Yongjia's Song of Realizing the Way

君不見。絕學無為閒道人。不除妄想不求真。

Have you not seen the idle man of the Way, who has nothing more to study and nothing to do, who neither deliberately cuts off deluded thoughts nor deliberately seeks the True Suchness?

無明實性即佛性。幻化空身即法身。法身覺了無一物。

The true nature of ignorance is, right now, the Buddha-nature; this illusory, empty body is, right now, the Dharma body. When the Dharma body is fully awakened, there is not a single thing to be found within it;

本源自性天真佛。五陰浮雲空去來。

the original self-nature is the naturally true Buddha. The five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, formation and consciousness are like floating clouds, drifting in and out of the empty sky;

三毒水泡虛出沒。證實相無人法。剎那滅卻阿鼻業。

the three poisons of greed, anger and delusion are like bubbles on water, falsely arising and vanishing. Once one realizes the true nature of things, there is no self and no dharma to cling to, and in an instant the karma that would send one to the Avici hell is wiped out.

若將妄語誑眾生。自招拔舌塵沙劫。

If I deceived living beings with false words, I would bring upon myself the retribution of having my tongue torn out, lasting for kalpas as many as the grains of dust.

頓覺瞭如來禪。六度萬行體中圓。夢裡明明有六趣。

Suddenly awakening to the Tathagata's Zen, the six perfections and ten thousand practices are all complete within this very substance. In a dream there were clearly six paths of rebirth;

覺後空空無大千。無罪福無損益。

after waking, all is empty and bare, and not even a great chiliocosm exists. There is no sin and no merit, no loss and no gain;

寂滅性中莫問覓。比來塵鏡未曾磨。今日分明須剖析。

within the still and extinguished nature, do not go on questioning and searching. This mirror, long covered with dust, has never been wiped; today it must be analyzed and made perfectly clear.

誰無念誰無生。若實無生無不生。

Who is without thought? Who is without birth? If there were truly no birth, then there would be nothing that is not born.

喚取機關木人問。求佛施功早晚成。放四大莫把捉。

Call a wooden puppet over and ask it: relying on effort to seek Buddhahood, when could one ever succeed? Let go of the four great elements of earth, water, fire and wind, and do not cling to them;

寂滅性中隨飲啄。諸行無常一切空。

within the still and extinguished nature, simply eat and drink as circumstances bring. All conditioned things pass away and are impermanent, and everything is empty,

即是如來大圓覺。決定說表真僧。有人不肯任情徵。

and this is the Tathagata's great, perfect enlightenment. What I say here is certain and beyond doubt, offered to show what a true monk is; if anyone refuses to accept it, let them come and question me as they please.

直截根源佛所印。摘葉尋枝我不能。

To cut straight through to the root is what the Buddha approves; as for plucking leaves and searching out twigs, I cannot do such trivial work.

摩尼珠人不識。如來藏裡親收得。六般神用空不空。

The mani jewel is not recognized by people, though it is kept right there in the Tathagata-garbha. The wondrous functions of the six senses are, one may say, empty yet not empty;

一顆圓光色非色。淨五眼得五力。

that one perfect ray of light is, one may say, form yet not form. One purifies the five eyes (the physical, divine, wisdom, Dharma and Buddha eyes) and obtains the five powers of faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom,

唯證乃知難可測。鏡裡看形見不難。水中捉月爭拈得。

which only one who has personally realized them can know, and which are hard to fathom. Seeing a form in a mirror is not hard to do; but scooping the moon out of the water, how could anyone grasp it?

常獨行常獨步。達者同遊涅槃路。

Always walking alone, always striding alone; those who have penetrated the truth all walk together on the road to nirvana.

調古神清風自高。貌顇骨剛人不顧。窮釋子口稱貧。

Their style is ancient and plain, their spirit clear, their bearing naturally lofty; the face is gaunt but the bones are strong, and no one pays them any mind. The poor monk says with his mouth that he is poor,

實是身貧道不貧。貧則身常披縷褐。

but in truth it is the body that is poor, not the Way. The poverty is in the body, always draped in tattered cloth,

道則心藏無價珍。無價珍用無盡。利物應機終不悋。

while the Way is the priceless treasure held within the heart. This priceless treasure can never be used up; it benefits living beings, responds to every circumstance, and is never withheld.

三身四智體中圓。八解六通心地印。

The three bodies (Dharma body, reward body and transformation body) and the four wisdoms that arise when consciousnesses are transformed are all complete in this very substance; the eight liberations and six supernormal powers are all seals of the mind-ground.

上士一決一切了。中下多聞多不信。但自懷中解垢衣。

Those of the highest capacity settle everything in one decisive stroke; those of middling and lower capacity grow less willing to believe the more they hear. Just take off the filthy garment from your own bosom,

誰能向外誇精進。從他謗任他非。

and who would still go outward to boast of his own diligence? Let them slander, let them criticize,

把火燒天徒自疲。我聞恰似飲甘露。銷融頓入不思議。

it is merely holding up a torch to burn the sky, and only wearies oneself in vain. When I hear it, it is as if I were drinking sweet nectar; all at once it melts away, and I enter at once the inconceivable.

觀惡言是功德。此即成吾善知識。

Regard harsh words as merit, and then the one who speaks harshly becomes my good spiritual friend.

不因訕謗起冤親。何表無生慈忍力。宗亦通說亦通。

If I did not tell enemy from friend because of ridicule and slander, how could the power of compassionate patience born of non-arising be shown? When the essential teaching is thoroughly understood, speech is thoroughly understood too,

定慧圓明不滯空。非但我今獨達了。

and concentration and wisdom are perfectly clear, without lingering on "emptiness". This is not something that only I have penetrated now;

恆沙諸佛體皆同。師子吼無畏說。百獸聞之皆腦裂。

the Buddhas, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, all share the same substance. Fearless as a lion's roar, the teaching makes the hundred beasts split their skulls and lose their courage on hearing it,

香象奔波失卻威。天龍寂聽生欣悅。

the fragrant elephant runs off and loses its dignity, while gods and dragons listen quietly and rejoice.

遊江海涉山川。尋師訪道為參禪。自從認得曹谿路。

I crossed rivers and seas and trekked over mountains, seeking teachers and asking after the Way in order to study Zen. Ever since I came to know the road of Caoxi,

了知生死不相關。行亦禪坐亦禪。語默動靜體安然。

I have understood that birth and death have nothing to do with me. Walking is Zen, sitting is Zen; in speech and silence, movement and stillness, the substance is always at ease.

縱遇鋒刀常坦坦。假饒毒藥也閒閒。

Even meeting the point of a blade, my heart is calm and open; even if I were given poison, I would remain unhurried.

我師得見然燈佛。多劫曾為忍辱仙。

My original teacher Shakyamuni once saw Dipamkara Buddha in person, and through many kalpas was also the Patient Immortal.

幾迴生幾迴死。生死悠悠無定止。自從頓悟了無生。

How many times born, how many times dead; birth and death go on and on without settled measure. Since I suddenly awakened to the principle of non-birth,

於諸榮辱何憂喜。入深山住蘭若。岑崟幽邃長松下。

what is there to grieve or rejoice over in honor and disgrace? Entering deep mountains and dwelling in an aranya (a quiet place for practice), beneath tall, deep-set pines,

優遊靜坐野僧家。閴寂安居實蕭灑。

I sit at ease in the dwelling of a mountain monk, dwelling quietly and truly carefree.

覺即了不施功。一切有為法不同。住相佈施生天福。

Once awakened, it is finished and no further effort is needed; this is utterly unlike all conditioned dharmas. Giving while clinging to appearances yields only the blessings of rebirth in heaven,

猶如仰箭射虛空。勢力盡箭還墜。

like shooting an arrow up into the sky: when its strength is spent, the arrow falls back down,

招得來生不如意。爭似無為實相門。一超直入如來地。

and the future life it brings is still unsatisfactory. How can that compare with the unconditioned true-nature teaching, which in a single leap enters directly into the realm of the Tathagata?

但得本莫愁末。如淨瑠璃含寶月。

Just get the root, and there is no need to worry about the branches, like a clear crystal holding a precious moon within.

既能解此如意珠。自利利他終不竭。

Since one is able to understand this wish-fulfilling jewel, benefiting oneself and others will never run dry.

江月照松風吹。永夜清宵何所為。佛性戒珠心地印。

The moon shines on the river and the wind blows through the pines; what is there to do through the long, clear night? Buddha-nature is the jewel of the precepts, the seal of the mind-ground;

霧露雲霞體上衣。降龍缽解虎錫。兩鈷金環鳴歷歷。

mist, dew, clouds and haze are the clothes on one's body. The bowl that subdued the dragon and the staff that parted fighting tigers, with the two golden rings at its head jingling,

不是標形虛事持。如來寶杖親蹤跡。

are not carried for show or in pretense, but are the very traces of the Tathagata's precious staff, handed down in person.

不求真不斷妄。了知二法空無相。無相無空無不空。

Neither seeking the true nor cutting off the false, one understands that both true and false are empty and without form. Without form, without emptiness, and also not non-empty,

即是如來真實相。心鏡明鑒無礙。

this is the true form of the Tathagata. The mirror of the mind is clear and bright, illuminating everything without obstruction,

廓然瑩徹周沙界。萬象森羅影現中。一顆圓光非內外。

vast and crystalline, filling worlds as many as the sands of the Ganges. The images of all myriad phenomena appear within it; that one round light cannot be said to be inside or outside.

豁達空撥因果。莽莽蕩蕩招殃禍。

If one takes "emptiness" to mean nothing at all and discards cause and effect, then one drifts vaguely and invites disaster;

棄有著空病亦然。還如避溺而投火。捨妄心取真理。

to abandon "being" and cling to "emptiness" is the same fault, like avoiding drowning only to leap into fire. Casting off the deluded mind to take hold of truth,

取捨之心成巧偽。學人不了用修行。

this very mind of taking and discarding becomes itself contrivance and falsehood. Students of the Way who do not understand this and still make effort in practice

深成認賊將為子。損法財滅功德。莫不由斯心意識。

deeply mistake a thief for their own son. Wasting the wealth of the Dharma and destroying merit all come from this mind, will and consciousness.

是以禪門了卻心。頓入無生知見力。

Therefore the Zen school cuts this mind off, and at once enters the power of the insight of non-birth.

大丈夫秉慧劍。般若鋒兮金剛焰。非但空摧外道心。

The great man holds the sword of wisdom, the edge of prajna, the flame of the vajra. It does not only shatter the minds of heretics,

早曾落卻天魔膽。震法靁擊法鼓。

it has long since frightened the gall out of the heavenly demons. It sets the thunder of the Dharma shaking and beats the drum of the Dharma,

佈慈雲兮灑甘露。龍象蹴踏潤無邊。三乘五性皆醒悟。

spreads clouds of compassion and sprinkles the sweet dew; where the dragon-elephant treads, the moisture is boundless, and the Three Vehicles of shravaka, pratyekabuddha and Bodhisattva and the five kinds of nature are all awakened by it.

雪山肥膩更無雜。純出醍醐我常納。

The rich, fatty grass of the Snow Mountains is pure and unmixed; the cow that eats it produces only ghee, the finest flavor, which I often enjoy.

一性圓通一切性。一法遍含一切法。一月普現一切水。

One nature fully pervades all natures, and one dharma fully contains all dharmas. One moon appears everywhere in all the waters,

一切水月一月攝。諸佛法身入我性。

and the moon's reflections in all the waters are gathered back into that one moon. The Dharma bodies of all the Buddhas enter my own nature,

我性同共如來合。一地具足一切地。

and my own nature accords with the Tathagata. Every stage of practice and realization holds all the stages,