The Zen Teaching of Huang Po ON THE TRANSMISSION OF MIND Being th Teaching ofthe Zen Maser ‘Haat, Po as record by th scolar Pret Hoi ofthe Tang Dynasty Randal in Bagh by JOHN BLOFELD (Cla Ch'en) ¥ GROVE WEIDENFELD, NEW YORKCopyright © 1958 by John Blfeld Allright reserved, [No partof tis book may be reprodiced, sored in retrieval system, or transmitted in acy for, by any mea, inlaing mechanical, eleceoni, photocopying, recording, or others, without rir writen permion of he pubs Published by Grove Weidenld ‘A division of Wheatland Corporation B41 Broadway [New York, NY 10008-4795, ISBN 0.0021.5092-6 Library of Congress Catalog Card Nomber 5912215, ‘Manufactured in the United Snes of America Printed on aci-re paper First Bvergreen Elton 1959 mR uo CONTENTS ‘Translator’ Introduction rei Hein’ Preface ‘The Chun Chou Record (Sermons and Dislogues) ‘The Wan Ling Record (Dialogues, Sermons ‘and Anecdotes) Index Eo 133TRANSLATOR’S INTRODUCTION ‘Tue Text “The present volume is a complete translation of the Hang Po Chinan Fin Fa Yeo, 2 ninth-century Chinese Buddhist text, much of which now appears in English for the fist time, Te contains a concise account ofthe sublime teachings ‘of a great Master of the Dhydna Sect, to which, in accord- lance with current Western practice, I shall henceforth refer by its Japanese name of Zen. Zen is often regarded as a ‘uniquely Far Eastern development of Buddhism, but Zen their Doctrine stems directly from Gautaina Bulli Miowelt. This text, which is one of the principle Zen works, follows closely the teachings pro- laimed in the Diamond Sitve or Jewel of Transcendental Wisdom, which has been ably translated by Arnold Price and published by the Buddhist Society, London. It is alo lose in sprit to The Sitra of Wei Lang (Flat Neng) another of the Buddhist Society's publications. But T have been ‘deeply struck by the astonishing similarity to our text in spirit and terminology of the not-so-Far Eastern cighth= ‘century Tibstan Bok of the Great Liberation, edited by Evanse ‘Wentz and published by the Oxford University Pres. Tn. sy opinion, thee four books are among the most briliant expositions of the highest Wisdom which have so far ap- peared in our language; and, of them all, the present text 7and the Tibstan Book of the Great Liberation present the Doctrine in a form best suited to the needs of Western reader. ‘Tun Piace or Tuts Texr 1» Buponise Zen is a branch ofthe great Mahiyina Sehol prea Jn Ghina andthe more northerly countries of Eatery Ae sits teachings arent accepted as onder Buses by flowers of Hinayina or the Southern School However, Wester scholars are no longer unaimows in requ Hinayina as being the sale guardian of the wut pee, dla’ by Buddhism’ ‘latious Founder, deapte the cary date of Finayia's principal texts, The dvison inte ‘vo schoo took place some two thousand year ago in Norte Ini slace when Mabtydaias hare stp the teachings of the ater school as rant of the te Deatrne; though the ater, with les tclerney repos whatever doctrines are specially Mahia Zen, which appeared in the open mich ltr, submits that whe all Duds sects present the tit in varying degree, Zen alone preserves the very highest teachings ofall teachings bused on a mysterious transmision of Mind which tock lace between Gautama Buddha and Maikgyaps the ‘only one of hs dicper capable of receiving thi wanes sion, Opinions as tothe eth f this story satura sary but Masters ke Huang Po obvious speak fom sre gs liner experenee. He and his follower were concesed solely witha direct pereption of truth and anno! have heen even ily intersted in anguments about the Norcal onthodory oftheir belch. The great myn of @ the world, such as Plotinus and Ehart, who have plumbed the depths of consciousnes and come face to fuce with the Inner Light, the alt pervading Silence, ae 90 close to being ‘unanimous concerning their experience of Reality that T, personally, am left in no doubt at to the truth of their Accounts, Huang Po, in his more nearly everyday lan- guage, is clearly describing the same experience as theirs, and T assume that Gautarsa Buddha's mystical Enlighten: iment beneath the Bo Tree did not dlifer from theirs, tunles:paRHAPS in intensity and in its utter completenes. Gould one suppose otherwise, one would have to accept several forms of absolute truth! Or else one would be driven to believe that some oF all of these Masters were lost in clouds of self-deception. So, however slender the evidence for Zen's claim to have been founded by Gautama Buddha himself, T do not for one moment doube that Huang Po was expressing in his own way the same experience of Eternal Truth which Gautama Buddba and others, Bud- hist and non-Buddhist, have expressed in theirs, Moreover, since fest embarking on the translation ofthis text, T have been astonished by is very close similarity to the teaching contained in the Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation which is attibuted to the Lotus-Born Padma Sambhava, Since both are approximately of the same date, T suppose they ‘coven have derived from the same literary or oral source, Dbutitscems much mare probable thatthe two texts embody two different people’ intimate perceptions of eternal truth However, there are many who regard things otherwise and, in any ease, it is proper for me to give some account of the traditional ‘origin of Zen and of the modern theories concerning it.‘Tun Oniorx, Grows axp Expansion or Zen (Duyaxa) Buopnisa Traditional Origin Gautama Buddha is said to have modified the exposition ‘of his Doctrine to suit the different capacities of his various disciples and of those others who listened to his discourses, Once, at the end ofa sermon, he picked a flower and held it up for the assembled monks to see. Mahikagyapa, who alone understood the profound meaning of this gesture, responded with a smile. Later the Buddha called this dis ciple to him in private and myrtially transmitted to him the wordless doctrine, o ‘with Mind transmitted Mind’, Mabakisyaps, in his torn, mystically transmitted the Doctrine to Ananda, who thas became second in the line of twentyseight Indian Patriarch. The last of these was Bodhidharms, who travelled to China in the sixth century A. Here he became the Fist of the Chinese Patriarch, Who continued the transmission doven to Hui Neng (We Lang), the Sixth and lst. Divisions within the sect followed, ‘and no more Patrarchs were created. ‘Treores Concerning th Origin and Declopment of the Sect Buddhism, offically introduced into China in a.p. 6 probably reached the coast of Shantung at early as the first or second century 3.¢. Hinayana did not survive there for long, but Mabiyana flourished exceedingly; various sects of Indian origin were developed and new sects created. ‘One of the latest sects to appear was Zen, which rapidly attained great influence, Though an Tndian origin was aimed for it, many people have doubted the truth of thiss ‘and some have gone s0 far as to doubt the existence of Bodhidharma himself. I, as T prefer to think, there was really such a person, he probably came to China from South India by way of Canton and visited the rulers of two (Chinese states—for China was then divided, asso often in hae long history. Professor Daietz Suzuki accepts the existence of Bod- hidharma, but suggest that his teachings were derived fiom the Laikivatira Sutra, which appears to contain the germs ofthe wordless doctrine. Dr. Hu Shih accepts neither the historical reality of Bodhidharma nor the authenticity of the earlier Zen works, regarding even the famous Sitra ‘of Hui Néng (Wei Lang), the Sixth Patriarch, as forgery ‘oflater date. To support his contentions, he adduces several cighth-century manuscripts discovered fairly recently in the ‘Tan Huang caver, which difer both in name and sub- stance fiom the traditionally accepted works of the Zen Masters, Dr, Hu Shih even describes Zen as @ Chinese revolt against Buddhism—regarded as an alien doctrine fiom India. do not see that Zen ses itself up in opposition to other forms of Buddhism, including those whose Indian origin is ‘more certain; forall sects regard dhyina-practie as an {important means towards Enlightenment, ie. the practice ‘of turning the mind towards and striving to pierce the veils ‘of sensory perception and conceptual thought in order to arrive at an intuitive perception of reality. Zen does, how= ever, emphasize this to the exclusion or near-exchsion of such else, and it also differs from most other sects in re- garding Enlightenment as a process which finally occurs in Tess time than it takes to blink an eye. Thus it isa form of,Buddhism suited to those who prefer inward contemplation to the study of scriptures of to the performance of good works, Yet Zen is not unique in giving special emphasis to ‘one particular aspect of the whole doctrine—if no one did ‘that, there would be no sects. Moreover, Right Meditation, (ssonetsanxoa) forms the final step of the Noble Eightfold Path, which is accepted as the very foundation of Buddhism by Mahiyanists and Hinayaniste alike—and dhyéna- practice is aimed precisely at accomplishing that. ‘Hence, though there i very little evidence to prove or disprove the Indian origin of Zen, it does not seem to me specially unlikely that Bodhidharma did in fact arrive in China, bringing with him a doctrine of great antiquity in- hherited from his own teachers, a doctrine which infers that the seven preceding steps of the Noble Eightfold Path are to be regarded as preparation for the Eighth, And, if the Righth is not held to be the outcome ofthe other Seven, 1 is difficult to understand why terms like ‘Path’ and ‘step? ‘were employed. ‘The late Venerable T'ai Hsu, exemplifying a proper Buddhist attitude of broad tolerance, once described the various sects as so many beads strung on a single rosary. ‘Mahdy’na Buddhists are encouraged to think for them= selves and are free to choose whichever path bes suits their individual requirements; th sectarian bitternes ofthe West is unknown in China. As the Chinese, though seldom puritanical, have generally been an abstemious people, sects chiefly emphasizing the strict observance of moral precepts—as does Hinayfna~have seldom appealed to them, which may be one of the main reasons why the Southern Schoo! of Buddhism filed to take permanent root jn China. Furthermore, Chinese intellectuals have since ‘ancient times inclined to mild scepticism; to these people, Zen's austere “simplicity” and virtual lack ofrtualsm must, have made a strong appeal. In another way, too, the ‘ground in China had been well prepared for Zen. On the fone hand, centuries of Confucianism had predisposed scholars against the fine-spun metaphysical speculation in Which Indian Buddhists have indulged with so much en- thusiasm; on the other, the teaching of Lao Tz, Chuang "Tas, the Taoist sages, had to a great extent anticipated Zen quietiem and prepared the Chinese mind for the re- ception of a doctrine in many ways strikingly similar to their own. (For somewhat similar reasons, Zen has begun ‘to appeal to those people in the West who are torn between the modern tradition of scepticism and the need for a pro- ound doctrine which will give meaning to their existence.) So it may be that the historical authenticity of Zen is of relatively litle importance, except to a limted murmber of tcholars Te will certainly not seem of much importance to ‘those who se in the teachings of the Zen Masters abriliant reflection of some valid inner realization of Truth. Zen has Jong flourished in China and Japan and is now beginning ta develop in the West, beeause those who have put is teachings to a prolonged practical test have discovered that they satay certain deep spiritual needs. The Zon Master Huang Po ‘When Hui Néog (Wei Lang), the Sixth Patriarch received the transmission from Mind to Mind, the Zen Sect had already split into two branches. The Northern Branch, ‘which taught chat the process of Enlightenment is gradual, flourished for a while under imperial patronage, but did not long survive, Meanwhile, the Southern Branch, with 3its doctrine of Sudden Enlightenment, continued to expand and, later, to subdivide. The most important of the Sixth PPatriarch's succestors was Ma Tsu (Tao 1) who died in ‘Ax. 788. Huang Po, variously regarded a8 one or two ‘generations junior to him, seems to have died as late as ‘850, after transmitting the Wordless Doctrine to I Han, the founder of the great Lin Chi (Rinzai) Sect which still continues in China and flourishes widely in Japan. So ‘Huang Po is in some sense regarded as the founder of this ‘great Branch. Like all Chinese monks, he had several ‘names, being known in his ifetime as Master Hsi Yun and ‘as Master T'uan Chi; his posthumous name is taken from that of Mount Huang Po where he resided for many years {In Japan he is generally known as Oba, which is the Japanese way of pronouncing the Chinese characters for Huang Po. The Doctine f Zen Zen s already a familiar doctrine to many Western people, thanks to the comprehensive and illuminating works of De. Daisetz Tairo Suzuki, and to books by Western scholars, such as Mr. Christmas Humphreys? delightful Zen Budi. At frst sight Zen works must seem so para- doxical as to bewilder the eader. On one page we are told that everything is indivsibly one Mind, on another that, ‘the moon is very much a moon and a tree indubitably a tree. Yet it s clear that this is not paradox for the sake of entertainment, for there are several million people who regard Zen as the most serious thing in life. All Buddhists take Gautama Buddha’s Enlightenment as their starting point and endeavour to attain to that transcen- dental knowledge that will bring them face to face with 4 Realy, thereby delivering them from rebirth into the fpeceine ream forever. en flower go futher. They {re oot content to puue Ealightenment through acont of Saried existences inevitably bound up with ain and gnor- nce, approaching with five slower the Supreme Experience which Chinn yates have deeibed at ‘ln ith te Godhead They eve nthe postly cf ataining Full Enlighienment both here and now through determined flrs tore beyond. conzptual thought and to grayp that Tntive Knowledge which i then fa of Eee Former hy thatthe experience fs both sudden and complete the ving tay require year the reward mans ied ina aah, But to stan tis reward, the practice of virtue and dipasion it illlen. Tei necowary to tie above such relative concept as good and evi Sought and ound, Enlightened and unenlightened, and all terest " “Toma this point ere, tw consider some Chistian ideas of God. God is reared a the Pint Principe, une Cased and unbegat, which logically implies perecton; Sch a being cant be dicovered through the velaty ‘ftime and space, "Then comes the concept “God i good? hich, as Cran mystics have pte out, detract from Fin perfection; for to be good implies not being evil—a ton wich iy dense he ty at wl ne incparable fom perfection hi, of cote i ot {Coded fo imply that “God i ci or that "God is both food and evil To mya He is nne of these thingy, ft He wamscends them all. Again, the idea of God as the Greater of te univere nigga a dull, a diinetion teweea creator and created, This if val, places God on 5‘lower lvl than prion for there can be nter unity tor wholeness where A excludes Bor B exudes A Zen llwers (who have rch a eonon with mts ote th) do not use the tet "Got being wary of iy dual and. anthropomorphic impli, ‘They prefer total ofthe Absalon the One Mind, or which they employ many synonyms according tothe apet to be mpi in relaon to orci iit ‘Ths, he word ‘Badal is wed at asynonyn for the Absolute as ell a2 inthesene of Gautama, the Eslghtenet One, or tobe that the two are iden. A Bada’, Talightenment denotes an intuve sealeton of his unity wilh the ‘Anolte fom whieh, after the death of his body, nothing remains to divide him even in appearance. Ofte Abwalte toting whatever can be potted, to ay that eats ‘clades nonexistence; oy tate dow nt ent exces fwtene, Furthermore, Zen flower, hold tat the ‘Awa, oink with the Absolute ot something to be auained; one doesnot rvex Nirvpay for cata to 4 place one has never let imposible: The experience Commonly called "string Niwa’ in acta itaie relation of ha Slenatre which bs the rae Nature of AM ings. The Asal, or Realy i regarded as having for senion beings two aspects: The only apt perepile to the unenlightened ls the one in whic ndvieal pena seta hve sete tough ply wenstory cence within the Knits of spaces. "he other epee space. Tes and tinea; moreover all opps all dsineons and ‘ent of every Kind ate here seen tobe One. Yet lth i hi second apt ane the hight fi of lightenent, at many contemplaives supose; onl when bo aspects ate pereied and recone thatthe 6 beholder may be regarded as tly Enlightened. Yet, from that moment, he ceases to be the beholder, for he is cone scious of no division between beholding and beheld, This leads to further paradoxes, unless the use of words is abandoned altogether. It is incorrect to employ such ‘mystical terminology as ‘I dwell in the Absolute’, “The “Absolute dwells in me’, or ‘Tam penetrated by the Abso lute’, ete; for, when space is transcended, the concepts of| whole and part are no longer valid; the parts the whole— T auc the Absolute, except that I'am no longer ‘?. What 1 ‘behold then is my real Self, which isthe true nature ofall, things; seeer and seen are one and thesame, yet there is no secing, just as the eye cannot behold itself "The single ita of che true Zen follower is so to train his ‘mind that all thought-processs based on the dualism i separable from ‘ordinary’ life are transcended, their place being taken by that Intuitive Knowledge which, for the first time, reveals to a man what he really i. If Allis One, then knowledge of a being’s true telinature—his original Selfis equally a knowledge of all-nature, the nature of everything inthe universe. Those who have actually achieved this tremendous experience, whether as Chris= ians, Buddhist or members of other faiths, are agreed as to the impossibility of communicating it in words. They ‘may employ words to point the way to others, but, until the latter have achieved the experience for themselves, they fan have but the merest glimmer ofthe truth—a poor in- tellectual concept of something lying infinitely beyond the highest point ever reached by the human intellect. Te will now be clear that Zen Masters do not employ paradoxes from a love of cheap mystfcation, though they ‘do occasionally male humorous use of them when humour 2 7seems nesled. Usily, i the ter imponiey 0 Scerbing the Supreme Experience whieh Cen te feradonel aro thi op To asm o dey sto Hsin shut et he igh tay ut, ee ef vert ut be in odr ot dcipevon othe gh uy he marly Sis «ei of radon ‘ometins of paradox within prndos win farsdon Te sald perhaps aed that Hoang Fos eget tc of hone Bans wh ll he more one, sonal pay clang knig,good werk nds coms sioner tough sce ape cee oe Tet intenedo cllinte quo the lc to many ot fick exelent races Ae Bai, Huang Po se Cerny have reared the thigh centy i oot proper conti daly ie ner we re tad by Pe FES thar sway of i war xt bt he was one tat concep wich vo sh ead pats Sa i, ‘and Tet they soa ld light tobe freval proce ataiae by ser mea as tee one Bi ft rT Mn text ince that Fan Po ete with his hice fhe word Mind oom the, Frese Realty bond the reach of oncrtltongh Ihe more than ocr ese ta the One Mind rok realy sat all Bat head owe wme tem oe ‘nt had ofen been ned by hb predeccnn Xs Mind comes intangible daub scone thn pod chic, eps ar howe of tb tm pe ae {ear that the pat manta soured as, vidual nity inbtting by iy int nhs property * at all, but common to him and to everybody and every: thing eke. (It must be remembered that, in Chinese, ‘hin’ ‘means not only ‘mind’, but ‘heart’ and, in some senses at Teast, ‘sisi’ of ‘sulin short, the so-called nzat. man, the inhabitant ofthe body-house_) If we prefer to substitute the word ‘Absolute, which Huang Po occasionally uses himself, we must take care not to read into the text any preconceived notions as tothe nature ofthe Absolute. And, ff cours, ‘the One Mind! is no less misleading, unless we ‘abandon all preconceived ideas, as Huang Po intended Tn an earlier trandation of the frst part of this book, T ventured to substitute ‘Universal Mind” fr ‘the One Min’, hoping that the meaning would be clearer. However, various critics objected to this, and Thave come to see that iy tern i liable to a different sort of misunderstanding; itis therefore no improvement on ‘the One Mind’, which atleast has the merit of being a literal translation. Dhyina Practice "The book tells us very litle about the practice of what, for want of a better translation, is often called meditation oF contemplation. Unfortunately both these words are mis- Teading as they imply some object of meditation or of con- templation; and, if objetiessness be stipulated, then they ‘may well be taken to lead to a blank or sleeplike trance, ‘which s not at all the goal of Zen. Huang Po seems to have fssumned that his audience knew something about this practice—as most keen Buddhists do, of course. He gives few instructions as to how to ‘meditate’ but he does tell tus what to avoid. If, conceiving of the phenomenal world asillsion, we ty to shut it out, we make a false distinction between the ‘real? and the ‘unreal’. So we must not shut 19anything ot, yt ach he pit wera iti ioneare seniors oe nt ord ming wl Cae We se te ta eld ae ur le en sha no te tan scone ‘moreover, if we remained in this state, we should ° 2bie to del wi the seus daly es Ee ct olen he Bn prep he ay at Fie ema ct sin, ain ee th anche otra ee chee a any absolute existence, * lightens wc come, wi omen : cone in 8 fas "he en bm pl 0 Pa age Iii in nf ten ebeney one parlor Bagel tay sre a el pry nigh as snny phe a Sosa yrly se du eye of biting, gualatve change has osed. ef, ter we ny go tah ins nob aa Eales ato snipes ag ae tie ope te msn sn nd hee ie The mp aly hes tae Be sei an ean es tis te One Sel We aah Sed wehmetie one oevat non ies ino ew noose cant toy eoms raha pepo cr sen thon tdi te tebe inal atic Ihnen ely caer the moos Saga se theta tnd th osreb Se frie alghencd nine epotog ay ‘and multiplicity without the least contradiction between them! Hvaxo Po’s Arrizupe Towarps Ornen Scttoous ax Sees or Buppnrsu ‘As this book is likely to be read by many Buddhists who belong to the Theravidin (Hinayna School) or to Max biydna sects other than Zen, some explanation is needed here to forestall posible misunderstandings. A. casual lance at our text or at some other Zen works might well igve the impression that non-Zen Buddhism is treated too lightly. It should be remembered that Huang Po was talke ing principally to people who were already firm and seriousminded Buddhists, He tells vs himself that nothing writen dovn should be understood out ofits context or ‘without regard to the eizcumstances under which the re- ‘corded sermon was given. I fel that had he been speaking to non-Buddhists, his references to the ‘Three Vehicles’ would have been couched in diferent language. A carefil study ofthis work has persuaded me that Huang Po felt no desire to belittle the virtuelof those Buddhists who disigreed with his methods, but he did fel strongly trat the Zen rmethad is productive of the fastest results. He was much feoncermed to show that scripture-stady and the performe lance of good works cannot lead to Enlightenment, unles ‘theeoncept-forming processes ofthe finite mind are brought, ‘properly, under contro. As for good works and right living, ‘We learn from P'ei Heiu and others that his own way of life was exalted, but he had constandy to combat the notion that good works in themselves ean bring us nearer toEnlightenment. Moreover, when the time has come for a Buddhist to discipline his mind so as to rise above duality, hhe enters a stage where the notions of both good and evil ‘must be transcended like any other form of dualism The Master was aware that many of the Buddhists he was preaching to had probably fallen into the alltoo-common, ‘error of performing good works with a conscious desire to ‘ore up merit for themselves—a desire which isa form of attachment as inimical to Enlightenment ae any other form of attachment. (The translator knows of several ‘sincere? Buddhists who lead lives very far from noble and who ine lg sometimes in actions destructive of the happiness of ‘others, but who firmly believe that their regular offerings to the Sangha and their periodic attendance at temple services wil build up enough good karma to cancel out the results oftheir folly and their uncharitableness to others!) As to the study of sitras and written works of all Kinds ‘on Buddhism, Huang Po mast surely have assumed that ‘most of the people who had taken the trouble to come to his mountain retreat for instruction were already filly conversant with Buddhist doctrine, and that what they lacked was the knowledge of mind-control It is clear from his own words that he realized the necessity of books and teachings of various kinds for people less advanced. Unless ‘man sist attracted to Mysticiam by the written doctrines delivered by the Lord Buddha or by other great teachers, hhe is most unlikely to see the necessity for mind- ie nitrated pon-acon Infact ereane scala acon, Ding but spontaneous ston four to nee the dense ofS 2 ieracy by no means ect othe maser of Ze. The in ‘Boot of Gat Ltn makes se pt 36 tux oHON cHou RECORD word and dha i wy esi “When 1 was with Dipar= Teh tere was nota price of anything fre to ‘Mu THrsyings nended jut ovoid your sense based Tnowledge and deduction. Only he who restrain rey senige of empiric and cess tly upon anything on Secrmen peel aml tan. The canonical teachings of ie Vit ae orem bray ele rere aught to mest uh neds and oa oe TR an iter one om ane, ony ts could be emtcod, there would ben ore dou about Above ey cuenta otto select nme partiuar teaching fed to a certain caso, ein peed by is TErming pao the writen canon, regard sam imme She cance Why so Becase ia trath thee sno ume Siraie‘Dinro_which the Tathigata ould have renched, People of ur sect woud never gue that there Eek be mes ting We a ew howe petal cata tig to rot and ths achieve rangi. We ceinly Sn oot begin by thinking tings ost and end up in pene. Ss. Q: From al you have just sid, Mind isthe Buddhas Bi Gitar to at ot of dnd enn By thi ‘Mind which she Budd "A: How many minds ave you go? Qutb te Buddha the ordinary mind or dhe Ene lightened mind? : " FAS Where on earth do you Keep your ‘ordinary sind sd your Enlightened mind”? " ‘o In the teaching of the Three Vehicles itis stated that thar are both Why des Your Reverene deny 12 87\: In the teaching of the ‘Three Vehicles it is cleasly explained that the ordinary and Enlightened minds are iusions. You don’t understand, All thie clinging to the idea of things existing isto mistake vacuity for the truth, How can such conceptions not be illusory? Being illusory, they hide Mind from you. If you would only rid yourselves of the concepts of ordinary and Enlightened, you would find cha there is no other Buddha than the Buddha in your ‘own Mind. When Bodhidharma came from the West, he Just pointed out that the substance of which all men are ‘composed is the Buddha. You people go on misunder- standing; you hold to concepts uch as ‘ordinary’ and “Ene lightened’, directing your thoughts outwards where they gallop about like horses! All this amounts to beclouding your own minds! So I tell you Mind is the Buddha. Asscon, as thought or sensation arises, you fall into dualism, Be- Wnningless time and the present moment ate the same, ‘There is no this and no that. To understand this truth is called compete and unexcelled Enlightenment. Q: Upon what Doctrine (Dharme-prinpls) docs Your Reverence base these words? ‘At Why seek a doctrine? As oon as you have a doctrine, you fll into dualistic thought. ‘Q; Just now you sid thatthe beginningless past and the present are the same. What do you mean by that? ‘A: Tt is just because of your sezxive that you make a \lifference between thesn. Ifyou were to stop seeking, how ‘ould there be any difference between then? Q:IFthey are not different, why dil you employ separ= ate terms for them? ‘A: If you hadn't mentioned ordinary and Enlightened, ‘who would have bothered to say such things? Just as these 38 aun cHON cHoU RECORD , rely categories have no eal existence, so Mind isnot rally ‘Rind And, a both Mind and ore categorie are really iio, wherever can you hope tnd anjhing? 4.0 son can hide fom oo owe mind bu Syn hve not tng howe ge of alusion. ' "Ar The arising and the elimination of illusion are both isory. Illusion is not something rooted in Reality it exists because of your dualistic thinking, IT you will only cease to indulge in opposed concepts such as ‘ordinary’ and "Balightened?, illusion will cease of itself. And then if you sul want to destroy it wherever it may be, you will find that there is not a haitsbreadth left of anything on which t0 lay hold. ‘This isthe meaning of T will It go with both hands, for then I shall certainly discover the Buddha in my Mind?” 'Q: Iv there is nothing on which to lay hold, how is the ‘Dharma to be transmitted? 'A: Tes a transmission of Mind with Mind. Q: If Mind is used for transmission, why do you say that Mind too does not exist? "A: Obtaining no Dharma whatever is called Mind mission. ‘The understanding of this Mind implies no ‘and no Dharma. Q; If there is no Mind and no Dharma, what is meant by transmission? ; o "A You hear people speak of Mind transmission a then you talk of something to be received. So Bodhidharma said 59‘The nature ofthe Mind when understood, [No human speech can compass or discov. Enlightenment is naught to be attained, ‘And he that gains i¢ doesnot aye Kaos, JEL yore to mak thi laf ou 1 dub iyo en ‘stand up to it, You Tobe you ou $8. Q& Surely the void stretching out in font of our tyes i objective. Then aren't you pointing to soetbing objective and seeing Mind in it? * ‘ __At What sort of mind eo tll yout sein an oboe {ive environment? Bven if you could sei would aly he Mind reflected in an objective sphere. You would Be like «man looking at is fc na minor hough you col disinguth yor stares in it clea fon wee eat Tooking at a'mere refetion. What bearing bs this om the affair tha brought you to me If we donot see by mean of reflections, when shall wesce ata ‘A: Solong as you are concemed with . with ‘by mean ot you wil always be depending something fue: Wher il you ever succeed in understanding? Tetead of observing thos ho tl yo o open ide bth your hand eon who has nothing to se you wate our srengts brgge about all sorts of things. * th bring Q To thee who understand, even selections are seshing? ‘A IF slid things donot exis, how much theless can we mike use of reflections. Don't go above babbl =o ate go about babbling like 2 areamer wih is eyes open (ie speci 6 tun cHOS cHow RECORD Stepping into the public hall, His Reverence said: Having many sorts of knowledge cannot compare with giving up sexxavo for anything, which is the best of all, things, Mind is not of several kinds and there is no Doctrine ‘which ean be put into words. As there is no more tobe sid, the assembly is dismissed! 94 Q: What is meant by relative truth?! "A: What would you do with such a parasitical plant as that? Realty is perfect purity; why base a discussion on. false terms? To be absolutely without concepts i called the Wiscom of Dispastion, Every day, whether walking, stand ing, sitting or lying dovn, and in all your speech, remain detached from everything within the sphere of phenomena. Whether you speak or merely bik at eye, let it be done “with complete dispasson. Now we are getting towards the tnd ofthe third period of five hundred years nce the time fof the Buddha, and most students of Zen cling to all sorts fof sounds and forme. Why do they not copy me by letting tach thought go ae though it were nothing, oF as though it were a piece of rotten wood, a stone, or the cold ashes of a dead fire? Or che, by just making whatever slight response is suited to each occasion? IF you do not act thus, ‘when you reach the end of your days here, you will be tortured by Yama. You must get away from the doctrines of existence and non-existence, for Mind is like the sun, forever in the vod, shining spontaneously, shining without sly “pry he el eo te PPE Rng of Heke hee sel gure 6rintending to shine. This isnot something which you can accomplish without effort, but when you reach the point of clinging to nothing whatever, you wil be acting as the Buddhas act. ‘This will indeed’ be acting in accordance with the saying: ‘Develop a mind which rests on no thing whatever.! For this is your pure Dharmakiya, which is called supreme perfect Enlightenment. If you cannot understand this, though you gain profound. knowledge from your studies, though you make the most painful efforts and practise the most stringent austeritics, you will still ail to know your own mind. All your effort will have been misdirected and you will certainly join the family of Mira? What advantage can you gain from this sort of practice? As Chih Kung? once said: “The Buddha is really the creation of your own Mind. How, then, can he be Sought through scriptures” Though you study how to attain the Three Grades of Bodhisettvahood, the Four Grades of Sainthood, and the Ten Stages ofa Bodhisattva's Progress to Enlightenment until your mind is fll of therm, you will merely be balancing yourself between ‘ordinary* and ‘Enlightened’. Not to see that all sur1.ons of following ‘the Way are ephemeral is satanic Dharma, Jue strength once spent, the arrow falls to earth. ‘You buildup lives which wont fall your hopes, How fr below the Transeendental Gate rom which one leap will gain the Buda’ reatmt® 2 A famous quotation fom the Diamond Stra. Proce of Beit Terme ray. This vere tom the Song of Eaightenmentstibuted 10 Yang Sia ceae aman ee te eee reine tO Shas fh ati Cn 4f Peps, Val Vis tgp 6a uz oMUN cHOU RECORD bent you are not hat sort of ian at yu sit 4 hough ad ofthe methods tablished by people SF raining nwt om th neil ee Ch ga tid “TF you do not rect wancendentl tae ‘you will have swallowed the Mahiylina medicine imevaing, sanding, 1 you would apend ll your sa Singing don tearing nh one-eing Sen for own mind you col bei of in ning the gol Since your engl ent, You ign be Sle otamcend saab sg as Duta eon ea, you would ey have aden ford ging se ae to make Ser rg ean eben you we ot a ro an Tee you fel eget poy your ind dying {Dud and tadyng the Way’, What ba all sat g fo with Buddhism? So it is said that all the Tathigats ta Seno te iw a cls wae emt by no means be regarded as though were tat rth you ake for ut yo re no member furs nd what baring can he on Your origina sts! She ta ye Whe cae open et wor mpi that there realy nothing, hater tobe aie yo ara able tuner You Gist hat the Way of he Bdhas and the Way So are equal ide fhe mar, Theol fening ene cer square nor 00% 20 Sate without any such ditincton as ong and shor, 6it i beyond attachment and activity, ignorance and En- lightenment, You must see clearly that there is really nothing at all—no humans and no Buddhas. The great chiliocosms numberless as grains ofsand, are mere bubbles, All wiscom and all holiness are but streaks of lightning, None of thesn have the reality of Mind, The Dharmakiya, from ancient times until today, together with the Buddhas and Patriarchs, is One. How ean it lack a single hair of anything? Even if you understand this, you must make the ‘most strenuous efforts. Throughout this fe, you can never be certain of living long enough to take another breath? 98.0: Th Sih Pach ws tone, Hw i ie chet ewe ev in hee Er Sh srt sis) spd pate fv htc oad nealing mene ‘apn tw esata Wh ideo ree es ‘Bouche il idle nent hogh—in a dhamsot nin on yu rin el you denny Soe Fh Fc ne aoe aint os Negi a) ey mee ier sie nl eng le she pote Tag Tt ye Diu warmed wo Yor doa cat oes “huni teem eager ober tana ite Fan tategiiva inter of reat rgeney tat we oul reread {Siler the nique opportunity ny bee fr ayo 6 ru cHUN cuou RECORD rir Deanua ar A ouansat Whocrer understands the teaning of ths deserves tobe called a monk, oe skilled 2 "Dharm practice Iryoa do not belce thy you mat Explain the Ewing story, “The Eder Wal Ming cimbed tovtbe summit ofthe Te Ye Mountain to visit the Sth Prac The latter asked him why he ha come: Was it for te robe or forthe Diuttn? ‘The Hider Wa Ming overeat he had not come forthe robe, but ony fot the Dharma; whereupon the Sith Patarch ads Perhaps you willconcentrte Your thoughts for a moment and void ‘Rinking In term of good and ev" Ming id a he was tad, an the Sith Preach continued: "While you are tor thinking of good and ot thinking of ei jus a this very momen return to what you were before yur father Sod snoher see born?” Even asthe words were spoken, Ming arrived sta sudden ac understanding. Accordingly he bewed to the ground ad sid: am ie a nan drake eter who Lacs in himsl how col ti have ied he Fith Parach and his sips for tity yeas uve is only today tat {ar able to banish the miles in my former way of thinking” ‘The Sith Pasarch ro pads "Jut so. Now a lst you underand why, when the i te or ce Sea el anf Ae wen a Sepa ic, ire aceon beams Ben, Bie tapes ae See fay Se Eeay pica nats eh aera, 65First Patriarch arrived from India, he just pointed directly at men's Minds, by which they could perceive their real Nature and become Buddhas, and why he never spoke of anything besides.” ? Have we not seen hove, when Ananda asked Kagyapa what the World Honoured had transmitted to him in addition to the golden robe, the latter exclaimed, “Ananda!” and, upon Ananda'srespecthully answering ‘Yes", continued: “Throw down the flagpole at the monastery ‘gate.’ Such was the sign which the First (Jaan) Patriarch, {gave him. For thirty years the wise Ananda ministered to ‘the Buddha's personal needs; but, because he was too fond ‘of acquiring knowledge, the Buddha admonished him, saying: If you pursue knowledge fora thousand days, that ‘will aval you less than one day's proper study of the Way. Ifyou do not study it you will be unable to digest even a single drop of water!” THE WAN LING RECORD OF THE ZEN MASTER HUANG PO (TUAN CHI) A calecion of dialogues sermons and ancdstesrcarded by Pei “Hein ring hs tnure of the prafecare of Wen Ling 1. Once T put this question to the Master. How many of the four or five hundred persons gathered here on this mountain have fully understood Your Reverence's "The Master answered: Their number cannot be known. Why? Because my Way i throsgh Mind-awakening. How can it be conveyed in words? Speech only produces some tffect when i falls on the uninstructed ears of children. 2. Q: What is the Buddha? A; Mind isthe Buddha, while the cesation of conceptual ‘thought is the Way. Once you sop arousing concepts and ‘thinking in terme of existence and non-existence, Iong and short, other and self, active and passive, and suchlike, you will find that your Mind is intsnsially the Buddha, that the Buddha is intrinsically Mind, and that Mind resembles 1 void.? Therefore i it waitten that ‘the true Dharmalya® ett ‘Tpe Attlte Hou ofa Buda. 67resembles a void’, Seek for naught besides this, elke your search must end in sorrow. Though you perform the six pramitis for as many acons as there are grains of sand in the Ganges, adding also all the other sorts of activities {or gaining Enlightenment, You Wits ert. rats. HORT OF ‘Tu Goat. Why? Because these are karma-forming activi ties and, when the good karma they produce has been ‘exhausted, you will be born again inthe ephemeral world, ‘Therefore is it alo written: “The Samboghkiya® is not a real Buddha, nor a real teacher of the Dharma. Only come to know the nature of your own Mind, in which there is ro self and no other, and you will infact be a Buddha! 3. Q: Allowing that the Enlightened man who achieves the cessation of conceptual thought is Buddha, would not an ignorant man, on ceasing to think conceptually, lose himself in oblivion? ‘There ARE no Enlightened men or ignorant men, and there 1 no oblivion. Yet, though basically everything fs without objective existence, you must not come to think in terms of anything non-existent; and though things are ‘ot nonexistent, you must nat form a concept of anything ‘existing. For ‘existence’ and ‘non-existence’ are both em pirical concepts no better than ilusions, Therefore it ‘written? ‘Whatever the senses apprchend resembles an ry, ty, pls ede ions spit, sige he mate apicaon he iin Hy of i ‘This meat ha the ald or heavenly frm of Badd, to whom the Unelghened pen, uel io ht he Seep a ‘hy az Useretre ar apare Fm the One Mind, cy illusion, including everything ranging from mental. con- cepts to living beings” Our Founder preached to his dis ciples naught but total abstraction leading to elimination ‘of sense-perception. In this total abstraction does the Way ‘of the Buddhas flourish; while from discrimination between this and that a host of demons blazes forth! 4. Q: If Mind and the Buddha are intrinsically one, ‘Should we continue to practise the six paramitis and the ‘other orthodox meane of gaining Enlightenment? ‘A: Enlightenment springs from Mind, regardless of your practice ofthe six pramitis and the est. All such practices fre merely expedients for handling ‘concrete’ matters when, ‘dealing with the problems of daily life. Even Enlighten iment, the Abrolute, Reality, Sudden Attainment, the ‘Dhruushiya ata all the others down to the Ten Stages of Progress, the Four Rewards of vitwous and wise living and the State of Holiness and Wisdom are—every one of them. ‘mere concepts for helping ws through sashsira; they have nothing to do with the real Buddha-Mind. Since Mind 1 the Buddha, the ideal way of attainment isto cultivate that Buddha-Mind, Only avoid conceptual thoughts, which lead to becoming and cessation, to she aitions of the sentient ‘world and al the res; then you willhaveno need of methods of Enlightenment and suchlike. Therefore is it written: ings jst had this single object “To cary ur beyond the tage of tought. Nov, iT accomplish cemation of my thinking, ‘What ui to me the Dharmas Buddha taught? = Bahia, Able 69| From Gautama’Buddhs down through the whole line ‘of patriarchs to Bodhidharma, none preached aught besides the One Mind, otherwise known as the Sole Vehicle of Liberation. Hence, though you search throughout the whole ‘universe, you will never find another vehicle. Nowhere has this teaching leaves or branches; ite one quality is eternal truth, Hence iti teaching hard to accept. When Bodhi- Sharma came to China and reached the Kingdoms of Liang ind Wei, only the Venerable Master Ko gained a silent insight into our own Minds as soon as it was explained to him, he understood that Mind is the Buddha, and that individual mind and body are nothing. This teaching is called the Great Way. The very nature of the Great Way. is voidness of opposition. Bodhidharma firmly believed in Deng oN Witt THE REAL. fURSTANGH” OF HE URIVERSE 1 ‘rns 1s! Mind and that ‘substance’ clo not dilfer one jot— that ‘substances Mind, They cannot possibly be separated, Teas for this revelation that he earned the title of Patriarch of our sect, and therefore is it written: “The moment of realizing the unity of Mind and the “substance” which constitutes reality may truly be said to baffle description.” 45. Q Does the Buddha really liberate sentient beings? ‘A; There are in realty no sentient beings to be delivered by the Tathagata, If even sel has no objective existence, Ihow much les has other-than-self! Thus, neither Buddha nor sentient beings exist objectively. "Prem etre eno round of Bh and death 7° 6. Q; Vet it is recorded that ‘Whoroever possesses the thiry-two characteristic signs of a Buddha is able to deliver sentient beings’. How can you deny i? ‘A: Anything possessing anv signs is illusory. It is by perceiving that all signs are no sign that you perceive the ‘Tathagata ‘Buddha’ and ‘sentient being! are both your cown false conceptions. Tis because you do not know real Mind that you delude yourselves with such objective ‘concepts. If you wit conceive of a Buddha, YoU Witt, ne ‘ossrauctep ay THAT nuppxAl!l And when you conceive ‘of sentient beings, you will be obstrcted by those bein All such dualistic concepts as ignorant’ and ‘Enlightene ‘pure’ and ‘impure’, are obstructions. It is because your are hindered by them that the Wheel of the Law must be tumed.t Just as apes spend their time throwing things away and picking them wp agin unceasngly, x0 it 4s with you and your learning. AI! you need isto give up your ‘learning’, your ‘ignorant’ and ‘Enlightened, ‘pure’ ind ‘impure’, ‘great’ and ‘tle’, your ‘attachment? and ‘activity’. Such things are mere conveniences, mere oma ‘ments within the One Mind. I hear you have studied the sltras of the twelve divisions of the Three Vehicles, They are all mere empirical concepts. Re-lly you must give them up! ‘So just discard all you have acquired as being no better than a bed spread for you when you were sick. Only when you have abandoned all perceptions, there being nothing objective to perceive; only when phenomena obstruct you zo longer; only when you have rid yourself of the whole gamut of dualistic concepts of the ‘ignorant’ and “Ene 11 thatthe relative rath of rtd Badin sat be aahlightened? category, will you a lst earn the tile of Trans cendental Buddha. Therefore is it writen: "Your pros trations are in vain Put no faith in such ceremonies. Hie from such false belie.” Since Mind knows no divisions into separate entities, phenomena must be equally undifferen- ed, Since Mind is above all activities, so must it be with phenomena. Every phenomenon that exists is a creation of, thought; therefore I need but empty my mind to discover that all of them are void. It is the same with all sense- objects, to whichever of the myriads of categories they belong, The entire void stretching out in all directions is cof one substance with Mind; and, since Mind is funda ‘mentally undifferentiated, 20 must it be with everything te, Different entities appear to you only because your perceptions differ—just as the colours of the precious Selicacies eaten by the Devas are said to differ in ac fcordance with the individual merits of the Devas eating them! “Anuttara-samyak-sazibodhit is a name for the realiza- tion that the Buddhas of the whole universe do notin fact possess the smallest perceptible attribute. There exist just the One Mind, Truly there are no multiplicity offorms, no Celestial Briliance, and no Glorious Victory (er sara) or submission to the Vietor? Since no Glorious Victory was fever won, there can be no such formal entity as a Buddha; land, since no aubmision ever took place, there can be no such formal entities as sentient beings. (Q Even though Mind be formless, how ean you deny 1 Supreme Onicience, la. p the extenc ofthe Thiny-Tw Characteristic Sgn Buddha, or of the Bighty Excellencies wi . ‘been ferried over?! my ery people have ‘A: The Tho Sign ar sgn, and whatever i form is ihsory. The Eighty Exctlendes belong tee sphere of matt; but whomer pene a Sie ene Fe tuaelng the wrong path; he cane competent a ‘Tathagata thus. ee choad the 8 Q: Does the exentia ubsanc of the Buda difer at all om that of sees bigs or ae they den uh Eten tee ptahes nih of ent noe erence Ifyou accept the orthodox teachings of ie Tht Vehicle of Buddhiom, drntntng hee Buddha-Natue and the nate of entiot Baines nee ead zeae for yoursel Tree Vehile karma, an idecees sad Aierences wil reste Bot if you acopt the Bad Vehicle, which isthe doting tanseited by. ed harms, you will not peak osc things you wll merely pint tthe One Mind which i without identy or tee fee, without cause oF effect? "There Is Kits “Thre oly th way athe One Veith a second nora thie exept thane wan cnpined the Buddha as purely relative expediens (ibe) he te Mberation of eng lt in dees fm tea tw Mtg, {Ei not Hoang Po eto o deny the vali ‘applies fo the ephemeral wid of aceas "UH Okami wax BWy ware Dads of Tift Bae Be MY th red sgn onthe eown of be Bua’ ee sa sere was ely nothing fr him oe, Why? Th aan ete Taha flows ao ee The pare ined a ee a the Bodin ne en. ce aa aly ling he oro Seng a ai cmc spa pac A Soe tying Seen a gt come ot cel nd ery lg Sa acct mo seo sg exe Al cra ee eee eee Tax upulsr t aa ee tty oes bate aa eg el has ahem ea ee fal enone, Tere Fa ee rie ea ge Oe ao ang ct eng ae cana ant hee nd ce oe tie Tat head 1 ee nepeecionse sonar oa ces of pret ec Sta he nasa el cet 1 le te Sere ating shin ete ppt bom " Se a cto mee emp he ee gone ae yma aca srs Tita ‘rey a rot fom. " Great Void is perfection wherein ie neither lack nor super- Suity, a uniform quiescence in which all activity is silled. Do not argue that there may be other regions lying outside the Great Void, for such an argument would inevitably lead to discrimination, Therefore isi written: "Perfection® isa deep sea of wisdom; sahara is like a whirling chaos.” ‘When ve talk of the knowledge ‘P may gain, the learn~ ing ‘I’ may achieve, ‘my’ inuwitive understanding, ‘my’ Aeliverence from rebirth, and ‘mmy* moral way of living, our successes make these concepts seem pleasant tous, but our failures make them appear deplorable. What isthe use of all that? T advise you to remain uniformly quiescent and above all activity. Do not deceive yourselves with concep ‘tual thinking, and do not look anywhere forthe tuth, for all that is needed is to refrain from allowing concepts to arise. It is obvious that mental concepts and external per~ ‘ceptions are equally misleading, and that the Way of the Buddhast is as dangerous to you as the way of demons. ‘Thus, when Maajuéet temporarily entered into dualism, hhe found himself dwarfed by two iron mountains which made egress mponibe. Bat Matte had eve nde. standing, while Samantabhadra® possessed only ephemeral knowledge. Nevertheles, when true understating and 2 A diction i here made etme wid in the ene of x where allfrns arsenate, athe Great Vaud heh oe ences w als When th cents pea ofthe ra fe oad ‘thi ip pate thot they ae opag ote ae Seat Vat ean ary ave oe dace bine vein te ‘Teint sa seach ean cnr’ eet The sient universe, - iMcoeceed bec “Hse peronieaton of Ukimate Winn, ‘Vite penonifetion of Love and Acton 15ephemeral inowledge are properly integrated, it will be found tha they no longer exist. There isonly the One Mind, ‘Mind which is neither Buddha nor sentient beings, for it ‘contains no such dualism. As soon as you conceive of the Buddha, you are forced to conceive of sentient beings, or of concepts and no-concepts, of vital and trivial ones, ‘which will surely imprison you between those two iron ‘On account of the obstacles created by dualistic reason jing, Bodhidharma merely pointed to the original Mind and substance of us all as being in fact the Buddha. He offered no false means of sel perfecting oneself he belonged to no school of gradual attainment. His doctrine admits of ‘no such attributes as light and dark. Since itis not light Jo there is no light; since itis not dark, lo there is no dark! Hence it follows that there is no Darkness? nor End of Darkness® Whosoever enters the gateway of our sect must deal with everything solely by means ofthe intellect. This sort of perception is known as the Dharma; as the Dharma is perceived, we epeak of Buddha; while perceiving that i {act there are no Dharma and no Buddha i called entering the Sangha, who are otherwise known as ‘monks dwelling above all activity’; and the whole sequence may be called the Triratna or Three Jewels in one Substance prs ca iBigieenpene THUEMRERY sand for mata, the highes fly of the Haran sn ye san es om ecapan thought to autve ome inde ‘Misang Po is jueling withthe most sacred of Budi tem perhaps Caste’ ako bs heres to nifian with dipper, BEARS the pe o shocking them into a decper nderranlag ‘ute he te Rena wit whic he clans ba woderyng sey ‘oat inthe wanlaion. 6 i ‘Those who seek the Dharma! must not seek from the Buddha, nor from the Dharma® nor from the Sangha. They should seck from nowhere. When the Buddha is not sought, there no Buddha to be found! When the Dharma is not sought, there: no Dharma to be found! When the Sangha is not sought, there 1s no Sangha! 10. Q: You yourself are a member of the Saggha now, obviously engaged in preaching the Dharma, ‘Then how can you declare that nether of them exists? ‘A: Ifyou suppose there isa Dharma to be preached, you will naturally ask me to expound it, bu if you postulate a ‘yes, that implies a spacial entity! The Dharma is x0 Dharma—it ie saxo! Therefore Bodhidharma ssid ‘Though I handed down Mind's Dharma, ‘How can Dharma be a Darina? For nether Mind nor Dhara Can objectively exist, Only thus youl understand ‘The Dharma that is passed with Mind to Mind. Knowing that in truth not a single thing exists which can be attained! is called sitting in a bodhimandala.t A ‘bodhimandala is a state in which no concepts arise, in ‘which you awaken tothe intrinsic voidness of phenomena, also called the utter voidness of the Womb of Tathagata! Teuh, Boating 1 Grspal persed, coneied t. 1 Aaetaty for aning Enigiteament ‘ee wouree of al pbenbena ”“There's never en a single things ‘Then where's defing dust to cling? yeu ean reach the heart of this Why tal of transcendental bia 11, Q: If"there’s never been a single thing’, can we speale of phenomena as non-existent? As ‘Noneaistent is just as wrong as its opposite. Bodhi means having mo concept of exixence of non 12. Q: What isthe Buddha?® “sResar htind the Botha ‘The Baca ie Mind ‘Mind and Buddha are indivisible. Therefore it is written: “That whichis Mind isthe Buddhas fi s other than Mind, itis certainly other than Buddha.” 13. Q: If our own Mind m the Buddha, how did Bodhidharma transmit his doctrine when he came fom Tha : ‘Ar When he came fom Tia, he transite only Mind-Boddha, He ust pine to theta thatthe mine : oo it ng intended eh ve oat wih mer ee Sic preset ess Sr oa aati ee Firat eh Scone 8 (of all of you have from the very frst been identical with the Buddha, and in no way separate from each other, That 's why we call him our Patriarch, Whoever has an instant understanding ofthis truth suddenly transends the whole hheratchy of saints and adepts belonging to any ofthe Three Vehicles. You have always been one with the Buddha, so dio not pretend you can ATTAIN to this oneness by various practices! 4. Q: If that is so, what Dharma do all the Buddhas teach when they manifest themselves in the world? ‘Az When all the Buddhas manifest themselves in the world, they proclaim nothing but the One Mind, Thus, Gautama Buddha silently transmitted to Mahildsyapa the doctrine that the One Mind, which isthe substance ofall things, is eo-extensive with the Void and fils the entire World of phenomena, ‘This is called the Law of All the Buddhas, Discuss it as you may, how can you even hope fo approach the truth through words? Nor can it be pers ceived either subjectively or objectively. So fall unten: standing can come to you only through an inexpress. ible mystery. The approach to itis called the Gateway of the Stillness beyond all Activity. If you wish to under: stand, know that a sudden comprehension comes when the mind has been purged of all the clutter of com ceptual and discriminatory thoughtactivity. Those who Seek the truth by means of intellect and learning only get further and farther away from it. Not till your thoughts cease all their branching here and there, not tll you Abandon all thoughts of seeking for something, not tll your get ns ta ae hy ew ny pe the doadsofmayas wa aa previa ” ”‘mind is motionless at wood or stone, will you be on the right road to the Gate 5, Q Atthisvery moment alors oferonsvs thoughts Te Oe Aely owing through our ings. How ean You af our having none? Fr pasa subtance; i entirely the product of yen ek hh. you ko that Mind is the Buda ert Mind i fandamentally without eror, whenever Megat ee you il be fly convinced that 0 are se ey Grn, I yo could prevent al conceptual ci of though avd al your thinking proces, ee thor woul be no error let in you. There is PANG Seen ehoaghts ave then do al igs ve, When hough vanish, then do all ings vanish? 16. Q: At this moment, while erroneous thoughts are ‘thing in my mind, where is the Buddha? writ this moment you are conscious of those erroncous These wore recall he anions oo many tice Bui oN SAS SEE ae hae’ comune hee erence hig Ha oe Bie toa abandonment of nein, ae Hes Be 20 treats er see ‘oe peyton mien Indes in parnrarh 28 leant my Se a i ey tem ree oh a eyo orregn Pine Seve era ey ‘gtd wi None another could produce such ot ee il SESE a egy pe, eee hs OE, Sasha Sep tat valuble work Te “Revd Pushy TRE RE the no anger preentin me 80 thoughts. Well, your consciousness the Buddha! Perhaps you can understand chat, were you but frce of these de- Insory mental procestes, there would then be no ‘Buddha’. ‘Why 40? Because when you allow a movement of your mind to result in concept ofthe Buddha, you are bringing into ‘existence an objective being eapable of being Enlightened. Sima, any concept of sentient beng in ned of dx liverance cxeAvEs such beings as objects of your thoughts. All intellectual processes and movements of thought result from your concepts? If you were to refrain from concep- tualzing altogether, where could the Buddha continue to exist? You are in the same predicament as Mafjurt who, 8 soon as he permitted himself to conceive ofthe Buddha as an objective entity, was dwarfed and hemmed in on all ides by those two iron mountains 17. Q: At the moment of Enlightenment, where is the Buddha? ‘A: Whence docs your question proceed? Whence does your consciousness arise? When speech ie silenced, all move iment stlled, every sight and sound vanished—rure is the Buddha's work of deliverence truly going forward! Then, ‘where will you seek the Buddha? Yau cannot place a head ‘upon your head, or lips upon your lips; rather, you should just refrain from every kind of dualistic distinction? His fare hill Water is water. Monks are monks, Laymen are laymen, But these mountain, these river, the whole world 2 le rng he creeping baht bet nto tence, Ee ete irk aitself, together with sun, moon and stars—not one of them ‘exists outside your minds! The vast chiliocosm exists only ‘within you, s0 where else can the various categories of phenomena possibly be found? Outside Mind, there is rothing. The green hills which everywhere meet your gaze fand that void sky that you se glistening above the earth— hot a haimbreadth of any of them exists outside the foncepts you have formed for yourself! So it is that very single sight and sound is but the Buddha's Eye of Wisdom.” Phenomena do not arise independently but rely upon environment. And itis their appearing as objects which necessitates all sorts of individualized knowledge. You may talk the whole day through, yet what has been said? You ‘may listen from dawn till dusk, yet what will you have heard? Thus, though Gautama Buddha preached for forty- nine years, in truth no word was spoken. 18. Q: Assuming all this isso, what particular state is connoted by the word Bodhi? "A: Bodhi is no state. The Buddha did not attain to it. Sentient beings do not lack it. Tt cannot be reached with the body nor sought with che mind. All sentient beings ‘ann ALEADY of one forin with Bodhi. The Pde fx comsnly eae the yew which ve cee ony oat tang Po, howe ge ot Speen he Be xe pe 8 Bye ty Myiping seer an sen os Work floug tke war of fies on, The truths bgond word iat oid pean experienc. The Boda spoke of etre Wiles Views SSG no ord was open ‘TEhugticnnent or Supreme Winton. 2 19. Q: But how does one ‘Attain to the Bodhi-Mind’? ‘A: Bodhi is not something to be attained If, at this ‘very moment, you could convince yourselves of tsunattainae bility, being certain indeed that nothing a all ean ever be attained, you would already be Bodbi-minded, Since Bodhi is not a state, it is nothing for you to attain. And therefore is it written of Gautama Buddha: ‘While I was yet in the realm of Dipamkara Buddha, there was not a grain of anything tobe attained by me, Itwae then that Diparkara Buddha made his prophecy that I, too, should become a Buddha.’ Ifyou know positively tha all sentient beings are already one with Bodhi, you will cease thinking of Bodhi something to be attained, You may recently have heard ‘others talking about this ‘attaining of the Bodhi-Mind?, but ‘this may be called an intellectual way of driving the Buddha away! By following this method, you only aPrzan to achieve Buddhahood; if you were to pend acon upon acon in that way, you would only achieve the Sambhogakaya and Nirminakays. What connection would all that have with your original and real Buddha-Nature? ‘Therefore is it ‘writen: ‘Seeking outside for a Buddha posesed of form Jhas nothing to do with you." 20. Q; If we have always been one with the Buddha (Absolut), why are there nevertheless beings who come into ‘Revived ape etre eid, oer ee. te vec ay Halghened Sieben the aro aes cf anes Secs wo ak the Dhar, te sper of Boa 8%existence through the four kinds of birth and enter the six states of existence, each with the characteristic form and appearance of ts kind? ‘A: ‘The esvential Buddha-Substance is a perfect whole, without superfsity or lack. It permeates the six states of| existence and. yet is everywhere perfecly whole. Thus, fevery single one of the myriads of phenomena in the ‘universe i the Buddha (Absolut). ‘This substance may be likened to a quantity of quicksilver which, being scattered in all directions, everywhere re-forms into perfect wholes. ‘When undispersed, i is of one piece, the one comprising the whole and the whole comprising the one. The various forms and appearances, on the other hand, may be likened to dwellings. Just ar one abandons a stable in favour of a house, 90 one exchanges a physical body for a heavenly body, and s0 on up to the planes of Pratyeka-Buddhas, Bodhisattas and Buddhas, But all alike arc Gangs sought by you or abandoned by you; hence the differences between them, How is it posible that the original and essential nature ofthe universe should be subject to this diffeentia- su Ho the alot iat ay a Spt en) oan ge Paps mee amps sai vedi ie bn ely on el) By ey ry et gf ln ESGhcot tl cp yee ee Bereta ede a In realty, theie Dharma ie neither preached in words nor otherwise signified; and those who listen neither hear nor attain. It is as though an imaginary teacher had preached to imaginary people. At regards all these dharmas (eachings), if, for the sake of the Way, I speak to you from ry deeper knowledge and lead you forward, you will cettainly be able to understand what I say; and, at to ‘mercy and compassion, if for your sakes I take to thinking ‘things out and stadying other people's concepte—in neither ‘ase will you have reached a true perception of the real nature of your own Mind from winx vounsevss So, in the end, thee things will be of no help at al ‘22, Q: What is the meaning of ‘ealous applicaton’?® ‘Az‘The most completely successful form of zealous application is the absence from your minds of all such distinctions as ‘my body’, ‘my mind’. As soon as you begin tw seek for something outside your own Mind, you are like Kaliaja bent on hunting.* But when you prevent your ‘minds from going on travels outside themselves, you a already a kgdntivishi, wo nopies aND wo anne —that ie the Way of the Buddhas! sme eh it ne he ns gt Ssubland whoa! gag tere the last eli after: Spot an aee “ses GEG SP te ig me oc LS mah tree ‘Be piri of uncamplning pace atic, =" PM 85,23, Q If fallow this Way, and refrain from intellectual procestes and conceptsal thinking, shall T be certain of attaining the goal? ‘A: Such non-intellection i following the Way! Why this talk of attaining and not attaining? The matter is thus— by thinking of something you create an entity and by thinking of nothing you ereate another. Let such erroneous ‘thinking perish utterly, and then nothing will remain for you to go seeking! ‘at, Q What is meant by ‘Transcending the Three Wolds’? (Of deine, form and formlesness.)® ‘A: Transcending) the ‘Three Worlds connotes rising beyond the dualism of good and evil. Buddhas appear in the world in order to make an end of desire, of form and of formless phenomena. For you also the Three Worlds will, ‘vanish if you ean reach the state beyond thought. On the ‘ther hand, if you sll ling tothe notion that something, ‘even if it be as small as the hundredth part of @ grain, ‘might exist objectively, then even a perfect mastery of the entire Mabiyaina Canon will fil to give you victory over the Three Worlds. Only when every one of those tiny fragments is seen to be nothing can the Mahiyna achieve this victory for you? 1 Ton wor ifr othe than the Great Voi, ing ene of the are tena have no dee exienco—wheber atoms of mart o oes sem of Soncioest owe era Badin mea ips beled 86 15, One day, after taking his seat in the great hall the ‘Master began as follows. Since Mind 1s the Buddha (dBso- luz), i embraces all things, from the Buddhas (Enlightened Beings) at one extreme to the meanest of belly-crawling reptiles or insects at the other. All these alike share the Buddha-Nature and all are of the substance of the One Mind. So, after his arrival fom the West, Bodhidharma ‘transmitted naught but the Dharma of the One Mind. He pointed direcly to the truth that all sentient beings have always been of one substance withthe Buddha, He did not fallow any of those mistaken ‘methods of attainment’. And if'you could only achieve this comprehension of your own Mind, thereby discovering your real nature, there would asuredly be nothing for you to seck, either. 26. Q; How, then, does a man accomplish this compre- hhension of his own Mind? A: That which asked the question your own Mind; Dut ifyou were to remain quiescent and to refrain from the smallest mental activity, is substance would be seen at a void—you would find it formless, occupying no point in space and falling neither into the category of existence nor nto that of non-existence. Because it is imperceptible, Bodhidharma said: ‘Mind, whichis our real nature, i the tunbegotten and indestructible Womb; in response to circumstances, i transforms ivelf into phenomena, For the sake of convenience, we speak of Mind asthe intligence; bbut when it does not respond to circumstances? it cannot be spoken of in such dualistic terms ab existence or non- * And eto eetiog objets. 8‘existence. Besides, even when engaged in creating objects in response to causality i is stil imperceptible. If you know this and rest tranquilly in nothingnes—then you are in- deed following the Way of the Buddhas. Therefore does the sitra say: ‘Develop a mind which rests on no thing whatever. [Byery one of the sentient beings bound to the whee! of alternating life and death is recreated from the karma of his own desires! Endlesly their hearts remain bound to the six states of existence, thereby involving them in all sorts ff sorrow and pain, Ch'ing Ming’ says: “There are people ‘with minds lke those of apes who are very hard to teach; people who need all sarts of precepts and doctrines with Which to force their hearts into submission.” And so when. thoughts arise all sorts of dharmas® fellow, but they vanish ‘with thoughts cessation, We can see from this that every tort uf dharma is but » creation of Mind. And all kinds of Deings—humans, devas, sufferers in hell, asuras and all ‘comprised within the sx forms of life—each one of them is, ‘Mind-created. If only you would Tearn how to achieve a state of non-intellection, immediately the chain of causs- tion would snap. “Give up those erroneous thoughts leading to false dise tinction! "There is no “el” and no ‘other. There is no ‘erong desire’, no ‘anger, 10 ‘hatred’, mo ‘love’, no ‘ietory’, no “Talure’. Only renounce the error of intelle~ ‘tal oF conceptual thought-processes and your nature will, ‘exhibit its pristine purity—for this alone isthe way toatain Enlightenment, to observe the Dharma (Lav), to become ‘a Buddha and all the rest, Unless you understand this, the 2 A famous apie * Doce prep Coney hing a whole of your great learning, your painful efforts to advance, your sustertis of diet and clothing, will not help you to-& knowledge of your own Mind. Ail such practices ‘must be termed fallacious, for any of them will ead to your rebirth among ‘demons’—enemies of the truth—or among the crude nature spirits, What end is served by ‘pursuits like those? Chih Kung says: ‘Our bodies are the Creations of our ovn minds.” But how ean one expect t0 gain such knowledge from books? Ionly you could come prehend the nature of your own Mind and put an end to Giscriminatory thought, there would naturally be no room. fr eren again oferta Ching Ming exreed Jost spread out a mat Yor reining quite fat— Won Onna edt a bo ikea sick man growing wore. ‘Alliacma wl cease ‘Aad all facies disper ‘raya what is meant by Bodhi As it is, so Iong as your mind is subject to the slightest ‘movement of thought, you wll remain engulled in the err of taking ‘ignorant’ and ‘Enlightened? for separate states; ‘this error will persist regardless of your vast knowledge of | ‘the Mahiyina or of your ability to past through the “Four Grades of Sainthood” and the “Ten Stages of Progres Leading to Enlightenment. For all these pursuits belong. to what is ephemeral; even the most strenuous of your cfforts is doomed to fail, just a8 an arrow shot never 0 high into the air rust inevitably fall spent to the ground. So, 89in spite of them, you are certain to find yourselves back on ‘the wheel of life and death. Indulging in such practices implies your failure to understand the Buddha's real meaning. Surely the endurance of so much unnecessary suffering is nothing but a gigantic error, inti? Chih Kung says elsewhere: ‘If you do not meet with a teacher able to transcend the worlds, you will go on swallowing the redicine of the Mabayna Dharma quite in vain’ ‘Were you now to practise keeping your minds motionless at all times, whether walking, standing, siting or lying; concentrating entirely upon the geal of no thought-crea- 1p no duality, no reliance on others and no attachments; Just allowing all things to take cheir course the whole day Tong, as though you were too ill to bother; unknown to the ‘world; innocent of any urge to be known or unknown co ‘thers; with your minds like blocks of stone that mend no Iholes—then all the Dharmas would penetrate your under= standing through and through. In a ite while you would find yourselves firmly unattached, ‘Thus, for the frst time in your lives, you would discover your reactions to pheno- rena decreasing and, ultimately, you would pass beyond the Triple World; and people would say that a Buddha hhad appeared in the world, Pure and passionlss knowledge® implies putting an end to the ceseless flow of thoughts and images, for in that way you stop creating the karma that leads to rebirth—whether as gods or men or as sufferers in hell. ‘Once every sort of mental process has ceased, not a particle of karma is formed. Then, even in this lif your finds and bodies become those of a being completely * Lae of tence or Univeral Laws + Enigheemnent 9 liberated. Supposing that this doesnot result in freeing you immediately from further rebirth, at the very least you will be astured of rebirth in accordance with your own wishes, The altra declares: ‘Bodhisattas are reemmbodied into whatsoever forms they desire” But were they suddenly to lote the power of keeping their minds free from concep tual thought, attachment to form would drag them back into the phenomenal world, and each of these forms would create for them a demon’s karma! ‘With the practioe of the Pure Land Buddhists it is alo ‘thus, forall thete practices are productive of karma; hence, ‘we may call them Buddha-hindrances! As they would dbstruct your Mind, the chain of causation would also ‘grapple you fast, dragging you back into the state of those ‘as yet wnliberated ‘Hence all dharmas auch as thote purporting to lead to the attainment of Bodhi posses no fealty. The words of Gautama Buddha were intended merely as efcacious ex- pedients for leading men out of the darkness of worse jgnorance, Tt was as though one pretended yellow leaves were gold to stop the flow of a childs tears, Samyak- Savibodhi® is another name for the realization that tere are no valid Dharmas. Once you understand this of what tase ae such trifle to you? According harmoniously with The Pre Tap Set adeocats ter riser upon Amid, Dada of Howes Ligh aod ily hing tha perc ah il nvr re Ale pte where pega fr fal alice Flos tere al odin 26 RaSh oe Sexy an ce sph Gant Baha ieupit fo be the oly sare pote Neericien Bette tet lg of Rds ee Badd Soba ate fa asad pte es the akong of the {iglldal nd tof Onenes wit the Bubs Sabtance *Sopeme Keowindge othe conditions of your preset lives, you should goon, a8 portunities ak, reicing the store of ld karma lid in previous lives nd above al you mus aveld bulding pa fra sore of eribtin for youre ind is filed with aint clarity, cat aay the darke nes of your ol conept. Ching Ming say "Rid your ‘ves of everything” The tentnce in the Lotus Sra cone ring awe twenty years pent nthe shoveling aay Sfimanure ymbolaee the necray of diving em your ‘hinds whatever tends tothe formation of conexp Tn n> Gihcr passage the sme stra iene the ple of dung Sthic has tobe carted aay with metapyis and sophie try Thos the Womb ofthe Tathigat’ I ineinselly « ‘idnes and silence containing no indvidvalzed dhrmas Grany wort or Kind And therefore says the stra: "The aurea of ll he Buda ae equally wld™ "Tough oe sty tl ue Way of he Dudas ws someting to be reached by various plows pracoes and by atten stidy, you mst have nothing to do with such leas. A perp, sudden as inking, that subject and bec ve ony wl ead to a deeply mysterious words indenting? and by this understanding wil you awake torte trath of Zen, When you happen upon someone who Ins no understanding, you mutt clan to know nothing THe may be delighted by his dsoovery of ome ‘way t En: lightennen’ ye if yon allow yourselves tobe persuaded by him, vou will experience no delight at al, bt slr beh snow and dipintnent, What have sch boughs 2s histo do withthe stody of Zex? BveniFyou do obtain from hit someting ‘method, i will only be athought- 1 The ipo i hat the Western Perio ria aba i ER @ constructed dharma having nothing to do with Zen. Thus, Bodhidharma sat rapt in meditation before a wall; he did ‘not seek to lead people into having opinions, Therefore it is written: ‘To put out of mind even the principle from ‘which action springs is the trae teaching of the Buddhas, ‘while dualism belongs to the sphere of demons.” ‘Your true nature is something never lost to you even in ‘moments of delusion, nor is it gained at the moment of Enlightenment, It is the Nature of the Bhitatathats. In it is neither delusion nor right understanding, It fille the ‘Void everywhere and is intrinsically ofthe substance of the One Mind, How, then, can your mind-created objects exist outside the Void? The Void is fundamentally without spacial dimensions, passions, sctviies, delusions or right understanding. You must clearly understand that in it there are no things, no men and no Buddhas; for this Void ‘contains not the smallest haimbrcadth of anything that ean bbe viewed spacially; it depends on nothing and is attached to nothing. It is all-pervading, epoties beauty; it isthe selfexistent and wncreated Absolute. Then how can it even bbe a matter for discussion that the neat Buddha has no ‘mouth and preaches no Dharma, or that meat heating requires no ears, for who could hear i? Ab itis a jewel ‘beyond all price! "This page, in which the Master comes gt nae a pole to Sei ete ts pee eae ee she pee hat fe docene of fay or one equates 98THE ANECDOTES ay. Our Master came originally from Fukien, but took Bh vows upon Mount Huang Po inthis preecture whe hhe was atl very young. In the centre of his forehead was ‘sail lump shaped like a peal. Hs voice was soft and ‘agreeable, his character unassuming and placid, ‘Some yeats after his ordination, while journeying to ‘Mount ‘(rien ai, he fell in with a monk with whom he soon came to fel like an old acquaintance; so they com fined their journey together. Finding the way barred by. ft mountain stream in flood, our Master lent upon his staf find halted, at which his frend entreated him to proceed. “No. You go fint? said our Master. So the former floated bis big straw rain-hat on the torrent and easily made his way to the other side “Jy sighed the Master, ‘have allowed such a fellow to accompany me! I ought to have slain him with a blow of sy stai* 428, Once a certain monly on taking leave of Master Kuel "Tung, was asked where he intended to go. + as foe tha mouotain that the Veperable Hs Yun recved the age, By bth he besa mow comment known st today “Mist ae TEES ae to mean that th ober monk was dapayng oar sense went whe apt prance brings S21 ‘Rule ould open real erg pram ere Ha eee le necase Hunng Po was Ceaty ORs in his Seapanton for showing of of ‘intend to vist all the places where the five kinds of Zen are taught; he replied. “Ob; exclaimed Kuei Tsung. ‘Other places may have five kinds; here we have only the one kind.” ‘But when the monk enguired what it was, he received a siidden blow. ‘Ieee, I see!’ he shouted excitedly. “Speak speak!” roared Kuei Tsung. So the monk got ready to say something further, but just at that moment hie received another blow. ‘Afterwards, this same monk arrived at our Master's ‘monastery and, being asked by Huang Po where he had ‘come from, explained that he had recently left Kuei Tsung. ‘And what instructions did you receive from itn?” ‘enquired our Master, whereupon the monk related the ssbove story, ‘During the next assembly, our Master took this anecdote {for his text and said: ‘Master Mat realy excels the Eighty Four Deeply Enlightened Oneal The questions people ask are all of them no better than stinking muck saturating the ‘ground. There is only Kuei Tsung who is worth something.”* 129, Our Matter once attended an assembly at the Bureau of the Imperial Salt Commissioners at which the eerste eg SHEE GE mae tres EE Ri heres tee Eases tee ene ee Induce exton,« faut of Balghcrmsen. The youtger ont war ik Sy aug Geeta cat anaas pain is ay tuly he Atsolte nthe mate fervour you experience Garo SRNED tnlentmadng fh word eS 95Emperor Tai Chung was also present as a Sramanera.® "The sramanera noticed our Master enter th hal of worship and make a triple prostration to the Buddba, whereupon he asked: ‘If we are to teck nothing from the Buddha, Dharma or Sapgha, what does Your Reverence seek by such prostrations?” “Though Eseck not from the Buddha,’ replied our Master, ‘or from the Dharma, or from the Sangha i is my custom to show respect inthis way.” But what purpose docs it serve insisted the Sramanera, whereupon he suddenly received a slap. ‘Oh,’ he exclaimed, “How uncouth you are!” «What is this?” cried the Master. ‘Imagine making a dis- tinction between refined and uncouth!” So saying, he Administered another lap, causing the Sramanera (0 Detake himself elewhere!® go. During his travel, our Master paid a visit to Nan ‘Givoan (hs senior), One day at dinnertime, he took his ‘owl and seated himself opposite Nan Ch'tan’s high chair. Here, probaly, meaning a yan who had taken fen prep ce nna ee eee OTe wera eT hae dared ap te Dene iisiue the San of Heaven, indicates bath the immensity of the HES peal peg gt heer fem, le am "ine Bape vig t esr he gy wih ei SSN aan a hE aration for he Mates, Ht a Be on ene 2° ang Py aoe of everlasting 8 SERS sal ee wo temporal wutrity whatve, cat be ‘Sees iga estan open why me ain cor SSESSGMA hon ara Prince ofthe Char 6 Noticing im there, Nan Cian stepped down to receive im and asked: “How long has Your Reverence been flowing the Way?” “Since before the era of Bist Raja” came the reply. “Indeed exclaimed Nan Chan,‘ seis that Master Mat hara worthy gration here? Our Master then walked he days fw days later, when our Master was going out, Nan Coan semarked: "You ares huge man, so why wear a hat ofeach ils see "Ab, well replied out Masts contains vast numbers of ehiliocon ‘Well, what of me? enquired Nan Chitan, but the Master ‘put on bit at and walked off + sili tat eal en po he Way ne may ere og pee etree ey gts Nan Ch‘Gan himself, ty with the One ER as {frente anc cue yt en thes utr ancien age tae pi ha arn eer ete Sis Senate a Sct Sores tare irae hae nnathat ata Sica commen oewld eae ceaalte ier ht Sa eta oa de re ret iaiemai Sierras Say ovens aac FoRSLY SINE a ui ibe Fc Scat BULSAR 731. Another day, our Master was seated in the tearoom ‘when Nan Ch'tan came down and asked him: ‘What 3 meant by “A clear insight into the Buddha-Nature re- sults ffom the study of dhyfina (mind con!) and prajB (wisdom? . ‘Our Master replied: Tt means that, fom morning tll ‘ight, we should never rely on a single thing." “But isn't that just Your Reverence’s own concept of its meaning? . “How could I be so presumptuous? «Well, Your Reverence, some people might pay out cash for rice-water, but whom could you ask to give anything fora pair of houe-made straw sandals Tike that?” ‘At thie our Master remained silent. Later, Wei Shan mentioned the incident to Yang Shan, ‘enquiring if our Master's silence betokened defeat. “Oi no! answered Yang. “Suzely you know that Huang, Po has a tiger’ cunning?” "ahd reno ii o your profit? excined the other? ‘2 Once our Master requested a short leave of absence and Nan Shan asked where he was going. “Tin just off to gather some vegetables” What are you going to cut them with?” =n canal gn emt pisombumbevaer piece rams Me te ool wana aterm wt ly ‘Batis etn of Yang She's ale to penetrate through 0B * Our Master held up his knife, whereupon Nan Shan remarked: ‘Well, that’s all right for a guest but not for a host! Our Master showed his appreciation with a tiple rostration* 31 One day, five new arvals presented thems to our Master in a group. One of them instead of making the customary prosuatin, emaied sanding al greta somewhat eaeally with «motion of hs elaped hands “And do. you know how to be a good munngedog?™ enquired out Master “Tmt flow the anteopes cet? ‘Suppose it eaves no seem, what wil you flow then” “Then low i hoot” “And if there weve no hoomars, wha hen” “could sl flow the animals aca? ‘Dat what ifdhere were not even acs? How wo follow it then?” wi you “Tn tha ee} said the newomer, ‘would surely be a dead antlopes ‘ur Master sid nothing more atthe time but on the flowing morning ates hs servo, he asked “Wil xe day's antelope-hunting monk now sep arward? The sk complied and our ‘Master enguieds "Yesterday, any 1 Sa hance ar ty dead, Bon he Zn Mater, Win fs apo ey hs Zp Matsa red rc yor pa TESS ES te operate treme wl race! Ee Slee einige aoe ae ea Sent ran el as Sac SEE eee oat Py ne a aie 9Reverend fiend, you were left without anything to say. low was that? "Finding thatthe other returned no answer, he continued: ‘Ah, you may call yourself a real monk, but you are just ‘an amateur novice 34. Once, when our Master had just dismiseed the frst of the daily assemblies at the K'ai Yuan Monastery near ‘Hung Chou, T® happened to enter its precincts. Presently T noticed a wall-painting and, by questioning the monk in charge of the monastery’s administration, learnt that it portrayed a certain famous monk. “Indeed? I sad, ‘Yes, T can see his likeness before me, ‘but where is the man hime” My question was received in silence So I remarked: ‘But surely there ane Zen monks herein ‘this temple, aren't there?” “Yes replied the monastery admi “After that, T requested an audience with the Master and. repeated to him my recent conversation, trator, “THERE 1S aang Bos pening remark mpi ha he wea ready to aco the evened etl icity drnded by he sal aera gre {Ep'reomom sowed pe wordy, Yn eile bern ‘pues of2en that the Maser decd upon Bei HAE etelop, of corn, armas the One Sind whic Bee Pcl Shanes egos no tases A dead enelope ‘eh py sate of exncton 1 Sloe cating thas man wa ether anywhere nor nowhere; pepe leener tral Se Papal eseoed Eae "Pee peclound eoply has a doable seaning‘one in the sense of Hisng PE, a "One ‘Pret Hai eid the Mater. ‘Si? Tannwered respect, “Where are vou?” * Realising that no reply was poable to auch aquest T hastened to aak our Master to reenter the ball and contin is sermon. 95° When the Master a taken his plac a he ase ‘hall, he began: ps My “You people ar just ike drunkac don't kw how You manage to Kecpon your fein sach's sodden com Aion. Why, everyone wl die fling a yo Tal teers vo nay, why do we have oie sees ay ke thir Gat you undentand that in the whale Eng of Trang! there ae no “eater sled in Zon ‘Athi pit one of the sons present ced “How can thy tha? AC ths very omen a al can eee ae ing es oie with one who has appear inte wot tobe teacher often and leader af ment” “Pl note hat Tid ot sty there nor anwered our MrT ml ited ot that ers na Tater, Wei Shan reported this convention to Ya ‘Shan and asked what it implied. we Yang Seid Yang Shan: “That van is able to extract the pre nil om the altered intr Te bry lee ha ek not jut an oninary duck Agenneni 2s {A Bin normaly used of Bada “hae“Ah responded the other. “Yes, the point he made was very subtle’ g6. One day I brought a statue of the Buddha and, Keeling respectlly before our Master, begged him t0 Destow upon me a sacred honorific "Pre Hela!’ he cried, "Yes, Master?” ‘HHow is t that you sil concern yourself with names?” [AIIT could do was to prostrate myself in silence. ‘And there was another time when T offered our Master poem I had writen, He took it in his hands, but soon sat ‘gwen and pushed it away. ‘Do you understand?” he asked. "Noy Marr ‘Bug wiry don't you understand? ‘Think a lite! IF things ‘could be expresed like thie with ink and paper, what ‘would be the purpose ofa sect like oun?” ‘My poem ran as fllows: ‘When his Master bequeathed him Mind-Inition, He of grea eight with » peal on his forehead ict fr ten year y the river in Seech'uan. ‘Now, like a chalice bore by the waters, not aT fo sate te st ce Cae eto te Scuola gees erie oegiay aa fay Maser or cohereae, bof» purely tamer ort, fieofater ect Nee ars Aap Enh stan tanhtaroro He has cone to rst on the banks ofthe Chang. ‘A thousand dixipls follow behind hi ‘With dragon-mizn glorious, beaving the fagrance (OF Rowers from afar. These ae axprant Buddha, ‘Yet desiring to serve im humbly as pupil. ‘Who knows upon which the Transmiion wil fl? (Our Master later replied with another poem: Mind is a mighty ocean, area which knows no bounds. Words are but scarlet lots o cure the les ils. ‘Though there be tne of eure when my bands both ie at rt "Tia nt to weleome idler that Irate them t9 my breast! op Our Maser sis Tow who die prog ala Mi cto de er sole tog Scene eninge thy nt al og trang jeer peng tna ny Grates Having ted ob unde ota thy im hve stag igh ese ha aed the eg ed sa nthe ane By avin hy nen il sh snes To 12s Nts wl incon ene e Kady The sola ete of th Tugs Imps Zenmindlne st ee win bask te eed PO tt doh ter Tew the ay en ee Sh ite gh the Oe ide one he arsed tune epee lating wae peep: Set Meee ira mums ‘Sustny he Master wil ake nosiga “ “ 103tas en fe val Dsns sing the ety SiMe he tn etmonatedo thier eaeSrEnigtenne ender Acely eh ae rg fre yu nh oer by mene sm yo ony Dhar Cie in sya ache er ate, Ear rope in toning ee oii sige tae he ne etn ingen mer rua ani ar ery inten pce 9 SAE fldnot Sry acme te ea neu tu odo m0 hav watt ie neem ee ‘per Batty il oe eos SOUS i eco ys nd. he ony se a ate” we ene et ee Ter Senn tl ete Tn One if oa a arsine ther pec tumor tence ot reseen, fave fle into grave eor known ax te berelal belief Pani alo conta yn te te eer ufpheomen ny es emp hen ane fte ao nto he hoy oa Minn! eT Ws ion Mind he myriad eo cue ames ew ohn PORTA me’ er ve a Recto! cen vere of ron Sy, “2 amp ty lf Mi seg pancreas Se Te ru gsr mail eS roe ress bey maceatel wavs 8 ae PELEERT SS SSS aor 104 the doctrine that the Dharmakiya? is something attained ‘only after reaching full Enlightenment was merely intended, ‘means of converting the Theravadin saint fom graver errors. Finding these mistaken views prevalent, Gautama Buddha refuted two sorts of misunderstanding—the notions that Enlightenment will lead to the perception of a uni versal substance, composed of particles which some hold to be grots and others subtle? How is it possible that Gautama Buddha, who denied all such views as those I have mentioned, could have originated the present conceptions of Enlightenment? But, as these doctrines are still commonly taught, people be- ‘come involved in the duality of longing for “light” and eschewing ‘darknes In their anxiety to se=x Enlighten- ‘ment on the one hand and to scary from the passions and jgnorance of corporeal existence on the other, they con- celve of an Enlightened Buddha and unenlightened sentient beings as separate entities. Continued indulgence in such dualistic concepts as these will Iead to your rebirth ‘among the six orders of beings, life after lf, acon upon, ‘acon, forever and forever! And why ie it thus? Because of falsifying the doctrine that the original source of the Buddhas is that selfexistent Nature, Let me asrure you ‘again that the Buddha dwells not ie light, nor sentient ‘beings in darknes, for the Truth allows no such distinctions. ‘The Buddha is not mighty, nor sentient beings feeble, or the Truth allows no such distinctions. The Buddha is not * Ths ety ict Bata anit have reed, woud sem ‘Binieat run theoy betes ceee oper caenblens toca ok doctrine yer, hogs deuaion Saree on the mateo ance of te ue ery, pe far tor of the ea ues ‘ond in Zen oo 105,Enlightened, or sentient beings ignorant, forthe Truth Sows no such dstnctions, Il case you ake it upon oul talk of sxreasane Zen! “hs soon a the mou e opened evils spring forth People eter neglect the root and speak ofthe branches rele the realy ofthe wary” word and speak only Of Enlightenment. Or ee they chatter of ease ntvies Trading to tasfrmations we neglecting the Subance From whic they springinded there sme any prot in dco nce more, atx phenomena are basally without exis ences though you cangot now say that they are NON Seo. Karma having ation doesnot thereby exis arma destroyed does not thereby cose to exit Even its foot doesnot xs for ha ot no oat. Moreover, Ming Poor Mind, for whatever that er connotes fr fom the fealty spol. Form, oo not reall orm. So if few sate tat there arena phenomena and no Original Mind, you will begin to understand something ofthe ine fuidee Dharma leny conveyed t9 Mind with Mind Since phenomena and novphenomena are one, there either’ phenomena. nor no-phenomena, andthe only fe wansision ito Mind with Mind Prien a sudden flash of thought occurs in your mind and you rezguge it fora crear or an illsin, then you can Tier ins the sate reached by the Buddhas ofthe past— Sot that the Buddhas of the pat rally exist, or thatthe Buddhas ofthe fture have ot yt come ito exience. ‘Roove all, have no longing to become a fare Buddha; Sour sle concer should be, ae thowght succes thong, {ovoid lnging to any of them. Nor may you entertain, the leat ambition to bea Buda here and now. Even i 106 ‘a Buddha arises, do not think of him as Enlightened? or ‘deluded’, “good” or ‘evil. Hasten to rid yourself of any esi to cling to him, Cut him off in the twinkling of an eyel On no account seek to hold him fast, for a thousand, locks could not stay him, nor a hundred thousand feet of rope bind him, This being so, valiantly strive to banish ‘and annibilate him, will naw make lnminously clear how to set about being rid of chat Buddha, Consider the sunlight. You may say it is near, yet if you follow it from world to world you will never catch it in your hands. Then you may describe it as far away and, lo, you will se it just before your eyes Follow it and, behold, #€ escapes you; run from it and it follows you clo. You can neither posses it nar have done th it. From thie example you can understand how itis ith the true Nature ofall things and, henceforth, there ‘will be no need to grieve or to worry about auch thing "Now, beware of going onto say that my recommendation to cut off the Buddha was profane, or that my comparing hhim to the sunshine was pious, a8 though I had wavered from the one extreme to the other! Followers ofthe other sects would then agree with you, but our Zen Sect will not admit ether the profanity ofthe fist nor the pious quality of the second. Nor do we regard the fist as Buddhalike, fo the second as something to be expected only from ignorant sentient beings. "Thus all the visible universe ss the Buddha so are all The whole of this page is warning against on of the mot inl ype of dul fors Bas ost Gesitainvtved Inet fhe tino Nia pare re urs od cs dnp i unde a stone age, te bt re imperious och 107sexy; al a oe igen lh th ia Sgt ts Os pe woah So a thing ha Saye te ya oni etc rr uni sah det 27 her gnc lk yn ga a ay har eit iat aoa hr Soke on anne pe Sep ET We i a a Sewn ether eco npn iy set eon rea ‘aa Sey oa an es Mt ae Tid ae ee Byte er yt Pant el ase Sei Seca he ee Saree We tore nei ye ‘eit ile pa a seca ebien nuh es gl ot sia Wa yn ‘ST igo we iat ot rcs Bt Shy ero SSS ae ty aa a sai ace wy a Coe el ei ha ne ey ent ia Seo Sp a ee reo ily ct "tm senlnt beng att the Bua. The Buda is cori th ani of nent crupesrcmee pyran nin klip fs “The phenomenal univene and Ninos, activity and noire plcdsy "aun ate of the ose a to ate the worlds and wih the tate tat teense werd Vey the beige pasing trough hess see af Sx, ow who have unfergne the fase Minis of ‘keh, he vast worléyuems tr hee osm wal ver the BodbiNatre and Maio of tee ae thas by saying tha they ar allo one tase ee that th sumer and frm, het exten oad ors txitens ate void. The peat weld apcmy, senate tangs and arin rth compe nthe one bos ies wid, Then where can there be Budd who cel or mtient xing to be deivered? When the tne tate fal things that ext is an ena Thats how eae fn dtneons have ny sealigg? you supp that phenomena are of themselves you wl iit the heey of rearing tog ts Ms tonnes exten of ter own, On the other ed. on scopt the dct of autruny the conepsnaca {Bay ld you among the Thane “Te dno hs ya eh he nt fi, oes ba stem sg Se aes a cas Geter ae Ss Ny ye sc sfc lee ue Farias Gage ee See cra rennet ete ee Sree ea ie aa aren aoe SPS yer acca ace oome e ISOS hy a nets ese ae a eae UE See ora tin eee pce Sieenr Stila at erage ee EGER Pre alice ie eg mates SE ar tiger an area 109You people seek to measure all within the void, foot by foot and inch by inch, I repeat to you that all pheno- ‘mena are devoid of distinctions of form. Intrinscally they belong to that perfect tranquility which lies beyond the transitory sphere ofform-producing activities, so allof them are coexistent with space and one with reality. Since no bodies possess real form, we speak of phenomena as void; and, since Mind is formles, we speak of the nature of all things as void, Both are formless and both are termed void. Moreover, none of the numerous doctrines has any exst- fence outside your original Mind. All this talk of Bodhi, ‘Nirvana, the Absolute, the Buddha-Nature, Mahiyina, ‘Theravada, Bodhissttvas and 2o on is lke taking autumn, leaves for gold. To use the symbol of the closed fist: when it is opened, all beinge—both gods and men—will perceive there is nota single thing inside. Therefore is it writen: “There's never been ingle things "Then where's defling dust to cling? If ‘there's never been a single thing’, past, present and future are meaningless. So those who seck the Way must ind whatever enters Nin who thot aggregates have fly dis aie get Hk as teal o onda how Boden ‘Sul hve swept Vice a flame acrom Asin atthe tee of ts vast ex ‘oon Ted uy eel cent preset Thera ner cnn of ca le ney rhea len wa ‘ey tbe vere an eg ost bathe Ope Mind whlch Pp Reemdal te de of Has Ringo We Lang, that cern smo ened Mind wa mor which x be lean of the dee tents of Suton aad paasn, dry ang heme dally ecard te el The to ies fr quoted re ok Hel Rdg epi in which the Gully cond center i with the suddenness of Knifethrust. Full under standing of this must come before they can enter. Hence, ‘though Bodhidharma traversed many countries on his way from India to China, he encountered only one man, the Venerable Ko, to whom he could silealy transmit the ‘Mind-Seal, the Seal of your own REAL Mind. Phenomena are the Seal of Mind, just as the latter isthe Seal of pheno- ‘mena. Whatever Mind is, s0 also are phenomena-both, are equally real and partake equally of the Dharma- "Nature, which hangs in the void. He who receives an in= ‘tuition ofthis truth has become « Buddha and attained t0 the Dharma, Let me repeat that Enlightenment cannot be bodily grasped (attained pereved, et.) for the body is formless; nor mentally grasped (e), for the mind is forme less; nor grasped (ae), through its essential nature, since that nature is the Original Source of all things, the real [Nature ofall things, permanent Reality, of Buddha! How fan you use the Buddha to grasp the Buddha, formlessness to grasp formlessness, mind to grasp mind, void to grasp. void, the Way to grasp the Way? Tn reality, there 1 nothing. to be grasped (pereied, elteined, coneeed, et:)—even. notgrasping cannot be grasped. So itis said: ‘There is ‘orsine to be grasped,’ Wesimply teach you how to under stand your original Mind. ‘Moreover, when the moment of understanding comes, do not think in terms of understanding, not understanding ‘oF not notunderstanding, for none ofthese i something to be grasped. ‘This Dharma of Thusness when ‘grasped’ is ‘grasped’, but he who ‘grasps’ itis no more conscious of ‘having done so than someone ignorant off s conscious of his failure. Ab this Dharma of Thumess—until now so few people have come to understand it that itis written: Inthis world, hove few are they who lose their egos!” As for those people who seek to grasp it through the application, ‘of some particular principle or by creating a special en- vironment, or through some scripture, or doctrine, or age, fr time, of name, of word, or through their six sensee— hhow do they differ from wooden doll? But if, unexpectedly, ‘one man were to appear, one who formed no concept based fon any name or form, Tassure you that this man might be ought through world after world, always in vain! His, uniqueness would asure him of succeeding to the Patriarch's place and earn for him the name of Skyae ‘muni's true spiritual son: the conflicting aggregates of his ‘ego would have vanished, and he would indeed be the nel Therefore is it written: ‘When the King attains to Buddhahood, the princes accordingly leave their home to become monks, Hard is the meaning of this saying! It is to teach you to relrain from secking Buddhahood, since any stanoi it doomed to failure. Some madman shrieking fn the mountain-top, on hearing the echo far below, may gto soek it in the valley. But, oh, how vain his search! ‘Once in the valley, he shrieks again snd straightway climbs tosearch among the peaks—why, he may spend a thousand rebirths or ten thousand aeons searching for the source of those sounds by following their echoes! How vainly will he breast the troubled waters of life and death! Far better that you make so sound, for then will there be no echo— and thus itis with the dvvellers in Nirvinal No listening, no knowing, no sound, no track, no trace—make yourselves thus and you will be scarcely less than neighbours of Bodhidharmal 98. Pray instruct me concerning th : 1 pasage in the ste denying the existence of Sword of Thames the Royal Treasury? The Royal Trewury i the nature of the Voi "Thoagh al the vast wordaysten of te univer ae soe tuned therein, none of them have extence oie Mind, Another name fr is he Bodhi Tresaay af {he Great Void. you speak fit a ening one enh, ‘or as nether the one nor the other, in every case it becomes 4 mererants hom! eis arm's hor in teem tat You have made ie an object of your usec earch, 49: Q But is there not a Sword of” thin the x "Teuth within the Royal 1, Yetif there is no Sword of Truth why is it written: ‘The Prince seized the Sword of Truth from the Royal ‘Treasury and set out upon his conquests?” Why da you tell 1s nothing of ie beyond denying its objective existence? ‘A: The prince who took the sword connotes a true spiritual son of the Tathigata; but, if you say that he carried it off, you imply that he pernavep the Treasury of something. What nonsense it ig to speak of carrying off a piece ofthat Void Nature which isthe Source ofall things! Te would appear that, ff you have got hold of anything at all, it may be called collection of rams” horas! ee es nee pep IS aeons bers eee "Rat hors symbole panion and dehsons. 1134o. Q When Kagyapa received the seal of Buddhahood from Gautama Buddba, did he make use of words during its Farther transmission? A: Yes Q Then, since he attempted its transmission in words, even he should be included among the people with rams! horns. ‘A: Kiqyapa obtained a direct selfrealzation of original Mind, so he is not one of thote with horns. Whosoever ‘obtains this direct realization of the Tathigata Mind, thereby understanding the true identity of the Tathigata and perceiving his seal appearance and real form, can Speak to others with the authority of the Buddha's true spiritual son, But Ananda? though he verved his Master for twenty years, was unable to percsive more than his out- ‘ward appearance and form, and was therefore admonished by the Buddha in theee werd: “Those who concentrate entirely upon helping the world cannot escape from among the horned ones" (41. Q What is the meaning of the passage: “Mafjuét stood before Gautama with a draven sword’? 'A: The "ive Hundred Bodhisatvas' attained knowledge «caus cat ng dns rhe cmp me Loz oe ee scot nt ths Rome vie nebo gil eo ee eee nce ove ieee Mae emee meee Set asaky oon saci eos 4 sh esas tre el psn fer ec ea he recht pra a tee oar tae ac graces Son ieee, 9 Kr trietane as gee Bc eli ieee oe of human virtuest wo edernores Wr urea ie 2 nts capes se Se ora aris Tcane MS setae tapas ae show is their destruction actually accomplished? mm “Achar a 8 ae ar ‘mentality, " "s " © Ring te cep emcee ook he tei ene ieee iis a ea Sea Wie ata a See wth peanut Sears kde eg te eed dy ta oS ana te ‘{Rotatisinble, nangratpabl, ee. Hence the question i poten ovata a ing perhaps eae onc ee rege pee at ig me eed vance a5,A: Sword pors destroy sword-—they destroy each other —and the no sword remains for you to grasp. Knowledge bots desuoy nowedge—tis knowledge invalidates chat Knowledge—and then no knowledge remains for you 0 grasp, Its as though mother and son perished together Was implied by eign there Nate’? SE Ret Nitr ad yur peeption tt ae on. You canoe ht se vomehing ovr ae ave oll Pat Sees our baring of fae ones You anne sek Wer somahing vera above il Ityo on acne ope the wun sgue of anything se Weng ible or SiG jou as chara son fo ae. Lot ne ‘Moet tat the peed canner pce, Can thee T “Ete ae seched tecevm of yore Sng youn example to te my nesting Geer Tiagine some loose pearl in «bowl some lage globules “istone small Bath onl smc wwar of the Sic and oe ence sso te ‘sng thee fanaton, thy Ek ot mye "Now Tm Coming into beng’ and when they begin to decay, they SU ntay, Now Tam decaying’ Nowe othe Dg bora Jno te fy off thea the or Hn oe ve (Scipio to this rl Buddha and weet restr Sahel pereeption of ach other: The fr gradea {Taurvadn sep who ae able to enter Nina do soe pre, or are they pected by Nia, The _iDuehem t mre a Bg ee horace 6 ‘Theravadins who have reached the ‘three stages ofholines! ‘and who possess the ‘ten excellent characteristics’ neither perceive nor are perceived by Enlightenment. Soi is with everything else, down to fire and water, or earth and sky. ‘These pars of elements have no mutual perception ofeach other. Sentient beings do not exten the Dharmadhitu,! nor do the Buddhas ssur rRox it, There is no coming and going within the Dharmats,* nor anything perceptible (ta). ‘This being so, why this talk of "see, ‘I hear’, ‘T reocive an intuition through Eolightenment, ‘T hear the Dharma from the lips of an Enlightened One’, or of ‘Buddhas appearing in the world to preach the Dharma’? Kityayana was rebuked by Vimalakirt® for using that twamsitory mentality which belongs to the ephemeral state to transmit the doctrine of the real existence of matter assure you that all things have been free from bondage since the very beginning.# So why attempt to eran ‘them? Why attempt to purify what has never been defiled?® ‘Therefore it is written: “The Absolute is tavaness—how ‘an it be discussed? You people still conceive of Mind as ‘existing or not existing, as pure or defiled, as something £0 bbe studied in the way that one studies apiece of eategorical Snowledge, or as a concept—any of these definitions is sufficient to throw you back into the endless round of birth and death, The man who rexcesves things always wants ‘ identify them, to get a hold on them. Those who se ‘their minds lke eyes in thie way are sure to suppose that + Ate, Ree he Atte Fe TN, ser ray nt 4: yn per ely ot hg iwi the Aste ie tol eet Norn Soe 2 ah pation atthe mid at at Neng foots hereby Hang HO eed ‘Scan a nln a pr ad pc nyprogress isa matter ofstages. Ifyou are that kindof person, you are as far from the truth as earth i far from heaven. ‘Why this talk of ‘seeing into your own nature’? 43: Q; You say that our original nature and the act of seeing into it are one and the same, This can only be s0 if that nature is totally undifferentiated. Pray explain how it fs that, even allowing that there are no real objects for us to perceive, nevertheless we do in fact see what is near to tus and are unable to see what is faraway. ‘A: This i due to a misunderstanding arising from your ‘own delusions, You cannot argue that the Universal Nature ‘does in fact contain real objects on the grounds that ‘no real objects to be perceived” would only be true if there vere nothing ofthe kind we oats perceptible. The nature fof the Absolute is neither perceptible nor imperceptible; ‘and with phenomena itis jut the same. But to one who has ‘discovered hie real nature, how can there be anywhere or anything separate from i2 Thus, the six forms of life arising from the four kinds of birth, together withthe great ‘world-ystems of the universe with their rivers and moun tains, are att of one pure substance with our own nature. "Therefore isi said: “The perception of a phenomenon 1s the perception of the Universal Nature, since phenomena fand Mind are one and the same” It is only because you cling to outward forms that you come to see’ ‘heat, “eel” fand ‘know’ things as individual entities, True perception fs beyond your powers so long as you indulge in these.* sn Sat ORES SI See ie nda nee 8 ‘By such means you will fall among the followers ofthe ‘al Mahiynn and Theraviin dctines who rly upon jeep PencRPTiON to arrive ata true understanding. There- fore they se what is near and fail to see what is far away, ‘but no one on the right path thinks thus, T assure you there 4s no ‘inner’ or ‘outer’, or ‘near’ or ‘fi’, The fundamental nature of all phenomena is close beside you, but you do not sez even that; yet you sil go on talking of your in- ability to see what is far away. What meaning ean this sort of talk poasibly have? 44 Q: What guidance docs Your Reverence offer to those of us who find all eis very difficult to understand? A: T have xo TmINo to offer. I have never had anything to offer others. It is because you allow certain people 10 lead you astray that you are forever sEexiNo- intuition ‘and seanciixe for understanding. Isn't this a case of ciples and teachers all falling into the tame insoluble ‘muddle? All you need to remember are the following injunctions: SECOND, LEARN NOT TO PAY ATTENTION TO ANY DISTING: ng‘A single moments dualistic thought is sufiient to drag, you back tothe twelvefald chain of eausation.* Iti ignor- lance which tums the wheel of causation, thereby creating fan endles chain of karmie causes and results. This is the law which governs our whole lives up tothe time of senility ‘and death? In this connection, we are told that Sudhana, after vainly seeking Bodhi in a hundred and ten places within the twelvefold causal sphere, at last encountered Maitreya who sent him to Mafjusr. Matjulst here represents your primordial ignorance of reality. If, as thought succeeds ‘thought, you go on seeking for wisdom outside yourselves, ‘then there isa continual process of thoughts arising, dying way and being succeeded by others. And that is why all, you monks go on experiencing birth, old age sickness and eath—building up karma which produces corresponding ‘effects, Forsch is the arising and passing away ofthe ‘ive ‘bubbles’ or, in other words, the five skandhas. Ab, could ‘you but restrain each single thought from arising, then ‘would the Eighteen Sense Realms be made to vanish! How ‘godlike, then, your bodily rewards and how exalted the "Tye rear he ve ans r components feet ing, vanes eee oes eset Feat gag ae antl ToSanin ee giae Tete athe wom cb nd dbcopapie a aa ge ecto enlace cece oer tal cath er ear cr ty tal Bo, SU pelsnor de se BY Ao pt emploent can ap the cop te ents Ue SEE ee "he emp, ale te pce i si sje nd Sp ate knowledge that would dawn within your minds! A mind like that could be called the Terrace of the Spit, But while you remain lost in attachments, you condemn your bodies to be compses or, as itis sometimes expressed, to be lifeless corpses inhabited by demons! 45. Q: ‘Vimalakirti dwells in silence. Mafjuset offers praise.’ How can they have rally entered the Gateway of Non-Dualiy? A: The Gateway of Non-Duality is your original Mind. Speech and silence are relative concepts belonging to the ephemeral sphere. When nothing is said, nothing is mani- fested That is why Maju offered praise Q Vimalakini did not speak. Does this imply that sound is subject to cesation?® A: Speech and silence are one! There is no distinction between them. Therefore is it writen: ‘Neither the true nature nor the root of Mafus’s hearing are subject to cessation, Thus, the sound ofthe Tathigaa’s voice is ever. lasting, nor can there be any such reality asthe time before hhe begam to preach or the time ater he finished . ‘The preaching of the Tathagata is identical with the Dharma he taught, for there is no distinction between the preaching and the thing preached; just as there is none between such varied phenomena ‘as the Glorified and Revealed Bodies of a Buddha, the Bodhisatwas, the Srivakas, the world-systems with their mountains and rivers, or water, birds, trees, forests and the rest, The Qf Se Johns nthe wa the wou” Fiebre SN 1am pre‘preaching ofthe Dharma is at one and the same time both vocal and silent, Though one talks the day long, no word. is spoken. This being #0, only silence belongs to the Essential, 48: Q; Is it true that the Sravakas can only merge their forms into the formless sphere which stil belongs to the transitory Triple World, and that they are incapable of losing themselves utterly in Bodhi? ‘A: Yeo. Form implies matter, Thote saints are only. proficient in casting off worldly views and activities, by Which means they escape from worldly delusions and alflctions. They cannot lose themselves utterly in Bod thus, there is ll the danger that demons may come and pluck them from within the orbit of Bodhi itself. Aloofiy feated in their forest dwellings, they perceive the Bodhi- ‘Mind but vaguely. Whereas those who are vowed t0 ‘become Bodhisattvas and who are already within the Bodhi of the Three Worlds, neither reject nor grasp at anything. Non-grasping, it were vain to seek them upon ‘any plane; non-reecting, demons will strive in vain to find them. ‘Nevertheless, withthe merest desire to attach yourselves to thi or that, a mental symbol is soon formed, such symbols in turn giving rise to all thote ‘sacred writings’ Which lead you back to undergo the various kinds of re= birth, So let your symbolic conception be that of a void, for then the wordless teaching of Zen will make itself apparent to you. Know only that you must decide to 1 ein nt vind ot acpi die i,t lo ‘eschew all symbolizing whatever, for by this eschewal is ‘symbolized’ the Great Void in which there is neither ‘unity nor mltipicty-—that Void which is not realy void, that Symbol which is no symbol. ‘Then will the Buddhas ofall the vast world-ystems manifest themselves to you in ‘flash; you will recognize the hosts of squirming, wriggling sentient beings as no more than shadows! Continents at innumerable as grains of dust will seem no more to you than a single drop in the great ocean, ‘To you, the prov foundest doctrines ever heard will seem but dreams snd illusions. You will recognize all minds as One and behold all things as One—including thore thousands of sacred ‘books and myriads of pious commentaries! All of them are Just your One Mind, Could you but cease your groping after forms, all these true perceptions would be yours ‘Therefore i it written: “Within the ‘Thusness of the One ‘Mind, the various means to Enlightenment are no more than showy ornaments” 47- Q But what if in previous lives T have behaved like ‘Kalirija, slicing the limbs from living men? ‘A: The holy sages tortured by him represent your own Mind, while Kalirija symbolizes that part of you which goes out seexine, Such unkingly behaviour is called lust for perional advantage. If you students of the Way, with: ‘out making any attempt to ive virtuously, just want ¢0 make a study of everything you perceive, then how are you different fiom him?! By allowing your gaze to linger vsherune semnr weeectie ee iar ryt ta Sone eens AN 123(on a form, you wrench out the eyes of sage (yourself). And ‘when you linger upon a sound, you slice off the eas of a sage—thus iti with all your senses and with cognition, for their varied perceptions are called slicers. ‘Q: When we meet all suffering with sagelike patience and avoid all mind-licing perceptions, that which suffers ‘with resignation aurely cannot be the One Mind, for that ‘cannot be tubject to the endurance of pain. 'A: You are one of those people who foree the Un- becoming into conceptual moulds, such as the CONCEPT of patient suffering or the cosceer of seeking nothing futside yourself, Thereby you do yourself violence! ‘Q: When the holy sages were dismembered, were they conscious of pain; and, if among them there were no en- tities capable of euffering, who or what did suffer? ‘A: If you are not suffering pain now, what isthe of chiming in ike that?! 48. Q Did Dipampkara Buddha? attain his intuition of eality within a single fve-hundred-year period or not? "A: There is no attaining it within such a period. You _must never forge that this to-alled ‘attaining’ of intuition implies neither a withdrasal from daily life nor a seancat for Enlightenment. You have just to understand that time- ‘periods have no real existence; hence the attainment of the ital intuition occurs neither within nor without a. five bhundred-year period. zante Se Re ta eg By sae pa “Fe owentyouth precenr of Gautama Duda. rg Q; Is it not possible to attain the omniscience ia which all the events of past, present and future are knowin to 1? ‘A: There is absolutely wovsine which ean be attained, Q: How long is aeycle of five hundred yugas? ‘Az One such period should be ample for you to become a liberated sage. For, when Diparpkara Buddha ‘attained? his intuitive knowledge ofthe Dharma, there was not really «grain of anything attainable, 49. Q: The sitras teach that the fettering of pasions and illusions produced during millions of kalpas is a sufficient means of obtaining the Dharmakiya, even wi aus going trough the sage of being monks, What does A: T you practie wesc of attaining Enlightenment for three myriad aeons but without losing your belie in some- thing rally attainable, you will still be as many aeons from your goal as there are grains of sand in the Ganges. But if by a direct pereeption of the Dharmakiys's true nature, you grasp it in a Hash, you will have reached the highest {goal taught in the Three Vehicles. Why? Because the belie that the Dharmakiya can be obtained belongs to the doctrines of those sects which do not understand the uth, 50. Q: If on perceiving a phenomenon T gain a sudden ‘comprehension of it is that tantamount to understanding Bodhidharma's meaning? 135‘A: Bodhidharma’s mind penetrated even beyond the void? Q: Then individual objets v0 exist? A: The existence of things as separate entities and not ss separate entities are both dualistic concept. As Bodhi dharma said: “There are separate entities and there are not, Dut atthe same time they are neither the one nor the other, for relativity is transient” Ifyou disciples cannot get beyond those incorrect orthodox treachinge, why do you call your selves Zen monks? T exhort you to apply yourselves solely to Zen and not 1 go secking after wrong methods which only result in a multiplicity of concepts, Aman drinking water knows well enough if i ie cold of warm, Whether you be walking o siting, you must restrain all diserinnina- tory thoughts from one moment to the next. Ifyou do not, you will never escape the chain of rebirth 51. Q; tee Bh realy del nme nls Mjond the melpiiy of rs tow iba nba hed ego us ofa ‘A ity oly Sn le at you are confining he centr rr at a ‘Ar thee realy sch thingy a Saran or ae they sactnsdhes secsaeld nee ‘Thee ae no mich tings heya ot ese ‘tantra nag png eel tgs tape hl sl RIA roa Bnet Ba eit ieee es SES ke eet were Riau te tBin rms ~ohieataaesarmcantg titan 136 Q Then, why is it written: “The Buddhacrelics are ethereal and subtle; the golden ones are indestructible”? What does Your Reverence say to that? ‘Az If you harbour such belie, why call yourself a student of Zen? Can you imagine bones in the Void? The ‘minds of all the Buddhas are one with the Great Void. ‘What bones do you expect to find there? (Q: But if I had actually seen some ofthese relics, what then? ‘A: You would have seen the products of your own serongthinking. Q: Dots Your Reverence have any of those relies? Please let us se them. A true relic would be hard to see! To find it, you ‘would have to crush mighty Mount Sumeru to fine dust, using only your bare hands! 2. The Master said: Only when your minds cease ‘dwelling upon anything whatsoever will you come to an uunderstanding of the true way of Zen, T may express it thus-—the way of the Buddhas fourshes in a mind utterly ficed from conceptual thought proceses, while diserimina- tion between this and that give birth toa legion of demons! Finally, remember that from first to last not even the smallest grain of anything perceptible has ever existed or ever will exist. 53: Q: To whom did the Patriarch silently transmit the Dharma? * Grape stainable, angie ee, 137[As No Dharma was transmitted to anybody: Q: Then why did the Second Patriarch ask Bod!

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