A Bird in Flight Leaves No Trace

by Seon Master Subul

  There is the phrase “in similar fashion, this one seminal brightness divides into six that combine together.”44

  所言 同是一精明 分為六和合.

  Your six sense faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, which derive from a single source, are divided into these six when you are ignorant. But once you know, they return to the nondual site of the nature. Not knowing this, you unwittingly become subject to rebirth, discriminating these six faculties as being your home.

  The “one seminal brightness” is the one mind. The “six that combine together” are the six sense organs. These six sense organs combine, respectively, with the six sense objects: the eyes combine with forms, the ears combine with sounds, the nose combines with smells, the tongue combines with tastes, the body combines with touch, and the mind combines with mental objects. Between them, six sense consciousnesses arise. Together, these make up the eighteen elements of cognition.

  一精明者 一心也 六和合者 六根也 此六根各與塵合 眼與色合 耳與聲合 鼻與香合 舌與味合 身與觸合 意與法合 中間生六識為十八界.

  Since the mirages that are generated by the pristine dharma body in response to conditions create the eighteen elements of cognition, everything is empty. If you return to the time before everything is generated, you will be able to find out what causes everything. When you realize true form prior to the creation of causes and conditions, you will know the one seminal brightness.

  If you understand that the eighteen elements of cognition have no objective reality, then these six will combine together into the one seminal brightness. This one seminal brightness is nothing but the mind. All practitioners of the Way know this. They simply cannot avoid creating conceptual understanding of this one seminal brightness and these six combinations. Eventually, these practitioners are bound by dharmas and do not conform with the original mind.

  若了十八界無所有 束六和合為一精明 一精明者 即心也 學道人皆知此 但不能免作一精明六和合解 遂被法縛不契本心.

  Although those with dualistic thoughts may understand doctrine, they cannot accord with the truth. Something in their minds is completely unable to be digested. But if they turn one thought around and experience the principle of signlessness, they will digest both what has signs and what is signless and will be bound by nothing.

  The Tathāgata appeared in the world, wanting to preach the true dharma of the one vehicle. But sentient beings lacked faith; they slandered him and drowned in the sea of suffering.

  如來現世 欲說一乘真法 則眾生不信興謗 沒於苦海.

  Even though you praise Śākyamuni Buddha’s six years of ascetic practices and forty-nine years of ceaseless preaching, if you do not solve your own fundamental issue, you are slandering the Buddha and drowning yourself in the sea of suffering.

  Neither cling to the appearance of the Buddha bestowing his great compassion nor arouse the extreme arrogance that you never cling to such an appearance. If you are a true Buddhist practitioner, the more you practice, the more humble you become, because you recognize your shortcomings.

  Had [the Buddha] not preached at all, he would have been stingy by not widely disseminating the sublime Way to sentient beings. Therefore he adopted expedient explanations and preached that there were three vehicles.

  若都不說 則墮慳貪 不為眾生溥捨妙道 遂設方便 說有 三乘.

  Since people did not understand the one vehicle, the Buddha had no choice but to espouse three vehicles in accord with sentient beings’ spiritual capacities. He presented various expedients so that sentient beings could proceed toward the sublime dharma of the one vehicle, preaching diverse teachings to sentient beings with diverse spiritual capacities.

  Vehicles may be greater or lesser, and attainments may be shallow and profound, but none of these is the original dharma.

  乘有大小 得有淺深 皆非本法.

  It is not that there are distinctions in enlightenment; rather, people’s spiritual capacities are superior and inferior. However, if you attain perfect enlightenment, you will transcend even the Supreme Vehicle. You alone will be honored. If you do not realize this principle thoroughly, you will be unable to digest these words.

  Therefore, [the Buddha] said,

  There is only the one-vehicle path.

  The other two are not genuine.45

  Because [the Buddha] ultimately could not reveal publicly the one-mind dharma, he invited Mahākāśyapa to share his dharma seat,46 specifically entrusting the one mind to him. This was the ineffable preaching of the dharma that transcends language.

  故云 唯有一乘道 餘二則非真 然終未能顯一心法 故召迦葉同法座 別付一心 離言說法.

  The Buddha and Mahākāśyapa transmitted and received something that is invisible. You cannot even glimpse it. When you attain enlightenment yourself, however, you will know naturally what they transmitted and received.

  This one branch of the dharma was to be separately practiced. If you are able to conform with it and awaken, you will reach the stage of buddhahood.

  此一枝法令別行 若能契悟者 便至佛地矣.

  This dharma has been separately transmitted; it does not appear anywhere in the Buddha’s scriptural teachings. Right here and now, the moment you realize your nature, you will be a buddha.

  8. Cultivating the Way

  It is meaningless to say you are “cultivating the Way” when your eyes are wide open. Since the Way has no form, it cannot be cultivated. Nevertheless, masters tell those who do not know much yet about Buddhist practice to “cultivate the Way.” Practitioners of the Way should be able to digest all kinds of words. They need eyes that can perceive both the mundane and the supramundane.

  Mazu’s line “everyday mind is the Way” can be understood as meaning that all sentient beings possess the buddha nature. If you mistakenly understand that the everyday mind is separate from the buddha nature and thereby arouse discriminative thought, you will be even more confused.

  [Pei Xiu] asked, “What is the Way? How should I cultivate it?”

  The master responded, “What is this supposed Way that you want to cultivate?”

  Pei Xiu asked, “Why is it that eminent masters everywhere have investigated Chan and studied the Way generation after generation?”

  The master answered, “Those are words meant to entice people of dull spiritual faculties; they cannot be relied on.”

  問 如何是道 如何修行 師云 道是何物 汝欲修行 問 諸方宗師 相承參禪學道如何 師云 引接鈍根人語 未可依憑.

  Pei Xiu was enlightened to the Way but still had a concern. He may have already had a sudden awakening when he met Master Huangbo, but he did not know what to do after that, so he asked the master. Pei Xiu asking about practice shows that he still believed there was something he needed to practice.

  I am not saying that, since the Way cannot be cultivated, we can behave recklessly, ignoring the law of causality. The Way is like water that flows ever onward, naturally finding its way even in the dark of night. In the same manner, the Way has nothing to do with intentionally trying or not trying to cultivate it.

  Pei Xiu inquired, “If these are words intended to entice people with dull spiritual faculties, then I’m not yet clear about what dharma is taught to people with superior faculties.”

  The master responded, “If they are people of superior spiritual faculties, then where would they be looking for someone to follow? Even one’s own self cannot be found; how much less likely would there be some distinct dharma they could cognize? Haven’t you noticed that in the scriptural teachings it says, ‘What form would each of these dharmas take?’ ”47

  云此即是引接鈍根人語 未審接上根人復說何法 師云 若是上根人 何處更就人覓他 自己尚不可得 何況更別有法當情 不見教中云 法法何狀.

  The saying that you “awaken on your own without a teacher” (wushi ziwu / musa ja-o 無師�
�悟) means that if you open your eyes, you may go your own way. Even if you achieve only the fruition of arhatship, you will already have reached a state high enough to become a teacher in your own right and thus will no longer need guidance.

  Pei Xiu, because he had not fully matured, kept asking questions. You cannot attain the Way by cultivating it. The moment you attain enlightenment and see what you have turned your back on, you just have to let go. That’s all there is to it. But the words “let go” are also a forced expression that we use because there is no other way to express the matter.

  I am not denying that the Way should be cultivated. Even the Buddha cultivated ascetic practices in order to attain great enlightenment (mahābodhi) at Bodhgayā. Sometimes, certain causes and conditions make it seem as if something is to be attained through cultivation; at other times, there are causes and conditions that make cultivation irrelevant. If you have firm understanding and can digest different expressions, nothing will shake you.

  Pei Xiu said, “Were this the case, there would be utterly no need to seek anything at all.”

  The master responded, “Since that’s the way it is, you should conserve your mental energy.”

  Pei Xiu said, “In that case, everything would be eliminated. There can’t just be nothing.”

  The master asked, “Who taught anyone that it is nothing? What is that ‘it’? What is it you are seeking?”

  云若如此 則都不要求覓也 師云 若與麼則省心力 云如是則渾成斷絕不可是無也 師云 阿誰教他無 他是阿誰 爾擬覓他.

  There can be nothing else except the matter that is simply such. When you seek it, it is immediately concealed. But when you stop seeking it, it is completely obvious.

  Pei Xiu feared he would fall into emptiness if he eliminated thoughts. However, this matter cannot be understood through reasoning.

  Pei Xiu asked, “Since you don’t allow me to look for it, why then don’t you just tell me to eradicate it?”

  The master answered, “If you don’t look for it, it will be at rest. Who said it needs to be eradicated? Look at the empty space right in front of you. How could you ever produce or eradicate it?”

  云既不許覓 何故又言 莫斷他 師云 若不覓便休 即誰教爾斷 爾見目前虛空 作麼生斷他.

  To think that there is a separate thing that needs to be eradicated is a mistake. The point is whether you thoroughly know it or not. It is also a mistake to seek it when you don’t know it. The Way is already fully revealed. Nothing needs to be eliminated or sought.

  After having an experience through your meditation practice, there is nothing you need to do but pass the time by going along with the flow of causes and conditions.

  Pei Xiu asked, “Can this dharma in fact be identical to empty space, or not?”

  The master answered, “Morning and evening, has empty space ever said to you that there is identity and difference? I offered such an explanation provisionally, but you immediately interpreted it conceptually.”

  云 此法可得便同虛空否 師云 虛空早晚向你道有同有異 我暫如此說 你便向者裏生解.

  Do not cling to words and produce conceptual interpretations.

  If you spend time with a master advanced in his practice, it is as if you listen to the dharma without listening and the master preaches the dharma without preaching.

  It is wrong to say that the Buddha preached the Lotus Sūtra on Vulture Peak with his mouth. He did not say a word. Nonetheless, the countless bodhisattvas and śrāvaka disciples gathered around the Buddha enjoyed his sermon.

  Pei Xiu asked, “Shouldn’t we generate conceptual interpretations to help people understand?”

  The master answered, “I have never stopped you from doing that. But you must know that conceptual interpretations involve cogitation. Once cogitation arises, wisdom is shunted aside.”

  云應是不與人生解耶 師云 我不曾障你 要且解屬於情 情生則智隔.

  Whether or not you produce conceptual interpretations, there is nothing to discriminate between, for originally nothing is conceptualized. Since you do not yet understand that defilements and deluded thoughts are not different from bodhi and nirvāṇa, you say ignorant things, arousing discriminative thought.

  You need not intentionally remove what is transiently appearing in accord with causes and conditions. When the time is right, things will appear, change, and disappear.

  Pei Xiu asked, “Correct me if I am wrong, but it sounds like you are saying I shouldn’t cogitate on it.”

  The master answered, “If there’s no cogitation, who is it who asks whether that’s correct?”

  云向者裏莫生情是否 師云 若不生情 阿誰道是.

  It is said that you should use your mind like a bird flying all day long without leaving any trace behind. This does not mean you don’t think. When you think, you think dynamically, like waves swelling in the ocean, and once you release those thoughts, you leave no trace behind. It is pointless to commit foolish acts, thinking about it and arguing about whether your thoughts are discriminative.

  If you turn one thought around, all will originally be just as it is and unmoving.

  Pei Xiu asked, “Why is it, no matter what I ask, master, you refute my words?”

  The master answered, “You’re one who doesn’t understand what he’s told. So what refutations are you talking about?”

  問 纔向和尚處發言 為甚麼便言話墮 師云 汝自是不解語人 有甚麼墮負.

  Master Huangbo here means, “If you don’t understand, it’s your mistake; it’s not that the words are mistaken.” Whether or not Pei Xiu became attached to the words, his questions showed that he was still generating discrimination. Whatever Master Huangbo said, had Pei Xiu simply not been so affected by the master’s words, that would have sufficed. Pei Xiu, however, just proved that his training was still not sufficiently mature.

  9. The Mind of the Great Vehicle

  Pei Xiu asked, “So far, all the many words you have spoken are just refutations. But you still haven’t pointed out any real dharma to us.”

  The master answered, “Real dharma is free from distortions (viparyāsa). Even the way you framed this question is itself a distortion. What real dharma are you seeking?”

  問 向來如許多言說 皆是抵敵語 都未曾有實法 指示於人 師云 實法無顛倒 汝今問處 自生顛倒 覓甚麼實法

  The true characteristic of things has never functioned separately from the dharma even once. You simply do not see it, and as a consequence you produce distortions and deluded thoughts.

  Pei Xiu asked, “If the way I framed my question is itself a distortion, how would the master frame his response?”

  The master answered, “You should get something to see your own reflection. Pay no attention to others.” He continued, “You are like a stupid dog that sees something move and starts barking, unaware that it’s the wind blowing the plants and trees.” He added, “This Seon school of ours, since the transmission began until now, has never taught people to seek knowledge or conceptual understanding. It only says, ‘Study the Way.’ And even these were just words to cajole [people to practice]. The Way also cannot be studied. If your thoughts are inclined toward learning and understanding, you will to the contrary become confused about the Way.

  云 既是問處 自生顛倒 和尚答處如何 師云 爾且將物照面看 莫管他人 又云 秖如箇癡狗相似 見物動處便吠 風吹草木也不別 又云 我此禪宗 從上相承已來 不曾教人求知求解 只云 學道 早是接引之詞 然道亦不可學 情存學解 却成迷道.

  There is no Way to be cultivated, so what is there for you to cultivate? When you seek the Way through conceptual understanding, you assume that satisfying your intellectual curiosity is Buddhist training, not knowing you are making a mistake. This is not Buddhist training.

  Whether you are enjoying the day or not, the master Huangbo focuses only on whether you are in conformity with the original share
(benfen/bonbon 本分) of the enlightened nature.

  “The Way that has no fixed locus is called the mind of the Great Vehicle. This mind does not exist inside, outside, or in between. In reality, it has no fixed locus.

  道無方所 名大乘心 此心不在內外中間 實無方所.

  In this way, the mind transcends any fixed locus. It is not influenced by time or space.

  You live your life immersed in discriminative thought, missing what is truly important. Once you turn one thought around, discriminating wisely means that you are no longer discriminating among things. You may discriminate all day long, but nothing is being discriminated.

  “First of all, do not generate intellectual understanding. I just tell you now that the place where ratiocination comes to an end is the Way. If ratiocination comes to an end, the mind will have no fixed locus. This Way is immaculate and originally nameless. It is only for the sake of the people of this world who do not know this and who are confounded by their thinking that all the buddhas appear to refute this state of affairs.

  第一不得作知解 只是說汝 如今情量盡處爲道 情量若盡 心無方所 此道天真 本無名字 只為世人不識迷在情中 所以諸佛出來 說破此事.

  People keep seeking, generating discriminative understanding. Although that may be how they have learned and gained understanding in the past, it will not reveal the Way. They cannot escape falsity because they themselves are creating mirages and deceiving themselves with those mirages. They must seek to solve the fundamental issue as soon as possible by meeting a master whose eyes are open.

  “Fearing that no one would understand, [the buddhas] provisionally gave it the name the ‘Way.’ Do not generate conceptual understanding while holding on to this name.

  恐汝諸人不了 權立道名 不可守名而生解.

  When people hear the term Way, they cling to that name and create mirages from it. They delude themselves into believing that they have attained enlightenment. In fact, they only know what they have learned. These are just thoughts about the Way, not enlightenment. With this kind of understanding, without the experience of sudden enlightenment, you can never digest anything.