慈者不見有佛可成 悲者不見有眾生可度.
At its most basic level, the mind of compassion aims to remove suffering and give pleasure. Since sentient beings suffer from immeasurable amounts of pain and agony in this sea of suffering, they should draw close to the Buddha’s teachings so they can transform their pain and agony into pleasure. At this level, sentient beings are told to trust and rely on the Buddha because the Buddha will compassionately cure their suffering.
Seon masters take a different approach. They teach the fastest path to those who want to realize the truth and transcend the sea of suffering itself. Seon masters, therefore, employ such special techniques as striking and shouting in order to directly reveal the truth to their students here and now.
True compassion means to know the fact that there are neither buddhas nor sentient beings and to put this into practice by realizing the nonduality of the middle way.
“The dharma he preaches is neither preached nor revealed, and those who hear that dharma neither hear nor attain anything. It is as if a magician preaches the dharma to people he has conjured. How can I say that I comprehended or awakened to this dharma upon hearing the words of a spiritual mentor (kalyāṇamitra)?
其所說法 無說無示 其聽法者 無聞無得 譬如幻士為幻人說法 這個法 若為道 我從善知識言下領得會也悟也.
Regardless of the dharma preached, nothing has actually been preached.
When the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara preaches the dharma to the youth Sudhana [in the Flower Garland Sūtra], the youth listens to the bodhisattva without listening to anything. This is preaching without preaching anything and listening without listening to anything.
To give a slightly different story from the Song dynasty, when the Seon adept Xuedou Zhongxian 雪竇重顯 (980–1052) was planning to go to the monastery of Lingyinsi 靈隱寺 in Hangzhou to train, the scholar Zeng Hui 曾會 (952–1033) wrote him a recommendation letter to take to the abbot there, who was his old friend. With this recommendation letter, Xuedou would have received special treatment at the monastery. However, he did not show the letter to the abbot and instead strenuously practiced as a rank-and-file monk in the monastery’s meditation hall. One day, after Xuedou had been practicing there for three years, his recommender Zeng Hui visited the monastery. He saw Xuedou sitting at the lowest seat and asked Xuedou why. Xuedou answered, “I was grateful to receive your letter, but because the monastery provides such a great setting for practice, I concluded I could focus more on my practice by not showing the letter.”
You practitioners should be able to maintain everyday mind, enduring whatever you face, no matter how exhausted you are, without complaint. However, you should cultivate Buddhist practice without thinking that you need to cultivate anything.
“Regarding loving-kindness and compassion, say that I prompt you to arouse states of mind, think thoughts, and study others’ views and interpretations. If you have not had a personal awakening to the original mind, all this ultimately will bring no benefit.”
這個慈悲 若為汝起心動念學得他見解 不是自悟本心 究竟無益.
The unconditional compassion that suddenly arises from that place where there is originally not a single dharma is bestowed everywhere and at every time, with neither redundancy nor deficiency.
The compassion bestowed when you have karmic affinities with someone is of course compassion, but you should nonetheless deeply immerse yourself in the ineffable ocean of the unconditional compassion that is bestowed regardless of karmic affinities. Then you will be able to say, “How deeply grateful I am that I was born in this world and am able to study and practice Buddhism.” Even so, however, can you recognize that this also involves characteristics?
13. The Most Strenuous Practice
Pei Xiu asked, “What is vigor (vīrya)?”
The master replied, “That body and mind do not arise is called the most strenuous form of vigor.
問 何者是精進 師云 身心不起 是名第一牢強精進.
Since sentient beings have varying spiritual capacities, there are different degrees of vigor — that is, energy for practice — and various expedients that are applied. For those of lesser spiritual capacity, sitting long hours could be seen as vigor; for those a little more advanced, then the concurrent practice of both concentration (samādhi) and wisdom (prajñā) could be regarded as vigor.
However, the vigor of those of superior spiritual capacity cannot be perceived, even by spirits. Such people have an unfailingly discerning eye, which countenances all sorts of changes and yet never changes itself, even amid hundreds of thousands of samādhis. They think all day long without thinking a single thought. They cultivate without cultivating anything. Were this not the case, then whatever they did or did not practice would all fall under the law of causality. Do you understand the principle that real vigor is not vigorous?
“Just arousing the mind and seeking outside is what is called ‘King Kaliṅga loved hunting.’ That the mind does not wander outside is the ‘asectic Kṣāntivādin.’ That body and mind are both nonexistent is the ‘path to buddhahood.’ ”
纔起心向外求者 名為歌利王愛游獵去 心不外遊 即是忍辱仙人 身心俱無 即是佛道.
The analogy here refers to a story about King Kaliṅga in the fourteenth section of the Diamond Sūtra:
Subhuti, the Tathāgata has explained that the perfection of forbearance (kṣāntipāramitā) is not the perfection of forbearance; this is called the perfection of forbearance. Why is this? Subhūti, long ago when King Kaliṅga was dismembering my body, at that time, I retained no conception of a self, no conception of a person, no conception of a sentient being, no conception of a living being. Why is this? Long ago, at the time I was being torn limb from limb, had I retained any conception of a self, a person, a living being, or a soul, I would have felt anger and animosity.145
In one of his previous lifetimes, the Buddha was an asectic named Kṣāntivādin. He was practicing in the forest where the arrogant and violent King Kaliṅga hunted. While the king was asleep, his courtesans went out for a walk and came across the acsetic sitting under a tree. Impressed by his pure and undefiled demeanor, they asked him to preach the dharma to them. When the king awoke and found the ascetic preaching to his court ladies, the king got jealous and cut off the ascetic’s nose and ears, and finally his arms and legs. The ascetic, however, did not lose his peace of mind and stopped an angry dragon king from avenging him and hurting King Kaliṅga. By demonstrating such inconceivable compassion, the ascetic sought to remove the king’s three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion. The king deeply regretted what he had done and returned, chastened, to his palace.
If someone’s mind arises in accordance with external objects and clings to them, he or she will become like the hunter King Kaliṅga. On the contrary, if one rests his or her mind and stays in accord with the original place, he or she will become like the ascetic Kṣāntivādin. Those whose minds go outside will follow the way of non-Buddhists and become violent. But if their minds exercise forbearance, they will practice with vigorous effort and become generous ascetics.
In other words, if a thought arises and chases external phenomena, it is like someone who goes outside and causes all sorts of trouble. If a thought turns inward and becomes one with the original mind, it is like someone who rests comfortably at home. True practice refers to the “thought that is no-thought,” which stays far removed from all characteristics. The Sixth Patriarch said, “No-thought is the fundamental tenet.”146 “No-thought” does not mean that you literally have no thoughts. It rather means that, even though you may think thoughts all day long, there are no thoughts that have actually been aroused.
Therefore the Sixth Patriarch placed primary importance on seeing the nature (jianxing/gyeongseong 見性). You should make strenuous efforts to see the nature, but without actually making such an effort. This is called “cultivating without cultivating anything.”
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Even this form of cultivation still retains a trace of practice, but the Buddha completely removed even these subtlest of traces. Only when you see your self-nature and attain great understanding of it can you exercise true vigor. Before that point, you cannot practice vigorously, even though you wish to do so. If you practice vigorously in the wrong way, you will be mistaken or foolish.
Even though you may have opened your own eyes, the true way of practice is to help and encourage your fellow religious in their training.
14. The Practice of No-Mind
Pei Xiu asked, “If I practice no-mind, will I succeed in attaining this Way or not?”
The master replied, “No-mind is the practice of this Way. Why do you ask whether there is something to attain or not attain?
問 若無心行 此道得否 師云 無心便是行此道 更說什麼得與不得.
When it is said that no-mind is the practice of the Way, no-mind does not mean that you are supposed to get rid of your mind. The mind cannot be defined in terms of the concepts of existence or nonexistence. As the original no-mind, no-mind does not involve doing something or doing nothing. Therefore the original state of no-mind is to be unascertainable.
“Moreover, it is as if, in the blink of an eye, you aroused a thought and the sense spheres appeared. But if you do not have even a single thought, then the sense spheres will be forgotten and the mind will be naturally extinguished. There will be nothing further that needs to be sought.”
且如瞥起一念 便是境 若無一念 便是境忘 心自滅 無復可追尋.
If you arouse a single thought, this is not no-mind. No-mind occurs not because you try to be without mind. Rather, you demonstrate no-mind in both pleasant and unpleasant circumstances because you are originally in a state of no-mind.
Once you see the nature, even then though you may think all day long, you always remain in a state of no-mind.
15. Transcending the Three Realms of Existence
Pei Xiu asked, “What does it mean to escape the three realms of existence?”
The master replied, “ ‘Do not think at all about good and evil’;147 right then and there you will escape the three realms of existence.
問 如何是出三界 師云 善惡都莫思量 當處便出三界.
As an expedient, sentient beings are told to escape from the sensuous realm, the realm of subtle materiality, and the immaterial realm; these three realms of existence are said to be like a burning house. However, there are actually no three realms from which one needs to escape.
If you do not think about good and evil, you will not be dragged around by the mirages of good and evil. It is then that you can realize your self-nature. This is in fact the place that transcends the three realms. You should be able to illuminate your original face right at the very spot where all notions of good and evil are eradicated.
“The tathāgatas appear in the world to pulverize these three types of existence. If you have no states of mind, the three realms will also not exist.
如來出世 為破三有 若無一切心 三界亦非有.
Since the tathāgatas are always just as they are, they neither come nor go. They appear in the world without actually appearing.
If we truly understand the three realms, we know that they are originally nonexistent. Establishing as existent something that is nonexistent is an expedient description.
The mind is not something that exists or does not exist. If there is no mind, there are no three realms. If you try to remove the mind, the very mind that tries to remove the mind instead becomes another dust mote. Therefore, until the end of time, it is impossible ever to remove the mind.
“If you pulverize the smallest mote of dust148 into a hundred pieces and get rid of ninty-nine of them but one piece still remains, then the Mahāyāna can never prevail. Only when all hundred pieces are removed can the Mahāyāna prevail.”
如一微塵破為百分 九十九分是無 一分是有 摩訶衍不能勝出 百分俱無 摩訶衍始能勝出.
Foolish efforts to destroy delusions are meaningless. Accept the reality that there is nothing to be destroyed and digest this fact by experiencing it for yourself.
When you raise a hwadu, you are not trying to destroy anything. You are instead generating the mind of doubt, building it into the sensation of doubt, and ultimately turning it into a mass of doubt.
In Mahāyāna practice, you do not attain bodhi by removing defilements. Rather, you realize the fact that defilements are in fact identical to bodhi. Bodhi simply means recognizing that you are originally awakened. It is not that you attain something totally new. Therefore, it is often said, “You awaken to the fact that there is nothing to attain.”149
“Removing all hundred pieces” does not literally mean removing all defilements. Rather, it means that there is originally nothing to be removed. The truth, there from the very beginning, is completely revealed right before your eyes; it is only because your eyes are blinded by your own delusions that you cannot see it. Therefore, escaping the three realms of existence means that you realize the fact that the three realms are nothing but mirages.
The Buddha said that the three realms are mind alone, which means that the three realms are created by the mind. This implies that all causes and conditions originate in the mind and thereby generate all sorts of phenomena.
You are probably curious what this mind that creates all phenomena is. Only when you see the nature through a sudden awakening can you digest such a teaching. Otherwise, you will be like a dog chasing a dirt clod someone threw.
Master Huangbo, from beginning to end, taught the unconditioned dharma; he did not teach his students to study conditioned dharmas. But he also taught that practitioners should not abide in the unconditioned dharma. Those of you who gain some insight should be able to look at yourselves for the briefest of moments, which will make you tremble. Then your spine immediately straightens, and you have an experience that accords with what you have practiced thus far. Staying far removed from all views, whether they involve signs or signlessness, you digest the unconditioned dharma that is separate from signs and attain the sudden awakening that transcends signlessness.
You should open your eyes to the value of the precious Buddhadharma through making strenuous efforts in practice. If you seek out and cultivate only practices that are comfortable and easy, the wisdom of the buddhas and patriarchs will be discontinued, and the Buddhadharma of this world will become a nuisance.
Arouse faith in the Mahāyāna and do not be dragged around by expedient teachings. Pass the time calmly, and apply yourself freely yet vigorously.
16. Ascending the Hall (Shangtang) Sermon
[Master Huangbo] ascended the hall [to deliver a sermon] and said, “The mind is buddha. All the buddhas above and the wriggling beings that possess numinosity below have the buddha nature and the same essence of the one mind.
上堂云 即心是佛 上至諸佛 下至蠢動含靈 皆有佛性 同一心體.
The phrase “the mind is buddha” sometimes carries a sting and sometimes does not. When practitioners know its meaning, that’s fine. But when they don’t, the phrase will be extremely difficult to digest. The scriptural teachings adhere strictly to the phrase “the mind is buddha.” But in Seon, if you say that “the mind is buddha,” you will be beaten with a staff.
All sentient beings without exception possess the buddha nature and the very same mind. Therefore the Buddhadharma is the dharma that is nondual, equanimous, and unconditioned.
“Therefore Bodhidharma came from the West just to transmit the one-mind dharma. He directly pointed to the fact that all sentient beings are originally buddhas.
所以達摩從西天來 唯傳一心法 直指一切眾生 本來是佛.
All sentient beings may originally be buddhas, but if they are ignorant, they will be deceived by mirages and cycle through rebirth in the six destinies. When they awaken to the mind, they realize that everything is empty regardless of outward appearances
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However, according to Seon, such an explanation can easily create delusions, so you should let go of it without hesitation. The moment you cling to an explanation, you turn your back on awakening. That is why a master sometimes gives an explanation and at other times dismisses it. The master’s intention is to avoid falling into either of the two views.
“You do not need to engage in provisional practices. Instead, you need only right now recognize your own mind and see your own original nature. There is nothing else you need to seek.
不假修行 但如今識取自心見自本性 更莫別求.
Once you see the nature, it does not matter whether you practice any further or not. However, most of you want to keep practicing because you still think you lack something. The mind is, in fact, so close that it is quite easy to see it. Sentient beings want at least a taste of that experience. It is like wanting to check how hot spicy bean paste actually is by dipping a fingertip into it and licking it.
“How can you recognize your own mind? That which right now is speaking is precisely your mind.
云何識自心 即如今言語者正是汝心.
Apart from this mind, there is nothing else that enables you to speak. Master Huangbo here explains that “that which right now is speaking” is what is called “mind.” This mind that is functioning right now is the nature. There can be nothing else.
You should accord with the truth right here and right now. If you try to understand this intellectually, you will be far off the mark.
“If you were to neither speak nor act, the mind’s essence would be like empty space, without form or shape, without direction or location.
若不言語 又不作用 心體如虛空相似 無有相貌 亦無方所.
Before even a single dharma is created, the original mind has neither form nor direction. Nonetheless, this mind functions in various ways in accordance with causes and conditions. Those who cling to characteristics would not understand it if you said, “That which has neither form nor location is what is now speaking.” But you should still believe that the original mind evolves in different ways in accordance with causes and conditions. As your belief matures, you will come into accord with the truth; and once you accord with the truth, everything will be revealed right before you. When that happens, you will be able to digest all the words of the buddhas and patriarchs.
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