Having entered the Dharma Hall for a formal instruction, Master Yunmen said:
“Reverend monks! Though you say 'What is the matter?' you're still putting a head on top of a head and frost on top of snow; you're blinking an eye in the coffin and are burning moxa on a moxa burn scar. This is quite a messy scene! But what can one do about it?
“Every one of you must strive for himself to obtain [a better] rebirth. Don't futilely tramp around China's districts and provinces! You just want to get hold of some trivial words and are waiting for some master's mouth to move; then you ask about Chan and the Dao, 'upward' and 'downward,' 'what is…' and 'what if…', and you stuff what you note down on big rolls of copying paper right into the bags of skin [that you are]. Wherever you go you gather in small groups around the fireplace, and many voices murmur in speculation: 'These are impartial and eloquent words and those are words conceived on the spot; these are words based on events and those are words that embody—embody the master or mistress in your house.' And once you've gobbled these words down you do nothing but talk in your sleep, saying, 'I have understood the Buddha Dharma.' It's quite obvious that by such pilgrimages you'll never ever attain rest!
“And then there's the bunch who, as soon as they hear some talk about rest, shut their eyes while in hell. They spend their life in a rathole, sit under a dark mountain where ghosts roam, and say, 'I found a way in.' Do they see it even in a dream? What crime would it be to beat ten thousand people of this kind to death? This is called 'right from the outset no chance to meet an accomplished one.' After all, these are just windbags.
If there really is something you see, come and show it to me, I'll discuss it with you! Don't vainly overlook that you don't know good from bad, and don't hold those senseless gatherings to get caught up in words! Don't let me see you [doing this], since if I caught you and found out about the wrong you did, I'd have to beat you up and cut you in half. Don't you ever say that I didn't tell you!
“Is there any blood under your skin? What good is it to willfully victimize yourself wherever you go? Bunch of exterminators of Buddhism! You're no more than a pack of wild foxes! What are you all here for?"
And Master Yunmen at once chased the monks with his staff out of the Dharma Hall.
Comment: It's being suggested that we watch our words around here. I for one am grateful as a motherfucker that old slimy-ass Yunmen didn't hold back when he addressed his crowd of turd-eating flies. That's some good shit!
For real though, I definitely hear a tone of passionate care in these words. They aren't intended to be controversial, or sexy, or dangerous, or stifling. He's speaking with utmost sincerity to room full of people he wants to do right by. It's not his fault if they don't want to humour him, is it?
🪰
Submitted March 18, 2021 at 03:58AM by mortonslast https://ift.tt/3r1FEGZ
No comments:
Post a Comment