Buddhist Scriptures

by Donald Lopez

  In addition to the question of not relying on words and letters, in the selections here Bassui explains what it means for a Zen master (who, at least in Zen lore, was not known for his strict adherence to ethical codes) to follow the precepts of not to kill, steal, lie, engage in sex, or use intoxicants. In the final selection, Bassui explains the true location of the western pure land of Amitābha.

  A layman came and asked: ‘Supposedly Zen consists of a special transmission separate from the teachings, one which does not rely on letters. In fact, however, visiting a teacher to inquire of the way occurs much more frequently in Zen than among those who specialize in the teachings [of Buddhist sūtras]. How can Zen be called “separate from teaching”? Moreover, in reading the recorded sayings of old Zen teachers one finds that they frequently comment on the words [spoken by their predecessors]. How can this be called “not relying on letters”? [In light of these facts] this so-called “special transmission separate from teaching by directly pointing” means what?’

  The master immediately called out: ‘Dear layperson!’ The man nodded his head.

  The master asked: ‘From what teaching did you acquire that [gesture]?’ The man bowed down in respect.

  The master instructed: ‘When you wanted to come, you yourself came. When you wanted to ask, you yourself asked. You did not depend on another person’s power. You did not rely on the teachings of the buddhas and Zen ancestors. That mind [which acted of itself] is the entire essence of “a special transmission separate from the teachings, which does not rely on letters”. That mind is none other than the Tathāgata’s pure Zen. This Zen lies beyond the reach of secular wisdom and investigation, written words and language, logic and principles, or analysis and understanding. Only if you actively get to the bottom of self-nature (jishō) without becoming ensnarled by words, without being tainted by the scent of the buddhas and ancestors, and walk the one road that leads to the beyond without falling into cleverness will you attain it. Moreover, it is certainly not the case that the study of letters and mixing up the phrases of the buddhas and ancestors is what is referred to as “the teachings”, nor is it the case that not knowing letters is what is referred to as “the Zen of the special transmission separate from the teachings, which does not rely on letters”. This doctrine of “a special transmission separate from the teachings” is not a dharma that was first established by the buddhas and ancestors. From the very beginning, it has been possessed by all people. Perfected in each one, it is the original guise of all buddhas and of all living beings. A newborn baby moves his hands and feet due to the marvellous functioning of his original self-nature. Likewise, birds flying, rabbits hopping, the sun rising, the moon waxing, winds blowing, clouds moving, and all things undergoing transformations consist of the turning of the true dharma-wheel that is originally possessed by each and every living thing’s self-nature. It is not the preaching of someone else’s teaching nor does it rely on another’s power. My own preaching in this way just now is the turning of my true dharma-wheel. The fact that all of you listen in this way is the marvellous [functioning] of your buddha-nature. Buddha-nature in its totality resembles an enormous fireball. If you awaken it, then gain and loss, right and wrong, life and limb, all disappear. Saṃsāra and nirvāṣa become yesterday’s dream. The great universe of worlds as numerous as grains of sand becomes foam on the sea. And the wordy teachings of the buddhas and ancestors become as a flake of snow landing on a red-hot hearth. At that very moment, there is neither dharma bonds binding nor dharma liberation. Rather, like a wooden puppet thrown into a fire, though your whole body is ablaze you yourself seemingly cannot feel the heat. Only when you have thoroughly penetrated in this way, without leaving behind any traces of cultivation or realization, will you be called a Zen person. People who become intimate with Zen teachers resemble those who lose their spirits in a conflagration and then regain life. Being incinerated in the cave of ignorance causes an extraordinarily great functioning to arise, just as dull steel placed in a forge suddenly becomes a jewelled sword. Herein lies the usefulness of Zen people visiting Zen teachers to inquire of the Way. How could this be known by theorists?’…

  Question: If all the dharmas preached by the Lord Śākyamuni can be reduced to the one practice of becoming a buddha by seeing nature [kenshō jōbutsu], then would not the practice of conforming to the appearance of morality become superfluous?

  Answer: Regarding the distinction between conforming to or violating the moral power of the precepts [kaitai], [know that] principle [ri] and phenomena [ji] are not two, and both nature [shō] and appearance [sō] provide the same vehicle of salvation. A person who has not yet seen nature drowns in a sea of thinking, thereby killing his own mind-buddha. Of all forms of killing, this is the worst. Therefore, true observance of the precept [against killing] is seeing nature and awakening to the way. When confusion arises, it damages dharma assets and destroys merit. That is theft. When confusion arises, it cuts off buddha-seeds and furthers the karmic causes of transmigration in saṃsāra. That is improper sexuality. Because the dharma-body – our venerable and auspicious body – is obscured by confused thoughts, one forgets it and designates mirages as being one’s own body. That is false speech. Because one’s innate great wisdom is rent asunder by confused thoughts, one loses it and becomes crazy. That is consuming intoxicants. The meaning of the remaining moral precepts can be explained similarly.

  For these reasons, when you delude your own mind, you violate all the precepts. When you see nature [kenshō], then all the precepts are simultaneously perfected. When the power of seeing nature eliminates confused thinking and thereby animates buddha-nature, it [i.e., that power] is the precept against killing. When the power of seeing nature makes you forget confused thinking and purifies the six senses so that the six traitorous [modes of perception] cannot arise, it is the precept against stealing. When the power of seeing nature illuminates confused thoughts so as to interrupt the continuity of [rebirth into] the realm of living beings, it is the precept against improper sexuality. When the power of seeing nature illuminates confused thoughts so that your innate great wisdom arises and you thereby stop referring to secondary techniques as real vehicles of salvation and stop referring to phantom bodies as your real body, it is the precept against false speech. At the moment you attain insight into self-nature, the wisdom of prajñā becomes clear and you sober up from the intoxication of ignorance and mental afflictions. In this respect, it is the precept against consuming intoxicants.

  Therefore, buddha-nature is the moral power of the precepts, and morality is the function of buddha-nature. If the moral power becomes complete, then its function cannot be lacking. If you wish to ascend the real precept platform [for ordination], then you should stand on your own innate ground. This is the meaning of the story [in the Chinese Zen histories] that once the novice Gao became a buddha he did not [want to] become ordained with the precepts. This is why an ancient poet [Yongjia Xuanjiao, 675–713] wrote: ‘The moral pearl of buddha-nature is the seal of the mind ground.’ If you receive and obey this precept, then in accordance with the doctrine that ‘once obtained it can never be lost throughout the infinite future’, you can never violate it. If you wish to obey this indestructible vajra [diamond] precept, then you should merely examine self-nature. To clarify self-nature, you must first focus your meditative power. Firm meditative power in which one does not engage in miscellaneous knowing or miscellaneous understanding can be likened to observing the precept against eating after noon. [The activities of] sometimes knowing and sometimes not knowing are both like eating snacks. Obtaining even the scent of buddhas or the scent of ancestors is violating the afternoon fast. The true afternoon fast is embodying the way of no-minding [mushin] so that [outside and inside are] smashed flat together. Therefore a sūtra says: ‘Eliminating both false thoughts and the appearance of proper precepts is the precept of purity.’ For disturbing one’s ability to attain trance and for causing the commission of sins, nothing is wo
rse than consuming intoxicants. Therefore, we are taught: ‘Intoxicants are causal conditions for the arising of sins.’ A sūtra says: ‘A person who hands a cup of alcohol to another person for him to drink will be reborn five hundred times without hands. But for one who drinks it himself, the retribution will be far more [dreadful].’ Therefore, you should outwardly refrain from consuming physical intoxicants and inwardly transcend the currents of transmigration in saṃsāra without becoming drunk on nirvāṇa. That is the precept against consuming intoxicants.

  Regarding the distinction between conforming to or violating morality [kairitsu], it encompasses both outside and inside, both body and mind. Therefore, no matter what, if thoughts do not arise there can be no violation of any physical precepts. If your physical body commits a sin, it is because your mind became active. When mental activity occurs, every kind of dharma [i.e., reality] occurs. If every kind of dharma occurs, then you are not applying concentrated effort [kūfu] [in your practice of sitting Zen]. If you do not apply concentrated effort, then it will be impossible to clarify buddha-nature. If you do not clarify buddha-nature, then you cannot escape from transmigration in saṃsāra, and eventually you will fall into the Hell of No Interruption [Avīci]. Never say, ‘I violate all kinds of precepts without experiencing any obstructions to my concentrated effort [i.e., to my practice of sitting Zen].’ If you truly lack obstructions, then why are you still not awakened?

  Conforming to moral precepts occurs two ways. Some people remain among laypeople who have not abandoned secular afflictions. While living amidst the evil affairs of the world, by applying concentrated mental effort inwardly, they awaken self-nature. With the power of seeing nature [kenshō], they thereupon eliminate false thinking until eventually they become people who both inwardly and outwardly embody the purity of the moral pearl of the precepts. Other people who are born stupid and dull will not begin with concentrated effort to see self-nature. Yet through the firm power of faith, as a result of their determination to conform to the moral power of the precepts, their inward mental concentration eventually collapses [outward and inward] and they become awakened. These two orientations – precepts being the basis for one’s awakening to the way or awakening being the basis for one’s adherence to morality – differ in direction, but upon awakening both follow the same path….

  Question: The Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra [Japanese: Amidakyō] says: ‘West of here, a hundred billion buddha-lands away, there is a world-system called “Supreme Bliss” [Sukhāvatī]. In that land there is a buddha named “Amitābha”. At this very moment he is there, preaching the dharma.’ In this passage there are several items I do not understand. [First, concerning why this buddha should be unique:] Among arhats there are distinctions between the four levels of attainment. Among bodhisattvas there are distinctions between the ten stages of awakening and even bodhisattvas at the stages of equivalent awakening and marvellous awakening have yet to attain full buddha wisdom. Based on these distinctions in awakening, a bodhisattva’s virtue may be greater or lesser, his wisdom higher or lower, and his compassion shallower or deeper. But among buddhas there are no distinctions of superior and inferior. For this reason the Lotus Sūtra says: ‘Only buddhas together with other buddhas can exhaustively fathom the true appearance of all dharmas.’ Why, then, is it essential to avoid stopping at any of the other hundred billion buddha-lands? Why must one seek deliverance to the western pure land? How can this sūtra suggest that there is superior and inferior among buddhas? [Second, regarding the location of the pure land:] If that place is west of here, then for people living further west of Amitābha’s pure land it should be called an eastern pure land. Likewise, for people who live south of there it should be a northern pure land. If people in all the worlds of the ten directions should seek a western pure land, then that is a relative term and does not refer to any one particular location [i.e., it cannot exclusively designate Sukhāvatī]. If it is a term used only for the benefit of people in the east, then where can people in the north, west and south seek deliverance? If people in the north, west and south are not included, then Amitābha’s vow to save [people in] all worlds is not being fulfilled….

  The master instructed:… ‘West of here’ refers to the mind ground of living beings. ‘A hundred billion buddha-lands away’ refers to ending the ten kinds of evil thoughts and transcending the ten stages of bodhisattva awakening. ‘Amitābha Buddha’ refers to the buddha-nature of living beings. The ‘holy host of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta’, and so forth, refers to the marvellous functioning of self-nature. ‘Living beings’ refers to the mind of ignorance and affliction which engages in petty knowledge and discrimination. ‘The moment when one faces death’ refers to the moment when thinking consciousness is extinguished. As consciousness is extinguished, the mind ground becomes pure. Then it is known as the western pure land. Deluded minds are called ‘defiled lands’. Thus, the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra says: ‘If you want to purify the buddha-land, first purify your own mind. As one’s mind becomes pure, so the buddha-land becomes pure.’ Exhausting mental discrimination so that primordial self-nature appears – when one is single-minded without distraction – is named ‘the appearance of the tathāgata Amitābha’. Accordingly, when you awaken self-nature, then the eighty thousand afflictions are transformed into the eighty thousand qualities [of awakening] and become named ‘holy host of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara and the bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta’. Therefore, ‘western pure land’ does not refer to any one particular location. Because ‘west’ is relative to the location of the sun, moon and constellations, the mind and body being depleted of all relative discrimination and petty knowledge is named the western pure land. For this reason, long ago it was said: ‘[Differences among types of buddha]-lands are posited based on embodiment. [Distinctions between types of buddha]-bodies are posited in accordance with meaning. [Regarding the dharma-nature of bodies and lands, know that both are merely reflections.]’ When we regard our own mind as the three types of buddha-body, then the dharma-body is Amitābha and the two bodies of reward and transformation are the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara and the bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta. In reality, however, they all are just one mind.

  Translated by William Bodiford from Ichikawa Hakugen, Iriya Yoshitaka and Yanagida Seizan (eds.), Enzan wadei gassui shū in Chūsei Zenke no shisō, Nihon Shisō Taikei, vol. 16 (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1972).

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  DEDICATION OF MERIT

  Virtuous deeds are said to produce merit, which will bear the fruit of happiness in the future. Much Buddhist practice is devoted to the production of merit, and to the protection of that merit once it has been produced. It is important that merit not be destroyed, as can happen in a moment of anger, especially directed at an exalted being like a buddha or bodhisattva. It is also important that merit not be wasted, by bearing fruit in a fleeting form of happiness. A traditional way of guarding the merit produced by a virtuous deed is to dedicate it to a specific goal. In this way, the merit is said to be protected from destruction and is directed towards a higher purpose. In the Mahāyāna, there is no higher purpose than the liberation of all beings from suffering and their achievement of buddhahood. By dedicating the merit of any virtuous deed to that end, the merit is said to be not only safeguarded against destruction, it is said to be multiplied by the number of beings to whose benefit it is dedicated. Thus, prior to delivering a discourse, a teacher might recite, ‘Until I attain enlightenment, I go for refuge to the Buddha, the dharma, and the supreme community. Through the merit of speaking the dharma, may all beings attain buddhahood.’ Prior to listening to the dharma, the members of the audience might recite, ‘Until I attain enlightenment, I go for refuge to the Buddha, the dharma, and the supreme community. Through the merit of listening to the dharma, may all beings attain buddhahood.’ A similar dedication might precede the performance of any virtuous deed.

  Buddhist texts often conclude with a dedicatio
n by the author, in which the merit accrued through the writing of the book is directed towards an aim beyond the author’s own benefit. The dedication may take the form of a perfunctory sentence or an elaborate poem. A particularly famous example of the latter is the tenth and final chapter of the Bodhicaryāvatāra (Introduction to the Bodhisattva’s Career) by the eighth-century Indian monk Śāntideva, translated below. It takes the form of a series of statements in the form of a praṇidhāna, a word difficult to translate into English, that carries connotations of a prayer, a promise, a vow, an oath. Śāntideva is certain of the merit he has gained by composing his text, and now both declares and requests that it bear fruit in specific ways.

  He begins with a spectacular harrowing of hell (4–16), in which great bodhisattvas, including Mañjuśrī (called here Mañjughosa), Avalokiteśvara, Vajrapāṇi and Samantabhadra descend into the depths to rescue the beings tortured there, transforming the hells into heavens that ‘resound with the song of sandpipers, drakes, wild ducks and wild geese, and [are] filled with ponds adorned with perfumed lotus blossoms’. Their compassionate power is so great that even the wicked workers of the Lord of Death, the prison guards of hell, are also saved.

  He turns next briefly to wish for the welfare of animals and ghosts, before turning to humans (19–31), where he wishes for relief from all manner of the ordinary fears and sufferings that have beset humans. He requests long life, beauty and wealth for all, and protection for the feeble-minded, the mad, the drunk, the very young and the very old. And he adds, it must be noted, ‘May all women in the world be reborn as men.’ The next section (32–50) includes more specifically Buddhist hopes, for a world in which monks and nuns live in harmony, keep their vows and receive abundant offerings; where the dharma is easily available to all; and where all practise it and easily achieve enlightenment.