The Undying Lamp of Zen
Page 8
When students make use of their power to gradually progress along the road, none of them fail to find quite a few signs; then all at once they misuse their minds and think they have fully plumbed the source. Some rejoice, some rest, some open big mouths to explain for others, still unaware that they are just borrowing the power of the sayings to dress up and dignify their own views and this is not the real meaning.
Just keep progressing, and do not stop halfway along. An ancient said, “Those who have attained have mold growing on their mouths.” Please keep your mouth shut for now and understand inwardly. Buddhism is not such and such a principle.
In the present time there is also a type who tends to conceive easy views of the koans of the ancients. All alike they look at them and say, “An iron bar has no flavor—ah, ha, ha!” They’re like blind men asking about the color of milk: when told it’s like a conch, they interpret in terms of sound; told it’s like snow, they interpret in terms of cold. Now an “iron bar” does not mean there is no flavor; it means there’s nothing you can get your teeth into—this is what’s called an iron bar. Just arouse an intense attitude of great fortitude where there is nothing to get your teeth into and chew vertically, chew horizontally, chew and chew unceasingly, and suddenly you’ll chew through.9 Once you’ve chewed through, you’ll find the inexhaustible flavor of Dharma in there. This is called an iron bar—later people didn’t understand and misinterpreted it to mean flavorless.
It is like the Flower Ornament’s great scripture in an atom—you cannot get it without breaking down the atom. So too is the iron bar—if you try to seek Buddhism without chewing through it, you’ll never succeed.
Zen Master Wuzu said, “When I arrived at the school of Baiyun, I gnawed through an iron beam and found all the hundred flavors contained in it.” If an iron bar is not chewed through, then it has no flavor at all, so it might be called flavorless, but if you leave off without savoring it, when can you escape birth and death? It would be like holding the scripture in an atom without extracting it, being falsely acclaimed a reverend, and spending your whole life idle. Even if you labored for eternity, what benefit would there be?
Some say that the evocation of principle and functions are one, that evocation of principle openly explains principles, while functions covertly indicate principles.10 This is simply a deceptive idea, making the same mistake as the aforementioned notion of “flavorlessness.” Why? The realm perceived when you see essential nature is called attainment of principle. If you just stay in the solitary principle of seeing nature, it sticks to your skin, glued to your bones, and you cannot thoroughly realize the Buddhas’ and Masters’ subtleties of differentiation. Now in order to remedy this, many differentiating sayings are cited to break through it. These are called functions.
For this reason, Wuzu said, “If you talk about mind and talk about nature, this is foul mouth.” Some say that before Mazu and Shitou, everyone taught clearly with principles, while after Mazu and Shitou, from Linji and Deshan on down, they started employing functions, which were not the mystery of the Buddhas and Patriarchs of antiquity. What they do not realize is that the abundant use of principles by the Buddhas and Patriarchs of antiquity was after all indication of the road, not really the inner meaning of the Buddhas and Patriarchs.
You tell me—don’t the canonical scriptures adduce principles? Why would the Zen school insist on a source outside doctrine, citing the smile at the flower raised? Why didn’t Buddha entrust Kasyapa with principles?11
It was just because the people of antiquity were simple and straightforward, innocent and earnest, that when the road was pointed out they proceeded directly to the mystic pass. It’s like an intelligent person who heads right home as soon as he finds out the road, whereas the ignorant one will stop somewhere along the way, imagining it’s his hometown. When it comes to setting aside the road and pointing directly to the source, Buddha and Masters have all employed functions such as “holding up a flower” and “smiling,” and “taking down the flagpole.”12 Now tell me, when you get here, what principle is there to speak of? Can you call these principles? The successors after this just transmitted one experience; their verses on transmission of the Dharma are examples of functions. Is there any such talk in the canon of scriptures? It is like a bonfire, like a diamond sword—if you stand there trying to have a discussion, you’ll lose your life.
If you interpret meaning literally, this is of course ordinary talk. How could reverends initiated in the Dharma not know this much? Then what is the meaning individually transmitted one to one in an undeviating lineage? And why did they only receive this Dharma after having already understood mind and attained the Way and then, at last encountering master teachers with the undistorted transmission, following them for many years?
Zen Master Yuanwu said,
Ever since there were masters, they only worked at sole transmission of direct pointing, not liking to drip water and trail mud, set out signs and lay out clichés to make fools of people. Sakyamuni Buddha, at over three hundred assemblies, set up teachings in response to potentials, giving out guidance for the age. It was all very roundabout, so in the end he got down to the essentials to deal with the highest potential. Although the twenty-eight generations from Kasyapa showed some functions, most revealed principle; but when it came time to hand on the transmission, all without exception presented it directly, like saying “Take down the sanctuary flagpole,” putting a needle on a bowl of water, showing a circle, taking hold of a red banner, picking up a clear mirror. They uttered verses transmitting the Dharma that were like iron bars.
Bodhidharma refuted six sects and proved his doctrine to outsiders, so the world was at peace.13 He spun “I am a deity, you’re a dog,”14 his spiritual workings so swift they could not be figured out by discussion or thought. Then when he came to Liang and traveled to Wei, he openly spoke of the purely transmitted mind-seal outside of doctrine.15 The instructions of the six generations of grand masters were explicit and obvious. When it came to the Great Mirror of Caoqi, he showed mastery of explanation and mastery of the source in detail.16
After the passage of a long time, greatly liberated Zen masters with accurate perception changed in order to clear the way, so that long lingering over names and forms would not fall into abstract discussion. They released lively, free, independent, subtle functions. Eventually we see the use of caning and shouting, dismissing words by means of words, taking away devices by means of devices, attacking poison with poison, refuting actions with actions.
See how that man of old explained thoroughly with distinct clarity. The fact is that since the Middle Ages, people’s character has been perverted and twisted, so they linger over the process, greedy to realize the results. Therefore locked gates were provisionally set up to ascertain what had been attained. These are called koans, “official decisions.” This is like officials at a pass checking for authenticity before allowing entry. If you want to go to the capital city without passing through the checkpoints, you’ll never find a way. If you manage to get through each checkpoint of functions, the principles explained by the Buddhas and Masters all along will also be clear. Otherwise, even if you understand the principles, this is still information outside the gate, not really experience inside the house of Buddhas and Masters. Therefore you should realize that verbal expressions have a lot of subtleties.
In olden times a monk asked Xuefeng, “How is it when the spring is cold in the ancient valley?”
Xuefeng said, “When you look directly, you don’t see the bottom.”
The monk asked, “How about one who drinks from it?”
Xuefeng said, “It doesn’t go in through the mouth.”
The monk quoted this to Zhaozhou. Zhaozhou said, “It can’t go in through the nose!”
The monk then asked Zhaozhou, “How is it when the spring is cold in the ancient valley?”
Zhaozhou said, “Painful.”
The monk asked, “How about one who drinks from it?”
When Xuefeng heard of this, he said, “Zhaozhou is an ancient Buddha; I bow to him from afar. From now on I won’t give any more answers.”
Look—Xuefeng, Great Master of True Enlightenment, had the foremost Zen eyes of his time; the masters Yunmen, Xuansha, Changqing, and Baofu all emerged from his school.17 Nevertheless, when he heard Zhaozhou’s answer, he bowed at a distance and stopped giving answers of his own accord. What was that all about! Do you think that’s “flavorless”? Do you think it is meaningless? Do you think it is up to Xuefeng’s state, or beyond Xuefeng’s state? If you really know this deep meaning, you yourself can walk hand in hand with Xuefeng.
When Sushan heard a single example of a saying from the master of Mount Dayu, he bowed from afar and said, “The ancient Buddha of Mount Dayu radiates light reaching all the way here.”
The moment the Hermit of Lotus Peak heard it said that “a gentleman likes wealth but gets it in a principled way,” he said in astonishment, “A descendant of Yunmen still exists!” In the middle of the night he lit incense and bowed toward Yunju.18
Tell me, if these were flavorless or meaningless, who wouldn’t be able to say them? Now as I look around, those who know how to be insipid, those who know how to pick pockets in broad daylight, and those who know how to be mindless are extremely common: as soon as they are questioned, they shout, or beat, or vomit sayings, or mime. If Xuefeng and Sushan were alive today, even if you bowed east to them every morning and bowed south to them every evening, you’d never be finished! Even if there were such people as Xuefeng and Sushan, what would be exceptional about them?
Also, you can’t say there was no one in antiquity but there is now. Don’t make the mistake of passing them by in vain so you get nothing from them—with clear faith that sayings have a lot of meaning, examine them closely for resolution. If you don’t understand each and every one of all of these differentiations clearly and completely, even if your eyes are empty as space and your spunk swallows the universe, you are still a wild fox-spirit haunting the wilds.
For this reason, National Teacher Daito said in a Japanese verse,19
For more than thirty years now
I too have lived in a fox cave;
Now even the transformed human
Has become civilized.
1. These refer to schools, scriptures, and bodies of Buddhist teachings. The Three Treatise school deals with analytic understanding of the emptiness of phenomena. The Characteristics of Phenomena school is based on the doctrine of only representation, referring to the descriptive nature of conventional reality as we cognize it. The Lotus of the Law Scripture downgrades nirvana to a strategic expedient and introduces visions of One Vehicle and comprehensive enlightenment. The Scripture of the Ultimate Demise emphasizes the eternity of the reality underlying the teaching and identifies the Buddha, the Teaching, and the Community with being-as-is. The Flower Ornament teaches universal relativity, summarized by the principle “All in one, one in all.” The Introductory doctrines refer to the scriptures of the Lesser Vehicle, emphasizing purification and nirvana. The Extended, or Universal, scriptures wean the mind from the Lesser Vehicle to focus on the Great Vehicle. The Transcendent Insight scriptures clear the mind of attachment to the teachings as mental objects. The Esoteric Ornament Scripture presents the mystic doctrine of buddhahood in this body.
2. “The four appearances” refer to the aforementioned appearances of self, person, being, and life.
3. Guifeng Zongmi was a scholarly Zen master of Tang-dynasty China; much of his work is lost.
4. Zhenjing was one of the great masters of the Huanglong sect of Zen in Song-dynasty China; see Zen Lessons, cases 51–56; Teachings of Zen, pp. 67–71. For Heshan, see The Blue Cliff Record, case 44.
5. The Blue Cliff Record, case 45.
6. The Blue Cliff Record, case 87.
7. Unlocking the Zen Koan, case 38.
8. For Zhaozhou, see Unlocking the Zen Koan, case 31; Book of Serenity, case 10. For Jianfeng, see Book of Serenity, commentary to case 46. For Huangbo see The Blue Cliff Record, case 11.
9. Here, “vertically” refers to work in stillness, where intensity and timelessness resemble vertical ascent to the heights as well as vertical descent to the depths, while “horizontally” refers to work in activity, where passing through time and expansive awareness resemble horizontal extent.
10. “Evocation of principle” and “functions” are the first two of three categories of koans in the system of Daio and the first two of five categories of koans in the system of Hakuin’s school that Torei and other masters helped to develop.
11. See Unlocking the Zen Koan, case 6.
12. See Transmission of Light, case 3; and Unlocking the Zen Koan, cases 6 and 22.
13. See J. C. Cleary, Zen Dawn, for work attributed to Bodhidharma.
14. This refers back to Kanadeva, the successor of the Nagarjuna, who is associated with the exposition of emptiness and the middle way. The Chinese Three Treatise school of Buddhism is based on the works of Kanadeva and Nagarjuna. For this dialogue, see The Blue Cliff Record, commentary to case 13.
15. This refers to the transplantation of Zen to China by Bodhidharma. See The Blue Cliff Record, case 1.
16. For the teachings attributed to this master, Huineng, see The Sutra of Huineng: Grand Master of Zen.
17. For speeches of Xuefeng, see “The House of Yun-men” in The Five Houses of Zen; for koans of Xuefeng, see The Blue Cliff Record, cases 5, 22, 49, 51; Book of Serenity, cases 24, 50, 55; Unlocking the Zen Koan, case 13. For speeches of Yunmen, see “The House of Yun-men” in The Five Houses of Zen; for koans of Yunmen, see The Blue Cliff Record, cases 6, 8, 14, 15, 22, 27, 34; Book of Serenity, cases 11, 40, 82, 92, 99; Unlocking the Zen Koan, cases 15, 16, 21, 39. For speeches of Xuansha, see “The House of Fa-yen” in The Five Houses of Zen; for koans of Xuansha, see The Blue Cliff Record, cases 22 and 88; Book of Serenity, case 81. For koans of Chanqing and Baofu, see The Blue Cliff Record, cases 8, 22, 23, 95.
18. On “the Hermit of Lotus Peak,” see The Blue Cliff Record, case 25.
19. As Torei’s discourse is written entirely in kanbun, the type of literary Chinese written in Japan, sometimes called Sino-Japanese, the transcription of this vernacular verse in the archaic usage prior to the invention of the Japanese writing systems, using Chinese characters in a mixture of semantic and phonetic applications, creates effects with nuances for Japanese people that cannot be reproduced in translation.
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PROGRESSIVE TRANSCENDENCE
Here there is the path of progressive individual expression. This is called the experience that the ancestral teachers did not transmit. Therefore Banshan said, “The road beyond has not been transmitted by a thousand sages; students playing with forms are like monkeys grasping at reflections.”
This is also called the last word. Fushan said, “At the last word you finally reach an unyielding barrier.”
The guiding message is not in verbal explanation: what Buddhas and Masters since ancient times have received successively from one another unerringly has in every case been this one experience. Even if Zen monks truly investigate the mysterious subtleties thoroughly, pass through multiple barriers, and see through impenetrable stories going beyond, and yet stumble by this little task, it is for no other reason than that their vows of compassion are not profoundly serious and their will and attitude are not lofty and transcendent, their repentance is not sincere and their doubt is not thorough. As ever, they stay in their old habits.
For this reason ancients like National Teacher Shoitsu temporarily set up three fundamentals—principle, functions, and progression—to remedy this decadence.1 Ever since the Middle Ages people have analyzed sayings to classify them as aids to intellectual understanding. What they don’t realize is that your experiences of seeing nature are all principle, the sayings of Buddhas and Masters that are hard to understand are all functions, and in the experienc
e of progressive transcendence are indications of having a life beyond. The reason our Zen school crowns all the schools is precisely because of transmitting this bit. If simply seeing nature clearly were to be considered enough, what need would there have been to set up our school besides?
Consider the great congregation on Spirit Mountain.2 Do you think it was easy to get there? Everyone had been through repeated refinement and was completely fulfilled in principle and fact, in nature and characteristics. Do you think their understanding and knowledge were inferior to yours? Obviously you cannot match them. Now since they were like this, why was Reverend Kasyapa the only one to break into a smile? Ananda also attended the Buddha for thirty years, and his understanding at the Surangama assembly in particular was extremely deep,3 and yet he didn’t understand—why did he go to Kasyapa for transmission of this teaching?
In the present time, students think it’s easy. They don’t consider ancient precedents such as these. After studying some Zen, they waste their lives at leisure. How sad! The school of Bodhidharma is extinct!
Some say that the school of Bodhidharma was direct pointing to the human mind, seeing its nature, and becoming enlightened, so how could there be any principle beyond seeing nature? This may be so as far as it goes, unfortunately, but tell me, if Bodhidharma’s teaching was only on seeing nature, why were there differences of skin, flesh, bones, and marrow?4 Do you suppose he was cheating people?