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順支了悟 Shunzhi Liaowu (n.d.)

aka Sun-chi (순지요오 Sunji Yoo, 9-10. century; family name: Park)

Alternative names: 瑞雲寺和尚 (ruì yún sì hé shàng), 五觀山順支 (wǔ guàn shān shùn zhī), 了悟禪師 (liǎo wù chán shī)
http://authority.ddbc.edu.tw/person/search.php?aid=A022964 > T51n2076_p0294a26 ║ 新羅五觀山順支本國號了悟大師。僧問。 如

论新罗顺之禅师对沩仰禅法的发 展
http://read.goodweb.cn/news/news_view.asp?newsid=67962

五冠顺支续圆相
http://www.yjsfj.com/djdetail.asp?id=106

　　 新罗国五冠山顺支了悟禅师，为继续仰山九十七圆相的突出代表。
　　 师讳顺之，又作顺支，俗姓朴氏，新罗（今朝鲜）浿江（大同江）人，家世雄豪，以守边忠勤将领闻名乡里，母昭氏，少年精勤好学，有凌云之志。弱冠之年出家，投五冠山剃发，于俗离山受具，大中十二年（８５８）随入朝使，迳到仰山慧寂处，虔诚礼足。师曰：“来何迟，缘何晚！既有所至，任汝住留。”自此不离师，随侍左右，问道不懈，同门叹服。唐代懿宗乾符元年（８７４）回国，住五冠山龙严寺，寺为松岳郡女檀越元昌王后及子威武大王所施，后改瑞云寺，寂于此，时年六十五岁，故又称瑞云和尚。僧问如何是西来之意？师竖起拂子，问：莫这个便是？师放下拂子。问：以字不成，八字不是，是什么字？师作圆相示之，有僧于师前作五花圆相，师画破作一圆相。了悟禅师还有《五冠了悟和尚与仰山之玄问玄答》。其圆相之义，在前人的基础上有所发展，甚至可说至于极点。此后虽有用此圆相者，但已不多，运用也不广。《玄问玄答》说：”三祖（僧璨）云：‘毫厘有差，天地悬隔，'若不具正眼，焉能辨此，似子胡听伯牙之琴，如提婆晓龙树之相。喻鸡抱卵，啐啄同时，迟钝浅流，卒难顿晓，如盲视色而转错也。”他所说的“正眼”，即三祖僧璨《信心铭》所阐明的即妄了真、洞彻真源的不二法门。真义虽然浅钝之人难以顿晓，但也可以通过长期的渐修而得到证悟，顺支承仰山九十七圆相之旨，以此接引徒众。
　　 顺支撰《三篇》说，示三种悟道成佛法，第一、顿证实际篇，即顿悟成佛；第二、回渐证实篇，即先修三乘渐教，后入顿门以成佛；第三、渐证实际篇，即渐修渐悟法门。针对徒众不同根据以接引成佛。
　　 顺支还以圆相表示证理迟疾，分为“四对八相”、“两对四相”和“四对五相”，大体上说，“四对八相”示学人离声色，从本心顿悟，见性成佛；会三乘为一乘，契果修因，经三大僧只，坏四魔贼，证无漏性智。“两对四相”，则侧重摈除情解，体证自心圣智；摈弃对外企求，了知自心即佛、即净土；“四对五相”则循序渐进，明示自心佛，自心净土。
　　 此外，顺支还撰有《三遍成佛》一文，论证理成佛、行满成佛、示显成佛，揭示“一切诸佛，出现于世，撮化群生，相传授记，分毫不错……前佛后佛，皆同此路，如人行路，新旧同辙。”以遮那佛为本体，以文殊为见性智功，以普贤为万行福力，以实智与万行而证菩提。
　　 由上可知，顺支承仰山圆相之旨，对于见性成佛确有精到见解，在沩仰宗的海外弟子中为佼佼者，惜乎其传承不详。

SUN-CHI

Symbolic Studies

Circles

Translated by Thomas Cleary
In: The five houses of Zen, 1997

Relatively little is known or recorded of later masters of the House of Kuei-Yang, which returned to quiescence after a few generations. An exception to this is found in a rare record of the work of Sun-chi, a successor of Yang-shan, who came from Korea and whose sayings are found only in the Annals of the Halls of the Ancestors,* an early Zen collection lost in China but preserved (and apparently augmented) in Korea.

This material is particularly valuable in that it contains the most extensive and most clearly explained usages of circular symbols, for which the House of Kuei-Yang is said to have been famous. Yang-shan is supposed to have inherited a unique book of symbols from an ancient master. To avoid attachment to the concrete, Yang-shan burned this book but later made a copy from memory to return to the master from whom he received it. Nothing more is known of this system, except for fragments appearing here and there. Sun-chi's explanations clarify the mystery of the circular symbols to some degree, particularly in demonstrating the connection between scriptural Buddhism and Zen.

*祖堂集 Zutang ji copiled by 靜 Jing (n.d.) & 筠 Yun/Jun (n.d.)

(Korean Romanization:) Chŏng & Un/Kyun: Chodang chip
(Rōmaji:) Jō & In: Sodōshū
(English:) A Collection from the Halls of the Patriachs / Patriarch's Hall Anthology / Ancestral Hall Collection / Annals of the Halls of the Ancestors
(Magyar:) Az ősatyák csarnokának gyűjteménye / Az ősök csarnoka gyűjtemény

Compiled in 952, published in Korea in 1245, biographies of 253 figures

THE CIRCLE is a symbol of nirvana as the refuge. It is also called the sign of the noumenal buddha nature. All people, ordinary folk as well as sages, are related to this: though the sign does not differ, delusion and understanding are not the same; that is why there are ordinary mortals and there are sages. In other words, those who perceive the meaning of the symbol are called sages, while those who misperceive it are called ordinary people.

Thus when Nagarjuna was in south India, to expound the Teaching to a crowd he manifested a transformation of appearance, such that his body looked like the moon hovering over his chair; only his voice was heard teaching, and his bodily form was invisible.

A grandee in the crowd by the name of Aryadeva said to the people, “Do you recognize this sign?”

The people replied, “No. It would take an advanced sage to understand, wouldn’t it?”

Now Aryadeva’s mind sense was already quiet, and he in fact saw the sign, silently sharing in understanding. So he said to the crowd, “This auspicious sign is the teacher illustrating the buddha nature; it is not the teacher’s own body. The image of formless concentration is like the full moon; it means buddha nature.”

Before the grandee had even finished speaking, the teacher manifested his own body in the chair and said in verse,

Physical manifestation of the full moon symbol
Is used to illustrate the body of buddhas;
Explaining that the Truth has no such form
Is to make clear it’s not an object of sense.

If someone uses the symbol of the moon orb to pose a question, the word ox is written inside the circle to reply.

A circle with an ox inside is the symbol of the ox eating the herb of tolerance. It is also called the symbol of attaining enlightenment by seeing essence.

What is the reasoning? Scripture says, “There is an herb in the Snowy Mountains called Tolerance; a cow that eats it produces ghee.” It also says, “If people listen to exposition of great nirvana, then they see the buddha nature.” So the herb symbolizes the sublime teaching, the ox symbolizes the potential for sudden enlightenment, and the ghee symbolizes buddhahood. Thus if the ox eats the herb, it produces ghee; if people understand the teaching, they attain correct awakening. Therefore the symbol of the ox eating the herb of tolerance is also called the symbol of perceiving essence and attaining enlightenment.

A circle with three animals beneath it is the symbol of the three vehicles seeking emptiness. Why? When people in the three vehicles hear exposition of true emptiness, they consciously aim for it, not having yet experienced true emptiness. Thus this is represented by three animals below the circle.

If this symbol is used to pose a question, it is answered by attainment of enlightenment through gradual perception of essence.

The circle with an ox inside is the symbol of the white ox on open ground. The open ground stands for the stage of buddhahood; it is also called ultimate emptiness, or emptiness in the absolute sense. The white ox stands for the subtle intelligence of the spiritual body. Thus it is represented by one ox gone into a circle.

Why are three animals placed beneath the moon orb symbol, then answered with one ox inside the moon orb symbol? The three animals below the moon orb symbol represent the three vehicles, while the one ox in the center of the moon orb symbol represents the unitary vehicle. Thus when the temporary vehicles are brought up, the response is manifestation of the reality, leading into experiential realization.

Previously it was said that an ox in the circle is the symbol of an ox eating the herb of tolerance; it was also said that an ox in the circle is a symbol of the white ox on open ground. The symbol is the same, but the explanations are different; yet in spite of the difference in explanations, the circle and the ox are not different. The question then is, if they are not different, why is the symbol expressed twice?

The answer is that even though the circle and ox does not differ, the relative swiftness of perceiving essence differs. That is why the same circle and ox appears in different contexts.

In terms of the difference in swiftness of perceiving essence between the ox that eats the herb of tolerance and the white ox on open ground, which is the slow one and which is the fast one?

The ox eating the herb of tolerance illustrates the sudden perception of reality, as in the Flower Ornament Scripture, so it is quick. The white ox on open ground illustrates the ultimate resolution of three vehicles into one. So even though the explanations are not the same, the principle that is realized is not different. So the same symbols are used, to show that principle and knowledge do not differ. It does not mean that the derivations are exactly the same.

A circle with an ox above it is a symbol of cultivating cause in conformity with the result. Why? Even though the initial inspiration may produce correct awakening, nevertheless one’s actions and insight are not equal to those of buddhahood. This symbol is to illustrate how application does not go beyond stage; the ancient dictum about “walking in the footsteps of those who arrive at reality” is represented by this symbol.

If this symbol is used to pose a question, the response is a moon disk with a sign of well-being inside. The circle with the sign of well-being inside symbolizes the complete fulfillment of cause and result.

Why is the well-being sign inside the circle a reply to the ox above the circle? Because the ox over the circle symbolizes cultivating cause in accord with result, while the well-being sign inside the circle symbolizes completion of cause and fulfillment of result. When the cause is brought up, the result is illustrated in reply.

A circle with an ox below it symbolizes spiritual practice in quest of emptiness. This is called the reed hut in front of the gate. Enlightening beings seek emptiness, so scripture speaks of “cultivating enlightening practice for three incalculable eons, enduring the unendurable and carrying out the impossible, seeking unremittingly.” That is what this symbol illustrates; if it is used to pose a question, the word king is written inside a circle in reply.

A circle with a king inside symbolizes gradual witness of reality. Why? If enlightening beings, through eons of practical cultivation, destroy all bedevilments, only then will they attain uncontaminated knowledge of reality and experientially enter the state of buddhahood. Then there are no more habits obstructing them. They are like wise kings who have overcome all rebels, so their countries are peaceful and they have no more enemies interfering with them.

The next two pairs of symbols represent dismissing the unreal to point to the real.

A circle with an ox above and a human inside symbolizes conceptual understanding of the teachings left behind by the Buddha. In other words, if people rely on the universal teaching of the unitary vehicle expounded by Buddha and are well able to analyze and explain it truly, without error, and yet do not realize their own noumenal insight, they are completely dependent on the explanations of another. That is the sense of this symbol.

If this symbol is used to pose a question, it is answered by removing the ox from above the circle, leaving a circle with a human inside.

A circle with a human inside symbolizes perceiving the root and returning to the source. Scripture says, “Return the spirit to abide in the cave of emptiness, overcoming what is difficult to subdue, shedding the bonds of bedevilment; sitting aloof on open ground, the cluster of consciousness is completely nirvanic.” That is what this symbolizes.

Why remove the ox above but not the human within the circle? Because the human within the circle represents noumenal insight, while the ox above the circle represents conceptual understanding. Even if people rely on the teachings and analyze the works of the whole Buddhist canon, as long as they have not actualized their own noumenal insight, it is all conceptual understanding. When conceptual interpretation does not arise, then noumenal insight appears, so we erase the ox above the circle and not the human inside it. This is why scripture says, “Just get rid of the sickness, not the prescription.”

Why can’t ordinary people learn the truth by way of the teachings? If people have wisdom, what do they need with teachings? If they are ordinary people with discriminatory minds, they derive no benefit from depending on doctrines.

Then do the canonical Buddhist teachings have any use? It’s not that no one can become enlightened through the teachings, but conceptual interpretation is simply unreal. This is why Buddha chided Ananda, “Even if you memorize the pure principles of the canons of all the buddhas of the ten directions fluently, that will just increase frivolous argumentation.” So we should realize that conceptual interpretation of the teachings is of no benefit.

Why do the teachings say, “Those who hear Buddha’s teachings all attain sagehood”? It is people of more highly developed faculties who wake right up by way of the teachings, directly actualizing noumenal insight, sure and clear. For those of lesser faculties who do not awaken through the Teaching, conceptual understanding is of no use. But if people of less-developed faculties let the Teaching influence their lives, waiting for another time, who would say there is no benefit? Those who hear the teachings all attain sagehood; the tiniest bit of goodness is a setting forth to arrive at buddhahood—how much more this is so of broad learning in scriptures and treatises!

A circle with a human inside and an ox below symbolizes mistaking your reflection for your head. What is the reasoning? If people do not realize their own inner Buddha and Pure Land but believe in a Buddha and Pure Land in some other realm, they wholeheartedly seek rebirth in the Pure Land to see the Buddha and hear the Teaching. Therefore they diligently practice good deeds and chant the names of the Buddha and the features of the Pure Land. That is what this symbolizes. This is what Master Chih ridiculed when he said, “Those who do not understand that mind itself is Buddha are as if mounted on a donkey looking for a donkey.”

If this symbol is used to pose a question, the ox below is removed in reply.

The circle with a human inside symbolizes turning away from your reflection to recognize your head.

Why remove the ox below the circle and not the human inside? When people have not yet awakened true knowledge and have not arrived at true voidness., they focus on seeking a Pure Land and a Buddha in another dimension, so that they might be reborn in the Pure Land, see the Buddha, and hear the Teaching. If people would turn their attention inward, awaken knowledge, and attain true emptiness, then the Buddha and Pure Land within themselves would appear at once, without their having to seek a Pure Land or Buddha outside the mind. So the human inside the circle is not removed, only the ox below the circle.

What is the Buddha within oneself, and the Pure Land within oneself? If people awaken true knowledge and arrive at true emptiness, then true knowledge is Buddha, and emptiness is the Pure Land. If you understand this through experiencing it, where else would you seek a Pure Land and a Buddha? This is why scripture says, “If you’re going to keep listening to an external Buddha, why does your inner Buddha not listen to its own listening?”

There are five more symbols, in four pairs.

A semicircle is a symbol of “bringing up a box, seeking a lid,” also called the symbol of the half moon awaiting fullness. If this is used to pose a question, another half moon is added in response. Thus the question brings out a box seeking a lid, while the response puts a lid on the box. As the box and cover fit each other, they manifest the sign of the full moon, the circle representing the essence of all buddhas.

An empty circle is a symbol of holding a jade looking for a match. If this symbol is used to pose a question, a certain word is written inside the circle to reply. Thus the question brings a jade seeking its match, and the one who replies recognizes the gem and acts on that.

A circle with a hook inside symbolizes fishing for continuity. If this is used to pose a question, the character for human is added next to the character for hook, forming a character buddha. Thus the questioner fishes for continuity, and the one who answers follows up to complete a precious vessel.

A circle with buddha inside symbolizes having completed the precious vessel. If this is used to pose a question, the character for land is written inside the circle to reply.

A circle with land inside symbolizes the mystic seal. This is utterly beyond all the preceding symbols and is not contained in the concepts of the teachings.

Three Meanings of Buddhahood

1. Attaining Buddhahood by Realizing Noumenon

2. Attaining Buddhahood by Fulfillment of Application

3. Attaining Buddhahood in Manifestation

Attaining buddhahood by realizing principle, or noumenon, means that with a teacher’s instruction you turn your attention around to focus it on the source of your own mind, where there is basically nothing concrete. This is attaining buddhahood without going through a gradual process of myriad practices. This is why scripture says that one attains true enlightenment at the first inspiration, and an ancient said that buddhahood is not far away—just turn your attention around, and there it is.

In the context of attaining buddhahood by realizing noumenon, if you speak of essence there is no thing there at all, but if you talk about the three embodiments, there is a buddha and two bodhisattvas, an enlightened one and two enlightening beings. Although there are three personifications, in the present case of attainment of buddhahood by perceiving essence, the achievement of buddhahood is therefore attributed to Manjushri. That is why the ancients said that Manjushri is the mother of all buddhas, because all buddhas are born from Manjushri, for Manjushri represents true knowledge. All buddhas realize enlightenment by means of true knowledge, so Manjushri is the mother of all buddhas.

As for attaining buddhahood by fulfillment of application, this means that even when you have discovered the true principle of noumenal reality, still you follow the practical commitments of Universal Good, practicing extensive cultivation of the bodhisattva path stage by stage. “Attaining buddhahood by fulfillment of application” refers to comprehensiveness of application and complete fulfillment of knowledge and compassion.

For this reason an ancient said, “The ultimate end of practical application is the original place.” So we know that when practical application is complete, it returns to the origin. The origin is the principle, the noumenon.

This principle realized in attainment of buddhahood by fulfillment of practical application is no different from the principle realized in attainment of buddhahood by realization of noumenon. Even though the principle is no different, this latter is called attaining buddhahood by fulfillment of practical application because we arrive at the result by putting the cause into effect.

In referring to attainment of buddhahood by fulfillment of practical application, if we speak in terms of the qualities of fruition, we just speak of attaining buddhahood by the practice of Samantabhadra, or Universal Good. But if we speak in terms of the three embodiments, there is also one buddha with two accompanying bodhisattvas.

Nevertheless, though there are three personifications, now because we are dealing particularly with attainment of buddhahood by fulfillment of practice, the merit of attainment of buddhahood is in Samantabhadra, so the ancients said that Samantabhadra is the father of the buddhas. When it is said that all buddhas are born of Samantabhadra, this Samantabhadra or Universal Good means myriad practices; all buddhas realize enlightenment through their myriad practices, so Samantabhadra is the father of all buddhas.

When we speak of one buddha and two bodhisattvas, Vairochana Buddha stands for principle, or noumenon, while Manjushri bodhisattva stands for knowledge, and Samantabhadra bodhisattva stands for practice. Because this principle, knowledge, and practice are the same essence, none can be dispensed with.

The one buddha and two bodhisattvas, furthermore, are both central and auxiliary to each other. In terms of the supremacy of the basic essence, Vairochana is central. In terms of the accomplishment of knowledge seeing essence, Manjushri is central. In terms of the power of virtue of myriad practices, Samantabhadra is central. Thus Li T’ung-hsuan said, “All buddhas attain enlightenment through the great beings Manjushri and Samantabhadra,” yet he also said, “Manjushri and Samantabhadra are the younger and elder sons of all buddhas.” So obviously the three personifications are both central and auxiliary to one another.

As for attainment of buddhahood in manifestation, after one has realized the principle and one’s practice is complete, now that one’s own practical attainment of buddhahood is done, one manifests eight aspects of attainment of buddhahood for other people.

The eight aspects of attainment of buddhahood are: descent from the heaven of satisfaction into the womb; dwelling in the womb; emerging from the womb; living in a palace; leaving home; awakening; teaching; and passing away into nirvana. Attainment of buddhahood has eight aspects whereby this is called attainment of buddhahood in manifestation.

It should be realized that the eight aspects of attaining buddhahood are of the embodiments of enjoyment and projection, not of reality. This is why scripture says, “Buddhas do not emerge in the world, nor do they become extinct; it is by the power of their basic commitment that they manifest the state of freedom.” This scripture points to the real Buddha within the buddhas of enjoyment and projection. Scripture also says, “It has been infinite eons since I attained buddhahood,” indicating that Shakyamuni Buddha had already completed his practice and fully awakened infinite eons earlier and was manifesting the attainment of enlightenment for the sake of other people.