景德傳燈錄

THE JINGDE RECORD OF THE TRANSMISSION OF THE LAMP — FASCICLE 30

VOLUME 30
INSCRIPTIONS, RECORDS, ADMONITIONS, AND SONGS
1. Inscription on the Mind-King by Mahasattva Fu
2. Inscription on Faith in Mind by Master Sengcan, the Third Patriarch
3. Inscription on Mind by Chan Master Farong, the First Patriarch of Mount Niutou
4. Inscription on Ceasing the Mind by an Anonymous Monk
5. A Brief Explanation of the Four Practices for Entering the Mahayana Way by Bodhidharma
6. Record Revealing the Essential Teaching by Great Master Heze
7. The Harmony of Difference and Sameness by Great Master Shitou of Nanyue
8. Great Master Chengguan’s Reply to the Imperial Crown Prince’s Inquiry into the Essential Meaning of Mind, at Zhenguo Monastery on Mount Wutai
9. Admonition on Seated Meditation by the Venerable Wuyun of Hangzhou
10. Song of Realizing the Way by Great Master Zhenjue of Yongjia
11. Song of Comprehending the Source by the Venerable Dengdeng
12. Song by the Venerable Lansuo of Nanyue
13. Song of the Grass Hut by the Venerable Shitou
14. Song of Rejoicing in the Way by the Venerable Daowu
15. Anonymous Song of the Single Bowl
16. Song of the Floating Seagull by the Venerable Luopu
17. Song of the Herdsman by the Venerable Suxi
18. Songs of the Ancient Mirror (Three Songs) by Chan Master Fadeng
19. Song of the Samadhi of Universal Inquiry by Longhui Daoxun of Tanzhou
20. Chants on Playing with the Pearl (Two Chants) by the Venerable Danxia
21. Chant on Finding the Pearl by Elder Guannan
22. Chant on the Pierced Eye by the Venerable Xiangyan
23. Chant on Returning to Quiescence by the Venerable Xiangyan
24. Song of the Mind-Pearl by the Venerable Shaoshan

1. Inscription on the Mind-King by Mahasattva Fu

Contemplate the mind: the king of emptiness, profound and wondrous, difficult to fathom, without form or characteristic, yet possessing great spiritual power. It can extinguish a thousand calamities and bring the myriad virtues to fulfillment. Though its essential nature is empty, it is well able to serve as the guiding standard. When looked for, it has no form; when called, it has a voice. Through the Great Dharma, the precepts of mind transmit the sutras; it is like salt in water or glue in pigment. It certainly exists, though its form cannot be seen. The Mind-King is likewise so.

It abides within the body, coming and going before one’s face. Responding to things and according with circumstances, it is free and unobstructed; whatever it does is accomplished. Understand the source and you know the mind; know the mind and you see the Buddha.

This mind is Buddha; this Buddha is mind. In every thought, the Buddha-mind; the Buddha-mind mindful of Buddha. If you wish quickly to attain realization, discipline yourself through the precepts of mind.

When the precepts are pure, the mind is pure; the mind itself is Buddha. Apart from this Mind-King, there is no other Buddha. If you seek to become a Buddha, do not be defiled by a single thing.

Though the nature of mind is empty, greed and anger are real in their substance. Enter this Dharma gate, sit upright, and become a Buddha. Upon reaching the other shore, one attains the paramitas.

A true practitioner who aspires to the Way contemplates his own mind. Knowing that the Buddha is within, he does not seek outside: mind itself is Buddha, and Buddha itself is mind. When the mind is luminous, one knows Buddha; when understanding is complete, one knows the mind.

Apart from mind there is no Buddha; apart from Buddha there is no mind. Do not conjecture about there being no Buddha, for then there is no place on which to rely. Clinging to emptiness and stagnating in quiescence, one sinks and floats therein.

Buddhas and bodhisattvas do not rest the mind in this way. When a mahasattva illuminates the mind and awakens to this mysterious sound, the nature of body and mind is wondrous, and its functioning never changes. Therefore, the wise release the mind and are free.

Do not say that the Mind-King is vacant and empty, without essential nature; it can cause the physical body to act wrongly or rightly. Neither existent nor nonexistent, hidden or manifest without fixity, the nature of mind transcends emptiness and can be either ordinary or noble. Therefore, I urge you all to guard yourselves carefully.

A single instant of activity will again cause you to sink and float. Purify the mind of wisdom like pure gold in the world. The Dharma treasury of prajna is entirely present within body and mind.

The unconditioned treasure of Dharma is neither shallow nor deep. Buddhas and bodhisattvas comprehend this original mind. When conditions are present, it is encountered, yet it neither comes nor goes.

Inscription on Faith in Mind by Great Master Sengcan, the Third Patriarch:

The Supreme Way is not difficult; it only shuns picking and choosing. Merely cease love and hatred, and it will be open, empty, and luminously clear. Make the slightest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.

If you wish it to appear before you, do not maintain acceptance and rejection. The conflict between opposition and conformity is the sickness of the mind. Without knowing the profound principle, one labors in vain to still one’s thoughts.

Perfect like vast space, it lacks nothing and has nothing in excess. Because of grasping and rejecting, one is therefore not in accord with Suchness. Do not pursue conditioned existence; do not abide in the endurance of emptiness.

In the equanimity of the One, all becomes quiet and disappears of itself. When you try to stop activity by returning to stillness, that very effort at stillness only produces more activity. So long as you stagnate at the two extremes, how can you know the One?

When the One is not penetrated, both alternatives lose their efficacy. Reject existence and you fall away from existence; pursue emptiness and you turn against emptiness. The more you speak and think, the further you stray from accord.

Cease speech and thought, and there is nowhere you cannot penetrate. Return to the root and you attain the principle; pursue illumination and you lose the source. A single moment of inward illumination surpasses the emptiness that preceded it.

The transformations of that preceding emptiness all arise from deluded views. There is no need to seek the true; only cease holding views. Do not abide in dualistic views; take care not to pursue them.

The moment right and wrong arise, the mind becomes confused and is lost. Two exists because of one, but do not hold even to the one. When the one mind does not arise, the myriad dharmas are without fault.

Without fault, there are no dharmas; without arising, there is no mind. The subject vanishes along with the object; the object sinks away along with the subject. The object is an object because of the subject; the subject is a subject because of the object.

If you wish to know these two divisions, their origin is the one emptiness. In the one emptiness, the two are identical, and each encompasses the myriad forms. If you do not distinguish fine from coarse, how could there be partiality or faction?

The essence of the Great Way is vast, neither easy nor difficult. Those of narrow vision and doubt become hurried or slow. Through attachment, judgments go astray and one enters a deviant path.

Let go, and the essence is naturally so, neither going nor abiding. Entrust yourself to your nature and unite with the Way, wandering freely and severing affliction. Binding oneself to thoughts opposes the truth; sinking into torpor is likewise not good.

There is no need to weary the spirit; what use are intimacy and estrangement? If you wish to enter the One Vehicle, do not despise the six sense-objects. Not despising the six sense-objects is itself identical with true awakening.

The wise do not contrive; the foolish bind themselves. Dharma does not differ from Dharma; deluded mind itself clings with desire. To use the mind to manipulate the mind—is this not a great mistake?

In delusion, stillness and disturbance arise; in awakening, there is neither good nor bad. All dual extremes arise from discriminating deliberation. Dreams, illusions, and flowers in the sky—why labor to grasp them?

Gain and loss, right and wrong: cast them all away at once. If the eyes do not sleep, all dreams naturally cease. If the mind makes no distinctions, the myriad dharmas are wholly one.

The essence of the One Suchness is profound and exalted; when conditions are forgotten, the myriad dharmas are viewed equally and one returns to naturalness. When distinctions dissolve in this way, no analogy is possible. Still activity and there is no activity; activate stillness and there is no stillness.

Since neither of the two is established, how could the one exist? At the ultimate end, there remain no rules or standards.

Accord with the impartial mind, and all activity ceases. Doubts are completely extinguished, and right faith becomes upright and direct. Nothing whatsoever is retained; nothing can be remembered.

Empty and luminous, it shines by itself, without exerting the power of mind. It is no place for thought or measurement; consciousness and feeling find it difficult to know. In the Dharma realm of true suchness, there is neither self nor other.

If you urgently wish to accord with it, simply say, “Not two.” In nonduality all is equal, and nothing is excluded. The wise throughout the ten directions all enter this principle. This principle is beyond haste or delay: a single thought is ten thousand years.

Nowhere absent, the ten directions are immediately before your eyes. The smallest is equal to the largest, when boundaries are forgotten; the largest is equal to the smallest, when manifestations are unseen. Existence itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is existence.

If it is not thus, you must not preserve it. One is all; all is one. If only you can be thus, why worry that you will not reach the ultimate?

Faith in mind is nondual; nonduality is faith in mind. The path of words is cut off; it is neither past, future, nor present.

3. Inscription on Mind by Chan Master Farong, the First Patriarch of Mount Niutou:

The nature of mind is unborn; why then is seeing and knowing necessary? Originally there is not a single dharma, so how can cultivation and refinement be discussed? Coming and going have no trace; seek them, and they cannot be found.

Do nothing whatsoever, and luminous quiescence manifests of itself. The former shore is like emptiness; not knowing this is to lose sight of the essential teaching. Illuminate objects distinctly, and by following illumination you tacitly attain it.

If the one mind is obstructed, the various dharmas cannot be penetrated. Coming and going are naturally thus; why borrow exhaustive deliberation? Arising bears no characteristic of arising; arising and illumination both end.

If you wish to attain purity of mind, practice with no-mind. Unhindered in every direction, without illumination—this is truly mind. Guarding purity is itself still not free from illness.

When birth and death forget you, that is the original nature. The ultimate principle is wordless, neither opening nor binding. Numinous

Its responsive functioning toward things is ever before the eyes. Before the eyes there is no thing; no thing is clearly apparent. Do not labor intellectually to examine it; its essence is naturally empty and mysterious. Thought arises and thought ceases, yet before and after are no different. When the later thought does not arise, the former thought naturally ends. Throughout the three times, there is no thing, no mind, no Buddha. Sentient beings have no mind; relying upon nonbeing, the mind manifests. Discriminate between ordinary beings and sages, and afflictions only multiply. Calculating and comparing runs counter to the constant; seeking the true runs counter to the right. When both are relinquished, even counteractive remedies are empty, and all is penetrating, luminous, and pure.

No effortful skill is needed; simply preserve the conduct of an infant. To remain keenly alert and discerning only enlarges the net of views. To be silent and see nothing leaves one unmoving in a dark house. Be keenly alert without delusion, silent yet radiant. The myriad phenomena are eternally true; the whole profusion is a single mark. Whether coming, going, sitting, or in any activity, cling to nothing. There is definitively no direction—who then enters or leaves? Neither gathering nor dispersing, neither slow nor swift, natural radiance cannot be reached by words.

Mind is not other than mind; there is no need to cut off greed and lust. The nature is naturally free; let it sink or float as it will. Neither clear nor turbid, neither shallow nor deep. From ancient times it has never been old; though seen as existing, it is not of the present. Seeing abides in nonabiding; seeing is in the original mind. What is ancient has never remained; what is ancient is precisely now. Bodhi is originally present and need not be guarded; afflictions are originally nonexistent and need not be eliminated. Numinous knowing shines by itself; the myriad dharmas return to suchness. Neither returning nor apprehending, cease contemplation and forget guarding.

The four virtues are unborn; the three bodies are originally present. When the six faculties meet their objects, discernment does not become knowing; the one mind is free of delusion, and the myriad conditions are harmonized and straightened. The mind-nature is originally even, dwelling equally without being led.

Unborn, it accords with things and abides secretly wherever it is. Awakening exists because of nonawakening; thus awakening itself is no awakening. Who can discuss good and bad between the two sides of gain and loss?

All conditioned things are originally without fabrication. Know that mind is not mind: there is neither illness nor medicine. When deluded, one abandons phenomena; when awakened, one removes emptiness—there is no difference.

What was ancient cannot be grasped; why should the present be discarded? Assert existence and demons arise; speak of nonexistence, yet the manifold forms are complete.

Do not extinguish ordinary feelings; only teach the cessation of intention. When intention is absent, mind ceases; when mind is absent, activity ends. There is no need to realize emptiness; naturally one becomes luminous and penetrating. When birth and death are utterly extinguished, the mind secretly enters the principle. Open the eyes and see forms, and mind arises following its objects. In mind there is no object; in the object there is no mind. If one uses mind to extinguish objects, this and that thereby encroach upon each other. When mind is quiescent, objects are such; neither driven nor constrained by attachment, objects cease following mind, and mind becomes empty following objects.

When neither place gives rise to anything, there is tranquil clarity. The reflection of bodhi immediately appears, and the water of mind is ever clear. The virtue of the nature is like foolishness, establishing neither intimacy nor estrangement.

It remains unchanged whether loved or sought, and does not choose a dwelling place. Let all conditions swiftly cease and remember nothing at all. The whole day is like night; the whole night is like day.

Outwardly, clamor is stubborn and boisterous; inwardly, the mind remains empty and true. Unmoved when confronting objects—this is the strength of a great person. There is no person and no seeing; though unseen, it is constantly manifest.

Penetrating all things, it has never failed to pervade them. Deliberation is dark activity, obscuring and confusing the essential spirit. Use mind to restrain movement, and the more it is restrained, the more it races.

The myriad dharmas have no place; there is only one gate. Neither entering nor leaving, neither still nor noisy. The wisdom of shravakas and pratyekabuddhas cannot fathom it.

Truly not a single thing exists, yet wondrous wisdom alone remains. The original limit is empty and open, beyond the reach of mind. Right awakening is no awakening; true emptiness is not empty.

All Buddhas of the three times rely upon this principle. This principle contains every minute mote of dust throughout worlds numerous as grains of sand. Attend to nothing at all; set the mind nowhere.

With nowhere to set the mind, empty luminosity protects itself. Serene and silent, it does not arise; free and untrammeled, it moves vertically and horizontally. Whatever is done is unobstructed; walking and standing are equally level.

The sun of wisdom is utterly quiescent; the light of samadhi is luminous and penetrating. Shining upon the garden of signlessness, its radiance becomes nirvana.

When all conditions are exhausted, explanatory speech ceases, the spirit settles, and the substance becomes still. Without ascending the Dharma seat, one sleeps peacefully in an empty hall. Rejoicing in the Way, serene and at ease, one is genuine and true. Nothing is done and nothing is attained; relying on nothing, it does not arise by itself. The Four Immeasurables and Six Paramitas share the path of the One Vehicle. If mind does not arise, the dharmas are known without distinction. Knowing arising as nonarising, one constantly abides in the present. Only the wise can know this; it is not something that can be awakened to through verbal explanation.

4. Inscription on Mind Itself by an Anonymous Monk

Within the Dharma realm is the wish-fulfilling jewel; why should a person long imprison himself? Inscribe upon your breast these words: In ancient times people gathered in the mind. Be vigilant, be vigilant.

Do not think too much; do not know too much. Much knowledge brings many affairs; it is not as good as ending intention. Much thought brings many losses; it is not as good as guarding the one.

Much thought scatters the will; much knowledge disorders the mind. When the mind is disordered, distress arises; when the will is scattered, the Way is obstructed. Do not say there is no harm.

What suffering is like endless sorrow and anxiety? What is more fearful than the calamity of a cauldron of boiling water? If drops of water do not cease, the four seas become full.

If the slightest mote is not swept away, five mountains will soon be formed. Guard against the tip at the root; although the defilement is small, do not take it lightly.

Seal the seven openings and tightly close the six faculties. Do not look at forms; do not listen to sounds. Listening to sounds makes one deaf; looking at forms makes one blind. A single piece of learning, a single thing heard, is a cicada in empty space; a single talent, a single ability, is a tiny lamp beneath the sunlight. Worthies, your talents and arts are obscured by folly. Cast away primal simplicity, and you will sink into the extravagance of flowery display. The horse of consciousness readily bolts; the monkey-mind is difficult to restrain. Once the spirit is wearied, the body is inevitably harmed. If deviant conduct keeps one wholly deluded, the path of cultivation becomes filled with mud.

Do not esteem talent, for the spirit grows increasingly muddled. Boasting of clumsy skill and craving cleverness, virtue does not grow. When fame is great but conduct is meager, what is above will quickly collapse.

Harboring pride and self-glorification within, one will incur resentment and hatred without. Whether spoken by the mouth or written by the hand, courting others so that they praise you is also a foul opening. What ordinary people call good, sages call a fault.

The enjoyment is temporary, but sorrow and suffering endure. Fearing one’s shadow and fearing one’s footprints, the farther one flees, the worse it becomes. Sit upright beneath the shelter of a tree, and footprints disappear while the shadow sinks away.

Weary of birth, old age, and sickness, people nevertheless think and act in accordance with their thoughts. If mental conception ceases, the lineage of birth and death is cut off. Neither dying nor being born, there is neither mark nor name.

The one Way is empty and quiescent; the myriad things are all equal. What is noble, what is base? What is disgrace, what is glory?

What is superior or inferior? What is heavy or light? Settle the celestial spirit; purify the radiant sun, yet be ashamed even of radiance.

Dwell upon the summit of Great Sameness, together with the golden citadel. Respectfully presented to the worthy and wise: this Way is beneficial and steadfast.

5. A Brief Exposition of the Four Practices for Entering the Mahayana Way by Bodhidharma

– Preface by the disciple Tanlin

The Dharma Master was a man of Southern India in the Western Regions, the third prince of a great Brahmin king. His spirit was penetrating and wise; whatever he heard, he immediately understood. His aspiration to seek the Way was lofty and transcendent. Therefore, he abandoned secular life, left home, and perpetuated the flourishing lineage of the sages. His mind secretly rested in empty quiescence, while he thoroughly comprehended worldly affairs. Inwardly and outwardly, he was equally illumined; his virtue was worthy of serving as a model for the world. Compassionately teaching in every region, he secretly aided the true teaching.

Thereupon, he journeyed from afar through mountains and rivers, spreading the teaching throughout the lands of Han and Wei. Those who had forgotten mind all took refuge and placed faith in him, while those who still harbored views slandered him. At that time there were two shramanas, Daoyu and Huike.

Though still young, their aspirations were great and far-reaching. Fortunate enough to encounter the Dharma Master, they attended him for several years, reverently seeking instruction and fully according with the teacher’s intent. The Dharma Master was moved by their sincerity and transmitted the true Way to them, teaching them how to pacify the mind, how to initiate practice, how to accord with things, and how to employ skillful means.

This is the Mahayana Dharma of pacifying the mind, enabling one to remain free from error. Pacifying the mind in this way means sitting in wall-contemplation. Initiating practice in this way means undertaking the four practices.

According with things in this way means guarding against resentment. Employing skillful means in this way means remaining free from attachment. This is a brief account of the reasons for these teachings.

– Main Text: There are many paths for entering the Way, but in summary they do not go beyond two kinds: the first is entrance through principle, and the second is entrance through practice.

– Entrance through principle means awakening to the essential principle through the teachings and firmly believing that all living beings possess the same true nature, which is merely obscured by adventitious defilements and deluded thoughts and therefore cannot manifest clearly. If one can abandon delusion and return to the true, concentrating one’s gaze upon

like a wall, without self or other; ordinary beings and sages are all one, steadfast and
unchanging. Nor does one follow written teachings. This is a tacit accord
with the ultimate principle, without discrimination, serene, quiescent, and unconditioned; this is called entry through principle.

– As for entry through practice, it consists of four practices; all other practices are

included within them. What are the four? 1. The Practice of Requiting Enmity, 2. The Practice of Following Conditions, 3. The Practice of Seeking Nothing, and 4. The Practice of Accordance with the Dharma.
1. The Practice of Requiting Enmity: When practitioners encounter various forms of suffering, they should
reflect within themselves: “For countless past kalpas, I abandoned the root and followed the branches, drifting
through the various realms of existence, giving rise to much resentment and hatred and inflicting immeasurable harm. Although now
I have committed no offense or evil, the evil karma of many former lives has now ripened into its fruit.
Neither gods nor humans can foresee it or rescue me from it; therefore, I should willingly accept
it without the slightest resentment or complaint.” The scripture says: “When encountering suffering, do not grieve.” Why is this? Because
when this understanding arises, it accords with principle; one understands that enmity and affliction serve to advance one upon the Way—as a trial. Therefore, this is called the Practice of Requiting Enmity.
2. The Practice of Following Conditions: Sentient beings are without self and are all transformed according to conditions and
karma. The suffering and happiness they experience both arise from conditions. If one receives an excellent recompense
—a favorable karmic result—such as honor, prosperity, and other benefits, it is because causes planted in a former life
have brought it about, and thus one receives it now. When those conditions are exhausted, nothing joyful remains.
Gain and loss follow conditions, while the mind neither increases nor diminishes. Unmoved by the winds of joy,
one tacitly accords with the Way. Therefore, this is called the Practice of Following Conditions.
3. The Practice of Seeking Nothing: Worldly people remain deluded and attached
everywhere; this is called seeking. The wise awaken to the truth and differ from the worldly. They rest their minds in the unconditioned, while their forms
move in accordance with circumstances. All conditioned existences are empty, and there is nothing in them to desire or enjoy. Dark and meritorious karma
constantly follow one another; dwelling long in the three realms is like living in a burning house. Wherever there is a body,
there is suffering—who can attain peace? Understanding this, one relinquishes all states of existence,
puts an end to conceptual thought, and seeks nothing. The scripture says: “All seeking entails suffering; when there is no seeking, there is joy.”
Clearly knowing that seeking nothing is the true practice of the Way, this is therefore called the Practice of
Seeking Nothing.
4. The Practice of Accordance with the Dharma: The principle of intrinsic purity is called Dharma. In this principle, all characteristics
are empty; it is undefiled and unattached, neither this nor that.
The scripture says: “The Dharma contains no sentient being, because it is free from the defilement of sentient being; the Dharma contains no
self, because it is free from the defilement of self.” If the wise can believe in and understand this principle, they should act
in accordance with the Dharma. Since the substance of Dharma is free from stinginess and miserliness, they give away body, life, and wealth
in generosity, without any reluctance or regret. They fully understand the threefold emptiness, relying on nothing
and clinging to nothing. Merely to cast off defilements and benefit sentient beings in accordance with their needs, they do not cling to
characteristics. This benefits oneself while also benefiting others, and it can also
adorn the bodhi path. As with generosity, so too the other five paramitas are practiced without anything being done. This
is called the Practice of Accordance with the Dharma.
6. Record Revealing the Tenet by Great Master Heze.
No-thought is the tenet, nonaction is the basis, true emptiness is the essence, and wondrous existence is the
function. True suchness is without thought: without resorting to conceptual thought, one knows the true characteristic.
How could the unborn be form that the mind might see it? To be without thought yet to think is to contemplate
true suchness; to be unborn yet to arise is the arising of the true characteristic; to abide without abiding is to
abide perpetually in nirvana; to practice without practicing is to cross to the other shore. Suchness remains
unmoving, yet its responsive activity is inexhaustible. Thought after thought seeks nothing; seeking is fundamentally without thought. Bodhi
cannot be attained; by purifying the five faculties, one comprehends the three bodies. Prajnaparamita is
without knowing, yet it exercises the six superknowledges and propagates the four wisdoms. Thus one knows that it is samadhi yet no samadhi,
wisdom yet no wisdom, practice yet no practice. Its nature is like empty space,
and its essence is identical with the dharmadhatu. From this, the six paramitas are perfected, and thereby the factors of the Way
lack nothing. Only then does one know that both dharmas and self are empty in essence, and both existence and nonexistence vanish. The mind is originally
without action, and the Way is forever without thought. No contemplation, no thinking, no seeking, no attainment;
neither that nor this, neither retreating nor advancing. One realizes the three insights.
The mind penetrates the eight liberations. Accomplishing the ten powers, one is enriched with the seven treasures. One enters
the gate of nonduality and realizes the principle of the One Vehicle. The wondrous within the wondrous is the Dharma-body; the heaven
of heavens is precisely vajra wisdom. Vacuous and luminous, ever quiescent, it responds and functions without fixed direction. It functions yet is always
empty; it is empty yet always functions. Functioning without existence is true emptiness;
being empty yet not empty constitutes wondrous existence. Wondrous existence is Maha
Prajnaparamita; true emptiness is pure nirvana. Prajnaparamita is the cause of
nirvana. Nirvana is the fruit of prajnaparamita. Prajnaparamita does not see, yet it can
see nirvana; nirvana does not arise, yet it can give rise to prajnaparamita. Nirvana and prajnaparamita
have different names but the same essence. Names are established according to meaning; therefore, this is called having no fixed
characteristic. Because nirvana can give rise to prajnaparamita, it is called the true Buddha Dharma-body.
Because prajnaparamita can bring forth nirvana, it is called the Tathagata’s Knowledge and Vision. Knowledge is
knowing that the mind is empty and quiescent; vision is seeing that the nature is unborn. Knowledge and vision are
perfectly clear, neither one nor different. Thus activity and quiescence are perpetually wondrous, and principle and phenomena alike are
suchness. To penetrate freely everywhere is precisely the nonobstruction of principle and phenomena. When the six faculties are
undefiled, this is the efficacy of samadhi and wisdom; when the six consciousnesses are not constrained by their objects, this is the power of
suchness. When the mind is such, objects perish; when objects vanish, the mind is empty. When mind and objects are both
forgotten, essence and function are not different. When the nature of true suchness is pure, the mirror of wisdom is boundless. Like
water reflecting a thousand moons, it is capable of seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing. Seeing, hearing, understanding, and knowing
are ever empty and quiescent. Emptiness is signlessness; quiescence is nonarising. One is not
bound by good and evil, not controlled by purity and confusion, not weary of samsara,
and not enamored of nirvana. Nothing is not empty, and existence cannot truly exist. Whether walking, standing,
sitting, or lying down, the mind does not waver. At all times, one attains that wherein there is nothing to attain.
The teachings of all Buddhas of the three times are only thus, and this is what compassionate bodhisattvas have successively
transmitted to one another. Since the Blessed One entered parinirvana, the twenty-eight patriarchs of India
successively transmitted the mind of nonabiding and together proclaimed the Tathagata’s Knowledge and Vision. When Bodhidharma came to this land, he became the first patriarch
here, and the transmission has continued unbroken until the present day. The esoteric teaching that is transmitted must be
entrusted to a worthy person, like the jewel in the topknot, which is never bestowed falsely. Adornment with both merit and wisdom,
and correspondence between practice and understanding, are necessary before it can be established. The robe represents faith in the Dharma and reliance upon the tenet.
Only in reliance upon the Dharma is it transmitted; ultimately, there is no other Dharma. Inwardly, the mind-seal is
transmitted, its seal tallying with the original mind. Outwardly, the kasaya is transmitted to manifest
the essential tenet. Without the robe, the Dharma is not transmitted; without the Dharma,
the robe is not received. The robe is the robe of faith in the Dharma; the Dharma is the Dharma of nonarising. Nonarising means
being free from falsity; it is precisely the mind’s emptiness and quiescence. Knowing emptiness and quiescence, one comprehends the
Dharma-body; comprehending the Dharma-body, one is truly liberated.
7. The Harmony of Difference and Sameness by the Venerable Shitou of Nanyue.
The mind of the Great Sage of India was intimately transmitted from East to West.
People’s faculties may be keen or dull, but the Way has no northern or southern patriarch. The source of spiritual
luminosity is bright and pure; its branching streams flow forth separately. To cling to phenomena is fundamentally delusion; even to accord with principle is still not
enlightenment. Each and every sense gate and all its objects interact and do not interact;
interacting, they mutually involve one another; otherwise, each abides in its own position. Forms fundamentally differ in shape and appearance;
sounds fundamentally differ as pleasant or painful. Clear and turbid phrases are distinguished by understanding the words;
refined and common expressions are discerned within the sentences. The natures of the four great elements each remain, like a child finding its mother.
Fire is hot, wind moves, water is wet, and earth is solid.
The eye sees forms, the ear hears sounds, the nose smells odors, and the tongue tastes salty and sour flavors. Yet
in accordance with each and every dharma, they spread like leaves arising from roots. Root and branches must
return to the fundamental tenet; noble and lowly are terms employed in speech. Within brightness there is certainly darkness;
do not encounter it merely as darkness. Within darkness there is certainly brightness;
do not see it merely as brightness. Brightness and darkness oppose one another,
like the steps before and behind. The myriad things each have their function; one must speak of their use

reaches the place. When phenomena remain concealed, principle must be supported by incisive terminology. Understand the School through words, but do not establish rules of your own. Though it fills the eyes, it is not the Way; when you lift your foot, how will you know the road? Taking a step brings you neither nearer nor farther; when deluded, mountains and rivers stand between. I respectfully urge those who investigate the mystery: do not let the days and months pass in vain.

8. Master Chengguan’s Reply to the Imperial Crown Prince’s Question About the Essential Mind, at the Nation-Protecting Monastery on Mount Wutai

The utmost Way is originally called this mind, and the Dharma of mind is fundamentally said to be non-abiding. In non-abiding, the essence of mind is numinously aware and never obscured; its nature and characteristics are tranquil, encompassing virtuous functions, embracing both within and without. It may be profound or vast, yet it is neither existent nor nonexistent. It neither arises nor ceases, has neither beginning nor end; sought, it cannot be obtained, yet cast aside, it never departs.

When direct perception is obscured, delusion and suffering arise in turmoil; when the true nature is awakened to, everything is penetratingly empty and luminous. Although mind itself is Buddha, only one who realizes it knows. Yet if there is realization and there is knowing, the sun of wisdom sinks into the realm of existence. If there is neither illumination nor awakening, dark clouds obscure the gate of emptiness. If not a single thought arises, the boundaries of before and after are cut off. The illuminating essence stands alone, and self and others are alike suchness. Right at the source of mind there is neither wisdom nor attainment. There is neither grasping nor rejecting, neither counteraction nor cultivation.

Yet delusion and awakening depend upon truth and falsity and stand in opposition to one another. If one seeks the true and abandons the false, it is like exhausting oneself trying to cast away one’s shadow. If one knows that the false is itself the true, it is like standing in darkness, whereupon the shadow necessarily vanishes. If, without mind, one forgets illumination, the myriad anxieties all disappear. If one lets tranquil awareness function naturally, all practices then arise. Let it freely abide or depart; calmly examine and clearly know its source. Whether speaking or silent, do not lose the mysterious subtlety; whether moving or still, never depart from the Dharma realm.

To speak only of stillness is to lose awareness—awareness within stillness; to discuss contemplation is the dual illumination of tranquil awareness—stillness within awareness. Speaking of realization, it cannot be shown to another; speaking of principle, there is no realization in which it is not fully understood. Therefore, awaken to stillness without being still, and truly know without knowing, for aware stillness is nondual and is the one mind. Accord with neither nonexistence nor existence, and the Middle Way is contained therein. Neither abiding nor attached, neither gathering nor taking in, both right and wrong are forgotten, and both subject and object cease. When even this cessation is quiescent, prajna appears before one.

Prajna does not newly arise outside the mind; the nature of wisdom has always been inherently complete. Yet what is originally tranquil cannot manifest by itself; it is truly through the efficacy of prajna. Prajna and the nature of wisdom mutually interact and come to fulfillment. Innate wisdom and cultivation from the beginning are truly not two essences. When both are forgotten and one enters correctly, wondrous awakening is perfectly luminous. When beginning and end interpenetrate, cause and effect flow through each other. Mind after mind becomes Buddha, and there is not a single mind that is not a Buddha-land. Every place where the Way is accomplished is such that not a single mote of dust is not a Buddha-land.

Therefore, truth and falsity, things and self—raise one and all are gathered within it. The minds of Buddhas and sentient beings mingle and are all equal. Thus one should know: in delusion, people follow dharmas; dharma after dharma differs in myriad ways, and people are not the same. In awakening, dharmas follow each person; every person shares the one wisdom, which embraces the myriad objects. When speech and thought cease, what is effect and what is cause? The essence is originally silent and empty—who is the same and who is different? Without forgetting, embrace the vast openness, and trust in unhurried ease. It is also like the moon penetrating water and flowers pervading empty space, yet nothing is seen. Without mind, images differ; though illuminating, it is always empty.

9. The Acupuncture Needle of Seated Meditation by the Venerable of Wuyun in Hangzhou

Sitting does not bind the body, and meditation does not cling to objects. Binding leads to indolence and weariness; clinging prevents purity. Neither bound nor attached, the true light shines afar; the six gates all respond, and the myriad practices are displayed together.

Alas! Beginners who have not yet penetrated the mysterious subtlety sink wherever movement leads them; subject and object become fragmented and estranged. Lacking skillful means, they recklessly apply countermeasures, driving and restraining themselves, suppressing and controlling themselves, trying to regulate dullness and confusion, cut off thought, and forget conditions, becoming like a corpse. Open and close according to conditions; do not devote yourself solely to wall-gazing. When racing thoughts again become many, use anapana. As conditions flow, examine and admonish yourself, without becoming as stagnant as a wooden goose.

It is like fire receiving water, or sickness receiving medicine. When the sickness is cured, the medicine is put away; when the fire is extinguished, the water is forgotten. A single thought of purity: its essence is tranquil yet always numinous. That numinosity is clear and distinct, yet there is neither numinosity nor tranquility. If right and wrong are allowed to arise freely, errors become boundless; when the former disappears, the latter arises again, like steps in walking. When the illness departs, one does not know it; when one knows, there is no error. Day follows upon the back of night, as that mirror reflects what is behind. Here it is not so: it is perfectly luminous and thoroughly penetrating.

It illuminates without depending on conditions; it is tranquil, yet who could guard it? The myriad phenomena fill the vessel of great emptiness. A flash of lightning collapses the demon’s palace and topples the Buddha’s sanctuary. The lame can walk; the blind can see. The Dharma realm and the dusty world appear simultaneously, swift and vast, encompassing hills and mounds, whether sitting or sleeping. Having spoken of skillful means, one then calls it the Golden Immortal. Though I have spoken under constraint, it accords with the words of the sages. What did the sages say that requires repetition?

Not moving and not meditating is the meditation of non-arising. It is also said: if one studies the various samadhis, this is movement, not seated meditation, for if the mind drifts along with objects, how can it be called concentration? Therefore, know that throughout the generations the patriarchs transmitted only this one mind. The light of the patriarchs has long shone greatly, and we are fortunate to have received it. I shall relate the purport beyond words and call it The Acupuncture Needle of Seated Meditation.

10. Song of Realizing the Way by Great Master Zhenjue of Yongjia

Do you not see:
The one who has ended learning and rests in the unconditioned is a leisurely person of the Way;
He neither eliminates deluded thoughts nor seeks the true.
The real nature of ignorance is itself Buddha-nature;
This empty, illusory body is itself the Dharma body.

When the Dharma body is clearly realized, not a single thing exists;
The original source and self-nature are the Buddha of innate truth.
The five skandhas are floating clouds, without coming or going;
The three poisons are bubbles on water, falsely appearing and vanishing.

Once true reality is realized, there are neither persons nor dharmas;
In a ksana, the karma of Avici is extinguished.
If I use false words to deceive sentient beings,
My tongue shall surely be cut out for kalpas as numerous as grains of dust and sand.

Suddenly awaken and fully comprehend the Tathagata’s meditation;
The six paramitas and myriad practices are perfect within its essence.
In a dream, clearly and distinctly, there are the six realms;
After awakening: empty, empty—there is no great thousandfold world.

There is neither merit nor sin, neither loss nor gain;
Within the nature of tranquil cessation, do not seek or inquire.
The dusty mirror that has never been polished before
Must today be clearly discerned and analyzed.

Release the four great elements; do not grasp them.
Within the nature of tranquil cessation, eat and drink as circumstances permit.
All conditioned practices are impermanent; everything is empty:
This is the Tathagata’s great, perfect awakening.

These definitive words express the true vehicle;
If someone will not accept them, let him question as he pleases.
To cut off the root-source is what the Buddha sealed and approved;
I cannot pluck leaves and search among branches.

People do not recognize the mani jewel;
It is found within the Tathagata-garbha.
The six kinds of wondrous function are empty yet not empty;
A single orb of perfect light has form yet is formless.

Purify the five eyes and attain the five powers;
Only upon realization can one discern them; they are truly difficult to fathom.
Seeing one’s reflection in a mirror is not difficult;
But how can one grasp the moon in the water?

Always walking alone, always stepping alone,
The accomplished ones journey together on the road to nirvana.
Their tune is ancient, their spirit pure, their bearing naturally lofty;
Their faces are gaunt, their bones are firm, and no one takes notice.

The destitute sons of Shakya call themselves poor;
Their bodies are truly poor, but the Way is not poor.
In poverty, their bodies are always clothed in rags;
In the Way, their minds contain a priceless jewel.

This priceless treasure is used without exhaustion;
Benefiting beings at the proper time, they are never sparing.
The three bodies and four wisdoms are perfect within the essence;
A person of superior capacity resolves one matter and comprehends all.

Those of middling and lesser capacities hear much, yet believe less;
They merely strip the soiled garments from within themselves.
Who knows those who outwardly boast of diligence?
Let others slander; let them commit wrongdoing.

One who holds fire to burn the sky only burns himself.
I hear it as though drinking sweet dew;
It dissolves and enters at once into the inconceivable.
Regard malicious words as merit and virtue;

Then the speaker becomes my spiritual friend.
If slander does not provoke thoughts of resentment or partiality,
How else could the power of compassion and patience in the unborn be revealed?
The School is penetrated, and speech is also penetrated;
Samadhi and wisdom are perfectly luminous, without stagnating in emptiness.

Not only have I now alone attained complete understanding;
The essence of all Buddhas, countless as the sands of the Ganges, is wholly the same.
The lion roars, proclaiming fearlessness;
The hundred beasts, hearing the sound, have their brains split apart.
Fragrant elephants flee in haste, all their majesty lost;
Devas and dragons listen silently and give rise to joy.
I wandered over rivers and seas, climbed hills and mountains,
Seeking teachers and learning the Way, practicing Chan inquiry.
Since receiving the path of Caoxi,
I have clearly understood that birth and death do not concern me.
Walking is Chan, and sitting is Chan;
In speech or silence, movement or stillness, the essence rests at ease.
Even when meeting the spearpoint, I remain ever composed;
Even amid many poisons, I remain entirely at leisure.
Our Teacher met Dipankara Buddha
And for many kalpas practiced patience without cease.
How many times born, how many times dead—
Birth and death continued endlessly, without respite.
Since sudden awakening brought realization of the unborn,
Amid honor or disgrace, there is neither joy nor sorrow.
Entering deep mountains, dwelling in an aranya,
On lofty peaks, secluded beneath ancient pines,
I roam at ease and sit serenely in the Sangha courtyard;
Silent, peaceful, and secure—truly free of vexation.
Awakening is complete understanding, attained without effort;
All conditioned dharmas are not the same.
Giving while abiding in characteristics produces heavenly merit,
Like facing upward and shooting an arrow into empty space.
When its force is exhausted, the arrow immediately falls,
And what is gained in later lives does not accord with one’s wishes.
How could this compare with the unconditioned gate of true reality,
Through which one leaps directly into the Tathagata’s ground?
Only grasp the root; do not worry about the branches,
Like pure crystal holding the precious moon within.
Having understood this true wish-fulfilling jewel,
Benefiting oneself and others will never come to an end.
The moon shines upon the river, and the wind blows through the pines;
Throughout the clear, silent night, what is there to be done?
The Buddha-nature’s precept-jewel is the mind-ground’s seal;
Mist and clouds, dawn haze and evening glow, are the robe upon its body.
The bowl that subdued dragons, the staff that parted fighting tigers,
And the golden rings upon its shaft ring out distinctly.
These are not displayed as empty outward forms;
The Tathagata’s jeweled staff personally bears their traces.
Do not seek the true; do not cut off delusion.
Clearly understand that both dharmas are without characteristics.
The characteristicless is neither empty nor nonempty;
This is precisely the Tathagata’s true characteristic.
Mind and objects are like a bright mirror, unobstructed,
Open, luminous, and penetrating throughout worlds countless as sand.
The myriad forms in all their profusion appear within its reflection;
A single orb of perfect radiance has neither inside nor outside.
To comprehend emptiness yet reject cause and effect
Is recklessly to invite boundless calamity.
Abandoning existence and clinging to emptiness is the same affliction,
Like escaping drowning only to leap into fire.
Abandon the deluded mind and seize the true principle—
The mind of grasping and rejecting thereby becomes deceitful.
Students who do not understand this take it for cultivation;
They truly mistake a thief for their own son.
Their Dharma wealth is squandered and all merit destroyed,
All because of this mind, mentation, and consciousness.
Therefore, the Chan gate teaches recognition of mind,
So that one may swiftly enter the power of the knowledge and vision of the unborn.
The great man grasps the sword of wisdom,
The blade of prajna, the vajra flame.
It not only destroys the minds of non-Buddhists,
But quickly causes the courage of heavenly maras to fall away.
It shakes the Dharma thunder and beats the Dharma drum,
Spreads clouds of compassion, and pours down ambrosial dew.
The stride of dragons and elephants moistens beings without limit;
Those of the Three Vehicles and five natures all awaken.
The pure ghee from the Snow Mountains contains no admixture;
It is pure ghee alone, which I consume.
One nature perfectly penetrates all natures;
One Dharma universally contains all dharmas.
One moon appears throughout all waters;
All moons in the waters are embraced by the one moon.
The Dharma-bodies of all Buddhas enter my nature;
My nature, in turn, merges with the Tathagata.
One Ground fully contains all Grounds;
It is neither form, nor mind, nor karmic activity.
Chan alone is perfectly accomplished and enters the myriad gates;
In a single instant, Avici karma is entirely extinguished.
All these many phrases are no phrases at all;
What connection have they with my numinous awareness?
It cannot be disparaged and cannot be praised;
Its essence is like empty space, without shore or boundary.
Without departing from the present place, it is utterly open;
When sought, you know it cannot be seen.
It cannot be grasped; it cannot be cast aside.
Within the unattainable, what is there to attain?
Silent while speaking, speaking while silent,
It opens the gate of great generosity, never obstructed.
If someone asks what teaching I understand,
I reply: the power of maha-prajna.
Whether right or wrong, people cannot know it;
Whether proceeding against or in accord, even heaven cannot fathom it.
Long ago, I passed through cultivation for many kalpas;
These are not idle words meant to deceive one another.
Raise the Dharma banner and establish the essential doctrine;
Clearly proclaim the Buddha’s command of Caoxi.
Mahakasyapa was the first to transmit the lamp;
Twenty-eight generations of patriarchs succeeded one another in India.
The Dharma was transmitted eastward into this land,
Where Bodhidharma became the First Patriarch.
For six generations the robe was transmitted, as all beneath heaven heard;
Those who later attained the Way were beyond number.
The true is not established; delusion is fundamentally nonexistent.
Both existence and nonexistence are dismissed, yet this is not empty nothingness.
The twenty gates of emptiness are fundamentally without attachment;
The single Tathagata-nature is identical in essence.
Mind is the faculty; dharmas are its objects;
The two are like blemishes upon a mirror.
When the stains are completely removed, the light first appears;
When mind and dharmas both vanish, the nature is immediately true.
Alas! In this evil age of the Dharma’s decline,
Beings have scant merit and are difficult to discipline.
Far removed from the sages, their views are deeply entrenched;
Maras are strong, the Dharma is weak, and hostility and harm abound.
Hearing the Tathagata’s gate of sudden teaching,
They resentfully wish to destroy it and smash it like tiles.
The mind creates it, but the body suffers the painful calamity;
There is no need to blame others, much less to surpass them in resentment.
If you wish to avoid the karma of the uninterrupted hell,
Do not revile the Tathagata’s wheel of true Dharma.
The sandalwood forest contains no other trees;
Dense and profound, it is where lions dwell.
In the pure realm of springs and forests, they roam alone;
Running beasts and flying birds all keep far away.
The multitude follows behind the lion cub;
At three years old, it already lets forth a mighty roar.
If it is merely a jackal following the Dharma King,
Even after a hundred years, that demon opens its mouth in vain.
The perfect and sudden teaching admits no human sentiment;
If doubts remain unresolved, they must immediately be cast aside.
This is not the mountain monk asserting himself before others;
Cultivation may fall into the pits of annihilationism and eternalism.
Wrong and not wrong, right and not right—
A deviation of a hair’s breadth leads a thousand miles astray.
Thus the Dragon Girl swiftly attained Buddhahood;
Otherwise, how could a heavenly being be born only to fall?
From early on, I studied extensively
And also composed commentaries while searching the sutras and treatises.
I discriminated names and characteristics without knowing when to stop;
Entering the sea to count its sands, I wearied myself in vain.
Then the Tathagata repeatedly reproached me:
“What benefit is there in counting another person’s treasures?”
Only now, bewildered, do I recognize that futile practice;
For many years I vainly wandered as a traveler through wind and dust.
The seed-nature was there, but understanding was mistaken;
I did not comprehend the Tathagata’s perfect and sudden decree.
Those of the Two Vehicles, though faithful and diligent, lose the mind of the Way;
Non-Buddhists may be clever, yet they lack wisdom.
They are both foolish and muddle-headed, dull and witless;
Seeing a finger upon a clenched fist, they imagine it to be real.
Clinging to the finger as the moon, they labor in vain;
Within the Dharma, faculties and objects appear strangely wondrous in vain.
To see not a single dharma is itself to see the Tathagata;
Only then may one be called Avalokitesvara.
Once understood, karmic obstructions are known to have always been empty;
Before understanding, one must still repay former debts.
A starving person may encounter the king’s meal yet be unable to eat;
A sick person may encounter the king of medicines, yet how can it be used?
Practice Chan within desire through the power of knowledge and vision;
The lotus blooming in fire is never destroyed.
Though one has gravely violated the precepts, upon realizing the unborn,
One swiftly attains Buddhahood right here.
The lion roars—speaking without fear;
How lamentable are those who remain confused and cling to tattered hides!
They know only that grave offenses obstruct bodhi,
But do not see the secret key revealed by the Tathagata.
There were two bhiksus who committed sexual misconduct and killing;
Upali’s brilliant jewel only increased their knots of guilt.
The great being Vimalakirti swiftly dispelled their doubts,
Like the radiant sun melting frost and snow.
The inconceivable power of liberation—
This indeed becomes my good spiritual friend.
For the four kinds of offerings, how could I shrink from toil?
Even ten thousand measures of pure gold could be received.
Though my body were crushed and my bones ground to dust, the debt would still be hard to repay;
Understanding a single phrase surpasses tens of billions.
The King of the Dharma is the highest of all;
Tathagatas countless as the sands of the Ganges realize it together.
I now understand this wish-fulfilling jewel;
All who accept it in faith accord with it.
See clearly that there is not a single thing,
Neither person nor Buddha.
The great trichiliocosm is but foam upon the sea;
All sages and worthies are like flashes of lightning.
Even if an iron wheel revolved above my head,
Perfectly luminous samadhi and wisdom would never be lost.
The sun may turn cold, and the moon may turn hot,
But no mara can destroy this true proclamation.
The towering elephant and horse advance along the road;
Who has ever seen a locust capable of stopping a cart?
The great elephant does not travel the path where rabbits run;
Great awakening does not cling to petty details.
Do not peer through a tube and then disparage the blue sky;
If you still do not understand, I shall now resolve it for you.

11. Song of Understanding the Source by Venerable Teng Teng

Cultivating the Way—the Way cannot be cultivated;
Asking about the Dharma—the Dharma cannot be questioned.
The deluded do not understand form and emptiness;
The awakened fundamentally have neither accord nor opposition.
The eighty-four thousand Dharma gates—
The ultimate principle is never even an inch away.
Learn to recognize the citadel of your own home;
Do not falsely seek the villages and districts of others.
There is no need for broad study or extensive learning.

12. Song of Master Lan Tỏa of Southern Peak.

13. Song of the Grass Hut by Master Shitou.

I have built a grass hut containing no treasures;
After eating, I leisurely prepare to sleep.
When it was completed, fresh thatch first appeared;
When it wears out, I cover it anew with thatch.
The person dwelling in the hut is ever present amid the dust,
Belonging neither to the inner, the outer, nor the space between.
Where worldly people dwell, I do not dwell;
What worldly people cherish, I do not cherish.
Though the hut is small, it encompasses the Dharma realm;
An elder within a square fathom understands it clearly.
Bodhisattvas of the Supreme Vehicle believe without doubt;
Those of middling and lesser capacities hear of it and find it strange.
They ask whether this hut decays or does not decay;
Whether it decays or does not decay, the master originally abides.
It does not abide in the south, north, west, or east;
Founded upon a firm foundation, it is best of all.
Beneath green pines, light shines through the window;
Jade halls and vermilion towers cannot compare.
With the patched robe covering my head, the myriad affairs cease.
At this moment, this mountain monk understands nothing at all.
Dwelling in this hut, put an end to understanding and knowledge.
Who would boast of laying out mats to entice buyers?
Turn the light around and shine it back, and directly return.
The numinous root expands freely, never opposing its direction.
Encounter the ancestral teachers and receive their personal instruction;
Bind grass to make a hut and do not retreat.
After a hundred years, cast it away and let it fall as it may;
Release your hands and depart, again without blame.
A thousand kinds of speech, ten thousand kinds of understanding—
I only wish to teach you never to be deluded.
If you wish to know the deathless person within the hut,
How could that one be apart from this present bag of skin?

14. Song of Delighting in the Way by Master Daowu.

This mountain monk, delighting in the Way, lets his nature roam free;
Let heaven revolve and earth turn as they will.
I lie at leisure on the high mountain, without companion;
Alone I sing a song of the unborn.
The song of the unborn is the joy of transcending the world;
It is laughable that people of the age cannot paint or trace it.
Freely delighting in the Way surpasses dragging out a remnant life;
Zhang the Third and Li the Fourth are all utterly forgotten.
A great man must possess heroic spirit,
Neither complying with human sentiments nor meeting obstruction.
You say that compliance itself is bodhi;
I say that from the beginning it inherently contradicts appearances.
At times resolute, at times foolish—
If this is not my path, how could you know it?
Independent and accomplished, throughout life I always follow circumstances;
A rustic traveler with no village to which he might return.
Today this mountain monk is simply thus;
Originally, what else did this mountain monk ever do?
I visited the ancestral loom, empty of royal heirs;
My substance resembles drifting clouds, vanishing at the end of life.
Since remote antiquity, my intention has remained broad beneath the patched robe;
How many times have warmth and cold already passed?
It is neither true nor counterfeit;
Avoid emptying the six spirits merely to bow in worship.
The lucid single Way is like clouds upon the River Han;
Green mountains and green waters do not resemble one another.
The original nature is complete and never changes;
Knotted horns and silken gauze do not obstruct one another.
At times I bring forth loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity;
At times, on encountering someone, I use the staff to open the way.
Compassionate affection and attachment delight in bonds and fetters;
The staff strikes to teach them to break through affection and attachment.
I announce this beneath the moon to travelers lodging abroad:
If any possess sentimental attachment, I shall transform it for them.

15. Song of the Single Bowl, by an Anonymous Author.

Stop the unbearable clamor of horns;
It all stretches on endlessly, provoking contention.
Like eating salt when hungry, it only makes one thirstier;
A whole life is wasted amid the luxuriant green grass.
Ultimately unable to know what comes before or after,
When this dead corpse is cast away, where will you escape?
I urge you, brother, to strive to seek liberation;
When idle affairs arise, you must draw back from them.
When fire falls upon your body, brush it off at once;
Do not wait until trouble comes before calling upon the bodhisattvas.
A true man must speak with penetrating clarity;
Do not imitate fools who submit to being stroked and soothed.
While learning amid entanglements, learn also to cast them off;
Learn gentleness as well, and eat coarse rice as well.
Shave your head as well and put on the robe as well;
Learn also to live in accord with ordinary people.
I speak directly to you, yet you still do not understand;
So once again I compose a long song—the Song of the Single Bowl.
The Song of the Single Bowl: one within the many, the many within the one.
Do not laugh at the rustic who sings of the single bowl.
With a single bowl I once ferried beings across the Saha world;
The night watch is silent beneath a single crescent moon.
At that time, its formless light envelops the myriad phenomena;
In how many places does this floating life form judgments of right and wrong?
The single source of purity neither comes nor goes.
Moreover, do not turn the mind into froth upon the water.
Blood flowing from a hundred hairs is the teaching of attachment.
Not knowing how to sit quietly upon the ground of suchness,
One lets birds build nests atop one’s head.
For ten thousand generations, one is a son of the Golden Wheel King;
It is solely this suchness, this numinous awareness.
Beneath the Bodhi tree are sentient beings;
When all sentient beings are liberated, there is neither birth nor death.
Neither born nor dying—the true great man;
Formless and markless—the Great Vairocana.
When the defilements of worldly toil are extinguished, suchness manifests;
A single, perfectly luminous fruit—the priceless pearl.
The eye does not see; the ear does not hear;
Not seeing and not hearing are true seeing and hearing.
Since antiquity, the single phrase has been without words;
Today, a thousand words are forcibly assigned as its portion.
Forcibly assigned as its portion—you must listen closely:
Everyone possesses the nature of suchness.
It is like pure gold concealed within ore;
Refined again and again, the essence of gold becomes pure.
The true is delusion; delusion is the true.
If true and deluded are removed, there is no person remaining.
With the true mind, do not falsely give rise to afflictions;
Eat and dress according to the occasion to sustain the physical body.
Cling to what is good, and one is attached; cling to what is inferior, and one is attached;
Be wholly without contriving mind and free from defiling attachment.
There is neither bad nor good;
Beyond both shores, at ease, is the impartial Way.
Eat what is coarse, and eat what is fine as well;
Do not imitate ordinary people who contemplate superior appearances.
There is neither coarse nor fine;
The fragrant provisions of the upper realm have no roots.
Sitting is also walking; walking is also sitting;
Beneath the tree of birth and death grows the fruit of bodhi.
There is neither sitting nor walking;
Where there is no birth, why seek the unborn?
Birth is acceptable; death is acceptable;
Everywhere in the future you will encounter Maitreya.
There is neither birth nor death;
The Tathagatas of the three times are all thus.
To abandon is to cling; to cling is to abandon;
Within the gate of illusory transformation, there is no real meaning.
It cannot be abandoned; it cannot be clung to;
Where else would you seek the medicine jar of emptiness?
When speaking, be silent; when silent, speak.
Whether speech or silence, vertically or horizontally, there is no abiding place.
There is neither speaking nor silence;
Do not call east and west south and north.
Anger itself is joy; joy itself is anger;
After subduing Mara, I turn the Dharma wheel.

Neither angry, nor joyful;
Water apart from waves, waves are precisely water.
To grasp is to cast away, and to cast away is to grasp;
Not apart from inside, outside, or the space between.
Neither grasping, nor casting away;
Quiescent and empty, it cannot be seized.
Suffering amid joy, joy amid suffering;
Only bar the paths and gates of cultivation.
Neither suffering, nor joy;
From the beginning, free and unbound.
Defilement is purity, purity is defilement;
Ultimately, the two sides have neither before nor after.
Neither defilement, nor purity;
The great good comprehends the single nature of true suchness.
Medicine is illness, illness is medicine;
When the time comes, both matters must be grasped.
Neither medicine, nor illness;
This precisely is the keenly awakened nature of true suchness.
Mara becomes Buddha, Buddha becomes Mara;
Seeking an image in a mirror, waves upon water.
Neither Mara, nor Buddha;
Throughout the three times, from the beginning, there has not been a single thing.
The ordinary is the sacred, the sacred is the ordinary;
Green pigment within color, salt within water.
Neither ordinary, nor sacred;
All practices are retained in totality, yet there is not a single practice.
The false is within the true, the true within the false;
Ordinary beings freely stir up the dust of delusion.
Neither true, nor false;
If it were not named, how could there be affirmation?
From the beginning, it has neither surname nor name.
Only when Mara raises the divining stalks high, trust them and go;
At times, the marketplaces are all butcher stalls.
A red lotus blossom grows upon the fire;
I too once carried a staff and wandered through the imperial capitals.
The body resembles a drifting cloud with no fixed direction;
Being an illusion and transformation, it therefore seems to lodge here temporarily.
What belongs to another's house is again clear and empty.
If you seek the precepts, when will the sores of the three poisons be healed?
If you seek dhyana, I freely lie crosswise or lengthwise, sleeping upon a stone pillow.
Most pitiable, yet not mad;
In the world and beyond the world, heaven within heaven.
People of that time did not understand the meaning within the string;
Strike it in the South, and it reverberates in the North.
If you seek the Dharma, ask Kasyapa on Kukkutapada Mountain;
The great being holds the robe there within.
From the beginning, there has been no need to seek exclusive armor.
If you seek sutras, the true source of the Dharma-nature cannot be heard.
If you seek the Vinaya, the destitute son need not be taught to run away.
If you seek cultivation, where have the eighty thousand stupas gone?
You know only that yellow leaves stop a child's wailing,
But do not know that dark clouds conceal the sun.
Do not find it strange that these words lack sequence;
Sift them, gradually entering the subtle within the coarse.
Yet even the subtle within the coarse is not the perfectly luminous true reality.
The true reality is originally not true; it is merely a twisted name,
And is itself dust.
If amid the dust you understand the truth—you are at once an imposing
Person who has transcended the world. One who has transcended the world, do not contrive—walk alone,
Unfettered and asking nothing. Neither birth nor death nor nirvana—from the beginning,
Birth and death have had nothing to do with you. Neither right nor wrong, neither movement nor stillness—
Do not deceive yourself by casting the body into an empty well. Neither good nor evil, neither coming
Nor going—nor is there a bright mirror hung upon a lofty stand. This mountain monk's seeing and understanding are only thus—
If you do not believe it and follow something else, you will create ashes through the kalpas.

16. Song of Floating Bubbles by Venerable Luopu.

Clouds in the sky rain down water into the courtyard;
Floating upon the water, bubbles appear.
The bubbles before vanish, and bubbles afterward arise;
One follows another continuously, without cease.
Because raindrops fall, bubbles form upon the water;
Then the wind strikes the bubbles and returns them to water.
Not knowing that the natures of bubble and water do not differ,
One sees distinctions according to their transformations.
Outside they shine brilliantly; within they are empty;
Inside and outside, they glitter like genuine pearls.
Just when the waves settle, they seem to exist;
As soon as they are disturbed, they again seem nonexistent.
Existence and nonexistence, movement and stillness—this matter is hard to express;
There is form and appearance within the formless.
You know only that bubbles arise from water;
How could you know that water also arises from bubbles?
Provisionally, take bubbles upon water as an analogy for my body:
The five skandhas are empty, and a person is provisionally established.
Clearly understanding that the skandhas are empty and bubbles unreal,
Only then do you know and clearly see the truth that has always been.

17. Song of Herding and Guarding by Venerable Suxi.

I have heard it said that patch-robed monks herd and guard,
Carefree and at ease, abiding nowhere.
One bowl and one many-patched robe
Suffice to sustain life from day to day.
To seek the ultimate principle, they inquire and investigate,
Not fearing heat, cold, hardship, or bitterness.
They have also roamed throughout the four seas,
Their bellies filled with mountains, rivers, winds, and clouds.
Within, they uphold the precepts with alert strictness,
Yet do not study a contrived deportment in walking.
The Three Vehicles laugh at my lack of talent;
I laugh at the deceptions of the Three Vehicles.
The wise provisionally establish a stairway;
The Great Way originally has neither delusion nor awakening.
One who has attained does not rely on cultivation and regulation,
Nor dwell in words and speech.
Because one rubs one's eyes, one sees flowers in empty space;
Do not obstruct it—even princes and lords are disregarded.
The person of the Way is originally such, such;
It is not a matter of knowing where the Buddha goes.
Living is just like putting on clothes;
Dying is no different from taking them off.
In life there is neither joy nor sorrow;
How could the eight winds cause alarm or fear?
Outwardly, one appears like a fool;
Within the belly, one does not constantly exalt oneself.
Though possessing not a single coin for one's livelihood,
One dares compare wealth with kings.
Fools let go and become jealous;
The wise nod their heads in mutual praise.
Who knows that the string-pulled puppet's
Singing and dancing are all directed by its master?
One word I say to all of you:
Smash the painted jar and return!

Three Songs of the Ancient Mirror by Chan Master Fadeng Taiqin.

– Song 1:

All say that the ancient mirror has never been seen;
Borrowing a person of the present, see it universally at once.
Before your eyes, not even a hair's breadth can be seen;
A penetrating dragon of cold radiance congeals into a single sheet.
Congealed into a single sheet, it has neither face nor back;
Patterns and adornments do not accord with its nature.
When Pan Sheng turns his head, there is much joy and praise;
Why rejoice? Why grieve?
From where do ugliness and beauty arise?
They arise only from passionate delusion.
Yajnadatta looked in the morning, became frightened, and ran;
Yet upon carefully examining and measuring, it was still there.
I ask the madman, who has not returned even briefly;
Facing me, he cries out in mournful tones,
Choking with sobs, still unable to speak.
How very long are your head and its reflection!
So long, indeed—it has been thus for ages;
Here, again, open the clouds of delusion,
Cut off your arm and ascend the high terrace together.

– Song 2:

Who says the ancient mirror has no model?
From ancient times to the present, through what gateway has it entered and departed?
When you look for the gateway, you cannot see it;
Right here, it is wholly revealed for you.
Wholly revealed, completely protected through warmth and change.
If an intimate knower comes to request benefit,
When meeting someone, do not entrust it deceitfully or lightly.
Simply let them see the face freely; there is no need to give rise to fear.
Observe this moment: even if explanations are many,
Continuing straight on to the present, they become errors.
If now you do not awaken, though the reflection is perfectly clear,
You will again be at that time, sharing the same concern.
Sharing the same concern—suffering, suffering, suffering!

– Song 3:

The ancient mirror is lucid and radiant;
Radiantly it shines throughout sands of the Ganges.
Upon reaching this place, how could names and words be applied?
Apart from me, who else remains?
Past, future, and present—
Tiny jade marks upon the mirror of all Buddhas.
When the tiny jade marks and dirt are exhausted, no thing remains;
This true lotus blossom is within the fire.
A thousand blossoms, ten thousand lotus blossoms;
Every single blossom contains Sakyamuni Buddha.
Who says the Honored One entered extinction?
Who speaks of piercing a knee or reed shoots?
If you do not believe it, look within the mirror:
The goat cart, deer cart, and ox cart.
People of that time did not know the ancient mirror;
They all said it had always been pure.
Merely regarding purity as provisional,
It reflects appearances without contemplating them.
Whether round or short, it becomes long;
If there is even a hair's breadth, it is all illness.
I advise you: nothing is better than smashing it.
When the mirror shatters and its traces vanish, it can become clear;
Then one also sees Vaisali overturned,
And knows that perfect penetration still leaves a little residue.

19. Song of the Samadhi of Universal Inquiry by Daoxun Longhui of Tanzhou.

At the corners of the sea and ends of the sky, I sought spiritual teachers;
Questioning everywhere about wisdom, I exerted myself completely.
The master then rebuked me for retreating and seeking;
From then on, vast wakefulness itself ceased.
I saw the various quarters drooping their sashes straight down;
When Sudhana encountered a difficult place, he made no reply.
Staff blows and shouts revealed the profound and wondrous;
Driven away and pulled back, I beheld the extraordinary.
I cherish Zhaozhou—climbing the Snowy Mountains;
Before filling Hapia Mountain, he tested falsehood and truth.
Relying on numinous verification, he opened the ten thousand workings;
Dancing crosswise upon the Patriarchal Way, his voice filled the three realms.
Rolled up or opened out, layer upon layer—who can clearly understand?
Cease presenting discriminating consciousness, which deceives through doubt and calculation.
Patch-robed monks raise their brows, glare, and shout;
The Yellow Sea turns upside down the beak of Kunlun.
Guishan, Niutou, and Daowu sang in response;
Master Ma gathered the crop and presented the complete appearance.
Holding water and casting a needle formed the later method;
Grasping a mirror and embracing a banner revealed the former artisan.
Who can continue singing the Guangling song?
To carry on its modes and tones is difficult for another to display.

The stone man of the form skandha is struck with a whip;
The wooden horse runs neighing above Brahma Heaven.
Gold from the Li River, jade from Lantian;
Gathering at the summit of Zhurong, concerned about the Xiang’s waves.
The full moon rests upon the stream; through the pines comes a refined sound;
That dragon raises clouds—a truly splendid sight.
20. Two verses on Playing with the Pearl by Venerable Danxia.

– Verse 1:

The numinous pearl of prajnaparamita is wondrous beyond measure;
It is realized within the ocean of the Dharma-nature.
Its hidden radiance constantly wanders through the five skandhas;
Within and without, its light manifests great spiritual power.
This pearl is neither large nor small;
Day and night, its radiance forever shines.
When sought, there is no thing, nor any trace;
Sitting or standing, it follows you, always distinct.
The Yellow Emperor once wandered beside the Red River;
Though men contended to hear of it and vied to seek it, none obtained it.
Without form and without mind, the pearl is attained;
What can be seen or heard is false and deceptive.
Our teacher points with a curled finger to illustrate the mani pearl,
Discerning the countless people submerged in the spring pool.
Why take tiles and bricks and regard them as treasures?
The wise abide peacefully and realize it.
The myriad phenomena of the universe appear within its light;
Its essence and function are thusness—turning yet not turning.
The myriad workings are dispelled within an inch of mind;
At all times, employ skillful means.
Burn the six thieves and consume all demons;
Overthrow the mountain of self and drain the river of craving.
The Dragon Maiden on Vulture Peak manifested an offering to the Buddha;
The poor child beneath his robe—how many times did the fire blaze?
It is also called nature and also called mind;
No nature and no mind—transcending past and present.
When the whole essence is luminous, even “luminous” cannot be said;
At this moment, provisionally fashion a jeweled parasol and chant.

– Verse 2:

Recognizing the treasure within one’s robe,
One awakens from the intoxication of ignorance.
Though the hundred bones may crumble,
One thing remains forever numinous.
Know that confused objects are not its essence;
The divine pearl has no fixed form.
Upon awakening, there are the Buddha’s three bodies;
Fleeing doubt, there are the myriad scrolls of scripture.
Ah, the mind that contemplates mind!
Ah, it is present when the ear hears inquiry!
Formless before heaven and earth,
The mysterious spring is cold and obscure.
Originally firm, it needs no forging;
Originally pure, it needs no settling.
Vastly spreads the sunlight’s radiance;
Sparkling shines the morning star.
Its auspicious light flows on forever;
When true qi makes contact, life immediately arises.
The mirror shines, unmoving and quiescent;
Its encompassing veil illumines the Dharma realm.
Casting off ordinary merit, it is not lost;
Surpassing the fruits of sagehood, it is not filled.
The Dragon Maiden offered it from her heart;
The serpent king presented it from his own mouth.
The keeper of the goose was thereby spared;
The intention of the yellow sparrow was also lightened.
Understanding words does not lock the tongue;
Being able to speak is not sound.
Cut off the ascent to Di Han Man;
Without shores, all is uneven.
Expounding the teaching is not speech;
Hearing the name, do not grasp the name.
Neither of the two sides is established;
The Middle Way need not be traveled.
Having seen the moon, cease looking at the finger;
Returning home, there is no need to ask the road.
Know the mind: mind itself is Buddha;
What other Buddha remains to be attained?
21. A verse by Elder Guannan of Huozhou.
The three realms—ah!—are like illusions; the six paths—ah!—are like dreams.
The appearance of sages and worthies in the world—ah!—is like lightning.
Lands and realms are also like bubbles upon water;
Impermanent, arising and ceasing, they change day by day.
Only maha-prajnaparamita endures,
Firm as vajra, impossible to break apart;
Soft as great, equal, empty Dousha cotton;
Smaller than the finest dust, impossible to see.
Embrace and hold it, wishing it to gather, yet it does not gather;
Try to disperse it, wishing it to scatter, yet it does not scatter.
Incline the ear, wishing to hear, yet nothing is heard;
Open the eyes wide and look closely, yet nothing is seen.
Sing and sing again—upon the Pantuo rock, laugh: Ha! Ha!
Laugh and laugh again—beneath the tall green pines, call out loudly.
From here, attain this pearl of the mind;
Neither Indra’s wheel nor his royal insignia is essential.
This is not something this mountain monk alone has devised;
Since ancient times, former worthies have all acted thus.
Neither sitting in meditation nor cultivating the Way,
Roaming freely as one pleases—what is there merely to understand?
Only know that the myriad dharmas have nothing to do with you;
Since beginningless time, when have birth and old age ever existed?
22. Two verses by Venerable Zhixian of Xiangyan: The Song of Sharpening Awakening and The Song of Returning to Quiescence.
1. The Song of Sharpening Awakening:
Though the mouth is filled with speech, there is nowhere to speak;
Clearly pointing out the Way to others, one still cannot decide it.
Strive urgently and diligently, clenching your teeth;
When impermanence arrives, rescue cannot reach you.
Throughout the day, one speaks mistaken words;
Gladly polish the ancient awl and raise purity aloft.
When the principle of awakening is exhausted, guard it yourself;
Concerning worldly affairs, speak no more at all.
Students of the Mystery seek what differs from the chants of the ancient elders;
Students of Chan must bring mind and its reflected images to an end.
2. The Song of Returning to Quiescence, presented to Mr. Tongzhu
The Daoist Tongzhu is more than seventy years old;
Together we left the city walls, delighting in mountains and forests.
His body was like cold wood; discrimination in the mind had vanished.
He spoke no words of Tang and ceased studying Brahmanical texts.
His mind was set upon the place of cessation; though his body perished,
As a disciple of the Tathagata, he bore the form of a śramana.
With profound faith and reverence, an eight-sided stupa was completed,
Loftily placed upon the hand of the green mountain.
Recounting his contemplation and inquiry into the Way, there was no falsehood;
Casting off the bodily form was exceedingly noble.
Since ancient times, none has spoken of this morning’s affair;
In darkness, he buried his head, concealing mysterious joy.
Leaving no trace different from those in the human world,
His spiritual light, profound and wondrous, was replete with radiance.
23. Song of the Mind-Pearl by Venerable Shaoshan.
This mountain monk has long penetrated the gate of emptiness;
The work of refining the mind-pearl has already been fully accomplished.
When the pearl returns, it gleams; host and guest are distinguished;
Often its sound is like a lion’s roar.
The lion’s roar is no ordinary meaning;
It speaks entirely of Buddha-nature, the principle of true suchness.
At times, I often contemplate it myself;
Empty and luminous, its great meaning delights the mind.
Some compose sutras, and some compose treatises;
Some speak of gradual awakening, and some speak of sudden awakening.
It is as though the Buddhas were exercising spiritual powers;
Or as though ordinary beings were arousing fond attachment.
This mind-pearl is like the moon in water;
At the corners of the sea and the ends of the earth, it is no different.
Only because delusion and awakening differ
Did the Tathagata therefore teach many kinds of doctrine.
The destinies of hell beings and hungry ghosts—
Rebirth through the six paths never pauses even briefly.
This is not because the Buddhas lack compassion;
How could it be that King Yama arranged such conjunctions?
I urge you constantly to know its profound essence;
See the mind-pearl and do not heedlessly forget it.
If, while the five skandhas form the whole body, you still do not know it,
When the hundred bones have scattered, where will you seek it?
The Hanlin Academician, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, respectfully silent, and Minister of Rites,
Lord Wen, Yang Yi, while serving as Director of the Palace Library and administering Ruzhou,
once sent a letter to Li Weinei Hang, clearly recounting the beginning and end of his lineage of teachers.

– The letter said:

From long ago, this dull and ignorant sick man received your gracious regard, and you raised questions concerning the purport of
the Southern School. For a long time you have assisted the higher realm; whether active or still, you made inquiries, mediated,
encouraged, and inspired me, enabling the dissection of the mind to reach a destination, so that one who gazed at the wall need feel no shame. Truly, you were
my guiding illumination above the couch. Moreover, Great Master Gu An Gong constantly instructed me.
Ever since the shadow vanished in the Twin Grove and the single sandal returned westward, my mind has been dim and obscure,
unable to comprehend the essential purport. Furthermore, for many years I suffered frequent illness, and my spirit and thought were confused and disordered. Recently, I again distinguished
the proper direction, and also received the gracious attention of the great worthy Yungong Liang, who revealed the purport of
Gaopeng Liang. He and Angong bore the same seal; both came through Lushan’s Guizong
and Yunju, and both were descendants of the Fayan lineage. Last year, when I was entrusted with governing
this commandery, I happened to meet Chan Master Guanghui, who truly succeeded Nanyuan Nian.
Nian succeeded Fengxue; Fengxue succeeded the former Nanyuan;
Nanyuan succeeded Xinghua; Xinghua succeeded Linji; Linji
succeeded Huangbo; Huangbo succeeded the former Baizhang Huaihai;
Huaihai succeeded Mazu. Mazu came forth from Venerable Huairang. Huairang was
a direct descendant of Caoxi.
His vegetarian meals were essentially simple. After eating, when at leisure, whether invited to come or
commanded by the emperor to reside somewhere, he taught extensively. Whenever he encountered an obstruction, he swiftly opened it. After half a year,
I was spaciously free of every doubt, like suddenly remembering what had been forgotten, like awakening from sleep. All the things
that had obstructed my heart from long ago suddenly fell away; matters not understood throughout many kalpas
suddenly became certain and clear, and in responding to encounters there was no awkwardness.
I further reflected that the ancient worthies had earnestly pursued inquiry in many places: Master
Xueshan went up nine times, and Master Dongshan made three journeys. Master Touzi succeeded
Master Deshan; Master Linji obtained the Dharma from the Minister, but ultimately succeeded
Master Huangbo. Master Yunyan was instructed many times by Master Daowu,
and then became a son of Yaoshan. Master Danxia received Mazu’s seal of approval, yet
became a descendant of Shitou. In ancient times, there were many who harbored no suspicion
concerning the principle. This sick disciple’s true Dharma succession belongs to Guanghui, yet he himself inscribed

Provocation truly gave rise to Miết Phong. Fortunate indeed! Fortunate indeed!

– The Vice Minister asked Venerable Quảng Tuệ: “Ordinarily, the Venerable says: ‘All sinful karma arises from wealth.’ You exhort people to regard wealth and gain lightly—to refrain from craving them. Yet the beings of Jambudvipa take wealth as the lifeblood of their existence, and nations use wealth to gather people together. The teaching speaks of the two kinds of giving: the giving of material wealth and the giving of Dharma. How, then, can you exhort people to regard wealth lightly?” Quảng said, “At the pointed top of the banner pole is the head of an iron dragon.” The Vice Minister said, “Within Hải Đàn, the foal resembles the great black horse.” Quảng said, “The fowl of Sở is not the phoenix of Mount Đan.” The Vice Minister said, “Two thousand years have passed since the Buddha entered nirvana; why do bhikshus have so little sense of shame?”

He asked: “The monk Biểu Trừng, in response to someone’s words, said: ‘There is no Maitreya in heaven, and there is no Maitreya on earth. It is not yet known where Maitreya is.’” Trừng said, “A mound upon the hand.” The Vice Minister said, “The offense has somewhere to return.” Trừng said, “One who recognizes another’s error is hard to find.” The Vice Minister said, “Take a blow of the staff!” Trừng shouted. The Vice Minister said, “The fault cannot be let go.”

The Vice Minister asked the Imperial Son-in-law: “Śākyamuni practiced austerities for six years; what did he accomplish?” Úy said, “When one shoulders it, one knows how heavy the firewood is.” He asked, “What is it like when one blind man leads a multitude of blind people?” Úy said, “Blind.” The Vice Minister said, “Clearly so.” Úy then ceased.

Emperor Đồng Quang asked Venerable Hưng Hóa: “We have obtained the treasure of the Central Plain, but there is no one to appraise it.” Hưng Hóa said, “May Your Majesty show me the treasure.” The Emperor pointed with his hand from his head down to his feet. Hưng Hóa said, “Who would dare appraise the sovereign’s treasure?”

– Huyền Giác said: “Just where was Hưng Hóa’s eye? If he did not approve, where did the fault lie?” The Vice Minister said, “Hưng Hóa answered in silence; did he approve of Emperor Trang Tông or not? Try to discern it.”

When a monk was discussing the Way, the Vice Minister said: “The Way is not apart from people; people are capable of propagating the Way. Generally, those who engage in study must constantly attend to it throughout all twelve periods of the day, yet they still fail to see the Way of Nam Tuyền. For thirty years he watched over a water buffalo.

If it trespassed into another person’s grain, he grasped its nose and pulled it back. Now it has become a white ox upon the open ground. Though released upon the broad earth, it refuses to go away.

You must constantly refrain from grasping even the slightest appearance; otherwise, you cannot speak of the Way of Chan. At times, there must be an illumination that reaches to the bottom of the principle. When it is time to gather vegetables or work according to the season, one cannot refrain from going.

It is like a hen incubating eggs: if she leaves, the warmth is interrupted and they cannot hatch. Now, amid the myriad phenomena arrayed before you, the six faculties are agitated and disturbed. If you once again lose your attentive care, your body will be shattered and your life lost; this is no small matter.

You will again submit to the conditions of this life and be bound by birth and death. This is because, throughout kalpas as numerous as dust, you have followed the arising and ceasing mind and have been swept along by it until the present. Do you wish to know the white ox upon the open ground?

Try pulling its nostrils and see.”

– The Vice Minister said: “Venerable Huyền Sa said: ‘Throughout the Great Tang realm, no one has ever brought forth the matter within the Chan school. If anyone were to bring it forth, people everywhere would all lose their lives, like an iron hammer without a hole.’ At once they forget the point and tie up their tongues. Yet they say that it is profoundly reasonable. Now they provisionally establish host and guest. As soon as they move, they raise two flaps of skin, lift a finger, or hold aloft a whisk, and suddenly fall into inverted views. Following your deluded ideas, they allow you a place to present a question. If one were clear-eyed, how could he have seized and brought it forth beforehand? Consider Venerable Lỗ Tổ: whenever he saw a monk coming, he turned to face the wall. Master Trường Khánh said, ‘In what realm does this receive people? The year of the donkey may bring one.’ I say that Lỗ Tổ merely did not know shame. How could a clear-eyed person accept such a thing? Now this matter must not be made into inverted views for you, like tying a scarf into the shape of a horse or rubbing one’s eyes and seeing flowers in empty space.

“The ancient patriarch said: ‘This is to open the Buddha’s knowledge and vision, reveal the Buddha’s knowledge and vision, awaken to the Buddha’s knowledge and vision, and enter the Buddha’s knowledge and vision.’ Let others speak as they please—how much majestic radiance could they suppress?”

– He also said: “What is lacking in your own portion? Even so, if I did not allow you to hear and know of it, where would you have anything to see? An ancient said, ‘Those who know gratitude are very few.’”

He further said: “Because people have received so many favors, they thereby fail to understand. Go and ask the exposed pillar.” The Vice Minister said: “This matter is extremely difficult. Śākyamuni and Laozi pondered it for twenty-one days and then wished to enter nirvana. Only after Śakra and Brahmā earnestly entreated him three times did he reluctantly consent.

Beginning at the Deer Park and ending at the city of Kuśinagara, throughout the forty-nine intervening years he performed the vast work of the Buddha, teaching the Five Vehicles and the twelve divisions of scripture, like pouring water from one vessel into another. From beginning to end, it all remained within the assembly on Vulture Peak. Looking at Kāśyapa, he told the great assembly: ‘I possess the Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma, which I have entrusted to Mahākāśyapa.’ He also said: ‘In forty-nine years, I have never spoken a single word.’ What principle is this?

If, within your own portion, you remain attached and deluded by even one thing and cannot let it go, each of you nevertheless possesses something extraordinary. Yet the moment it is called extraordinary, it has already missed the mark. I say that Śākyamuni was the general of a defeated army, and Kāśyapa was a man whose body was shattered and whose life was lost.

How do you understand this? Have you not heard it said that nirvana and birth-and-death are both words spoken in a dream, while Buddha and sentient beings are both superfluous expressions? You must understand it in this way and should not seek outside.

If you are still not clear here, then I dare say that you have gone very far astray indeed.”

The Vice Minister raised his writing brush and declared: “Is it only the sage who realizes that the myriad things are oneself? Now mountains, rivers, the great earth, trees, plants, people, and things fill the land—are they the same or different? If one says they are the same, all things and every creature are nevertheless not identical.

If one says they are different, why did the ancients say that one realizes the myriad things as oneself? How, then, should this be understood? The teaching says: ‘If a single person gives rise to the true resolve to return to the source, the fetters throughout the empty space of the ten directions fall away simultaneously.’ An ancient worthy also said: ‘If a person realizes the mind, there is not an inch of earth upon the great earth.’ This is profoundly reasonable.

Right here, all the worlds of the ten directions are gathered into your eye. All Buddhas, devas, humans, living beings, and every species are established through reliance upon your majestic radiance. Only by firmly believing this can it be attained.”

– One day before his death, the Vice Minister personally wrote a verse and gave it to his family, instructing them to deliver it the following day to Imperial Son-in-law Lý. The verse said:

Upon receiving the verse, Úy said: “Selling spirit money in the temple of Mount Tai.”

Excerpted from Fascicle Eighteen of the Thánh Quảng Record of the Lamp.

In the third year of Diên Hựu, the Bính Thìn year, at Tứ Minh, the bhikshu Hy Vi promoted the matter of the robe and bowl, himself sustaining the lifeblood. Following the old edition of Ân Am of Mount Lô, he had it re-carved at the U Am Chan practice place, thereby creating wholesome benefit to repay the Four Favors above and aid the three realms below, so that all sentient beings throughout the Dharma-realm might together perfect the wisdom of all modes.

– Postscript:

The above Cảnh Đức Record of the Transmission of the Lamp was compiled by the monk Củng Thần of the Thiết Quán Âm Cloister in Hồ Châu. After completing the manuscript, he set out to present it in the imperial capital. During the journey, he gave it to a monk traveling in the same boat to read. One night, that monk secretly took the manuscript and departed. By the time Củng Thần reached the capital, a certain Đạo Nguyên had already submitted it and was punished for the offense. This affair was like Guo Xiang’s theft of Tú’s commentary on the Zhuangzi.

Củng Thần said: “My sole intention was to illuminate the Way of the Buddhas and patriarchs. Once the work had been produced, whether it was here or there made no difference. As for the fault of seeking fame and gain, there was absolutely no question of it. Such was the intention of Củng Thần. It was like the man of Confucius’s country who lost his bow and then recovered it—the meaning is the same, and I likewise share it.”

It was further reviewed and definitively established by Lord Yang Wengong, who possessed the complete Dharma eye.
For this reason, this book is highly trustworthy. In general, the Supplementary Transmission of the Lamp records the deeds gathered by monks and bears the designation “golden insignia” in order to distinguish the orthodox from those who confuse the genuine teaching. Some may still doubt the verses on Dharma transmission of the Buddhas and patriarchs because no translator is named; such people are like summer insects that know nothing of spring and autumn.

Although the Buddhas and patriarchs spoke of a transmission that is no transmission, when it came to entrusting the Dharma, how could they have failed to understand one another? Moreover, Patriarch Bodhidharma possessed complete, perfect enlightenment and must have been thoroughly fluent in the language of China. Examine the exchanges of questions and answers: how could an interpreter have been present?

This is like foolish people in the world who say, “A separate transmission outside the teachings, not established upon words and letters,” and then, because the doctrine of the Lankavatara Sutra already existed, doubt that Bodhidharma brought it with him. Is this not perverse and contrary to reason? The Sangha Rector Tri Tạng of Đại Trung Monastery in Phước Châu came to Văn Tịch Đạo Ách to solicit donations after fleeing the turmoil of banditry.

He also printed this book for the convenience of monastics and laypeople and brought it to me for review, asking me to compose a postface for it.
On the tenth day of the first winter month in the Renzi year of the Shaoxing era.
Respectfully written by Trịnh Ngang of Trường Lạc.

– Eulogy composed by the Venerable Hoằng Trí of Thiên Đồng.

Within the sphere of the Way, empty principle is without self, yet names and forms are employed; within the numinous mechanism, wisdom arises without self, yet does not evade the universal working of transformation. When a single thought penetrates the source, and the six meanings are complete, wondrous function comes into being; emerging from the Buddha’s mouth, even the breath from the nostrils is joyful. In the space of a blink, in the interval of a finger snap, it pervades everywhere like the Thunder Dragon breaking winter’s torpor and blazes brilliantly like the Leopard of the Mist transforming its markings.

It transmits throughout the various regions, shaping patch-robed monks into great men. Tally accords with tally as they return to the ancient source; mind seals mind, and speech and silence both reach it. Lamp after lamp transmits the flame, dividing its light to shine throughout the world without cease; leaf after leaf gives forth fragrance, perpetuating the sacred lineage without withering and continuing the patriarchal genealogy.

Whose lineage does the master continue? Those following in his footsteps stand densely arrayed. Each and every one is a son capable of upholding the household; both firmness and gentleness find their proper place.

Splendid indeed, like true gold refined a hundred times, which remains unchanged when impurities are expelled; yet those who cling anxiously to an uncarved jade offered three times cannot be relied upon. Digging a pond to obtain the moon, they find it difficult to accord; cutting the grass and casting down a needle, they emerge from the furnace radiating light and enter the hammer and tongs to be fashioned into vessels.

Once they have attained their own use and enjoyment, they immediately seek confirmation, utterly free and harmonious. Letting the teaching loose upon the tip of a hair-growing tongue, they are open, clear, and unrestrained. A knock makes sweat pour from the forehead; brandishing a fist inspires awe.

When the courageous one arrives, he plucks the tiger’s whiskers; coming forth, he flourishes his staff. Yet beware of regarding the art of handling a snake as mere play. Distinguishing full from partial, his responsive functioning accords with what is fitting.

He reveals proper and contingent positions; adapting to circumstances, he strikes the mark. A hairbreadth of error separates heaven and earth; if the least speck remains uncleansed, flies and ants will forever swarm around it. Neither hearing nor seeing, he subdues demons.

This is not aimless self-protection and self-response, but mastery.

Suppose that, fully alert, one carries the sea upon one’s head: every single affair slips away. Yet within the cloth bag, all varieties of long and short are at my disposal. At the tip of Bảo Công’s staff is a cutting blade; the rhythm rests with oneself, while ten thousand turns resound like a flower drum within the heart.

Sangha raises the willow branch and presents it to the Great Being, beats the sounding board, and sings; a net is cast in all directions to catch sea turtles. The work of one’s original duty is like diving to grope for shrimp and clams. His lifelong delight lies in the subtle responsiveness of the millstone and in the methods of answering with awl and chisel.

The wheel of the mechanism turns like a lightning flash; questions and answers race like the wind. The phrase that strikes the grass startles the snake; the probing staff tests the shadow in the grass. Pecking from within and tapping from without occur simultaneously; mind and eye illumine one another.

Freely soaring upward without encumbrance, the ordinary mind is level and unbound.

The causes and conditions of leaving home and journeying on foot, the occasions of passing away while seated or standing—these have been recorded and made into a book. It is as though the ancients used tortoise shells to instruct later students: one must unite the spirit and accord with it; take care not to seek it merely through speech. I fear that those who rely only on mouth and ear will regard it as an obstruction to body and mind.

The bhiksu Tư Giám cherished this matter and wished to complete the seal of the patriarchs’ transmission of the lamp. When it enters the eyes, one must distinguish blue from white; when opening the mouth, do not confuse red with yellow, the female with the male. The patriarchs’ entangling vines do not act by themselves; the old fellow personally shoulders the binding board, unafraid that others may call him a blockhead.

Let those who share the Way together form this affinity.

• Postface to the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp of the Jingde Era
• Composed by Lưu Phỉ, Acting Administrator of the Affairs of Thai Châu,
• Court Gentleman for Ceremonial Service of the Left and Compiler of the Hall of Hữu Văn.

It has been a long time since the printing blocks for the Record of the Transmission of the Lamp were carved. Since warfare arose, however, the blocks have been destroyed by fire. Those who revere the Mind School feared that the book would no longer exist. The monk Tư Giám, a native of Vụ Châu, wore out his sandals questioning others about the Way for thirty years. He too awakened, together with myriad others, to the Wondrous Mind of Nirvana and thought that he should help bring it to light. He therefore widely solicited donations from virtuous believers to carve printing blocks, and monastics and laypeople alike praised the undertaking and helped bring it to completion.

Someone said: “The Dharma of the mind is formless and cannot be obtained from another. When the First Patriarch, Shakyamuni, descended into birth, there was not a single patriarch who did not inwardly accord with it and personally realize it. Therefore, Bodhidharma pointed directly and established nothing upon words and letters.

For nine years at Shaolin, he merely sat facing the wall. Although the Second Patriarch stood in the snow and cut off his arm, Bodhidharma did not utter even a single word; this was to prevent the error of conceptual knowledge and views. Through this, the Second Patriarch attained right knowledge and right view and experienced a vast, great awakening.

Thus, he did not enter through Bodhidharma’s phrases and words but realized it himself. Furthermore, Baizhang opened a scroll, Xuefeng rolled a ball, Luzu faced the wall, Qinggong drew his bow, Daowu flourished his tablet, Niaoke blew upon the cloth fibers, and Juzhi raised one finger. Ancient worthies such as these showed the way to a great many people without employing phrases.

If even phrases are thus, how much more so written words? In the Mind School, one must investigate oneself; what can the patriarchs’ words possibly give us?”

I say that this is not so. Although the Dharma of the mind is said to be formless, it pervades everywhere: green bamboo is entirely true suchness, and yellow flowers are wholly prajna. Crickets and earthworms activate their pipes and strings to transmit the mind; even walls, tiles, and stones all proclaim the Dharma.

Thus, Lingyun awakened to the Way upon seeing peach blossoms, and Xuansha said that the swallows’ chirping abundantly expresses the true characteristic. Accordingly, everywhere is a gate of awakening. What is there that is not this Way—how much more the phrases and words that illuminate the Mind School, and how much more written words that contain the illumination of the Mind School?

If neither of these had anything to do with the Mind School, why did Jinfu in former times awaken upon reading the Record of Yunmen? Why did Huanglong Xin awaken upon reading the words of Duofu? This is because the characteristics of speech are quiescent and the nature of written words is empty; these too are nothing other than this Way.

If, through speech and writing, one sees that nature and characteristics are empty and quiescent, then in a single leap one enters directly.

Therefore, I know that circulating this book everywhere opens the Dharma gate of the mind-ground to many people; this was the purpose of Giám’s solicitation of donations. A man of the Châu clan in Ninh Hải District, Thai Chi, praised the undertaking, saying: “In our land there is a great pear tree that seems to have passed through three generations. People of my age have often dreamed that towers and pavilions stood upon it and that countless monks came and went there.

We wondered about this, but only now do we understand.” Determining that the dream referred to this Record, he purchased wood, invited Giám to his home, and summoned artisans to carve the printing blocks. When the carving was finished, Châu dreamed that six monks came to request the blocks. Châu asked Giám, “Who are these monks?” Giám replied, “They are the patriarchs of the six generations who transmitted the robe and bowl, and they have specially come to attest to this undertaking.”

Alas! Because this book accomplishes a single great matter, auspicious signs necessarily arose in response, bringing awakening to people’s minds. I therefore record this here so that everyone may see and understand that this is no minor affinity, but an undertaking that firmly establishes faith.

On the full-moon day of the first month in the fourth year of the Shaoxing era, at Đẳng Từ Hermitage.
Respectfully prefaced by the virtuous layman Lưu Phỉ Trọng Thầm of Duy Dương.

– The Elder of Hoa Nghiêm in Ngụy Phủ instructed the assembly, saying:

The work of the Buddha-Dharma lies in the activities of daily life—in walking and standing there

Whether sitting or lying down, drinking tea, eating rice, speaking and exchanging questions and answers, in every undertaking and activity, every thought and stirring of mind is entirely It. Do you understand?

If you understand, then right now you are a true person, unhindered and sovereign. If you still do not understand, you are a grievous offender wearing stocks, shackles, and chains. Why is this so? The Buddha-Dharma is not separated from you by kalpas as numerous as the sands; you need only see it within a single thought. It is upon your eyebrows and in your nostrils. If you cannot see it, it is like pointing at the moon with a bamboo staff right where you stand. It is essential not to think; it cannot be expressed in words. At that moment, within this, upon what gracious power do you rely? If you know, you will have cause for rejoicing.

The ancients said: “Constant yet quiescent, quiescent yet constantly and clearly aware; the Buddhas cannot be found by seeking, and sentient beings have severed all tidings.” Do you understand? All dharmas are originally insentient; all Buddhas are originally self-luminous. Vastly merged with the great void, there is neither deficiency nor excess.

Do you understand? If you do not understand, then even encountering a mulberry tree becomes an obstruction. You do not know that your obscure fall through kalpa after kalpa is due solely to infatuation with things, attachment to objects, taking forms as real, being unable to relinquish affection and love, and foolishly craving wealth.

You establish a self and contend with others; when the slightest surge of temper goes against your feelings, your face turns blue or red, and you speak of strength and weakness: “I will not let others deceive me. I am a great man who supports a wife and children.”

How could you know that this is to dwell in the ocean of karma and the pit of offenses? You eat flesh like a hungry ghost devouring a corpse, drink wine like a starving dog lapping water, and lust after beauty like a thirsty fly licking blood. You do not know that this body is a great affliction.

Indulging as you please in the foolish impulses of ignorance, before long the body decays and is swept away by the river, your life wasted; throughout thousands and tens of thousands of kalpas, you pass in and out in vain. Why do you not realize the firm and indestructible vajra-body and attain the Way of eternal life beyond death? In this world you are like grass upon the earth, your mouth full of boastful chatter and your eyes full of flickering distractions.

When the fierce demon of impermanence comes beside your bed, you still let your mind act in attachment to wealth and delight in objects. Suddenly you are seized and taken before King Yama, where you cannot utter a single word; then iron furnaces and blazing coals, copper pillars, and mountains of knives will all be your sport. Though you repent then, the great calamity will be difficult to escape.

Now, before illness has reached your body, why do you not seek some wholesome benefit during the twelve periods of the day and make it a bridge and ferry? On what can this illusory, transformed physical body rely as real? The Buddhas of the past left behind sutras and composed treatises.

All wholesome dharmas were bestowed upon you beginners so that you might repent of your offenses, eliminate your obstructions, gradually increase in benefit, and seek good spiritual friends to reveal the Dharma-gates of liberation, thereby recognizing the true master within the nature of ignorance. To obtain a human body among ten thousand kalpas is no easy matter. You should also know that the original nature of this body is from the beginning neither different from the Buddha nor in any way deficient.

There is one great matter within your heap of excrement and urine, shining brilliantly, perfectly round and complete. Can you believe this?

If you cannot believe it, you will sink and fall ever deeper into the profound pit of the ocean of offenses. If you turn the light around and illuminate within, then in a single ksana every thought arising amid delusion and affliction, foolish darkness and frenzied passions, will swiftly vanish. All conditioned objects and realms will be transformed into amrita and the finest clarified essence, into a land of peace and bliss. Would that not be good?

The sages said: “The myriad dharmas arise from mind; the myriad dharmas cease from mind.” All depend upon your mind. Good and evil also depend solely upon your mind; heaven and hell likewise depend solely upon your mind. Simply accord with and unite with the Buddha right now.

Wisdom itself is Buddha; there is no deception between them. Right here, believe firmly and without doubt that mind itself is Perfect Awakening. Why would you still need to pass through asamkhyeya kalpas?

This life and this body are exceedingly difficult to encounter. Do not say, “I am an ordinary being,” and thereby retreat. Thousands of sutras and ten thousand treatises all say that sentient beings are merely deluded and confused, unaware of their original nature.

For a time, apply a little effort to investigate things and examine the meaning in the scriptures. They say only that sentient beings are seized and held by all objects because of craving.

This mountain monk has wearied his mouth and is truly filled with anxious concern. Will you accept this? Will you believe it? Ordinarily, you endure cold and heat, yet when the slightest thing goes against your feelings, it is like eating pungency and swallowing bitterness, and you cannot let it go. In daily life you do not awaken by yourself and set your mind in order, knowing what is beneficial for the mind and what is good for the body. A hundred years pass swiftly as a flying arrow; wealth and honor are like a dream, and bonds of affection do not last long. A hundred years are soon gone; white hair comes with illness, illness comes because of karmic debts, karmic debts bring death, and death brings hell.

Do not say: “Throughout my life I have been kindhearted and done good. I have merely fulfilled my duties and committed no evil, so I have no offenses.” I am specifically teaching you where reverence for life lies. This morning I still do not believe you, because you have not reached the place of utmost equality. Do you know this? If you do not rely upon the Buddha-Dharma, then all dharmas become false teachings and the views and understandings of non-Buddhist paths.

Moreover, do not say that you shoulder burdens for the sake of others, and that because of bearing responsibility for them you crave beauty and cherish wealth, eat fish and meat, speak falsely and ornament your words, and daily neglect the supreme matter; your sinful karma will only become deeper and heavier. Do not say: “I have donated wealth to build monasteries, made offerings to the Sangha, printed and recited sutras, and long performed meritorious deeds. Taking these as real, I can entrust myself to the assembly.” Even an old venerable monk would then be unable to save you. Do you know this? You have thousands and tens of thousands of kinds of ignorance and sinful karma; even the Buddha cannot save you. You must exert yourself and personally make provision for the road ahead.

If you perform all kinds of conditioned merit, it is merely the creation of karma, increasing stubbornly enjoyed blessings, and it does not give rise to pure insight. This mountain monk understands this as well. Receiving offerings, I am uneasy day and night, worrying that realization has not yet been attained. Do you know this? Even if you tell this to people in every quarter and the venerable elders laugh at me, this mountain monk is not afraid of their reproach. I wish to ask you donors where your money comes from, and I think that you are unwilling to assist others or relieve the poor and suffering.

If you understand even a little, know to eat wholesome food; if you understand, know to wear proper clothing. It is best to practice early, best to deliver this body, best to turn the mind around—best to turn the mind around. This is my earnest hope. Take good care of yourselves.