In daytime, seeing the sun; at night, seeing the stars

He first dwelt at the Deer Park, where he was the first generation; after that he dwelt in no fixed abode, but just went along with circumstances and expounded the Dharma as was appropriate to the occasion. At the time he was called 'The Teacher of Ch'ang Sha.'

In the hall he said, If I were to thoroughly uphold the teaching of our sect, there would be weeds a fathom deep in the teaching hall; (but) I am unable to avoid facing all of you people and saying that the entire cosmos is the eye of a monk; the entire cosmos is the whole body of a monk; the entire cosmos is one's own light; in the whole cosmos there is no one who is not oneself. I always tell you people that the Buddhas of the triple world, the cosmos, and the mass of living beings, are the light of great perfect wisdom. When the light has not yet shone forth, where can you people turn to become intimately acquainted with it? Before the light shines forth, there isn't even any news of Buddhas or sentient beings; where do we get the mountains, rivers, and earth?

At the time a monk asked, "What is the monk's eye?" The master said, "Never, ever can one depart from it; (those who) attain Buddhahood and become patriarchs cannot depart from it; the six paths of transmigration cannot depart from it." The monk said, "What is it that they cannot depart from?" The master said, "In daytime, seeing the sun; at night, seeing stars." The monk said, "I do not understand." The master said, "Marvelous towering mountains, their color blue upon blue." A monk asked, "Who is the teacher of all Buddhas?" The master said, "By whom has he been concealed ever since beginningless aeons?" A monk asked, "How is it when the student does not depend on the ground?" The master said, "Where will you rest your body and live?" He asked, "Then how is it when he does depend on the ground?" The master said, "Drag this corpse away!"

 ~~~ 

The master sent a monk to ask Teacher Hui, a former fellow student, "How is it after the teacher had seen Nan Ch'uan?" Hui was silent. The monk said, "How about before the teacher had seen Nan Ch'uan?" Hui said, "There could not be another besides." The monk returned and quoted this to the master. The master spoke a verse, saying,

The unmoving man atop the hundred-foot pole: Though he has gained entry; he is not yet real. Atop the hundred-foot pole, he should step forward- The whole universe in the ten directions is his whole body.

The monk then asked, "Atop the hundred-foot pole, how to advance?" The master said, "Mountains of Liang, rivers of Li." The monk said, "I do not understand." The master said, "The whole country is under the imperial sway."

Submitted July 09, 2020 at 12:22PM by InstantEuphoria https://ift.tt/3iJyuEC