Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

by Zen Master Dogen

  Thus, it is necessary to encourage yourself and others. Receiving the authentically transmitted tradition from the buddha ancestors—even one prostration or a single upright sitting—is rare indeed; greatly rejoice and celebrate this great fortune. Those who lack this heart will not possess a single virtue or acquire any benefit even if they were to encounter the emanation of a thousand buddhas. There are people outside the way who have mistakenly been entrusted with the buddha dharma. Though they may sound like they are learned in the buddha dharma, the buddha dharma they expound lacks the fruits of realization.

  This being so, if kings and ministers, or even Brahma or Indra, who are not monks, come to you and ask for a funeral service of a deceased monk, do not permit it. Tell them that they should leave the household, receive the precepts, cultivate the life of a monk, and then return. If those who are attached to karmic results in the three realms, and do not aspire to actualize the life within the three treasures, bring forth ten thousand dead skin bags and try to disregard the funeral precedent for a deceased monk, do not permit it. That would not be conducive of any merit. If they wish to establish a favorable connection with the merit of buddha dharma, they should immediately leave the household, receive the precepts according to buddha dharma, and undertake to cultivate the life of a monk.

  That evening the current Baizhang ascended the teaching seat and talked about what had happened during the day. The point of his talk is highly unclear. What did he talk about? It seems he said that the old man, having already completed five hundred lifetimes as a fox, became liberated from the body of the past. Are the five hundred lifetimes spoken of here counted in terms of the human world or in the manner of a wild fox? Or are they counted in the manner of the buddha way? Furthermore, how could the eyes of the old wild fox catch a glimpse of Baizhang? What is seen through the eyes of a wild fox must be the spirit of a wild fox. What is seen through the eyes of Baizhang are buddha ancestors.

  In this regard, Facheng [Jingyin] Kumu, commented on the story in verse:

  Baizhang personally met the wild fox;

  questioned by it, his heart was greatly perturbed.

  Now, I ask you, practitioners of the way,

  have you completely spat out the wild fox’s saliva, or not?

  In this way, the wild fox is the eye of Baizhang’s intimate experience. Even half the wild fox’s saliva spat out is the wide, long tongue sticking out, uttering a turning word of transformation. This very moment is liberation from the wild fox body, liberation from Baizhang’s body, liberation from the old nonhuman body, liberation from the entire world body.

  Huangbo asked Baizhang, A teacher of old gave a mistaken answer and was reborn as a wild fox for five hundred lifetimes. What if he hadn’t given a mistaken answer?

  This question is a buddha ancestor’s words actualized. Among the venerable teachers in the lineage of Nanyue there was no one like Huangbo, either before or after him. Nevertheless, the old man did not say he had given a mistaken answer to the student. Nor did Baizhang say that the old man had given a mistaken answer. Why did Huangbo dare to say, A teacher of old gave a mistaken answer? If Huangbo meant that this mistaken answer became the cause of falling into a wild fox’s body, Huangbo had not yet grasped the great intention of Baizhang. It is as though Huangbo had not thoroughly investigated the mistaken answers and the answers beyond mistake spoken by buddhas and ancestors. Understand that in this story the former Baizhang did not mention a mistaken answer, nor did the current Baizhang.

  Even so, using five hundred skins of a wild fox three inches thick, the former Baizhang lived and taught on the mountain for the benefit of practitioners, and expressed his understanding to a student. Because the pointed strands of hair on the wild fox skin dropped off, the current Baizhang is one stinky skin bag. I presume that this is dropping off half a wild fox’s skin. This is freedom from falling, which at every moment is beyond mistakes. This is cause and effect, which at every moment speaks for another. This is bright and clear, great practice with great intention.

  If Huangbo were to appear right now and ask, What if he hadn’t given a mistaken answer? say, “He would still fall into the body of a wild fox.” If Huangbo should ask, “How is this so?” say, “You spirit of a wild fox!”

  Nevertheless, this is neither a mistake nor not a mistake. Do not concede that Huangbo’s question was well asked. Again, if Huangbo were to ask, “What would he have become?” say, “Have you grasped the skin of your own face, or not?” Further say, “Have you become free of the wild fox’s body?” Also say, “Can you answer students saying, does not fall into cause and effect?”

  When Baizhang said, Come closer and I will tell you, he already answered the question, What if he hadn’t given a mistaken answer? Huangbo went closer, having forgotten about the past and being oblivious of the future, and slapped Baizhang. This slap is Huangbo being possessed by countless transmogrifications of wild foxes.

  Laughing, Baizhang clapped his hands and said, I thought only barbarians had red beards, but you too are a red-bearded barbarian. This expression lacks the vitality of being ten out of ten; it is only eight or nine out of ten complete realization. Even if we were to admit that it is eight or nine out of ten, this is still not eight or nine out of ten. Even admitting that it is ten out of ten, there is not more than eight or nine out of ten complete realization.

  So, say, “Baizhang’s words pervade the ten directions, though he is not yet out of the wild fox’s cave. Huangbo’s heels touch the ground, though he is still stuck on the [narrow] path of a praying mantis. Slapping and clapping hands are one, not two. The red-bearded barbarian is a barbarian with a red beard.”

  Presented to the assembly of the Yoshimine Temple, Echizen Province, on the ninth day, the third month, the second year of the Kangen Era [1244].

  DAIBUTSU MONASTERY PERIOD

  1245–1246

  77

  SPACE

  PROVOKED BY THE question “What is right here?” the way actualizes and buddha ancestors emerge. The actualization of the buddha ancestors’ way has been handed down heir by heir. Thus, the whole body of skin, flesh, bones, and marrow hangs in empty space.

  Space is not classified within the twenty types of emptiness. Indeed, emptiness is not limited merely to the twenty types of emptiness. There are eighty-four thousand types of emptiness and more.

  Shigong, who would later become Zen Master Huizang of Fu Region, asked his younger dharma brother Xitang, who would later become Zen Master Zhizang, “Do you know how to grasp space?”

  Xitang said, “Yes, I do.”

  Shigong said, “How do you grasp it?”

  Xitang stroked the air with his hand.

  Shigong said, “You don’t know how to grasp space.”

  Xitang responded, “How do you grasp it, elder brother?”

  Shigong poked his finger in Xitang’s nostril and yanked his nose.

  Xitang grunted in pain and said, “You’re killing me! You tried to pull off my nose.”

  Shigong said, “You can grasp it now.”

  Shigong said, Do you know how to grasp space? He was asking whether the entire body is hands and eyes.

  Xitang said, Yes, I do. Space is one piece but is divided with a touch. As soon as it is divided, space has fallen to the ground.

  Shigong said, How do you grasp it? Even if you call it thusness, it changes quickly. Although it changes, it slips away as thusness.

  Xitang stroked the air with his hand. He knew how to ride on a tiger’s head, but didn’t know how to grab its tail.

  Shigong said, You don’t know how to grasp space. Not only did Xitang not know how to grasp it, but he had never dreamed of space. The gap between them was profound, yet Shigong did not want to speak for the other.

  Xitang responded, How do you grasp it, elder brother? Thus, Xitang wanted Shigong to speak, not depending on him to say it all.

  Shigong poked his finger in Xitang’s nostril and yanked his nose. Know that Shigong hid his
body in Xitang’s nostril. This is the same as Shigong poking his own nostril. Thus, space is one ball which bounces here and there.

  Xitang grunted in pain and said, You’re killing me! You tried to pull off my nose. He thought he had met another person, but right there he actually met himself. At this moment, isolating himself was not possible. This is how you should study yourself.

  Shigong said, You can grasp it now. This is certainly a way to grasp space. It is not that Shigong and another Shigong reached out together with one hand; it is not that one space and another space reached out together with one hand. No effort was needed [for grasping space].

  There is no gap in the entire world to let space in, but this story has been a peal of thunder in space. From the time of Shigong and Xitang there have been many practitioners regarded as masters of the Five Schools, but few of them have seen, heard, and understood space. Some of those before and after Shigong and Xitang tried to play with space, but there are few who have reached it. Shigong took up space but Xitang did not see it.

  Let me respond to Shigong. You grabbed Xitang’s nose. If this was to grasp space, you should have grasped your own nose. You should have grasped your own finger with a finger. You have some understanding of grasping space. Even if you have a good finger to grasp space, you should penetrate the inside and outside of space. You should kill space and give life to space. You should know the weight of space. You should trust that the buddha ancestors’ endeavor of the way in aspiration, practice, and enlightenment through challenging dialogues is no other than grasping space.

  Rujing, my late master, Old Buddha Tiantong, said, “The entire body [of a wind bell] is a mouth hanging in emptiness.”

  Thus, we know that the entire body of space is hanging in emptiness.

  Once, Lecturer Liang of Mount Xi, Hong Region, studied with Mazu, who said, “Which sutra do you teach?”

  Liang said, “The Heart Sutra.”

  Mazu said, “How do you teach it?”

  Liang said, “I teach it with the heart.”

  Mazu said, “The heart is like a main actor. The will is like a supporting actor. The six types of consciousness are like their company. How do they understand your teaching of the sutra?”

  Liang said, “If the heart doesn’t understand it, does emptiness understand it?”

  Mazu said, “Yes, it does.”

  Liang flipped his sleeves and started to walk away.

  Mazu called, “Lecturer.”

  Liang turned his head around.

  Mazu said, “Just this, from birth till death.”

  At this moment Liang had realization. He hid himself at Mount Xi, and no one heard about him any longer.

  In this way buddha ancestors all expound sutras. What expounds sutras is empty space [boundlessness]. Without being empty space, no one can expound even one single sutra. Expounding the Heart Sutra and expounding the body sutra are both done with empty space. With empty space, thinking is actualized and beyond thinking is actualized. Empty space is wisdom with a teacher, wisdom without a teacher, knowing by birth, knowing by learning. Becoming a buddha, becoming an ancestor is also empty space.

  Vasubandhu, the Twenty-first Ancestor, said:

  Mind is like the world of space

  equally bringing forth things of emptiness.

  When you realize space,

  there is nothing good or bad.

  Now, the person who faces the wall meets the wall that faces the person. Here is the mind of a wall, the mind of a decayed tree. This is the world of space. Awakening others with this body, manifesting this body to speak dharma, is equally bringing forth things of emptiness. Being used by the twelve hours of the day and using the twelve hours of the day is, When you realize space. If the rock’s head is large, its base is large. If the rock’s head is small, its base is small. This is, There is nothing good or bad.

  Investigate the fact right now that empty space is the treasury of the true dharma eye, the wondrous heart of nirvana.

  This was presented to the assembly of the Daibutsu Monastery, Echizen Province, on the sixth day, the third month, the third year of the Kangen Era [1245].

  78

  EATING BOWL

  THE AUTHENTIC TRANSMISSION has been conveyed from beyond the Seven Original Buddhas to the Seven Original Buddhas, from within the Seven Original Buddhas to the Seven Original Buddhas, from the total Seven Original Buddhas to the total Seven Original Buddhas, from the Seven Original Buddhas to the twenty-eight Indian ancestors. Bodhidharma, the Twenty-eighth Ancestor, went to China and gave authentic transmission to Huike, the Second Chinese Ancestor, Great Master Zhengzong Pujiao. This was handed down through six generations and reached Huineng.

  Thus, in India and China, the teachers of all fifty-one generations transmitted the treasury of the true dharma eye, the wondrous heart of nirvana—the robes and the eating bowls. Earlier buddhas maintained the authentic transmission of the earlier masters. Thus, authentic transmission has been conducted from buddha to buddha, from ancestor to ancestor.

  Accordingly, those who study with buddha ancestors with skin, flesh, bones, and marrow, with fist and eyeball, have their own expressions. Some understand that the eating bowls are the body and mind of buddha ancestors. Some understand that the eating bowls are the rice eating bowls of buddha ancestors. Some understand that the eating bowls are the eyeball of buddha ancestors. Some understand that the eating bowls are the radiant light of buddha ancestors. Some understand that the eating bowls are the true body of buddha ancestors. Some understand that the eating bowls are the treasury of the true dharma eye, the wondrous heart of buddha ancestors. Some understand that the eating bowls are the place of turning the body of buddha ancestors. Some understand that the eating bowls are the mouth and bottom of the eating bowls of buddha ancestors. The essential understanding of those who study in this way is expressed differently, but there can be further understanding.

  Upon assuming the abbacy of the Tiantong Monastery in the first year of the Baoxin Era [1225], Rujing, my late master, Old Buddha Tiantong, ascended the teaching seat and said:

  I remember that Bhaizhang was asked by a monk, “What is extraordinary?”

  Bhaizhang said, “To sit alone on Daoxiong Peak. You cannot move this person. Let the person sit through for the moment.”

  Now, someone may come up and ask me, “What is extraordinary?”

  I would reply, “The eating bowls of Jingci [where I was abbot] have moved to Tiantong and eat meals.”

  Know that what is extraordinary happens to an extraordinary person; an extraordinary utensil is used for an extraordinary thing. This is an extraordinary moment. Thus, where what is extraordinary is actualized, there are extraordinary eating bowls.

  Thus, the Four Deva Kings protect the eating bowls and all dragon kings guard them. This is a profound procedure of the buddha way. This being so, we dedicate eating bowls to buddha ancestors and are entrusted with eating bowls by buddha ancestors.

  Those who have not studied inside the chamber of buddha ancestors say that the buddha kashaya is made of silk, cotton, or celestial thread. They also say that the buddha eating bowls are made of stone, slate, or iron. They say this because they have not yet obtained the eye of study.

  The buddha kashaya is the buddha kashaya; it should not be viewed as silk or cotton. To view it as silk or cotton is to fall into a conventional view. The buddha eating bowls are the buddha eating bowls. Do not call them stone, slate, iron, or wood.

  The buddha eating bowls are not made. They neither arise nor perish, neither come nor go, neither gain nor lose. They are not limited to new or old, ancient or present.

  Although the eating bowls of buddha ancestors are actualized by the assembling of clouds and water [monks], they are not limited to clouds and water. Although they are actualized by the assembling of grass and trees, they are not limited to grass and trees.

  Water is water as a compound of all things. Clouds are clouds as a compound of all things. Clouds a
re assembled as clouds and water is assembled as water. The eating bowls are eating bowls as a compound of all things. The eating bowls are assembled as all things. The total mind is assembled as the eating bowls. The empty space is assembled as the eating bowls. The eating bowls are assembled as the eating bowls. The eating bowls are immersed in the eating bowls, and divided by the eating bowls.

  The eating bowls transmitted to monks now were dedicated to the Buddha by the Four Deva Kings. The bowls wouldn’t exist had they not been dedicated by the Four Deva Kings. The eating bowls, authentically transmitted by buddha ancestors of all directions who have transmitted the treasury of the true dharma eye, are eating bowls that leap beyond ancient and present.

  Thus, these eating bowls penetrate the old views of an iron person, and are not bound by the analysis of a wooden stalk [stagnant thinker]. They go beyond the sound and form of tiles and pebbles. They are not hindered by the experience of stone or jade. Do not call them stone or tile. Do not call them wooden stalks.

  Thus it has been understood.

  Presented to the assembly of the Daibutsu Monastery, Echizen Province, on the twelfth day, the third month, the third year of the Kangen Era [1245].