

When the six objects appear to arise, they arise within emptiness; when the six objects appear to cease, they cease back into emptiness. Objects undergo arising and cessation, but the nature of emptiness remains indestructible. To eliminate the object of mind completely is the emptiness of dharmas.

When the mind no longer conditions dharmas, it attains freedom from arising and cessation. Thus, he could pass through hundreds of thousands of kalpas as though they were the time of a finger snap. Even now, Mahakasyapa still preserves the Buddha’s golden kasaya, abiding in samadhi within Mount Kukkutapada while awaiting the descent and birth of Maitreya, to whom he will transmit it.

This is the proof of his spiritual efficacy.

In a former kalpa, Bhiksuni Purple-Golden Light was a poor young woman. At that time, Mahakasyapa was a metal caster. She brought gold to the craftsman and asked him to gild the face of a Buddha image, vowing that life after life and kalpa after kalpa they would become husband and wife without sensual affection. In response, for ninety-one kalpas they were born in the heavenly realms, their bodies always whole and radiant with golden light. Now, having encountered the Buddha and left the household life, she indeed fulfilled her ancient vow.

Chan Master Yongjia Xuanjue had thoroughly mastered the scriptures of the Tripitaka and was well versed in the Tiantai practice of cessation and contemplation, a perfect and wondrous Dharma gate. Throughout all four modes of deportment, the Dharma of Chan contemplation was constantly clear and luminous to him. Later, at the encouragement of Chan Master Xilang, he traveled with Chan Master Dongyang Ce to Caoxi. As soon as he arrived, he circumambulated the Patriarch three times and then stood motionless, leaning upon his staff.

The Patriarch said, “A sramana should be endowed with the three thousand forms of dignified conduct and the eighty thousand subtle practices. From where has the worthy one come, that you display such great arrogance?”

Xuanjue said, “The matter of birth and death is momentous, and impermanence comes with utmost speed!”

The Patriarch said, “Why not realize the Unborn and penetrate that which has no speed?”

Xuanjue said, “The essence itself is unborn; realization is originally without speed.”

The Patriarch said, “Just so.”

At that moment, the entire assembly was astonished. Master Xuanjue then arranged his deportment properly, bowed to the Patriarch, and shortly afterward took his leave.

The Patriarch said, “Why return so hastily?”

Xuanjue said, “It is originally unmoving; how could there be haste?”

The Patriarch said, “Who knows that it is unmoving?”

Xuanjue said, “It is you who have produced this discrimination.”

The Patriarch said, “You have truly attained the purport of the Unborn.”

Xuanjue said, “Does the Unborn have a purport?”

The Patriarch said, “If there is no purport, who discriminates?”

Xuanjue said, “Discrimination itself is not the purport.”

The Patriarch praised him, saying, “Excellent, excellent! Stay for at least one night.”

At that time, he became known as “One-Night Awakening.”

Here, had he not long before extinguished the mind faculty and attained the Patience of the Unborn, how could he have responded like an echo answering a sound? From Venerable Kaundinya through this point, there are six sages. They speak of Wondrous Sound, Wondrous Form, Wondrous Fragrance, and Wondrous Touch; all are called “wondrous” because they are not bound by their respective objects. This is precisely the attainment of perfect penetration through the six sense objects.

VII. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE EYE FACULTY

Sutra: Aniruddha then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “When I first left the household life, I was often fond of sleeping, so the Buddha rebuked me as being like an animal. When I heard the Buddha’s reprimand, I wept and reproached myself. I did not sleep for seven days, and both my eyes were ruined.

“The World-Honored One taught me to cultivate the Vajra Samadhi of Delightful Seeing, Illumination, and Radiance. Without relying upon my physical eyes, I could see the ten directions as clearly and unobstructedly as one sees a fruit in the palm of one’s hand. The Tathagata certified me as having attained arhatship.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to what I realized, turning seeing back to its original nature is foremost.”

Commentary: Aniruddha was the son of King Sukkodana [the younger brother of King Suddhodana], and thus was the Buddha’s cousin. In a past life, he offered a meal to a pratyekabuddha and, in response, enjoyed wish-fulfilling happiness for ninety-one kalpas. The Buddha once rebuked him, saying, “Alas! Alas! Why do you sleep? Like snails and clams, you sleep for a thousand years and never hear the Buddha’s name.” From then on, he exerted himself until he became blind, whereupon he attained half the power of the heavenly eye.

The Mahaprajnaparamita Sastra says: “Aniruddha’s heavenly eye consisted of form produced by the four great elements and was purified by half. The Buddha’s heavenly eye likewise consists of form produced by the four great elements, but it is purified universally and completely.”

The Vajra Samadhi of Delightful Seeing, Illumination, and Radiance is the Dharma-gate of turning seeing back to the source of its nature. Radiance pertains to the object; illumination pertains to the subject. Within radiance, illumination constantly shines clearly.

Within illumination, seeing penetrates completely. From where does illumination come? From where does seeing arise?

When one reaches the point where seeing has nothing that is seen, and illumination has nothing that is illuminated, one immediately attains the Vajra Samadhi. This is the essence of illumination and the source of seeing. Vajra shatters everything; when both seeing and illumination vanish, that is the samadhi of right concentration, namely the original essence of quiescent illumination.

To delight in this contemplative illumination means to turn seeing back to the source of its nature. As for the attainment of the heavenly eye, that is likewise beyond the reach of discussion.

When Master Deshan first arrived to see Patriarch Longtan, he strode straight into the Dharma hall and said: “For a long time I have heard of the Dragon Pool, Longtan. Now that I have arrived, no pool is to be seen, nor does any dragon appear.”

Patriarch Longtan stepped forward and said: “You have personally arrived at Longtan—the Dragon Pool. Judging from this encounter upon your arrival, you are worthy of receiving Longtan’s robe and bowl.”

One evening, Deshan was standing in attendance upon the Patriarch.

Patriarch Longtan said: “It is late. Why do you not return to rest?”

Deshan respectfully stepped out, but then returned and said: “It is very dark outside.”

Patriarch Longtan lit a paper torch and handed it to Master Deshan. Just as Deshan was about to take it, Patriarch Longtan blew it out. Deshan suddenly attained great awakening and bowed in homage.

The Patriarch asked: “What have you seen?”

Master Deshan said: “From this day forward, I shall no longer doubt the words of the venerable masters beneath heaven.”

The following day, Patriarch Longtan ascended the teaching seat and told the assembly: “Among you is a fellow whose teeth are like swords and whose mouth is like a basin of blood. Even if struck with a staff, he will not turn his head. One day he will go to the summit of a solitary lofty peak and establish my Way there.”

Deshan took the commentaries and subcommentaries on the Diamond Sutra that he had previously written, piled them before the Dharma hall, held up a torch, and said: “Even if one exhausts all subtle and profound doctrines, they are like a single hair placed in the vastness of space! Even if one penetrates all the crucial matters of the world, they are like a single drop of water falling into the great ocean!”

He then burned them all, bowed farewell to the Patriarch, and departed.

The Dharma-eye attained by Master Deshan was, in greater or lesser measure, identical to that of Aniruddha.

As Patriarch Linji was approaching parinirvana, he spoke this verse:

“Following the stream without cease, why bother asking why?

True illumination is boundless; what can speak of self and other?

That which transcends characteristics and names, people do not recognize;

A keen sword severs a hair, but after use it must quickly be honed.”

The Patriarch then told the assembly: “After my passing, do not allow my Treasury of the True Dharma Eye to be extinguished.”

Master Sansheng stepped forward and said: “How would we dare allow the Venerable Master’s Treasury of the True Dharma Eye to be extinguished!”

Patriarch Linji said: “In the future, if someone asks you about it, what will you say to them?”

Master Sansheng immediately shouted.

The Patriarch said: “Who would have known that my Treasury of the True Dharma Eye would be extinguished by this blind donkey?”

Master Tiantong chanted:

“At midnight, the robe and bowl were transmitted to Huineng,

Throwing Huangmei’s seven hundred monks into turmoil.

One branch of Linji, the True Dharma Eye—

Extinguished by a blind donkey; where can one find an attainer?

Mind seals mind;

Patriarch after patriarch transmits the lamp.

Encompassing mountains and seas,

Transforming like the great peng bird.

Only those names and words are difficult to fathom;

All are methods for soaring free!”

At this point, even the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye is said to remain or be extinguished—how much more so that heavenly eye?

VIII. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE NOSE FACULTY

Sutra: Cudapanthaka then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “I was deficient in recitation and retention and had no capacity for extensive learning. When I first encountered the Buddha, heard the Dharma, and left the household life, I tried for a hundred days to memorize one verse of the Tathagata. When I remembered the beginning, I forgot the end; when I remembered the end, I forgot the beginning.

The Buddha took pity on my dullness and instructed me to dwell in seclusion and regulate my inhalations and exhalations. I contemplated my breath and investigated to their utmost subtlety the characteristics of arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing in all formations during each ksana. My mind suddenly attained great unobstructedness, until all outflows were exhausted and I became an arhat.

Before the Buddha’s Dharma seat, I was certified as having attained the fruition beyond learning.

“The Buddha asks me about perfect penetration. According to what I realized, turning the breath back into emptiness is foremost.”

Commentary: This is the bhiksu who memorized the word “broom.” In a past life, he was a Dharma teacher who was miserly with the Dharma, and therefore received the karmic retribution of dullness. Although he had little learning, he was also subject to little distraction, and thus could penetrate through regulating the breath. The coarseness and subtlety of the breath arise from the arising and ceasing of the mind.

As the mind gradually comes to rest, the breath gradually becomes subtle. Mind and breath depend upon one another. When one investigates to their utmost the characteristics of arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing, as well as the extremely subtle characteristics of all formations within each ksana, breath becomes no-breath, and mind becomes no-mind.

Within a single ksana, one penetrates the Vajra Ground of Dry Wisdom and thereby suddenly attains unobstructedness. This realm of awakening cannot be reached by language or thought.

Long ago, when Minister Mo Xiang served as an official in Western Shu, he paid a visit to Chan Master Nantan Xing and asked about the essential point of mind. The Patriarch told him to maintain mindful awareness in a fitting place. Just as he entered the latrine, he suddenly smelled the stench and hurriedly covered his nose with his hand, whereupon he abruptly awakened. He immediately presented this verse:

“My innate disposition has always delighted in elegant refinement;

How laughable that anyone should seek it outside.

Amid ten thousand differences and a thousand distinctions, nowhere can it be found;

What has existed from the beginning is attained at the tip of the nose.”

Patriarch Nantan replied:

“When one Dharma is penetrated, every Dharma is thus;

Why still seek wondrous function vertically and horizontally?

The green snake escapes the box, and the demon armies submit;

The blue-eyed foreign monk smiles and nods his head.”

This, too, was turning the breath back into emptiness and thereby suddenly attaining realization. He could meet face-to-face with the bhiksu who recited the word “broom”!

IX. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE TONGUE FACULTY

Sutra: Kauṇḍinya [Gavāṃpati] then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “I incurred karma of speech because, in a past kalpa, I disparaged and mocked a śramaṇa; therefore, throughout life after life and kalpa after kalpa, I suffered from the affliction of ruminating like an ox. The Tathagata instructed me in the Dharma-door of the ‘One Flavor of the Pure Mind-Ground.’ I extinguished discriminating consciousness and entered samadhi.

Contemplating and knowing that flavor was neither the body nor an object, I immediately transcended all worldly outflows. Inwardly, I was entirely liberated from body and mind; outwardly, the world dissolved and vanished. I departed from the three realms like a bird released from its cage, became utterly free of defilement, and dissolved the characteristics of sense-objects.

My Dharma-eye became pure, and I attained arhatship. The Tathagata certified that I had attained the path beyond learning.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to what I realized, returning flavor and turning awareness back to the source of its nature is foremost.”

Commentary: Gavāṃpati’s tongue differed from that of ordinary people, yet he was able to discern flavors. He suffered from the affliction of ruminating like an ox; an ox is an animal that knows only grasses and plants. Although the form of his tongue now resembled that of an ox, he could clearly distinguish all flavors because of the tongue faculty at its root.

When one contemplates flavors and turns awareness back upon itself, flavors are many, but this awareness is not dual. Before this awareness is turned back, discriminating consciousness has not been extinguished; this is the state of outflows. When awareness is turned back toward emptiness, there is knowing without anything known; therefore, it is without outflows.

This awareness is not produced by the faculty, and thus it is not the body; it does not arise from an object, and thus it is not a thing. Because it is not the body, inwardly he was entirely liberated from body and mind; because it is not a thing, outwardly the world dissolved and vanished. Thus, he departed from the defiled mind, dissolved external sense-objects, attained a mind-made body, constantly dwelt in the heavenly realms, and received offerings from humans and devas.

Wishing to eradicate the karma of mockery, the Buddha gave him a string of jeweled beads and taught him to be mindful of the Buddha, calling this the Dharma-door of the ‘One Flavor of the Pure Mind-Ground.’ The karma created by the tongue faculty from beginningless time was immediately purified. He thereby attained the mind of quiescent cessation, entered the samadhi of equality, and thus tasted the flavor of the Way.

Master Yangshan brought fruit to Patriarch Guishan.

The Patriarch accepted it and asked, “Where did this come from?”

Master Yangshan said, “From the monastery garden.”

Patriarch Guishan said, “Have you eaten any yet?”

He replied, “I did not dare taste it; I first offer it to the Venerable.”

The Patriarch said, “Who is that?”

Master Yangshan said, “It is Huiji.”

The Patriarch said, “Since it is you, why do you tell me to taste it first?”

Master Yangshan said, “The Venerable has tasted it a thousand times, ten thousand times.”

Patriarch Guishan then ate it and said, “It is still sour and astringent.”

Master Yangshan said, “Though sour and astringent, it is still known by oneself.”

Patriarch Guishan said nothing.

On another occasion, Patriarch Xuansha and Military Commissioner Wei were eating fruit together.

Commissioner Wei asked, “What does it mean to use it every day without knowing it?”

Patriarch Sha picked up a piece of fruit, held it out, and said, “Eat.”

After Commissioner Wei had eaten the fruit, he asked again.

Patriarch Sha said, “That very thing is using it every day without knowing it!”

Master Yangshan spoke of knowing by oneself. Master Xuansha spoke of not knowing. This is knowing without knowing and not knowing yet knowing. “Returning flavor and turning awareness back to the source of its nature” must be seen and known in this way; only then is it called the Pure Dharma-eye.

X. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE BODY FACULTY

Sutra: Pilindavatsa then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “When I first resolved to follow the Buddha and enter the Way, I often heard the Tathagata teach about the things in this world in which no delight can be found. Once, while I was begging for alms in the city and contemplating the Dharma-door taught by the Buddha as I walked along the road, a poisonous thorn suddenly pierced my foot, and my entire body was in pain.

In my mind I was aware of that pain; yet although I knew the pain, I also knew that the pure mind contained neither pain nor an awareness subject to pain. I then reflected: could it be that within this one body there are two kinds of awareness? Before long, as I gathered in my mind, body and mind suddenly became empty.

Within twenty-one days, all outflows were extinguished. I attained arhatship, and the Buddha certified me as one beyond learning.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to what I realized, becoming solely the nature of awareness and dissolving the body is foremost.”

Commentary: Pilindavatsa called the river goddess a “servant girl” [Servant girl: a female slave. The Elder Pilindavatsa often suffered from pain in his eyes. When going out to beg for alms, he frequently had to cross the Ganges.

Upon reaching the riverbank, he would snap his fingers and say, “Little servant girl, stop; do not flow.” The water would immediately divide in two so that he could cross. The goddess of the Ganges went to the Buddha and said, “The Buddha’s disciple Pilindavatsa often insults me, saying: ‘Little servant girl, stop; do not flow.’” The Buddha instructed Pilindavatsa to apologize and express remorse to the goddess of the Ganges.

Pilindavatsa immediately joined his palms and said to the river goddess, “Little servant girl, I now repent and apologize to you.” The assembly burst into laughter. They said, “How can you still insult her while apologizing?” The Buddha told the goddess of the Ganges, “Did you see Pilindavatsa join his palms, repent, and apologize? His repentance and apology contained no arrogance; only his manner of speech remained.

You should know that he is not malicious. For five hundred lifetimes, this man was repeatedly reborn into brahmin families. He always relied upon his noble status and looked down upon those of low station; this is an old habitual tendency.

It remains only in his speech; in his heart there is no arrogance or presumption. Arhats are also like this: although they have severed all bonds, compulsions, and impulses, residual traces of old habits may still remain”]. Because he had acquired aristocratic habits in previous lives, in the present he could not relinquish attachment to the body.

Therefore, when a poisonous thorn pierced his foot and his entire body was in pain, he awakened and entered realization through it.

Although there was awareness that knew the pain, this awareness was the Pure Mind, apart from subject and object, and pain could not reach it. Pain was what was known, and awareness was capable of knowing it. Awareness was that which could know, and pain could not cause it pain. One experienced pain, while the other did not. If one knew both that there was pain and that there was no pain, could there then be two kinds of awareness within one body?

Awareness is solely the one truth; the knowing of pain is delusion. Therefore, he gathered his mind in contemplation: outwardly he forgot the body, and all that was known vanished; inwardly he forgot the mind, and that which could know also dissolved. Body and mind suddenly became empty, and he immediately realized the state beyond learning. Only the single Pure Awareness remained, and thus it is called becoming solely the nature of awareness. Within Pure Awareness, subject and object are both left far behind. Only then does the body dissolve; once the body has dissolved, one is immediately liberated from all the things in this world in which no delight can be found.

Long ago, the Fourth Patriarch Upagupta encountered a man attached to the view of a self inherent in the body who asked to be delivered.

The Patriarch said, “If you seek the Dharma of deliverance, you must trust my words and not disobey my instructions.”

The man said, “Since I have come to seek a teacher, I must heed your admonitions.”

The Patriarch then conjured a precipitous mountain cliff, with a tall tree protruding from its summit. He instructed the man to climb the tree. Beneath the tree, he then conjured a vast pit a thousand fathoms deep and wide. The Patriarch instructed him to let go with his feet. The man obeyed and released both feet. He instructed him to let go with one hand, and the man released one hand. He then instructed him to release the other hand, but the man replied, “If I also release the other hand, I will fall into the pit and die.”

The Patriarch said, “You previously promised to obey my instructions; why do you now disobey me?”

At that moment, the man’s attachment to cherishing his body was extinguished. He released his hand and fell, but then saw neither tree nor pit. He immediately realized the fruition of the Way.

When Master Xuansha first wished to travel throughout the land in search of spiritual teachers, he shouldered his bundle and left the mountain. He stubbed his toe, drawing blood and causing intense pain.

He sighed, “This body does not truly exist; from where does the pain arise?”

He then returned to Patriarch Xuefeng.

Patriarch Xuefeng asked, “What is the ascetic Xuansha Shibei?”

He said, “Throughout my life, I have never dared deceive anyone.”

On another day, the Patriarch called him over and asked, “Ascetic Bei, why do you not travel everywhere to seek instruction?”

He said, “Bodhidharma did not come to the Eastern Land, and the Second Patriarch did not go to the Western Heaven.”

The Patriarch acknowledged him.

When Master Yunmen first went to see Patriarch Muzhou, the moment Patriarch Zhou saw him, he shut the door. Master Yunmen then knocked.

Patriarch Zhou asked, “Who is it?”

He replied, “It is I.”

The Patriarch said, “What are you doing?”

Muzhou said, “I have not yet understood my own matter; I beg you, Master, to instruct me.”

Patriarch Zhou opened the door, took one look, and immediately shut it again. Thus Yunmen continued knocking for three consecutive days. On the third day, Patriarch Zhou opened the door, and Yunmen pushed his way inside. Patriarch Zhou seized him and held him fast, shouting, “Speak! Speak!”

As Yunmen hesitated in thought, Patriarch Zhou pushed him out, saying, “You utterly useless thing!”

He then slammed the door, trapping one of Yunmen’s feet. Yunmen instantly attained thorough awakening.

The Patriarch directed him to seek instruction from Xuefeng.

Masters Xuansha and Yunmen were likewise reappearances of Pilindavatsa! As for me, although my foot also hurts, my habitual tendencies still refuse to be eliminated.

XI. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE MIND FACULTY

Sutra: Subhuti then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said, “From measureless kalpas until now, my mind has been unobstructed. I can remember my rebirths through as many kalpas as there are sands in the Ganges. Even while in my mother’s womb, I already knew the nature of empty quiescence.

Thus, even the ten directions were entirely empty, and I also enabled sentient beings to realize the nature of emptiness. Through the Tathagata’s revelation that the nature of awareness is true emptiness, the nature of emptiness became perfectly luminous, and I attained arhatship. At once I entered the Tathagata’s radiant and precious Sea of Emptiness, sharing the Buddha’s knowledge and vision, and was certified as one beyond learning.

In liberation through the nature of emptiness, I am foremost.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to my realization, when all characteristics enter non-characteristics, and both negation and that which is negated are extinguished, one turns all dharmas back to emptiness. This is foremost.”

Commentary: For measureless kalpas, Subhuti had understood the nature of emptiness, but he knew only how to incline toward emptiness. Only when the Buddha revealed that the nature of awareness is true emptiness did he understand that emptiness arises within Great Awakening just as a bubble arises in the vast ocean. Hence it is called the radiant and precious Sea of Emptiness. Inclining toward emptiness is not complete; true emptiness is complete. Inclining toward emptiness is not yet liberation; true emptiness is itself liberation. Without sudden entry into true emptiness, one remains within the vision of the Two Vehicles and does not yet share the Buddha’s knowledge and vision.

When all characteristics enter non-characteristics, at first there is only simple emptiness, meaning that characteristics are rendered empty. When both negation and that which is negated have been completely extinguished, one next empties emptiness itself—that is, even the characteristic of emptiness is made empty. First one turns characteristics back to emptiness, and then turns all dharmas back to emptiness.

Both the characteristic of a self and the characteristic of dharmas are empty; thus one returns to the radiant and precious Sea of Emptiness, like sitting peacefully in the mountains and beholding the Dharma-body of the Tathagata. The Buddha also said, “Subhuti was the first to behold my Dharma-body.” This is one point by which it may be verified that he shared the Buddha’s knowledge and vision.

A monk named Zhichang went to see the Sixth Patriarch.

The Patriarch asked, “Where have you come from, and what do you seek?”

He replied, “Recently, I went to Baifeng Mountain in Hongzhou and bowed before Venerable Datong. He instructed me in the meaning of seeing one’s nature and becoming a Buddha, but I have not been able to resolve my doubts. I have come from afar to pay my respects, hoping that the Venerable Master will instruct me.”

The Patriarch said, “What did that master say? Try to recount it for me.”

He replied, “I, Zhichang, went there and remained for three months without receiving any instruction. Because I was earnest in seeking the Dharma, one night I went alone into the abbot’s quarters and asked:

“‘What are my Original Mind and Original Nature?’

“Master Datong then said, ‘Do you see empty space?’

“I replied, ‘Yes, I see it.’

“He asked, ‘Does the empty space you see have any form or appearance?’

“I replied, ‘Empty space is formless; how could it have any appearance?’

“Master Datong said, ‘You should regard the Original Nature as being like empty space. Ultimately, there is not a single thing to be seen; this is called right vision. There is not a single thing to be known; this is called true knowledge. There is neither blue nor yellow, long nor short. Simply behold the fundamentally pure source and the perfectly full and luminous essence of awareness. This is called seeing one’s nature and becoming a Buddha; it is also called the knowledge and vision of the Tathagata.’ Although this student of the Way heard this teaching, I still have not understood it with certainty. I beg the Venerable Master to instruct me.”

The Patriarch said, “That master’s teaching still remains within knowledge and views; hence you have not understood. I shall now give you a verse:

“‘Seeing not a single dharma still retains a not-seeing,

Truly like drifting clouds that obscure the sun.

Knowing not a single dharma is clinging to not-knowing,

Again like lightning flashing through the vast sky.

The moment such knowledge and vision arise,

Mistaking them, how can one ever understand skillful means?

Within a single thought, know for yourself what is Not,

Then your own numinous light will ever clearly shine.’

After Zhichang heard the verse, his mind suddenly opened into emptiness, and he presented this verse:

“‘Groundlessly giving rise to knowledge and vision,

Clinging to characteristics, seeking bodhi;

While one thought of “awakening” still remains,

How can one escape the delusion of old?

The original essence of the self-nature’s awareness,

Following reflections, vainly flows through birth and death.

Had I not entered the Patriarch’s chamber,

I would have run, bewildered, between the two extremes.’

Thus it may be said that with “a single thought knowing what is Not,” both the Not and that which is the locus of the Not are completely extinguished. From Aniruddha up to this point are five sages. They spoke of turning seeing around, drawing the breath back to its source, returning flavor, and turning dharmas back to their origin—all of which mean going against the current and returning to the One. Thus they realized perfect penetration through the six faculties. Avalokiteshvara’s reversal of hearing is recounted separately from these because it is the supreme fruition of perfect penetration, close to the stage of Buddhahood, and is therefore placed last.

XII. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH EYE-CONSCIOUSNESS

Sutra: Shariputra then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said, “For many kalpas, the seeing that arises from my mind has been pure. Thus I underwent rebirths through as many kalpas as there are sands in the Ganges. All the manifold transformations of worldly and world-transcending dharmas were thoroughly understood within a single act of seeing, without obstruction.

On the road I encountered Kashyapa. We were of one mind as brothers, and when he spoke the Dharma of causes and conditions, I awakened to the boundless mind and left the household life to follow the Buddha. The nature of awareness, perpetually seeing, became perfectly full and radiant.

I attained great fearlessness, became an arhat, and became the Buddha’s eldest son, born from the Buddha’s mouth and transformationally born from the Dharma.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. According to my realization, when the mind’s seeing emits light and that light reaches the utmost knowledge and vision, this is foremost.”

Commentary: While Shariputra was still in his mother’s womb, his mother’s skill in debate became more brilliant than that of her younger brother. His maternal uncle said, “When this child is born, his wisdom will be unrivaled.” He then went to southern India to study the teachings and had no leisure even to trim his fingernails; he became the Long-Nailed Bhikshu.

At the age of nine, Shariputra had already defeated everyone in debate, and the king of the country held him in the highest esteem. He became friends with Maudgalyayana, and they pledged that if either obtained the ambrosial flavor of the true Dharma, he would share it with the other.

On the road, Maudgalyayana encountered the bhikshu Ashvajit and asked, “What Dharma does your teacher expound?”

Ashvajit replied, “Dharmas arise in dependence upon conditions, and dharmas cease in dependence upon conditions; my teacher, the Great Shramana, always teaches in this way.”

Maudgalyayana attained illumination and realized the First Fruit; he hastened to inform Shariputra, who, upon hearing it, also realized the First Fruit.

The two of them went together to pay their respects to the Buddha. Seeing them from afar, the Buddha told the assembly: “These are my two great disciples: one is foremost in wisdom, and the other is foremost in spiritual powers.”

Venerable Shariputra’s mind-seeing was exceptionally keen and lucid. After following the Buddha into monastic life, he thoroughly comprehended the Buddhadharma in seven days and attained arhatship within fifteen days. He was therefore called Foremost in Wisdom and became the Buddha’s chief disciple. The mind’s seeing belongs neither to the faculty nor to consciousness; thus, it can emit radiance from within, illuminating all seeing and knowing. When the awakened nature of seeing is perfectly full and luminous, one attains Great Fearlessness. Before seeing becomes lucid, there are doubt and fear. Yet Shariputra had already attained fearlessness in debate at the age of nine; now that he had thoroughly comprehended the whole Buddhadharma, it was called Great Fearlessness.

When Chan Master Changqing Huileng first met the Patriarch Xuefeng, he asked: “The single path transmitted by the sages since ancient times—Master, please reveal it to me.” Patriarch Xuefeng remained silent for a long while. Huileng then bowed and withdrew. Patriarch Xuefeng smiled.

For twenty years he went back and forth between Patriarch Xuefeng and Xuansha, wearing out seven meditation cushions through seated meditation, yet he still did not understand this matter. One day, as he rolled up a bamboo blind, he suddenly attained great awakening and composed this verse:

“What a great mistake! What a great mistake!

Rolling up the bamboo blind, I behold all beneath heaven.

Should anyone ask what school this is,

I shall take up the whisk and strike him on the mouth.”

Patriarch Xuefeng said to Patriarch Xuansha: “He has penetrated it completely.”

Xuansha said: “Not necessarily. This is merely a report fashioned by conceptual consciousness; he must be examined again.”

That evening, when the monks came to pay their respects, the Patriarch said to Huileng: “Head-Dhuta Bei does not yet accept you. If you have truly awakened, speak before the assembly!”

Huileng then composed another verse:

“Amid the myriad forms, the solitary body stands revealed;

Only one who recognizes it for oneself can draw near.

In former days, deluded, I sought a path by which to reach it;

Today, within the fire, I see ice.”

Patriarch Xuefeng turned to Patriarch Xuansha and said: “This cannot be a composition of conceptual consciousness!”

Ah! To see ice within fire is penetrating vision, unobstructed and free. Chan Master Huileng may indeed be said to have possessed the eye.

XIII. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH EAR-CONSCIOUSNESS

Sutra: Bodhisattva Samantabhadra arose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “I have served as a Dharma Prince under Tathagatas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. The Tathagatas of the ten directions instruct disciples with the capacity of bodhisattvas to cultivate the Practices of Samantabhadra, which are named after me.

“World-Honored One, I use the mind’s hearing to discern all the seeing and knowing of sentient beings. If, in some other direction, beyond worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, a sentient being resolves in their mind to undertake the Practices of Samantabhadra, then at that very moment I mount a six-tusked elephant and manifest hundreds or thousands of transformation bodies to reach that person. Even if that person’s karmic obstructions remain deep and heavy, so that they cannot yet see me, I still secretly rub their crown, protect, support, and console them, enabling them to attain accomplishment.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. I say that my original cause was to illuminate the mind’s hearing and discern freely and at ease. This is foremost.”

Commentary: Practice extending throughout the Dharma realm is called Universal, and a station close to Buddhahood is called Worthy. Samantabhadra, having already realized fruition, recounts that his original cause was to illuminate the mind’s hearing, thereby becoming free and at ease in every discernment. The entire Dharma realm is open and empty like space; there is nowhere the mind’s hearing does not reach.

He clearly knows those who cultivate the Practices of Samantabhadra and protects and supports them. Within this clear knowing is a kind of Samadhi of Sovereign Freedom, without the slightest deliberate contrivance. Because he has realized the Dharma-body, he pervades the entire Dharma realm; wherever a thought has just arisen, his practices and vows are immediately present.

This is the unobstructed virtue and function in which essence is function and function is essence; therefore, it is called Sovereign Freedom.

Avalokiteshvara turned the hearing back through the ear faculty and thereby brought quiescent cessation into immediate presence. Samantabhadra illuminated it through ear-consciousness and thereby attained sovereign freedom in discernment. To say “immediate presence” does not mean that discernment has ever been absent. To say “sovereign freedom” does not mean that quiescent cessation has ever been absent. In truth, there is no superiority or inferiority between the realizations of these two sages.

Master Tanyi initially entered Mount Lu and studied under Master Huiyuan. He later returned to Kuaiji, dwelt on Mount Qinwang, and recited the Lotus Sutra. After twelve years, he moved Bodhisattva Samantabhadra to appear in the form of a woman dressed in colored garments, carrying a bamboo basket, a white pig, and two bulbs of garlic.

She came before him and said: “I entered the mountains to gather bracken. The sun is already setting, and wolves and tigers roam everywhere. It would be difficult to return alive, so I beg leave to stay here for one night.” He firmly refused, but the young woman wept and pleaded without ceasing, so he allowed her to rest on a grass bed.

At midnight, she cried out with abdominal pain and asked him to massage her. To uphold the precepts, he refused to touch her with his hand. The young woman cried out ever more intensely.

He then wrapped cloth around his khakkhara staff and, standing at a distance, used it to massage her. The following morning, the young woman’s garments transformed into auspicious clouds, the pig became a white elephant, and the two bulbs of garlic became two lotus blossoms. She rose into the air and said: “I am Bodhisattva Samantabhadra.

I came to test you.”

The local prefect, Meng Yi, reported this to the emperor, who ordered the construction of the Lotus Monastery. This story is also similar to the account of Avalokiteshvara testing Wu Daozi.

The instances of Samantabhadra dividing his body to manifest, rubbing people’s crowns, and comforting them are beyond reckoning. Since such things occur in China, one may know that they likewise occur beyond worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.

A monk asked Patriarch Changsha: “Why did the youth Sudhana journey through the worlds within Bodhisattva Samantabhadra’s body for immeasurable kalpas without ever traversing them all?”

Patriarch Changsha said: “Since immeasurable kalpas ago, have you managed to journey through them all?”

The monk asked: “What is the body of Samantabhadra like?”

Patriarch Changsha said: “Inside the Hanyuan Hall, you are still running about in search of Chang’an!”

On another occasion, a monk took leave of Patriarch Dasui.

The Patriarch asked: “Where are you going?”

The monk replied: “To Mount Emei to pay homage to Samantabhadra.”

Patriarch Dasui held his whisk upright and said: “Manjushri and Samantabhadra are right here within this!”

The monk drew a circle and tossed it behind his back.

Patriarch Dasui said: “Attendant! Bring this monk another serving of tea!”

Master Tiantong composed this verse:

“Knowing the Dharma, one is circumspect;

Underestimating the adversary, one is lost.

To distinguish milk from water,

It must be the king of geese!”

XIV. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH NOSE-CONSCIOUSNESS

Sutra: Sundarananda then arose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “When I first left home and followed the Buddha into the Way, although I fully observed the precepts, my mind was often scattered and agitated in samadhi, and I had not yet attained the unconditioned state. The World-Honored One instructed Mahakausthila and me to contemplate the white spot at the tip of the nose. When I first undertook this contemplation, after three periods of seven days, I saw the breath entering and leaving my nostrils like smoke.

My body and mind became inwardly luminous, open, and transparent, pervading the whole world; everything became empty, bright, and pure, like vaidurya. The appearance of smoke gradually disappeared, and the breath became white. When my mind opened and awakened and all outflows were exhausted, the inhalations and exhalations transformed into rays of light illuminating the worlds throughout the ten directions.

I attained arhatship, and the World-Honored One bestowed upon me the prediction that I would attain bodhi.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. I caused the breath to disappear; after prolonged stillness, luminosity arose. When that luminosity became perfect and all-pervading, all outflows were extinguished. This is foremost.”

Commentary: Nanda was the Buddha’s younger brother. Because he was deeply attached to his wife, his mind was constantly distracted. The Buddha employed many skillful means to discipline him, enabling him to attain fruition.

First, regulating the breath relies upon the sense faculty: proceeding from the coarse into the subtle, and from the subtle into emptiness—this is the turning back of the sense faculties. This contemplation of the white spot at the nostrils relies upon consciousness. At first the breath resembles smoke; next it becomes white; finally it becomes radiant light.

This arises from consciousness. Why does the breath in the nostrils become like smoke? The breath arises from wind and fire and stirs the turbidity of afflictions; therefore, its appearance resembles smoke.

When pure contemplation begins to shine, body and mind become empty and transparent, and the turbidity of afflictions gradually dissolves; therefore, the breath at the nostrils becomes white. When the mind opens to awakening, all outflows are exhausted and no afflictions remain; the inner luminosity then shines forth, and one sees the world as though it were made of lapis lazuli. Would the breath not then become radiant light?

These two methods are regarded by Daoist practitioners of life cultivation as esoteric transmissions; yet if one realizes them through the perfect penetration of a sense faculty, would they not be seeds of Buddhahood?

Long ago, when Master Baizhang was walking with Patriarch Mazu, they saw a flock of wild ducks flying past.

The Patriarch asked, “What is that?”

Baizhang replied, “Wild ducks.”

The Patriarch asked, “Where have they gone?”

Baizhang replied, “They have flown past.”

The Patriarch then seized Baizhang by the nose and twisted it hard. Baizhang cried out in pain.

The Patriarch said, “And you still say they have flown past?”

Baizhang immediately awakened. He returned to the attendants’ quarters and wept aloud in anguish.

Another attendant asked, “Are you thinking of your parents?”

He replied, “No.”

The attendant asked, “Has someone scolded you?”

He replied, “No.”

The attendant asked, “Then why are you crying?”

He replied, “The great master twisted my nose so painfully, yet I have not penetrated it.”

The attendant asked, “What condition was it that you could not accord with?”

He replied, “Go and ask the great master yourself!”

That attendant went and asked Mazu, “What condition did the attendant Huaihai Baizhang fail to accord with? He is crying in his room. Venerable Master, please tell me!”

The great master said, “He understands it. Go and ask him yourself.”

The attendant returned to the room and said to Baizhang, “The Venerable Master says that you understand, and told me to come back and ask you myself.”

Baizhang burst into hearty laughter.

The attendant said, “You were crying just now; why are you laughing now?”

Baizhang said, “Just then I was crying; now I am laughing!”

The attendant could make no sense of it.

The next day, Mazu ascended the teaching seat. Just as the assembly had gathered, Baizhang stepped forward and rolled up the sitting mat. The Patriarch then descended from the seat. Baizhang followed him to the abbot’s quarters. The Patriarch said, “Just now, before I had even uttered a word, why did you roll up the mat?”

Baizhang replied, “Yesterday the Venerable Master twisted my nose so painfully!”

The Patriarch asked, “Where did you direct your attention yesterday?”

Baizhang replied, “Today my nose no longer hurts.”

The Patriarch said, “You truly understand yesterday’s affair.”

Master Baizhang bowed and withdrew.

Master Xuedou composed this verse:

“The wild ducks—what can be known of them?

Mazu had scarcely seen them when they spoke together.

Exhausting mountains and clouds, the ocean moon, and all feeling,

As before, failing to understand, away they flew.

Would they fly away?

Seize them and hold them fast.

Speak! Speak!”

Even if there is someone capable of speaking, it must be like Baizhang’s painfully twisted nose, yet still not thoroughly penetrated; only then can radiant light illuminate the worlds of the ten directions and perfect penetration be suddenly realized.

XV. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH TONGUE-CONSCIOUSNESS

Sutra: Purnamaitrayaniputra then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said, “For countless kalpas, I have possessed unobstructed eloquence, expounding suffering and emptiness and thoroughly penetrating the true characteristic of reality. Thus, even regarding the secret Dharma gates of Tathagatas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, I have always given subtle and wondrous instruction within the assembly and attained fearlessness.

The Blessed One knew that I possessed great eloquence, and therefore instructed me to proclaim the Dharma through the sound of the Dharma wheel. In the Buddha’s presence, I assisted the Buddha in turning the Dharma wheel. Through raising the lion’s roar, I became an arhat.

The Blessed One certified me as foremost among all those who expound the Dharma.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. I used the sound of the Dharma to subdue demons and adherents of heterodox paths and to extinguish all outflows. This is the foremost method.”

Commentary: Here, the tongue faculty is used to proclaim the perfection of its twelve hundred merits; therefore, the tasting of flavors is not used to reveal tongue-consciousness. Clearly knowing that suffering has no characteristic of suffering and emptiness has no characteristic of emptiness is called profoundly penetrating the true characteristic of reality. To expound the true characteristic of reality precisely within suffering and emptiness is the secret Dharma gate.

Because his subtle and wondrous instruction penetrated freely to the source of the Dharma, he attained fearlessness. The Buddha responds to beings without obstruction by means of the three Dharma wheels of body, speech, and mind. Purna used only the Dharma wheel of sound and became an arhat.

Inwardly, he extinguished all outflows and secretly realized the true characteristic of reality; outwardly, he extensively expounded the secret Dharma, subduing demons and adherents of heterodox paths. His unobstructed eloquence made him foremost among expounders of the Dharma; all this arose from attaining perfect penetration through tongue-consciousness.

The lecturer Liang went to see Master Mazu. The Patriarch said, “I hear that you are thoroughly versed in lecturing on sutras and treatises. Is that so?”

Master Liang said, “Yes, though I dare not claim so.”

The Patriarch asked, “With what do you lecture?”

Master Liang replied, “I lecture with the mind.”

The Patriarch said, “The mind is like a skilled musician, and thought is like a singer who accompanies him. How could they lecture on the sutras?”

Master Liang retorted, “If the mind cannot lecture, could empty space possibly lecture?”

The Patriarch said, “Yet empty space can lecture!”

Master Liang would not accept this and turned to leave.

Just as he descended the steps, Master Mazu called loudly, “Lecturer!”

Master Liang turned his head and suddenly attained great awakening. He then bowed in homage.

The Patriarch said, “You dull-witted teacher, what are you bowing for?”

Master Liang returned to his monastery and told his audience, “In lecturing on the sutras, no one could rival me; yet today, when the great master Mazu questioned me with a single sentence, all the work I had cultivated until now dissolved like melting ice.”

He then entered the Western Mountains and left no trace.

Was this not the extinguishing of all outflows?

Chan Master Pan’an Cheng said before the assembly, “Good people! You should know that when I now give a single shout, it can penetrate all five teachings.”

After remaining silent for a moment, he gave a loud shout and asked, “Did you hear it?”

The assembly replied, “We heard it.”

The Chan master said, “Since you have now heard this single shout, it is existence; thus, this enters the Teaching of the Lesser Vehicle.”

He then asked, “Do you hear it now?”

They replied, “We do not hear it.”

The Chan master said, “Since you do not hear it now, this single shout is emptiness; thus, this enters the Initial Teaching of the Mahayana. When I first shouted, you said that it existed; once the shout ended and the sound vanished, you said that it was empty. Yet to say that it is empty means that it previously existed; to say that it existed means that it is now empty.

Thus, it is neither existent nor empty, and this enters the Final Teaching of the Mahayana. When I shout, existence is not truly existence; it exists by virtue of emptiness. When I do not shout, emptiness is not truly emptiness; it is empty by virtue of existence.

This is existence precisely as emptiness and emptiness precisely as existence, and it enters the Sudden Teaching. Within a single shout, I do not give rise to the function of shouting; thus existence and emptiness are not established, and both awakening and understanding disappear. When speaking of existence, not even a hair-tip is established.

When speaking of emptiness, it pervades all of empty space. This single shout itself is hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of shouts. Hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of shouts are precisely this one shout.

This enters the Perfect Teaching.”

Such formidable arguments compel all who hear them to submit. Would this not subdue hostile demons?

XVI. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH BODY-CONSCIOUSNESS

Sutra: Upali then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “I personally followed the Buddha when he left the city and renounced the household life, and I myself witnessed the Buddha diligently practicing austerities for six years. I personally saw the Tathagata subdue the maras, overcome the non-Buddhist practitioners, and free himself from the worldly outflows of craving and desire. Through the Buddha’s instruction in the Vinaya, including the three thousand forms of dignified conduct and the eighty thousand subtle practices, both offenses evil by nature and offenses arising from prohibition were purified, and my body and mind became quiescent; thus I became an arhat.

I am a model within the Tathagata’s assembly. The Buddha certified that I am foremost in the assembly in maintaining the precepts with body and mind.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. By first guarding the body, I attained mastery of the body; next, by guarding the mind, the mind became completely penetrating. Thereafter, both body and mind became thoroughly penetrating and keenly responsive. This is foremost.”

Commentary: During the Tathagata’s six years of diligent austerities, he accomplished everything that non-Buddhist practitioners were unable to do. Therefore, he could subdue the non-Buddhist practitioners, free himself from the worldly outflows of craving and desire, and remain beyond the disturbance of deviant maras. Even all their weapons were transformed into lotus flowers, and thus the maras submitted.

This was entirely because his body upheld the practices of the precepts, perfectly fulfilling all three thousand and eighty thousand without exception; therefore, deviant maras and non-Buddhist practitioners joined their palms and praised him in submission. Walking, standing, lying down, and sitting each have two hundred and fifty forms. In relation to the three groups of pure precepts, these become three thousand.

These three thousand are further correlated with the three bodily acts [killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct] and the four verbal acts [false speech, divisive speech, harsh speech, and frivolous speech], making seven branches and thus twenty-one thousand. These are further correlated with the four divisions of afflictions, making eighty-four thousand. The Buddha established this Vinaya as the precept-practice of shramanas, causing both body and mind to become pure.

The nature of the four defiling transgressions—killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and false speech—is inherently culpable. They do not depend upon prohibition; committing them immediately creates karma, and therefore they are called offenses evil by nature. The remaining offenses were prohibited only after someone committed them.

Before the prohibitions were established, committing them was not an offense, and therefore they are called offenses arising from prohibition. When both kinds of karmic offense are entirely eliminated, emptiness and quiescence are immediately attained.

At first, by guarding the body, the body attains mastery; this is called the purification of offenses evil by nature. Next, by guarding the mind, the mind becomes completely penetrating; this is called the purification of offenses arising from prohibition. One guards the body and then the mind. The mind is the body of consciousness; when consciousness of the body has ceased, true wisdom manifests directly before one’s eyes. Pure precepts are wisdom, and thus the foremost path is attained. This is why Upali was foremost in keeping the precepts and served as a model within the assembly. When both body and mind become thoroughly penetrating and keenly responsive, one has entered realization; how could it be merely a matter of guarding the body alone?

The Venerable Vasubandhu [whose name is translated as “Pervasive Practice”] ordinarily ate only one meal a day, never lay down, paid homage to the Buddha during all six periods of the day, was pure and free from desire, and served as a refuge for the assembly.

The Twentieth Patriarch, the Venerable Jayata, wished to liberate him. He first asked that assembly: “This dhutanga practitioner, Pervasive Practice, is skilled in cultivating the pure conduct. Can he attain the Buddha Way?”

The assembly said: “Our teacher is diligent and vigorous; how could he not attain it?”

The Patriarch said: “Your teacher is far removed from the Way. Even if he were to practice austerities for kalpas as numerous as motes of dust, they would still be rooted in delusion.”

The assembly said: “What virtues has the Venerable accumulated that you should pass judgment upon our teacher?”

The Patriarch said: “I do not seek the Way, nor am I inverted. I do not bow to the Buddha, nor am I arrogant. I do not sit constantly, nor am I indolent. I do not eat only one meal, nor do I eat at irregular times. I am not content with little, yet neither do I crave or desire. When the mind has nothing it seeks, that is called the Way.”

At that moment, when Pervasive Practice heard this, undefiled wisdom immediately arose in him, and he joyfully offered praise.

The Patriarch then said to that assembly: “Do you understand my words? I acted as I did because this man’s mind was intensely set upon seeking the Way. A lute string stretched too tightly will snap; therefore, I did not praise him, but instead helped him abide in the state of peace and bliss and enter the wisdom of all Buddhas.”

The Patriarch then said to Pervasive Practice: “Just now, before the assembly, I oppressed and humiliated you. Were you not distressed at heart?”

Pervasive Practice said: “I recall that seven lifetimes ago I was born in the Land of Everlasting Peace and Bliss. My teacher, the wise Moon-Pure, bestowed a prediction upon me that I would soon attain the fruit of once-returning. At that time, the Bodhisattva Great Radiance appeared in the world. Because I was already old, I leaned upon a staff when I went to bow before him.

“My teacher rebuked me, saying: ‘You honor the son but slight the father. How can you be so crude?’

“At that time, I believed I had committed no fault and asked my teacher to instruct me.

“My teacher said: ‘When you bowed to the Bodhisattva Great Radiance, you leaned your staff against an image of the Buddha painted upon the wall. Because of this offense of disrespect, you lost the second fruit.’

“I repented and resolved that from then onward, upon hearing harsh words, I would regard them as wind or an echo. How much less, now that I have been allowed to drink the unsurpassed amrita, could I give rise to distress? I beseech you, in your great compassion, to instruct me in the Wondrous Way.”

The Patriarch said: “You have long cultivated all virtues and shall succeed to my lineage.”

He then entrusted him with this Dharma verse:

“Beneath the words, accord with the unborn,

Identical with the nature of the dharmadhatu.

If one clearly understands in this way,

One penetrates all phenomena and principle.”

He was the Twenty-First Patriarch.

Alas, that one might attain unsurpassed bodhi without cultivating pure conduct is something that has never been heard of from ancient times to the present.

XVII. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH MIND-CONSCIOUSNESS

Sutra: Mahamaudgalyayana then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “At first, while begging for alms along the road, I met the three Kasyapa brothers—Uruvilva, Gaya, and Nadi—who proclaimed the profound meaning of the Tathagata’s teaching of causes and conditions. I immediately brought forth the resolve and attained great penetration. The Tathagata bestowed upon me a kashaya robe to cover my body, and my beard and hair fell away by themselves.

I traveled throughout the ten directions without obstruction. My spiritual powers became manifest, and the assembly regarded me as foremost in them; thus I became an arhat. Not only the World-Honored One, but the Tathagatas of the ten directions as well, praised the power of my spiritual penetrations as perfectly luminous and pure, sovereign and fearless.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. By turning back toward the fundamentally clear and still nature, the light of my mind unfolded, like turbid water that, after settling for a long time, becomes clear and bright. This is foremost.”

Commentary: People are unable to become perfectly luminous and pure because mind-consciousness drifts along after sense objects. Consequently, the mind is employed by the physical form, rather than the spiritual faculty employing the form. If consciousness ceases its wandering and returns to the fundamentally wondrous and still nature, it is like allowing turbid water to settle until, after a long time, it becomes clear and bright.

The light of the mind then unfolds, spiritual powers become sovereign, and mind-consciousness attains unobstructedness. Among the six spiritual penetrations, only the penetration of the exhaustion of outflows is an inner realization; the other five all pertain to outward functions. The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment says: “The samadhi of illusion is like a sprout gradually growing.” Therefore, only after long accumulation does true clarity and brightness arise.

The monk Baozhi initially practiced only concentration; after he had remained in concentration for a long time, he suddenly attained spiritual powers.

Chan Master Deng Yinfeng spent the winters on Mount Heng and the summers on Mount Qingliang. During the Yuanhe era, Wu Yuanji raised an army and rebelled against the imperial court. The imperial troops and the rebels fought without either side gaining victory. The Chan master said: “I must go and resolve this calamity.” He then threw his staff into the air and flew bodily across. The officers and soldiers on both sides looked up at him. The event accorded with a previously received portent in a dream, and their will to fight immediately vanished.

The Master had displayed extraordinary spiritual powers, but fearing that this might bewilder the assembly, he went into Mount Wutai, before the Vajra Cave. Before entering final nirvana, he instructed the assembly, saying: “When people in various places enter final nirvana, some die sitting and some die lying down; I have seen them all. But has anyone ever died standing?”

The assembly replied: “Yes, there has.”

He said: “Has anyone ever stood upside down on his head?”

The assembly said: “No, we have never seen it.”

Chan Master Feng then stood upside down on his head and passed away, while his robes still hung naturally along his body. When the assembly tried to carry him away for cremation, he remained towering there, unmoving. Those who came from near and far to see this found it extraordinary and praised him without end.

He had a younger sister who was a nun and was also present at the time. She slapped him and cried out: “Elder brother, while alive you did not abide by the rules, and now in death you are still dazzling people’s eyes and deceiving them!”

Then she pushed him over with her hand, and he fell with a crash.

Thus, spiritual powers are a fruition, yet those with clear eyes pay them no heed.

When Patriarch Yangshan ascended the Dharma seat, a monk named Yin flew down through the air. Patriarch Yangshan said: “Where have you just come from?”

He replied: “India.”

The Patriarch said: “When did you leave there?”

He replied: “This morning.”

The Patriarch said: “Why were you so slow?”

He replied: “I was still roaming among the mountains and waters for pleasure.”

The Patriarch said: “It is not that you lack the playful use of spiritual powers. But as for the Buddhadharma, Acharya, you still need this old monk.”

He replied: “I intended to travel to the Eastern Land to pay homage to Manjusri, but instead I have encountered little Shakyamuni.”

He then took out Sanskrit scriptures written on palm leaves and presented them to Patriarch Yangshan, after which he departed through the air.

Patriarch Yangshan instructed the assembly: “I shall now speak to you of matters pertaining to the sages. Do not use the mind to grasp or linger upon them. Simply turn toward the Ocean of your own Nature and cultivate as a Buddha cultivates.

There is no need to attain the Three Knowledges and Six Spiritual Powers. Why is this? Because those are merely the final branches and consequences of sagehood.

For now, the essential thing is only to illuminate the Mind and reach the root. Once the root is reached, why worry about the branches? In time, everything will naturally become complete therein.

If you have not yet reached the root, then even if you use deluded sentiments to study such things, you will not succeed. Have you not heard Master Guishan say: ‘When the sentiments of ordinary beings and sages are exhausted, the essence reveals True Permanence. Phenomena and principle are nondual: this is the Buddha of Suchness.’”

This is the perfectly luminous and pure path of the True Dharma. From Venerable Shariputra up to this point, it has been said: “The Mind’s seeing, the Mind’s hearing, and the Mind’s light do not arise from the faculties or from their objects. Entirely free from faculties and sense-objects, they are ultimately devoid of habitual delusion.” This is the realization of perfect penetration through the six consciousnesses.

XVIII. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE FIRE ELEMENT

Sutra: Ushnisha stood before the Buddha, joined his palms, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “I often recall that, long ago in a distant kalpa, my nature was filled with lustful desire. A Buddha appeared in the world named King of Emptiness, who taught: ‘A person of excessive lust becomes a blazing mass of fire.’ He instructed me to contemplate throughout my four limbs and hundred members every sensation of heat and cold. Through this contemplation, the spiritual light became still and settled within me, transforming my lustful consciousness into the fire of Wisdom. From that time onward, all Buddhas called me Fire-Head.

“Through the power of the Samadhi of Fire-Light, I became an arhat. My mind brought forth the great vow that whenever any Buddha attained the Way, I would serve beside that Buddha as a mighty guardian and subdue disruptive demons and heretics.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. I contemplated all the warmth within body and mind until it flowed freely without obstruction. All outflows were extinguished, and the precious flame of Great Wisdom arose, through which I realized Supreme Enlightenment. This is foremost.”

Commentary: In the preceding passage concerning the seven elements, it was said that the nature of fire is True Emptiness and the nature of emptiness is True Fire, originally pure and pervading the entire Dharma Realm. Because the Samadhi of Fire-Light inherently possesses inconceivable power, Fire-Head Vajra used the settled spiritual light to transform his lustful mind into the flame of Wisdom. At the very point where True Fire first began to stir, he returned to the source and reverted to the origin, returning to purity and bringing forth Wisdom. In those of excessive lust, oppressive heat arises. While alive, it becomes the fire of desire; after death, it becomes the fire of karma. When karmic power blazes fiercely, it becomes a great mass of fire.

Bodhisattva Maitreya said: “When men and women come together and unite sexually, impure fluid is discharged. Although the devas of the Desire Realm engage in sexual desire, they do not have this impurity. When a breath of wind issues from the gate of the faculty, their oppressive heat ceases. When the devas of the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings unite, their heat ceases. As it is in the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings, so it is in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the Trayastrimsha Heaven. In the Yama Heaven, they embrace each other and their heat immediately ceases. In the Tushita Heaven, they need only hold hands and their heat immediately ceases. In the Heaven of Delight in Transformation, they look at each other and smile, and their heat immediately ceases.”

Does this not show that the more desire diminishes, the higher the realm in which one dwells?

When Matangi’s lustful desire was entirely extinguished, she immediately realized the Third Fruition. Since all the outflows of Fire-Head Vajra were extinguished and he realized Supreme Enlightenment, what is so strange about that?

Master Guishan was standing in attendance upon Patriarch Baizhang.

Patriarch Baizhang asked: “Who is there?”

Master Guishan said: “It is I.”

Patriarch Baizhang said: “Rake through the hearth and see whether there is any fire.”

Master Guishan raked through it and then said: “There is no fire.”

Patriarch Baizhang stood up and personally raked deep into the hearth until he found a small ember. He held it up for Guishan to see and said: “You said there was none; then what is this?”

At this, Guishan awakened. He bowed in gratitude and presented his understanding.

The Patriarch said: “This is merely a temporary branching path. The sutra says: ‘If you wish to understand the meaning of Buddha-nature, you must contemplate the conditions of time and circumstance.’ When the proper time and conditions arrive, it is like suddenly awakening from delusion, or suddenly remembering something forgotten. Only then do you know that this thing of your own was not obtained from another. Therefore, the Patriarch said: ‘After awakening, one is the same as before awakening: there is neither mind nor Dharma.’ The Mind free from the false distinctions of ordinary beings and sages is itself the originally fundamental Dharma-Mind, inherently complete in itself. Since you are now thus, guard and sustain it well.”

The following day, Master Guishan accompanied Patriarch Baizhang into the mountains to work.

Patriarch Baizhang said: “Were you able to bring fire?”

Master Guishan said: “I was able to bring it.”

The Patriarch said: “Where is it, then?”

Master Guishan picked up a stick of firewood, blew on it twice, and handed it to Patriarch Baizhang.

The Patriarch said: “Like an insect contending with a tree.”

Master Miaoxi said: “Had Patriarch Baizhang not uttered this final remark, he would have been greatly despised by the cook.”

This, too, is ascending to Supreme Enlightenment through the fire element. Must one necessarily contemplate the sensations of heat and cold within the body to realize perfect penetration?

XIX. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE EARTH ELEMENT

Sutra: Bodhisattva Upholder of the Earth then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “I recall that long ago, when the Buddha Universal Light appeared in the world, I was a bhikshu. At roads, ferry crossings, and places where the ground was dangerous, narrow, uneven, or irregular and could damage horses and carts, I would always level it. I would build bridges and culverts, or carry earth and sand. I labored diligently in this way throughout the appearances in the world of immeasurable Buddhas. Whenever beings in marketplaces needed someone to carry their belongings, I willingly carried them to their destination, set them down, and immediately departed without accepting any payment.”

“When Vipasyin Buddha appeared in the world, famine was widespread. I carried burdens for others, regardless of whether the distance was near or far, accepting only a single coin. Whenever an ox cart became mired in mud, I used my spiritual power to help push its wheels and free it from distress.

The king of that country once prepared a vegetarian feast and invited the Buddha. At that time, I repaired and leveled the road in readiness for the Buddha to pass. Vipasyin Buddha rubbed the crown of my head and said: ‘When the ground of the mind is level, the lands throughout the world will all be level.’ My mind immediately awakened, and I saw that the minute particles composing my body and those composing the world were equal and without distinction.

The intrinsic nature of these minute particles did not rub against one another; even such things as swords and weapons had nowhere to make contact. Within the Dharma-nature, I awakened to the Patience with the Non-arising of Dharmas and became an arhat. Turning my mind toward the Mahayana, I have now entered the ranks of the bodhisattvas.

Whenever I hear the Tathagatas reveal the Buddha’s Wondrous Lotus of Knowledge and Vision, I am the first to bear witness and serve as the leader.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. Through right contemplation, I saw that both kinds of dust—the dust of the sense faculties and body, and the dust of the world—were equal and without distinction. They were originally the Tathagata-garbha, from which the characteristics of dust arose through delusion. When those characteristics of dust dissolved, wisdom immediately became perfectly luminous, and I attained the Unsurpassed Way. This is the foremost method.”

Commentary: All dharmas are equal; how could there be high or low? If the ground of the mind is level and discrimination does not arise, one does not perceive the various characteristics of this and that, high and low; thus everything is level. Through this, the Bodhisattva Upholder of the Earth awakened to and entered the wondrous nature of True Suchness of the Tathagata-garbha.

The nature of form is true emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is true form. The intrinsic nature of minute particles does not rub against itself; it is originally equal and originally non-arising. These minute particles are inwardly the dust of the body, which is formed through their accumulation; outwardly they are the dust of the world, likewise formed through their accumulation.

Minute particles are originally without intrinsic nature and exist only within delusion. That which presently appears as the realm of delusion is, at that very place, non-arising; this is the wondrous nature of True Suchness.

This physical body of mine is itself the wondrous nature of True Suchness. This realm of form is likewise the wondrous nature of True Suchness. The nature is originally nondual, so how could the dust of form differ?

Since there is no difference, even swords and weapons have nowhere to make contact. Upon awakening to that Dharma-nature, contact is originally unborn; contact itself is non-contact. This is the Patience with the Non-arising of Dharmas and entry into the Buddha’s Knowledge and Vision.

Entry into the Buddha’s Knowledge and Vision is called wisdom; that is, the dust of form is originally not the dust of form, and therefore the dust dissolves of itself. Without departing from the dust of form, one penetrates wisdom, and wisdom thus becomes complete. Only when wisdom is perfectly all-pervading can one personally realize and clearly comprehend the wondrous Dharma of the Lotus and attain Unsurpassed Enlightenment.

One day, Patriarch Guishan pointed to a field and asked Master Yangshan: “Is that end of the field high and this end low?”

Master Yangshan said: “Indeed, that end is high and this end is low!”

The Patriarch said: “If you do not believe it, stand in the middle and look toward both ends.”

Master Yangshan said: “There is no need to stand in the middle, nor do I abide at either end.”

Patriarch Guishan said: “If so, pour water into it and see; water can level things.”

Master Yangshan said: “Water also has no fixed level: in a high place, it is level with the high; in a low place, it is level with the low!”

Patriarch Guishan then ceased.

Like the father and son, Guishan and Yangshan, who established neither of the two sides and did not even deign to abide in the Middle Way, they may indeed be said to have skillfully leveled the ground of the mind, and therefore everything was level.

There was a monk known as the Ground-Striking Venerable, who received the essential meaning from Patriarch Mazu of Jiangxi and habitually concealed his illumination. Whenever a practitioner came to question him, he would simply strike the ground with his staff to give instruction. At that time, he was called the Ground-Striking Venerable. One day, a monk hid his staff and then questioned him. The Venerable merely opened his mouth wide.

The monk asked the Venerable’s disciple: “Whenever someone questioned the Venerable, he would strike the ground. What was the meaning of this?”

The disciple immediately took a piece of firewood from the kitchen and placed it into the cooking pot.

Unless one thoroughly penetrates “the dust dissolves and wisdom becomes complete” and attains the Patience with the Non-arising of Dharmas, one cannot understand this essential meaning.

XX. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE ELEMENT OF WATER

Sutra: The Youth Moonlight then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “I remember that as many kalpas ago as there are grains of sand in the Ganges, a Buddha named Water-Deva appeared in the world. He taught the bodhisattvas to cultivate contemplation of water in order to enter samadhi. I contemplated how the nature of water within the body was unobstructed: beginning with tears and nasal mucus, and continuing through every kind of saliva, bodily fluid, semen, blood, urine, and excrement circulating throughout the body, all shared the same nature of water. I saw that the water within my body and the fragrant seas of water in the Buddha-lands beyond this world were equal and without distinction.

“At that time, I had just accomplished this method of contemplation. I could see only water, but had not yet attained the absence of the body. I was then a bhiksu meditating in my room. A young disciple of mine secretly peered through the window and saw that the room contained only clear water, filling it completely; apart from this, he saw nothing else. Being young and ignorant, he picked up a piece of tile and threw it into the water. It struck the water with a sound. He looked around and then went away.

“Afterward, when I emerged from samadhi, I immediately felt pain in my heart, just as Sariputra had been struck by the Harmful Ghost. I thought to myself: ‘I have now attained the fruit of arhatship and have long since left behind the conditions that cause illness. Why has pain suddenly arisen in my heart today? Could I have regressed?’

“At that moment, the youth arrived and told me what had happened. I then instructed him: ‘When you see the water again, open the door, enter the water, and remove that piece of tile.’ The youth obeyed.

“I entered samadhi again. The youth once more saw the water and clearly saw the piece of tile, so he opened the door and removed it.

“When I later emerged from samadhi, my body had returned to normal.

“I encountered immeasurable Buddhas, and it was not until the appearance of the Tathagata Sovereign King of Penetration of Mountains and Seas that my body finally vanished completely. I became of one nature with the fragrant seas of water throughout the worlds of the ten directions—the nature of true emptiness, neither dual nor different. Now, in the presence of the Tathagata, I have received the name True Youth and participate in the assembly of bodhisattvas.

“The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. Through contemplating and seeing that the nature of water is of one flavor and penetrates everywhere, I attained the Patience with the Non-arising of Dharmas and perfected bodhi. This is the foremost method.”

Commentary: The moon is the essence of water. Because the nature of water is perfectly luminous, he was called Moonlight. At the very beginning, he cultivated contemplation of water, observing that the nature of water was unobstructed.

Semen and blood within the body and the seas of the lands outside it differed in their forms, yet the nature of water was unobstructed. Because they did not obstruct one another, when he accomplished this method of contemplation he saw only water. This was the samadhi of the Ten Universal Spheres.

When he entered samadhi, it was present; when he emerged from samadhi, it was absent. The Ten Universal Spheres are blue, yellow, red, white, earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness. For example, when one visualizes the color blue, every place becomes blue.

The result of this samadhi manifests through the transformations of the mind. The Samadhi of Fiery Radiance is likewise. Although one may attain this samadhi, fundamental ignorance still remains; therefore, the causes and conditions of illness have not yet been exhausted, the body has not yet vanished, and the view of self remains.

This itself is fundamental ignorance.

He saw only water; everything was water, and therefore the piece of tile thrown into it was also transformed into water. Sariputra once entered samadhi on the bank of the Ganges and was struck by the Harmful Ghost. When he emerged from samadhi, he felt pain in his head. The Buddha told him: ‘Had you not possessed the power of samadhi, your body would have been shattered.’ Harmful was the name of a yaksa ghost king who bore a grudge against Sariputra from a previous life.

As for the “Banner-King World,” according to the Avatamsaka Sutra, within the Ocean of the Lotus Treasury is a great lotus flower, and within that lotus are oceans of fragrant water. Each ocean of fragrant water is the seed of a Buddha-realm. The Lotus Treasury World lies within the oceans of fragrant water and is therefore called the Banner-King World. The twelve tiers of the Lotus Treasury rise one above another like a banner. Because it is the highest of all, it is called the King.

Moonlight had only just realized the Dharma Body and relinquished the body subject to transformational birth and death, becoming identical in nature with the True Emptiness of all the oceans of fragrant water. Within the Tathagata-garbha, the nature of water is True Emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is True Water—fundamentally pure, pervading the entire Dharma-realm, thoroughly interfused in one flavor, with even the appearance of mutual non-obstruction vanishing. He attained Perfect Penetration through the element of water, and only after encountering immeasurable Buddhas did he bring it to fulfillment. How could this be easily spoken of?

Master Dongshan took leave of Patriarch Yunyan.

As he was about to depart, he asked, “A hundred years from now, if someone suddenly asks me, ‘Did you obtain even a little of your master’s True Reality?’ how should I answer?”

Patriarch Yunyan remained silent for a long while, then said, “Just this.”

Dongshan fell into deep thought.

The Patriarch said, “Acarya Jie, in undertaking this matter, you must examine it with the utmost subtlety and care.”

Dongshan still harbored doubts.

Later, while crossing a stream, he saw his reflection and attained great awakening. He composed this verse:

“Above all, seek it not elsewhere,

For then it retreats far from yourself.

Now I go on alone,

Yet everywhere I encounter It.

It now is truly me,

But I now am not It.

One must understand in this way

To accord with Suchness.”

Only upon reaching this point did Dongshan relinquish the body, his nature becoming identical with True Emptiness, neither two nor different.

When Master Chuanzi was about to part from his fellow student, Master Daowu, he said to him, “If in the future you encounter an eloquent Lecture Master who expounds the sutras, send him straight to me!”

Daowu went to Jingkou. It happened that Jiashan was ascending the Dharma seat when a monk asked, “What is the Dharma Body?”

Jiashan said, “The Dharma Body has no characteristics.”

The monk asked, “What is the Dharma Eye?”

Jiashan replied, “The Dharma Eye leaves no trace.”

Daowu involuntarily burst out laughing.

Jiashan descended from the seat and asked Daowu, “There must have been something incorrect in my answer to that monk just now, causing you, Venerable One, to laugh. I beg you not to withhold your compassionate instruction.”

Daowu said, “Although you are an eminent teacher who has appeared in the world, you have not yet found a master. Go to Huating and study under Master Chuanzi.”

Jiashan asked, “May I inquire about him?”

Daowu said, “Above him there is not a single tile to shelter his head; beneath him there is not an inch of ground in which to plant an awl!”

Jiashan changed his robes and went directly to Huating.

As soon as Master Chuanzi saw him, he asked, “At which monastery does the Venerable reside?”

Jiashan replied, “If it is a monastery, I do not reside there; if I reside there, it is not the same.”

Chuanzi asked, “If it is not the same, then not the same as what?”

Jiashan replied, “It is not a phenomenon before the eyes.”

Chuanzi asked, “Where did you learn that?”

Jiashan replied, “It is not a place reached by ears or eyes.”

Chuanzi said, “One phrase that merely matches the stock expression will tether a donkey for ten thousand kalpas. My examination of you is finished!”

Master Chuanzi continued, “The fishing line is let down a thousand feet, for the intent lies in the deepest pool. Three inches beyond the hook—why do you not speak?”

Jiashan was about to open his mouth when the Master struck him with the oar and knocked him into the water. As soon as he climbed back into the boat, the Master shouted, “Speak! Speak!” Jiashan was about to open his mouth when he was struck again. Jiashan suddenly attained great awakening and nodded three times.

Master Chuanzi said, “You may toy with the line at the end of the rod, yet without disturbing the clear waves, the meaning is naturally distinct. That little bit is what carries on the master’s lineage.”

Jiashan then asked, “In casting the line and lowering the hook, what is the master’s intention?”

Chuanzi replied, “The line descends into the clear water; how could any intention of existence or nonexistence be fixed?”

Jiashan said, “The words bear the mysterious and wondrous without revealing the Way; the tongue speaks in discourse, yet does not discourse.”

Master Chuanzi said, “When the hook has passed beyond all the waves upon the river, only then is the golden-scaled fish encountered.”

Jiashan covered his ears.

Master Chuanzi said, “Thus it is, thus it is. You truly are an eloquent Lecture Master!”

He then entrusted the Dharma to him, saying, “Hereafter, where you conceal yourself, there must be no trace; yet where there is no trace, do not conceal yourself. During my twenty years at Yaoshan, I came to understand only this matter. Now that you have attained it, you must not dwell in cities or villages. Go only into the deep mountains, beside a great hoe, and seek out one person or half a person to continue the transmission, lest it be severed and lost.”

Master Jiashan took his leave and departed, repeatedly looking back.

Master Chuanzi called out, “Acarya! Acarya!”

Jiashan turned his head.

Chuanzi raised his oar and said, “Do you suppose there is something further to say in farewell?”

He then overturned the boat, plunged into the water, and passed away.

Later, at Huating, the hermitage master Xingkong sent a letter to Chan Master Xuedou Chi, writing, “I am about to undergo water burial.”

Afterward, when Xuedou Chi arrived and saw that Xingkong was still there, he playfully composed this verse:

“Alas, old Xingkong!

Determined to feed the loaches.

He goes, yet does not take his nature along;

He only worries about telling others.”

Master Xingkong laughed and said, “I was waiting for Elder Brother to come and bear witness!”

He then notified the assembly.

When the assembly had gathered, he taught them the essential Dharma and recited this verse:

“To die seated or pass away standing

Is not as good as a water burial!

First, it saves firewood;

Second, it saves digging a grave.

Release your hands and simply depart—

What obstruction could there be? How delightful!

Who is my kindred friend?

Master Chuanzi!

Who will carry on this noble inheritance for hundreds of thousands of years?

Few are those who sing this fisherman’s song.”

He then sat inside a large earthen jar and drifted downstream with the current. Everyone ran along after him as far as the mouth of the sea, watching until he nearly disappeared from sight. The Master used a dipper to bail the water and returned upstream. The assembly shaded their eyes to watch, yet not a drop of water entered the jar. He then followed the current away once more, chanting:

“This year Chuanzi returns to his native land,

Where no trace remains, wondrous beyond measure.

The true wind is entrusted solely to a kindred friend;

The iron flute is played crosswise, where meeting and parting converge.”

For a moment, the sound of the flute echoed through the vast blue sky. Then they saw him toss the flute into the air and disappear.

This was truly one who flowed freely in the One Flavor, one who had attained the Patience of Non-Arising.

A monk asked Patriarch Yunmen, “The Buddha-Dharma is like the moon’s reflection in water. Is it real?”

Yunmen said, “The blue waves offer no path by which to penetrate.”

The monk asked, “From where did the Venerable enter?”

Yunmen said, “From where did that question come?”

The monk asked, “What is it like precisely at that moment?”

Yunmen said, “Layer upon layer, the road through the mountain passes.”

One must go and meet Chuanzi before it can be attained!

XXI. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE ELEMENT OF WIND

Sutra: Prince of the Dharma Lapis Lazuli Light then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said, “I remember that, as many kalpas ago as there are sands in the Ganges, a Buddha appeared in the world named Immeasurable Voice. He revealed to the bodhisattvas the wondrously luminous nature of fundamental awakening and taught them to contemplate how this world and the bodies of sentient beings are brought forth through transformation by the power of the wind of delusive conditions.

At that time, I contemplated the establishment of space, the flowing transformations of time, the stillness and movement of the body, and the stirring of thoughts within consciousness. All these movements were nondual, equal, and without distinction. I then awakened to the fact that the nature of these movements comes from nowhere and goes nowhere.

All the inverted sentient beings throughout the ten directions, as numerous as motes of dust, share in the same falsity. Thus, all the sentient beings within a trichiliocosm are like hundreds of mosquitoes and gnats confined within a vessel, buzzing chaotically within the space of an inch, swarming and clamoring in confusion.”

“Not long after I encountered the Buddha, I attained the Patience of the Non-Arising of Dharmas. At that time, my mind opened, and I saw the Buddha-land of the Immovable One in the East. I became a Dharma Prince, serving the Buddhas of the ten directions; my body and mind emitted light, becoming empty, penetrating, and unobstructed.

“When the Buddha asked about perfect penetration, through contemplating how the power of movement, like wind, originally has no place of reliance, I awakened to the bodhi-mind and entered samadhi. I united with the one Wondrous Mind of all Buddhas throughout the ten directions and received the successive transmission of their teachings. This is the foremost method.”

Penetrating Commentary: In the East is the Tathagata Lapis Lazuli Light, whose practices and vows are no different from those of Amitabha Buddha. This Dharma Prince is likewise comparable to Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta.

How does one enter samadhi by contemplating that the power of movement, like wind, has no place of reliance?

The nature of wind is movement. Because of movement, sound arises; therefore, the Buddha Infinite Sound instructed the bodhisattvas to contemplate all the sentient beings of this world as being like hundreds of mosquitoes confined within a vessel, buzzing and crying chaotically—all transformed from the wind of deluded conditions. The movement of wind is extremely subtle, yet the power of wind is immense and fills the Dharma-realm.

The movement and stillness of the body and the stirring of thoughts in the mind are near at hand and can be seen. The transformations of space and the flowing of time are remote and therefore difficult to see. Whether difficult or easy to see, all are this Movement.

The nature of this Movement comes from nowhere and goes nowhere; it pervades the entire world and has no location. Because it has no location, it is originally neither arising nor ceasing. Because it is neither arising nor ceasing, it is originally unmoving in itself.

By contemplating at this point, one attains the Patience of the Non-Arising of Dharmas—that is, one awakens to bodhi and enters samadhi. Within this Movement is the Nature of Non-Movement; it is not that, apart from Movement, there exists some separate thing called Non-Movement.

The East corresponds to Zhen. Zhen means Movement. In the East is the Buddha-land of the Immovable One: movement itself is stillness.

This is the purport of Fundamental Enlightenment, Wondrous and Luminous. The nature of enlightenment, wondrous and luminous, is originally unmoving in itself. Fundamental Enlightenment, luminous and wondrous, moves yet does not move.

In brief, all is merely the one Nature of Wondrous True Suchness. All Buddhas throughout the ten directions share this one Wondrous Mind. If one abandons movement to seek stillness, it is not wondrous.

Fundamental Enlightenment is firm and enduring like a brilliant diamond. Wind and metal rub against one another, and thus the light resembles lapis lazuli—empty, penetrating, and unobstructed. By transmitting the one Wondrous Mind, one not only personally realizes perfect penetration but also enables all sentient beings in the world who possess this Nature of Movement to realize and penetrate the one perfect penetration.

When Novice Gao first went to meet Patriarch Yaoshan, Patriarch Yaoshan asked:

“Where have you come from?”

He replied: “I have come from Nanyue.”

The Patriarch asked: “Where are you going?”

He replied: “To Jiangling to receive the precepts.”

The Patriarch asked: “Why receive the precepts?”

He replied: “To escape birth and death.”

The Patriarch said: “There is a person who neither receives the precepts nor has any birth and death to escape. Do you know him?”

At these words, Novice Gao attained great awakening and said: “If that is so, what use are the Buddha’s precepts?”

The Patriarch said: “This novice still flaps his lips and tongue.”

Master Gao bowed and withdrew.

When Daowu came to stand in attendance, Patriarch Yaoshan said: “That lame novice who came just now has caught a faint scent of it.”

Daowu said: “We cannot yet trust him completely; he must first be examined.”

That evening, Patriarch Yaoshan ascended the Dharma hall and called out: “Where is the novice who arrived this morning?”

Master Gao stepped out from the assembly and stood before him.

Patriarch Yaoshan asked: “I hear that Chang’an is very bustling. Do you know this?”

Master Gao said: “My country is always peaceful.”

Delighted, the Patriarch asked: “Did you attain this by reading sutras or by inquiring into the Dharma?”

Master Gao said: “I did not attain it by reading sutras or by inquiring into the Dharma.”

The Patriarch said: “Then why are there people who neither read sutras nor inquire into the Dharma, yet do not attain it?”

Master Gao said: “I do not say they cannot attain it; it is simply that they refuse to accept it.”

The Patriarch turned and looked at Daowu.

Yunyan then said: “Do not believe Daowu!”

Touzi composed this verse:

“Rise and fall—the clouds come and the clouds depart;

Relying on no realm, all dust is cut off.

At the summit of Mount Sumeru stands a rootless tree;

Without awaiting the spring wind, its flowers naturally bloom.”

What the novice saw was truly the Buddha-land of the Immovable One in the East, unaffected by the wind of deluded conditions.

Magu, leaning on his staff, went to see Zhangjing. He circled the Chan seat three times, struck his staff once, and stood there imposingly.

Patriarch Zhangjing said: “Correct, correct.”

Magu then went to Nanquan, circled the Chan seat three times, struck his staff once, and stood there imposingly.

Patriarch Nanquan said: “Incorrect, incorrect.”

Magu said: “Zhangjing said, ‘Correct.’ Why does the Venerable Master say, ‘Incorrect’?”

Patriarch Nanquan said: “Zhangjing is correct; it is precisely you who are incorrect.”

This is the power of the wind turning and shifting; ultimately, it decays.

Tiantong composed this verse:

“Precisely you are incorrect—

Just look: rolling up and opening out,

Like stretching forth, like drawing back;

Difficult for elder brother, difficult for younger.

Released: he has already reached the right time;

Gathered in: how could the place be strange to me?

The golden staff struck once, the great solitary standard raised; [‘Great’ means vast; ‘solitary’ means standing alone]

Three circuits around the Chan seat, an idle game.

In the tangled forest of Chan, right and wrong arise;

Through imagination, one sees ghosts before a dry skull.”

Xuedou composed this verse:

“This is mistaken; that is mistaken!

Grasping and releasing are greatly taboo.

Across the four seas, the waves are level;

The hundred rivers flow back to their source.

The ancient meaning soars beyond the twelve gates;

At every gate, the path is desolate, vainly bleak.

Yet it is not bleak—

Chan practitioners skillfully seek the ‘medicine for no illness.’”

If one knows the “medicine for no illness,” how could right and wrong arise within the forest of Chan? Naturally, no wind could ever turn one about.

XXII. PERFECT PENETRATION THROUGH THE ELEMENT OF SPACE

Sutra: The Bodhisattva Akasagarbha then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “Together with the Tathagata, I realized the Boundless Body in the presence of Dipankara Buddha. At that time, I held four great precious pearls in my hands, illuminating Buddha-lands throughout the ten directions, as numerous as motes of dust, and transforming them all into empty space. Within my own mind, I also manifested a great round mirror, from which radiated ten kinds of wondrous, precious light.

These lights pervaded the ten directions to the utmost reaches of empty space. All Buddha-lands entered that ‘Great Perfect Mirror’ and were absorbed into my body. My body became identical with empty space, entirely unobstructed.

It could also skillfully enter lands as numerous as motes of dust and extensively perform the work of the Buddhas, thereby attaining Great Accordance. I attained this great spiritual power through correctly contemplating that the four elements have no place of reliance, and that deluded thoughts subject to arising and ceasing are nondual with empty space; Buddha-lands are fundamentally the same. By illuminating this identical nature, I attained the Patience of the Non-Arising of Dharmas.

“When the Buddha asked about perfect penetration, through contemplating boundless empty space, I entered samadhi, and my wondrous power became perfectly luminous. This is the foremost method.”

Penetrating Commentary: Together with the Tathagata, in the presence of Dipankara Buddha, the Bodhisattva Akasagarbha realized the Three Bodies and Four Wisdoms. Of the Three Bodies, emphasis is placed solely on the Dharma-body; hence he said, “I realized the Boundless Body.” Of the Four Wisdoms, emphasis is placed solely on the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom; hence he said, “Within my Mind, I also manifested a great round mirror.”

The Dharma-body is boundless, and empty space has no limits. How, then, can it remain entirely unobstructed by the four elements? It is because, through true contemplation, one sees that the four elements have no place of reliance and that the nature of form is emptiness; therefore, the four elements are pure, like precious jewels. Through the power of contemplation and illumination, the ten directions are illuminated and transformed into empty space. The four elements are themselves empty space, and empty space is itself the Dharma-body—what obstruction could there be? It is fundamentally the one Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom; why, then, does it emit ten kinds of light? It is because the cultivation of the ten paramitas has become perfectly complete and wondrous.