A Bird in Flight Leaves No Trace

by Seon Master Subul

  58Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, Weimojie suoshuo jing 維摩詰所説經, Taishō 475:14.546a25–26.

  59The third of the four practices outlined in the text; see the citation in the Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Laṅkāvatāra, Lengqie shizi ji 楞伽師資記, Taishō 2837:85.1285a18 and 1285b1; cf. Jeffrey L. Broughton, The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1999), 10–11.

  60Shenglichu naishi delichu / seongnyeokcheo naesi deungnyeokcheo 省力處乃是得力處. Subul Sunim is quoting Dahui Zonggao; see the Recorded Sayings of Dahui, Dahui Pujue chanshi yulu 大慧普覺禪師語録, Taishō 1998A:47.936c17, the similar phrase 省力便是得力處也 at 922b7–8, and many other similar phrases.

  61One of the most famous lines in all of Chinese Buddhist literature, taken from Kumārajīva’s translation of the Diamond Sūtra, Jingang bore boluomi jing 金剛般若波羅蜜經, Taishō 235:8.749c22–23. This line is also quoted later in part II, chap. 16.

  62This line from Zhigong 志公 (a.k.a. Baozhi 寶誌, 418–514) does not appear in any of his extant writings; see Iriya Yoshitaka, Denshin hōyō, 83n and 145n. Huangbo also cites the same line below in part II, chap. 16, though there the subject is “this very body” rather than the buddha.

  63The three levels of sagacity refers to the three initial levels of practice on the bodhisattva path — the ten abidings, ten practices, and ten dedications. The four fruitions are the four levels of sanctity on the Hīnayāna path: the fruitions of stream enterer, once-returner, nonreturner, and arhat. The ten stages (bhūmi) constitute the culminating stages of the bodhisattva path.

  64Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, Da banniepan jing 大般涅槃經 3, Taishō 7:1.204c23. See also Ekottarikāgama, Bieyi za’ahan jing 別譯雜阿含經, Taishō 100:2.489b2.

  65Yongjia Zhenjue, “Song of Realizing the Way,” Zhengdao ge 證道歌, Taishō 2014:48.396a17–18.

  66These gāthās are Seolsan ge 雪山偈 and Jehaeng musang ge 諸行無常偈.

  67Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, Da banniepan jing 大般涅槃經 3, Taishō 7:1.204c24. This line is also widely found in the Āgama and Nikāya literature, e.g., Ekottarikāgama, Bieyi Za’ahan jing 別譯雜阿含經, Taishō 100:2.489b2–3. The full verse reads jehaeng musang / si saengmyeolbeop / saengmyeol myeoli / jeongmyeol wirak 諸行無常 是生滅法 生滅滅已 寂滅爲樂. This verse is still recited today at recited at Buddhist funeral services in Southeast Asia: “All compounded things are impermanent;/ they are dharmas that arise and pass away./ Having arisen, they vanish;/ their extinction is bliss.” (Pāli: aniccā vata saṅkhārā/ uppadā vaya dhammino./ Upajjhitvā nirujjhanti/ tesam vupasamo sukho.)

  68Iriya Yoshitaka (Denshin hōyō, 84n) traces this this line, with slight variations, to Zongmi’s Annotations to the Great Commentary on the Consummate Enlightenment Sūtra, Yuanjue jing dashu chao 圓覺經大疏鈔, zhuan 2下. Huangbo subsequently cites this same passage in part II, chap. 16.

  69Literally, “find a place where you can stick your head.”

  70The story, as Subul Sunim notes, derives from the “Child’s Play” chapter (Ying’er xing pin 嬰兒行品) of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra; Huangbo’s quote here is a paraphrase: cf. Da banniepan jing 大般涅槃經, Taishō 374:12.485c11 and Taishō 375:12.729a4. The same simile is used later in part II, chaps. 16 and 29.

  71Quoting, with slight variations, the Diamond Sūtra, Jingang bore boluomi jing 金剛般若波羅蜜經, Taishō 235:8.751c22–23. And cf. note 188 below.

  72As Subul Sunim notes in his commentary that follows, Huangbo here is quoting Baozhi’s “Verses in Praise of the Mahāyāna,” Dasheng zan 大乘讚; see Jingde Record of Transmitting the Lamplight, Jingde chuandeng lu 景徳傳燈録 29, Taishō 2076:51.449c10.

  73Huangbo quotes here, without attribution, Yongjia Zhenjue’s “Song of Realizing the Way,” Zhengdao ge 證道歌, Taishō 2014:48.396c23–24; and see Jingde Record of Transmitting the Lamplight, Jingde chuandeng lu 景徳傳燈録, Taishō 2076:51.461a29–b1.

  74That is, if dust alights on the mirror of your mind. This and the following verse appear in the Platform Sūtra, Liuzu tan jing, Taishō 2008:48.348b, 349a, translated by Philip B. Yampolsky in The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch (New York: Columbia University Press, 1967), 130 and 132. This passage also appears in part II, chap. 8.

  75This passage is enigmatic in the extreme, which leaves it open to multiple interpretations. Subul Sunim’s interpretation of the last line (p. 239) understands “[this] dharma” and “[that] dharma” as referring to the “dharma” and “no dharma” of the preceding lines, and “understand the dharma” as referring to “understand the true dharma”; thus, he translates, “How would you understand the true dharma to be dharma or no dharma?” or perhaps, “How can those things that are judged as being dharma or no dharma be true dharma?”

  76This famous line, which also appears as a Zen kōan or Seon hwadu, is often mistranslated as “your original face before your parents were born.” The Sinograph sheng/saeng 生 (“to be born, produced”) in this passage should be understood as a causative form — “to bring to life,” “to give birth to,” “to conceive.” Thus the correct translation is: “bring me your original face before your parents conceived you.” See, e.g., Spurring Advancement through the Chan Checkpoints, Changuan cejin 禪關策進, Taishō 2024:48.1103a18; see Jeffrey L. Broughton with Else Yoko Watanabe, trans., The “Chan Whip” Anthology: A Companion to Zen Practice (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 114. Many variations are also found in the literature. The important Linji teacher and forerunner in gong’an study, Yuanwu Keqin 圓悟克勤 (1062–1135), for example, uses the similar phrase, “Where were your nostrils before your parents conceived you?” (父母未生前 鼻孔在什麼處); Yuanwu’s Recorded Sayings, Yuanwu Foguo Chanshi yulu 圓悟佛果禪師語録, Taishō 1997:47.769a11–12.

  77From the Platform Sūtra; Liuzu tan jing 六祖壇經, Taishō 2008:48.349b16–349c3; John R. McRae, trans., The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, BDK English Tripiṭaka 73-II (Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2000), 36–37. Huangbo uses this analogy about a person drinking water below in part II, chap. 40.

  78This story appears widely in Chan literature; see, e.g, Fenyang’s Recorded Sayings, Fenyang Wude yulu 汾陽無徳語録, Taishō 1992:47.616a7–8. It is also used as case 32 in Wumen’s (Gateless) Checkpoint, Wumen guan, Taishō 2005:48.295c12–15.

  79The metaphor of the difficulty in digesting even a drop of water appears widely in Chan literature; see, e.g., Dongshan’s Recorded Sayings, Dongshan Liangjie yulu 洞山良价禪師語録, Taishō 1986B:47.522bc4; Congrong Hermitage Record, Congrong lu 從容録, Taishō 2004:48.249b5; Jingde Record of Transmitting the Lamplight, Jingde chuandeng lu 景徳傳燈録, Taishō 2076:51.256a12.

  80The term “grand councilor” (xianggong/sanggong 相公) is an unofficial title used generically to refer to the very highest officials in the Chinese central bureaucracy. See Charles O. Hucker, A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985), 232, no. 2331.

  81From the Golden Light Sūtra, Jinguangming jing 金光明經, Taishō 663:16.344b3–4.

  82The Diamond Sūtra’s famous set of similes for compounded things appears at Jingang bore boluomi jing 金剛般若波羅蜜經, Taishō 235:8.752b28–29.

  83This quotation appears frequently in commentarial and Chan materials; e.g., Notes to the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, Zhu Dasheng ru Lenqie jing 注大乘入楞伽經, Taishō 1791:39.437b19; Treatise on the Diamond Sūtra, Jingang bore boluomi jing lun 金剛般若波羅蜜經論, Taishō 1511:25.784b19; the Blue Cliff Record, Biyan lu 碧巖録, Taishō 2003:48.222b24–25. Huangbo cites this same verse in part I, chap. 7.

  84幻翳, lit., an “illusory screen.” Subul Sunim translates it as a “ghost” (heoggaebi).

  85From the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Shoulengyan jing 首楞嚴經, Taishō 945:19.131a20. This line, with slight vari
ations, appears as an unattributed quote toward the end of part II, chap. 16.

  86Scholars have been unable to trace the source of this quotation. This line, with slight variations, appears as an unattributed quote toward the end of part II, chap. 16.

  87心無異相 名作眞如 心不可改 名爲法性 心無所屬 名為解脫 心性無碍 名為菩提 心性寂滅 名為涅槃. See Yanagida Seizan, ed. and trans., Daruma no goroku: Ninyū shigyō ron, Zen no goroku, vol. 1 (Tōkyō: Chikuma Shobō, 1969), 71.

  88See, for example, the exchange in the Diamond Sūtra, Jingang bore boluomi jing 金剛般若波羅蜜經, Taishō 235.8.751b17ff.

  89This verse was previously quoted in part I, chap. 5. This passage is specifically attributed to the Sixth Patriarch Huineng and first quoted in Guifeng Zongmi’s 圭峰宗密 (780–841) contemporaneous Chan Prolegomenon, Chanyuan zhuquanji duxu 禪源諸詮集都序, Taishō 2015:48.411c8–10; it does not, however, appear in the Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch.

  90隨處作主 立處皆眞. Record of Linji, Linji lu 臨濟録, Taishō 1985:47.498a19 et passim.

  91“Expedient Means” is the second of the twenty-eight chapters of the Lotus Sūtra; see Miaofa lianhua jing 妙法蓮華經, Taishō 262:9.7b2–3.

  92Referring here to an event in the “Skillful Means” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, where the “Hīnayānists” all depart when the Buddha speaks about there being only one Buddha Vehicle, leaving just the cream of the crop that was able to understand his revolutionary message. These specific lines appear at Miaofa lianhua jing 妙法蓮華經, Taishō 262:9.15a14–15 and 7c18.

  93Subul Sunim here rephrases Linji Yixuan’s teaching of the three statements: “He who attains at the first statement becomes the teacher of patriarch-buddhas; he who attains at the second statement becomes the teacher of men and gods; he who attains at the third statement cannot save even himself.” See Sasaki, Record of Linji, 264; 若第一句中得 與祖佛為師 若第二句中得 與人天為師 若第三句中得 自救不了, Linji lu, Taishō 1985:47.502a5–7. There have been a few different interpretations of this teaching in the history of Chan and Seon Buddhism. For example, just as Subul Sunim does here, the three statements have sometimes been understood as simply referring to different levels of Seon realization or to the various types of Seon rhetoric that lead to those different levels. In other cases, because of the teaching’s obvious hierarchical implications, in inter-Seon/Chan polemical contexts, the three statements could be interpreted as referring to different Seon schools, each of which had achieved different levels of understanding. See also note 183 below. For further background, see Seong-Uk Kim, “The Zen Theory of Language: Linji Yixuan’s Teaching of ‘Three Statements, Three Mysteries, and Three Essentials’ (sanju sanxuan sanyao 三句三玄三要),” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 36/37 (2013/2014): 69–90.

  94This story of Bodhidharma pacifying Huike’s mind is told in Bodhidharma’s biography in the Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks, Xu gaoseng zhuan 續高僧傳, Taishō 2060:50.551b–c.

  95理入者 . . . 深信含生凡聖同一真性 但為客塵妄覆 不能顯了: see Yanagida Seizan, Daruma no goroku, 21–22; see Broughton, Bodhidharma Anthology, 9.

  96Record of Linji, Linji lu 臨濟録, Taishō 1985:47.499c12.

  97From a transmission verse by the twenty-third Indian patriarch Haklena (鶴勒那) biography; see Subul Sunim’s commentary and the following note.

  98From the transmission verse of the twenty-third Indian patriarch Haklena (鶴勒那) in the Jingde Record of Transmitting the Lamplight, Jingde chuandeng lu 景徳傳燈録, Taishō 2076:51.214b27–28. Huangbo quotes this same verse in part I, chap. 12.

  99From Manorhita’s (摩拏羅) biography in the Jingde Record of Transmitting the Lamplight, Jingde chuandeng lu 景徳傳燈録, Taishō 2076:51.214a24–25.

  100This line is taken, with one minor variation, from the Diamond Sūtra; see Jingang bore boluomi jing 金剛般若波羅蜜經, Taishō 236:8.761a22, Taishō 237:8.765c23. This exact line appears in Richeng’s 日稱 (fl. ca. 1046) late Song-dynasty translation Encounters of Fathers and Sons (Pitāputrasamāgamasūtra), Fuzi heji jing 父子合集經, Taishō 320:11.953a23–24.

  101Vimalakīrti’s Instructions, Weimojie suoshuo jing 維摩詰所説經, Taishō 475:14.551a13–14.

  102A nearly identical passage appears in the The Ascetic Mahāsatya’s Instructions (*Mahāsatyanirgranthasūtra), Dasazhe niqianzi suoshuo jing 大薩遮尼乾子所説經, Taishō 272:9.324c6–7.

  103As Subul Sunim notes in his commentary, these lines come from the Diamond Sūtra; Jingang bore boluomi jing 金剛般若波羅蜜經, Taishō 235:8.749a24–25.

  104Subul Sunim translates this last line as “there is also no action necessary in order to remove the defilements.”

  105This line, as Subul Sunim notes in his commentary, is an unattributed citation from the Brahmā’s Net Sūtra (Brahmajālasūtra), Fanwang jing 梵網經, Taishō 1484:24.1010a8. Huangbo quotes this line again in part II, chap. 36.

  106Fanwang jing 梵網經, Taishō 1484:24.1010a5–8.

  107The twelve categories of scripture include such genres as discourses, prophecies, verses, and fables. For the traditional list of these twelve, see Buswell and Lopez, Princeton Dictionary, 1087, s.v. “twelve categories of scripture.”

  108For this passage, see Weimojie suoshuo jing 維摩詰所説經, Taishō 475:14.544b10–11.

  109As Subul Sunim notes in his commentary that follows, this line is quoted from Vimalakīrti’s Instructions; Weimojie suoshuo jing 維摩詰所説經, Taishō 475:14.538a14.

  110This unattributed quotation is ascribed to Zhigong (Baozhi) in the literature and is frequently quoted in Seon materials. As but one of many examples, see Zongmi’s Notes to an Abbreviated Commentary on the Sūtra of Consummate Enlightenment, Dafangguang Yuanjue xiuduoluo liaoyi jing lüeshu zhu 大方廣圓覺修多羅了義經略疏註, Taishō 1795:39.545a8–9.

  111As Subul Sunim notes below, this line is an unattributed quote from Vimalakīrti’s Instructions; see Weimojie suoshuo jing 維摩詰所説經, Taishō 475:14.538c27–28.

  112Subul Sunim here seems to be alluding to a passage in the Platform Sūtra: when Emperor Wu of Liang asked Bodhidharma how much merit he had made by such pious Buddhist acts as building monasteries and making donations, Bodhidharma responded, “No merit.” See Liuzu tan jing, Taishō 2007:48.341a24; Yampolsky, Platform Sutra, section 34, 155–56.

  113Adapted from the Diamond Sūtra; Jingang bore boluomi jing 金剛般若波羅蜜經, Taishō 235:8.751a15, 751a20–21.

  114Diamond Sūtra, Jingang bore boluomi jing 金剛般若波羅蜜經, Taishō 235:8.749a24, 752a17–18.

  115元來黃檗佛法無多子. See Linji Yixuan’s biography in Jingde Record of Transmitting the Lamplight, Jingde chuandeng lu 景徳傳燈録, Taishō 2076:51.299b28–29.

  116This quote is derived, with minor differences, from the “Skillful Means” chapter of the Lotus Sūtra; see Miaofa lianhua jing 妙法蓮華經, Taishō 262:9.8a17–18.

  117See Da banniepan jing 大般涅槃經, Taishō 374:12.370c ff.

  118Quoting Vimalakīrti’s Instructions, Weimojie suoshuo jing 維摩詰所説經, Taishō 475:14.542b12–13.

  119This line is an cited with attribution from Vimalakīrti’s Instructions, Weimojie suoshuo jing 維摩詰所説經, Taishō 475:14.542a17–18.

  120As Subul Sunim notes, Huangbo is here quoting, without attribution, the putative Third Patriarch of Chan, Sengcan 僧璨 (d. 606), from his Verses on Faith in Mind, Xinxin ming 信心銘, Taishō 2010:48.376b24.

  121As Subul Sunim notes in his commentary, Huangbo quotes Layman Fu (Fu dashi 傅大士) (497–569) in Liang Dynasty’s Great Layman Fu’s Verses on the Diamond Sūtra, Liangchao Fu dashi song Jingang jing 梁朝傅大師頌金剛經, Taishō 2732:85.2c25–26. Acquiescence to the nonproduction of dharmas (anutpattikadharmakṣānti) refers to an advanced bodhisattva’s receptivity to the reality that dharmas are unproduced (anutpattika)
and thus lacking any sense of intrinsic existence (niḥsvabhāva); see Buswell and Lopez, Princeton Dictonary, 55, s.v. “anutpattikadharmakṣānti.”

  122This is another unattributed quote from Sengcan’s Verses on Faith in Mind, Xinxin ming 信心銘, Taishō 2010:48.376c3–4.

  123As Subul Sunim notes, these lines are taken, with minor differences, from Baozhi’s Dasheng zan 大乘讚; see Jingde Record of Transmitting the Lamplight, Jingde chuandeng lu 景徳傳燈録, Taishō 2076:51.449c10. Inside views and outside views are variously interpreted to mean the view of Buddhists and non-Buddhists, or internal fantasies and external phenomena.

  124Recitations of the Buddhas Sūtra (Buddhasaṃgītisūtra), Zhufo yaoji jing 諸佛要集經, Taishō 810:17.756b–770a. These lines are frequently quoted in Seon literature to refer to the danger of clinging to views.

  125心佛及衆生 是三無差別. Dafangguang fo huayan jing 大方廣佛華嚴經, Taishō 278:9.465c29.

  126An unattributed quote of a widely known passage from the Perfection of Wisdom literature, best known from the Heart Sūtra; see Bore boluomiduo xin jing 般若波羅蜜多心經, Taishō 251:8.848c12.

  127The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra explains that “this ‘unconditioned saṅgha’ (wuwei seng / muwi seung 無為僧) means the Tathāgata,” in contrast to the “conditioned saṅgha” (youwei seng / yuwi seung 有爲僧), which refers to the other members of the Buddhist order; see Da banniepan jing 大般涅槃經, Taishō 374:12.391b22–23.

  128Alluding to the passage from Vimalakīrti’s Instructions, “Those who seek the dharma should have nothing that they seek regarding all dharmas”; Weimojie suoshuo jing 維摩詰所説經, Taishō 475:14.546a26.

  129絶學無爲閑道人 不除妄想不求眞. These are the opening lines of the Zhengdao ge 證道歌, Taishō 2014:48.395c9.