景德傳燈錄

THE JINGDE RECORD OF THE TRANSMISSION OF THE LAMP — VOLUME 28

VOLUME 28
Recorded sayings from various regions, comprising twelve masters:
1. The recorded sayings of National Preceptor Huizhong of Nanyang.
2. The recorded sayings of Great Master Shenhui of Heze in the Eastern Capital,
3. The recorded sayings of Chan Master Daoyi of Dajiangxi,
4. The recorded sayings of Venerable Weiyan of Mount Yaoshan in Fengzhou,
5. The recorded sayings of Venerable Huihai of Dazhu in Yuezhou,
6. The recorded sayings of National Preceptor Wuye of Dada in Fenzhou,
7. The recorded sayings of Venerable Puyuan of Nanquan in Chizhou,
8. The recorded sayings of Venerable Congshen of Zhaozhou,
9. The recorded sayings of Venerable Yixuan of Linji in Zhenzhou,
10. The recorded sayings of Great Master Shibei of Xuansha, Zongyi,
11. The recorded sayings of Venerable Guichen of Luohan in Tanzhou,
12. The recorded sayings of Chan Master Wenyi, Great Fayan.
1. The recorded sayings of National Preceptor Huizhong of Nanyang.
The Master said, “Chan traveler, where have you come from?” He replied, “From the Southern School.” The Master asked, “What spiritual teachers are there in the Southern School?” He replied, “There are very many spiritual teachers.” The Master asked, “How do they instruct people?” He replied, “The spiritual teachers of that region directly point out to students: ‘Mind itself is Buddha. Buddha means awakening. You are presently endowed in full with the nature of seeing, hearing, comprehending, and knowing.

This nature is able skillfully to raise the eyebrows and blink the eyes, to come and go, and to function throughout the entire body. Pat the head and the head knows; pat the feet and the feet know. Therefore, it is called Right and Universal Knowledge.

Apart from this, there is no other Buddha. This body undergoes birth and death, but the nature of mind, from beginningless time until now, has never been born or perished. The body’s birth and death are like a dragon changing its bones, a snake shedding its skin, or a person leaving an old house.

The body is impermanent, but that nature abides forever.’ This is the general purport of what the Southern School teaches.”
The Master said, “If so, it is no different from the non-Buddhist doctrine of the Senika heretics. They say, ‘Within my body there is a spiritual nature. This nature knows pain and itching.

When this body decays, the spirit departs, just as when a house catches fire, its owner runs out. The house is impermanent, but its owner is permanent.’ Viewed in this way, right and wrong cannot be distinguished—who can tell which is correct? Recently, as I traveled from place to place, I saw a great many of this kind.

They gather two or three hundred people, stare up at the Milky Way, and declare this to be the essential doctrine of the Southern School. Taking up a copy of the Platform Sutra, they alter it, add to it, and mingle it with crude sayings, thereby destroying the sages’ intent and misleading later generations. How could this constitute the verbal teaching?

Alas, our school is lost! If seeing, hearing, comprehending, and knowing are regarded as Buddha-nature, then Vimalakirti would not have taught the Dharma of detachment from seeing, hearing, comprehending, and knowing. If seeing, hearing, comprehending, and knowing were correct, one could simply see, hear, comprehend, and know, and would not need to seek the Dharma.”
A monk further asked, “What, then, of the definitive meaning of the Lotus Sutra concerning opening up the Buddha’s knowledge and vision?” The Master said, “It speaks of opening up the Buddha’s knowledge and vision. It does not even speak of those of bodhisattvas or the Two Vehicles; how could the deluded and inverted knowledge and vision of sentient beings be equated with the Buddha’s?”
The monk further asked, “What is the Buddha-mind?”
The Master said, “Bricks, tiles, walls, and partitions.”
The monk said, “That greatly contradicts the sutras. The Nirvana Sutra says that, apart from insentient things such as walls and partitions, it is called Buddha-nature. Yet you now say that they are the Buddha-mind. I do not know whether mind and nature are different or not different.”
The Master said, “In delusion they are different; in awakening they are not different.”
He asked, “The sutra says that Buddha-nature is permanent, whereas mind is impermanent. How can you now say that they are not different?”
The Master said, “You rely only upon the words and not upon their meaning. It is like water freezing into ice during the cold season and the ice melting back into water when the hot season arrives. When sentient beings are deluded, they congeal nature into mind; when sentient beings awaken, they congeal mind into nature. If you maintain that insentient things have no Buddha-nature, then the sutras would not say that the three realms are mind-only. Clearly, it is you who contradict the sutras; I do not contradict them.”
He asked, “Since insentient things possess mind-nature, can they also expound the Dharma?”
The Master said, “They constantly expound it profusely, without ever ceasing.”
He asked, “Why do I not hear it?”
The Master said, “You yourself do not hear it.”
He asked, “Who can hear it?”
The Master said, “All Buddhas can hear it.”
He asked, “Do sentient beings have no share in it?”
The Master said, “I speak for sentient beings, not for sages.”
He asked, “I am blind and deaf and cannot hear insentient things expounding the Dharma. I beg the Master to enable me to hear it.”
The Master said, “I do not hear it either.”
He asked, “Since the Master does not hear it, how do you know that insentient things can expound the Dharma?”
The Master said, “If I could hear it, I would be equal to all the Buddhas, and you would not hear me expounding the Dharma.”
He asked, “Will sentient beings ultimately be able to hear it?”
The Master said, “If a sentient being hears it, that one is no longer a sentient being.”
He asked, “Is there any scripture that attests to insentient things expounding the Dharma?”
The Master said, “Have you not seen the Avatamsaka Sutra say, ‘The lands speak, sentient beings speak, and everything throughout the three times speaks’?”
He said, “Sentient beings are sentient. I asked only about insentient things possessing Buddha-nature; what, then, of sentient beings?”
The Master said, “If this is true even of the insentient, how much more so of the sentient?”
He asked, “If so, when the spiritual teachers of the Southern School mentioned earlier say that seeing and hearing are Buddha-nature, should that not accord with the teaching? Why did you say that it was the same as a non-Buddhist doctrine?”
The Master said, “I did not say that others do not possess Buddha-nature. How could non-Buddhists not possess Buddha-nature? It is merely because they mistakenly perceive one Dharma and give rise to a dualistic view that they are at fault.”
He asked, “If all possess Buddha-nature, then killing a sentient being immediately creates karma and brings retribution, whereas one never hears of retribution for destroying something insentient.”
The Master said, “Sentient beings are direct recompense. Through attachment to self and what belongs to self, they form resentment, and therefore there is karmic retribution. Insentient things are circumstantial recompense and have no mind that forms resentment; therefore, no retribution is spoken of.”
He asked, “The teachings speak only of sentient beings becoming Buddhas; one never sees insentient bhiksus. Moreover, among the thousand Buddhas of this fortunate kalpa, which one is an insentient Buddha?”
The Master replied, “When the imperial crown prince has not yet ascended the throne, he is only that single person. But once he has ascended the throne, all the lands belong to the sovereign. How could there be some other land that receives the enthronement? At present, when a sentient being receives a prediction of Buddhahood, all the lands of the ten directions are the body of Vairocana Buddha. How, then, could insentient things separately receive predictions?”
He asked, “All sentient beings are upon the Buddha’s body. Then urinating defiles the Buddha’s body, while digging, gouging, trampling upon it, and so forth—would these not be offenses against the Buddha’s body?”
The Master replied, “The entirety of sentient beings is the Buddha’s body; whom would you have incur the offense?”
He asked, “The sutras say that the Buddha’s body is unobstructed. Now, if material, conditioned things that cause obstruction are taken as the Buddha’s body, does this not contradict the sages’ intent?”
The Master said, “The Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra says, ‘One cannot speak of the unconditioned apart from the conditioned.’ Do you believe that form is emptiness?”
He replied, “The Buddha spoke truthfully; how would I dare not believe it?”
The Master said, “Since form is emptiness, how could there be obstruction?”
He asked, “Since sentient beings and Buddhas are alike in Buddha-nature, it should suffice for a single Buddha to cultivate, and all sentient beings ought then to be liberated at the same time. Since this is not possible, how can the meaning of ‘alike’ still hold?”
The Master said, “Have you not seen the teaching on the six characteristics in the Avatamsaka Sutra? Within sameness there is difference, and within difference there is sameness. The various characteristics of formation and disintegration, universality and particularity, and so forth, are likewise. Although sentient beings and Buddhas share the same single nature, this does not prevent each from cultivating and attaining it for themselves. Never has anyone become full by watching someone else eat.”
He asked, “A spiritual teacher instructed students: ‘Simply know your own nature, clearly understand impermanence, cast this coarse body aside at once, and let the numinous terrace of wisdom-nature depart alone and supreme. This is called liberation.’ What of this teaching?”
The Master said, “I have already spoken of it. This too is the discriminative understanding of the Two Vehicles and the non-Buddhists. The Two Vehicles merely loathe birth and death and delight in nirvana. Non-Buddhists likewise say, ‘My great affliction is that I possess a body,’ and then seek to reach the primordial principle. A stream-enterer must remain in samadhi for eighty thousand kalpas; those who have attained the other three fruits remain for sixty thousand, forty thousand, and twenty thousand kalpas, respectively. A pratyekabuddha must remain in samadhi for ten thousand kalpas.”

As for non-Buddhist practitioners, they must remain for eighty thousand kalpas in the realm of neither perception nor non-perception. When those of the Two Vehicles have exhausted their kalpas, they must turn their minds toward the Mahayana, whereas non-Buddhist practitioners return to samsara.

Question: Buddha-nature is of one kind; why, then, is it different?

The Master said: It cannot be one kind.

Question: How is that?

The Master said: There is a kind that is entirely neither arising nor ceasing; there is a kind that is half arising and half ceasing, and half neither arising nor ceasing and half neither arising nor ceasing.

Question: Is it to be understood in this way?

The Master said: Here with me, it is entirely neither arising nor ceasing; but in your Southern School, Buddha-nature is half arising and half ceasing, and half neither arising nor ceasing.

Question: How do they differ?

The Master said: Here, body and mind are one suchness; apart from mind there is nothing else. Therefore, it is entirely neither arising nor ceasing. In your Southern School, however, the body is impermanent while the spiritual nature is permanent. Therefore, it is half arising and half ceasing, and half neither arising nor ceasing.

Question: Could the Venerable's physical body possibly be the same as the Dharma-body, which neither arises nor ceases?

The Master said: How could you have entered a false path?

Question: Sooner or later, this student will enter a false path.

The Master said: Have you not seen that the Diamond Sutra says those who seek to see through form and sound all practice a false path? Is what you now perceive not precisely like this?

He replied: I have studied the teachings of both the Mahayana and the Lesser Vehicle, and I have also seen it said that within what neither arises nor ceases there is an orthodox nature. I have also seen it said that when this skandha ceases, another skandha arises; this body may perish, but the spiritual nature does not perish. How can this be rejected as identical to the two non-Buddhist views of annihilationism and eternalism?

The Master said: Are you studying the unsurpassed, right, and true world-transcending Way, or are you studying the worldly dual views of birth and death, annihilationism and eternalism? Have you not seen Master Zhao say: “To speak of the truth runs contrary to convention; to accord with convention violates the truth. Because they violate the truth, people are deluded about their nature and do not return. Because it runs contrary to convention, the teaching is insipid and without flavor. Those of middling capacity seem to retain it yet seem to lose it, while those of inferior capacity clap their hands and pay no heed.” Do you now wish to follow those of inferior capacity and ridicule the Great Way?

Question: The Master says, “Mind itself is Buddha.” The spiritual teachers of the South say the same. How could there be any difference? The Master should not regard himself as right and others as wrong.

The Master said: Sometimes the names are the same while their essences differ; sometimes the names differ while their essence is the same. Confusion arises from this. For example, bodhi, nirvana, true suchness, and Buddha-nature are different names for the same essence. But true mind and deluded mind, Buddha-wisdom and worldly wisdom, have similar names while differing in essence. The Southern School mistakenly takes the deluded mind to be the true mind, recognizing a thief as its son, and calls worldly wisdom Buddha-wisdom. This is like confusing a fish's eye with a luminous pearl. They cannot be indiscriminately regarded as identical; they must be distinguished.

Question: How can one be free from this error?

The Master said: Simply examine yourself closely. Investigate each of the skandhas, ayatanas, dhatus, and sense-fields to its utmost limit, and see whether so much as a hair's breadth of anything can be found to exist permanently.

He replied: Upon close examination, I do not see a single thing that can be found.

The Master said: Are you destroying the characteristics of body and mind?

He replied: The nature of body and mind is detached; what could be destroyed?

The Master asked: Is there anything apart from body and mind?

He replied: Body and mind are not outside one another, so how could there be anything? He replied: Body and mind are not outside one another, so how could there be anything?

The Master asked: Are you destroying the characteristics of the world?

He replied: The characteristics of the world are themselves without characteristics; what could be used to destroy them?

The Master said: If so, you are free from the error.

The Chan visitor accepted his instruction.

– The monk Lingjue of Changzhou asked: In arousing the aspiration to leave home, I originally resolved to seek Buddhahood, but I do not yet know how to apply the mind so as to attain it directly.

The Master said: Apply no-mind, and you will directly attain Buddhahood.

Question: If no-mind is applied, who attains Buddhahood?

The Master said: No-mind itself attains it; Buddha, too, is without mind.

Question: The Buddha possesses the inconceivable ability to liberate sentient beings. If he, too, is without mind, who liberates sentient beings?

The Master said: No-mind is the true liberation of beings. If one sees sentient beings who are to be liberated, then clearly there is a mind subject to arising and ceasing.

Question: When the Benevolent One came into the world, he expounded a great many teachings and traces. How could those have been false words?

The Master said: The Buddha also expounded the teachings without mind.

Question: If the Dharma is spoken without mind, then it should be no speaking.

The Master said: Speaking is itself non-speaking; non-speaking is itself speaking.

Question: If the Dharma is spoken without mind, then when karma is created, is there mind?

The Master said: With no-mind, there is no karma. Since karma now exists, the mind immediately arises and ceases; how could there be no-mind?

Question: No-mind itself is the attainment of Buddhahood. Has the Venerable now attained Buddhahood?

The Master said: Mind itself does not exist; who could speak of attaining Buddhahood? If there were a Buddha who could be attained, there would still be mind. To have mind is to be contaminated; how then could no-mind be attained?

Question: Since there is no Buddha who can be attained, does the Venerable nevertheless possess the Buddha's living function?

The Master said: Mind itself does not exist; whence could function arise?

Question: If even utter blankness does not exist, would that not fall into the view of annihilationism?

The Master said: Since time immemorial, no one has ever spoken of annihilation.

Question: If since time immemorial there has fundamentally been nothing, then what is there?

The Master said: Since nothingness itself is nothing, whence could there be any falling or establishing?

Question: Subject and object are both nonexistent. If someone suddenly came holding a knife to take your life, would that be existent or nonexistent?

The Master said: It would be nonexistent.

Question: Would there be pain?

The Master said: Pain, too, would be nonexistent.

Question: If there is no pain, then after death, into which path would one be reborn?

The Master said: There is neither death nor birth, nor is there any path.

Question: Having attained freedom in which there is nothing, when oppressed by hunger and cold, how should one apply the mind?

The Master said: When hungry, eat rice; when cold, put on clothes.

Question: Knowing hunger and knowing cold must mean that there is mind.

The Master said: Let me ask you: If there is mind, what form does mind have?

He replied: Mind has no form.

The Master said: Since you know it has no form, then from the beginning there has been no mind. How can you say that there is?

Question: If one encounters a tiger or wolf in the mountains, how should one apply the mind?

The Master said: See as though not seeing; when it comes, regard it as though it had not come. That is no-mind, and evil beasts cannot harm you.

Question: Quiescent, free of affairs, independently liberated, and without mind—what is this called?

The Master said: It is called the Vajra Great Being. What form does it have?

The Master said: Fundamentally, it has no form.

Question: Since it has no form, what is called the Vajra Great Being?

The Master said: It is called the formless Vajra Great Being.

Question: What merit does the Vajra Great Being possess?

The Master said: A single thought in accord with Vajra can extinguish the grave offenses of birth and death accumulated through kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, and one will behold Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. The merit of the Vajra Great Being is immeasurable: the mouth cannot express it all, nor can the mind fully conceive it. Even if one were to remain in the world speaking for kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, one could not exhaust it.

Question: What is a single thought in accord?

The Master said: When both recollection and wisdom are forgotten, that is accord.

Question: When recollection and wisdom are both forgotten, who sees the Buddhas?

The Master said: Forgetting is emptiness; emptiness is Buddha.

Question: If it is emptiness, then call it emptiness. How can it be called Buddha?

The Master said: Nonexistence, too, is nonexistent; Buddha, too, is nonexistent.

Question: Emptiness itself is Buddha; Buddha itself is emptiness. Since not so much as a hair's breadth can be attained, what is it called?

The Master said: Fundamentally, it has no name or designation.

Question: Is there still anything similar to it?

The Master said: There is nothing similar to it. The world calls it “the peerless, solitary Honored One.” You must strive diligently and practice in accordance with this; no one will be able to destroy it. Moreover, there is no need to ask further. Roam wherever you please: alone, you can be without fear. Sages and saints as numerous as the sands of the Ganges will always follow, shelter, and support you. Wherever you dwell, devas, nagas, and the Eight Classes of Beings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges will always venerate you, and celestial spirits will constantly come to protect you. Forever there will be no obstacles or adversities. Where could you not wander in carefree freedom?

– He further asked: When Kasyapa was beside the Buddha and heard, did he hear or did he not hear?

The Master said: He heard without hearing.

Question: What is hearing without hearing?

The Master said: Hearing yet not hearing.

Question: Did the Tathagata say “hearing without hearing,” or did he not say “hearing without hearing”?

The Master said: The Tathagata spoke without speaking.

Question: What is speaking without speaking?

The Master said: Speaking

fills the whole world yet does not pass beyond the opening of the mouth.

2. Recorded Sayings of Great Master Shenhui of Heze in the Eastern Capital of Luoyang.

The Master instructed the assembly:

“Students of the Way must clearly understand their own source. Those who have attained the four fruits and the three stages of worthiness are all still said to require discipline; pratyekabuddhas and arhats have not yet completely severed doubt, while those at the stages of Equal Enlightenment and Wondrous Enlightenment possess clear understanding. Enlightenment has shallow and profound degrees, and the teachings have sudden and gradual approaches. In the gradual approach, even after passing through asamkhya kalpas, one still remains in samsara; in the sudden approach, within the mere flexing and extending of an arm, one immediately ascends to Wondrous Enlightenment. If one has no seed of the Way from the past, extensive learning and great knowledge are in vain.

“Everything lies within the mind; what is wrong or right depends upon oneself. Not thinking of a single thing means that one’s own mind is not known through the application of discriminating knowledge. Moreover, there is no other practice; where, then, is the place of entry through awakening? The true Dharma, mati, neither comes nor goes, and all limits of before and after are ended. Thus, know that no-thought is the Supreme Vehicle, vast and penetrating, pure and empty, swiftly opening the treasury of jewels. The mind neither arises nor ceases; its nature is free from change and alteration. When it is naturally pure, objects of deliberation do not arise; when there is non-action, all objects of reliance naturally cease.

“In former days, when I turned the irreversible wheel, I attained the dual cultivation of samadhi and prajna, as inseparable as a fist and the palm of a hand. Seeing that the essence of no-thought does not arise in dependence upon things, one clearly understands: where could the Tathagata, who constantly comes, ever arise? This present illusory form is originally true permanence.

The self-nature is like empty space, from ancient times to the present without attributes. Once this principle is understood, whom is there to fear, and what is there to worry about? Heaven and earth cannot alter its essence.

When the mind returns to the Dharma realm, the myriad phenomena are of one suchness. Far removed from thought, wisdom is identical with the Dharma-nature. The thousand sutras and ten thousand treatises merely illuminate the mind.

Since no mind is established, its very essence is the true principle, and there is nothing whatsoever to attain. I tell all you students: do not seek outside yourselves. If it is the Supreme Vehicle, it must be non-action.

Take good care.”

Someone asked, “Does the Dharma of no-thought exist or not?”

The Master said, “I do not say that it exists or does not exist.”

He asked, “What is it at that moment?”

The Master said, “There is no such moment either. It is like a bright mirror: if there is no object before the mirror, then there is never any image in it. If one sees that there is no object, this is true seeing.”

In the Great Canon, the Master had doubts concerning six passages, which he took to the Sixth Patriarch and asked about.

– First doubt—concerning precepts, samadhi, and prajna. He asked: “How are precepts, samadhi, and prajna to be applied? What do the precepts prohibit? From where is samadhi cultivated? Through what cause does prajna arise? I neither see nor comprehend.” The Sixth Patriarch said: “Samadhi means stabilizing one’s own mind; use the precepts to guard against all actions. Prajna constantly illuminates within the nature, so that one sees and knows for oneself profoundly.”

– Second doubt. He asked: “What formerly did not exist but now exists—what thing is it that exists? What formerly existed but now does not—what thing is it that does not exist? Reciting the sutras, I do not perceive the meaning of existence and nonexistence; it is truly like riding a donkey while searching for the donkey.” The Sixth Patriarch replied: “An evil deed in the preceding thought is what formerly did not exist; the arising of goodness in the succeeding thought is what now exists. Thought after thought, always practice wholesome conduct. Yet rebirth among gods and humans in the next life will not last long. You are now listening to me speak: as for me, I formerly did not exist but now exist.”

– Third doubt. He asked: “To use arising to extinguish is extinction; to use extinction to extinguish is arising. Not understanding the meaning of arising and extinction, what I see is as though I were blind and deaf.” The Sixth Patriarch replied: “‘To use arising to extinguish is extinction’ teaches people not to cling to a fixed nature. ‘To use extinction to extinguish is arising’ teaches people to let the mind depart from objects. It is better to leave both extremes behind; then the sickness of arising and extinction will naturally be eliminated.”

– Fourth doubt. He asked: “First sudden and afterward gradual; first gradual and afterward sudden. Those who do not awaken to sudden and gradual are always confused and stifled in their minds.” The Sixth Patriarch replied: “Hearing the Dharma is the gradual within the sudden; awakening to the Dharma is the sudden within the gradual. Cultivation is the gradual within the sudden; realization of the fruit is the sudden within the gradual. Sudden and gradual are causes that constantly support one another; then, within awakening, there is no confusion or stifling.”

– Fifth doubt. He asked: “Samadhi first and prajna afterward, or prajna first and samadhi afterward: between samadhi and prajna, which arises first and is correct?” The Sixth Patriarch replied: “When the pure mind constantly arises, prajna is present within samadhi. When the mind is free from attachment amid objects, samadhi is present within prajna. Samadhi and prajna have neither before nor after; when both are cultivated together, one’s own mind is upright.”

– Sixth doubt. He asked: “The Buddha first and the Dharma afterward, or the Dharma first and the Buddha afterward: from where does the source of the Buddha-Dharma arise?” The Sixth Patriarch replied: “In speaking, the Buddha comes first and the Dharma afterward; in hearing, the Dharma comes first and the Buddha afterward. If we discuss the source of the Buddha-Dharma, it all issues from within the minds of sentient beings.”

3. Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Daoyi of Daji in Jiangxi.

The Master instructed the assembly:

“The Way does not require cultivation; one need only avoid defilement. What is defilement? Merely to have a mind of birth and death that engages in contrived activity and directs itself toward things—all this is defilement. If you wish to understand the Way directly, ordinary mind is the Way. Ordinary mind means no contrivance, no right or wrong, no grasping or rejecting, no eternalism or annihilationism, and neither ordinary nor holy. The sutra says: ‘Neither the practice of ordinary beings nor the practice of sages and saints is the practice of a bodhisattva.’

“Just as you now walk, stand, sit, and lie down, responding to circumstances and dealing with things, all of it is the Way. The Way is precisely the Dharma realm. Even its wondrous functions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, are not outside the Dharma realm. If this were not so, why would it be called the Dharma gate of the mind-ground? Why would it be called the Inexhaustible Lamp?

“All dharmas are dharmas of the mind; all names are names of the mind. The myriad dharmas are all born from the mind, and the mind is the root of the myriad dharmas. The sutra says: ‘Because one knows the mind and comprehends the root, one is called a sramana.’ Names are equal, meanings are equal, and all dharmas are equally of one pure nature, without admixture.

“If, within the gate of the teachings, one attains freedom according to the occasion and establishes the Dharma realm, then everything is the Dharma realm. If one establishes true suchness, everything is true suchness. If one establishes principle, all dharmas are principle. If one establishes phenomena, all dharmas are phenomena. When one is raised, a thousand follow; principle and phenomena are no different. Everything is wondrous function, and there is no other principle; all turns in accordance with the mind.

“For example, however many reflections of the moon there may be, there are not that many real moons. However many sources of water there may be, the nature of water is not manifold. However numerous the myriad phenomena may be, empty space is not manifold. However many principles may be expounded, unobstructed prajna is not manifold. All the various establishments are established by the one mind. Establishing them is acceptable, and sweeping them away is also acceptable; all are wondrous function. Wondrous function is entirely oneself; it is not apart from the real that anything is established. The place of establishment is itself the real, and everything is one’s own essence. If it were not so, what kind of person would one be?

“All dharmas are Buddha-Dharma. All dharmas are liberation, and liberation is true suchness. All dharmas do not go beyond true suchness. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all inconceivable function, which does not await a particular time or season. The sutra says: ‘In every place where one is buried, there is a Buddha.’

“Buddha means the capable and compassionate one, possessed of wisdom and skilled in adapting to circumstances, able to break through all the nets of doubt of sentient beings, to leave far behind the bonds of existence and nonexistence, to end all notions of ordinary and holy, and to empty both person and dharmas. He turns the unequalled wheel, transcending all measure and number. His activity is unobstructed, and both phenomena and principle are thoroughly understood. It is like clouds rising in the sky, suddenly appearing and then vanishing without leaving any trace. It is also like drawing upon the surface of water: neither arising nor ceasing, it is the great quiescent extinction.

“While within entanglements, it is called the Tathagata-garbha; when free from entanglements, it is called the great Dharma-body. The Dharma-body is boundless; its essence neither increases nor decreases. It can be large or small, square or round, manifesting a form in accordance with things, like the moon in water. In its vast and ceaseless functioning, it establishes no basis or foundation; it does not exhaust the conditioned, nor does it abide in the unconditioned. The conditioned comprises the implements of daily life of the unconditioned; the unconditioned is the home upon which the conditioned relies. Because it does not abide in intention, it is said to be like empty space, with nothing upon which it depends.

“The meaning of the mind’s arising and cessation is the meaning of the mind’s true suchness. The mind’s true suchness is like a mirror containing images: the mirror represents the mind, and the images represent all dharmas. If the mind grasps dharmas, it becomes involved with external things; causes and conditions are then the meaning of arising and cessation. Not grasping any dharma is the meaning of true suchness.”

Sravakas see Buddha-nature through hearing; bodhisattvas see Buddha-nature with the eye. To penetrate it thoroughly without duality is called the nature of equality. The nature itself does not differ, but its functions are not the same: in delusion it is consciousness; in awakening it is wisdom.

To accord with principle is awakening; to follow phenomena is delusion. Delusion means being deluded about one’s own original mind; awakening means awakening to one’s own original nature. Once awakened, one remains awakened forever and never falls back into delusion.

It is like the rising sun, which cannot coexist with darkness. When the sun of wisdom rises, the darkness of afflictions is no more. When mind and its objects are clearly understood, false thoughts cease to arise.

Once false thoughts no longer arise, this is precisely the patience of the non-arising of dharmas. It existed in the past and exists now; it does not depend upon cultivating the Way or sitting in meditation. Neither cultivating nor sitting is itself the Tathagata’s pure Chan.

If you now perceive this principle correctly, do not create the various kinds of karma; live according to your circumstances without transgression, wearing one kasaya and carrying one alms bowl, whether standing or sitting, always keeping them with you. Let observance of the precepts increasingly permeate you, and accumulate abundant pure karma. If only you can be like this, why worry that you will not penetrate it?

You have all been standing for a long time. Please take good care of yourselves.

4. Recorded Sayings of Venerable Weiyan of Yaoshan in Lizhou.

The Master ascended the Dharma hall and said: “The Patriarchs and Masters taught only how to preserve and maintain it. If, while inquiring into the Way, anger arises, you must guard against it and not allow yourself to become entangled. If you wish to understand the withered tree upon the rock, you must shoulder it yourself; truly, no branches or leaves can be obtained from it. Even so, you should examine yourselves and not cut off the path of words and speech. Now, in speaking these words to you, I have plainly said nothing. This has never possessed an outward form like the ears, eyes, and so forth.”

At that time, a monk asked, “What are the six destinies?”

The Master replied, “This essential wheel of mine, though present among them, has never been defiled.”

The monk asked, “What should one do when the afflictions within the body have not been exhausted?”

The Master said, “What form do afflictions have? I would like to examine them together with you. Yet there is another kind of person who merely records words and phrases on paper. Most are deluded by sutras and treatises. I have never read the sutras and treatises. You only become deluded by teachers, lose yourselves, and remain uncertain; consequently, the mind of birth and death immediately arises. Without ever having learned even a single word or phrase, a single sutra or treatise, you begin speaking of bodhi and nirvana, of whether worldly things are included or not included. If you understand it in this way, that itself is birth and death. If you are not constrained by this, all bonds are exhausted, and there is no birth and death.

“You hear a Vinaya master say, ‘What is the nisargika-duskrta?’ Yet this is the root of birth and death. Even so, if you wish to bring birth and death to an end, you cannot attain it. From the Buddhas above down to worms and ants below, all differ in being long or short, fair or ugly, large or small, and so forth. Since these things do not come from outside, where could some idle old fellow be who digs out a hell for you?

“Do you wish to know the path of hell? It is precisely this present boiling cauldron of scorching torment. Do you wish to know the path of hungry ghosts? It is precisely telling many lies and few truths, causing people to distrust you. Do you wish to know the path of animals? It is precisely not understanding benevolence and righteousness and not distinguishing between those close to you and those distant from you. Why would you need to wear fur and horns or be slaughtered, hung up, and carved apart? Do you wish to know the path of humans and devas? It is precisely pure deportment—carrying the water flask and holding the alms bowl. This guarantees that you will not fall into the various destinies.

“First and foremost, you must not abandon this. It is not easily attained. You must establish your practice as high as the summit of a lofty mountain and as deep as the bottom of the sea. Only when your conduct does not change will you have a little accord with it. Nowadays, all who stick their heads out are busybodies; it is impossible to find a dull-witted person. They merely memorize words from books and regard them as their own knowledge and views. When they see that others do not understand, they immediately disparage and belittle them. All such people are icchantikas and adherents of heterodox paths. This state of mind is improper and must be carefully examined.

“Even what I have said is still a matter at the periphery of the three realms. Do not pass by and stare vacantly beneath your patched robes. When you enter into this, it becomes increasingly subtle. Do not regard it as ordinary; you must know to be cautious.”

5. Recorded Sayings of Venerable Huihai of Dazhu in Yuezhou.

The Master ascended the Dharma hall and said: “You are fortunate to be capable, in yourselves, of being people with nothing to do. Why suffer by contriving actions that lead to death, thereby putting shackles around your necks and falling into prison? Every day, from morning until night, you continually rush about, saying, ‘I practice Chan, study the Mahayana, and understand the Buddha-Dharma.’ Yet this has even less to do with the matter; it is only chasing after sounds and forms. When will it ever cease?

“This poor monk once heard the Venerable Master of Jiangxi say, ‘Your own treasury contains everything in perfect abundance. You may use it freely and need not seek outside.’ From that moment onward, I ceased seeking. Freely enjoying the treasures that were already my own has been exceedingly joyful. There is not a single dharma that can be grasped and not a single dharma that can be rejected. I see no dharma possessing the characteristic of arising or ceasing, and no dharma possessing the characteristic of coming or going. Throughout the realms of the ten directions, not a single mote of dust is anything other than one’s own treasure. You need only carefully contemplate your own mind.

“The Three Jewels of one essence are always before your eyes; this cannot be doubted. Do not think about them, and do not seek them. The nature of mind has always been pure. Therefore, the Avatamsaka Sutra says, ‘All dharmas are unborn; all dharmas are unceasing.’ If you understand in this way, the Buddhas are always present before you. The Vimalakirti Sutra also says, ‘To contemplate the true characteristic of the body is to contemplate the Buddha in the same way.’ If you do not allow thoughts to move in pursuit of sounds and forms and do not produce understanding on the basis of appearances, you will naturally remain a person with nothing to do. You should not stand here long. Please take good care!”

That day, the assembly remained gathered for a long time without dispersing. The Master asked, “Why have you all come here and yet will not leave? This poor monk has already presented the matter to you face-to-face; still, will you not desist? If there is anything you doubt, do not misuse your minds and waste your strength. If you have doubts, ask freely and without delay.”

At that time, a monk named Fayuan asked, “What are the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and the Three Jewels of one essence? I beg the Master to instruct us.”

The Master replied, “Mind is Buddha; there is no need to use the Buddha to seek the Buddha. Mind is Dharma; there is no need to use the Dharma to seek the Dharma. Buddha and Dharma are nondual; their harmonious union is the Sangha. This is precisely the Three Jewels of one essence. The sutra says that mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—these three are without distinction. When body, speech, and mind are pure, it is called a Buddha appearing in the world. When the three kinds of karma are impure, it is called a Buddha entering nirvana. It is like how, when angry, one is not joyful, and when joyful, one is not angry; there is only this one mind, truly without two substances.

“Original wisdom is naturally thus, and the uncontaminated is manifest before you. It is like a snake transforming into a dragon without needing to change its scales; when sentient beings turn their minds around and become Buddhas, they need not change their faces. The nature is originally pure; it does not wait for cultivation before being perfected. To maintain that there is realization and cultivation is the same as harboring overweening pride. True emptiness is unobstructed, inexhaustible, without beginning and without end. Those of sharp faculties awaken suddenly; its function is beyond compare. This is anuttara-bodhi.

“Mind has no form or appearance; this is the wondrous form-body. Formlessness is the true-characteristic Dharma-body. The essential emptiness of nature and characteristics is the boundless-space body.

The adornment of the myriad practices is the Dharma-body of merit and virtue. This Dharma-body is precisely the foundation of the myriad transformations. Names are established according to circumstances.

Because the functioning of wisdom is inexhaustible, it is called the Inexhaustible Treasury. Because it has the power to produce the myriad dharmas, it is called the Treasury of the Original Dharma. Because it is endowed with all wisdom, it is called the Treasury of Wisdom.

Because the myriad dharmas return to suchness, it is called the Tathagata-garbha. The sutra says, ‘Tathagata means the suchness of all dharmas.’ It also says, ‘Of all the worldly dharmas of arising and ceasing, there is not a single dharma that does not return to suchness.’”

At that time, someone asked, “This disciple does not yet know which is superior—a Vinaya master, a Dharma master, or a Chan master. I beg the Venerable Master compassionately to instruct me.”

The Master said, “As for a Vinaya master, he opens the treasury of the Vinaya Dharma and transmits the legacy that sustains the life of the teaching. He thoroughly comprehends observance, transgression, allowance, and prohibition; upholds the rules of deportment as a standard; and conducts the threefold proclamation of the karman as the primary cause for the four fruits. If he were not a venerable elder of mature virtue, with eyebrows grown white, how would he dare act rashly?”

– A Dharma master sits upon the lion throne, discoursing with eloquence like a mighty river. Before a great assembly, he bores open the mysterious barrier and unfolds wondrous prajnaparamita, impartially practicing giving in which the three spheres are empty. If he were not a dragon or elephant among men, how would he dare shoulder such a responsibility? As for a Chan master, he grasps all the essential pivots, clearly knows the mind’s intentions, and, in coming and going, rolling up and stretching out, moves freely in every direction in accord with things. Fully comprehending both principle and phenomena, he swiftly beholds the Tathagata, uproots the deep roots of birth and death, and directly realizes samadhi. Unless one rests securely in dhyana and quiet contemplation, upon reaching this point one will remain utterly bewildered. The Dharma is bestowed according to capacities. Although the three trainings differ, when the meaning is attained and words forgotten, how could the One Vehicle be different? Therefore, the sutra says: “Throughout the Buddha-realms of the ten directions, there is only the One Buddha Vehicle; there is neither a second nor a third, except when the Buddha teaches expediently, provisionally borrowing names and terms to guide sentient beings.”

Question: “The Venerable Master has deeply understood the Buddha’s intent and attained unobstructed eloquence.” He further asked: “In what ways are the three teachings—Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism—the same or different?”

The Master said: “When employed on a vast scale, they are the same; when grasped by lesser capacities, they differ. Their functions all arise from the one nature, but according to the capacities of those who perceive them, differences appear and they become three. Delusion and awakening depend upon the person, not upon whether the teachings are the same or different.”

On one occasion, Lecturer Daoguang, who expounded the Consciousness-Only teaching, asked: “With what mind does the Chan master cultivate the Way?”

The Master said: “This old monk has no mind to employ and no Way to cultivate.”

He asked: “Since you have no mind to employ and no Way to cultivate, why do you gather a congregation every day and exhort people to study Chan and cultivate the Way?”

The Master said: “This old monk does not even have enough ground in which to thrust an awl; where could he gather a congregation? This old monk has no tongue; when has he ever exhorted anyone?”

He said: “Chan Master, you are telling lies to my face.”

The Master said: “This old monk has no tongue with which to exhort people, so how could he know how to speak falsely?”

He said: “I do not understand the Chan Master’s discourse.”

The Master said: “This old monk himself does not know how to lecture on the Avatamsaka Sutra either.”

Lecturer Zhi asked: “Why does the Chan Master not agree that the lush green bamboo is entirely the Dharmakaya and that the radiant yellow flowers are all prajna?”

The Master said: “The Dharmakaya has no form or image, yet it takes form through the green bamboo. Prajna is without knowing, yet it manifests its appearance in the presence of yellow flowers. It is not that the yellow flowers and green bamboo themselves possess prajna and the Dharmakaya. Therefore, the sutra says: ‘The true Dharmakaya of the Buddha is like empty space; responding to things, it manifests forms, like the moon reflected in water.’ If yellow flowers were prajna, prajna would be identical with insentient things. If green bamboo were the Dharmakaya, then green bamboo ought to be capable of responsive functioning. Lecturer, do you understand?”

He replied: “I do not understand this meaning.”

The Master said: “For one who has seen the nature, it is permissible to say that it is so, and it is also permissible to say that it is not so. Speaking in accordance with function, such a person is hindered by neither right nor wrong. One who has not seen the nature becomes attached to green bamboo when speaking of green bamboo and attached to yellow flowers when speaking of yellow flowers. Speaking of the Dharmakaya, he is obstructed by the Dharmakaya; speaking of prajna, he does not know prajna. Consequently, everything becomes a dispute.”

Zhi then bowed in gratitude and departed.

Someone asked: “If one brings forth the mind to cultivate, how long will it take to attain liberation?”

The Master said: “Bringing forth the mind to cultivate is like using something greasy to wash away filth. Mysterious and wondrous prajna is originally unborn of itself; when its great function manifests before you, no period of time is involved.”

He asked: “Can ordinary beings also attain this?”

The Master said: “One who sees the nature is no longer an ordinary being. Sudden awakening to the Supreme Vehicle transcends both the ordinary and the holy. The deluded discuss ordinary beings and sages; the awakened transcend birth and death and nirvana. The deluded speak of phenomena and principle; the awakened exercise great function without fixed method. The deluded seek attainment and realization; the awakened have nothing to attain and nothing to seek. The deluded set a term of many kalpas; the awakened behold it immediately.”

A lecturer on the Vimalakirti Sutra asked: “The sutra says: ‘Those six non-Buddhist teachers are your teachers. Depending upon them, you left the household life. When those teachers fall, you too will fall with them. Those who make offerings to you are not called fields of merit. Those who make offerings to you will fall into the three evil destinies. Because you revile the Buddha and disparage the Dharma, you are not numbered among the Sangha and will ultimately never attain cessation. If you are such a person, then you may take and eat our food.’ I now ask the Chan Master to explain this clearly.”

The Master said: “To deludedly follow the six sense faculties is what is meant by the six teachers. To seek the Buddha outside the mind is what is meant by a non-Buddhist path. If there is something that can be given, it is not called a field of merit. If one gives rise to a mind that accepts offerings, one will fall into the three evil destinies. If you can revile the Buddha—that is, if you do not cling to seeking the Buddha—and disparage the Dharma—that is, if you do not cling to seeking the Dharma—and if you are not numbered among the Sangha—that is, if you do not cling to seeking the Sangha—then ‘ultimately never attaining cessation’ means that wisdom and its function are manifest before you. If you understand in this way, you may partake of the food of Dharma-joy and dhyana-bliss.”

A practitioner asked: “When someone asks about the Buddha, one answers ‘Buddha’; when asked about the Dharma, one answers ‘Dharma.’ This is called a Dharma gate. I do not know whether that is correct.”

The Master replied: “It is like a parrot imitating human speech, unable to speak for itself because it lacks wisdom. It is like using water to wash water or using fire to burn fire; none of these has any meaningful purport.”

Someone asked: “Are ‘word’ and ‘speech’ the same or different?”

The Master said: “A single character is called a word; once characters form a sentence, it is called speech. For example, eloquent discourse may pour forth endlessly like the surging current of a great river, while sharp expressions of the pivotal matter may be amassed like pearls filling a vessel. For this reason, Guo Xiang called it the ‘Hanging River,’ while Ying Xuan called it the ‘Ocean of Meaning.’ This is speech.

A word is a single character that expresses the mind: inwardly it contains the subtle mystery, and outwardly it manifests a wondrous form. Though the myriad beings stir in confusion, it is not disturbed; though purity and turbidity mingle, it always distinguishes them. Were the King of Qi to reach this point, he too would be ashamed before the words of the Grand Master.

Even Manjusri, upon reaching this point, praised Vimalakirti. How could ordinary people today emulate it?”

Vinaya Master Yuan asked: “The Chan Master often says, ‘This very mind is Buddha,’ but there is no such thing. Moreover, a bodhisattva on the First Ground can emanate bodies throughout one hundred Buddha-worlds, and a bodhisattva on the Second Ground exceeds this tenfold. Chan Master, try displaying spiritual powers for us to see.”

The Master said: “Acarya, are you yourself an ordinary being or a sage?”

He replied: “An ordinary being.”

The Master said: “Since you are an ordinary monk, how can you ask about such a realm? As the sutra says: ‘Virtuous One, when the mind makes distinctions of high and low, it does not accord with the Buddha’s wisdom.’ This is precisely such a case.”

He further asked: “The Chan Master often says that if one awakens to the Way, this present body immediately attains liberation, but there is no such thing.”

The Master said: “Suppose someone has done good throughout his life, but suddenly steals another person’s property and takes it into his hand. Does his present body immediately become that of a thief?”

He replied: “I know that it does.”

The Master said: “If one now sees the nature clearly, why can this not be called liberation?”

He replied: “It cannot be attained now; one must pass through three great asamkhyeya kalpas before attaining it.”

The Master said: “Can asamkhyeya kalpas be numbered?”

Vinaya Master Yuan retorted: “Can the principle truly make sense when you compare a thief with liberation?”

The Master said: “Acarya, you yourself do not understand the Way, yet you cannot prevent others from understanding it. Your own eyes are unopened, and still you resent others for seeing things.”

Yuan’s expression changed. As he withdrew, he said: “You old man are confused and without the Way.”

The Master said: “Then let it be just as you say.”

Lecturer Hui, who expounded Calming and Contemplation, asked: “Can the Chan Master distinguish demons?”

The Master said: “Giving rise to mind is the demon of the heavens; not giving rise to mind is the demon of the skandhas; sometimes giving rise to mind and sometimes not giving rise to mind is the demon of afflictions. Within the true Dharma, I have no such matters.”

He asked: “Then what is the meaning of the three contemplations in one mind?”

The Master said: “The mind of the past has already passed, the mind of the future has not yet arrived, and the mind of the present does not abide. Within these, which mind do you employ to initiate contemplation?”

He replied: “The Chan Master does not understand calming and contemplation.”

The Master asked: “Do you understand it, Lecturer?”

He replied: “I do.”

The Master said: “As Great Master Zhizhe said: ‘To speak of calming is to destroy calming; to speak of contemplation is to destroy contemplation.’ If one abides in calming, one dies within birth and death; if one abides in contemplation, one’s mind and spirit become disordered. Must one further use the mind to calm the mind, or give rise to a mind that contemplates? If there is a mind that contemplates, this is the view of permanence. If there is no mind that contemplates, this is the view of annihilation. If there is both mind and no mind that

contemplation, then that is dualistic view. Lecturer, please explain it truthfully, minutely, and clearly. He replied: I cannot answer any of the Master's questions. The Master said: Then how could you ever have practiced calming and contemplation?
Someone asked: Is prajna great? The Master said: Great. He asked: How
great? The Master said: Boundless. He asked: Is prajna small? The Master said: Small. He asked:
How small? The Master said: It cannot be seen. He asked: Which is right?
The Master said: Which is not right?
A lecturer on the Vimalakirti Sutra asked: The sutra says: “All the bodhisattvas entered the Dharma
gate of nonduality, and Vimalakirti remained silent.” Is this ultimate? The Master said: It is not yet ultimate. If the sage's
meaning had already been exhausted, what would there be to discuss in the third fascicle? The lecturer remained silent for a long while and then asked:
I beg the Chan Master to explain the meaning of its not yet being ultimate. The Master said: In the first fascicle of the sutra,
he guides the assembly by reproaching the ten great disciples for abiding in mind. In the second fascicle,
all the bodhisattvas speak of entering the Dharma gate of nonduality, using words to reveal the wordless.
Manjusri uses the wordless to elucidate the wordless. Vimalakirti neither employs
speech nor employs non-speech; therefore, he remains silent to gather up all the preceding statements.
In the third fascicle, speech arises from silence, and the functioning of spiritual powers is again revealed.
Do you understand, Lecturer? He asked: How could it be so extraordinary? The Master said: It is still not
so. He asked: Why is it still not so? The Master said: It was spoken thus to break people's emotional attachments.
According to the sutra's meaning, it merely teaches that form and mind are quiescent so that one may perceive
one's original nature; it teaches one to abandon false conduct and enter true conduct. Do not turn toward
spoken words and written characters to discuss and conjecture; simply understand the single expression “Pure Name,”
and that will suffice. “Pure” is the essence of the fundamental; “Name” is the functioning of the trace. From the fundamental essence
arises the functioning of the trace. From the functioning of the trace one returns to the fundamental essence; essence and function are
not two. The fundamental and the trace do not differ. Therefore, an ancient said: “Though the fundamental and the trace differ,
they are one inconceivable reality.” Yet one is not even one. If you know that the two words “Pure Name” are
a provisional designation, what can be said to be ultimate or not ultimate? There is neither before nor after,
neither root nor branch, neither purity nor name; it merely reveals the originally inconceivable, liberated nature
of sentient beings. If a person does not see the nature, that person will never perceive this principle.
A monk asked: All dharmas are entirely empty, and the nature of consciousness is likewise so.
For example, once a bubble on the water bursts, it does not come together again. Once this body dies, it
does not live again; thus everything is empty. Where, then, could there still be a nature of consciousness? The Master said: A bubble
exists because of water; when the bubble dissolves, it does not mean that there is no water. The body arises because of the nature;
when the body dies, how could one say that the nature is lost? He asked: Since you say that the nature exists, try bringing it out
for me to see. The Master asked: Do you believe there is such a thing as early morning? He replied: I do. The Master said: Try
bringing early morning out for me to see. He replied: Early morning truly exists, but I cannot bring it out
now. The Master said: That early morning cannot be obtained does not mean that early morning
does not exist. Your own failure to see the nature does not mean that there is no nature. At present, it is directly before you in
wearing clothes, eating meals, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, yet you do not know it; this may
be called foolish delusion. If you wish to see early morning, it is no different from today.
If you take the nature to seek the nature, you will never see it throughout ten thousand kalpas. It is also like a
blind person who does not see the sun; this does not mean that there is no sun.
A lecturer on the Qinglong Commentary asked: The sutra says: “That there is no Dharma that can be
spoken is called speaking the Dharma.” How does the Chan Master understand this? The Master said: Because the essence of prajna
is ultimately pure and not a single thing can be obtained, it is said that there is no
Dharma. Yet within the empty and quiescent essence of prajna are fully present functions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges;
thus there is nothing it does not know. This knowing is called speaking the Dharma. Therefore,
it is said: “That there is no Dharma that can be spoken is called speaking the Dharma.”
A lecturer on the Avatamsaka Sutra asked: Does the Chan Master believe that insentient things are
Buddhas? The Master replied: I do not. If insentient things were Buddhas, the living
would be inferior to the dead, and dead dogs and dead donkeys would be superior to all living people. The sutra
says: “The Buddha's body is the Dharma body, born from morality, samadhi, and wisdom;
born from the three knowledges and six superknowledges; born from all wholesome dharmas.” If you say that insentient things are Buddhas, then,
Venerable Sir, you should die now and become a Buddha!
There was also a Dharma teacher who asked: Upholding the Prajnaparamita Sutra yields the greatest merit.
Does the Master believe this? The Master said: I do not. He asked: Can none of the miraculous responses recorded in
more than ten fascicles be believed? What of the white bones? The Master said: When living people observe filial piety, responses naturally occur;
it is not that the bones themselves produce responses. A sutra consists of words, meanings, paper, and ink, whose nature is originally empty; where,
then, could miraculous efficacy reside? Miraculous responses lie in the application of mind by the person who upholds the sutra;
therefore, spiritual power moves things. Try placing a fascicle of scripture on a table. If no one accepts and upholds
it, can it itself produce miraculous responses?
A monk asked: Regarding all names and characteristics, Dharma characteristics, speech,
and silence, how can one understand them and immediately be free of before and after? The Master said:
When a single thought arises, it has originally had neither characteristic nor name; how could one say
that there is before and after? Not knowing that names and characteristics are originally pure, one delusively clings to
before and after. As for the gateway of names and characteristics, without the key of wisdom,
it cannot be opened. The Middle Way becomes the ailment of the Middle Way; the two extremes become the ailment
of the two extremes. Not knowing that present functioning is the Unequaled Dharma Body,
one takes delusion and awakening, gain and loss, as the dharmas of ordinary people. One gives rise to birth and cessation oneself and thereby buries
right wisdom; one either severs afflictions or seeks bodhi, thus turning one's back on
prajnaparamita.
Someone asked: Why do Vinaya masters not believe in Chan? The Master said: Because the subtle principle is
difficult to reveal clearly, whereas names and characteristics are easy to maintain. Those who do not see the nature
do not believe. One who sees the nature is called a Buddha. Only one who knows the Buddha
can believe in it. The Buddha is not far from people, yet people are always far from the Buddha. The Buddha is created
by the mind. Deluded people seek amid words and meanings, whereas awakened people
awaken within the mind. Deluded people cultivate causes and await results, whereas awakened people understand that the mind is without characteristics.
Deluded people cling to objects, grasp the self, and take it as themselves; awakened people manifest the present functioning of prajna.
Fools cling to emptiness or cling to existence and become obstructed; the wise see the nature, comprehend characteristics, and function with numinous freedom.
Those who debate from the standpoint of dry wisdom merely weary their mouths. Those of great wisdom embody and comprehend the state of mind.
Bodhisattvas encounter things and illuminate them distinctly; sravakas fear phenomena and obscure the mind. Awakened people
live daily in the unborn; for the deluded, the Buddha is distant even when directly before their eyes.
Someone asked: How are spiritual powers attained? The Master said: The spiritual nature possesses numinous penetration
throughout worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. It passes freely through mountains, rivers, cliffs, and stone walls;
in a ksana it travels ten thousand miles, coming and going without a trace. Fire cannot burn it,
and water cannot drown it. Fools, because their own minds lack wisdom, desire their bodies of the four great elements
to fly through the sky. The sutra says: “The characteristics of ordinary beings are described according to their meaning.” The mind
has no form; this is the subtle form-body. Being without characteristics is the true characteristic.
Because the essence of the true characteristic is empty, it is called the body of boundless space. Because it is adorned
by the myriad practices, it is called the Dharma body of merit. This Dharma body is the root
of the myriad practices. Names are established according to its functions, but in truth it is simply the pure
Dharma body.
Someone asked: If one single-mindedly cultivates the Way, can karmic hindrances from the past be eliminated?
The Master said: For one who has not seen the nature, they have not yet been eliminated; but for one who sees the nature, it is like the sun shining and dissolving the frost. Moreover, for one who sees the nature, it is like a pile of grass as high as Mount Sumeru:
one needs only a spark of fire. Karmic hindrances are like grass, and wisdom is like fire. He asked: How can one know that karmic hindrances have been exhausted? The Master said:

Seeing the mind of the past, one penetrates both former and later lives; events appear as though seen directly before one’s eyes, and the myriad dharmas before and after the Buddha seem simultaneous. The sutra says: “In a single thought, knowing all dharmas is the bodhimanda where omniscience is accomplished.”

A practitioner asked, “How can one abide in the true Dharma?” The Master said, “Seeking to abide in the true Dharma is deviant. Why? Because the Dharma is neither deviant nor true.”

He asked, “How can one become a Buddha?”

The Master said, “There is no need to cast aside the mind of sentient beings; it is only necessary that the self-nature remain undefiled. The sutra says: ‘Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—these three are no different from one another.’”

He asked, “If one understands in this way, can one attain liberation?”

The Master said, “Originally, one is inherently unbound, so there is no need to seek liberation. The Dharma transcends spoken and written words; there is no need to seek it among a few phrases. The Dharma is neither past, present, nor future, and cannot be accorded with through cause and effect. The Dharma surpasses everything and cannot be compared to anything. The Dharma-body has no form or image, yet manifests forms in response to beings. Do not depart from the world to seek liberation.”

A monk asked, “What is prajna?”

The Master replied, “Your doubt is not prajna. Try to say what it is.”

He further asked, “How can one see the nature?”

The Master said, “Seeing itself is the nature; without the nature, seeing would be impossible.”

He further asked, “What is practice like?”

The Master said, “Only let the self-nature remain undefiled—that is practice. Do not deceive yourself—that is practice. When the Great Function manifests directly before you, that is the Unequaled Dharma-body.”

He further asked, “Is there evil within the nature?”

The Master said, “Here, even goodness is not established.”

He asked, “If neither good nor evil is established, where should the mind be put to use?”

The Master said, “Using the mind to employ the mind is a great inversion.”

He asked, “Then what is right?”

The Master said, “Doing nothing is not truly right either.”

Someone asked, “If a person sits in a boat and the bottom of the boat kills snails and clams, does the person incur the offense, or does the boat?”

The Master said, “Both the person and the boat are without intention; the offense lies precisely with you. It is like a violent wind breaking trees and harming people and things: there is no agent, and no one incurs an offense. In this world, there is no one who is not a sentient being undergoing suffering.”

A monk asked, “If one does not yet understand how to lodge feelings, how to point to objects, how to speak and remain silent, or even how to raise the eyebrows, blink the eyes, and so forth, how can one comprehend it within a single thought?”

The Master said, “There is no nature apart from phenomena. If employed skillfully, both movement and stillness are wondrous. When the mind is true, both speech and silence are true. When one understands the Way, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all the Way. Because one is deluded about the self-nature, the myriad delusions all arise.”

He asked, “How can the Dharma have a central principle?”

The Master said, “Various meanings arise according to what is established. Manjusri establishes all dharmas upon the root of non-abiding.”

He asked, “Would that not be the same as empty space?”

The Master asked, “Are you afraid that it is the same as empty space?”

He replied, “I am afraid.”

The Master said, “Since you know fear, it is not the same as empty space.”

He further asked, “If speech cannot reach it, how can it be known?”

The Master said, “As you are speaking now, where does your doubt fail to reach?”

More than ten venerable elders asked together, “The sutra speaks of ‘destroying the Buddha-Dharma....’ We do not know whether the Buddha-Dharma can be destroyed.”

The Master said, “Ordinary people and non-Buddhists say that the Buddha-Dharma can be destroyed, while followers of the Two Vehicles say that it cannot be destroyed. Here within the true Dharma, I see neither of these two views. If we discuss the true Dharma, it is not only ordinary people and non-Buddhists who stand outside it. Until followers of the Two Vehicles reach the stage of Buddhahood, they too are evil persons.”

They further asked, “Do true dharmas, illusory dharmas, empty dharmas, non-empty dharmas, and so forth each possess an inherent nature?”

The Master said, “Each and every dharma is devoid of inherent nature, yet all manifest in response to things. When the mind is illusory, everything is illusory. If there were a single dharma that was not illusory, illusion would thereby possess a fixed nature.

When the mind is empty, everything is empty. If there were a single dharma that was not empty, the meaning of emptiness could not be established. When deluded, the person follows dharmas; when awakened, dharmas follow the person.

Just as the whole array of myriad phenomena reaches its end in emptiness, and as hundreds of rivers and thousands of streams reach their culmination in the sea, so all sages and saints come to rest upon reaching Buddhahood. The twelve divisions of scripture, the five sections of the Vinaya, and the Veda treatises all reach their culmination in the mind. Mind is the great source of the myriad dharmas, the marvelous root of all dharanis; it is also called the Treasury of Wisdom and non-abiding nirvana.

Hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of names are all merely different designations for mind.”

They further asked, “What is illusion?”

The Master said, “Illusion is an appearance without fixed form, like a whirling firebrand, a city of the gandharvas, a mechanical man, a heat shimmer beneath the sun, or flowers in the sky. All are unreal dharmas.”

They further asked, “What is called the Great Master of Illusion?”

The Master said, “Mind is called the Great Master of Illusion; the body is the city of the Great Illusion; names and forms, food and clothing, belong to the Great Illusion. Throughout worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, there is nothing outside illusion. Ordinary people do not understand illusion and are everywhere deluded by illusory karma.

Sravakas fear illusory objects, which obscure their minds, and so they enter quiescence. Bodhisattvas know that dharmas are illusory and realize the essence of illusion; therefore, they are not bound by any names or forms. The Buddha is the Great Master of Illusion, who turns the Great Illusory Dharma Wheel, realizes the Great Illusory Nirvana, transforms illusory arising and ceasing into non-arising and non-ceasing, and transforms impure lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges into the pure Dharma realm.”

A monk asked, “Why do you disapprove of reciting sutras and call it the speech of a guest?”

The Master said, “It is like parrots that merely learn human speech but do not grasp human meaning. The sutras transmit the Buddha’s meaning. If one does not grasp the Buddha’s meaning but only recites them, one falls into merely learning human speech. Therefore, I do not approve.”

He asked, “One cannot depart from written words, yet the Dharma transcends spoken and written language. Does this mean there is some separate meaning?”

The Master said, “What you have just said is also learned speech.”

He asked, “If both are speech, why do you disapprove of one in particular?”

The Master said, “Listen carefully now. Sutras have clearly defined texts. What I speak is the meaning of words, not their written form. What sentient beings speak is the written form of words, not their meaning. When one grasps the meaning, one transcends superficial words; when one awakens to the principle, one transcends written characters and their meanings. Why then turn toward a few phrases and seek within them? Thus, upon giving rise to bodhicitta, one grasps the meaning and forgets the words; one awakens to the principle and leaves the teachings behind. It is like catching the fish and forgetting the fish-trap, or catching the rabbit and forgetting its tracks.”

A Dharma teacher asked, “Mindfulness of the Buddha has the characteristics of the Mahayana. What is the Chan Master’s view?”

The Master said, “Even the formless is not the Mahayana, much less characteristics arising in response to capacities. The sutra says: ‘It is explained provisionally according to the characteristics of ordinary people.’”

He further asked, “I vow to be born in the Pure Land, but I do not know whether the Pure Land truly exists.”

The Master said, “The sutra says: ‘If one wishes to attain the Pure Land, one must purify one’s own mind. As the mind becomes pure, the Buddha-land becomes pure.’ If the mind is pure, wherever one dwells is the Pure Land. It is like being born in a royal palace and being certain to inherit the king’s vocation. To arouse the aspiration toward the Buddha Way is to be born in the Buddha’s land. If that mind is not pure, wherever one is born will be an impure land. Purity and impurity lie in the mind, not in the land.”

Someone asked, “I often hear the Way spoken of, but I do not know who can see it.”

The Master said, “One who possesses the Wisdom Eye can see it.”

He asked, “How can the joy of the Mahayana be learned?”

The Master said, “When awakened, one attains it; without awakening, one does not.”

He asked, “How does one attain awakening?”

The Master said, “Only contemplate it with certainty.”

He asked, “What thing does it resemble?”

The Master said, “It resembles nothing.”

He asked, “Is it ultimately empty?”

The Master said, “If it were empty, it would not be ultimate.”

He asked, “Then must it exist?”

The Master said, “It exists, yet is without characteristics.”

He asked, “What if one does not awaken?”

The Master said, “Venerable sir, you yourself have not awakened; nor is there anyone obstructing you.”

Someone asked, “Does the Buddha-Dharma exist in the three places?”

The Master said, “It is seen in the formless, yet does not abide outside; its responsive function is inexhaustible, yet it does not abide inside; nor does it abide between the two. None of the three places can be apprehended.”

He said, “These words are very confused.”

The Master said, “It is precisely you who speak confusedly. At that very moment, was it both inside and outside?”

He replied, “This disciple has examined inside and outside carefully, but there is no trace anywhere.”

The Master said:
“If there is no trace, then you know that the words spoken above are not confused.”

Question: “How can one become a Buddha?”

The Master said: “This mind is Buddha; this mind becomes Buddha.”

Question: “When sentient beings enter hell, does the Buddha-nature enter with them?”

The Master struck him and said: “At this very moment, when you are doing evil, is there any good?”

Answer: “No.”

The Master said: “When sentient beings enter hell, the Buddha-nature is likewise.”

Question: “In what way do all sentient beings possess Buddha-nature?”

The Master said: “When its function is that of a Buddha, it is Buddha-nature; when its function is that of a thief, it is thief-nature; when its function is that of a sentient being, it is sentient-being-nature. Nature has no form or appearance; names are established according to its function. The sutra says: ‘All sages and saints differ by virtue of conditioned dharmas.’”

A monk asked: “What is Buddha?”

The Master said: “Apart from mind, there is no Buddha.”

Question: “What is the Dharma-body?”

The Master said: “Mind is the Dharma-body. Because it is able to give rise to the myriad dharmas, it is called the body of the Dharma-realm. The Treatise on the Awakening of Faith says: ‘When we speak of Dharma, we mean the mind of sentient beings, for it is on the basis of this mind that the meaning of the Mahayana is clearly revealed.’”

He further asked: “Why is it said that the great scripture-scroll contains a single mote of dust?”

The Master said: “Wisdom is the scripture-scroll. The sutra says: ‘There is a Great Scripture whose measure is equal to the three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system, and within it are motes of dust.’ A single mote is a single thought-mote of mind. Therefore it is said: ‘When the Vaibhasha verses are expounded within a single thought-mote, people do not understand.’”

Question: “What is the City of Great Meaning, and what is the King of Great Meaning?”

The Master said: “The body is the City of Great Meaning; the mind is the King of Great Meaning. The sutra says: ‘One of extensive learning may be skilled in meaning yet not skilled in speech and words....’ Speech and words pertain to the meaning of arising and ceasing. The meaning that neither arises nor ceases has no form or appearance outside speech and words. Mind is the great scripture-scroll; mind is the King of Great Meaning. If one does not clearly know the mind, one cannot be called skilled in meaning; one is merely learning the sounds of others.”

He further asked: “The Prajnaparamita Sutra says: ‘Deliver the nine classes of sentient beings, causing them all to enter nirvana without remainder.’ The sutra also says: ‘In truth, no sentient being attains deliverance.’ How should these two passages of scripture be understood? People in the past and present have all said: ‘One truly delivers sentient beings without clinging to the appearance of sentient beings.’ Yet I have always remained doubtful and undecided. I beg the Master to explain.”

The Master said: “The nine classes of sentient beings are all fully present within a single body, taking form according to what is created. Thus, those enveloped by ignorance are the oviparous class; those contained within the womb of afflictions are the viviparous class; those who delight in water and enjoy dampness are the moisture-born class; and the sudden arising of afflictions is the transformation-born class. Awakening is Buddha; delusion is called a sentient being.

A bodhisattva regards each successive thought of mind as a sentient being. If one understands that the substance of each successive thought is empty, this is called delivering sentient beings. A wise person delivers them on the ground of their own original domain before they appear.

Since, before appearing, they are already nonexistent, one truly knows that no sentient being attains deliverance.”

A monk asked: “Are speech and words the mind?”

The Master said: “Speech and words are specifically not the mind.”

Question: “Apart from conditions, what is the mind?”

The Master said: “Apart from language, there is no mind.”

Question: “If apart from language there is no mind, then what is mind?”

The Master said: “Mind has neither form nor appearance. It is neither apart from language nor not apart from language. Mind is constantly clear and luminous, responding and functioning in complete freedom. The Patriarch said: ‘If you clearly understand that mind is not mind, only then do you clearly understand the Dharma of mind-to-mind.’”

A monk asked: “What is the equal cultivation of samadhi and wisdom?”

The Master said: “Samadhi is the essence; wisdom is the function. From samadhi, wisdom arises; from wisdom, one returns to samadhi. Like water and waves, they are one essence, without before or after; this is called the equal cultivation of samadhi and wisdom. Those who have left the household life should not pursue speech and words. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all functions of your nature. At what point are they not in accord with the Way? Let all distinctions cease at once. If it is not stirred by the winds of external objects, the water of the mind-nature is always naturally still and clear. There is nothing further. Please take good care of yourselves.”

6. Recorded Sayings of National Preceptor Wuye of Dada, Fenzhou

The Master ascended the Dharma hall. A monk asked: “The twelve divisions of the teaching have circulated throughout this land, and those who attained the fruit of the Way were not merely one or two. Why, then, did the Patriarch, when propagating the teaching in the Eastern Land, separately reveal the Mysterious School, directly pointing to the human mind so that one might see one’s nature and become a Buddha?

Could it be that the World-Honored One’s exposition of the Dharma was incomplete? Moreover, the great virtuous eminent monks of former generations, together with those thoroughly versed in the Nine Schools and fully conversant with the Tripitaka—such as Sengzhao, Daosheng, Daorong, and Sengruì—were all persons of wondrous spiritual attainment.... Could they possibly have failed to understand the depth and extent of the Buddhadharma?

I am an ordinary and ignorant man; I beg the Master to instruct me.”

The Master said: “The Buddhas have never appeared in the world, nor have they ever had a single Dharma to give to people. They merely prescribed medicines according to illnesses, and thus there came to be the twelve divisions of the teaching. It is like exchanging sweet fruit for a bitter gourd, sifting and refining your karmic faculties; there is nothing real in it.

Supernormal powers, miraculous transformations, and the hundreds of thousands of gates of transformation through samadhi belong to heavenly demons and adherents of outside paths. The two adornments of merit and wisdom are established to break attachment to obstructed views of existence and nonexistence. If you do not understand the Way and the intent of the Patriarch’s coming from the Western Land, what point is there in discussing Sengzhao, Daosheng, Daorong, and Sengruì?

“Nowadays, shallow people throughout the land who claim to understand the Way are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Those who speak of Buddha and speak of mind, saying that mind exists, number in the hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions. If even the slightest mote of dust has not been relinquished, they still cannot escape samsara. If conceptual thought has not disappeared, they must all sink into perdition. People of this sort cannot even know their own karmic consequences, yet they falsely claim to benefit themselves and others, boasting that they belong to the highest class and are the equals of the virtuous ones of old.

“They merely say: ‘Whatever the eyes see is nothing other than the work of Buddha; wherever one takes a step is entirely the bodhimanda.’ Yet because their practice differs at its very root, when ordinary people who observe the five precepts and ten wholesome deeds hear them speak, they mistake them for adherents of the Two Vehicles or bodhisattvas of the Tenth Bhumi. Even ghee, the finest flavor and a treasure of the world, becomes poison when it encounters such people. Master Nanshan himself still refused to acknowledge them, calling them students who merely speak of the Mahayana, vying for precedence in words and vigorously debating matters that have no form, while claiming to equal the virtuous ones of old. How painful this truly is!

“Even lofty recluses know to sleep upon the earth, drink from mountain streams, and abandon all profit and gain. There have also been men talented enough to pacify the realm and govern the people who would not come even when summoned by the king. How much more should we students of the Chan school be otherwise?

Look at the ancient virtuous ones and practitioners of the Way: once they had attained the meaning, they dwelt in thatched huts or rocky caves, passing their days with simple food and clothing for as long as thirty-two years. They gave no thought to fame or gain, did not cling to money or possessions, forgot all worldly affairs, and concealed themselves among streams and forests. They did not come when the sovereign arrived, nor did they answer when officials summoned them.

How could they be like us, still craving fame and coveting gain, floundering away an entire lifetime?

“Like petty merchants, we hope only for a small profit and forget the great fruit. Could the sages of the Tenth Bhumi, who thoroughly comprehend the Buddha-principle, possibly fail to know as much as an ordinary person on the ground of sheer worldliness? There is truly no such principle. Though they expound the Dharma like rain and snow, they are still rebuked by the Buddha, for their seeing of the nature is still separated by a veil. This is only because their feelings still retain a measure of sagehood and their views still retain cause and effect; they have not yet been able to transcend the sentiments of the sages and cast aside all traces.

“The ancient worthies and virtuous ones, great scholars and eminent persons, thoroughly understood past and present and were fully versed in the net of teachings. Yet because they had learned only knowledge and literary words, they found it difficult to distinguish water from milk. Since they did not clearly know their own principle, they conceived purity and sought the true. Alas! To obtain a human body is as rare as the soil upon a fingernail, while those who lose the human body are as numerous as the soil of the great earth. How truly lamentable!

“If someone awakens to a principle or gains some knowledge or understanding, yet does not know that this is merely a rule within awakening and a gateway into the principle, he immediately declares that he has completely transcended worldly gain. Then he roams mountains and wades through streams, looking down upon those of the highest standing. Consequently, his mind remains crude, while the ground of principle never becomes clear. Vacant and empty, he reaches old age and death without accomplishing anything, having lived his days and months in vain. Moreover, an intelligent person is unable to carry on the work, while one possessed merely of arid wisdom cannot escape the cycle of suffering.”

Suppose one possessed talent equal to Ashvaghosha's and understood that Nagarjuna had, for one lifetime or two lifetimes, not lost a human body; because the roots of thought from previous lives had already been purified, upon hearing, he immediately understood. How could someone born in the ordinary way be deemed to have fully investigated it? Such a person remains utterly distant from the Way.

Now I discuss reality with you brothers, not falsehood. I merely wish to stop those whose mouths eat and whose bodies wear clothing, yet who, for the most part, deceive worthies and defraud sages, seeking gain in the future. If one possesses the mind's wisdom-eye, one sees such things as eating blood and pus; every debt must be repaid in full before anything can be said.

Whoever has attained the fruit of the Way will naturally attract offerings from faithful donors, yet will not accept their offerings. Such a person is a bodhisattva studying prajnaparamita and must not become arrogant toward them, but must proceed as though walking on slippery ice or running over the edge of a sharp sword. If, when approaching death, even the slightest discriminative reckoning concerning ordinary beings and sages has not ceased, and the tiniest private thought has not been forgotten, one will follow that thought and undergo birth according to the relative weight of the five skandhas.

One may be conceived in the womb of a donkey or the belly of a horse, or fall into hell and be boiled and burned. All memories, views, understandings, knowledge, and wisdom will be lost at once, and, just as before, one will again become an ant, fly, or mosquito. Though one was a good person, one encounters an evil result; what more can one calculate or devise?

Brothers, it is only because craving and desire have become your nature that your heels remain firmly stuck in the twenty-five realms of existence, with no day of escape. The Patriarch saw that sentient beings in this land possessed Mahayana faculties and nature; therefore, he transmitted only the mind-seal, directly revealing deluded feelings. Those who attain it are not distinguished as ordinary or sage, foolish or wise.

Moreover, much that is false is inferior to a little that is real. A great man should stop and rest right here, swiftly sever all the myriad conditions, transcend the stream of birth and death, and proceed to the place where the ever-numinous radiance shines alone, unstained by entanglement with things—lofty and majestic, walking alone through the three realms. What need is there for a body sixteen feet tall, shining with the radiance of pure gold, a halo around the head, or the mark of a broad and long tongue?

“If one sees me through form, one practices a deviant path.” If there are dignified retinues, they come of themselves without being sought. Mountains, rivers, and the great earth cannot obstruct one's gaze. Attaining the great dharani, one hears one thing and awakens to a thousand, yet does not seek even the value of a single meal.

If you are not like this, then the coming of the Patriarchs to this land has not invariably brought benefit; there have also been harms. As for the benefit, among hundreds of thousands of people, perhaps one person—or half a person—can be selected as a vessel of the Dharma. The harm is as stated above.

If one follows others and practices in reliance upon the teachings of the Three Vehicles, there is no obstacle to attaining the Four Fruits or the Three Stages of Worthiness, and one has a share in further cultivation. Therefore, the ancient worthies said: “When one understands, karmic obstructions have fundamentally never existed; before one has realized this, one must repay one's former debts.”

7. Recorded Sayings of the Venerable Puyuan of Nanquan in Chizhou

The Master ascended the Dharma hall and said: “All of you, since the age of eighteen this old monk has chosen understanding as his means of livelihood. Whoever has chosen understanding as his means of livelihood, step forward, and I shall discuss it with you. But you must be a person of the mountains.”

After a while, he looked around at the assembly. The Master joined his palms and said: “Take care. There is nothing to do; everyone should cultivate on their own.”

The assembly still did not disperse. The Master said: “That holy fruit is exceedingly great and truly fearsome; even the power of contemplation of a great person cannot fathom what to do with it. I am not that person, and that person is not me. How could that person contend with me? Another scripture and treatise says: ‘The Dharma-body is the ultimate principle’; this is called the samadhi in which principle is exhausted and the samadhi in which meaning is exhausted. It is like when this old monk was formerly taught to ‘return to the root and go back to the source.’ How many people have understood this matter?

“Brothers, in recent days there have been very many Chan masters, yet it is impossible to find a dull-witted person. I do not say there are absolutely none, but there are very few among them. If there is one, let him step forward and discuss it with me. In the empty kalpa, were there practitioners or not? Were there or were there not? Why do you not speak? Ordinarily, your lips are so clever and your tongues so sharp; why, when questioned today, do none of you speak? Why not step forward? Do not discuss matters from when a Buddha appears in the world.

“Brothers, people nowadays carry the Buddha on their shoulders as they walk. When they hear this old monk say, ‘Mind is not Buddha; wisdom is not the Way,’ they immediately huddle together, imitating one another and elaborating upon it. But this old monk has no place for you to elaborate. If you can bind empty space into a staff and strike this old monk with it, then you may elaborate as you please.”

At that time, a monk asked: “From the Patriarchs of old down to the Great Master of Jiangxi, all said: ‘This very mind is Buddha; the ordinary mind is the Way.’ Now, Venerable, you say, ‘Mind is not Buddha; wisdom is not the Way.’ We students have all given rise to doubt. I ask the Venerable compassionately to instruct us.”

The Master immediately replied in a loud voice: “If you are Buddha, then cast aside your doubt and do not ask. Who beside this old monk has doubted Buddha and then come here? This old monk is not Buddha, nor has he ever seen the Patriarchs. Since you speak this way, go seek the Patriarchs yourself.”

Question: “When the Venerable speaks this way, how are students to receive assistance?”

The Master said: “Quickly stretch out your hand and support empty space.”

Question: “Empty space bears the mark of immovability. How can it be lifted?”

The Master said: “The moment you say it bears the mark of immovability, it has already moved. How could empty space understand the immovable mark of my Way? All of this is merely your own emotional view.”

Question: “How could the immovable mark of empty space still be an emotional view? What did you previously tell me to lift?”

The Master said: “Since you already know that one should not speak of supporting it, where will you establish a place from which to assist others?”

Question: “Since ‘this very mind is Buddha’ is unacceptable, does this mind become Buddha?”

The Master said: “This mind is Buddha; this mind becomes Buddha. Whatever concerns feeling and nature becomes Buddha through conceptualization. Wisdom pertains to the person, and mind is the master. All postures and activities reveal wondrous functioning when responding to things. Worthy sir, do not acknowledge mind or acknowledge Buddha. If you acknowledge anything, it becomes an object, and others will call you foolish because of that knowing. Therefore, the Great Master of Jiangxi said: ‘It is not mind, not Buddha, not a thing.’ He further taught you later people to conduct yourselves in this way. Students nowadays put on these robes; can those around you still doubt this idle matter?”

Question: “Since it is not mind, not Buddha, and not a thing, why does the Venerable now further say, ‘Mind is not Buddha; wisdom is not the Way’? I do not yet understand this.”

The Master said: “You do not accept that mind is not Buddha and wisdom is not the Way. How could this old monk obtain mind, and where would it be?”

Answer: “Since none of them can be obtained, how is that different from vast empty space?”

Question: “There cannot be something else beyond ‘not mind, not Buddha, not a thing.’”

The Master said: “If you acknowledge that, it again becomes mind and Buddha, does it not?”

Question: “I ask the Venerable to speak.”

The Master said: “This old monk does not know.”

Question: “Why do you not know?”

The Master said: “Why tell me to speak?”

Question: “Could it be that you do not wish students to understand the Way?”

The Master said: “What Way would you understand? And what would you do with understanding?”

Answer: “I do not know.”

The Master said: “Not knowing is good. If you cling to the words of this old monk, it is called knowing another person's meaning—knowing by following another. Even when Maitreya appears in the world, you will still be thoroughly deceived by others.”

Question: “What should later people be made to do?”

The Master said: “Look to yourself; do not concern yourself with the affairs of later people.”

Question: “Previously, you would not allow me to understand the Way; now you tell me to look to myself. I still do not understand.”

The Master said: “I permit you tacit understanding and wondrous understanding. What would you do with intellectual understanding?”

Question: “What is wondrous understanding?”

The Master said: “Again you wish to learn the words spoken by this old monk. Even if they are said to be this old monk's words, worthy sir, what will you do?”

Answer: “If I understood by myself, I would not need the Venerable. I beg you compassionately to instruct me.”

The Master said: “I cannot point east and point west to deceive people. When you were dull and muddled, why did you not come question this old monk? Now that you know how to ask cleverly, you say, ‘I do not understand.’ What do you intend to do? If, in this life, you stick out your head and say, ‘I have left home and become a Chan master,’ then before you left home, what were you doing when you came here? Speak, and I shall discuss it with you.”

Answer: “At that time, I did not know.”

The Master said, “Since you do not know, is it right to recognize it now?” The monk replied, “If recognizing it is already not right, then is not recognizing it right?” The Master said, “What sort of words are ‘recognizing’ and ‘not recognizing’?”
He asked, “Upon reaching this point, I understand even less.”
The Master said, “If you do not understand, neither do I.”
He asked, “I am a student, so I do not understand; but the Venerable is a good and wise teacher, so you ought to understand.”
The Master said, “This old fellow has told you directly that he does not understand—who is discussing good and wise teachers? Do not be so clever with your questions.”

On another day, referring to an old adept in Jiangxi, someone asked, “Water has neither sinews nor bones, yet it can bear a vessel carrying ten thousand hu. What is the principle of this?”
The old adept said, “Within it there is neither water nor vessel; what sinews and bones are there to discuss?”

Brothers, students, take a rest; yet you cannot fail to exert yourselves. Therefore, people often gather together to discuss what they do not understand about the Buddha’s Way. What need is there for me to know anything in order to cultivate by myself?

– He asked, “What is cultivation?”

The Master said, “It cannot be conceived or measured and explained to another. What is there to cultivate, and what is there to do? It is extremely difficult.”
He asked, “Would you still permit this student to cultivate?”
The Master said, “This old monk cannot stop you.”
He asked, “How should I cultivate?”
The Master said, “If you wish to go, then go. You cannot constantly seek behind other people’s backs.”
He asked, “If one is not shown the way by a good and wise teacher, there is no means of understanding. As the Venerable often says, ‘In cultivation, one must understand; if one does not understand, one falls into other causes and effects and has no share in freedom.’ I do not know how to cultivate so as to avoid falling into other causes and effects.”
The Master said, “There is no need to deliberate further. If cultivation is being discussed, where can you not go?”
He asked, “What does it mean to be able to go?”
The Master said, “You cannot find it by following behind others.”
He asked, “The Venerable has not yet taught me how to find it.”
The Master said, “Even if it were explained, where would you go to seek it? It is just like you suddenly going east and west from morning until night. You do not even deliberate whether the Way can be traveled or not. Other people cannot know you.”
He asked, “When going east and west, is there no deliberation at all?”
The Master said, “At that moment, who speaks of right or wrong?”
He asked, “The Venerable often says, ‘Wherever I may be, there is no place where I act; you cannot grasp me.’ This is called the samadhi of universal activity and the universal manifestation of the physical body. Is this not the principle?”
The Master said, “If cultivation is being discussed, where can you not go? I do not speak of bondage or non-bondage, nor do I speak of samadhi.”
He asked, “Is there some other Dharma through which bodhi may be attained?”
The Master said, “It is neither a matter of different nor not different.”
He asked, “What the Venerable says about cultivation seems very different from the Mahayana. I do not yet understand how this is.”
The Master said, “Never mind whether it is different or not different; all of it comes from never having studied. If you wish to discuss and examine the teachings, there are sutras, treatises, lecture masters, and doctrinal specialists. Their learning is truly vast and formidable. You would do better to follow and listen to them.”
He asked, “Ultimately, what understanding should a student be made to have?”
The Master said, “What you have asked is originally only about causes and conditions. It seems that you have been unable to form the conditions for recognizing the matter of the Six Gates. Understand where the Buddha comes from, and then I shall discuss it with you.”

Brothers, do not willfully chase after things without ceasing, nor willfully let them pass without accepting the words of the ancients. Practicing the bodhisattva conduct is something one must do alone. The heavenly demon Papiyan, leading his entire retinue, constantly follows behind the bodhisattva, searching for where an activity of mind arises and waiting for an opening through which to strike him down.

Thus, throughout immeasurable kalpas, they search without finding even a single thought that differs; only then do they and their original offspring bow in gratitude, offer praise, and make offerings. Even with a person of middling or inferior capacity who is advancing in cultivation, the demons can do nothing—how much less with one who has exhausted every place of exertion. As for Manjusri and Samantabhadra, who else could be spoken of?

Brothers, why is it that there is no practice of the Way? Search all day, and there is not one person practicing it. Nowadays, people at one another’s side, year after year, merely keep seeking—what ultimately are they doing? They flap their lips and give rise to interpretations.

He asked, “At that very moment there is neither the name ‘Buddha’ nor the name ‘sentient being.’ Already all calculation and scheming have come to an end; yet this too is remembering what was said—or some other saying.”

– He asked, “If so, all of this pertains to what occurred when the Buddha appeared in the world; ultimately, it still cannot remain unspoken.”

The Master said, “What would you say?”
He replied, “Even if it were spoken, speech could not reach it.”
The Master said, “To say that speech cannot reach it is itself speech that reaches it. You vainly seek that—who or what could serve as an object for you?”
He asked, “Since there is no one or thing serving as an object, who or what is the person over there?”
The Master said, “If you did not cite the teachings, where would there be any discussion of Buddha? Since Buddha is not being discussed, with whom would this old monk discuss this side and that side?”

– He asked, “Although the fruit does not abide in the Way, how can the Way serve as a cause?”

The Master said, “That pertains to the ancients. Nowadays one cannot fail to observe the precepts. I am not that person, and that person is not me. Being able to do that is like a wild fox or a white bull, moving and standing with perfect ease. If you have a single divergent thought, cultivation becomes extremely difficult.”
He asked, “How does a single divergent thought become a great difficulty in cultivation?”
The Master said, “As soon as there is a single divergent thought, the two roots of superior and inferior arise. If this is not an emotional view following other causes and effects, then what freedom could there still be?”

He asked, “I have often heard the Venerable say, ‘The reward body and transformation body are not the true Buddha, nor are they the one who speaks the Dharma.’ I do not yet understand how this is.”
The Master said, “Because they arise through conditions, they are not.”
He asked, “Since the reward body and transformation body are not the true Buddha, is the Dharma body the true Buddha?”
The Master said, “That is already the response body.”
He asked, “If so, the Dharma body is also not the true Buddha.”
The Master said, “The Dharma body is true, yet it is not true. This old monk has no tongue and does not know how to speak, but if you tell me to speak, I can.”

– He asked, “Apart from the three bodies, what Dharma is the true Buddha?”

The Master said, “That old fellow, together with eight, nine, or ten old men, has already cursed and scolded one another while speaking directly to you.”
He further asked, “What is apart, and what is not apart? You are determined to drive a nail into empty space.”

He asked, “What of the statement that the Avatamsaka Sutra was spoken by the Dharma-body Buddha?”
The Master said, “What did you just say?”
The monk asked again. The Master looked back and sighed, saying, “If it was spoken by the Dharma body, toward what place did you listen?”
He replied, “I do not understand.”
The Master said, “Very difficult, very difficult! Enough—go now. Take care.”

8. Recorded Sayings of Venerable Congshen of Zhaozhou.

The Master ascended the Dharma hall and said:

To sit within the true Buddha—bodhi, nirvana, suchness, and Buddha-nature are garments for the body, and these are still called afflictions. If you do not inquire into the place without afflictions, then where could the ground of ultimate reality obstruct you?

When not a single thought arises, the myriad dharmas are without fault. Simply investigate the principle to its end and sit, seeing through it for twenty or thirty years. If you do not understand the Way, then cut off this old monk’s head.

Dreams, illusions, and flowers in the sky—why toil to grasp them? If the mind does not discriminate, the myriad dharmas are of one suchness. Since it is not obtained from outside, why cling to anything? It resembles a goat gathering all sorts of things indiscriminately and putting them into its mouth.

This old monk saw Venerable Yaoshan. When someone came to question him, he would tell him to shut his mouth. This old monk also teaches you to close your mouths. To regard the self as pure is like a hunting dog intent only on eating. Where is the Buddhadharma? Among a thousand people, nearly all are seeking to become Buddhas; yet among them, not one person of the Way can be found.

If you would be a disciple of the king of emptiness, do not teach the mind to become diseased, for such illness is very difficult to cure. Before the world existed, this nature already existed; when the world is destroyed, this nature is not destroyed. Ever since you once saw this old monk, you have no longer been anyone else; you are simply the one master. Why use this to seek things outside?”

At that very moment, do not turn your head or change your mind; if you turn your head or change your mind, you immediately lose it.

At that time, a monk asked, “According to what the Master has said, the world may perish, but this nature does not perish. What is this nature?” The Master said, “The four great elements and the five skandhas.”

He asked, “These also perish. What is this nature?”

The Master said, “The four great elements and the five skandhas.”

9. Recorded Sayings of Venerable Yixuan of Linji in Zhenzhou.

In instructing the assembly, he said:

“Students of the Way today must illuminate their own right understanding. If you attain your own understanding, you will not be defiled by birth and death, and you will come and go freely. There is no need to seek anything extraordinary elsewhere; within yourselves you already possess what is extraordinary. Those who cultivate the Way today must not become entangled in afflictions; whenever you wish to use it, simply use it. Yet today you cannot do so—where does the sickness lie? The sickness lies in your lack of faith in yourselves. Because you cannot have faith in yourselves, you hastily run after every circumstance.

“If, venerable ones, you can put an end to the mind that seeks from thought to thought, you will be no different from the patriarchs. Do you wish to know the patriarch? He is precisely the one before your eyes who is listening to the Dharma. Students, because your faith is insufficient, you turn outward and seek. Even if you gain something, it is merely the study of words and meanings, and you remain far removed from the patriarchs.

“Venerable ones, make no mistake. If you do not encounter this now, for ten thousand kalpas and a thousand lifetimes you will revolve within the three realms, pursuing favorable and unfavorable circumstances and entering the bellies of donkeys and horses to be reborn as animals. In what way are all of you today different from the ancient sages? What do you still lack? The sixfold divine light has never ceased or vanished. If you can see in this way, you will be persons with nothing to do throughout your lives.

“One thought of quiescent light is the dharmakaya Buddha within your own house. One thought of nondiscriminating light is your sambhogakaya Buddha. One thought of undifferentiated light is your nirmanakaya Buddha. These three bodies are precisely the person before your eyes who is listening to the Dharma. Because you do not seek outwardly, you possess these three functions.

“According to the teachings, these three are called the ultimate principle. From the standpoint of this mountain monk, these three are merely names and words. Therefore it is said: ‘Bodies are established in dependence upon meaning; lands are discussed in accordance with essence.’ The body of Dharma-nature and the land of Dharma-nature are clearly understood to be light and shadows.

“Venerable ones, you must recognize the one who takes hold of the light and shadows. That one is the source of all Buddhas and the destination of all practitioners. Venerable ones, the body composed of the four great elements does not know how to expound or hear the Dharma. Empty space does not know how to expound or hear the Dharma. It is that distinct and lucid awareness right before your eyes that, though without form, expounds and hears the Dharma.

“Therefore this mountain monk tells you that within the body of the five skandhas is a True Person of No Rank, openly and clearly revealed, without the slightest separation. Why do you not recognize him? The Dharma of mind is formless and penetrates the ten directions. At the eyes it is called seeing; at the ears it is called hearing; in the hands it is grasping; in the feet it is walking. If the mind is not present, there is liberation wherever you are.

“This mountain monk sees those who sit here cutting off the heads of the sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya Buddhas. Those whose minds have fulfilled the ten bhumis are like hired hands carrying children. Equal Enlightenment and Wondrous Enlightenment are like cangues with additional chains. Arhats and pratyekabuddhas are like filth and refuse; bodhi and nirvana are like stakes for tethering donkeys and horses. Why is this so? Because they have not penetrated the emptiness of the three great asamkhya kalpas, such hindrances and obstructions arise. If one is truly a practitioner, none of this is so.

“Today I have briefly explained to all of you the general features of the true reality. See for yourselves whether you are near or far! Time is precious. Each of you must exert yourselves. Take care!”

10. Recorded Sayings of Great Master Shibei Zongyi of Xuansha.

The Master ascended the Dharma hall and said:

“The vast expanse of empty space and the sun are established as such through being seen by everyone. But what is it within each of you? Though your eyes are filled with seeing, you do not see it; though your ears are filled with listening, you do not hear it. If you do not understand these two places, you are merely an old fellow nodding off.

“If you can penetrate them, you will cast away both ordinary and sacred, and cast away the dreamlike, illusory body and mind of the three realms, leaving not a single thing, not even something as fine as a needle-point, to serve as condition or opposition. Even if countless Buddhas appeared and displayed boundless transformations of miraculous powers, and even if countless nets of teachings were set forth, they would never reveal even the slightest fraction of it. They would merely establish a gateway of faith for beginners. Do you understand?

“The waters, birds, trees, and forests all reveal the essential principle, yet truly few people hear it. This is no small matter. Heavenly demons and followers of outside ways are those who betray its gracious meaning. Gods, humans, and beings of the six destinies belittle and delude themselves.

“If a sramana today does not bring forth this matter, he becomes one who plays with shadows, rising and sinking in the sea of birth and death—when will it ever cease? You are fortunate to possess this vast lineage, yet you are unable to carry it on. Instead, you turn toward the field of the body composed of the five skandhas and make a master of it. Are you still dreaming? If there are many fields and lands, whom would you instruct to be their master? The earth cannot contain it all; empty space cannot encompass it completely. How could this be a small matter?

“If you wish to penetrate it thoroughly, then clarify it completely right here and now. I do not tell you, worthy ones, to grasp a single phenomenon as large as a speck of dust, nor do I tell you to discard a single phenomenon as fine as a hair. Do you understand?”

At that time, a monk came forward and asked, “What is the essential meaning of the supreme vehicle?”

The Master remained silent.

The monk asked again. The Master immediately shouted.

The monk asked, “Through which gate of skillful means may this student enter?”

The Master said, “Entering is the skillful means.”

The monk asked, “When a person of initial aspiration first comes, how does the Master instruct him?”

The Master said, “Where does the initial mind come to?”

A monk asked, “This student has just entered the monastic community. I ask the Master to receive and guide me.”

The Master pointed with his staff.

The monk said, “This student does not understand.”

The Master said, “Why should I suffer injustice on your behalf before others?”

“If at present you truly accept that this is the matter of your own fundamental endowment, then regardless of whether you have only just entered the monastic community to study, you can walk together with those who have practiced for a long time, and you will be in no way deficient compared with the Buddhas of the past. It is like the great ocean: all fish and dragons, from the moment they are born until they grow old and die, make equal use of it. Therefore it is said that one who first gives rise to the aspiration stands shoulder to shoulder with the ancient Buddhas.

“Why, then, have you, throughout beginningless kalpas until now, aroused all manner of deluded emotions and bound them into afflictions? It is like a gravely ill person whose mind is crazed and distressed, who confusedly sees inversions that have no reality whatsoever. All the circumstances you now perceive are likewise so. For you, all the faculties have become inverted.

“The ancients treated this with infinitely excellent medicine, yet even upon reaching the tenth bhumi they had still not awakened from it. Thus you should know that this is truly not easy. The ancients bore themselves as though mourning their parents, whereas you brothers today appear altogether too leisurely. Where is there anyone else who can bring this matter to completion for you?

“It is especially regrettable that time passes in vain. Closely cut through errors and obstructions, and examine yourselves with the utmost care and precision. When you reach the place where there is no power of attachment, all conditions will naturally cease. Though the sprout has not yet emerged, the seed is already present.

“If you merely gather around people beside me, beat drums, make sport of your strength, and live for gruel and rice, while claiming that through this you will swiftly smash through birth and death, you will only deceive yourselves for an entire lifetime. What benefit will there be? You must know how to choose in accordance with reality. With nothing to do, take care!”

11. Recorded Sayings of Venerable Guichen of Luohan in Zhangzhou.

The Master ascended the Dharma hall. After the assembly had been standing for a long time, the Master said:

“Venerable ones, there is no need to lower your heads and ponder. Thought cannot reach it. I say that there is no need for selection and discrimination. Do you understand the place from which you open your mouths? Toward what place do you open your mouths? Try to say something.

“Is there a single Dharma that can bring itself near to you? Is there a single Dharma that can make itself distant from you, make itself the same as you, or make itself different from you? Since it is already so clear, why do you deliberately lament that it is difficult? It is because you are not men of great resolve, but are lowly, servile, and without”

A little awe-inspiring radiance anxiously holds the faculty of mind fast, fearful of being questioned by others. I often say: If you have attained realization and penetrated through, immediately cast aside self and other and lay open what lies ahead; then I shall examine it together with you. Right here, why are you unwilling to abandon the puddle seen in an ox’s hoofprint, which you take to be the great ocean?

The Buddhadharma pervades worlds as numerous as grains of sand. Do not mistakenly turn toward that fleshly heart, arbitrarily establish views and understanding there, and take it to be the realm. Seeing, hearing, awareness, cognition, consciousness, perception, feelings, and conditions—all are of this kind.

If you nod your head at this and say, “I truly am unable,” that will not do. It is just as the ancients said: “Only I can know this matter.” What realm is this? Do you know it?

Surely it is not that you see me and I see you, and that alone is correct? Do not misunderstand.

If it were the self, then the self would follow arising and cessation: when the body exists, it would exist; when the body does not exist, it would not exist. Therefore, the ancient Buddha told you: “Because another dharma exists, another dharma arises; because another dharma does not exist, another dharma ceases.” Do not regard them as equal. The great matter of birth and death cannot be dissolved into this single round lump; even where there is turmoil, sound and form are not lacking.

If you do not break through feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness, they will likewise command you and cause their qualities to become plainly manifest. Do not say that the five skandhas were originally empty, merely understanding them as empty without even opening your mouth. Therefore it is said: You must personally penetrate through; you must be genuine.

It is not only today that this old teacher has known how to speak in this way; the ancient sages also spoke of it for your understanding. You call it the Vajra Secret, Inconceivable, Radiant Treasury, which covers heaven and earth, gives birth to ordinary beings, and nurtures sages. From ancient times until now, who has had no share in it?

Since it is so, upon whom could you still rely? For this reason, the Buddhas, out of compassion, saw that you could do nothing and opened wide the gates of skillful means, clearly revealing the mark of reality. Now I too employ skillful means.

Tell me, do you understand? If you do not understand, do not turn toward the faculty of mind to contrive associations and cast blame.

A monk asked, “Regarding the lineage tradition transmitted from above, I ask the Master to provide a skillful means.”

The Master said, “It is not that there is no skillful means, but what do you call the lineage tradition?”

He asked, “Then has this student raised this question in vain?”

The Master said, “What offense have you committed?”

He asked, “Can the Buddhadharma be refined?”

The Master said, “Why could it not?”

He asked, “What is refinement?”

The Master said, “The Buddhadharma.”

He asked, “All conditioned activities are impermanent, dharmas of arising and cessation. What is the Dharma that neither arises nor ceases?”

The Master said, “What use is there in making something of neither arising nor cessation?”

He asked, “As soon as a thought arises, it is an error. What about when there is no thought?”

The Master said, “What error is there in thinking?”

He asked, “Then is one naturally without injury or illness?”

The Master said, “Shut your mouth.”

He asked, “Amid all phenomena, what is taken as the master?”

The Master said, “What are ‘all phenomena’?”

He asked, “Is this not the point of doubt?”

The Master said, “Bring that doubt here.”

He asked, “What is it at precisely that moment?”

The Master said, “What is it when it is not that moment?”

He asked, “This student still cannot attain it.”

The Master said, “What is obstructing your mouth?”

The Master further said: You people go up and down like this from morning to evening, yet you are merely confused by sounds and forms, so that your seeking bodies find no peace. If they are sounds, forms, names, and words, then they are not the Buddhadharma—so what is there to doubt? If the Buddhadharma is not sounds, forms, names, and words, then why do you intend to entrust body and mind to them?

If they are sounds, forms, names, and words, then all are sounds, forms, names, and words; if they are the Buddhadharma, then all are the Buddhadharma. Do you understand? Apart from sound, there is no sound; apart from form, there is no form; separated from words, there are no names; separated from names, there are no words.

Try examining with the tip of your tongue how many sounds, forms, names, and words there are. From where does form arise, and what is taken as its name? The three realms tower so high, yet you cannot find a way to escape them; why make distinctions?

It is truly difficult!

It is only because you yourselves give rise to inversion, take permanence to be annihilation, mistake the false for enlightenment and delusion for truth, vainly seek outside, and forcibly perceive differences. When you spend the entire day discussing things with others, then there is the Buddhadharma; when you do not discuss things with others, then you are an idle person of the world. Speaking of this point, as soon as the Buddhadharma is mentioned, you say, “To settle the mind is immediately an error; to stir a thought is immediately contrary.” Ordinarily, everywhere, though originally without a mouth, you resemble a thread-spinning wheel, saying that nothing is wrong.

The matter of the Buddhadharma is not an intermittent malarial fever. It is entirely due to your deranged consciousness and ordinary sentiments understanding that there is right and wrong, and nothing more. If you suddenly see me holding a staff and striking your back, you deliberately think about it and look.

Otherwise, you see me holding a whisk and sweeping east and west. Even if you attend to all of this, why, at the very time you ordinarily gather firewood, do you not turn your head, look, and offer a greeting so as to awaken?

Venerable ones, do not measure the Buddhadharma within the faculty of mind inside this skin-bag; you would only be deceiving yourselves. I dare not shackle the feet of beginners or obscure those who study afterward. Each of you must examine yourselves and remain free of affairs. Take care!

12. Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Wenyi, the Great Fayan.

The Master ascended the Dharma hall and said: Venerable ones, when it is cold, what do you use to make a start? And do you say that the start is favorable or unfavorable? Some venerables may say, “There is no place where it is not good from the very beginning, so what need is there to make a start?” Other venerables may say, “That too cannot be taken in a one-sided way; one must still reach the place of the abbot before it will do.” Venerable ones, you may further say that these two kinds of people still have some direction of advancement within the Buddhadharma. Is that so?

Venerable ones, it truly will not do to be utterly without the slightest advancement. The ancients called this an iron hammer without a hole, no different from the blind and deaf from the very beginning. If a venerable steps forward and says that one fails because of attachment, why is it so?

It is because that person is attached, and therefore fails. Venerable ones, you are all like such itinerant practitioners; you all deliberate in this manner. What else are you calculating?

You still want to play with your lips and devise other schemes. Suppose he is attached—what is he attached to? Is he attached to principle or to phenomena, to form or to emptiness?

If it is principle, how can principle be grasped? If it is phenomena, how can phenomena be grasped? Entanglement in form and entanglement in emptiness are likewise.

Therefore, this mountain monk ordinarily tells you venerables: The Buddhas of the ten directions and the good spiritual friends of the ten directions are always extending their hands, while you venerables are always reaching out your hands to meet them. The Buddhas of the ten directions are continually letting go of their hands; where is the place in which you venerables are continually receiving? If there is a place of understanding, understand it easily. If you have not yet understood, do not speak. Ultimately, all of you will still arrive at completeness.

You venerables who travel on foot alongside others must carefully examine yourselves and gain a little vital spirit. Do not expect to rely upon a little something and thereby waste all your days and hours. Among the assembly, this mountain monk sees many people of this kind. There is also the sort of venerable who does not yet know east from west, but runs here and there, listening to this and that. Having learned to say a little, he takes it to be his own bosom, yet still annotates the feet of others and makes them into his own eyes. You venerables are all like such itinerant practitioners, deceiving yourselves and deceiving others. I urge you venerables to illuminate the eye of the Way well. A little gruel and rice of wisdom is not enough to rely upon.

If, in the world, you commit all manner of wrongful deeds, then even if you enter hell, there will still be a day when you emerge. But if you mistakenly open the eyes of others, you will be plunged into a dark and obscure hell from which there will be no day of escape. Do not regard this as an idle matter or a game. I urge you to rely well upon the gate of compassion of the ancient sages. In whatever phenomena the ancient sages perceived, they saw only their own mind.

The Patriarch said: “It is not the wind that moves, nor the banner that moves; it is the mind of the worthy one that moves.” To understand it merely in this way is fine, yet one remains estranged from the very place of intimacy. After a long while, the Master said again: “Venerable ones, can you attain it by disparaging it, or can you attain it by refuting it?”

At that time, a monk asked: “This student has not come for any other matter. I beg the Master to point it out directly.”

The Master said: “You have no other matter.”

He asked: “What is the mind that neither arises nor ceases?”

The Master said: “That is the mind of arising and ceasing.”

The monk asked: “Why does this student not see it?”

The Master said: “If you do not see it, then neither arising nor ceasing is also not it.”

He asked: “What is the great meaning of the Buddha-Dharma?”

The Master said: “Understand it at once.”

He asked: “As soon as an ancient saw that person arrive, he immediately cried out, ‘It is lost!’ What was the ancient’s meaning?”

The Master said: “If you do not believe it, just ask someone else.”

He asked: “When Vimalakirti and Manjusri faced one another, what matter did they discuss?”

The Master said: “You are certainly clever.”

He asked: “‘The Dharma is identical with the Dharma-nature; why, then, are there all dharmas?’ What was the ancient’s meaning?”

The Master said: “You are a traveling monk.”

He asked: “What is a person who knows how to practice?”

The Master said: “What sort of person are you?”

He asked: “Then this is not falling into cause and effect.”

The Master said: “Do not make the sound of a jackal’s cry.”

He asked: “What is it like when one knows the root and returns to the source?”

The Master said: “Deceptive words.”

He asked: “What is it like when light and darkness are not distinguished?”

The Master asked: “What are you saying?”

He asked: “What is it to constantly give rise to mind when confronting objects?”

The Master said: “It accords with what was said.”

He asked: “What is this student’s original duty?”

The Master said: “Thank you for the instruction.”

He asked: “Afterward comes discernment; it is like covering thin ice. What is discernment?”

The Master said: “Wait until you have doubts, and then I shall speak.”

He asked: “This student is now in doubt.”

The Master said: “Whom are you trying to frighten?”

He asked: “How is the essential vehicle transmitted from above to be trodden?”

The Master said: “When the thunder is very loud, there is no rain.”

He asked: “What is the final phrase?”

The Master said: “Suffering.”

He asked: “What are the mysterious words and wondrous purport?”

The Master said: “What would you use mysterious words and wondrous purport for?”

He asked: “What is direct speech?”

The Master said: “I fear it would be difficult to press this question further.”

Someone asked: “The teaching says, ‘The true Dharma-body is like empty space; responding to beings, it manifests forms like the moon in the water.’ How can this be so?”

The Master said: “How can this be so?”

He asked: “The teaching says, ‘The Buddha expounds the Dharma in a single kind of voice, and sentient beings each understand it according to their kind.’ How should this student understand it?”

The Master said: “You understand very well.”

The Master then said: “This question already shows a failure to understand the words of the ancients; why, then, did I say to him, ‘You understand very well’? Where is the place of his understanding? Is it not that, within his own portion, I immediately pointed it out to him? Or is it not that, because he did not understand, I turned the question around and shot it back at him? Yet neither is this the principle. Take care not to misunderstand. Apart from these two interpretations, how else would you deliberate upon it?

“Venerable ones, if you can understand these words, you will also understand the dharani gate of all the sages. Yet what is the use of understanding? If you can understand ‘expounding in a single voice,’ you will not understand ‘each understands according to their kind.’ In saying this, is it not a matter of speaking with error or without error? Those endowed with talent and wisdom easily misunderstand. Since you do not understand it in this way, why speak of expounding in a single voice and being understood according to each kind? There must be a place where one can proceed. Every day, do not go from above to below. Furthermore, you cannot bear the matter of others; you must thoroughly penetrate the Eye of the Way.

“An ancient said, ‘Every sound is the Buddha’s sound; every form is the Buddha’s form.’ Why do you not understand it for yourselves?”

A monk asked: “I have come from afar seeking the sound, and I request the Master to receive me once.”

The Master asked: “What sound are you seeking? Is it the sound of a monk or the sound of a layperson, the sound of an ordinary being or the sound of a sage? Is there still a place where you understand? If you truly do not understand, Venerable, is your murmuring sound, or is your murmuring form? Sound and form do nothing at all; do not regard them as ordinary. Venerable, if you understand, it is reality; if you do not understand, it is an illusion. If you understand, it is an illusion; if you do not understand, it is reality.

“An ancient also said to you, ‘Only I can know it.’ Apart from this, do not engage in any other speculation. From where do your success and failure arise? From where do right and wrong arise? There is no principle that is not revealed through phenomena, and no phenomenon that is not dissolved through principle. Phenomena and principle are not two. If it is not phenomena, it is principle; if it is not principle, it is not phenomena. This is an annotation for you, Venerable. If you still do not understand, it would be better to rely upon the words of the ancients.

“The ancients saw that you failed in a hundred ways; therefore, out of compassion, they spoke to you: ‘Using hearing to retain the Buddhas—why do you not hear hearing for yourself?’ There is no teacher. Take care.”