Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings (78 page)

After he became abbot, a monk asked, “On what path are those who do not adhere to the nine paths [that cut off defilement]?”

Jiufeng said, “The path of beasts.”

The monk said, “Then what path is it that beasts travel?”

Jiufeng said, “Not the nine paths.”

The monk said, “On that path there are many transmigrations before one becomes a person.”

Jiufeng said, “You should understand that there are those without a common life.”

The monks said, “What life is it that isn’t common?”

Jiufeng said, “Immortality with the breath ceasing. Have you all gained an understanding of life? You should want to know about it. A flowing spring is life. Profound solitude is the body. The thousand surging waves are Manjushri’s condition. The revolving empty firmament is Samantabhadra’s bed. Or next time I explain it, I may borrow a phrase and say it’s pointing at the moon. When you meet daily affairs it’s talking about the moon. When from the gate of our ancestors you meet daily affairs it’s as if you’re employing the banner of truth in each moment. Or it’s the transcendent virtue that comes before the ordered creation of myriad names in all realms. Brothers, what body and speech bind you? It’s right here. I’m not deceiving you an inch. Examine my words and you’ll see. I don’t deceive your ears. Test my words. I don’t deceive your eyes. Sort it out and see it clearly. Thus, what precedes the sound of words can’t be avoided. What follows words can’t be stored away. All of heaven and earth come forth from your own body. So where would you go to gain peace for the eyes, the ears, the nose, and the tongue? If you try to realize it by delving beneath the root of meaning, then through an endless future you will never have a bit of rest. The unending future meets us without rest. Therefore the ancients said, ‘Trying to use your mind to study the great mystery, you seem to face the west, but you’re traveling east.’”

DAGUANG JUHUI

DAGUANG JUHUI (836–903) was a disciple of Shishuang Qingzhu. He came from the ancient capital of Luoyang. Daguang was an eminent “dead tree” in Shishuang’s “dead tree hall,” so named because Shishuang’s disciples constantly sat in meditation (resembling tree stumps). Daguang is described in the records as “wearing a hemp robe and grass sandals, forgetting his body for the sake of the
Dharma
.”

One day, Shishuang decided that the time was ripe to test Daguang’s understanding, and so asked him, “Each year the country brings forth persons who achieve a degree [by passing the imperial exams]. Do those persons still pay homage at the imperial court or not?”

Daguang said, “There is someone who doesn’t ask for entry.”

Shishuang said, “Who told you that?”

Daguang said, “He doesn’t have a name.”

Shishuang said, “If not today, is there some other time?”

Daguang said, “He doesn’t even say there is a ‘today.’”

In these types of dialogues, Daguang never faltered. After he lived in the temple for more than twenty years, a congregation invited him to assume the abbacy of a temple.

A monk asked Daguang, “People like Bodhidharma become ancestors, right?”

Daguang said, “No.”

The monk said, “If Bodhidharma isn’t our ancestor, then why did he come from the west?”

Daguang said, “So that you won’t worship ancestors.”

The monk asked, “After you stop worshipping ancestors, then what?”

Daguang said, “Then you know they aren’t your ancestors.”

XUEFENG YICUN

XUEFENG YICUN (822–908) was a disciple of Deshan Xuanjian. He came from the city of Nanan in ancient Quanzhou (a place in modern Fujian Province). It’s recorded that as a toddler Xuefeng refused to eat nonvegetarian food. One day, while being carried on his mother’s back, a funeral spectacle of flags and flowers appeared. This caused a profound change in the child’s countenance. At the age of twelve he left home to live at Yujian Temple in Putian City. Later he traveled widely, eventually coming to Baocha Temple in ancient Youzhou (modern Beijing), where he was ordained. Later, he went on to Wuling (near the modern city of Changde in Hunan Province), where he studied under the great teacher Deshan, eventually becoming his Dharma heir. However, Xuefeng’s most profound realization occurred with his Dharma brother, Yantou, while they were traveling and staying at a mountain inn during a snowstorm. In the year 865, Xuefeng moved to Snow Peak on Elephant Bone Mountain in Fuzhou, where he established the Guangfu Monastery and obtained his mountain name. The monastery flourished, the congregation’s size reaching up to fifteen hundred monks.

True to the spirit of Zen, Xuefeng’s teaching did not rely on words or ideas. Instead, he emphasized self-realization and experience. The Yunmen and Fayan Zen schools, two of the traditionally recognized five houses of Zen, evolved from Xuefeng’s students.

Xuefeng served as a rice cook at Dong Shan.

One day as he was straining the rice, Dongshan asked him, “Do you strain the rice out from the sand, or do you strain the sand out from the rice?”

Xuefeng said “Sand and rice are both strained out at once.”

Dongshan said, “In that case, what will the monks eat?”

Xuefeng then tipped over the rice pot.

Dongshan said, “Go! Your affinity accords with Deshan!”

When Xuefeng left Dongshan, Dongshan asked him, “Where are you going?”

Xuefeng said, “I’m returning to Lingzhong [Fuzhou].”

Dongshan said, “When you left Lingzhong to come here, what road did you take?”

Xuefeng said, “I took the road through the Flying Ape Mountains.”

Dongshan said, “And what road are you taking to go back there?”

Xuefeng said, “I’m returning through the Flying Ape Mountains as well.”

Dongshan said, “There’s someone who doesn’t take the road through Flying Ape Mountains. Do you know him?”

Xuefeng said, “I don’t know him.”

Dongshan said, “Why don’t you know him?”

Xuefeng said, “Because he doesn’t have a face.”

Dongshan said, “If you don’t know him, how do you know he doesn’t have a face?”

Xuefeng was silent.

When Xuefeng was traveling with Yantou on Tortoise Mountain in Li Province, they were temporarily stuck in an inn during a snowstorm. Each day, Yantou spent the entire day sleeping. Xuefeng spent each day sitting in Zen meditation.

One day, Xuefeng called out, “Elder Brother! Elder Brother! Get up.”

Yantou said, “What is it?”

Xuefeng said, “Don’t be idle. Monks on pilgrimage have profound knowledge as their companion. This companion must accompany us at all times. But here today, all you are doing is sleeping.”

Yantou yelled back, “Just eat your fill and sleep! Sitting there in meditation all the time is like being some clay figure in a villager’s hut. In the future you’ll just spook the men and women of the village.”

Xuefeng pointed to his own chest and said, “I feel unease here. I don’t dare cheat myself [by not practicing diligently].”

Yantou said, “I always say that some day you’ll build a cottage on a lonely mountain peak and expound a great teaching. Yet you still talk like this!”

Xuefeng said, “I’m truly anxious.”

Yantou said, “If that’s really so, then reveal your understanding, and where it is correct I’ll confirm it for you. Where it’s incorrect I’ll root it out.”