THE ESSENTIAL GATEWAY TO TRUTH
BY MEANS OF
INSTANTANEOUS AWAKENING
Being a translation
of Ch'an Master Hui Hai's own shastra,
the Tun Wu ju Tao Yao MOn Lun or A Treatise
on the
Essential Gateway to Truth by Means
qf Instantaneous
Awakening.
1. Humbly I prostrate myself before the
Buddhas of the
ten quarters' and the excellent company
of Bodhisattvas.
In setting forth this treatise, I am
apprehensive that I may
fail correctly to interpret the sacred
mind. if so, may I be
given a chance for repentance and reform.
However, if I
do succeed in imparting the sacred truth,
I dedicate the
resultant merit to all living beings
in the hope that each of
them will attain Buddhahood in their
next life.
2. Q: What method must we practice in
order to attain
deliverance?2
A: It can be
attained only through a sudden illunlin-
ation.1
Q: What is a
sudden illumination?
A: 'Sudden'
means ridding yourselves of deluded
thoughts' instantaneously. 'Illumination'means
the realiz-
ation that illumination is not something
to be attained.
Q: From where
do we start this practice?
A: You must start from the very root.
Q: And what is that?
A: Mind is the root.
Q: How can this be known?
A: The Lankavatara Sutra
says: 'When mental
processes (hsin) arise, then do all dharmas (phenomena)
spring forth; and when mental processes cease, then
do
all dharmas cease likewise.' The Vimalakirti Sutra
says:
'Those desiring to attain the Pure Land' must first
purify
their own minds, for the purification of mind is
the purity
of the Buddha Land. The Sutra (of the Doctrine Bequeathed
by the Buddha says: just by mind control, all things
become
possible to us.' In another sutra it says: 'Sages
seek from
mind, not from the Buddha; fools seek from the Buddha
instead of seeking from mind. Wise men regulate
their
minds rather than their persons; fools regulate
their persons
rather than their minds.' The Sutra of the Names
of the
Buddha states: 'Evil springs forth from the mind,
and by
the mind is evil overcome.' Thus, we may know that
all
good and evil proceed from our minds and that mind
is
therefore the root. If you desire deliverance,
you must
first know all about the root. Unless you
can penetrate to
this truth, all your efforts will be vain; for,
while you are
still seeking something from forms external to yourselves,
you will never attain. The Dbyanaparamita
Sutra says:
'For as long as you direct your search to the forms
around
you, you will not attain your goal even after aeon
upon
aeon; whereas, by contemplating your inner awareness,
you can achieve Buddhahood in a single flash of
thought.'
Q: By what means is the root-practice
to be performed?
A: Only by sitting in meditation, for
it is accomplished
by dhyana (ch'an) and samadhi (ting). The
Dbyana-
paramita Sutra says: 'Dhyana and samadhi are essential
to the search for the sacred knowledge of
the Buddhas;
for, without these, the thoughts remain in
tumult and the
roots of goodness suffer damage.'
Q: Please describe
dhyana and samadhi.
A: When wrong thinking
ceases, that is dhyana; when
you sit contemplating your original nature,6
that is samadhi,
for indeed that original nature is your eternal
mind. By
samadhi, you withdraw your minds from their
surround-
ings, thereby making them impervious to the
eight winds,
that is to say, impervious to gain and loss,
calumny and
eulogy, praise and blame, sorrow and joy.
By concentrating
in this way, even ordinary people may enter
the state of
Buddhahood. How can that be so?
The Sutra of the bodbi-
sattva-Precepts says: 'All beings who observe
the Buddha-
precept thereby enter Buddhahood.' Other names
for this
are 'deliverance', 'gaining the further shore',
'transcending
the six states of mortal being
'o'erleaping the three
worlds',' or becoming a mighty Bodhisattva,
an omnipotent
sage, a conqueror'!
3. Q: Whereon should the mind settle and dwell?
A: It should settle
upon nondwelling and there dwell.
Q: What is this nondwelling?
A: It means not allowing
the mind to dwell upon any-
thing whatsoever.
Q: And what is the
meaning of that?
A: Dwelling upon nothing
means that the mind is not
fixed upon good or evil, being or nonbeing,
inside or
outside, or somewhere between the two, void
or nonvoid,
concentration or distraction. This dwelling
upon nothing
is the state in which it should dwell; those
who attain to it
are said to have nondwelling minds - in other words,
they have Buddha-rninds!
Q: What does mind resemble?
A: Mind has no colour, such as green
or yellow, red
or white; it is not long or short; it does not vanish or
appear; it is free from purity and impurity alike; and its
duration is eternal. It is utter stillness. Such,
then, is the
form and shape of our original mind, which is also our
original body - the Buddhakaya!l
Q: By what means do this body or mind
perceive? Can
they perceive with the eyes, ears, nose, sense of touch
and consciousness?
A: No, there are not several means of
perception like
that.
Q: Then, what sort of perception is
involved, since it
is unlike any of those already mentioned?
A: It is perception by means of your
own nature (sva-
bhava). How so? Because your own nature being essentially
pure and utterly still, its immaterial and motionless 'sub-
stance' is capable of this perception."'
Q: Yet, since that pure 'substance'
cannot be found,
where does such perception come from?
A: We may liken it to a bright mirror
which, though it
contains no forms, can nevertheless 'perceive' all forms.
Why? just because it is free from mental activity. if you
students of the Way had nidnds unstained," they would
not give rise to falsehood and their attachment to the
subjective ego and to objective externals would vanish;
then purity would arise of itself and you would thereby
be capable of such perception. The Dharmapada Sutra
says: 'To establish ourselves amid perfect voidness in a
single flash is excellent wisdom indeed!'
4. Q: According to the Vajra-body chapter of the Maba-
patinirvana Sutra: 'The (indestructible)
diamond-body"
is imperceptible, yet it clearly
perceives; it is free from
discerning and yet there is nothing
which it does not com-
prehend.' What does this mean?
A: It is imperceptible
because its own nature is a form-
less'substance'which is intangible;
hence it is called'imper-
ceptible'; and, since it is intangible,
this 'substance' is
observed to be profoundly still
and neither vanishing nor
appearing. Though not apart
from our world, it cannot be
influenced by the worldly stream;
it is self-possessed and
sovereign, which is the reason
why it clearly perceives. It
is free from discerning in that
its own nature is formless
and basically undifferentiated.
Its comprehending every-
thing means that the undifferentiated
'substance' is
endowed with functions as countless
as the sands of the
Ganges; and, if all phenomena
were to be discerned sin-iul-
taneously, it would comprehend
all of them without
exception. In the Prajna
Gatha it is written:
Prajna, unknowing,
knowetb all,
Prajna, unseeing,
seetb all.
5. Q: There is a sutra which says
that not to perceive
anything in terms of being or
nonbeing is true deliverance.
What does it mean?
A: When we attain
to purity of mind, that is something
which can be said to exist.
When this happens, our remain-
ing free from any thought of achievement
is called 'not
perceiving anything as existent';
while reaching the state
in which no thoughts arise or
persist, yet without being
conscious of their absence, is
called 'not perceiving
anything as nonexistent'. So it is written: 'Not to perceive
anything in terms of being and nonbeing,'etc. The Shuran-
gama Sutra says: 'Perceptions employed as a base for
building up positive concepts are the origin of all ignorance
(avidya);" perception that there is nothing to perceive -
that is nirvana, also known as deliverance.'
6. Q: What is the meaning of 'nothing to perceive'?
A: Being able to behold men, women and
all the
various sorts of appearances while remaining as free from
love or aversion as if they were actually not seen at all -
that is what is meant by 'nothing to perceive'.
Q: That which occurs when we are confronted
by all
sorts of shapes and forms is called 'perception'. Can
we
speak of perception taking place when nothing confronts
us?
A: Yes.
Q: When something confronts us, it follows
that we
perceive it, but how can there be perception when we
are confronted by nothing at all?
A: We are now talking of that perception
which is
independent of there being an object or not. How can
that be? The nature of perception being eternal, we go
on
perceiving whether objects are present or not." Thereby
we come to understand that, whereas objects naturally
appear and disappear, the nature of perception does neither
of those things; and it is the same with all your other
senses.
Q: When we are looking at something,
does the thing
looked at exist objectively within the sphere of perception
or not?
A: No, it does not.
Q: When we (look around and) do not see anything,
is there an absence of something objective
within the
sphere of perception?
A: No, there is not.
7. Q: When there are sounds, hearing occurs.
When there
are no sounds, does hearing persist or not?
A: It does.
Q: When there are
sounds it follows that we hear them,
but how can hearing take place during the
absence of
sound?
A: We are now talking
of that hearing which is indepen-
dent of there being any sound or not.
How can that be?
The nature of hearing being eternal, we continue
to hear
whether sounds are present or not.
Q: if that is so,
who or what is the hearer?
A: It is your own
nature which hears and it is the
inner cognizer who knows.
Q: As to the gateway
of sudden illumination, what are
its doctrine, its aim, its substance and its
function?"
A: To refrain from
thinking (nien) is its doctrine; not
to allow wrong thoughts to arise is its aim;
purity is its
substance, and wisdom is its function.
Q: We have said that
its doctrine is to refrain from
thinking, but we have not yet examined the
meaning of
this term. What is it that we must refrain
from thinking
about?
A: It means that we
must refrain from wrong thinking,
but not from right thinking.
Q: What are wrong
thinking and right thinking?
A: Thinking in terms
of being and nonbeing is called
'wrong thinking', while not thinking in those
terms is called
,right thinking'. Similarly, thinking in terms of good and
evil is wrong; not to think so is right thinking.
The same
applies to all the other categories of opposites
- sorrow
and joy, beginning and end, acceptance and rejection,
dislikes and likes, aversion and love, all of which
are called
'wrong thinking', while to abstain from thinking
in those
categories is called 'right thinking'.
Q: Please define 'right thinking'
(more positively).
A: It means thinking solely of
bodhi (enlightenment).
Q: Is bodhi something tangible?
A: It is not.
Q: But how can we think solely
of bodhi if it is intan-
gible?
A: It is as though bodhi were
a mere name applied to
something which, in fact, is intangible, something
which
never has been nor ever will be attained.
Being intangible,
it cannot be thought about, and it is just this
not thinking
about it which is called 'rightly thinking of bodhi
as some-
thing not to be thought about'- for this implies
that your
mind dwells upon nothing whatsoever. The term
'not to
be thought about' is like the various kinds of not-thinking
mentioned earlier, all of which are but names convenient
for use in certain circumstances - all are of the
one sub-
stance in which no differences or diversities exist.
Simply
to be conscious of mind as resting upon nothing
what-
soever is to be without thought; and whoever reaches
this
state is naturally delivered.
8. Q: What is the meaning of 'to act as the Buddhas
do'?
A: It means total abstention from
action, which is also
termed 'right' or 'holy' action. It is very
similar to what we
were talking about before, for it means not acting
as if
things really are or are not, and not acting from motives
of aversion, love and all the rest.
The Great Canon (?f
Monastic Rules says: 'The sages do not
act like other beings;
nor do other beings act like the sages.'
9. Q: What does right perception mean?
A: It means perceiving that there
is nothing to perceive.
Q: And what does that mean?
A: it means beholding all
sorts of forms, but without
being stained by them, as no thoughts
of love or aversion
arise in the mind. Reaching this
state is called 'obtaining
the Buddha-eye', which really means
just that and nothing
else. Whereas, if the spectacle
of various forms produces
love or aversion in you, that is called
'perceiving them as
though they had objective existence',
which implies having
the eye of an ordinary person, for indeed
ordinary people
have no other sort of eye. It
is the same with all the other
organs of perception.
10. Q: When you said that wisdom is the
function, what
did you mean by wisdom?
A: The knowledge that
by realizing the voidness of all
opposites, deliverance is assured and
that, without this
realization, you will never gain deliverance.
This is what
we call 'wisdom' or 'knowing wrong from
right'. Another
name for it is 'knowing the function
of the substance'
Concerning the unreality of opposites,
it is the wisdom
inherent in the 'substance' which makes
it known that to
realize their voidness means liberation
and that there can
be no more doubt about it. This
is what we mean by
'function'. In speaking thus of
the unreality of opposites,
we refer to the nonexistence of relativities
such as 'is' and
'is not', 'good' and 'evil', 'love' and 'aversion', and so on.
Q: By what means can the
gateway of our school be
entered?
A: By means of the dana
paran-iita.
Q: According to the Buddha,
the Bodhisattva path com-
prises six paramitas. Why, then, have you
mentioned only
the one? Please explain why this one alone
provides a
sufficient means for us to enter.
A: Deluded people fail to
understand that the other
five all proceed from the dana paramita and that
by its
practice all the others are fulfilled.
Q: Why is it called the
dana paramita?
A: 'Dana' means 'relinquishment'.
Q: Relinquishment of what?
A: Relinquishment of the
dualism of opposites.
Q: Which means?
A: It means total relinquishment
of ideas as to the dual
nature of good and bad, being and nonbeing, love
and
aversion, void and nonvoid, concentration and distraction,
pure and impure. By giving all of them up,
we attain to a
state in which all opposites are seen as void.
The real
practice of the dana paramita entails achieving
this state
without any thought of 'now I see that opposites
are void',
or'now I have relinquished all of them'. We
may also call
it 'the simultaneous cutting off of the myriad types
of con-
current causes'; for it is when these are cut off
that the
whole Dharma-nature becomes void; and this voidness
of
the Dharma-nature means the nondwelling of the mind
upon anything whatsoever. Once that state
is achieved,
not a single form can be discerned. Why?
Because our
self-nature is immaterial and does not contain a
single
thing (foreign to itself). That which contains
no single
thing is true reality, the marvelous form of the Tathagata-
it is said in the Diamond Sutra:
'Those who relinquish all
forms are called "Buddhas" (enlightened
ones).'
Q: However, the Buddha did speak
of six paramitas,
so why do you now say they can
all be fulfilled in that
one? Please give your reason
for this.
A: The Sutra of the Questions
of Brabma says: 'Jala-
vidya, the elder, spoke unto Brahma
and said, Bodhi
sattvas by relinquishing all defilement’s
(klesha) may be
said to have fulfilled the dana
paramita, also known as
'total relinquishment'; being
beguiled by nothing, they may
be said to have fulfilled the
sila paramita, also known as
,observing the precepts'; being
hurt by nothing, they may
be said to have fulfilled the
kshanti paramita, also known
as 'exercising forbearance'; clinging
to nothing, they may
be said to have fulfilled the
virya paramita, also known as
'exercising zeal'; dwelling on
nothing, they may be said to
have fulfilled the dhyana paramita,
also known as 'prac-
tising dhyana and samadhi'; speaking
lightly of nothing,
they may be said to have fulfilled
the praina paramita,
also known as 'exercising wisdom'.
Together, they are
named'the six methods'."' Now
I am going to speak about
those six methods in a way which
means precisely the
same - the first entails relinquishment;
the second, no
arising (of perception, sensation,
etc); the third, no thinking;
the fourth, remaining apart from
forms; the fifth, non-
abiding (of the mind); and the
sixth, no indulgence in
light speech. We give different
names to these six methods
only for convenience in dealing
with passing needs; for,
when we come to the marvellous
principle involved in
them all, we find no differences
at all. So you have only
to understand that, by a single
act of relinquishment,
everything is relinquished; and that no arising means no
arising of anything whatsoever. Those who have lost
their
way have no intuitive understanding of this; that is why
they speak of the methods as though they differed from
one another. Fools bogged down in a multiplicity
of
methods revolve endlessly from life span to life span.
I
exhort you students to practise the way of relinquishment
and nothing else, for it brings to perfection not only
the
other five paramitas, but also myriads of dharmas
(methods).
II. Q: What are the 'three methods of training (to be
performed) at the same level' and what is meant by per-
forming them on the same level?
A: They are discipline (vinaya), concentration
(dhyana)
and wisdom (prajna)."
Q: Please explain them one by one.
A: Discipline involves stainless purity.
Concentration
involves the stilling of your minds so that you remain
wholly unmoved by surrounding phenomena. Wisdom
means that your stillness of mind is not disturbed by
your
giving any thought to that stillness, that your purity
is
unmarred by your entertaining any thought of purity and
that, in the midst of all such pairs of opposites as good
and evil, you are able to distinguish between them without
being stained by them and, in this way, to reach the state
of being perfectly at ease and free of all dependence.
Furthermore, if you realize that discipline, concentration
and wisdom are all alike in that their substance is intangible
and that, hcnce, they are undivided and therefore one
-
that is what is meant by three methods of training
performed at the same level.
12. Q: When the mind rests in a state of purity, will that
not give rise to some attachment to purity?
A: If, on reaching the state
of purity, you refrain from
thinking 'now my mind is resting in purity',
there will be
no such attachment.
Q: When the mind rests in
a state of void, will that not
entail some attachment to void?
A: if you think of your
mind as resting in a state of
void, then there will be such an attachment.
Q: When the mind reaches
this state of not dwelling
upon anything, and continues in that state,
will there not
be some attachment to its not dwelling upon
anything?
A: So long as your mind
is fixed solely on void, there
is nothing to which you can attach yourself.
if you want
to understand the nondwelling mind very clearly,
while
you are actually sitting in meditation, you
must be cognizant
only of the mind and not permit yourself to
make judge-
ments - that is, you must avoid evaluations
in terms of
good, evil, or anything else. Whatever
is past is past, so
do not sit in judgment upon it; for, when
minding about
the past ceases of itself, it can be said
that there is no
longer any past. Whatever is in the
future is not here yet,
so do not direct your hopes and longings towards
it; for,
when n-iinding about the future ceases of
itself, it can be
said that there is no future. 18 Whatever
is present is now
at hand; just be conscious of your nonattachment
to every-
thing - nonattachment in the sense of not
allowing any
love or aversion for anything to enter your
mind; for, when
miinding the present ceases of itself, we
may say that there
is no present. When there is no clinging
to any of those
three periods, they may be said not to exist.
Should your mind wander
away, do not follow it,
whereupon your wandering mind will stop wandering of
its own accord. Should your mind desire to linger
somewhere, do not follow it and do not dwell there,
whereupon your mind's questing for a dwelling place will
cease of its own accord. Thereby, you will come
to possess
a nondwelling mind - a mind which remains in the state
of nondwelling. If you are fully aware in yourself
of a
nondwelling mind, you will discover that there is just
the
fact of dwelling, with nothing to dwell upon or not to
dwell upon. This full awareness in yourself of a
mind
dwelling upon nothing is known as having a clear
perception of your own mind, or, in other words, as having
a clear perception of your own nature. A mind which
dwells upon nothing is the Buddha-mind, the mind of
one already delivered, bodhi-mind, uncreate mind; it is
also called 'realization that the nature of all appearances
is unreal'. It is this which the sutras call 'patient
realization
of the uncreate'.19 If you have not realized it yet, you
must
strive and strive, you must increase your exertions.
Then,
when your efforts are crowned with success, you will have
attained to understanding from within yourself - an
understanding stemming from a mind that abides nowhere,
by which we mean a mind free from delusion and reality
alike. A mind disturbed by love and aversion is
deluded;
a mind free from both of them is real; and a mind thus
freed reaches the state in which opposites are seen as
void, whereby freedom and deliverance are obtained.
13. Q: Are we to make this effort only when we are sitting
in meditation, or also when we are walking about?
A: When I spoke just now of making an
effort, I did
not mean only when you are sitting in meditation; for,
whether you are walking, standing, sitting, lying, or what-
ever you are doing, you must uninterruptedly
exert your-
selves all the time. This is what we
call 'constantly abiding'
(in that state).
14. Q: The Vaipula Sutra says: 'Of the five
kinds of
Dharmakaya,'O the first is the Dharmakaya
of the Absolute;
the second is the Dharmakaya of merit; the
third is the
Dharmakaya of the Dharma-nature;21 the Dharmakaya
of
infinite manifestations is the fourth; and
the Dharmakaya
of the void is the fifth.' Which one is our
own body?
A: To comprehend that mind
is imperishable is to
possess the Dharmakaya of the Dharma-nature.
To com-
prehend that all the myriad forms are contained
in mind
is to possess the Dharmakaya of merit.
To comprehend
that mind is not mind is to possess the Dharmakaya
of the
true nature of all. To teach living
beings according to their
individual capacities for conversion is to
possess the
Dharmakaya of infinite manifestation.
To comprehend that
mind is formless and intangible is to possess
the Dharma-
kaya of the void. If you understand
the meaning of all
this, it implies that you know there is nothing
to be
achieved. Realizing that there is nothing
tangible, nothing
achievable - this is achieving the Dharmakaya
of the
Buddha-dharma." Anyone who supposes they can
achieve
it by getting hold of, or grasping at, something
is full of
self-conceit - an arrogant person with perverted
views, a
person of heterodox beliefs. The Vimalakirtinirdesba
Sutra
says: 'Shariputra enquired of a devakanya,"
"What is it
you have won? What achievement has given
you such
powers of speech?" To which the devakanya
replied, "It
was my winning and achieving nothing which
enabled
me to reach this state. According to the Buddha-dharma,
someone who wins and achieves things is a person full of
self-conceit. "'
15. Q: The sutras speak not only of samyak-sambodhi (full
enlightenment), but also of a marvellous enlightenment
lying even beyond that. Please explain these terms.
A: Samyak-sambodhi is the realization
of the identity
of form and voidness. Marvellous enlightenment is the
realization of the absence of opposites, or we can say that
it means the state of neither enlightenment nor nonen-
lightenment.
Q: Do these two sorts of enlightenment
really differ or
not?
A: Their names are expediently used
for the sake of
temporary convenience, but in substance they are one,
being neither dual nor different. This oneness and sameness
characterize all phenomena of whatever kind.
16. Q: What is the meaning of a passage in the Diamond
Sutra which states that 'having absolutely nothing describ-
able in words is called "preaching the Dharma”?
A: Prajna (wisdom) is a substance of
absolute purity
which contains no single thing on which to lay hold. This
is the meaning of 'nothing describable in words'. Yet
that
immaterial and motionless Prajna is capable of whatever
functions are befitting - functions as numerous as the
sands of the Ganges; so there is nothing at all which it
does not comprehend; and this is what is implied by the
words 'preaching the Dharma'. Therefore is it written:
'Having absolutely nothing describable in words is called
"preaching the Dharma".'
Q: (The Diamond Sutra also says:) 'If
a virtuous man
or woman holds to, studies and recites this sutra, and is
despised by others, this person, who was bound to
suffer
an evil destiny in retribution for his or her past
sins and
whose karmic sins are now eradicated by the others'
contempt, will attain anuttara-samyaksambodhi.'
Please
explain this.
A: Their case resembles
that of those who, not having
met an enlightened teacher, continue building up
nothing
but evil karma for themselves, so that their pure
original
mind obscured by the three poisonsI4 stemming
from
primordial ignorance, cannot show forth, which is
the
reason for our calling them despicable. Then,
just because
they are despised in this life, they grow determined
to
seek out the Way of the Buddhas without delay; and,
thereby, their ignorance is conquered so that the
three
poisons cease to be generated, whereat their original
mind
shines forth brilliantly. The tumult of their
thoughts is
thenceforth stilled, for all the evil in them has
been
destroyed. It is their having been despicable
which has
led to the conquest of ignorance, the cessation
of their
mental tumult and - as a natural consequence of
that -
to their deliverance. Therefore is it written
that bodhi is
attainable at the very moment we make up our minds
to
achieve it - that is to say in this life and not
in some
other lives to come.
Q: It is also written that
the Tathagata has five kinds of
vision. What are they?
A: The perception that all
appearances are pure (i.e.
real) is called 'earthly vision'. The perception
that their
substance is pure (real) is called 'heavenly vision'.
Ability
to distinguish the minutest differences among the
appear-
ances constituting our environment, as well as the
smallest
gradations of good and evil, and yet to be so entirely
unaffected by them that we remain perfectly at ease aniidst
all of them - that is called 'the wisdom vision'.
The percep-
tion that there is nothing to perceive is called 'the
dharma
vision'. No perception, yet nothing unperceived,
is called
'the Buddha vision'.
Q: It is also written that there
is a Great Vehicle (Maha-
yana) and a Supreme Vehicle. What are they?
A: The former is that of the Bodhisattvas;
the latter is
that of the Buddhas.
Q: By what means can they be attained?
A: The means for gaining the Bodhisattvas'
vehicle are
those of the Mahayana. Attaining to it and thenceforth
remaining so free from discursive thought that even the
concept of 'a means' no longer exists for you - such
utter tranquillity" with nothing to be added to it, nothing
to be taken away, is called 'attainment of the Supreme
Vehicle', which is that of the Buddhas!
17. Q: The Mahaparinirvana Sutra says: 'Excess of dhyana
(ting) over wisdom (hui) provides no way out from
primordial ignorance (avidya), while excess of wisdom
over dhyana leads to piling up false views; but, when
dhyana and wisdom function on the same level, that is
what we call "deliverance" What does it all mean?
A: 'Wisdom' means the ability
to distinguish every sort
of good and evil; 'dhyana' means that, though making
these distinctions, you remain wholly unaffected by love
or aversion for them - such is the explanation of dhyana
and wisdom functioning on the same level.
18. Q: That sutra also says: 'No words, nothing to say
-
this is called "dhyana".' But can we also speak of being in
dhyana while we are engaged in talking?
A: My definition of dhyana just
now referred to that
perpetual dhyana which is unaffected by speech or
silence.
Why? Since the nature of dhyana functions
even while we
are engaged in speaking, or in making distinctions,
our
speech and those distinctions also pertain to dhyana.
Similarly, when we contemplate forms with our minds
in
a state of voidness, the voidness persists as much
during
the act of regarding those forms as when we are
neither
speaking nor engaged in any other kind of discursive
activity. The same applies to our seeing,
hearing, feeling
and consciousness. How so? Because,
as our own nature
is void, it remains so in all situations; being
void, it is free
from attachment, and it is this detachment which
makes
possible the simultaneous functioning of dhyana
and
wisdom on the same level. All Bodhisattvas
employ this
method of universalizing voidness, which enables
them
to attain the final goal. Therefore is it
written: When dhyana
and wisdom function on the same level, that is what
we
call "deliverance” Now I shall give you a further
example
in order to clarify this, so as to awaken your understanding
and set your doubts at rest. Take the case
of a bright
mirror. When it is reflecting something, does
its brightness
waver? No, it does not. And when it
is not reflecting some-
thing, does its brightness waver, then? No.
But why is this
so? It is unwavering whether an object is present
or not
because it has the property of reflecting without
any
sensation being experienced. And so?
Where no sensation
is present there can be neither movement nor absence
of
movement. Or take the case of the sunlight.
Do the sun-
beams waver when they shine upon the earth?
No. Or do
they waver when they do not encounter the earth? No,
they do not. Why? Because they are devoid of sensation.
That they do not waver whether they encounter something
or not is due to their property of shining without
experiencing sensation. The quality of being able to reflect
(or shine)" pertains to wisdom, while that of perfect steadi-
ness pertains to dhyana. It is the Bodhisattvas' employment
of this method of equalizing dhyana and wisdom which
enables them to attain sambodhi (supreme enlightenment).
Therefore is it written: 'When dhyana and wisdom are on
the same level, that is what we call "deliverance” However,
when I spoke just now of absence of sensation, I meant
freedom from ordinary sensations, not from holy sensation.
Q: How do they differ?
A: Ordinary sensations are those involving
duality of
feeling; holy sensation pertains to realization of the void-
ness of opposites.
19. Q: The sutra says: 'The path of words and speech is
cut off; the mind's activities cease.' What does this mean?
A: Words and speech are to reveal the Dharma's
meaning; but, once that meaning is understood, speech is
discarded. Meaning is immaterial; that which is immaterial
is Tao (truth), and Tao is inexpressible. Hence 'the path
of
words and speech is cut off.' By 'the mind's activities cease'
is meant that, upon actual realization of the Dharma's
significance, no further contemplation is required. That
which lies beyond our contemplation is the uncreate. Being
uncreated, the nature of all appearances is void. Because
their nature is (seen to be) void, all their concurrent causes
are eradicated, and that eradication involves the cessation
of the mind's activities.
20. Q: What is Suchness (Ju-ju, Bhutatathata)?
A: Suchness signifies immutability.
Since mind is immut-
able (j&n-ju, absolute), we term it Suchness.
Hence it can
be known that all the Buddhas of the past attained
enlight-
enment by conducting themselves in accord with this
im-
mutability. With the Buddhas of the present
it is likewise
and so will it be with the Buddhas of the future.
Since all
practice, whether past, present, or future, culminates
in
the same attainment of enlightenment, it is called
'the attain-
ment of Suchness'. The Vimalakirlinirdesba
Sutra says:
'Thus has it ever been with all the Buddhas; thus
will it be
with Maitreya 17 and with every other sentient
being as
well. Why so? Because the Buddha-nature
is eternally and
uninterruptedly self-existent.
21. Q: Does the (teaching concerning the) identity
of matter
and the immaterial (void), and that of ordinary
and holy,
pertain to the doctrine of sudden illumination?
A: Yes.
Q: What do you mean by the
identity of matter and
void and of ordinary and holy?
A: When mind is stained
by attachment, materiality is
there; when it is free from stain, immateriality
is there.
Stained mind is ordinary and unstained mind is holy.
The
Absolute is self-existent, which implies the identity
of the
immaterial and matter; but, since the latter is
not discover-
able it is in fact immaterial. Here, we are
using 'immaterial'
with reference to the void nature of form, not to
mean
(the kind of) voidness which would result from form's
annihilation." Similarly, we are using 'material'
with refer-
ence to the nature of the immaterial, which exists
of itself,
not in the sense that the material can be matter
(as ordinarily
understood).
22. Q: What are the exhaustibles and the inexhaustibles
mentioned in the sutra?
A: On account of the void nature of
all dualities, when
seeing and hearing no longer take place, that is exhaustion
- meaning the end of passions (asravaksaya). 'Inexhaust-
ible' connotes the uncreated substance complete with m- ar-
vellous functions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.
These functions respond to all the needs (of sentient
beings) without occasioning the smallest diminution of
substance. Such, then, are the exhaustibles and
inexhaustibles mentioned in the sutras .29
Q: Are the exhaustibles and inexhaustibles
really
identical, or are they different things?
A: In substance they are one, but they
are spoken of
separately.
Q: Yet, if they are one in substance,
why should they
be spoken of separately?
A: 'One' denotes the substance of speech,
and speech
is a function of that substance; it is employed as circum-
stances require. That is why they are said to be of the
same substance but spoken of separately. We may liken
this to the fact that, although only the one sun appears in
the sky above, its reflections are caught by water held by
many different receptacles, so that each of those receptacles
'contains a sun' and every 'sun' is both complete in itself
and yet identical with the sun in the sky. Therefore,
although the suns are of the same substance, they are
spoken of separately with reference to the various recep-
tacles. Hence (things of) the same substance are spoken
of differently. Moreover, although every one of the suns
manifested below is perfect and entire, the sun in the sky
is not in the least diminished by them - hence the term
'inexhaustible'.
Q: A sutra speaks of 'no coming into existence and no
ceasing to exist'. To what sort
of dharmas (phenomena)
do these words apply?
A: They mean the not coming into
existence of
unwholesome phenomena and the never
ceasing to exist
of wholesome phenomena-"
Q: What are wholesome and
unwholesome phenom-
ena?
A: A mind stained by attachments
and leaking" is
unwholesome; a mind freed from these
characteristics is
wholesome. It is only when no
stains or leaking occur
that unwholesomeness does not arise;
and, when freedom
from stains and leaking is attained,
there is purity, per-
fection and brilliance - a deep, everlasting
and
unwavering stillness. This is
what is meant by 'wholesome
phenomena not ceasing to be'; it explains
the term 'no
coming into existence, or ceasing to
exist'.
23. Q: The Precepts of the Bodbisattvas
says: 'When sen-
tient beings observe the Buddha-precept,
they enter upon
the status of Buddhahood - a status
identical with full
enlightenment - and thereby they become
true sons of
the Buddhas.' What does this mean?
A: The Buddha-precept
denotes perfect purity32 of
mind. if someone undertakes the practice
of purity, and
thereby attains a mind unmoved by sensory
perceptions,
we speak of that person as one who observes
the Buddha-
precept. All the Buddhas up to
this day have practiced
purity unmoved by sensory perceptions
and it was by
means of this that they attained Buddhahood.
in these
days, if people undertake its practice,
their merit is equal
to and does not differ from that of
the Buddhas; hence
they are said to have entered upon the status of Buddha-
hood. Illumination thus obtained is precisely the
illumina-
tion of a Buddha, so such a person's status is said to
be
identical with full enlightenment. Those people
really are
son's of the Buddhas and their pure mind begets wisdom.
One whose wisdom is pure is called 'a son of the
Buddhas',
or 'this Buddha son'.
24. Q: As to the BuddhaS33 and the Dharma, which of them
anteceded the other? if the Dharma came first, how can
there have been a Buddha to preach it; but, if a Buddha
came first, then what doctrine led to his attainment?
A: The Buddhas anteceded the Dharma
in one sense,
but came after it in another.
Q: How is that possible?
A: If you mean the quiescent Dharma,
then the Dharma
anteceded the Buddhas; but, if you mean the written or
spoken Dharma, then it was the Buddhas who came first
and the Dharma which followed them. How so?
Because
every one of the Buddhas attained Buddhahood by means
of the quiescent Dharma - in that sense, the Dharma
anteceded them. The 'teacher of all the Buddhas'
men-
tioned in the sutra is the Dharma; it was not until they
had
attained Buddhahood that they first embarked upon their
detailed exposition of the Twelve Divisions of the sutras
for the purpose of converting sentient beings. When
these
sentient beings follow and practice the Dharma preached
by previous Buddhas, thereby attaining Buddhahood, that
is also a case of the Dharma anteceding the Buddha.
25. Q: What is meant by 'proficiency in teaching, but not
in trans@ssionl?31
A: It refers to those whose words are at variance with
their deeds.
Q: And what is meant by 'proficiency
in transmission
and also in teaching'?
A: it refers to people whose words
are confirmed by
their deeds.
26. Q: What is meant by 'the reachable not reached'
and
by 'the unreachable reached'?
A: By 'the reachable not reached'
is meant speech not
supported by deeds; by 'the unreachable reached'
is meant
deeds performing what speech fails to reach; and,
when
both speech and deeds attain the goal, this is 'complete
reaching', or 'double reaching'.
27. Q: Please explain the two statements: 'The Buddha-
dharma neither annihilates the worldly (yu wei)
nor gets
bogged down in the transcendental (wu wei)."'
A: The first means that the Buddha
never rejected any
thing phenomenal from the moment when he first deter-
mined upon his quest up to the time when he achieved
enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree, and from then
up
to his entrance into parinirvana beneath the twin
sala
trees.31 This is 'nonannihilation of the worldly'.
The other
statement means that, although he achieved absence
of
thought, he never looked upon this as an attainment;
that,
although he reached immaterial and nonactive bodhi
and
nirvana, he never held that these states marked
an attain-
ment. This is what is meant by 'not getting
bogged down
in the transcendental'.
28. Q: Is there really a hell?31
A: There is and there is
not.
Q: How so?
A: In that our minds have
constructed many sorts of
evil karma, there is hell; but, since everyone's
self-nature
is void, for those whose minds have been freed of
attach-
ment's stains there can be no hell.
Q: Do evildoers possess
the Buddha-nature?
A: Yes, they have it too.
Q: Then, if they too have
this nature, does it enter hell
with them or not?
A: It does not enter with
them.
Q: But, when they enter
hell, where is their Buddha-
nature?
A: It also enters hell.
Q: That being so, while
they are undergoing
punishment there, does their Buddha-nature share
the
punishment?
A: No. Although the Buddha-nature
remains with these
people while they are in hell, it is the individuals
them- selves
who suffer; the Buddha-nature is fundamentally beyond
punishment.
Q: Yet, if they enter together,
how can the Buddha-
nature not suffer?
A: Sentient beings possess
forms and whatsoever has
form is subject to formation and destruction’s
whereas
the Buddha-nature is forn-less and, being forn-less,
is im-
material, for which reason it is the very nature
of the void
itself and cannot be destroyed. Were someone
to make a
pile of faggots in a vacuum, the faggots could come
to
harm but not the vacuum. In this analogy,
the vacuum
symbolizes the Buddha-nature and the faggots represent
sentient beings. Therefore it is written:
'They enter together
but do not suffer together.'
29. Q: Regarding the quotation 'Transform the eight states
of consciousness (parijnana)39 into the four
Buddha-
wisdoms and bind the four Buddha-wisdoms to
form the
trikaya, which of the eight states of consciousness
must
be combined to form one Buddha-wisdom and
which of
them will each become a Buddha-wisdom in itself?
A: Sight, hearing, smell, taste
and touch are the five
states of consciousness which together form
the perfecting
wisdom. The intellect, or sixth state
of consciousness, alone
becomes the profound observing wisdom.
Discriminative
awareness, or the seventh state of consciousness,
alone
becomes the universal wisdom. The storehouse
of con-
sciousness, or eighth state, alone becomes
the great mirror
wisdom.
Q: Do these four wisdoms
really differ?
A: In substance they are
the same, but they are
differently named.
Q: Yet, if they are one
in substance, why do their names
differ'? Or, allowing that their names
are given according
to circumstances, what is it that, being of
one substance
(with the rest), is (nevertheless called)
'the great mirror
wisdom'?
A: That which is clearly
void and still, bright and imper-
turbable, is the great mirror wisdom.
That which can face
defilements without love or aversion arising
and which
thereby exhibits the nonexistent nature of
all such dualities
is the universal wisdom. That which
can range the fields
of the senses with unexcelled ability to discern
things, yet
without giving rise to tumultuous thoughts,
so that it is
fully independent and at ease, is the profound
observing
wisdom. That which can convert all the
senses with their
functions of responding to circumstances into
correct sen-
sation4l free from duality is the perfecting
wisdom.
Q: As to 'binding the four Buddha-wisdoms to form
the trikaya', which of them combine to form one body
and which of them each becomes a body in itself?
A: The great mirror wisdom singly forms
the Dharma-
kaya. The universal wisdom singly forms the Sambhoga-
kaya. The profound observing wisdom and the perfecting
wisdom jointly form the Nirmanakaya. These three bodies
are only named differently to enable unenlightened people
to see more clearly. Once the principle is understood,
there will be no more three bodies with functions re-
sponding to various needs. Why? Formless in substance
and by nature, they are established in the basically imper-
manent '41 which is not their own (true basis) at all.
30. Q: What is meant by perceiving the real Buddhakaya?13
A: It means no longer perceiving anything
as existing
or not existing.
Q: But what is the actual meaning of
that definition?
A: 'Existence' is a term used in contradistinction
to
,nonexistence', while the latter is used in opposition to
the former. Unless you begin by accepting the first concept
as valid, the other cannot stand. Similarly, without the
concept of nonexistence, how can that of existence have
meaning? These two owe their being to mutual dependence
and pertain to the realm of birth and death. It is just
by
avoiding such dual perception that we may come to behold
the real Buddhakaya .41
Q: If even the concepts of existence
and nonexistence
are invalid how can that of a real Buddhakaya have validity?
A: Only because you are asking about
it! When such
questions are not asked, the concept of a Buddhakaya is
not valid. Why? Take the case of a mirror; confronted
by
objects, it reflects them; unconfronted, it reflects nothing.
31. Q: What is meant by 'being never apart from the
Buddha 1?41
A: Having a mind freed from
the going and coming of
concepts, its stillness unaffected by environmental
forms
so that it remains eternally void and motionless
- this is
being never apart from the Buddha.
32. Q: What is the meaning of the transcendental
(wu wei,
unconditioned, asamskrta)?
A: it is worldly (yu wei,
conditioned, samskrta) .41
Q: I enquired about the
transcendental. Why do you
say it is worldly?
A: 'Worldly' is a term valid
only in contradistinction to
'transcendental'. The latter derives
its meaning from the
former. if you do not accept the one as a
valid concept,
the other cannot be retained. But if
you are speaking of
the real transcendental, that pertains neither
to the worldly
nor to the transcendental. Yes, the
real transcendental is
like that! Why? The Diamond Sutra
says: 'If their n-linds
grasp the Dharma, they will still cling to
the notion of an
ego (a being and a life); if their n-iinds
grasp the non-
Dharma, they will still cling to the notion
of an ego (a
being and a life). Therefore, we should
not grasp at and
hold onto the notions either of Dharma or
of not-Dharma.'
This is holding to the true Dharma.
If you understand this
doctrine, that is true deliverance - that,
indeed, is reaching
the gate of nonduality.
33. Q: What is the significance of the term
'middle way'?
A: It signifies the
extremes.
Q: I enquired about
the middle way; why do you say
it signifies the extremes?
A: Extremes are only valid in contradistinction to the
middle way. If at first you do not postulate extremes,
from
what can you derive the concept of a middle way? This
middle you are talking about was first used in relation to
extremes. Hence, we should realize that middle and ex-
tremes owe their existence to their mutual dependence
and that all of them are transient. The same rule applies
equally to the skandhas - form, sensation, perceptions,
impulses (or volitions) and consciousness
.41
34. Q: What are these things which we call the five
skandhas?
A: The propensity to allow the forms
we encounter to
set their stain upon us, thereby arousing forms in our
minds, is called 'the skandha of form'. As this leads
to the
reception of the eight winds" which encourage the piling
up of wrong notions, sensations are aroused
'49 and this is
called the skandha of sensation'. Thereupon, the deluded
mind takes to perceiving (individual sensations) and per-
ception is aroused, and this is called 'the skandha of
perception'. This leads to the piling up of impulses (based
on likes and dislikes) and this is called 'the skandha of
impulse (or volition)'. Accordingly, within the undifferen-
tiated substance, error gives rise to the notion of plurality
and countless attachments are formed, whereat false con-
sciousness (or wrong understanding) arises, and this is
called 'the skandha of consciousness'. It is thus that
we
define the five skandhas.
35. Q: A sutra says that there are twenty-five factors of
existence. What are they?
A: This term refers to our having to undergo
future
incarnations or rebirths taking place within the six realms
.51
Owing to the delusions filling our minds during the present
life, we sentient beings have become closely bound
by all
sorts of karma and will receive rebirth in exact
accordance
with our karmic state. Hence the term 'reincarnation'.
How-
ever, if during a given existence there are people
deter-
mined upon doing their utmost to gain deliverance
and
who thereby attain to the state of no rebirth, they
will
leave the three worlds for ever and never more have
to
be reborn. This implies attainment of the
Dharmakaya in
the absolute sense of Buddhakaya.
Q: How do these twenty-five
factors of existence differ
from one another?
A: Their basic substance
is one. However, when we
name them in accordance with their various functions,
there appear to be twenty-five of them. This
figure really
connotes the ten evils, the ten virtues, and the
five
skandhas.
Q: What are the ten evils
and the ten virtues?
A: The ten evils are: killing,
stealing, licentiousness,
lying, voluptuous speech, slander, coarse language,
covet-
ousness, anger, and false views." The ten virtues
may be
simply defined as absence of the ten
eVilS.12
36. Q: A little while ago you spoke of refraining
from
thinking (nien), but you did not finish your explanation
.13
A: It means not fixing your
mind upon anything any-
where, but totally withdrawing it from the phenomena
surrounding you, so that even the thought (szu)
of seeking
for something does not remain; it means that your
mind,
confronted by all the forms composing your environment,
remains placid and motionless. This abstaining
from all
thought whatever is called real thought; but to
keep on
thinking is deluded thinking and certainly not the right
way to think. Why is that? A sutra says: 'If
you teach people
to entertain the six meritorious thoughts,51 that is called
"teaching them to think in the wrong way".'So, even enter-
taining those six thoughts is termed 'deluded thinking',
while abstaining from them is known as 'real thought'.
A
sutra says: 'O virtuous one, it is through abiding in
the
Dharma of no thought that we obtain this golden colour
and these thirty-two bodily marks of Buddhahood which
emit an effulgent radiance that penetrates the entire
universe.' Such inconceivable merits even the Buddhas
cannot describe in full; how much the less can the devotees
of other vehicles know about them! Those who achieve
abstention from thought" are naturally able to enter upon
the Buddha-perception, for their six senses can no longer
stain their minds. Such an attainment is called
'entering
the treasury of the Buddhas', also known as 'the treasury
of the Dharma', which enables you to perform the Dharmas
of all Buddhas. How can that be so? Because
of abstention
from thought. The same sutra says: 'All Buddhas
are
produced by this sutra.'
Q: if we esteem absence of thought,
how can the notion
of 'entering upon Buddha-perception' have any validity?
A: Its validity stems from absence of
thought. How so?
A sutra says: 'All things take their stand upon the basis
of
nonabiding.' It also says: 'Take the case of a bright
mirror;
though it contains no fom-is, it can manifest a myriad
forms.'
Why is this? It is because of its brightness (stainless
clarity)
that it is able to reflect them. You disciples,
if your minds
are stainless, will thereby be freed from entertaining
er-
roneous thoughts; the stirring of your minds by the notion
of 'self' and 'others' will vanish; there will be nothing
but
purity (stainlessness) on account of which you will become
capable of unlimited perception. Sudden illumination
means deliverance while still in this life.
How shall I make
you understand that? You may be compared to
lion cubs,
which are genuine lions from the time of their birth;"
for,
with those who undertake to become suddenly illuniined,
it is just like that. The moment they practise
it, they enter
the Buddha-stage, just as the shoots put forth by
bamboos
in spring will have grown to resemble the parent
plants
without the least difference remaining even before
spring
has departed. Why so? Because the n-iinds
of these people
are void. Likewise, they who undertake sudden
illumi-
nation cut off erroneous thoughts at a stroke, thereby
eliminating the duality of selfness and otherness,
so that
perfect voidness and stillness supervene - thereby
parity
with the Buddhas is achieved without one jot of
difference
remaining. Therefore it is written that the
most ordinary
beings are profoundly holy.57 Those who undertake
sudden
illumination transcend the three realms of existence
within
this very life! As a sutra says: 'Transcend
the world from
its very midst; enter nirvana ere ridding yourselves
of
samsara's Moil.1511 if you do not employ this method
of
sudden illumination, you will be like a jackal following
and imitating a lion but unable to become a lion
even
after hundreds and thousands of aeons.
Q: Is the nature of the Absolute
(Chan-ju) a true void,
or not really void? To describe it as not
void is to imply
that it has form- yet to speak of it as void implies
extinction
(mere nothingness) and what would then be left for
sen-
tient beings to rely on in their practice for attaining
deliverance?
A: The nature of the Absolute
is void and yet not void.
How so? The marvellous' substance' of the Absolute, having
neither form nor shape, is therefore undiscoverable; hence
it is void. Nevertheless, that immaterial, formless
'substance'
contains functions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges,
functions which respond unfailingly to circumstances,
so
it is also described as not void. A sutra says:
'Understand
the one point and a thousand others will accordingly grow
clear; misunderstand that one and ten thousand delusions
will encompass you. He who holds to that one has
no
more problems to solve.' This is the great marvellous
awakening to the Way (truth). As one of the sutras
says:
'The myriad forms dense and close bear the imprint of
a
single dharma.' How then can so many sorts of views
arise from the one Dharma? All these karmic forces
are
rooted in activity. if, instead of pacifying our minds,
we
rely on scriptures to achieve enlightenment, we are under-
taking the impossible. Ourselves deceived, deceiving
others, our mutual downfall is assured. Strive on!
Strive
on! Explore this teaching most thoroughly! just let things
happen without making any response and keep your minds
from dwelling on anything whatsoever; for they who can
do this thereby enter nirvana. Attained, then, is
the
condition of no rebirth, otherwise called 'the gate of
non-
duality, the end of strife, the samadhi of universality'.19
Why so? Because it is ultimate purity. As
it is free from the
duality of selfless and otherness, it no longer gives
rise to
love and hatred. When all relativities are seen
as non-
existent, naught remains to be perceived." Thus is the
undiscoverable Bhutatathata revealed. This treatise
of mine
is not for the sceptic, but for those sharing the same
view
and following the same line of conduct. You ought
first to
discover whether people are sincere in their faith and
qualified to practise it without backsliding before you
expound it to them so that they can be awakened to its
meaning. I have written this treatise for
the sake of those
having a karmic affinity with it. I seek neither
fame nor
wealth. I desire only to emulate the Buddhas
who preached
their thousands of sutras and countless shastras
just for
the sake of sentient beings lost in delusion.
Since their
mental activities vary, appropriate teachings are
given to
suit individual cases of perverse views; hence the
great
variety of doctrines. You should know that
setting forth
the principle of deliverance in its entirety amounts
only to
this - when things happen, make no response.- keep
your
minds.from dwelling on anything whatsoever.. keep
them
.for ever still as the void and utterly pure (without
stain):
and thereby spontaneously attain deliverance.
Oh do not
seek for empty fame, mouthing forth talk of the
Absolute
with minds like those of apes! When talk contradicts
actions, that is known as self-deception; it will
lead to
your falling headlong into evil states of rebirth.
Seek not
fame and happiness in this lifetime at the cost
of un-
enlightenment and suffering for long aeons to come.
Strive
on! Strive on! Sentient beings must save themselves;
the
Buddhas cannot do it for them. If they could,
since there
have already been Buddhas as numerous as grains
of dust,
every single being must by now have been saved;
then
how is it that you and I are still being tossed
upon the
waves of life and death instead of having become
Buddhas?
Do please realize that sentient beings have to save
them-
selves and that the Buddhas cannot do it for them.
Strive
on! Strive on! Do it for yourselves.
Place no reliance upon
the powers of other Buddhas
.61 As the sutra says: 'Those
who seek the Dharma do not find it merely by clinging
to
the Buddhas.'
37. Q: In the coming generation, there will be many fol-
lowers of mixed beliefs; how are we to live side by side
with them?
A: Share the light with them, but do
not share their
karmas. Although you may be staying with them, your
minds will not dwell in the same place as theirs.
There is
a sutra which says: 'Though it follows the current of
circum-
stances, its nature is unchanging.' As to those other
students
of the Way, you are all studying the Way for the sake
of
that great cause - liberation; so, while never despising
those who have not studied the Dharma, you should
respect those who are studying it as you would respect
the Buddha. Do not vaunt your own virtues nor envy
the
ability of others. Examine your own actions; do
not hold
up the faults of others. Thus, nowhere will you
encounter
obstruction and you will naturally enjoy happiness.
I will
summarize all this in the form of a gatha:
Forbearance is the best of ways;
But first dismiss both self and other.
When things occur, make no response
And thus achieve true Bodbikaya.12
The Diamond Sutra says: 'If a Bodhisattva is thoroughly
versed in the doctrine of the unreality of the ego and
of
all dharmas (things), the Tathagata will call him a true
Bodhisattva.' It is also said that 'he who does not accept
anything, has nothing to reject; he is free of samsara
for
ever. He whose mind dwells on nothing whatsoever
is
called "a son of the Buddha" The Mahaparinirvana Sutra
says: 'When the Tathagata attained nirvana, he freed himself
from samsara for ever.' Here are some more gathas:
So wholly good my present state of mind
7-bat men's revilement cannot
stir my ire.
No word shall pass my lips of
right and wrong -
Nirvana and samsara form one Way
-
For I have learnt to reach that
mind of mine
Which basically transcends both
right and wrong.
Erroneous, discriminating thoughts
Reveal the worldling who has still
to learn.
I urge the errant folk of Kaliyug"
To rid their minds of every useless
straw.
How vast indeed my present state
of mind
My wordless unconcern ensures
its calm.
At ease and free, my liberation
won,
I roam at will without impediment.
In wordless silence all my days
are passed,
My every thought fixed on the
nominal.
In gazing on the Way, I am at
ease
And unaffected by samsara's round.
So marvelous my present state
qf mind,
I need intrude no longer on the
world,
Where splendor is illusion and
a cheat,-
7-be simplest clothes and coarsest
.food suffice.
On meeting worldly men, I scarcely
speak,
And so they say that I am dull
of wit.
Without, I have what seems a dullard's
stare,-
Within, my crystal clarity of
mind
Soundlessly tallies with Rabul's
bidden way64
Which worldly .folk like you have
yet to learn.
For fear that you may still be unable to understand the
real principle of deliverance, I shall demonstrate it
to you
once more.
38. Q: The Vimalakirtinirdesba Sutra says: 'Whosoever
desires to reach the Pure Land must first purify his mind.'
What is the meaning of this purifying of the mind?
A: It means purifying it to the point
of ultimate purity.
Q: But what does that mean?
A: It is a state of beyond purity and
impurity.
Q: Please explain it further.
A: Purity pertains to a mind which dwells
upon nothing
whatsoever. To attain to this without so much as
a thought
of purity arising is called 'absence of purity'; and to
achieve
that without giving it a thought is to be free from absence
of purity also.
39. Q: For followers of the Way, what constitutes realiz-
ation of the goal?
A: Realization must be ultimate realization.
Q: And what is that?
A: Ultimate realization means being
free from both
realization and absence of realizations
Q: What does that mean?
A: Realization means remaining unstained
by sights,
sounds and other sense perceptions from without, and
inwardly possessing minds in which no erroneous thinking
takes place. To achieve this without giving it a
thought is
called 'absence of realization'; and to achieve the latter
without giving that a thought either is called 'freedom
from absence of realization'.
40. Q: What is meant by 'a mind delivered'?
A: Having a mind free from the concepts
of delivered
and undelivered is called 'real deliverance'. This
is what
the Diamond Sutra means by the words: 'Even the Dharma
must be cast aside, how much more so the not-Dharma!'
Here, Dharma implies existence and not-Dharma implies
nonexistence - disengagement from both of which
results
in true deliverance.
41. Q: What is realization of truth (Tao)?
A: It means ultimate realization.
Q: What is that?
A: Ultimate realization is beyond
realization and non-
realization.
Q: And what is ultimate voidness?
A: Ultimate voidness is beyond
voidness and nonvoid-
ness.66
Q: And what is the fixed Bhutatathata
(Absolute)?
A: The Bhutatathata's fixity is
neither fixed nor unfixed.
The Diamond Sutra says: 'There is no fixed Dharma
called
anuttara-samyaksambodhi (supreme enlightenment)
and
there is no fixed Dharma which the Tathagata can
ex-
pound.'This is what another sutra means by: 'When
medi-
tating on the void, perception of the void should
not be
taken as realization.' This means abstention from
the
thought of voidness. Similarly, although we
practise fixing
the mind, we do not regard (success in this practice)
as
realization, because we entertain no thought of
fixity. Like-
wise, although we attain purity, we do not regard
it as
realization, because we entertain no thought of
purity.
Even when we attain to fixed concentration, to purity
and
to the state of letting the mind dwell upon nothing
whatso-
ever, if we permit any thought of our having made
progress
to enter our minds, that thought will be an erroneous
thought and we shall be caught in a net - that cannot
be
called deliverance! Moreover, if after attaining
to all this
we experience a lively awareness of being at ease and
independent (of all conditioning factors and so
on), we
must not take this for realization, or suppose that
deliver-
ance can be won by thinking in this way. As
the sutra
says: 'Allowing the concept of progress to enter
our minds
is not progress but error; whereas, if we keep our
minds
free from error, progress is unlimited.'
42. Q: What is the middle way?
A: It is without middle or extremes.
Q: What are the two extremes?
A: They are that-mindedness (pi
hsin) and this-minded-
ness (tzu hsin).
Q: What do those terms mean?
A: Being ensnared from without
by forms and sounds
is that-mindedness; allowing erroneous thoughts
to arise
within is this-mindedness. Being unstained
from without
by forms is called 'freedom from that-mindedness';
per-
mitting no erroneous thoughts to arise within is
called
'freedom from this-mindedness'. Such is the
meaning of
,no extremes'. And, if your rninds are without
extremes,
how can there be a middle? Reaching this state
is called
the 'middle way' or the 'true Way of the Tathagata’s'
by
which completely awakened people reach deliverance.
A
sutra says: 'The void is without middle or extremes;
with
the Buddhakaya it is also thus.' The voidness of
all forms
implies mind dwelling upon nothing whatsoever; and
the
latter implies the void nature of all forms - these
are two
ways of saying the same thing. This is the
doctrine of the
unreality of form, also called 'the doctrine of
the non-
existence of form'. If you people reject 'mind
dwelling
upon nothing whatsoever', then bodhi (enlightenment),
still and passionless nirvana, and perception of your real
nature through dhyana-samadhi, will all be closed
to you.
it is just by not allowing your minds to dwell upon
anything
whatsoever that you will perceive your own nature
when-
ever you practise attainment of bodhi, deliverance,
nirvana,
dhyana-samadhi, or the six paramitas. Why
so? The Dia-
mond Sutra says: 'Realizing that there is not the
smallest
thing to be attained is called "anuttara-samyaksambodhi"
(supreme enlightenment).'
43. Q: if we have performed all (good) deeds success-
fully, shall we receive a prediction of our future
Buddha-
hood?17
A: No.
Q: if we have gained ultimate
achievement by refraining
from the practice of any dharma (method) whatsoever,
shall we receive that prediction?
A: No.
Q: in that case, by what dharma
is that prediction to
be obtained?
A: It is obtainable when you cease
(clinging to) deeds
and to no deeds. Why so? The Vimalakitlinirdesba
Sutra
says: 'The nature and the phenomenal expression
of all
deeds are both impermanent.'According to the Mahapati-
nirvana Sutra: 'The Buddha said to Kashyapa, "There
is
no such thing as permanence of the totality of phenomenal
activity."' You must just avoid letting your minds
dwell
upon anything whatsoever, which implies (being uncon-
cerned about) either deeds or no deeds - that is
what
we call 'receiving a prediction of Buddhahood'.
What I
mean by not letting the mind dwell upon anything
what-
soever is keeping your minds free from hatred and
love.
This means that you must be able to see attractive things
without love for them arising in your minds, which is
termed 'having minds free from love'; and also that you
must be able to see repulsive things without hatred for
them arising in your minds, which is termed 'having minds
free from hatred'. When these two are absent, the
mind is
unstained and the nature of forms is seen as void.
Perception of the voidness of their nature leads to the
cutting off of concurrent causes and thus to spontaneous
deliverance. You must examine this thoroughly. if
the
meaning is not brilliantly clear to you, hasten to ask
your
questions. Do not allow the hours to pass in vain.
If you
people put your trust in this teaching and act accordingly,
without being delivered, I shall gladly take your places
in
hell for the whole of my existence. if I have deceived
you, may I be reborn in a place where lions, tigers and
wolves will devour my flesh! But, if you do not
put your
faith in this teaching, and do not practice it diligently,
that
will be because you do not understand it. Once you
have
lost a human body, you will not obtain another for millions
of aeons. Strive on! Strive on! It is
absolutely vital that you
come to understand.
THE TSUNG CHING RECORD OF
THE ZEN MASTER HUI HAI
ALSO KNOWN AS THE GREAT PEARL
A collection of dialogues recorded by the monk Tsung
Ching of Hua Yen Monastery in the city of Yii.
(Throughout Part Two 'M' stands for Master Hui Hai
while 'Q'
and 'A' stand for the questions and answers to others.)
1. When the Master first arrived in Kiangsi to pay
his
respects to Ma Tsu, the latter enquired, 'From where
have
you come?'
'From the Great Cloud Monastery
at Yileh Chou,'
answered the Master.
Q: 'What do you hope to
gain by coming here?'
M:'l have come seeking the
Buddha-dharma.'
To this Ma Tsu replied,
'Instead of looking to the
treasure house which is your very own, you have
left
home and gone wandering far away. What for?
I have
absolutely nothing here at all.61 What is this Buddha-dharma
that you seek?'
Whereat the Master prostrated
himself and enquired,
'Please tell me to what you alluded when you spoke
of a
treasure house of my very own.'
A: 'That which asked the
question is your treasure
75
house. It contains absolutely everything you need and
lacks nothing at all. it is there for you to use freely,
so
why this vain search for something outside yourself
No sooner were these words spoken
than the Master
received a great illumination and recognized his own mind!
Beside himself with joy, he hastened to show his gratitude
by prostrating himself again.
The Master spent the next six
years in attendance upon
Ma Tsu; but, as his first teacher - the one responsible
for
his admission to the monastic order - was growing old,
he had to return to YiAch Chou to look after him.
There
he lived a retired life, concealing his abilities and
outwardly
appearing somewhat mad. It was at this time that
he
composed his shastra - A Treatise Setting Fortb the
Essential Gateway to Trutb by Means qf Instantaneous
Aivakening. Later this book was stolen by HsCian
Yen, a
disciple of his brother-in-the-dharma, who brought it
from
the Yangtse region and showed it to Ma Tsu. Ma Tsu,
after
reading it carefully, declared to his disciples, 'In Yiieh
Chou there is now a great pearl; its lustre penetrates
every-
where freely and without obstruction.'
Now it happened that the assembly included
a monk
who knew that the Master had, in lay life been surnamed
Chu (a word identical in sound with the word for pearl).
In great excitement he hastened to communicate this infor-
mation to some other monks, who went in a group to
Yijeh Chou to call on the Master and follow him.
Thence-
forward the Master was called 'the Great Pearl'.
(Note inserted in the Chinese text: The Master Hui Hai,
Ocean
of Wisdom, was a native of Chien Chou.'9 He was received
into
the Order by the Venerable Tao Chih in the Great Cloud
Monastery at Yiieh Chou.)
2. Once the Master began his daily address to his disciples
by saying, 'I am no Ch'an adept; indeed,
I have not a
single thing to offer anyone, so I must
not keep you stand-
ing here longer. Go and take a rest
.171
In those days
the number of people who came to
study under him was gradually increasing.
As day follows
night, they came and pressed him for
instruction; he was
compelled to answer their questions
as soon as asked,
thus revealing his unimpeded powers
of dialectic. Endless
discussions took place with questions
and answers
following one upon another.
Once a group
of Dharma masters (learned preachers)
sought an interview and said, 'We have
some questions to
ask. Are you prepared to answer
them, Master?'
M: 'Yes.
The moon is reflected in that deep pond; catch
it if you like. 171
Q:'What is the
Buddha really like?'
M: 'if that
which is facing the limpid pond is not the
Buddha, what is it?'
The monks were
puzzled by this reply; after a long
pause, they enquired again, 'Master,
what dharma
(doctrine) do you expound in order to
liberate others?'
M: 'This poor
monk has no dharma by which to liberate
others.'
'All Ch'an masters
are of the same stuff they exclaimed,
whereat the Master asked them, 'What
dharmas do you
Virtuous Ones expound for liberating
others?'
A: 'Oh, we expound
the Diamond Sutra.'
M:'How many
times have you expounded it?'
A: 'More than
twenty times.'
M:'By whom was
it spoken?'
To this the
monks answered indignantly, 'Master, you
must be joking! Of course you know that it was spoken
by the Buddha.'
M: 'Well, that sutra states: "If
someone says the Tathagata
expounds the Dharma, he thereby slanders the Buddha!"
Such a man will never understand what I mean." Now, if
you say that it was not expounded by the Buddha, you
will thereby belittle that sutra. Will you Virtuous
Ones
please let me see what you have to say to that?'
As they made no reply, the Master
paused awhile before
asking his next question, which was, 'The Diamond Sutra
says: "He who seeks me through outward appearance, or
seeks me in sound, treads the heterodox path and cannot
perceive the Tathagata." Tell me, Virtuous Ones, who or
what is the Tathagata?71
A: 'Sir, at this point I find
myself utterly deluded.'
M:' Having never been illumined,
how can you say
that you are now deluded?'
So then the monk (who had spoken)
asked, 'Will the
Venerable Ch'an Master expound the Dharma to us?'
M: 'Though you have expounded
the Diamond Sutra
over twenty times, you still do not know the Tathagata!'
These words caused the monks to
prostrate themselves
again and to beg the Master to explain further, so he
said,
'The Diamond Sutra states: "The Tathagata is the Suchness
of all dharmas (phenomena)." How can you have forgotten
that?'
A: 'Yes, yes - the Suchness of
all dharmas.'
M:'Virtuous Ones, "yes" is also
incorrect.'
A: 'On that point the scripture
is very clear. How can
we be wrong?'
M: 'Then, Virtuous Ones, are you
that Suchness (too)?'
A: 'Yes, we are.'
M:'And are plants and rocks the
Suchness?'
A: 'They are.'
M:'Then is the Suchness of you
Virtuous Ones the
same as the Suchness of plants and rocks?'
A: 'There is no difference.'
M: 'Then how do you Virtuous Ones
differ from plants
and rocks?'
This silenced the monks for some
time, until at last
one of them exclaimed with a sigh, 'It is hard to
keep our
end up in discussions with a man so very much our
superior.'
After a considerable pause, they
enquired, 'How can
mahaparinirvana be attained?'
M: 'By avoiding all samsaric deeds
- those which keep
you in the round of birth and death.'
Q:'What deeds are they?'
M:'Well, seeking nirvana is a
samsaric deed. Casting
off impurity and clinging to purity is another.
Harbouring
attainments and proofs of attainment is another,
and so is
failure to discard rules and precepts.'
Q:'Please tell us how to achieve
deliverance.'
M:'Never having been bound, you
have no need to
seek deliverance. Straightforward functioning
and straight-
forward conduct cannot be surpassed.'
'Ah,' exclaimed the monks, 'People
like this Venerable
Ch'an Master are indeed rare!' Then they bowed their
thanks and left.
3. Once a man who practised Ch'an asked the Master,
'It
is said that mind is identical with the Buddha,
but which
of these is really the Buddha?'
M: 'What do you suppose is not
the Buddha? Point it
out to me!'
As there was no answer, the Master added, 'If you
comprehend (the mind), the Buddha is omnipresent to
you; but, if you do not awaken to it, you will remain
astray and distant from him for ever. 171
4. A Master of the Vinaya sect named Fa Ming once
remarked, 'You Ch'an masters do a lot of tumbling about
in the emptiness of the void.'
M: 'On the contrary, Venerable Sir,
it is you who tumble
a lot in the emptiness of the void.'
'How can that be?' exclaimed Fa Ming
in astonishment.
M: 'The scriptures are just words -
mere ink and paper
- and everything of that sort is just an empty device.
All
those words and phrases are based on something people
once heard - they are naught but emptiness. You,
Vener-
able Sir, cling to the mere letter of the doctrine, so
of
course you tumble about in the void.'
Q: 'And do you Ch'an masters not tumble
in the void?'
M:'We do not.'
Q: 'How not?'
A: 'All those writings are the products
of wisdom; and,
where wisdom's mighty function operates, how can there
by tumbling about in the void?'
'Ah,' replied Fa Ming, 'from this we
know that he for
whom there is a single dharma (doctrine) of which he has
not grasped the meaning cannot be called a Hsi-Ta
(Siddham).'
'Venerable Sir!' exclaimed our Master,
'You not only
tumble about in the void; you even misuse Buddhist tem-iin-
ology!'
'What term have I misused?' cried Fa
Ming, flushing
angrily.
M:'Why, Venerable Sir, you are even unable to dis-
tinguish between a Chinese word and an Indian word,
so
how can you manage to preach?'
Q:'Will the Venerable Ch'an
Master point out my
mistake?'
M:'Surely you must know
that Hsi-Ta (Siddham) is a
name for the Sanskrit alphabet?'
Though the Vinaya Master
then realized his mistake,
he was still blazing with anger .75
Fa Ming enquired again,
'The sutras, vinaya and
shastraS7' are all the teaching of the Buddha. if
we read
them, recite them, have faith in what they teach,
and act
accordingly, how can we fail to come face to face
with
our real nature?'
M: 'All this is like a dog
chasing after a lump of flesh,
or a lion devouring a man. The sutras, vinaya,
and the
shastras disclose the function of self-nature -
reading
and reciting them are mere phenomena arising from
that
nature.'
Q:'Had @tabha Buddha parents
and a surname?
177
M:'Yes. An-iitabha
Buddha was surnamed Kaushika.
His father's name was Candra-Uttara and his mother
was
called Surpassing Beauty.'
Q: 'From which scripture
does this information come?'
M: 'From the Collection
of Dbarani.'
At this Fa Ming bowed his
thanks and departed with
expressions of admiration.
5. A certain Tripitaka Master once enquired, 'Do
changes
occur within the Absolute (Bhutatathata)?'
M:'Yes, they do.'
'Venerable Master,' he replied,
'you are wrong-
Whereat the Master asked him a question as follows:
'Does the Tripitaka Master possess the Bhutatathata?'
A: 'Yes.'
M:'Well, if you hold that it undergoes
no changes,
you must be a very ignorant sort of monk. Surely
you
must have heard that a learned man can transform the
three poisons into the three cumulative precepts
;8 he can
transmute the six sense-perceptions into the six divine
perceptions; he can transform defilements (klesha) into
bodhi, and primordial ignorance into highest wisdom
(mahaprajna). So, if you suppose the Absolute incapable
of change, then you - a Master of the Tripitaka - are
really a follower of the heterodox sect which holds that
things happen spontaneously (i.e. not as a result of the
law of causality).'
A: 'If you put it that way, then the
Absolute does under-
go changes.'
M:'Yet your holding that the Absolute
does undergo
changes is equally heretical.'
A: 'Venerable Master, first you said
that the Absolute
does undergo changes and now you say that it does not.
What, then, is exactly the right answer?'
M: 'Those who have clearly perceived
their own nature,
which may be likened to a mani-pearl reflecting all appear-
ances, will be right if they say that the Absolute does
undergo changes and equally right in saying that it does
not. On the other hand, those who have not seen
their
own nature will, upon hearing of the changing Absolute,
cling to the concept of mutability; or, upon hearing that
the Absolute is unchanging, they will grasp at the concept
of immutability.'
'Ah, so it is true,' exclaimed the Tripitaka
Master, 'that
the Southern Ch'an sect really is too deep to fathom!
171
6. Once a Taoist, happening to pass by, asked, 'is there
anything in the world more marvellous than
the forces of
nature?'
M: 'There is.'
Q: 'And what is that?'
M: 'The power of comprehending
those natural forces.'
Q: 'Is cosmic vitality
the Way (Tao)?'
M:'Cosmic vitality
is cosmic vitality. The Tao is the
Tao.'
Q: 'if so, they must
be two different things?'
M:'That which knows
does not proceed from two
different persons.'
Q:'What is wrong and
what is right?'
M: 'Wrong is the mind
that attends to externals; right is
the mind that brings externals under control.'
7. A Vinaya Master named Yijan once came and
asked,
'Do you make efforts in your practice of the
Way, Master?'
M: 'Yes, I do.'
Q: 'How?'
M:'When hungry, I
eat; when tired, I sleep.'
Q: 'And does everybody
make the same efforts as you
do, Master?'
M:'Not in the same
way.'
Q: 'Why not?'
M: 'When they are
eating, they think of a hundred kinds
of necessities, and when they are going to
sleep they
ponder over affairs of a thousand different
kinds. That is
how they differ from me."'
At this, the Vinaya
Master was silenced.
8. TheVenerableYiAnKuang once asked ,'Master,
do you
know where you will be reborn?'
M:'We have not died yet; so what is the use of
discussing our rebirths? That which knows birth
is the
unborn. We cannot stray from birth to speak of the
unborn.
The Patriarch once said, "That which undergoes birth is
really unborn."'
Q: 'Does this apply even to those who
have yet to
perceive their own nature?'
M: 'Your not having perceived your own
nature does
not imply that you lack that nature. Why so?
Because per-
ception itself is that nature; without it, we should never
be able to perceive anything. Consciousness is also
that
nature, whence it is called 'the nature of consciousness'.
Understanding is also that nature, whence it is called
'the
nature of understanding'. That which can produce
the
myriad phenomena (dharmas) of the universe is called
'the Dharma-nature', otherwise known as the Dharmakaya.
The Patriarch Ashvaghosa ' declared, "In speaking
of
phenomena (dharmas), we really refer to the minds of
sentient beings; for, when mental processes (literally
Imindings', hsin) occur, all sorts of phenomena take birth
in accordance with them; and, when mental processes do
not occur, phenomena have nothing in which to arise -
there are not even names for them." Deluded people who
do not know that the Dharmakaya is immaterial but
becomes manifest in response to the needs of men, may
say that "fresh bamboos are the Dharmakaya" and that
"luxuriant clusters of yellow flowers are nothing but
prajna"!
Yet, if flowers are prajna, then prajna must be identical
with nonsentient matter; and, if green bamboos are the
Dharmakaya, then the Dharmakaya is a vegetable, so that
people dining off bamboo shoots are actually eating the
Dharmakaya! Is this sort of talk worth recording?
Instead
of recognizing the Buddha right in front of you, you spend
aeon after aeon searching for him. His whole substance
pervades all phenomena, but you are deluded
and look
for him elsewhere! Consequently, anyone
who understands
the Way (Tao) is never off it, whether walking,
standing,
sitting, or lying. Anyone who awakens
to the Dharma is
sovereign and at ease in all situations, since
none of them
are outside the Dharma.'
9. Presently, the Venerable Yiin Kuang asked
some further
questions.
Q:'Can spiritual wisdom spring
from the great
emptiness (t'ai hsij)? Is real mind
the causal product of
good and evil? Can those indulging their
desires be on the
Way? Can those clinging to right and
wrong develop
unimpeded use of mind? Can those in
whom sense-
impressions stir up mental processes achieve
one-pointed
concentration (ting)? Do people who
remain constantly
in motionless abstraction really possess wisdom?
Do those
who treat others with contempt really possess
egos? Are
those grasping at "is" and "is not" really
wise? Those who
seek realization through book-knowledge
'12 those who
seek the Buddha by means of austerities, those
who stray
from their minds in quest of Buddhahood and
those who
cling to mind's being the Buddha - are all
these various
people acting in accord with the Way?
I beg you, Master,
to reply to these points one by one.'
M: 'The great emptiness
does not give birth to spiritual
wisdom. Real mind is not the causal
product of good and
evil. Those whose evil desires lie deep
have exceedingly
shallow potentials. The minds of those
clinging to right
and wrong are obstructed. Those in whom
sense-
impressions stir up mental processes seldom
achieve one-
pointed concentration. In those who
remain constantly in
a state of motionless abstraction, forgetful of the mysterious
source of that stillness, wisdom is at a low ebb.
Self-
importance and contempt for others intensify the illusion
of an ego. Those grasping at "is" and "is not" are
stupid.
Those who seek realization in book-knowledge pile up
more obstructions for themselves. Those who seek
the
Buddha by means of austerities are all deluded.
Those
who stray from their minds in quest of Buddhahood are
heretics. Those who cling to mind as being the Buddha
are devils!,13
A: 'if all that is so, ultimately, we
find there is just
nothing at all.'
M:'We have come to the ultimate extent
of yourself,
Venerable Sir, but not to the ultimate.'
At this, the venerable monk, who was
now filled with
joy, hastened to prostrate himself in gratitude, and
departed.
10. Once our Master took his place in the assembly hall
and said, 'it is far better for all of you to be unconcerned
people .84 Why all this craze for karmic activities that
will
put felons' cangues about your necks and send you down
to hell? Toiling and moiling the whole day through,
telling
people you are practicing Ch'an and studying the Way,
holding forth about your understanding of the Buddha-
dharma - this sort of thing is no use at all. It
simply
amounts to rushing about in pursuit of sounds and forms.
Ah, when will you desist from it all? Once this
poor monk
heard the great Ma Tsu of Kiangsi say, "Your own treasure
house contains absolutely everything you need. Use
it freely
instead of searching vainly for something outside yourself."
From that day forward, I desisted. Making use of
your
own treasure house according to your needs - that can
be called happiness! There is no single thing (dharma)
which can be grasped or rejected. When you cease
looking
on things in their temporal aspect, and as having come
or
gone, then in the whole universe - above, below and
round about - there will be no grain of anything which
is not your own treasure. All you have to do is
carefully
contemplate your own minds; then the marvellous trinity
of Three jewels in One Substance 85 will constantly
manifest
itself; of this there is no shadow of doubt. Do
not search
for the truth with your intellects. Do not search
at all. The
nature of the mind is intrinsically pure. Therefore
it is
written in the Avatamsaka Sutra:
86 "All things have no
beginning; and all things have no end." Before those who
are able to interpret these words correctly the Buddhas
are ever present. Moreover, in the Vimalakirti Sutra
it is
written: "It is through your own bodies that reality is
per-
ceived; the Buddha is perceived in the same manner." if
you do not follow sounds and sights so that they stir
your
minds, and if you do not pursue appearances so that they
give rise to discriminations, you will then be unconcerned
people. Don't stand there for so long. Take
good care of
yourselves! 117
1 1. Upon the same day, as the assembly of monks did not
break up at the usual time, the Master said, 'Why do you
not disperse? This poor monk has already sat face
to face
with you. just go and rest."' What doubts do you still
entertain? Do not misuse your minds and waste your
energy. if something is still bothering you, hurry up
and
ask whatever you wish.'
Then Fa Yijan, one of the monks
present, asked, 'What
are Buddha, Dharma and Sangha; what are the Three
jewels in One Substance? We beg you, Master, to
explain.'
M: 'Mind is the Buddha and it is needless to use this
Buddha to seek the Buddha. Mind is the Dharma and
it is
needless to use this Dharma to seek the Dharma.
Buddha
and Dharma are not separate entities and their togetherness
forms the Sangha. Such is the meaning of Three jewels
in
One Substance. A sutra says: "Mind, Buddha and sentient
beings - there is no difference between any of them.
When your body, speech and mind are purified, we say a
Buddha has appeared in the world. When these three
become impure, we say a Buddha has been extinguished."
For example, when you are angry you are not joyous,
and when you are joyous you are not angry; yet, in both
cases, there is only the one mind which is not of two
substances. Fundamental wisdom is self-existent;
when
the passionless (anasraya - that which is outside the
stream
of transmigration) appears, it is like a snake becoming
a
dragon without changing its scaly skin. Likewise,
when
sentient beings turn their rninds towards Buddhahood,
they do not change their physiognomies. Our nature,
which
is intrinsically pure does not rely on any practice in
order
to achieve its own state. Only the arrogant claim
that there
are practice and realization. The real void is without
ob-
struction and its function is, under all circumstances,
inexhaustible. It is without beginning or end.
Those of
high spirituality are capable of sudden illumination,
whereon its function will be (seen to be) unsurpassable
- this is anuttara-samyaksambodhi (unexcelled enlight-
enment). Mind has neither form nor shape; it is
the subtle
Sambhogakaya. That which is forn-less is the Dharmakaya
of Reality. That of which the nature and phenomenal
ex-
pression are void is the Boundless Immaterial Body.
That
which is adorned with a myriad modes of salvation is the
Dharmakaya of Merit, which is the fundamental power
responsible for the conversion of sentient beings; it (mind)
is named according to how it appears and its wisdom is
inexhaustible - hence it is called 'the inexhaustible
Treasury'. As the progenitor of all phenomena (dharmas),
it is called 'the Primal Dharma Treasury'. As the container
of all knowledge, it is called 'the Wisdom Treasury'.
As
the Suchness to which all phenomena ultimately return, it
is called'the Tathagata Treasury'. The Diamond Sutra says:
"Tathagata means the Suchness of all dharmas." Another
sutra says: 'Of all the dharmas in the universe coming
into existence and fading out of existence, there is not
one which does not return to the Suchness."'
12. A guest staying at the monastery said, 'I do not know
which of these three - a Vinaya master (upholder of
monastic discipline), a Dharma master (skilled preacher),
or a Ch'an master - is the greatest. I beg you, Master,
out
of compassion for my ignorance, to make the matter clear
to me.'
M: 'The Vinaya masters expound the discipline
section
of the scriptures and transmit the ancient tradition for
preserving the infinite life of the Dharma (doctrine).
Seeing
clearly who are the upholders and who are the trans-
gressors of the disciplinary rules, they know how to
encourage the former and to restrain the latter. They
know
how to comport themselves in accordance with the rules
and regulations in a manner which inspires respect. They
officiate at the three kinds of confession which precede
transmission of the Vinaya, and they teach the initial steps
leading to the four grades of sainthood. Unless they have
spent their lives virtuously up to the onset of old age,
how will they dare take charge of those duties? The Dharma
masters sit crosslegged upon their lion-thrones pouring
forth rivers of eloquence to huge crowds, expounding
means of chiselling a way through the Mysterious
Pass, or
of opening the marvellous Gates of Prajna by which
the
voidness of giver, receiver and alms is revealed."'
Who,
unless they can trample all before them like a lion
or an
elephant, would dare undertake to be a match for
all this?
The Ch'an masters grasp at essentials and gain a
direct
understanding of the Mind Source. Their methods
consist
of revealing and hiding, of exposing and covering
reality
in a crisscross manner, which responds adequately
to all
the different grades of potentiality (for enlightenment).
They excel in harmonizing facts with the underlying
principle, so that people may suddenly perceive
the Tatha-
gata; and, by pulling up their deep samsaric roots,
they
cause their pupils to experience samadhi on the
spot. Thus,
unless they are capable of achieving tranquillizing
dhyana
and imperturbable abstraction, they are certainly
bound
to be flustered under such circumstances.
Although the
three methods of training - discipline, dhyana and
wisdom
- differ in that they present the Dharma in a manner
suited to the capability of each individual, once
a disciple
has awakened to their profound meaning by forgetting
all
about the wording, how do they differ from the One
Vehicle?'O Wherefore it is written in a sutra: "In
all the
Buddha-realm-is of the ten quarters, there is only
the Dharma
of the One Vehicle" - there is neither a second
nor a
third, except in so far as the Buddha employed relative
terms in his expedient teaching for the guidance
of sentient
beings.'
'Master,' exclaimed the
guest, 'you have penetrated
the Buddha-dharma's profundity and your dialectic
powers
are unimpeded.'
Then he asked a further
question, 'Do Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism really amount to one doctrine,
or
to three?'
M:'Employed by those of great capacity,
they are the
same. As understood by those of limited
intellect, they
differ. All of them spring forth from
the functioning of the
one self-nature. It is views involving
differentiation which
make them three. Whether a person remains
deluded or
gains illumination depends upon that person,
not upon
differences or similarity of doctrine.'
13. The Venerable Tao Kuang, who was an adherent
of
the Dharmalaksana school (which holds that
consciousness
is real) and also a commentator upon the scriptures,
enquired, 'Master, what mental processes (hsin)
do you
employ in pursuing the Way?'
M:'l have no mental processes
that would be of use
and no Way to follow.'
Q: 'if both those statements
are true, why is it that
every day you convene gatherings during which
you urge
others to learn how to follow the Way by means
of Ch'an?'
M: 'This old monk does not
possess even a dot of
ground in which to stick an awl," so how can
he gather
people? He does not have so much as
a tongue, then how
can he urge people to do anything?'
A: 'Why, Master, you are
lying to my face.'
M: 'How can this old monk,
being without a tongue to
urge people, tell a lie?'
A: 'Really I do not understand
the way the Venerable
Ch'an Master talks.'
M:'Nor does this old monk
understand himself."'
14. The Venerable Chih, who used to expound
the
Avatamsaka Sutra, asked, 'Why will you not
allow that
fresh green bamboos are the Dharmakaya and that
luxuriant clusters of yellow flowers are nothing
but prajna?'
M: 'The Dharmakaya is immaterial,
but avails itself of
the prevailing green bamboos to reveal itself.
Prajna does
not differentiate, but avails itself of the prevailing
yellow
flowers to manifest itself. These yellow flowers
and bam-
boos do not themselves possess prajna or the Dharma-
kaya. Therefore it is written in a sutra:
"The real
Dharmakaya of the Buddhas is likened to a void;
it reveals
itself in response to the needs of living beings
like the
moon being reflected in the water." if yellow flowers
are
prajna, then prajna would be identical with inanimate
objects; if green bamboos were the Dharmakaya, then
they would be capable of the Dharmakaya's responsive
functioning. Do you understand, Venerable
Sir?'
A: 'No, I do not.'
M:'Those who have perceived
their own nature will
be right whether they say that those things are
prajna and
the Dharmakaya or that they are not; for they will
carry
out its function according to prevailing circumstances
without being hindered by the dual conception of
right
and wrong. As for the people who have not
yet perceived
their own nature, when they speak of green bamboos
they form a rigid concept of green bamboos as such;
and,
when they speak of yellow flowers, they form the
same
sort of rigid concept. Moreover, when they
speak of the
Dharmakaya it becomes an obstruction to them, and
they
talk of prajna without knowing what it is.
Thus, everything
they say remains at the level of theoretical debate.'
Chih bowed his thanks and
withdrew.
15. Somebody once asked, 'How much time do we need
to attain deliverance by setting our minds on practising
the Dharma?'
M:'Using the mind for practices
is like washing dirty
things in sticky mud. Prajna is mysterious
and wonderful.
itself unbegotten, its mighty functioning is at
our service
regardless of times and seasons.'
Q:'Can ordinary people succeed
in mastering those
functions?'
M:'Those who have perceived their
own nature are
no longer ordinary people. The Supreme Vehicle
of sudden
illumination transcends ordinary and holy alike.
While
deluded people are talking of ordinary and holy,
illumined
people leap over samsara and nirvana - both!
While
deluded people are speaking of facts and of the
underlying
principle, illumined people exercise their function
without
restriction. While deluded people seek achievement
and
realization, illumined people remain free from both.
While
deluded people set their hopes upon some far-distant
aeon,
illumined people instantly perceive all.'
16. Once a commentator on the Vimalakirti Sutra said,
'It
is written in our sutra: "You should regard the
six heretics
as your teachers. After you have joined the
Order, you
should be misled by them and take part in their
fall. Those
giving you alms should not be called 'cultivators
of the
field of blessedness'. Those making you offerings
should
fall into the three evil states of existence.
You should vilify
the Buddha and destroy the Dharma. You should
not
belong to the sangha and you should not attain deliver-
ance." if you can behave like this, you may take
my food."
I ask you, Master, to give me a clear explanation
of this
passage.'
M: "'The six teachers" is
a term for "the six senses"
from which your delusions arise. The term "heretic" refers
to seeking the Buddha apart from mind. Whatever
can be
given away cannot be called "a field of blessedness".
Your
being stirred by the thought of receiving offerings
will
land you an-iidst the three evil states.9' if you
dare to vilify
the Buddha, you are not attached to Buddha-seeking;
if
you dare to slander the Dharma you are not attached
to
Dharma-seeking; and your not joining the sangha
implies
that you are not attached to sangha-seeking.
Your "not
attaining deliverance" means that your inherent
wisdom,
now freed from this last obstruction, can manifest
itself
instantaneously. If you can interpret the
passage in this
way, you will receive as food joy in the Dharma
and the
happiness of meditation (ch'an).'
17. A man who practised meditation once asked, 'There
are some who, when questioned about the Buddha,
just
answer, "Buddha!" Questioned about the Dharma, they
simply answer, "Dharma!" This is called "the one-word
method". I do not know if it is right or not.'
M: 'Like parrots @cking human
speech, those people
have nothing to say for themselves because they
lack
wisdom. Their method is similar to that of
using water to
cleanse water, or fire to burn fire - all are absolutely
valueless!'
18. Someone asked if words and speech are the same.91
M:'The same. Speech
means words arranged in
sentences. Fluent dialectic resembling an
ever-flowing
stream, so manifold and sublime as to suggest a
vessel
pouring forth pearls; such is speech - it clears
away the
myriad phenomenal appearances, gushes forth in unending
torrents of eloquence and skilfully interprets an
ocean of
meanings. As for words, a single syllable reveals the mind,
which is inwardly mysterious and profound, while
outwardly it exhibits marvellous aspects; amidst
a myriad
disturbing forces, it remains imperturbable- and
it remains
for ever distinct amidst a medley of pure and impure.
All
this may be likened to the minister's words which
made
the Prince of Chi blush,91 or to Vimalakirti's silent
preaching
which Manjushri praised 97 - how can
ordinary people of
today hope to understand such things?'
19. The Vinaya Master YiAan once said, 'You Ch'an
masters
always claim extravagantly that Mind is the Buddha.
You
are wrong, for even Bodhisattvas at the first stage
911 (of
development into Buddhas) can appear in bodily forms
in a hundred different Buddha-realms, and those
at the
second stage can multiply themselves ten times more
than
that. (Since Mind is the Buddha), will the Ch'an
Master try
out his miraculous powers and do the same for me
to
see?'
M:'Venerable Acharya, are
you yourself an ordinary,
or a saintly monk?'
A: 'Ordinary.'
M:'Since you are but an
ordinary monk, how can you
ask questions about matters like that? This
is what a sutra
means by saying: "The Virtuous One's mind is turned
upside down and does not accord with the Buddha-
wisdom."'99
A: 'You Ch'an masters always
say that if we awaken to
the Way right in front of us, we shall attain deliverance
in
our present bodily form. You are wrong.'
M:'Suppose someone, after
a lifetime of virtuous
conduct, suddenly puts forth a hand and steals something.
is that person a thief in his or her present bodily
form?'
A: 'Obviously, yes.'
M:'Then, if at this moment someone
suddenly
perceives his or her own nature, tell me why that person
cannot be delivered?'
A: 'At this moment? Impossible!
According to the sutras,
three aeons-of-uncountable-extent (asamkhyeya-kalpas)
must pass before we attain to it."00
M: 'Can aeons-of-uncountable-extent
be counted?'
At this YiAan shouted indignantly,
'Can someone who
draws an analogy between thievery and liberation claim
that he reasons correctly?'
M: 'Acharya, you do not understand
the Way, but you
should not prevent others from understanding it.
Your
own eyes are shut, so you get angry when others sec.'
Red in the face, Ytian began striding
away, but called
over his shoulder, 'Who's an old muddlehead right off
the
Way?'
M: 'That which is striding away
is just your Way.'
20. A venerable monk called Hui, who preached the Chih-
Kuan doctrine (of the T'ien T'ai school), asked, 'Master,
are you able to discern demons?'
M: 'Yes. A stirred mind
is the heavenly demon; a stirless
mind is the demon of the five aggregates; a mind that
is
sometimes stirred and sometimes stirless is the passion
(klesha) demon. According to this "right" dharma
of mine,
there should be none of these.'
Q: 'What is the meaning of (the
T'ien T'ai practice of)
simultaneous meditation upon the One Mind's three
aspects?"Ol
M:'Besides the past mind which
is already gone, the
future mind which has yet to come, and the present mind
which does not stay, which mind will you use for your
meditation?'
A: 'So the Venerable Ch'an Master
does not understand
the Chih-Kuan teaching (to which I alluded).'
M:'Do you understand it, Venerable
Commentator?'
A: 'I do.'
M: 'As the great Master Chih Chu
112 said, "'Chih (silencing
the mind to obtain samadhi) is preached to
wipe out (the
illusion of) Chih; and Kuan (looking into
the mind to
cause prajna to appear and function normally)
is preached
to eradicate the illusion of Kuan. To
dwell on Chih is to
drown oneself in the ocean of birth and death-,
to abide in
Kuan is to upset the mind." Will you use the
mind to put
a stop to mind and stir the mind to meditate
on it? Setting
the mind on meditation involves attachment
to perma-
nence; setting no mind on meditation involves
annihilation.
Clinging to the concept of "either existence
or non-
existence" implies (attachment to) a dualism.
Then how
will the Venerable Conu-nentator expound (the
Chih-Kuan
practice) correctly for me to see?@
A: 'Since you put
it like that, there is really nothing I
can say.'
M:'If so, have you
ever really understood the Chih-
Kuan practice?'
21. Someone asked, 'Is prajna very large?'
M: 'It is.'
Q: 'How large?'
M: 'Unlimited.'
Q: 'Is prajna small?'
M: It is.'
Q: 'How small?'
M:'So small as to
be invisible.'
Q: 'Where is it?'
M: 'Where is it not?'103
22. A monk commentator of the Vimalakirlinirdesba
Sutra
enquired, 'According to our sutra: "After all the
Bodhi-
sattvas who were present had spoken of their interpretation
of the nondual Dharma-gate (to enlightenment), Vimalakirti
remained silent." Is that the ultimate?"
M: 'It is not. If
the sacred meaning had been wholly
revealed (by that), there would have been nothing
more
for the third section of the sutra to say.'
After a long pause, the
Conunentator enquired, 'Will
the Venerable Ch'an Master explain to me the ultimate
meaning that was not wholly revealed?'
M: 'The first section of
that sutra taught the Buddha's
ten chief disciples how their minds should abide.
The
second section described how each of the Bodhisattvas
present spoke of their entry into the nondual Dharma-
gate; they used words to reveal that which is wordless.
Manjushri, however, revealed the wordless through
absence
of words and speech; whereas Vimalakirti employed
neither words nor absence of words to wind up their
statements. The third section began after
Vimalakirti's
silence and went on to reveal the transcendental
function.
Does the Venerable Conunentator understand?'
A: 'Well, what a strange
way of putting it!'
M: 'It is not so strange.'
Q: 'Why not?'
M: 'I explain it like that
to wipe out passionate clinging
to the reality of an ego. if you take the sutra's
real meaning,
it tells you only that the material and immaterial
are void
and still (i.e. in the nirvanic condition), so as
to enable
you to perceive your own nature. It teaches
you how to
give up wrong practices in favour of right practice. So
you must not allow your mind to give rise
to discriminative
thoughts about words, speech, and printed
texts. it would
be quite enough if you could fully understand
just the
two words composing Vimalakirti's name - "Vimala"
(spot-
less) refers to the fundamental "substance"
and "kirti" (repu-
tation) is its functional manifestation.115
This functional
manifestation proceeds from the fundamental
"substance"
and it is by means of it that we return to
that "substance".
Since "substance" and manifestation are one
in reality, the
fundamental and its manifestation do not differ
from each
other. For this reason the ancients
said, "Though the funda-
mental and its manifestations are different
denominations,
the inconceivable (of which they are aspects)
is but one;
and yet, even tl-iat one is not one.""" Had
you understood
the real meaning of the two denominations
expediently
tern-ied "Vimala" (spotless) and "kirti" (reputation),
it would
be superfluous to speak of the ultimate and
the not-
ultimate. (There is only that which is) neither
preliminary
nor final, neither root nor twig and neither
vimala nor
kirti. The instruction consists in revealing
to sentient beings
their fundamental nature which cognizes its
own inde-
scribable state of deliverance. Those
who have not
perceived their own nature will never in all
their lives
understand this doctrine.'
23. A monk asked, 'Since all the myriad phenomena
(dharmas) are nonexistent, the nature of mind
should also
be nonexistent. just as a bubble having burst
can never
re-form, so can a person once dead never be
reborn, for
nothing remains of that person. Where
will the nature of
that person's mind be then?'
M:'Bubbles are composed
of water. When a bubble
bursts, does the water composing it cease to be? Our bodies
proceed from our real nature. When we die, why should
you say that our nature is no more?'
A: 'If you maintain there is such a
nature, bring it forth
and show it to me!'
M:'Do you believe there will be a morrow?'
A: 'Yes, certainly.'
M: 'Bring it forth and show it to me!'
A: 'There will surely be a morrow, but
not just now.'
M: 'Yes, but its not being just now
does not mean that
there will be no morrow. You personally do not perceive
your own nature, but this does not mean that your nature
does not exist. just now, there is before you that which
wears a robe, takes food and walks, stands, sits, or reclines,
but you do not recognize it (for what it is). You may
well
be called a stupid and deluded person. If you discriminate
between today and tomorrow, that is like using your own
nature to search for your own nature; you will not perceive
it even after myriads of aeons. Yours is a case of not
seeing
the sun, not of there being no sun.'
24. A monk who used to give lectures on the Ch'ing Lung
(Green Dragon) CommentarV
17 (on the Diamond Sutra)
enquired, 'Our sutra says: "(When the Tathagata expounds
the Dharma) there is really no Dharma to teach; but this is
(expediently) called 'teaching the Dharma'." How does
the Venerable Ch'an Master interpret this passage?'
M:'The substance of prajna is utterly
pure and does
not contain a single thing on which to lay hold - this is
the meaning of "there is no Dharma to teach". As this
nirvanic substance, prajna, is endowed with functions
countless as the sands of the Ganges, there is not a thing
which can escape its knowledge - this is the meaning of
"this is (expediently) called preaching the
Dharma".'
25. A commentator of the Avatamsaka Sutra asked,
'Do
you believe that inanimate objects are Buddhas?'
M:'I do not. If inanimate
objects were Buddhas, then
a living man would be inferior to a dead man;
why, even
dead donkeys and dead dogs ought to be superior
to him!
A sutra says: "The Buddha-body is the Dharmakaya;
it is
begotten of discipline, dhyana and wisdom,
by the three
insights, the six transcendental powers" and
by the per-
formance of all excellent modes of salvation."
If an inani-
mate object were the Buddha, then, were Your
Reverence
to die now, you would automatically become
a Buddha!'
26. A Dharma Master enquired, 'Do you believe
that the
greatest merit derives from the recitation
of the Prajna
Sutra?'
M: 'I do not.'
Q: 'So all ten volumes of the
Stories of Divine Responses
are unworthy of belief
M:'Filial piety practised while
parents are still alive
ensures divine responses (and rewards); this
does not mean
you have to wait until after their death so
that their bleached
skeletons may bless you."' Sutras are made
of paper
covered with words printed in ink, but printed
words,
paper and ink are without self-nature; so
from whence
will those divine responses capable of fulfilling
your wishes
come? Effectual answers come from proper
use of the
mind by the person who reads the sutras; and
this explains
how the divine power works in response to
appeal from
a living being. You may test this for
yourself by taking a
volume of the sutras and leaving it quietly
on a table. If
nobody picks it up and recites it and practises it, do you
suppose it can possibly have any marvellous efficacy in
itseIP'
27. A monk enquired, 'How are we to interpret correctly
all names, forms, speech and silence in order to integrate
them and realize a state that is neither anterior nor
posterior?'
M:'When a thought arises, fundamentally
there is
neither form nor name; how can you speak in terms of
before and after? Failure to understand the essential
purity
of all that has name and form is the cause of your mis-
takenly reckoning everything in those terms. People are
locked in by these names and forms, and, lacking the key
of wisdom, they are unable to unlock themselves. Those
clinging to the Middle Way suffer from Middle Way
psychosis; those grasping at extremes suffer from a dualist
psychosis. You do not comprehend that that which mani-
fests itself right now is the unequalled Dharmakaya.
Delusion and awakening, as well as gain and loss, pertain
to the worldly way. The rising (of the thought) of creation
and destruction leads to the burial of true wisdom; both
the cutting off of defilements (klesha) and the search for
bodhi are in direct opposition to wisdom.'
28. Once somebody asked, 'Why do the Vinaya masters
not believe in Ch'an?'
M:'The noumenon is profoundly mysterious
and not
easily revealed, whereas names and forms are easy to
grasp. Those who do not perceive their self-nature refuse
to believe in it; those who do perceive their self-nature
are called Buddhas. Only those who recognize the Buddha
can believe in and enter the noumenon. The Buddha does
not flee from people; it is people who flee the Buddha.
Buddhahood can be realized only by the mind. While
deluded people seek it through printed words, illumined
people look into their minds and realize bodhi. Deluded
people sow causal deeds and await their fruition, whereas
illumined people understand the immateriality of mind.
Deluded people cling to the (illusory) ego and hold it to
be their very own, but illun-iined people employ their prajna
which, when called upon to do so, manifests itself instan-
taneously. Deluded people are hindered by their clinging
to "is" and "is not", while people of wisdom perceive
their own nature and understand the marvellous inter-
penetration of all forms. Those who have reached only
the "dry wisdom""' stage grow weary of their dialectics,
whereas people of (real) wisdom and clear understanding
set their minds at rest. When Bodhisattvas touch anything
(those people's wisdom) shines upon it (enabling them to
perceive it as it really is), while Shravakas darken their
minds with fear of their surroundings."' illumined people,
in their daily activities, do not stray from the uncreate, but
deluded people screen themselves from the Buddha who
is right in front of them.'
29. Once somebody asked, 'How can we obtain the power
of bodily freedom from natural law?'
M: 'Spiritual self-nature pervades all
worlds which are
countless as the sands of the Ganges; it penetrates moun-
tains, rivers, rocks and cliffs without hindrance, leaping
an infinite distance in a single moment, going and coming
without trace. Fire cannot burn it, nor water drown it.
Fools, having no n-iind-wisdom, want their (bodies which
are composed of the) four elements to fly! It is written
in
a sutra that ordinary people who cling to forms must be
taught in accordance with their capacities. So mind's form-
lessness is described as the subtle
Sanibhogakaya. That
which is immaterial is reality, the
"substance" of which is
void; hence it is called "the Boundless
Space-like Body".
As it is adorned with merits deriving
from a myriad modes
of salvation, it is called "the Dharmakaya
of Merit, the
source of all befitting activities".
Despite all these names
derived from its varied functions, in
reality there is but the
pure Dharmakaya.'
30. Somebody once asked, 'if we follow
the Way with
undivided mind, will the load of karmic
obstructions
resulting from our past deeds be dissipated?'
M:'For those who have not
yet perceived their own
nature, it will not be dissipated; whereas
those who per-
ceive it thereby wipe out all karmic
obstruction just as the
hot sun melts the frost and snow.
They may be likened to
people able to burn up all the grass
covering the mighty
slopes of Mount Sumeru in a single flash,
for their karmic
obstruction is like that grass and their
wisdom is like that
fire!'
Q:'How can we know
when all karmic obstructions
have been dissipated?'
M: 'When you see through
to the mind now manifesting
itself in front of you, all arising
concepts of past and present
will be viewed in the light of that
perception. All past and
future Buddhas, together with the myriad
phenomena,
will be seen as appearing simultaneously.
The sutra says:
"Knowledge of all phenomena contained
in a single
thought-moment is a bodhimandala, for
it ensures achieve-
ment of (the Buddha's) universal knowledge
(sarvajna)."'
31. A man who practiced meditation once asked, 'How
can I abide in the right dharma?'
M: 'To seek abode in the right
dharma is wrong. Why
so? Because the right dharma is neither wrong
nor right.'
Q:'Then how am I to become a Buddha?'
M:'You need not cast aside the
worldly mind; just
refrain from soiling your self-nature.
The sutra says: "Mind,
Buddha and living beings do not differ from
one another."'
Q: 'Can we gain deliverance just
by interpreting in this
way?'
M: 'Since fundamentally you are
not bound, why seek
deliverance? The Dharma is beyond mere
words, speech
and writings. Do not seek it amidst
a plethora of sentences.
The Dharma does not pertain to past, present
and future;
you cannot unite with it at the level of causal
law. The
Dharma transcends everything and is incomparable.
The
Dharmakaya, though immaterial, manifests itself
in
response to the needs of living beings; so
you cannot turn
away from the worldly to seek deliverance.'
32. A monk enquired the meaning of prajna.
M: 'If you suppose
that anything is not prajna, let me
hear what it is?'
Q:'How may we perceive
our own nature?'
M: 'That which perceives
is your own nature; without
it there could be no perception.'
Q:'Then what is self-cultivation?'
M:'Refraining from
befouling your own nature and
from deceiving yourself is (the practice of)
self-cultivation.
When your own nature's mighty function manifests
itself,
this is the unequalled Dharmakaya.'
Q:'Does our own nature
include evil?'
M:'It does not even
include good!'
Q: 'If it contains neither good nor evil, where should
we direct it when using it?'
M:'To set your mind on using it is a great
error.'
Q: 'Then what should we do to be right?'
M-.'There is nothing to do and nothing which
can be
called right.1113
33. Once somebody enquired, 'Suppose a man
is sitting
in a boat and the boat keel cuts to death
a shellfish. Is the
man guilty, or should the boat be blamed
M:'Man and boat had no mind to kill
the shellfish,
and the only person to be blamed is you.
When a tearing
wind snaps off a branch which falls and kills
somebody,
there is no murderer and no murdered. in all
the world,
there is no place where living beings do not
have to suffer.'
34. A monk asked, 'I still do not understand
how realiz-
ation can be achieved in a single thought-moment
(ksana)
by relying on (people) displaying certain
feelings or
passions, or on their pointing at the surrounding
objects,
their speech or silence, their raising their
eyebrows or
moving their eyes."14
M:'There is nothing which is outside
self-nature. its
function is marvellous - marvellous in its
motion and in
its stillness. Those who have (attained
to) real mind express
that reality whether they speak, or keep silent.
For one
who understands the Way, walking, standing,
sitting, or
lying - all are the Way. When the self-nature
is obscured
by delusion, a myriad illusions arise.'
Q: 'What is the meaning
of "a dharma (doctrine) has
its aims"?'
M:'From the moment of its
establishment, a dharma
(doctrine) is complete in all its meanings.
(As the sutra
says:) "Manjushri, all dharmas (doctrines) are established
upon basic impermanence.11,115
Q: 'Do you mean that there
is just a great emptiness?'
M:'Are you scared by emptiness?'
A: 'Yes, I am scared.'
M:'That which is scared
is not the same as a great
emptiness.'
Q:'How shall we understand
that which is beyond
the reach of words?'
M:'Now, while you are speaking,
what is there which
cannot be reached by your words?'
35. There were over ten older monks who came
and asked
the Master, 'There is a sutra which speaks
of the destruction
of the Buddha-dharma, but we do not know if
the Buddha-
dharma is destructible.'
M:'Worldlings and heretics
claim that it can be
destroyed, whereas Shravakas and Pratyeka
buddhas hold
it to be indestructible. The "right"
dharma of mine has no
room for these two opinions. As to that
"right" dharma, it
is not only worldlings and heretics who have
not yet reached
the Buddha-stage, for the followers of the
two smaller
vehicles (Shravakas and Pratyekabuddhas) are
just as bad.'
Q: 'Do the dharmas (doctrines)
that treat of reality,
illusion, immateriality and materiality each
have a seed-
nature?"'
M:'Although a dharma itself
has no seed-nature, it
manifests itself in response to the needs
of living beings.
When the mind abides in illusion, everything
becomes
illusory; if there were a single dharma (phenomenon)
not
illusory, illusion would be stable! if the
mind is immaterial,
everything is immaterial if there were a single
dharma
not immaterial, the concept of imateriality
would not be
valid. When you are deluded, you run after a dharma;
when you are enlightened, you can manipulate it!
The
utmost limit of the universe with all its immense variety
is
space; and all earth's many rivers merge with their final
destination, the sea; all saints and sages can reach their
apotheosis in Buddhahood; and the twelve divisions of
the canon, the five groupings of Vinaya and the five group-
ings of shastras have for their highest aim realization
of
own-mind. Mind is the marvellous basis of Dharani'17
and
the great source of all phenomena; it is called "the Store-
house of Great Wisdom", or "the Nonabiding Nirvana".
Although there are innumerable names for it, all serve
to
designate Mind.
Q:'What is illusion?'
M: 'Illusion has no stable appearance;
it is like a whirling
fire,"" like a mirage city, like puppets on strings, like
(the
mirage oases caused by) sunbeams, like flowers in the
sky - none are real.'
Q: 'Who is the great illusionist?'
M: 'Mind is the great illusionist; the
body is the City of
Great Illusion, and names are its garments and sustenance.
In all the worlds, countless as Ganges' sands, there is
not
anything which is outside illusion. Worldlings,
unable to
understand illusion, are deluded by illusory karma wher-
ever they happen to be. Shravakas, being afraid
of illusory
phenomena, darken their minds and enter a state of stillness
(i.e. relative nirvana). Bodhisattvas, knowing all
illusions
and understanding that their substance is illusory, are
indifferent to all names and forms. The Buddha is
the
great illusionist who turned the great illusory Dharma-
wheel, attained illusory nirvana, transmuted illusory
sam-
sara into that which is beyond birth and death, and
transformed lands of filth, innumerable as the sands of
the Ganges, into the pure Dharmadhatu.
36. A monk once enquired, 'Why do you forbid people
to
intone the sutras and liken intoning them to speaking
in a
foreign language?'
M:'Because such people are like
parrots mimicking
human speech without understanding its meaning.
The
sutras trans@t the Buddha's meaning, and those who
in-
tone them without understanding that meaning are
merely
imitating someone else's words. That is why
I do not allow
it.,
Q:'Can there be any meaning apart
from writings,
words and speech?'
M:'Your talking like that reveals
that you are just an
imitator of other people's words.'
Q:'We, too, are now using words.
Why are you so
dead set against their use?""
M: 'Now, listen attentively.
Sutras are writings set forth
in specific order. When I speak, I use meaningful
words
which are not writings. When (most) living
beings speak,
they employ words from writings, but they are not
mean-
ingful. To comprehend (real) meanings, we
should go
beyond unsteady words; to awaken to the fundamental
law, we should leap beyond writings. The Dharma
is
beyond words, speech and writings; how can it be
sought
amid a plethora of sentences? That is why
those seeking
enlightenment forget all about wording after having
arrived
at the (real) meaning. Awakened to reality,
they throw
away the doctrine just as a fisherman, having caught
his
fish, pays no more attention to his nets; or as
a hunter,
after catching his rabbit, forgets about his snare.'
37. A Dharma Master asked, 'Master, what do you think
about the statement that constant repetition of
the Buddha's
name is a form of Mahayana involving realism?'
M: 'Even idealism is not Mahayanist,
how much less so
realism! A sutra says: "Ordinary people who
cleave to forms
must be taught according to their capacities."'
Q: 'As to the vow to be born in the
Pure Land, is there
really a Pure Land?'
M: 'A sutra says: "Those who wish to
attain the Pure
Land should purify their minds and then their pure
minds
are the Pure Land of the Buddha." If your mind is
pure
and clean, you will find the Pure Land wherever
you
happen to be. By way of illustration - an
heir born to a
prince is destined to succeed to the throne; likewise,
those
who set their minds on the quest for Buddhahood
will be
born into the Buddha's Pure Land. Those whose
minds
are corrupt will be born in a land of filth.
Purity and
corruption depend solely on the mind, not on the
land.'
Q: 'I am always hearing
talk of the Way (Tao, here
meaning self-nature), but I do not know who can
perceive
it.,
M: 'Those possessing the
Wisdom Eye can perceive it.'
Q: 'I am very fond of the
Mahayana, but how shall I
study it with success?'
M: 'Those who awaken (to
mind) can achieve success;
those who are not awakened to it cannot.'
Q: What shall I do to be
awakened to it?'
M: It comes only by true
intuition.'
Q: 'What is it like?'
M: 'It resembles nothing.'
Q: If so, it should be ultimately
nonexistent
M: That which is nonexistent
is not ultimate.'
Q: Then it must exist.'
M: 'It does exist, but it is formless.'
Q: 'If I do not awaken to it, what shall
I do?'
M: 'It is of your own accord that Your
Reverence fails
to awaken to it; nobody is preventing you.'
Q: Does the Buddha-dharma appertain
to time?'
M: 'It is to be perceived in the formless,
so it is not
external; but nor, with its infinite powers of responding
to
circumstances, is it internal; and, as there is nowhere
be-
tween them where it abides, it cannot be grasped on the
time level.'
A: 'This way of talking is much too
confusing.'
M: Just now, when you used the word
"confusing",
was there anything internal or external about it?'
A: 'I cannot search, then, for any trace
of it within or
without.'
M: 'If (you understand) there is no
trace, it is clear that
what I said just now was not confusing.
Q: What shall we do to attain Buddhahood?'
M: This mind is (fundamentally)
the Buddha and can
become a Buddha (in actuality).""
Q: 'When beings enter hell, does their
Buddha-nature
accompany them?'
M: When you are actually engaged in
doing evil, is
there any good in that action?'
A: 'No, there is not.'
M: When beings enter hell, the Buddha-nature
is
similarly (not present).'
Q: But how is it then with the Buddha-nature
which
every being possesses?'
M: If you perform the Buddha's function,
that is em-
ploying the Buddha-nature. If you steal, that is
employing
the nature of a thief. If you behave in the worldly
way,
that is employing the nature of (ordinary) living beings.
This nature, being formless and without characteristics, is
variously named in accordance with the ways
in which it
functions. The Diamond Sutra says: "All
the virtuous ones
(bhadra) and enlightened saints (arya) are
distinguished
by (their conformity with) the nonactive dharn-ia
(anasrava,
v,ru wei)."'
38. A monk once asked, 'What is the Buddha?'
M:'There is no Buddha apart from mind.'
Q:'What is the Dharmakaya?'
M: 'Mind is the Dharmakaya. As
it is the source of all
the myriad phenomena, we refer to it as "the
Body of the
Dharma Realm". The Shastra of the Awakening
of Faitb
says: "In speaking of the Dharma, we refer
to the mind of
sentient beings, for our revelations of the
Mahayana truths
all depend on Mind."'
Q:'What is meant by saying that
the Great Sutral"
resides in a small particle of dust?'
M: 'Wisdom is that sutra.
A sutra says: "There is a great
sutra (book) with a capacity equal to that
of a major-
chiliocosm (tri-sahasra-maha-sahasra-loka-dhatu)
which yet
resides in a small particle of dust." By "a
particle of dust"
is meant the mind-dust giving rise to a single
thought.
Therefore it is said: "In a thought stirred
by mind-dust,
there are elaborated as many gathas as there
are sands in
the Ganges." Today people no longer understand
this.'
Q: 'What is the City of
Great Meaning and who is the
King of Great Meaning?'
M: 'The body is that city
and mind is that king. A sutra
says: "Those who listen much are skilled in
truth, but not
in putting it into words." Words are transient,
but meaning
is eternal, for it is without form and characteristics.
Apart
from words and speech, there is Mind which is the Great
Sutra (book). Mind is the King of Great Meaning;
those
who do not clearly know their minds are not skilful
(in-
terpreters) of the meaning- they are just imitators
of words
spoken by others.'
Q: 'The Diamond Sutra speaks of
leading all the nine
classes of sentient beings into the state of final
nirvana. it
also says: "There are really no sentient beings
to be led
across." How can these two passages of scripture
be
reconciled? it first says and then repeats that
sentient beings
really are led across, but without being attached
to their
forms. I have often doubted this and am still
not convinced,
so I beg you, Master, to explain it to me.'
M: These nine classes of beings
are all (latent) in our
physical body; they are created according to our
karmic
deeds. Thus, ignorance creates a being born
from an egg;
defilement (klesha) creates a being born from the
womb;
immersion in the love-fluid creates a being born
from
humidity; and the sudden arising of passion creates
a being
born of transformation. When awakened, we
are Buddhas;
when deluded, we are (ordinary) sentient beings.
To a
Bodhisattva, every thought arising in the mind is
a living
being. If every thought is looked into clearly,
the substance
of the mind is found to be void, and this is called
"the
deliverance of living beings". Illumined people
liberate
their inner living beings even before they take
shape in
their own selves and, since their shapes therefore
do not
exist, it is clear that there are in reality no
living beings to
be liberated.'
39. A monk asked, 'Are words and speech also mind?'
M: Words and speech are
concurrent causes; they are
not mind.'
Q: 'What is this mind which lies beyond all concurrent
causes?'
M: 'There is no mind beyond words and
speech.'
Q: 'If there is no mind beyond words
and speech, what
is that mind in reality?'
M: 'Mind is without form and characteristics;
it is neither
beyond nor not beyond words and speech; it is for ever
clear and still and can perform its function freely and
without hindrance. The Patriarch"' said:
It is only when the mind is seen to be
unreal
That the dharma of all minds can be
truly
understood.
40. A monk asked, 'What is meant by "the study of dhyana
(meditation) and wisdom (prajna) in equal proportions"?'
M: 'Dhyana pertains to substance, and
wisdom is its
function. Dhyana begets wisdom and wisdom leads
to
dhyana. They may be likened to the water and its
waves,
both of which are of one substance with neither taking
precedence over the other. Such is the study of
dhyana
and wisdom in equal proportions. Homeless ones (monks)
should not look to words and speech. Walking, standing,
sitting and lying - all are the functioning of your nature.
in what are you out of accord with it? Just go now
and
take a rest (i.e. set your minds at rest) for a while.
As long
as you are not carried away by external winds, your nature
will remain like water for ever still and clear.
Let nothing
matter. Take good care of yourselves!'
END