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  3.No such exchange between Daoxuan and Skanda can be found in the Discourses of Dahui.

  Case 228 Langye’s “Great Bell”

  Songyuan Chongyue took the high seat and said:

  Langye Huijue stated, “Were I to speak of this matter,1 I’d say it’s like a great bell that resounds throughout the universe the moment it’s struck. It’s like a bright mirror that reflects all things the moment it’s set on its stand.”2 Langye also said, “Were I to speak of this matter, I would say that no one—be it Nāgārjuna, Aśvaghoṣa, Kānadeva, or Śariputra—can express it, even if one possesses eloquence like a rushing stream and wisdom like flowing water.”

  Songyuan commented, “Langye divulged the matter in this way, but it’s like selling salt privately on a public highway.”3

  1.“This matter” refers to buddha nature.

  2.The passage of the Record of Langye continues, “It is not bounded by the sky above, nor by the earth below. It embraces both the wise and the foolish, and neither sages nor ordinary people can separate themselves from it” (X 68:316b).

  3.The salt market was a government monopoly, and thus private sales were a crime. Songyuan thus suggests (seriously or not) that Langye was a rascal who offered the secrets of the Zen school on the public road. Another meaning of “selling salt privately on a public highway” relates to the secrecy of the transaction, which is known only to the buyer and seller. Zen uses this to refer to the fact that the perfect accord between the understanding of an awakened disciple and that of the master cannot be perceived by an unawakened outsider.

  Case 229 In the Dharma There Is No Duality

  [Dahui said,] “The Third Patriarch stated, ‘In the Dharma there is no duality; deluded, we cling to what we desire. Using mind to grasp mind—is this not the greatest of errors?’1

  “Zhaozhou said, ‘At times I take a blade of grass and use it as the sixteen-foot body of buddha; at times I take the sixteen-foot body of buddha and use it as a blade of grass.’2

  “Or again, all of the teachings, from Linji’s Three Mysteries and Three Essentials3 to Fenyang Shanzhao’s Ten Realizations, Same Reality,4 point to this very moment. It’s like watching through a narrow window for a horse and rider to pass by—blink once and you miss them. Fenyang tells you quite clearly: ‘You wish to know right and wrong? Your original face is right before you!’5

  “If you can penetrate this diamond trap and swallow this chestnut burr, then you are a clear-eyed monk indeed, [free to] point to the east and call it the west, point to a deer and call it a horse. You may call it secular law or call it buddha law, call it being or call it nonbeing.6 ‘It can’t be grasped, it can’t be thrown away. Only in nonattaining can it be attained.’7 So tell me, what is it that’s so wonderful?”

  He remained silent for a moment, then said, “Your original face is right before you!” He gave a shout and descended from his seat.

  1.From On Believing in Mind (Xinxinming ).

  2.Also Blue Cliff Record 8, Pointer.

  3.For the Three Mysteries and Three Essentials, see Case 159, note 6. The Three Mysteries are the same as the Three Mysterious Gates .

  4.For Fenyang’s “Ten Realizations, Same Reality,” see Case 255.

  5.A line from Fenyang’s “Ten Realizations, Same Reality.”

  6.Metaphors for complete freedom of action. “Point to a deer and call it a horse” has its origins in an incident from Chinese history. The eunuch Zhao Gao (d. 207 BCE) of the Qin dynasty, in order to discover which officials would be likely to defy him, presented a deer at court and called it a horse. Those officials bold enough to say that it was actually a deer were later killed.

  7.A line from Yong jia’s Song of Enlightenment.

  Case 230 A Veteran General of the Dharma Assembly

  The veteran general of the Dharma assembly sits surrounded;1

  In timeless time the neighs of wooden horses are heard.2

  Though the general’s sword is untouched, the demons’ vitals are slashed;

  Before the general’s might they beat a hasty retreat.

  1.This verse was written by Dahui on the occasion of a Dharma assembly (lit., “bodhi meeting” ) held at Yunfeng si on Mount Xuefeng , in the year 1134. “Veteran general” refers to the monastery’s abbot at the time, a Caodong priest named Zhenxie Qingliao (1088–1151).

  2.“Timeless time” translates , which literally refers to the transcendent time separate from a kalpa, i.e., the period between the creation and re-creation of a universe, containing the four kalpas of formation, existence, destruction, and annihilation. The wooden horse is a metaphor in Zen for no-mind; the expression “neighs of wooden horses” alludes to the vitality of the Dharma assembly.

  Case 231 Flower Adornment Samadhi

  When Samantabhadra Bodhisattva emerged from Buddha Flower Adornment Samadhi,1 the Bodhisattva of Universal Wisdom posed two hundred questions, like clouds appearing one after another. Samantabhadra responded with two thousand replies,2 like drawing water from a well. How could he possibly have had time to think up these replies? This surely is “attainment of Dharma freedom,”3 or “preaching directly from Dharma nature.”

  1.One of the ten Flower Adornment samadhis described in the Discourses of Dahui (T 47:863b).

  2.According to the Avataṃsaka Sutra, Samantabhadra gave ten answers to each of the two hundred questions posed by the Bodhisattva of Universal Wisdom. The questions of the Bodhisattva of Universal Wisdom begin at T 10:279b.

  3.Dharma freedom , the ability to give expression to the infinite Dharma gates, is one of ten powers attained by a bodhisattva.

  Case 232 Let Go of Everything

  In the Discourses of Dahui it is said, “If you truly wish to practice, just let go of everything. Know nothing, understand nothing, like one who has died the Great Death. Proceeding straight ahead in this not-knowing and not-understanding, break through this single thought. Then even the Buddha can do nothing to you.”

  Case 233 Sound the Dharma Drum

  Sound the Dharma drum and the heavenly dragons and deities will gather.1 If your Dharma eye is not clear, the dragons and deities will see black smoke issuing from your mouth. How can you not be afraid?

  1.“Sound the Dharma drum” means to announce a Dharma lecture.

  Case 234 The Mind-Ground Contains the Seeds

  Nanyue Huairang said in a verse:

  The mind-ground contains all seeds;

  Upon receiving moisture, all will sprout.

  The flower of samadhi is formless;

  How can it cease or arise?1

  1.The verse is the continuation of the exchange between Nanyue and Mazu related in Case 139. The full passage reads:

  Mazu asked, “How should I apply my mind to accord with the samadhi of formlessness?” Nanyue replied, “Your practice of the teaching of the mind-ground is like the planting of seeds. My teaching of the Dharma essentials is like the rain from the sky that waters those seeds. Because you have a causal affinity with the Way, you will certainly perceive it.” “If the Way is without form, how can it be perceived?” asked Mazu. Nanyue answered, “The Dharma eye of the mind-ground can perceive the Way, as well as the samadhi of formlessness.” Mazu asked further, “Are these subject to arising and cessation?” Nanyue said, “If you perceive the Way in terms of formation and destruction, gathering and dispersing, then you are not truly perceiving the Way.” [Nanyue then recited the verse above.] (X 68:3b)

  Case 235 The Dharma Realm of the Emptiness of Emptiness

  Jianfu Chenggu said, “The Dharma realm of the emptiness of emptiness is free of striving from the very start,1 yet as it manifests according to conditions nothing is left undone. The Great Void, the myriad things, the four seasons, yin and yang, stagnation and overflow,2 the eight divisions of the year,3 the life of plants, humans, and devas, the seven destinations,4 the sages and the buddhas, the five periods,5 the three vehicles,6 the sacred writings of non-Buddhists, the mundane and the supramundane—all of these issue f
rom this realm. Thus it is said7 that nothing departs from this realm, and that it is to this that all ultimately returns.

  “The Diamond Sutra says, ‘From this scripture issue all buddhas as well as the Dharma of the supreme perfect enlightenment of all buddhas.’8 The Śūraṅgama Sutra says, ‘On the tip of a hair a buddha realm appears; seated in a mote of dust, I revolve the Dharma wheel.’9 The Vimalakīrti Sutra says, ‘At times become the sun or the moon; at times become a god or the Lord of the Brahma Heaven; at times become fire or water; at times become the earth or wind.’10 Li Tongxuan says, ‘In the wisdom-waters of the Dharma realm become the fish and dragons; in the great mansion of nirvana become yin and become yang and guide sentient beings.’”11

  1.“The Dharma realm of the emptiness of emptiness” is the Dharma realm of that emptiness which is empty of even the concept of emptiness.

  2.“Stagnation” and “overflow” are two of the I-ching hexagrams. “Stagnation” refers to poverty, hard times, and other periods of weakness and decline; “overflow” refers to peace, prosperity, harmony, and good fortune.

  3.The eight divisions of the old Chinese calendar comprise: (1) (start of spring), (2) (spring equinox), (3) (start of summer), (4) (summer solstice), (5) (start of fall), (6) (fall equinox), (7) (start of winter), (8) (winter solstice).

  4.The seven destinations are the six paths (hell-dweller , preta , animal , asura , human , and deity ) plus sage .

  5.The five periods are, according to the Tiantai system of classifying the Buddhist teachings, the five different periods in which the Buddha expounded the Dharma: i) immediately after his enlightenment he expounded the abstruse teachings of the Avataṃsaka Sutra; ii) seeing that these were too profound for the times, he expounded the teachings of the Pāli Canon and Āgama Sutras, emphasizing detachment and the cessation of suffering; iii) to free his disciples of attachment to the limited teachings of the second period and introduce the Mahayana, the Buddha expounded the Pure Land and Vimalakīrti Sutra teachings; iv) to deepen understanding of the Mahayana he expounded the Wisdom teachings (e.g., the Diamond and Prajñā-pāramitā sutras); v) finally, he taught the full truth in the Lotus Sutra and Nirvana Sutra.

  6.For “three vehicles,” see Case 224, note 2.

  7.“Thus it is said” translates . In the standard text of the Kattōshū (let go) appears in place of ; this is a scribal error and has been emended to accord with the text as it originally appears in the Biographies of Monks of the Chan School (X 79:517b).

  8.T 8:749b.

  9.T 19:121a. From a passage describing the tathāgata-garbha:

  The Matrix of the Thus-Come One is itself the wondrous, enlightened, luminous understanding, which illuminates the entire Dharma-realm. Within it, therefore, the one is infinitely many and the infinitely many are one. The great appears within the small, just as the small appears within the great. I sit unmoving in this still place for awakening, and my Dharma-body extends everywhere and encompasses the infinity of space in all ten directions. On the tip of a fine hair….” (Buddhist Text Translation Society 2009, p. 115)

  10.T 14:550a.

  11.From Li’s New Treatise on the Avataṁsaka Sutra (T 36:724c).

  Case 236 If a Single Dharma Exists

  A monk said [to an ancient worthy],1 “If a single dharma exists, Vairocana Buddha becomes an ordinary deluded being. If the myriad dharmas do not exist, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva loses his domain.2 Avoiding these two paths, quick, master, please say something!”

  1.The “ancient worthy” was Lushan Huguo (n.d.).

  2.Vairocana Buddha is buddha-as-dharmakāya and thus transcends the world of phenomena (dharmas). Samantabhadra embodies the function of teaching and practice that is inherent to bodhisattvahood and thus operates in the phenomenal world of the dharmas.

  Case 237 Atop Mount Putuo

  A verse by Donglin says:1

  Reverence to Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara,

  Who preaches so eloquently atop Mount Putuo.2

  You wonder when you’ll attain buddhahood?

  If you wish to forge a sword, use Bingzhou steel!3

  1.The Kattōshū attributes the verse to the poet Dongpo, but it is actually found among the poems of Donglin , another name for Gushan Shigui.

  2.Mount Putuo is the mountain upon which Avalokiteśvara is said to live. In Zen “Avalokiteśvara’s eloquent preaching of the Dharma atop Mount Putuo” is seen as crows cawing and dogs barking in the everyday world.

  3.Bingzhou was an area noted for the excellent quality of its steel.

  Case 238 The Origin of the Circle-Figures

  This is how Yangshan Huiji’s circle-figures originated.1

  The making of circle-figures originated with National Teacher Nanyang Huizhong, who transmitted their use to his attendant Danyuan Yingzhen. Danyuan, following Nanyang’s prophecy,2 passed them on to Yangshan. In due course the circle-figures came to be associated with the teaching style of the Guiyang school.3

  Venerable Liang of Wufeng in Ming Province compiled a forty-case koan collection, to which Fori Qisong added a preface praising its quality; in this work Liang commented, “Altogether, circle-figures have six names: circle-figure, hidden potential, ocean of meaning, ocean of writing, ideas and words, and silent discourse.”4

  Danyuan said to Yangshan, “The circle-figures that the National Teacher received from the Sixth Patriarch numbered ninety-seven in all, which the National Teacher passed on to me. At that time he said, ‘Thirty years after my passing, a monk from the south will come and cause this teaching to flourish greatly; he will disseminate it and never let it die out.’ I therefore now hand it to you—keep it safe.”5 He then entrusted the text to Yangshan.

  Yangshan received it, looked it over, then immediately burned it.

  One day Danyuan said to him, “That text I gave you earlier—you must keep it safely concealed.”

  Yangshan replied, “After you gave it to me, I burned it as soon as I’d looked it over.”

  Danyuan said, “That Dharma teaching of mine is not something that people usually understand. Only the ancient masters, ancestors, and great sages understood it in detail. How could you burn it?”

  “I understood the meaning after reading it once,” replied Yangshan. “What matters is the ability to use it; one mustn’t cling to the text.”

  “Perhaps, but though that’s fine as far as you’re concerned it may not be so for those to come,” said Danyuan.

  Yangshan said, “If you wish, I can easily reproduce the text.” Thus he recompiled it and presented it to Danyuan. Nothing was omitted, so Danyuan gave his approval.

  Later Danyuan took the high seat. Yangshan came forward from the assembly, made a circle in the air, pushed it forward with both hands, then stood there with his hands held, one atop the other, against his chest. Danyuan clasped his hands together and presented them in the form of a fist, upon which Yangshan walked three steps closer and bowed in the manner of a woman.6 Danyuan nodded, and Yangshan bowed.

  1.The circle-figure is the circle drawn by Zen masters to represent truth, suchness, Dharma nature, etc.

  2.Nanyang’s prophecy, mentioned later in this koan, was that “thirty years after my passing a monk from the south will come and cause this teaching to flourish greatly.” The monk referred to was Yangshan.

  3.Yangshan Huiji and his master Guishan Lingyou were the founders of the Guiyang school.

  4.The usual order and definition of the six types of circle-figures is as follows:

  1)“Circle-figure” expresses the absolute Buddhadharma.

  2)“Hidden potential” expresses the function that precedes the opposition of host and guest.

  3)“Ocean of meaning” expresses the various types of samadhi.

  4)“Ocean of writing” expresses the words that transmit the Buddhadharma (the present text of the Kattōshū has “ocean of study” , a scribal error that has been emended according to the original text as it is found in the Eye of Humans and Gods ; T 48:321c).
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br />   5)“Ideas and words” expresses the very meaning of the teachings.

  6)“Silent discourse” expresses the idea that the circle-figure itself is the meaning of the teachings.

  5.Yangshan would fit the prophecy, as he was born in 807, thirty-two years after Nanyang’s death in 775.

  6.One interpretation of “bowing in the manner of a woman” is that it resembles a Western curtsy; another is that it involves crossing the hands across the breast and bending forward slightly; a third is that it entails bringing both knees to the floor and bowing the head.

  Case 239 Hongzhi’s Four “Uses”

  The four “uses” of Hongzhi Zhengjue:

  Using activity to reveal essence1

  Using essence to reveal activity

  Using neither activity nor essence2

  Fully transcending “neither activity nor essence”3

  1.“Activity” and “awakening” translate, respectively, and , both of which have various meanings in Zen. The basic meaning of is “what one does or achieves”; in Zen it is used to indicate spiritual practice, the content of practice, or the result of practice. The ZGDJ defines it in this case as , “activity” or “function.”

  The basic meaning of is “where one is”; in Zen it indicates “rank,” as in the Caodong doctrine of the Five Ranks or Linji’s concept of the “true person of no rank” . Here, according to the ZGDJ, it indicates or , all of which signify “enlightenment” or “essence.”