“Therefore, it is said, ‘Once you’ve caught the fish, you can forget about the weir.’48
故云 得魚忘筌.
Having achieved your goal, you need no longer cling to expedients. There is nothing more foolish than to continue carrying the raft once you’ve crossed the raging river of birth and death.
“Once body and mind are spontaneous, you will reach the Way and know the mind. Having reached the original fount, they are called śramaṇas.
身心自然 達道識心 達本源故 號為沙門.
Even if you do not shave your head, if you realize the Way, you are a śramaṇa (renunciant).
Turning one thought around to see the original form and proceeding to that point where the buddha and you are not different is what is meant by the gate of liberation or the gate of nonduality. If you enter this gate, you are a śramaṇa. But if you keep coming and going through this gate of nonduality, you are not a śramaṇa.
“The ‘fruits of renunciation’ (śrāmaṇyaphala) are accomplished not by learning but by bringing a halt to deliberation. If you now set out to seek the mind with the mind, you are only borrowing another’s house, learning through mere imitation. When will you ever have any attainment? The ancients had such keen minds that, even hearing just one word, they ceased their learning. They were called practitioners who ceased learning, acted spontaneously, and relaxed in the Way. Practitioners today only wish to gain much knowledge and much understanding, to extensively explore the meaning of texts. They call this ‘practice,’ but they don’t understand that much knowledge and much understanding, to the contrary, become a barrier.
沙門果者 息慮而成 不從學得 汝如今將心求心 傍他家舍秖擬學取 有甚麼得時 古人心利纔聞一言便乃絕學 所以喚作絕學無為閒道人 今時人只欲得多知多解 廣求文義 喚作修行 不知多知多解翻成壅塞.
When those who have great academic potential learn a lot and spread their knowledge to satisfy others’ curiosity, people admire them. But if you want to carry on the tradition of the buddhas and patriarchs, do not cling to secular learning.
“Just knowing a lot is like a baby who gulps down curdled milk with no sense at all of being able to digest it. Practitioners of the Way in the three vehicles are all like this. They can be called ‘those who consume without digesting.’ This so-called conceptual knowledge is not digested, and it all becomes toxic — it all belongs to the cycle of birth and death. In true suchness, none of this is relevant. Therefore, it is said, ‘There is no such sword in our royal armory.’49
唯知多與兒酥乳喫 消與不消 都總不知 三乘學道人 皆是此樣 盡名食不消者 所謂知解不消 皆為毒藥 盡向生滅中取 真如之中 都無此事 故云 我王庫內無如是刀.
Only when you attain sudden enlightenment and see the nature do you remove discriminative thought. You may have learned that all the phenomena appearing before you are originally illusions, but if you never actually realize this for yourself, your knowledge will remain nothing but delusion. You live your whole life making discriminations. But once you attain enlightenment, you will no longer discriminate. From that moment forward, you can draw on the power of unconstrained conduct (wu’ai xing / muae haeng 無礙行) by which you act without doing anything. This is something totally different from veiled conduct and veiled consumption (muxing mushi / makhaeng maksik 幕行幕食).
If you ground your life in discriminative thought without drawing on the power of enlightenment, you will live as if tumbling from thought to thought.
There is originally not a single thing in the royal armory. Since there is not a single thing in it, the myriad dharmas derive from it.
“All the intellectual understanding you have previously accumulated should be removed and emptied so there is no further discrimination; this is the empty tathāgatagarbha (womb or embryo of the buddhas). The tathāgatagarbha contains not even the slightest mote of dust. It is in fact the appearance in the world of the Dharma King [the Buddha], who destroys [all notions of] existence. [The Buddha] also said, ‘I did not obtain even the slightest dharma at Dīpaṃkara Buddha’s residence.’50 This statement means that you just empty out ratiocination and intellectual understanding. If you dissolve both extrinsic and instrinic, your thinking will come to an end, and you will have nothing to rely on or cling to. This is what it means to be a ‘person without concerns.’51
從前所有一切解處 盡須併却令空 更無分別 即是空如來藏 如來藏者 更無纖塵可有 即是破有法王出現世間 亦云 我於然燈佛所 無少法可得 此語只為空爾情量知解 但銷鎔表裏 情盡都無依執 是無事人.
The opening lines of Yongjia Zhenjue’s “Song of Realizing the Way” describe this state:
The leisurely person of the Way who has ceased all learning and has nothing more to do (wuwei/muwi 無爲),
neither removes deluded thoughts nor seeks truth.52
The master Linji Yixuan also strongly advocated being a “person without concerns.”53 The Seon school as as whole values being such a person without concerns.
“The three vehicles’ nets of teachings are remedies administered in response to spiritual capacity. They are spoken in accordance with particular circumstances and are established only temporarily. Each and every one of [those teachings] is different. If you understand this, you will not be deluded. It is most crucial that you do not generate intellectual understanding by holding fast to the words of a single teaching given on a single occasion. Why? There is no fixed dharma the Tathāgata could have preached. This school of ours would never comment on such a thing. Know only that resting the mind is what what we mean by relaxing. No conceptions before nor thoughts afterward are necessary.”
三乘教網 秖是應機之藥 隨宜所說 臨時施設 各各不同 但能了知 即不被惑 第一不得於一機一教邊守文作解 何以如此 實無有定法 如來可說 我此宗門 不論此事 但知息心即休 更不用思前慮後.
According to the Diamond Sūtra, “There are no fixed dharmas.”54 Only when the mind is revealed will you be able to rest. You cannot rest your thoughts even if you intend to. Without an awakening, you will never be able to digest this.
10. Mind Is the Buddha
Pei Xiu asked, “Since long ago, people have been saying, ‘Mind is the buddha.’ Yet I am not sure which mind is the buddha.”
問 從上來皆云 即心是佛 未審即那箇心是佛.
This question shows that Pei Xiu had a lingering stereotypical conception of what is meant by buddha. He did not know that defilements were nothing other than bodhi. Pei Xiu knew only that the original mind was different from the discriminative mind, and so he asked this kind of question.
The master responded, “How many minds do you have?”
Pei Xiu said, “Is the worldly mind the buddha or is the noble mind the buddha?”
師云 爾有幾箇心 云 為復即凡心是佛 即聖心是佛.
Pei Xiu asked this question because he thought that the noble mind of a sage was somehow different from the worldly mind of an ordinary person. Although people may have seen the nature, unless they can control the habituations generated by subtle delusions, they continue to have ceaseless tension in their minds. Here, since Pei Xiu was in that very situation, he kept asking this sort of question.
Given how forthright he is here, Pei Xiu may have known that his question derived from discriminative thought. It is hard to say for sure, but he may have asked this question intentionally to help future practitioners resolve their doubts.
Whether or not he understood the implication of his question, he accumulated great merit by posing it to Master Huangbo and handing down the record of it to future generations.
The master asked, “So where are these worldly and noble minds?”
Pei Xiu answered, “Nowadays, in the teachings of the three vehicles, it is said that there are both worldlings (pṛthagjana) and noble ones (ārya). Why would the master suggest that there are
neither?”
師云 爾何處有凡聖心耶 云 即今三乘中 說有凡聖 和尚何得言無.
Pei Xiu here expresses confusion because Master Huangbo seems to assert that, in the three vehicles, no distinctions are made between worldlings and saints. Pei Xiu suggests that the master’s assertion runs contrary to Buddhist scriptures.
When people see the nature, they should realize that such terms as worldling and saint are mere relative concepts and ultimately are illusions. However, when the power of enlightenment is weak, dualistic thought prevails.
The master replied, “In the three vehicles, it says clearly that the minds of worldlings and saints are delusions. You seem now not to understand this and instead cling to their existence, mistaking something empty for something real. How is this not a delusion? Being a delusion, it confuses your mind. You need only eliminate [such dualistic notions as] the state of worldlings and the realm of the saints; then, there will there be no separate buddha outside the mind.
師云 三乘中 分明向爾道 凡聖心是妄 爾今不解 返執為有 將空作實 豈不是妄 妄故迷心 汝但除却凡情聖境 心外更無別佛.
Although Pei Xiu had experienced a spiritual breakthrough, he was unable to realize that ordinary people’s minds were not different from the minds of the saints. He still had not had a penetrating awakening. He had seen the nature, but he could not escape his deeply engrained habituations.
If you have a sudden awakening and see the real characteristic of things thoroughly, you will realize that everything is merely an illusory mirage, and you will not make a distinction between saints and worldlings.
“The Patriarch [Bodhidharma] came from the West and directly pointed out that all people, in their entirety, are buddhas. You now do not understand this and are instead clinging to worldling or noble and galloping after everything outside. You are deluding yourselves to your own mind. I say to you that that very mind is the buddha. To arouse a single thought or sensibility is to fall into a discrepant destiny.
祖師西來直指一切人全體是佛 汝今不識 執凡執聖向外馳騁 還自迷心 所以向汝道 即心是佛 一念情生 即墮異趣.
If even one thought is confused, you will create another mirage and will not be able to escape the six destinies in the cycle of birth and death. While all the various mirages are ceaselessly created and destroyed, the original foundation of the nature never changes.
You must realize this fact. If you study Buddhist teachings without realizing this, you could easily end up falling deeper in the pit of intellectual understanding.
Therefore, you must feel “this mind is the buddha” with your whole body and see through everything that is internal and external.
“Since time immemorial, it has never been different from what it is today; there is no discrepant dharma. This is what is called ‘achieving complete, perfect enlightenment.’ ”
無始已來不異今日 無有異法故名成等正覺.
There is no separate complete, perfect enlightenment to achieve.
The moment you realize “This is it!” you will never again be tricked by mirages. This is because, although the mind conjures up all sorts of mirages, those mirages have never actually happened.
Pei Xiu asked, “What is the rationale behind the ‘is’ 55 to which the master just referred?”
The master answered, “What rationale are you looking for? The moment there is the slightest rationale, that very mind will be discrepant.”
云 和尚所言即者 是何道理 師云 覓什麼道理 纔有道理 便即心異.
If it is that very mind, it is in fact the buddha; do not think that there is any different buddha. There can be no distinction between saint and worldling. The mind of the buddha and the mind of sentient beings are originally nondual. If you realize this, you are not shaken by any other mirages. The noble are those who develop faith so that they are able to live their lives with confidence in the path they are following.
Whether one is a saint or a worldling is decided by karma. One becomes a saint or a worldling through his or her own efforts. However, there is no sage or worldling from the perspective of the original mind, which is pristine.
Pei Xiu asked, “You just said, ‘Since time immemorial, it has never been different from what it is today.’ What does this mean?”
The master answered, “You diverge from it only because of your searching. If you stop searching, where would there be any difference?”
云 前言無始已來 不異今日 此理如何 師云 秖為覓故 汝自異他 汝若不覓 何處有異.
If you seek it, you will be far off the mark. If you let it go, it will flow naturally, following its own course. Why do you commit a foolish act to get even more?
Master Huangbo could give this teaching because he had the experience of sudden awakening. When those who have not attained enlightenment hear these words, they will either fall into blankness or interpret them erratically. Since Pei Xiu had already seen the original true characteristic of things, the master told him not to seek anything else.
Pei Xiu asked, “Since they are not different, why even say ‘[mind] is [the buddha]’?”
The master answered, “If you do not acknowledge that there are worldlings and saints, who would tell you that ‘[mind] is [the buddha]’? If that ‘is’ is not ‘is,’ then ‘mind’ is also not really ‘mind.’ If ‘mind’ and ‘is’ are both forgotten, where else would you expect to search for the dharma?”
云既是不異 何更用說即 師云 汝若不認凡聖 阿誰向汝道即 即若不即 心亦不心 可中心即俱忘 阿爾便擬向何處覓去.
If from the very beginning there is nothing to seek, there is no need to say “is.” In order to help Pei Xiu seek and understand what distinguishes “saint” and “worldling,” the master employed this term “is” provisionally.
11. The Mind-to-Mind Transmission
Pei Xiu asked, “Since delusions can hinder our minds, I’m still unclear on how we are to expel delusions right now.”
問 妄能障自心 未審而今以何遣妄.
Everyone in the world has such thoughts. But if they just open their eyes, they will see that there are originally no delusions. Here, Pei Xiu asks what he should do about the mirages that keep arising in his mind.
The master said, “To generate delusions in order to expel delusions is also a delusion. Delusions originally have no root; they exist only because of discrimination. If you simply cease thinking in terms of worldling and saint, you naturally will be free from delusions. If you then try to expel more of them, you would find not even a hair’s breadth of anything to rely on or cling to. This is what is meant by the line, ‘I have sacrificed both my arms, so it is certain that I will achieve buddhahood.’ ”56
師云 起妄遣妄亦成妄 妄本無根 秖因分別而有 爾但於凡聖兩處情盡 自然無妄 更擬 若為遣他 都不得有纖毫依執 名為我捨兩臂 必當得佛.
One thought creates all the diversity of phenomena. If you discard relative differences and abandon both extremes, delusions will no longer exist.
Master Huangbo could have stopped Pei Xiu’s discriminations through shouts or beatings here. However, since there was something deficient in his understanding, the master kindly explained to Pei Xiu the reason for his delusions.
The story of a bodhisattva making a vow to cut off both his arms as an act of self-immolation so that he may achieve buddhahood comes from the Lotus Sūtra chapter on “The Previous Acts of the Bodhisattva Medicine King.”
Pei Xiu asked, “Since there is nothing left to rely on or cling to, how does the serial transmission [from master to disciple] occur?”
The master replied, “They transmit the mind with the mind.”
Pei Xiu asked, “If they transmit the mind to each other, then why do you say that the mind is nonexistent?”
The master answered, “Not attaining a single dharma is what is called ‘transmitting the mind.’ If you understand this
mind, then there is no mind and no dharma.”
云 既無依執 當何相承 師云 以心傳心 云 若心相傳 云何言心亦無 師云 不得一法 名為傳心 若了此心 即是無心無法.
This very thing transcends both existence and nonexistence. This being so, that thing appears or disappears without leaving a trace.
There is neither mind nor dharma in the true characteristic of things. Realizing this is transmitting the dharma from mind to mind.
Pei Xiu asked, “If there is no mind and no dharma, then why do you call it ‘transmission’?”
The master replied, “The moment you hear me say, ‘transmit the mind,’ you presume there is something to be attained. This is why a patriarch said,
The moment you recognize the nature of the mind,
you can say only that it is inconceivable.
Perfectly clear, there is nothing to be attained.
Once you get it, you won’t say you have any such understanding.57
If I tried to teach you this, how would you ever be able to handle it?”
云 若無心無法 云何名傳 師云 汝聞道傳心 將謂有可得也 所以祖師云 認得心性時 可說不思議 了了無所得 得時不說知 此事若教汝會 何堪也.
Once you see the nature, the rest will follow without much effort. Therefore, do not pay foolish attention to the matter of transmission. If you let it go, it will take its own course naturally. When you try to do something about it, you will be far off the mark.
If your karma is heavy, things will be not go easily for you, even if you have opened your eyes. You cannot avoid the fruits of your previous acts. Karmic fruitions include not only what you experience physically; they also include delusions.
Don’t forget to thank the buddhas and bodhisattvas for helping you realize the inconceivable reality faster and more easily.
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