撫州曹山本寂禪師語錄

The jewel of Mount Jing, had it not encountered an auspicious time and Bian He[1], would have remained vainly concealed amid earth and stone. How then could its radiant beauty, worth many cities, have been revealed! Precious jade is not truly lacking; what is difficult is merely encountering an auspicious time and a Bian He. The Recorded Sayings of Xinfeng Heyu have flourished in the world since ancient times. Yet they were like a pearl mixed into a heap of fish eyes, like pure gold buried in sand. Now the Venerable Yimo, grieving over the many errors in this collection of Recorded Sayings, has consulted Guo Zhengzhong’s Record of the Five Houses and other collections of Recorded Sayings, selected their essential portions, omitted the prolix passages, and recompiled them into this book.

The Venerable and I share the deep friendship of “companions beyond the mundane world”[2]. Thus, as soon as he had finished compiling it, he asked me to read it. I said, “Is the Venerable then the Bian He of the jewel of Xinfeng?” Although the jewel has encountered a man surnamed He, if it had not also met with an auspicious time, how could it have come to this? Ah! How great its virtue! Our Japan is a civilized nation of the East, and since it has attained the splendor it possesses today, how could the disciples of Confucius dare not praise this beauty, or dare not cherish its value!

The woodblocks for the Recorded Sayings of Xinfeng have already been carved, and the book Heyu has now also been completed. This untalented man has recorded the reasons for the beauty and value of Heyu, so that students everywhere may come to know the True Dharma Eye of the Venerable Xuanqi.

Respectfully recorded by Gong Gongmei at the southern window of the Six Bamboos Study, Liuzhe Village, Shanjun, on the full-moon day of the eighth month in the Gengshen year of the Genbun era.

II

The ancients said, “The meaning does not lie in the words,” and also, “Once the meaning is attained, forget the words.” Here, meaning is the essential purport, while words are signs. Yet the essential purport is difficult to recognize, whereas signs are easy to understand. Therefore, one borrows signs that are easy to understand in order to reach the essential purport that is difficult to recognize. Once the essential purport has been attained, one should forget the signs; only then is it fitting. If the essential purport has already been lost, what use are signs? Thus, for those who clung stubbornly to signs, the ancients called words “entangling vines” and “a tile fragment used to knock at the gate.”

Chan Master Yimo Xuanqi found the words of Great Master Heyu in Guo Zhengzhong’s Record of the Five Houses and in the writings of Huihe, Guanghui, Huiran, and others. He then collated and compared the agreements and differences among them, distinguished the genuine from the spurious, recompiled them, and entitled the work The Recorded Sayings of Caoshan. He also appended the previously published Recorded Sayings of Dongshan so that they might circulate widely. How lofty his resolve! How worthy of praise! Yet I do not know whether the Master has truly “attained the meaning,” or whether he still clings to the words. Is this being used as a tile fragment with which to knock at the gate? I ask you Chan practitioners!

Respectfully recorded with prostrations by Shōjun, master of Genkō Gampō, in the spring of the Xinyou year of the Kanpō era.

III

Profoundly empty and quiescent, adhering to nothing,
With boundless skill, he turns the numinous mechanism[3].
At dead of night the sun rises high;
The wooden horse neighs loudly before the wind.
The Four Prohibitions and Three Falls[4] are like burning a rhinoceros horn[5] in one’s hand;
The Five Ranks and doubled li trigrams[6] are like shaving mud from the tip of the nose[7].
The wine of the Bai family at Qingyuan
Makes people drunk, unable to distinguish the directions;
Their eyebrows and eyes do not recognize one another,
Causing Chan travelers still to remain bewildered.
Having once passed through the village of poisonous insects,
Not even a single drop of water can cling.

When this is depicted, that immediately vanishes;

Descendants everywhere clearly discern the clue.

Respectfully recorded with prostrations by the śramaṇa Yuanzhi of Linquan.

RECOMPILED

WORDS AND CONDUCT OF CHAN MASTER CAOSHAN YUANZHENG

COMPILER’S PREFACE

What is this Recorded Sayings? It is the utterances of Great Master Heyu. The words spoken by the Great Master have been transmitted in ancient and modern editions.

When the ancient editions are collated and compared with the modern editions, are the ancient editions correct and the modern editions incorrect? If a selection is to be made, should one select the ancient editions, the modern editions, or both? Alas!

Which editions should be selected, and which discarded? Nothing is better than collating and comparing the ancient and modern editions and then making a selection. Most of the works circulating in the world under the title Recorded Sayings of the Great Master are spurious compilations.

For example, auxiliary words were added to the section in which he ascends the hall to instruct the assembly, or to the verses on the Four Prohibitions, to fashion an “Ascending the Hall” section. From this, one may know that all such passages are spurious compilations.

In China, the Recorded Sayings of Dongshan and Caoshan compiled by Guo Limei is a modern edition, not an ancient one. Yet it is neither a flawless jade disk nor fully lucid; it belongs merely to the class of stones from Mount Yan[8]. Therefore, this lowly one extracted the teachings of Great Master Heyu from the Record of the Five Houses, selected what deserved to be retained, discarded what deserved to be discarded, and further consulted the ancient editions to supply what was lacking. Thus this collection of Recorded Sayings came into being.

Alas! Through the instructions of the ancients, those of later generations who bear such resolve may advance in cultivation. If there were no words of instruction, how could those of later generations who bear such resolve advance in cultivation? Therefore, this lowly one has selected the ancient masters’ encounter-dialogues, corrected what was genuine and spurious in the ancient and modern editions, and recompiled them so that this teaching may forever circulate far and wide.

I respectfully entreat those of later generations who bear such resolve to use this to advance in cultivation, to penetrate deeply, and to realize through personal experience. If they can do so, it may be said that the Patriarch and I sit together in a small boat, drifting at leisure upon a tranquil marsh. Would that not be most delightful?

Respectfully recorded with prostrations by the Japanese śramaṇa Yimo Xuanqi in the winter of the Gengshen year of the Genbun era.

***

The Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Caoshan Benji

Vietnamese Translation: Thích Nguyên Chơn

Upper Fascicle

Chan Master Caoshan was a native of Putian in Quanzhou, China. His family name was Huang, and his personal name was Benji. As a child, the Master studied Confucianism, but at the age of nineteen he turned toward the Buddha Dharma and went to Lingshi in Fuzhou, where he shaved his head and entered monastic life. At the age of twenty-five, he ascended the ordination platform and received the full precepts. Afterward, the Master journeyed from place to place in pursuit of instruction and went to pay his respects to Dongshan. As soon as Dongshan saw the Master, he asked:

“Ācārya, what is your name?”

The Master replied, “Benji!”

Dongshan said, “Speak of the matter beyond!”

The Master replied, “I will not speak.”

“Why will you not speak?” Dongshan asked.

The Master replied, “It is not named Benji.”

Upon hearing the Master’s reply, Dongshan held him in very high regard. From then on, the Master was acknowledged as an outstanding disciple. Several years passed. One day, as the Master was taking his leave, Chan Master Dongshan secretly transmitted to him the essential purport of the Dongshan lineage[9] and asked:

“Where are you going?”

The Master replied, “I am going to the place where there is no change.”

Dongshan said, “Since it is the place where there is no change, can one go there?”

The Master replied, “Going also does not change.”

The Master then took his leave, went to Caoxi to pay homage at the stupa of the Sixth Patriarch, and afterward returned to Jishui. Hearing of his reputation, students came to request that the Master establish a Dharma seat and teach. Because the Master deeply revered the Sixth Patriarch, he changed the mountain’s name to Caoshan. When turmoil broke out in that region, the Master went to Yihuang, where Wang Ruoyi invited him to serve as abbot of Hewang Monastery. The Master accepted and changed its name to Heyu. From then on, the Dharma assembly flourished increasingly, and the number of students grew ever greater. By the Master’s generation, the style of the Caodong School had become renowned.

***

The Master instructed the assembly: “Any understanding of ordinary beings and sages alike is a golden lock sealing off the mysterious path; it must be penetrated and dissolved. Those who wish to preserve the sustenance of Right Livelihood[10] must know the Three Falls:

– Wearing fur and bearing horns.

– Not falling into sound and form.

– Not accepting food.”

At that time, Chubuna asked:

“What kind of fall is wearing fur and bearing horns?”

The Master replied, “It is the Fall into Species.”

“What kind of fall is not cutting off sound and form?” Buna asked.

The Master replied, “It is the Conforming Fall.”

Buna asked, “Into what does one fall by not accepting food?”

The Master replied, “One falls into the honored and exalted.”

***

A monk asked the Master about the essential meaning of the Five Ranks of sovereign and minister. The Master replied:

– The absolute rank is the realm of emptiness, in which from the beginning there has never been a single thing; the relative rank is the realm of form, the myriad phenomena and all things having form. The relative within the absolute means forsaking principle and following phenomena. The absolute within the relative means forsaking phenomena and returning to principle. Conjoined arrival means inwardly according with all conditions, falling into none of the modes of existence, neither defiled nor pure, neither absolute nor relative. Therefore it is said that the great Way is empty and mysterious, adhering to no true doctrine. The ancient worthies regarded this rank as the most wondrous and most mysterious; it must be discerned with the utmost clarity and precision!

The sovereign is the absolute rank; the minister is the relative rank; the minister turning toward the sovereign is the absolute within the relative; the sovereign regarding the minister is the relative within the absolute; the Way in which sovereign and minister accord is the expression of conjoined arrival.

A monk asked, “What is the sovereign?”

The Master replied:

Wondrous virtue encompasses the universe,

Its radiance fills all empty space!

The monk asked, “What is the minister?”

The Master replied:

The numinous mechanism transmits the sagely Way;

True wisdom benefits sentient beings.

The monk asked, “What is the minister turning toward the sovereign?”

The Master replied:

Not falling onto any other path,

He calms his mind and beholds the sagely sovereign.

The monk asked, “What is the sovereign regarding the minister?”

The Master replied:

Though his countenance does not move,

His illumination inclines to neither side.

The monk asked, “What is the Way in which sovereign and minister accord?”

The Master replied:

Clearly, there is neither within nor without;

Above and below harmoniously unite.

The Master further instructed: “When discussing the sovereign and minister and the relative and absolute, because the minister does not wish to commit the offense of disloyalty, he only praises the sovereign and dares not speak any criticism. This is the essential meaning of our school. Listen to my verse:

Students must first know their own school;

Do not confuse the true reality with inert emptiness.

The wondrously luminous true essence knows when touched;

Its power lies in meeting conditions, without recourse to the Middle.

When words are uttered, they must be like burning without being consumed;

In hidden conduct, one should accord with the ancients.

With no body yet having affairs, one traverses the perilous road;

With neither affairs nor body, one rests throughout from beginning to end.

The Master also composed verses on the Five Aspects:

1.◓ A commoner is appointed prime minister.

This matter is nothing strange;

For generations he has been honored and exalted,

Without speaking of the days of humble poverty.

2.◒ At midnight, precisely in the absolute rank,

Clarity is revealed in sovereign and minister.

Without yet leaving the Tusita Palace,

A black rooster appears upon the snow.

3.ž Ice forms within a fiery furnace;

Paulownia blossoms fly in the ninth month.

Upon the water, an earthen ox bellows;

Following the wind, a wooden horse neighs.

4.○ On the day of his birth in the royal palace,

He could not depart from the jade hare.

Not yet attaining function without merit,

Why are devas and humans so exceedingly slow?

5.● In utter obscurity, phenomena and principle are concealed;

Not even the signal is displayed.

King Majestic Voice does not know it;

How could Maitreya clearly comprehend it?

***

While traveling on pilgrimage, the Master asked Chan Master Guān of Wushi:

– What is the principal Dharma gate of the teacher Vairocana?

Guān said, “If I told you, there would be something separate and distinct!”

The Master reported this to Dongshan, who said:

– That is indeed a very fine statement, but it lacked a follow-up question! Why did you not ask, “Why do you not speak?”

The Master went to Wushi and repeated Dongshan’s words. Wushi said:

– If it is said that I do not speak, my mouth would be mute; if it is said that I speak, my tongue would be stiff.

The Master returned and related this to Dongshan, who silently approved of Wushi.

***

Chan Master Yunmen asked the Master:

– What is the conduct of a śramaṇa?

The Master replied, “Eating the grain and sprouts of the permanent endowment.”

Yunmen asked, “What about when one arrives at such a state?”

The Master asked, “Can you sustain it?”

“I can sustain it!” Yunmen said.

The Master asked, “How do you sustain it?”

“Give it clothes to wear and rice to eat—what difficulty is there?” Yunmen replied.

The Master said, “Why do you not say, ‘Bearing fur and wearing horns’?”

Yunmen immediately bowed.

***

The Master instructed the assembly: “The venerable adepts throughout the land uphold all the rules and standards. Why does no one offer them a turning word to dispel their doubts?”

Upon hearing this, Yunmen stepped forward and said:

– Why can the secret place not be penetrated?

The Master replied, “Precisely because it is secret, it cannot be penetrated!”

(Xuedou offered the alternative phrase: “Bodhidharma has arrived!”)

Yunmen said, “How can one draw near to this person?”

The Master said, “Do not draw near to the secret place!”

Yunmen asked, “What about when one does not draw near to the secret place?”

The Master replied, “Only then does one know how to draw near!”

Yunmen said, “Yes! Yes!”

(Miaoxi offered the alternative phrase: “Dirty oil blackens the lampwick!”)

Chan Master Yunmen asked the Master:

– If “the person who does not change” comes, will the Venerable receive him?

The Master replied, “Caoshan has no such idle business!”

***

The Venerable Mi arrived and, before they had met, sat down upon the Master’s Chan seat. The Master did not come out to receive him, so the Venerable Mi departed. Seeing this, the monk serving as administrator asked:

– Why was the Venerable’s Chan seat occupied by someone else?

The Master replied, “He will return!”

Indeed, the Venerable Mi later returned and met with the Master.

***

Chan Master Zhiju came for an interview. The Master asked:

– The ancients tightly grasped the person on the other side. How should a student understand this?

Zhiju replied, “Simply step back and cease; not one person in ten thousand will be lost!”

At those words, Zhiju forgot all his conceptual understandings of the Buddha-Dharma.

***

The Master asked Jinfeng Zhi, “What have you come to do?”

Fengzhi replied, “To roof the house!”

The Master asked, “Is it finished?”

“This side is finished,” Fengzhi replied.

The Master asked, “What about the matter on the other side?”

Fengzhi said, “When the day’s work is finished, I shall report it to the Venerable.”

The Master said, “Thus it is! Thus it is!”

***

Chan Master Qingshui said, “I am poor and destitute. I beseech the Venerable compassionately to rescue me!”

The Master called, “Acarya Shui, come here!”

Shui answered and stepped closer to the Master, who then said:

– You have drained three cups of the Bai family’s wine in Quanzhou (Qingyuan), yet you say it has not touched your lips.

(Xuanjue offered the alternative phrase: “Where did you drink wine with him?”)

***

Chan Master Jingqing asked, “The principle is pure and utterly empty. Ultimately, what is it like when there is no body?”

The Master asked in return, “Principle is thus, but what about phenomena?”

Jingqing replied, “Phenomena are as principle, and principle is as phenomena.”

The Master said, “You may deceive Caoshan alone, but how could you get past the eyes of all the sages?”

Jingqing said, “Without the eyes of all the sages, how could one discern that which is not thus?”

The Master said, “Although the Dharma’s law is strict and clear, one must also employ skillful means according to circumstances.”

(Chan Master Muzhe of Dagui offered the alternative phrase: “Although Caoshan is skilled at polishing jade, what could he do with Jingqing’s jade, which was flawless from the beginning? Yet if it had not passed through skillful hands, it would ultimately have become a discarded thing.”)

***

The Master asked Elder De, “From which sutra is the line, ‘A bodhisattva abiding in samadhi hears a fragrant elephant crossing the river’ taken?”

“From the Nirvana Sutra,” Elder De replied.

The Master asked, “Does he hear it before entering samadhi or after emerging from samadhi?”

Elder De said, “Venerable, you have been swept away!”

The Master said, “You have said too much, yet have still only expressed half of it!”

Elder De asked, “What would the Venerable say?”

The Master replied, “Catch it beneath the waterfall!”

***

The practitioner Zhiyi came for instruction. The Master asked:

– Are you Zhiyi?

“Yes, though I dare not presume!” Zhiyi replied.

The Master asked, “What is Zhiyi’s affair?”

Zhiyi replied:

Once the sheepskin robe is put on,

The myriad dharmas are all thus!

The Master asked, “What is Zhiyi’s function?”

Zhiyi drew near, uttered a response, and then passed away.

The Master immediately said, “You know only how to go in this manner; why do you not know how to come in this manner?”

Zhiyi suddenly opened his eyes and asked, “When the luminous and numinous true nature does not lodge in a womb, what is it like?”

The Master replied, “That is not yet wondrous!”

Zhiyi asked, “What then is wondrous?”

The Master replied, “Lodging without lodging!”

Zhiyi took his leave and then entered parinirvana.

The Master composed a verse:

The nature of awakening is perfectly luminous, without bodily form;

Do not use views and knowledge to discuss what is far or near.

A divergent thought obstructs the mysterious essence;

An errant mind does not accord with the Way as its intimate neighbor.

When feelings discriminate, the myriad dharmas sink into the objects before one;

When consciousness divides, the hundred concerns lose their original truth.

Within the phrase, if one thus fully awakens,

Clearly, there is nothing amiss—the person of old! (The original person)

***

A monk recounted the circumstances of an exchange between Grand Councilor Lu Huan and Chan Master Nanquan:

“— What is the Venerable’s surname?

— Wang! Lu Huan replied.

Nanquan asked: Does the king have any attendants?

— He has four enlightened ministers close at hand! Lu Huan replied.

Nanquan asked: In what position does the king reside?

— Green moss within the jade palace. Lu Huan replied.”

After recounting this, the monk asked the Master: “Green moss within the jade palace”—what is its meaning?

The Master replied: It does not abide in the primary position.

The monk asked: What about when all four quarters come before him?

The Master replied: He does not accept their obeisance.

The monk asked: If so, what need is there to attend court?

The Master replied: Those who disobey the command are beheaded!

The monk asked: Disobedience is the affair of the ministers; I do not yet know what the king intends.

The Master replied: The essential workings are secret and may not be disclosed by decree.

The monk said: If so, the task of making arrangements belongs to the ministers!

The Master asked: Do you understand the king’s intention?

The monk replied: Those outside dare not discuss it!

The Master said: So it is! So it is!

***

A monk said: My entire body is diseased; I ask the Venerable to cure me!

The Master replied: I will not cure you!

The monk asked: Why will you not cure me?

The Master replied: I tell you that you must neither seek life nor seek death!

***

A monk asked the Master:

— An ancient said that a person has a grave illness that the world cannot cure. I do not know what illness this is.

The Master replied: The illness of “being unable to practice.”

The monk asked: Do all sentient beings have this illness?

The Master replied: Everyone has it!

The monk asked: Does the Venerable have it?

The Master replied: The place from which it arises cannot be found!

The monk asked: Why are all sentient beings not ill?

The Master replied: If sentient beings were ill, they would not be sentient beings.

The monk asked: I do not know whether all Buddhas have this illness.

The Master replied: They do!

The monk asked: Since they have it, why is their illness not seen?

The Master replied: Because they are awake!

***

A monk asked: Is not a śramaṇa a person of great loving-kindness and compassion?

— Yes! the Master replied.

The monk asked: What if six bandits suddenly arrive?

The Master said: One must still possess great loving-kindness and compassion.

The monk asked: How does one fully possess great loving-kindness and compassion?

— Cut them all down with a single sword! the Master replied.

The monk asked: What then?

— Only then is harmony attained, the Master replied.

***

A monk asked the Master: Do the eyebrows and eyes know each other?

— They do not know each other, the Master replied.

The monk asked: Why?

— Because they are in the same place, the Master replied.

The monk said: Then they cannot be distinguished!

The Master said: Eyebrows are not eyes, and eyes are not eyebrows!

The monk asked: What are the eyes?

The Master replied: Understand it!

The monk asked: What are the eyebrows?

— Caoshan still has doubts, the Master said.

The monk asked: Why does the Venerable still have doubts?

— If I did not doubt, I would already have understood, the Master replied.

***

A monk asked the Master: When the Five Positions[11] respond to a guest, how is it?

— Which position are you asking about now? the Master asked.

The monk said: I come from the Relative Position; I ask the Venerable to receive me from the Primary Position!

— I will not receive you, the Master replied.

The monk asked: Why?

— I fear falling into the Relative Position, the Master replied.

The Master then asked the monk: If I do not receive you, is that responding to the guest or not responding to the guest?

— You responded to the guest long ago! the monk replied.

The Master said: So it is! So it is!

***

A monk asked: From where do the myriad dharmas arise?

— They arise from inversion, the Master replied.

The monk asked: When there is no inversion, where are the myriad dharmas?

— They exist! the Master replied.

The monk asked: Where are they?

The Master replied: What would inversion be doing there?

***

A monk asked the Master: How can grass that does not sprout conceal the Fragrant Elephant[12]?

The Master replied: Ācārya, you yourself are an adept; why ask Caoshan?

***

A monk asked the Master: The three realms are in turmoil and the six paths are obscure; how can form be discerned?

— Do not discern it, the Master replied.

The monk asked: Why should form not be discerned?

The Master replied: If you discern form, that itself is obscurity!

***

One day, upon hearing the bell, the Master suddenly cried out:

— Alas! Alas!

A monk then asked: Venerable, what are you doing?

The Master said: It struck me right in the heart!

The monk was unable to reply.

(Wuzu Jie answered on his behalf: A guilty conscience startles at every sound!)

***

The Master asked the rector: Where have you come from?

— I have returned from carrying the dregs! the rector replied.

The Master asked: When you reach a perilous place, how do you carry them?

The rector was unable to reply.

(Yunju answered on his behalf: At precisely that moment, one should exert all one’s strength!

Shushan answered on his behalf: You must cast them away completely!)

***

One day, the Master entered the Sangha hall to warm himself. A monk asked: Is it not extremely cold today?

The Master said: You should know that there is someone who is not cold!

The monk asked: Who is not cold?

The Master picked up a glowing coal and held it out.

The monk then said: Do not say there is no such person!

The Master tossed away the glowing coal.

The monk said: I cannot understand this point.

The Master said:

The sun shines upon the deep pool;

Its brightness becomes brighter still!

***

A monk asked:

— Who is the person who does not take those of the same Dharma gate as companions?

The Master said: You tell me: where have all those many people in Hongzhou City gone?

***

A monk asked: What is the sword without a point?

— It is not fashioned through tempering! the Master replied.

The monk asked: How is it used?

— Everyone who encounters it dies! the Master replied.

The monk asked: What of those who do not encounter it?

— Their heads must fall as well! the Master replied.

The monk asked: It is certainly so that everyone who encounters it dies, but why should the heads of those who do not encounter it also fall?

The Master replied: Have you not heard it said that everything is swept away?

The monk asked: What is it like after everything has been swept away?

The Master said: Only then do you know that this sword exists!

***

A monk asked the Master:

— Since it has characteristics, how can it be true?

— The characteristics themselves are the truth! the Master replied.

The monk asked: How should it be revealed?

The Master raised his fly whisk.

***

Question: Since the basis is illusory, how can it be true?

The Master said: The illusory basis is originally true!

(Fayan offered an alternative saying: The illusory basis is not true!)

The monk asked: At the very moment illusion appears, how is it revealed?

The Master replied: Illusion itself is revelation.

(Fayan offered an alternative saying: Illusion itself has no inherent entity!)

The monk asked: Then from beginning to end, one never departs from illusion!

The Master said: The characteristics of illusion cannot be found!

***

A monk said: I will not ask about “this very mind is Buddha”; what is “neither mind nor Buddha”?

The Master replied: A rabbit’s horns are not nonexistent; an ox’s horns are not existent!

***

Question: What is the person who is always present?

The Master replied: As soon as you meet Caoshan, that person appears.

The monk asked: What is the person who is not always present?

The Master replied: Hard to encounter!

***

Question: Is not thinking a “kind”?

The Master replied: Even if there is no thinking, it is still a “kind”!

The monk asked: What is “different”?

The Master replied: It is not that one does not know pain and sickness!

***

Someone asked: An ancient said that everyone is fully endowed with it. I, your disciple, dwell amid the defilements and toil of the world; do I also have it?

The Master said: Give me your hand so I can see!

The person held out his hand, and the Master counted the fingers:

— 1, 2, 3, 4, 5—the six are complete!

***

A monk asked: What did Chan Master Luzhu signify by facing the wall?

The Master raised his hands and covered his ears.

***

An ancient said: No one has ever fallen on the ground without relying upon the ground to rise again.

Question: What is falling?

The Master replied: If you accept it, that will do!

Question: What is rising?

The Master replied: Rise!

***

A monk asked:

— I have returned to my father; why does my father pay no heed to me?

The Master replied: By principle, it must be so!

The monk asked: What then becomes of the bond between father and son?

The Master replied: Only then is the bond between father and son established!

The monk asked: What is the bond between father and son?

The Master replied: Even a blade cannot sever it!

***

Question: What is it like when one does not wear mourning garments?

The Master replied: Caoshan has completed the mourning period!

Question: What is it like after the mourning period is complete?

The Master replied: Caoshan delights in getting drunk!

***

The sutras and teachings say: “The great ocean does not retain a corpse.” What is the great ocean?

Answer: It encompasses all that exists.

Question: Why does it not retain a corpse?

Answer: It does not admit one whose breath has ceased.

Question: Since it encompasses all that exists, why does it not admit one whose breath has ceased?

Answer: All that exists lacks such merit; one whose breath has ceased possesses such virtue!

Question: Is there anything beyond and above?

Answer: One may say that there is or that there is not, but what can be done when the Dragon King draws his sword?

***

A monk asked: What understanding enables one to question and examine before the assembly?

The Master replied: Do not present a phrase!

The monk asked: What is being challenged?

The Master replied: Blades and axes cannot cut into it.

The monk asked: With such a challenge, is there anyone who would not accept it?

The Master replied: There is!

The monk asked: Who?

The Master replied: Caoshan!

***

A monk asked: What is most precious in the world?

The Master replied: A dead cat’s head is most precious.

The monk asked: Why?

The Master replied: No one can name its price!

***

A monk asked: Without words, how can it be revealed?

The Master replied: Do not reveal it within there!

The monk asked: Toward where, then?

The Master replied: Last night, three coins were lost on the bed.

***

A monk asked: What is it like before the sun has risen?

The Master replied: Caoshan too once arrived at such a state!

The monk asked: What is it like after it has risen?

The Master replied: It is still half a month’s journey from Caoshan.

***

The Master asked a monk: What are you doing?

The monk replied: Sweeping the ground!

The Master asked: Are you sweeping in front of the Buddha or behind the Buddha?

The monk replied: I sweep both in front and behind.

The Master said: Bring that pair of shoes here for Caoshan!

(Master Wuzu Jie answered in his place: What intention does the Venerable have?)

***

A monk asked the Master:

– I bring a jewel to offer the Master; I beg the Master to cut and polish it!

The Master replied: I will not cut or polish it!

The monk asked: Why?

The Master replied: You should know that Caoshan is skillful with his hands!

***

Question: Who are Caoshan’s kin?

The Master replied: White hair borne upon the head, and a single flower branch upon the crown!

***

Someone asked the Master: An ancient worthy said, “Throughout the entire great earth, there is only this person.” I do not yet know who this is.

The Master replied: There cannot be a second moon!

Question: What is the second moon?

The Master replied: I still need you, elder brother, to determine that!

Question: What is the first moon?

The Master replied: Perilous!

***

A monk asked:

– Throughout the twelve periods of the day, how should this disciple preserve and sustain it?

The Master replied: As though passing through a village infested with venomous creatures, you must not allow even a single drop of water to cling to you.

***

A monk asked the Master: Who is the lord of the Dharma-body?

The Master replied: To suppose that the house of Qin has no one!

The monk asked: Is this not precisely it?

The Master replied: Strike him down!

***

A monk asked the Master: What companion in the Way should one draw near so that one may constantly hear what has never been heard?

The Master replied: Sharing a single sack.

The monk asked: That is still what the Venerable has heard. What does it mean to constantly hear what has never been heard?

The Master replied: It is not the same as wood and stone!

The monk asked: Which comes first, and which comes afterward?

The Master replied: Have you not heard it said, “Constantly hear what has never been heard”?

***

A monk asked the Master: Within the realm, who draws the sword?

The Master replied: Caoshan!

(Fadeng gave a different reply: You are not such a person!).

The monk asked: Whom do you intend to kill?

The Master replied: Kill them all!

The monk asked: What if you suddenly encounter your own parents who gave you birth?

The Master replied: Why make distinctions?

The monk asked: What about yourself?

The Master replied: Who could do anything to me?

The monk asked: Why do you not kill yourself?

The Master replied: There is nowhere to lay a hand!

***

A monk asked the Master: What happens when a poor household encounters robbers?

The Master replied: They cannot be completely driven out.

The monk asked: Why?

The Master replied: Because the robbers are members of the household.

***

A monk asked: What does it mean that one ox drinks water while five horses do not neigh?

The Master replied: Caoshan knows the words that are taboo!

The Master further said: Caoshan has completed the mourning period!

***

Question: Who is the person perpetually submerged in the ocean of birth and death?

The Master replied: The second moon.

The monk asked: Does he seek to escape it?

The Master replied: He does seek to escape it, but there is no road.

The monk asked: Once he has escaped, I do not yet know who will receive him.

The Master replied: The person wearing an iron cangue.

***

A monk asked:

Snow blankets the Heavenly Mountains; why is the summit not white?

The Master replied: You should know that there is difference within difference.

The monk asked: What is difference within difference?

The Master replied: Not falling into the color of the mountain.

***

A monk brought up the encounter in which Chan Master Yaoshan asked a student: “How old are you?”

The student replied: “Seventy-two years old.”

“Are you truly seventy-two?” Yaoshan asked.

“Yes!” the student replied.

Yaoshan immediately struck him.

The monk asked the Master:

– What is the meaning of this?

The Master replied: The first arrow could still be avoided, but the second arrow struck the man.

– How could he have avoided receiving the staff?

The Master replied: Once the king’s decree has been issued, the feudal lords may not deliberate upon it.

***

A monk asked Chan Master Xiangyan: What is the Way?

Chan Master Xiangyan replied:

– A dragon chants within a withered tree.

The monk asked: Who is the person within the Way?

– Eyes within a skull, Xiangyan replied.

The monk did not awaken to this, so he went to ask Shishuang: What does it mean that a dragon chants within a withered tree?

Shishuang replied: There is still joy.

The monk asked: What does “eyes within a skull” mean?

Chan Master Shishuang replied: There is still knowing.

The monk still did not understand, so he came to consult the Master. The Master said:

Old sravaka Shishuang still holds such an understanding. Thereupon, the Master composed a verse to instruct the assembly:

A dragon chants in the withered tree—the true vision of the nature;

The skull is without consciousness—only then are the eyes clear.

When joy and knowing are extinguished, all tidings cease;

How could the person concerned distinguish turbid from clear?

The monk again asked:

– What does it mean that a dragon chants within a withered tree?

The Master replied: The bloodline is not severed.

The monk asked: What does “eyes within a skull” mean?

The Master replied: Not dried up and exhausted.

The monk asked: I do not yet know whether anyone hears it.

The Master replied: Throughout the whole world, there cannot be a single person who does not hear it.

The monk asked: I do not yet know what kind of phrase or passage “a dragon chants within a withered tree” is.

The Master replied: I do not know what kind of phrase or passage it is, yet all who hear it die.

***

Question: What is the essential meaning of the Buddhadharma?

The Master replied: Filling in lakes and ponds.

Question: What is the lion?

The Master replied: Other beasts cannot draw near it.

Question: What is the lion cub?

The Master replied: It swallows both father and mother.

Question: It has been said that other beasts cannot draw near; why, then, is it swallowed by its cub?

The Master replied: Have you not heard that when the cub roars, the patriarchs all die?

Question: What happens after they die?

The Master replied: The whole body returns to the father.

Question: I do not yet know: when the patriarchs die, where does the father return?

The Master replied: There is no place left either.

– Why did you previously say that the whole body returns to the father?

The Master replied: It is like a prince who can become the king of a realm. The Master continued:

– Acarya! You must not cling to this matter; you need only

scatter a few flowers upon the withered tree.

***

Question: What does it mean that as soon as right and wrong arise, the mind is lost?

The Master replied: Cut! Cut!

***

The Master read the verse on the Dharma-body by Mahasattva Fu in the account of Dushun, and then said:

– My intention was not to speak in this way, but my disciples requested me to compose a verse. I composed the verse and added annotations:

He is originally not me—(not me)

I am originally not him—(not him)

Without me, he would surely die—(I beg you to preserve your life)

Without him, I would surely remain—(there is no one else)

If he is like me, then he is Buddha—(yet he is not Buddha)

If I am like him, then I am a donkey—(neither of the two is established)

Not receiving the staff of the King of Emptiness—(if you encounter the king’s food, you should vomit it out)

Why rely on wild geese to carry a letter?—(no letter is sent)

I say: use the body to sing forth—(faithfully sing forth)

You see the hair growing upon the back—(not like him)

At first it seems like a children’s song of white snow—(how could it be white snow?)

Yet I fear it is still the sound of the Ba song—(this line has no annotation)

***

A monk asked the Master, “What is it like when the moon shines brightly in the vast sky?”

The Master replied, “You are still someone below the steps.”

The monk said, “I ask the Venerable to lead me up the steps!”

The Master said, “Come meet me after the moon has set!”

***

The Master instructed the assembly, “There is a person who leaps from a thousand-fathom cliff into the abyss. Who is that person?”

The assembly could not answer. Daoyan stepped forward and said, “Nothing remains!”

The Master asked, “What does not remain?”

The monk replied, “Only then can it not be shattered!”

The Master approved.

***

A monk cited this encounter to question the Master: “One day Xiyuan was heating his own bathwater. A monk came and asked, ‘Why did you not tell a novice to do it?’ Xiyuan clapped his hands three times.”

The Master replied, “Both are alike in clapping their hands, but within this, Xiyuan is extraordinary, whereas Juzhi’s was merely one-finger Chan. This is because the place from which it was taken up was not appropriate.”

The monk asked, “When Xiyuan clapped his hands, was that not the work of male and female servants?”

The Master replied, “Indeed!”

The monk asked, “Is there anything beyond?”

The Master replied, “There is.”

The monk asked, “What is the matter beyond?”

The Master shouted, “You sort of male and female servant!”

***

When the Military Governor of Nanzhou, King Zhong of Nanping, heard that the Master’s virtue and reputation were renowned, he respectfully and wholeheartedly invited him with full ceremony. The Master declined and composed the poem “Dwelling on Mount Damei,” which he entrusted to the envoy to present to the King:

A withered tree, gaunt and bare, lodges in the cold forest;

Though spring has come many times, its heart has never changed.

Even an old woodcutter who passes by pays it no heed;

Why should the man of Ying labor so hard to seek it?

***

The Master composed the verse “The Four Prohibitions”:

Do not tread the path of the mind’s domain;

Do not don the robe of the original state;

You must not gaze upon the true and real;

Above all, beware the time before birth.

***

The Master composed a verse to instruct his disciples:

Awakening through conditions, one swiftly comes into accord;

Following the essence, one gradually dissolves them and fully comprehends.

In the blink of an eye, from the beginning there has been no dwelling place;

Our teacher provisionally speaks of what lies beyond thought and measure.

***

The Master instructed the assembly:

“You monastics who wear these Dharma robes should, in principle, clearly understand the matter beyond; do not regard it as an ordinary matter. If the place from which you take it up is perfectly clear, you can turn all the sages behind your own back. Only then will you attain freedom. If you cannot turn them, then even if you have mastered all ten parts, you will merely stand behind them with palms joined. What more could you say?

“If you can turn yourself, then whenever any state appears, however coarse, you can be its master. Even if you fall into the mud, you can still be the master. For example, a monk asked Master Yaoshan, ‘Within the teaching of the Three Vehicles, is there the Patriarchal meaning?’ Master Yaoshan replied, ‘There is.’ The monk asked, ‘Since it is there, why did Bodhidharma come?’ Yaoshan replied, ‘He came precisely because it is there.’ Is this not being the master and turning it back to oneself?

A sutra teaches: ‘The Buddha Great Penetrating Wisdom Victory sat at the place of enlightenment for ten kalpas. The Buddha-Dharma did not manifest before him, and he did not attain the Buddha Way.’ A kalpa means attachment; it is called the ten parts, and is also called cutting off infiltration and utterly severing the path of self, yet still not forgetting the great fruit. Therefore, it is said: ‘Holding fast and clinging is a careless way of taking it up, knowing neither good nor bad.’

“I often see a kind of person in Chan monasteries who delights in discussion. Can the matter beyond be established in this way? These people merely speak of things that have long been understood. Have you not heard Chan Master Nanquan say, ‘Even if you have mastered all ten parts, you are still separated from old Master Wang by a stretch of road’? This matter is exceedingly difficult. Upon reaching this point, you must be meticulous; only then can you be clear and free. It makes no difference whether it is heaven, hell, hungry ghosts, or animals. You need only remain unmoved in every place. You are originally a person of old; you simply do not travel the old path!

“If a mind of fondness arises, it becomes attachment. If you are liberated, what need is there to discriminate? An ancient worthy said, ‘I only fear that you may fail to undergo samsara.’ What do you say to that?

People today delight in speaking of purity and in speaking of past events; this illness is extremely difficult to cure. The coarse and burdensome affairs of the world are comparatively light, whereas this illness of purity is grave, for one becomes attached to every flavor of the Patriarchs and Buddhas. Our teacher said, ‘For the mind to arise is to transgress the precepts; to recognize a flavor is to break the fast.’ What should be called a flavor?

It is merely the flavor of the Buddhas and Patriarchs. The moment a fond mind arises, the precepts are transgressed. Nowadays, when people speak of breaking the fast and violating the precepts, the very act of establishing the three karmavacanas has already broken them.

Although the three delusions of greed, anger, and ignorance are difficult to sever, they are comparatively light; but immaculate purity, nonaction, and freedom from affairs are incomparably grave.

“The Patriarch came into the world solely because of this, and not for you alone. Today, do not take it lightly. In their cultivation, the house cat and the white ox are far more at ease; for them there is neither Chan nor the Way.

But as for you, who seek all manner of things—from Buddhas and Patriarchs to bodhi and nirvana—when will you ever finish the matter? All of these belong to the mind of arising and ceasing. Thus, you are not equal to the dull and unknowing house cat and white ox, which know nothing of Buddhas, Patriarchs, bodhi, nirvana, good and evil, or cause and effect, but know only to eat when hungry and drink when thirsty.

If you can be like this, why worry that you will not accomplish it? Have you not heard it said, ‘Through calculation and deliberation, it cannot be accomplished’? Thus, clearly know that you will bear fur and wear horns, pulling and leading one another along.

Only when you obtain this advantage will you have a small measure of accord.

“Have you not heard that worlds such as Akshobhya’s, Maitreya’s, and Abhirati are called by those concerned with the matter beyond places for indolent bodhisattvas who lack shame and remorse? They are also called transformational birth-and-death. In that case, how should you approach the essential matter? You must be careful!

“Everyone has a firmly established seat that even a Buddha appearing in the world cannot occupy. Practice with such understanding; do not chase after fame and gain. Whether you now become a Buddha or a Patriarch, it is only this; whether you fall into the three evil destinies, hell, or the six realms, it is also only this! Although there is nowhere to put it to use, you cannot depart from it. You must become its master. If you can become its master, then there is no transformation. Chan Master Yongjia said, ‘Dim and obscure, one invites calamity and disaster.’”

A monk asked, “What does it mean to say, ‘Dim and obscure, one invites calamity and disaster’?”

The Master replied, “Everything is only this.”

The monk asked, “How can one avoid it?”

The Master replied, “Clearly knowing it is enough; why must you avoid it? Not only need you not avoid bodhi, nirvana, afflictions, and ignorance, but you also need not avoid the coarse and burdensome affairs of the world. Avoidance itself is identical with transformation. Even becoming a Buddha, becoming a Patriarch, bodhi, and nirvana—these calamities are not small. Why is this so? Solely because of transformation. If there is no transformation, only then can you be free and at ease amid circumstances right where you are.”

On a summer night in the gengwu year, the first year of the Tianfu era (901), the Master asked the administrator:

“What day is it today?”

The administrator replied, “The fifteenth day of the sixth month.”

The Master said, “Throughout his life, Caoshan has traveled on foot everywhere and has been concerned only with the ninety days of the summer retreat. Tomorrow morning, at the hour of the dragon, I shall set out on foot!”

When the time arrived, the Master burned incense, sat upright in stillness, and passed away. He was sixty-two years old and had thirty-seven Dharma years. His posthumous title was Chan Master Yuanzheng, and his stupa was named Fuyuan.

End of the Upper Fascicle

Notes:

[1] Bian He: A man of the state of Lu during the Spring and Autumn period. According to tradition, he found a precious jade stone on Mount Jing and presented it to King Li of Chu. King Li ordered a craftsman to examine it, and the craftsman declared it to be an ordinary stone.

King Li charged Bian He with deceiving the ruler and had his left foot cut off. After King Li died and King Wu ascended the throne, Bian He again presented the jade. King Wu ordered a craftsman to examine it, and this craftsman also deemed it an ordinary stone.

King Wu likewise convicted Bian He of deceiving the ruler and had his right foot cut off. After King Wu died and King Wen ascended the throne, Bian He embraced the jade and wept at the foot of Mount Jing. When King Wen heard of this, he ordered a craftsman to cut and polish it, revealing a precious jade stone. (Comprehensive Dictionary of the Chinese Language)

[2] A friend beyond the secular world: A friend outside worldly life; that is, a sramana who befriends a layperson.

[3] Spiritual function: The numinous mechanism, that is, the mind’s penetrating and wondrous activity.

[4] The Four Prohibitions and the Three Falls: The verse on the Four Prohibitions and the three types of falling found in this Recorded Sayings.

[5] Burning a rhinoceros horn: According to tradition, when a rhinoceros horn is burned, its light reveals everything beneath the sea. This means clearly discerning what lies in hidden depths (Comprehensive Dictionary of Chinese).

[6] The five signs of double separation: (See this Recorded Sayings).

[7] Shaving clay from the tip of the nose: This refers to the story of a craftsman named Shi of the state of Chu during China’s Spring and Autumn period, recorded in the chapter “Xu Wugui” of the Zhuangzi. The story says: “A man of Ying smeared a layer of white clay as thin as a cicada’s wing upon the tip of his nose, then asked Shi to shave it off with an axe. Shi swung the axe with a whir and shaved away all the clay without injuring the man’s nose; nor did the man of Ying lose his composure” (Comprehensive Dictionary of Chinese).

[8] Yan stone: A kind of stone from Mount Yan resembling precious jade.

[9] The Dongshan tradition: The lineage founded by Master Liangjie, also known collectively as the Caodong school.

[10] Right-livelihood food: The means conforming to the true Dharma by which a bhikshu sustains his life, namely, seeking alms.

[11] The Five Ranks: Namely, the Five Ranks of the Absolute and the Relative and the Five Ranks of Merit, established by Master Dongshan. The Five Ranks of Sovereign and Minister were established by Master Caoshan.

[12] Fragrant elephant: A large elephant of extraordinary strength. Originally, the term referred to an elephant during the mating season. During this period, it emits a fragrant scent and possesses immense, uncontrollable strength.