Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp, Volume Twenty-Seven

諸方廣語一十二人見錄

Extensive Words of Various Masters, twelve persons, with records seen.

南陽慧忠國師語

Words of National Teacher Huizhong of Nanyang.

洛京荷澤神會大師語

Words of Great Master Shenhui of Heze in Luojing.

江西大寂道一禪師語

Words of Chan Master Daoyi of Daji in Jiangxi.

澧州藥山惟儼和尚語

Words of Reverend Weiyan of Yaoshan in Lizhou.

越州大珠慧海和尚語

Words of Reverend Huihai of Dazhu in Yuezhou.

汾州大達無業國師語

Words of National Teacher Wu Ye of Dada in Fenzhou.

池州南泉普願和尚語

Words of Reverend Puyuan of Nanquan in Chizhou.

趙州從諗和尚語

Words of Reverend Congshen of Zhaozhou.

鎮州臨濟義玄和尚語

Words of Reverend Yixuan of Linji in Zhenzhou.

玄沙宗一師備大師語

Words of Great Master Shibei, Zongyi of Xuanzha.

潭州羅漢桂琛和尚語

Words of Reverend Guichen of Luohan in Tanzhou.

大法眼文益禪師語

Words of Chan Master Wenyi of the Great Fayan.

南陽慧忠國師問禪客。從何方來。對曰。南方來。師曰。南方有何知識。曰知識頗多。師曰。如何示人。曰彼方知識直下示學人。即心是佛佛是覺義。汝今悉具見聞覺知之性。此性善能揚眉瞬目去來運用遍於身中。挃頭頭知挃腳腳知。故名正遍知。離此之外更無別佛。此身即有生滅。心性無始以來未曾生滅。身生滅者。如龍換骨。蛇脫皮人出故宅。即身是無常其性常也。南方所說大約如此。師曰。若然者與彼先尼外道無有差別。彼雲。我此身中有一神性。此性能知痛癢。身壞之時神則出去。如舍被燒舍主出去。舍即無常。舍主常矣。審如此者。邪正莫辨孰為是乎。吾比遊方多見此色近尤盛矣。聚卻三五百眾。目視雲漢雲。是南方宗旨。把他壇經改換。添糅鄙譚削除聖意惑亂後徒。豈成言教。苦哉吾宗喪矣。若以見聞覺知是佛性者。淨名不應雲法離見聞覺知。若行見聞覺知是則見聞覺知非求法也。僧又問。法華了義開佛知見此復若為。師曰。他雲開佛知見。尚不言菩薩二乘。豈以眾生痴倒便同佛之知見耶。僧又問。阿那箇是佛心。師曰。牆壁瓦礫。是僧曰。與經大相違也。涅槃雲。離牆壁無情之物故名佛性。今雲是佛心。未審心之與性為別不別。師曰。迷即別悟即不別。曰經云。佛性是常心是無常。今雲不別何也。師曰。汝但依語而不依義。譬如寒月水結為氷。及至暖時氷釋為水。眾生迷時結性成心。眾生悟時釋心成性。若執無情無佛性者。經不應言三界唯心。宛是汝自違經。吾不違也。問無情既有心性還解說法否。師曰。他熾然常說無有間歇。曰某甲為什麼不聞。師曰。汝自不聞。曰誰人得聞。師曰。諸佛得聞。曰眾生應無分邪。師曰。我為眾生說不為聖人說。曰某甲聾瞽不聞無情說法師應合聞。師曰。我亦不聞。曰師既不聞爭知無情解說。師曰。我若得聞即齊諸佛。汝即不聞我所說法。

National Teacher Huizhong of Nanyang asked a Chan guest, "From what direction have you come?" He replied, "I come from the south." The Master said, "What knowledgeable teachers are there in the south?" He said, "There are quite many knowledgeable teachers." The Master said, "How do they instruct people?" He said, "The knowledgeable teachers there directly point out to students: This very mind is Buddha; Buddha is the meaning of awakening. You are now fully endowed with the nature of seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing. This nature is good at raising the eyebrows and blinking the eyes, going and coming, functioning and moving, pervading the whole body. Poke the head and the head knows; poke the foot and the foot knows. Therefore it is called perfectly pervasive knowing. Apart from this there is no other Buddha. This body indeed has arising and ceasing. The mind-nature since beginningless time has never arisen or ceased. What arises and ceases is the body, like a dragon shedding its bones, a snake sloughing its skin, a person leaving an old house. Thus the body is impermanent, but its nature is permanent. What the south says is roughly like this." The Master said, "If it were so, there would be no difference from the Senika outer path. They say: In this body of mine there is a spirit-nature; this nature can know pain and itch. When the body perishes, the spirit then departs, like a house being burned and the house-master departing. The house is impermanent; the house-master is permanent. If it is truly like this, then deviant and correct cannot be distinguished—which is right? I have traveled widely and seen many of this sort; recently it is especially prevalent. They gather three or five hundred followers, gaze at the Milky Way, and say this is the southern teaching. They alter his Platform Sutra, adding and mixing in vulgar talk, cutting away the sagely meaning, confusing later disciples. How can this become the spoken teaching? How painful! Our school is lost. If seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing were the Buddha-nature, then Vimalakirti should not have said: The Dharma is apart from seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing. If one practices seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing, then that is seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing, not seeking the Dharma." The monk again asked, "The Lotus Sutra of definitive meaning opens the Buddha's knowledge and vision. How is this then?" The Master said, "They say opening the Buddha's knowledge and vision, yet it does not even speak of bodhisattvas and the two vehicles. How could the deluded and inverted state of sentient beings be equated with the Buddha's knowledge and vision?" The monk again asked, "Which is the Buddha-mind?" The Master said, "Walls, tiles, and pebbles." The monk said, "This greatly contradicts the scriptures. The Nirvana Sutra says: Apart from insentient things like walls, therefore it is called Buddha-nature. Now you say it is the Buddha-mind. I do not know whether mind and nature are different or not different." The Master said, "Deluded, they are different; awakened, they are not different." He said, "The scripture says: Buddha-nature is permanent, mind is impermanent. Now you say they are not different—why?" The Master said, "You merely rely on the words and do not rely on the meaning. For example, in cold months water congeals into ice. When it becomes warm, the ice melts into water. When sentient beings are deluded, the nature congeals into mind. When sentient beings awaken, the mind is released into nature. If one insists that insentient things have no Buddha-nature, the scripture should not say the three realms are only mind. It is simply you who contradict the scripture. I do not contradict it." He asked, "Since insentient things have mind-nature, do they also expound the Dharma?" The Master said, "They constantly expound, without interruption." He said, "Why do I not hear it?" The Master said, "You yourself do not hear it." He said, "Who does hear it?" The Master said, "The Buddhas hear it." He said, "Then sentient beings should have no share in it." The Master said, "I speak for sentient beings, not for sages." He said, "I am deaf and blind and do not hear the insentient expound the Dharma; the Master should be able to hear it." The Master said, "I also do not hear it." He said, "Since the Master does not hear it, how do you know the insentient expound the Dharma?" The Master said, "If I heard it, I would be equal to the Buddhas. You do not hear the Dharma I expound."

曰眾生畢竟得聞否。師曰。眾生若聞即非眾生。曰無情說法有何典據。師曰。不見華嚴雲。剎說眾生說三世一切說。眾生是有情乎。曰師但說無情有佛性。有情復若為。師曰。無情尚爾況有情耶。曰若然者前舉南方知識雲見聞是佛性。應不合判同外道。師曰。不道他無佛性。外道豈無佛性耶。但緣見錯於一法中而生二見故非也。曰若俱有佛性。且殺有情即結業互酬損害。無情不聞有報。師曰。有情是正報計我我所而懷結恨即有罪報。無情是其依報無結恨心。是以不言有報。曰教中但見有情作佛。不見無情受記。且賢劫千佛孰是無情佛耶。師曰。如皇太子未受位時唯一身爾。受位之後國土盡屬於王。寧有國土別受位乎。今但有情受記作佛之時。十方國土悉是遮那佛身。那得更有無情受記耶。曰一切眾生盡居佛身之上。便利穢汙佛身。穿鑿踐蹋佛身。豈無罪耶。師曰。眾生全體是佛欲誰為罪。曰經云。佛身無罣礙。今以有為質礙之物而作佛身。豈不乖於聖旨。師曰。大品經云。不可離有為而說無為。汝信色是空否。曰佛之誠言那敢不信。師曰。色既是空寧有罣礙。曰眾生佛性既同。只用一佛修行。一切眾生應時解脫。今既不爾同義安在。師曰。汝不見華嚴六相義雲。同中有異異中有同。成壞總別類例皆然。眾生佛雖同一性。不妨各各自修自得。未見他食我飽。曰有知識示學人。但自識性了無常時拋卻㲉漏子一邊著。靈臺智性逈然而去。名為解脫。此復若為。師曰。前已說了。猶是二乘外道之量。二乘厭離生死欣樂涅槃。外道亦云。吾有大患為吾有身。乃趣乎冥諦。須陀洹人八萬劫。餘三果人六四二萬。辟支佛一萬劫。住於定中。外道亦八萬劫住非非想中。二乘劫滿猶能迴心向大。外道還卻輪迴。曰佛性一種為別。師曰。不得一種。曰何也。師曰。或有全不生滅。或半生半滅半不生滅。曰執為此解。師曰。

[He] said: "Do sentient beings ultimately get to hear it?" The Master said: "If sentient beings hear it, then they are not sentient beings." [He] said: "That insentient beings expound the Dharma — what scriptural basis is there?" The Master said: "Have you not seen what the Huayan says: lands expound, sentient beings expound, all three times expound. Are sentient beings sentient or not?" [He] said: "The Master only says the insentient have Buddha-nature. What of the sentient?" The Master said: "The insentient are still thus — how much more the sentient!" [He] said: "If so, then the earlier citation of the southern good teacher saying that seeing and hearing are Buddha-nature should not be judged the same as the externalists." The Master said: "I do not say he is without Buddha-nature. Do externalists lack Buddha-nature? It is only because their seeing is mistaken: within the single Dharma they give rise to two views, and so it is wrong." [He] said: "If all alike have Buddha-nature, then killing a sentient being does create karmic retribution in mutual requital and harm. Of the insentient we do not hear of any recompense." The Master said: "The sentient is the direct retribution; calculating 'I' and 'mine' and harboring resentment, one then has the retribution of offense. The insentient is the dependent retribution; without a mind of resentment, therefore it is not said to have recompense." [He] said: "In the teachings we only see the sentient becoming Buddhas; we do not see the insentient receiving a prediction. Moreover, of the thousand Buddhas of the present kalpa, which is an insentient Buddha?" The Master said: "When the crown prince has not yet received the throne, he is only one body. After he receives the throne, all the land belongs to the king. Would there be a separate enthronement for the land? Now, when the sentient receives the prediction and becomes Buddha, the lands of the ten directions are all the body of Vairocana Buddha. How then could there be a separate prediction for the insentient?" [He] said: "All sentient beings dwell atop the Buddha's body. Defecating and urinating filth on the Buddha's body, digging into and trampling the Buddha's body — is there no offense?" The Master said: "Sentient beings in their entirety are Buddha. Who is to be the offender?" [He] said: "The scripture says: the Buddha's body has no obstruction. Now to take a conditioned, obstructive thing as the Buddha's body — is this not contrary to the sagely purport?" The Master said: "The Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra says: one cannot speak of the unconditioned apart from the conditioned. Do you believe that form is emptiness?" [He] said: "The Buddha's truthful words — how would I dare not believe them?" The Master said: "Since form is emptiness, how can there be obstruction?" [He] said: "Since the Buddha-nature of sentient beings is the same, then with only one Buddha cultivating, all sentient beings should be liberated at that time. Since it is not so now, where is the meaning of 'same'?" The Master said: "Have you not seen the doctrine of the six characteristics in the Huayan: within the same there is difference, within difference there is the same. Completion and destruction, totality and particularity — all categories are like this. Although the Buddha and sentient beings are of one nature, it does not prevent each and every one from cultivating for themselves and attaining for themselves. I have not seen another eating and me being full." [He] said: "There is a good teacher who instructs students: just recognize the nature and be clear; at the time of impermanence, cast aside the shell-and-leak body to one side. (The base text has this character from the 'egg shell' class; it should be 'shell'.) The numinous terrace of intelligent nature departs in transcendence — this is called liberation. What of this?" The Master said: "I have already explained it. This is still the measure of the Two Vehicles and the externalists. The Two Vehicles weary of birth-and-death and delight in nirvana. The externalists also say: 'I have a great affliction, because I have a body,' and so they tend toward the dark truth. The stream-enterer: eighty thousand kalpas. The remaining three fruits: six, four, two myriad. The pratyekabuddha: ten thousand kalpas, dwelling in concentration. The externalists also dwell for eighty thousand kalpas in the neither-perception-nor-non-perception. When the kalpas of the Two Vehicles are complete, they can still turn their minds toward the great; the externalists return again to the wheel of rebirth." [He] said: "Is the Buddha-nature one kind or different?" The Master said: "It cannot be one kind." [He] said: "Why?" The Master said: "Some are wholly unborn and undestroyed. Some are half-born and half-destroyed, half unborn and undestroyed." [He] said: "I will hold this as my understanding." The Master said:

我此間佛性全不生滅。汝南方佛性半生半滅半不生滅。曰如何區別。師曰。此則身心一如心外無餘。所以全不生滅。汝南方身是無常神性是常。所以半生半滅半不生滅。曰和尚色身豈得便同法身不生滅耶。師曰。汝那得入於邪道。曰學人早晚入邪道。師曰。汝不見金剛經色見聲求皆行邪道。今汝所見不其然乎。曰某甲曾讀大小乘教。亦見有說。不生不滅中道正性之處。亦見有說。此陰滅彼陰生身有代謝而神性不滅之文。那得盡撥同外道斷常二見。師曰。汝學出世無上正真之道。為學世間生死斷常二見耶。汝不見。肇公雲。譚真則逆俗。順俗則違真。違真故迷性而莫返。逆俗故言淡而無味。中流之人如存若亡。下士拊掌而不顧。汝今欲學下士笑於大道乎。曰師亦言即心是佛。南方知識亦爾。那有異同師不應自是而非他。師曰。或名異體同。或名同體異。因茲濫矣。只如菩提涅槃真如佛性名異體同。真心妄心佛智世智名同體異。緣南方錯將妄心言是真心。認賊為子。有取世智稱為佛智。猶如魚目而亂明珠。不可雷同事須甄別。曰若為離得此過。師曰。汝但子細反觀陰入界處一一推窮。有纖豪可得否。曰子細觀之不見一物可得。師曰。汝壞身心相耶。曰身心性離有何可壞。師曰。身心外更有物不。曰身心無外寧有物耶。師曰。汝壞世間相耶。曰世間相即無相那用更壞。師曰。若然者即離過矣。禪客唯然受教。常州僧靈覺問曰。發心出家本擬求佛。未審如何用心即得。師曰。無心可用即得成佛。曰無心可用阿誰成佛。師曰。無心自成佛亦無心。曰佛有大不可思議為能度眾生。若也無心阿誰度眾生。師曰。無心是真度生。若見有生可度者。即是有心宛然生滅。曰今既無心。能仁出世說許多教跡豈可虛言。師曰。佛說教亦無心。曰說法無心應是無說。師曰。說即無無即說。曰說法無心造業有心否。師曰。無心即無業。

(The Master continued:) "Here, the Buddha-nature is wholly unborn and undying. In your South, the Buddha-nature is half born and half dying, half unborn and half undying." He said, "How are they distinguished?" The Master said, "Here, body and mind are one suchness, with nothing outside the mind. Therefore it is wholly unborn and undying. In your South, the body is impermanent, while the spiritual nature is permanent. Therefore it is half born and half dying, half unborn and half undying." He said, "How could the Master's physical body be the same as the Dharma-body, unborn and undying?" The Master said, "How did you fall into heresy?" He said, "When did the student fall into heresy?" The Master said, "Have you not seen the Diamond Sutra: 'To seek me by form or by sound is to practice heresy'? Is what you see now not exactly that?" He said, "I have read the teachings of both Mahayana and Hinayana. I have also seen passages saying that there is no birth and no death, and passages on the Middle Way and the true nature. I have also seen texts saying that this aggregate ceases and that aggregate arises, that the body undergoes change but the spiritual nature does not cease. How can you entirely dismiss these as the two views of annihilation and permanence of externalists?" The Master said, "Are you learning the unsurpassed true way of transcending the world, or are you learning the worldly two views of annihilation and permanence? Have you not seen what Sengzhao said: 'Speak of the truth and you go against the world; follow the world and you go against the truth. Going against the truth, one becomes deluded in nature and does not return. Going against the world, one's words are bland and tasteless. The middling person seems to keep it yet loses it. The lowly person claps and laughs and pays no heed.' Do you now wish to learn the lowly person's laughter at the great way?" He said, "The Master also says 'this very mind is Buddha.' The teachers in the South say the same. How can there be differences? The Master should not affirm himself and deny others." The Master said, "Sometimes the name differs but the substance is the same; sometimes the name is the same but the substance differs. Hence confusion arises. For example, bodhi, nirvana, true suchness, and Buddha-nature are different names with the same substance. The true mind and the false mind, Buddha-wisdom and worldly wisdom, are the same name with different substances. Because the South mistakenly calls the false mind the true mind, it takes a thief for a son. Some take worldly wisdom and call it Buddha-wisdom, like confusing fish eyes with bright pearls. You cannot lump them together; matters must be carefully distinguished." He said, "How can one escape this fault?" The Master said, "You need only carefully reflect on the aggregates, sense-bases, and elements, and investigate each one thoroughly. Is there the slightest thing to be obtained?" He said, "Looking carefully, I do not see a single thing to be obtained." The Master said, "Do you destroy the marks of body and mind?" He said, "Body and mind are by nature apart; what is there to destroy?" The Master said, "Is there anything outside body and mind?" He said, "There is nothing outside body and mind; how could there be anything?" The Master said, "Do you destroy the marks of the world?" He said, "The marks of the world are no-marks; why use further destruction?" The Master said, "If so, then you have escaped the fault." The Chan guest humbly accepted the teaching. The monk Lingjue of Changzhou asked, "Arousing the mind to leave home was originally intended to seek Buddhahood. I do not yet understand how to apply the mind to attain it." The Master said, "With no mind to apply, you attain Buddhahood." He said, "With no mind to apply, who attains Buddhahood?" The Master said, "No-mind naturally attains it; the Buddha is also no-mind." He said, "The Buddha has great inconceivable power to save living beings. If there is no mind, who saves living beings?" The Master said, "No-mind is true saving of beings. If one sees there are beings to be saved, then there is mind, and clearly birth and death." He said, "Now since there is no mind, the Able One's appearance in the world and his speaking of so many teachings—could they be empty words?" The Master said, "The Buddha's speaking of teachings is also no-mind." He said, "If speaking the Dharma is no-mind, it should be no speaking." The Master said, "Speaking is precisely no-speaking; no-speaking is precisely speaking." He said, "If speaking the Dharma is no-mind, is creating karma with mind or not?" The Master said, "No-mind means no karma."

今既有業心即生滅何得無心。曰無心即成佛。和尚即今成佛未。師曰。心尚自無誰言成佛。若有佛可成還是有心。有心即有漏何處得無心。曰既無佛可成和尚還得佛用否。師曰。心尚自無用從何有。曰茫然都無莫落斷見否。師曰。本來無見阿誰道斷。曰本來無莫落空否。師曰。空既是無墮從何立。曰能所俱無。忽有人持刀來取命。為是有是無。師曰。是無。曰痛否。師曰。痛亦無。曰痛既無死後生何道。師曰。無死無生亦無道。曰既得無物自在饑寒所逼若為用心。師曰。饑即吃飯寒即著衣。曰知饑知寒應是有心。師曰。我問汝。有心心作何體段。曰心無體段。師曰。汝既知無體段。則是本來無心。何得言有。曰山中逢見虎狼如何用心。師曰。見如不見來如不來。彼即無心惡獸不能加害。曰寂然無事獨脫無心名為何物。師曰。名金剛大士。曰金剛大士有何體段。師曰。本無形段。曰既無形段喚何物作金剛大士。師曰。喚作無形段金剛大士。曰金剛大士有何功德。師曰。一念與金剛相應。能滅殑伽沙劫生死重罪。得見殑伽沙諸佛。其金剛大士功德無量非口所說非意所陳。假使殑伽沙劫住世說亦不可得盡。曰如何是一念相應。師曰。憶智俱忘即是相應。曰憶智俱忘誰見諸佛。師曰。忘即無無即佛。曰無即言無何得喚作佛。師曰。無亦空佛亦空故。曰無即佛佛即無。曰既無纖豪可得名為何物。師曰。本無名字。曰還有相似者否。師曰。無相似者世號無比獨尊。汝努力依此修行。無人能破壞者。更不須問任意遊行獨脫無畏。常有河沙賢聖之所覆護。所在之處常得河沙天龍八部之所恭敬。河沙善神來護永無障難。何處不得逍遙。又問。迦葉在佛邊聽為聞不聞。師曰。不聞聞。曰云何不聞聞。師曰。聞不聞。曰如來有說不聞聞無說不聞聞。師曰。如來無說說。曰云何無說說。師曰。言滿天下無口過。

(Lingjue continued:) "Now that there is karma, the mind arises and ceases—how can one attain no-mind?" He asked, "No-mind is precisely becoming Buddha. Has the Master become Buddha now?" The Master said, "The mind is itself already nonexistent—who says one becomes Buddha? If there is a Buddha to become, that is still having mind. Having mind means having outflows—how could one attain no-mind anywhere?" He asked, "Since there is no Buddha to become, does the Master still attain the function of Buddha?" The Master said, "The mind is itself already nonexistent—from where would function come?" He asked, "Utterly without anything, does one not fall into nihilistic views?" The Master said, "Originally there is no view—who would say it is cut off?" He asked, "Originally nonexistent, does one not fall into emptiness?" The Master said, "Emptiness itself being nonexistent, where could falling be established?" He asked, "Subject and object both nonexistent—suddenly if someone comes with a knife to take your life, is it existent or nonexistent?" The Master said, "It is nonexistent." He asked, "Is there pain?" The Master said, "Pain too is nonexistent." He asked, "Since pain is nonexistent, after death what path does one take rebirth in?" The Master said, "No death, no birth, no path either." He asked, "Having attained the freedom of nothing at all, when pressed by hunger and cold, how should one apply the mind?" The Master said, "When hungry, eat; when cold, put on clothes." He asked, "Knowing hunger and knowing cold should be having mind." The Master said, "I ask you: if there is mind, what form does the mind take?" He said, "The mind has no form." The Master said, "Since you know it has no form, then it is originally no-mind. How can you say it exists?" He asked, "Meeting a tiger or wolf in the mountains, how should one apply the mind?" The Master said, "Seeing as if not seeing, coming as if not coming. Since they are without mind, fierce beasts cannot harm them." He asked, "Quiescent and without affairs, independently liberated and without mind—what is this called?" The Master said, "It is called the Vajra Great Being." He asked, "What form does the Vajra Great Being have?" The Master said, "Originally without form." He asked, "Since it is without form, what thing do you call the Vajra Great Being?" The Master said, "Call it the formless Vajra Great Being." He asked, "What virtues does the Vajra Great Being have?" The Master said, "A single thought corresponding to the Vajra can extinguish grave offenses of birth-and-death from as many kalpas as the sands of the Ganges and enable one to see as many Buddhas as the sands of the Ganges. The merits of the Vajra Great Being are immeasurable—not speakable by mouth, not expressible by thought. Even if one lived for as many kalpas as the sands of the Ganges expounding them, they could not be exhausted." He asked, "What is a single thought corresponding?" The Master said, "Forgetting both memory and knowing is corresponding." He asked, "If memory and knowing are both forgotten, who sees the Buddhas?" The Master said, "Forgotten means nonexistent; nonexistent means Buddha." He asked, "If nonexistent, then say nonexistent—how can it be called Buddha?" The Master said, "Because nonexistent is also empty, and Buddha is also empty." He said, "Nonexistent is Buddha, Buddha is nonexistent." He asked, "Since not a hair's breadth is attainable, what is it called?" The Master said, "Originally without a name." He asked, "Is there anything similar?" The Master said, "There is nothing similar; the world calls it the Peerless and Supremely Honored One. You should strive to cultivate according to this. No one can destroy it. You need not ask further; roam freely at will, independently liberated and fearless. Constantly you will be covered and protected by sages and saints as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Wherever you are, you will constantly receive the reverence of devas, nagas, and the eightfold host as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Good spirits as numerous as the sands of the Ganges will come to protect you, and forever there will be no obstruction or difficulty. Where could you not be at ease?" He also asked, "When Kasyapa listened beside the Buddha, did he hear or not hear?" The Master said, "Not-hearing hearing." He asked, "What is not-hearing hearing?" The Master said, "Hearing not-hearing." He said, "The Tathagata's having expounded is not-hearing hearing; his not having expounded is also not-hearing hearing." The Master said, "The Tathagata's no-expounding expounding." He asked, "What is no-expounding expounding?" The Master said, "Words fill the world, yet there is no fault of speech."

洛京荷澤神會大師示眾曰。夫學者須達自源。四果三賢皆名調伏。闢支羅漢未斷其疑。等妙二覺了達分明。覺有淺深教有頓漸。其漸也歷僧祇劫猶處輪迴。其頓也屈伸臂頃便登妙覺。若宿無道種徒學多知。一切在心邪正由己。不思一物即是自心。非智所知。更無別行悟入此者。真三摩提法無去來前後際斷。故知無念為最上乘。曠徹清虛頓開寶藏。心非生滅性絕推遷。自淨則境慮不生。無作乃攀緣自息。吾於昔日轉不退輪。今得定慧雙修如拳如手。見無念體不逐物生。瞭如來常更何所起。今此幻質元是真常。自性如空本來無相。既達此理誰怖誰憂。天地不能變其體。心歸法界萬象一如。遠離思量智同法性。千經萬論只是明心。既不立心即體真理都無所得。告諸學眾無外馳求。若最上乘應當無作。珍重。人問。無念法有無否。師曰。不言有無。曰恁麼時作麼生。師曰。亦無恁麼時。猶如明鏡若不對像終不見像。若見無物乃是真見。師於大藏經內有六處有疑。問於六祖。第一問戒定慧。曰戒定慧如何所用。戒何物。定從何處修。慧因何處起。所見不通流。六祖答曰。定則定其心。將戒戒其行。性中常慧照。自見自知深。第二問。本無今有有何物。本有今無無何物。誦經不見有無義。真似騎驢更覓驢。答曰。前念惡業本無。後念善生今有。念念常行善行。後代人天不久。汝今正聽吾言。吾即本無今有。第三問。將生滅卻滅。將滅滅卻生。不了生滅義。所見似聾盲。答曰。將生滅卻滅。令人不執性。將滅滅卻生。令人心離境。未若離二邊。自除生滅病。第四問。先頓而後漸。先漸而後頓。不悟頓漸人。心裡常迷悶。答曰。聽法頓中漸。悟法漸中頓。修行頓中漸。證果漸中頓。頓漸是常因。悟中不迷悶。第五問。先定後慧先慧後定。定慧後初何生為正。答曰。常生清淨心。定中而有慧。於境上無心。慧中而有定。

The Great Master Shenhui of Heze in Luojing addressed the assembly, saying: "Now, students must penetrate their own source. The four fruits and three worthy ones are all called taming and subduing. Pratyekabuddhas and arhats have not cut off their doubt. The two awakenings of equal and wonderful enlightenment understand clearly. Awakening has shallow and deep, teachings have sudden and gradual. As for the gradual, passing through asaṃkhyeya kalpas, one still remains in saṃsāra. As for the sudden, in the time of bending and extending an arm, one immediately ascends to wonderful enlightenment. If in past lives there is no seed of the Way, one vainly studies much knowledge. All is in the mind; deviant and correct come from oneself. Not thinking of a single thing is just one's own mind. It is not known by wisdom. There is no other practice; one who awakens and enters this truly attains samādhi; dharmas have no coming or going, the limits of before and after are cut off. Therefore know that no-thought is the supreme vehicle. Vast and penetrating, clear and empty, suddenly opening the treasury. The mind is not arising and ceasing; the nature is beyond alteration. When self-purified, objects and considerations do not arise. Through non-doing, clinging conditions naturally cease. In former days I turned the non-retrogressing wheel. Now I have attained the double cultivation of concentration and wisdom, like a fist and a hand. Seeing the essence of no-thought, one does not follow things and arise. Understanding the Tathāgata's permanence, what further arises? Now this illusory substance is originally true permanence. Self-nature is like space, originally without marks. Having penetrated this principle, who is frightened, who is worried? Heaven and earth cannot change its substance. When the mind returns to the dharma realm, the ten thousand appearances are one suchness. Far removed from thought, wisdom is identical with dharma-nature. The thousand scriptures and ten thousand treatises only clarify the mind. Since no mind is established, one directly realizes the truth and attains nothing at all. I tell all students: do not seek outside. If one is of the supreme vehicle, one should be without doing. Take care." Someone asked: "Does the dharma of no-thought exist or not?" The Master said: "It is not spoken of as existing or not existing." [The questioner] said: "At such a time, how is it?" The Master said: "There is also no such time. It is like a bright mirror: if it does not face an image, it never sees the image. If one sees no thing, that is true seeing." The Master had doubts in six places within the Great Treasury of Sutras, and asked the Sixth Patriarch. The first question was on precepts, concentration, and wisdom. He said: "How are precepts, concentration, and wisdom applied? What are precepts? From where is concentration cultivated? From where does wisdom arise? What is seen does not flow through." The Sixth Patriarch answered: "Concentration means concentrating the mind. Use precepts to discipline one's conduct. In the nature, constantly illuminate with wisdom. Self-seeing and self-knowing are deep." The second question: "Originally nonexistent and now existing—what thing exists? Originally existing and now nonexistent—what thing does not exist? Reciting scriptures without seeing the meaning of existence and nonexistence is truly like riding a donkey while seeking a donkey." The answer: "Former thoughts of evil karma were originally nonexistent. Later thoughts of good arising now exist. Thought after thought constantly practicing good conduct, in later generations humans and gods will not be long [in suffering]. You now are just listening to my words. I am originally nonexistent and now existing." The third question: "Using arising and ceasing to remove ceasing, using ceasing to remove arising. Not understanding the meaning of arising and ceasing, what is seen is like being deaf and blind." The answer: "Using arising and ceasing to remove ceasing prevents people from clinging to nature. Using ceasing to remove arising causes people's minds to depart from objects. It is not as good as departing from the two extremes and naturally eliminating the sickness of arising and ceasing." The fourth question: "First sudden and then gradual, first gradual and then sudden. Those who do not awaken to sudden and gradual always have confusion and depression in their minds." The answer: "Hearing the dharma is gradual within sudden. Awakening to the dharma is sudden within gradual. Practice is gradual within sudden. Realizing the fruit is sudden within gradual. Sudden and gradual are constant causes. In awakening there is no confusion or depression." The fifth question: "First concentration then wisdom, first wisdom then concentration. Concentration and wisdom afterward and before—which is primary?" The answer: "Always produce a pure mind. Within concentration there is wisdom. With no mind toward objects, within wisdom there is concentration."

定慧等無先。雙修自心正。第六問。先佛而後法。先法而後佛。佛法本根源。起從何處出。答曰。說即先佛而後法。聽即先法而後佛。若論佛法本根源。一切眾生心裡出。

(The Sixth Patriarch continued:) "Concentration and wisdom are equal, without precedence. Double cultivation makes one's own mind correct." The sixth question: "First Buddha and then dharma, first dharma and then Buddha. The root source of Buddha and dharma—from where does it arise?" The answer: "When speaking, it is first Buddha and then dharma. When listening, it is first dharma and then Buddha. If we discuss the root source of Buddha and dharma, it arises from the minds of all sentient beings."

江西大寂道一禪師示眾雲。道不用修但莫汙染。何為汙染。但有生死心造作趣向皆是汙染。若欲直會其道平常心是道。謂平常心無造作無是非無取捨無斷常無凡無聖。經云。非凡夫行非賢聖行是菩薩行。只如今行住坐臥應機接物盡是道。道即是法界。乃至河沙妙用不出法界。若不然者云何言心地法門。云何言無盡燈。一切法皆是心法。一切名皆是心名。萬法皆從心生。心為萬法之根本。經云。識心達本故號沙門。名等義等一切諸法皆等純一無雜。若於教門中得隨時自在。建立法界盡是法界。若立真如盡是真如。若立理一切法盡是理。若立事一切法盡是事。舉一千從理事無別。盡是妙用更無別理。皆由心之迴轉。譬如月影有若干真月無若干。諸源水有若干水性無若干。森羅萬象有若干虛空無若干。說道理有若干無礙慧無若干。種種成立皆由一心也建立亦得。掃蕩亦得。盡是妙用。妙用盡是自家。非離真而有立處。立處即真盡是自家體。若不然者更是何人。一切法皆是佛法。諸法即解脫。解脫者即真如。諸法不出於真如。行住坐臥悉是不思議用不待時節。經云。在在處處則為有佛。佛是能仁有智慧善機情。能破一切眾生疑網。出離有無等縛。凡聖情盡人法俱空。轉無等輪超於數量。所作無礙事理雙通。如天起雲忽有還無不留礙跡。猶如畫水成文不生不滅。是大寂滅。在纏名如來藏。出纏名大法身。法身無窮體無增減。能大能小能方能圓。應物現形如水中月。滔滔運用不立根栽。不盡有為不住無為。有為是無為家用。無為是有為家依。不住於依故云如空無所依。心生滅義。心真如義。心真如者。譬如明鏡照像。鏡喻於心像喻諸法。若心取法即涉外。因緣即是生滅義。不取諸法即是真如義。聲聞聞見佛性。菩薩眼見佛性。了達無二名平等性。性無有異用則不同。在迷為識。在悟為智。順理為悟。順事為迷。

Chan Master Daoyi of Daji in Jiangxi, in his instruction to the assembly, said: "The Way does not require cultivation; just do not defile it. What is defilement? Whatever has the mind of birth and death, and engages in contrivance and striving, is defilement. If you wish to directly understand the Way, the ordinary mind is the Way. This means the ordinary mind has no contrivance, no right and wrong, no grasping or rejecting, no annihilation or permanence, no ordinary and no sage. The scripture says: 'Not the conduct of ordinary people, not the conduct of sages—this is the conduct of bodhisattvas.' Just now, in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, in responding to circumstances and dealing with things, all is the Way. The Way is the Dharma realm. Even the myriad subtle functions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges do not go beyond the Dharma realm. If it were not so, how could one speak of the Dharma gate of the mind-ground? How could one speak of the inexhaustible lamp? All dharmas are mind dharmas. All names are mind names. The myriad dharmas all arise from the mind. The mind is the root of the myriad dharmas. The scripture says: 'Knowing the mind and reaching the root, one is called a shramana. Name and meaning are equal; all dharmas are equal, pure and undefiled.' If within the teaching gate one attains freedom at all times, establishing the Dharma realm is entirely the Dharma realm. If one establishes true suchness, it is entirely true suchness. If one establishes principle, all dharmas are entirely principle. If one establishes phenomena, all dharmas are entirely phenomena. Raise one and a thousand follow; principle and phenomena are not different. All is subtle function; there is no other principle. All is due to the turning of the mind. For example, moon reflections are many, but the true moon is not many. The waters of various sources are many, but the nature of water is not many. The myriad phenomena are many, but empty space is not many. Spoken principles are many, but unobstructed wisdom is not many. All kinds of establishment are from the one mind. Establishing is also fine. Sweeping away is also fine. All is subtle function. Subtle function is entirely one's own. It is not apart from the true that there is a place of establishment. The place of establishment is the true; it is entirely one's own substance. If it were not so, who else could it be? All dharmas are Buddha dharmas. All dharmas are liberation. Liberation is true suchness. All dharmas do not go beyond true suchness. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all inconceivable function, not waiting for a particular time. The scripture says: 'In every place, there is a Buddha.' The Buddha is capable and benevolent, has wisdom, and is skilled in circumstances. He can destroy the net of doubts of all sentient beings. He transcends the bonds of existence and non-existence. When the feelings of ordinary and sage are exhausted, both person and dharmas are empty. He turns the unequaled wheel, surpassing number and measure. His actions are unobstructed; phenomena and principle are both penetrated. Like clouds arising in the sky, suddenly there and then not, leaving no trace of obstruction. Like writing on water, not arising and not ceasing. This is great quiescence. When wrapped in afflictions, it is called the Tathagata-garbha. When freed from afflictions, it is called the great Dharma body. The Dharma body is infinite; its substance neither increases nor decreases. It can be great or small, square or round. It responds to things and manifests forms, like the moon in water. Flowing and operating continuously, it does not establish roots. It does not exhaust the conditioned, nor dwell in the unconditioned. The conditioned is the function of the unconditioned. The unconditioned is the reliance of the conditioned. Not dwelling in reliance, it is said to be like space, without reliance. The mind has the meaning of arising and ceasing. The mind has the meaning of true suchness. The mind's true suchness is like a bright mirror reflecting images. The mirror is a metaphor for the mind; the images are a metaphor for dharmas. If the mind grasps dharmas, it is involved with externals. Causes and conditions are the meaning of arising and ceasing. Not grasping dharmas is the meaning of true suchness. Shravakas hear and see the Buddha-nature. Bodhisattvas see the Buddha-nature with their eyes. Understanding without duality is called the nature of equality. The nature has no difference; its function is different. In delusion, it is consciousness. In awakening, it is wisdom. Following principle is awakening. Following phenomena is delusion."

迷即迷自家本心。悟即悟自家本性。一悟永悟不復更迷。如日出時不合於冥。智慧日出不與煩惱暗俱。了心及境界。妄想即不生。妄想既不生。即是無生法忍。本有今有不假修道坐禪。不修不坐即是如來清淨禪。如今若見此理真正。不造諸業隨分過生。一衣一缽坐起相隨。戒行增燻積於淨業。但能如是何慮不通。久立諸人珍重。

(The master continued:) "Delusion is delusion about one's own original mind. Awakening is awakening to one's own original nature. Once awakened, forever awakened, never again deluded. As when the sun rises, it does not coincide with darkness. When the sun of wisdom rises, it is not together with the darkness of afflictions. When mind and sense-objects are understood, false thinking does not arise. Since false thinking does not arise, that is the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. Originally existing, presently existing, not dependent on cultivating the Way or sitting in meditation. Not cultivating and not sitting—this is the Tathagata's pure Chan. If now one sees this principle truly, one does not create various karmas, and lives out one's life according to circumstances. With one robe and one bowl, sitting and rising follow each other. Precepts are increased and perfumed, accumulating pure karma. If one can be like this, why worry about not penetrating? Standing long, everyone, take care."

澧州藥山惟儼和尚上堂曰。祖師只教保護。若貪瞋起來切須防禦。莫教揨(直庚切)觸是爾欲知枯木石頭卻須擔荷。實無枝葉可得。雖然如此更宜自看不得絕卻言語。我今為汝說遮箇語顯無語底。他那箇本來無耳目等貌。時有僧問雲。何有六趣。師曰。我此要輪雖在其中元來不染。問不了身中煩惱時如何。師曰。煩惱作何相狀。我且要爾考看。更有一般底。只向紙背上記持言語。多被經論惑。我不曾看經論策子。汝只為迷事走失自家不定。所以便有生死心。未學得一言半句一經一論。便說恁麼菩提涅槃世攝不攝。若如是解即是生死。若不被此得失繫縛。便無生死。汝見律師說什麼。尼薩耆突吉羅最是生死本。雖然恁麼。窮生死且不可得。上至諸佛下至螻蟻。盡有此長短好惡大小不同。若也不從外來。何處有閑漢掘地獄待爾。爾欲識地獄道。只今鑊湯煎煮者是。欲識餓鬼道。即今多虛少實不令人信者是。欲識畜生道。見今不識仁義不辨親疎者是。豈須披毛戴角斬割倒懸。欲識人天。即今洗淨威儀持瓶挈缽者是。保任免墮諸趣。第一不得棄遮箇。遮箇不是易得。須向高高山頂立深深海底行。此處行不易。方有少相應。如今出頭來。盡是多事人。覓箇痴鈍人不可得。莫只記策子中言語以為自己見知。見他不解者便生輕慢。此輩盡是闡提外道。此心直不中切須審悉。恁麼道猶是三界邊事。莫在衲衣下空過。到遮裡更微細在。莫將等閑。須知珍重。

The venerable Weiyan of Yaoshan in Li Prefecture ascended the hall and said: "The ancestral teachers only teach protection. If greed and anger arise, you must guard against them. Do not let them be stirred up (pronounced zheng). If you want to know the withered tree and the stone, you must bear them. In reality there is not a single branch or leaf to be obtained. Even so, you should further look after yourselves, and must not cut off speech. I now speak these words for you to reveal the wordless. That one there originally has no appearance of eyes and ears." At that time a monk asked: "How can there be the six destinies?" The master said: "My wheel of essentials, though within them, is originally undefiled." He asked: "When one does not understand the afflictions within the body, what then?" The master said: "What form do afflictions take? For now I want you to investigate and look. There is another sort who only record and retain words on the backs of paper, and are mostly confused by the scriptures and treatises. I have never looked at scriptures, treatises, or notebooks. You only lose yourselves and become unsettled because you are deluded by things. Therefore you have the mind of birth and death. Before you have learned a single word or half a phrase, a single scripture or treatise, you speak of such things as bodhi and nirvana, whether the world is encompassed or not. If you understand in this way, that is birth and death. If you are not bound by gain and loss, then there is no birth and death. What do you see the vinaya masters saying? The offenses of nisargika and duskrta are most fundamentally the root of birth and death. Even so, birth and death cannot ultimately be obtained. From the Buddhas above to ants below, all have this length and shortness, beauty and ugliness, large and small, and differences. If it does not come from outside, where is there an idle fellow digging a hell to wait for you? If you wish to know the path of hell, it is precisely what is being boiled in the cauldron and fried now. If you wish to know the path of hungry ghosts, it is precisely those who are now mostly false and seldom true, who do not make people believe. If you wish to know the path of animals, it is precisely those who now do not know benevolence and righteousness, and do not distinguish close from distant. Why must they wear fur and horns, be cut and sliced or hung upside down? If you wish to know humans and gods, it is precisely those who now are pure in demeanor, holding bottles and carrying bowls. Preserve and maintain this to avoid falling into the destinies. First of all, you must not abandon this. This is not easily obtained. You must stand on the high mountain top and walk in the deep sea bottom. Practice here is not easy, and only then is there a little correspondence. Now those who come forth are mostly people of many affairs. One cannot find a dull-witted person. Do not merely record the words in notebooks and take them as your own seeing and knowing. When you see others who do not understand, you then give rise to contempt. Such people are all icchantikas and outsiders. This mind is simply not right; you must examine it thoroughly. Speaking like this is still a matter on the edge of the three realms. Do not pass your time emptily beneath the patch robe. At this point it is even more subtle. Do not treat it lightly. Know to take care."

越州大珠慧海和尚。上堂曰。諸人幸自好箇無事人。苦死造作要簷枷落獄作麼。每日至夜奔波道我參禪學道解會佛法。如此轉無交涉也。只是逐聲色走有何歇時。貧道聞江西和尚道。汝自家寶藏一切具足。使用自在不假外求。我從此一時休去。自己財寶隨身受用。可謂快活。無一法可取。無一法可捨。不見一法生滅相。不見一法去來相。遍十方界無一微塵許不是自家財寶。但自子細觀察自心。一體三寶常自現前無可疑慮。莫尋思莫求覓。心性本來清淨。故華嚴經云。一切法不生一切法不滅。若能如是解諸佛常現前。又淨名經云。觀聲實相觀佛亦然。若不隨聲色動念。不逐相貌生解。自然無事去。莫久立珍重。此日大眾普集久而不散。師曰。諸人何故在此不去。貧道已對面相呈。還肯休麼。有何事可疑。莫錯用心枉費氣力。若有疑情一任諸人恣意早問。時有僧法淵問曰。云何是佛。云何是法。云何是僧。云何是一體三寶。願師垂示。師曰。心是佛不用將佛求佛。心是法不用將法求法。佛法無二和合為僧。即是一體三寶。經云。心佛與眾生是三無差別。身口意清淨名為佛出世。三業不清淨名為佛滅度。喻如嗔時無喜喜時無嗔。唯是一心實無二體。本智法爾無漏現前。如蛇化為龍不改其鱗。眾生迴心作佛不改其面。性本清淨不待修成。有證有修即同增上慢者。真空無滯應有無窮無始無終。利根頓悟用無等等。即是阿耨菩提。心無形相。即是微妙色身。無相即是實相法身。性相體空即是虛空無邊身。萬行莊嚴即是功德法身。此法身者乃是萬化之本。隨處立名。智用無盡名無盡藏。能生萬法名本法藏。具一切智是智慧藏。萬法歸如名如來藏。經云。如來者即諸法如義。又云。世間一切生滅法。無有一法不歸如也。時有人問雲。弟子未知律師法師禪師何者最勝。願和尚慈悲指示。師曰。夫律師者。啟毘尼之法藏。

The monk Dazhu Huihai of Yuezhou ascended the hall and said: "All of you are fortunately already people without concerns. Why trouble yourselves to death with contrivances, wanting to shoulder cangues and fall into prison? Daily until night you rush about, saying, 'I study Chan and learn the Way, I understand and comprehend the Buddha-dharma.' In this way you grow ever more unrelated to it. You merely run after sounds and forms—when is there ever a time to rest? This poor monk heard the Jiangxi monk say: 'Your own treasury is complete in every way, to be used freely, not relying on outside seeking.' From that time I instantly let go. My own treasures I carry with me and enjoy—one may call it happiness. Not a single dharma can be grasped, not a single dharma can be abandoned. I do not see the mark of arising and ceasing of any dharma, nor the mark of coming and going of any dharma. Throughout the ten directions, not a particle of dust is not my own treasure. Just carefully observe your own mind. The one body and three treasures are always present before you—there is nothing to doubt. Do not ponder, do not seek. The mind-nature is originally pure. Therefore the Avatamsaka Sutra says: 'All dharmas do not arise, all dharmas do not cease.' If one can understand thus, all Buddhas are always present before one. Again the Vimalakirti Sutra says: 'Contemplate the true mark of sound; contemplate the Buddha likewise.' If you do not stir thoughts following sounds and forms, do not give rise to understanding chasing after marks, naturally you will have no concerns. Do not stand long. Take care." On this day the great assembly had gathered universally and remained long without dispersing. The master said: "Why do you not leave now? I have already presented myself face to face. Are you still willing to rest? What is there to doubt? Do not misuse your minds, do not waste your strength. If you have doubts, let each of you ask freely and early." At that time a monk Fayuan asked: "What is the Buddha? What is the Dharma? What is the Sangha? What is the one body and three treasures? May the master please instruct us." The master said: "Mind is the Buddha—no need to use the Buddha to seek the Buddha. Mind is the Dharma—no need to use the Dharma to seek the Dharma. Buddha and Dharma are not two; their harmony is the Sangha. This is the one body and three treasures. The scripture says: mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—these three are without difference. When body, mouth, and mind are pure, it is called a Buddha appearing in the world. When the three karmas are impure, it is called a Buddha entering nirvana. It is like when angry there is no joy, when joyful there is no anger. It is only one mind—truly there is no second substance. Original wisdom is naturally so; the uncorrupted manifests before one. It is like a snake transforming into a dragon without changing its scales. Sentient beings turning their minds around to become Buddhas without changing their faces. The nature is originally pure and does not await cultivation to be accomplished. To have realization and cultivation is the same as one who is conceited. True emptiness is unobstructed; its responses are endless—without beginning or end. One of sharp faculties who awakens suddenly employs the unequalled, and this is anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. The mind being without form or mark is the subtle and wondrous form-body. Being without marks is the true-mark dharma-body. Nature, marks, and essence being empty is the boundless body of emptiness. The adornment of myriad practices is the merit dharma-body. This dharma-body is the root of the ten thousand transformations. It is named according to place. Unending wisdom and function is called the inexhaustible treasury. That which can produce the ten thousand dharmas is called the treasury of the original dharma. Possessing all wisdom is called the treasury of wisdom. The ten thousand dharmas returning to suchness is called the Tathagata-garbha. The scripture says: 'Tathagata means the meaning of the suchness of all dharmas.' It also says: 'Among all the conditioned dharmas of the world that arise and cease, there is not a single dharma that does not return to suchness.'" At that time someone asked: "Your disciple does not know which is supreme among Vinaya masters, Dharma masters, and Chan masters. May the master with compassion point it out." The master said: "Now, a Vinaya master is one who opens the treasury of the Vinaya Dharma."

傳壽命之遺風。洞持犯而達開遮。秉威儀而行軌範。牒三番羯麼作四果初因。若非宿德白眉焉敢造次。夫法師者。踞獅子之座瀉懸河之辯。對稠人廣眾啟鑿玄關。開般若妙門等三輪空施。若非龍象蹴蹋安敢當斯。夫禪師者。撮其樞要直了心源。出沒卷舒縱橫應物。鹹均事理頓見如來。拔生死深根獲見前三昧。若不安禪靜慮。到遮裡總須茫然。隨機授法三學雖殊。得意忘言一乘何異。故經云。十方佛土中唯有一乘法無二亦無三。除佛方便說但以假名字引導於眾生。曰和尚深達佛旨得無礙辯。又問。儒道釋三教同異如何。師曰。大量者用之即同。小機者執之即異。總從一性上起用。機見差別成三。迷悟由人不在教之同異。講唯識道光座主問曰。禪師用何心修道。師曰。老僧無心可用無道可修。曰既無心可用無道可修。云何每日聚眾勸人學禪修道。師曰。老僧尚無卓錐之地。什麼處聚眾來。老僧無舌何曾勸人來。曰禪師對面妄語。師曰。老僧尚無舌勸人焉解妄語。曰某甲卻不會禪師語論也。師曰。老僧自亦不會講華嚴志座主問。禪師何故不許青青翠竹盡是法身欝欝黃華無非般若。師曰。法身無象應翠竹以成形。般若無知對黃華而顯相。非彼黃華翠竹而有般若法身。故經云。佛真法身猶若虛空。應物現形如水中月。黃華若是般若。般若即同無情。翠竹若是法身。翠竹還能應用。座主會麼。曰不了此意。師曰。若見性人道是亦得道不是亦得。隨用而說不滯是非。若不見性人說翠竹著翠竹。說黃華著黃華。說法身滯法身。說般若不識般若。所以皆成爭論。志禮謝而去。人問。將心修行幾時得解脫。師曰。將心修行喻如滑泥洗垢。般若玄妙本自無生。大用現前不論時節。曰凡夫亦得如此否。師曰。見性者即非凡夫。頓悟上乘超凡越聖。迷人論凡論聖。悟人超越生死涅槃。迷人說事說理。悟人大用無方。迷人求得求證。

(The Master continued:) Transmit the bequeathed tradition of the lifespan. Penetrate the upholding and violating [of precepts] and understand the opening and blocking [of prohibitions]. Maintain the majestic demeanor and walk in accord with the models. Recite the threefold karma (the base text has "karma," which should be "karma" [karma].) as the initial cause for the four fruits. If not for a white-browed elder of past virtue, who would dare act rashly? As for a Dharma Master: he sits on the lion's seat, pours forth the eloquence of a cascading river. Facing dense crowds and great assemblies, he opens and carves the mysterious gate. He opens the wondrous gate of prajna, equally [practicing] the threefold empty giving. If not for dragon-elephants trampling, who would dare undertake this? As for a Chan Master: he grasps its pivotal essentials, directly comprehends the source of mind. Appearing and disappearing, rolling and unrolling, freely responding to things. He equally harmonizes matter and principle, suddenly sees the Tathagata. He pulls out the deep roots of birth-and-death, obtains the samadhi of seeing what is before him. If one does not pacify Chan and quiet contemplation, on arriving here all must be utterly bewildered. According to capacity he bestows the Dharma; though the three trainings differ. Attaining the meaning and forgetting words, how is the One Vehicle different? Therefore the sutra says: In the Buddha-lands of the ten directions there is only the One Buddha Vehicle, there is no second and also no third. Apart from the Buddha's expedient teaching, only by provisional names does he guide living beings." He said: "The Upadhyaya deeply comprehends the Buddha's intent, and has obtained unobstructed eloquence." Again he asked: "How are the three teachings of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism same or different?" The Master said: "For one of great capacity, using them they are the same. For one of small faculty, grasping them they are different. All arise in function from the one nature. The differences of faculties and views make them three. Delusion and awakening depend on the person, and do not lie in the sameness or difference of the teachings." The lecturer Daoguang, Master of the Vinaya? No, lecturing on Consciousness-Only, asked: "With what mind does the Chan Master cultivate the Way?" The Master said: "This old monk has no mind to use, and no Way to cultivate." He said: "Since you have no mind to use and no Way to cultivate, why do you daily gather the assembly and encourage people to study Chan and cultivate the Way?" The Master said: "This old monk does not even have a place to plant a cone; where would he gather the assembly? This old monk has no tongue; when did he ever encourage people?" He said: "The Chan Master speaks falsely to my face." The Master said: "This old monk has no tongue to encourage people; how could he understand false speech?" He said: "I still do not understand the Chan Master's words." The Master said: "This old monk himself also does not understand." The lecturer Zhi, who lectured on the Avatamsaka, asked: "Why does the Chan Master not allow that the green, green emerald bamboo is all the Dharma-body, and the lush, lush yellow flowers are none other than prajna?" The Master said: "The Dharma-body has no form; it responds to emerald bamboo and takes shape. Prajna is without knowing; it faces yellow flowers and manifests its marks. It is not that those yellow flowers and emerald bamboo possess prajna and the Dharma-body. Therefore the sutra says: The Buddha's true Dharma-body is like empty space; responding to things it manifests forms like the moon in water. If yellow flowers were prajna, prajna would be the same as insentient things. If emerald bamboo were the Dharma-body, emerald bamboo could still have function. Does the lecturer understand?" He said: "I do not understand this meaning." The Master said: "If one is a person who sees the nature, saying it is so is also fine, saying it is not so is also fine. Speaking according to function, he does not get stuck in right and wrong. If one is a person who does not see the nature, when he speaks of emerald bamboo he clings to emerald bamboo, when he speaks of yellow flowers he clings to yellow flowers, when he speaks of the Dharma-body he stagnates in the Dharma-body, when he speaks of prajna he does not recognize prajna. Therefore all become disputes." Zhi bowed in thanks and departed. Someone asked: "Cultivating with the mind, how long until one obtains liberation?" The Master said: "Cultivating with the mind is like washing dirt with slippery mud. Prajna is mysterious and wondrous, originally unborn. When the great function appears before one, one does not discuss seasons and times." He said: "Can ordinary people also be like this?" The Master said: "One who sees the nature is not an ordinary person. Sudden enlightenment to the supreme vehicle transcends ordinary and surpasses sage. The deluded discuss ordinary and discuss sage. The enlightened transcend birth-and-death and nirvana. The deluded speak of things and speak of principle. The enlightened have great function with no fixed direction. The deluded seek to attain and seek to verify.

悟人無得無求。迷人期遠劫。悟人頓見。維摩座主問。經云。彼外道六師等是汝之師。因其出家彼師所墮汝亦隨墮。其施汝者不名福田。供養汝者墮三惡道。謗於佛毀於法不入眾數。終不得滅度。汝若如是乃可取食。今請禪師明為解說。師曰。迷徇六根者號之為六師。心外求佛名為外道。有物可施不名福田。生心受供墮三惡道。汝若能謗於佛者是不著佛求。毀於法者是不著法求。不入眾數者是不著僧求。終不得滅度者智用現前。若有如是解者。便得法喜禪悅之食。有行者問。有人問佛答佛問法答法。喚作一字法門不知是否。師曰。如鸚鵡學人語話自語不得。為無智慧故。譬如將水洗水將火燒火都無義趣。人問。言之與語為同為異。師曰。夫一字曰言。成句名語。且如靈辯滔滔譬大川之流水。峻機疊疊如圓器之傾珠。所以郭象號懸河。春鸚稱義海。此是語也。言者一字表心也。內著玄微外現妙相。萬機撓而不亂。清濁渾而常分。齊王到此猶慚大夫之辭。文殊到此尚歎淨名之說。如今常人云何能解。源律師問。禪師常譚即心是佛無有是處。且一地菩薩分身百佛世界。二地增於十倍。禪師試現神通看。師曰。闍梨自己是凡是聖。曰是凡。師曰。既是凡僧能問如是境界。經云。仁者心有高下不依佛慧。此之是也。又問。禪師每雲。若悟道現前身便解脫無有是處。師曰。有人一生作善忽然偷物入手。即身是賊否。曰故知是也。師曰。如今了了見性。云何不得解脫。曰如今必不可。須經三大阿僧祇劫始得。師曰。阿僧祇劫還有數否。源抗聲曰。將賊比解脫道理得通否。師曰。闍梨自不解道。不可障一切人解。自眼不開瞋一切人見物。源作色而去。雲雖老渾無道。師曰。即行去者是汝道。講止觀慧座主問。禪師辨得魔否。師曰。起心是天魔。不起心是陰魔。或起不起是煩惱魔。我正法中無如是事。曰一心三觀義又如何。

(The Master continued:) The awakened person has nothing to attain and nothing to seek. The deluded person expects [to attain it after] distant kalpas. The awakened person sees suddenly." The lecturer on the Vimalakirti Sutra asked: "The scripture says: Those six heterodox teachers are your teachers. Because you leave home [renounce] following them, when those teachers fall, you fall along with them. Those who give to you are not called a field of merit. Those who make offerings to you fall into the three evil paths. Slandering the Buddha, defaming the Dharma, not entering the assembly of the multitude, in the end you cannot attain cessation and deliverance. If you are like this, then you may accept food. Now I beg the Chan Master to explain clearly for me." The Master said: "Those who blindly follow the six sense-faculties are called the six teachers. Seeking the Buddha outside the mind is called heterodoxy. Having something that can be given is not called a field of merit. Producing a mind to receive offerings falls into the three evil paths. If you can slander the Buddha, that is not clinging to the Buddha and seeking. If you defame the Dharma, that is not clinging to the Dharma and seeking. If you do not enter the assembly of the multitude, that is not clinging to the Sangha and seeking. If in the end you cannot attain cessation and deliverance, wisdom-function manifests before you. If one has such an understanding, then one obtains the food of Dharma-joy and Chan-bliss." A practitioner asked: "Someone asks about the Buddha and is answered with the Buddha; asks about the Dharma and is answered with the Dharma — this is called the one-word Dharma-gate. I do not know whether this is so." The Master said: "It is like a parrot learning human speech; it cannot speak of itself, because it has no wisdom. It is like using water to wash water, using fire to burn fire — neither has any meaning or significance." Someone asked: "Are 'yan' (words) and 'yu' (speech) the same or different?" The Master said: "A single character is called 'yan.' Formed into a sentence it is called 'yu.' Now, as for the eloquence of spiritual debate flowing on and on, it may be likened to the flowing water of a great river. Lofty workings piled layer upon layer, like pearls pouring from a round vessel. That is why Guo Xiang was called 'the suspended river,' and Chun Ying was titled 'the ocean of meaning.' This is 'yu.' As for 'yan,' a single character expresses the mind. Inwardly it holds the mysterious and subtle; outwardly it manifests wonderful marks. Though ten thousand workings disturb it, it is not disordered. Though clear and turbid are mixed, it constantly distinguishes them. When the King of Qi came to this, he was still ashamed before the words of the Great Officer. When Manjushri came to this, he still sighed in admiration at Vimalakirti's teaching. How can ordinary people today understand it?" Attorney Yuan asked: "The Chan Master constantly talks of 'this very mind is the Buddha' — there is no such thing. Now a Bodhisattva of the first ground manifests bodies in a hundred Buddha-worlds. The second ground increases tenfold. Let the Chan Master try to manifest spiritual powers for us to see." The Master said: "Acharya, are you yourself an ordinary person or a sage?" He said: "I am an ordinary person." The Master said: "Since you are an ordinary monk, you can ask about such a realm. The scripture says: 'The benevolent one's mind has high and low, not relying on Buddha-wisdom.' This is exactly that." [Yuan] asked again: "The Chan Master always says: 'If one awakens to the Way, this present body is immediately liberated' — there is no such thing." The Master said: "Suppose a person does good all his life, and suddenly steals something and it is in his hands — is his body then that of a thief or not?" He said: "From this we know it is so." The Master said: "Now, seeing the nature clearly, why can one not be liberated?" He said: "Now it definitely cannot be. One must pass through three great asankhya kalpas before attaining it." The Master said: "Do the asankhya kalpas still have a number?" Yuan raised his voice and said: "Comparing a thief to liberation — can the principle be made to go through?" The Master said: "Acharya, you yourself do not understand the Way; you must not obstruct everyone else from understanding. Your own eye is not open, yet you are angry that everyone else sees things." Yuan changed countenance and left, saying: "Though old, he is completely without the Way." The Master said: "That which goes away just now is your Way." The lecturer on Calming and Contemplation, Hui, asked: "Can the Chan Master distinguish Mara or not?" The Master said: "Raising a mind is the Mara of heaven. Not raising a mind is the Mara of the aggregates. Sometimes raising and sometimes not raising is the Mara of afflictions. In my right Dharma there is no such thing." He said: "What about the meaning of one mind and three contemplations?"

師曰。過去心已過去。未來心未至。現在心無住。於其中間更用何心起觀。曰禪師不解止觀。師曰。座主解否。曰解。師曰。如智者大師。說止破止。說觀破觀。住止沒生死。住觀心神亂。且為當將心止心。為復起心觀。觀若有心觀是常見法若無心觀是斷見。法亦有亦無成二見法。請座主子細說看。曰若如是問俱說不得也。師曰。何曾止觀。人問。般若大否。師曰大。曰幾許大。師曰。無邊際。曰般若小否。師曰小。曰幾許小。師曰。看不見。曰何處是。師曰。何處不是。維摩座主問。經云。諸菩薩各入不二法門維摩默然是究竟否。師曰。未是究竟。聖意若盡第三卷更說何事。座主良久曰。請禪師為說未究竟之意。師曰。如經第一卷。是引眾呵十大弟子住心。第二諸菩薩各說入不二法門。以言顯於無言。文殊以無言顯於無言。維摩不以言不以無言故默然。收前言語故。第三卷從默然起說。又顯神通作用。座主會麼。曰奇怪如是。師曰。亦未如是。曰何故未是。師曰。且破人執情作如此說。若據經意只說色心空寂令見本性。教捨偽行入真行。莫向言語紙墨上討意度。但會淨名兩字便得。淨者本體也。名者跡用也。從本體起跡用。從跡用歸本體。體用不二本跡非殊。所以古人道。本跡雖殊不思議一也。一亦非一。若識淨名兩字假號。更說什麼究竟與不究竟。無前無後非本非末非淨非名。只示眾生本性不思議解脫。若不見性人終身不見此理。僧問。萬法盡空識性亦爾。譬如水泡一散更無再合。身死更不再生。即是空無。何處更有識性。師曰。泡因水有。泡散可即無水。身因性起。身死豈言性滅。曰既言有性將出來看。師曰。汝信有明朝否。曰信。師曰。試將明朝來看。曰明朝實是有如今不可得。師曰。明朝不可得不是無明朝。汝自不見性不可是無性。今見著衣吃飯行住坐臥對面不識。可謂愚迷。

The Master said, "The past mind has already passed. The future mind has not yet arrived. The present mind does not abide. In the midst of these, what further mind would you use to arouse contemplation?" The lecturer said, "The Chan Master does not understand śamatha and vipaśyanā." The Master said, "Does the lecturer understand?" The lecturer said, "I understand." The Master said, "Take Master Zhiyi: he taught śamatha to break śamatha, taught vipaśyanā to break vipaśyanā. Abiding in śamatha, one drowns in birth and death. Abiding in vipaśyanā, the mind and spirit become confused. Now, will you use the mind to still the mind, or again arouse the mind to contemplate contemplation? If there is a mind contemplating, that is the dharma of eternalism. If there is no mind contemplating, that is the dharma of nihilism. The dharma as both existent and nonexistent becomes the dharma of two views. Please, lecturer, explain this carefully." The lecturer said, "If you question it in this way, neither can be stated." The Master said, "How then were there ever śamatha and vipaśyanā?" Someone asked, "Is prajñā great?" The Master said, "Great." The questioner said, "How great?" The Master said, "Boundless." The questioner said, "Is prajñā small?" The Master said, "Small." The questioner said, "How small?" The Master said, "It cannot be seen." The questioner said, "Where is it?" The Master said, "Where is it not?" The lecturer on the Vimalakīrti asked, "The scripture says that all the bodhisattvas each entered the gate of nonduality, and Vimalakīrti remained silent. Is this the ultimate?" The Master said, "It is not yet ultimate. If the sage's intention were exhausted, what further matter would be discussed in the third fascicle?" The lecturer was silent for a long while, then said, "Please, Chan Master, explain the meaning of what is not yet ultimate." The Master said, "As in the first fascicle of the scripture, it is to gather the assembly and reprove the ten great disciples for abiding in mind. In the second, all the bodhisattvas each speak of entering the gate of nonduality, using words to reveal the wordless. Mañjuśrī uses wordlessness to reveal wordlessness. Vimalakīrti neither uses words nor wordlessness, and so is silent. This is to gather up the previous speech. In the third fascicle, he rises from silence and speaks, and further manifests spiritual powers and functions. Does the lecturer understand?" The lecturer said, "It is strange indeed." The Master said, "It is also not thus." The lecturer said, "Why is it not so?" The Master said, "For now, to break people's attachment to views, one speaks in this way. If one relies on the scripture's meaning, it only speaks of form and mind being empty and still, causing one to see the original nature. It teaches one to discard false practice and enter true practice. Do not seek meaning and conjecture in words, paper, and ink. Just understand the two words 'pure name' and you will attain it. 'Pure' is the original substance. 'Name' is the trace and function. From the original substance, trace and function arise. From trace and function, one returns to the original substance. Substance and function are nondual; original and trace are not different. Therefore the ancients said: 'Although original and trace differ, inconceivably they are one.' And even 'one' is not one. If you recognize the two words 'pure name' as a provisional designation, what further is there to say about ultimate or not ultimate? There is no before and no after, not original and not secondary, not pure and not name. It only reveals the inconceivable liberation of sentient beings' original nature. If a person does not see the nature, to the end of life he does not see this principle." A monk asked, "All dharmas are entirely empty, and the nature of consciousness is likewise so. For example, when a water bubble bursts, it does not come together again. When the body dies, it is not reborn again. This is emptiness and nonexistence. Where then is there further a nature of consciousness?" The Master said, "The bubble exists because of water. When the bubble bursts, can it then be that there is no water? The body arises because of the nature. When the body dies, how can one say the nature is extinguished?" The monk said, "Since you say there is a nature, bring it out and let me see." The Master said, "Do you believe there is a tomorrow?" The monk said, "I believe it." The Master said, "Try to bring tomorrow out and let me see." The monk said, "Tomorrow truly exists, but right now it cannot be obtained." The Master said, "Tomorrow cannot be obtained, but it is not that there is no tomorrow. You yourself do not see the nature, but it cannot be that there is no nature. Now, seeing and wearing clothes and eating food, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, you do not recognize it face to face. This can indeed be called deluded."

汝欲見明朝與今日不異。將性覓性萬劫終不見。亦如盲人不見日不是無日。講青龍疏座主問。經云。無法可說是名說法。禪師如何體會。師曰。為般若體畢竟清淨無有一物可得。是名無法。即於般若空寂體中具河沙之用。即無事不知。是名說法。故云。無法可說是名說法。講華嚴座主問。禪師信無情是佛否。師曰。不信。若無情是佛者。活人應不如死人。死驢死狗亦應勝於活人。經云。佛身者即法身也。從戒定慧生。從三明六通生。從一切善法生。若說無情是佛者。大德如今便死應作佛去。有法師問。持般若經最多功德。師還信否。師曰。不信。曰若爾靈驗傳十餘卷皆不堪信也。師曰。生人持孝自有感應。非是白骨能有感應。經是文字紙墨性空何處有靈驗。靈驗者在持經人用心。所以神通感物。試將一卷經安著案上。無人受持自能有靈驗否。僧問。未審一切名相及法相語之與默。如何通會即得無前後。師曰。一念起時本來無相無名。何得說有前後。不了名相本淨。妄計有前後。夫名相關鎖。非智鑰不能開。中道者病在中道。二邊者病在二邊。不知現用是無等等法身。迷悟得失常人之法。自起生滅埋沒正智。或斷煩惱或求菩提。背卻般若波羅蜜。人問。律師何故不信禪。師曰。理幽難顯名相易持。不見性者所以不信。若見性者號之為佛。識佛之人方能信入。佛不遠人而人遠佛。佛是心作。迷人向文字中求。悟人向心而覺。迷人修因待果。悟人了心無相。迷人執物守我為己。悟人般若應用見前。愚人執空執有生滯。智人見性了相靈通。乾慧辯者口疲。大智體了心泰。菩薩觸物斯照。聲聞怕境昧心。悟者日用無生。迷人見前隔佛。人問。如何得神通去。師曰。神性靈通遍周沙界。山河石壁去來無礙。剎那萬裡往返無蹤。火不能燒水不能溺。愚人自無心智。欲得四大飛空。經云。取相凡夫隨宜為說。

(The Master continued:) "You wish to see that the morning is no different from today. Seeking the nature with the nature, for ten thousand kalpas you will still not see it. It is also like a blind man who does not see the sun—it is not that there is no sun." The lecturer of the Qinglong Commentary, a seat-master, asked: "The scripture says: 'There is no dharma that can be spoken; this is called speaking the dharma.' How does the Chan Master comprehend this?" The Master said: "Because the essence of prajna is ultimately pure, not a single thing can be obtained—this is called no dharma. Within this empty and still essence of prajna there are functions numerous as the sands of the Ganges; there is nothing not known—this is called speaking the dharma. Therefore it is said: 'There is no dharma that can be spoken; this is called speaking the dharma.'" The lecturer of the Avatamsaka, a seat-master, asked: "Does the Chan Master believe that insentient beings are Buddhas?" The Master said: "I do not believe it. If insentient beings were Buddhas, then living people should be inferior to dead people. Dead donkeys and dead dogs should also surpass living people. The scripture says: 'The Buddha-body is the dharma-body. It is born from precepts, concentration, and wisdom. It is born from the three illuminations and the six superknowledges. It is born from all wholesome dharmas.' If you say insentient beings are Buddhas, then you, Great Virtue, should die right now and become a Buddha." A Dharma Master asked: "Holding the Prajna Scripture brings the greatest merit. Does the Master believe this?" The Master said: "I do not believe it." The other said: "If so, then the more than ten volumes of the Records of Numinous Efficacy are all unworthy of belief." The Master said: "A living person who practices filial piety naturally has a response. It is not that a pile of dry bones can have a response. The scripture is words, paper, and ink; its nature is empty—where could there be numinous efficacy? The numinous efficacy lies in the mind of the person who holds the scripture. That is why superknowledges move things. Try placing a volume of scripture on a desk; with no one to receive and hold it, can it have numinous efficacy by itself?" A monk asked: "I do not yet understand how all names and marks and all dharma-marks, speech and silence, can be understood in accord so that there is no before or after." The Master said: "When a single thought arises, originally there is no mark and no name. How can one speak of before and after? Not understanding that names and marks are originally pure, one falsely calculates before and after. Names and marks are like a locked gate; without the key of wisdom it cannot be opened. The one on the middle way is sick in the middle way. The one on the two extremes is sick on the two extremes. They do not know that the present function is the unequaled dharma-body. Delusion and awakening, gain and loss, are the dharmas of ordinary people. One raises birth and death oneself and buries true wisdom. Whether cutting off afflictions or seeking bodhi, one turns away from prajna-paramita." Someone asked: "Why does the Vinaya Master not believe in Chan?" The Master said: "The principle is hidden and hard to reveal; names and marks are easy to grasp. One who has not seen the nature therefore does not believe. One who has seen the nature is called a Buddha. Only a person who recognizes the Buddha can believe and enter. The Buddha is not far from people; it is people who are far from the Buddha. The Buddha is made by the mind. The deluded seek it in words. The awakened awaken to the mind and are aware. The deluded cultivate cause and wait for fruit. The awakened understand the mind and are without marks. The deluded grasp things, guard the self, and take it as their own. The awakened see prajna applied before them. The foolish grasp emptiness or grasp existence and give rise to obstruction. The wise see the nature, understand marks, and are spiritually penetrating. Those with dry wisdom and argumentation tire their mouths. Those with great wisdom realize the essence and their minds are at peace. Bodhisattvas illumine whatever they touch. Sound-hearers fear conditions and darken the mind. The awakened are unborn in their daily use. The deluded see what is before them as separated from the Buddha." Someone asked: "How can one gain superknowledges?" The Master said: "The spirit-nature is spiritually penetrating and pervades the sands of the Ganges realm. Mountains, rivers, and stone walls—going and coming are unobstructed. In an instant, ten thousand li; going and returning leave no trace. Fire cannot burn it, water cannot drown it. Foolish people, lacking mental wisdom of their own, want the four great elements to fly through the air. The scripture says: 'For ordinary people who grasp marks, it is taught according to what is appropriate.'"

心無形相即是微妙色身。無相即是實相。實相體空喚作虛空無邊身。萬行莊嚴故云功德法身。即此法身是萬行之本。隨用立名。實而言之。只是清淨法身也。人問。一心修道過去業障得消滅否。師曰。不見性人未得消滅。若見性人如日照霜雪。又見性人猶如積草等須彌。只用一星之火。業障如草。智慧似火。曰云何得知業障盡。師曰。見前心通前後生事猶如對見。前佛後佛萬法同時。經云。一念知一切法是道場。成就一切智故。有行者問雲。何得住正法。師曰。求住正法者是邪。何以故。法無邪正故。曰云何得作佛去。師曰。不用捨眾生心。但莫汙染自性。經云。心佛及眾生是三無差別。曰若如是解者得解脫否。師曰。本自無縛不用求解。法過語言文字。不用數句中求。法非過現未來。不可以因果中契。法過一切不可比對。法身無象應物現形。非離世間而求解脫。僧問。何者是般若。師曰。汝疑不是者試說看。又問雲。何得見性。師曰。見即是性無性不能見。又問。如何是修行。師曰。但莫汙染自性即是修行。莫自欺誑即是修行。大用現前即是無等等法身。又問。性中有惡否。師曰。此中善亦不立。曰善惡俱不立將心何處用。師曰。將心用心是大顛倒。曰作麼生即是。師曰。無作麼生亦無可是。人問。有人乘船船底刺殺螺蜆。為是人受罪。為復船當辜。師曰。人船兩無心罪正在汝。譬如狂風折樹損命。無作者無受者。世界之中無非眾生受苦處。僧問。未審託情勢指境勢語默勢乃至揚眉動目等勢。如何得通會於一念間。師曰。無有性外事。用妙者動寂俱妙。心真者語默總真。會道者行住坐臥是道。為迷自性萬惑茲生。又問。如何是法有宗旨。師曰。隨其所立即有眾義。文殊於無住本立一切法。曰莫同太虛否。師曰。汝怕同太虛否。曰怕。師曰。解怕者不同太虛。又問。言方不及處如何得解。師曰。

(The Master continued:) "The mind without form or characteristics is the subtle and wondrous physical body. Formlessness is true reality. The essence of true reality is empty, and is called the formless body of boundless space. Myriad practices adorn it, hence it is called the dharma body of merit. This dharma body is the root of all practices. Names are established according to its functions. Truly speaking, it is merely the pure dharma body." Someone asked: "If one wholeheartedly cultivates the Way, can past karmic obstructions be eliminated?" The Master said: "One who has not seen the nature cannot eliminate them. If one has seen the nature, it is like the sun melting frost and snow. Also, one who has seen the nature is like a pile of grass as vast as Mount Sumeru—only a single spark of fire is needed. Karmic obstructions are like the grass. Wisdom is like the fire." He asked: "How can one know that karmic obstructions are exhausted?" The Master said: "When the mind before you is penetrated, matters of past and future lives appear as if face to face. Former Buddhas and latter Buddhas, all dharmas are simultaneous. The scripture says: 'To know in a single thought that all dharmas are the bodhimanda, because of accomplishing all wisdom.'" A practitioner asked: "How can one abide in the true Dharma?" The Master said: "To seek to abide in the true Dharma is deviant. Why? Because the Dharma is neither deviant nor correct." He asked: "How can one become a Buddha?" The Master said: "No need to abandon the minds of sentient beings. Just do not defile your own nature. The scripture says: 'Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—these three are without difference.'" He asked: "If one understands thus, does one attain liberation?" The Master said: "Originally there is no bondage, so there is no need to seek liberation. The Dharma transcends language and words; do not seek it in phrases. The Dharma is not past, present, or future; it cannot be matched through cause and effect. The Dharma transcends everything and cannot be compared. The dharma body is formless, yet responds to things by manifesting forms. Do not seek liberation apart from the world." A monk asked: "What is prajna?" The Master said: "Try to explain what you doubt is not it." He asked again: "How can one see the nature?" The Master said: "Seeing itself is the nature; without the nature, one cannot see." He asked again: "What is cultivation?" The Master said: "Simply not defiling one's own nature is cultivation. Not deceiving oneself is cultivation. When the great function appears before you, that is the unsurpassed dharma body." He asked again: "Is there evil in the nature?" The Master said: "Even good is not established in this." He said: "If both good and evil are not established, where is the mind to be applied?" The Master said: "To use the mind to apply the mind is a great inversion." He said: "What is it then?" The Master said: "There is no 'what is it,' and also nothing to be it." Someone asked: "Suppose a person is on a boat, and the bottom of the boat kills snails and clams. Does the person bear the sin, or does the boat bear the guilt?" The Master said: "Both the person and the boat are without minds; the sin falls precisely on you. It is like a fierce wind breaking a tree and taking life. There is no doer and no receiver. In the world, there is no place where sentient beings do not suffer." A monk asked: "I do not yet understand the conditions of relying on circumstances, pointing to objects, speech and silence, and even raising the eyebrows and moving the eyes—how can one comprehend and merge them in a single thought?" The Master said: "There is no matter outside the nature. One who uses the wondrous—movement and stillness are both wondrous. One whose mind is true—speech and silence are both true. One who understands the Way—walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are the Way. Because of delusion about one's own nature, ten thousand confusions arise." He asked again: "What is it for the Dharma to have a guiding principle?" The Master said: "Wherever it is established, there are many meanings. Manjushri established all dharmas on the basis of non-abiding." He said: "Is it not the same as the great void?" The Master said: "Are you afraid it is the same as the great void?" He said: "Yes, I am afraid." The Master said: "One who understands fear is not the same as the great void." He asked again: "How can one understand the place where words and speech do not reach?" The Master said:

汝今正說時疑何處不及。有宿德十餘人同問。經云。破滅佛法未審佛法可破滅否。師曰。凡夫外道謂佛法可破滅。二乘人謂不可破滅。我正法中無此二見。若論正法非但凡夫外道。未至佛地者二乘亦是惡人。又問。真法幻法空法非空法各有種性否。師曰。夫法雖無種性應物俱現。心幻也一切俱幻。若有一法不是幻者。幻即有定。心空也一切皆空。若有一法不空空義不立。迷時人逐法。悟時法由人。如森羅萬象至空而極。百川眾流至海而極。一切賢聖至佛而極。十二分經五部毘尼五圍陀論至心而極。心者是總持之妙本萬法之洪源。亦名大智慧藏無住涅槃。百千萬名盡心之異號耳。又問。如何是幻。師曰。幻無定相如旋火輪。如乾闥婆城。如機關木人。如陽焰。如空華。俱無實法。又問。何名大幻師。師曰。心名大幻師。身為大幻城。名相為大幻衣食。河沙世界無有幻外事。凡夫不識幻。處處迷幻業。聲聞怕幻境昧心而入寂。菩薩識幻法達體幻。不拘一切名相。佛是大幻師。轉大幻法輪。成大幻涅槃。轉幻生滅得不生不滅。轉河沙穢土成清淨法界。僧問。何故不許誦經喚作客語。師曰。如鸚鵡只學人言不得人意。經傳佛意。不得佛意而但誦是學語人。所以不許。曰不可離文字言語別有意耶。師曰。汝如是說亦是學語。曰同是語言何偏不許。師曰。汝今諦聽經有明文。我所說者義語非文。眾生說者文語非義。得意者越於浮言。悟理者超於文字。法過語言文字。何向數句中求。是以發菩提者得意而忘言。悟理而遺教。亦猶得魚忘筌得兔忘蹄也。有法師問。念佛是有相大乘禪師意如何。師曰。無相猶非大乘。何況有相。經云。取相凡夫隨宜為說。又問。願生淨土未審實有淨土否。師曰。經云。欲得淨土當淨其心。隨其心淨即佛土淨。若心清淨所在之處皆為淨土。譬如生國王家決定紹王業。發心向佛道是生淨佛國。

(The Master continued:) "When you are speaking right now, where does doubt fail to reach?" More than ten senior monks of long standing asked together: "The scriptures say that the Buddha-dharma will be destroyed. We do not know whether the Buddha-dharma can be destroyed or not." The Master said: "Ordinary people and non-Buddhists say the Buddha-dharma can be destroyed. The followers of the Two Vehicles say it cannot be destroyed. In my true Dharma there are no such two views. If we speak of the true Dharma, not only ordinary people and non-Buddhists, but even the Two Vehicles, who have not yet reached the Buddha-ground, are also bad people." They asked again: "Do the true Dharma, the illusory Dharma, the empty Dharma, and the non-empty Dharma each have their own kind-nature?" The Master said: "Although the Dharma has no kind-nature, it appears in accordance with things. When the mind is illusory, everything is illusory. If there were one dharma that is not illusory, illusion would be fixed. When the mind is empty, everything is empty. If there were one dharma that is not empty, the meaning of emptiness would not stand. When deluded, people follow dharmas. When awakened, dharmas follow people. Thus the myriad phenomena reach their ultimate in emptiness. The hundred rivers and all streams reach their ultimate in the sea. All worthies and sages reach their ultimate in the Buddha. The twelve divisions of scripture, the five divisions of Vinaya, and the five Veda treatises reach their ultimate in the mind. The mind is the wondrous root of all-embracing retention, the vast source of all dharmas. It is also called the great treasury of wisdom, the non-abiding nirvana. A hundred thousand million names are all merely different designations for the mind." They asked again: "What is illusion?" The Master said: "Illusion has no fixed marks, like a fire-wheel spun around, like a city of the gandharvas, like a mechanical wooden man, like a mirage, like a flower in the sky—all are without real dharmas." They asked again: "What is called the great illusionist?" The Master said: "The mind is called the great illusionist. The body is the great illusory city. Names and marks are the great illusory food and clothing. In worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges there is nothing outside illusion. Ordinary people do not recognize illusion, and everywhere they are deluded by illusory karma. Hearers fear illusory states, obscure the mind, and enter quiescence. Bodhisattvas recognize the illusory Dharma, penetrate the illusory body, and are not bound by any names and marks. The Buddha is the great illusionist. He turns the great illusory Dharma-wheel. He accomplishes the great illusory nirvana. He turns illusory birth and death and attains non-birth and non-death. He turns lands as impure as the sands of the Ganges into pure Dharma-realms." A monk asked: "Why do you not allow reciting scriptures, calling it guest-language?" The Master said: "It is like a parrot that only learns human speech but does not get the human meaning. The scriptures convey the Buddha's meaning. To recite merely without getting the Buddha's meaning is to be a learner of speech. Therefore it is not allowed." He said: "One cannot be apart from words and speech and still have a separate meaning, can one?" The Master said: "To say as you do is also learning speech." He said: "Both are language; why do you reject only one?" The Master said: "Listen carefully now. The scriptures have clear texts. What I speak is meaning-language, not text. What ordinary beings speak is text-language, not meaning. One who gets the meaning transcends floating words. One who awakens to principle surpasses written words. The Dharma surpasses language and words; why seek it in phrases and sentences? Therefore one who arouses bodhi gets the meaning and forgets the words, awakens to principle and discards the teachings. It is just like getting the fish and forgetting the trap, getting the rabbit and forgetting the snare." A Dharma Master asked: "Reciting the Buddha's name is a Mahayana practice with marks; what is the Chan Master's intention?" The Master said: "Even the markless is still not Mahayana; how much less the marked. The scripture says: 'Ordinary beings who grasp marks are taught in accordance with what is appropriate.'" He asked again: "I vow to be born in the Pure Land; I do not know whether the Pure Land truly exists." The Master said: "The scripture says: 'If you wish to attain the Pure Land, you should purify your mind. As your mind becomes pure, the Buddha-land becomes pure.' If the mind is pure, wherever one is, it is all a Pure Land. It is like being born in the king's house: one will certainly inherit the king's estate. Arousing the mind toward the Buddha-way is being born in the pure Buddha-land."

其心若不淨在所生處皆是穢土。淨穢在心不在國土。又問。每聞說道未審何人能見。師曰。有慧眼者能見。曰甚樂大乘如何學得。師曰。悟即得不悟不得。曰如何得悟去。師曰。但諦觀。曰似何物。師曰。無物似。曰應是畢竟空。師曰。空無畢竟。曰應是有。師曰。有而無相。曰不悟如何。師曰。大德自不悟亦無人相障。人問。佛法在於三際否。師曰。見在無相不在其外。應用無窮不在於內。中間無住處三際不可得。曰此言大混。師曰。汝正說混之一字時在內外否。曰弟子究檢內外無蹤跡。師曰。若無蹤跡明知上來語不混。曰如何得作佛。師曰。是心是佛是心作佛。曰眾生入地獄佛性入否。師曰。如今正作惡時更有善否。曰無。師曰。眾生入地獄佛性亦如是。曰一切眾生皆有佛性如何。師曰。作佛用是佛性。作賊用是賊性。作眾生用是眾生性。性無形相隨用立名。經云。一切賢聖皆以無為法而有差別。僧問。何者是佛。師曰。離心之外即無有佛。曰何者是法身。師曰。心是法身。謂能生萬法故號法界之身。起信論雲。所言法者。謂眾生心。即依此心顯示摩訶衍義。又問。何名有大經卷內在一微塵。師曰。智慧是經卷。經云。有大經卷量等三千大千界。內在一微塵中。一塵者是一念心塵也。故云。一念塵中演出河沙偈時人自不識。又問。何名大義城。何名大義王。師曰。身為大義城。心為大義王。經云。多聞者善於義。不善於言說。言說生滅義。不生滅義無形相。在言說之外。心為大經卷。心為大義王。若不了了識心者不名善義。只是學語人也。又問。般若經云。度九類眾生皆入無餘涅槃。又云。實無眾生得滅度者。此兩段經文如何通會。前後人說皆雲。實度眾生而不取眾生相。常疑未決。請師為說。師曰。九類眾生一身具足隨造隨成。是故無明為卵生。煩惱包裹為胎生。愛水浸潤為濕生。歘起煩惱為化生。

(The Master continued:) "If one's mind is impure, whatever place one is born in is a foul land. Purity and impurity lie in the mind, not in the land." He also asked: "I have often heard of the Way being spoken of, but I do not know who is able to see it." The Master said: "One who has the eye of wisdom can see it." He said: "I greatly delight in the Great Vehicle; how can one learn it?" The Master said: "Awaken and you attain it; do not awaken and you do not attain it." He said: "How can one awaken?" The Master said: "Simply contemplate intently." He said: "What is it like?" The Master said: "Nothing is like it." He said: "It must be ultimate emptiness." The Master said: "Emptiness is not ultimate." He said: "It must be existence." The Master said: "It exists yet has no marks." He said: "If one does not awaken, what then?" The Master said: "Great Virtue, you yourself do not awaken, and no one obstructs you." Someone asked: "Is the Buddha Dharma within the three periods?" The Master said: "Present before you it has no marks, and is not outside. Its responsive function is inexhaustible, and it is not inside. In between there is no place to abide; the three periods cannot be grasped." He said: "These words are greatly confused." The Master said: "When you are right now speaking the single word 'confused,' are you inside or outside?" He said: "This disciple has investigated inside and outside and found no trace." The Master said: "If there is no trace, then clearly the words spoken above are not confused." He said: "How can one become a Buddha?" The Master said: "This mind is Buddha; this mind makes Buddha." He said: "When sentient beings enter hell, does the Buddha-nature enter?" The Master said: "When you are right now doing evil, is there any good?" He said: "No." The Master said: "When sentient beings enter hell, the Buddha-nature is likewise so." He said: "How is it that all sentient beings have the Buddha-nature?" The Master said: "Used to make Buddha, it is the Buddha-nature. Used to be a thief, it is thief-nature. Used to be a sentient being, it is sentient-being-nature. The nature has no form or marks; it is named according to its use. The scripture says: 'All sages and saints differ only by the unconditioned Dharma.'" A monk asked: "What is the Buddha?" The Master said: "Apart from the mind there is no Buddha." He said: "What is the Dharma-body?" The Master said: "The mind is the Dharma-body. Because it can produce the ten thousand dharmas, it is called the body of the Dharma-realm. The Awakening of Faith says: 'What is called Dharma is the mind of sentient beings. It is relying on this mind that the meaning of the Mahayana is revealed.'" He also asked: "What is the meaning of 'there is a great scripture roll contained within a single atom'?" The Master said: "Wisdom is the scripture roll. The scripture says: 'There is a great scripture roll, its measure equal to three thousand great thousand worlds, contained within a single atom.' A single atom is a single thought, an atom of mind. Therefore it is said: 'Within a single atom of thought are performed verses as numerous as the sands of the Ganges; people of the time do not know it themselves.'" He also asked: "What is the great city of meaning? What is the great king of meaning?" The Master said: "The body is the great city of meaning. The mind is the great king of meaning. The scripture says: 'The learned are good at meaning, not good at verbal expression. Verbal expression is the meaning of birth and death. The meaning of non-birth and non-death has no form or marks, and lies beyond verbal expression. The mind is the great scripture roll. The mind is the great king of meaning. If one does not thoroughly understand the mind, one is not called good at meaning. One is merely a person who studies words.'" He also asked: "The Prajna Sutra says: 'Ferry the nine kinds of sentient beings all into remainderless nirvana.' It also says: 'In reality there are no sentient beings who attain extinction and deliverance.' How are these two passages of scripture to be reconciled? People before and after all say: 'In reality one ferries sentient beings yet does not grasp the marks of sentient beings.' I have constantly doubted and not decided. Please, Master, explain it for me." The Master said: "The nine kinds of sentient beings are complete within one body, and are formed according to what is created. Therefore ignorance is egg-born. Affliction wrapping around is womb-born. The water of craving soaking through is moisture-born. Suddenly arising affliction is transformation-born."

悟即是佛。迷號眾生。菩薩只以念念心為眾生。若了念念心體空。名為度眾生也。智者於自本際上度於未形。未形既空即知實無眾生得滅度者。僧問。言語是心否。師曰。言語是緣不是心。曰離緣何者是心。師曰。離言語無心。曰離言語既無心若為是心。師曰。心無形相非離言語非不離言語。心常湛然應用自在。祖師雲。若了心非心始解心心法。僧問。如何是定慧等學。師曰。定是體慧是用。從定起慧從慧歸定。如水與波一體更無前後。名定慧等學。夫出家兒莫尋言逐語。行住坐臥並是汝性用。什麼處與道不相應。且自一時休歇去。若不隨外境風。心性水常自湛湛。無事珍重。

(The Master continued:) "Awakening is Buddha. Delusion is called sentient beings. Bodhisattvas take only the mind of thought after thought as sentient beings. If one understands that the essence of the mind of thought after thought is empty, this is called ferrying sentient beings across. The wise person, from his own original ground, ferries across the formless. Since the formless is empty, one knows that in reality there are no sentient beings who attain extinction and deliverance." A monk asked: "Are words and speech the mind?" The Master said: "Words and speech are conditions, not the mind." He said: "Apart from conditions, what is the mind?" The Master said: "Apart from words and speech there is no mind." He said: "Since apart from words and speech there is no mind, how can that be the mind?" The Master said: "The mind has no form or appearance; it is neither apart from words and speech nor not apart from words and speech. The mind is always clear and still, responding freely. The ancestral teacher said: If one understands that mind is not mind, one first understands the mind-to-mind dharma." A monk asked: "What is the equal study of concentration and wisdom?" The Master said: "Concentration is the essence; wisdom is the function. From concentration arises wisdom; from wisdom one returns to concentration. Like water and waves, one body with no before or after. This is called the equal study of concentration and wisdom. You who have left home must not seek out words and chase after phrases. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all the functioning of your nature. In what place is it not in accord with the Way? Just stop and rest completely for a while. If you do not follow the wind of external objects, the water of the mind-nature is always clear and still. Nothing to do; take care."

汾州大達無業國師上堂有僧問曰。十二分教流於此土。得道果者非止一二。云何祖師東化別唱玄宗。直指人心見性成佛。豈得世尊說法有所未盡。只如上代諸德高僧。並學貫九流洞明三藏。生肇融叡盡是神異間生。豈得不知佛法遠近。某甲庸昧願師指示。師曰。諸佛不曾出世。亦無一法與人。但隨病施方。遂有十二分教。如將蜜果換苦葫蘆。淘汝諸人業根都無實事。神通變化及百千三昧門化彼天魔外道。福智二嚴為破執有滯空之見。若不會道及祖師來意。論什麼生肇融叡。如今天下解禪解道如河沙數。說佛說心有百千萬億。纖塵不去未免輪迴。思念不亡盡須沈墜。如斯之類尚不能自識業果。妄言自利利他。自謂上流並他先德。但言觸目無非佛事。舉足皆是道場。原其所習不如一箇五戒十善凡夫。觀其發言嫌他二乘十地菩薩。且醍醐上味為世珍奇。遇斯等人翻成毒藥。南山尚自不許呼為大乘學語之流。爭鋒唇舌之間。鼓論不形之事。並他先德。誠實苦哉。只如野逸高士。尚解枕石漱流棄其利祿。亦有安國理民之謀徵而不赴。況我禪宗途路且別。看他古德道人得意之後。茆茨石室向折腳鐺子裡。煮飯吃過三十二十年。名利不幹懷。財寶不為念。大忘人世隱跡巖叢。君王命而不來。諸侯請而不赴。豈同我輩貪名愛利汩沒世途。如短販人有少希求而忘大果。十地諸賢豈不通佛理可不如一箇博地凡夫。實無此理。他說法如雲如雨。猶被佛呵雲。見性如隔羅縠。只為情存聖量見在果因。未能逾越聖情過諸影跡。先賢古德碩學高人博達古今洞明教網。蓋為識學詮文水乳難辨。不明自理念靜求真。嗟乎得人身者如爪甲上土。失人身者如大地土。良可傷哉。設有悟理之者有一知一解。不知是悟中之則入理之門。便謂永出世利。巡山傍㵎輕忽上流。致使心漏不盡理地不明。空到老死無成虛延歲月。且聰明不能敵業。

The National Master Dada Wuye of Fenzhou ascended the hall. A monk asked, saying: "The twelve divisions of the teachings flowed into this land, and those who attained the fruit of the Way are not merely one or two. Why is it that the ancestral teacher came east and separately proclaimed the profound teaching of the Chan school, directly pointing to the human mind, seeing one's nature and becoming Buddha? How could it be that the World-Honored One's preaching of the Dharma had something not yet exhausted? Now, as for the eminent monks and virtuous worthies of former generations, all had mastered the nine streams of learning and clearly understood the Three Pitals. Sheng, Zhao, Rong, and Rui were all miraculously born between [ages]. How could they not know the far and near of the Buddha-dharma? I am dull and confused; I beg the Master to instruct me." The Master said: "The Buddhas never appeared in the world, nor is there a single dharma to give to people. But according to the illness, medicine is administered, and so there are the twelve divisions of the teachings. It is like exchanging honey fruit for bitter gourds, washing away the karmic roots of all of you people; there is no true matter at all. Supernatural transformations and the hundreds of thousands of samadhi gates transform those heavenly demons and outer paths. The two adornments of merit and wisdom are for breaking the view of clinging to existence and stagnating in emptiness. If you do not understand the Way and the ancestral teacher's coming intention, what are you discussing Sheng, Zhao, Rong, and Rui for? Nowadays, in the world, those who understand Chan and understand the Way are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Those who speak of Buddha and speak of mind are hundreds of thousands of millions. If a single mote of dust is not removed, one cannot avoid rebirth. If thoughts are not extinguished, one must sink down. People like this still cannot know their own karmic fruit, and recklessly say they benefit themselves and benefit others. They call themselves superior and belittle the virtuous ones of old. They only say that whatever meets the eye is nothing but Buddha-work, and every step is a bodhimanda. Examining what they practice, they are not equal to an ordinary person who keeps the five precepts and ten good deeds. Observing what they say, they disdain the bodhisattvas of the two vehicles and the ten stages. Moreover, the supreme flavor of ghee is a rare treasure in the world, but when it meets such people it turns into poison. Nanshan himself did not permit those who merely study the words of the Great Vehicle to be called such. Contending sharply with lips and tongue, drumming up discussions of matters that have no form, and belittling the virtuous ones of old—truly, how bitter! Even a rustic recluse of noble character still understands pillowing on stone and rinsing in the stream, casting aside profit and emolument. There are also those with plans to pacify the state and govern the people, who are summoned but do not go. How much more is our Chan school's path different. Look at the ancient virtuous people of the Way: after attaining the intention, they lived in thatched huts and stone chambers, cooking rice in a broken-legged pot and eating it for thirty or twenty years. Fame and profit did not touch their minds. Wealth and treasure were not in their thoughts. Greatly forgetting the human world, they hid their traces among cliffs and thickets. A king commanded them, but they did not come. Feudal lords invited them, but they did not go. How could they be like us, greedy for fame and fond of profit, drowned in the roads of the world? Like a peddler with a small route, having a little seeking and forgetting the great fruit. Could the worthies of the ten stages not understand Buddhist principle? Could they be inferior to an ordinary person on the broad earth? Truly there is no such principle. They preach the Dharma like clouds and rain, yet they are still rebuked by the Buddha, who says: their seeing of nature is like looking through a thin silk veil. It is only because their emotions retain a measure of sageliness and their views remain in cause and fruit. They have not been able to transcend the emotion of sageliness and pass beyond all traces. The sages and virtuous ones of old, the great scholars and eminent men, broadly mastered ancient and modern, clearly understood the net of the teachings. Yet because they understood learning and explained texts, water and milk were hard to distinguish. They did not understand their own principle, and thought that stilling thoughts and seeking truth [was the way]. Alas! Those who obtain a human body are like soil on a fingernail. Those who lose the human body are like the soil of the great earth. Truly this is lamentable. Suppose there is one who awakens to principle and has one knowing and one understanding, but does not know that this is the norm within awakening and the gate of entering principle, and then says he has forever transcended worldly benefit. He roams the mountains and leans by the streams, lightly regarding the superior ones. This causes the outflows of mind not to be exhausted and the ground of principle not to be clear. In vain he reaches old age and death without accomplishment, emptily prolonging the years. Moreover, intelligence cannot oppose karma."

乾慧未免苦輪。假使才並馬鳴解齊龍樹。只是一生兩生不失人身。根思宿淨聞之即解。如彼生公何足為羨與道全遠。共兄弟論實不論虛。只遮口食身衣。盡是欺賢罔聖。求得將來他心慧眼。觀之如吃膿血一般。總須償他始得。阿那箇有道果。自然招得他信施來不受者。學般若菩薩不得自謾。如氷凌上行。似劍刃上走。臨終之時一豪凡聖情量不盡。纖塵思念未忘。隨念受生輕重五陰。向驢胎馬腹裡託質。泥犁鑊湯裡煮煠一遍了。從前記持憶想見解智慧都盧一時失卻依前再為螻蟻。從頭又作蚊虻。雖是善因而遭惡果。且圖什麼兄弟只為貪欲成性。二十五有向腳跟下繫著無成辦之期。祖師觀此土眾生有大乘根性。唯傳心印指示迷情。得之者即不揀凡之與聖愚之與智。且多虛不如少實。大丈夫兒如今直下便休歇去。頓息萬緣越生死流逈出常格。靈光獨照物累不拘。巍巍堂堂三界獨步。何必身長丈六紫磨金輝。項佩圓光。廣長舌相。若以色見我是行邪道。設有眷屬莊嚴不求自得。山河大地不礙眼光。得大總持一聞千悟。都不希求一餐之直。汝等諸人儻不如是。祖師來至此土非常有損有益。有益者百千人中撈摝一箇半箇堪為法器。有損者如前已明。從他依三乘教法修行。不妨卻得四果三賢有進修之分。所以先德雲。了即業障本來空。未了還須償宿債。

(The Master continued:) Dry wisdom does not escape the wheel of suffering. Even if one's talent equals Aśvaghoṣa and one's understanding matches Nāgārjuna, it is only one or two lifetimes without losing human form. With faculties and thought pure from former lives, one understands upon hearing. Someone like Master Sheng [Daosheng], what is there to envy? He was entirely far from the Way. With you brothers, I discuss the real, not the unreal. Just this food for the mouth and clothes for the body — all of it is deceiving the worthy and cheating the sages. Seeking to obtain it in the future — the mind's eye of another's wisdom would regard it as eating pus and blood. One must always repay it before it is settled. Which one has the fruit of the Way? Naturally one draws the faithful's offerings. Those who do not receive them — bodhisattvas who study prajñā must not deceive themselves. It is like walking on ice, like walking on the edge of a sword. At the time of death, if a single hair's breadth of ordinary or sagely sentiment is not exhausted, if a trace of dust-like thought is not forgotten, one receives birth according to thought, with the five aggregates heavy or light. One entrusts one's essence in a donkey's womb or horse's belly. After being boiled and parched once in the cauldron of niraya, all the memory, recollection, views, and wisdom from before are suddenly lost at once, and one becomes an ant again as before. From the beginning one becomes a mosquito or gadfly again. Though it is a good cause, one nonetheless meets an evil fruit. What then is the point? Brothers, it is only because greedy desire has become one's nature. The twenty-five existences are tied to your heels, with no time for accomplishment. The ancestral teachers observed that beings in this land have the root nature of the Great Vehicle, and only transmitted the mind-seal, pointing out deluded feelings. Those who obtain it do not discriminate ordinary from sagely, foolish from wise. Moreover, much emptiness is not as good as a little reality. Great men — now directly cease and rest. Suddenly still the ten thousand conditions, transcend the stream of birth and death, and go far beyond the ordinary pattern. The spiritual light shines alone, unfettered by the entanglements of things. Majestic and dignified, one walks alone in the three realms. Why must one have a body sixteen feet tall, with purple-hued golden radiance, a round halo at the neck, and the broad and long tongue mark? If one sees me by form, that is practicing the wrong path. Even if one has retinues and adornments, they come without seeking. Mountains, rivers, and the great earth do not obstruct the eye's light. One obtains the great dhāraṇī and understands a thousand things upon hearing one. One does not even hope for the value of a single meal. If you people are not like this, the ancestral teacher's coming to this land has certainly not been without loss and gain. As for gain: among a hundred thousand people, one scoops out one or half a one who can be a vessel of the Dharma. As for loss: it has already been clarified above. If one follows the teachings of the Three Vehicles and cultivates, one may still obtain the four fruits and three worthy stages, and have a share in advancing. Therefore a former virtuous one said: 'When one understands, karmic obstruction is originally empty. When one does not understand, one must still repay former debts.'

池州南泉普願和尚上堂曰。諸子老僧十八上解作活計。有解作活計者出來。共爾商量是住山人始得。良久顧視大眾合掌曰。珍重無事各自修行。大眾不去。師曰。如聖果大可畏。勿量大人尚不奈何。我且不是渠。渠且不是我。渠爭奈我何。他經論家說法身為極則。喚作理盡三昧義盡三昧。似老僧向前被人教返本還源去。幾恁麼會禍事。兄弟近日禪師太多。覓箇痴鈍人不可得。不道全無於中還少。若有出來共爾商量。如空劫時有修行人否。有無作麼不道。阿爾尋常巧唇薄舌。及乎問著總皆不道。何不出來。莫論佛出世時事。兄弟今時人擔佛著肩上行。聞老僧言心不是佛智不是道。便聚頭擬推老僧無爾推處。爾若束得虛空作棒打得老僧著一任推。時有僧問。從上祖師至江西大師。皆雲。即心是佛平常心是道。今和尚雲。心不是佛智不是道。學人悉生疑惑。請和尚慈悲指示。師乃抗聲答曰。爾若是佛休更涉疑卻問。老僧何處有恁麼傍家疑佛來。老僧且不是佛亦不曾見祖師。爾恁麼道自覓祖師去。曰和尚恁麼道。教學人如何扶持得。師曰。爾急手托虛空著。曰虛空無動相。云何托。師曰。爾言無動相早是動也。虛空何解道我無動相。此皆是爾情見。曰虛空無動相尚是情見。前遣某甲托何物。師曰。爾既知不應言托。擬何處扶持他。曰即心是佛既不得。是心作佛否。師曰。是心是佛是心作佛情計所有斯皆想成。佛是智人心是採集主。皆對物時他便妙用。大德莫認心認佛。設認得是境。被他喚作所知愚。故江西大師雲。不是心不是佛不是物。且教爾後人恁麼行履。今時學人披箇衣服。傍家疑恁麼閑事還得否。曰既不是心不是佛不是物。和尚今卻雲心不是佛智不是道。未審若何。師曰。爾不認心(一有不字)是佛智不是道。老僧勿(一作忽)得心來復何處著。曰總既不得何異太虛。師曰。既不是物比什麼太虛。

The Reverend Puyuan of Nanquan in Chizhou entered the hall and said: "Disciples, this old monk understood how to make a living from the age of eighteen. If there is anyone who understands how to make a living, come forward. I will discuss it with you. Only a person dwelling in the mountains can do so." After a long while he looked around at the great assembly, joined his palms, and said: "Take care. If you have no business, each of you practice on your own." The great assembly did not leave. The master said: "Like sacred fruit, it is greatly to be feared. Do not measure the great person—even so, there is no way to deal with him. I am not him, and he is not me. What can he do to me? The scholars of sutras and treatises say the dharmakaya is the ultimate standard, and call it the samadhi of exhausted principle, the samadhi of exhausted meaning. It seems this old monk was previously taught by others to return to the root and go back to the source. If one understands it in that way, it is a disaster. Brothers, these days there are too many Chan masters. One cannot find a dull-witted person. I do not say there are none at all, but among them they are few. If there are any, come forward and I will discuss it with you. Were there practitioners at the time of the empty kalpa? Whether there were or not, why do they not speak? Ah, you ordinarily have clever lips and thin tongues. But when asked, none of you speak. Why not come forward? Do not discuss matters of the Buddha's appearance in the world. Brothers, people today carry the Buddha on their shoulders and walk around. When they hear this old monk say the mind is not the Buddha and wisdom is not the Way, they gather their heads together and intend to push this old monk. There is no place for you to push. If you can bind empty space into a staff and hit this old monk with it, then you may push as you please." At that time a monk asked: "From the patriarchs above down to the Great Master of Jiangxi, all have said that this very mind is the Buddha and ordinary mind is the Way. Now the Reverend says the mind is not the Buddha and wisdom is not the Way. Students all give rise to doubt and confusion. Please, Reverend, be compassionate and instruct us." The master then raised his voice and answered: "If you are the Buddha, then do not get involved in doubt and ask further. Where does this old monk have such a side-door doubt about the Buddha? This old monk is not the Buddha, and has also never seen the patriarchs. If you speak like that, go seek the patriarchs yourself." He said: "If the Reverend speaks like that, how are students to support it?" The master said: "You quickly hold up empty space." He said: "Empty space has no mark of movement. How can it be held up?" The master said: "You say it has no mark of movement—that is already movement. How can empty space explain, 'I have no mark of movement'? These are all your emotional views." He said: "If empty space having no mark of movement is still an emotional view, then what was I previously told to hold up?" The master said: "Since you already know, you should not say 'hold up.' Where are you going to support it?" He said: "If 'this very mind is the Buddha' is not it, then is the mind that makes the Buddha the Buddha?" The master said: "'The mind is the Buddha' and 'the mind makes the Buddha' are possessions of emotional calculation; all these are produced by conceptualization. The Buddha is a person of wisdom; the mind is the master of gathering. Both, when facing things, then have their wondrous function. Great Virtue, do not recognize mind or recognize Buddha. Even if you recognize them, that is a sphere. You will be called by it 'the delusion of what is known.' Therefore the Great Master of Jiangxi said: 'It is not mind, not Buddha, not a thing.' This is precisely to teach later people to practice in this way. These days students put on a robe and, at the side of others, doubt such idle matters—have they got it or not?" He said: "Since it is not mind, not Buddha, not a thing, and now the Reverend says the mind is not the Buddha and wisdom is not the Way, I do not know how it is." The master said: "If you do not recognize the mind (one version has: not) as the Buddha, and wisdom is not the Way. If this old monk does not (one version: suddenly) get the mind, where else would it be placed?" He said: "Since all are not it, how is it different from the great void?" The master said: "Since it is not a thing, what great void is it compared to?"

又教誰異不異。曰不可無他不是心不是佛不是物。師曰。爾若認遮箇還成心佛去也。曰請和尚說。師曰。老僧自不知。曰何故不知。師曰。教我作麼生說。曰可不許學人會道。師曰。會什麼道又作麼生會。曰某甲不知。師曰。不知卻好。若取老僧語喚作依通人。設見彌勒出世還被他燖卻頭尾。曰使後人如何。師曰。爾且自看莫憂他後人。曰前不許某甲會道。今復令某甲自看。未審如何。師曰。冥會妙會許爾。爾作麼生會。曰如何是妙會。師曰。還欲學老僧語。縱說是老僧說。大德如何。曰某甲若自會。即不須和尚乞慈悲指示。師曰。不可指東指西賺人。爾當哆哆和和時作麼不來問老僧。今時巧黠始道我不會圖什麼。爾若此生出頭來道。我出家作禪師。如未出家時曾作什麼來。且說看共爾商量。曰恁麼時某甲不知。師曰。既不知即今認得可可是耶。曰認得既不是不認是否。師曰。認不認是什麼語話。曰到遮裡某甲轉不會也。師曰。爾若不會我更不會。曰某甲是學人即不會。和尚是善知識合會。師曰。遮漢向爾道不會。誰論善知識。莫巧黠。看他江西老宿在日。有一學士問。如水無筋骨能乘萬斛舟此理如何。老宿雲。遮裡無水亦無舟。論什麼筋骨。兄弟他學士便休去可不省力。所以數數向道佛不會道。我自修行用知作麼。曰如何修行。師曰。不可思量得向人道。恁麼修恁麼行大難。曰還許學人修行否。師曰。老僧不可障得爾。曰某甲如何修行。師曰。要行即行不可專尋他背。曰若不因善知識指示無以得會。如和尚每言。修行須解始得。若不解即落他因果無自由分。未審如何修行即免落他因果。師曰。更不要商量。若論修行何處不去得。曰如何去得。師曰。爾不可逐背尋得。曰和尚未說教某甲作麼生尋。師曰。縱說何處覓去。且如爾從旦至夜。忽東行西行。爾尚不商量道去得不得。別人不可知得爾。

(The Master continued:) "And who else are you teaching about 'different or not different'?" He said, "It cannot be that without it there is no other mind, not Buddha, not a thing." The Master said, "If you acknowledge this, you still become mind and Buddha and go off." He said, "Please, Master, explain." The Master said, "This old monk himself does not know." He said, "Why do you not know?" The Master said, "How do you want me to explain?" He said, "Surely you cannot forbid a student to understand the Way." The Master said, "What Way do you understand, and how do you understand it?" He said, "I do not know." The Master said, "Not knowing is actually good. If you take this old monk's words, you are called a person who relies on another's understanding. Even if you met Maitreya appearing in the world, you would still have your head and tail scalded by him." He said, "Then what about later people?" The Master said, "You just look after yourself for now; do not worry about later people." He said, "Earlier you did not allow me to understand the Way. Now you again tell me to look after myself. I do not yet understand how." The Master said, "Silent understanding, wondrous understanding — I allow you that. How do you understand?" He said, "What is wondrous understanding?" The Master said, "You still want to learn this old monk's words. Even if I say it is this old monk's saying, how about you, Great Virtue?" He said, "If I could understand on my own, I would not need you, Master. I beg your compassion to instruct me." The Master said, "I cannot point east and point west to deceive people. When you were babbling and bumbling, why did you not come to ask this old monk? Now you are clever and sly, and only then say, 'I do not understand.' What are you after? If in this life you come forth and say, 'I left home and became a Chan master,' what were you doing before you left home? Just tell me; let us discuss it together." He said, "At that time I did not know." The Master said, "Since you did not know then, is what you recognize now exactly so or not?" He said, "If what is recognized is not it, is not recognizing it whether it is or not?" The Master said, "Recognizing or not recognizing — what sort of words are these?" He said, "At this point I am even more unable to understand." The Master said, "If you do not understand, I am even more unable to understand." He said, "I am a student, so I do not understand; you, Master, are a good spiritual friend, so you ought to understand." The Master said, "This fellow — I tell you I do not understand. Who is talking about a good spiritual friend? Do not be clever and sly. Consider that when the old worthies of Jiangxi were alive, a certain scholar asked: 'Water has no sinews or bones, yet it can carry a boat of ten thousand bushels. What is the principle in this?' The old worthy said: 'Here there is no water and also no boat. What sinews and bones are you talking about?' Brothers, that scholar then just gave up and left. Was that not saving effort? Therefore I repeatedly tell you: Buddha does not understand the Way. I cultivate on my own; what use is knowing?" He said, "How should one cultivate?" The Master said, "It cannot be gotten by thought and measure. To tell people, 'Cultivate thus, practice thus' is very difficult." He said, "Do you still allow a student to cultivate or not?" The Master said, "This old monk cannot obstruct you." He said, "How should I cultivate?" The Master said, "When you want to go, go; you cannot specially seek what is contrary to it." He said, "If not for the instruction of a good spiritual friend, there would be no way to understand. As you, Master, constantly say: in cultivation one must understand before one can succeed. If one does not understand, one falls into causality and has no share of freedom. I do not yet understand how to cultivate so as to avoid falling into causality." The Master said, "Do not discuss it further. If we speak of cultivation, where can one not go?" He said, "How does one go?" The Master said, "You cannot seek it by following what is contrary." He said, "The Master has not yet spoken; how should I seek?" The Master said, "Even if I speak, where will you go to find it? Suppose that from morning to night you suddenly walk east and walk west. You still do not deliberate and say whether you can go or cannot go. Others cannot know you."

曰當東行西行總不思量是否。師曰。恁麼時誰道是不是。曰和尚每言。我於一切處而無所行。他拘我不得。喚作遍行三昧普現色身。莫是此理否。師曰。若論修行何處不去。不說拘與不拘。亦不說三昧。曰何異有法得菩提道。師曰。不論異不異。曰和尚所說修行。迢然與大乘別。未審如何。師曰。不管他別不別。兼不曾學來。若論看教自有經論座主。他教家實大可畏。爾且不如聽去好。曰究竟令學人作麼生會。師曰。如汝所問元只在因緣邊。看爾且不奈何緣。是認得六門頭事。爾但會佛那邊卻來。我與爾商量。兄弟莫恁麼尋逐不住恁麼不取古人語行菩薩行唯一人行。天魔波旬領諸眷屬。常隨菩薩後覓心行起處便擬撲倒。如是經無量劫覓一念異處不得。方與眷屬禮辭讚歎供養。猶是進修位中。下之人便不奈何。況絕功用處。如文殊普賢。更不話他。兄弟作麼生道行是無。覓一日行底人不可得。今時傍家從年至歲。只是覓究竟作麼生。空弄唇舌生解。曰當恁麼時無佛名無眾生名。使某甲作麼圖度。師曰。爾言無佛名無眾生名。早是圖度了也。亦是記他言語。曰若如是悉屬佛出世時事。了不可不言。師曰。爾作麼生言。曰設使言言亦不及。師曰。若道言不及是及語。爾虛恁麼尋逐。誰與爾為境。曰既無為境者。誰是那邊人。師曰。爾若不引教來即何處論佛。既不論佛老僧與誰論遮邊那邊。曰果雖不住道而道能為因如何。師曰。是他古人如今不可不奉戒。我不是渠渠不是我。作得伊如狸奴白牯。行履卻快活。爾若一念異即難為修行。曰云何一念異難為修行。師曰。才一念異便有勝劣二根。不是情見隨他因果。更有什麼自由分。曰每聞和尚說報化非真佛亦非說法者。未審如何。師曰。緣生故非。曰報化既非真佛。法身是真佛否。師曰。早是應身也。曰若恁麼即法身亦非真佛。師曰。法身是真非真。老僧無舌不解道。

He said, "When going east or going west, one should never consider whether or not." The Master said, "At such a time, who says it is or is not?" He said, "The和尚 often says: I in all places have nothing to practice. He cannot restrict me. This is called the samadhi of universal practice, universally manifesting the color body. Is this not the principle?" The Master said, "If we discuss cultivation, where does one not go? It is not said to be restricted or unrestricted. Nor is it called samadhi." He said, "How is this different from having a dharma to attain the bodhi path?" The Master said, "It is not discussed as different or not different." He said, "What the和尚 says about cultivation is far different from the Mahayana. I do not know how." The Master said, "I do not care whether it is different or not. Moreover, I have never studied it. If we discuss looking at the teachings, there are naturally sutra and treatise masters. Their teachings are truly greatly fearsome. You had better just listen and go. Good." He said, "Ultimately, how should the student understand?" The Master said, "As you have asked, it originally lies only on the side of causes and conditions. Seeing that you for now cannot do anything about conditions. This is recognizing matters at the six gates. If you just understand the Buddha's side and come back, I will discuss with you. Brothers, do not seek and chase like that. Do not dwell like that. Do not take the words of the ancients. Practicing the bodhisattva practice is only one person practicing. The demon king Mara, with all his retinue, constantly follows behind the bodhisattva, seeking where the mind's activity arises and then intending to pounce and knock him down. Thus for immeasurable kalpas, if he cannot find a single thought of divergence, then with his retinue he bows, takes leave, praises, and makes offerings. Still, this is within the stage of advancing in cultivation. Those below cannot do anything about it. How much less so where effort and function are cut off. As for Manjushri and Samantabhadra, there is no need to speak of them. Brothers, how do you say practice is nonexistent? A person who practices for a day cannot be found. Nowadays, people nearby, from year to year, only seek how to ultimately be. They vainly play with lips and tongue and produce understandings." He said, "At such a time, there is no name of Buddha, no name of sentient beings. What should I contrive?" The Master said, "When you say no name of Buddha, no name of sentient beings, you have already contrived it. It is also remembering his words." He said, "If so, all belongs to the time when the Buddha appeared in the world. It cannot but be spoken." The Master said, "How do you speak?" He said, "Even if one speaks, speech does not reach it." The Master said, "If you say speech does not reach it, that is speech that reaches it. You vainly seek and chase like that. Who makes a realm for you?" He said, "Since there is no one who makes a realm, who is the person on that side?" The Master said, "If you do not cite the teachings, then where do you discuss the Buddha? Since you do not discuss the Buddha, with whom does the old monk discuss this side and that side?" He said, "Although the fruit does not dwell in the path, the path can be its cause. How is that?" The Master said, "That is the ancients. Nowadays one cannot but uphold the precepts. I am not him, he is not me. If you can make him like a cat or a white ox, your conduct will be happy. If you have a single thought of divergence, then cultivation is difficult." He said, "How is a single thought of divergence difficult for cultivation?" The Master said, "As soon as there is a single thought of divergence, there are the two roots of superior and inferior. Is this not emotional views following his causes and effects? What freedom is there?" He said, "I often hear the和尚 say that reward and transformation bodies are not the true Buddha, nor are they the dharma speaker. I do not know how." The Master said, "Because they are conditioned, they are not." He said, "Since reward and transformation bodies are not the true Buddha, is the dharma body the true Buddha?" The Master said, "It is already the response body." He said, "If so, then the dharma body is also not the true Buddha." The Master said, "The dharma body is true or not true. The old monk has no tongue and cannot speak."