Please excuse the poor formatting.
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Biography
Baiyun Shouduan came from a city in the province of Hunan.a From a young age he was skilled in art and literature, but disliked living in the world, so went and had his head shaved by the abbot Chaling Yushan,b before later going on to study with Zen Master Yangqi Fanghui.
From the very first time he saw Yangqi, he'd often end up speaking with him long into the night. One day Yangqi suddenly asked Baiyun who his former teacher was.
Baiyun said, "The abbot Chaling."
"I've heard it said that after closely examining a mountain stream he was crossing, he raised a rather unique verse—are you able to remember it?"
Baiyun then recited the verse:
I have a single, bright pearl, It's been a long time covered by the chains of dust and toil, Today the dust is gone and the light has come forth, Shining, I see the mountains and rivers and countless flowers.
With a great laugh, Yangqi rose and went away.
Looking left and right, Baiyun was so shocked that throughout the night he was unable to sleep, and so early the next day he sought after the Master's room to ask for instructions on what had happened.
Yangqi asked him, "Did you see the fox yesterday evening?"
Baiyun confirmed that he saw it.
Yangqi said, "Tallying you up, you're less than it."
Baiyun was greatly shocked by this, and asked for an explanation.
Yangqi said, "It loves people's laughter, while you fear the laughter of others."
Under these words, Baiyun Duan had a great awakening, after which he served as Yangqi's attendant for a long time.
[Beyond this, the biographies only share some of his various lectures, but based on the dates given, estimated because years at this time correspond to the reigns of various emperors, we can establish this general timeline:]
1025: Baiyun Duan is born Hengyang, Hunan province.
1045: Baiyun Duan has his head shaved by the abbot Chaling Yushan, and studies a bit with Zen Master Yungai (雲蓋顒禪師) before going to have his initial meeting with Yangqi Fanghui. He stays with Yangqi and serves as his attendant.
1056: Still seeing himself as inferior, he would go on to serve the Zen Master Yuantong Negong for a time at various temples in Chengtian, Jiangzhou before moving on to his various abbacies; Fahua Mountain Temple, Qianming Temple at Longmen Mountain, and Xinghua Temple, all in Shuzhou province, before settling at Baiyun Mountain Temple at Haihui. The biographies say that people "gathered like clouds" to hear him lecture.
1072: He died at the age of forty-eight.
a Biographical information taken from the CBETA database; 佛祖歷代通載 [T49n2036_019.0669a08], 嘉泰普燈錄 [X79n1559_004.0315c03], and 釋氏稽古略 [T49n2037_004.0872c19].
b A student of Yangqi.
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Lectures and Encounter Dialogues
A monk asked, "What is Buddha?"a
Baiyun said, "There's no cool spot in a pot of boiling water."
"What is the great meaning of the buddhadharma?"
"Pressing a gourd under water."
"Why did the founder come from the West?"
Baiyun said, "Crows fly, hares run."b
Then he said, "The moon shines on the river, the breeze blows in the pines—those who've arrived here, are there not also those who've slipped through the net?"
After a long pause, he said, "The heavens are sovereign—they have no close relationships."c
a [CBETA.X69n1352_001.0308a03]
b idiom. Referring to the rotations of the the sun and moon, ergo the passage of time.
c idiom. Roughly; "There's no way to cajole what you want out of something that hands out rewards impartially."
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Baiyun Duan said in a lecture:a
If you actually manage to break out in a sweat once, out of it will emerge a jeweled tower and jade palace on top of a single blade of grass.
If you don't manage to break out in a sweat once, even if you have a jeweled tower and jade palace, they'll be covered by a single blade of grass.
The it is also asked, "How do you bring forth the sweat?"
After a long pause, he said: When you’ve a pair of impoverished hands, It’s never easy to dance the three steps.b
a [CBETA.X69n1352_001.0315a12]
b These two lines of verse are the same as Baiyun Duan gives as commentary to case 6 of this collection. As well, in the question and answer dialogue translated after this, Baiyun's answer to the monk's question is "Step back three paces."
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A monk askeda during a lecture, "What does it mean to take away the person but not the circumstances?"b
Baiyun replied, "Step back three paces."c
"What does it mean to take away the circumstances but not the person?"
"When you hold the balance of power, then you'll see who gives the orders."d
"What does it mean to take away both the person and the circumstances?"
"Snap off the head of the staff."e
"What does it mean to take away neither the person or circumstances?"
"Guanyinf is in every household."g
a [0307b20] 上堂。僧問。如何是奪人不奪境。師云退身三步。如何是奪境不奪人。師云一朝權在手。看取令行時。如何是人境兩俱奪。師云拄杖頭折。如何是人境俱不奪。師云家家觀世音。
b Linji once said to his assembly during an evening gathering, "Sometimes I take away the person but not the circumstances; sometimes I take away the circumstances but not the person; sometimes I take away both the person and the circumstances; sometimes I take away neither the person or circumstances." [T47n1985_001.0497a22]
"Circumstances," ch. jìng 境, is a word that has a range of meanings that all revolve around the idea of the circumstances/conditions one finds themselves in, and so at the same time refers to "the environment/surroundings/situation," and the "border/limits" of this territory/area.
c Linji's answer to this question is "The warm sun shines out, unveiling the earth's tapestry,/White hair cascades from a child's jewel-like smile." [煦日發生鋪地錦，瓔孩垂髮白如絲。]
d Linji's answer is "The King's command is unwavering throughout the land,/The general has left behind the battle beyond the land's frontiers." [王令已行天下遍，將軍塞外絕烟塵。]
e Linji's answer is "No heralds have arrived from Bing and Fen,/Residing in a solitary realm." [并汾絕信，獨處一方。] Bing and Fen appear to be places in China that were cut off from Imperial communication.
f Guanyin footnote.
g Linji's answer is "The King ascends into the jewel-palace,/While old rustics sing their adoration." [王登寶殿，野老謳歌。]
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In the Dharma Hall, a monk asked,a "According to the Way of the ancestral sages, every step is on the Path—how does a student proceed?"
Baiyun said, "It causes people to bring forth their doubt."
"This student hasn't yet understood—again I ask the teacher for guidance."
"Even I, a teacher, cannot fully grasp it."
The monk bowed in reverence.
Baiyun asked, "Have you understood any of it?"
a [CBETA.X69n1352_001.0305a20]
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Baiyun said in a lecture:a
“A metal Buddha doesn’t pass through a furnace. A wooden Buddha doesn’t pass through fire. A clay Buddha doesn’t pass through water.”b
The twelve sets of bones and eighty-four thousand pores of the sage Zhaozhou have been thrown into your chest, all at the same time. All around this day, I see roads that lack peace, so this old man gives vent to his energy.
Then, using his his hand to strike the seat once, he said:
You should know that seas and mountains return to the wise king—you still don't have faith that heaven and earth are a trap for good people.
a [CBETA.X69n1352_001.0307a03]
b These are the words of Zhaozhou—along with this prose commentary, Baiyun did a verse commentary in case 35 of this collection.
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Before the Dharma Hall, Baiyun said:a
It's clearly understood when it's said, "It is only 'This'."b Why can't people pass through in a leap? It is only because when people go to open their mouth and speak, they immediately call it "speaking a phrase," and when people close their mouths, they call it a "long silence."
It is also said that change and activity, starting to speak, breathing out, and all the realms and eras of the ten directions are all oneself, without exception—so it is said that if your place along the journey is faint and indistinct, you're still harbouring your old resentments.
Haven't you seen the great Master Yunmen say, "Hearing sound, you become aware of the Way—seeing colour, and the Mind is made clear." Yunmen then raised his hand and said, "The Bodhisattva Guanyin picks up a coin to buy a sesame cake." Then lowering his hand, he said, "Actually, it turns out it was some steamed bread."
Haven't you also seen, when I was a hill-monk at Fahua Mountain Temple, I told the assembly about Zen Master Wuye saying, "If even a sliver of sentiment about holiness and ordinariness still remains, then entering the donkey's womb and going into the horse's belly will be unavoidable for you."
Great assembly, even if you stop holding even a sliver of sentiment about holiness and ordinariness in your minds, then entering the donkey's womb and going into the horse's belly will be still unavoidable for you.
Blind men! Just take a look!
a [0315c18]
b There are two cases in the collection that refer to "only 'This'," cases 51 and 59.
Submitted May 13, 2023 at 08:12AM by surupamaerl2 https://ift.tt/txjwair
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