楞嚴經宗通

Section 4: Perfect Penetration Through the Faculty of Hearing

Sutra: At that time, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara arose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “World-Honored One, I remember that, as many kalpas ago as there are sands in the Ganges, a Buddha appeared in the world whose name was Avalokiteshvara. In the presence of that Buddha, I brought forth the mind of bodhi. That Buddha instructed me to enter samadhi through hearing, reflection, and cultivation.

Commentary: In selecting the means of perfect penetration, the faculty of hearing is foremost. By entering deeply through this one gateway, all six faculties are immediately purified. Only the realization of Avalokiteshvara is utterly perfect, complete, subtle, and wondrous.

Although it concerns sound, it is not called hearing but contemplation—illumining observation—because wisdom is used to illuminate and observe, rather than the ear-consciousness being used to hear. The mutual functioning of the six faculties is fully demonstrated here. Through hearing, reflection, and cultivation, one penetrates samadhi.

Hearing occurs through the ear, reflection in the mind, and cultivation in practice; thus undefiled noble wisdom arises, enabling one to enter right concentration. Therefore, the passage below says, “Entering the stream, one loses the perceived object, proceeding in successive stages.”

Patriarch Baizhang called the entire assembly out to till the fields. Suddenly, when one monk heard the sound of the drum, he shouldered his hoe, laughed loudly, and went back.

Patriarch Baizhang said: “Excellent!”

This is the Dharma gateway by which Avalokiteshvara enters the Principle.

After Patriarch Baizhang returned to the monastery, he summoned that monk and asked: “What principle did you perceive just now that made you act in that way?”

The monk said: “I was hungry just then. When I heard the drum, I returned to find something to eat.”

Patriarch Baizhang burst out laughing.

Thus, how could this monk’s gateway into the Way have depended upon reflection and cultivation for its attainment?

Sutra: “Initially, within hearing, I entered the stream and lost the characteristic of the perceived object. The place of entry having become still, the two characteristics of movement and stillness clearly ceased to arise. Advancing further in this way, both hearing and what was heard came to an end.

Not dwelling where hearing and what was heard had ended, awareness and what was apprehended by awareness both became empty. When emptiness and awareness reached ultimate perfection, both that which empties and that which is emptied were extinguished. Once arising and ceasing had ceased, quiescent cessation manifested directly.

I then suddenly transcended both the mundane and the supramundane; perfect luminosity pervaded the ten directions, and I attained two supreme states: First, above, I accorded with the wondrous mind of fundamental awakening of all Buddhas throughout the ten directions and shared with all Buddha-Tathagatas the same power of loving-kindness. Second, below, I accorded with all beings of the six destinies throughout the ten directions and shared with all beings the same compassionate yearning.

Commentary: Entering the stream and losing the perceived object, until hearing and what was heard both come to an end, means that one has begun to break free of the faculties and first attained the emptiness of the person. Not dwelling where hearing and what was heard have ended, so that awareness and what is apprehended by awareness both become empty, means that the nature of emptiness is perfectly luminous, thereby accomplishing liberation from dharmas.

When emptiness and awareness reach ultimate perfection and both that which empties and that which is emptied are extinguished, one has been liberated from dharmas, and even emptiness no longer arises. Once arising and ceasing have ceased, quiescent cessation manifests directly; this is entry into samadhi and attainment of the patience regarding the non-arising of dharmas.

A verse in the Lotus Sutra says:

“True contemplation, pure contemplation,

Contemplation with vast and great wisdom,

Compassionate contemplation and loving-kindness contemplation—

Ever may we aspire to and behold them.”

True Contemplation means that the two characteristics of movement and stillness do not arise. Pure Contemplation means the ending of subject and object with respect to hearing, awareness, and emptiness. Contemplation with Vast and Great Wisdom means that emptiness and awareness reach ultimate perfection, culminating in the direct manifestation of quiescent cessation.

Sharing the same power of loving-kindness is the contemplation of loving-kindness. Sharing the same compassionate yearning is compassionate contemplation. When emptiness and awareness reach ultimate perfection, this is contemplative awareness beyond thought.

When emptiness and what is emptied vanish, body and mind cannot reach it. Once arising and ceasing have ceased, both sides—arising and ceasing—are wholly left behind. Quiescent cessation manifesting directly is the Eternal Reality.

When one sutra is used to corroborate another, the meaning and flavor are naturally complete.

Master Su Ziyou discussed the Surangama Sutra and the Diamond Sutra together with Avalokiteshvara’s teaching, taking hearing, reflection, and cultivation as the foremost means of perfect penetration. He said: “Beginning with ‘Initially, within hearing, I entered the stream and lost the perceived object,’ and continuing through ‘quiescent cessation manifested directly’—if one can accomplish this, then in the time it takes to snap one’s fingers, one passes through the three kinds of emptiness [emptiness of the person, emptiness of dharmas, and emptiness of emptiness] and immediately becomes no different from the Buddhas.” He then read the Diamond Sutra’s passage concerning the four fruits: “‘Stream-enterer’ means one who has entered the stream, yet there is nowhere that one has entered.

One does not enter form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas; therefore one is called a stream-enterer.” He then exclaimed: “Is the realization of the stream-enterer precisely what Avalokiteshvara calls ‘Initially, within hearing, I entered the stream and lost the perceived object’? To enter the stream is to forget the perceived object. Merely by not entering the six sense objects and by abiding serenely and constantly, one enters the stream.

Next comes the once-returner, who is said to go and return once, yet in truth there is no going or returning. The non-returner is said not to return, yet in truth there is no non-returning, because to go is to enter the sense objects, while to return is to go back to the source. Although the once-returner is able to return, he is not yet able to refrain from going.

The non-returner not only does not go but also does not return. By the stage of arhatship, even the notion of going and returning has entirely ceased, and there is no dharma whatsoever to attain. Therefore, what are called the four fruits are in reality only one Dharma, but their relative depth differs as one passes through the three kinds of emptiness.

The words of the sutras accord fundamentally, yet people have not elucidated this; therefore I have explained it clearly.”

Because Master Ziyou encountered a good spiritual friend, he was able to illuminate the intent of these two sutras. Although his interpretation may appear novel, its essential meaning flowed directly from his own breast, culminating in the statement: “In the time it takes to snap one’s fingers, one passes through the three kinds of emptiness and becomes no different from the Buddhas.” Without thorough sudden awakening, how could he have spoken these words?

I. THE WONDROUS POWER OF NON-ACTION ACCOMPLISHES THIRTY-TWO RESPONSE BODIES

Sutra: World-Honored One, because I made offerings to the Tathagata Avalokiteshvara and received from him the transmission of the illusory cultivation of hearing through perfuming and the samadhi of cultivation through hearing, I came to share the same power of loving-kindness as all Buddha-Tathagatas, enabling my body to accomplish thirty-two response bodies that enter the various lands.

Commentary: “Illusory” means that an illusory person performs actions, yet fundamentally there is no action. This describes cultivation through perfuming in response to beings’ capacities: acting while there is no acting, forgetting emotional discrimination and cutting off conceptual understanding—utterly inconceivable.

What are called perfuming through hearing and cultivation through hearing are forms of cultivation through perfuming, and neither departs from the nature of hearing. Through cultivation based upon the nature of hearing, when the mind becomes wholly unified, hearing is relinquished, all bonds and deluded entanglements are completely exhausted, and samadhi manifests directly. This is the Vajra Ground of Dry Wisdom. It is called “Vajra” because it shatters all dreamlike and illusory dharmas. The Vajra abides eternally and is indestructible; this is the eternal Reality. How could there be some so-called Reality apart from the illusory?

A monk asked Patriarch Caoshan: “What is real within characteristics?”

Patriarch Caoshan said: “Characteristics themselves are the Real.”

The monk asked: “How is it revealed?”

Patriarch Caoshan held his whisk upright.

The monk further asked: “How is the illusory at its root real?”

Patriarch Caoshan said: “The illusory at its root is originally real.”

The monk asked: “At the very moment of illusion, how is it revealed?”

Patriarch Caoshan said: “Illusion itself is revelation!”

The monk asked: “If so, from beginning to end one never departs from illusion!”

Patriarch Caoshan said: “Search for the characteristic of illusion, and it cannot be found!”

The court official Haoyue asked Patriarch Changsha: “The teachings speak of the meaning of illusion. Does it exist?”

Patriarch Changsha said: “Great Virtuous One, what are you saying?”

He asked: “Then does the meaning of illusion not exist?”

Patriarch Changsha said: “Great Virtuous One, what are you saying?”

He asked: “Then is the meaning of illusion neither existent nor nonexistent?”

Patriarch Changsha said: “Great Virtuous One, what are you saying?”

He asked: “Although I have presented my understanding three times, I still do not comprehend the meaning of illusion. How does the Venerable Master understand the meaning of illusion in the teachings?”

Patriarch Changsha said: “Great Virtuous One, do you believe that all dharmas are fundamentally inconceivable?”

He replied, “How would I dare not believe the Buddha’s true words?”

Master Sha said, “The Venerable says that you believe. Of the two kinds of faith, which kind is this?”

He replied, “According to my understanding, of the two kinds of faith, this is called faith arising through conditions.”

Master Sha said, “According to which teaching does faith arising through conditions come forth?”

He replied, “The Avatamsaka Sutra says that great bodhisattvas, in unobstructed and unhindered wisdom, believe that all worldly realms are realms of the Tathagata. It also says that all Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, fully know that all worldly dharmas and the Buddha-Dharma are not different in nature and are definitely nondual. It further says that when the true nature of the Buddha-Dharma and worldly dharmas is seen, they are all without distinction.”

Master Sha said, “The scriptural passages the Venerable has cited concerning faith arising through conditions are not yet entirely ultimate. Listen as this old monk elucidates for you the meaning of illusion in the teaching. Whoever sees that illusion is originally the Real is called one who sees the Buddha. Dharma after dharma is perfectly interpenetrating, neither arising nor ceasing; that which neither arises nor ceases is the Buddha-body.

“To see in this way is to be united with the Buddha’s power of compassion. Compassion itself is like an illusion; the thirty-two responsive bodies, and their responses as well, are like illusions. Everywhere, quiescent cessation manifests directly before one’s eyes: this is the Vajra Samadhi.”

Sutra: “World-Honored One, if bodhisattvas enter samadhi and advance in the cultivation of the unconditioned, so that their transcendent understanding manifests in perfect fullness, I appear in the body of a Buddha and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain liberation.

Commentary: The First Patriarch, Bodhidharma, was indeed a transformation body of the Great Being Avalokitesvara.

At that time, there were two teachers in that country. One was named Buddha Great Immortal, and the second was named Buddha Great Victorious Many. Both had originally studied the contemplative meditation of the Lesser Vehicle together with the Patriarch under Master Buddhabhadra.

The teacher Buddha Great Immortal encountered the Venerable Prajnatara, abandoned the Lesser Vehicle, and followed the Great Vehicle. Together with the Patriarch, he propagated the teaching, and at that time they were called the two nectars of Dharma. The teacher Buddha Great Victorious Many, however, divided his disciples into six schools: the first was the School of Attributes; the second, the School of Non-Attributes; the third, the School of Samadhi and Wisdom; the fourth, the School of Precepts and Conduct; the fifth, the School of Non-Attainment; and the sixth, the School of Quiescent Purity.

The Patriarch sighed sorrowfully, “Their teacher has already become trapped in an ox’s hoofprint, yet he has further divided his teaching into six convoluted schools. If I do not eliminate these errors for them, they will remain bound by wrong views lifetime after lifetime.”

Having said this, he manifested spiritual power and went to the School of Attributes, where he asked, “Among all dharmas, what is called the True Attribute?”

Among that assembly was an elder named Sarva, who replied, “Within the attributes of all dharmas, the attributes do not interchange with one another. This is the True Attribute.”

The Patriarch said, “If all attributes do not change, how must they be determined for this to be called the True Attribute?”

The man said, “Among all attributes, there is truly nothing fixed. If the attributes were fixed, how could they be called true?”

The Patriarch said, “You call the indeterminacy of all attributes the True Attribute. What, then, do you now attain by means of this indeterminacy?”

The man said, “When I spoke just now of indeterminacy, I had not yet spoken of the attributes. Now that I speak of the attributes, their meaning is likewise so.”

The Patriarch said, “You claim that indeterminacy is the True Attribute. In that case, what is fixed yet indeterminate is not the True Attribute.”

The man said, “If what is fixed is already indeterminate, then it is not the True Attribute. Knowing that the self does not exist, it is therefore neither fixed nor changing.”

The Patriarch said, “Now you say it is unchanging; how, then, can it be called the True Attribute? If there are changes and transformations, the principle is still the same.”

The man replied, “What is unchanging remains; yet because it remains without remaining, it transforms the True Attribute. Thus is this meaning established.”

The Patriarch said, “The True Attribute is unchanging; whatever changes is not true. Amid existence and nonexistence, what can be called the True Attribute?”

Master Sarva knew that the holy teacher possessed profound understanding. He pointed to empty space and said, “Even this conditioned attribute of the world can be empty. Can this present body of mine become like that?”

The Patriarch said, “If you understand the True Attribute, you see that it is not an attribute; if you understand non-attribute, form is likewise so. While present within form, it does not lose the essence of form; while abiding precisely within non-attribute, it remains unhindered by existence. To understand in this way is called understanding the True Attribute.”

When that assembly had heard this, their minds became luminous and clear, and they reverently bowed, believed, and accepted the teaching.

The Patriarch suddenly vanished and went to the School of Non-Attributes, where he asked, “You say that there are no attributes. What do you take as proof of this?”

Among that assembly was a teacher named Parati, who replied, “I understand that there are no attributes because that mind does not manifest.”

The Patriarch said, “If your mind does not manifest, by what do you understand?”

The man said, “I understand non-attribute; the mind neither grasps nor rejects. At the very moment of understanding and knowing, there is also nothing that assumes responsibility.”

The Patriarch said, “Among all the various forms of existence and nonexistence, if the mind neither grasps nor rejects, and if there is also nothing that assumes responsibility, then no understanding or knowing exists.”

The man said, “Even upon entering the Buddha’s samadhi, there is no attainment. How much less could one wish to know non-attribute?”

The Patriarch said, “Since attributes are already devoid of knowing, what is called existence and nonexistence? And since there is no attainment, what can be called samadhi?”

The man said, “When I say there is no realization, I mean realizing that there is nothing to realize. It is not samadhi; therefore, I call it samadhi.”

The Patriarch said, “If it is not samadhi, why give it that name? Since you neither realize nor do not realize, how do you realize?”

Hearing the Patriarch’s lucid analysis, Parati awakened to the Original Mind. He bowed in gratitude to the Patriarch and repented of his former errors.

The Patriarch bestowed a prediction upon him, saying, “You shall attain the fruition and will realize it before long. There are adherents of non-Buddhist paths in this country; it will not take long for you to subdue them.”

Having said this, he suddenly vanished.

The Patriarch went to the School of Samadhi and Wisdom and asked, “Is the samadhi and wisdom you study one or two?”

Among that assembly was a teacher named Balananda, who replied, “This samadhi and wisdom of mine are neither one nor two.”

The Patriarch said, “Since they are neither one nor two, why are they called samadhi and wisdom?”

The man said, “Within samadhi there is no samadhi, and within wisdom there is no wisdom. One is not one, and two are likewise not two.”

The Patriarch said, “In relation to one, there is no one; in relation to two, there are no two. Since these are neither samadhi nor wisdom, what samadhi and wisdom do you expound?”

The man said, “Though neither one nor two, they are known by samadhi and wisdom; and being neither samadhi nor wisdom is likewise so.”

The Patriarch said, “If wisdom is not samadhi, how can it know? If there is neither one nor two, which is samadhi and which is wisdom?”

Upon hearing this, Balananda’s doubts immediately dissolved.

The Patriarch went to the fourth school, the School of Precepts and Conduct, and asked, “What are precepts? What is conduct? Are they one or two?”

A worthy man among that assembly replied, “One and two, two and one—all arise from this. To accord with the teaching without attachment or defilement is called precepts and conduct.”

The Patriarch said, “When you speak of according with the teaching, there is already defilement. One and two are both entirely refuted, so why speak of according with the teaching? These two contradict each other and do not accord with conduct. If neither inwardly nor outwardly there is clarity, how can this be called precepts?”

The man said, “I possess both inward and outward, and they have already been completely known. Having attained complete understanding, this itself is precepts and conduct. If one speaks of contradiction, all of these are both right and wrong; but when speaking of purity, precepts themselves are conduct, and conduct itself is precepts.”

The Patriarch said, “If all are both right and wrong, how can you speak of purity? Since you have attained complete comprehension, why speak of inward and outward?”

Hearing this, the worthy man became ashamed and submitted.

The Patriarch went to the School of Non-Attainment and asked, “You speak of non-attainment. What does non-attainment attain? Since there is nothing attained, do you also not attain non-attainment?”

Among that assembly was Master Baojing, who replied: “When I speak of Non-Attainment, I do not mean that the Attainment is not attained. Now I speak of attaining Attainment: Non-Attainment itself is Attainment.”

The Patriarch said: “Since Attainment is not attained, Attainment also is not Attainment. Since you speak of attaining Attainment, what is attained in attaining Attainment?”

The man said: “Seeing that Attainment is not Attainment, non-Attainment itself is Attainment. If one sees it as non-Attainment, this is called attaining Attainment.”

The Patriarch said: “Since Attainment is not Attainment, attaining Attainment is Non-Attainment. When there is no place of Attainment, how can attaining Attainment presently be attained?”

Upon hearing this, Master Baojing immediately cast off the net of doubt.

The Patriarch went to the school of Quiescent Stillness and asked: “What is called Quiescent Stillness? Within this Dharma, what is still, and what is quiescent?”

A venerable one in that assembly replied: “When this mind does not move, that is called stillness; when it is undefiled by dharmas, that is called quiescence.”

The Patriarch said: “Only if the Original Mind were not still would one need to borrow quiescent stillness. Since it has always been still from the beginning, what need is there to employ quiescent stillness?”

The man said: “All dharmas are originally empty. Because even emptiness is empty, within that emptiness of emptiness it is called quiescent stillness.”

The Patriarch said: “Since the emptiness of emptiness is itself empty, all dharmas are likewise. Quiescent stillness is without characteristics—what still remains to be still, and what quiescent remains to be quiescent?”

Upon hearing the Patriarch’s instruction, that venerable one suddenly awakened; therefore, all six communities vowed to take refuge.

He consequently spread the teaching throughout southern India, and his renown extended across all five regions of India. Seeing that the six schools also knew to withdraw and cultivate the unconditioned state free of outflows, the Patriarch manifested spiritual power and enabled them to attain liberation.

This was the first responsive manifestation of Avalokiteshvara. Such was his original vow.

Sutra: “If those who are still learning cultivate the Dharma of quiescent stillness and attain wondrous luminosity, so that the supreme and marvelous state manifests in complete perfection, I appear before such persons in the body of a Pratyekabuddha and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain Liberation. If those who are still learning sever the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, and when conditions cease their wondrous supreme nature emerges in complete perfection, I appear before such persons in the body of one enlightened through conditions and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain Liberation.

Commentary: There are two kinds of Pratyekabuddha. The first is born in an age when no Buddha is present, thoroughly observes the transformations of phenomena, and awakens by himself to non-arising; such a one is called a solitary enlightened one. The second is born in an age when a Buddha is present, follows the Buddha’s teaching, thoroughly investigates causes and conditions, and awakens to the Way; such a one is called one enlightened through conditions.

Wondrous luminous quiescence is not the Wondrous Luminosity of Original Enlightenment, but is attained through cultivating the Dharma of quiescent stillness. To sever the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination is to proceed from the cessation of ignorance through to the cessation of suffering and affliction. When conditions are severed, the Supreme Nature manifests; realization is attained through cessation, and in both cases the supreme and wondrous state appears in complete perfection.

Yet this merely relies upon intellectual principle: one understands the wondrousness by oneself and understands causes and conditions by oneself, but cannot yet turn the mind toward the Mahayana; therefore, this is not yet true Liberation.

Chan Master Niutou Farong lived in seclusion in a rocky cave, where the extraordinary event occurred that hundreds of birds came bearing flowers in their beaks. From afar, the Fourth Patriarch perceived the auspicious signs, knew that someone was dwelling there, and personally went to inquire. The Patriarch asked a monk at the monastery: “Is there a man of the Way in this place?”

He replied: “Among those who have left home, who is not a man of the Way?”

The Patriarch said: “Then who is a man of the Way?”

The monk had no words in reply.

Another monk said: “About ten miles into the mountains from here is a lazy Master Farong. When he sees people, he neither rises nor joins his palms in greeting. Is he not a man of the Way?”

The Patriarch then entered the mountains and saw Master Farong sitting upright and at ease. The Patriarch asked: “What are you doing here?”

Master Farong said: “Contemplating the mind.”

The Patriarch said: “Who is the one contemplating, and what thing is the mind?”

Master Farong could not answer. He immediately rose, bowed, and said: “At what monastery does the Venerable One reside?”

The Patriarch said: “This poor monk has no fixed abode, whether in the East or the West.”

Master Farong said: “Then do you know Chan Master Daoxin?”

The Patriarch said: “Why do you ask about that other man?”

Master Farong said: “I have long admired his abundant virtue and hope to pay my respects to him just once.”

The Patriarch said: “This poor monk is Daoxin.”

Master Farong said: “For what reason have you come here?”

The Patriarch said: “I came especially to visit you. Is there no place where I may rest?”

Master Farong pointed behind him, where there was only a small hermitage, and then led the Patriarch there. Around the hermitage, the Patriarch saw only tigers and leopards. He raised both hands in a gesture of fear.

Master Farong said: “It seems you still have that.”

The Patriarch said: “What is ‘that’?”

Master Farong could not answer.

A short while later, the Patriarch returned to the rock upon which Master Farong had been meditating and wrote the character “Buddha” on it. When Master Farong saw it, he was startled.

The Patriarch said: “It seems you still have that.”

Master Farong did not yet understand, so he bowed his head and asked to be taught the true essential. The Patriarch transmitted to him the Dharma gate of the Sudden Teaching, complete with the myriad bodhisattva practices.

Tripitaka Master Guptada of the Western Regions awakened in accord with the teaching of the Sixth Patriarch. Later, while traveling on Mount Wutai, he saw a monk who had built a hermitage and was sitting there in stillness.

The Tripitaka Master asked: “What are you doing, sitting alone?”

He replied: “Contemplating purity.”

The Tripitaka Master said: “Who is the one contemplating, and what thing is purity?”

The monk bowed and asked: “What is the principle of this?”

The Tripitaka Master said: “Why do you not contemplate yourself and purify yourself?”

The monk stood bewildered.

The Tripitaka Master said: “From which school do you come?”

He replied: “From Chan Master Patriarch Xiu.”

The Tripitaka Master said: “In my Western Regions, even the lowest followers of non-Buddhist paths do not fall into this view. What benefit is there to the Way in sitting rigidly in emptiness?”

The monk then asked: “Who is the Tripitaka Master’s revered teacher?”

The Tripitaka Master said: “My teacher is the Sixth Patriarch. Why do you not go quickly to Caoxi and clarify the true essential?”

The monk immediately went to consult the Sixth Patriarch. The Patriarch instructed him in the same way as the Tripitaka Master, and the monk immediately awakened and entered realization.

Had Master Farong and this monk not encountered the Fourth Patriarch and the Sixth Patriarch, they would merely have realized the attainments of solitary enlightenment and enlightenment through conditions. How could they ever have hoped for the day of Liberation?

Sutra: “If those who are still learning attain the emptiness of the Four Noble Truths, cultivate the Truth of the Path, and enter the Truth of Cessation, so that the Supreme Nature manifests in complete perfection, I appear before such persons in the body of a shravaka and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain Liberation.

Commentary: The Dharma of the Four Noble Truths is to know suffering, sever its accumulation, realize cessation, and cultivate the Path. Those who proceed as far as entering the samadhi of complete cessation, delight in the bliss of quiescent cessation, and have no intention of liberating beings are called shravakas, for they cultivate the Way by relying upon the teaching they have heard.

Patriarch Guishan was sitting when Master Yangshan entered.

Patriarch Guishan said: “Huiji, speak quickly, but do not fall into the skandhas and dhatus!”

Yangshan said: “Here, Huiji does not even establish an understanding in which to place faith.”

Patriarch Gui said: “You do not establish an understanding in which to place faith. Is it that you do not believe, or that you do not establish?”

Yangshan said: “This alone is Huiji; what else is there to believe?”

Patriarch Gui said: “If so, you are a shravaka of fixed nature.”

Yangshan said: “Here, Huiji does not even establish Buddha.”

Patriarch Yunju Daoying instructed his attendant to take a loincloth to a practitioner living in a hermitage.

The practitioner said: “I already have the loincloth in which my mother bore me; I will not accept it.”

Patriarch Daoying again instructed the attendant to ask: “Before your father and mother gave birth to you, what did you wear?”

The practitioner had no words in reply.

Later, when he passed away, his relics were brought to Patriarch Daoying.

Patriarch Daoying said: “Even if he obtained eight hu and four dou of relics, it would not equal his having uttered a single turning word at that moment.”

This practitioner resolutely acknowledged the loincloth in which his mother bore him; truly, this was the fixed nature of a shravaka. Yangshan, however, was able to utter the turning word, “Here, Huiji does not even establish Buddha.” Truly, he had seen his original face before birth.

Sutra: “If sentient beings wish their minds to become awakened and clear, do not transgress through the defiling object of desire, and wish their bodies to be pure, I appear before such persons in the body of Brahma King and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain Liberation.”

Commentary: The Brahma King, lord of the Form Realm, is named Sikhin, here rendered “Crested One,” and dwells at the summit of the First Dhyana Heaven. Pratyekabuddhas and shravakas dwell in the Four Formless Heavens. Below them is the Brahma King. Below the Brahma Heaven are the Six Desire Heavens. Those who do not transgress through the defilement of desire not only have no wish for the coarse sensual pleasures of sights and sounds in the human realm, but also take no delight in the pleasures of the Heaven of Mastery over Others’ Transformations. They wish to advance to the Fourth Dhyana and, through the mindfulness of equanimity, attain purity; they wish to attain a pure body that is without joy and without pleasure.

National Master Nanyang Huizhong asked Chan Master Benjing of Mount Sikong, “From now on, when you encounter extraordinary words, what will you do?”

Master Jing said, “Not a single thought of craving arises in the mind.”

The National Master said, “That is an affair within your own household.”

Another monk asked National Master Huizhong, “What is liberation?”

The National Master said, “Dharmas do not reach one another; this very fact is liberation.”

The monk said, “Then they are cut off.”

The National Master said, “I have already told you that dharmas do not reach one another. What is there to cut off?”

From the passage in which he manifests the body of a Buddha and teaches the Dharma down to this point, these five Dharmas of Liberation all lead back solely to the one upward path. From the passage concerning Shakra onward, he merely enables beings to bring their aspirations to fulfillment. If one perceives the Ultimate Reality, how could the Buddhadharma and worldly dharmas differ in any way?

Sutra: “If beings wish to become lords of a celestial realm and command the devas, I manifest before them in the body of Shakra and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain fulfillment.

Commentary: Shakra has many names. The first is Shakra Devendra, and the second is Kaushika. He dwells at the summit of Mount Sumeru. On each of its four sides are eight celestial realms, making thirty-two celestial realms in all, over all of which he exercises command.

One day, while Venerable Subhuti was teaching the Dharma, King Shakra scattered flowers down upon him.

The Venerable asked, “Did these flowers come from heaven? Did they come from the earth? Did they come from a person?”

Shakra said, “None of these.”

The Venerable said, “Then whence did they come?”

Shakra immediately raised his hand.

The Venerable said, “Thus, thus.”

Long ago, the Blessed One showed a mani jewel to the Celestial Kings of the five directions. Each said it was blue, yellow, red, or white. The Blessed One raised his hand and showed it to them, yet none of them saw it. The Blessed One said, “I showed you the true jewel, yet none of you recognized it.” Thereupon the Celestial Kings of the five directions awakened and entered realization.

Now, before the Venerable, Shakra raised his hand; this function was truly intimate. King Shakra also had an understanding of Chan.

Sutra: “If beings wish to possess a sovereign body and travel throughout the ten directions, I manifest before them in the body of a Deva of Sovereignty and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain fulfillment.

Commentary: The Heaven of Sovereignty is the Heaven of Mastery over Others’ Transformations. Its beings appropriate what others have produced and make it their own pleasure. This heaven is at the summit of the Desire Realm. Some say that the Demon King has a separate dwelling place, but it too is included within the Heaven of Sovereignty.

Venerable Upagupta traveled widely to teach and transform beings, and those whom he liberated were exceedingly numerous. Consequently, the demon palace trembled. Papiyan became afraid and exhausted all his demonic powers in an attempt to destroy the true Dharma. The Venerable then entered samadhi to examine the cause. Seizing the opportunity, Papiyan secretly took a jeweled necklace and placed it around his neck. When the Venerable emerged from samadhi, he took three corpses—those of a human, a dog, and a snake—and transformed them into a garland. He coaxed Papiyan, saying, “The jeweled necklace you gave me is truly exquisite and precious. I have a garland to offer you in return.”

Papiyan was overjoyed and extended his neck to receive it. Suddenly, it transformed into the three kinds of corpses, crawling with maggots, putrid and foul. Papiyan was disgusted and exerted all his spiritual powers, yet could not remove it. He then flew up to the Six Desire Heavens, appealed to their celestial lords, and also petitioned the Brahma King, seeking release.

Each of them said, “This disciple of the Buddha of the ten powers possesses every manner of spiritual transformation. How could ordinary beings still subject to the outflows like us possibly remove it?”

Papiyan said, “Then what am I to do?”

The Brahma King said, “If you turn your mind back toward the Venerable, it can immediately be removed.”

He then spoke a verse, instructing him to turn his mind toward awakening:

“Since it was upon the ground that you slipped and fell,

You must rely upon the ground to rise again.

If you leave the ground and seek to rise,

How could there be any such principle?”

After Papiyan heard this instruction, he immediately descended from the celestial palace, bowed at the Venerable’s feet, and earnestly repented.

The Venerable said, “From this day forward, will you cease to disturb and harm the Buddhadharma?”

Papiyan said, “I vow to turn toward the Buddha Way and forever abandon evil.”

The Venerable said, “If that is so, you may now proclaim with your own mouth your refuge in the Three Jewels.”

The Demon King placed his palms together and proclaimed it three times. The garland completely disappeared. Leaping joyfully, he bowed to the Venerable and spoke this verse:

“Reverence to the Master of Samadhi,

Disciple of the Sage of the Ten Powers.

I now vow to turn toward awakening

And shall no longer be feeble.”

Consider the Brahma King’s verse: it truly expresses the wondrous principle of turning toward awakening. Was he not a transformation-body bodhisattva?

Sutra: “If beings wish to possess a body of great sovereignty and fly through empty space, I manifest before them in the body of a Deva of Great Sovereignty and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain fulfillment.

Commentary: The Heaven of Great Sovereignty is the Heaven of Maheshvara. Maheshvara has three eyes and eight arms, rides a white ox, and holds a white fly-whisk. He dwells at the summit of the Form Realm and can therefore fly through empty space.

The Nirvana Sutra says: “What is called the secret treasury? It is like the letter ( ), composed of three dots. If the dots are clustered together, they do not form the letter Yi; if they are scattered apart, they likewise do not form it. It is like Maheshvara, who forms the letter Yi only through the three eyes upon his face. Three separate dots also cannot form it. I am likewise so. The Dharma of liberation alone is not nirvana. The body of the Tathagata alone is not nirvana. Mahaprajnaparamita alone is not nirvana. If these three dharmas are each separate and distinct, they too are not nirvana. I now abide in these three dharmas, and for the sake of beings this is called entering nirvana, just like the worldly letter Yi.”

Master Yantou ascended the Dharma seat and said, “I studied the Nirvana Sutra for seven or eight years and found two or three passages whose meaning resembled the words of the Chan school.”

Then he said, “Enough! Enough!”

At that time, a monk stepped forward, bowed, and asked the Master to explain them.

Master Yantou said, “The meaning of my teaching is like the three dots of the letter Yi ( ). First, place one dot toward the east: it opens the eyes of all bodhisattvas. Second, place one dot toward the west: it touches the vital lifeline of all bodhisattvas.

Third, place one dot above: it touches the crowns of all bodhisattvas. This is the first passage. Again, the meaning of my teaching is like forcing open a door upon Maheshvara’s face and setting upright a single eye.

This is the second passage. Again, the meaning of my teaching is like a poison-smeared drum [The sound of the poison drum can kill people. The Nirvana Sutra says: The eternally abiding sound of the Buddha-nature can destroy the five heinous offenses and ten evil deeds of beings]; when struck once, all who hear it, far or near, die utterly.

This is the third passage.”

At that time, Senior Monk Xiaoyan asked, “What is the poison-smeared drum?”

Master Yantou placed both hands upon his knees, straightened his body, and said, “Han Xin has come to court.”

Master Yan had no words.

Patriarch Fushan Yuan ascended the hall and said: “When the Buddhas appear in the world and establish the teachings, they do not depart from the Wisdom Eye of the Three Bodies, just like the three eyes of Maheśvara Heaven. Why is this? With one eye, not even a drop of water can leak through, and monk and layperson are difficult to distinguish.

With one eye, the great earth opens in its entirety, penetrating throughout the ten directions. With one eye, high and low are contained in a single glance, and the myriad kinds are regarded equally. Even so, where paths obstruct one another, a monk fulfilling his fundamental duty must possess the Right Eye that penetrates heaven.

Therefore it is said that the Buddhas of the three times do not know of existence [the conditioned], while the female fox and the male white ox know of it. Tell me, what is it that the female fox and male white ox know to exist? Do you understand?”

On an autumn night, rain veils a thousand empty homes;

As daylight fades, a single flute sounds by the terrace.

The three eyes upon the face of Maheśvara Deva are like the three dots forming the character Yi. The Chan school borrows this image to proclaim the mysterious principle. Do not say that it is wordless—its sound is like thunder!

Sutra: “If sentient beings wish to command ghosts and spirits and safeguard the lands, I appear before them in the body of a Great Deva General and expound the Dharma for them, enabling them to attain fulfillment.

Explanation: The Great Deva General commands ghosts and spirits and serves as Śakra’s supreme general.

When Tiantai Master Zhizhe first resided at Yuquan,

General Guan Gong appeared in a dream and said: “My son Guan Ping and I have governed this mountain for a long time.”

Master Zhizhe taught him the precepts of the Three Refuges.

Guan Gong vowed to become a Protector of the Dharma. To this day he continues to safeguard the land and remains extraordinarily efficacious.

Master Chuanshan Pu went to Patriarch Huanglong to request instruction and asked: “Ānanda asked Patriarch Kāśyapa, ‘Apart from the kāṣāya robe, what Dharma did the World-Honored One transmit to you?’

“Patriarch Kāśyapa called loudly, ‘Ānanda!’

“Ānanda answered, ‘Yes!’

“Patriarch Kāśyapa said, ‘Knock down the flagpole before the gate!’

“What is the meaning of this?”

Master Nangong [Huanglong] said: “Since leaving the land of Shu, have you ever been to Yuquan?”

He replied: “I have.”

The Master asked again: “Did you ever stay there?”

He replied: “I stayed one night and then departed.”

Master Nangong said: “At Zhizhe’s place of practice, General Guan made offerings. When did you form an affinity with them that you should now be hindered?”

Master Pu remained silent. After a long while, he again asked about the principle previously mentioned. Master Nangong lowered his head.

Master Pu stepped out in great alarm and said: “The righteous tiger of Western Sichuan is not worth a single expectoration from this old man.”

Patriarch Cuiyan Zhen also ascended the hall and said: “An ancient worthy said, ‘This matter is like scorching a tortoise shell. When scorched, it forms omens that reveal good or ill fortune; when not scorched, nothing can be known.’ Scorching and not scorching are both merely blurred vision. Shanglan [his self-appellation] is not like this: he clings to nothing and fixes upon nothing. In empty space he rides a horse; across dry land he travels by boat. Clouds rise over the southern mountain; rain falls upon the northern mountain!”

He then raised his staff and said: “This staff transforms into a Great Deva General and travels throughout the four continents. Those who observe the regulations and those who do not, those who possess moral discipline and those who do not—he reports them all at once to Śakra Deva.”

Then he shouted and said:

“A true man naturally has the resolve to pierce the heavens;

He does not walk along the path trodden by the Tathagata.”

(A true man naturally possesses heaven-piercing resolve;

Do not walk where the Tathagata has walked.)

He then struck the table once.

These two venerable masters both used the Great General to expound the Dharma. This itself was expounding the Dharma for the Great General.

Sutra: “If sentient beings wish to rule the world and protect sentient beings, I appear before them in the bodies of the Four Heavenly Kings and expound the Dharma for them, enabling them to attain fulfillment.

Explanation: The Four Heavenly Kings dwell midway upon Mount Sumeru. The sun and moon pass in orbit before their palaces. They are Śakra’s divine guardians who protect the four continents.

Official Lu asked Patriarch Nanquan: “At what stage are the Heavenly Kings?”

Master Nanquan said: “If one is a Heavenly King, then it is not a stage.”

Lu said: “This disciple has heard that the Heavenly Kings are at the First Bhūmi.”

Master Nanquan said: “For those who should be liberated through the body of a Heavenly King, he immediately manifests the body of a Heavenly King and expounds the Dharma for them.”

Tell me, was Nanquan speaking of the doctrinal teaching or of the Chan school?

Sutra: “If sentient beings wish to be born in a heavenly palace and command ghosts and spirits, I appear before them in the body of a crown prince of the Four Heavenly Kings and expound the Dharma for them, enabling them to attain fulfillment.

Explanation: The Universal Gate Chapter mentions the Vajra-Bearing Spirit but not the crown prince of a kingdom. Yet commanding ghosts and spirits is the function of the Vajra-Bearing Spirit, who is therefore of the same category as a crown prince.

Prince Nezha, son of Heavenly King Vaiśravaṇa, attended Vinaya Master Daoxuan every midnight. At times he supported the Master’s feet to keep him from falling; at other times he discussed with him the sublime sights of Mount Wutai. This is something beyond the knowledge of those of the Two Vehicles. It is clearly recorded in the Vinaya Master’s biography.

A monk asked National Teacher Shao: “Prince Nezha stripped off his flesh and returned it to his mother, and split apart his bones and returned them to his father. He later manifested his original body again, exercised great spiritual powers, and, seated upon a lotus throne, expounded the Dharma for his parents. I do not yet understand: what is the body of the prince?”

He replied: “Everyone can see the Senior Monk asking the question.”

The monk said: “If so, the trichiliocosm shares one True Nature.”

The National Teacher said: “It faintly resembles a melody newly heard, only for the wind to blow it into another tune.”

When this point is carefully contemplated, no discriminating examination can find any prince’s body, bodhisattva’s body, or any other kind of body.

Sutra: “If sentient beings wish to become rulers in the human realm, I appear before them in the body of a king and expound the Dharma for them, enabling them to attain fulfillment.

Explanation: From Gold-Wheel Kings down to Millet-Scattering Kings, all are rulers among human beings. The Lotus Sutra speaks only of lesser kings, all of whom are rulers among humankind.

Emperor Wenzong of the Tang dynasty was very fond of clams. In earlier times, officials of the coastal regions continually sent them as tribute, causing the people much toil and hardship. One day, among the clams in the imperial stores was one that could not be opened.

The emperor found this strange and immediately burned incense and prayed. The shell then opened, revealing the form of a bodhisattva, fully endowed with pure and immaculate features. The emperor placed it in a box of red sandalwood, wrapped it in fine brocade, and presented it to Xing善 Monastery so that the assembly of monks might behold and venerate it.

The emperor asked his ministers what auspicious sign this might be. They reported that on Mount Taiyi there was a Chan Master named Zheng who profoundly understood the Buddhadharma, and requested that an imperial decree summon him for questioning. The emperor immediately issued a decree inviting the Master to court and asked him about the matter.

Patriarch Zheng said: “For those who should be liberated through this body, he immediately manifests this body and expounds the Dharma for them.”

The emperor said: “The bodhisattva’s body has already appeared, but I have not yet heard the Dharma expounded.”

Patriarch Zheng said: “Does Your Majesty regard this as ordinary or extraordinary?”

The emperor said: “It is a rare and extraordinary event, and We have complete faith in it.”

“Your Majesty has already heard the Dharma expounded.”

The emperor’s heart was filled with joy, and he issued a decree that every monastery throughout the realm should establish an image of Guanyin in gratitude for this singular blessing.

That clam spoke through not speaking; Patriarch Zheng spoke through words. Both were transformation bodies.

Sutra: “If sentient beings wish to become heads of renowned households, honored and respected by the world, I appear before them in the body of an elder and expound the Dharma for them, enabling them to attain fulfillment.

Explanation: An elder possesses ten virtues: noble lineage, high rank, great wealth, mighty authority, profound wisdom, longevity, pure conduct, complete propriety, praise from superiors, and obedience from subordinates—like a venerable statesman of the nation.”

The elder Li, whose personal name was Tongxuan, was a native of northeastern Taiyuan and was also said to have been a member of the Tang imperial clan. In the seventh year of the Kaiyuan era, he lived in seclusion at Tukeng on Mount Fang and composed the forty-fascicle Combined Treatise on the Avatamsaka Sutra. Tigers knelt to bear the scriptures upon their backs, and divine dragons caused springs to appear. By day, celestial maidens attended upon him; by night, moonlight served in place of lamps. On the day he entered quiescence, birds and beasts cried mournfully, and a luminous vapor reached to the heavens. He lived to the age of ninety-six.

Zhang Wujin considered him an illusory manifestation of Manjusri or Samantabhadra, but how could one know that he was not an illusory manifestation of Avalokitesvara?

Sutra: “If sentient beings delight in discussing names and expressions and maintain personal purity, I appear before them in the body of a layman and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: One who is widely learned and greatly understanding, who does not seek official rank or riches and wealth, and who maintains an incorruptible resolve is called a layman.

Layman Pang Yun, styled Daoxuan, was a native of Hengyang. Early in life, he awakened to the weariness of worldly existence and resolved to seek the truth.

At first, he went to see Patriarch Shitou and asked, “Who is the one who does not keep company with the myriad dharmas?”

Shitou covered his mouth with his hand.

He suddenly awakened.

One day, Shitou asked, “Since you met this old monk, how have your daily affairs been?”

The layman replied, “If you ask about my daily functioning, there is nowhere to open my mouth.”

He then presented this verse:

“Daily affairs are no different;

I alone am naturally at ease.

In each and every thing, there is neither grasping nor rejecting;

Everywhere, there is neither opposition nor obstruction.

Who assigns rank amid confusion?

Crimson and purple mountains are utterly free of dust.

Drawing water and carrying firewood—

These are wondrous function and spiritual powers.”

Shitou approved and asked, “Will you wear black robes or white?”

The layman said, “I wish to follow what pleases me.”

Thus, he neither shaved his head nor dyed his garments.

Later, he went to consult Master Mazu and asked, “Who is the one who does not keep company with the myriad dharmas?”

Mazu said, “When you have swallowed all the water of the Western River in a single gulp, I shall tell you!”

At these words, the layman immediately apprehended the profound purport. He then remained to study under Mazu for two years.

He composed this verse:

“I have a son who does not marry;

I have a daughter who does not wed.

The whole family gathers together,

Speaking with one accord of the Unborn.”

From then on, his dynamic teaching was swift and incisive, and people everywhere turned to him.

Among lay practitioners of the Eastern Land, Pang must be regarded as foremost. Husband and wife, son and daughter all ascended to unsurpassed awakening. He was a later incarnation of Vimalakirti, the Golden Grain Tathagata, who extensively expounded the Dharma gate of nonduality. This was no unprecedented matter.

Sutra: “If sentient beings wish to govern a realm and clearly administer its states and settlements, I appear before them in the body of a minister or official and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: The Tathagata guides sentient beings through the four means of attraction, participating in the same activities as they do. His words are then easily understood, and their capacities readily accord with his teaching. Yet ministers and officials all rely upon their talents and skills and cling to their arguments and opinions; unless one is of their own station, it is difficult to speak with them. He therefore manifests in the world in the body of a minister or official, becoming one of their own kind.

Duke Xian, Bian Zhaoqing, was over forty when he abandoned sights and sounds and wholeheartedly entered the doctrinal and Chan traditions. He encountered Patriarch Fohui at Nan Chan. Every day, he would linger nearby, yet Fohui never uttered a word. Later, while governing Qingzhou, he often sat quietly when free from official duties. Suddenly, a tremendous peal of thunder shook him to the core, and he immediately attained realization.

He composed this verse:

“In the government hall, I sit silently at ease upon my chair;

The source of mind is unmoving, like clear water.

A single thunderclap opens the gate at the crown;

I cry out—for from ancient times it has been my own home.”

When Fohui heard this, he laughed and said, “Zhao certainly enjoys making his words resound with literary splendor!”

At first, Duke Zheng, Fu Bi, had found no point of entry into the Chan school. Bian earnestly exhorted him, writing in a letter: “I humbly reflect that Your Excellency possesses such extraordinary wealth and honor, such abundant virtue, such complete blessings, longevity, peace, and happiness, and such lofty, leisurely, and untroubled retirement. There is only one matter to which you have not yet given profound attention: the Tathagata’s single great causal matter. If you can sincerely and single-mindedly seek realization, the day will surely come when I shall offer my congratulations as one of your disciples.”

Awakened and encouraged by Bian, Duke Zheng never neglected his practice day or night and diligently advanced in the Way. Hearing of Chan Master Yong, abbot of Touzi, he went to question him and resolve his doubts. When he arrived, Patriarch Yong was ascending the Dharma seat. Seeing the master look back like a king of elephants turning his head, he experienced a measure of awakening and thereafter observed the rites of a disciple. The patriarch instructed the attendant to admit him into his chamber.

Patriarch Yong immediately said, “The Chief Minister has entered, but Fu Bi remains outside!”

Upon hearing this, sweat poured down his back, and he attained great awakening.

He wrote this verse and sent it to Yuanzhao:

“Upon meeting Master Yong, I awakened and entered the profound;

In secret I received the mind of my venerable teacher.

Speak not of the mountains and rivers separating southeast and northwest;

Each day I face numinous radiance and wondrous sound.”

Here, one used the body of a minister or official to teach the Dharma to a minister or official, enabling him to attain realization. This truly serves as a model for the world.

Sutra: “If sentient beings delight in numerological arts and techniques and discipline their bodies and minds, I appear before them in the body of a brahmin and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: ‘Brahmin’ is rendered here as ‘one of pure conduct.’ Brahmins greatly esteem non-Buddhist paths, such as the worship of fire and water. They are practitioners of numerological arts who discipline the mind and preserve health in order to secure their own well-being. These arts include physiognomy and astronomical methods for observing prosperity and decline.

Patriarch Kumarajiva was descended from brahmins. Thus, when he divined calamities and blessings, many of his predictions proved extraordinarily accurate; his mastery of these arts cannot be fully recounted.

Assistant Minister Li Hao read the Surangama Sutra in his youth and felt as though he were returning to his native land. Later, he entered the chamber of Mingguo Toucheng.

Patriarch Ying’an struck him on the chest and said, “Assistant Minister, when you die, where will you go?”

Li Hao was so terrified that sweat poured from him.

Ying’an shouted and drove him out.

The duke withdrew and investigated the matter. Before long, he reached its inner mystery and composed a verse that he sent to Yan Jiangchao, a fellow practitioner:

“At the gate stands the gatekeeper Sun Bin;

Within the house is Ganzhi’s wife.

At night one sleeps, and in the morning rises—

Who is awakened, and who is deluded?”

Ying’an praised it as excellent.

The teacher Yuyan Zhi had also studied for a long time under Patriarch Ying’an and had become somewhat conceited.

Li Hao presented him with this verse:

“Needing neither rouge nor powder, naturally elegant and free;

How many on the Chan path have reached only this far?

Passing completely through the cages that have confined past and present,

You still come and go within them, enduring blows.”

Judging from Li Hao’s associations, he attained realization through the conduct of a brahmin. Such cases have frequently occurred; Ganzhi was hardly the only one who practiced pure conduct.

Sutra: “If a man wishes to leave the household life for training and uphold the precepts and disciplinary rules, I appear before him in the body of a bhiksu and teach him the Dharma, enabling him to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: Great Master Sengqie, a native of the Western Regions, once rested in the home of Ba Xiaba. His body suddenly grew until it extended more than three feet beyond the bed, astonishing everyone. He then transformed into the form of the eleven-faced Avalokitesvara. The household’s faith and reverence deepened further, and they converted the house into a monastery.

Emperor Zhongzong sent an envoy to invite him to the imperial sanctuary and honored him as National Preceptor. He usually stayed alone in a chamber. At the crown of his head was an opening, which he kept plugged with a wad of silk thread. At night, he removed it, and fragrance issued from the opening. At dawn, the fragrance returned through the crown, and he again sealed the opening with the silk wad. When he entered quiescence, the emperor had his remains conveyed to Linhuai, where a stupa was built and offerings were made.

Emperor Zhongzong asked Master Wanhui, “Who was Great Master Sengqie?”

Wanhui replied, “He was an emanation of Avalokitesvara. The Universal Gate Chapter of the Lotus Sutra says, ‘For those who can be liberated through the body of a bhiksu or bhiksuni, he immediately manifests such a body and teaches them the Dharma.’ This was precisely such a case.”

When the master came to Chang’an, Wanhui bowed before him with the utmost reverence.

The master patted him on the shoulder and said, “Little one, why have you remained so long? It is time to go.”

Less than a month after the master entered quiescence, Wanhui also entered quiescence.

Master Tiệm Nguyên served as attendant to Patriarch Đạo Ngô. One day, he accompanied the Patriarch to a patron’s home to conduct funeral rites.

Master Nguyên tapped upon the coffin and said, “Alive or dead?”

Patriarch Ngô said, “Alive, I will not say; dead, I will not say!”

Master Nguyên said, “Why will you not say?”

Patriarch Ngô said, “I will not say! I will not say!”

When they were halfway back, Master Nguyên said, “Today the Venerable must tell me. If you do not, I shall strike you.”

Patriarch Ngô said, “If you would strike me, then strike me; as for telling you, I will not tell.”

Master Nguyên then struck him.

Upon returning to the monastery, Patriarch Ngô said, “You should leave this place. I fear that if the administrator learns of this, matters will become difficult.”

Master Nguyên then bowed in farewell and went into seclusion at a village monastery.

Three years later, he suddenly heard a young novice reciting the Avalokitesvara Sutra as far as the passage, “For those who should be delivered by the body of a bhiksu, he immediately manifests the body of a bhiksu,” and abruptly attained great awakening. He immediately burned incense and bowed from afar, saying, “Only now do I know that the words left by my late master were neither false nor mistaken. It was I who failed to understand, yet I resented and blamed my late master.” He then went to Patriarch Thạch Sương and arranged a vegetarian offering in repentance.

Thus this single phrase, “A bhiksu...,” was enough to bring liberation. The wondrous power of Avalokitesvara’s wisdom is therefore inconceivable.

Sutra: “If there is a woman who wishes to train in the monastic life and observe the precepts, I appear before her in the body of a bhiksuni and teach her the Dharma, enabling her to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: The discipline of a bhiksu comprises two hundred and fifty precepts. The precepts of a bhiksuni number altogether five hundred. Clearly, these exceed those of a bhiksu because the female disposition is less endowed with loftiness and clarity; therefore, prohibitive rules are employed as precepts.

The nun Lưu Thiết Ma came to Patriarch Quy Sơn.

The Patriarch said, “Old cow, have you come?”

Nun Ma said, “Tomorrow there will be a great vegetarian assembly at Mount Đài. Will the Venerable go?”

Patriarch Quy Sơn stretched out his legs and lay down.

Nun Ma immediately withdrew.

A monk asked Patriarch Phong Huyệt, “Patriarch Quy Sơn said, ‘Old cow, have you come?’ What was the meaning?”

Patriarch Huyệt said, “In the depths, the golden dragon dances amid white clouds.”

The monk asked, “And when Lưu Thiết Ma said, ‘Tomorrow there will be a great vegetarian assembly at Mount Đài. Will the Venerable go?’ what was the meaning?”

Patriarch Huyệt said, “In the heart of the blue waves, the jade hare is startled.”

The monk asked, “Quy Sơn then assumed a reclining posture. What was the meaning?”

Patriarch Huyệt said:

“The doddering old man rests on an uneventful day;

At leisure, he sleeps high, facing the green mountain.”

Patriarch Tuyết Đậu chanted:

“Once astride an iron horse, she entered the encircling walls;

At her command, it was heard that the six kingdoms were at peace [Yên].

On the road home, grasping the golden whip, she asks:

Deep in the night, with whom does the imperial procession travel?”

Patriarch Thiên Đồng chanted:

“After a hundred battles, merit complete, the old one rests in peace;

Who would weary himself contending over victory and defeat?

Golden horse and jade whip, idle throughout the day;

Pure wind and brilliant moon, a lifetime of splendor.”

Among the bhiksunis, there are very many encounters and sayings that all reveal the matter beyond. How could they all be recounted? These have therefore been recorded as models.

Sutra: “If there is a man who delights in observing the five precepts, I appear before him in the body of a male lay devotee and teach him the Dharma, enabling him to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: The five precepts are the precepts against killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and drinking intoxicants. A male lay devotee is an upasaka, one who preserves purity and is able to assist bhiksus.

The Thirteenth Man of the Way at Tiên Châu Mountain in Ngô frequently inquired into the Way with virtuous Chan masters and eventually took refuge under Master Khai Thiện. He then built a hermitage to the left and provided offerings and service. On the night of the eighth day of the third month, during the Thiện Hưng era, he suddenly awakened and composed this verse to present to Master Thiện:

“From the beginning, there was no rent to mend;

At the slightest touch, it shines forth at once.

Since it is already treasure worth a thousand pieces of gold,

What need is there to stir or make use of anything?”

Master Thiện replied with this verse:

“The earth has split apart—how joyful and refreshing!

Birth and death, ordinary beings and sages, are cleansed at once.

Below Tiên Châu Mountain, laughter rings out—ha, ha!

We have not failed the mind we have shared from ancient days!”

This male lay devotee also attained liberation.

Sutra: “If there is a woman who herself observes the five precepts, I appear before her in the body of a female lay devotee and teach her the Dharma, enabling her to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: A female lay devotee is called an upasika, one who preserves purity and regularly assists bhiksunis.

Lady Du Đạo Bà, a native of Kim Lăng, made her living grilling glutinous-rice cakes in the marketplace. She joined the assembly in questioning Patriarch Lang Gia Khởi. Patriarch Khởi instructed her through Patriarch Lâm Tế’s teaching on the True Person of No Rank. One day, she heard a beggar singing the Lotus Fall song:

“Had Liễu Nghị not carried the letter,

By what affinity could he have reached Động Đình Lake?”

She suddenly attained great awakening and threw the tray of glutinous-rice cakes to the ground.

Her husband, Bàng Nghệ, said, “Have you gone mad?”

She clapped her hands and said, “This is not within your realm.”

She then went to see Patriarch Khởi.

Seeing her from afar, the Patriarch knew what she had attained and asked, “What is the True Person of No Rank?”

Lady Du said:

“There is a True Person of No Rank,

With six arms and three heads, exerting wrathful might.

A single path at Mount Hoa divides into two roads;

For ten thousand years the waters flow, unaware of spring.”

From then on, her fame spread. She often recited the Circumstances of Illness discourse of Mazu [Great Master Mã was ill. The monastery superintendent asked, “How is Your Reverence today?” Great Master Mã replied, “Sun-Face Buddha, Moon-Face Buddha.”].

She said, “The sun and moon are flashes of lightning in empty space. Although this thoroughly silences the tongues of patch-robed monks throughout the world, clearly it expresses only one half.”

Who would have expected a female lay devotee to teach the Dharma in this way? Could she not possess hundreds of thousands of millions of transformation bodies?

Sutra: “If there is a woman who establishes herself in the governance of the inner quarters so as to bring order to the nation and household, I appear before her in the body of a queen, a noble lady of the realm, or a great matron of rank, and teach her the Dharma, enabling her to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: Establishing oneself in the governance of the inner quarters so as to bring order to the nation and household, and using rare delicacies in sacrificial offerings—among all such activities, there is nothing that is not Buddha-work.

Patriarch Chí Công said, “The vast capital and its districts are themselves the Great Way of bodhi.” He also said, “The Great Way lies only before your eyes, yet what is before your eyes is difficult to see. If you wish to know the true essence of the Great Way, it is never apart from form, sound, and language.”

The Way is as near as this. How could women not be fully endowed with it?

The wife of Commander Ông Mân Súy was Lady Thôi Thị Phụng Đạo. She styled herself the Mistress of the Way. She sent a messenger to deliver garments to Patriarch Trường Khánh, saying, “The Mistress of the Way has sent me and requests a reply.”

Patriarch Khánh said, “Tell the Mistress of the Way to receive the reply.”

A moment later, the messenger came before the Patriarch, loudly uttered a respectful acknowledgment, and immediately returned.

The following day, Patriarch Khánh entered the commander’s residence.

The Mistress of the Way spread open both hands.

Commander Súy asked Patriarch Khánh, “The Mistress of the Way has just presented her message. Does it accord with the great master’s intent?”

Patriarch Khánh said, “It is rather close.”

The Mistress of the Way asked, “I do not yet understand the great master’s meaning. What is it?”

Patriarch Khánh remained silent for a long while.

The Mistress of the Way said, “Inconceivable! The great master’s Buddha-Dharma is truly profound.”

This koan closely resembles Vimalakirti’s Dharma gate of nonduality.

The Lady of the State of Tần, Kế Thị Pháp Chân, lived as a widow, withdrew from splendor and bustle, regularly observed a vegetarian diet, and studied conditioned dharmas. When Patriarch Đạo Huệ instructed his attendant Khiêm to inquire after the son of Duke Ngụy, the Duke asked Master Khiêm to remain and teach him the Patriarch’s Way.

One day, Lady Chân asked Master Khiêm, “How does the Venerable of Kính Sơn ordinarily instruct people?”

Master Khiêm said, “The Venerable only instructs people to contemplate ‘A dog has no Buddha-nature,’ together with the phrase ‘the bamboo comb.’ One must not speak, must not engage in conceptual thought, must not understand it by turning toward the place from which it arises, and must not receive it by turning toward the place where words are uttered. Does a dog, then, have Buddha-nature or not? No! (Mu!) He simply instructs people to contemplate in this way.”

Lady Zhen immediately placed sincere faith in him. That night, she sat and applied herself vigorously to investigating and testing those words, and suddenly attained penetrating openness, free of obstruction.

Master Qian then took his leave and returned.

Lady Zhen herself composed a verse describing her entrance into the Way and presented it to Patriarch Hui.

The final stanza read:

“All day long I study the scriptures,

As though meeting an old acquaintance.

Do not say that obstructions still remain;

At every season, each encounter is new.”

Not a few ladies of eminent households attained realization. Who among them did not receive the silent aid of the Great Being, enabling them to attain accomplishment?

Sutra: “If there are living beings whose male organs remain unimpaired, I appear before them in the body of a virgin youth and expound the Dharma for them, enabling them to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: Venerable Weituo remained a virgin youth throughout ten lifetimes. After the Youth Sudhana returned from his pilgrimage of inquiry throughout the South, though he was eighty or ninety years old, he was still called a youth. This was because his male organs had not deteriorated.

When Master Fonri Benkong first arrived at Tiantai, he said, “If anyone can seize my pivotal mechanism, that person shall be my teacher.”

He went to pay his respects to Patriarch Yunju and asked, “When two dragons contend for a pearl, which one obtains it?”

Patriarch Ju said, “Cast off your karmic body entirely, and then I shall meet you face to face.”

Master Kong said, “The karmic body has already been cast off.”

Patriarch Ju said, “Where is the pearl?”

Master Kong could not answer. He then sincerely requested admission to the master’s chamber. At that time, he was only thirteen years old.

Four years later, he visited Patriarch Jiashan. Just as he entered the gate, he encountered the karmadana.

The karmadana said, “This place does not admit late-born novices.”

Master Kong said, “I have not come seeking lodging; I have come temporarily to pay my respects to the Venerable.”

The karmadana reported this to Patriarch Jiashan, who granted him an audience.

Before Master Kong had stepped onto the terrace, Patriarch Shan asked, “Where have you come from?”

Master Kong replied, “From Yunju.”

Patriarch Shan said, “And where are you now?”

Master Kong replied, “At the very summit of Jiashan.”

Patriarch Shan said, “This old monk’s yearly destiny lies in Kan; the Five Ghosts approach Shen.”

Master Kong was about to ascend the terrace.

Patriarch Shan said, “By what way will you ascend the three paths of the jeweled terrace?”

Master Kong said, “The three paths of the jeweled terrace are right here at this turning point. As for the single path leading upward, I ask the Master to point directly to it.”

Patriarch Shan then welcomed him. Master Kong ascended the terrace and bowed.

Patriarch Shan asked, “Acarya, with whom did you travel?”

He replied, “Elder Mu.”

Patriarch Shan said, “Why has he not come together with you to meet this old monk?”

He replied, “Venerable, you have seen half of him.”

Patriarch Shan asked, “Where?”

He replied, “In the Dharma hall.”

Patriarch Shan then went with him into the Dharma hall. Master Kong immediately picked up a staff and threw it down before Patriarch Shan.

Patriarch Shan said, “Was it not obtained at Tiantai?”

He replied, “It was not born from the Five Sacred Peaks.”

Patriarch Shan said, “Was it not obtained from Mount Sumeru?”

He replied, “Even the lunar palace has never encountered it.”

Patriarch Shan said, “If so, then you obtained it from someone else?”

Master Kong said, “Even one’s own self is an adversary; what would be the use of receiving it from another?”

Patriarch Shan said, “Within dead ashes, a single bean has burst.”

The Patriarch called the karmadana and instructed him to arrange a place by the open window.

Master Kong said, “It is still unclear—when the window opens, will it be able to speak?”

Patriarch Shan said, “When the open window can speak, I shall tell you.”

The next day, Patriarch Jiashan ascended the Dharma seat and asked, “Where is the guest who arrived yesterday?”

Master Kong stepped forward and answered, “Yes.”

Patriarch Shan said, “Before you went to Yunju, where were you?”

He replied, “At Guoqing Monastery on Tiantai.”

Patriarch Shan said, “I have heard that at Tiantai the waters murmur as they flow, and the emerald waves are tranquil and clear. Thank you, Master, for coming from so far away. What is the meaning of this?”

He replied, “Having long dwelt in mountain caves, I carry no mistletoe.”

Patriarch Shan said, “That is still the meaning of spring. What about the meaning of autumn?”

Master Kong remained silent for a long while.

Patriarch Shan said, “As I see it, you are merely one who poles a boat, not ultimately one who sports upon the waves.”

The next day, the assembly divided up the communal work. The karmadana ordered Master Kong to carry the tea.

Master Kong said, “I came for the Buddhadharma, not to carry tea.”

The karmadana said, “This is in obedience to the Venerable’s assignment.”

Master Kong said, “If it is the Venerable’s command, then I shall comply.”

He brought the tea to the work site and rattled the teacups, making a sound.

Patriarch Shan turned and looked back.

Master Kong said, “Three or five bowls of strong tea—the meaning lies beside the tea cauldron.”

Patriarch Shan said, “The pitcher may pour tea, but how many bowls are in the basket?”

Master Kong said, “The pitcher may pour tea, but there is not a single bowl in the basket.”

He then poured the tea. Everyone in the assembly watched him intently.

Master Kong said, “The great assembly cranes its neck in anticipation. Master, please give us a word.”

Patriarch Shan said:

“Do not strike and kill the dead snake in the road.

Place it in the bottomless basket and carry it home.”

Master Kong said, “With the night-illuminating talisman held in hand, how many know that dawn has come?”

Patriarch Shan said, “Great assembly, here is a true person! Let us return! Let us return!”

He immediately abandoned the communal work and returned to the monastery. The entire assembly praised and admired Master Kong.

Ah, the awakening of a virgin youth can indeed be like this. The responsive exchange between Fonri and Patriarch Jiashan was truly extraordinary.

Sutra: “If there are virgin women who cherish their virginity and do not seek violation, I appear before them in the body of a virgin maiden and expound the Dharma for them, enabling them to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: Those who are free from lust among created beings can indeed be counted. Since it arises from an impure place, impurity is not worthy of desire. To be violated by another—violation is not worthy of desire. The more one craves pleasure, the more haggard one becomes. How much more so when one creates the karmic fruits of birth and death without any time of cessation?

Layman Pang had a daughter named Lingzhao, whose chastity transcended the world and established an exemplary character for others. She regularly provided him with vegetable gruel morning and evening.

Once, while Layman Pang was sitting, he asked Miss Zhao, “The ancients said, ‘Clearly, clearly, the hundred blades of grass; clearly, clearly, the Patriarch’s meaning.’ How do you understand this?”

Miss Zhao said, “You are already so old, yet you still speak this way!”

Layman Pang said, “Then what would you say?”

Miss Zhao replied, “Clearly, clearly, the hundred blades of grass; clearly, clearly, the Patriarch’s meaning!”

Layman Pang immediately laughed.

One day, as the layman was descending from a bridge, he fell. When Miss Zhao saw this, she went over and lay down beside her father.

The layman said, “What are you doing?”

Miss Zhao replied, “Seeing Father fall to the ground, I came to help you up.”

Patriarch Danxia came to visit the layman and encountered Miss Zhao washing vegetables.

Patriarch Xia asked, “Is the layman at home?”

Miss Zhao put down the basket of vegetables, folded her arms, and stood motionless.

Patriarch Danxia again asked, “Is the layman at home?”

Miss Zhao picked up the basket and walked away. Patriarch Xia then returned.

A short while later, the layman came home, and Miss Zhao recounted what had happened.

The layman said, “Is Master Danxia still here?”

Miss Zhao replied, “He has gone back.”

The layman said, “Red earth smeared on a cow.”

As the layman was about to enter extinction, he told Miss Zhao, “Watch the sun as it approaches midday, and tell me when it is precisely noon.”

Miss Zhao then said, “It is precisely noon, but there is a lunar eclipse.”

The layman went outside to look. Miss Zhao immediately ascended her father’s seat, joined her palms, and passed away while sitting.

The layman laughed and said, “My daughter is far too clever.”

He then postponed his own passing for seven days before entering extinction.

Tradition holds that Miss Lingzhao was an ancient Buddha who manifested in this world and realized the Tathagata. She was no different from the Dragon Girl; both were inconceivable.

Sutra: “If there are devas who wish to leave the celestial state, I appear in the body of a deva and expound the Dharma for them, enabling them to attain accomplishment.”

Commentary: From Shakra upward, all the celestial lords are bodhisattvas of the First Ground who manifest bodies to teach and transform the devas; therefore, it is not said that they “transcend their kind.” The devas experience unalloyed pleasure and have little diligence; they must be born among human beings and be “free” from the five turbidities before they can realize the fruit. Therefore, those who delight in becoming human and wish to become human are likewise not said to “transcend their kind.” Only the devas, dragons, and eight classes of beings must first transcend their own kind before attaining accomplishment. Manifested transformation bodies, however, do not fall under this rule.

At that time, in the house of Vimalakirti, there was a celestial maiden who, seeing the devas and humans come to hear the Dharma, manifested herself and scattered celestial flowers over the bodhisattvas and the great disciples. When the flowers reached the bodhisattvas, they immediately fell away; but when they reached the great disciples, they clung to them and did not fall. All the disciples used their spiritual powers to brush the flowers away, but they could not remove them.

The celestial maiden then asked Shariputra, “Why do you brush away the flowers?”

He replied, “These flowers are not in accordance with the Dharma; therefore, I brush them away!”

The celestial maiden said, “Do not say that these flowers are not in accordance with the Dharma. Why? These flowers make no distinctions.

Worthy One, it is you yourself who give rise to the perception of discrimination. If one who has left the household life according to the Buddha-Dharma still makes distinctions, that is not in accordance with the Dharma. If one makes no distinctions, that is in accordance with the Dharma.

Look at the bodhisattvas: the flowers do not adhere to them because they have severed all discriminating perceptions. It is like a frightened person who gives demons and ghosts an opportunity. In the same way, because the disciples fear birth and death, form, sound, scent, taste, and touch gain an opportunity.

Once fear has been abandoned, the five desires can do nothing. While habitual accumulations have not been exhausted, the flowers cling to the body. When habitual accumulations are completely exhausted, the flowers do not cling.”

Shariputra said, “How long have you been in this house?”

She replied, “I have been in this house as long as your liberation.”

Shariputra said, “Have you been here so long?”

The celestial maiden replied, “Is your liberation also so long?”

Shariputra remained silent and did not answer.

The celestial maiden said, “How can a venerable one of great wisdom remain silent?”

He replied, “Liberation is beyond words; therefore, concerning it, I do not know what to say.”

The celestial maiden said, “Speech and written words are all marks of liberation. Why is this so? Liberation is neither within nor without, nor does it abide between the two. Written words are likewise neither within nor without, nor do they abide between the two. Therefore, Shariputra, do not speak of liberation apart from written words. Why? All dharmas are themselves the mark of liberation.”

Shariputra said, “Is liberation not attained by abandoning lust, anger, and delusion?”

The celestial maiden said, “For those possessed of overweening pride, the Buddha teaches that abandoning lust, anger, and delusion is liberation. For those without overweening pride, the Buddha teaches that the very nature of lust, anger, and delusion is liberation.”

Shariputra said, “Excellent! Excellent, celestial maiden! What have you attained, and what Dharma have you realized, that you can speak with such eloquence?”

The celestial maiden said, “Because I have attained nothing and realized nothing, I can speak with such eloquence. Why? Within the Buddha-Dharma, anyone who supposes there is attainment or realization is a person of overweening pride.”

Shariputra asked the celestial maiden, “Among the Three Vehicles, which does your aspiration seek?”

The celestial maiden replied, “When sentient beings need the Dharma of the shravakas to be taught and transformed, I become a shravaka. When sentient beings need the Dharma of causes and conditions to be taught and transformed, I become a pratyekabuddha. When sentient beings need the Dharma of great compassion to be taught and transformed, I follow the Great Vehicle. Shariputra, it is like a person entering a champaka grove: one smells only the fragrance of champaka and no other fragrance. Likewise, one who enters this house hears only the fragrance of the Buddha’s merit and does not delight in hearing the fragrance of the merit of shravakas and pratyekabuddhas.”

At that time, Vimalakirti said to Shariputra, “This celestial maiden has made offerings to nine billion two hundred million Buddhas and can freely disport in the bodhisattvas’ spiritual powers. Her vows have been fulfilled; she has attained patience regarding the non-arising of dharmas and abides at the Stage of Non-retrogression. Because of her original vow, she manifests at will to teach and transform sentient beings.”

Could this be Avalokiteshvara? Could it not be Avalokiteshvara?

Sutra: “If there are dragons who wish to transcend the state of dragons, I manifest before them in the body of a dragon and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain accomplishment.”

Commentary: Dragon spirits know well how to revere the Three Jewels; therefore, the treasuries beneath the sea in the dragon palaces are filled with the Buddha-Dharma. It is also easy for them to attain liberation by hearing the Dharma. Thus, in the Lotus Sutra, Bodhisattva Manjushri instructed the Dragon Maiden.

At that time, Shariputra said to the Dragon Maiden, “You claim that you will swiftly attain the unsurpassed Way, but this is difficult to believe. Why? A woman’s body is defiled and is not a vessel for the Dharma. How could you attain unsurpassed bodhi? The Buddha’s Way is supremely lofty and vast; only after passing through immeasurable kalpas, arduously cultivating practices, and perfecting all the paramitas can one attain it. Moreover, a woman’s body is subject to five obstructions: first, she cannot become the Brahma Heaven King; second, Shakra; third, the Mara King; fourth, a wheel-turning sage king; and fifth, a Buddha. How could a woman swiftly attain Buddhahood?”

At that moment, the Dragon Maiden possessed a precious jewel worth a great trichiliocosm. Taking it in her hands, she offered it to the Buddha, and the Buddha immediately accepted it.

The Dragon Maiden said to Bodhisattva Prajnakuta and Venerable Shariputra, “I offered the precious jewel, and the Blessed One accepted it. Was that swift?”

They replied, “Extremely swift.”

The Dragon Maiden said, “By your spiritual powers, watch me attain Buddhahood even more swiftly than that.”

The entire assembly then saw the Dragon Maiden, in an instant, suddenly transform into a male, perfect the bodhisattva practices, immediately travel to the Stainless World in the south, sit upon a precious lotus throne, and attain complete perfect enlightenment. Endowed with the thirty-two marks and eighty excellent characteristics, he expounded the wondrous Dharma everywhere for all sentient beings throughout the ten directions.

At that time, in the Saha world, the bodhisattvas, shravakas, devas, dragons, eight classes of beings, humans, ghosts, and spirits all saw from afar that the Dragon Maiden had attained Buddhahood.

That was the accomplishment brought about through Manjushri’s teaching of the Dharma.

Who can know that the accomplishment brought about by Avalokiteshvara is not likewise so?

Sutra: “If there are yakshas who wish to transcend their own kind, I manifest before them in the body of a yaksha and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain accomplishment.”

Commentary: Yaksha means “swift and nimble” and also “scout”; they guard the cities and gates of the heavens.

Master Thich Thanh Hu recited the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita, concentrating all three karmas upon it. He regularly upheld and recited it in mountain forests, where the auspicious sign appeared of seven tame deer following him obediently. When the master entered the summer retreat at Shaolin, there was a shrine dedicated to the Buddha on the summit of the mountain. No one dared approach it, believing it to be the dwelling of ghosts and spirits.

Once, a Vinaya master, relying on the strength of his observance of the precepts, went there one night to recite the Vinaya. He saw a gigantic man wielding a spear and thrusting it at him. The master dragged himself painfully down the mountain, unable to walk and utterly bereft of strength.

There was also a monk who upheld the mantra of the Fire-Head Vajra and was revered by everyone. The assembly said to him, “Your mantra power is unequaled; could you stay in that place?”

He replied, “Is this something to fear?”

He immediately took incense and a lamp, sat down, and recited the mantra. A short while later, the spirit appeared, seized him by the legs, dragged him away, and threw him into a ravine with flowing water. For seven days he could not speak, and his mind remained dazed and disordered.

When Master Thanh Hu heard of this, he said, “How dare that lowly beast, that ghostly creature, behave so?”

He immediately went there and recited the sutra as usual. At night, he heard what seemed to be a very ferocious sound in the air, so he recited the Eleven-Faced Avalokiteshvara Mantra. Again, he heard what sounded like two buffaloes fighting inside the hall, and all the Buddha images trembled. Even the mantra had lost its efficacy. He returned to upholding and reciting the Diamond Sutra, which was like tying a firm knot, and then all such manifestations ceased.

From that time onward, those who stayed there were no longer afraid. Could this not also have been a case of hearing a four-line verse and swiftly attaining liberation?

A monk asked Chan Master Daowu Zhen, “What is the essence of True Suchness?”

He replied, “The yaksha kneels down, its pupils utterly black.”

The monk asked, “What is the function of True Suchness?”

He replied, “The vajra staff smashes Mount Iron Ring to pieces.”

This very reference to “vajra spirits and yaksha ghosts” is also sufficient to illuminate the matter beyond. How could it not be True Suchness?

Sutra: “If there are gandharvas who wish to be liberated from their kind, I appear before them in the body of a gandharva and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: Gandharva means “Seeker of Fragrance.” They are the musical spirits of Shakra.

On one occasion, the Gandharva King offered music to the Blessed One. At that time, the mountains, rivers, earth, and everything else all began to resound with music.

Mahakashyapa rose and danced.

The king asked, “Is not Kashyapa an arhat whose outflows have been exhausted? Why do remnants of his former habits remain?”

The Buddha said, “In truth, no former habits remain. Do not slander the Dharma.”

The king played his instrument three more times, and Mahakashyapa likewise danced three times.

The king said, “Was that not Kashyapa dancing?”

The Buddha said, “In truth, he never danced.”

The king said, “Why does the Blessed One speak falsely?”

The Buddha said, “There is no falsehood. When you played your instrument, the mountains, rivers, earth, trees, and stones all resounded with music. Is that not so?”

The king said, “It is indeed so.”

The Buddha said, “Kashyapa was likewise. Therefore, in truth, he never danced.”

The king then accepted this with faith.

An ancient worthy chanted:

“Gently, gently, a single note is plucked;

Its sound resounds through the three-thousandfold great-thousand world.

Fortunately, Drink-Luminous understood its meaning,

And raised his silken sleeve to welcome the spring mist.”

Chan Master Xuansha asked a monk, “How do you understand the city of the gandharvas?”

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

Chan Master Fayan instead struck an object to demonstrate it.

These two public cases became widely current. Truly, the gandharva spirit is still here teaching the Dharma.

Sutra: “If there are asuras who wish to be liberated from their kind, I appear before them in the body of an asura and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: Asura means “Non-Deva.” They are also called “Without Wine,” because their anger does not arise from drinking wine. They are also called “Not Comely,” because the females are beautiful while the males are ugly.

Chan Master Linji said, “You say that the Buddha possesses six inconceivable supernormal powers. All devas, immortals, asuras, and mighty ghosts also possess supernormal powers. Are they Buddhas? Students of the Way, do not be mistaken! When the asuras fought with Shakra, Lord of the Devas, they were defeated and led eighty-four thousand members of their retinue into a hole in a lotus stalk to hide. Does that make them sages?

“As for the examples cited by this mountain monk, they are all karmic powers and dependent powers [karmic powers and dependent powers: supernormal powers arising from karma, and supernormal powers reliant upon something]. As for the Buddha’s six powers, when he enters the realm of form, he is not deceived by forms; when he enters the realm of sound, he is not deceived by sounds; when he enters the realm of fragrance, he is not deceived by fragrances; and when he enters the realm of dharmas, he is not deceived by dharmas.

Because he thoroughly comprehends that the six—form, sound, fragrance, taste, touch, and dharmas—are all the mark of emptiness, how could they bind him? Though this person of the Way, who has nowhere to rely, possesses a mortal body of the five skandhas, he is precisely one who walks the earth with supernormal powers.”

If asuras could hear this Dharma and dedicate themselves to the six powers without relying arrogantly upon their dependent supernormal powers, how could they fail to attain liberation?

Sutra: The following should be added: “If there are garudas who wish to be liberated from their kind, I appear before them in the body of a garuda and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: According to the translation of the Lotus Sutra, although pratyekabuddha encompasses both the meanings of solitary awakened one and condition-awakened one, there is in fact only the single category of pratyekabuddha. This sutra divides solitary awakened ones and condition-awakened ones into two categories, thus leaving out the category of garudas and failing to accord with the Universal Gate Chapter; it is therefore supplied here. Garuda means “Golden-Winged Bird.” Its wings are golden and, when extended, span 3,360,000 li. It observes which ocean dragons are nearing the end of their lives, then fans its wings to part the seawater, seizes them, and devours them.

When Shariputra first established Anathapindika’s Garden, he competed with Raudraksha. Master Raudraksha transformed himself into a vicious dragon to harm Shariputra. Shariputra transformed himself into a Wondrous-Winged Bird, seized the dragon, tore it apart, and devoured it.

Later, a monk asked Chan Master Pou of Xingyang, “When Tajie [the Dragon King] emerges from the sea, heaven and earth are cleansed. When meeting face-to-face, what is presented to one another?”

Master Pou said, “The Wondrous-Winged Bird King overspreads the universe. Who there would dare stick out his head?”

The monk asked, “If suddenly one did stick out his head, what then?”

Master Pou said, “Like a falcon seizing a turtledove—you do not understand. Only when tested before the imperial tower will the genuine be known.”

The monk said, “If so, I fold my hands before my chest and retreat three steps!”

Master Pou said, “The foolish black tortoise beneath Mount Sumeru—

“There is no need to teach you again the matter of ‘marking the forehead.’”

Chan Master Tiantong chanted:

“The imperial edict descends; commands are distinguished:

Within the realm, the Son of Heaven; beyond the frontier, the General.

Without waiting for thunder and lightning, the deep is disclosed;

Who knows when the wind lashes and the clouds depart?

That mechanism continues unbroken—ah!—naturally there are golden needles and jadeen thread;

Before us, the seal spreads across empty space—ah!—originally there are no traces of birds or tracks of insects.”

Here the Golden-Winged Bird is used to illuminate the matter beyond. Since it has no opponent, the Golden-Winged Bird must surely be foremost in teaching the Dharma.

Sutra: “If there are kimnaras who wish to be liberated from their kind, I appear before them in the body of a kimnara and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: Kimnara means “Doubtful Human,” because it has a human body but bears horns, causing those who see it to be uncertain. These are the spirits of Dharma music belonging to the Lord of the Devas. Gandharvas perform worldly music, whereas kimnaras perform world-transcending music. When they perform the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths, the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, and the six paramitas, mundane music cannot compare.

In the present age, the garan guardian spirit of Shaolin Monastery once manifested spiritual power. With both feet, he leaped across the two mountains of Taishi and Shaoshi and, wielding a staff, drove away bandits. The bandits became frightened, scattered in defeat, and dared not enter the monastery. For this reason, many monks in the monastery studied boxing and staff techniques. Whenever they were mobilized to suppress bandits, they merely recited the name of Kimnara King Bodhisattva. Consequently, they felt no fear and frequently defeated their enemies. Some say, “He was a transformation body of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva.”

Master Fengxue served as gardener under Chan Master Nanyuan. One day, Master Nanyuan came to the garden and asked, “How would you deliberate upon the single staff of the South?”

Master Fengxue said, “Deliberate upon its extraordinary character!”

After a long while, Master Fengxue asked in return, “How would the Venerable deliberate upon it here?”

Master Nanyuan raised his staff and said:

“Beneath the staff: patience regarding the non-arising of dharmas;

At the pivotal moment: no master is seen.”

At these words, Master Fengxue suddenly attained great awakening.

Little of Chan Master Linji’s staff Dharma has been transmitted, yet deliberations upon the staff Dharma of the kimnara have still not ended to this day. Are they different? Are they not different?

Sutra: “If there are mahoragas who wish to be liberated from their kind, I appear before them in the body of a mahoraga and teach them the Dharma, enabling them to attain accomplishment.

Commentary: Mahoraga means “Great Python.” It crawls upon its belly and is also called an Earth Dragon that guards the garan monastery.”

The Thirteenth Patriarch was the Venerable Kapimala. After traveling several miles through the mountains, he encountered a huge python. The Patriarch continued straight ahead without paying it any heed, whereupon the python coiled itself around his body. The Patriarch then transmitted to it the Dharma of the Three Refuges. Having heard it, the python withdrew.

The Patriarch came to a rocky cave, from which an old man dressed in white emerged, joined his palms, and offered greetings.

The Patriarch asked, “Where do you dwell?”

He replied, “Formerly, I was a bhiksu and greatly delighted in quietude. Many novices came to study the Way, but I became irritated at having to respond to them and gave rise to angry thoughts. When my life ended, I fell into the body of a python and have dwelt in this cave for a thousand years. Just now I encountered the Venerable One and heard the Dharma of the Precepts, and so I have come to express my gratitude.”

The Patriarch asked, “Does anyone else dwell on this mountain?”

He replied, “Ten miles from here stands a great tree sheltering five hundred great dragons. That Tree King is named Nagarjuna, and he often expounds the Dharma to the dragons. I too have heard him.”

The Patriarch then went there.

Nagarjuna came forth to welcome him and said, “These deep mountains are solitary and still, filled with dragons and serpents. Most Venerable Great Virtuous One, what brings you here?”

The Patriarch said, “I am not a Most Venerable One. I have come to visit the worthy one.”

Nagarjuna thought to himself, “Has this teacher attained the Eye of the Way and realized the definitive luminous nature? Is he a Great Sage who continues the True Vehicle?”

The Patriarch said, “Although you spoke only in your mind, I already know your thought. Simply leave the household life; why worry whether I am a sage?”

Hearing this, Nagarjuna repented and apologized. The Patriarch immediately ordained and liberated him. The assembly of five hundred dragons all received the Full Precepts.

The verse transmitting the Dharma said:

The Dharma is neither hidden nor revealed;

To speak of it is the Ultimate Reality.

Awaken to this Dharma of concealment and disclosure:

It is neither foolish nor wise.

Through this alone, which is neither foolish nor wise, even dragons and serpents can all be delivered and liberated.

Sutra: “If there are beings who delight in the human realm and wish to cultivate so as to become human, I manifest the body of a human and expound the Dharma for them, enabling them to attain accomplishment.”

Commentary: Previously there were kings, rulers, ministers, elders, householders, and finally the fourfold assembly. Were they not human beings? Why, then, are there still those who wish to cultivate so as to become human? This refers to scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—to people who pay no heed to the Three Vehicles. They nevertheless possess the Buddha-nature in full and expound the Dharma throughout the day without themselves knowing it.

Once, when Chan Master Panshan Baoji was strolling through the marketplace, he saw a customer buying pork say to the butcher, “Cut me a pound of the finest.”

The butcher threw down his knife, folded his arms, and said, “Sir, which piece is not the finest?”

At these words, the Master had an awakening.

On another day, as he went out through the gate, he saw people gathered to carry a funeral procession. The musicians struck a bell and sang:

“The crimson orb is certain to set in the West.

Yet where the departed spirit goes remains unknown.”

Beneath the funeral canopy, the mourning children wailed sorrowfully.

The Master suddenly felt his body and mind soar free. He returned and related the event to Master Mazu, who confirmed his realization.

At first, Master Baoshou served as the alms steward under Patriarch Baoshou.

The Patriarch asked, “Before your parents gave birth to you, bring forth your original face and show it to me!”

The Master stood there until late at night, but his replies did not accord with the truth. The next morning, he took his leave to depart.

Patriarch Baoshou asked, “Where are you going?”

The Master replied, “Yesterday, through the Venerable Master’s question, I saw that I did not understand. Therefore, I am going south to study under wise spiritual friends.”

Patriarch Baoshou said, “In the South they restrict travel during the summer but not during the winter; here I restrict travel during the winter but not during the summer. You should undertake the summer retreat right here in the marketplace. If it is truly the Buddhadharma, then amid the crowded city, where the dust of worldly affairs is dense, the true Dharma is constantly being expounded!”

The Master did not dare to leave.

One day, at a crossroads, he saw two men quarreling. One clenched his fist and said, “You truly are utterly shameless—you have no face at all!”

At those words, the Master attained great awakening. He ran back to see Patriarch Baoshou, but before he could speak, the Patriarch said, “You have understood. There is no need to say anything!”

The Master then bowed in homage.

In these two cases, they merely manifested human bodies and were thereby able to expound the Dharma. Must a Great Being first manifest before accomplishment can occur?

Sutra: “If there are nonhuman beings, whether formless or possessing form, whether possessing perception or without perception, who wish to escape their own kind, I appear before each of them in a body like theirs and expound the Dharma for them, enabling them to attain accomplishment.”

Commentary: In regard to devas and dragons, the term used is “emerge.” Devas may grow weary of pleasure, and dragons may fear suffering; because they themselves have a way to emerge from their condition, they are very easy to deliver. In regard to gandharvas, the term used is “escape,” because they are bound by karmic retribution and find liberation very difficult. In regard to nonhuman beings and yaksas, the term used is “cross over,” because they have sunk into dark suffering, like beings drowning in a great sea, and necessarily require a raft to rescue them.

All these are called deliverance and liberation, but the degrees of difficulty and ease among them are not the same. Formless beings without perception are spirits, ghosts, and numinous entities. Beings possessing form but without perception are earth, trees, metal, and stone.

In the Sutra of the Yogic Flaming-Mouth Rite, the Flame-Faced Ghost King is a transformation manifested by the Great Being Avalokitesvara.

On Mount Song there was a monk called Pot-Breaker-Faller, whose words and deeds were unfathomable. In a mountain hollow stood a very efficacious shrine. Within its sanctuary there was only a stove, to which people from near and far offered sacrifices without cease.

One day, the Master led his attendant monks into the shrine. He struck the stove three times with his staff and said, “Alas! This is merely fashioned from kneaded clay. From where does its holiness come? From where does its numinous power arise, that it cooks living beings in this way?”

He struck it three more times. The stove then broke apart and collapsed.

A moment later, a man wearing blue robes and a tall cap appeared and bowed before the Master.

The Master asked, “Who are you?”

He replied, “I was originally the stove spirit of this shrine and have long endured karmic retribution. Today, through the Master’s exposition of the Dharma of Non-arising, I have escaped this place and been born in a heavenly realm. I have come especially to offer my thanks.”

The Master said, “That is your own inherent nature; it is not something I imposed upon you through words.”

The spirit bowed again and vanished.

A short while later, an attendant monk asked, “We have attended the Venerable Master for a long time, yet have received no instruction. What essential teaching did the stove spirit briefly receive that enabled him immediately to be born in a heavenly realm?”

The Master replied, “I merely said to him, ‘This is fashioned from clay.’ There was no separate principle that I imparted to him.”

The attendant monk had nothing to say.

The Master asked, “Do you understand?”

The attendant replied, “I do not understand.”

The Master said, “Why do you not understand your inherently existing nature?”

The attendant monk immediately bowed in homage.

The Master said, “It has fallen! It has fallen! It has broken! It has broken!”

Later, Chan Master Yifeng related this account to National Master Anguo. Patriarch An sighed and said, “That man thoroughly understood that phenomena and self are of one suchness. It may well be said that, like the bright moon in the open sky, there was nowhere he did not see. It is truly difficult to encounter his particular current of expression.”

Master Feng asked, “It is not yet clear who possesses that current of expression.”

Patriarch An said, “Those who do not know call him Pot-Breaker-Faller!”

Who knows who he really was? Could he not also have been a transformation manifested by Avalokitesvara?

Sutra: “These are called the thirty-two wondrous and pure response bodies that enter the various lands. All are freely accomplished through the effortless wondrous power of the samadhi of hearing-perfusion and hearing-cultivation.”

Commentary: The Combined Treatise says that what is called “the wondrous, uncontrived power of sovereign accomplishment” is what the Avatamsaka Sutra calls “Samantabhadra’s Manifestation of Physical Bodies in Response,” and what the Lotus Sutra calls “the Samadhi of All Physical Bodies.” Because it invisibly permeates the entire Dharma realm, it is the faculty of loving-kindness whose true limit is unmoving, yet which manifests responsively throughout the ten directions.

Employing the compassion of the Holy Conduct in response to those of the capacity for emptiness, one assumes an impure form, with an appearance seemingly fearsome. Employing the compassion of the Heavenly Conduct in response to those of the capacity for the Middle, one is like a fine horse that, upon seeing the shadow of the whip, runs along the great straight road, fearing no obstruction. Employing the compassion of the Brahma Conduct in response to those of the capacity for provisional existence, one sits upon a lion throne, resting one’s feet upon a precious footstool, like a skilled merchant who travels throughout many lands and gains profit wherever he enters or departs, without exception.

These are the three capacities of emptiness, provisional existence, and the Middle. They are explained so that sentient beings may witness such phenomena. This is the Samadhi of Physical Bodies taught in the Lotus Sutra.

The Tathagata’s wondrous functioning pervades the ten directions, manifesting responsively according to each faculty. Through the power of the great compassionate vow never to abandon sentient beings, within a single thought it wholly pervades everywhere without any contrivance. At the stage of Wondrous Awakening, the benefits and joys bestowed upon sentient beings are coextensive with the Dharma realm.

According to their faculties and the appropriate time, physical bodies manifest responsively—functioning without contrivance and responding without fabrication. With wisdom shining brilliantly everywhere, belonging to no fixed place, it accords with the minds of sentient beings and assumes forms according to each being, without coming or going. This is the Manifestation of Physical Bodies in Response taught in the Avatamsaka Sutra.

These manifestations accord with conditions and are all themselves illusory; therefore, through the Illusory Samadhi, the perfuming and cultivation of hearing are sovereignly accomplished.

Patriarch Linji said: “What this mountain monk speaks of is simply the solitary, radiant clarity that is hearing the Dharma right now before your very eyes. This person is nowhere obstructed and freely penetrates the ten directions and the three realms. Entering every differentiated circumstance, he never changes in the slightest.

In the space of a ksana, he penetrates the Dharma realm. Meeting a Buddha, he speaks of Buddha; meeting a patriarch, he speaks of the patriarchs; meeting an arhat, he speaks of arhats; meeting a hungry ghost, he speaks of hungry ghosts. He journeys throughout all lands teaching and transforming sentient beings, yet has never departed from the One Thought.

Wherever he may be, he remains pure; his radiance penetrates the ten directions, and the myriad dharmas are One Suchness. Worthy ones! Only today do great men of resolve understand that fundamentally there is nothing to be done.

It is merely because your faith does not reach this that thought after thought you run about seeking, casting away your head and searching for your head, unable to stop yourselves!”

Patriarch Linji’s exposition of the Dharma attained Avalokitesvara’s Eye of the True Dharma. If one can believe that from the beginning there has been nothing to be done, then the thirty-two responsive bodies arising from wondrous, uncontrived power immediately become present.

II. FOUR MERITS OF FEARLESSNESS

Sutra: “World-Honored One, I further employ this wondrous, uncontrived power of the Vajra Samadhi of the perfuming and cultivation of hearing. Because I share one and the same compassion and reverent yearning with all sentient beings of the six destinies throughout the ten directions and the three periods of time, I enable sentient beings, through my body and mind, to attain fourteen kinds of meritorious fearlessness.

Commentary: Loving-kindness refers to power. Because this power is sufficient to respond universally, it is called Great Loving-kindness. Compassion refers to reverent yearning. Because it responds to such yearning, it is called Great Compassion. What sentient beings fear is birth and death. By means of the wondrous, uncontrived power that neither arises nor ceases, they are rescued and brought to the other shore. How could the merit of this ever be fully described!

In the Vimalakirti Sutra, Manjusri asked: “Birth and death are fearful. On what should a bodhisattva rely?”

“Vimalakirti said: “Amid the fear of birth and death, a bodhisattva should rely upon the power of the Tathagata’s merit.”

“Manjusri further asked: “If a bodhisattva wishes to rely upon the power of the Tathagata’s merit, in what should he abide?”

“He replied: “If a bodhisattva wishes to rely upon the power of the Tathagata’s merit, he should abide in liberating all sentient beings.”

There was also the laywoman Xiushe, who said that she had attained the Bodhisattva’s Banner of Peace and Security: “Because sentient beings have not yet departed from birth and death, a bodhisattva does not preserve peace and security for herself alone. If one can enter birth and death to teach and transform sentient beings, thoroughly comprehend birth and death, and continue always to teach and transform sentient beings, all of these are practices of nirvana. Neither rising up nor sinking away—this alone is called the ‘banner of peace and security, free from anxiety.’”

Therefore, through the perfuming and cultivation of hearing, one uses it to liberate oneself and also to liberate others. This itself is peace and security.

Sutra: “First, because I do not contemplate sound itself, but rather contemplate the nature of contemplation, I enable those suffering sentient beings throughout the ten directions, upon contemplating that sound, immediately to attain liberation.

Commentary: The mind of sentient beings, oppressed by anguish, is itself the mind of the bodhisattva. The sound with which sentient beings invoke the name is itself the sound of Avalokitesvara. If one contemplates that sound, one has not yet departed from the sensory object of sound, and so suffering and affliction seem to remain. If one contemplates the nature of contemplation, which no suffering can reach, then liberation is immediate. This is the foremost capacity for reversing the hearing.

A monk asked Chan Master Licun of Zhangzhou: “What does it mean to ‘contemplate that sound and immediately attain liberation’?”

Master Cun struck a piece of firewood with the charcoal tongs and said: “Do you hear?”

He replied: “I hear.”

Master Cun said: “Are you not liberated?”

How skillfully he expressed the subtle, wondrous, and profound purport of the Surangama Sutra!

Sutra: “Second, because seeing and knowing have been turned back, I enable sentient beings, even if they enter a great fire, not to be burned by the fire.

Commentary: Seeing and knowing pertain to fire. When seeing and knowing return to limpid stillness, the nature of limpid stillness becomes perfect and complete; therefore, fire cannot reach it.

Master Lingrun once went sightseeing in the mountains with companions in the Way. Will-o’-the-wisp fires closed in upon them from all four sides. All his companions scattered and fled. Master Run alone walked calmly upward and called to his companions in the Way: “Outside the mind there is no fire; the real fire comes from the mind itself. If you take fire to be something that exists and try to avoid it, how could you escape fire?”

When the fire reached Master Run, it immediately went out.

Sutra: “Third, because contemplation of hearing has been turned back, I enable sentient beings, when swept away by great floods, not to be drowned by the water.

Commentary: Hearing sounds pertains to water. Physicians also hold that the ears pertain to the kidneys. When hearing is turned back, the water returns to its source; therefore, water cannot drown one.

Gunabhadra, whose name means Virtuous Merit, was a native of Central India. In the twelfth year of the Yuanxi era, he arrived in Jianye and was highly esteemed by Yixuan, Prince of Nanqiao. When the prince plotted rebellion, Gunabhadra remonstrated with him until tears flowed, but the prince would not listen. After their defeat at Liangshan, Gunabhadra fell into the river. Single-mindedly invoking Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, his hand grasped a bamboo branch. He saw a young boy pulling at his robe and said: “Can this little child truly do this?” When he reached the bank, he wished to remove his outer robe and give it to the boy, but the boy suddenly vanished on the spot.

A monk asked Patriarch Baofu: “What does it mean to enter fire without being burned and enter water without being drowned?”

Patriarch Fu said: “If they are water and fire, you will immediately be burned and drowned.”

He had truly attained the subtlety of turning back; therefore, his words were so incisive and concise.

Sutra: “Fourth, because false thoughts have been completely extinguished and the mind harbors no intent to kill, I enable sentient beings who enter the lands of ghosts not to be harmed by ghosts.

Commentary: Demons and specters cannot be encountered. Since ancient times, many places have been called lands of ghosts, but the land of the raksasa ghosts in the sea is the most harmful of all. Seafarers swept by black winds into that land are greeted by beautiful men and women who bring food and drink to comfort them, causing them to delight in the place and forget to return.

When the next ship arrives, the inhabitants seize and devour all the people from the preceding ship. On the first and fifteenth days of the month, the Horse King comes to deliver that company. Relying upon the horse, they escape, whether holding to its head or its tail.

They need only remain single-minded and refrain from thinking of the pleasures there, and they will return to their former land. If even the slightest attachment remains in their thoughts, they fall into the sea.

Master Chân Tây Sơn wrote in his postscript to the Lotus Sutra:

“When I was young, I read the Universal Gateway Chapter. Although I did not yet deeply understand its meaning, I took it to be an allegory of the Buddhist tradition.”

Long ago, Li Wengong of the Tang dynasty asked Chan Master Yaoshan, “What is the meaning of ‘A violent wind blows the boat, causing it to drift into the land of demons’?”

The Master said, “You little fellow Li Gao, why do you ask about that?”

Wengong suddenly became visibly angry.

The Master laughed and said, “Giving rise to such an angry mind—that is ‘A violent wind blows the boat into the land of demons’!”

Alas, Patriarch Yaoshan may indeed be called one who skillfully opened the way for others. From this it may be inferred that raging desire for profit is the fiery pit; sinking into craving and attachment is the sea of suffering. With one pure thought, the blazing fire becomes a cool pond. With one awakened thought, the boat reaches the other shore. Though calamities bind us, we remain at ease wherever we are. If we are unafraid, the fetters and cangue open of themselves. When evildoers invade and treat us tyrannically, if we harbor neither anger nor hatred, they flee of themselves like wild beasts. Those who read this sutra and practice contemplation in this way will surely know that the Great Being on Mount Potalaka is genuinely present for the sake of beings. These are not empty words.

According to the Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, the statement “Old man Yu Kuang, why do you ask about that?” was spoken by Chan Master Ziyu. The story is not entirely the same; what matters is simply to understand its intent.

Sutra: “Fifth, through perfuming and cultivating hearing until accomplishment within the Nature of Hearing, the six faculties dissolve into their fundamental nature and become identical with sound and hearing. Thus, when beings are being harmed, he can cause knives to break into pieces and make weapons seem as though they were cutting water or blowing upon light, whose nature cannot be disturbed.”

Explanation: The Perfect Penetration of the Nature of Hearing has no form or appearance. When hearing is perfumed and cultivated until perfection is attained within the Nature of Hearing, the six faculties necessarily dissolve into their fundamental nature and are transformed into the Nature of Hearing. Whatever external objects make contact with them all become identical with hearing and sound. Even weapons are then like blades cutting water or breath blowing upon light. The Nature of Hearing is unmoving, and so one is not afraid. Since one is unafraid, the indestructible person abides within oneself, while knives and swords break into pieces.

The king of Kashmir came bearing a sword to the Venerable Simha and asked, “Master, have you realized the emptiness of the skandhas?”

The Patriarch said, “I have realized the emptiness of the skandhas.”

The king asked, “Have you transcended birth and death?”

The Patriarch replied, “I have transcended birth and death.”

The king said, “Since you have transcended birth and death, can you give me your head?”

The Patriarch replied, “Even this body does not belong to me; why should I begrudge the head?”

The king immediately brandished his sword and severed the Venerable One’s head. White milk spurted several feet into the air. The king’s right arm immediately fell to the ground, and seven days later he died.

Dharma Master Zhao spoke this verse when facing execution:

The four great elements originally do not exist;

The five skandhas are certainly all empty.

Offering my head to the gleaming sword

Is just like cutting the spring breeze.

This may be called pure awakening that forgets the body, its nature utterly undisturbed.

(According to the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms, in the tenth year of the Yixi era of the Jin dynasty, Master Zhao entered cessation in Chang’an amid auspicious signs; there was no incident of his being executed.)

It has been handed down that reciting the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra causes all cangues and fetters to fall away and is extraordinarily efficacious, though some consider it an apocryphal sutra.

Sutra: “Sixth, by perfuming and cultivating the Nature of Hearing until it becomes purely luminous, its light pervades the Dharma realm, and all darkness is unable to remain. Thus, even though yakshas, rakshasas, kumbhandas, and even pishachas, putanas, and other demons may be close beside beings, they cannot see them.”

Explanation: Ghosts and spirits take darkness as their nature. Relying upon darkness, they find opportunities to act, but in the presence of luminous clarity they cannot manifest any trace; therefore it is said that they are “unable to remain.” Moreover, their darkness is limited, whereas our light is boundless. Pure and brilliant light blazes through the darkness and dazzles their eyes, so they cannot see.

Master Wuben presided at Dongshan for twenty years, yet the local earth deity was unable to perceive him.

The deity said to the monastery administrator, “How can I behold the Abbot’s face just once?”

The administrator said, “When the Abbot is taking his meal in the dining hall, overturn his tray of food. When the Abbot cries out, you will see him.”

The next day, the deity overturned the food tray.

The Master cried out, “What a pity for the property of the permanent community!”

Only then did the deity behold the Master’s face once.

At Master Yanguan’s monastery there was an administrator who one day suddenly saw a demonic emissary coming to seize him.

The monk said, “I hold the office of administrator and have not yet had time to practice. May I ask for a respite of seven days?”

The demonic emissary said, “I shall report this to King Yama. If he permits it, I will return after seven days; if not, I will be back shortly.”

Having said this, he vanished. Seven days later he returned, but searched everywhere without finding the monk!

A later person raised this story and asked a monk, “When the emissary came seeking him, how did he concentrate his mind so that the emissary went away?”

Patriarch Dongshan answered on the monk’s behalf, “He had already been found by him!”

This is also similar to the story of Patriarch Nanquan visiting a farmstead. The earth deity notified the owner beforehand, and the owner prepared a most abundant vegetarian feast as an offering.

The attendant asked, “Since you are a great spiritual teacher, why were you spied upon by ghosts and spirits?”

Patriarch Nanquan said, “Place an additional portion of the offering before the earth deity!”

This truly deserves investigation together!

Sutra: “Seventh, when sound has completely ceased and seeing and hearing have turned back and entered within, leaving all delusive sense objects behind, he can cause cangues, fetters, chains, and shackles to be unable to bind beings.”

Explanation: While there are sound and sense objects and one has not yet entered the Nature of Hearing, one is bound by sense objects. Now that sound has completely ceased, the two characteristics of movement and stillness clearly do not arise. Seeing and hearing turn back and enter within, reaching the place beyond arising and cessation, and one immediately leaves all delusive sense objects behind. This is called true liberation. To shoulder the great Dharma, one especially needs to possess the solitary eye!

Patriarch Yunmen went to Patriarch Xuefeng’s farmstead. Meeting a monk, he asked, “Venerable, are you going up the mountain today?”

The monk replied, “Yes.”

Patriarch Yunmen said, “Please carry a case for me and question the Abbot about it, but you must not say that these are someone else’s words.”

The monk said, “Very well.”

Patriarch Yunmen said, “When you reach the mountain and see the Abbot ascend the Dharma seat, as soon as the assembly has gathered, step forward, seize him, hold him upright, and say, ‘This old man is wearing an iron cangue around his neck. Why does he not remove it?’”

The monk followed Patriarch Yunmen’s instructions.

When Patriarch Xuefeng heard the monk say this, he immediately descended from the seat, seized the monk by the chest, held him upright, and said, “Speak quickly! Speak quickly!”

The monk was unable to answer.

Patriarch Xuefeng released him and said, “Those are not your words!”

The monk replied, “They are indeed my words.”

Patriarch Xuefeng said, “Attendant! Bring me my staff!”

The monk said, “They are not my words. A Venerable from Zhejiang staying in the upper village taught me to come and say them.”

Patriarch Xuefeng said, “Assembly, go to the upper village and welcome the spiritual teacher of five hundred people!”

On another occasion, Patriarch Yunmen went to Ehu and heard the Master declare from the Dharma seat, “Do not say that before you have understood that person, you are still forever stuck fast all over the ground! Even if you understand him and know distinctly that there is a place to go, you are still stuck fast all over the ground!”

Patriarch Yunmen then asked the head monk, “What did the Abbot mean just now?”

The head monk replied, “Stuck fast all over the ground!”

Patriarch Yunmen said, “The head monk has been here a long time, until his hair has turned white and his teeth yellow, yet he speaks such words.”

The head monk replied, “Then what would the Venerable say?”

Patriarch Yunmen said, “If you wish to speak, you may speak; if you see, then simply see. If you do not see, do not speak wildly.”

The head monk replied, “But what does ‘stuck fast all over the ground’ mean?”

Patriarch Yunmen said, “A cangue on the head and fetters on the feet!”

The head monk asked, “Then surely there is no Buddhadharma?”

Patriarch Yunmen said, “That is the realm of the bodhisattvas Manjushri and Samantabhadra.”

These two cases are worthy of being examined together.

Sutra: “Eighth, when sound ceases and hearing is perfected, the power of compassion arises universally, enabling sentient beings to pass through perilous paths without being plundered by bandits.”

Commentary: Stimulus and response share a single mechanism; self and other share a single mind. If there is no response within, nothing outside can act upon one. Therefore, when the mind harbors no intent to kill, demons cannot invade. When the power of compassion arises universally, bandits cannot plunder. This is because, when sound is extinguished, there is ultimately no opposition. Perfecting hearing means sharing a single essence; therefore, no enmity is formed through which one might be plundered.

Chan Master Datong of Mount Touzi encountered a band of marauding brigands.

Some madmen pointed their knives at the Patriarch and said, “What are you doing here?”

The Patriarch then expounded the Dharma according to the occasion. After hearing him, the bandit chief bowed in submission, removed his robe, presented it to the Patriarch, and withdrew.

Hermitage Master Fawu of Mount Sanjiao lived during a time of chaos. A bandit chief entered the mountain and asked, “What treasure does the Venerable have?”

Patriarch Wu said, “A monk’s treasure is not suited to you.”

The chief asked, “What treasure is it?”

Patriarch Wu gave a shout.

The chief did not awaken and thrust at him with his knife.

One accepted it, while the other did not accept it—is this not fixed karma?

Patriarch Yantou often said to the assembly, “When this old fellow departs, he will let out a great roar and then go.”

When banditry arose in the Central Plains, the entire assembly sought places of refuge. Patriarch Tou remained calmly where he was. One day, a large band of brigands arrived. Accusing him of offering them nothing, they stabbed him with a knife. Patriarch Tou’s expression remained serene; he gave a great shout and passed away. The shout was heard ten miles away.

This was fixed karma and therefore could not be avoided. Yet could the treasures of Patriarch Xinjue and Patriarch Yantou ever be plundered by bandits?

Sutra: “Ninth, by perfuming and cultivating the nature of hearing, one becomes free from the characteristics of sense objects. Forms can no longer seize and bind one, enabling sentient beings burdened by lust to distance themselves from craving and desire.”

Commentary: By perfuming and cultivating the nature of hearing, passionate desire necessarily withers away. Because the water returns to its source at the faculty, fire cannot burn it. Once the sound-object has dissolved, all other sense objects are cast off. Faculty and object no longer seize one another; therefore, physical forms cannot delude one.

An ancient worthy said:

“Having long planted deep roots of goodness,

Amid sense objects, no object can invade.

How could I guard against their invasion?

It is simply because my mind is absent.”

Kumarajiva suddenly heard two children crying upon his shoulders.

Patriarch Kumarajiva said, “This is the obstruction of desire.”

He asked the king of Qin to bestow four palace women upon him. After a single union, they gave birth to two sons, and the obstruction of desire immediately ceased.

Seeing this, his disciples ceased to observe the precepts.

Patriarch Kumarajiva then seized a handful of needles, chewed them, swallowed them, and said, “Only if you can swallow needles as I do may you engage in sexual desire.”

Thereupon, everyone became fearful and upheld the Teaching.

Sutra: “Tenth, when there is pure hearing without sense objects, and faculty and object perfectly interpenetrate, there is no opposition between perceiver and perceived. This enables all sentient beings filled with anger to become free from resentment and hatred.”

Commentary: Compared with craving, anger is even subtler and more concealed, and exceedingly difficult to uproot. Therefore, freedom from sense objects can put an end to craving, whereas anger can be ended only after there are no sense objects at all. It is easy for there to be no perceived object outside, but difficult for there to be no perceiving subject within. Unless faculty and object perfectly interpenetrate, becoming pure and yet purer still, it is difficult to speak these words. Nevertheless, anger may also be employed in performing the work of the Buddha.

For example, Master Ciming stayed with Patriarch Fenyang for two years without being admitted to his room. Whenever they met, he was reviled, or other places were disparaged; and whenever instruction was given, it concerned only coarse and vulgar worldly matters.

One night, the master lamented, “It has already been two summer retreats since I came here to study the Dharma, yet I have received no instruction. I have only increased my worldly defilements and toil. I reflect that the years and months pass swiftly, while my own matter remains unclear, and I am losing the benefit of having left the household life.”

Before he had finished speaking, Patriarch Yang glared at him and said, “Evil fellow! How dare you misrepresent me!”

He then flew into a rage, seized his staff, and chased him.

Master Ming was about to cry out for help when Patriarch Yang covered his mouth. He then attained great awakening and said, “Only now do I know that Linji’s Way transcends ordinary sentiments.”

Thereafter, he attended upon him for seven years before departing.

Later, at Ciming’s place, Master Huanglong Nan earnestly sought instruction.

Patriarch Ming said, “You have studied Yunmen Chan, so you must be thoroughly acquainted with its essential meaning. When it is said, ‘Dongshan deserved three blows,’ did he have a share in receiving the blows, or did he not have a share in receiving them?”

Master Nan replied, “He had a share in receiving the blows.”

Patriarch Ming sternly said, “From morning until evening, the cawing and clamoring of the crows should therefore all receive blows!”

Patriarch Ming asked again, “Zhaozhou said, ‘The old woman of Mount Tai—I have already seen through her for you.’ Where did Zhaozhou see through the old woman?”

Master Nan broke into a sweat and could not answer.

The next day he came again, and Patriarch Ming reviled him without cease.

Master Nan said, “Can abuse and scolding truly be the compassionate bestowal of Dharma?”

Patriarch Ming said, “Do you take this to be scolding?”

At these words, Master Nan attained great awakening. He then presented this verse:

“Outstanding among the Chan communities was true Zhaozhou;

He saw through the old woman, and the grounds vanished.

Now the four seas are clear as a mirror;

Travelers, do not angrily blame the road.”

Patriarch Ming nodded.

With anger of these kinds, it is better still not to distance oneself from it.

Sutra: “Eleventh, when the characteristics of sense objects dissolve and one returns to the originally luminous nature, the Dharma realm, body, and mind become like crystal—lucid and unobstructed. This enables all those who are confused and obscured by dark hindrances to become forever free from the darkness of delusion.”

Commentary: The nature of hearing is not the nature of seeing, so why is the word “luminous” used? Luminosity is awakening. Both awakening and that which is awakened are empty; therefore, luminosity pervades the Dharma realm. When empty awareness reaches ultimate perfection, the Dharma realm, body, and mind become like crystal, lucid and unobstructed. Only then do the six faculties function interchangeably, so that seeing itself is hearing. Thus it is said that the characteristics of sense objects dissolve and one returns to the originally luminous nature.

Within karma there are ten things that obscure the Dharma-body, of which lust, anger, and delusion are the greatest. Master Tiantai explained that the three poisons pervade both the inner and the outer. Inwardly, they are called cognitive afflictions; outwardly, they are called ignorance. For those of the Two Vehicles, delighting in nirvana is craving, abhorring birth and death is anger, and not knowing the Middle Way is delusion. For bodhisattvas, extensively seeking the Buddha-Dharma is craving, berating and driving away those of the Two Vehicles is anger, and not yet understanding Buddha-nature is delusion. All are the three poisons, and delusion is their root. How exceedingly difficult it is to eliminate the karma of delusion!

Patriarch Baizhang said, “The turbid Dharma consists of craving, anger, attachment, grasping, and all their many names. The pure Dharma consists of bodhi, nirvana, liberation, and all their many names. If, just now, one clearly illuminates both purity and turbidity, then among all mundane and sacred dharmas there is ultimately not the slightest thread or hair of attachment or grasping to be found.

If one no longer attaches or grasps, yet abides in non-attachment and non-grasping and considers it correct, this is the initial good. It is abiding in the mind of discipline; it is the state of a sravaka, of one who delights in the raft and will not relinquish it; it is the path of the Two Vehicles and the fruit of dhyana. If one neither attaches nor grasps, and also does not abide in non-attachment and non-grasping, this is the intermediate good.

It is the half-complete Teaching and still belongs to the Formless Realm. Although one avoids falling into the path of the Two Vehicles and avoids falling among Mara’s people, the illness of dhyana still remains; this is the bondage of bodhisattvas. If one does not abide in non-attachment and non-grasping, and does not give rise to an understanding of non-abiding, this is the final good.

It is the complete Teaching: one avoids falling into the Formless Realm, avoids falling into the illness of dhyana, avoids falling into the Bodhisattva Vehicle, and avoids falling into the station of Mara King. These are the various obstructions of knowledge, obstructions of the bhumis, and obstructions of practice. Therefore, seeing one’s own Buddha-nature is like seeing forms at night.”

“As it is said, ‘At the Buddha Ground, both kinds of ignorance are severed: the first is subtle ignorance concerning what is known; the second is extremely subtle ignorance concerning what is known.’ Thus it is said, ‘A person of great wisdom shatters the mote of dust and opens the scripture.’ If one penetrates the ‘Three Phrases,’ one is not confined by the ‘Three Sections.’ The scriptural teachings give the analogy of a deer escaping a net with three leaps; such a person is called one beyond all bonds, for nothing can hook or bind him.

This pertains to the Buddha after Dipamkara; it is the Supreme Vehicle, the highest of the highest wisdoms, the exalted station within the Buddha Way. This person is a Buddha, possesses Buddha-nature, is a Guiding Master, is one who can wield the unobstructed wind, and possesses Unobstructed Wisdom. Thereafter, he can freely employ cause and effect, merit and wisdom, making them a vehicle for transporting cause and effect.

Amid birth, he is not detained by birth; amid death, he is not obstructed by death. Amid the five skandhas, the gates stand wide open, and he comes and goes freely. If one can be thus, then regardless of rank, weakness, or strength, merely being thus—even body-view and the swarm of its attendant afflictions are a wondrously pure land, inconceivable.

Yet these are still words spoken to untie bonds. Originally there were no sores; do not inflict wounds! This applies even to Buddha-sores, bodhisattva-sores, and all the rest.

Whenever one speaks of dharmas as existent, nonexistent, and so forth, all are wounds.’

Alas! Patriarch Baizhang, in his compassion, exerted himself to reveal fully the subtle obstructions of the Mind-Nature. Each and every one must be penetrated before it may be called the eternal severance of delusion and darkness.

Sutra: “Twelfth, by perfectively integrating physical form and returning to the Nature of Hearing, I abide in the unmoving bodhimanda, permeating the world without destroying worldly realms. I can pervade the ten directions and make offerings to Tathagatas as numerous as motes of dust, serving beside each Buddha as a Dharma Prince. I can enable childless beings throughout the dharma realm who wish to seek a son to give birth to a son endowed with wisdom, merit, and virtue.

Penetrating Commentary: This is the Nature of True Suchness permeating the world, manifesting according to circumstances as form and emptiness throughout the realms of the ten directions; it is the Tathagatagarbha That Is Not Empty. The Great Being Avalokiteshvara was originally a Dharma Prince of Amitabha Buddha, yet he tirelessly assists each and every Buddha—truly an excellent son. Therefore, when one prays for a son, he immediately responds.

The Twenty-Third Patriarch was the Venerable Haklena, a native of the country of the Yuezhi. His father was named Heavenly Victory, and his mother Golden Light. Because they had no child, they made offerings and prayed at the shrine of the Golden Banners of the Seven Buddhas. His mother then dreamed that, upon the summit of Mount Sumeru, a divine youth holding a golden ring said, ‘I have come.’ When she awoke, she was pregnant.

When he was seven years old, he wandered through a village and saw the people worshiping a licentious deity. Entering the shrine, he cried out, ‘You fabricate tales of calamity and good fortune to deceive people, wasting their wealth and costing them their lives. The harm you cause is exceedingly great!’

As soon as he finished speaking, the image in the shrine suddenly collapsed.

Thereafter, the villagers called him the Child Sage. At the age of twenty-two he left the household life, and at thirty he met the patriarch, the Venerable Manorhita, who transmitted the Dharma to him and appointed him his successor as patriarch.

Sutra: “Thirteenth, the six faculties became perfectly penetrating, their luminous illumination nondual and encompassing the realms of the ten directions, forming the Great Perfect Mirror—the Empty Tathagatagarbha. By compliantly following the secret Dharma-gates of Tathagatas of the ten directions as numerous as motes of dust and receiving them without omission, I can enable childless beings throughout the dharma realm who wish to seek a daughter to give birth to a daughter who is upright and beautiful, endowed with merit and virtue, gentle and virtuous, possessing excellent marks, and loved and respected by everyone.

Penetrating Commentary: When one faculty returns to its source, the six faculties function interchangeably; this is Perfect Penetration. Precisely because it is perfect and complete, its luminous illumination is nondual, and thus it becomes the Wisdom of the Great Perfect Mirror. Precisely because it penetrates and encompasses the realms of the ten directions, it is the Empty Tathagatagarbha. Compliantly following the Tathagata and receiving everything without omission are all qualities of the feminine way; therefore, those who pray for a daughter obtain a daughter.

The maiden Moon Superior [the daughter of Vimalakirti] possessed excellent marks and a dignified beauty, and everyone loved and respected her. Suitors came one after another, but she manifested a supernatural wonder [ascending into empty space] and resolved to leave the household life.

As Sariputra was entering the city, he encountered her coming out. He thought to himself, ‘This woman has gone to see the Buddha. I wonder whether she has attained patient acceptance or not. I should ask her.’

When he drew near, he asked, ‘Where are you going?’

She replied, ‘Where Sariputra is going.’

Sariputra said, ‘I have just entered the city, while you have just left it. Why do you say, “Where I am going”?’

She asked, ‘Upon what should the Buddha’s disciples rely and abide?’

Sariputra said, ‘The Buddha’s disciples rely upon and abide in Great Nirvana.’

She said, ‘Since the Buddha’s disciples rely upon and abide in Great Nirvana, my destination is likewise the destination of Sariputra.’

On another occasion, Manjusri asked the maiden Amrapali, ‘What is the meaning of birth?’

She replied, ‘Birth takes birth-that-is-nonbirth as the meaning of birth.’

Manjusri asked, ‘How does birth-that-is-nonbirth constitute the meaning of birth?’

She replied, ‘If one clearly knows that the four conditions—earth, water, fire, and wind—have never possessed any self-nature, then although there is a place where they unite, they merely accord with the appropriate conditions. This is the meaning of birth.’

Manjusri asked, ‘What is the meaning of death?’

She replied, ‘Death takes death-that-is-nondeath as the meaning of death.’

Manjusri asked, ‘How does death-that-is-nondeath constitute the meaning of death?’

She replied, ‘If one knows that the four conditions—earth, water, fire, and wind—have never possessed any self-nature, then although there is a place where they separate and disperse, they merely accord with the appropriate conditions. This is the meaning of death.’

The maiden Amrapali asked Manjusri, ‘If one clearly knows the principle that birth is nonbirth, why is one still swept along in the cycle of birth and death?’

Manjusri said, ‘Because one’s strength is not yet sufficient.’

These two maidens were born into an age in which a Buddha was present. Not only were they fully endowed with merit and virtue and gentle in nature, but they also elucidated the matter beyond. Could it be that in past kalpas they had received the Secret Dharma-gate and now manifested themselves in this way?

Sutra: “Fourteenth, within this trichiliocosm, with its ten billion suns and moons, the Dharma Princes presently appearing in the world number as many as the sands of sixty-two Ganges Rivers. They cultivate the Buddhadharma, serve as exemplars, teach and transform beings, and accord with beings through wisdom and skillful means, each in a different way. Because I attained Perfect Penetration through the fundamental faculty and brought forth the wondrous nature of the faculty of hearing, my subtle and wondrous body and mind thereafter encompassed and contained the entire dharma realm.

Thus I can cause beings who uphold and recite my name and those who uphold and recite the names of those Dharma Princes as numerous as the sands of sixty-two Ganges Rivers to possess equal and undifferentiated merit and virtue.

“World-Honored One, my single name is no different from those many names because through cultivation I attained True Perfect Penetration. These are called the fourteen powers of bestowing fearlessness, through which merit is inherently and universally provided to beings.

Penetrating Commentary: At the outset, completely contemplating sound and immediately attaining liberation is intended to receive those of the highest superior faculties: merely illuminating and seeing that the five skandhas are all empty, they immediately transcend all suffering and distress. If contemplation of the Self-Nature were not a subtle and wondrous contemplative practice, it could not be carried out.

At the end, merely upholding and reciting the name, with merit inherently and universally provided to beings, is intended to receive those of middling and lesser faculties.

To say that merit is inherently and universally provided means that one is spared calamities of water and fire, and may even obtain sons and daughters; there is nothing one seeks that is not obtained. Therefore, among the thirty-two response bodies, when liberation is mentioned, it means realization and awakening; the rest concern accomplishment and merely fulfill merit.

The beings of this region possess a keen faculty of hearing, and many attain the Way through it; therefore, Avalokiteshvara’s teaching and transformation are preeminent. The other faculties are sluggish, and few people attain the Way through them; therefore, the teaching and transformation of the other sages are less effective. Perfect Penetration compared with imperfect penetration is like a single day compared with an entire kalpa. Thus the faculty of hearing was silently selected as the essence of the teaching for this region.”

Chan Master Hualin Shanjue would often carry his staff and go out at night into the woods at the foot of the mountain. Every seven steps, he would strike the ground once with his staff and invoke the name of Guanyin.

Master Jiashan asked, “From afar I heard the Venerable chanting the name of Guanyin. Is that so?”

The Patriarch replied, “It is.”

Master Shan said, “What is it like when one can ride upon the head?”

The Patriarch said, “If the head appears, I shall let you ride it. If the head does not appear, what will you ride?”

Master Shan was left without a word in reply.

Surveillance Commissioner Pei Xiu came to visit and asked, “Master, do you have attendants?”

The Patriarch said, “I have a pair, but they cannot meet guests.”

Pei Xiu asked, “Where are they?”

The Patriarch then called, “Great Emptiness! Little Emptiness!”

Two tigers immediately emerged from behind the hermitage. Pei was terrified at the sight.

The Patriarch said to the two tigers, “We have a guest; withdraw.”

The two tigers roared and retreated inside.

Pei Xiu asked, “What practice and karma have you cultivated, Master, to bring about such a response?”

The Master remained silent for a long while and then asked, “Do you understand?”

Pei replied, “No, I do not understand.”

The Patriarch said, “This mountain monk constantly invokes Guanyin.”

To understand Hualin’s silence and the place where the head does not appear is to contemplate the Nature skillfully. If you cannot do so, then invoke Guanyin.

Sutra: “Blessed One, because I attained that supreme path of perfect penetration through cultivation and realization, I also wondrously acquired four inconceivable, unconditioned virtues.

“First, because I initially attained the supremely wondrous Nature of Hearing, my mind became utterly pure and no longer retained the characteristic of hearing. Seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing were no longer separated, but became a single, perfectly interfused and pure Precious Awakening. Thus, I can manifest exceedingly numerous wondrous forms and utter boundless secret spiritual mantras.

“Among them, I may manifest one head, three heads, five heads, seven heads, nine heads, eleven heads, up to one hundred and eight heads, one thousand heads, ten thousand heads, or eighty-four thousand vajra heads; or I may manifest two arms, four arms, six arms, twelve arms, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty, or twenty-four arms, up to one hundred and eight arms, one thousand arms, ten thousand arms, or eighty-four thousand arms forming mudras; or I may manifest two eyes, three eyes, four eyes, nine eyes, up to one hundred and eight eyes, one thousand eyes, ten thousand eyes, or eighty-four thousand pure precious eyes. Whether through loving-kindness or awe-inspiring power, samadhi or wisdom, I rescue sentient beings and enable them to attain great sovereignty.

Commentary: Because he shares the Buddha’s power of loving-kindness, he has the thirty-two response bodies; because he shares sentient beings’ sorrowful longing, he bestows the fourteen kinds of fearlessness. These are already inconceivable, wondrous, unconditioned powers. Yet he also possesses four inconceivable, wondrous, unconditioned virtues, arising from his cultivation and realization of the Supreme Path. The spiritual wonder of this Supreme Path is even more immeasurable.

Previously, the teaching of the Dharma and the invocation of the name could still be conceived and measured. But here, the forms and spiritual mantras that enable sentient beings to attain Great Sovereignty are truly a most inconceivable realm. All these also flow forth from the supremely wondrous Nature of Hearing.

At first, when faculty and object had entirely disappeared, the mind was wondrously tranquil; yet that wondrousness, being contrasted with the coarse, was not the wondrousness that transcends all dualities. Next, both wisdom and its object vanished, and perceiver and perceived became quiescent and extinct; therefore, it is called supremely wondrous. At first, hearing was turned back upon itself, and its object was no more. Here, the mind is utterly pure and no hearing remains. Once hearing has been relinquished, all six faculties are transformed. Thus, seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing are no longer separated but become one perfectly interfused and pure Precious Awakening. This is precisely what is called ‘Quiescent Extinction Manifest Before One.’

Because it is originally perfectly interfused and pure, its responsive transformations are boundless. The head is where the functions of the six faculties are gathered. The arms embody the compassion that receives and supports. The eyes represent the wisdom that illuminates clearly. The heads, arms, and eyes each number eighty-four thousand because they reveal Dharma gates that counteract the eighty-four thousand afflictions and defilements.

The Sixth Patriarch said, “This Dharma gate of mine gives rise to eighty-four thousand kinds of wisdom from the single wisdom of prajna. Why is this so? Because people of the world have eighty-four thousand defilements. If there were no defilements, wisdom would constantly manifest and would never depart from the Self-Nature.”

The high official Lu Xuan asked Patriarch Nanquan, “For what purpose does the Great Compassion Bodhisattva employ so many arms and eyes?”

Nanquan said, “Then for what purpose does the nation employ a high official?”

Patriarch Magu asked Patriarch Linji, “Of Great Compassion’s thousand arms and thousand eyes, which is the True Eye?”

Patriarch Linji seized him and held him upright, saying, “Of Great Compassion’s thousand arms and thousand eyes, which is the True Eye? Speak quickly! Speak quickly!”

Magu pulled Linji down from the Chan seat and climbed up to sit upon it himself.

Linji bowed and said, “I do not understand.”

Magu was about to speak. Linji immediately shouted, pulled Magu down from the Chan seat, and climbed up to sit upon it himself.

Magu then departed.

On another occasion, Patriarch Magu asked, “Of Guanyin’s twelve faces, which is the principal face?”

Linji stepped down from the Chan seat, seized him and held him upright, and asked, “Where do Guanyin’s twelve faces now appear? Speak quickly! Speak quickly!”

Magu turned around and was about to sit down. Linji immediately struck him. Magu firmly seized the staff, and they tugged at each other all the way back to the abbot’s quarters.

Each of these two venerable masters displayed and sported with great, inconceivable spiritual powers. Only upon perceiving the dynamic by which they wrested the initiative from each other could one be said to possess Guanyin’s complete arms and eyes.

Sutra: “Second, because my hearing and contemplation were freed from the six sense objects, like sound passing through a wall without any obstruction, I can wondrously manifest each and every form and recite each and every mantra. These forms and mantras can bestow fearlessness upon sentient beings. Therefore, throughout lands in the ten directions as numerous as motes of dust, I am called the Bestower of Fearlessness.

Commentary: Hearing and contemplation are perfectly penetrating, like sound passing through a wall. Because they have transcended the six sense objects and encounter no obstruction whatsoever, forms are manifested and mantras recited, revealing inconceivable wondrous functions. Because the Nature of Hearing is inconceivable, the power of the mantras is inconceivable.

Previously, a single, perfectly interfused and pure Precious Awakening was employed to rescue and protect sentient beings, enabling them to attain Great Sovereignty. That was to use its entire power to guide them to the shore of the Path. Thus, the heads, arms, and eyes—whether expressing loving-kindness or awe-inspiring power, samadhi or wisdom—were all complete and enabled them to attain liberation. Here, however, he merely manifests each form and recites each spiritual mantra to free sentient beings from fear. This means only that they no longer fear the suffering of birth and death; they have not yet attained Great Sovereignty.

In ancient times, a man was trapped to be sacrificed as food for a ghost and was bound to a pillar in a shrine. At midnight, a huge python came and was about to devour him. In his ordinary life, the man knew only the Great Compassion Mantra, so he immediately recited it without cease. The python could not draw near, as though something obstructed it, and eventually departed. At dawn, when they unlocked the shrine, they found the man entirely unharmed. Everyone marveled and asked the reason. The man said that he had escaped by reciting the Great Compassion Mantra. From then on, that heretical shrine was abandoned.

This generally illustrates how the power of a spiritual mantra can bestow fearlessness.

When Master Zhang Sengyao attempted to paint an image of Baozhi, he had only just set down his brush and did not yet know how to proceed. Baozhi immediately drew a line across his own face with his finger, revealing the twelve splendid, wondrous faces of Guanyin, some compassionate and some awe-inspiring. In the end, Sengyao was unable to paint them.

A monk asked Chan Master Wenshu, “Why was Sengyao unable to paint a portrait of Patriarch Zhigong?”

Master Wenshu replied, “Not only Sengyao; even Zhigong himself could not paint it.”

The monk asked, “Why could Zhigong himself not paint it?”

Master Wenshu said, “Neither pigments nor silk could bring it forth.”

The monk asked, “Can the Venerable paint it?”

Master Wenshu said, “I cannot paint it either.”

The monk asked, “Why can the Venerable not paint it?”

Master Wenshu said, “He pays no heed to my countenance, so how would you have me paint him?”

Patriarch Danxia chanted:

“The body’s radiance shines brilliantly, the marks stand majestic;

How could a skillful hand portray them?

Ask no more of Sengyao or Wu Daozi;

Even Zhigong himself could not comprehend.”

If even Zhigong did not know, it may be understood that this is truly an inconceivable state.

Sutra: “Third, because I cultivated the pure fundamental faculty, inherently wondrous and perfectly penetrating, throughout all worlds I enable sentient beings to relinquish their bodies and precious possessions and seek my compassionate aid.

Commentary: The pure fundamental faculty, inherently wondrous and perfectly penetrating, is the faculty of hearing. Being far removed from defiling objects, it is originally free of afflictions and therefore called pure. Yet sentient beings in the world suffer from afflictions and cannot attain liberation; hence, with earnest compassion, the bodhisattva rescues them.

Of the Six Perfections cultivated by bodhisattvas, generosity comes first. Therefore, they are taught to practice generosity, relinquishing greed and miserliness and taking this as the cause of cultivation. In this Dharma of generosity, one sees no giver, no recipient, and no gift.

This is called the perfection of generosity. Without attaining pure perfect penetration, one cannot understand this wondrous principle. Thus, when Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara received the precious necklace from Bodhisattva Akshayamati [in the Universal Gateway Chapter of the Lotus Sutra], he in turn offered it to the Buddha.

At first he would not accept it, revealing his observance of moral discipline. Serving the Buddha without weariness revealed his vigor. Not using it for himself revealed his patience.

Both giving and receiving were free of attachment, revealing meditative concentration. Seeking only to bring complete merit to sentient beings revealed wisdom. In presenting this single act of generosity, all Six Perfections were fully contained within it.

How could he merely have been teaching the single practice of generosity?

A monk asked Patriarch Baizhang: “All śramanas today say, ‘I follow the Buddha’s Teaching, studying each sutra and each treatise, each meditation practice and each precept, gaining each understanding and each realization.’ If they receive the four kinds of offerings from benefactors, can they digest them?”

Patriarch Baizhang said: “If, at this very moment, while illuminating and functioning in relation to every sound and every form, every fragrance and every flavor, and all existent and nonexistent dharmas, one does not retain or become defiled by so much as a speck of dust in any circumstance, nor abides in intellectual understanding, then that person could consume ten thousand taels of pure gold every day and still digest it all.

If, at this very moment, one illuminates all existent and nonexistent dharmas and, at the gates of the six faculties, thoroughly sweeps away every greed and craving, yet fails to finish the work by so much as the tip of a hair, then even if one receives only a grain of rice or a strand of thread from a donor, one will have to wear fur and bear horns, pull plows and carry heavy loads, repaying every last thing before the debt is settled.

Such a person does not follow the Buddha. A Buddha is one who clings to nothing, seeks nothing, and depends upon nothing. To rush about greedily seeking the Buddha is entirely contrary to the Buddha.”

One who trusts these words may indeed be said to cultivate the pure fundamental faculty and is then fit to receive the generosity of others.

Sutra: “Fourth, I attained the Buddha-mind and realized the ultimate, and therefore I can use every kind of treasure to make offerings to the Tathagatas of the ten directions. Even among the sentient beings of the six paths throughout the Dharma realm, those who seek a wife obtain a wife; those who seek a son obtain a son; those who seek samadhi obtain samadhi; those who seek long life obtain long life; and thus, even those who seek great nirvana obtain great nirvana.

Commentary: To realize the ultimate is to possess perfect and complete wisdom; therefore, one can bestow upon others the joy that transcends the world. Through making offerings to the Tathagatas, one’s merit becomes perfect and complete; therefore, one can bestow worldly blessings upon others. All these are accomplished from within the inconceivable. If one perceives someone who seeks and something to be attained, then what one can bestow is also narrow and limited. Attaining blessings is not equal to attaining the fruit; attaining the fruit is not equal to attaining the ultimate fruit. Therefore, attaining great nirvana is supreme.

Patriarch Baizhang said: “Suppose that someone now used the four kinds of merit and wisdom to make offerings to four million kotis of asamkhyeyas of sentient beings throughout the six paths of the worlds, satisfying their wishes until they reached eighty years of age, and then thought: ‘All these sentient beings must grow old and feeble; I should guide and teach them with the Buddhadharma, enabling them to attain the fruit of stream-entry, up to the path of arhatship.’ The merit of that benefactor would already be immeasurable merely from giving sentient beings everything they desired.

How much more immeasurable and boundless would that merit be if he enabled them to attain the fruit of stream-entry, up to the path of arhatship! Yet it would not equal the merit of the fiftieth person who hears the sutra and rejoices in accord with it.

“The Sutra of Requiting Kindness says that Lady Maya gave birth to five hundred princes, all of whom attained pratyekabuddhahood and entered cessation. A stupa was erected and offerings made for each of them. Whenever Lady Maya bowed in worship, she lamented: ‘This is not equal to giving birth to one child who attains unsurpassed bodhi and thereby lightens the burden upon my mind.’ If, among hundreds of thousands of myriads of sentient beings today, even one person attains the Way, that alone immediately recompenses the entire trichiliocosm!”

Alas! Avalokiteshvara attained the Buddha-mind and enables all sentient beings to attain the Buddha-mind; such a compassionate vow is truly inconceivable.

Sutra: “The Buddha asked about perfect penetration. By means of the gateway of hearing, I perfectly illuminated samadhi. My mind thereby attained freedom; following the characteristic of entering the stream, I attained samadhi and accomplished bodhi. This is foremost.

“World-Honored One, that Tathagata Buddha praised me for skillfully attaining the Dharma-gateway of perfect penetration and, before the great assembly, bestowed upon me the name Avalokiteshvara. Because my seeing and hearing penetrate the ten directions, the name Avalokiteshvara pervades all worlds throughout the ten directions.”

Commentary: The Book of Documents says, “He made the four eyes keen and the four ears discerning.” This means that he took the eyes and ears of the four directions as his own eyes and ears. It also says, “Heaven sees according to what my people see; Heaven hears according to what my people hear.” This means that Heaven’s seeing and hearing, though originally invisible, are made visible among the people.

Avalokiteshvara takes the seeing and hearing of the ten directions as his own seeing and hearing; therefore, the seeing and hearing of the ten directions are themselves Avalokiteshvara. How, then, could that name not pervade the ten directions?

Patriarch Baofu asked a monk, “Where have you come from?”

He replied, “Avalokiteshvara.”

Patriarch Baofu said, “Then did you see Avalokiteshvara?”

He replied, “I did.”

Patriarch Baofu said, “Did you see him on the left or on the right?”

He replied, “When seeing occurs, it does not pass through left or right.”

Patriarch Fayan said separately, “Just as the Venerable sees.”

Elder Fu attended the Dharma assembly at Mount Jing. One day, in front of the Buddha hall, a monk asked him, “Have you ever been to Mount Wutai?”

He replied, “I have.”

The monk asked, “Then did you see Manjushri?”

He replied, “I did.”

The monk asked, “Where did you see him?”

He replied, “I saw him before the Buddha hall at Mount Jing.”

When Patriarch Xuefeng heard these words, he regarded them as extraordinary.

Patriarch Linji said: “There is a type of student who goes to Mount Wutai seeking Manjushri—he has misunderstood from the outset! There is no Manjushri on Mount Wutai. Do you wish to know Manjushri?

He is simply the functioning directly before your eyes, never differing from beginning to end, free of doubt everywhere. This is the living Manjushri. When a single thought of your mind is free of the discriminating light of differentiation, everywhere is the true Samantabhadra.

When a single thought of your mind naturally casts off its bonds and is liberated wherever it is, this is precisely the Dharma of Avalokiteshvara’s samadhi, with host and guest mutually interchanging. When it emerges, it emerges immediately: one is three and three are one. Only when you understand in this way should you read the scriptures.”

Ah! These words of Patriarch Linji directly express the essential teaching; in every respect there is no difference.

Section 5: Instructions on the Dharma of Perfect Cultivation

I. EMITTING RADIANT LIGHT AND MANIFESTING AN AUSPICIOUS SIGN

Sutra: At that time, the Blessed One, seated upon the lion throne, simultaneously emitted precious light from the five parts of his body. It shone afar upon the crowns of the Tathagatas of the ten directions, numerous as motes of dust, as well as upon the Dharma Princes and bodhisattvas. Those Tathagatas likewise simultaneously emitted precious light from the five parts of their bodies, which came from worlds numerous as motes of dust and shone upon the crown of the Buddha, pouring into the crowns of the great bodhisattvas and arhats in the assembly.

The forests, trees, ponds, and lakes all proclaimed the sounds of Dharma, while the rays of light interlaced layer upon layer like a net of precious silk. Everyone in the great assembly experienced what they had never experienced before, and all attained the Vajra Samadhi. At that very moment, a rain of hundred-jeweled lotus flowers fell from the heavens—blue, yellow, red, and white, intermingling with one another—and the empty space throughout the ten directions took on the colors of the seven treasures.

The mountains, rivers, and lands of this Saha world all vanished at once. Only the lands throughout the ten directions, numerous as motes of dust, could be seen merging into a single realm, while Brahma sounds of praise naturally resounded everywhere.

Commentary: The bodhisattvas and arhats who realized Perfect Penetration had all entered the inconceivable realm. Therefore, from within the Inconceivable, the Buddha manifested auspicious signs and emitted precious light. Both the primary retribution and the dependent retribution revealed Perfect Penetration.

The primary retribution was the emission of light from the five parts of the body; Buddha and Buddha were no different. This showed that all twenty-five gateways to Perfect Penetration are, each and every one, the Way. Everyone possesses the complete bodily form, but only a Buddha realizes it in its entirety.

The dependent retribution was the interlacing of rays of light layer upon layer like a net of precious silk, extending even to the empty space throughout the ten directions taking on the colors of the seven treasures. This revealed that the eighteen dhatus and the seven elements are all the True Suchness and Wondrous Nature of the Tathagata-garbha, mutually interpenetrating and blending together as one Ocean of Precious, Luminous Emptiness.

This Saha world merging into a single realm symbolizes “when sense-objects dissolve, hearing returns to its nature.” The forests, trees, ponds, and lakes all proclaiming the sounds of Dharma symbolizes “pure sound, without sense-objects.” The precious enlightenment, perfectly luminous and pervading the Dharma Realm, had already tacitly recognized reversing hearing to return to the nature of hearing as the foremost method.

Master Dongshan went to Patriarch Guishan and asked: “I have heard that National Teacher Zhong spoke of insentient beings expounding the Dharma, but I have not yet clearly penetrated its subtle meaning.”

Patriarch Gui said: “I have it here as well, but it is truly difficult to find someone capable of receiving it.”

The Master said: “I respectfully ask the Venerable Master to explain it.”

Patriarch Gui said: “With the mouth born of my father and mother, I would never explain it to you.”

The Master asked: “Is there anyone who aspires to the Way and is a contemporary of the Master?”

Patriarch Gui said: “Not far from here, in the stone chamber, there is the practitioner Yunyan. If you can seek him out and meet him, he will surely fulfill your aspiration.”

The Master went to Patriarch Yunyan and asked: “When insentient beings expound the Dharma, who is able to hear it?”

Patriarch Yan replied: “Insentient beings are able to hear it.”

He asked: “Does the Venerable Master hear it?”

Patriarch Yan said: “If I heard it, then you would not hear me expounding the Dharma.”

He asked: “Why, then, do I not hear it?”

Patriarch Yan raised his fly whisk upright and said: “Do you hear it now?”

He replied: “I do not hear it.”

Patriarch Yan said: “You do not even hear me expounding the Dharma; how much less could you hear insentient beings expounding the Dharma?”

He asked: “Which sutra teaches that insentient beings expound the Dharma?”

Patriarch Yan said: “Have you not seen that the Amitabha Sutra says that the waters, birds, and forest trees all recollect the Buddha and recollect the Dharma, while insentient plants and trees join together in joyful song?”

At these words, Master Dongshan awakened and composed this verse:

“How wondrous! How wondrous!

“Insentient beings expound the Dharma—inconceivable!

“If one strains to hear with the ears, it is still not understood;

“Only when sound is heard at the eye does one clearly penetrate.”

Chan Master Yunju You ascended the hall and said: “All sounds are the Buddha’s voice!”

He struck the Chan platform and said: “The Brahma sound, profound and far-reaching, delights those who hear it!”

He further said: “All forms are the Buddha’s form!”

He then raised his fly whisk and said: “The Buddha now emits radiant light, clearly illuminating the meaning of true reality. Those who have thoroughly penetrated it should reverently receive and practice it. Those who have not yet thoroughly penetrated it should understand it in this way and believe it in this way!”

He then struck the Chan platform and descended from the seat.

These venerable masters personally came and went within the Assembly of Perfect Penetration; therefore, they expounded it layer upon layer in this manner.

II. THE BUDDHA INSTRUCTS MANJUSHRI TO SELECT THE FACULTY OF PERFECT PENETRATION

Sutra: At that time, the Tathagata said to Manjushri, Dharma Prince: “Now examine these twenty-five great bodhisattvas and arhats beyond learning. Each has described the skillful means by which he initially accomplished the Way, and each has said that what he cultivated was true Perfect Penetration. Their practices truly differ neither as superior or inferior, nor as earlier or later. I now wish to enable Ananda to awaken. Among these twenty-five methods of practice, which one accords with his capacities? Furthermore, after my nirvana, when beings in this realm enter the Bodhisattva Vehicle and seek the unsurpassed Way, through which skillful Dharma gateway will they most easily attain accomplishment?”

Manjushri, Dharma Prince, respectfully received the Buddha’s compassionate instruction. He then rose from his seat, bowed with his head at the Buddha’s feet, and, empowered by the Buddha’s awe-inspiring spiritual might, spoke these verses in reply:

Commentary: Their practices truly differ neither as superior or inferior, nor as earlier or later, for they had all awakened to and entered unsurpassed bodhi and received the Buddha’s confirmation.

Patriarch Huangbo said: “From the time the Tathagata entrusted the Dharma to Kasyapa until the present, mind has been used to seal mind, and mind after mind has not differed. If the seal is impressed upon empty space, it leaves no pattern. If it is impressed upon an object, the seal does not become Dharma. Therefore, mind is used to seal mind, and mind after mind does not differ. Both that which seals and that which is sealed are difficult to accord with and comprehend; thus, those who attain it are few. Yet mind itself is no-mind, and attainment itself is non-attainment.”

Indeed, only because there is no-mind and non-attainment are there no distinctions of earlier or later. These twenty-five sages beyond learning truly did not differ, for mind was used to seal mind; therefore, mind after mind was no different.

III. DISCERNING THE FACULTIES THAT ARE NOT PERFECT

Sutra:

“The nature of the Ocean of Enlightenment is still and all-pervading;

“Within perfect stillness, the source of enlightenment is wondrous.

“The primal luminosity, through illumination, gives rise to an object;

“Once the object is established, the illuminating nature is lost.

Commentary: The original, wondrous nature of enlightenment is inherently subtle and eternally luminous. Because it discriminates the objects before it, it is called primal luminosity. Once it falls into the domain of consciousness, it becomes inferential cognition. When inferential cognition is established, perfectly luminous direct cognition is lost. Earlier, the Blessed One said that beginningless bodhi and nirvana are originally the pure essence that can give rise to conditions, yet when one follows conditions, that essence is lost. This passage arises as a restatement in verse.

Venerable Puming instructed the assembly: “The Mind-Dharma of the Patriarchs is open and penetrating throughout the ten directions. From ancient times to the present, it has always been so; Dharma is inherently thus. Such a Dharma does not rely upon cultivation, yet is naturally accomplished; it need not be attained, yet is naturally perfect.

Everything is presently complete; this is called the Ground of Immovability. In functioning it is not existent; without functioning it is not nonexistent. Its wondrous essence is tranquil, clear, and thus, eternally abiding and unchanging.

Its essence accords with wondrous functioning, responding everywhere without contrivance, while reflections appear layer upon layer as boundless forms and characteristics. Mind has no intrinsic nature; when it encounters phenomena, it reveals itself fully and brilliantly. The immovable bodhimanda pervades the lands of the ten directions.

In a realm such as this, one merely turns the light around for a brief moment; one relinquishes sense-objects and accords with enlightenment, no longer engaging in shadowy reflections. The purport of this matter is like traveling upon a great road. If you walk, you are immediately there.

Even if you do not walk, you are still upon the road. Yet a discussion such as this still belongs to the teachings spoken within Dharma gateways. If one were to raise and proclaim the essential vehicle of the school, it would be best simply to dismiss everyone at once.

“If everyone disperses, then there is nothing to be done, and even that perfectly clear Ocean of Enlightenment is cut off. Otherwise, you are still sitting inside the den of non-doing.”

Sutra:

“Deluded confusion gives rise to empty space;

“Relying upon emptiness, worlds are established.

“Congealed thought becomes lands and realms;

“Knowing awareness becomes sentient beings.

“Emptiness arises within Great Enlightenment,

“Like a single bubble floating upon the sea.

“Defiled realms, numerous as motes of dust,

“All arise in dependence upon emptiness.

“When the bubble bursts, emptiness itself does not exist

“How much more so the three realms.

Commentary: Awakening is called Great Awakening to distinguish it from the awakening of ordinary understanding. Great Awakening is like the ocean, without shore or boundary. The Nature is originally empty and cannot be designated by the name Awakening.

When there are appearances, it is immediately revealed; when there are no appearances, it is concealed. When the True Nature is concealed, emptiness and awareness become divided. As soon as the perception of emptiness arises, the objective aspect comes into being; thus, all lands within the three realms are established in dependence upon emptiness.

Once luminous awareness is taken as an object, the subjective aspect arises; thus, the conditioned existence of sentient beings comes into being through their pursuit of delusion. Appearances do not become appearances apart from perception; rather, they are formed through the condensation of thought. Perception does not become perception apart from appearances; rather, it is the ceaseless revolving within the three realms that arises through conjunction with sense objects.

Those appearances and that perception arise within Great Awakening like a single bubble upon the vast ocean. If one returns to the ultimate source of the wandering faculties and reaches the place of neither arising nor cessation, the bubble dissolves into the ocean, leaving, as before, only the wondrous luminosity of Great Awakening. Even empty space can no longer be found; how much less the lands and motes of dust throughout the three realms, whether sentient or insentient, established within empty space?

A monk asked Patriarch Baizhang, “What does it mean that empty space arises within Great Awakening like a single bubble rising upon the ocean?”

Patriarch Baizhang replied, “Empty space is likened to the bubble, and the ocean is likened to the Nature. One’s own self-nature, numinous and aware, transcends even empty space; hence it is said, ‘Emptiness arises within Great Awakening like a bubble floating upon the ocean.’”

Chan Master Muping Dao asked Patriarch Luopu, “Before a single bubble has arisen, how can the current of the water be discerned?”

Patriarch Luopu said:

“Move the boat and you clearly know the water’s course;
Raise the oar and you discern the swell of the waves.”

Master Muping did not accord with or understand this, so he went to consult Patriarch Panlong and repeated his former question.

Patriarch Panlong said:

“Move the boat and you do not discern the water;
Raise the oar and at once you lose the source!”

He immediately awakened and entered.

Patriarch Danxia composed this verse:

“Sun and moon together shed their radiance,
Illuminating the time before Weiyin had stirred.
If one says the blue heavens have a separate path,
As of old, the wooden man furrows his brows.”

In general, Patriarch Panlong’s standpoint is that where the body is concealed, no trace remains. Patriarch Luopu’s standpoint is that where no trace remains, the body is not concealed. If one understands, there is only a single path, with never any difference.

Later, a monk asked, “What is Muping?”

He replied, “It requires no axe or hatchet.”

The monk said, “Why does it require no axe or hatchet?”

He replied, “Muping.”

Indeed, this clearly illuminates the one great matter from the time before Weiyin’s mechanism had stirred.

Sutra:

“In returning to the source, the Nature is nondual;
Yet expedient means have many gates.
The sagely nature penetrates everywhere;
Whether favorable or adverse, all are expedient means.
When the beginner’s mind enters samadhi,
Its speed or slowness varies according to capacity.

Commentary: Previously it was said, “The Tathagatas of the ten directions, cultivating through each of the eighteen dhatus, all attained perfect, unsurpassed bodhi.” This is what is meant here by, “This sagely nature penetrates everywhere; whether favorable or adverse, all are expedient means.” It was also said, “If right here one awakens to the perfect penetration of a faculty, one immediately reverses the current of delusive karma woven together since beginningless time. Attaining accord with perfect penetration, compared with what is not perfectly penetrating, is as the difference between a single day and an entire kalpa.” This is what is meant here by, “When the beginner’s mind enters samadhi, its speed or slowness varies according to capacity.”

Patriarch Huangbo said, “‘In returning to the source, the Nature is nondual’ means that the true nature of ignorance is itself the Nature of all Buddhas. ‘Expedient means have many gates’ means that sravakas see ignorance cease but do not see ignorance arise, and in thought after thought they realize quiescent cessation. The Buddhas see sentient beings arising all day long, yet without arising, and ceasing all day long, yet without ceasing. Neither arising nor ceasing is precisely the fruit of the Mahayana. Therefore, when the fruit of the Way is fulfilled and bodhi perfected, the flower opens and the world arises.”

Chan Master Kumu Cheng ascended the hall and said, “‘In returning to the source, the Nature is nondual; yet expedient means have many gates.’ Simply awaken to the Nature that returns to the source—why worry about the gates of expedient means? Do you wish to understand the Nature that returns to the source?

“‘The exposed pillar is made the handle of the Northern Dipper, yet people of the world do not recognize it as such.’ Do you wish to understand the gates of expedient means? The handle of the Northern Dipper is made an exposed pillar; it is quite fitting for propping up heaven and supporting the earth. Now, what would you say in a single statement that does not fall within the gates of expedient means? Thirty years from now, do not bring it up incorrectly!”

These two venerable masters each expounded, according to their own realization, the essential purport that returning to the source is truly nondual.

Sutra:

“Contemplation of form congeals into sense objects;
The awareness that knows cannot penetrate them.
When there is no penetrating insight such as this,
How can perfect penetration be attained?

Commentary: Entering through the contemplation of the ten perceptions causes internal sense objects to congeal; therefore, the essential luminosity of knowing and awareness truly cannot know them with penetrating clarity, for it is bound by the method.

Patriarch Shitou asked a newly arrived visitor, “Where have you come from?”

He replied, “Jiangxi.”

Patriarch Shitou said, “Did you see Great Master Mazu?”

He replied, “I did.”

Patriarch Shitou then pointed to a piece of firewood and said, “In what way does Great Master Ma resemble this?”

The monk could not answer. He then returned and reported the exchange exactly as it had occurred to Master Mazu.

Master Mazu said, “Did you see that piece of firewood as large or small?”

He replied, “Enormously large.”

The Master said, “You are very strong!”

The monk asked, “Why is that?”

Master Mazu said, “You carried a piece of firewood all the way here from Mount Nanyue; how could you not be strong?”

Had this monk been Such a Person, he should simply have cast it away at once.

Sutra:

Commentary: Awakening through the object of sound is not the same as entering through the faculty of hearing. Sound is the Buddha’s speech, while the faculty is one’s own Mind. If one grasps the object of sound, one inevitably clings to its names, phrases, and sentences. If one turns the hearing back, one penetrates and understands the source of one’s own Nature. Names, phrases, and sentences remain obstructed at a single point, whereas the Source of the Nature encompasses everything everywhere. Therefore, awakening to the Way by hearing sounds also cannot be selected.

Patriarch Yunju Ying ascended the hall and said, “All of you, even if you have learned matters on the Buddha’s side, have already applied your minds wrongly! Have you not seen that an ancient lectured on the sutras so well that celestial flowers fell and stones nodded their heads? Yet none of this had anything to do with the matter of his own self.

How could those who concern themselves with extraneous matters presume to take this limited body and mind and employ them within the limitless? It is like trying to fit a square piece of wood into a round hole; there will inevitably be gaps and errors. Without that matter, even if you embroider flowers and weave brocade, it is useless; you still have not departed from discriminating consciousness and emotion.

Everything must be utterly ended within there. If even a single hair remains uncleansed and unbrushed away, you will be bound by sense objects—how much more so if much remains? An error of a hair’s breadth becomes a fault as great as a mountain.

“Have you not heard an ancient say, ‘When one’s learning does not reach the profound and wondrous, one drifts entirely with worldly convention. If one cannot relinquish the things within vermilion towers and purple pavilions, they are all seepage and leakage’? You must enter directly into there, where grasping, arriving, and departing are all utterly cleansed and every matter is ended; only then will there be no fault. A person who clearly understands every affair and penetrates every phenomenon is merely called one who understands affairs; ultimately, such a person is not called a noble one. You should know that nobility has a separate path of its own. Have you not heard it said, ‘What enters through the gate is not a family treasure; the staff does not become a dragon’?”

How full of meaning this passage is! Its names, phrases, and sentences shine brilliantly and penetrate throughout!

Sutra:

Commentary: With fragrance and flavor, separation and contact are impermanent, and their essence is not all-pervasive. To cling to fragrance or flavor as a gate of entry ultimately bears no resemblance to the perfectly interfused essence; therefore, neither can be selected.

A monk asked Patriarch Yunju Ying, “Who is able to eat the rice of the Buddha Fragrant Accumulation?”

Patriarch Ying said, “You should know that even one who can eat it, after it enters his mouth, must still vomit it out!”

Again, a monk asked Patriarch Shoushan Nian, “What is the proper path of cultivation?”

Patriarch Shoushan said, “Though poor, one does not eat miscellaneous food.”

The monk said, “Then I let go of everything and return home.”

Patriarch Shoushan said, “Fragrance and stench have never been heard of.”

Patriarch Foyin ascended the hall and said, “I have something perfectly evident; everyone chews it in his mouth. If you can chew it to pieces, you must vomit it all out. If you cannot chew it to pieces, it turns into poison.”

Then he called out, “Virtuous practitioners of Chan, what is that delicious and nourishing flavor? Speak and let us hear.”

After remaining silent for a long while, he said:

“How could the King of Physicians have no skillful prescription?

A thousand miles of reviving fragrance [Reviving fragrance: an incense that restores life], yet the elephant [Elephant: an elephant] does not turn back.”

Patriarch Foyin and the two venerable masters supplied layer upon layer of explanatory notes. If one hears this Fragrance and knows this Flavor, it is precisely the one constant Object of Awakening.

Sutra:

“Touch is known through what is touched;

“Without an object, touch is not discerned.

“Union and separation render its nature uncertain;

“How could it attain perfect penetration?”

Explanation: Touch necessarily requires an object; therefore, it does not embody the meaning of perfection. Moreover, only when there is union does touch occur; with separation, there is no touch. Because touch is apart from the Knowing, its nature is uncertain. Since its intrinsic nature is uncertain, how could it attain perfect penetration?

When Master Shuilao first met Master Mazu, he asked, “What is the clearly manifest purport of the coming from the West?” [Coming from the West: The purport of Patriarch Bodhidharma’s coming from the West.]

Shuilao immediately bowed. Mazu then kicked him, and Shuilao attained great awakening. He stood up, clapped his hands, and laughed aloud, saying, “Most wondrous, most wondrous! Hundreds of thousands of samadhis and immeasurable wondrous meanings—the very source and root are thoroughly understood upon the tip of a single hair!”

Later, he instructed the assembly, “Ever since I received that kick from Great Master Ma, my laughter has never ceased!”

Nevertheless, the point of contact from long ago still seems to remain. How could it compare with Patriarch Linji’s direct point of liberation?

Patriarch Linji said, “I stayed with my late master Huangbo for twenty years. Three times I asked about the great meaning of the Buddhadharma, and three times he bestowed blows of his staff upon me, as though sweeping everything clean with a pole. Now I still remember one of those blows. Is there anyone who can administer it for me?”

At that moment, a monk stepped out from the assembly and said, “I can administer it.”

Patriarch Linji held out the staff and handed it to him.

Just as the monk was about to take it, Patriarch Linji struck him.

Only after the sword has fallen far away do you suddenly hear it ring!

Sutra:

“Dharmas are called internal objects;

“Depending upon objects, there must be an object known.

“Subject and object do not interpenetrate;

“How could they attain perfect penetration?”

Explanation: Dharma-objects have no perceptible characteristics, but lie concealed within the faculty of mind. Once they have fallen into subject and object, they necessarily have a fixed location and therefore cannot interpenetrate universally. Although dharmas as emptiness extend throughout the ten directions, they cannot extend throughout that which is not empty; hence, they cannot attain perfect penetration [complete and unobstructed knowing]. This means that the subject cannot penetrate the object, nor can the object penetrate the subject, while both sides continue to exist.

Patriarch Linji said, “All mundane and supramundane dharmas have no intrinsic nature and no nature of arising. There are only empty names, and even names themselves do not exist. You merely take those empty names to be real—what a tremendous error!

Whatever is regarded as existent belongs entirely to the domains of the Dependent and the Imputed [the Other-Dependent Nature and the Completely Imputed Nature]. Thus there is bodhi upon which to depend, nirvana upon which to depend, liberation upon which to depend, the Three Bodies upon which to depend, wisdom-realms upon which to depend, awakening upon which to depend, and Buddha upon which to depend. What thing are you seeking within those realms of the Dependent and the Imputed?

Even the Three Vehicles and the twelve divisions of the teachings are merely old paper for wiping away filth.

“The Buddha is an illusory, transformed body; the Patriarch is an old monk. Do you take them to be the mother who gave birth to you? If you seek the Buddha, you will be possessed by the Buddha-demon; if you seek the Patriarch, you will be tightly bound by the Patriarch. Whatever you seek is suffering. It is better to have nothing to do.”

Do you believe it? Depending upon an object, there must be an object known; therefore, perfect penetration cannot be attained. The foregoing has examined entry through the six objects of sense, none of which is suitable for those of initial resolve.

Sutra:

“Although seeing is open and penetrating,

“It perceives the front but not the back.

“Of the four directions, half are missing;

“How could it attain perfect penetration?”

Explanation: The eye’s seeing perceives the front but not the back. The Mind’s Seeing is not the eye; it is called seeing within seeing. Why, then, is half still missing? Simply because once it falls into the aspect of seeing, perfect constancy is lost. Therefore, the eye faculty is not selected.

Patriarch Nanquan went to visit National Teacher Zhong.

The National Teacher asked, “Where have you come from?”

He replied, “I have come from Jiangxi.”

The National Teacher asked, “Have you brought the true Mazu with you?”

He replied, “Only this is it.”

The National Teacher said, “The ghost-expelling talisman is behind your back!”

Patriarch Nanquan immediately fell completely silent.

Patriarch Changqing Ling said, “He truly seems not to know.”

Patriarch Baofu added, “It cannot measure up to the Venerable’s serenity here.”

Patriarch Yunju Xi said, “These two venerable masters both support what is behind. As for Nanquan’s complete silence, was it supporting what was before him or what was behind him?”

Patriarch Xuansha pointed to a deceased monk and said, “Before you, meeting the eye, is bodhi; divine light for ten thousand miles—the mark behind the crown of the head.”

On that occasion, he uttered this verse:

“Ten thousand miles of divine light, the mark behind the crown;

When there is no crown, where can one turn to gaze?

The matter is accomplished, the intention has ceased;

The message within reaches everywhere completely.

The wise person in the quarters immediately grasps it;

A moment’s calculating comparison, and it is lost.”

These two cases mutually reveal one another; their point of seeing is the same. Is this not precious?

Sutra:

“The nose communicates through exhalation and inhalation;

“In between, the breaths do not meet.

“Divided and separate, they do not interpenetrate;

“How could it attain perfect penetration?”

Explanation: The expanse of the universe is one great respiration. Spring and summer are exhalation; autumn and winter are inhalation. The waxing moon is exhalation; the waning moon is inhalation.

Before the hour of midnight is exhalation; after the hour of noon is inhalation. Through exhalation and inhalation, human beings commune with heaven and earth, like fish in water. When exhalation and inhalation are regulated until no interchange of breath is presently apparent, Daoist practitioners of life-nourishment regard this as conformity with the natural order.

They do not understand that vast and obscure breath, taking it to be the True Nature and regarding that purity, that entity, as the consciousness-spirit. What connection does this divided and scattered state have with the intrinsic nature?

Someone asked Patriarch Dazhu, “Is there a Dharma in the world that transcends the Natural?”

Patriarch Dazhu replied, “There is.”

The questioner asked, “What Dharma can transcend it?”

Patriarch Dazhu said, “The one who clearly knows the Natural.”

He asked, “Is the Primordial Breath the Way?”

The Patriarch replied, “The Primordial Breath is itself the Primordial Breath; the Way is itself the Way.”

He asked, “If so, there must be two things.”

Patriarch Dazhu said, “For one who knows, there are not two.”

Again, he asked, “What is deviant, and what is correct?”

Patriarch Dazhu said, “When the mind follows things, that is deviant; when things follow the mind, that is correct.”

Examined in this light, the doctrine of regulating the breath is the mind following things. It is exceedingly divided and separate—how much less could it attain perfect penetration!

Sutra:

“The tongue, without contact, has no basis;

“Depending upon flavors, knowing arises.

“When flavor is absent, knowing does not exist;

“How could it attain perfect penetration?”

Explanation: Tasting, without a faculty, cannot know flavor. To know flavor without a faculty would truly be groundless. Once the faculty exists, knowing arises because flavor enters it. When flavor disappears, knowing also disappears. Since that faculty comes into and passes out of existence according to flavor, how could it be perfect?

Master Jiashan served as head cook under Patriarch Guishan.

Patriarch Gui asked, “What are we eating today?”

Master Jia said, “Two years share a single spring.”

Patriarch Gui said, “Attend well to the matter!”

Master Jia said, “A dragon dwells in a phoenix’s nest.”

Patriarch Touzi versified:

“Meeting him, he relied on asking about the assembly’s gruel;

It cannot compare with the fragrant rice in Vimalakirti’s hermitage.”

The night’s vital breath shifts with the crimson phoenix hue;

A radiant golden dragon coils around the branch within the moon.”

Again, when Patriarch Shixian Shi ascended the hall, he remained silent for a while and said, “Fortunately, there is a tray of rice, but it cannot be mixed with pepper and ginger. Even so, try eating it and see!”

He then descended from the Dharma seat.

These two cases also share the same spring. Only after tasting it can one be deemed a tongue apart that knows the flavor.

Sutra:

“Body and the objects touched alike

“Are both devoid of all-pervading awareness.

“Being limited, they cannot penetrate;

“How could they attain perfect penetration?

Commentary: In revealing wondrous touch, it is only through the body that awareness is manifested. If there is pure awareness yet the body still remains, this is likewise not complete awareness. One must know that awareness fully and perfectly penetrates the myriad dharmas and does not depend upon the body in order to know. Now, where the body experiences contact, there are limits and boundaries; therefore, perfect penetration cannot be attained.

Grand Historian Huang Shangu went to see Chan Master Zixin Xin and entered the master’s chamber together with the assembly.