萬法歸心錄

INTRODUCTION

Mind is the essence of the myriad dharmas, and the myriad dharmas are the functions of mind. Dharmas are not separate from mind, just as waves are themselves water. The essence is capable of giving rise to function, just as water, when stirred, becomes waves. Therefore, know that all dharmas are mind.

Mind is originally empty and quiescent; names are established on the basis of dharmas. Pure dharmas are human beings, devas, shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. Defiled dharmas are asuras, animals, hell beings, ghosts, and beasts. Although purity and defilement differ, in sum they are but reflections of mind. If one awakens to the true mind, which is originally empty, the myriad dharmas naturally vanish.

Now Chan Master Zu Yuan of Mount Xiaoyang is a Dharma descendant of the Elder Fu Shi of Dun Cun and a disciple of the Venerable Tian Feng of Shanglan in Jiangxi. He has thoroughly investigated and mastered the scriptures, deeply penetrated the Chan School, realized the ultimate truth, and attained the Supreme Vehicle. His eloquence is unobstructed; he is truly a Dharma banner.

Out of compassion and a wish to guide later students, the Chan master bestowed the “Record of Returning to the Mind,” directly revealing the wondrous source. In this record, in truth, every word reveals the nature and every sentence illuminates the mind. It can wash away false attachments, sweep aside heterodox views, lead directly to the realization of bodhi, and bring one swiftly to the Buddha Way.

It is truly a compassionate vessel upon the sea of suffering and a guide at the crossroads.

Through the fortunate blessings of previous lives, I encountered this book and at once put an end to all doubts and clearly understood the ground of mind. My abilities are exceedingly poor and my understanding shallow, insufficient to elucidate its profound and subtle principles. I have therefore written this brief preface to express my gratitude to the master.

On the full-moon day of the first month in the Ding Si year, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor.

Layman Liu Fangmu, styled Tiru, of Guyan

Respectfully inscribed

FOREWORD

Before the empty kalpa, before Buddha Majestic Voice, neither Buddhas nor sentient beings had any name, yet each and every one was fully endowed with a Perfectly Luminous Mirror.

For no reason, sentient beings transformed the pure, stainless luminosity into worlds, sentient beings, karma and its fruits. Birth and death, death and birth, have continued without cease. Deluded, they sink within the three realms and grope among the nine classes of beings; from that time until now, they have remained deluded, without a single day of awakening. If they do not cut off the current of wandering and return to the source, when will they ever attain liberation?

One must awaken to the return of the myriad dharmas to the one mind; this is to transform worldly wisdom into Buddha-wisdom. It may be called gathering a hundred streams into the single nature of wetness, kneading particles of dust into a single mass, or melting bracelets and rings into a single substance of gold. It is transforming ghee and curds into a single flavor. In this Dharma of the one mind, principle and phenomena are both perfectly complete. The Buddhas of the ten directions and all sentient beings alike share this mind, neither deficient nor excessive. The Buddhas have awakened to it, while sentient beings do not know it; hence there are the designations ordinary and holy, deluded and awakened.

Unable to stand idly by with folded hands, I have pointed out a true path for returning to the mind. The ancients said: “At the summit of wondrous Mount Sumeru, from ancient times to the present, deliberation has never been permitted; at the second mountain peak, the patriarchs gave concise and accommodating explanations so that people might understand.” Therefore, I have employed the form of questions and answers to discuss ten topics and designations, in order to demonstrate the one mind and also to offer this teaching to all living beings.

The ten topics and designations are as follows: First, admonishing deluded worldly people so that they abandon evil and return to goodness. Second, discussing matters with Confucians in order to sweep away hostile and heterodox slanders. Third, distinguishing the false and spurious with Daoists so that people do not seek externally.

Fourth, sudden awakening, cultivation, and realization, directly transcending into the Buddha realm. Fifth, explaining the distinctions between the Teachings and the Vehicles, subtly revealing the one mind. Sixth, the “Pure Land of Mind-Only,” explaining that the Buddha does not come from outside.

Seventh, although Chan is divided into five schools, its principle is not two. Eighth, the ten kinds of demonic disturbances that disrupt right samadhi, so that one may guard against them and nurture the work of the Way. Ninth, citing scriptural testimony in order to eliminate doubt and thereby give rise to faith.

Tenth, encouraging the printing and free distribution of this work in order to repay the Buddha’s kindness.

Having inherited only meager wholesome roots, I suddenly glimpsed one corner of the ultimate Way and have therefore presented my narrow understanding. I respectfully ask those of lofty insight to correct it. Truly, these are not my conjectures; I merely follow the Buddha Vehicle. If students of later generations find errors in this record, I earnestly repent of my mistakes concerning the Dharma. If it accords with the true mind, then by faithfully practicing according to these teachings, one shall one day join the Dragon Flower Assembly and have a share in receiving the prediction of Buddhahood.

On the Day of the Buddha’s Enlightenment, in the twelfth month of the fifteenth year of the Kangxi reign of the Great Qing dynasty (1676 CE)

Chan Master Zu Yuan Chaoming

Chapter I

ADMONISHING THE DELUDED WORLDLY

A layperson asked: I wish always to observe a vegetarian diet. Will this have merit?

The Chan master replied: Creatures with scales, shells, fur, or feathers may have bodily forms different from those of human beings, but how do their awareness and suffering differ from ours? Because of mistaken thoughts in previous lives, their forms in this life are different. If, with single-minded faith and sincerity, you abstain from meat and uphold the precept against killing, you are truly a “greatly virtuous noble person.” You may be called humane and good.

If you indeed observe a vegetarian diet and uphold this precept throughout your life without wavering, you will not only increase your blessings and longevity but also plant the true cause of awakening. How pitiable are worldly people without wisdom! Craving delicious flavors, they indulge themselves and hoard provisions, slaughtering and killing with their own hands and committing countless acts.

The pleasure passes over only three inches of tongue, but one day, when their heads and faces have changed, they will devour one another in turn. At that time, amid pain, suffering, and remorse, no one will be able to help them.

QUESTION: Worldly people all believe that pigs, goats, chickens, geese, and creatures with scales, shells, fur, feathers, and so forth were created by Heaven as food for human beings. If they are not killed and eaten, what use are they?

ANSWER: Worldly people take eating meat for granted and recklessly indulge their minds, slaughtering beings to gratify their mouths and please their bellies. They do not realize that all sentient beings in water, beneath the earth, in the air, and upon the land have different physical forms solely because of karmic forces and their resulting retribution. Although worldly people rely upon temporary blessings, they have already treated other beings with contempt and slaughtered far too many.

Since those beings are weak and powerless, how could they resist such enmity and resentment? One day, those grievances and debts will surely be repaid. If pigs, goats, and so forth were truly created by Heaven as food for human beings, then the countless ferocious beasts and savage creatures in the world—jackals, wolves, tigers, leopards, mosquitoes, gnats, lice, fleas, and so forth—all of which can feed upon humans, were they not also created by Heaven?

Suppose men and women alike were made as food for animals—would that be right? Worldly people do not understand that creating karma entails repaying life with life. I do not know why they regard killing as something that ought to be done.

It is truly exceedingly foolish.

QUESTION: I often hear worldly people say, “Having a good heart is as good as observing a vegetarian diet.” What is the principle behind this?

ANSWER: A humane and virtuous noble person, a worthy person with a benevolent heart, benefits people, rescues animals, accumulates merit, and builds virtue. Even amid activity and daily affairs, upon seeing a living being about to die, would such a person not give rise to compassion and save its life? Only one who possesses such loving-kindness and compassion may be called a good person.

Yet one kills an animal for no reason and puts it into one’s mouth—perhaps taking a sharp knife to cut open its belly, or grasping a small blade to stab its heart; skinning it, scraping off its scales, cutting its throat, splitting open its shell, or putting it into an oven to roast. One devises a hundred methods to gratify the mouth and please the belly, utterly devoid of pity. Where, then, is the goodness of one’s heart?

How can one utter such deluded words? How could such offenses be repented of? I shall now explain this clearly; listen carefully: If throughout your life you truly uphold the precept against killing and observe a vegetarian diet without ever growing weary, even if your mind is not good, you must fall into the hands of a butcher, or into boiling cauldrons and fiery furnaces.

QUESTION: Though I am poor, I remain honest and pure, and I have never stolen. What of this?

ANSWER: It is not only the taking of property that is called stealing. Corruptly exploiting honest people, using deviant arts to deceive others, inciting people to bring lawsuits, enticing and luring people into gambling, causing others to be imprisoned, bringing about their downfall, exposing them to danger, causing them to lose their wealth and property, exchanging their good belongings for inferior ones, failing to repay debts, taking advantage of the ignorant, and dispossessing the weak—all such unscrupulous deeds are forms of theft and robbery.

A wise person, upon seeing others who are wealthy and honored, should give rise to respect and admiration, while regretting that he failed to cultivate merit in a previous life and therefore must patiently endure poverty and hardship in this life. He should further arouse faith, cultivate wholesome merit, and accumulate virtue. He should refrain from all evil and practice every good deed.

Naturally, one who accumulates wholesome merit will not be disappointed.

QUESTION: It is fair and proper to preserve one’s property, yet I have not entirely abandoned the desire to accumulate wealth and conduct business according to my means. What of this?

ANSWER: It is proper to preserve one’s property fairly. Nevertheless, treasures kept too long become a source of calamity. If treasures come to you, you should not hoard them; if you do store them, do not keep them for long. As for craving insatiably and unjustly taking things without shame, although one may become wealthy for a time, one cannot escape worrying by night and calculating by day.

The Buddhist scriptures say: “The present wealth of worldly people is shared among five households. These five are the rulers and officials, floods and fires, thieves and robbers, warfare and banditry, and prodigal descendants. Worldly people are foolish: they toil bitterly throughout their lives to amass great wealth, hoping to remain rich forever. How could they know that it belongs to these five households and will one day be scattered and destroyed? Even wealth preserved fairly cannot be retained for long; how much less could wealth obtained through forcible seizure or deceit ever remain forever?”

QUESTION: I generally have little desire for sensual pleasure. I have only one wife, and I have completely refrained from sexual misconduct and never commit it. What of this?

ANSWER: Sensual desire is the root of birth and death. Among all evils, illicit sexual relations, clandestine affairs, and deception rank foremost. From ancient times to the present, they have caused the loss of the Way and the ruin of virtue, while bringing countless calamities upon oneself.

Fondness for alcohol and greed for wealth can still be restrained, but the barrier of sensual desire is many times more severe. Because sentient beings originate from sexual desire, thoughts of passion perpetuate birth and death. Habits from the past have become deeply ingrained; without using wisdom to illuminate and contemplate them, how could the karma of desire ever be clearly understood?

It is difficult for householders to eliminate sensual desire completely, but it is essential that they preserve propriety: one must never engage in deviant conduct with anyone other than one’s own spouse. Some vulgar people see another man’s wife or daughter whose appearance is attractive and immediately give rise to lustful thoughts, then long for and seek to possess her. In doing so, they have already lost sight of heavenly principle and forfeited their human conscience.

The Buddhist scriptures say: “One who commits adultery with another man’s wife receives the karmic retribution of having no descendants. One who violates another man’s daughter receives the karmic retribution of having licentious and unrestrained descendants.” You need only look generally at families known for immoral sexual conduct: as their corrupt lineage continues, their disgraceful reputation gradually spreads among everyone.

The ancients said: “If I do not violate another man’s wife, another man will not violate mine.” There is also a class of sentient beings burdened by the karma of delusion. Upon seeing another woman who is not his wife, a man considers her beautiful and devises deceitful means to commit adultery with her, while neglecting and disregarding his own wife. Some delight in intimacy and frivolous play with handsome youths.

Some secretly consort with the wives of hired workers, or cause subordinates to deceive their superiors. The myriad forms of sexual misconduct are beyond enumeration.

There are also those who read romantic tales of gifted scholars and beautiful women and regard such study as a mark of intelligence. Those books depict clandestine affairs involving women within their inner chambers, set them into songs and verses, and compile them into volumes, thereby bewildering honest people and leading students into deviant thoughts. The evils committed by such authors are truly as high as mountains and cannot possibly be eliminated through prayers and rituals. A wise person should feel shame and remorse, and immediately put an end to sexual misconduct; then a place in the human or heavenly realms will surely be within reach. This foolish monk earnestly exhorts you: “It is precisely because of sexual karma that so many evil offenses are created!”

QUESTION: If the evils of sexual desire are such, what of verbal karma?

ANSWER: Of the ten evil karmas, the mouth alone accounts for four. False speech, frivolous and embellished speech, divisive speech, and harsh speech kill people without shedding blood. A person who commits them is even worse than many other evildoers. Ruining the good works of others, exposing their weaknesses, discussing their wrongdoings, speaking of their faults, defrauding them of their wealth, and even corrupting morality, burying others in ruin while also burying oneself—all arise from being unable to restrain the malady of one’s talkative mouth. Therefore, such a person brings many calamities upon himself.

The scripture says: “The Buddha told Ananda that the calamities of worldly people flow forth from the mouth; therefore, one should guard the mouth even more carefully than one guards against fire. A fierce fire burns worldly possessions, while the fire of harsh speech burns away one’s own wealth of the seven treasures.” All the calamities of sentient beings issue from their own mouths. The mouth is the axe that hews them down and the calamity that destroys them.

Those who now wish to cultivate virtue must conceal the faults of others and proclaim their goodness. When speaking, they should utter truthful words; when conversing, they should not speak recklessly. They should answer when asked, use simple words, and maintain a gentle countenance.

Then the Buddhas and devas will protect them, and people will also love and respect them.

QUESTION: By nature, I enjoy drinking alcohol. What of this?

ANSWER: A clouded mind, a ruined will, the destruction of one’s household, and even the loss of life arise in large part from drinking alcohol, which also brings no small number of calamities. Worldly people are insatiably addicted to alcohol, even to the point that their bodies are injured and disfigured, all propriety and law are overturned, and they lie sprawled in marketplaces and streets, shouting and making an uproar. They offend their superiors and completely lose their reputations; through sexual disorder they forfeit their virtue. Myriad offenses and acts of rebellion all arise from craving alcohol.

The ancients said: “I urge you not to drink alcohol. It is a drug that causes madness and disorder, not a delicious flavor. It can turn a person of gentle and honest character into someone violent, vicious, and deceitful.” The Dharmaguptaka Vinaya says: “Drinking alcohol entails thirty-six faults. Not only do worldly people commit offenses by drinking alcohol; even an arhat who craves alcohol will lose all spiritual powers.” Deluded sentient beings and ordinary people who have only begun their training must guard themselves and abstain from alcohol.

QUESTION: Please explain what these thirty-six faults are.

ANSWER: The thirty-six faults of drinking alcohol are: being unfilial toward one’s parents; treating one’s teachers with contempt; failing to revere the Three Jewels; slandering śramanas; digging up the faults of others; habitually speaking falsely; falsely accusing others of evil; carrying malicious tales between two parties; speaking vicious words that harm others; becoming a source of illness; becoming a root of conflict; spreading an evil reputation everywhere; being detested by all virtuous people; disparaging sages and worthies; treating heaven and earth with contempt; ruining one’s career; dissipating the family fortune; habitually feeling no remorse; having no sense of shame; beating servants without cause; killing sentient beings; committing adultery with another man’s wife;

stealing the property of others; neglecting the virtuous; associating with evil friends; constantly harboring anger and resentment; and worrying day and night.

One takes the east for the west, heads south but becomes lost in the north, lies in the road or falls into a ditch, falls from a cart or horse, falls into the water when encountering a river, is burned while holding a lamp, dies from the heat in hot months, or dies from the cold on freezing days. Those who drink alcohol incur faults such as these. A noble person who cultivates virtue must admonish himself not to drink alcohol.

QUESTION: One good quality I possess is that when others insult or humiliate me, I do not become angry. Even if I feel slightly troubled, it passes once I become aware of it. What of this?

ANSWER: Anger is the root of countless obstacles, while patience under humiliation is foremost among the hundred blessings. People speak of patience, yet the word “patience” is extremely difficult to put into practice; one who is not wise will certainly be unable to endure. Only the Buddhas and Patriarchs remain thusness itself, unmoved. Heroes and beginners in the practice alike often fail through impatience and fall into circumstances contrary to their wishes. The Buddhist scriptures say: “Patience under humiliation is foremost.” A proverb says: “Only one who can swallow three pecks of sour bean paste and thick vinegar can become a prime minister.” Even ordinary people in the world must be so; how much more should those who study the Way possess a broad capacity for patient endurance?

QUESTION: People are very greedy and accumulate as much wealth as possible. They tell themselves that they are leaving it to make their descendants wealthy in the future. Is this proper?

ANSWER: Foolish people in the world rely upon power and influence, obscure their minds, and bury virtue. They employ a hundred cunning schemes to acquire wealth; even if they unexpectedly become rich, how could it ever last? A wise person should instead accumulate merit and nurture virtue, conduct business according to their ability, and accord with the mandate of Heaven.

Then the sages will naturally protect them, and their blessings and prosperity will silently increase. People know only to seek wealth for their descendants, but they do not know to do good and create blessings for them. What is meant by creating blessings?

Revering the Three Jewels, accumulating hidden virtue, carefully maintaining the rules of the household, and teaching people to work and study diligently—this is creating blessings.

What is meant by seeking wealth? Lacking sincerity and obscuring the principles of Heaven, employing scheming thoughts, and accumulating money and possessions through improper means—this is seeking wealth. Those who seek wealth will not flourish, whereas those who create blessings will attain honor and distinction. Have you not seen the very rich people of this world whose descendants are corrupt and base, indulging recklessly in gambling, until one day they ruin the entire household and even lose their lives? Such things happen often; why not take them as a warning? A proverb says: “What is improperly acquired is best relinquished.” When wise people behold such matters, how could their hearts not grow cold?

QUESTION: As has been explained, if one wishes to become a good person, must one regard everything as empty and constantly examine oneself—is that correct?

ANSWER: One who wishes to become a good person must reflect upon oneself. Throughout the day, from morning until evening, one must observe one’s own mind and examine the principles involved. Whenever a thought or intention arises, does it accord with the mind of Heaven? Do one’s daily actions accord harmoniously with others? By remaining constantly alert and not falling into selfishness, after a long time the mind becomes upright, and human desires naturally cease.

If a person gives free rein to mind and intention, fears neither Heaven’s punishment nor karmic retribution, acts contrary to propriety, and commits wrongdoing, then as days and months pass, the accumulation of evil karma becomes exceedingly heavy. One day, when their blessings are exhausted, all their karma will descend upon them. In this present life they will encounter calamities, and after death they will fall into the three evil destinies. The Buddhist scriptures say: “Karma, once created, is not lost even after hundreds of thousands of kalpas. When causes and conditions come together, one must personally undergo its result.” Therefore, know that cause and effect never err; people of later generations should place firm and genuine faith in this.

QUESTION: Many people do not believe in cause and effect. What should be said about this?

ANSWER: The retribution of cause and effect neither errs nor fails. It is like a shadow following its form, without the slightest confusion. The ancient immortals and sages explained this matter very clearly.

Yet foolish and deluded people of later generations do not believe it. They should carefully examine the matter: Among people in the world, some are wealthy and honored while others are poor and lowly; some die young while others live long; some receive honor and favor while others endure hardship and humiliation; some suffer while others live at ease; some pass the examinations while still young, whereas others sit for them throughout their lives without succeeding; some are extremely wealthy but have no children, while others are utterly impoverished yet have many heirs; some experience different measures of suffering and happiness in youth, middle age, and old age; some remain poor or wealthy and honored throughout their lives.

There are tens of thousands of other differences, none of them fixed or uniform. All arise from the karmic forces one has incurred. The ancients said: “Sow a single grain of rice in spring, and in autumn harvest tens of thousands of grains.

The fruits of the good and evil that people do are likewise.” (xuân chủng nhất lạp túc, thu thu vạn khỏa tử, nhân sanh vi thiện ác, quả báo hoàn như thử). Therefore, know that the joys and sorrows of the three realms and the rising and falling within the six destinies are all created and experienced by oneself; they are not brought upon one from outside.

QUESTION: I see upright and virtuous people who are so poor that they do not possess even a single load of grain. Yet there are deceitful and vicious people whose fields stretch as far as storks can fly. Does this not show that cause and effect are mistaken?

ANSWER: The good and evil that people create are not the same, and therefore their retribution does not occur in a single fixed manner. Sometimes it is received in one’s own person; sometimes it is received by one’s descendants. Sometimes it comes in this life; at other times, in a later life.

Thus, some eat coarse rice while others eat fine delicacies; some wear brocade while others wear furs. Still others dwell in vermilion towers and purple pavilions, mounting carriages and dismounting from horses. All these circumstances arise from the good or evil they themselves committed in former lives, for which they now undergo the retribution of suffering or happiness, without the slightest deviation.

When you see a vicious person enjoying wealth and honor, how do you know that this person did not cultivate blessings in a former life? Or when you see an exceedingly charitable person who is poor and short-lived, this results from evil karma created in past lives.

Zhuangzi said: “The brigand Zhi led a band of nine thousand men, rampaged throughout the realm, and violated and oppressed the feudal states, yet he still enjoyed a long life.” A commentary on the Analects says: “Xiang Tuo became the teacher of Confucius at the age of seven, yet died young.” Thus, there are pure and upright people who are personally impoverished, and there are corrupt and greedy people who are wealthy. Do not cling to the differences seen in this present life and thereby mistakenly reject causes from former lives.

QUESTION: The principle of karmic retribution for good and evil is without error. Yet there is a group of foolish people who do not believe in cause and effect and instead say: “A conscience cannot produce rice. If a conscience could be put into a pot and become cooked rice, then perhaps it would be worthwhile to cultivate one.”

ANSWER: How laughable! This is truly the height of foolishness and delusion. If, from morning until night, your conscience harbors no deceit, then it accords with the mind of Heaven.

The spirits will rejoice, and people will also be delighted. When harmonious energy is evoked, joy naturally flourishes. The Book of Odes says: “Joy comes only to the noble person, and blessings and prosperity will come to them.” If someone obtains money by burying virtue and becomes rich by abandoning conscience, they then turn around and disparage conscience as useless, saying it cannot be placed in a pot and cooked into rice.

How could they know that people of this kind have obscured the principles of Heaven? Unseen, the spirits grow angry and the ghosts resentful; their blessings are diminished, their lifespan shortened, and poverty, deprivation, disasters, and calamities ensue, even to the point that their descendants become corrupt and base. What strange misfortune could fail to occur?

The Book of Wenchang says: “To those who cultivate themselves and rectify their conduct, Heaven will certainly bestow a hundred blessings. Conversely, from those who rebel against the Way and ruin their virtue, the spirits will take away the five blessings.”(1) Therefore, whether blessings arising from goodness or calamities arising from evil, the principle is necessarily and invariably so. If one is willing to abandon evil and practice good without contempt or negligence, the Buddhas and the heavens will naturally offer unseen protection, and one’s blessings and lifespan will increase.

QUESTION: If a person who has committed faults knows to repent, is that acceptable?

ANSWER: Being human, who is without faults? If one recognizes one’s faults, repents of them, and reforms, what goodness could be greater? Errors, evils, and harmful deeds are not of only one kind. Therefore, one must always remain vigilant regarding body, speech, and mind, and at every moment examine whether one’s conduct is appropriate. If something is good, one should do it; if it is evil, one should quickly change it. Turning from evil and following goodness is like a sick person breaking into a sweat. Good fortune and joy will naturally arise, and the sages will offer their protection.

QUESTION: Suppose one’s examination is not thorough and, in a certain moment, thoughts and intentions arise. How should one subdue that mind?

ANSWER: The ancients disciplined the mind with the utmost rigor and therefore reaped many great results. All the wholesome and unwholesome states of the human mind arise from THOUGHT. As soon as a thought stirs, one should swiftly awaken to it. Once awareness arises, the thought immediately becomes empty. If one gathers in the mind in this way for days and months, it will naturally become upright. The Book of Documents says: “To let thoughts run wild is to be an ordinary madman; to subdue thoughts is to be a sage.” These words are entirely reasonable and should be put into practice.

QUESTION: Laypeople are bound by the five desires (2) and cannot immediately free themselves. Is there some expedient means by which they may cultivate gradually?

ANSWER: It is exceedingly difficult for laypeople to cultivate the path; they must be courageous, steadfast, and persevering over a long period. Therefore, throughout their daily activities and stillness, whether at leisure or occupied, they should raise only the single invocation “Amitabha Buddha,” then turn the light around and illuminate within, holding fast to this one thought alone. Even if many wheels of fire were spinning above their heads, they should resolutely refuse to abandon this single thought.

Let the eight winds (3) assail them as they will; they must not allow this single thought to be lost. After days and months, this one thought will become pure and genuine. Then they should turn back and shatter even this single thought; only then will Amitabha of their own nature appear.

Even if they practice in this way throughout their lives without awakening, when their karmic recompense is exhausted and life comes to an end—that is, at death—they should maintain this one thought and proceed directly along the right path. Returning again as human beings, upon hearing one thing they will awaken to a thousand; they will have their share in seeing the nature and becoming Buddha. This is the essential principle of returning to the mind.

It is contrary to this principle to turn outward and rush about seeking. One’s own words and actions must not contradict each other; only then can this be called true and proper benefit.

CHAPTER II

A DISCUSSION OF BUDDHIST AND CONFUCIAN PRINCIPLES

A Confucian scholar asked: The Buddhist doctrine advocates having neither father and son nor ruler and minister. Earlier Confucian masters judged Buddhist doctrine to be the same as the teachings of Yang Zhu and Mo Di (4). Having investigated the matter, I find that their words are indeed not mistaken.

The Master answered: While the Buddha was still cultivating the causes of awakening, throughout immeasurable kalpas he plucked out his eyes to save his parents, and at times relinquished his body and died in his father’s stead. He performed countless deeds of loyalty and filial devotion, yet still could not fully accomplish the repayment of their kindness. Only by leaving home to study the unsurpassed Way and attaining Perfect, Complete Enlightenment did he finally repay that debt.

A Buddhist sutra says: “In the home of a filial child who serves his parents dwells Lord Shakra. In the home of a filial child who supports his parents dwells the Great Brahma. In the home of a filial child who reveres his parents dwell all the Buddhas.” The Vinaya says: Filial devotion is called the precepts.

One who does not first support his parents but instead practices generosity is called an evil person. A verse of Maitreya says:

“In your home are two Buddha images,

Yet, alas, worldly people do not know them.

They were not fashioned from fine gold,

Nor were they carved from sandalwood.

They are none other than your present parents.

They are Shakyamuni and Maitreya.

If people constantly revere them with sincere hearts,

Why seek merit somewhere far away?”

Although the Buddhist teaching does not discuss governing the state, it can guide the people to practice goodness and transform those lost in delusion, leading them back to the right path. It teaches the ignorant to obediently perform wholesome deeds and enables the wise to awaken to principle and cultivate the mind. This may be called openly illuminating the Buddha’s Way while secretly repaying the sovereign’s kindness.

Do you not see that Buddhist monastics of the Shakya clan and the monasteries throughout the realm conduct morning and evening services each day in order to repay the four kinds of kindness and benefit beings in the three realms? If Buddhism truly disregarded Buddhahood and were disloyal and unfilial, would the bodhisattvas of the ten directions, the arhats who have exhausted the outflows, the devas, nagas, and the eight classes of beings, together with all kinds of ghosts and spirits, consent to take refuge in it and devote themselves to its support?

I do not speak falsely; consider this clearly for yourself.

QUESTION: While one’s parents are still alive, one should not travel far away; even distant travel is not permitted, much less shaving one’s head, donning dark robes, and leaving one’s parents far behind.

ANSWER: You know only the lesser filial devotion of the world but not the great filial devotion that transcends the world. Worldly filial devotion means not leaving one’s parents far behind: while they are alive, serving them according to what is right; when they die, burying them according to the rites; and thereafter making offerings to them according to the rites. From beginning to end, this is the full extent of that path of filial devotion.

Confucianism knows only how to serve one’s parents and practice filial devotion, but it does not know that one’s parents from past lives down to the present have created karma, received its consequences, and fallen into the three unfortunate destinies. If they have a child who leaves home and swiftly realizes the unsurpassed Way of awakening, only then can that child rescue the parents and free them from realms of suffering.

Only this may be called truly repaying the kindness of one’s parents. An ancient virtuous master said: “When one child leaves home, ancestors of nine generations ascend to heaven.” Although one who leaves home to become a member of the Sangha shaves the head and wears dark robes, this signifies separation from worldly life, making it easier to succeed in studying the Way. Having neither spouse nor children is called severing affectionate attachment, thereby enabling one to attain perfect enlightenment more swiftly.

You know only the five human relationships (5) of the world, but not the great filial devotion that rescues one’s parents.

QUESTION: There are three offenses of unfilial conduct, and having no descendants to continue the family line is the greatest of all. What do you say to this?

ANSWER: According to worldly ethics, having no descendants to continue the family line is unfilial. The world-transcending Way, however, is not restricted by this convention. Because of craving and attachment, sentient beings continue to be born one after another, incessantly bound within the net of love, clinging together like glue and lacquer.

Life after life they gather together; kalpa after kalpa the chain continues, with parents, children, and grandchildren coming and going without end. A person who truly possesses wisdom must resolutely sever this chain, arouse a courageous mind, cut off craving and desire, directly awaken to the mind-nature, and proceed straight to the ground of awakening. Although the family line ends and there are no descendants, this is not an offense, for one personally possesses the great world-transcending filial devotion and truly repays the kindness of one’s ancestors and parents.

QUESTION: Monastics who have left home speak of world-transcending matters whenever they open their mouths. If there truly is a world-transcending Dharma, it should not be practiced within the world. Yet it is now seen circulating in the world, so why call it beyond the world?

ANSWER: A person who studies the Way is unstained by worldly conditions and liberated in every circumstance; such a person is called world-transcending. It does not mean that apart from the world there is some separate realm called “beyond the world.” It is like a Confucian scholar who passes the imperial examination and is said to “ride the dragon and pluck the cassia branch.” Are there truly a dragon to ride and a cassia branch to pluck? Those who cling deludedly to words and make such strange arguments are indeed laughable.

QUESTION: I see monastics infatuated with fame and profit, doing nothing but worldly affairs. How can they be said to remain unstained?

ANSWER: In this Dharma-ending age, far removed from the Buddha, dragons and snakes are intermingled, while ordinary people and sages mingle together. There are wise people who, without departing from worldly dharmas, perform acts that appear contrary to the Way yet thereby accomplish the Buddha’s Way. Ordinary people with their fleshly eyes cannot recognize them, so one should not pass reckless judgments.

QUESTION: The sage Confucius criticized heterodox teachings. Did he not mean Buddhism and Daoism?

ANSWER: If Confucius regarded Laozi as heterodox, why did he go to ask him about the rites and offer praise to Lao Dan? If he regarded the Buddha as heterodox, how could he have spoken of Buddhism when it had not yet been transmitted to China? It was merely that Confucius observed that, during the Spring and Autumn period, the worthy went too far while the ignorant fell short. All had lost the Middle Way; therefore, he spoke of heterodox extremes. Later Confucian scholars seized upon this to denounce Buddhism and Daoism. Such fragmentary assertions do not stand up to reason.

QUESTION: Buddhism advocates quiescent extinction and is therefore called heterodox. Earlier Confucian masters have examined the matter, and their judgment is not mistaken.

ANSWER: What is called quiescence is not so named in contrast to movement. From beginningless time it has inherently never moved; therefore it is called quiescence. What is called cessation is not so named in contrast to arising. From beginningless time it has inherently neither arisen nor ceased; therefore it is called cessation. This is the fundamental nature of the whole, from which myriad functions arise. Later Confucian scholars, failing to awaken to the essence of nature, mistakenly gave rise to the heterodox view of annihilationism.

QUESTION: Our Confucian Way advocates “exhausting principle and fully realizing one’s nature.” Is this not different from the one-sided emptiness of Buddhism?

ANSWER: The Buddha said: “When quiescent cessation is manifest, the six faculties function interchangeably.” The Confucians call this: “Quiescent and unmoving, yet upon being affected, it immediately responds.” The Buddha said: “Thusness, thusness, unmoving.” Confucianism speaks of “utter emptiness”; these are the same. The followers of Shakyamuni transform consciousness into wisdom. Master Yan Hui learned the Way and attained “constant emptiness”!

If quiescent cessation is regarded as a heterodox doctrine, then when Confucius spoke of “utter emptiness,” which is no different from the Buddha’s teaching, was that also heterodox? Later Confucian scholars did not understand the essence of nature and groundlessly erred in criticizing one-sided emptiness. Only upon awakening to “that which precedes the arising of any impulse” will one know that the Confucian and Buddhist Ways are not two.

QUESTION: Buddhism uses the principle of cause and effect to frighten foolish common people, saying that those who do good will certainly be born in heaven, while evildoers will fall into hell. It speaks of rebirth through the six realms and karmic retribution in the three evil destinies. This is surely an excessive falsehood intended to bewilder people. How could Buddhist followers know that, after death, a person’s vital energy turns into wind and the fleshly body turns into earth and mud? Once a lifetime has ended, who has ever returned?

ANSWER: According to what you say, there is neither cause nor effect; heaven and hell are falsehoods; and when people die after a single lifetime, they return to nothing—their vital energy becoming wind and their flesh becoming earth and mud. If there is no cause and effect, why does the Book of Changes say: “A family that accumulates goodness will surely have abundant blessings; a family that accumulates evil will surely have abundant calamities”?

The Book of Documents likewise says: “One who does good is requited with a hundred blessings; one who does what is not good is requited with a hundred calamities.” If there is no hell, why is it said in the commentaries: “Those who do what is not good will be punished by ghosts and spirits in the dark realm”? If there is no rebirth, why is it said: “One who dies here is born there. The myriad things flow forth from the workings of creation and all return to the workings of creation”?

If there were no cause, effect, and retribution, and people lived only one life, they could freely wander about, indulge their minds, and act contrary to the Way, since after death they would merely turn into a gust of pure wind. If they truly become wind, why set up ancestral tablets and make offerings to them? Furthermore, wind is an insentient thing and inherently has no awareness.

Cheng Hao said: “When filial descendants make offerings to their ancestors, the ancestors bear witness to their remembrance. This is because, when there is utmost sincerity, a response follows every stimulus.” According to these words, the ancestors come to bear witness to their descendants’ remembrance. But is it a gust of pure wind that comes to bear witness, or has their spiritual nature become wind?

If pure wind comes, then pure wind is an insentient thing. Does this mean that, after death, the NATURE of the ancestors becomes something insentient? When their descendants make offerings to them, they transform again into spiritual nature, and after receiving the offerings, they once more become pure wind.

Such transformations, coming and going, would indeed constitute a most peculiar gust of wind. Cheng Hao also said: “A ghost is that which departs and does not return.” If it has departed and does not return, yet when the descendants are utterly sincere, the ancestors are moved and return to bear witness, then there is indeed a return! How laughable this is.

Cheng Yi said: “Ghosts and spirits are the innate capacities of the two kinds of vital energy: yang energy rises to heaven and becomes a spirit, while yin energy descends to earth and becomes a ghost.” Having declared cause and effect to be false and heaven and hell unreal, to maintain that yang energy rises to heaven and becomes a spirit while yin energy descends beneath the earth and becomes a ghost is already to fall into the principle of cause, effect, stimulus, and response.

It is deeply regrettable that ordinary Confucian scholars, failing to awaken to the wondrous nature that is neither existent nor nonexistent, neither arising nor ceasing, mistakenly give rise to the annihilationist attachment and obscure their own original truth. Such people should quickly give rise to wisdom and promptly seek an enlightened teacher who can reveal the principle of the one continuous thread. Then they will certainly not fall into the two attachments of annihilationism and eternalism, but will completely awaken to the Confucian teaching’s principle of equilibrium and harmony.

QUESTION: Since cause and effect are never mistaken and the retribution of good and evil never fails, why did Emperor Wu of Liang, who revered Buddhism, lose his realm to Hou Jing?

ANSWER: Whether a dynasty’s destiny is long or short, and whether an age is flourishing and well governed or troubled and chaotic, are all determined by fixed karma and cannot be altered. Emperor Wu of Liang followed the Lesser Vehicle and devoted himself to conditioned practices. He placed excessive faith in established customs, rigidly clung to the central principle, and lacked the ability to adapt expediently.

When Hou Jing’s forces arrived, instead of devising skillful means, he assembled the shramanas to ring bells, strike chimes, and recite MAHA PRAJNAPARAMITA. This was like Xiang Xu of the Later Han dynasty, who, when Zhang Jue rebelled, did not want the state to raise troops. He merely wished to send the generals and soldiers to the riverbank, face north, and read the Classic of Filial Piety to the rebel army, believing they would then disperse of themselves.

When the correct teaching is applied so unskillfully, how could the fault lie with the Classic of Filial Piety? Emperor Wu of Liang rigidly clung to the central principle, and his loss of the realm was also due to fixed karma, not because doing good brought him harm. Emperor Wu of Liang lived to the age of ninety, and his fixed karma was to die from illness; his end was not excessively cruel.

Why, then, use this event to slander the Sacred Teaching? In doing so, one merely brings fault upon oneself.

QUESTION: You say that fixed karma is difficult to escape. Does this mean that stimulus and response are actually a deception?

ANSWER: Karma created in a former life bears its result in this life. Blessings cultivated with the present body will, in turn, yield joyful results in a future life. This principle is certainly so and cannot be altered. In a former life, Emperor Wu of Liang formed karmic enmities; in this life, he encountered those former adversaries again. Although he met with the calamity of enmity, because he cultivated goodness in this life, how could the result in his future life possibly fail?

QUESTION: If cause and effect never err, is it a fixed law that cannot be altered?

ANSWER: It is a definite Dharma, yet it also has an indeterminate aspect.

QUESTION: How is it indeterminate?

ANSWER: One may have created karma in a former life and consequently be poor and short-lived in this life; yet by performing meritorious deeds, one’s offenses may be extinguished and blessings arise. Or beings may owe one another debts of life from former kalpas and now meet again as enemies and creditors. By performing great meritorious deeds that move heaven and earth, calamity may be transformed into good fortune. A virtuous master of old said: “Hidden virtue can dissolve karma from former lives.” Thus, although there is a definite law, there is also an indeterminate law.

QUESTION: Throughout his life, Emperor Wu of Liang relinquished himself, repaired monasteries, built stupas, printed sutras, created images, revered the Buddha, ordained monks and nuns, and performed such good deeds. Did his hidden virtue not move heaven and earth sufficiently to release him from enmity and free him from calamity?

ANSWER: Emperor Wu of Liang’s deeds constituted conditioned merit, for which he would be reborn to enjoy pleasant results. Had they been unconditioned, undefiled hidden virtue, united as one with the mind of heaven, they could have transformed calamity into good fortune and disaster into peace and well-being.

QUESTION: If the Buddhadharma accords with the teachings of Confucianism, why did Ouyang Xiu say: “The Buddha is a great calamity for China”?

ANSWER: The Buddhadharma would be a great calamity only if it were not a true and right teaching. Why, then, from ancient times until the present, from sage emperors and worthy kings above down to ministers, great Confucian scholars, elders, lay practitioners, Daoists, old women, young girls, and servants below, have people revered the Buddha like the rising tide? Those who take refuge are as numerous as the stars filling the heavens. Among such multitudes, it is difficult to find even one person who has exposed Buddhism as false. The Buddha came from a distant land and never came here himself. Only his teachings were transmitted here. If they were teachings harmful to people, how could they have been transmitted for so long without being condemned by Heaven and despised by humankind?

QUESTION: Ouyang Xiu said, “The Buddha cleverly fabricated baseless and untrue matters.”

ANSWER: If the Buddha fabricated falsehoods, he must have had some scheme in mind. As for honor, the Buddha was a person of the highest nobility; as for avoiding hunger and cold, the Buddha was exceedingly wealthy. Why would he renounce riches, honor, and the royal throne to fabricate baseless, untrue stories with which to delude people?

Such a thing would indeed be perverse and bizarre. If the Buddha had harbored even the slightest deceit or falsehood in his heart, would the sages and worthies throughout the ten directions have consented to join him in propagating the teaching? The sutra says: “The Tathagata is one who speaks truthfully, speaks truly, speaks according to reality, speaks without deception, and speaks without contradiction” (Như Lai thị chơn ngữ giả, thật ngữ giả, như ngữ giả, bất cuống ngữ giả, bất dị ngữ giả).

Ouyang Xiu uttered the foregoing statement because his own mind was obscured.

QUESTION: Han Yu said, “Buddhism is a religion from the Western Regions (India), and it was not transmitted into China until the Later Han dynasty. In high antiquity, where was there any Buddhism? From the time of the Yellow Emperor onward, and up through the reigns of Kings Wen and Wu, people all lived no fewer than one hundred years. In later generations, as more and more people followed Buddhism, their lifespans diminished. How perilous!”

ANSWER: The appearance of a Great Sage in the world is not restricted by place or time. Among the emperors and kings of China, Emperor Shun was born at Zhufeng, died at Wutiao, and his native region lay in the east. King Wen was born in Qizhou, died at Biying, and his native region lay in the west.

Emperor Shun and King Wen were both sages; their teachings spread throughout the realm, and later generations greatly revered them. Lifespans are simply determined in accordance with local conditions. If people in high antiquity lived long lives while those of later generations had their lives shortened because they revered the Buddha, why then was the interval between the years Bing and Ren so brief?

Why did Kong Li (the son of Confucius) and Yan Hui, a man of outstanding intelligence, die young? If one readily believes that revering the Buddha causes one’s allotted lifespan to be shortened, then Han Yu, who slandered the Buddha, should reasonably have lived forever! This is the sort of reasoning called “covering one’s ears while listening for the bell,” and it cannot avoid becoming a laughingstock among the wise.

QUESTION: The Buddha taught, “Illuminate the mind and see one’s nature; upon seeing one’s nature, one becomes a Buddha.” Our Confucian tradition has no such untrue statement.

ANSWER: The Buddha taught people to illuminate the mind and see their nature, and that upon seeing their nature they become Buddhas. Mencius said: “By fully realizing one’s mind, one knows one’s nature; by knowing one’s nature, one knows Heaven” (Tận kỳ tâm tri kỳ tánh, tri kỳ tánh tắc tri kỳ thiên). He also said: “Recite the words of Emperor Yao and practice the conduct of Yao; then one is simply Yao” (Tụng Nghiêu chi ngôn, hành Nghiêu chi hạnh, thị Nghiêu nhi dĩ hỉ). Our teaching says: “Awaken to the words of the Buddha and practice the conduct of the Buddha; then one is simply a Buddha” (Ngộ Phật chi ngôn, hành Phật chi hạnh, thị Phật nhi dĩ hỉ). Thus, what difference is there between Confucianism and Buddhism that would make the latter’s statement untrue?

QUESTION: Upon awakening to the Buddha’s words, one must certainly practice the Buddha’s conduct. Yet I have seen many among the Sangha who do not observe the Buddha’s discipline. Why is this?

ANSWER: Because the Dharma gate is so vast, dragons and snakes mingle together. Even while the Buddha was still in the world, there were the “group of six bhikshus” (6). How much more is this so in the Dharma-ending age, as we grow ever more distant from the Buddha!

In the present age, it would suffice if, among hundreds of thousands of monastics, we could find even one person who somewhat resembles those of old. It is like sifting sand in search of gold: even if ten measures of sand yield only a single grain of gold, it is still something precious in the world. It is also like splitting rocks in search of jade: even if an entire mountain of stone yields only one inch of jade, it can still be made into a precious object.

An ancient said: “Though horned creatures are many, a single qilin is enough.” It is not only in Buddhism during the Dharma-ending age that it is difficult to find someone who somewhat resembles the ancients. Even in Confucius’s own time, there were noble Confucians and petty Confucians. Today, although people wear the robes of Confucian scholars, how can one guarantee that they all resemble Confucius and Mencius?

Therefore, when a religion is in decline, it is not only among Buddhist monastics that some fail to observe their discipline; the same is true of Confucianism, which has likewise not escaped this pattern.

QUESTION: The Three Teachings have only one principle. Why, then, do you mistakenly divide them into ranks, saying that Buddhism treats the bones and marrow, Daoism treats the blood vessels, and our Confucianism treats only the skin? Such words are unfair and inevitably cause people to take offense.

ANSWER: Confucians take “exhaustively investigating principle and fully realizing one’s nature” as the Way, and the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues (7) as virtue, seeking only to make people noble persons; therefore, it is said to treat the skin. Daoists take “cultivating the truth and nourishing one’s nature” as the Way, and “weakening the will and withdrawing one’s skills” as virtue, aspiring to become persons of pure emptiness; therefore, it is said to treat the blood vessels.

Buddhism takes illuminating the mind and seeing one’s nature as the Way, and the ten perfections and myriad practices (8) as virtue, whereby one attains perfect enlightenment and becomes a teacher of the three realms. It truly treats the bones and marrow. It is not that the essential nature of the Three Teachings differs; rather, the practices of each school differ.

QUESTION: What does it mean to say that the Three Teachings have only one essence?

ANSWER: Their essence is only one. Buddhism advocates seeing one’s nature, Daoism advocates nourishing one’s nature, and Confucianism advocates fully realizing one’s nature. Though their entrances differ, when they return to the source, they are not two.

QUESTION: Are there points at which Buddhism and Confucianism differ?

– Where do they differ?

– In our Confucian tradition, one first studies and only afterward teaches. One must survey all the books to discern the ultimate reaches of human nature, feelings, and principle. Buddhism first teaches one to sit quietly and investigate a huatou in order to awaken to the mind-nature of the Way. Thus, in general, Buddhism and Confucianism differ on this point.

– The Master said: What enters from outside is not the treasure of one’s own house; only what arises from within is true wisdom. Among the disciples of Confucius at that time, only Yan Hui attained awakening. The others were broadly learned and widely informed, yet all relied on external aids for inspiration; therefore, learning and awakening are as far apart as heaven and earth. When Cheng Mingdao studied under Master Maoshu, Maoshu instructed him to investigate Yan Hui’s “place of joy” (lạc xứ). Was this not a huatou? Moreover, Yuzhang and Luo Zhongzuo taught people to sit quietly and investigate the question: “Before the four beginnings have arisen, what is the condition?” This practice not only provides the strength to advance in learning but also contains the essential guidance for nourishing the mind. How did these two eminent Confucian worthies differ from those in the Chan school who investigate and awaken to realization?

QUESTION: I cannot bring myself to believe in the principle of sudden awakening.

ANSWER: It is not only present-day beginners in Confucianism who cannot believe it. Even worthy disciples within the school of Confucius, such as Zigong and Zifang, could not believe it. At that time, only Yan Hui possessed such faith. Therefore, Confucius called Yan Hui one who truly loved learning.

QUESTION: Our teaching enters through phenomena and accords with principle amid activity. Buddhism, by contrast, enters through principle and awakens to principle through quiet sitting. Therefore, those who accord with principle amid activity possess great strength, whereas those who awaken to principle through quiet sitting possess little strength.

ANSWER: What you have said about that principle is entirely correct, yet nothing can be done about the fact that what is familiar becomes ever more familiar, while what arises becomes ever more prone to arising. If practitioners, while amid activity, realize the principle in what is familiar and do not act contrary to it in their affairs, scarcely one in ten thousand can do so. Beginners should incline toward stillness and train what arises in the mind until it becomes thoroughly disciplined. Then, even when they enter into activity, they will naturally possess effective power.

Whenever Master Yichuan saw someone practicing stillness, he would gladly praise him, saying that this person knew how to study well. Zhu Xi said: “Master Mingdao taught people to sit in stillness, and Master Li also taught people to sit in stillness. For if the spirit is unsettled, the Way has no place to abide.

If, through sitting in stillness, one can nurture the result, the Way will immediately become clear.” Thus, all the Confucian masters mentioned above favored sitting in stillness and investigating the principle. How laughable are today’s worldly Confucians, whose deluded thoughts arise and cease without the slightest pause, and who, when confronting objects and encountering conditions, cannot discern the sovereign within!

How, then, can they speak of entering through phenomena and, amid activity, accord with the all-pervading Way?

QUESTION: The ultimate principle is realized through a single word that transforms the ordinary into the sacred. This is exceedingly extraordinary and difficult for Confucians to believe.

ANSWER: At that time, Master Zeng Shen applied himself most diligently to investigating the principle of mind. Suddenly, upon hearing Confucius say, “The One threads through it all,” he solemnly awakened to the principle of mind-nature.

Furthermore, Zhou Maoshu instructed his disciples, saying, “Do not pull up the grass before the house.” If someone asked the meaning of this, one should answer, “It is the same intention as that of one’s own household.”

Zhang Zihou attained understanding upon hearing a donkey bray. Is this not akin to “realizing the ultimate principle through a single word and transforming the ordinary into the sacred”?

QUESTION: CHAN employs opportune encounters to seal and verify realization. Our Confucian Way certainly has no such thing.

ANSWER: In ancient times, when Cheng Yichuan met Shao Kangjie, Cheng pointed to the dining table and asked Shao, “This table rests upon the ground, but where, then, are heaven and earth?” Master Shao Kangjie expounded that principle exhaustively. This question was precisely an opportune encounter for sealing and verifying realization.

QUESTION: The various masters of our Confucian Way all discoursed on the principles of the Ultimate of Nonbeing and the Supreme Ultimate, yet they did not penetrate them completely. How, then, can later students enter all at once? You have clearly stated that the Three Teachings share a single principle; why do you not set your hand to turning the matter around, so that those who have not yet awakened may believe that the Buddhadharma is supreme?

ANSWER: In general, Daoism and Confucianism are identical in their teachings on principle: from the Ultimate of Nonbeing arises the Supreme Ultimate. When the Supreme Ultimate moves, it gives rise to yang; when movement reaches its extreme, there is stillness. Stillness, in turn, gives rise to yin.

This yin and yang constitute the Two Modes; through their interaction, the Four Images and Five Elements arise, and thereafter the myriad things are born. In summary, even if one investigates the principle to its utmost, ultimately one still does not know that all is manifested by MIND. If I were simply to reveal how mountains, rivers, and the great earth arise from the originally pure and quiescent state, I fear it would be difficult to enter.

Therefore, as an expedient, I shall now borrow the distinction between the Confucian principles of the Ultimate of Nonbeing and the Supreme Ultimate to make it easier for you to awaken.

Now let us return to investigating the Buddha Vehicle: the fundamental nature, empty and quiescent, is the Ultimate of Nonbeing. The true mind, numinously illuminating, is the Supreme Ultimate. Quiescence and illumination are nondual, like a mirror reflecting objects; it can discern good and evil without giving rise to discrimination.

The moment the mind arises, good and evil immediately appear. This is like the Supreme Ultimate moving and giving rise to yin and yang, and yin and yang interacting to produce the myriad things. The true mind, when facing objects, gives rise to no discrimination.

As soon as a single thought arises, the myriad dharmas all appear. Now, borrowing the teaching that points directly to mind-nature in order to illuminate the Way of Changes, one nevertheless must enter the gate of Chan and investigate for another thirty years.

QUESTION: The teaching of our Confucian Way regards the FOUR BOOKS as sacred scriptures. If you deem the effort worthwhile, please explain them once for us.

ANSWER: “The Way of the Great Learning lies in illuminating luminous virtue, in renewing the people, and in resting in the highest good.”

Explanation: The Way of the Great Learning in the school of Confucius does not consist in rites and music, nor in searching through books. Neither does it fall into excess or deficiency, but constantly abides in the principle of the Middle Way.

The phrase “illuminating luminous virtue” should be divided into two parts for explanation. The first word “illuminating” means Awakening; the second “luminous” means Mind. The true mind is open and wondrous, able to illuminate while remaining ever quiescent.

VIRTUE is the wondrous functioning of mind; it is wholly good and without evil. All the Three Bonds, Five Constant Virtues, rites and music, laws, government, and so forth arise from the virtuous functioning of the wondrously luminous One Mind. Since beginningless time, sentient beings have pursued objects and chased after passions, becoming defiled for so long that they have turned against this virtuous functioning.

Confused and disordered, they obscure their fundamental luminosity and consequently drift through birth and death. Once they awaken to and illuminate the original mind, they understand that the worthy and the foolish are not two. After awakening, they must “renew the people,” enabling everyone to discover the “wondrously luminous One Mind.” This practical activity is what is meant by “resting in the highest good.” What has been explained above is sudden awakening.

From this point onward comes “cultivation and realization.” “Knowing where to rest, one can then become settled. Being settled, one can then become tranquil. Being tranquil, one can then become at peace. Being at peace, one can then contemplate. Having contemplated, one can then attain.”

Explanation: One personally knows to rest in the highest good. The highest good is the Middle Way. If one rests in the Middle Way, then naturally the principles of good and evil cannot deceive one. Only then can one be said to be “settled after knowing where to rest.” Being settled means that the mind does not move and things cannot sway it. If one reaches the point where things cannot sway one, the original mind is like a bright, clear, and pure mirror, facing objects without becoming defiled. Therefore, this is called “becoming tranquil after being settled.”

Tranquility is the tranquility of the original mind, not the tranquility produced by stopping movement. When true tranquility is present, there is no obstruction anywhere. Reaching the point where one remains undisturbed everywhere is called true peace. Therefore it is said: “Being tranquil, one can then become at peace.” Peace means ease; inwardly and outwardly one is of a single suchness, naturally secure and composed, and genuine in dealing with affairs. In summary, all the foregoing pertains to samadhi.

From this point onward, it may be called wisdom: indeed, when settledness, tranquility, and peace have been sustained for a long time, true wisdom naturally manifests. Therefore it is said: “Being at peace, one can then contemplate.” Contemplation is true wisdom, unobstructed in every matter. Only upon reaching the point of being unobstructed in every matter can it be called “attaining after contemplation.” Attainment means that there is nothing attained; that is, samadhi and wisdom are equal.

“Things have roots and branches; affairs have beginnings and ends. To know what comes first and what follows is to be near the Way.”

Explanation: Illuminating luminous virtue is the root; illuminating the principle of renewing the people is the branch. Knowing to rest in the highest good is the beginning; subsequently returning to the original mind is the end. When root and branch, beginning and end, follow their proper sequence without error, one naturally draws near to the Way of the Great Learning.

“The ancients who wished to illuminate luminous virtue throughout the world first governed their states. Wishing to govern their states, they first regulated their families. Wishing to regulate their families, they first cultivated themselves. Wishing to cultivate themselves, they first rectified their minds. Wishing to rectify their minds, they first made their intentions sincere. Wishing to make their intentions sincere, they first brought their knowledge to completion. Wishing to bring their knowledge to completion, they investigated the principles of things.”

Explanation: In ancient times, kings and rulers awakened to the root and thereby governed the branches. If the people of the realm are to govern through the branches—that is, through governing what is secondary—they must first govern the country. To govern the country, they must first regulate the family. If students of principle wish to regulate a family, they must first cultivate the virtuous functioning of their own person. To cultivate the virtuous functioning of the person, they must first rectify the mind. The mind is originally free from entanglement, but is stirred by intention. Inverted thoughts become caught in falsehood. Therefore it is said: “If one wishes to rectify the mind, one must first make the intention sincere.”

Sincerity means truthfulness: responding to things without partiality. To respond to things without partiality, one must first possess innate knowledge. Innate knowledge is the wondrously luminous mind.

It is like a mirror reflecting objects without giving rise to discrimination. The present discrimination of love and hate is the delusive power of emotional consciousness. Therefore it is said: “The extension of knowledge lies in investigating things!” “Things” refers to emotional consciousness, not to external objects.

The Buddha said: “If one can turn things around, one is then the same as the Tathagata.” Later Confucian scholars failed to realize that “things” originally meant emotional consciousness and mistakenly took the investigation of things to mean exhaustively examining the principles of external objects. They wished to reach the ultimate point, but could not. How lamentable that, because they sought outwardly, they were instead deluded by things.

“Only after things are investigated is knowledge extended. Only after knowledge is extended is the intention made sincere. Only after the intention is sincere is the mind rectified. Only after the mind is rectified is the person cultivated. Only after the person is cultivated is the family regulated. Only after the family is regulated is the country governed. Only after the country is governed is peace brought to the realm.”

Explanation: This passage returns to the original meaning stated above. If one can transform consciousness, innate knowledge will naturally manifest. When innate knowledge appears, it is like a mirror clearly reflecting the good and evil in things without giving rise to love or hate. When the mind of love and hate does not arise, the intention is sincere and impartial. With sincere intention, dignified conduct, and a rectified mind, principle naturally accords with every action, and all conform to the ultimate Way. Thus, when one family is transformed and all learn from one’s conduct, the people throughout the realm will naturally all become virtuous. From kings and rulers down to the common people, each must take self-cultivation as the root.

“To leave the root in disorder while governing the branches cannot be so. That what is important should be treated lightly, while what is trifling should be treated as important, has never occurred.” (The Great Learning).

Explanation: From kings and rulers above down to the common people below, all take the one mind as the foundation. The mind is not only the root of the person; it is also the foundation of both transcending the world and governing the world. If that root is disordered, then self-cultivation, regulation of the family, governance of the country, and bringing peace to the realm cannot be accomplished.

QUESTION: Having heard the Master explain The Great Learning, I ask the Master to continue by explaining The Doctrine of the Mean.

ANSWER: “What Heaven ordains is called nature; following nature is called the Way; cultivating the Way is called teaching.”

Explanation: The principle of the Mean is the mind-Dharma of the Confucian school: neither biased nor dependent, neither inclined nor arrested. Zhu Xi commented: Nature comes from the Mandate of Heaven, and the Mandate of Heaven bestows its principle upon every person and every thing. Yet he did not understand what original nature truly is.

By saying that a command from Heaven comes to entrust something to people and things, the explanation of the Confucian sage’s principle becomes a Dharma existing outside the mind. How could Zhu Xi know that the essence of original nature is empty and penetrating like vast space, having neither inside nor outside, neither coming nor going? All of this arose because, at the very beginning, beings did not abide in their own nature.

Suddenly the mind was stirred, and they entered the prison of the womb. Originally there was only a single essential luminosity, but it divided into six functions; chasing emotions and following objects, beings drift through birth and death. Since sentient beings cannot return to the source, the ancient sages pointed out a direct path: “The Mandate of Heaven is precisely the essence of nature.” “Mandate of Heaven,” “mind of Heaven,” “Way of Heaven,” and “principle of Heaven” differ in name, but their essence is the same.

In brief, this is the principle of nature. The ancients said: “In Heaven it is called the Mandate; in human beings it is called nature.” Therefore it is taught: “What Heaven ordains is called nature.”

Every person is originally endowed with a single true nature, wondrously luminous and discerning. Though it freely responds to circumstances, its principle is naturally so. Within its essence, all is harmoniously integrated and does not fall into disparity; amid everyday affairs, phenomena and principle are unobstructed. Therefore it is said: “Following nature is called the Way.”

Ever since taking birth, beings have had their original principle obscured by defiling sensory objects. With deluded and inverted thoughts, they do not awaken to the essence of nature. Sages and worthies established teachings and doctrines to instruct people to return to their nature, awaken to principle, cultivate and realize it, turn back from delusion, and return to truth, thereby recovering their own original principle of the Mandate of Heaven. Therefore it is said: “Cultivating the Way is called teaching.”

“Teaching consists in cultivation according to the Way; the Way is rooted in nature; and the essence of nature originates in Heaven. The sage knows the Mandate and delights in the principle of Heaven. This is the Way of the Mean. The Way cannot be departed from even for an instant. If it could be departed from, it would not be the Way. Therefore the noble person is cautious and vigilant where nothing is seen, and apprehensive where nothing is heard. Nothing is more manifest than what is hidden, and nothing is more apparent than what is subtle; therefore the noble person must be watchful when alone.”

Explanation: If one awakens to the principle of nature, one cannot depart from it even for an instant. If it is absent for a single instant, habitual tendencies will reappear. Therefore one must be wary and cautious, fearful as though approaching a deep abyss.

Guard the original nature so that it does not fall into deviation. In being watchful when alone, one must guard against what is hidden and subtle. The instant a trace has just begun to sprout, when the subtle mechanism is stirring but has not yet arisen, it is as though it were being born but were not yet born.

At that very moment, it is best to release it immediately; one then returns to the original principle. Though this practice may appear simple, its merit is exceedingly great. If one waits until thoughts of good and evil have arisen, then love and hate, grasping and rejecting, will all arise together in the mind.

Once they have arisen, to turn back and subdue them—is that not already far too late? Therefore the practice of watchfulness when alone is of the utmost importance. Thus it is said: “To nurture the Way, the noble person must be watchful when alone.”

“When joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure have not yet arisen, this is called equilibrium. When they arise and are inwardly known and regulated, this is called harmony. Equilibrium is the great root of the realm. Harmony is the attainment of the Way throughout the realm. When equilibrium and harmony are realized, Heaven and Earth attain their proper positions, and the myriad things are nourished.”

Explanation: Equilibrium before arising is true wisdom. Quiescence and illumination are nondual, responding to things without a calculating mind. It is also called innate knowledge and the root of the Way. Harmony after arising is wondrous wisdom, able to distinguish all dharmas without abiding in or being defiled by them. It is called innate ability and also the attainment of the Way. Innate knowledge and innate ability are rooted in the essence of nature. The essence of nature encompasses all of vast space and nourishes all myriad forms of existence. Therefore it is said: “Equilibrium and harmony are the proper positions of Heaven and Earth and the nourishment of the myriad things.”

QUESTION: Please explain innate knowledge and innate ability more clearly.

ANSWER: The functions of innate knowledge and discriminative knowledge are generally not the same. Innate knowledge knows without a calculating mind; discriminative knowledge knows through conceptual thought. Innate knowledge clearly knows good and evil and abides in good and evil.

Innate knowledge is like a mirror reflecting objects: black and white, beautiful and ugly, are distinguished with perfect clarity, yet not the slightest trace or image remains within the substance of the mirror. By contrast, discriminative knowledge gives rise to distinctions among the images in the mirror, then grasps or rejects them, thereby obstructing its own original luminosity, uniting with delusive sensory objects, and turning away from awakening.

One must distinguish innate knowledge from discriminative knowledge with complete clarity. If one errs by the slightest hair’s breadth, one will be separated by a thousand miles.

Innate ability is wisdom. It can distinguish all dharmas and skillfully govern the affairs of the world, yet it is undefiled by worldly matters. It functions freely, unobstructed in all things.

QUESTION: Confucius advocated “emptiness of emptiness.” Yan Hui advocated constant emptiness. I do not yet know whether the principles underlying the two kinds of emptiness advocated by these two masters are the same or different.

ANSWER: Confucius advocated the emptiness of emptiness. Through the emptiness of emptiness, he attained the principle of emptiness; through attaining the principle of emptiness, he became empty of emptiness. The emptiness of emptiness is suchness. This suchness is true suchness. True suchness is the original nature. Master Yan studied the Way of the sages but had not yet realized true suchness, and therefore could not avoid the arising of thoughts. Although a thought stirred, as soon as he became aware of it, it was empty; therefore, the thought did not arise again. Hence the sage Confucius called Master Yan “Hui,” for he was close to constant emptiness.

QUESTION: Confucius said, “My Way takes one principle and penetrates all things” (wu dao yi yi guan zhi). I do not yet know what this “one” is.

ANSWER: The one is the nature; the nature is the principle; the principle is the Way; the Way is the one.

QUESTION: If one subdues oneself and returns to propriety, will all under heaven return to benevolence?

ANSWER: It means subduing one’s own emotional consciousness in order to return to the principle of Heaven. Propriety is the regulated expression of principle. Benevolence is the virtuous function of the mind. When a person is able to subdue deluded emotions and return to the true, that person and all under heaven return as one to the essence of benevolence.

QUESTION: The Book of Documents says: “The human mind is fraught with danger. The mind of the Way is subtle and wondrous. Be refined and single-minded, and hold fast to the Mean.”

ANSWER: The human mind arises and ceases without stopping, and therefore is precarious and insecure. The mind of the Way is empty, numinous, quiescent, and illuminating, and therefore is subtle, wondrous, and difficult to perceive. Refinement is the wondrous principle within emptiness. Oneness is the emptiness within the wondrous principle. “Hold fast” denotes steadfastness, while the Mean is the essence of the nature. The sages and worthies of the Three Teachings are fundamentally grounded in a single principle. Anything spoken apart from mind and nature is entirely the speech of demons.

QUESTION: In Master Yan’s cultivation of the Way, what does it mean that he did not repeat an agitation and did not make the same mistake twice?

ANSWER: “Agitation” means mental movement, not anger or wrath. In Master Yan’s study of the mind, it refers to the stirring of a thought. In terms of the Buddha’s Way, it means that two thoughts do not follow one another; therefore, it is said that he did not repeat it. His mind constantly abided in the one; in responding to affairs and dealing with things, he was not biased. As soon as there was a fault, he corrected it; this is called not making it twice.

QUESTION: What does it mean that the sage used the Changes to cleanse his mind and withdrew into concealment within the hidden?

ANSWER: Cleansing the mind means stilling delusion; withdrawing into concealment means returning to the true. When both the true and the deluded have ceased, it is called the one.

QUESTION: Without understanding and without knowing, does one accord with the sovereign’s rule?

ANSWER: The true nature is like a mirror: it reflects things without a calculating mind. As soon as knowledge and discrimination arise, one falls into consciousness. Confucius said: “Do I possess knowledge? I possess no knowledge!” (Wu you zhi hu zai! Wu zhi ye). In the Chan school it is said: “Not knowing and not cognizing are the marrow of the Buddha’s Way” (Bu zhi bu shi, Fo dao gu sui).

QUESTION: The Master ate coarse rice, drank plain water, bent his arm for a pillow, and lay down, yet still found joy therein. I do not yet know where that joy lay.

ANSWER: That joy was true joy, not the pleasure and delight of the world. Its ground was the principle of Heaven, and its knowing was the Mandate of Heaven. Rejoicing in the principle of Heaven and knowing the Mandate of Heaven, he was neither elated nor troubled. When the wondrous nature is perfectly clear, its joy is difficult to express.

QUESTION: Was Master Yan’s joy of the “bamboo bowl and gourd ladle”(9) the same as the joy of the sage Confucius?

ANSWER: Yan Hui attained the Way of Confucius and gained the joy that is neither elation nor sorrow. In principle they were fundamentally the same, but Master Yan still required much careful preservation of his attainment.

QUESTION: Heaven’s movement has neither sound nor fragrance?

ANSWER: Within emptiness there is fundamentally no sound; within transparent openness there is fundamentally no fragrance. Although there is neither sound nor fragrance, the Way of Heaven is never obscured.

QUESTION: Master Zilu asked about death. The Master replied, “Not yet knowing life, how can you know death?” I do not yet understand the meaning of this reply.

ANSWER: If you know the morning, you know the evening; if you know the beginning, you know the end. Sir, if you first awaken to your original countenance before you were born, then you will know the place where body and destiny are securely established hereafter. From where does birth come, and where does one go after death? The source of beginning and end is fundamentally only one.

QUESTION: What is the heart of a newborn child?

ANSWER: The heart of a newborn child is pure and undivided, without delusion. The newborn child has not attained the Great Way, but merely preserves a mind free from discrimination. Only when a great person has penetrative understanding, knows all dharmas, and yet does not lose the heart of a newborn child can this be called the Way.

QUESTION: Master Yan Xuan appeared foolish, Master Lianxi appeared dull, Master Mingdao sat perfectly upright, and Master Zhongsu delighted in stillness. Why did these masters behave in this way?

ANSWER: These were people who had awakened to principle and cultivated the Way; this was also the direct path for transcending the ordinary and entering sagehood. Confucian scholars of later generations did not esteem the gate of awakening, but devoted themselves only to extensive study and broad understanding. They all relied upon external acquisitions to support and stimulate themselves, rather than applying effort at the ground of mind to reveal true wisdom. Your present inquiry about these masters may indeed be called genuine learning.

QUESTION: Although I have studied extensively, I am unable to attain sudden awakening. What texts should I read in order to enter the gate of principle?

ANSWER: Those who genuinely investigate and truly awaken are not confined to words and meanings. Those who have studied extensively and become thoroughly versed in books have too many paths of intellectual interpretation; these in turn obstruct the original mind and make companions of discriminating consciousness. They are like someone who counts another person’s treasures but in the end does not possess even half a coin.

You must forthrightly relinquish all external learning and investigate only this: before the four beginnings—joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure—have arisen, what is their original countenance? Whether in activity or in stillness, at every moment continually observe and investigate: what principle is this? Maintain only one thought, without a divided mind.

Do not engage in extensive deliberation; do not employ intellectual interpretation; do not set your mind on awaiting awakening; do not set your mind on understanding principle; do not set your mind on falling into quiescent extinction; and do not allow your mind to bustle amid phenomena and principle. Simply investigate the point before anything has arisen. After many days and months, you will become pure and undivided.

Thought cannot reach it, and consciousness does not operate. When the proper time arrives, that principle will reveal itself. On seeing a form or hearing a sound, the nostrils are suddenly broken through; upon hearing a single noise—like a bean bursting in cold ashes—the ground of mind opens and becomes unobstructed, revealing the original nature.

Only afterward should you teach and guide the people, arrange your household, or go forth to assist the nation. How could any of these not be the wondrous functioning of your mind and nature?

QUESTION: Those of superior faculties awaken suddenly, directly, and clearly. But how are those of middling or inferior faculties, whose habitual tendencies are deep and dense, to preserve and nurture their realization?

ANSWER: After awakening to the nature, a person must preserve it in accordance with conditions, remaining cautious and apprehensive as though approaching a joyful household and a stern father. With wholehearted sincerity and genuine reverence, the original nature will not be lost. One must preserve and nurture it in this way; after a long time, it will naturally mature.

QUESTION: Suppose mindfulness is lost for a moment. What then?

ANSWER: Follow Master Yan’s discipline of returning before going far astray. In but an instant, you will naturally return to the original principle.

CHAPTER III

A DEBATE BETWEEN BUDDHISM AND DAOISM ON WHICH PRINCIPLE IS TRUE AND SUPERIOR

QUESTION: My teaching and the teaching of Buddhism are, in general, not the same.

The Master asked in return: In what respect are they not the same?

The Daoist replied: Buddhism cultivates the nature but does not cultivate life. My Way teaches the joint cultivation of nature and life.

The Master asked: What is cultivating the nature, and what is cultivating life?

The Daoist replied: Cultivating the nature is “gathering concentration in the Palace of Li”; cultivating life is “seeking the Mystery in the Water Treasury.”

The Master asked: What is gathering concentration in the Palace of Li, and what is seeking the Mystery in the Water Treasury?

The Daoist replied: Gathering concentration in the Palace of Li means stilling the mind without movement in order to preserve the spirit. Seeking the Mystery in the Water Treasury means refining essence and transforming it into qi in order to make the physical form firm. When both form and spirit become wondrous, they accord with the truth of the Way.

The Master said: The Buddhist path cultivates only one side; it does not refine essence into qi in order to attain an enduring physical form and thereby preserve life. Moreover, you do not know that “gathering concentration in the Li Palace” and “mind and breath mutually relying upon one another” are practices of the Two Vehicles. Refining essence in the Water Palace and transforming it into qi that travels upward against the natural course, one penetrates the Mysterious Pass and attains an enduring physical form. This is an art for prolonging life.

In the Supreme Vehicle of Buddhism, when one suddenly awakens to the nature of mind, one sees that mountains, rivers, the great earth, all things, body, and mind are merely illusory shadows within the Nature. There is therefore no reason to rely upon illusion to cultivate a shadow. Would this not be a grave error?

The ancients said: “Immortals still give precedence to form and spirit, and therefore cannot relinquish them.” Furthermore, form and spirit are merely deluded thoughts manifested from the True Nature; they are not real. How laughable that, from ancient times until now, the eminent masters of Daoism have failed to awaken to right enlightenment, mistakenly regarding their interpretation as the ultimate principle. Deludedly, they take “mind and breath mutually relying upon one another” to be the cultivation of Nature.

They take refining essence into qi to attain an enduring physical form to be the cultivation of Life. All this is intended to make both the physical form and spirit wondrous. How exceedingly far removed this is from the original nature!

The Daoist said: Followers of the shadowy demons, unable to cultivate both together, instead falsely slander our Dao as belonging to the Two Vehicles. You must explain this clearly before my mind will submit.

The Master said: Those who study the Way of the Immortals begin from the condition of sentient beings. Although they know that birth and death are exceedingly painful, they have not awakened to the principle of the supreme One Vehicle. Mistakenly clinging to the interior of the physical body, they deludedly take the fleshly heart within to contain a spiritual nature called true mercury, also known as the Maiden.

Concentrating the spirit without movement in this manner is called “gathering concentration in the Li Palace.” The essential qi within the body is called true lead, also known as the Infant. Refining essence into qi in this manner is called “seeking the Mystery in the Water Palace.” Intention is true earth, also called the Yellow Woman. In the method of gathering concentration, one must incline toward sitting in stillness: using intention to regulate the breath and restraining the body so that it does not move.

This is called Subduing the Tiger. Concentrating the spirit and uniting it with qi, with the mind settled and unmoving, is called Taming the Dragon. When body, mind, and intention are united, this is returning to the Palace of Earth; remaining utterly still and unmoving is called cultivating Nature.

Zhang Ziyang said: “True earth guards true lead; true lead restrains true mercury. Lead and mercury return to the Palace of Earth; body and mind remain utterly still and unmoving.” Daoists take this to be “mind and breath mutually relying upon one another,” and falsely claim that Buddhism practices one-sided cultivation. Is this not a misunderstanding of the supreme principle?

They do not know that every person is originally endowed with a vast mind-nature encompassing the entirety of great space, neither existent nor nonexistent, neither inside nor outside. It is originally unmoving and requires no gathering of concentration. Yet, for no reason, they take the illusory consciousness within the body and use illusion to concentrate illusion, calling this the cultivation of Nature. This is truly mistaking a thief for one’s own child while regarding it as the “originally inherent True Nature.” In short, even if such cultivation succeeds, one does not leave the Desire Realm; once the power of concentration is exhausted, one falls back into the lower realms!

QUESTION: The Master has explained “gathering concentration in the Li Palace.” Please also discuss “seeking the Mystery in the Water Palace.”

ANSWER: Seeking the Mystery in the Water Palace means regulating essential qi throughout all twelve hours of the day and turning the illumination back to a point one inch and three fen inside the navel, called the Sea of Qi. Merely guard it without attachment; merely illuminate it without abiding. When body and mind have long remained concentrated, the Kan Palace and the Li Palace unite: the fire of the heart descends, the water of the kidneys rises, essence becomes full, and qi becomes complete.

At that time, the inside of the body feels like fire. At the end of the hour of Hai and the beginning of the hour of Zi, qi stirs at the coccyx. One then uses intention to draw it into the spinal pass, sending it straight through the Jade Pillow and upward to the Celestial Valley.

It then transforms into golden elixir, fragrant and sweet in flavor. One swallows it down through the Twelve-Storied Tower, and it falls into the Yellow Court. This is called the completion of the “conjunction of Qian and Kun.” Once a single drop falls into the Yellow Court, everything thereafter becomes harmonized and unobstructed; the four limbs feel light and comfortable, all breath circulates everywhere, and the internal organs become fresh and nourished.

The face regains the freshness of a young child, and one’s lifespan becomes long. An ancient Immortal composed this verse:

Pháp thủy năng triền hữu bi quan,

Tiêu diêu nhật dạ khiển luân hoàn,

Vu trung ủng trệ sanh chư bệnh,

Tài quyết thông lưu tiện trú nhan.

TRANSLATION:

From the mysterious gate, the Dharma water ever rises;

At ease throughout day and night, one keeps it revolving.

Obstruction within gives rise to myriad illnesses;

Once opened and flowing freely, the countenance remains youthful.

Immortal Wu also said:

Khi qui ngươn hải thọ vô cùng.

Thử thuật vi kim dịch luyện hình.

TRANSLATION:

When qi returns to the Primordial Sea, life becomes boundless;

This art is the golden elixir that refines the form.

Gathering concentration is “the jade talisman that safeguards the spirit.” When both form and spirit become wondrous, one accords with the true principle of the Dao. Once merit and attainment are complete, according to the depth or shallowness of one’s blessings, those who have practiced extensively may temporarily dwell on the Isles of Penglai or reside in celestial grottoes. They remain there for three or four hundred years, or perhaps two or three thousand years, and are then reborn in the human realm, where they accumulate meritorious conduct and cultivate blessings and wisdom.

One day, when their merit and attainment have become profound, the Supreme Emperor summons them and assigns them places according to their rank; their offices among the Immortals are not the same. If one cultivates according to this, then compared with the Buddhist path, it is much like standing in Zhengzhou and vainly seeking the Gate of Cao—the farther one goes, the more distant it becomes.

QUESTION: You have said that “mind and breath mutually relying upon one another” is a practice of the Two Vehicles. Why, then, did Bodhidharma come from India and transmit the Scripture of Embryonic Breathing?

ANSWER: The Patriarch came from India to transmit the Mind Seal. How could he possibly have taken “mind and breath mutually relying upon one another” as Buddhism’s supreme One Vehicle? Before Bodhidharma arrived in the East, people in this land were already practicing calm abiding and insight. Why would he labor to come from afar merely to transmit the practice of embryonic breathing? That would be adding a head atop one’s head, or one might even say adding another beak atop one’s beak.

Because beginners studying the Way in China had not awakened to the nature of mind and practiced only calm abiding and insight, the Four Dhyanas, and the Eight Samadhis without realizing the Buddha-Mind, our First Patriarch crossed the sea and came here to “point directly to the human mind, see the Nature, and become a Buddha.” Some unknown person fabricated the Embryonic Breathing text and falsely attributed it to Bodhidharma’s special transmission outside the teachings, thereby misleading later generations and causing them to be unable to distinguish gold from brass.

QUESTION: You say that the practice of embryonic breathing is spurious and is not the Buddha’s Supreme Vehicle. What evidence supports your argument?

ANSWER: The method of embryonic breathing imitates the state of being within the mother’s womb: dim and obscure, with body and mind utterly still. When prolonged concentration succeeds, spirit and qi conjoin and are refined into an illusory form. The consciousness-spirit then roams outside the body, traveling a thousand miles in the blink of an eye and wandering freely at will. This clearly has nothing whatsoever to do with the Buddha’s path of the One Vehicle.

The Surangama Sutra says: “Although practitioners may presently attain the nine successive stages of meditative concentration, they cannot end the outflows and become arhats. This is entirely because they cling to these deluded conceptions of birth and death and mistakenly regard them as real.” They do not know that within the illusory body there is fundamentally no nature or life. Our true Nature and Life are neither inside nor outside but encompass the entirety of great space.

They are originally and naturally manifest and require no additional cultivation or realization. When those still subject to outflows awaken to this Nature and Life, they can manifest immeasurable wondrous bodies, liberate immeasurable sentient beings, accomplish immeasurable adornments, and perform immeasurable Buddha-works. Yet, for no reason, people take the practice of embryonic breathing and mistakenly regard it as the essential purport of the special transmission outside the teachings.

How lamentable! Their own eyes are not clear, yet they mislead ignorant beginners and take the small to be the great. Their offense is by no means slight.

The Daoist asked: You say that within body and mind there is originally neither nature nor life-destiny. Yet at present the spirit dwells within the body, and breath comes and goes. Are these not my true nature and true life-destiny? Now, if this spirit and vital breath are brought together and congealed with form, then returned to the vital-energy cavity to form the great elixir, the body will naturally become light and the spirit wondrous. One will then be able to “journey throughout the eight extremities,” attaining great freedom in both the celestial and human realms. This is called the dual cultivation of nature and life-destiny, the Great Way of the perfected immortals.

The Master replied: The spirit within the body is delusive, and the breath that comes and goes is illusory. If one takes this illusory delusion to be true nature and true life-destiny, gathers and cultivates it to attainment, makes the body wondrous and light, roams through empty space, traverses a thousand miles in the blink of an eye, lives for tens of millions of years, and dwells deep within celestial grottoes and earthly blessed lands, one may suppose that one has become a sage. Yet without awakening to perfect enlightenment, when that karmic recompense is exhausted, one will again fall and disperse among the various realms.

QUESTION: Buddhism’s cultivation of NATURE inclines toward yin and lacks yang. Even if one succeeds in cultivating and seeing one’s nature, it is still merely the purity of ghosts and demons.

ANSWER: Yin and yang, ghosts and spirits, are phenomena arising after the empty kalpa, whereas the wondrously luminous true nature is the principle preceding the empty kalpa. If one takes the principle preceding the empty kalpa to be a phenomenon arising after the empty kalpa, one not only fails to understand yin and yang but is also deeply deluded and inverted.

The Daoist said: That Buddhism’s one-sided cultivation is yin, while the dual cultivation of my path is yang within, is stated in the Elixir Classics and the Immortals’ Books; it is not an unfounded claim of my own invention.

The Master replied: The Daoist doctrine of dual cultivation mistakes the true principle. The discriminating consciousness within the body is yin within yang. Essence and vital energy within the body are yang within yin.

Gathering vital energy and uniting it with spirit, so that spirit congeals and vital energy abides, is called “holding Kan and filling Li.” This transforms the yin within yang into a firm and enduring body and refines it into the golden elixir. After the embryo forms for ten months and is nurtured for nine years, it emerges through the crown aperture above and is called the Yang Spirit. When dispersed, it becomes wind; when gathered, it assumes form.

It wanders throughout the world, roaming freely and at ease. Those of greater accomplishment ascend to celestial palaces; those of lesser accomplishment dwell in seclusion upon the Isles of Peng. If one clings to this as correct and sees no need to cultivate samadhi, then when the karmic recompense of the immortal realm is exhausted, one will again fall and become a ghost in the lower realms.

An ancient said:

Those who study the Way but do not know the truth,

Do so only because they have always mistaken discriminating consciousness for spirit.

Throughout immeasurable kalpas, it has been the root of birth and death,

Yet fools call it the person they originally are.

TRANSLATION:

Those who study the Way do not understand the truth,

Because they have long mistaken discriminating consciousness for spirit.

Throughout immeasurable kalpas, it has been the root of birth and death,

Yet fools mistake it for their original person.

In the supreme vehicle of Buddhism, seeing the unconditioned nature is limpid like the great void, its essence pervading the Dharma realm. It is neither yin nor yang; it neither enters nor departs. Draw it forth, and it has no front; lead it along, and it has no rear.

Raise it, and it does not go upward; press it, and it does not descend. From ancient times it has always been luminous, and to this day it has never been deluded. Though without shape or form, it can manifest a reward body and transformation bodies.

It not only manifests a single body but can manifest hundreds of thousands of millions of bodies. It liberates beings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges and accomplishes the adornment of myriad virtues. How could those of shallow and meager faculties, harboring a mass of doubts, possibly accept it in faith?

QUESTION: My path teaches that if one cultivates nature but not life-destiny, then for myriad kalpas the yin spirit will find it difficult to enter the state of sagehood.

The Master replied: The principle of the study of life-destiny contains significant distinctions. Unless it is investigated deeply, I fear that later students will be misled. This mountain monk will not begrudge words in discussing its subtle points with you:

The two words “cultivating life-destiny” refer to the life-destiny of principle and the life-destiny of vital energy. The life-destiny of principle has two meanings, and the life-destiny of vital energy also has two types. I shall first explain the life-destiny of vital energy and afterward return to discuss the life-destiny of principle.

The first type of the life-destiny of vital energy is “securing the root and opening the pass.” One generally devotes oneself to quiet sitting, turning the illumination back toward the Sea of Vital Energy cavity, keeping true intention from scattering, inwardly serene yet without attachment. As days and months pass, essence becomes full and vital energy complete. The inner body feels as though aflame, and movement is swiftly aroused.

One regulates and balances the breath at the nose and quickly lifts the anus. One should guide it with intention; this is called gathering the medicine. An immortal said: “When gui is born, it must swiftly be gathered; gazing afar, one cannot endure it for long.” In but an instant, essence and vital energy revolve upward.

From within the coccygeal pass comes a popping sound; they pass between the shoulder blades, penetrate directly through the Jade Pillow, and are vigorously driven upward to surge toward the crown aperture. That vital energy then curls downward and is guided by the nose. It naturally transforms into sweet dew, fragrant and sweet in flavor.

It is swallowed through the twelve-storied tower and descends into the Yellow Chamber. This is called “the golden essence flying behind the elbows”; it is also called “closing the Ren vessel and opening the Du vessel.” From then on, the vital energy in the elixir field is warm, spirit and vital energy blend harmoniously, the skin and flesh become fresh and supple, the four limbs feel invigorated, the face regains the freshness of a child, and one enjoys long life.

Examined in this light, even if this art of prolonging life enables one to live a thousand years, one will ultimately disintegrate. Without awakening to mind and nature, one will again fall into the various realms. To claim that this art can make one a sage is to delude later generations; it is truly an enormous falsehood.

The second type of the life-destiny of vital energy is “congealing vital energy and returning it to the root.” While in the mother’s womb, a person breathes through the mother’s respiratory passage. At birth, when the umbilical cord is cut, a single point of ordinary vital energy comes to rest in the elixir field. Like a turtle, it emits and draws in primordial vital energy.

During each day and night, thirteen thousand five hundred breaths come and go, all flowing outward through the mouth and nose, unable to return to their root and revert to the vital-energy cavity. Thus, one’s lifespan is not long, and the physical body is not firm. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, one must turn the illumination back and constantly draw it into the Sea of Vital Energy.

When the Sea of Vital Energy is stabilized, form is generated; when spirit congeals, vital energy abides. The union of spirit and vital energy is called the Yang Spirit. After a long time, it emerges in bodily form and roams throughout the world.

Its rank varies according to the depth or shallowness of one’s accomplishment. When this karmic recompense is exhausted, one returns to the human world; if one has created evil karma, one will fall into the three evil destinies. To falsely claim that this path brings complete liberation from samsara, and that without cultivating it one can hardly enter the rank of sages, cannot escape the ridicule of discerning people.

QUESTION: You have distinguished the two teachings concerning the life-destiny of vital energy with great clarity. Please also explain the two meanings of the life-destiny of principle.

ANSWER: The life-destiny of principle has two meanings: being within entanglement and emerging from entanglement. Within entanglement, emotional attachment is taken as life-destiny. When one emerges from entanglement, the arising of emotional attachment dissipates life-destiny, while ending emotional attachment is cultivating life-destiny.

To emerge from entanglement and unite with emptiness is to reach life-destiny; this is also called returning to life-destiny. Confucians call it “returning to life-destiny.” Buddhists call it the Dharma realm. This is the study of the Mahayana and may be called the principle of the Middle Way.

To cultivate and attain realization in reliance upon this is called the LIFE-DESTINY OF PRINCIPLE. If one relies on the life-destiny of vital energy without awakening to the life-destiny of principle, it will ultimately come to nothing and is not the Great Way.

QUESTION: Masters of the Way of Immortals have said: “One who sees the nature but does not know one’s destiny—where will that person finally return?” It is still unclear to me whether “knowing destiny” refers to principle or to vital energy.

ANSWER: One who sees the nature naturally knows the Mandate of Heaven and will ultimately, with perfect clarity, unite in essence with emptiness. Confucianism says: “To fathom principle and fully realize nature is to arrive at destiny.” Buddhism says: “While within entanglement, it is called the Tathagata-garbha; after emerging from entanglement, it is called the nature of the Dharma realm.” If, by refining the life-destiny of vital energy, one separates the spirit and causes it to rely upon congealed vital energy as one’s destination, then when that recompense is exhausted, one will inevitably fall again into the various realms. One should therefore know that the Mandate of Heaven alone is the fundamental principle.

QUESTION: One yin and one yang are called the true Way. If yin and yang are separated, the myriad things cannot arise. Why, then, do you speak of neither yin nor yang? If there are neither yin nor yang, how is that different from inert emptiness?

ANSWER: Movement is yang, stillness is yin; the Two Modes, the Four Images, and the Five Elements are matters arising after the differentiation of the Supreme Ultimate. Nature is the principle preceding the Non-Ultimate. Within the Supreme Ultimate, yin and yang have not yet been differentiated; how much less could there be yin and yang within the Non-Ultimate?

Insensate emptiness is called devoid of awareness; if there is awareness, it is not insensate. Later students who fail to awaken mistakenly give rise to the view of annihilation. Buddhism says: “Thusness remains unmoving, yet clearly and constantly knows.” Confucianism says: “Utterly quiescent and unmoving, it responds and immediately penetrates when stimulated.” Daoism says: “After body and mind become unmoving, the true mechanism of the Non-Ultimate appears.” The Three Teachings instruct their students in a principle that is not two.

If one awakens to true emptiness, it is open, wondrous, and never deluded.

QUESTION: My Way teaches the dual cultivation by which one ascends in a single lifetime, whereas Buddhist cultivation is one-sided and cannot prevent the physical body from declining and decaying. If one attains the Way, that is well; but if one does not, will one not still be unable to escape the suffering of transmigration and rebirth?

ANSWER: You see only the ascent in a single lifetime, but do not know of the planting and cultivation performed throughout many other kalpas. Ma Danyang and Qiu Changchun of the Daoist tradition were companions for three lifetimes and practiced cultivation for ten lifetimes; when they appeared in the world once more, they immediately attained sudden awakening to the Right Way. Those of sharp faculties whom you now see completing the path in one lifetime have all accumulated meritorious practices throughout distant past kalpas. Therefore, in this life they are able to become Perfected Ones within their present lifetime. Do not cling one-sidedly and insist that it all occurs only in the present life.

QUESTION: The study of vital energy and life is artificial, not genuine. According to these words, are those techniques for cultivating life useless?

ANSWER: Refining essence and transforming it into vital energy, then condensing the vital energy so that form arises, are techniques for cultivating life and prolonging longevity. But if one relies upon these to attain complete liberation, the harm of misleading later generations will be no small matter. One must attain sudden awakening to mind-nature before one can transcend the ordinary and enter the holy state.

QUESTION: Regarding “clay-water golden elixir and the wondrous arts of yellow and white,” I do not yet know whether their principle is deviant or correct.

ANSWER: Wealth, sensual desire, fame and profit, food and drink, and sleep are the five foundations of hell. Until the five desires are emptied, birth and death will not cease. One who genuinely studies the Way must sever attachments and cut off craving, uphold the precepts, and illuminate the mind; only then can one realize the principle. Yet, failing to understand this, some instead employ “sexual battle with beautiful women,” harming others to replenish themselves. Not only do they utterly destroy their conscience, but one day they will find it difficult to escape the fiery hell. The Buddha said: “For beings greedy for lust, evil karma grows ever greater. As a lesser retribution, they suffer many illnesses; as a greater retribution, they lie upon a bed of fire.”

There is also a group whose deluded karma is exceedingly grave. Greedy for wealth and seeking profit, they practice “burning hair and refining mercury.” When asked why, they answer that they are studying the Way. The ancients wished to abandon greed and even cast their wealth into the sea. Yet people today instead use lead and iron and claim that this is cultivation. Truly, it is a strange and deceitful perversity. How lamentable that those greedy for wealth and enamored of sensual beauty leap of their own accord onto the path of suffering in the three evil destinies!

QUESTION: The Great Sage Laozi transformed himself into an Indian and became the Buddha. Does this not mean that Shakyamuni was Laozi’s disciple?

ANSWER: The Buddha was born in the seventeenth year of King Zhao of Zhou, a Jiayin year. He entered nirvana in the thirteenth year of King Mu, a Renshen year. Thereafter came King Gong, King Yi, King Xiao, King Yi, King Li, King Xuan, King You, King Ping, King Huan, King Zhuang, King Xi, King Hui, King Xiang, King Qing, King Kuang, and King Ding—a total of sixteen reigns.

Three hundred and forty years after the Buddha’s nirvana, in the thirteenth year of King Ding, Laozi was born. Through sands of time, the Buddhadharma had spread throughout distant lands, flourishing across the five regions of India and the neighboring countries. More than five hundred years after the world had heard the Buddhadharma, the falsehood that Laozi transformed himself into an Indian and became the Buddha was fabricated.

This occurred during the reign of Emperor Hui of the Jin dynasty and was falsely contrived by Wang Fu. This was an act that deceived the sages and worthies, causing him to enter the tongue-extraction hell of his own accord. How could such an offense be redeemed?

The Daoist said: In the third year of King Di, the Later-Heaven Laozi was born. But did the Prior-Heaven Laozi transform himself into an Indian and become the Buddha?

The Master answered: Before primordial chaos had differentiated, the original vital energy of nature was obscure and difficult to know. This natural original vital energy is called Prior Heaven. When the Supreme Ultimate divided, heaven and earth became distinct and the myriad things arose; this is called Later Heaven. Prior Heaven is fundamentally formless; only in Later Heaven do appearances exist. The Buddha was born during the reign of King Zhao, very long after the opening of heaven and earth. How could the formlessness of Prior Heaven have gone to teach the forms of Later Heaven? Truly, these words have no firm foundation; those who hear them cannot help but hold their noses.

QUESTION: You say that my teaching’s school of vital energy and life is an external art, and that the mutual dependence of mind and consciousness belongs to the Two Vehicles. Is there, then, a Mahayana principle that can be practiced?

ANSWER: There is a principle that should be practiced.

QUESTION: Please reveal that principle which should be practiced.

ANSWER: If you practice in accordance with the Dao De Jing and the Scripture of Clarity and Stillness, there will be no error.

QUESTION: There are many different names, which may cause later students to misunderstand them. Master, please compassionately explain them clearly for those who have not yet awakened.

ANSWER: If you have doubts, you should come and ask. Why would I begrudge explaining them to you?

QUESTION: Master, please explain what is meant by: “The Valley Spirit never dies; it is called the Mysterious Female.”

ANSWER: “Valley” means emptiness, and “spirit” means awareness. Empty awareness that is never obscured is called deathless. The Mysterious Female is the numinous mechanism. The numinous mechanism is the true mind.

QUESTION: What is the “single aperture of the mysterious radiance”?

ANSWER: Before a thought arises, before the gate of the mind begins to sprout, it is called the mysterious pass. Wondrous within, empty and penetrating; subtle within, tranquil and still—this is called the single aperture.

QUESTION: What is meant by “taking from Kan to fill Li”?

ANSWER: Abandoning delusion is taking from Kan; returning to the mind is filling Li.

QUESTION: What is meant by “drawing out mercury and adding lead”?

ANSWER: Severing emotion is drawing out mercury. No-mind is adding lead.

QUESTION: What is “establishing the furnace”?

ANSWER: It abides neither within nor without.

QUESTION: What is “setting up the cauldron”?

ANSWER: It is neither identical with Mind nor separate from Mind.

QUESTION: What is the golden elixir?

ANSWER: Perfectly round and utterly open, it has shone constantly throughout antiquity; luminously clear and resplendent, it remains undeluded even now.

QUESTION: What is original essence?

ANSWER: The wondrously luminous true essence manifests the six functions in response.

QUESTION: What is original vital energy?

ANSWER: When the one mind is free from delusion, the breath of virtue permeates the body.

QUESTION: What is the original spirit?

ANSWER: Its concealment and manifestation are difficult to fathom, and its responsive functioning is unobstructed.

QUESTION: What is the firing time?

ANSWER: Myriad thoughts through myriad years; myriad years within a single thought.

QUESTION: What is meant by warm nourishment?

ANSWER: Turn the light back and examine the mind, neither sinking into torpor nor scattering into distraction.

QUESTION: What is meant by subduing the dragon?

ANSWER: When a thought arises, do not allow another to follow; this is figuratively called subduing the dragon.

QUESTION: What is meant by taming the tiger?

ANSWER: Severing emotion and returning to nature is another name for taming the tiger.

QUESTION: What are movement and stillness?

ANSWER: Without thought, yet thinking; thinking, yet without thought.

QUESTION: What are water and fire?

ANSWER: Samadhi is water, wisdom is fire; their equality and nonduality are water and fire.

QUESTION: What is the true seed?

ANSWER: The numinous mechanism that responds to things is the true seed.

QUESTION: What is pure yang?

ANSWER: Not a single thought arises, and the myriad conditions are utterly still.

QUESTION: What is pure yin?

ANSWER: The deluded and inverted mind arises and ceases without pause.

QUESTION: What is bathing?

ANSWER: A pure, clear, and refreshed mind is bathing.

QUESTION: What is release from the womb?

ANSWER: The numinous radiance alone shines wondrously, completely freed from faculties and sense-objects.

QUESTION: What is returning to emptiness?

ANSWER: Both person and dharmas are exhausted. Things and self are one in thusness.

QUESTION: What is meant by completing yang?

ANSWER: True thusness emerges from its entanglements, and the Dharma realm is pure.

The Daoist asked: When a beginner enters the gate, how should he commence the practice?

ANSWER: Awaken first, then cultivate afterward.

QUESTION: What is meant by awakening first and cultivating afterward?

ANSWER: Set aside from the mind all the subject and object of daily life, together with all views and understandings of good and evil, retaining nothing anywhere; then investigate only the question: “Where is the mysterious gate?” (huyền quan tại hà xứ). Throughout all twelve hours, deeply investigate this doubt that is the object of inquiry, and see what face this single opening among the nine orifices has. When genuine doubt manifests before you, body and mind are nothing but a single emptiness.

Only the one thought of investigation remains. Then shatter even this one thought. At that moment, the true nature shines brilliantly, and the mysterious gate becomes manifest.

Thereafter, preserve it in accordance with conditions, completely eliminating every subtle current of continuous flow (vi tế lưu chú). At that time, simply await the merging with emptiness into one; only then will the beginning and end be clearly and securely understood (liễu dương).

QUESTION: Those of superior faculties awaken suddenly and are immediately clear. For people of middling or inferior faculties, whose habitual karma from the past is too heavy, even though they attain sudden awakening, they cannot attain sudden realization. What expedient means may they rely upon to nurture and preserve it?

ANSWER: Those who have awakened to the principle should preserve it in accordance with conditions. Throughout all twelve hours, amid activity and stillness, outwardly they do not abide in existence, and inwardly they do not cling to emptiness; then the one mind, serene and quiescent, naturally comes to rest. If a thought suddenly arises, the following thought does not continue it.

An ancient immortal said: “Once the spirit departs, immediately gather it back. When the spirit returns within the body, the qi naturally returns. Practice thus morning and evening, and naturally the red child forms within the wondrous womb.” The red child and wondrous womb spoken of here do not mean that there is an actual womb; they describe the mind as pure and genuine as a newborn child (the red child), without any outward conceptualization.

QUESTION: Can preserving the mind of the red child be called the Way?

ANSWER: The mind of the red child is not the Way; one should simply preserve it without discrimination. Even if the mind realizes the mind of the red child, do not cling to the mind of the red child. One must further shift one’s position; this is the great method.

QUESTION: What is the great method?

ANSWER: Still as a numinous cavern, moving like drifting clouds, contracting and extending without trace, appearing or subsiding without any vestige. Not wearing the precious robe, one willingly dons soiled garments; walking amid what is not the Way, one accomplishes the ultimate Way. Teaching beings according to their kind and universally saving all sentient beings, one simply awaits the fulfillment of both merit and wisdom; only then does one realize the Greatly Awakened Golden Immortal.