Once a group of Dharma masters (learned preachers) sought an interview and said, "We have some questions to ask. Are you prepared to answer them, Master?"
"Yes. The moon is reflected in the deep pond. Catch it if you like"
"What is the Buddha really like?"
"If that which is facing the limpid pond is not the Buddha, what is it?"
The monks were puzzled by this reply. After a long pause they enquired again, "Master, what dharma (doctrine) do you expound in order to liberate others?"
"This poor monk has no dharma by which to liberate others."
"All Ch'an masters are of the same stuff!" They exclaimed, whereat the master asked them, "What Dharmas do you virtuous ones expound for liberating others?"
"Oh, we expound the Diamond Sutra."
"How many times have you expounded it?"
"More than twenty times."
"By whom was it spoken?"
To this the monks answered indignantly, "Master, you must be joking! Of course you know that it was spoken by the Buddha!"
"Well, that sutra states 'If someone says the Tathagata expounds the Dharma, he thereby slanders the Buddha! Such a man will never understand what I mean.' Now if you say that it was not expounded by the Buddha, you thereby belittle that sutra. Will you Virtuous Ones please let me see what you have to say to that?"
As they made no rely, the Master paused a while before asking his next question, which was "The Diamond Sutra says, 'He who seeks me through outward appearance or in sound treads the heterodox path and cannot perceive the Tathagata." Tell me, Virtuous Ones, who or what is the Tathagata?"
"Sir, at this point we find ourselves utterly deluded."
"Having never been illumined, how can you say that you are now deluded?"
So then the monks asked, "Will the Venerable Ch'an Master expound the Dharma to us?"
"Though you have expounded the Diamond Sutra over twenty times, you still do not know the Tathagata!"
Those words caused the monks to prostrate themselves again and to beg the Master to explain further, so he said, "The Diamond Sutra states: 'The Tathagata is the Suchness of all dharmas (phenomena).' How can you have forgotten that?"
"Yes, yes -- the Suchness of all dharmas."
"Virtuous Ones, 'yes' is also incorrect."
"On that point the scripture is very clear. How can we be wrong?"
"Then, Virtuous Ones, are you that Suchness too?"
"Yes, we are."
"And are plants and rocks the Suchness?"
"They are."
"Then is the Suchness of you Virtuous Ones the same as the Suchness of plants and rocks?"
"There is no difference."
"Then how do you Virtuous Ones differ from plants and rocks?"
This silenced the monks for some time, until at last one of then exclaimed with a sigh, "It is hard to keep our end up in a discussion with a man so very much our superior."
After a considerable pause, the enquired, "How can mahaparinirvana be attained?"
"By avoiding samsaric deeds--those which keep you in the round of birth and death."
"What deeds are they?"
"Well, seeking nirvana is a samsaric deed. Casting off impurity and clinging to purity is another. Harbouring attainments and proof of attainments is another, and so is failure to discard rules and precepts."
"Please tell us how to attain deliverance."
"Never having been bound, you have no need to seek deliverance. Straightforward functioning and straightforward conduct cannot be surpassed."
"Ah", exclaimed the monks, "People like this Venerable Ch'an Master are indeed rare!" Then they bowed their thanks and left.
A master of the Vinaya sect named Fa Ming once remarked: "You Ch'an Masters do a lot of tumbling about in the emptiness of the Void."
"On the contrary, Venerable Sir, it is you who tumble a lot in the emptiness of the void."
"How can that be?" exclaimed Fa Ming in astonishment.
"The scriptures are just words -- mere ink and paper -- and everything of that sort is just an empty device. All those words and phrases are based on something people once heard -- they are naught but emptiness. You, Venerable Sir, cling to the mere letter of the docrine, so of course you tumble about in the void."
"And do you Ch'an Masters not tumble in the void?"
"We do not."
"How not?"
"All those writings are the products of wisdom, and, where wisdom's mighty function (actually) operates, how can there be tumbling about in the void?"
A monk once enquired, "Why do you forbid people to intone the sutras, and liken intoning them to speaking in a foreign language?"
"Because such people are like parrots mimicking human speech without understanding its meaning. The sutras transmit the Buddha's meaning, and those who intone them without understanding that meaning are merely imitating someone else's words. That is why I do not allow it."
"Can there be any meaning apart from writings, words and speech?"
"your talking like that reveals that you are just an imitator of other people's words."
"We too are now using words. Why are you dead-set against their use?"
"Now listen attentively. Sutras are writings set forth in a specific order. When I speak, I use meaningful words which are not writings. When most living beings speak, they employ words from writings, but they are not meaningful. To comprehend (real) meanings, we should go beyond unsteady words. To awaken to the the fundamental law, we should leap beyond writings. The Dharma is beyond words, speech and writings. How can it be sought amid a plethora of sentences? That is why those seeking enlightenment forget all about wording after having arrived at the real meaning. Awakened to reality, they throw away the doctrine just as a fisherman, having caught his fish, pays no more attention to his nets; or as a hunter, after catching his rabbit, forgets about his snare."
A Vinaya Master named Yuan once came and asked: "Do you make any efforts in your practice of the Way, Master?"
"Yes, I do."
"How?"
"When hungry, I eat. When tired, I sleep."
"And does everybody make the same efforts as you do, Master?"
"Not in the same way."
"Why not?"
"When they are eating, they think of a hundred kinds of necessities, and when they are going to sleep they ponder over affairs of a thousand different kinds. That is how they differ from me."
At this, the Vinaya Master was silenced.
-Zen Teaching of Instantaneous Awakening. Blofeld.
Submitted January 14, 2020 at 10:41PM by brahmmyboy https://ift.tt/2RkLMuc
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