Having entered the Dharma Hall for a formal instruction, Master Yunmen said:
"It is well known that shallowness [of virtue] is the trend of these times, and that this generation is living at the end of the imitation period of Buddhism; so nowadays, when monks go north, they call this 'worshiping Mañjushrî,' and when they go south they say they 'journey to Nanyue.' [People who] go on such pilgrimages, though styled 'mendicant monks,' just squander the alms of the faithful. What a shame! What a shame! When asked they turn out to be [as ignorant as] lacquer is black; they just pass their days following their whim. If there are some of them who, by learning like crazy and informing themselves widely, manage to absorb some sayings and are looking everywhere for similar words, they get approved as venerables and lightly dismiss superior men, thus creating karma of misfortune.
"Don't say, when some day the King of Hell, Yama, pins you down, that nobody warned you! Whether you are an innocent beginner or seasoned adept, you must show some spirit! Don't vainly memorize [other people's] sayings: a little bit of reality is better than a lot of illusion. [Otherwise,] you'll just go on deceiving yourself.
"What is the matter with you? Come forward [and tell me]!"
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Let's examine the following, and then see what they mean together.
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Venerable Parshva asked a boy, "Where do you come from?" The boy said, "My mind does not go." The patriarch said, "Where do you dwell?" The boy said, "My mind does not stay." The patriarch said, "Are you unsettled?" The boy said, "So are the Buddhas." The patriarch said, "You're not the Buddhas." The boy said, "The Buddhas too are not."
Dayu Zhi said, "Each question of the ancestral teacher, and each answer of the boy, all lacked understanding. Now how do you people understand?" Dahui said, "Even if you can understand now, study for three more lifetimes, sixty eons."
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The second patriarch asked Bodhidharma, "Can I hear about the Dharma seal of the Buddhas?" He said, "The Dharma seal of the Buddha is not gotten from another." The second patriarch said, "My mind is not yet at peace; please pacify my mind for me." He said, "Bring me your mind and I will pacify it for you." The second patriarch said, "Having looked for my mind, I cannot find it." Bodhidharma said, "I have pacified your mind for you."
Baqiao said, "Diamond scratches a clay man's back."
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When master Nanyue Rang first called on the sixth patriarch, the patriarch asked, "Where have you come from?" He said, "From Mount Song." The patriarch said, "What thing has come this way?" He said, "To speak of it as a thing would not be accurate." The patriarch said, "Does it take cultivation and realization?" He said, "It's not that there is no cultivation or realization, but if defiled it can't be successful." The patriarch said, "It is just this nondefilement that the Buddhas keep in mind. You are now like this; I too am like this."
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The eighteenth patriarch Jayashata went to the country of Visha. He met the [future] nineteenth patriarch Kumarata, who asked, "What is this group?" The patriarch said, "Buddhist disciples." When he heard the epithet Buddha, he got scared and immediately shut his door. After a while the patriarch knocked on the door. He said, "No one's home." The patriarch said, "Who is answering?" Hearing his words as unusual, he finally opened the door.
Fenyang Zhao said in his stead, "It just so happens I've forgotten."
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When great master Yongjia first arrived at Caoqi, he circled the rope seat three times, shook his ringed staff, and stood there. The patriarch said, "A monk embodies three thousand dignified manners and eight hundred details of conduct. Where have you come from, Great Worthy, to give rise to such conceit?" Yongjia said, "The matter of life and death is important; impermanence is swift." The patriarch said, "Why don't you realize no birth and comprehend no speed?" Yongjia said, "Realization basically has no birth, comprehension basically has no speed." The patriarch said, "That is so. That is so." Yongjia now paid respects with full ceremony, and then bade farewell. The patriarch said, "Isn't that too quick?" Yongjia said, "It's basically inherently not movement; how could there be quickness?" The patriarch said, "Who knows non-movement?" Yongjia said, "You're creating distinction yourself." The patriarch said, "You've gotten the meaning of no birth." Yongjia said, "Does no birth have meaning?" The patriarch said, "Without meaning, who would discriminate?" Yongjia said, "Discrimination is not meaning either." The patriarch said, "Good, good! Stay overnight."
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So what is the meaning of all this? What is it's value?
"The Buddhas too are not."
"Having looked for my mind, I cannot find it."
"It's not that there is no cultivation or realization, but if defiled it can't be successful."
"Who is answering?"
"Discrimination is not meaning either."
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A rajah of an east Indian country invited the twenty-seventh Buddhist patriarch Prajnatara to a feast. The rajah asked him, "Why don't you read scriptures?" The patriarch said, " This poor wayfarer doesn't dwell in the realms of the body or mind when breathing in, doesn't get involved in myriad circumstances when breathing out--I always reiterate such a scripture, hundreds, thousands, millions of scrolls."
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A monk asked Baling, "Are the meaning of the patriarchs and the meaning of the doctrines the same or different?" Baling said, "When chickens are cold they go up in trees; when ducks are cold they go down into water."
A monk asked Muzhou, "Are the meaning of the patriarchs and the meaning of the doctrines the same or different?" Muzhou said, "Green mountains are themselves green mountains; white clouds are themselves white clouds."
Xuedou said, "The question being the same, the answers too are alike. Therein is helping others and self-help, fooling others and fooling oneself. If you check clearly, you'll find understanding emptiness is foremost."
I always felt like "measuring tap" was a reference to the way one checks the ripeness of a melon. Give it a solid thump and listen to the sound it makes. Like knowing how to beat the drum. Anybody else get that? How do you suppose the melon feels about the whole process? The beat goes on regardless.
Submitted April 11, 2023 at 12:04PM by eggo https://ift.tt/sAES4zx
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