《无生诀经》

The Buddha Shakyamuni said: The Dharma is originally Dharma, yet there is no fixed and unchanging Dharma. To say there is no Dharma, this “no-Dharma” can equally be called Dharma. Now, when this “no-Dharma” is transmitted, how are the various Dharmas to be brought into accord?

The Venerable Mahakasyapa said: All the various Dharmas are originally Dharma; what is called no-Dharma is not that there is nothing at all. Why insist on distinguishing, within a single Dharma, between the presence of Dharma and no-Dharma?

The Venerable Sanakavasa said: Dharma is not Dharma, and mind is not mind; to say there is no mind does not mean there is no Dharma. When speaking of this mind-Dharma, it is in fact not the mind-Dharma as ordinarily understood.

The Venerable Upagupta said: Mind is originally mind; the essence of mind is not some particular Dharma. If one takes a certain Dharma as the original mind, then it is neither mind nor the original Dharma.

The Venerable Haklenayasas said: Once the nature of mind is clearly recognized, one may say that it is neither Dharma nor the mind-Dharma as commonly spoken of.

The Venerable Upagupta said: Mind is originally mind; the essence of mind is not some particular Dharma. If one takes a certain Dharma as the original mind, then it is neither mind nor the original Dharma.

The Venerable Haklenayasas further said: Once the nature of mind is clearly recognized, one knows it to be inconceivable. Even when seen with perfect clarity, there is nothing that can be grasped; when true understanding arises, there is no need to say that one “knows.”

Great Master Bodhidharma said: In the womb it is the body; upon coming into the world it is a person. The function of the eyes is to see, of the ears to hear, of the nose to distinguish scents, of the mouth to speak, of the hands to grasp, of the feet to walk. This functioning pervades the entire Dharmadhātu (the realm in which all things exist) and can also be gathered into a single mote of dust. Those who recognize it know this to be Buddha-nature (the innate root of awakening possessed by all sentient beings); those who do not recognize it call it the vital soul.

One neither feels aversion upon seeing evil nor deliberately pursues good; one neither discards wisdom to approach ignorance nor abandons delusion to cling to enlightenment. Penetrating the great Way, one transcends ordinary measures; according with the Buddha-mind, one is not bound by common limits. Unfettered by distinctions between ordinary people and sages, one is transcendent and free—this is called being uninhibited.

When people are confused, they follow various principles and methods; after true realization, the principles and methods instead accord with the person. Upon realization, one recognizes that forms (all perceptible images) are subsumed by the mind-consciousness; in confusion, one is instead led along by forms that drag the mind-consciousness. As long as the mind still discriminates and calculates, everything it measures is a dream manifested by one’s own mind. If one can recognize that the original nature of the mind is inherently tranquil, with no activity of thoughts whatsoever, this is called right awakening (correct enlightenment).

Master Sengcan said:

Although seeds must rely on the earth to grow, the flower arises from the seed in the earth. If no one sows, neither the flower nor the earth can come into being.

Penetrating the Great Dao (the Way) is not difficult; the only fear is that people constantly discriminate and pick and choose. As long as one does not cling to liking or disliking, the mind-state suddenly becomes clear and bright, complete like empty space, with neither deficiency nor surplus. The reason one cannot penetrate it is precisely that the mind grasps and rejects.

Do not chase after being, nor chase after emptiness; regard everything in an ordinary way and the various discriminations will naturally dissipate. Wanting to still the arising of thoughts instead makes the mind more agitated; those attached to the two extremes, how would they know there is still the unified realm that does not fall to either side? If one cannot penetrate this unity, the efforts of both extremes come to nothing.

Wanting to exclude “being” instead leaves one constrained by “emptiness”; only by returning to the root can one grasp the essential meaning, while chasing various appearances loses the tenet. Even a momentary turning back to illuminate one’s own mind surpasses blindly pursuing the empty realm. The so-called transformations of the empty realm are all produced by delusive views. There is no need to seek the true deliberately; simply cease the delusive views. The two opposing extremes are established because of “the one,” yet one should not cling to “the one” either. As long as clinging thoughts do not arise in the mind, the myriad dharmas have no fault; without fault there is no fixed dharma to cling to, and no mind that clings without letting go.

If the mind capable of awareness ceases, the corresponding appearances also dissipate; when the appearances dissipate, the mind capable of awareness likewise becomes silent. Appearances are manifested by the mind capable of awareness, and the mind capable of awareness is established because of the appearances. If one wishes to understand the relation of these two aspects, one knows they originally both return to emptiness. This empty realm simultaneously contains both sides and equally encompasses all phenomena.

The wise do not insist on fabricating; the foolish bind themselves. The myriad dharmas originally have no discrimination; it is people who deludedly love, grasp, and cling. Using one thought to manipulate another thought—is that not a great error? In confusion, distinctions such as stillness and turmoil, good and evil, arise from this; upon awakening one no longer prefers or dislikes. All opposites are entirely the result of discriminatory measuring. Dreams and empty flowers (illusory scenes like dreams)—why hold them tightly? Gain and loss, right and wrong, should all be let go together.

If the eyes are not drowsy, the dream naturally disappears; if the mind does not give rise to differential discriminations, the myriad dharmas appear as equal and one. Wanting to still the arising of thoughts, there is yet no state that can be called “stillness”; wanting to stop the still realm, there is also no state that can be called “movement.” When neither movement nor stillness is established, where then is there a fixed “one”?

The one is all, and all is also the one. If one can realize it in this way, there is nothing in cultivation that cannot be perfected. All without mind is the precept inherent in self-nature; all without obstruction is the wisdom inherent in self-nature. Neither increasing nor decreasing is the self-nature as firm as diamond; the coming and going of the body originally abides within samadhi (the meditative state of settled thoughts corresponding with the Dao).

Do not cling to the idea that “nothing can be seen and nothing exists,” for that is like floating clouds veiling the sun. Nor cling to “knowing nothing while holding onto an empty awareness,” which is like a sudden flash of lightning across the sky. Once such views arise, people readily mistake them for reality and can no longer grasp the true method of practice. You should notice each thought the moment it appears, never allowing yourself to slip back, your mind as firm as vajra; whether the body comes or goes, you remain abiding in samadhi, the concentrated and stable meditative state.

Do not cling to the idea that “nothing can be seen and nothing exists,” for that is like floating clouds veiling the sun. Nor cling to “knowing nothing while holding onto an empty awareness,” which is like a sudden flash of lightning across the sky. Once such views arise, people readily mistake them for reality and can no longer grasp the true method of practice. In a single thought you should recognize that it is not real, so that your own luminous awareness continually shines forth.

Sentient beings carry seeds in their minds; when those seeds fall into the causal ground—the fundamental place of practice or of creating karma—they ripen into retribution. Insentient things possess neither seeds nor self-nature and therefore do not arise.

Master Huineng said: “Bodhi (awakening) was never a tree, nor is the bright mirror a stand. Originally there is not a single thing; where then could dust alight?”

When the mind is confused, the Lotus Sutra (Fahua Jing) turns you; when the mind awakens, you turn the Lotus Sutra. Reciting the scripture for a long time without understanding its meaning is the same as opposing that meaning. To think without clinging to thought is upright thought; to cling to thought is deviant thought. Neither attached to existence nor to non-existence, one may ride for a long time the white ox cart, the metaphor for the ultimate Dharma gate that leads to Buddhahood.

Samadhi is the root of wisdom, and wisdom is the function of samadhi. When wisdom arises, samadhi is already within it; when one abides in samadhi, wisdom is likewise within it. It is like a lamp and its light: where there is a lamp there is light; without the lamp there is darkness. The lamp is the root of the light, the light the function of the lamp. Though the names are two, their essence is not different.

If you wish to see the Buddha, you need only recognize sentient beings. It is sentient beings who, having lost their way, regard themselves as separate from the Buddha; it is not that the Buddha has lost sentient beings. When self-nature (one’s inherent mind-nature) is awakened, sentient beings are the Buddha; when self-nature is lost, the Buddha is merely a sentient being. When self-nature is equal, sentient beings are the Buddha; when self-nature is deviant, the Buddha is merely a sentient being.

The Buddha originally exists in my mind; only the Buddha in the mind is the true Buddha. If there is no Buddha in one's own mind, where can one seek the true Buddha? Therefore the Jing (scriptures) say: When mental thoughts arise, various things and principles also appear; when mental thoughts cease, various things and principles also dissipate. Ordinary people and Buddhas are not utterly different; if afflictions can be awakened to, they are Bodhi (enlightenment). When the former thought is deluded, one is an ordinary person; when the latter thought awakens, one is a Buddha. When the former thought clings to external objects, afflictions arise; when the latter thought lets go of clinging to external objects, afflictions turn into Bodhi.

Chan Master Farong

External objects themselves have no distinction of beauty or ugliness; beauty and ugliness are distinguished by the mind. If the mind does not insist on attaching names to things, from where do delusive thoughts and emotions arise? When delusive thoughts do not arise, the true mind can freely perceive everything.

Chan Master Huizhong

Thoughts and imaginations are originally illusory; the true nature has no beginning and no end. If one can comprehend the principle in this, the endlessly surging billows in the mind will naturally subside.

After both person and Dharma are purified, the distinction of good and evil is also relinquished. Acting with a straightforward mind and true intention, the place where one is is the bodhimanda (the place for cultivating the Dao (the Way) of enlightenment).

Chan Master Shenxiu

All the Buddha-Dharma originally exists within one's own mind; if one seeks by directing the mind outward, it is like abandoning one's father and fleeing. If one can comprehend the principle in this, the endlessly surging billows in the mind will naturally subside.

After both person and Dharma are purified, the distinction of good and evil is also relinquished. Acting with a straightforward mind and true intention, the place where one is is the bodhimanda (the place for cultivating the Dao of enlightenment).

Chan Master Shenxiu

All the Buddha-Dharma originally exists within one's own mind; if one seeks by directing the mind outward, it is like abandoning one's father and fleeing.

Great Master Si of Nanyue

The root of the Dao is not distant, and the ocean of original nature is not far off either; one has only to seek within one's own mind and not look for it in others. Seeking deliberately, one will not obtain it; even if one obtains it, it may not be the true obtaining.

Chan Master Wu of Tianhuang

Live freely following original nature, acting according to conditions, expansive and at ease. As long as one completely eliminates ordinary attachments and delusive mind, there is no other sacred realm that needs to be understood.

Chan Master Benjing

The Buddha appears through awakening to one’s own mind, and the mind is in turn illuminated by the Buddha. If one realizes no-mind, the Buddha is no longer an object of clinging. The original substance of the Dao (the Way) is inherently without mind; that which is without mind is called the Dao. If one understands no-mind, then no-mind itself is the Dao. Seeing, hearing, knowing, and awareness remain entirely unhindered, and sounds, fragrances, flavors, and tactile sensations can all become a constant samadhi (a state of settled, concentrated mind). This is like a crow flying freely through empty space, neither grasping nor abandoning, without aversion or affection.

If one can realize no-mind, one knows that the Buddha is not an object that can be clung to. The original substance of the Dao is inherently without mind; that which is without mind is called the Dao. If one understands no-mind, then no-mind itself is the Dao. Seeing, hearing, knowing, and awareness remain entirely unhindered, and sounds, fragrances, flavors, and tactile sensations can all become a constant samadhi. Like a crow flying freely through empty space, neither grasping nor abandoning, without aversion or affection.

If one understands that a person is originally without mind when responding to affairs, only then can it be called “Guanzizai” (observing at ease, responding to circumstances as they arise). Only upon seeing the Dao can one speak of cultivating the Dao; if one has not even seen the Dao, what is there to cultivate? The nature of the Dao is like empty space; what fixed thing exists within empty space? Observing those who cultivate the Dao, some are like poking at a furnace fire or searching for a pivot floating on the water’s surface, restlessly seeking outwardly. Know that worldly affairs are like a beautiful puppet play; once the manipulating strings snap, all the performance comes to a halt.

When one investigates the real, the real has no form or appearance; when one pursues the illusory, the illusory likewise has no substance. Turning around to observe and investigate this mind, one comes to understand that “mind” is merely a provisional name.

Good arises from within the mind; how then could evil exist apart from the mind? Good and evil are merely external conditions of arising and have no fixed substantial existence in the original nature of the mind. If one discards evil thoughts, where can they be thrown? If one clings to good thoughts, who is there to guard them? Alas, people of the world cling to the two extremes of good and evil and run back and forth. Only upon awakening to original no-mind does one repent of former faults.

Chan Master Zhongguo of Nanyang

A cyan-colored dream rides upon causes and conditions, soaring straight to the summit of a cold pine; white clouds seem to bear muddiness, appearing and vanishing in the Great Void (Taixu, the vast boundless sky). All things are originally at ease and idle; it is people themselves who stir restlessly without cease.

When sentient beings are deluded, they congeal original nature into mental consciousness, just as water freezes into ice when the weather grows cold; when sentient beings awaken, mental consciousness melts away and original nature is revealed, just as ice turns to water when the weather warms. A cyan-colored dream rides upon causes and conditions, soaring straight to the summit of a cold pine; white clouds seem to bear muddiness, appearing and vanishing in the Great Void. All things are originally at ease and idle; it is people themselves who stir restlessly without cease.

When sentient beings are deluded, they congeal original nature into mental consciousness, just as water freezes into ice when the weather grows cold; when sentient beings awaken, mental consciousness melts away and original nature is revealed, just as ice turns to water when the weather warms.

Dharma after dharma after dharma: originally there is no fixed dharma. Emptiness after emptiness after emptiness: nor is there attachment to a single “emptiness.” Stillness and clamor, speech and silence originally have no distinction. Why should a person within a dream expend effort discussing the dream? Even in the midst of action, one must understand that there is no action that can be grasped; even where there appears to be no merit, function is naturally accomplished. It is like fruit that naturally reddens when ripe; there is no need to inquire how it ought to be planted.

Master Ji of Panshan:

The mind is like a solitary moon hanging in the sky, perfectly full and lucidly clear, encompassing the myriad phenomena. Its light is not illuminating some external realm, nor does that external realm exist independently on its own. Once both the light and the realm have been forgotten, what then remains?

Master Hai of Dazhu:

If the mind does not give rise to thoughts in response to sounds and colors, and does not chase after the forms and appearances of things, it will naturally be liberated and able to rest in peace, with nothing left to trouble it.

The Prajñā Sūtra says: “The nine classes of sentient beings are all complete within a single body, coming into being in accordance with karmic activity.” How is this to be understood?

Master Hai of Dazhu:

If the mind does not give rise to thoughts in response to sounds and colors, and does not chase after the forms and appearances of things, it will naturally be liberated and able to rest in peace, with nothing left to trouble it.

The Prajñā Sūtra says: “The nine classes of sentient beings are all complete within a single body, coming into being in accordance with karmic activity.” It is for this reason that ignorance arises—the state that veils original nature and gives rise to delusion. Egg-born beings are wrapped in afflictions; womb-born beings are steeped in the waters of craving and desire; moisture-born beings arise from afflictions; transformation-born beings, upon awakening, are Buddha. When lost in delusion they are called sentient beings; the bodhisattva regards every thought that arises, moment after moment, as a sentient being. If one understands that the substance of each and every thought is originally empty, this is called delivering sentient beings. The wise person, at the very source of their own being, is able to deliver those sentient beings that have not yet appeared; and since even the unappeared sentient beings are themselves empty, one knows that in reality there are no sentient beings being delivered by anyone.

The Great Being Shanlu:

There is an existence that precedes heaven and earth, originally formless and still. It can serve as the master of the myriad phenomena, yet it does not decay with the changing of the four seasons.

Empty-handed, yet as if grasping a hoe; walking on foot, yet as if riding on the back of a water buffalo. A person walks across a bridge; the water beneath the bridge is flowing, yet the bridge itself does not flow.

Night after night one sleeps together with the Buddha, and in the morning rises together as well. Whether walking or sitting, they always accompany one another; whether speaking or remaining silent, they dwell together in ease. Not even a hair’s breadth separates them, just as body and shadow are inseparable. If you wish to know where the Buddha is, it is right here in the sound of this very speech.

Master Hui of Jianzhen:

The eyes are exhausted by following colors; the ear-consciousness dissipates by following sounds. The water does not flow.

Night after night one sleeps together with the Buddha, and in the morning rises together as well. Whether walking or sitting, they always accompany one another; whether speaking or remaining silent, they dwell together in ease. Not even a hair’s breadth separates them, just as body and shadow are inseparable. If you wish to know where the Buddha is, it is right here in the sound of this very speech.

The eyes are exhausted by following colors; the ear-consciousness dissipates by following sounds. There is no other secret to returning to the original source—it lies between yesterday and today.

Master Mi of Jiashan:

The mind is originally Buddha; it is only after thoughts arise that it drifts and sinks into samsara. The shore itself has not moved at all; it is only because the boat is traveling that one feels the shoreline racing swiftly backward.

The mirror reflects all manner of images, yet its own brightness is never thereby scattered; a crow flying through the sky does not disturb the color of the heavens.

Fu Dashi

Salt in water possesses a salty taste, and green glue is enveloped within color; both truly exist, yet their forms cannot be seen. People give rise to attachments through delusive thinking, just as one mistakes a rope for a snake; with suspicion and fear in the mind, one feels ghosts lurking in the dark; with diseased eyes, one sees illusory flowers in empty space. Confronted with one and the same realm, different people form different views. Understanding that these names and distinctions are not truly unchanging, one can ride the white ox cart for a long time. The white ox cart is a Buddhist metaphor symbolizing the path of cultivation that leads to enlightenment.

Fa Yun Bai Gong

Even if Li Zhu (a legendary figure of extraordinarily keen eyesight) deliberately tries to discern them, the towering white waves are merely mistaken for a snake; those heavy with suspicion feel ghosts in the darkness, and those with diseased eyes see illusory flowers in the sky. Confronted with one and the same realm, different people form different views. Understanding that names and distinctions are not truly unchanging, one can ride the white ox cart for a long time.

Fa Yun Bai Gong

Even if Li Zhu observes with deliberate intent, the white waves before his eyes still merely surge and billow heaven-high; Xiang Wang (a legendary being without mind or form) seeks nothing on purpose, yet the bright pearl suddenly comes into his hands.

Yongming Shou Gong

This Mani jewel (a precious pearl capable of manifesting all manner of colors and forms according to conditions) can reflect every kind of image, yet its own essence remains unmoved; the valley answers with sound, echo after echo arising in succession, yet there is no fixed place from which the original sound issues.

The cry of a solitary ape seems to issue from the moonlight among the central cliffs; a traveler in the mountain wilds recites poems until midnight, when the lamp burns low. Who can comprehend such a moment and such a realm? Only the monk sitting in quiet meditation deep among the white clouds.

The essence of the true mind cannot be set forth in words. It is profound and boundless, like the infinite void; clear and luminous, like a perfectly round and lustrous bright mirror. Slander or praise cannot affect it, and the principle within it is likewise hard to articulate. One cannot exhaust its profundity by means of “existence” or “non-existence,” directions, far or near; nor can one describe its wondrousness through consciousness, knowledge, or speech. Only those who truly enter it can comprehend it from within the heart. It is like pounding ten thousand kinds of incense into a single blend: even a grain the size of a speck of dust, once lit, already contains every fragrance. It is also like bathing in the great ocean: even a single drop scooped up already gathers the waters of a hundred rivers.

When the original nature is seen, that nature is originally unbound by anything; thoughts are not a truly existent thing, and therefore there is no real thought that can be eliminated. When the myriad things are observed, they originally possess no fixed, unchanging substance; forms likewise are not a truly existent thing, and therefore there is no need to treat them as real objects to be driven away.

The eyes are filled with seeing forms and colors, the ears filled with hearing sounds; one neither follows them nor destroys them.

Although the eyes see various forms and colors and the ears hear various sounds, one is neither drawn by them nor deliberately destroys them; only then does one truly understand the nature of form and sound. If one becomes infatuated with sounds and forms, one falls into the realm of ordinary people; if one completely negates and eradicates the phenomena of sounds and forms, one falls into the Hinayana (a tradition of practice that emphasizes personal liberation). Therefore, the true eye of the Tathagata (an honorific for the Buddha) can universally illuminate everything without omitting any single thing. How could it be like ordinary people who cannot see clearly, or like practitioners of the two vehicles who see only a part? In this way, one can see green without being obstructed, and when encountering various circumstances the mind does not give rise to attachment.

Layman Pang said:

I only wish to let go of all attachments to what is originally empty and nonexistent; never take what originally does not exist as real.

Shuiming Shougong

The realm of the original source is profound and silent; the realm of awakening is clear and luminous. There, names and forms are transcended, and there is neither a knowing subject nor a known object. At first people did not perceive the original source, yet a deluded stirring mind suddenly arose; because they distinguished brightness from darkness, illumination appeared, and following this illumination they established external sense-realms. Just as a mirror manifests images, people gradually became attached to the body and the senses, thereby forgetting true reality and losing their original nature, chasing after outer appearances and designations, accumulating all kinds of attachments, while mind-consciousness surged continuously like waves.

True awareness is veiled in a long night like a dream, and people are immersed in the three realms (the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm); the eye of wisdom is blinded on the dim path, and people are trapped within the nine abodes (the nine kinds of realms in which sentient beings dwell). In a realm that originally does not change, people nevertheless falsely undergo cyclic rebirth, as if bound within a realm that could otherwise be one of liberation. People themselves create the bonds, just as the spring silkworm spins silk to form a cocoon or the autumn moth flies toward the lamp: with the threads of dualistic discriminating delusion they wrap the karmic body formed from the aggregates of suffering; and with the wings of ignorance and craving they plunge into the fire of birth and death.

There are also those influenced by erroneous fundamental views and foreign doctrines who, relying on shallow wisdom and expedient methods, cannot understand the root of birth and death nor know from where the view of “person and self” arises. They only wish to reject clamor and exclude stirring thoughts, to break external forms and analyze sense-realms. Although they speak of loving stillness and merging with emptiness, they do not know that this may instead bury the true nature and refuse awakening. This is like being unable to discern the red and green before one’s eyes, yet only trying to eliminate the multiple overlapping lights and shadows on the lamp; or like not investigating the body and mind illusorily produced from mind-consciousness, but only avoiding one’s own empty shadow under the sunlight. In this way they weary the body and expend the mind, ultimately wasting effort and abandoning accomplishment in vain, like adding water to water in hopes of making ice freeze more, or adding fuel to fire only to make the blaze burn more fiercely.

How could they know that the multiple lights and shadows arise from an eye disease, and that the empty shadow always follows the body? Remove the eye disease, and the overlapping shadows naturally disappear; cease attachment to the illusory body and mind, and the empty shadow accordingly vanishes. If one can turn the light toward oneself and look back to observe one’s own mind, the Buddha’s eye of wisdom becomes clear and pure, and the images left by karmic force also dissipate; the Dharmakaya (the pure and true original substance) manifests, and the boundaries of sense-realms no longer constitute obstacles. Then, with self-aware wisdom, one splits open the deluded thoughts wrapping the inner mind, revealing the precious pearl within the heart; with the wisdom of a single thought one forges a sharp blade to cut off the erroneous views accumulated in past sense-realms. This is the essential purpose of investigating the original mind and thoroughly penetrating mind-consciousness.

Chan Master Ciyun Cong said:

A crescent moon is immersed in a cold deep pool; thin clouds are reflected in the azure sky. For those who truly penetrate the Great Dao, this is precisely the genuine message worth realizing. Master Huangshan Lun once plunged into the Red Waters seeking the precious pearl and entered Jing Mountain searching for fine jade. Yet what is obtained from outside the gate is ultimately not one’s own treasure; to take the shadow as the head and lose oneself—is that not a great error?

Tianyi Huai Gong

After the wild geese have flown past they leave a message. A man named Huangshan Lungong threw objects into the Red River to search for pearls and entered Jing Mountain to seek fine jade. Yet whatever comes in from outside the door is not the treasure originally one's own; to recognize only the shadow while forgetting where one's own head is—is this not a grave error?

Tianyi Huaigong

A wild goose flies across the vast sky, its shadow reflected in the cold water. The goose has no mind to leave a trace, and the water has no thought of retaining the shadow.

Guifeng Chan Master

When the mind functions it is like billowing waves on the sea, yet its operation never leaves the true essence. When the mind returns to the essence it is like a clear bright mirror and a calm water surface; raising the hands or moving the feet, responding to circumstances as they arise, all can return to stillness. The mind itself has no fixed form, manifesting only in dependence on external conditions; the realm, empty and still like water, also appears because of the mind.

Zhizhen Chan Master

The mind is originally unstained by dust, so why wash it again? The body originally has no illness, so why seek a cure? Know that the Buddha is not somewhere outside the body; it is like a bright mirror hanging high, yet before it has reflected the myriad things.

Li Changgong

All the ages of past, present, and future have never departed from this present thought; even the most distant worlds and the immediate realm have no separation between them. Wisdom and the ordinary do not obstruct each other, just as a great mirror reflects the forms of all things; you and I do not hinder one another, like a thousand lamps together illuminating a single room.

Tiantai Guangong

Transcending names and appearances, the subtle essence fully reveals itself; departing from distinctions of past and present, a direct and unique Chan opportunity appears. Holding the legendary Li pearl that illuminates all things, each thing radiates its own light; wielding the precious sword to slash at empty space, no trace remains in the void.

Yunmen Kangong

When afflictive dust and toil have not yet been eradicated, encountering external conditions gives rise to all sorts of distinctions; yet the mind is like a bright mirror, perfectly clear, leaving not even a thread of attachment. The numinous light appears pure and brilliant, the true constant nature reveals itself alone. Forgetting distinctions of ancient and modern, and also transcending those between sage and ordinary person. Only upon reaching this state can one gather and release at will; wielding the precious sword to slash at empty space, no trace remains in the void.

Yunmen Kangong

When afflictive dust and toil have not yet been eradicated, encountering external conditions gives rise to all sorts of distinctions; yet the mind is like a bright mirror, perfectly clear, leaving not even a thread of attachment. The numinous light appears pure and brilliant, the true constant nature reveals itself alone. Forgetting distinctions of ancient and modern, and also transcending those between sage and ordinary person. Only upon reaching this state can one gather and release freely and function without obstruction; whether entering or leaving, coming or going, whether in the human realm or in heaven, one can respond with complete freedom.

Dajing Chan Master

While sitting quietly at night, thoughts scatter in all directions. Then take this scattering mind and investigate where the thoughts arise from. When investigation finds no origin, where then are the scattering thoughts? Turning back, inquire further: where is that mind which is doing the investigating?

The wisdom capable of illuminating observation is originally empty, and the realm that is observed is likewise quiescent and without form. What is called “quiescent yet not attached to quiescence” is so because there is no one who can enter quiescence; what is called “observing yet not attached to observation” is so because there is no realm being observed. When both the realm and wisdom return to quiescence, the thoughts within the mind become settled and peaceful. This is an important gateway for returning to the original source.

When one sees things, one sees one’s own mind; when there are no things, the mind does not appear. Amidst all manner of unobstructedness and obstruction, the true mind is universally pervasive. Clinging to mental consciousness and discriminatory understanding instead produces inverted views. To see the realm without being stirred by thoughts is truly to see Bodhi (awakening).

— Chan Master Yongjia

When the mind accords with emptiness, what sorrow or joy arises from ridicule, slander, or praise? When the body accords with emptiness, what pain or pleasure arises from being cut by a blade or anointed with fragrance? When karmic retribution accords with emptiness, what gain or loss arises from giving or being plundered?

The mind cannot be said to be truly existent, nor can it be said to be entirely nonexistent; it cannot be said to be neither truly existent nor entirely nonexistent. To determine that it is existent or nonexistent falls into the clinging view of affirmation; to determine that it is neither existent nor nonexistent likewise falls into the clinging view of negation.

One who truly transcends clinging is a leisurely person of the Way, free in Wuwei (non-action): neither deliberately eliminating delusive thoughts nor deliberately seeking the true realm. The original true nature of ignorance (delusion) is Buddha-nature; the illusory, transforming body is the Dharmakaya (the true Dharma-body of the Buddha). Completely realizing the Dharmakaya, one knows that there is nothing at all; the original self-nature is the innate Buddha. The five skandhas (the five factors constituting body and mind) are like floating clouds, coming and going emptily; the three poisons of greed, aversion, and ignorance are like water bubbles, arising and ceasing illusorily.

Being solely quiescent easily falls into non-discernment (dullness without clear awareness); being solely awake and alert easily gives rise to chaotic delusive thoughts. Although quietude can subdue chaotic thoughts, it may instead lead one into non-discernment; although alertness can counteract non-discernment, it may again stir up chaotic thoughts. Therefore it is said: to be awake and quiescent is correct; to be quiescent in dull non-discernment is incorrect. To maintain wakefulness within quiescence is correct; to maintain alertness while harboring chaotic thoughts is incorrect.

Ordinary people often feel that external affairs hinder Principle and that external circumstances hinder the mind, so they continually try to avoid circumstances in order to settle the inner mind and to abandon affairs in order to preserve heavenly Principle. They do not realize that what truly creates the obstruction is precisely their own mind obstructing the circumstances and clinging to Principle so as to obstruct affairs. If only the mind is allowed to become empty and still, circumstances naturally appear empty and still; if Principle is allowed to become quiet, affairs naturally return to calm. Do not reverse the direction in which the mind is applied.

The Dharma is the mind; there is no Dharma outside the mind. The mind is the Dharma; there is no mind outside the Dharma. The mind is originally without mind, and there is likewise no “person who is without mind.” If one deliberately applies the mind in order to seek “being without mind,” that very mind becomes a mind that has something.

Because human beings possess greed, anger, and delusion (craving, irritation, and ignorance), the practices of precepts, concentration, and wisdom (observing precepts, meditative stillness, and wisdom) were established. If there were originally no afflictions, why would one still seek bodhi (awakening)? Therefore a patriarchal teacher said: “The Buddha expounded all Dharmas in order to eliminate all mental conceptions. If I myself have no mental conceptions at all, why would I make use of all Dharmas?”

Chan Master Douchi said: It is easy to awaken to the nature of the mind, yet truly causing the mind to come to rest is difficult. If one can pacify the root of mental activity, one will be at ease and free wherever one goes. The Dipper stars shift and the sky begins to brighten; white clouds still cover the green mountains.

Mountain Master Lingyu said: I possess a luminous pearl that for a long time has been locked away by the toil of the dusty world. Today the dust has completely dispersed, its radiance manifests, illuminating the mountains, rivers, and all things.

Master Cai of Fori said: The city is noisy and flourishing, the mountain forests secluded and peaceful. Although there is a distinction between movement and stillness, movement and stillness are originally one and the same, just as birth and death are not two different things. The rotation of the four seasons and the transformations of the myriad things are all natural patterns. There is no need to urge summer along; autumn will arrive of itself. The wind need not freeze anyone; people will naturally feel cool and refreshed.

Chan Master Guanghui said: The Buddha realized the Dao (the Way) because of no-mind, yet people become deluded because they cling to the idea that there is a Buddha that can be sought. In the place of the Buddha’s pure mind, the cries of wild apes come from beyond the clouds.

Chan Master Yuanwu said: When a crow flies through the empty sky, after it has flown away, does its shadow remain in the sky? When a fish swims across the water, after it has departed, does its trace remain in the water? The mind of the sage in responding to external things is precisely like this: it responds to things without remaining attached or stagnant.

Raising the voice in an attempt to suppress the echo, yet not realizing that sound itself is the very source from which the echo arises; seeking to cast off the shadow, yet not knowing that the shadow takes the body as its basis. Taking one dharma to inquire into another dharma, yet not knowing that the root of dharma originally has no such thing as a fixed dharma; using one mind to transmit to another mind, yet not knowing that the original nature of mind originally has no mind that can be obtained.

Chan Master Longji

The wind blows and stirs the trees, and the mind accordingly sways; when cloudy vapors arise, the nature of mind is as if covered in dust. If one can clearly understand everything occurring before one's eyes, one can perceive the original person—that is, a person's original face.

Green bamboos and yellow flowers are not scenery outside the mind; white clouds and the bright moon all reveal the complete original nature. All the myriad things before one's eyes, each and every one, are manifestations of self-nature; taking them up at will, one is not thereby stained with dust and defilement.

Chan Master Wuzhuo

A small leaf-like boat drifts upon the boundless waters, oars rising and falling, the sound of paddling having no fixed rhythm. Clouds, mountains, waters, and moon are all left behind, as if one has attained a long dream like that of Zhuangzi.

The clouds move, and the moon seems to travel as well; the boat advances, and the shore appears to recede. People do not realize that delusive thoughts are like drifting clouds, which in fact do not harm the true bright moon; why then let the mind-boat that clings to external things wander about in all directions? The other shore of awakening has originally never moved.

Chan Master Yunyan

If there is a speck of obstruction in the eye, one will see flower-shadows dancing chaotically throughout the sky; if there is a thread of delusive thought in the mind, it will produce the arising and ceasing of countless thoughts. When the obstruction vanishes, the flower-shadows disappear; when delusive thoughts cease, the true original nature manifests. When the illness is healed, the medicine need no longer be used; after the ice melts, the water still remains.

When the empty valley resounds with echoes, praise and slander both dissipate together; when moonlight is reflected in the pond, both external things and the self are no longer clung to.

Dwelling in the midst of desires yet not being drawn by them; being in the dusty world yet not stained by it. Passing through a grove of a hundred flowers, not a trace of stickiness remains on the body.

Chan Master Jingcen

Places of obstruction are not truly walled off; places of unobstructed passage need not be governed by empty space. If one can comprehend in this way, one will understand that mind and external objects are originally the same.

Chan Master Huitang

The foolish only wish to eliminate external circumstances, yet do not eliminate the attachments within the mind; the wise eliminate the attachments in the mind and do not deliberately reject external circumstances. They simply do not know that external circumstances originally are just as they are; even when in contact with objects, one will not thereby become stained with dust and defilement.

Chan Master Jingcen

Places of obstruction are not truly walled off; places of unobstructed passage need not be governed by empty space. If one can comprehend in this way, one will understand that mind and external objects are originally the same.

Foolish people only wish to exclude external objects and circumstances, yet they fail to tame their own inner minds. Wise people tame the inner mind and do not deliberately reject external circumstances. They understand that objects and circumstances are originally just as they are; facing the scenes before their eyes, the mind remains constantly at peace.

Chan Master Nantai said: When Nantai sits in quiet meditation, a stick of incense burns in the censer. All day he remains still and unmoving, having let go of all the tangled thoughts. This is not a matter of deliberately suppressing thoughts or eliminating delusions; it is simply because there is nothing in the mind that needs to be considered.

Chan Master Zong said: Fine jade is hidden within coarse stone, and the lotus grows out of the mud. One must know that the very place of affliction is also the place of awakening. Once one awakens, afflictions can become bodhi (awakening).

To speak of “emptiness” is in order to break attachment to “existence”; to speak of “existence” is likewise to eliminate attachment to “emptiness.” One may also use “existence” to still attachment to “existence,” and use “emptiness” to dissolve attachment to “emptiness.” Until words can no longer express it and thought has nowhere to alight, even then it still cannot be called “emptiness,” so how could it possibly be called “existence”?

Chan Master Zhongxuan said: Ordinary people and sages originally have no distinction; delusion and awakening likewise have no different paths. Nirvana (the realm of liberation from the afflictions of birth and death) has nothing worth craving, and birth and death have nothing worth rejecting. With a single phrase one can awaken and understand; without needing to rise, walk, or sit, one can confirm the unborn (realizing that all dharmas are neither arising nor ceasing). With a single thought turning back to one’s own mind, without taking a step, one can pervade the sandy realms (the vast worlds). When stimulus occurs, there is natural penetration, just as moonlight is reflected on the water’s surface; in quietude there can also be response, like an empty valley echoing with sound. When speaking of Buddha-nature, it is said to be empty; when speaking of Buddha-mind, it is said to be real. This real mind is the Buddha-nature, and therefore it is not stubborn emptiness (an emptiness of sheer nothingness). The essence of this emptiness is the Buddha-mind, and therefore it does not cling to forms and appearances.

Chan Master Shaowu said: After crossing one range of mountains, there is yet another range. Sitting quietly atop a solitary peak, one observes with care. The clouds and mist disperse, the mountains grow still; the sky over Chu is vast, and the autumnal chill gradually deepens.

The radiance of the autumn moon appears only when one is far from clamor; the sound of the cold spring can be heard only after entering samadhi (a state of concentrated quiet cultivation). Therefore, as soon as a thought stirs, awareness is easily lost; only when thoughts cease can one accord with true nature.

Plant the seeds of merit at the ear-root (the gateway of hearing), and cultivate the flower of awakening in the mind-ground.

Although the conditioned (that which involves fabrication and pursuit) is illusory, if one solely rushes after it, the Buddha-way is difficult to accomplish. Although Wuwei (non-action) is true, if one clings to Wuwei, the original nature of wisdom cannot become clear.

Elder Gufeng said: In everyday life the Dao (the Way) is present everywhere; a settled inner mind is Chan. Dwelling in seclusion amid mist-wreathed mountain valleys, even in dreams one seems to be beside a thatched hut covered in snow.

Chan Master Weikuan

A person of true cultivation cannot rely solely on forceful effort, nor simply let go and lose themselves. Too much force easily leads to attachment; complete letting-go falls into ignorance (delusion and unclarity).

All things arise and dissipate, yet the nature of water remains; a thousand lamps light and then go out, yet the nature of fire is unchanged. A mind that has forgotten emotional thoughts does not cling to external forms, just as hot soup melts ice until ice and soup are no longer distinguished. When the mind is touched by outer circumstances and cannot yet remain completely still, it is like a valley answering sound: the moment the sound rings there is an echo, which then ceases, leaving no extra trace.

Master Zong-Hui

The moon’s reflection in the autumn pond still does not cling to forms, just as hot soup melts ice until ice and soup are no longer distinguished. When the mind is touched by outer circumstances and cannot yet remain completely still, it is like a valley answering sound: the moment the sound rings there is an echo, which then ceases, leaving no extra trace.

Master Zong-Hui

The moon’s reflection in the autumn pond and the bell’s sound in the still night: however they are struck they do not diminish, and even when waves are touched they do not scatter or vanish.

Chan Master Zhao of Kaixian

People’s thoughts never cease, and thoughts have no fixed place of rest. If one can settle amid the ceaseless flow and, when a thought arises, not be pulled along by it, one accords with the principle of the unborn (the truth of not clinging to arising and ceasing).

From the one it opens out into the myriad phenomena: the moon sinks into a thousand rivers and appears as a thousand moon-reflections; gathering the myriad back into the one is like water poured into a single vessel, leaving only the same moon. Unfolded, it pervades the entire Dharmadhatu; gathered in, not even a thread of its origin can be found.

Chan Master Yuan of Yuquan

Stamp a seal in empty space and the myriad phenomena gather into the ancient mirror; stamp a seal on water and the autumn moon’s reflection falls into a thousand rivers; stamp a seal on earth and carefully observe the state before any pattern appears.

Chan Master Baoning

The three realms (desire, form, and formless) all appear from the mind; the myriad dharmas are formed by consciousness (discriminating cognition). Outside the door, clouds of Qi (vital energy) rise; before the eaves, raindrops fall; the mountain stream runs clear as indigo, mountain flowers bloom like brocade. If at this moment one does not inquire into the root, one may have to wait until the future to consult Maitreya.

The true principle is not difficult to understand; what is hard is that the mind constantly discriminates, grasping and rejecting. Peach blossoms are red, plum blossoms white—all things have their own colors. Who could blend them into one single color? Purple swallows call, yellow orioles sing—who could say that birdsong has only one sound? A bright mirror standing before a stand—where would it distinguish whether sounds are quiet or noisy? A solitary cloud drifting out from the mountains—when has it ever been bound by going or staying?

By means of delusive discrimination one points to the real, yet the real itself has no fixed form. Purple swallows call, yellow orioles sing—who could say that birdsong has only one sound? A bright mirror standing before a stand—where would it distinguish quiet from noisy? A solitary cloud drifting out from the mountains—when has it ever been bound by going or staying? The real has no fixed self-nature. Deluded thoughts that arise from the real originally have emptiness as their substance. Once those deluded thoughts return to emptiness, the real is no longer clung to as a fixed thing.

Chan Master Zhida

When an external object appears, a thought arises in response; without thought, the external object cannot appear. When object-appearances are empty, the mind is still; when the mind shines clearly, object-appearances become cool and sparse.

A person sees their image in an ice-mirror, sees their shadow in lamplight or moonlight, and hears their own voice in a mountain valley.

Chan Master Baigui Zhao

The crow flies through the sky yet does not know that empty space is its homeland; the fish swims in the depths yet forgets that water is the very nature that sustains its life. Please settle body and mind, concentrate the spirit, reverse a single thought to illuminate yourselves, and instantly realize your own mind. How is this different from the red sun in empty space that shines equally on all things? It moves independently without partiality, like a bright pearl on a plate that turns of itself without being stirred.

Master Lin

This essential purport leaves behind the discriminative activities of mind, intention, and consciousness; its meaning transcends past, present, and future. Only by leaving these discriminations can one look upon all things without perceiving differences among them. Transcending the limits of time, one pervades the ten directions without omission. Facing the present moment, one does not fall into clinging; investigating to the very end, there is nothing upon which to rely. One must awaken before any signs have appeared, and apply effort in the place that does not violate the fundamental principle.

Master Bai of Zhaojue

To add even a single thread is like dust entering the eye; to remove even a single thread is like cutting a piece of flesh from a sore.

In studying the Buddha-dharma one should follow the meaning of the Dharma and not rely on personal authority, follow the principles and not be bound by words, rely on wisdom and not on discriminative consciousness, follow scriptures of complete and thorough meaning and not those whose meaning is not yet complete.

When the weather is cold one draws near the fire for warmth; when it is hot one waves a fan for coolness. Hungry, one eats; sleepy, one sleeps. Thus it is said: the cypress in Zhaozhou’s courtyard and the pine behind Xiangyan Ridge were never planted in order to explain the meaning of the Jing (scriptures).

When cold, approach the fire; when hot, wave a fan. Eat when hungry, sleep when tired. Therefore the cypress before Zhaozhou’s hall and the pine behind Xiangyan Ridge were planted for no other purpose than to invite the clear breeze.

Yunfeng Junshi: Slender bamboos and tall pines drip emerald green and give off a pure fragrance. Wind passes through the sparse moonlight, bringing a slight chill. I wonder who dwells in the monastery west of the open fields; every dusk the temple bell arrives together with the setting sun.

Wind stirring the branches and moonlight on the water’s edge can both convey the mind’s intent; mist over the islet and fog in the mountain woods can likewise reveal the mysterious purport.

Master Baozhi: This illusory body faces the mirror and produces a reflection; image and body are not different. One merely wishes to discard the shadow and keep the body, yet does not know that the body itself is originally illusory. Body and shadow have never been distinct; one cannot take one as existing and the other as not. If one seeks to retain one and abandon the other, one remains forever far from the true principle.

If one clings to love of sages and aversion to ordinary people, one will rise and sink in the bitter sea of birth and death. Afflictions arise from the mind; without a mind of discrimination and attachment, where can afflictions take their stand? There is no need to labor at distinguishing and grasping outer forms; naturally one will swiftly attain the Dao (the Way).

Master Longya: While inside a dream, how would one know the dream is illusory? Only after waking does one realize that everything in the dream never existed. In delusion one is as if in a dream; after awakening one is like a person who has woken from sleep. To search for the ox one must go to the borderlands where the ox is active; to study the Dao one must seek a person of no-mind. Draw near the ox and the ox is still there; reach the realm of no-mind and the Dao is easily found.

Chan Master Wenyi: One cocoon-ju lotus, two slender green cypresses—in whose monk’s household do they grow? Why bother asking how elegant they are?

Chan Master Tongan: Many forked paths lie before the withered-wood cliff; travelers who arrive here often wander in vain. The white egret standing on snow is not one color with the snow; the bright moon shining on reed flowers is not like the moon itself. When truly understood there is in fact nothing further to understand; even when speaking of the most mysterious extreme one must still pass beyond it. Earnestly I sing this mysterious melody for you: can you pluck that disk of toad-light (the moon) from empty space?

Monk of Yunding Mountain.

Sitting in idle stillness and quiet contemplation, even a sage would find it difficult to fathom the realm within. Even if one were to force an explanation, nothing in existence could serve as a comparison. A stone person strikes clappers amid the clouds; a woman in the water holds a sheng and plays it from the depths. To say you have not heard it means you have not yet understood; if you set out to seek that sound, doubts will linger in your mind. I may teach you to sing in response, yet you yourself must still join in the harmony; do not inquire after the gong and shang notes or the pipes of bamboo and strings of silk.

The monk Danxia said:

Once you recognize the jewel within the robe—the true nature inherent in us all—the intoxication born of ignorance, that delusion which veils true nature, naturally awakens. Even if every sinew and bone of the body has dissolved, one thing remains lastingly luminous and spiritually aware. Know that the realm you recognize is not the original substance itself; the divine pearl has no fixed form. Enlightened, it is the Buddha of the three bodies; deluded, one feels compelled to read ten thousand volumes of scripture. It resides in the mind, and the mind can perceive it; it passes by the ear, yet the ear can scarcely hear it. It exists prior to heaven and earth, arising from the profound and silent depths. It is originally vigorous and unyielding, not produced by any tempering; originally pure, requiring no clarification. It circles and revolves like the morning sun in its course; exquisite and translucent, it reflects the dawn star. Auspicious radiance flows without cease; true Qi, once stirred, arises anew. It illuminates the seclusion of Kongtong Mountain and renders the dharmadhatu—the entire field of existence—clearly manifest. It can express itself, yet not by means of the tongue; it can speak, yet it is not sound. It dissolves notions of boundary and boundlessness, vast and limitless, equal as empty space. Having seen the moon, there is no need to keep staring at the finger that points to it; to return home, there is no need to ask the way. Recognize your own mind, and the mind is Buddha; beyond this, what other Buddha remains to be cultivated?

Chan Master Tongzhi said:

The true self originally exists; only through delusion does it appear absent. The false self originally does not exist; only through attachment does it appear present. If you wish to understand the mind completely, there is in fact no mind that can be completely understood. Only when one no longer clings to a mind that “has attained realization” is it called the true mind. When the true and the false interpenetrate, the Buddha-mind appears within the ordinary heart. Both phenomena and principle must be cultivated; one seeks the wisdom of a Buddha by relying on original wisdom.

Master Chonghua Zan said:

Traces are left in the air, in the mud, and in the water; on level ground, cold waves surge up in rivalry. Even if advancing and retreating, taking and letting go, are all accomplished with perfect thoroughness, in the end it is still like a sacred tortoise dragging its tail as it crawls, leaving marks behind.

The monk Danjiao inscribed upon a portrait:

The form is painted in the hope of thereby seeing oneself; once truly seen, it only wounds the spirit. This is already a dream within a dream, and now one meets a body beyond the body. Water-blossoms congeal into illusory shapes; ink gathers into empty shadows of dust. Alas, you and I alike remain those who have not yet truly understood.

Dew hangs on the green grass, and the autumn wind stirs the white duckweed. A single cry of a cold wild goose passes overhead, rousing those who have not yet awakened.

When the sun sends out its blazing light and shines upon fine dust, the two appear red together, yet the sun is not red in itself. When water is clear and still and reflects faint shadows of cloud, the two appear green together, yet the water is not green in itself.

The very root of a monk's life is bound to the essential teaching of the mind-method transmitted by the ancient Buddhas. It is like the bright moon reflected on the water: once it appears, countless moon-shadows are reflected in ten thousand ripples. It is also like the sharp "hair-splitting sword": once it is drawn, it seems no one within a thousand miles can withstand it.

When the fire of desire blazes up, pour on the water of precepts. To guard carefully against that fire, pour on the water of meditative concentration (samadhi). When the fire of ignorance (wuming, delusion and obscurity) blazes up, pour on the water of wisdom. A spirit spring wells up without cease and dissolves the restlessness of the heart; the water of wisdom trickles on without end and nourishes the pure chamber of the mind. A thousand rivers hold water, and the precious moon is reflected in the cold pool; the well water of ten thousand households lies without a ripple, and the golden wind blows across the whole land, reflecting a cool, clear face.

Chan Master Maizhi raised a single finger, and even a single hair could pull nine oxen. Mount Hua towers high, its color joined to the blue sky; the Yellow River rushes on as if flowing straight to its bed. Cut off the finger, and quickly turn your head to look: before the green bamboo hat lies a boundless scene, and beneath the green rain cape, all affairs at once come to rest.

The blue sky is clear and cloudless, and the bright moon hangs high in the autumn night. The Yangtze is as clear as white silk, and a fresh breeze blows without pause. The Daoist in the forest is serene and at leisure, and as they look upon one another, their hearts are glad. Yet this still belongs to the expedient realm used to teach people. What, then, is the realm of the Daoist's own true portion? Sitting idly on a rock, watching the flowing water, wishing to wash the dust from the Chan robe. Beneath the moonlight, the Yangtze is still as clear as white silk, and the fresh breeze still blows without pause; the Daoist in the forest is still serene and at ease, and as they look upon one another, their hearts are still glad. Yet this still belongs to the expedient realm used to teach people. What, then, is the realm of the Daoist's own true portion? Sitting idly on a rock, watching the flowing water, wishing to wash a Chan robe not yet stained by dust.

When a thought of doubt arises in the mind, it is as if one is pressed down by the great earth; when greed and attachment arise, it is as if one is submerged by water; when cautious vigilance arises, it is as if one is scorched by fire; when joy arises, it is as if one is scattered by the wind. If one can discern the mind’s thoughts in this way and not be led along by external circumstances, then one can freely employ those circumstances in every situation.

Once words leave the mouth, one has already fallen into discriminative thinking; even if one considers oneself thoroughly transcendent, one may still be trapped in degeneration. Eating all day without clinging to a single grain of rice; wearing clothes all day without being entangled by a single thread. Only upon reaching this state can one turn the great earth into gold and churn the long river into butter—this describes the mind unconstrained by objects and circumstances, able to employ all things freely.

Chan Master Fawei

The Dharmakaya (the body of truth that transcends form) has no fixed form and cannot be sought through sound; the wondrous Dao cannot be spoken of and cannot be grasped merely through written words. Even if one claims to have transcended the Buddha and the ancestral masters, one still falls within the sequential stages of cultivation.

Chan Master Fawei

The Dharmakaya has no fixed form and cannot be sought by sound; the wondrous Dao is ineffable and cannot be understood solely through texts. Even claiming to surpass the Buddha and patriarchs, one remains within the stepwise progression; even when discussing mysterious principles, one will ultimately be bound by language and writing. One must accomplish outstanding deeds without self-conceit, leaving no traces of attachment; like withered wood and cold cliffs, no longer possessing any moist vitality; like an illusory person or a wooden horse, with all emotional consciousness and discrimination emptied into silence. Only then can one let the hands hang down and enter the world, turning to appear as different kinds. Yet do not take the Uncontaminated Land (the pure realm free of afflictions and faults) as a place to remain; one must still go beyond the mist-enshrouded mountain recesses onto the cold sands, continuing to respond to the world and carry out transformation.

Chan Master Conglun

It is like a bright pearl in the palm: when a Hu person comes, it manifests the appearance of a Hu person; when a Han person comes, it manifests the appearance of a Han person. One may take a single blade of grass as the sixteen-foot golden body (the Buddha-body measuring one zhang and six chi in height), or take the sixteen-foot golden body as a single blade of grass; the essential point is to manifest according to conditions and employ it freely.

Inscription on a Portrait by Chan Master Zhiming Hui

Tender light-red peach-blossom calyxes in two places, light-green willow strands swaying gently in the breeze. Among the shadows of white clouds, strangely formed rocks emerge; the emerald water’s light reflects secluded ancient trees. Ah! Who exactly are you?

Chan Master Muzheng

Flowers bloom on the mountain ridges, willow buds open along the dikes. The oriole sings as if playing the qin melodies of Ji Shuye; fragrant grasses meet the eye as if inscribed in the verses of Master Xie. Why insist on seeing forms and appearances before illuminating the mind, or hearing sounds before awakening to the Dao? This is like searching for vomit on the water’s surface, or having grains of sand enter the eyes. In delusion one must rely on the teachings of the Three Vehicles (the three categories of practice of Hearers, Solitary Realizers, and Bodhisattvas); after awakening to the Dao, one knows that originally there was not a single word.

Monk Duochong

A concave mirror makes a person appear thin, a convex mirror makes a person appear fat. Better to smash the mirror, leaving not even fragments behind. In delusion one needs the help of the Three Vehicles teachings; after awakening to the Dao, one knows that originally there is not a single word.

When a mirror is concave, the person it reflects appears thin; when it is convex, the person appears fat. Better to smash the mirror and restore my original appearance.

Chan Master Duanji (the honorific of the Tang-dynasty Chan master Huangbo Xiyun) said:

Thoughts do not cease merely because one forgets external objects, nor do external objects vanish merely because thoughts cease. Wishing to forget external objects, one cannot even accomplish the extinguishing of thoughts; wishing to extinguish thoughts, one cannot even accomplish the forgetting of thoughts.

The most profound deluded thoughts are not the same as ignorance, nor is the revelation of true nature the same as possessing wisdom. People call arising deluded thoughts “true” and the loss of true nature “deluded.” How could there be any principle by which deluded thoughts become true nature together with ignorance, or return to true nature together with wisdom, rendering delusion and truth indistinguishable? In reality it is simply that wisdom and ignorance differ from each other. Therefore Master Guan said: “When true nature is lost, deluded thoughts arise; when true nature is realized, deluded thoughts cease.” Once the principle is understood, the boundary that language can reach is cut off—what words remain with which to discuss it? After the essential meaning is grasped, the pathways of mental activity disappear—what remains to be pondered? Thus the Tiantai school says: “The mouth wishes to speak but finds no suitable words; the mind wishes to think but thoughts have already been forgotten.”

The principles of the myriad things are empty, still, and perfectly interfused; all manner of thoughts likewise vanish into silence. They were never truly existent to begin with, so why force them into “nonexistence”? What clamor can truly clamor? What stillness can truly be still? If one understands that the myriad things and the self are originally fused as one, and that wherever they are is none other than a place of the Way, why chase after clamor among crowds or seek solitude in empty valleys? Therefore abandoning the moving in order to pursue the still is like Sengyou’s preference for distortion; leaving resentment in order to pursue closeness is like hating the fence yet loving the cage.

If one uses awareness to be aware of stillness, this does not mean awareness is entirely absent, just as holding a ruyi (a ritual implement symbolizing the fulfillment of wishes) in the hand does not cause the hand to disappear. If one relies on oneself to be aware of oneself, this likewise does not mean awareness is entirely absent, just as the hand forming itself into a fist does not cause the hand to disappear. Neither being aware of stillness nor deliberately being aware of oneself can be said to constitute an absence of perception, because self-nature is originally clearly and distinctly luminous. Therefore human beings differ from wood and stone: a hand that neither holds a ruyi nor forms a fist cannot be said not to exist; the hand is simply at ease and free, and thus human beings also differ from illusory things that possess rabbit horns.

In the three times of past, present, and future there are no afflictions in the past that can be removed, no fixed self-nature in the present that can be guarded, and no Buddha in the future that can be accomplished. This is called the cutting off of the three times, and is also called the purity of the three karmas of body, speech, and mind.

The moment I give rise to a thought, that thought already belongs to the past; only when the thought has not yet arisen can it be considered the future. The mind of the future is not the mind of the past, so where then is the present mind? Those who cultivate and study must understand: as soon as a thought just arises, upon investigation it is already ungraspable, having already become the past. The past does not exist, and the future is empty of all things; this is the Buddha of the future. At this moment every thought does not linger, so where is it? Those who cultivate and study must understand: as soon as a thought just arises, upon investigation it is already ungraspable, having already become the past. The past does not exist, and the future is empty of all things; this is the Buddha of the future. At this moment every thought does not linger, this is the Buddha of the present. Every thought corresponds with this principle, and thus every thought can become Buddha. This is the initial expedient method for those beginning the path of cultivation and study.

Chan Master Huiri

In a single leap, it is as if illuminating the Four Great Seas (the four basic elements that constitute the world); with a single punch, it is as if striking down Mount Sumeru (the central great mountain in Buddhist cosmology). Yet even the realms of Buddhas and patriarchs cannot hold me; I again play the fish flute and moor in Luo Bay.

There is no need to pursue the mind, only to cease views of discrimination. Although the Great Master the Third Patriarch (Sengcan, third patriarch of Chan) avoided the golden hook, he did not know he had already swallowed the red coin. Huiri is not like this: neither pursuing the true nor deliberately ceasing views, but riding the ox backwards into the Buddha hall. At the sound of the herding flute, heaven and earth suddenly open wide; I respectfully bow to the yellow-faced Buddha countenance of Tanzhen (the person referred to here).

Monk Budai

I have a cloth bag, empty and vast, without any hindrance. When unfolded, it pervades the worlds of the ten directions; even among crowds, I can remain free and at ease.

With a single alms bowl I eat the offerings of a thousand households; alone I walk ten thousand miles. Few are those who can see with a clear gaze, so I ask the way toward the end of the white clouds.

Master Shun of Baiyang

Good things arrive one after another, without need for deliberate contrivance or arrangement. Yellow leaves fall in the forest, allowed to be carried away by the flowing water; white clouds recline across the valley, rolled back by the wind. At a single cry of the cold wild goose, clinging thoughts are cut off; as soon as the bell sounds on a frosty night, it is as if the entire mountain has collapsed. Baiyang still has that which surpasses others: all night he watches over the cold stove, stirring the ashes that have already been extinguished.

Monk Run

After delusive thoughts are completely shed and one returns to original authenticity, all entanglements dissolve into emptiness and stillness. Ordinary people and sages, numerous as the sands of the Ganges, were never different in their fundamental nature. While lost, everything one sees and does resembles a moth flying into flame; once awakened, it is like a crane soaring free from its cage, restoring natural ease. The moon’s reflection appears in a thousand streams, while a solitary pine simply lets the winds of the four seasons blow as they will. Only when the inner mind deeply accords with truth can one realize that an entire past lifetime was nothing more than a dream.

Huanglong Monk (Chan Buddhist monk)

The ancients established all manner of expedient methods simply to point out an entry path for everyone. Once the entrance is found, one must still seek the exit. To climb a mountain one must reach the summit; to enter the sea one must dive to the very bottom. Without reaching the peak, one never knows how vast heaven and earth truly are; without reaching the ocean floor, one never knows how deep the sea actually is. Once both the vastness of heaven and earth and the depths of the ocean are known, one must in a single movement overturn the four great seas and with one palm topple Mount Sumeru (the immense cosmic mountain of Buddhist cosmology). Letting go completely and returning to the source, others can no longer recognize you; magpies chatter and crows caw as if all of it were taking place among the cypress trees.

Anpi Master (Chan practitioner)

A solitary peak rises tall and unentangled by vines; a bright moon travels through empty space while white clouds drift freely. After seeing one’s original nature, one no longer clings to the Buddha; after realizing the Great Dao (the Way), one likewise no longer clings to any teacher.

Whatever dusty objects the eyes encounter (external phenomena) should be regarded as scenes in a dream or as illusory images; whatever sounds the ears hear should be regarded as wind moving through empty space or as the calls of birds; whatever thoughts arise in the mind should be regarded as ice and snow melting upon meeting heat, or as gold and iron dissolving in the furnace.

Zizai Chan Master (Chan practitioner)

The teaching “this very mind is Buddha” is a prescription given to those who treat practice as an illness they insist on curing. The teaching “neither mind nor Buddha” is simply another medicine offered according to the particular ailment.

Clear away confusion without extinguishing lucid awareness; abide in stillness without clinging to emptiness. Persist in this way of practice and genuine insight will arise of itself.

If one does not cling to form, one may simply shift to clinging to emptiness. How then does one avoid falling into either form or emptiness? If one does not abide in existence, one may instead abide in non-existence; how can that be called not falling into the two extremes of existence and non-existence? The No-Thought Chan Master said: thoughts were never truly existent, yet there is also no need to declare them utterly non-existent. Understanding this is what is meant by “no-thought.” It is like a traveler who loses the way and mistakes east for west—yet the directions themselves have never changed. Sentient beings, because of ignorance (delusion, not seeing things as they are), take the mind to be thoughts, while the mind itself has never moved.

Not being entangled by attachments is liberation. Removing afflictions, the mind becomes cool, clear, and pure. Seeing that the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness that constitute body and mind) are originally empty is profound prajna wisdom. Reaching the state of one-minded stillness where all thoughts cease is great nirvana (the realm of complete stillness and liberation).

Monk Damao

If one wishes to recognize the true principle, one discovers that it does not turn with circumstances. Ignorance (delusion, not understanding the truth) confuses people, so they regard the mind as successive thoughts; in reality the original nature of the mind does not waver.

Not being entangled by attachments is liberation. Removing afflictions, the mind becomes cool, clear, and pure. Seeing that the five aggregates are originally empty is profound prajna wisdom. Reaching the state of one-minded stillness where all thoughts cease is great nirvana.

Monk Damao

If one wishes to recognize the original nature of all Buddhas, observe it in the thoughts and actions of sentient beings. If one wishes to recognize the nature that does not wither or decay, observe it amid the constant change of the myriad things.

If one gives rise to the thought of wanting thoughts to cease, one will notice that the mind thinking of thoughts instead adds further afflictions. If one understands that “knowing” itself is also empty, this awareness becomes the gateway to various wondrous principles.

Chan Master Congyue

How pure are the ears and eyes, sitting alone in the secluded deep valley. Autumn wind blows into the ancient pines; autumn moon illuminates the cold waters. What truth does the monk still seek here? Two monkeys hanging four tails.

Self-nature is originally without attachment; without attachment is called stillness. People always chase the external circumstances before their eyes, thoughts succeeding one after another, and thus cannot abide in stillness in the present. Turning the light around (directing attention back to one’s own mind), the original face suddenly appears. With one thought of understanding, the attachments stirred by the six faculties (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind) dissipate.

Abbot of Xingkong Hermitage

Even if both mind and dharmas are put down, a layer of delusive thought may still intervene. Even if one realizes that form-objects (external appearances and sensory objects) are not two, residual attachment to the dusty realm remains. A hundred birds do not come; spring has passed again, yet one does not know who dwells in the hermitage.

Distinctions between the worldly and the true are all erased, yet the two observations of ultimate truth and conventional truth still constantly exist. Both sides of emptiness and existence are put down, and the single true flavor appears. Because true emptiness has never left existence; it is precisely by means of existence that emptiness and illusion can be distinguished. Existence has never departed from emptiness; it is precisely by means of emptiness that existence can be understood.

Emptiness and non-emptiness—who knows who dwells in the hermitage.

Distinctions between the worldly and the true are all erased; ultimate truth and conventional truth still constantly exist. Both sides of emptiness and existence are put down, and the single true flavor appears. True emptiness has never left existence; by means of existence one can distinguish emptiness and illusion. Existence has never departed from emptiness; by means of emptiness one can understand existence. “Empty yet not empty” does not mean annihilating everything; “existent yet not existent” does not mean regarding the myriad things as eternally unchanging. After the four attachments (attachments to existence, non-existence, both existence and non-existence, and neither existence nor non-existence) are eliminated, various erroneous views are likewise discarded.

Chan Master Shui’an

Concealing oneself, leaving no place that can be approached and nothing that needs hiding; completely shedding all reliance, one can directly face the real. The ancient mirror needs no effort; it naturally reflects itself. Pale smoke and mist infuse the autumn light and colors.

To realize “emptiness” (not clinging to a fixed inherent nature) is what is real; clinging to the “I” instead falls into delusion. When illness arises, medicine should be used to treat it; once the illness is gone, the medicine too must be set down.

Master Changqing:

To enter the gate of cultivating the Dao (the Way), one must practice the two methods of “stopping” and “observing.” “Obstructions of principle” are attachment to and prejudice about doctrine; “obstructions of affairs” cause the cycle of birth and death to continue. Without deep and vast observation, how can one eliminate the obstructions of principle? Without profound cessation, how can one overcome the obstructions of affairs?

One relies on the mind to awaken to the Dao, yet the Dao is not originally mind; one relies on the eyes to see light, yet light is not originally the eyes. Cut off delusive thinking, let go of clinging, investigate that originally non-existent attached view, embody De (Virtue/Power), and realize the Tathagata (the awakened one). Recognize what is originally possessed, and also understand what is originally absent: by relying on the principle of “originally non-existent,” one is freed from all bindings; by relying on the originally possessed luminous nature, one illuminates and shatters all darkness—this is the sun of wisdom that radiates great light.

Chan Master Yuanjue:

One breaks through delusion in pursuit of awakening, yet does not know that delusion is precisely the tool that forges awakening; one loves the sage and dislikes the ordinary, yet does not know that the ordinary is precisely the furnace that accomplishes the sage. If sage and ordinary both melt away, and delusion and awakening are forgotten together, then how should one speak of it? In the middle of the night, rosy clouds envelop the jade elephant; at daybreak, the mountain peak is again covered by five-colored auspicious clouds.

Chan Master Huangyao:

When the sun rises, light fills the whole world, yet empty space itself does not thereby become bright; when the sun sets, darkness covers the whole world, yet empty space itself does not thereby become dark. Brightness and darkness succeed one another, yet the nature of empty space remains always open and at ease. The minds of Buddhas and sentient beings are likewise. If, when contemplating the Buddha, one regards the Buddha as an image of purity and light and regards sentient beings as images of defilement and darkness, then even after passing through countless kalpas one will ultimately be unable to realize bodhi (awakening).

Ordinary people always let their minds move with external circumstances. If one wishes not to be drawn by external circumstances, one must forget the discriminating, clinging mind; when the mind no longer clings, external circumstances no longer become bonds, and delusive thoughts dissipate. Upon seeing good appearances coming to welcome one, do not give rise to joy; upon seeing various evil appearances, do not give rise to worry. Simply let go of the clinging mind so that the mind accords with the Dharmadhatu (the true nature shared by all things), and one will attain freedom.

When there is no thought in the mind that cannot dwell in peace, this is called “illumination.” When all desires have dissolved, this is called “forgetting.” Forgetting and illumination appear to be two matters, yet they are in fact one; they appear to be one matter, yet they may also be spoken of as two. At the time of forgetting, the mind is clear and settled, never having lost its awakened illumination; at the time of illumination, not a trace of dusty thought remains in the mind, nor has it ever departed from the thought of forgetting. This alone is genuine forgetting and illumination.

Zhang Zhuo Xiucai

The bright and silent awakened illumination pervades worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Ordinary persons and sages, as well as all spiritually endowed sentient beings, dwell together with me in one homeland. When not a single thought arises, the whole of the mind is fully manifested; once the six roots (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind) stir into activity, the mind is as if veiled by clouds. Deliberately cutting off afflictions only increases afflictions; single-mindedly seeking Suchness (the true and unchanging nature) still leads one into deviation. Following along with all conditions without attachment, there is nothing to which one clings. Nirvana and birth-and-death are both as illusory as flowers in empty space.

Master Yu of Nanhua

To seek survival is originally without any real “life”; to fear extinction, how could one possibly make extinction halt even temporarily? What the eyes see in person is not necessarily superior to what the ears hear in person; what the mouth utters, how can it compare with what the nose smells?

Scooping the moon from water, seeking a head in a mirror, marking the boat to recover a sword, riding an ox in search of an ox—all are futile. Flowers in the sky, heat haze (the shimmering apparition in the distance that resembles water), dreams, illusions, and bubbles are all merely empty. Cross them out with a single stroke of the brush; when it is time to let go, just let go. Already singing the songs of the village sacrifice, enjoying the delights of rustic countryside; even while situated in ordinary circumstances, there remains a natural unfettered elegance.

Buddha and sentient beings originally have no distinction. The awakened person is able to transform external things so that all phenomena return to the mind—this is the Buddhas; the deluded person solely clambers outward in pursuit, falsely turning along with external things—this is sentient beings.

Wugouzi

The Buddhas of the three times—past, present, and future—all reside within one’s own body. It is merely that people are obscured by habitual tendencies and inborn nature; if external circumstances can be returned to one’s own mind, that is the Buddhas. Deluded people always chase after the external, allowing false thoughts to turn along with things—this is sentient beings.

The Buddhas of the three times—past, present, and future—all reside within one’s own body. People are obscured by habitual tendencies and pulled by external circumstances, and thus become lost. If the mind no longer clings to a real “mind,” this is the Past Buddha; remaining silent and unmoving is the Future Buddha; responding to things according to conditions is the Present Buddha; pure and unstained is the Stainless Buddha; coming and going freely without grasping at attainments is the Supernatural-Power Buddha; wherever the body is, remaining at ease and free is the Sovereign Buddha; the single mind clear and not benighted is the Luminous Buddha; the thought of the Dao (the Way) firm and unshaken is the Indestructible Buddha; although transformations are of many kinds, in the final analysis there is still only one true nature.

Chan Master Fachang

The Buddha comes from Wuwei (non-action) and ultimately returns to Wuwei. The Dharmakaya (the fundamental body of the Buddha) is as vast as empty space, constantly abiding in no-mind and no-thought. Where there is thought, it returns to no-thought; where there is clinging, it returns to non-clinging. The Buddha comes for the sake of sentient beings and likewise goes for the sake of sentient beings. How pure and free of contention this is.

Chan Master Fachang said:

The Buddha comes from Wuwei and ultimately returns to Wuwei. The Dharmakaya is as vast as empty space, constantly abiding in no-mind and no-thought. Where there is thought, it returns to no-thought; where there is clinging, it returns to non-clinging. The Buddha comes for the sake of sentient beings and likewise goes for the sake of sentient beings. Suchness (the true unchanging nature) is as pure as the ocean, clear, tranquil and at ease, its essential nature forever unchanging. Those who understand should contemplate this well and give rise to no further doubts.

The original essence of the Buddha is Wuwei from the beginning; it is only deluded emotional consciousness that arbitrarily discriminates. The Dharmakaya is as vast as empty space and has never known birth or extinction. When causes and conditions are complete the Buddha appears in the world; when causes and conditions are exhausted the Buddha manifests entering nirvana. The Buddha teaches sentient beings everywhere, like the moon’s reflection in water. It is neither eternally unchanging nor annihilated, neither born nor extinguished. What is called birth has never truly been born; what is called extinction has never truly been extinguished. If one can thoroughly see that there is no profound point here that can be grasped, then naturally there is nothing left to say.

Master Yi of Bao’en said:

Yajnadatta (a figure in an ancient parable) mistook the image in the mirror for his own head. When lost, was he not carrying his head while searching everywhere for it? While still deluded the head had never actually been lost; upon awakening it was not that he newly obtained a head. Why? When a person is deluded it is called loss; when awakened it is called gain. Gain and loss rest upon a person’s recognition—what have they to do with the movement or stillness of the thing itself?

National Teacher Qingliang said:

Yajnadatta mistook the image in the mirror for his own head. When lost, was he not carrying his head while searching everywhere for it? While still deluded the head had never actually been lost; upon awakening it was not that he newly obtained a head. Why? When a person is deluded it is called loss; when awakened it is called gain. Gain and loss rest upon a person’s recognition—what have they to do with the movement or stillness of the thing itself?

The supreme Dao (the Way) begins in the mind, and the method of cultivating the mind lies in not clinging to anything. The nature of the "non-abiding" mind is stillness. It does not fall into being or emptiness, arising or ceasing. If you try to find it, you cannot obtain it, and if you try to cast it aside, you cannot leave it. If you lose sight of the true state before you, all manner of confusion and distress will arise. If you awaken to your true nature, the mind becomes empty, luminous, and transparent. Although it is said that "this very mind is Buddha," only those who have experienced it for themselves can understand.

Yet if you cling to having realized something or knowing something, the light of wisdom sinks into the realm of "being." If you have no insight or awareness at all, a murky fog of dullness will cloud the gateway of "emptiness." Only when not a single thought arises are the distinctions of past, present, and future cut off. Then the substance of illuminating awareness stands forth on its own, and the myriad things and the self are equal and one. At this point one no longer relies on delusion and awakening as a basis, nor on the opposition of true and false to understand things.

To strive deliberately for the true and eliminate false thoughts is like chasing a shadow and wearing out the body in vain. To realize that the nature of false thought is itself true nature is like standing in the shade, where the shadow vanishes of its own accord. If you do not deliberately stir the mind to contemplate, deluded thoughts will cease. If you follow the natural course and abide in still and clear awareness, myriad practices and functions will arise from it.

Therefore, awakening to stillness is not clinging to "stillness," and true insight is not clinging to "knowing." With a single mind in which knowing and stillness are not two, one accords with the subtle principle in which emptiness and being interpenetrate. One neither dwells nor grasps, neither deliberately restrains nor deliberately holds on. Right and wrong are both set down, and the observing subject and the observed object dissolve together. When even this dissolving is no longer clung to, Prajna wisdom appears.

Every thought can become Buddha, and there is no thought that is not the Buddha-mind. One can attain the Dao wherever one stands, and there is no place in the mundane world that is not a Buddha-land. Thus true and false, the myriad things and the self, can all be grasped as one whole. Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings are fundamentally seamless, interfused, and equal, without distinction.

From this we know that when deluded, people are ruled by external things. The myriad things each differ, and so people, too, differ from one another. When awakened, the myriad things follow the nature of the human mind, each person is fully endowed with the same wisdom, and all realms can be harmoniously integrated. In a place that words and thoughts cannot reach, how could there be talk of cause and effect? The original substance is by nature still, empty, and luminous, so how could there be sameness or difference? If you simply let go of attachments and make the mind empty, quiet, and bright, all things will naturally flow together without obstruction. It is like the moonlight on water, which is illusory and without substance yet clearly visible, or like a mindless mirror reflecting images, which can show all things while the mirror itself remains forever empty and still.

—Chan Master Fazhen

The willows take on a faint smoky hue as spring light restores beauty to all things. A solitary peak rises steep and high while a hundred flowers bloom in rivalry. White clouds drift slowly as if wholly without attachment; the green mountains that fill the eyes have never been shaken. An old fisherman sits angling, the stream still carrying a lingering chill; the wilderness ferry stands empty of people, the ancient emerald pool clear as a mirror.

The shadow appears together with the form, the echo follows upon the sound. To remove afflictions and move toward Nirvana (the realm that transcends the troubles of birth and death) is like leaving the body behind so that one is no longer bound by form.

Chan Master Ximing said:

Forest leaves fall in profusion and the breath of early autumn already shows itself between heaven and earth. To comprehend the intent of the Western Patriarchs (the ancestral teachers of Chan from India), why must one run about seeking everywhere? If someone deeply grasps this essential meaning and thoroughly penetrates its root, they will understand that whether in the movements of activity and stillness or in walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, every place accords with the Dao (the Way) and every thought returns to the original source.

Did the patriarchs not say that only in delusion do distinctions of stillness and disturbance arise, while after awakening there are no preferences or aversions? Gain and loss, right and wrong, should all be laid down together. In that case, who is right and who is wrong, who is deluded and who is awakened? It is merely that people each produce different views, calculating large and small and clinging to existence and non-existence. The inner spiritual nature is originally bright by itself, yet people refuse to acknowledge it; the bright moon in the mind is originally complete, yet people themselves generate contradiction. This is like a person who lives at home yet abandons their father, or who has a pearl hidden in their clothing yet forgets it is there. Therefore thorns grow densely on the path of Bodhi (the way of awakening), and in the empty space of liberation the clouds and mists of delusion obscure the sunlight.

Chan Master Doushuai said:

Roads crisscross at the foot of Long’an Mountain and towers rise in layers within the Tushita Palace. This place is neither heaven nor the human realm; those who arrive here can set their minds at ease and forget all wandering thoughts. One skilled at walking need not move the feet; one skilled at entering need not cross a threshold. In the empty space of liberation the clouds and mists of delusion obscure the sunlight.

At the foot of Long’an Mountain the roads stretch in every direction; within the Tuṣita Palace, storied pavilions rise in successive layers. Though that place is neither in heaven nor in the human world, once one arrives there the mind grows still and all distracting thoughts are forgotten. Those skilled at walking need not move their feet; those skilled at entering need not push open a pair of doors, and so they naturally transcend the dream of the dusty world. Who would still reckon the passing of time or the wearing away of the years?

That being so, is there yet a higher realm? There are no long days left to wait: do not let the stone before the cliff roll down and shatter the clouds below that veil the sunlight.

From the fundamental of the Dao (the Way), to speak of it is not correct, and not to speak of it is also not correct. Even if both speech and silence are set aside, the root itself has still not been reached. Why? The radiance of the ancient Buddhas and the bearing of the great virtuous ones of former generations all appear from within the absence of desire and the absence of any reliance.

At times it stands solitary, lofty and steep, so firm that nothing can shake it; at other times it is as though all things have merged into one, with nothing clearly distinguishable. It never remains fixed in any particular place, nor does it cling to either extreme. It neither affirms nor denies, neither calls anything right nor wrong. When it is obtained there is nothing obtained; when it is lost there is nothing lost. It has never been separated from anyone by so much as a hair’s breadth, nor has it ever undergone the slightest change.

This perfectly clear ancient Dao does not reside in the obscure and mysterious. It comes straight toward you and in an instant has already passed beyond. Since it does not dwell in any “correct” position, how could it fall into a deviant path? Since it does not pursue distinctions of large and small, how could it enter a narrow track? Looking back, one cannot find it; looking outward, there is nothing that can stand opposite it. In a single thought all things are surveyed, the mind-state open, vast, and empty-still.

This fundamental tenet cannot be transmitted even by a thousand sages; it can only be personally understood in the present moment, and thereby discrimination is transcended right here. From this it can be seen that when the mind is empty-bright and completely unattached, thinking of it is actually easy; when the mind is vividly clear, realizing it remains difficult. A person of genuine cultivation, having put everything down, will not take it up again. It reveals light and auspiciousness everywhere, severs traces and tracks everywhere; in responding to circumstances it never stalls, and in speech there is nothing that can be pointed out. No stirring can make it turbid; even throwing the whole body against it cannot smash it. What, after all, is this that is so spiritually wondrous and extraordinary?

Do not try to recognize its face, nor give it a name, nor search for the place where it is. Why? It has no fixed location, no name, and no face. The moment a thought of seeking arises, it is as though ten lives and five worlds intervene. Better to drop the search and let it be spontaneously free. When it wishes to appear it appears; when it wishes to abide it abides. It is natural, yet not the so-called natural; it is thus-thus unmoving, yet not attached to “thus-thus”; it is pure and silent, yet not attached to “purity and silence”; it resembles decay and extinction, yet does not fall into decay and extinction.

It is not attached to life nor afraid of death; it does not seek the Buddha nor fear demons; it does not merge with bodhi nor follow afflictions; it neither grasps any dharma nor rejects any dharma. It is present everywhere, yet one cannot say it is everywhere; it is neither apart from the myriad things nor stuck to them. If one can realize it in this way, one will see that Shakyamuni is simply Shakyamuni and Bodhidharma is simply Bodhidharma.

The eighty-four thousand methods of practice have always stood wide open; throughout the trichiliocosm, Buddhas as numerous as motes of dust are all expounding the Buddhadharma. One neither affirms “existence” nor “non-existence,” neither “neither existence nor non-existence” nor “both existence and non-existence.” Why? In order to pass beyond the four propositions of existence, non-existence, both, and neither, and so avoid falling into any of the erroneous views. When they meet and raise their eyes to look at one another, few understand what is meant. Yesterday the frost wind blew and let the secret slip; the plum blossoms still cling to the cold branches.

One neither speaks of “neither existence nor non-existence” nor of “both existence and non-existence.” Why? In order to pass beyond the four propositions of existence, non-existence, both, and neither, and so avoid falling into any of the erroneous views. When they meet and raise their eyes to look at one another, few understand what is meant. Yesterday the frost wind blew and let the secret slip; the plum blossoms still cling to the cold branches.

It is neither an external object nor an inner thought. To call it Buddha is only to sink into it. Originally there are no ranks of high or low here; one must not go looking in the place called “no ranks.” If one seeks nothing at all, one sinks still deeper. Only when the attachment to the Yunmen school’s so-called “rice bag” is smashed does one realize that red earth was gold all along.

Here ends the Scripture of the Formula of Non-Birth.

On the auspicious day of the Shangyuan Festival in the dingwei year, the thirty-fifth year of the Wanli reign of the Ming dynasty, Zhang Guoxiang, successor to the Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) teaching, Great Perfected of concentrated sincerity who aspires to the Dao, elucidates the mystery and broadly promulgates the teaching, and who oversees Daoist affairs throughout the realm, collated and printed this text by imperial command.