by Xingjian Gao
Novice:
I haven’t got a clue. The words are all messed up.
(Enter an Old Monk. He takes a look at the wall.)
Old Monk:
Amitabha! Go and tell the Patriarch at once!
[Exit Novice running. Enter Crowd. They gather in front of the wall trying to identify the handwriting.
Enter Hongren.
Hongren:
(Ponders for a moment.)
All physical forms, all phenomena and images are but illusions. Master Lu, you don’t have to paint the portrait any more. Since you have traveled a long way to come here, please accept my gift of three silver ingots for your troubles. Leave the gatha on the wall. All of you may study it and cultivate your virtues accordingly. In this way you will not fall and suffer from the evil realms of existence. Well done! Well done!
[Crowd reads and recites the gatha. Lu thanks Hongren and exits.
Enter Shenxiu. He stands motionlessly, his head lowered. Upon seeing him, Crowd clasp their hands in greeting then exit.
Hongren:
Did you write this gatha?
Shenxiu:
(Steps forward and bows.)
Please forgive the mistake your disciple has committed. I know that it is improper of me to seek the patriarchate. My only hope is for Your Holiness to bestow on me great mercy and pity, and to judge how much wisdom there is in me, and whether I have acquired a general under-standing of the Dharma.
Hongren:
You haven’t entered the room. You have just reached the door.
Shenxiu:
Your humble disciple lacks intelligence. He awaits the master’s elucidation.
Hongren:
At ease. If you want to obtain the ultimate enlightenment, you have to look for it in your self-nature
Shenxiu:
How does one look for self-nature? Your humble disciple does not understand.
Hongren:
Strive to purify your mind, then write another gatha and let me see it! If you show that you are capable of entering the room through the door, then I will pass the robe and the Dharma truth onto you. (Exit.)
[Shenxiu watches the back of Hongren as he exits. Exit Shenxiu.
Sound of pounding rice. At the back of the stage, Huineng is treading on the wooden lever of the rice-pounding machine, his feet going up and down. A big stone is tied to his waist.
Enter Novice Monk.
Novice:
(Recites as if singing.)
The body is a Bodhi tree,
The mind a mirror bright…
Huineng:
(Stops treading.)
Novice, what are you singing?
Novice:
The Patriarch told us to sing the gatha Instructor Shenxiu had written on the wall in the great hall. He also told us to study it. (Exit.)
[Faint chanting is heard off stage. Lento: “Always wipe it clean, And let no dust alight …”
Huineng unties the stone on his waist and looks for where the chanting is coming from. Exit.
Chanting stops.
Sound of wooden fish. Allegretto. Enter Lu Zhen carrying his painting supplies. He is walking hurriedly.
Enter Huineng from the other side.)
Huineng:
Mr. Painter…
Lu:
(Surprised.) Oh!
Huineng:
What kind of sutra is written on this wall?
Lu:
The characters are like black earthworms. They’re just a scrawl, totally devoid of energy or discipline. Nothing worth mentioning!
Huineng:
May I trouble Mr. Painter to write a few words for this unworthy servant?
Lu:
Do you prefer vermilion or emerald?
Huineng:
The wall is white, so I guess black will do. As long as people can read the words clearly.
Lu:
There are five shades of black, which can also be dark or light, or glossy or matte.
Huineng:
Please do as you see fit.
Lu:
Do you want me to write in seal script, official script, running script, cursive script, or regular script?
Huineng:
Anything is fine as long as the words are neat and tidy.
Lu:
Then speak slowly. Master Painter Lu Zhen at your service. (Tucks in his sleeve and takes out his ink and brush.)
Huineng:
The Bodhi is not a tree,
Nor the mind a mirror bright;
Buddha nature is always pure,
Where can any dust alight?
Lu:
(Wields his brush and writes quickly.)
There, there, now it’s done.
(Exit Huineng quietly.)
Lu:
(Looks left and right in admiration.)
What insight! Excellent! What a wonderful gatha!
[Lu turns and finds Huineng gone, puts away his painting supplies into a knapsack, which he carries on his back, and exits.
Sound of rice pounding. The stage turns dark. Huineng is seen treading on the lever of the rice-pounding machine. The wind starts to blow.
Enter Hongren carrying a lantern, hobbling along. He raises the lantern to read the writing on the wall, and then he blows out the light.
The wind blows hard. Huineng stops working and unties the stone at his waist.
Huiming:
(Looks into the dark.) Who is it?
Hongren:
It’s me, your Patriarch.
Huineng:
Has the master not retired yet?
Hongren:
There’s something on my mind that I can’t let go.
Huineng:
Can it ever be let go?
Hongren:
(Hits mortar thrice with the lantern rod.)
The rice, have you finished pounding it yet?
(Huineng fills a bamboo dipper with rice, raises the dipper and pours the rice out into a bamboo basket, which makes a sizzling sound.)
Hongren:
(Arches his back to whisper into Huineng’s ear.)
Come to my chamber. I’ll elucidate the Dharma to you.
(Exits into the dark.)
[Huineng straightens himself and listens. The wind howls then stops, and then all becomes quiet.
On one side of the stage, Huiming, his eyes lowered, is seen standing on a stump in front of the drum stand. He is standing on one leg and his hand is holding an incense stick that has almost burnt out. He dozes off, his body sways and he tips and falls from the stump. It is a sudden awakening. He picks up a drumstick by the stand and beats the drum thrice.
Huineng:
Huiming, Huiming, you have failed to live up to your fame.
(Shakes his head continuously.)
You’re tall and handsome, and you’re a general of the third rank. But all is in vain.
You really wanted to understand the Dharma, so you came running here to study with the old Patriarch. You study every day and night, and you’ve been cultivating your virtues year after year, but you still lose out in the end. (Exit.)
[At centre stage, Hongren is holding a candlestick in front of his meditation bed, his back facing the audience.
Enter Huineng. He stands outside the door.
Hongren:
Who is it outside the door?
Huineng:
It’s Huineng, the layman.
Hongren:
What are you doing standing outside?
Huineng:
I’m still hesitating, wondering if I’m good enough, good enough to enter through the door.
Hongren:
Just take one step forward and you’re in.
Huineng:
(Takes three steps forward and bows.)
Your humble servant awaits the instruction of the Patriarch!
Hongren:
You’ve come from the outside, what do you see outside the door?
Huineng:
A world of myriad phen
omena, the sun, the moon, mountains and rivers, wandering clouds and flowing water, and unending wind and rain.
In this world there are dogs, horses, sedan chairs, carriages, and high officials and their lackeys. They keep coming and going.
And then there are merchants and tradesmen, shouting at the top of their voices and striving to hawk their wares; people who are suffering and who have to swallow their bitterness; and men and women infatuated with love, their lives turned upside down.
It’s now late at night, all is quiet, only the cries of a newborn baby are heard.
Hongren:
What do you see inside the door?
Huineng:
The Master and I.
Hongren:
(Laughs.)
What am I?
Devant et derrière la porte 門之內外 Gao Xingjian 124.5 × 87.5 cm 1996
Huineng:
A ksana, a thought in the mind.
Hongren:
Where is it?
Huineng:
From one thought to another, it is everywhere.
Hongren:
(Hollers.)
No, it’s nowhere, nowhere to be found. So what is there to think about?
Huineng:
(Silent, his head lowered. Raises his head after a short moment.)
Nothing.
Hongren:
Why did you say there was?
Huineng:
Only because the Master asked just now…
Hongren:
There is no just now!
[A heavy drumbeat is heard coming from the dark. Hongren turns and picks up a wooden staff from beside his bed. He turns back and draws a circle on the floor.
Huineng:
(Bends down to look at the circle, then looks up.)
It’s empty.
[Another heavy drumbeat. Hongren raises the staff and draws another circle.
Huineng raises his head and looks at Hongren with a smile.
One more heavy drumbeat.
Hongren:
(Laughs: Ha! Ha!)
This shows that you are cognizant of your self-nature, a zealous disciple, a teacher of Heaven and men, a Buddha!
This is great wisdom leading to the other shore!
[Fourth heavy drumbeat.
Hongren returns to his bed, sits up straight, and holds the robe and almsbowl in both hands.
Hongren:
This is the robe Master Bodhidharma wore when he traveled east from India to China. He passed the robe on to the Second Patriarch Huike, Huike passed it on to Sengcan, Sengcan passed it on to Daoxin, Daoxin passed it on to me, Hongren, and now I’m passing it on to you. I now pronounce you the Sixth Patriarch.
This is the bowl I carried with me when I traveled to beg for alms. I’m leaving it to you as well. Guard your thoughts well and deliver all the unenlightened from their sufferings.
Huineng:
The Dharma is transmitted from mind to mind. What then is the use of this robe?
Hongren:
The robe is proof of the Dharma, which is the genesis of the robe. It has been passed on from generation to generation, so that the lamp of the mind will not be extinguished.
Huiming:
(Receives the robe and the almsbowl with both hands and bows.)
My heart-felt gratitude to the Master!
Hongren:
It has always been like this: He who receives the Dharma will have his life hanging by a thread. If you stay here, I’m afraid someone may harm you. You must leave at once!
Huiming:
Where should I go? I hope the Master can show me the way.
Hongren:
The spring of wisdom in this temple has run dry. Take a look at this mammoth temple. It boasts a large number of temple-goers and visitors, who all insist that they are here in search of Buddha, but every one of them is motivated by greed, hungry for instant fame and fortune. I really don’t understand why they have come. Central China is a land of many disputes, where Buddha’s Law will not be allowed to prosper, and heresies will rise and compete with one another. The heretics will ingratiate themselves with the rich and the powerful and pander shamelessly to the imperial court. You came from south of the mountains, so you should go back there and live in seclusion. After that you should devote yourself to enlightening the deluded beings and delivering them from their ignorance.
Huiming:
How about Master yourself?
Hongren:
I have fulfilled my destiny. After you are gone, I shall say my farewell to this world.
(Fifth heavy drumbeat.)
Hongren:
Follow me, I’ll open the temple door for you!
[Hongren leads Huineng. Exit both into the dark.
Five drumbeats indicating the fifth watch, followed by loud and continuous tolling of the bell. Enter Huiming.
Huiming:
(Rubs his eyes and shakes his head.)
I bolted the door myself last night. I remember it clearly. It’s now the fifth watch and the dawn still hasn’t broken but the door is already wide open!
(Picks up the door bolt on the ground.)
The monks have just heard the bell and gotten out of bed. They still haven’t started their morning chanting yet. Some burglars must have sneaked in here and stolen the temple treasures.
Burglars! Burglars! Come and catch the burglars! Don’t let them get away!
[Enter Hongren leisurely. Also enter Crowd, scurrying in confusion.
Hongren:
The house of Buddha is quiet and peaceful, why are you hollering and making so much noise?
Huiming:
The temple door is wide open. We’ve been burglarized!
Hongren:
The house of Buddha is empty, what do we have here that’s worth stealing? I opened the door myself. The Great Dharma has been pronounced. Go purify your heart and cultivate your own virtues.
Huiming:
Master, to whom have you passed on the Great Dharma?
Hongren:
A layman from New Prefecture.
Huiming:
That southern barbarian in the rice-pounding shop? Why do you still ask me to do the meaningless good works then? The Great Dharma has been stolen already.
Hongren:
If that’s what you think, go away. Go away, all of you.
Huiming:
Go at once to catch the Dharma thief! (Exit running, carrying the door bolt in his hand.)
(Exit all except Hongren hurriedly.)
Hongren:
Evil beings! They’ll never understand…
[Enter Shenxiu in travelling garb.
Shenxiu:
Your humble student is ashamed of himself!
Hongren:
Where are you going?
Shenxiu:
I’m going to travel around central China to acquire more knowledge. I aim to improve myself.
(Kowtows.)
Master, please take care of yourself. (Exit.)
Hongren:
(Looks up at the sky.)
It’s time for me to bid farewell to the human world. (Exit.)
Act I Scene 3
In Which Huineng Runs Away from Disaster
[Enter Huineng. He is carrying a cloth knapsack on his back. His hands are performing a rowing movement.
Huineng:
(Sings.)
The water flows and flows,
A strong wind drives the waves,
Set adrift is a lonely boat,
The Yangtze River it braves.
The Dharma is mine to keep,
I still have to run and hide,
Even Buddha finds the world
A trying place to reside.
(Enter Huiming leading Crowd.)
Huiming:
Look! There’s the boat!
The lowly stinking little brat, that’s the guy!
Don’t let him get away, go catch him at once!
He’s got the old Buddha’s robe and almsb
owl. Tell him to give them up. Leave them for us!
What are you looking at? Go and get the boat.
Crowd:
(Singing as they run.)
Make haste, make haste,
Don’t let him land before!
Or we’ll be looking in vain
For the other shore, oh, the other shore!
Huineng:
(Sings.)
It’s all the same,
The human world or the western sky,
It’s hard being a man,
Even harder a Buddha, if you try.
(Huineng takes off his shoes, jumps off the boat and exits running.)
Crowd:
(Sing.)
Great Wisdom, on the other shore,
Only fools give chase and dash out the door,
It’s only futile,
Futile…
[Enter Huineng barefooted, carrying a cloth knapsack on his back and holding his shoes in his hand.
Huineng:
(Sings.)
Cross every river,
Climb every mountain.
Crowd:
(Sing.)
Search for the eternal and true,
It’s tough going,
A tough going task to do!
Huineng:
(Sings.)
The temple shuts its door,
A wild man in the wilderness. (Throws away his shoes and exits running.)
Crowd:
(Running and singing.)
Better to fame and fortune find,
Easy on the body,
Easy on the mind. (Exit.)
[Enter Huineng, holding an almsbowl and a staff. He throws down the knapsack, panting.
Huineng:
(Sings.)
Mount Dayi is bare and drear,
The wind howling,
The spring water cold and clear.
Huineng, where can you rest your life?
The Dharma is with dangers rife.
[Murmuring sound of running water. Huineng opens the knapsack, takes out the almsbowl and stoops to ladle water with it.
Enter Huiming hurriedly with a wooden club.
Huiming:
(Hollers.) You son of a bitch! I’ve been looking for you for a long, long time. Let me give you a piece of my club!