Selections from The Bodhidharma Anthology

[As the classic theoretician of the practice of gazing at the topic states, in this method the trainee is not to employ discriminative understanding, doctrinal understanding, thinking or calculation, intuition, verbal strategy, absolute nonchalance, engagement, analysis of the words, or anything else; one should simply “twenty-four hours a day and in all four postures constantly raise up the topic and constantly be aware of it.”]

Now, in entering the path there are many roads. To summarize them, they reduce to two types. The first is entrance by principle and the second entrance by practice. Entering by principle means that one awakens to the thesis by means of the teachings, and one deeply believes that all living beings, common and sagely, are identical to the True Nature; that it is merely because of the unreal covering of adventitious dust that the True Nature is not revealed. If one rejects the false and reverts to the real and in a coagulated state abides in wall-examining, then self and other, common man and sage, are identical; firmly abiding without shifting, in no way following after the written teachings—This is mysteriously tallying with principle. It is non-discriminative, quiescent, and inactive; we call it entrance by principle.

I have always admired the former wise ones. I broadly cultivated all the practices. I have always esteemed the Pure Lands of the Buddhas and looked up to the teachings that have come down to us as a thirsty man longs for water. Those who have been able to meet Sakyamuni Buddha and realize the great path are in the millions; those who have obtained the four fruits are numberless. I really thought that the heavenly mansions were another country and the hells another place, that if one were to attain the path and get the fruit, one’s bodily form would change. I unrolled sutra scrolls to seek blessings; through pure practice I tried to produce karmic causes. In confusion I went around in circles, chasing my mind and creating karma; thus I passed many years without the leisure to take a rest. Then for the first time I dwelled upright in *dark quiescence* and settled external objects in the kingdom of mind. However, I had been cultivating false thought for such a long time that my feelings led me to continue to see characteristics. I came to the point where I wanted to probe the difficulties inherent in these illusionary transformations. In the end I clearly apprehended the Dharma Nature and engaged in a coarse practice of Thusness. For the first time I realized that within the square inch of my own mind there is nothing that does not exist. The bright pearl comprehends clearly and darkly penetrates the deep tendency of things. From the Buddhas above to the wriggling insects below there is nothing that is not another name for false thought.

Toppling the flag-pole of the linear and raising the flag-pole of the Real is the heart of the matter. One in a sense converts to coagulated wall-gazing (like a wall perceives) as the passing shadows of discriminative phenomena dissolve into the Unmoving Dark and Illuminative Principle (dark quiescence) cruxating (decisive one-pointedness) in the Nirvanic Mind. Dwelling now in the Realm of Thusness all is settled—from the Buddhas above to the wriggling insects below—in a Spirit of Equanimity. Yes, within the twenty-four hours of the day in this Dharma-field of no-birth, it is always High Noon. (Nirabhasagocara: the imageless realm of no-shadows)

Tags: Bodhidharma Anthology, dark quiescence, wall-gazing

John of the Cross (1542-1591)

This Carmelite mystic, a true Black Dragon, once whispered the following—intended as an antidote for those afflicted by endless yearnings; with one paraphrased nuance:

To reach satisfaction in all
desire its possession in nothing.
To come to possession in all
desire the possession of nothing.
To arrive at being all
desire to be nothing.
To come to the knowledge of all
desire the knowledge of nothing.
To come to the pleasure you have not
you must go by the way in which you enjoy not.
To come to the knowledge you have not
you must go by the way in which you know not.
To come to the possession you have not
you must go by the way in which you possess not.
To come by the what you are not
you must go by a way in which you are not.
When you turn toward something
you cease to cast yourself upon the all.
For to go from all to the all
you must deny yourself of all in all.
And when you come to the possession of the all
you must possess it without *wanting* anything.
Because if you desire to have something in all
your treasure in the Unborn is not purely your all.”

Once desire is laid-low, the All will reveal Itself freely and unhindered in All as All…
One slight movement—one minuscule desirous intent—then the Living Flame of the Unborn is extinguished.

Tags: desire, John of the Cross, yearnings

From Zen Master Keizan’s Transmission of Light (All passages taken from The Denkōroku: The Record of the Transmission of the Light; all Capitalized words are representative of THAT WHICH IS UNBORN, UNCOMPOSED, UNDYING and UNCREATED )

Once you become conscious of the LORD OF THE HOUSE then, to be sure, Mahākāśyapa will be able to wriggle his toes in your shoes. Do you not know that Gautama completely vanished at the very moment when ‘Gautama raised His eyebrows and blinked His eyes’ and that Mahākāśyapa realized his TRUE SELF at the very moment when Mahākāśyapa’s face broke out in a smile’? This is not the delusion of a personal substantive self! To the contrary, the EYE AND TREASURY OF THE TRUE LAW has been completely entrusted to you yourself; therefore, whatever name you give IT, do not call IT Mahākāśyapa’s or Shakyamuni’s.

There is no Dharma to impart to another nor any to receive from another—this is what I call the TRUE DHARMA. To express this Shakyamuni held the flower aloft to let it be known that IT was, is and will be immutable and indestructible whilst Mahākāśyapa broke into a smile to let it be known that IT was, is and will be beyond beginning or end; in this way Master and disciple met face to face and their life-lines flowed into each other. Their perfectly pure, bright, full understanding has nothing to do with ‘thinking in the mind’.

The “Lord of the House” is the Inner-Dharma Master—an Unborn Spirit imbued with Nirvanic Light Itself. Before you blink in consternation at this realization, IT has already moved the blossoming Lotus Flower before your Mind’s Eye. IT is the Dharma-Eye—the Inner-Lord and Guardian of the True Buddhadharma. IT does not belong to you or Mahākāśyapa or Buddha Gautama; IT is the Sacred Reliquary THAT reveals your True Lord and Master. When your smile and Mahākāśyapa’s become As One, then you will be entrusted with the TRUE DHARMA SEAL: Recollection of the Self-Same Singular Smile of the Dharmakaya ITself.

Tags: Mahākāśyapa, The Denkōroku, Zen Master Keizan

Zen Master Ejo

Not fearing life and death is because of not seeing oneself. Not seeing oneself means not being self-conscious, not having a self-image. The light of great wisdom is thus impersonal, so the verse says that wisdom is Buddha.

In spite of this, you think that it is a matter of loving the transitory body, which is like dew on the grass, like a floating bubble, when it comes to the great light that is your real body, you think it is an irrelevant discussion and suppose that there must be something more grandiose. Thus you waste your time talking about political conditions and the status of pious donations, without any stable practice reflecting consideration of how this idly passing life will end up.

If you have any attainment of faith or practice within this treasury of light, why would it be only your own personal liberation? Requiting the four debts above, providing sustenance for those in the three realms of being below, mountains, rivers, and earth, your own body and other’s bodies, are all the light of suchness, illuminating everywhere endlessly.
Great Master Caoshan said in a verse:

“The essence of awareness, round and bright, the body without form:
Do not force distance or closeness in knowledge and opinion.
When thoughts differ, they obscure the mystic being,
When mind diverges, it is not close to the Path.
When feelings distinguish myriad things, you sink into the objects before you;
When consciousness reflects many things, you lose the original reality.
If you understand completely what is in these lines,
Clearly, you are trouble free, as you were of yore.”

This is a direct indication, a direct explanation, within the treasury of light, which furthermore gives directions for subtle cultivation of fundamental realization. It does not matter whether you are a monk or a lay person, whether you are beginner or experienced, it makes no difference whether you are sharp or dull, or how much learning or knowledge you have. This just points directly at the formless body of the essence of awareness, round and bright, which is utterly unique and unmatched.

There is no self-image in the Unborn. It has no personal agendas nor does It ever engage in political intrigues or other deviant designs that lurk in the hearts of men. Separate from the mystic being all the myriad things appear and converge upon the Treasury of your True Body That is Deathless Suchness bathed in Luminous Unborn Light. Just point directly at That which Illuminates and not on any secondary phenomenalizations that obscure and hoard-away the markless mark. This is known as subtle cultivation of the Fundamental Element of Truth.

Tags: Ejo, treasury of light

Shanhui (497-569)

Poems of the Four States:

I.Birth

Relying upon the ovum, consciousness arises,
birth arises from love and desire.
In a time now past he grew up,
today he returns as a child.
The stars follow the cycle of human life,
red lips open for milk.
Because we are deluded to our true Dharma nature,
We still suffer in the cycle of birth and death.

II.Old Age

Look into the mirror and see how your face changed,
how climbing the stairs can take your strength.
You let out a sigh: now you are old,
going forward to bow, still your body is lacking.
Your body is like a tree grown near a precipice;
your mind is like a sea turtle longing for the ocean.
Still indulging in your outflows,
yet unwilling t0 study the unconditioned Dharma.

III.Sickness

Suddenly you contract a fatal illness,
and because of this, become bedridden.
Wife and children are silent and sad,
friends dislike being near you.
You suffer—pains in thousands of veins,
groaning so that the entire neighborhood hears.
Not knowing the dangers that lurk ahead,
you still indulge in desire and anger.

IV.Death

Consciousness bids farewell to life,
a wandering spirit enters the gates of death.
Countless numbers have departed—
I have not seen a single person return.
The Favored horse waits with a shrill neigh in vain,
the flowers in the courtyard will no longer be picked.
Hurry and seek the supreme Way
and avoid the four sufferings.

He came from someplace deep inside her long ago-
Disguised as a desirous seed of man but now returns again
As an infant, mewling and sucking and puking from
His mother’s bosom
The diurnal course reclaimed
Circling stars that yearn for milk
Forsaking the Light of our True Nature
Suffering Samsara’s cyclic-sting

Ādāsatala’s reflection betrays lost time
The ignoble ascent up well-worn steps saps strength
Long gone—old bones decry the awful climb!
The descent is no better as the abyss yawns wide
With tortuous outflows still yet bemoaning
A reluctant dharma-study that unconditionally cuts loose
The aged Tortoise’s yearning
For the dead things of the sea

Like a crack of thunder illness claims you
Wasting away beneath loathsome covers
As kinfolk lament the still and putrid
Night-air that keeps at bay
Lost friends of the languid hour
Suffering groans pierce through lonely avenues
Long laid waste to the approach of future dangers
Yet defiant desire and anger bitch on and on

Consciousness bids adieu to this present final peril
As spirit wails wild and shrill—once more into the Bardo, once more!
Incalculable multitudes descend into that dark and awful maul
Abandon all hope O Ye Who Enter Here!
Favorite courtesans wait in vain no longer to be plucked
Quick! Turn-about and enter the Path less travelled
Unborn and void of those ill-suited Suffering Four

Tags: Four States, Four Sufferings, Shanhui

More from Tōzan

One day Dungshan said goodbye to Master Yunyan. Yunyan asked, “Where are you going?”
“Although I’m leaving the master, I don’t know where I’ll end up.”
“Aren’t you going to Hunan?”
“No.”
“Going to your native place?”
“No.”
“When will you be back?”
“When you have a place to stay (i.e. heading a monastery) then I’ll be back.”
“Now that we part, it’ll be difficult to meet again.”
“It’ll be difficult not to meet again.”

As Dongshan was departing, he asked the master, “After a hundred years (i.e. when the master has passed away), if someone asks, ‘Have you seen the real master?’ how should I answer?”
After a long pause, Yunyan said, “Just this is it.”
Dongshan hesitated. Yunyan said, “Venerable Jie! To be able to take on this great affair, you need to be very careful and meticulous.”
Dongshan still had doubts. Later when he crossed a stream and saw his reflection in the water, he had a great awakening and understood Yunyan’s meaning. He composed this verse:

Just don’t seek from others, or you’ll be far estranged from self.
I now go on alone; everywhere I meet it.
It now is me; I now am not it.
One must understand in this way to merge with suchness.

Yunyan and Dongshan knew the same primordial face. IT is Yunyan’s and yet not Dongshan’s; IT is Dongshan’s and yet not Yunyan’s—different reflections bearing on the great affair, but the self-same face. For Suchness sake be still and know that IT is not you, but from time to time you will see IT in you as you are in IT.

Tags: Dongshan, Suchness, Tōzan, Yunyan

Master Dongshan Liangjie  (807-869  Jpn.: Tōzan Ryōkai)

-The Nonsentient Expounds the Dharma-

Dongshan next visited Master Guishan, and asked him, “I’ve heard that the National Teacher Huizhong taught that the nonsentient can expound the Dharma, I don’t understand the intricate meaning of this teaching.”
Master Guishan said, “Do you remember the dialog?”
“Yes.”
“Tell it again.”
Dongshan then repeated the following dialog: A monk asked, “What is the mind of the ancient Buddha?”
The National Teacher replied, “The wall and the rubble.”
“Aren’t the wall and the rubble nonsentient?”
“Yes.”
“Can they expound the Dharma?”
“They speak very clearly and never stop.”
“Why can’t I hear it?”
“You don’t hear it, that doesn’t prevent others from hearing it.”
“Who can hear it?”
“The holy sages can hear it.”
“Do you hear it, master?”
“I don’t”
“If the master doesn’t hear it, how can you know that the nonsentient can expound the Dharma?”
“It’s fortunate that I don’t hear it; if I did, I’d be the equal of the saints, then you won’t hear me expounding the Dharma.”
“Well then it’s hopeless for ordinary beings.”
“I speak to the ordinary beings, not to the holy sages.”
“What happens after ordinary beings hear it?”
“Then they are no longer ordinary beings.”
“According to what scriptures is this teaching of the nonsentient expounding the Dharma?”
“Indeed, a noble one should not speak without references to scriptures. Haven’t you seen in the Avatamsaka Sutra that says, ‘The world speaks, ordinary beings speak, everything in the three periods of time speak.’”

When Dongshan was done, Master Guishan said, “I have this teaching too, but rare is one who can appreciate it.”
Dongshan said, “I don’t understand; I beg the master to instruct me.”
Guishan lifted up his whisk, “Understand?”
“No, please explain to me.”
“The mouth that came from my parents will never explain it to you.”
“Are there someone else who follow the Way like you, master?”
“Go to You County in Liling, where there are stone houses connected together, there is a cultivator of the Way named Yunyan. If you can step through the grass and face the breeze (i.e. are undaunted by the difficulties and pay respects to the master), you won’t be disappointed.”

Dongshan then bid farewell to Guishan and found Master Yunyan. He recounted the previous koan and asked, “Who can hear the nonsentient things expounding the Dharma?”
“The nonsentient can.”
“Do you hear it, master?”
“If I did, you wouldn’t hear me expounding the Dharma.”

“Why can’t I hear it?”
Yunyan lifted up his whisk and said, “Do you hear it?”
“No.”
“You can’t even hear me expounding the Dharma, how can you hear the nonsentient?”
“According to what scriptures is this teaching of the nonsentient speaking the Dharma?”
“Haven’t you seen in the Amitabha Sutra which says, ‘The water, the birds, the forests all chant the Buddha and the Dharma?’”
Dongshan came to a realization, and said a verse:

How incredible! How incredible!
It’s inconceivable that the nonsentient expounds the Dharma!
You will never understand if you listen with your ears;
You will only know when you hear it with your eyes.

When one sees with eyes that hear
Then one keeps company with sea slugs that expound
The Wordless Buddhadharma

Tags: Dongshan, Tōzan

Master Yaoshan Weiyan (751-834)

One day Yaoshan was sitting on a rock. Master Shitou asked, “What are you doing here?”
Yaoshan replied, “Doing nothing (wu-wei)”
“Then you’re sitting idly.”
“To sit idly would be doing something.”
“You said doing nothing, what is it that you’re not doing?”
“What a thousand sages cannot recognize.”
Master Shitou praised him with a poem,
Always lived together with that which is nameless,
Getting by effortlessly, acting in suchness.
Not even the ancient sages recognize it,
How can a mere mortal understand it?

Later Master Shitou said, “Words and actions are completely irrelevant.”
Youshan replied, “No words and no actions are also irrelevant.”
“At my place not even a needle can get through.”
“At my place I’m planting flowers on a rock.”

Master Shitou nodded in approval. Later on Weiyan presided over a monastery in Mount Yao of the Li Prefacture, where many disciples gathered, and therefore was known as Master Yaoshan.

The Dark Principle is neither high nor low and does not rise a hairsbreadth above or below or in-between anything, or no-thing. A needle cannot penetrate through Its Imageless fragrance That is location-less yet pervades everywhere—even the apparently lifeless rocks break-free from their inflexible-slumber as Its kiss permits them to give birth to the myriad things. By staying out of Its way, Yaoshan allowed Mind’s Prior-Nirvanic spontaneity to simply shine through and perfume all the moment-less-moments in effortless and luminous sobriety.

Tags: dark principle, Wu-Wei, Yaoshan

From Hsin Hsin Ming

The Great Way is not difficult
for those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent
everything becomes clear and undisguised.
Make the smallest distinction, however,
and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
If you wish to see the truth
then hold no opinions for or against anything.
To set up what you like against what you dislike
is the disease of the mind.
When the deep meaning of things is not understood
the mind’s essential peace is disturbed to no avail.

The Way of the Unborn is easy when one discharges all manner of aberrations from the discriminatory mind. When the empty voices of love and hate are both silenced, All shines clearly in the transparent Light of Suchness. When mind makes the slightest movement then both heaven and hell intrude upon the reverie of the Eternal Satisfaction. The Truth is neither for nor against but resiliently rests on the Other Shore of Quiescent Stillness. Simply drop the search for meaning in all things and your disease will be cured. Mind’s Essential and Unified Stature is untouched and unsullied by the terrible-twos.

Tags: Hsin Hsin Ming, love and hate, Seng-Ts'an