景德傳燈錄

RECORD OF THE TRANSMISSION OF THE LAMP IN THE JINGDE ERA — VOLUME 8

VOLUME 8

– In the second generation after Chan Master Huairang, there were 56 masters.

– Second-generation Dharma successors and disciples of Chan Master Huairang.

1. Chan Master Wuye of Fenzhou:
The Master was from Shangluo in Shangzhou, and his family name was Du. Formerly, his mother, Lady Li, heard a voice in empty space asking, “May I lodge with you?” She then awoke and found herself pregnant. On the night the Master was born, a wondrous light filled the house. When young, he looked straight ahead while walking and sat in the full-lotus posture whenever seated. At the age of nine, he went to study under Chan Master Zhiben at Kaiyuan Monastery and received instruction in the Mahayana scriptures. He memorized all five divisions without omission.
At twelve, he shaved his head; at twenty, he received the complete precepts from the Vinaya elder in Xiangzhou. As soon as he completed his study of the commentaries on the Four-Part Vinaya, he was able to expound them. He frequently lectured on the Nirvana Sutra for the Sangha and did not cease in either winter or summer. Later, hearing that the Chan school of Great Master Ma was flourishing, he went to pay his respects. Seeing the Master's extraordinary appearance and hearing his bell-like voice, Mazu said, “A magnificent Buddha hall, yet there is no Buddha within.”
The Master knelt, bowed, and asked, “I have gained a general understanding of the teachings of the Three Vehicles, but although I have often heard that the Chan school teaches that mind itself is Buddha, I have not yet truly understood it.”
Mazu said, “It is only this mind that does not yet understand; apart from it, there is not a single other thing.”
The Master asked again, “What is the mind-seal that the Patriarch secretly transmitted when he came from India?”
The Patriarch said, “Virtuous One, you are in the midst of commotion now. Come again another time.”
The Master then withdrew. The Patriarch called, “Virtuous One!”
The Master turned his head, and the Patriarch asked, “What is it?”
The Master immediately awakened and bowed reverently.
The Patriarch said, “You dull fellow! What are you bowing for?”
After realizing the essential meaning, he went to Caoxi to bow before the Patriarch's stupa, and then traveled to Mount Lu and Tiantai, seeking out all the sacred sites. Traveling from the Luo region to the Yong region, he rested at Ximing Monastery. The monastic communities there all entreated him to assume the position of a senior worthy of the two regions. The Master said, “This is not my aspiration.”
Later, the Master went to Shangdang. The military governor, Li Baozhen, revered the Master's virtuous reputation and made offerings to him morning and evening. The Master often appeared weary and told him, “I originally sought to escape crowded places, but now I am again occupied with receiving all of you. How could this accord with my mind?” He then ascended Mount Baofu.
Not long afterward, the Master took up residence at Jinge Monastery in Qingliang, where he reread the Great Canon, completing it in eight years. He then traveled south to Xihe. The prefect, Qin Shuchan, invited him to reside at Kaiyuan Vihara. The Master said, “My karmic affinity lies here.” He accordingly expounded the Great Dharma there for nearly twenty years, transforming both monastics and laypeople throughout the two regions of Bingzhou and Fenzhou.
When students came to question him, the Master repeatedly replied, “Do not entertain deluded thoughts.” Emperor Xianzong of the Tang repeatedly dispatched envoys to summon him to court, but the Master always pleaded illness and did not go. When Emperor Muzong of the Tang ascended the throne, he constantly wished to pay his respects to the Master. He therefore sent monks from the two regions, including Lu Lingfu and others, bearing an imperial decree to escort him. They bowed reverently and said, “The emperor's gracious command on this occasion is unlike those before it. We beg the Venerable temporarily to comply with Heaven's will and not plead illness.”
The Master smiled and said, “What virtue do I, this poor monk, possess that I should trouble His Majesty? Please return ahead of me; I shall take another road.” He then bathed and shaved his head. At midnight, he told his disciples, including Huiyin, “The nature of awareness and knowing that you have seen and heard is as old as the vast emptiness, neither arising nor ceasing. All realms are originally quiescent; not a single dharma truly exists. Deluded people do not understand and are consequently deceived by phenomena. Once deceived by phenomena, they continue revolving endlessly. You should understand this.
“The nature of mind is inherently present and does not arise through fabrication. It is like vajra and cannot be destroyed. All dharmas are like shadows and echoes, devoid of reality. Therefore, the scripture says:

“This is where all Buddhas apply their minds. You should practice it diligently!”
Having spoken, he sat in the full-lotus posture and passed away. On the day of his cremation, five-colored auspicious clouds appeared, and a wondrous fragrance spread everywhere. Śarīras, lustrous like precious pearls, were recovered, and his disciples preserved them in a golden reliquary. On the twenty-first day of the twelfth month in the third year of the Changqing era, they interred them in a stone stupa. He was sixty-two years old and had spent forty-two summer retreats as a monk. The emperor bestowed on him the posthumous title National Preceptor Dada; his stupa was named Chengyuan.
2. Chan Master Guangcheng of Datong in Lizhou:
A monk asked, “What is it when the six sense faculties have vanished?”
The Master said, “Brandishing a sword in empty space does not injure anything.”
The monk asked, “What is the person who has been thus from ancient times to the present?”
The Master said, “Though seated together, they do not recognize one another.”
The monk said, “Why does this disciple bow in gratitude and depart?”
The Master said, “To whom will you send the sorrow secretly inscribed?”
3. Chan Master Puyuan of Nanquan in Chizhou:
The Master was from Xinzheng in Zhengzhou, and his family name was Wang. In the second year of the Zhide era of the Tang, he entered the monastic life under Chan Master Dahui on Mount Dakui. At the age of thirty, he went to Mount Song and received the precepts. At first, he studied the ancient treatises of the Xiangbu tradition and investigated the Vinaya. Later, he attended various Dharma assemblies to hear the Avatamsaka Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra. He entered deeply into the Madhyamaka and the Hundred Treatise, refining his understanding of their profound meaning.
Later, he entered the chamber of the Great Master Daji and suddenly forgot the fish trap after catching the fish, attaining the samadhi of spiritual play. One day, while cooking gruel for the Sangha, Great Master Ma asked, “What is in the pot?”
The Master asked, “What does the elder say that it is?”
From then on, his fellow students did not dare question him idly.
In the eleventh year of the Zhenyuan era, he settled in Chiyang. He personally maintained a Chan hermitage for more than thirty years without descending Mount Nanquan. At the beginning of the Taihe era, Xuancheng

The Surveillance Commissioner, Lord Lu Huan, heard of the Master's reputation in the Way and, together with the Army Supervisor, invited the Master to descend from the mountain, receiving him with the courtesies due between disciple and teacher. The Master then widely unfurled the profound principles. Thereafter, the assembly of students numbered in the hundreds, and people everywhere regarded him as an outstanding adept.

One day, the Master instructed the assembly, saying, “If this Way were simply thus and thus, it would long ago have changed. Nowadays, monks must practice within the realm of異類.” Guizong said, “Perform the conduct of an animal without receiving the karmic recompense of an animal.” The Master asked, “Where, then, have the eight stalwart fellows gone?”

On another occasion, the Master said, “Last night, during the third watch, Manjusri and Samantabhadra each received twenty blows and were driven out of the monastery.” Zhaozhou asked, “Whom did the Venerable Master intend those blows to instruct?” The Master said, “Then tell me: where did Old Master Wang go?” Zhaozhou bowed and withdrew.

The Master intended to visit the estate the following morning. That night, the local earth deity informed the steward in advance. The steward made complete preparations. When the Master arrived, he asked, “How did you know that this old monk was coming and arrange matters in this way?” The steward replied, “Last night, the local earth deity informed me that the Venerable Master would come today.” The Master said, “Old Master Wang’s practice lacks power, so he has been seen by ghosts and spirits.”

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORDS 9

A monk asked, “Since the Venerable Master is a good and wise teacher, why were you seen by ghosts and spirits?” The Master said, “Then set aside another portion of rice for the earth deity.”

On another occasion, the Master said, “Mazu of Jiangxi said, ‘Mind itself is Buddha.’ Why does Old Master Wang not instead say, ‘It cannot be mind; it is not Buddha; it is not a thing’? What fault would there be in saying this?” Zhaozhou bowed and withdrew. At that time, a monk followed Zhaozhou and asked, “What did you mean by bowing just now?” Zhaozhou replied, “Go ask the Venerable Master.” The monk went up and asked, “What was the meaning of that senior monk just now?” The Master said, “He understood this old monk’s intent.”

A master carried his bowl up to the Dharma hall. Venerable Huangbo was seated in the front row and did not rise when he saw the Master. The Master asked, “In what age did the elder practice the Way?” Huangbo replied, “In the age before there were Buddhas.” The Master said, “Then you, too, are a grandson of Old Master Wang.”

One day, the Master asked Huangbo, “Gold constitutes the world, and silver constitutes its villages. Whose dwelling place is this?” Huangbo replied, “It is said to be the dwelling place of a sage.” The Master said, “In what realm does that one person dwell?” Huangbo immediately stood with hands folded. The Master said, “If you cannot answer, why do you not ask Old Master Wang?” Huangbo immediately asked, “In what realm does that one person dwell?” The Master said, “What a pity!”

On another occasion, the Master again asked Huangbo, “How are these principles of learning concentration and wisdom?” Huangbo said, “Throughout all twelve hours, rely upon not a single thing.” The Master said, “Is that not merely the elder’s own view?” Huangbo said, “I dare not.” The Master said, “Set aside the price of the fruit juice for now—but whom will you have pay for the straw sandals?”

The Master saw a monk cutting down a tree and struck the tree three times. The monk put down his axe and returned to the monks’ hall. The Master returned to the Dharma hall. After a while, he entered the monks’ hall and saw that monk sitting with his robe and bowl. The Master said, “You swindler! You have killed me.”

A monk asked the Master, “When you return to the abbot’s quarters, where do you obtain your compass?” The Master said, “Last night, during the third watch, the ox was lost. At daybreak, the fire was lost.”

On account of the monks of the eastern and western halls contending over a cat, the Master addressed the assembly, saying, “If you can speak, you will save the cat; if you cannot speak, I will cut it in two.” The assembly could not answer, so the Master cut the cat in two. At that time, Zhaozhou returned from outside. The Master related the preceding incident. Zhaozhou took off his sandals, placed them upon his head, and walked out. The Master said, “Had you been here earlier, you would have saved the cat.”

The Master was sitting in the abbot’s quarters warming himself by a cedarwood fire. He said, “Without pointing east or pointing west, speak directly about this matter.” Shanshan raised a burning piece of firewood and stood with hands folded. The Master said, “Although it is so, you are still separated from Old Master Wang by a thread’s breadth.”

A monk came for an interview and stood with hands folded. The Master said, “You are still very worldly.” The monk then clasped his hands. The Master said, “You have gone too far, monk.” The monk could not answer.

There was a monk washing a bowl, and the Master snatched it away. The monk stood empty-handed. The Master said, “The bowl is in your hand. What are you muttering about?” The monk could not answer.

The Master entered the vegetable garden and saw a monk. He took a tile fragment and threw it. When the monk turned his head, the Master raised one leg. The monk could not answer. The Master then returned to the abbot’s quarters. The monk followed him in and asked, “When the Venerable Master threw that tile fragment at me just now, was it not to awaken me?” The Master said, “Why did you raise your leg?” The monk could not answer.

The Master instructed the assembly, saying, “This Old Master Wang is selling himself. Who will buy him?” A monk said, “I will buy you.” The Master said, “He is neither expensive nor cheap. What will you buy him for?” The monk could not answer.

The Master, together with Guizong and Magu, went to pay respects to National Teacher Nanyang. While still on the road, the Master drew a circle and said, “If you can speak, we shall go.” Guizong immediately entered and sat in the middle of the circle. Magu bowed like a woman. The Master asked, “Why do we not go?” Guizong said, “With what mind would we go?” The Master then called them back, and they returned without going to pay respects to the National Teacher.

The Master asked, “What is the mountain spirit doing?” The reply was, “Casting a net.” The Master asked, “Is it cast with the hands or with the feet?” The mountain spirit said, “I ask the Venerable Master to speak.” The Master said, “Clearly remember this: exactly like the author!”

A lecturer took leave of the Master. The Master asked, “Where are you going?” He replied, “Down the mountain.” The Master said, “Above all, you must not slander Old Master Wang.” He replied, “How would I dare slander the Venerable Master?” The Master spat out water and asked, “How much?” The lecturer immediately departed.

One day, the Master closed the door of the abbot’s quarters, scattered ashes around the outside of the door, and said, “If someone can speak, I will open the door.” Someone answered, but it did not accord with the Master’s intent. Zhaozhou answered, “Blue sky.” The Master then opened the door.

The Master was gazing at the moon. A monk asked, “When will I be able to resemble that?” The Master said, “Old Master Wang reached there twenty years ago.” The monk asked, “Then what are you doing now?” The Master returned to the abbot’s quarters.

Minister Lu Huan asked, “This disciple has gathered the six together; is there still a body within them?” The Master said, “Remember this clearly: it is entirely like the person who does it.”

At another time, he said to the Master, “The Venerable Master is truly inconceivable; in whatever world you arrive, you bring everything to accomplishment.” The Master said, “What you have just said is entirely the minister’s own affair.”

On another day, Lu said to the Master, “This disciple also has a rudimentary understanding of the Buddha-Dharma.” The Master immediately asked, “What does the minister do throughout all twelve hours?” Lu said, “Not even an inch of thread is worn or carried.” The Master said, “You are still merely one beneath the steps.” The Master further said, “Have you not heard it said: ‘Where there is the Way, the sovereign does not accept an official with mere cleverness’?”

The Master ascended the Dharma hall, whereupon Minister Lu said, “I ask the Venerable Master to expound the Dharma for the assembly.” The Master said, “What would you have this old monk say?” Lu said, “Does the Venerable Master have no skillful means?” The Master asked, “Tell me, what does it lack?” Lu said, “Why, then, are there the six paths and the four modes of birth?” The Master said, “This old monk did not teach you to say that.”

Minister Lu met the Master and raised a die, saying, “To act or not to act—how can one trust that it will land correctly?” The Master took up the die and said, “Eighteen stinking heads!”

Another person asked, “In this disciple’s home there is a large stone upon which I sometimes sit or lie. May I now have it carved into a Buddha image?” The Master said, “You may.” The minister said, “Might it not be permissible?” The Master said, “It may be permissible or impermissible!”

Zhaozhou asked, “The Way is not an external thing, and an external thing is not the Way. What is a thing outside the Way?” The Master immediately struck him. Zhaozhou seized the staff, raised it, and said, “From now on, do not mistakenly strike people.” The Master said, “Dragons and snakes are difficult to distinguish; a disciple can hardly deceive his teacher.” He then called, “Temple superintendent!” The temple superintendent replied, “Yes!” The Master said, “The Buddha spent ninety days in the Trayastrimsa Heaven expounding the Dharma for his mother.

At that time, King Udayana longed for the Buddha and asked Maudgalyayana to employ his supernormal powers three times to take a craftsman there to carve an image of the Buddha. He was able to carve only thirty-one marks. Why was he unable to carve the mark of the Brahma voice?” The temple superintendent asked, “What is the mark of the Brahma voice?”

The Master said, “A swindler who kills people.” The Master asked the rector:
“What is everyone being summoned to do today?” He replied, “To turn the millstone.” The Master said, “The millstone may be turned by you,
but you must not touch the shaft at its very center.” The rector could not
answer.

One day, a venerable monk asked the Master, “To say that mind itself is Buddha
is impermissible, and to say that it is neither mind nor Buddha is also impermissible. What, then, is the Master’s meaning?” The Master replied, “Venerable sir,
just believe that mind itself is Buddha. Once that is settled, what more is there to say about permissible and impermissible? It is just as when you, Venerable sir, have finished your meal and go down from the eastern quarters to the western quarters—you cannot ask whether that is permissible or impermissible.”

When the Master was dwelling in a hermitage, a monk came to visit. The Master said,
“I am about to go up the mountain. When the mealtime arrives, prepare the food yourself and call me beforehand; then bring one portion up the mountain.” A short while later, that monk called out on his own, immediately abandoned all the household tasks, and lay down on the bed. The Master waited, but when he did not see him come, he returned to the hermitage and found the monk lying there. The Master also came and lay down beside him. The monk then rose and departed. The Master stood behind him and said, “When I formerly came to dwell in this hermitage, there was a thoroughly keen-witted practitioner here, but I have not seen him to this day.”

The Master picked up a ball and asked, “How is this like that?” The monk replied,
“It is not alike.” The Master said, “Where have you seen this that you say it is not alike?” The monk said, “If you ask me where I have seen it, Reverend, first let go of the object in your hand.” The Master said, “I grant that you originally possess one eye.”

Grand Councilor Lu Huan said to the Master, “Dharma Master Zhao was truly extraordinary. He said, ‘The myriad things share the same root, yet they are not one substance.’” The Master pointed to the peonies before the courtyard and said, “Grand Councilor, when you see these flowering plants, it is just like being in a dream.” Lu did not understand.

Lu again asked, “At what stage does a heavenly king abide?” The Master said, “If he is a heavenly king, then it is not a stage.” Lu said, “This disciple has heard that heavenly kings abide on the first bhumi.” The Master said, “For those who should be delivered by the body of a heavenly king, one immediately manifests the body of a heavenly king and teaches the Dharma.”

When Lu took leave to return to Xuancheng, the Master asked, “When you arrive there, by what means will you govern the people?” Lu said, “I shall govern the people with wisdom.” The Master said, “Then why do all the living beings there encounter such misery and hardship?”

The Master went to Xuanzhou. Grand Councilor Lu came out to welcome him. Pointing to the city gate, he said, “Everyone says it should be made into a round gate. I wonder what shape the Reverend says the gate should be.” The Master said, “If this old monk were to say, I fear I would disgrace the Grand Councilor’s civilizing influence.” Lu said, “What should be done when bandits suddenly arrive?” The Master said, “Old Master Wang is at fault.”

Lu further asked, “For what purpose does the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion employ a thousand hands and a thousand eyes?” The Master said, “For what purpose does the state employ the Grand Councilor?”

The Master held a vegetarian feast as an offering to Great Master Ma and asked the assembly, “Has Great Master Ma come?” The assembly did not answer. Dongshan said, “He will come as soon as he has a companion.” The Master said, “Although you are a junior, you are exceedingly fond of displaying your ability.” Dongshan said, “Reverend, why conceal your ability?”

While the Master was washing his robe, a monk asked, “Does the Reverend also have that?” The Master raised the robe and said, “How does one wear that?”

The Master asked the monk Liangqin, “In an eon devoid of Buddhas, is there a Buddha?” He replied, “There is.” The Master asked, “Who is it?” He replied, “Liangqin.” The Master asked, “In what land?” He did not answer.

A monk asked, “What is transmitted when the patriarchs transmit it to one another?” The Master said, “One, two, three, four, five.”

Someone asked, “What is the fundamental ground of the ancients?” The Master said, “Wait until there is one, and then I shall tell you.” The monk asked, “Why does the Reverend tell lies?” The Master said, “I do not tell lies. Lay Practitioner Lu is the one who has just told a lie.”

Someone asked, “Throughout the twelve periods of the day, what should one take as an object?” The Master said, “Why do you not ask old Master Wang?” The monk said, “I have already asked.” The Master said, “Has he ever served as an object together with you?”

A monk asked, “What of the blue lotus that does not disintegrate when wind and fire arise?” The Master said, “What is it that does not follow when there is neither wind nor fire?” The monk did not answer.

The Master then asked, “When one thinks neither good nor evil and discriminative thought does not arise—is that my original face?” The monk said, “Do not allow it to show itself.”

The Master asked a lecturer, “Can you expound a sutra for me to hear?” He replied, “I shall expound a sutra for the Reverend to hear, but the Reverend must teach Chan for me to hear in return.” The Master said, “One cannot exchange a golden pellet for a silver pellet.” The lecturer said, “I do not understand.” The Master said, “You say that there is a cloud in the sky—is it hung there by driving in a nail, or is it tied there with a rope?”

Someone asked, “There is a jewel in empty space. How can it be taken?” The Master said, “Split bamboo to make a ladder, set it up into empty space, and take it.” The monk asked, “How can a ladder be set up in empty space?” The Master asked, “Then how do you intend to take it?”

As a monk was taking leave, he asked, “When I go to various places, if someone asks what the Reverend has been doing recently, how should I answer?” The Master said, “Tell them that recently I have ceased fighting.” The monk asked, “What does that mean?” The Master replied, “At one clap, both are lost.”

Someone asked, “Before father and mother gave birth to you, where was your nose?” The Master asked, “Then after father and mother gave birth to you, where is your nose?”

When the Master was about to pass away, the head seat asked, “Where will the Reverend go after death?” The Master said, “I shall become a bull below the mountain.” The monk asked, “May I follow the Reverend?” The Master said, “If you follow me, come here with a blade of grass in your mouth.”

The Master manifested illness. On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month in the eighth year of the Taihe era of the Tang dynasty (jiayin), the Master told his disciples in the morning, “The blind stars and illusory lamps have persisted for a long time. Do not say that I come or go.” Having spoken, he passed away. He was eighty-seven years old and had completed fifty-eight Dharma years. In the spring of the following year, his remains were placed in a stupa.

4. Chan Master Anfeng of Mount Wutai

The Master was a native of Wu in Fujian, and his family name was Deng. As a child, he was not very intelligent, so his parents allowed him to leave home. At first he went to Master Ma’s place but was not yet able to awaken. Later he went to Shitou; even after two encounters, he still gained no insight. Finally, he returned to

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORDS 9

Great Master Ma and attained accord.

While the Master was with Shitou, he asked, “What is it to accord with the Way?” Shitou said, “I too do not accord with the Way.” The Master asked, “What is it ultimately?” Shitou said, “How long have you been afflicted by that?”

One day, the Reverend Shitou was cutting grass, and the Master stood on his left with folded arms. Shitou cast the sickle before the Master and cut down a single blade of grass. The Master asked, “Reverend, can you cut that?” Shitou raised the sickle. The Master took the sickle and made a gesture of cutting grass. Shitou said, “You can only cut that, but do you not know how to cut this?” The Master could not answer.

One day, while the Master was pushing a cart of earth, Great Master Ma sat in the road with his legs stretched out. The Master said, “Master, please draw back your legs.” The Great Master said, “Once I stretch them out, I do not draw them back.” The Master said, “Once I advance, I do not retreat,” and pushed the cart over them. The Great Master’s leg was injured. The Great Master returned to the Dharma hall, took up an axe, and said, “Whoever injured this old monk’s leg by running over it just now, come forward!” The Master then extended his neck before the Great Master. The Great Master cast aside the axe.

The Master went to Nanquan and saw the assembly of monks making inquiries. Nanquan pointed to a water jar and said, “This bronze jar is an object. There is water inside it. Without touching the object, bring the water to this old monk.” The Master immediately took the water jar before Nanquan and poured out the water. Nanquan then desisted.

Later, the Master went to Guishan and placed his robe and bowl upon the head seat’s head. When Guishan heard that his Dharma uncle had suddenly arrived, he arrayed himself in full deportment and went out to welcome him. Upon seeing him approach, the Master pretended to be asleep. Guishan immediately returned to the abbot’s quarters. The Master then departed. A short while later, Guishan asked the attendant, “Where is my Dharma uncle?” He replied, “He has gone.” Guishan asked, “Did he say anything when he left?” He replied, “He said nothing at all.” Guishan said, “Do not say that he said nothing. That sound was like a peal of thunder!”

In winter, the Master dwelt on Mount Song; in summer, he rested at Qingliang. During the Yuanhe era of the Tang dynasty, he again ascended Mount Wutai. His route passed through Huaixi, where Wu Yuanji had raised troops in defiance of the emperor’s command. The imperial army and the rebels were fighting, but victory and defeat had not yet been decided. The Master said, “I have come to relieve this calamity.” He then cast his staff into empty space, sprang into flight, and flew toward the two armies

Upon seeing this, the contention in their minds immediately ceased. Having manifested such supernatural marvels, the Master feared that this might become a cause of deluding people, so he withdrew to the Vajra Cave on Mount Wutai.

Shortly before his death, the Master asked the assembly, “When worthies in various places pass away, whether seated or lying down, I have seen it; but I have not seen anyone pass away standing.”

The assembly replied, “There have been such cases.”

The Master asked again, “Has anyone ever passed away standing upside down, with his head toward the ground?”

They replied, “Never.”

The Master then stood upside down and passed away. Yet his robes still clung closely to his body.

When the assembly discussed cremating him, he remained erect and immovable. People from near and far came to behold and pay homage, praising him without cease. The Master had a younger sister who was a nun. She came to his side and lamented, “Elder brother, while alive you did not abide by the rules, and even after death you still delude people?” She then stretched out her hand and pushed him, whereupon he fell down. Afterward, he was cremated; his relics were collected and a stupa was built to enshrine them.

5. Venerable Fo'ao of Wenzhou.

Ordinarily, whenever the Master saw someone coming, he would plant his staff on the ground and say, “Before the Buddha, it was also thus; after the Buddha, it is also thus.”

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

The Master drew a circle. The monk pretended to be a young woman and bowed down, whereupon the Master struck him.

A monk asked, “What is the great meaning of the Buddhadharma?”

The Master said, “Thief! Thief!”

The monk asked, “What is difference and disintegration?”

The Master raised his bowl and called out, “Huanü! Huanü! Come eat your rice!”

6. Venerable Wujiu.

Two senior monks, Xuan and Shao, came from Jiangxi to seek instruction from the Master. The Master asked, “From where have the two Chan elders come?”

A monk said, “We have come from Jiangxi.”

The Master immediately took up his staff and struck him.

Xuan said, “I have long known that the Venerable possesses this essential device.”

The Master said, “You have understood nothing.”

The monk standing behind merely watched. When that monk was about to approach, the Master immediately struck him and said, “Knowledge and understanding emerge from the same hole; they are no different from earth. Go to the Chan hall!”

7. Venerable Dashan of Mount Shishuang in Tanzhou.

A monk asked, “What is the great meaning of the Buddhadharma?”

The Master said, “On a spring day, the cock crows.”

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

The Master said, “At Mid-Autumn, the dog barks.”

The Master ascended the Dharma hall and said, “Great assembly, come forth! Come forth! This old monk has an essential Dharma that, even after a hundred years, will not encumber you.”

The assembly said, “We beg the Venerable to speak.”

The Master said, “It does not require a single heap of fire.”

Dongshan asked, “The child before the seat truly knew the matter. Now he is no longer seen—where has he gone?”

The Master said, “Fire cannot burn upon the lake; return to the Clear and Cool World.”

8. Venerable Shijiu:

Formerly, when he went to seek instruction from Mazu, the Patriarch asked, “Where have you come from?”

The Master said, “I have come from Wujiu.”

The Patriarch asked, “What saying has Wujiu had in recent days?”

The Master said, “How many people here are utterly bewildered!”

The Patriarch said, “Set bewilderment aside. What is a single utterance of utter stillness?”

The Master stepped three paces forward before the Patriarch.

The Patriarch said, “I have seven blows of the staff entrusted to you to strike Wujiu. Will you accept them?”

The Master said, “Venerable, receive the blows first; I shall accept them afterward.” He then returned to Wujiu.

9. Venerable Benxi:

Layman Pang asked, “What was the meaning of Danxia striking his attendant?”

The Master said, “Great Elder, you have seen that worthy’s good and bad points.”

The layman said, “Only because you and I studied under the same teacher do I dare to ask.”

The Master said, “Why did you not discuss it together from the beginning?”

The layman said, “Great Elder, you cannot discuss with the Master the rights and wrongs of that worthy.”

The Master said, “I thought you had grown old.”

The layman said, “A grave offense! A grave offense!”

10. Venerable Shilin:

One day, Layman Pang arrived. The Master raised his whisk and said, “Without falling into Danxia’s device, try to say a word.”

The layman snatched away the whisk and then raised a fist.

The Master said, “That is precisely Danxia’s device.”

The layman said, “Show me something that does not fall into it.”

The Master said, “Danxia fears being mute, while old Pang fears being deaf.”

The layman said, “It fits! It fits!”

The Master said nothing.

The layman asked, “What did you just say?”

The Master again remained silent.

One day the Master said, “Layman, I have a question to ask; do not begrudge me a saying.”

The layman said, “Please speak.”

The Master said, “From ancient times until now, it has been a matter of begrudging a saying.”

The layman said, “When that is asked, one unwittingly falls into another’s advantage.”

The Master merely covered his ears.

The layman said, “An adept! An adept!”

HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHIES, VOLUME 9

11. Lecturer Liang of West Mountain in Hongzhou was originally a native of Shu and specialized in lecturing on sutras and treatises. When he went to seek instruction from Mazu, the Patriarch asked, “I hear that you can lecture on the sutras and treatises. Is that so?”

Liang said, “I dare not claim so.”

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

Liang said, “I lecture with the mind.”

The Patriarch said, “The mind is like a skilled artisan, and thought is like one who works in accord with that skill. How could they understand how to lecture on the sutras?”

Liang retorted, “If the mind cannot lecture, can empty space lecture?”

The Patriarch said, “It is precisely empty space that can lecture.”

Liang would not accept this and was about to descend the steps.

The Patriarch called, “Lecturer!”

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

The Patriarch said, “You dull-witted teacher! Why are you bowing?”

Liang returned to the monastery and told his audience, “I lecture on the sutras and treatises and was said to have no equal. Today, at a single question from Great Master Ma, all the cultivation of my entire life dissolved completely.” He then withdrew into West Mountain, and no further news of him was heard.

12. Venerable Heiyan.

A monk asked, “What is it that is not a teacher appearing in the world?”

The Master replied, “Shanzai’s staff.”

He asked, “What is the great meaning of the Buddhadharma?”

The Master said, “For ten years the old man sold charcoal, yet he did not know the notched markings beside the balance beam.”

13. Venerable Miling.

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

The Master said, “Let ugliness contend as it will; it does not wear the colors of the rosy clouds.”

When the Master was about to pass away, he left a verse:

14. Venerable Qifeng.

One day, Layman Pang entered the monastery. The Master said, “Why does a layperson so often enter a monks’ monastery to investigate?”

The layman turned his head and looked to both sides, asking, “Who said something? Who said something?”

The Master then shouted loudly.

The layman said, “It is in there.”

The Master said, “Was it not spoken directly before you?”

The layman said, “It is behind you.”

The Master turned his head and said, “Look! Look!”

The layman said, “The grass bandit is defeated! The grass bandit is defeated!”

The Master did not reply.

The layman again asked, “How many miles is it from here to the summit?”

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

The layman said, “Its height and hardness are truly fearsome; you must not ask.”

The Master asked, “How many?”

The layman said, “One, two, three.”

The Master said, “Four, five, six.”

The layman asked, “Why do you not say seven?”

The Master said, “As soon as seven is spoken, there is also eight.”

The layman said, “Good! Good!”

The Master said, “You may freely add one more.”

The layman then shouted and departed. The Master followed behind him and also shouted.

15. Venerable Dayang.

Once, when Chan Master Yi came to seek instruction, the Master said, “Chan Master Yi, recently there have been some Chan masters who take the matter before them to instruct people, taking what is before their eyes as the person himself, yet they do not even comprehend the tenor of the words before divination has occurred.”

Yi said, “I have a question here. I wish to ask the Venerable, but I do not know whether I may.”

The Master said, “I have already made my reply clear to you; do not ask whether you may.”

Yi said, “You still do not yet know what is before your eyes.”

The Master asked, “What use is knowing what is before one’s eyes?”

Yi said, “It still requires meeting someone who can examine it.”

The Master asked, “Who?”

Yi said, “I.”

The Master then shouted loudly.

Yi stepped back and stood.

The Master said, “You know only how to look ahead, but you do not know how to look behind.”

Yi said, “Snow with frost added upon it.”

The Master said, “Neither side gains an advantage.”

16. Venerable of Mount Hongluo in Youzhou.

He had a verse with which he instructed his disciples:

Mount Hongluo lies close to every barbarian land;
Why are those delivered only half the number?
They all say that they fully understand questions,
Pitifully, they understand only this.

17. Chan Master Wuliao, resident of Mount Guiyang in Quanzhou.

The Master was from Hugong in Hongtang, Putian County, and his family name was Shen. At the age of seven, his father took him into the Baizhong Cloister. He regarded it as his own home and consequently left the household life. At eighteen, he shaved his head and received the full precepts at Lingyan Monastery. Later, he sought instruction from the Chan Master at Daji, gained penetrating realization, and inherited the Patriarchal lineage. He then returned to his original monastery.

North of the monastery, he lost his way while gathering firewood. One day, the Master walked along, using his staff to part the dense grass, when he encountered a great tortoise with six eyes. After a short while, it disappeared. Then he

He built a hermitage on this mountain, and thus became known to the world as Venerable Guiyang. One day, a tiger chased a deer into the hermitage. The Master took up his staff, drove away the tiger, and protected the deer.

When he was about to pass away, he spoke this verse:

For eighty years I attended to affairs east and west;
Now there is no need for this white-haired old man.
Neither poor nor good, neither great nor small,
My nature is likewise the same as everyone’s.
Neither coming nor going, nor abiding either;
Clearly understand that from ancient times the self-nature is empty.

Having finished speaking the verse, he peacefully passed away. He was interred near the main hall. Almost twenty years later, a mountain stream inundated the site. When his disciples opened the stupa, they saw his entire body floating in the water.

HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHIES, VOL. 9

When the Prince of Min heard of this, he sent an envoy to bring the body into the prefectural compound for offerings. Suddenly, a foul odor could be smelled from afar. The prince burned incense and prayed: “May Guiyang be returned to his former place and a stupa built there to enshrine him?” When the prayer was finished, a wondrous fragrance pervaded everywhere, and the entire city came to behold and pay homage.

The local authorities bestowed on him the posthumous title Great Master Zhenji, and named his stupa Lingjue. Later, his disciple Huizhong encountered Cheng Tai, who had died at Baiyi, and buried him two hundred paces east of the Master’s stupa; it was called the Eastern Stupa. Today at Guiyang there are two true bodies, upon which the people rely as though upon the transformative influence bequeathed by the Sangha.

As for Huizhong, he received the Dharma from Venerable Cao’an, as explained clearly in this chapter.

18. Venerable Lishan

A monk asked, “All forms return to emptiness; to what does emptiness return?”

The Master said, “The tongue does not protrude beyond the mouth.”

The monk asked, “Why does it not protrude beyond the mouth?”

The Master said, “Inside and outside are one.”

The monk asked, “Without passing through the asamkhya kalpas, one attains the Dharma body. I ask the Master to point it out directly.”

The Master said, “The son and disciple continues his father’s Dharma work.”

The monk asked, “How should this be understood?”

The Master said, “Exile and execution are not instituted.”

The monk asked, “Why does the great assembly have something upon which to rely?”

The Master said, “The great assembly has already been cast aside; what use is the Dharma body?”

The monk could not answer.

The Master said, “You ask, and I shall answer.”

The monk then asked, “What is the Dharma body?”

The Master said, “It is an illusory flower in empty space, sunlight like water.”

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

The Master said, “Not seeing ‘what.’”

The monk asked, “Why is it so?”

The Master said, “Only because it is so.”

19. Venerable Ruyuan of Shaozhou

The Master ascended the Dharma hall and said, “The meaning of the coming from India is perfectly clear; there is no difficulty in speaking of it. If anyone in the great assembly can speak, come forward and try.”

A monk came forward and had just bowed when the Master struck him, saying, “When did you poke your head out?”

When the Master saw Yangshan, who was still a novice, sitting and chanting a sutra, he shouted, “This novice’s sutra chanting sounds like weeping.”

Yangshan said, “Huiji’s sutra chanting may sound like weeping, but I wonder how it is with the Venerable.”

The Master merely turned his head and looked back.

20. Venerable Songshan

One day, the Master invited Layman Pang to drink tea. The layman raised the tea tray and said, “Everyone has a share; why can it not be spoken?”

The Master said, “Precisely because everyone has it, it cannot be spoken.”

The layman said, “Why, then, can elder brother speak?”

The Master said, “It is impossible not to speak.”

The layman said, “Clearly, clearly!”

The Master then drank his tea.

The layman asked, “Elder brother, you drink tea, but why do you not invite the guest?”

The Master asked, “Who?”

The layman said, “Old Pang.”

The Master said, “What need is there to invite him?”

Later, when Danxia heard of this incident, he said, “Had it not been Songshan, how many would have been thrown into confusion by that fellow Pang?”

When the layman heard this, he asked someone to convey a message to Danxia: “Why do you not understand the time before the tea tray was raised?”

21. Venerable Zechuan

Layman Pang met the Master. The Master said, “Do you remember the principle you spoke of when you met Shitou long ago?”

The layman said, “It is well that the Master brings it up again.”

The Master said, “Discriminating knowledge has long been cherished; the matter has grown stale.”

The layman said, “Ah, the old Master has grown aged; it is not only old Pang.”

The Master said, “The two are simultaneous; how could they differ?”

The layman said, “Old Pang’s quick wit surpasses the Master’s.”

The Master said, “You do not surpass me; you are merely one headcloth behind me.”

The layman said, “That is very much like the Master.”

The Master then laughed loudly.

One day, the Master entered the garden to pick tea. Layman Pang said, “The Dharma realm does not admit a body. Does the Master see me?”

The Master said, “Were you not an old teacher, I would be afraid to answer you.”

The layman said, “Question and answer exist because this is ordinary.”

The Master continued picking tea without paying him any attention.

The layman said, “Do not think it strange, for once all matters are brought forth, it is easy to question them before one with clear eyes.”

The Master still paid him no attention.

The layman shouted, “You old man without manners—wait for me!”

The Master immediately threw down his tea basket and returned to the abbot’s quarters.

22. Chan Master Tancang of the Western Garden Aranya at Nanyue

The Master originally received the mind-seal from Chan Master Daji. Later, he paid a visit to Venerable Shitou and attained empty luminosity and complete penetration. In the second year of the Zhenyuan era of the Tang dynasty, the Master went to dwell atop the lofty summit of Mount Heng, and therefore few came to seek instruction. Because his feet had become blackened, he moved to the Western Garden, where many Chan companions gathered.

One day, the Master was digging a pond. A monk asked, “Why do you not order a novice to do it?” The Master clapped his hands three times.

The Master kept an intelligent dog. Every night when he practiced walking meditation, the dog would seize his robe in its mouth. The Master would then return to his room, and the dog would lie by the door, keeping watch and barking. Suddenly, one night, the dog repeatedly barked fiercely. In the morning, they investigated and found east of the kitchen a huge snake several zhang long, with its mouth open, hissing and spewing poisonous vapor.

The attendant invited the Master to leave and avoid it. The Master said, “Where could death be escaped? If it brings poison, I shall receive it with loving-kindness. Poison has no real nature; when provoked, it is forced into being. Compassion is without conditions; enemy and kin follow a single path.”

When he had finished speaking, the fierce snake lowered its head and slowly crawled away, then suddenly disappeared.

On another day, a band of thieves entered. The dog again seized the Master’s robe in its mouth. The Master told the thieves, “Whatever in this thatched hermitage pleases you, take it freely; I shall not begrudge it.” Moved by his words, the thieves bowed their heads and departed.

23. Venerable Bailing

One day, the Master met Layman Pang on the road. The Master asked, “Long ago, the layman received a meaningful phrase from the Venerable Nanyue. Have you ever presented it to anyone?”

The layman said, “I have presented it.”

The Master asked, “To whom?”

The layman pointed to himself with his hand and replied, “Old Pang.”

The Master said, “Truly, even Miaode would be unable to praise you enough.”

The layman then asked, “Who knows the Master’s powerful phrase?”

The Master put on his hat and walked away.

The layman said, “Take good care on the road.”

The Master continued straight on without looking back.

24. Venerable Jinniu of Zhenzhou

HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHIES, VOL. 9

The Master personally prepared meals as offerings to the Sangha. Whenever it was time for the meal, he would carry a bucket of rice before the dining hall, dance, and call out, “Bodhisattvas, come out and eat!” He waved his hands and laughed loudly, doing this every day.

25. Venerable Dong’an

A monk took leave of the Master. The Master said, “Where are you going?”

The monk said, “Fundamentally, there is nowhere to go.”

The Master said, “Excellent, Acarya.”

The monk said, “I dare not, I dare not.”

The Master said, “Make this clear wherever you go.”

A monk was standing in attendance. The Master asked, “What day is it today?”

The monk said, “I do not know.”

The Master said, “I remember.”

The monk asked, “What day is it today?”

The Master said, “Today is a dark night.”

26. Venerable Dadi of Xinzhou

The Master received the essential teaching in Jiangxi and concealed his own name. Whenever students came to question him, he merely struck his staff against the ground to instruct them. At that time, people called him Venerable Dadi, “Striking the Ground.”

One day, the monk Cang came carrying a staff and asked a question. The Master merely opened his mouth.

The monk asked, “Whenever disciples come to question the Venerable, you immediately strike the ground. What is the essential meaning?”

The disciple then took a piece of firewood from beneath the stove and threw it into the cauldron.

27. Venerable Xiuxi of Tanzhou

One day, Gushan asked, “When sound and form are pure and true, what is the Way?”

The Master said, “Why speak wildly of the Way?”

Gushan ran from the east and stood on the west side.

The Master said, “If it were not so, it would be a calamitous affair.”

Gushan then ran over to the east side.

The Master descended from the Chan seat. He had taken only two steps when Gushan seized him by the front of his robe and asked, “When sound and form are pure and true, what then?”

The Master immediately struck Gushan.

Gushan said, “Ten years from now, there will not even be anyone who comes to drink tea.” The Master said, “Then what will old Gushan do?” Gushan laughed loudly three times: “Ha! Ha! Ha!”

28. Chan Master Shenzang of Matou Mountain in Cizhou.

The Master ascended the Dharma Hall, called to the assembly, and said, “To know yet not know is not the same as not knowing and saying that one does not know.”

29. Chan Master Shanjue of Hualin in Tanzhou.

The Master often carried his ringed staff out to the foot of the forest at night. Every seven steps, he would shake the staff once and invoke the name of Guanyin. Shanhui of Jiashan built a hermitage and asked, “I have long heard that the Venerable invokes Guanyin. Is that so?” The Master said, “It is.” Jiashan said, “When riding a horse, what about the head?” The Master replied, “If the head appears, you may ride as you please; if the head does not appear, what would you ride?”

A monk came for instruction and spread out his sitting mat. The Master said, “Slowly, slowly.” The monk asked, “What does the Venerable see?” The Master said, “What a pity that the bell tower has been demolished.” The monk thereby awakened.

One day, Surveillance Commissioner Pei Xiu asked, “Master, do you have attendants?” The Master said, “I have one or two.” Pei Xiu asked, “Where are they?” The Master then called loudly, “Great Emptiness! Little Emptiness!” At that moment, two tigers ran out from behind the hermitage. Pei was greatly frightened. The Master said to the two tigers, “We have a guest. Go, go.” The two tigers growled and departed. Pei Xiu asked the Master, “What practice and karma have you cultivated to bring about such a response?” After a long while, the Master asked, “Do you understand?” Pei replied, “I do not understand.” The Master said, “This mountain monk constantly invokes Guanyin.”

30. Venerable Shuitang of Shengzhou.

The Master questioned Guizong, “Where are you from?” Guizong said, “I am from Chenzhou.” The Master asked, “How old are you?” Guizong said, “Twenty-two.” The Master said, “Before the Acharya was born, this old monk was already coming and going.” Guizong asked, “When was the Venerable born?” The Master held his fly whisk upright. Guizong asked, “Could that possibly have birth?” The Master said, “If you understand it, that itself is the unborn.” Guizong said, “I still do not understand.” The Master said no more.

31. Venerable Gusi.

Danxia visited the Master and stayed through the night until morning. When the morning porridge had been cooked, the practitioner filled one bowl for the Master, then filled another bowl for himself and ate, without so much as looking toward Danxia. Danxia also filled a bowl and ate. The practitioner said, “Rising early at the fifth watch, and yet there is also someone who travels by night.” Danxia asked the Master, “Why do you not instruct the practitioner not to be discourteous?” The Master said, “On pure ground, one should not defile the people of the household with matters between men and women.” Danxia said, “Why do you not call that old fellow to account?”

32. Venerable Bishou of Jiangxi.

While the Master was lying down, Daowu came before him and pulled the quilt over him. The Master asked, “What are you doing?” Daowu said, “Covering you with the quilt.” The Master asked, “Is lying down right, or is sitting right?” Daowu said, “It is not in either of those two places.” The Master said, “Then why bother covering me with the quilt?” Daowu said, “Do not speak wildly.”

The Master went to warm himself by the fire. Daowu asked, “What are you doing there?” The Master said, “Harmonizing.” Daowu asked, “Why must you escape?” The Master said, “How far away is the village gate?” Daowu immediately flicked his sleeves and left.

One day, Daowu returned from outside. The Master asked, “Where have you come from?” Daowu said, “From nearby.” The Master said, “What are you doing with that rice sieve made of two pieces of hide?” Daowu said, “I borrowed it.” The Master said, “It was borrowed from you—how could it arise?” Daowu said, “It is only because there is something to lend that it is borrowed.”

33. Venerable Caotang of Jingzhao.

After concluding his visits with Great Master Daji, the Master went to Haichang. Venerable Haichang asked, “Where have you come from?” The Master said, “From the place of practice.” Haichang asked, “Where is that place? Before a single dharma existed, where was this body?” The Master then drew a circle and wrote the character “body” inside it.

34. Chan Master Zhenshu, resident of Yangqi Mountain in Yuanzhou.

The Master ascended the Dharma Hall and instructed the assembly, saying, “The single source of sentient spirituality is provisionally called Buddha. Though its substance vanishes and its form dissolves, it is never lost; the golden current flows everywhere and ever abides. When the ocean of the nature is without wind, golden waves spread of themselves. When the spiritual mind has extinguished all traces, its myriad fathoms shine together. If you comprehend this principle, then without speech it pervades worlds as numerous as grains of sand; without activity, its merit benefits through mysterious transformation. Why, then, do you abandon awakening and return to unite with the dust of affliction, dwelling within the realm of darkness and willfully imprisoning yourselves?”

HISTORICAL RECORDS, VOLUME 9

When the Master first came to dwell peacefully on this mountain, he established a monastery, gathered a community of disciples, and expounded the Dharma for more than forty years. On the thirteenth day of the first lunar month in the fifteenth year of the Yuanhe era of the Tang dynasty, the Master entered quiescence. After his cremation, seven hundred relics were collected, and a stupa was built beneath East Peak to enshrine them.

35. Venerable Mengxi.

A monk asked, “What is it like when not a single thought arises?” The Master remained silent for a long while. The monk then bowed. The Master said, “What do you understand about arising?” The monk said, “I truly cannot but feel ashamed.” The Master said, “You may trust that you have arrived.”

A monk asked, “How can the fundamental matter be brought to completion?” The Master said, “Why do you not ask?” The monk said, “I beseech the Master to reply.” The Master said, “It would be better for you to ask again.” The monk laughed loudly and walked out. The Master said, “Only that monk is clever.”

A monk came from outside. The Master immediately shouted. The monk said, “For what reason?” The Master said, “You should also receive a beating with the staff.” The monk said, “Take care,” and then walked out. The Master said, “In the end, he attained freedom.”

36. Venerable Heijian of the Eastern Capital, Luoyang.

A monk asked, “What is the secret chamber?” The Master said, “Cut off at the hall where one lies.” The monk asked, “Who is the person within the secret chamber?” The Master struck his own chest with his fist.

37. Venerable Xingping of Jingzhao.

Runshan came and bowed. The Master said, “Do not bow to an old decayed fellow.” Dongshan said, “I am not bowing to an old decayed fellow.” The Master said, “What is not an old decayed fellow does not accept bows.” Dongshan said, “Nor does it cease.”

Dongshan asked, “What is the mind of the ancient Buddhas?” The Master said, “It is precisely your mind.” Dongshan said, “Even so, that is still what I doubt.” The Master said, “Why do you not ask the wooden man?” Dongshan said, “I have a single statement that does not rely on the mouths of the sages.” The Master said, “Try saying it.” Dongshan said, “It is not me.”

When Dongshan took his leave, the Master asked, “Where are you going?” Dongshan said, “I follow the current without a fixed place to rest.” The Master said, “Does the Dharma body follow the current, or does the reward body follow the current?” Dongshan said, “Neither should be understood in that way.” The Master then clapped his hands.

38. Venerable Xiaoyao.

One day, while the Master was seated on the Chan platform, a monk from Luxi came and asked, “Thought after thought clings to conditions; mind after mind is utterly quiescent.” The Master said, “Yesterday, when you asked too late, what did someone say?” Luxi said, “What is that Way?” The Master said, “I do not know.” Luxi said, “I beseech the Master to speak.” The Master placed the fly whisk into his mouth. Luxi immediately withdrew. The Master told the great assembly, “There is a single eye atop his head.”

39. Venerable Fuxi.

A monk asked, “What is it like when the ancient mirror is without a trace?” The Master remained silent for a long while. The monk asked, “What is the Master’s meaning?” The Master said, “This mountain monk’s ears are behind his back.” The monk repeated his previous question. The Master said, “You are also imitating that other fellow.”

The monk asked, “What is the self?” The Master said, “What are you asking about?” The monk asked, “Is there no expedient means?” The Master said, “What did you just come here to ask?” The monk said, “How could one be inverted?” The Master said, “Today you thoroughly deserve a beating from this mountain monk.”

The monk asked, “When conditions disperse, they return to emptiness; when emptiness is no more, where does it return?” The Master said, “Monk!” The monk answered, “Yes.” The Master asked, “Where is emptiness?” The monk said, “I beseech the Master to speak.” The Master said, “A Persian eats pepper.”

40. Venerable Shuilao of Hongzhou.

When he first visited Mazu, the Master asked, “What is the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the Western Land?” The Patriarch kicked him in the belly, knocking him down. The Master immediately attained great awakening. He rose, clapped his hands, laughed heartily, and said, “How wondrous! Hundreds of thousands of samadhis and immeasurable subtle meanings—I have comprehended their very source on the tip of a single hair!” He then bowed and withdrew.

Later, the Master told the assembly, “Ever since I received that kick from Mazu, I have never stopped laughing.”

A monk drew a circle and grasped the Master’s body with his hand. The Master waved his hand three times, then also drew a circle and showed it to the monk. The monk immediately bowed. The Master struck him and said, “You empty-headed old fellow!”

Someone asked, “What is the conduct of a sramana?”

The Master said, “When there is movement, shadows appear; when there is awareness, birth is leveled.”

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

The Master immediately clapped his hands and laughed, “Ha! Ha!” His way of responding to those who approached was generally like this.

41. Venerable Phù Bôi

Laywoman Lăng Hành came to bow before the Master, and the Master sat with her drinking tea. Hành asked, “When one has spoken to the utmost yet cannot attain the phrase, to whom should it then be entrusted?”

The Master said, “Phù Bôi does not speak superfluously.”

She said, “I have said nothing.”

The Master then raised the preceding two statements and questioned her in return. She folded her arms and wept, saying, “Even beneath the blue sky, there is still unjust suffering.”

The Master said nothing.

She said, “Words do not distinguish proper from improper; principle does not distinguish right from wrong. Because of this, calamity immediately arises.”

Later, a monk related this exchange and asked Nanquan about it. Nanquan said, “How painful! Phù Bôi was broken by that old woman.”

When the laywoman later heard Nanquan’s words, she laughed and said, “Old Master Wang also lacks skillful strategy.”

A Chan traveler named Trừng Nhất from Youzhou met Laywoman Hành and asked, “Why did you say that Nanquan also lacked a crucial mechanism?”

She began to weep and said, “How pitiful! How lamentable!”

The Chan traveler said nothing.

She then asked, “Do you understand?”

The Chan traveler joined his palms and withdrew.

She said, “This Chan monk stands dead, like a fingertip resembling a grain of rice.”

Later, the Chan traveler Trừng Nhất related this exchange to Zhaozhou. Zhaozhou said, “If I were to see that stinking old woman and she questioned me, I would leave her speechless.”

Trừng Nhất asked Zhaozhou, “I wonder, how would the Venerable question her?”

Zhaozhou struck him with his staff and said, “If one does not strike a dead fellow like this now, when should one wait to strike him?” He then struck him several more times.

When the laywoman later heard what Zhaozhou had said, she declared, “Zhaozhou deserves a blow from this old woman’s staff.”

Later, a monk reported these words to Zhaozhou. Zhaozhou wept and said, “How pitiful! How lamentable!”

When the laywoman heard these words of Zhaozhou, she joined her palms and praised him, saying, “Light issues from Zhaozhou’s eyes and illumines the four continents.”

Later, Zhaozhou instructed a monk to go and ask the laywoman, “What is the true Zhaozhou?”

She immediately raised her fist.

When Zhaozhou heard of this, he composed a verse and presented it to Laywoman Lăng Hành:

At the pivotal moment, it is raised before one’s face;
Before one’s face, the pivotal moment becomes an illness.
I answer you, Laywoman Lăng Hành:
In the sound of weeping, how could there be gain or loss?

The laywoman then composed a verse in reply to Zhaozhou:

42. Venerable Longshan of Tanzhou (also called Venerable Yinshan)

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

The monk said, “From an elder adept.”

The Master asked, “Did that elder adept have any saying?”

The monk said, “When he spoke, there were a thousand phrases and ten thousand phrases; when he did not speak, there was not even a single word.”

The Master asked, “What is it when a fly lays its eggs?”

The monk bowed. The Master immediately struck him.

When Venerable Dongshan Liangjie was traveling on pilgrimage, he felt his way along the path and arrived at the mountain. After paying his respects, the Master asked, “This mountain has no road. From where have you just come, Ācārya?”

Dongshan said, “If there is no road, by what way did the Venerable enter?”

The Master said, “I have never followed clouds or streams.”

Dongshan asked, “How long has the Venerable lived on this mountain?”

The Master said, “Spring and autumn do not cling or bind.”

Dongshan asked, “Was this mountain here first, or was the Venerable here first?”

The Master said, “I do not know.”

Dongshan asked, “Why do you not know?”

The Master said, “I did not come here for devas or humans.”

Dongshan asked, “What is the host within the guest?”

The Master said, “For many years, he does not go beyond the gate.”

Dongshan asked, “What is the host within the guest?”

The Master said, “Throughout the long years, he does not go beyond the gate.”

Dongshan asked, “What is the guest within the host?”

The Master said, “The blue sky covers the white clouds.”

Dongshan asked, “How far apart are guest and host?”

The Master said, “Waves upon the waters of the Yangtze River.”

Dongshan asked, “When guest and host meet, do they exchange any words?”

The Master said, “A cool breeze sweeps across the bright moon.”

Dongshan further asked, “What principle did the Venerable perceive that caused you to remain on this mountain?”

The Master said, “I saw two clay oxen fighting. They entered the sea, and to this day there has been no news of them.”

The Master had a verse:

Since then I have dwelt in a three-room thatched hut;
A single ray of numinous light, and the myriad scenes are still.
Do not bring right and wrong for me to discuss;
The contrivances of this floating life have nothing to do with me.

43. Layman Pang Yun of Xiangzhou

He was a native of Hengyang County in Xiangzhou, with the courtesy name Daoxuan. In worldly life, he pursued the Confucian vocation. Yet the layman awakened early to the toil and defilement of the mundane world and aspired to seek the ultimate truth.

During the Zhenyuan era of the Tang dynasty, he first paid a visit to Venerable Shitou and, forgetting words, understood the essential purport. He also became a companion of Chan Master Danxia.

One day, Shitou asked, “Since the day you met this old monk, how have you carried on your activities?”

He replied, “If you ask about carrying on activities, there is nowhere to open my mouth.”

He then presented this verse:

Shitou, astonished, asked him, “Will you follow the Way as a monastic or as a layman?”

The layman replied, “I ask to follow that which I revere, without shaving my head.”

Later, he went to Jiangxi and questioned Mazu, saying, “What kind of person is one who keeps no company with the myriad dharmas?”

The Patriarch said, “When you have swallowed all the water of the rivers of Jiangxi in a single draught, I will tell you.”

On hearing these words, the layman immediately awakened profoundly to the mysterious essence. He then remained there to study for two years.

He had a verse:

From then on, his capacity and eloquence were swift, and his reputation was heard everywhere.

He often went to lecture halls and rejoiced in hearing the Diamond Sutra. When the discourse reached the passage on “no self and no person,” he asked, “Dharma lecturer, since there is neither self nor person, who is lecturing and who is listening?”

The lecturer was unable to answer.

The layman said, “Although I am merely a layman, I possess a coarse understanding and faith.”

The lecturer said, “According to the layman’s meaning, how should it be?”

The layman then offered a verse:

On hearing the verse, the lecturer rejoiced and praised him, saying, “The layman’s attainment has already surpassed that of many elder adepts.”

Moreover, whenever questioned, he responded to the occasion and answered immediately, without clinging rigidly to patterns measurable by thought.

During the Yuanhe era, the layman journeyed north to Xiang and Han, dwelling wherever circumstances allowed: sometimes at Lumen or Fengling, and sometimes in villages or marketplaces. At first he lived at Dongyan, and later in a small house in the western outskirts of the city.

He had a daughter named Lingzhao, who often accompanied her father in splitting bamboo and weaving blinds, which they sold to provide for their morning and evening needs.

He had verses:

Within these very five skandhas is true wisdom;
The worlds of the ten directions share the One Vehicle.
How could the formless Dharma-body be divided in two?
If one casts aside afflictions to enter bodhi,
One knows not in what direction the Buddha-land may be found.

When the layman was about to die, he sent his daughter Lingzhao outside to observe the sun and report when it was noon. His daughter hurried back and announced, “It is already midday, but there is a solar eclipse.”

The layman went out to look. His daughter then ascended to her father’s seat, joined her palms, and passed away.

The layman laughed and said, “My daughter has gone more swiftly than I.” Thus, he delayed for another seven days.

The provincial governor, Lord Yu, came to visit him during his illness. The layman said, “Only wish for all that exists to be empty. Take care not to regard all that is empty as real. The beautiful things of the world are merely shadows and echoes.”

Having spoken, he rested his head upon Lord Yu’s lap and passed away. He had instructed that his body be cremated.

Monastics and laypeople everywhere mourned him. He was known in the Chan school as Layman Pang, the Pure-Name Vimalakirti of Vaiśālī. More than three hundred of his poems and verses circulated in the world.