The
object of Ch'an training is to realize the mind for the perception of (self-)
nature, that is to wipe out the impurities which soil the mind so that the fundamental
face of self-nature can really be perceived. Impurities are our false thinking
and clinging (to things as real). Self-nature is the meritorious characteristic
of the Tathagata wisdom which is the same in both Buddhas and living beings. If
one's false thinking and grasping are cast aside, one will bear witness to the
meritorious characteristic of one's Tathagata wisdom and will become a Buddha,
otherwise one will remain a living being. For since countless eons, our own delusion
has immersed us in the (sea of) birth and death. Since our defilement has (already)
lasted so long, we are unable instantly to free ourselves from false thinking
in order to perceive our self-nature. This is why we must undergo Ch'an training.
The prerequisite of this training is the eradication of false thinking. As to
how to wipe it out, we have already many sayings of Shakyamuni Buddha and nothing
is simpler than the word 'Halt' in His saying: 'If it halts, it is Enlightenment
(Bodhi). [1]
The Ch'an sect from its introduction by Bodhidharma after his
arrival in the East until after the passing of the Sixth Patriarch, spread widely
all over the country and enjoyed great prosperity, unknown before and after that
period. However, the most important thing taught by Bodhidharma and the Sixth
Patriarch was only this: 'Expel all concurrent causes; do not give rise to a single
thought.' To expel all concurrent causes is to lay them down. [2] Therefore, these
two sentences: 'Expel all concurrent causes. Do not give rise to a single thought',
are the prerequisites of Ch'an training. If these two sentences are not put into
actual practice, not only will the training be ineffective, but also it will be
impossible to start it, for in the midst of causes which rise and fall, thought
after thought, how can you talk about Ch'an training?
Now we know that (the
sentences): 'Expel all concurrent causes. Do not give rise to a single thought'
are the prerequisites of Ch'an training; how can we fulfill these prerequisites?
Those of high spirituality are able to halt for ever the arising of a single thought
until they reach (the state of) birthlessness and will thereby instantaneously
realize enlightenment (Bodhi) without any more ado. Those of lower spirituality
will deduce the underlying principle [3] from facts [4] and will thoroughly understand
that the self-nature is fundamentally pure and clean and that distress (klesha)
[5] and enlightenment as well as birth, death and Nirvana are all empty names
having no connection whatever with self-nature; that phenomena are like a dream,
an illusion, a bubble and a shadow; and that the four basic elements constituting
the physical body, as well as mountains, rivers and the great earth which are
within self-nature, are just like bubbles in the sea. These phenomena rise and
fall following one another in succession without interfering with the essence
(of self-nature). Therefore, one should not follow illusion in its creation, stay,
change and annihilation and give rise to feelings of joy, sadness, attachment
and rejection. One should lay down everything with which one's body is burdened,
thus becoming exactly like a dead man. The outcome will be that sense-organs,
sense-data and consciousness will vanish and that concupiscence, anger, stupidity
and love will be eliminated. When all our feelings of joy and sadness, of the
cold of hunger and the warmth of one's fill, of honor and dishonor, of birth and
death, of happiness and misery, of blessing and calamity, of praise and censure,
of gain and loss, of safety and danger, and of handicap and help, are all cast
aside, this is the true laying down (of everything). To lay down a thing is to
lay down everything for ever, and this is called the laying down of all concurrent
causes. When all concurrent causes have been laid down, false thinking will vanish
with the non-arising of differentiation and the elimination of all attachments.
When one reaches this state of the non-arising of a single thought, the brightness
of self-nature will appear in full.[6] Then only can the prerequisites of Ch'an
training be entirely fulfilled. Further efforts in the true training and real
introspection will be required if one wishes to be qualified for realizing the
mind for the perception of self-nature.
Recently, Ch'an Buddhists often came
to inquire (about all this). As to the Dharma, fundamentally there is no such
thing, because as soon as it is expressed in words, the meaning will not be true.
Just see clearly that mind is Buddha and there will be no more ado. This is self-evident
and all talks of practice and realization are the demon's words. Bodhidharma,
who came to the East to "directly point at man's mind for the perception
of self-nature leading to the attainment of Buddhahood", clearly indicated
that all living beings on earth were Buddhas. The outright cognizance of this
pure and clean self-nature together with complete harmony with it, without contamination
from attachment (to anything) [7] and without the least mental differentiation,
while walking, standing, sitting and lying by day or night [8] is nothing but
the self-evident Buddha nature. It does not require any application of mind or
use of effort. Moreover, there is no place for either action or deed, and no use
for words, speech and thought. For this reason, it is said that the attainment
of Buddhahood is the most free and easy thing which relies only on oneself and
does not depend on others. If all living beings on this earth are not willing
to pass long eons through the successive four kinds of birth [9] in the six realms
of existence [10] to stay permanently immersed in the sea of suffering, and if
they wish to attain Buddhahood with the accompanying enjoyment of true eternity,
true bliss, true personality and true purity [11], they should sincerely believe
the true words of the Buddha and Patriarchs, and lay down all (attachments) without
thinking of either good or evil; all of them will certainly be able to become
Buddhas on the spot. All Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Patriarchs of past generations
did not take the vow of liberating all living beings without warrant for so doing;
they did not take vain vows and did not tell a deliberate lie.
The (qualification)
above referred to, is in the state provided by nature [12]. Moreover, the Buddha
and Patriarchs had expounded it again and again, and their injunction in this
respect had also been repeated; theirs were true words, words corresponding to
reality, which did not contain an atom of falsehood and deception. However, all
living beings on this earth have been, for countless eons, deluded and sunk in
the bitter ocean of birth and death, rising and falling in their endless transmigrations.
Being deluded, confused and upset, they turn their back on enlightenment and unite
with impurities. They are just like real gold thrown into a manure pit where it
not only falls into disuse but is also deplorably soiled. Because of His great
mercy, the Buddha was compelled to set up 84,000 [13] Dharma doors (to enlightenment)
so that living beings of different natural capacities could use them to cure the
84,000 ailments caused by their habitual concupiscence, anger, stupidity and love.
In the same way you are taught to use a shovel, brush, water and cloth to wash,
brush, polish and scrub the dirty piece of gold. Therefore, the Dharma doors expounded
by the Buddha are all excellent Dharmas which enable one to see through birth
and death and to attain Buddhahood, the only question being the adaptability or
otherwise of individual potentialities. These Dharma doors should not be divided
arbitrarily into superior or inferior ones. Those introduced into China are: the
Ch'an Sect (Tsung), the Discipline School (Lu Tsung), the Teaching School (Chiao
Tsung), the Pure Land School (Chin Tsung), and the Yoga School (Mi Tsung). Of
these five Dharma doors, it is up to each man to choose the one which is suitable
to his natural character and inclination, and he will surely reach his goal if
he only sticks to it long enough without change of mind and deeply penetrates
it.
Our sect advocates the Ch'an training. This training centers on 'realization
of mind (and) perception of self-nature', that is an exhaustive investigation
into one's fundamental face. The Dharma door which consists in the 'clear awakening
to the self-mind and through perception of the fundamental nature' has been handed
down ever since the Buddha held up a flower until after Bodhidharma's coming to
the East, with frequent changes in the method of practice. Up to the T'ang (935)
and Sung (1278) dynasties, most adherents of the Ch'an sect became enlightened
after hearing a word or sentence. The transmission from master to disciple did
not exceed the sealing of mind by mind, and there was no fixed Dharma (taught).
In their questions and answers (the role played by a master) was only to untie
the bonds (fettering his disciple) [14] according to available circumstances,
just like the giving of an appropriate medicine for each particular ailment. In
and after the Sung dynasty, human potentialities became duller, and the instructions
given by the masters were not carried out by their disciples. For instance, when
they were taught to 'lay down everything' and 'not to think of either good or
evil', practitioners could not lay down anything and could not stop thinking of
either good or evil. Under these circumstances, the ancestors and masters were
compelled to devise a 'poison-against-poison' method by teaching their followers
to inquire into a kung an [15] or look into a hua t'ou. [16] Their disciples were
even taught to hold a meaningless hua t'ou as firmly as possible (in their minds),
without loosening their grip even for the shortest possible moment, in the same
way as a rat will (stubbornly) bite the board of a coffin at a fixed spot until
it has made a hole. The aim of this method was to use a single thought to oppose
and arrest myriad thoughts because the masters had no alternative. It was like
an operation which became imperative when poison had been introduced into the
body. There were many koans (devised by the ancients but) later only hua t'ous
were taught such as: 'Who is dragging this corpse here? [17] and 'What was my
fundamental face before I was born?' In the present day, the masters use the hua
t'ou: 'Who is the repeater of Buddha's name?'
All these hua t'ou have only
one meaning which is very ordinary and has nothing peculiar about it if you look
into him 'Who is reciting a sutra?', 'Who is holding a mantra?', 'Who is worshipping
Buddha?', 'Who is taking a meal?', 'Who is wearing a robe?', 'Who is walking on
the road?', or 'Who is sleeping?', the reply to 'Who?' will invariably be the
same: 'It is Mind.' Word arises from Mind and Mind is head of (i.e. ante-)Word.
Thought arises from Mind and Mind is head of Thought. Myriad things come from
Mind and Mind is head of myriad things. In reality, a hua t'ou is the head of
a thought (i.e. ante-thought). The head of thought is nothing but Mind. To make
it plain, before a thought arises, it is a hua t'ou. From the above, we know that
to look into a hua t'ou is to look into the Mind. The fundamental face before
one's birth is Mind. To look into one's fundamental face before one's birth is
to look into one's mind. Self-nature is Mind (and) to 'turn inwards the hearing
to hear the self-nature' is to 'turn inward one's contemplation to contemplate
the self-mind'.
The sentence: 'The perfect shining on the pure Awareness'
means this: 'the pure awareness' is mind and 'to shine on' is to look into. Mind
is Buddha and to repeat the Buddha's (name) is to contemplate the Buddha. To contemplate
Buddha is to contemplate mind. Therefore, to 'look into a hua t'ou' or 'to look
into him who repeats the Buddha's name is to contemplate the mind or to contemplate
the pure essence of awareness of the self-mind, or to contemplate the self-natured
Buddha. Mind is self-nature, is awareness and is Buddha, having neither form nor
location, and being undiscoverable. It is clean and pure by nature, penetrates
everywhere in the Dharmadhatu, does not enter or leave, neither comes nor goes,
and is fundamentally the self-evident pure Dharmakaya Buddha.
A practitioner
should keep under control all his six sense-organs and take good care of this
hua t'ou by looking into where a thought usually arises, until he perceives his
pure self-nature, free from all thoughts. This continuous, close, quiet and indifferent
investigation will lead to a still and shining [18] contemplation (the outcome
of which will be) the outright non-existence of the five constituent elements
of being (skandhas) [19] and the wiping out of both body and mind, without the
least thing being left behind. Thereafter, this absolute immutability (should
be maintained) in every state, while walking, standing, sitting and lying by day
or night. As time goes on, this achievement will be brought to perfection, resulting
in the perception of self-nature and the attainment of Buddhahood, with the elimination
of all distress and suffering.
Ancestor Kao Feng [20] said: 'When a student
looks into a hua t'ou with the same steadiness with which a broken tile when thrown
into a deep pond plunges straight down 10,000 changes [21] to the bottom, if he
fails to become awakened in seven days, anyone can chop off my head and take it
away.' Dear friends, these are the words of an experienced master, they are true
and correspond to reality, they are not deceitful words to cheat people
Then
why in the present generation are there not even a few men who attain enlightenment
in spite of the great number who hold a hua t'ou (in their minds)? This is because
their potentialities are not so sharp as those of the ancients. It is also because
students are confused about the correct method of training and of holding a hua
t'ou. They go to various places in the four quarters, seeking instruction, and
the result is that when they get old, they are still not clear about the meaning
of a hua t'ou and how to look into it. They pass their whole lives clinging to
words and names, and applying their minds to the tail of the hua t'ou. [22] They
inquire into (the sentences): 'Look into him who repeats the Buddha's name' and
'Take care of the hua t'ou', and the more they look and inquire into these sentences,
the more they get away from what these sentences stand for. [23] Thus how can
they be awakened to the self-evident Wu Wei (transcendental) Supreme Reality,
and how can they ascend the undisturbable Royal Throne? When gold powder is thrown
into their eyes, they are blinded: how then can they send out the great illuminating
ray? What a pity! What a pity! They are all good sons and good daughters who leave
their homes in quest of the truth, and their determination is above the average.
What a pity if they labor to no purpose! (For this reason) an ancient master said:
'It is better to remain unenlightened for a thousand years than to tread the wrong
path for a day.'
Self-cultivation for awakening to the truth is easy and is
(also) difficult. For example, when we turn on the electric light, if we know
how, in a finger-snap there will be light and the darkness which has lasted for
a myriad years will disappear. If one does not know how to turn on the light,
the electric wires will be interfered with and the lamp will be damaged, resulting
in an increase of passions and ignorance. There are also some people who, while
undergoing Ch'an training and looking into the hua t'ou, get entangled with demons
and become insane, while others vomit blood and fall sick. [24] Are the fire of
ignorance bursting into flame and the deep-rooted view of self and other [25]
not the obvious causes of all this? Therefore, practitioner should harmonize body
with mind and become calm, free from all impediments and from (the view of) self
and other so as to bring about a perfect unison with their latent potentialities.
Fundamentally, this method used in Ch'an training is invariably the same, but
the training is both difficult and easy to beginners as well as to old hands.
Where does its difficulty lie for a beginner? Although his body and mind are
mature for it, he is still confused about the method of undergoing it, and since
his practice is ineffective, he will either become impatient or spend his time
in dozing with this result: 'A beginner's training in the first year, an old hand's
training in the second, and no training in the third year.'
Where does its
easiness lie for a beginner? It only requires a believing, a long enduring and
a mindless mind. A believing mind is, firstly, belief that this mind of ours is
fundamentally Buddha, not differing from all Buddhas and all living beings of
the three times in the ten directions of space, and secondly, belief that all
Dharmas expounded by Shakyamuni Buddha can enable us to put an end to birth and
death and to attain Buddhahood. A long enduring mind consists in the choice of
a method to be put into continuous practice in the present lifetime, in the next
life, and in the life after next. The Ch'an training should be continued in this
manner; the repetition of the Buddha's name should be continued in this manner;
the holding of a mantra (mystic incantation) should be continued in this manner
and the study of sutras, which consists in putting into practice the teaching
heard (i.e. learned from the Scriptures), should be continued in this manner.
The practice of any Dharma door (to enlightenment) must be based on Sila [26]
and if the training is undergone in this manner, there is no reason why it will
not be successful. The old master Kuei Shan [27] said: 'Anybody practicing this
Dharma without backsliding in three successive lives can surely expect to attain
the Buddha-stage.' The old master Yung Chia said: 'If I utter deceitful words
to cheat living beings, I shall be prepared to fall into the tongue-snatching
hell for eons as numberless as atoms.'
By mindlessness is meant the laying
down of everything [28] so that the practitioner will become like a dead man who,
while following others in their normal activities, does not give rise to the least
differentiation and attachment, and lives as a mindless religious man.
After
a beginner has acquired these three kinds of mind, if he under-goes the Ch'an
training and looks into, for instance, the hua t'ou: 'Who is the repeater of Buddha's
name?' he should silently repeat a few times: 'Amitabha Buddha' and then look
into him who thinks of the Buddha and where this thought arises. He should know
that this thought does not arise either from his mouth or body. If it arises from
either his mouth or body, why when he dies, cannot his body and mouth, which still
exist, give rise to this thought? Therefore, he knows that this thought arises
from his mind. Now he should watch (and locate) where his mind gives rise to this
thought and keep on looking into it, like a cat ready to pounce on a mouse, with
his exclusive attention concentrated upon it, free from a second thought. However,
its sharpness and dullness should be in equal proportions. It should never be
too sharp for that sharpness may cause illness. if the training is undergone in
this manner, in every state, while walking, standing, sitting and lying, it will
be effective as time goes on, and when cause comes to fruition, like a ripe melon
which automatically falls, anything it may happen to touch or come into contact
with, will suddenly cause his supreme awakening. This is the moment when the practitioner
will be like one who drinks water and who alone knows whether it is cold or warm,
until he becomes free from all doubts about himself and experiences a great happiness
similar to that when meeting one's own father at the cross-roads.
Where do
both easiness and difficulty lie for an old hand? By old hand is meant one who
has called on learned masters for instruction and has undergone the training for
many years during which his body and mind were mature for it and he was clear
about the method which he could practice comfortably without experiencing any
handicap. The difficulty met by a monk who is an old hand lies in this feeling
of comfort and clearness in which he stops and stays. Thus, because of his stay
in this illusion-city, he does not reach the place of precious things (i.e. the
perfect Nirvana). He is fit only for stillness but is unfit for disturbance and
his training is, therefore, not completely effective for really full use. In the
worst case, the practitioner will, when coming into contact with his surroundings,
give rise to feelings of like and dislike and of acceptance and rejection with
the result that his false thinking, both coarse and fine, will remain as firm
as before. His training will be likened to the soaking of a stone in water and
will become ineffective. As time goes on, weariness and laziness will slip into
his training which will become fruitless in the end. When such a monk is aware
of this, he should immediately give rise to the hua t'ou again and rouse his spirits
to take a step forward from the top of a hundred-foot pole (he has reached) [29]
until he reaches the top of the highest peak on which he will firmly stand or
the bottom of the deepest ocean where he will walk (in every direction). He will
cast away (his last link with the unreal) and will walk freely everywhere, meeting
face to face (lit. substance to substance, or essence to essence) with Buddhas
and Patriarchs. Where is the difficulty? Is this not easy?
Hua t'ou is One-Mind.
This One-Mind of yours and mine is neither within nor without nor between the
two. It is also within, without and between the two and is like Space which is
immutable and is all-embracing. Therefore, the hua t'ou should not be pulled up
or pushed down. If it is pulled up, it will cause disturbance, and if it is pushed
down, it will cause dullness, and so will be in contradiction with the mind-nature
[30] and not in line with the 'mean'. [31] Everybody is afraid of false thinking
which he finds difficult to control, but I tell you, dear friends, do not be afraid
of false thinking and do not make any effort to control it. You have only to be
aware of it but should not cling to it, follow it or push it away. It will suffice
to discontinue your thinking and it will leave you alone. Hence, the saying: 'The
rise of falsehood should be immediately cognized, and once cognized, it will quit.'
However, in his training, if the practitioner can turn this false thinking
to his own advantage, he will look into where it arises and will notice that it
has no independent nature of its own. At once, he will realize the non-existence
of this very thinking and will recover his fundamental mindless nature, followed
immediately by the manifestation of his pure self-natured Dharmakaya Buddha which
will appear on the spot.
In reality, the real and the false are the same (in
nature); the living and the Buddhas are not a dualism; and birth-death and Nirvana
as well as enlightenment (Bodhi) and distress (klesa) all belong to our self-mind
and self-nature and should not be differentiated, should not be either liked or
disliked and should not be either grasped or rejected. This mind is pure and clean
and fundamentally is Buddha. Not a single Dharma is required (in the quest of
enlightenment). Why so much complication? Ts'an! [32]
[1] The full sentence
is: The mad mind does not halt; if it halts, it is Bodhi, i.e. enlightenment.
[2] In Ch'an terminology, "to lay down causes or thoughts" is to
lay down the heavy load of causes or thoughts to free the mind from defilement.
[3] Underlying principle, inner truth, theory, noumenon (phenomena).
[4]
Facts: activity, practice, phenomenon.
[5] Klesha: distress, worry, trouble
and whatever causes them.
[6] This is the state described in Han Shan's "Song
of the Board-bearer".
[7] Even attachment to the self-nature is also
an impurity which should be cast aside.
[8] Literally 'during the two six-hour
periods of the day'. Each day is divided into two six-hour periods. one for day-time
and one for night-time.
[9] Birth from eggs, wombs and humidity, and by transformation.
[10] Worlds of gods (devas), men, spirits (asuras), animals, hungry ghosts
and hells.
[11] The four transcendental realities in Nirvana expounded in
the Mahaparinirvana Sutra.
[12] i.e. 'self-so'. so of itself, natural, of
course, se1f-existing, the self-existent.
[13] The digits 8 and 4 symbolize
respectively the eighth Vijnana or Consciousness and the four basic elements of
the physical body, and mean the deluded self-nature (8) held in bondage in the
illusory body (4), i.e. Space. The three following zeros symbolize Time, and so
long as one remains under delusion, it will be immaterial to add 10, 100, or 1,000
zeros at the end of the number. However, when one attains enlightenment in one
finger-snap. the digits 8 and 4 or Space will disappear and the line of zeros,
or Time, will have no meaning.
[14] i.e. freeing his disciples from restraint
caused by delusion.
[15] Kung an, or koan in Japanese = A dossier, or case-record;
a cause, public laws, regulations; case-law. Problems set by Ch'an masters upon
which thought is concentrated as a means to attain inner unity and illumination.
The meaning of a kung an is irrevocable and kung an is as valid as the Law.
[16]
Hua t'ou = ante-word, or ante-thought, i.e. the mind before it is stirred by a
thought. It is the mind in its undisturbed condition. The holding of a hua t'ou
in the mind is the looking into the self-mind until its realization. It is also
the turning inward of the faculty of hearing to hear the self-nature, for the
disentanglement of mind (subject) from external objects.
[17] i.e. who is
dragging here this physical body of yours?
[18] The essence of the mind is
still and its function is shining.
[19] The 5 skandhas: form, feeling, ideation,
reaction and consciousness.
[20] Kao Feng was the teacher of Chung Feng whose
'Sayings of Chung Feng' (Chung Feng Kuang Lu) were read by Han Shan before the
latter began his Ch'an training. (See Han Shan's Autobiography.)
[21] Chang:
a measure of ten Chinese feet.
[22] when the sentence 'who repeats the Buddha's
name?' is merely repeated by a practitioner who only grasps its meaning, he thinks
of the 'tail' of the hua t'ou, instead of its head or ante-word, that is the mind.
Thus he wrongly applies his mind to 'tall' instead of 'head'.
[23] The master
means that these people fail because they set their discriminating minds on grasping
the meaning of these sentences, whereas in the training, their minds should first
be disentangled from all discriminations.
[24] If an evil thought is allowed
to slip into the concentration of mind while holding a hua t'ou, this thought
will replace the hua t'ou and may grow out of proportion and become difficult
to subdue. If it be a strong desire which cannot be satisfied, the resultant frustration
may cause insanity. One's breath should never be interfered with, and concentration
of mind should never be on the chest as it may affect the lungs and cause the
vomiting of blood.
[25] View of dualism which should be wiped out.
[26]
Sila= precept, command, prohibition, discipline, rule, morality.
[27] Master
Kuei Shan (Wei Shan) and his disciple Yang Shan were founders of the Kuei Yang
(Wei Yang) Sect (Ikyo in Japanese), one of the five Ch'an Sects in China.
[28]
i.e. free from all attachments, which are likened to a burden which one should
lay down.
[29] This state of stillness is fully described in Han Shan's 'Song
of the Board-bearer' (see Han Shan's Autobiography) and in Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva's
'Complete Enlightenment' when he said: 'Both the hearing and its object came to
an end but I did not stay where they ended.'
[30] Mind-nature: immutable mind-body,
the existing fundamental pure mind, the all, the Tathagata-garba
[31] Mean:
between the two extremes.
[32] Ts'an (Can): to inquire, investigate, look
into. Usually at the end of a meeting, a master mutters this word to urge his
disciples to inquire into or ponder over the real meaning.