At this, I vowed to try to perfect meditation concentration, but as the days and months came and went, as ever I was still not free. Subsequently I went into seclusion, where I could not be reached, and struggled day and night, just like a condemned man counting the days till his execution.
Mightily manipulating the pearl of awareness, I didn’t put it down for an instant. Sometimes getting it, sometimes losing it, I found correct mindfulness hard to keep continuous. Sorrow and apprehension clogged my chest, and I was uneasy whether sitting down, or up and about.
This went on for half a hundred days, when suddenly all fell into place. Shattering the luminous pearl, completely bare, totally naked, I truly understood the “clear wind after unloading.”
Even so, my application was not yet thoroughgoing. So I whipped the dead ox again to forge ahead nonstop. Gritting my teeth and clenching my fists, I didn’t notice I had a body. Even on freezing days and frigid nights my clothing was always moist with sweat. Sometimes when the demon of sleep was strong I stuck myself with a needle. Penetrating bone and marrow, finding no taste in food and drink, I passed another half a hundred days. During that time I had insights eight or nine times, and on the last day I saw through my teacher’s everyday experience. Ah, ha, ha! The dead work I had mistakenly been doing, along with the white clouds, deserved thirty strokes of the cane.
I knew in truth my teacher’s empowerment was tremendous—if he hadn’t led me along and instructed me so much, how could I be where I am today? I would have spent my whole life mistakenly remaining dead within understanding and knowledge. Now as I think of past events, every word, every phrase, was dripping with blood, frightening and saddening. Ever since then, my mindfulness has been uninterrupted. I studied day and night, never stopping. How can we waste time idly with an easygoing attitude?
I want to practice this path diligently to revive the true Way, now in decline, as best I can. Don’t you want this too? When it comes to this, please have a single eye.
Because I’ve had many illnesses, I am able to recognize others’ illnesses. As I have cured my illnesses, I’ve also learned about medicines. As my illnesses were gradually cured, then I worried about others’ illnesses. Because others had illnesses, my illness recurred. Zen Master Luopu said, “At the last word you finally come to the hard and fast barrier.” How true these words are! Passing through birth and death to liberation, wielding the stamp of truth, is all in reference to this time: only by taking on the highest function will you become expert. I too am like this: I only want there to be someone like this three thousand miles away to cure this illness of mine. But if not, then let everyone in the world criticize freely.
1. These were three categories of koans, later refined into five in Hakuin’s school. For instructions of Shoitsu, see The Original Face.
2. This is one of the founding stories of Zen, the story of the flower and the smile. See Transmission of Light, case 2; and Unlocking the Zen Koan, case 6.
3. This refers to the Surangama-sutra or Heroic Progress Scripture, which became very influential among Chinese Zen Buddhists of the Song dynasty.
4. This refers to a story encapsulating Bodhidharma’s evaluations of his four successors: one had gotten his skin, one his flesh, one his bones, and one his marrow. The main streams of transmission of Zen traditionally trace themselves to the last of these, the disciple who got the marrow.
5. See The Blue Cliff Record, cases 11 and 53.
6. This collection of citations with Xuedou’s verse comments is the core of The Blue Cliff Record, which consists of Yuanwu’s introductions, comments, and lectures on each example.
7. The handling of the fly-whisk is used symbolically to represent all functions, hence with picking it up and hanging it up, “The whole works appears and disappears.”
8. “The Xiantong era” of the Tang dynasty lasted from 860 to 874, so the implication is that it took a long time for Sushan to make this progress.
9. For this story, see Unlocking the Zen Koan, case 1; Book of Serenity, case 18. The version typically used in the Rinzai schools says a monk asked the master, “Does a dog have buddha-nature or not?” The master said, “No.”
10. Unlocking the Zen Koan, case 13.
11. For teachings of Fushan, see Zen Lessons, cases 9–17. For Wuzu’s teachings, see Zen Lessons, cases 8–28; and “Zen Master Wuzu” in Zen Essence.
12. The Yangqi sect is a branch of the Linji school. See “Zen Master Yangqi” in Zen Essence; and “Facing Suchness” in Teachings of Zen. The other sect, called Huanglong, was introduced into Japan earlier by Eisai but did not flourish like the Yangqi lineage.
13. Foyan was one of the so-called Three Buddhas among Wuzu’s disciples. For his lectures, see Instant Zen.
14. The Blue Cliff Record, case 8.
15. The name Yunmen means “cloud gate.”
16. Bukkoku (1241–1316) was the teacher of the great Muso Soseki (1275–1351), who was named national teacher by seven emperors. Some of his dialogues were published in his own time, eventually becoming one of the native classics of Japanese Zen. See Dream Conversations for a translation of this key work.
17. That is, he should be happy to realize his incompleteness and have an opportunity for further enlightenment.
18. “The Incorrigible” (Sanskrit, icchantika) was one of Hakuin’s pen names, an ironic reference to compassion.
19. For a Zen commentary on the Diamond-sutra, see The Sutra of Hui-neng: Grand Master of Zen.
20. The Flower Ornament Scripture, pp. 1503–18.
21. The popular name of the influential Saddharmapundarika-sutra, favored by the Tendai school.
22. The Blue Cliff Record, commentary to case 33.
23. When Sushan’s memorial tower was to be built, the administrator came and told him. Sushan said, “How much are you going to pay the craftsman?” The administrator said it was up to Sushan. Sushan said, “Should you give him three wen, two wen, or one wen? If you can say, you build me the memorial tower yourself.” The administrator was at a loss. At the time Master Luoshan was living on Mount Dayu. A monk came telling this story, and Luoshan asked if anyone had been able to answer. The monk replied in the negative, so Luoshan told him, “You go back and tell Sushan that if he pays the craftsman three wen, he’ll never get a monument in this life; if he pays the craftsman two wen, he and the craftsman together will put forth a single hand; if he pays the craftsman one wen, he’ll get the craftsman in trouble, and his eyebrows and beard will fall out.” When this was related to Sushan, he bowed to Luoshan at a distance, saying, “On Mount Dayu is an old Buddha who radiates light reaching here. Even so, this is a lotus in the winter.” When this was reported to Luoshan, he said, “My speaking thus was already growing several more yards of turtle hair.”
24. Unlocking the Zen Koan, case 31; Book of Serenity, case 10.
25. A woman supported a hermit for twenty years. One day she sent a young woman to test him, and the hermit rebuffed her coldly. The woman who supported him said he was after all a worldly man and burned down his hut.
[ 7 ]
WORKING APPLICATION
People may be of the present or the past, but the Way has no past or present. A person can practice the Way, but on attainment of the Way, the person is forgotten. Therefore the Way is the person; there is no person besides. So it is said that if the Way is the same as of old, so is the person. The only reason for not being equal to the ancients is that perception of the Way is not transcendent, and practical application is not clear.
Now that you know the experience beyond, you need to put it into practice clearly. Mention of seeking continuity of right mindfulness refers to this time. Great Master Bodhidharma said, “Many understand the Way, but few practice it.” Master Dongshan said, “Continuity is very difficult.” Shoju Rojin said, “It’s hard to find even one in ten thousand who has continuous correct mindfulness.”
When Diamond Navel Bodhisattva was practicing the Way long ago, a demon king follo
wed him for a thousand years, looking for his tracks, and never could find them. And Master Dongshan lived in a cloister all his life, and the earth spirit wanted to get a glimpse of him but never was able to do so. These are ancient models of continuity of correct mindfulness.
Even so, if one does not transmit the bit of progressive transcendence, that’s really making a living in a ghost cave. And even if you know the transcendental, if your practical application isn’t clear, you are just one who embraces the Way and still cannot exercise great function.
For this reason, though there have been quite a few people with accurate insight, those among them who attained the great function of great potential were rare. Zen Master Huangbo said, “Mazu had eighty-four successors who presided over places of practice, but there were only three or four who got Master Ma’s true eye.”
Zen Master Lingyuan Qing used to tell students, “It’s hard to find authentic people in Zen schools. After leaving Huitang, the only genuine Zen master I saw was my Dharma brother on East Mountain.”1
Zen Master Dahui said, “Of the venerable adepts in old Nan’s line, Wuzu only agreed with two elders, Huitang and Zhenjing, that’s all. The rest he didn’t accept.”2
Also, Ying-an said, “Haven’t you seen how Master Dasui said, ‘I called on more than seventy teachers, and only one or two had great perception. The rest all had accurate insight.’”
Right now the only real teacher in the world with great perception is my Dharma uncle and old teacher [Hakuin]. His black-lacquered bamboo wand overturns oceans and mountains, striking through from the start; though it is medicine for a dead horse, it is the quintessence thereof.
Also, Master Chijue said, “I traveled in monastic society for thirty years; in those days the only one with great perception was old Songyuan. If he hadn’t been that way, how could Buddhism have survived until today?”3
You should know that there is another lock on this. But each and every one of those teachers of ancient times all have knowledge and function beyond convention; the selection of one or two like this is only about having tremendous vision. Teachers in the present time do not have the perception to distinguish objectively. They wrongly criticize people of old for not realizing their own errors, and they mistakenly claim their way surpasses the ancients. That’s laughable. Leaving aside for the moment those specifically indicated by Huangbo and the others, what about the rest of those known as Zen masters—do you think they can even be spoken of on the same day as the “enlightened teachers” of the present time? Their virtue moved the age; the dragons and elephants of the whole land were all influenced by them. Therefore you should realize that the ancestral teachers’ selections of people were the most difficult of difficulties, the most subtle of subtleties.
In olden times Guishan asked Yangshan, “Of Mazu’s eighty-four successors, how many attained great potential and how many attained great function?” Yangshan said, “Baizhang attained great potential; Huangbo attained great function. The rest were just guides.”4
Look—the descendants of our Linji each had capability beyond a teacher and never died at a saying of a teacher of the school.5 After a thousand hardships and myriad pains entering bones and penetrating marrow, everything flowed from their own hearts. With this, they put forth a single hand together to support the true Way. This is why the way of Zen continued and did not die out.
In olden times it was said that Yunmen saved with words while Linji saved with acts.6 The truth is not so. Even if you have the marvelous exposition of a Yunmen, without the great workings of a Linji it is like having the status of an emperor without the power of a general. The resulting deterioration winds up degenerating into mysterious vagueness, and mysterious vagueness turns into subtle slipperiness. Everyone after the great Ben was like this.7
Then again, if you have the great workings of a Linji, without the marvelous exposition of a Yunmen, it’s like having the power of a general without the rank of an emperor; the resulting deterioration winds up degenerating into inaccessible oddity, and inaccessible oddity turns into crude forcefulness.
The Zen types of the present day are generally no better than this, but the likes of Yunmen and Linji were not like this at all. They were able to transcend beyond great workings and marvelous exposition, and also sported within great workings and marvelous exposition. When their schools degenerated, they took the traces of that sporting and made them into stereotypes. Therefore our Linji, from the time of the masters Xinghua and Fengxue, was also equipped with Yunmen’s marvelous exposition; the style of the school changed, and Buddhism was renewed daily.8
Based on this, Great Master Wuzu came riding on the wheel of vows and reopened the school of East Mountain, singing the song of Yunmen and wielding the sword of Linji, like two wheels of a chariot. The way of the school, well established, revived the authentic lineage of the Buddhas and Masters, therefore causing their heritage not to die out. Zhenjing had a verse that said,
Yunmen and Linji—a spring of a hundred flowers;
Everyone with spiritual potential had genius.
If they all had genius, wouldn’t springtime return to the garden of the masters? Henceforth Yuanwu, Huqiu, Ying-an, and Mi-an successively appeared in the world and labored to practice this path and revive the way of the school.
For this reason, when Songyuan was dying, he said to the community, “Among those who travel the right road there are those who are unable to use the written teachings. The path of Linji is on the verge of dying out. What a pity!” Xutang cited this and said, “The old teacher of Vulture Peak seems much like he’s mounting a horse with the help of a staff—though there’s no danger of falling, he can’t avoid looking ridiculous to onlookers. Tsk!” Even the great Xutang was affected by Songyuan’s poison and also wanted to hurt others, as a result afflicting our first patriarch of Zen in Japan, with the calamity extending to his posterity. If Shoju Rojin had not labored for forty years to distinguish this poison ingredient, descendants of later generations would be hopeless.
What time is this? Who can take the responsibility? Please set the eye on your forehead high and practice this path diligently to revive the true Way, now in decline, and not let its posterity die out.
This section on working application is most important. Revival of the true school and circulation of true perception are all in this. Even so, since the final direction is not in verbal explanation, how can this be discussed in words? Wrong, wrong! It just takes people of great power to pick up the true school and carry it on one shoulder and not let the true way of Buddhas and Masters die out!
1. For teachings of Huitang, see Zen Lessons, cases 35–40; for Lingyuan, see Zen Lessons, cases 64–79. “East Mountain” refers to Wuzu Fayan; see Zen Lessons, cases 17–28.
2. “Old Nan” refers to Huanglong Huinan, after whom the Huanglong sect of the Linji school is named. For Huanglong Huinan’s teaching, see Zen Lessons, cases 41–47, and “Zen Master Huanglong” in Zen Essence.
3. For teachings of Chijue, see Teachings of Zen, pp. 109–14. For Songyuan, see Teachings of Zen, pp. 105–7.
4. For Baizhang, Guishan, and Yangshan, see “The House of Kuei-Yang” in The Five Houses of Zen. For Huangbo, see “The House of Lin-chi” in The Five Houses of Zen.
5. In Zen parlance, to “die at a saying” means to stop at a partial understanding and stagnate mentally.
6. For Yunmen, see “The House of Yun-men” in The Five Houses of Zen.
7. This refers to Shanben, a highly distinguished master in the sixth generation of the Yunmen school. His teacher was a successor to Xuedou, the author of the poetic commentaries on koans that form the core of The Blue Cliff Record.
8. Linji’s assistant Xinghua is cited briefly in Book of Serenity, case 35. For classic commentaries on koans featuring Fengxue, see The Blue Cliff Record, cases 38 and 61; and Book of Serenity, cases 29 and 34.
[ 8 ]
LEARNING FROM A TEACHER
Ever since the transcendent attainment
fell to the ground, no one values learning from a teacher. Self-enlightened, with their own views, people argue over false and true, indulging their own portion of knowledge instead of basing it on the ancients.
In olden times, Zen Master Xuance of Dongyang visited Great Master Xuanjiao of Yongjia and had an intense discussion with him. Finding that his words unconsciously accorded with the patriarchs, Xuance asked, “Who is your Dharma teacher?” He said, “I’ve listened to discourses on the Universal scriptures and have transmission from a teacher for each one. Later I understood the Buddha-mind school through the scripture of Vimalakirti but have not yet had anyone confirm it.” Xuance said, “That’s all right ‘before the prehistoric Buddha,’ but those who are enlightened on their own ‘after the prehistoric Buddhas’ are all naturalist outsiders.”1
Also, Master Ying-an said,
The founder of Zen came from the West touting this thing in particular, only valuing comprehension outside of words, directly penetrating the heights and the depths. Why do you need to chant morning and evening on the edge of a meditation seat in order to call it Buddhism or the Way of Zen? That’s actually blinding people. But you shouldn’t abandon instruction from a teacher in order to seek on your own. Those who attain by seeking on their own are actually outsiders of one kind or another.
The Undying Lamp of Zen Page 10
