Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

by Zen Master Dogen

  The five masters’ views should be altogether seen through. Zhaozhou said, Huizhong was on top of Daer’s nostrils, so he could not see Huizhong. What does this mean? He was mistaken, as he discussed branches without clarifying the root. How could Huizhong be on top of Daer’s nostrils? Daer did not have nostrils. Also, Zhaozhou gives the impression that Huizhong and Daer had seen each other. But they were not close to each other. A person with clear eyes should understand this.

  Xuansha said, Because he was too close. Daer was not even close. He was not in Huizhong’s neighborhood. How could Xuansha say too close? He did not know too close, he did not study too close. This is far, far away from buddha dharma.

  Yangshan said, The first two times he was merged with the object of mind. But later he entered receptive samadhi. That’s why he could not see Huizhong. Although his fame as Small Shakyamuni prevailed even in India, it’s not that he was faultless. If he says that true encountering is always merged with the object of mind, it is just like saying there is no true encountering of buddha ancestors, or just like saying there is no act of making a prediction and creating a buddha. Yangshan indicated that Daer knew where Huizhong was the first two times. I should say Yangshan did not know even a hairbreadth of Huizhong’s teaching.

  Also, Xuansha criticized Daer by saying, Did you actually see Huizhong the first two times? This statement appears to express what needs to be expressed. But Xuansha seems to indicate that Daer’s seeing Huizhong was like not seeing him. This is not correct.

  Hearing Xuansha, Xuedou said, You lost. You lost. Xuedou said so since he had approved Xuansha. He should not have said so if he had not.

  Haihui Shouduan said, If Huizhong was on top of Daer’s nostrils, why was it difficult to see? Because Daer did not know that Huizhong was inside his eyeball. He also discusses the third time. He should have denied Daer’s seeing of Huizhong the first two times, but he didn’t. How could he know that Huizhong was on top of Daer’s nose or inside his eyeball?

  These five old masters were not clear about Huizhong’s teaching. It looks as if they did not pursue buddha dharma enough.

  Know that Huizhong is a buddha who excelled in his time. He had authentically received transmission of the treasury of true dharma eye. That is why scholars of the Lesser Vehicles who study scriptures and treatises did not come close to him.

  “Seeing others’ mind” can be seen as seeing others’ thought from the Lesser Vehicles’ viewpoint. It is wrong to think that such scholars of the Lesser Vehicles who study scriptures and treatises understood one half or even the tip of one hair of Huizhong. You should just know that they had no idea about Huizhong’s teaching.

  You might think that Daer knew where Huizhong was the first two times but not the third time; that he should not be criticized because he was right two out of three times, and that he was not completely wrong. Then who would criticize Daer, and who would trust Huizhong?

  Huizhong’s intention was to criticize Daer for not experiencing the body and mind of buddha dharma. The five masters made such mistakes. None of them grasped Huizhong’s teaching.

  Huizhong expressed the ungraspable mind of the buddha way. It is hard to believe that those who did not understand this one teaching do understand other teachings. Know that ancient teachers sometimes made mistake after mistake.

  Once a monk asked Huizhong, “What is the mind of an ancient buddha?”

  Huizhong said, “Walls, tiles, and pebbles.”

  This is ungraspable mind.

  Another time a monk asked Huizhong, “What is the permanent mind of all buddhas?”

  Huizhong said, “It was good to see the emperor.”

  This is again investigating ungraspable mind.

  Indra once asked Huizhong, “How do we get liberated from everyday activities?”

  Huizhong said, “You get liberated by practicing the way.”

  Indra asked further, “What is the way?”

  Huizhong said, “Momentary mind is the way.”

  Indra said, “What is the momentary mind?”

  Huizhong raised a finger and said, “This is the base of prajna. That is the net of pearls.”

  Indra made a deep bow.

  There are many discussions on body and mind from the viewpoint of the buddha way in the assemblies of buddhas and ancestors. To study them is beyond the intellectual reach of the ordinary and sacred. Study mind that is ungraspable.

  Written at the Kosho Horin Monastery on a day of summer practice period, the second year of the Ninji Era [1241].

  21

  OLD MIRROR

  WHAT ALL BUDDHAS and ancestors have maintained and transmitted, person to person, is an old mirror. This is one seeing, one face; one image, one casting [of the bronze mirror]; one practice and one realization. When a barbarian comes, a barbarian appears in eighteen thousand forms. When a Chinese person comes, a Chinese person appears in myriad years in one moment. When the old comes, the old appears. When the new comes, the new appears. When a buddha comes, a buddha appears. When an ancestor comes, an ancestor appears.

  Venerable Gayashata, the Eighteenth Ancestor, was a man from Madhya, India. His family name was Uddaka-Ramaputta. His father’s name was Heavenly Canopy, and his mother’s name was Sacred Direction. She had a dream of a great deity looking into a large mirror. Soon she became pregnant, and in seven days she gave birth to Gayashata. At birth Gayashata’s skin was like polished lapis lazuli. Before he was first bathed, he was naturally clean and fragrant. He always liked to be quiet and spoke differently from ordinary children.

  He was born together with a clear round mirror. This was extraordinary. “Born together” does not mean that the round mirror came from his mother’s womb. Gayashata was born from his mother’s womb, but at the time of his birth this mirror appeared spontaneously close to Gayashata and became his everyday companion.

  This mirror was not ordinary. When the boy approached, the mirror would stand up, as if it were being held by his hands, and reflect his face. When he went away, the mirror would follow him, reflecting his body. When he slept, the mirror would cover him just like a flower canopy. When he sat up, the mirror would be in front of him. Thus, the mirror accompanied the boy in all his activities.

  All the buddha teachings from the past, present, and future could be seen in the mirror. Every aspect of heavenly and human affairs was clearly reflected in the mirror. This mirror could reveal any teaching, ancient or current, more clearly than the scriptures. However, when the boy left home and received the precepts, the mirror disappeared. People near and far admired these extraordinary occurrences.

  Although this cannot be compared with anything in this Saha World, we should consider whether anything similar can be found in any world. Know that scriptures carved on trees and stones, teachers active in farmlands and villages, yellow paper and red scrolls—these are all round mirrors. How can we regard Gayashata as exceptional?

  Once, when Gayashata was traveling, he saw Venerable Sanghanandi and approached him.

  Sanghanandi asked him, “What expression do you have at hand?”

  Understand that this is not merely a question.

  Gayashata said in verse:

  All buddhas are a great round mirror.

  There is no obscuration inside or out.

  Two people have one understanding.

  Minds and eyes are alike.

  How was the great round mirror of all buddhas born together with Gayashata? From his birth, he brought forward the clarity of the great round mirror. All buddhas equally study and see this mirror. All buddhas are cast images of this mirror.

  The great round mirror is beyond wisdom and truth, beyond essence and characteristics. Although there is something called a great round mirror in the teaching of the ten sages and three classes [of bodhisattvas], it is not the same as this great round mirror of all buddhas. Not all buddhas are limited to wisdom. Buddhas have wisdom, but we do not regard wisdom as buddhas. Know that speaking of wisdom is not the ultimat
e expression of the buddha way.

  Even if you see or hear that the great round mirror of all buddhas is born together with you, there is a further teaching. This great round mirror does not belong to this life or another life. It is not a jade mirror, a bronze mirror, a flesh mirror, or a marrow mirror.

  Is this verse spoken by the round mirror or by the boy? Even though the boy expounded this four-line verse, he had never studied it in scriptures or with a teacher. He said this by holding up the round mirror. From the time he was an infant he was always looking at this mirror. It seemed that he had this understanding from birth. Was the great round mirror born together with the boy, or was the boy born together with the great round mirror? They must have been born together before and after.

  The great round mirror is the power of all buddhas. There is no obscuration inside or out means that there is no inside other than outside, and no outside that has any obscuration inside. This mirror has no front or back.

  As for two people have one understanding and their minds and eyes are alike, being alike means one person meets another. The image inside has mind, eye, and one understanding. The reflection outside has mind, eye, and one understanding. The bodies, minds, and environs [of the two people] that emerge are alike inside and outside. There is neither self nor other. Two people encounter, two people are alike. Other is called self, self becomes other.

  Minds and eyes are alike means the minds are like the minds, the eyes are like the eyes. Being alike is minds and eyes. It is just like saying that both minds and eyes are alike. Minds are alike just as the Third Ancestor [Jianzhi—Mirror Wisdom] or the Sixth Ancestor [Dajian—Great Mirror]. Eye and eye are alike just as the eye of the way is immersed in the eye.

  This is the meaning of Gayashata’s words. This is what he presented to Sanghanandi upon meeting him. Take up these words and study the buddha face, ancestor face, of the great round mirror as a family member of the old mirror.

  When Huineng, who would later become Zen Master Dajian, [the Sixth Chinese Ancestor, that is] the Thirty-third Ancestor [after Mahakashyapa], was practicing in the dharma assembly of Hongren, the Fifth Ancestor, on Mount Huangmei, he wrote a verse on a wall and presented it to Hongren:

  Bodhi is not a tree,

  the clear mirror has no stand,

  from the beginning there is not a single thing:

  In what place can there be dust?

  Study these words. People in later times have called Huineng an old buddha. For example, Keqin, Zen Master Yuanwu, said, “Homage to the true Old Buddha of Caoxi.”

  Thus, know that the clear mirror Huineng spoke of is from the beginning there is not a single thing: In what place can there be dust? The clear mirror with no stand is the life vein. Investigate it. Everything that is clear is the clear mirror. So it is said, “When brightness comes, meet it with brightness.”

  How can there be dust anywhere? So, it is nowhere. Furthermore, in the entire world of the ten directions, is there any dust that is not the mirror? How can dust that is not the mirror stay on the mirror? Know that the whole world is not the dusty world, but is the face of the old mirror.

  A monk in the assembly of Nanyue, Great Master Dahui, asked, “When the mirror casts a reflection, where does the light go?”

  Nanyue said, “Where has the face before you became a monk gone?”

  The monk said, “How come the mirror does not shine after casting a reflection?”

  Nanyue said, “Even if it does not shine, there is not a single point of deception at all.”

  Nanyue’s words express the realization that whatever is reflected in the mirror forms images. Although the mirror is neither gold nor jade, beyond illumination or reflection, still, it casts reflections—this is the ultimate study of the mirror.

  Where does the light go is when the mirror casts a reflection. That means images go to where there are images, and reflections reflect the mirror.

  Where has the face before you became a monk gone? illuminates the face by holding up the mirror. At this moment, which face is the face of the self?

  Even if it does not shine, there is not a single point of deception means the mirror does not shine and does not deceive. Understand it as “The ocean dries up and yet does not reveal the bottom.” Do not disturb it, do not rattle it.

  Still, investigate further: Take up images and cast [create] a mirror. At this very moment, with a hundred thousand myriad illuminations, every point is deception.

  Xuefeng, Great Master Zhenjiao, once taught the assembly, “If you want to understand the essential matter, it is like an old mirror I have in myself. When a barbarian comes, a barbarian appears. When a Chinese person comes, a Chinese person appears.”

  Xuansha came out and said, “What about the moment when you encounter the emergence of a bright mirror all of a sudden?”

  Xuefeng said, “Both the barbarian and the Chinese person disappear.”

  Xuansha said, “I have a different understanding.”

  Xuefeng said, “How do you understand?”

  Xuansha said, “Please ask me a question.”

  Xuefeng said, “What about the moment when you encounter the emergence of a bright mirror all of a sudden?”

  Xuansha said, “One hundred broken pieces.”

  For the moment, investigate the essential matter spoken of by Xuefeng—what is it? For the moment, take a look at Xuefeng’s old mirror. The words like an old mirror I have in myself mean that the mirror is completely boundless and not limited to outside or inside. It is a pearl rolling on a board.

  When a barbarian comes, a barbarian appears is [a thorough experience of] one red beard. When a Chinese person comes, a Chinese person appears means that this person has lived [in a civilized land] altogether with the three or five elements since the beginning of time. Xuefeng manifested the Chinese person with the power of the old mirror. Because this Chinese person is not merely a Chinese person, a Chinese person appears. Regarding Xuefeng’s words, Both the barbarian and the Chinese person disappear, I say further that the mirror also disappears.

  Regarding Xuansha’s words broken into one hundred pieces, let me say: Now I am demanding of you: Give me back the broken pieces. How can you give me the bright mirror?

  The Yellow Emperor had a set of twelve mirrors. According to legend, they were given by the God of Heaven. In another account they were given to the emperor by Guangcheng at Mount Kongdong.

  Each mirror was used at each hour of the day, each month of the year, and each year of the twelve-year cycle.

  It is said that these mirrors were the scriptures of Guangcheng, who taught the emperor that these mirrors represented the twelve hours of the day and so on, and that the emperor should use these mirrors to reflect on past and present.

  If the twelve hours are not mirrors, how can one reflect on past and present? If the twelve hours are not mirrors, how can reflection be possible?

  What we call twelve hours are twelve faces. Twelve faces are twelve mirrors. Past and present are the making of twelve mirrors.

  Guangcheng taught this understanding to the emperor. Although these words were by someone outside the way, they represent a mirror where a Chinese person appears.

  The Yellow Emperor, who arrived in a carriage, walked on his knees into the Kong Cave and asked Guangcheng about the way.

  Guangcheng said, “Mirrors are the basis of yin and yang that govern you. There are three mirrors within you: heaven, earth, and humanity. These mirrors neither see nor hear. If you hold them in your mind and remain serene, your body will be just right—always serene, always pure. Your body will not disturb your mind, and you will be able to live long.”

  In olden times emperors governed the world and the great way with these three mirrors. Those who clarified the great way were regarded as lords of heaven and earth.

  A worldly person said, “Emperor Tai [of the Tang Dynasty] regarded others as his mirrors. He reflected on the security and insecurity of the nation in this way.” This emperor
used one of the three mirrors.

  In term of regarding others as mirrors, you might think that if one asks those who have studied extensively about past and present, one will be advised which person of ability to use. You might think of how emperors obtained wise courtiers like Weizheng or Fang Xuanling. But this is not what is meant by the words Emperor Tai regarded others as his mirrors.

  To regard others as mirrors means to regard mirrors as mirrors, oneself as mirrors, the five elements as mirrors, and the five virtues as mirrors. When we observe the coming and going of others, there is no trace in coming and there is no direction in going. This is the meaning of human mirrors.

  From wise to foolish, people are as varied and complex as the change of weather. There are human faces, mirror faces, sun faces, moon faces. The spirit of the Five Mountains and the Four Rivers purifies the Four Seas for generations. This is an influence of the mirrors.

  The remarks about Emperor Tai mean that he saw through others and assessed their complexity. It is not that he asked those who had studied extensively for their advice.

  Japan has had three sacred mirrors since the time of the gods. They have been transmitted until this day along with the sacred jade and sword. The mirrors are kept separately in the Grand Shrine in Ise Province, in the Hinokuma Shrine in Kii Province, and in the household office of the Imperial Palace.

  From this we know that nations have transmitted mirrors. To maintain the mirrors is to maintain the nation. Legend says that these three mirrors have been transmitted as divine seats, given by the God of Heaven. Thus, the well-tempered bronze of the mirrors is a manifestation of yin and yang.