Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

by Zen Master Dogen

  For later students to mistakenly use the name “Zen School” is to damage the gate of buddhas and ancestors, and is not permitted by buddhas and ancestors. It makes you think that there is a teaching called the “Zen School” besides the teaching of buddhas and ancestors. This is the erroneous way outside the teaching of buddhas and ancestors.

  You who are descendants of buddhas and ancestors should study the bones, marrow, and face of buddhas and ancestors. Throw yourself into the way of buddhas and ancestors. Do not deviate from this and study outside the way. That you have a human body and mind is a rare thing, which is the result of endeavor in the way from olden times. Receiving this gracious result, do not mistakenly become a student outside the way; it is not returning gratitude to buddhas and ancestors.

  Recently, in the entire land of Great Song China, people in mediocre schools have heard this false name, “Zen School.” Many ordinary people hear the false name “Zen School,” “Bodhidharma School,” or “Buddha Mind School,” and are confused. These are groundless statements of those who have not yet known the great way of buddhas and ancestors, and have not seen, heard, or accepted that there is the treasury of the true dharma eye. How can those who know the treasury of the true dharma eye mistakenly call the buddha way by these false names?

  Thus, Shitou, Great Master Wuji of Mount Nanyue, ascended the teaching seat and said to the assembly, “Our dharma gate has been transmitted from past buddhas. It is not concerned with Zen meditation or effort, but it just reaches the buddha knowledge.”

  Know that the buddha ancestor who has authentically received transmission from the Seven Original Buddhas speaks this way. The words Our dharma gate has been transmitted from past buddhas are actualized. But the words “Our Zen School has been transmitted from past buddhas” are not actualized. Without singling out Zen meditation or effort, buddha knowledge is reached. Without excluding effort or Zen meditation, what is reached is buddha knowledge.

  This is the entrusting of I have the treasury of the true dharma eye. Our means I have. Dharma gate means the true dharma. Our, I have, and my marrow are the entrusting of “You have attained” [as Bodhidharma said].

  Shitou was the heir of Qingyuan, High Ancestor. He alone entered Qingyuan’s inner chamber. His head was shaved by Huineng, Old Buddha Caoxi. Therefore, Huineng was his ancestor and father. Qingyuan was his elder brother and teacher. Shitou alone was a person of excellence in the buddha way and occupied the ancestor seat. The authentic transmission of the buddha way reached Shitou alone. Fruit and branches of the word actualized are completely beyond the old of an old buddha, the eternal now of an old buddha. Make his teaching the eyeball of the treasury of the true dharma eye. Do not compare Shitou to other teachers. Those who do not understand compare him to Mazu of Jiangxi, but it is a mistake to do so.

  In this way, know that the buddha way that has been transmitted from past buddhas is not called Zen meditation, so how could there be the name “Zen School”? Clearly understand that it is an extreme mistake to use the name “Zen School.” Those who are ignorant assume that there is an “existence school” and an “emptiness school.” They feel bad not having a special name as a school, as if there is nothing to study. But the buddha way is not like that. It should be determined that in the past there was no such name as “Zen School.”

  However, those of mediocre streams in recent times are foolish and do not know the authentic teaching. They have not received transmission from past buddhas and mistakenly say, “In buddha dharma, there are five schools that have various flavors.” This is a characteristic of the declining teaching. There is not yet one person or one-half a person to crush this view. Rujing, my late master, Old Buddha Tiantong, for the first time, took pity on them. This is the way things go with human beings and teaching.

  Rujing, my late master, ascended the teaching seat and taught the assembly: “Nowadays, this person and that person constantly say that Yunmen, Fayan, Guiyang, Linji, and Caodong have separate teachings. This is not buddha dharma. This is not the ancestral way.”

  The emergence of such a statement is difficult to meet with even in a thousand years. Rujing alone spoke in this way. It is difficult for such to be heard in the ten directions. Only in his assembly of wholeness was it heard. And yet, among the one thousand monks [who practiced with him], there was no one who had the ear to hear, or the eye to see. Given this, is there anyone capable of hearing with the entire mind, or hearing through the body? Even if they hear it with their entire bodies and minds for billions of eons, they cannot take up the entire body and mind of Rujing to hear it, realize it, believe it, and drop it away.

  What a pity! People in the ten directions of the land of Great Song think that Rujing can be compared shoulder to shoulder with the elders of their own monasteries. Do those who think like this have eyes, or not? Some of them think that Rujing can be compared shoulder to shoulder with Linji or Deshan. I should say that these people also have not yet met either Rujing or Linji.

  Before I formally bowed to Rujing, Old Buddha, I was trying to thoroughly study the profound teaching of the “Five Schools.” But after I formally bowed to Rujing, I understood clearly that the “Five Schools” are groundlessly named.

  In this way, when the buddha dharma was flourishing in China, there was no such designation as “Five Schools,” and there were no teachers of old to expound the teaching using the name of the “Five Schools.” After the buddha dharma became shallow and declined, the name “Five Schools” groundlessly appeared. This is because people have been negligent in study and not intimate in the endeavor of the way.

  Those who look for genuine practice in the way of clouds and water should neither give it any thought nor bother to remember the differences in style of teaching. It is the same with the Three Mysteries, the Three Essentials, the Four Positions of Subject and Object, the Four Positions of Illumination and Function, and the Nine Ties of Teaching. The same can be said of the Three Phrases, the Five Ranks, and the Ten Equal Wisdoms.

  The words of Old Man Shakyamuni are not confined to such narrow definitions as these, which are not regarded as great. Such theories were not spoken or heard at Shaolin or Caoxi. How sad! The bald-headed ones who have not heard dharma in this age of decline have ignorant eyes in body and mind and consequently talk about such things. Those who are descendants of buddha ancestors should not speak in such a way. Such confused theories as these have never been heard in the abode of buddha ancestors.

  Flatterers in later times did not hear the entire words in buddha dharma and did not have complete trust in the ancestors’ words. They were ignorant of the original self, became proud of what little they had learned, and established names such as the “Five Schools.” Since these names were established, childish students have stopped studying the way in pursuit of the root and mistakenly follow the branches. They have no spirit of longing for the ancient, and their practice is mixed with worldly ways. To pay attention to worldly ways is admonished even by secular teachers.

  King Wen asked Minister Tai, “You made an effort to recommend wise people, but as yet there is no result. The world is even more disturbed. What is the cause of this crisis?”

  The minister answered, “If you hire wise ones and do not use them, it is hiring in name only and the fruit is not attained.”

  King Wen said, “Where is the fault?”

  The minister said, “The fault lies in adopting what worldly people admire and not adopting truth.”

  King Wen said, “What is the meaning of adopting what is admired by worldly people?”

  The minister said, “If you listen to what ordinary people admire, you regard wisdom as not wisdom, knowledge as not knowledge, loyalty as not loyalty, trust as not trust. If you regard those who are considered wise by the worldly as wise, and regard those who are criticized by the worldly as incapable, then those who are popular advance and those who are not popular withdraw. Consequently, wicked people form groups and overwhelm the wise ones; loyal and inno
cent retainers are killed, and wicked retainers fill the ranks with false honor. This is how the world has become even more confused and why the country cannot avoid a crisis.”

  Thus, a secular person grieves over the crisis in society. The Buddha’s children should grieve over the crisis in buddha dharma and the buddha way. The cause of the crisis lies in mistakenly paying attention to the words of worldly people. If you listen to what worldly people admire, you cannot attain true wisdom. If you wish to attain true wisdom, you should have resources to reflect on the past and see to the future.

  Those who are admired by worldly people are not necessarily wise ones or sages. Those who are criticized by worldly people are not necessarily wise ones or sages. However, consider, and do not confuse those who are wise and criticized with those who are false and honored. Not to use the wise ones is the loss of the nation. To promote incapable ones is the regret of the nation.

  To maintain the names of the “Five Schools” nowadays is the confusion of worldly people. There are many who follow this worldly custom, but there are few who know this worldly custom as just a worldly custom. You can regard those who guide worldly people as sages, but those who follow the ways of worldly people are extremely foolish. How can they know the Buddha’s true teaching? How can they become buddhas and ancestors?

  The teaching has been directly transmitted from the Seven Original Buddhas. How can it be like the Five Divisions of the Precept School established in India by those who depend upon letters and interpret their meaning? In this way, know that ancestors who regard the true life of the buddha dharma as the true life have never said that there are various gates such as the “Five Schools.” Those who think that there are “Five Schools” in the buddha way are not authentic heirs of the Seven Original Buddhas.

  Rujing taught the assembly, “In recent years the ancestors’ way has been discarded and there are many groups of demons and beasts. They frequently discuss the different flavors of the Five Houses. How shameful! How shameful!”

  Thus we know that the twenty-eight ancestors in India and the twenty-two ancestors in China have never expounded the differences of the “Five Schools.” All the ancestors have this in common. Those who discuss the “Five Schools” and say that each has its own teaching confuse people of the world, through their limited learning and shallow understanding. If buddhas had established their own ways within the buddha way, how could the buddha way have reached this day? Mahakashyapa might have become independent. Ananda might have become independent. If becoming independent were the correct way, buddha dharma would have perished in India.

  Who would long for the ancient teaching if everyone became independent? Who could discern authentic from inauthentic in the teaching if everyone became independent? If authentic and inauthentic are not distinguished, who could tell buddha dharma from what it is not? If you do not understand the meaning of this, it cannot be called the buddha way.

  The names of the “Five Schools” were not established when the ancestor of each school was still alive. After the ancestors who were regarded as the founders of the “Five Schools” passed away, the mediocre streams of their students whose eyes were not yet clear and whose feet were not able to walk began using these names without asking their teachers, contrary to their ancestors. This is clear and it is known by everyone.

  Guishan, Zen Master Dayuan of Mount Gui, was an heir of Baizhang, Zen Master Dazhi. He lived on Mount Gui when Baizhang was alive. Guishan never said that buddha dharma should be called the “Guiyang [Guishan and Yangshan] School.” Nor did Baizhang say that he should abide on Mount Gui and call his teaching the “Guiyang School.” Neither Guishan nor his master spoke of it in this way. Thus, know that this is a groundless name.

  Do not look to Yangshan as the perpetrator, although the “Guiyang School” partly bears his name. If he had the need to call it after his name, he would have done that. But since there was no need to, he did not name it after himself in the past, nor would he do so in the present.

  There is no such name as the “Caoxi School,” the “Nanyue School,” the “Xijiang School,” or the “Baizhang School.” Guishan should not be different from Huineng of Caoxi. He should not excel Huineng. In fact, he should not even reach to Huineng.

  One word or half a phrase spoken by Guishan is not necessarily carried equally on one staff with Yangshan. If you establish the name of the school, you should call it the “Guishan School” or the “Dagui [Great Guishan] School.” But there is no reason and no ground for calling it the “Guiyang School.”

  Had it been appropriate to call it the “Guiyang School,” they would have done so when the two masters were alive. But they did not name it while they were alive. Why did they not do so? Those who go against their fathers and ancestors and call their teaching the “Guiyang School,” although there was no such name while the two masters were alive, are unfilial descendants. This is not the original wish of Guishan or the straightforward will of Yangshan. There is no such authentic transmission from the true masters. It is clear that these names were groundlessly created by those who were mistaken. Do not spread it in the ten directions.

  Linji, Great Master Huizhao, abandoned the house gate of lecturing sutras and became a student of Huangbo. He was struck by Huangbo’s staff on three occasions; all together sixty blows. He went to study with Dayu and experienced realization. Later, he was abbot of the Linji Monastery in Zhen Province.

  As he did not fully master Huangbo’s mind, he did not speak one phrase or half a phrase to the effect that the buddha dharma he had inherited should be called the “Linji School.” Nor did he indicate it by raising a fist or holding up a whisk. However, the mediocre stream of his students, without protecting their teacher’s accomplishment in buddha dharma, initiated the name “Linji School” by mistake. Rather, they should have done what was in accord with the daily life of Linji. Since this would go against the way of Huangbo, they should have refrained from initiating such a name.

  In fact, when Linji was about to pass away, he entrusted Sansheng, who would later become Zen Master Huiran, and said, “After I pass away, do not let my treasury of the true dharma eye be extinguished.”

  Sansheng said, “How would I let your treasury of the true dharma eye be extinguished?”

  Linji said, “If someone asks you about it, how would you respond?”

  Sansheng shouted.

  Linji said, “Who would have guessed that my treasury of the true dharma eye has reached as far as this blind donkey and perished?”

  The master and disciple spoke to each other in this way. Linji did not say, “Do not let my Zen School be extinguished,” “Do not let my Linji School be extinguished,” or “Do not let my school be extinguished.” Rather, he just said, Do not let my treasury of the true dharma eye be extinguished. Clearly know that the great road authentically transmitted by buddhas and ancestors should not be called the “Zen School” or the “Linji School.”

  This being so, never call it the “Zen School.” Even if extinguished is the essence of the treasury of the true dharma eye, it is entrusted in this way. Reached as far as this blind donkey and perished is a true entrustment. Who would guess? Inside the gate of Linji, there was only Sansheng. Neither his older nor younger fellow practitioners were in the same rank—this is how they are arrayed under the bright window.

  The story of Linji and Sansheng is that of buddha ancestors. Linji’s entrustment now is the entrustment on Vulture Peak long ago. Thus, it is clear that you should not use the name “Linji School.”

  Yunmen, Great Master Kuangzhen, once studied with Venerable Master Chen. Thus, he is a descendant of Huangbo. Later he succeeded Xuefeng, who did not tell him to call the treasury of the true dharma eye “Yunmen School.” But without knowing that “Guiyang School” and “Linji School” were groundless names, his students initiated the name “Yunmen School.” If the effort of Yunmen had been to establish a new school, it could not be admitted as the body and mind of the buddha dharma.
To associate him with the name of the school is just like regarding the emperor as a person of humble rank.

  Zen Master Great Fayan of the Qingliang Monastery is an heir of Dizang and a dharma descendant of Xuansha. His teaching was free from mistakes. “Great Fayan” was his official title. He did not say even one word among one thousand words, or one phrase among ten thousand phrases, to indicate that the treasury of the true dharma eye should be named after him, nor did he initiate a “Fayan School.” However, his students did initiate the name “Fayan School.” If Fayan were teaching at present, he would cut off the groundless name “Fayan School.” Fayan has already passed away, and there is no one who can correct this disastrous error. Even one thousand or ten thousand years later, those who want to be filial to Zen Master Fayan should not use this name. To refrain from doing so is the best way to be filial.

  In fact, Yunmen and Fayan are descendants of Qingyuan, High Ancestor, from whom the bones of the way and the marrow of the dharma have been transmitted.

  Dongshan, High Ancestor, Great Master Wuben, succeeded in dharma from Yunyan. Yunyan is an authentic heir of Yaoshan. Yaoshan is an authentic heir of Shitou. Shitou is the single heir of High Ancestor Qingyuan. Without having two or three to compare shoulder to shoulder, Shitou alone authentically transmitted the accomplishment of the way. The true life of the buddha way has remained in China thanks to Shitou, who authentically transmitted dharma completely.

  Qingyuan spread the teaching of Huineng at Mount Qingyuan when Huineng himself was teaching. Huineng let Qingyuan appear in the world and let the world see and hear him while he himself was still alive. Qingyuan was the authentic heir of authentic heirs, high ancestor of high ancestors. Concerning his study and emergence in the world, no one could be compared to him. Yet, even those who could not be compared to him at that time would excel at present. Those who study the way should make a special point of knowing this.