A Teaching for Saints

Liang Chieh of Tung Shan

~

(The following account is taken from Wu Feng Hui Yuan 13) In youth he followed a teacher and recited the Perfection of Wisdom Heart Sutra; coming to where it says, 'There is no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind,' he suddenly felt his face and asked the teacher, "I have eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and so forth; why does the sutra say there are none?" The teacher was surprised at this and said, "I am not your teacher." Then he directed him to go Mt. Wu Hsieh to pay obeisance to Ch'an master Mo by whom he had his head shaved. At twenty-one he went to Sung Shan and received the precepts in full. Traveling around, he first called on Nan Ch'uan; as it happened, it was the anniversary of Ma Tsu's death, so they were preparing a ceremonial feast. Nan Ch'uan asked the community, "Tomorrow we will set out a feast for Ma Tsu; do you think Ma Tsu will come, or not?" No one replied; the master (Tung Shan) came forth and answered, "If he has a companion, he'll come." Nan Ch'uan said, "Though this lad is young, he is quite suitable for carving and polishing." The master said, "Teacher, don't oppress a freeman and make him a slave." (The Tsu T'ang Chi says that after this he began to be known as an adept.) Next he called on Kuei Shan and asked, "I recently have heard that the National Teacher Chung of Nan Yang had a saying about inanimate objects expounding the Dharma, but I have not thoroughly comprehended its subtlety." Kuei Shan said, "Do you not remember it?" The master said, "I remember." Kuei Shan said, "Try to recite it for me." The master then recited,

"A monk asked, 'What is the mind of an ancient Buddha?' The National Teacher said, 'Walls, tiles, and pebbles.' The monk said, 'Are not walls, tiles, and pebbles inanimate?' The National Teacher said, 'That is right.' The monk said, 'And can they expound the Dharma, or not?' The National Teacher said, 'They are always expounding it clearly, without interruption.' The monk said, 'Why do I not hear it?' The National Teacher said, 'You yourself do not hear it, but you should not hinder the one who does hear it.' The monk said, 'Who can hear it?' The National Teacher said, 'All the saints can hear it.' The monk said, 'Can you hear it too, Master?' The National Teacher said, 'I do not hear it.' The monk said, 'Since you do not hear it, how do you know that inanimate objects can expound the Dharma?' The National Teacher said, 'It is lucky I do not hear it; if I heard it, then I would be equal to the saints and you would not hear me expound the Dharma.' The monk said, 'Then sentient beings have no part in it.' The National Teacher said, 'I explain for sentient beings, not for the saints.' The monk said, 'How are sentient beings after they have heard it?' The National Teacher said, 'Then they are not sentient beings.' The monk said, 'What scripture is the "inanimate expounding the Dharma" based on?' The National Teacher said, 'Obviously if the words do not accord with the classics, it is not the talk of a gentleman; you have not read how the Avatamsaka Sutra says, "Lands expound it, sentient beings expound it, everything in the three times expounds it"?'"

When the master had finished reciting, Kuei Shan said, "I too have something here, but a suitable man is hard to come across." The master said, "I'm still not clear; please point it out to me." Kuei Shan raised his whisk and said, "Do you understand?" The master said, "I don't understand. Please explain." Kuei Shan said, "The mouth born of my father and mother will never explain it to you." The master said, "Is there another who sought the Way in the same time as you?" Kuei Shan said, "From here go to You district in Li Leng, to where there is a row of stone grottoes; there is a man of the Way there, Yun Yen; if you can pull out the weeds to find his way, he will be of value to you." The master said, "How is this man?" Kuei Shan said, "He once asked me, 'When I want to serve you, how can I do so?' I told him, 'You must just absolutely cut off all leakage before you can.' He said, 'And would I be able to not go against your teaching or not?' I said, 'Above all, don't say that I'm here.'" The master took leave of Kuei Shan and went right to Yun Yen; having quoted the preceding incident, he asked, "Who can hear inanimate objects expounding the Dharma?" Yun Yen said, "The inanimate can hear it." The master said, "Can you hear it, teacher?" Yun Yen said, "If I heard, you would not hear my expounding of the Dharma." The master said, "Why wouldn't I hear?" Yun Yen raised his whisk and said, "Do you hear?" The master said, "No." Yun Yen said, "You do not even hear my expounding of the Dharma; how could you hear the inanimate expounding the Dharma?" The master said, "What scripture contains the inanimate expounding the Dharma?" Yun Yen said, " Haven't you read how the Amitabha Sutra says, 'Rivers, birds, trees, and forests all commemorate Buddha and Dharma.'" At this the master had insight; thereupon he uttered a verse:

How wonderful! How wonderful! The inanimate expounding the Dharma is inconceivable; If you use your ears to listen, you'll never understand - Only when you hear in your eyes will you know.

The master asked Yun Yen, "I have leftover habits which are not yet exhausted." Yun Yen said, "What have you ever done?" The master said, "I have not even practiced the holy truths." Yun Yen said, "And do you rejoice, or not?" The master said, "I am not without joy; its is like finding a bright jewel in a dung heap." When he was about to go, he asked Yun Yen, "After your death, if someone should suddenly ask me if I can depict your true likeness, how shall I answer?" Yun Yen remained silent for a good while, then said, "Just this is it." The master was sunk in contemplation; Yun Yen said, "Reverend Chief, now that you have taken up this matter, you must be very careful and thoroughgoing." The master still had some doubt; later, as he was crossing a river, he saw his own reflection and was greatly awakened to the inner meaning of what had happened before. He made a verse which said,

Just avoid seeking from others, or you will be far estranged from yourself. I now go on alone; I meet Him everywhere - He is now just I; but I now am not He: One must understand in this way in order to unite with thusness.

From the end of the Ta Chung era (847-859) if T'ang, the master received and guided students at Hsin Feng Mountain; after this, he caused the teaching to flourish at Tung Mountain in Kao An in Yu Chiang. He provisionally opened up the five ranks, and skillfully handled the three potentials; he greatly opened up the One Sound, and widely spread it through the myriad classes. He drew his precious sword sideways and cut off the forest of various views: his wondrous harmony spread widely, cutting off myriad realizations. He also found Ts'ao Shan, who was deeply enlightened into the real essence, and wonderfully extolled the felicitous way, the harmony of the ways of lord and vassal, biased and true interdepending. Because of this the mystic breeze of the Tung succession spread throughout the land. Therefore, the masters of Ch'an everywhere all esteemed it and called it the Ts'ao Tung Sect.

~

...Listen ~

Submitted September 19, 2020 at 12:23PM by InstantEuphoria https://ift.tt/3mB6yok