Rujing at Qingliang: A Sermon During an Autumn Drought

A single leaf, falls from the sky, rustling...su su

All under heaven, arid in the autumn...tuc tuc

Everyone!

If you are among those sitting inside—the truth is, there are always men dying of thirst. What do you do in this case?

Investigate the boughs of the living path. Qingliang¹ has every expedient technique;² a leaning staff, tall and erect, once the thunder crashes; one sound, flooding when the great rains fall; a smile, upon seeing the black creepers, twisting 'round and 'round, and up the trees.

秋旱上堂。一葉落空索索。天下秋乾剝剝。大眾。若還坐在者裡。總是渴死底漢。且作麼生。討條活路。清涼有箇方便。卓拄杖一下霹靂。一聲滂沱大霔。笑看烏藤倒上樹。

(CBETA.T48n2002A_001.0122b10)

¹ Qingliang often works as a pun, referring to three things at once; the temple is Qingliang, as is Rujing himself, who is the representative of the monastery, while "Qingliang" means "cool and refreshing"

² 方便 upāya

...

So, here's a bit of a translation challenge, as I do not know Rujing well enough to make a decision:

There are three phrases after he talks about the 箇方便, which I translated as "every expedient method." 方便 is definitely "upāya," but 箇 can be "each/every," as well as "a single/individual." That means the three articles could be;

1 All the upāya Qingliang has to offer.

2 Examples of a larger list.

3 Three faces of one single expedient method, the only kind of which Qingliang uses.

I'm going to leave it as it is, as coming up with intellectual interpretations can go on forever, and have no basis other than to prove that I can play with shadows, and except them as real.

I could say, "this is an example of the dharmakaya, that, the nirmanakaya," or this vispassana, that, samahdi, or this the intent of Avalokiteshvara practice, that, the red Vajra sword Amitabha.

Not to say any of these can't be true, only that Rujing does not explain for us in such terms. Above are the terms, offered by Rujing.

If you have any questions about what words, or phrases, mean, please ask. All criticism is welcome.

Have a wonderful day.

Submitted July 05, 2022 at 03:24PM by surupamaerl2 https://ift.tt/He0z29t