In the present time, being totally lacking in teaching heritage, perception is not completely refined, and everyone puts forth his own view when dealing with people, unconsciously blinding students. This goes on and on, from one to another, one blind person leading many blind people.
The matter of learning from a teacher is most essential. People of old who arrived at the source of seeing nature, passed through many barriers clearly and completely without a dot of doubt, and traveled freely through the world opening big mouths in discussion, only came to know the transcendental message of Zen after they finally ran into Zen masters of great vision. Then they sincerely sought certainty and wound up with the duty of the teacher’s succession, bearing the debt of Dharma, never to forget it for a moment. This is called Dharma succession. Since ancient times the designated succession of the ancestral teachers has always been like this.
So Yunmen was greatly enlightened when Muzhou broke his leg,2 but then went to Xuefeng, from whom he inherited the Dharma. There certainly was a reason for this.
When Longya was traveling, he clearly had perception. In order to test whether the old teachers everywhere had perception or not, he’d first make a point; even Suiwei and Linji couldn’t contain him.3 Later, when “the Dong River flowed backward,” he finally turned around and recognized he’d been misapplying effort. Ultimately he succeeded to Dongshan. Later people didn’t realize there is great significance to this issue, and based on Xutang’s general talks, mistakenly said that Longya’s application was the true meaning of transcendence. If you understand this way, where do you put “the Dong River flowed backward”?
What you don’t realize is that Xutang spoke as he did fearing you’d misinterpret Longya as having no perception, wanting to let you know Xuedou versified it truly—even if he understood the living meaning of Zen, still on arriving here there’s a life beyond. For this reason he also paid respects to Longya’s monument, saying in his eulogy, “Suiwei and Linji fell short in their ability; when the Dong River reversed its flow, only then did he reach home.” This makes it clear that he only arrived at this home mountain where the Dong River ran backward because his previous understanding was not yet his real home.
The succession of the ancient worthies was always like this. People of the present time don’t know the importance of succession and mistakenly make all sorts of arguments over and over. Therefore those who have no teacher’s heritage should first seek out a great Zen master who has definitely succeeded to the Buddhas and Patriarchs, while those who do have a teacher’s heritage should find out the teacher’s innermost meaning. Once you have found out, then don’t betray it.
In olden times, old Jiao of Kaisheng was first trained by Wuzu, but later he didn’t trace his roots to this attainment and erroneously succeeded to Iron Legs Fu of Changlu. When he offered up incense to thank the latter, he suddenly developed a growth in his chest. It wouldn’t heal, and he finally died.
Xiuyan was greatly enlightened first at Shimen’s citation, but subsequently succeeded to Fozhao Guang. For this reason he was never at ease in his heart and would sometimes laugh, sometimes cry. His lectures were mostly like ditties. Sometimes he’d point to the other’s portrait and say, “I was instructed by this old master; it’s all because of failing in the duty of gratitude that I have brought on this painful consequence.”
From time to time, those who do not know what teaching heritage is based on may pursue powerful positions or fall into human feelings. They go this way and that, like little people watching a game, going up and down along with the others. Sometimes there are those who have genuine realization but no heritage from a teacher; or they may have a teacher’s heritage, but it is not a genuine transmission. An ancient said, “Buddha reached out to Buddha; master transmitted to master.” In the present time it is not so; instead, the heritage of a teacher is taken to be a sign indicating abbacy. How can they know the deep meaning of the succession of Buddhas and Masters?
How great is our school! How deep is our Way! Even if you get it, it’s hard to plumb. Even if you plumb it, it’s hard to exhaust. Even if you’ve plumbed and exhausted it, its subtlety is hard to penetrate. In olden times Quan Dadao studied with Ciming. Ciming said, “A bit of cloud lies across the mouth of the valley; where does the traveler come from?” Quan looked around and said, “Last night fire from where burned out the ancients’ tombs?” Ciming said, “Not yet—speak again.” Quan made a tiger’s roar. Ciming set out a seat cloth; Quan pushed him down onto the seat. Ciming also made a tiger’s roar. Quan retreated and said with a laugh, “I’ve called on more than eighty teachers, and you are the only one who can continue the true school of Linji.”
This is to be valued; not only did Ciming’s attainment go beyond ordinary sense, he also spiked his thigh to succeed to the true school. If students hear of his manner, how could they not blush with embarrassment?
Baiyun one day in his room cited Yunmen’s saying to an assembly, “Such big chestnuts—how many can you eat?” None of the group’s comments fit. He asked Wuzu. Wuzu said, “He hangs out mutton but sells dog meat.” Baiyun was startled at this. Wuzu once said, “After twenty years’ study, I now know to be embarrassed.” Later Lingyuan heard of this and said in praise, “Good words—know to be embarrassed,” and composed a poem on true succession based on it, which was subsequently included among his works. At first there had been controversy between the Yangqi and Huanglong sects; it was in this context that Lingyuan Qing wrote a poem on the true succession of Wuzu, wherein he puts him forward as a true successor.4
When Zen Master Dahui heard of Ying-an’s lecture at Golden Wheel Monastery, he was very pleased and said, “The main line of Yangqi is in this elder!” Subsequently he sent him the robe of true transmission and a verse. The verse said,
He sits occupying the foremost peak of Golden Wheel:
A thousand bogeys, a hundred monsters, all disappear.
Recently I’ve also gotten some news of reality;
I announce the true line of Yangqi comes through.
From this, Ying-an was considered to be the orthodox line. See how people of old spoke of authentic lineage time and again. Zen Master Dahui Zonggao had real Zen perception unique in his time. Xutang praised him: “There is no Sakyamuni before him, no Maitreya after him; in the heavens and the human world, there is no other like him.” So then what was the reason he put Ying-an forward as the main line? Even among those who have equally succeeded to the true transmission from Buddhas and Patriarchs, the main line is even more extraordinary.
Just knowing that Buddhism is extremely deep and has this quintessence, first you should practice this path diligently. Even if you do so, it’s still hard to find the true source. But if you don’t, how can you help our school revive?
People of the present generation have not even dreamed of the deep meaning of the teacher’s heritage; how could they know of this premise of the main line! But genuine high-minded students of the mystery will resolve injustice here!
1. See “Key Events” in The Sutra of Hui-neng: Grand Master of Zen, pp. 56–57.
2. The Blue Cliff Record, commentary to case 6.
3. The Blue Cliff Record, case 20.
4. Lingyuan was a Huanglong master; Wuzu was a Yangqi master.
[ 9 ]
MATURATION
Zen Master Yuanwu said,
Wearers of the patchwork robe should be intensely concerned about death and birth, and work diligently to dissolve barriers of knowledge, views, and interpretation, to thoroughly realize the great cause transmitted by the Buddhas and Patriarchs. Don’t crave fame; step back and focus on truth. The more you conceal yourself, the more you should hide; it is the sages and celestials who will promote people.1
When the Sixth Patriarch had inherited the robe and gotten the Dharma, he disappeared into the South.2
After National Teacher Zhong of Nanyang received the mind-seal, he lived in a mountain valley for more than forty years without coming down the mo
untain, while his practice of the Way was heard of in the imperial capital.3
Nanquan rested his staff at Chiyang, built a meditation studio by himself, and his shadow did not leave the mountain for more than thirty years.4
Zen Master Fachang of Damei went to the old retreat of the Apricot Saint, where he fed on pine nuts and clothed himself in lotus leaves, and worked hard for thirty years.5
Master Fengxue used to beg in villages by day, then burn pine sap by night, staying on a single mat for seven years.
Master Fenyang, gesturing with his hands, said, “I worked as a gruel-and-rice monk for a long time before transmission of the Buddha’s mind-seal. It is not a trivial job.” He was invited to assume an abbacy eight times but insistently remained supine and did not respond.
Yangqi lived in a ramshackle place for twenty years, with “pearls of snow” filling the seats.6
The Fourth Grand Master concentrated his mind without sleeping for about sixty years.
Master Guishan spent several decades boiling chestnuts to eat; then in his later years Da-an came, and eventually fifteen hundred monks gathered.7
Master Ciming was a true model of diligence in Zen schools. At Fenyang he paid no mind to the bitter cold of the region; as he worked on the Way, he stuck his thigh with an awl to keep from falling asleep. His attainment of power came to fruition, and he became the Lion King of West River.
After National Teacher Daito finally received the old patriarch’s mission of profound purity, he matured for twenty years and ultimately revealed the great and far-reaching high virtue of Daio.
After National Teacher Kanzan got the marrow of enlightenment from Daito, he went deep into the mountain valleys and cultivated refinement for twenty years. In the daytime he worked as a servant for commoners; by night he’d sit peacefully in a mountain cave.
The other enlightened teachers who hid here and there working intensely are too numerous to mention them all. Shoju Rojin, for example, abandoned social conventions, stopped all involvements, and worked hard for forty years. Even when invited by savants and lords, he didn’t go; even when pressured by Zen monks, he didn’t rise.
Once when villagers were being molested by wolves, for several days he surreptitiously went to the cremation and burial grounds here and there and sat peacefully through the night. When the wolves sniffed at his ears in annoyance, or snorted at his throat, he was intent on testing whether or not the continuity of his right mindfulness would be interrupted.
All those who forgot themselves for the Dharma were like this. Every one of the ancients since time immemorial was so. In some of them it was obvious; in others it was secret. Going deep into mountain forests, shutting off the mundane world, with reports of cultivation of the Way moving people’s hearts, is what is called obvious seclusion. Nanyang and Lazy Can were examples of this.8 As for continuity of right mindfulness regardless of time or place, without contamination of views, no one notices any evidence of it; this is called secret seclusion. Zhaozhou and Puhua were examples of this.9
As their habits were not the same and their practical affinities were individually different, some hid in mountain forests, some hid in the dust of the cities, some lived in monasteries, some lived alone. Some were obvious; some were covert.
It’s like medicines curing diseases. When the disease is cured, the medicine is eliminated, and one puts oneself in others’ positions; this is a description of how the people of old emerged in the world with expedients. Therefore, if you want to reach the realm realized by the ancients, you must thoroughly understand the foregoing principles, attain the experience that neither Buddhas nor Masters can transmit, without loss of the essential message of Zen or error in teaching heritage; this is what is to be developed to maturity.
Please cultivate the Way in this sense for many years, without fame and profit on your mind, without thoughts of money or valuables; you should want to help revive the true Way of Buddhas and Masters, which has collapsed. Yuanwu said, “After people of old had attained the Way, they lived boiling wild vegetable roots in broken-legged pots in huts or caves, never seeking fame or profit, being free and untrammeled, occasionally saying something to requite their debt to the Buddhas and Masters and transmit the seal of the Buddha-mind.”
After Zen monks have finished the great task, the only rule for long years is maturing enlightenment, that’s all. Don’t rashly promote construction and insist on inviting students. When the ancients built temples and gathered people, they didn’t do it because they themselves sought it, but when their work on the Way was fully mature and wearers of the patch robe came in increasing numbers, sanctuaries sprang up daily without their seeking them.
Yuanwu’s Essentials of Mind says,
When Ciming took leave of Fenyang in olden times, Fenyang said in congratulating him, “There will naturally be people who will repair and build. As for you, you will be master of Buddhism.” After that he was abbot at five major monasteries, but didn’t move a single rafter; he just promoted the true school of Linji. Eventually he found three great men—Yangqi, Huanglong, and Cuiyan—and his descendants spread all over the land. In sum, he didn’t violate the bequest he was given. Such was the seriousness with which the ancients chose capable people. In truth, magnificently arrayed and splendidly adorned sanctuaries are not sufficient grounds for considering Buddhism special.
Also, National Teacher Daito’s final instructions say,
After my travels, some temples flourished, with buddha shrines and scriptures written in gold and silver, large congregations bustling with activity, some reciting scriptures or spells, sitting constantly without lying down, eating once a day before noon, carrying out observances six times a day. Even going on this way, they do not have at heart the sublime Way that even Buddhas and Masters cannot communicate, and they disregard cause and effect, so the real Way collapses. They are all devil’s brood. After I’m long gone, they cannot claim to be my descendants. But if there is even one individual who practices in the wilds, under a handful of thatch, boiling wild vegetable roots in a broken-legged pot to get through the days, focusing solely on understanding self, this is someone who meets me every day and who shows gratitude. Who presumes to be contemptuous? Work on this. Work on this.
Please let this document be a reminder to develop maturity.
1. The original letter of Yuanwu says, “The more you conceal yourself, the more you can’t hide.” Ancient masters became famous for their humility, and humbler in their fame.
2. See Unlocking the Zen Koan, case 23.
3. See The Blue Cliff Record, case 18; Book of Serenity, case 85; Unlocking the Zen Koan, case 17.
4. See The Blue Cliff Record, cases 28 and 31; Book of Serenity, cases 9, 69, 91; Unlocking the Zen Koan, cases 14 and 34; The Pocket Zen Reader, p. 103; Teachings of Zen, pp. 21–23.
5. See Unlocking the Zen Koan, case 30.
6. See Record of Things Heard, 4:14.
7. See “The House of Kuei-Yang” in The Five Houses of Zen; The Blue Cliff Record, cases 4, 24, 70; Book of Serenity, cases 37 and 60; Unlocking the Zen Koan, case 40.
8. For Nanyang, see The Blue Cliff Record, commentary to case 18. For Lazy Can, see The Blue Cliff Record, verse commentary to case 34.
9. For Zhaozhou, see The Blue Cliff Record, cases 2, 9, 30, 41, 45, 52, 57–59, 80, 96; Book of Serenity, cases 9, 18, 39, 47, 63; Unlocking the Zen Koan, cases 1, 7, 11, 14, 19, 31, 37; Teachings of Zen, pp. 33–34. Puhua was an odd monk who appears in the Record of Linji.
[ 10 ]
CIRCULATION
Communicating the teaching and liberating the living is the fundamental aim of the patch-robed monk. The great Nagarjuna said, “Even if you prostrate yourself for countless aeons or make your body into a seat for the whole universe, if you don’t communicate the teaching and liberate the living, you cannot requite your debt.”
Also, an ancient said, “What our school values is only communion with the source and communication by speech, having the tooth a
nd nail of transcendence, and dissolving stickiness and removing bonds for people. This is called communicating the teaching to liberate the living. The rest is all trivia.”
Now those to whom the transcendental has been communicated and who are continuing the way of Zen, which has already collapsed, should first of all think of requiting their debt to the Buddhas and Masters. What does it mean to requite debt? It means upholding the transcendental to teach one or two individuals with spiritual bones, enabling them to inherit this true school and disseminate it in the future, not allowing the sun of wisdom of the Buddhas and Masters to die out. If, however, they trail mud and drip water, putting up signposts and arranging clichés, making fools of people, that will never do.
Master Zhaozhou said, “If you would have me treat people according to their faculties and potentials, there are already the teachings of the three vehicles in twelve parts that have dealt with them—it’s not up to me.”
Master Xutang said,
Is there any comparison? Nowadays they occupy the seat of teaching illegitimately, using dogma to entrap students. They cultivate personnel with comfortable quarters, ambitiously aim for successorship by giving away clothing and food, trying to populate their schools by a series of inducements. How miserable! The voice of truth has died out! Since ancient times venerable adepts have tended to seek people on a sword’s edge and even then could barely find anyone; how much the less by means of rules and regulations!
The Undying Lamp of Zen Page 11
