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凝然了改 Ningran Liaogai (1335-1421)

六十二世凝然了改禪師
凝然了改 Ningran Liaogai (1335-1421), Patriarch of the Sixty-second Generation

62nd Generational Patriarch Dhyana Master Ning Ran Lyau Gai of Sung Ting Monastery
佛祖道影白話解 Lives of the Patriarchs
虛雲老和尚編輯 Composed by the Elder Master Hsu Yun (虚云 Xuyun, 1840-1959)
宣化上人講 Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua (宣化 Xuanhua, 1918-1995)
金剛 菩提海 Vajra Bodhi Sea (VBS): A Monthly Journal of Orthodox Buddhism, Nos. 275-276.

http://www.drbachinese.org/vbs/publish/275/vbs275p014.htm
http://www.drbachinese.org/vbs/publish/276/vbs276p015.htm

The Master was born in Jin Dyan of Sung Yang, the son of the Ren family. He studied under Sung Ting. Ting brought up a topic which Ywe Yin had used to instruct people, saying "When you meet a dead snake on the road, don't beat it to death. Fill up a bottomless basket and bring it back. What do you say? If it were a reckless Chan pro, how could he penetrate in this moment?" The Master said, "This is an indirect provocation. Isn't this what it means?" Ting said, "Laughing so hard, I split my mouth." The Master was at a loss. Ting said, "What are you begging for in the ghosts' grotto?" The Master was even more disconcerted. One day, Ting entered the hall and said, "One word brings radical liberation and solitary excellence." At that moment, the Master became greatly enlightened. In the Geng Wu year of the Hung Wu reign, he became the Abbot at Ju Ting. In the year of Syin Chou in the reign of Yung Le, without any illness, he suddenly gathered the great assembly together to bid farewell. He spoke a verse, "I will part from you this evening, at the age of eighty-seven. I put it all down before the time of Awesome Sound. A golden rooster crows at dawn. After he finished the verse, he composed himself and entered Nirvana.

A verse in praise says:

Direct and indirect, both are wrong;
The Buddha turned around and came back.
Right here and now, try to comprehend;
You're already embroiled in complications.
The cold moon at Sung Ting's place,
The claws and fangs of a lion.
Proper and partial are meshed together
Crows are hidden in the snow.

Another verse says:

The moon at Sung Ting's was cold, and the nights were chilly
The gate and wall were high and stern, uncompromising.
The two methods of subduing and attracting were expediently used.
Kindness and awesomeness functioned together - skillful, wonderful, and all-pervasive.
Seeking treasure in the cave of ghosts, he wasted his efforts.
In the burning house, he enjoyed a fool's paradise, but it was all unreal.
Completely liberated from the sense organs and objects, he dwelt nowhere.
Free and at ease, he returned to his native village.

Commentary:
The Sixty-second Generational Patriarch was also of the Tsau-Dung School, also known as the Dung-Ning School. Regardless of what school he belonged to, this Dhyana Master's name was Ning Ran, and his title was Lyau Gai. Ning means "congealed together." Lyau Gai means he understood (Lyau) and changed (Gai) for the good. This Dhyana Master was born in Jin Dyan of Sung Yang. Sung Yang refers to Mount Sung in Henan. In the south of Jung Ywe there's a small town called Jin Dyan (Golden Shop). But don't think about going there to pan for gold, because it's a gold shop, not a gold mine. Don't be greedy and say, "It's a gold shop, so I'll go there to get some gold." Gold isn't so wonderful, because when you have a lot it gets too heavy to carry. His lay surname was Ren. He went to visit Sung Ting, which refers to Dhyana Master Dz Yen.

Ting brought up a topic which Ywe Yin had used to instruct people. Sung Ting mentioned some phrases which Ywe Yin (Moon Seal) had used to instruct everyone. Among these was a line which Ting quoted: When you meet a dead snake on the road, don't beat it to death. This statement is doesn't make sense. It's just like something said to humor a child. Since the snake is already dead, why would you clobber it? Even if you don't clobber it, it's still dead, so how can you not beat it to death? Of course you shouldn't beat a live snake to death, but now the snake is dead, so what's going on here? "When you meet a dead snake on the road, don't beat it to death" means cultivators should not cultivate in a stiff, lifeless way. It's said, "Dragons do not thrive in stagnant water." Cultivators should use modern jargon. You should study and apply your learning in a lively, dynamic way. Don't be as rigid as a wooden board. "When you meet a dead snake on the road, don't beat it to death" is talking about your cultivation being too inflexible. The more rigid you are, the more rigid you become. Being so stagnant you won't be able to produce a dragon. This simply means you don't know how to cultivate.

Fill up a bottomless basket and bring it back. A basket needs to have a bottom to be able to hold things. If it doesn't have a bottom, how are you going to carry things in it? "Fill up" means to put things in the basket, but what can a basket without a bottom hold? It cannot hold things. This is all a kind of verbal swordplay. Although there's no principle in it, he insists on speaking this way, causing you to not understand. How can a bottomless basket hold things? At this point you have no road left to take. It's just when you get to a dead-end that you can suddenly penetrate all directions! It's said, "When you reach the end of the mountains and rivers and there is no road to take, beyond the dark willows and bright flowers is another village." This means that, although it can't be this way, he still says it's like this. This is just where the secret of Chan lies. The secret of Chan is that you have to turn it, just as a watch won't run until you wind it up. Fill up a bottomless basket and bring it back: what can you carry back in a bottomless basket? At this point you have to think.

What is it which is bottomless? It is just our mind of greed. If you have a greedy mind, then let me tell you, just this is the bottomless basket. "When you meet a dead snake on the road, don't beat it to death" is talking about stupidity. Only a fool would beat a snake which is already dead. If that's not stupid, then what is it? You could also say it's hatred. Here it's talking about the three poisons. "Fill up a bottomless basket and bring it back" is a mind of greed. Our greedy mind is just like a bottomless basket. No matter how much you put in, it never gets full. Do you believe this? Greedy desire is just like a mountain ravine which is very difficult to fill up. Your greed is insatiable. This includes greed for wealth, sex, fame, food and sleep. You are greedy for all of these, not just for one thing. Wealth, sex, fame, food and sleep are the five causes for falling into the hells, and they are also a bottomless basket. You keep wanting to put things into this bottomless basket to carry back, but you won't be able to bring anything back. If you're greedy, there will never be a day when you are satisfied. Just look at the past emperors of China, who owned the whole country, had enjoyment in their afterlife, and were glorified by their descendants. But they were not content with all that, and still wanted to devour up other countries. Before they finished swallowing them, they died. After they died, control would be lost, and it would be all over. Now the superpowers and larger countries of the world also want to swallow up the other countries and make them their own. They keep devouring until they cannot swallow anymore, and then they choke to death and run into problems. Therefore, a greedy mind is just like a bottomless basket, a bottomless ravine of desire. We people are also like bottomless baskets, always greedy, so our bodies have outflows. Having no outflows is like a basket that has a bottom. Having outflows is like a basket with no bottom. That's the way it is. What do you say? Right when these two lines of Chan banter are spoken, what would be appropriate to say in reply? What would be right?

If it were a reckless Chan pro. Reckless means hasty and brash, one who acts impulsively without consideration. A reckless Chan pro is someone who doesn't pay attention to Heaven or Earth, and who doesn't carefully consider anything. A "Chan pro" is a monk who investigates Dhyana; this is a slang expression in Buddhism. A reckless Chan pro is someone who is coarse and rough. How could he penetrate in this moment? At this point how can he comprehend? To penetrate means to understand. Under these conditions, how can he understand? If you want to understand this principle, you cannot be reckless and hasty.

The Dhyana Master Lyau Gai said, "This an indirect provocation. Isn't this what it means?" "indirect" means the opposite side, "provocation" means stimulation. This is to speak Dharma for you from the opposite side, not to speak directly, but to speak indirectly from the other side, from behind you. "Provocation" means to touch one point and be able to infer the rest, enabling you to understand. But at this time do you have the most thorough understanding? You probably have a pretty thorough idea. After you say this, I'll say, "This is probably already the ultimate, already pretty good! It's already just about there!" This is cheating talk, someone pretending to be an expert. Does he really know? No, he doesn't. But although he doesn't know, he still wants to speak, to pretend he's an expert, to pretend that he knows. Ting said, "Laughing so hard, I split my mouth." Ah! When you talk like this, you really make me laugh so hard that I hurt my mouth. This is too laughable. Why? Just what are you begging for in the ghosts' grotto? The ghosts' grotto is the cave of the ghosts. What are you begging for at the place where ghosts live? Begging means begging for food. What are you seeking?

The Master was at loss. When Dharma Master Lyau Gai heard this, he was in a dilemma and did not know what to do. He didn't know where to place his hands and feet. He was uncertain whether it would be better to walk, stand or sit. He could neither sit nor recline at ease, and he didn't know if it was right to walk, stand, sit, or recline. So the more Dhyana Master Sung Ting talked, the more confused and uneasy Dhyana Master Lyau Gai felt. He was so unsettled that he wondered what was wrong with himself - how come he didn't understand anything? The Master was even more disconcerted. He felt very embarrassed.

One day, Sung Ting entered the hall to speak the Dharma. It is a very important Buddhist affair when the Dharma Host enters the hall to speak Dharma, and everyone at the temple has to go listen to the Dharma. He said, "One word brings radical liberation and solitary excellence." Here, to attain radical liberation means to become quite different, to cast off worldly habits, give up old haunts, abandon the old way of doing things, and renounce the new as well. Neither the new nor the old exist. Radical liberation is liberation from both transcendental and worldly truth. "Solitary excellence" means rising above ordinary people, being an outstanding individual who alone transcends what is common.

At that moment, the Master became greatly enlightened. When Dhyana Master Lyau Gai heard these words, he put everything down. He had been weighed down by so much baggage before that he could not escape the six sense organs and six sense objects. Instead, he continued to be involved with them. But now he has escaped them and is no longer stuck in existence or emptiness. At the moment when he united with the essence of 'the Middle Way, he became greatly enlightened.

In the Geng Wu year of the Hung Wu reign, he became the Abbot in Ju Ting (Patriarch's Court). This was probably in Yung Chyou District on Yun-jyu (Cloud Abode) Mountain in Jyang-nan (South of the River) Province. He was the Abbot at Cloud Abode Mountain.

In the year of Syin Chou in the reign of Yung Le, without experiencing any illness or pain, he suddenly gathered the great assembly together to bid farewell. Unexpectedly, he said, "All of you come quickly. I want to say good-bye to you, for I'm leaving! Hurry and come!" The bell tolled and the drums rolled, summoning everyone to convene. He told them, "Farewell, and hope we meet again." Then he spoke a verse, "I will part from you this evening, at the age of eighty-seven. I am eighty-seven years old this year." In Chinese, the words "seven", "evening" and "blue" all rhyme, so this is a rhymed verse. He told everyone, "I will take leave of you tonight. I put it all down before the time of Awesome Sound." That is, he let go, no longer wanting anything at all, and went off to rebirth without hindrance. "I had already put it all down before the time of Awesome Sound King Buddha. I had already seen through everything then, and put everything down." Therefore, a golden rooster crows at dawn. The golden rooster is the sun, and the jade rabbit is the moon. The golden rooster crows at dawn, when the sky starts to turn blue. This has the same meaning as "Although the wild cranes are not fed, they have boundless freedom." It also means being free of obstructions, of the disintinctions of self and others, and having total independence. This is also the meaning of "A thousand lakes, a thousand reflections of the moon. Ten thousand miles without clouds, ten thousand miles of sky." After finishing the verse, he composed himself and entered Nirvana. With solemn dignity, he entered the ultimate quiescence.

A verse in praise says:

Direct and indirect, both are wrong. Whether you speak Dharma indirectly by saying the opposite, or you say one point directly so the rest can be inferred, it is wrong.

The Buddha turned around and came back. The Buddha turned back the boat of kindness to come teach and transform living beings.

Right here and now, try to comprehend. You have to understand it right in this instant. If you wait and think about what you should say, then you're already embroiled in complications. You've already fallen into the second or third position. "Complications" are troublesome and wrong. Dhyana Master Lyau Gai was flustered as he tried to think, so Dhyana Master Sung Ting scolded, "What are you begging for in the ghosts' grotto?" That made Dhyana Master Lyau Gai even more disconcerted. Whether he approached it directly or from behind, it was wrong. The Buddha turned back the boat of compassion to teach living beings. This probably refers to Dhyana Master Lyau Gai, who is worthy of this role. Right here and now, try to comprehend. You must understand immediately. But here it implies that there is room for discussion and deliberation -- that's wrong, so you're already embroiled in complications, you've long fallen into second or third place.

The cold moon at Sung Ting's place. Sung Ting is Dhyana Master Dz Yen. The gate to his place was high and stern, with a chilly air to it. The spirit of his cultivation and teaching was lofty, profound, dignified and solemn.

The claws and fangs of a lion. This is metaphor of the power of a lion's claws and fangs. The lion is Dharma Master Sung Ting, whose methods for teaching and transforming people were very powerful.

Proper and partial are meshed together. Proper means right, and partial means wrong. But right also contains wrong, and wrong also contains right. They mesh and intermingle together. If you've read the Shurangama Sutra, you will understand the meaning of this intermingling. Right dharmas come from wrong dharmas, and wrong dharmas come from right dharmas. Once you understand them, there are no more problems. Whether a person is right or wrong, he is able to teach and transform him. Right and wrong are meshed together.

Crows are hidden in the snow. Among the people he taught, perhaps there were some who were not so pure and wholesome. Some may have been trouble-makers, who refused to abide by the rules. I don't know about others, but just consider the people in the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. I know that some of the people here are very well-behaved and follow the rules, but there are also mischief-makers here. At the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, there are some people who truly cultivate. In the past, they may have done all sorts of illegal things such as selling drugs, but they have reformed now. After coming to the City, they reformed and became good. The black ones are not black anymore, and the white ones are not white anymore. Therefore, "crows are hidden in the snow." Sometimes the dragons and snakes mingle together and you cannot tell them apart. That's the way it is; not everyone is good, even among Buddhists. Don't think just because a person studies the Buddhadharma, he has to be a truly good person. Some people have greed which is like a bottomless basket. Such a basket is so deep that you could never fill it up. There are such people (in Buddhism). There are also people without greed who have not studied Buddhism. So we should understand that all dharmas are Buddhadharma, and as such they are ineffable, beyond words. There is nothing there; there's no right and no wrong. You cannot see the blackness of the crows until the snow melts and reveals them. Thus, ignorance and affliction are right within Bodhi. Originally there was a lot of Bodhi and only a bit of affliction. But that small bit of dark ignorance within the great radiance of wisdom is as potent as poison. Even a tiny bit will kill you. Ignorance is just like that.

Hsuan Hua's verse says:

The moon at Sung Ting's was cold, and the nights were chilly. The regulations at Dhyana Master Sung Ting's place were very strict, and people thought he was really cold. It was very cold at night.

The gate and wall were high and stern, uncompromising. He had a reputation for being especially stern and especially well-disciplined. He was uncompromising. You could not bring up any matter to discuss with him, to work out a good solution. He left no room for discussion and just had his own way. So he scolded Dhyana Master Lyau Gai and asked him why he was begging in the ghosts' cave.

The two methods of subduing and attracting were expediently used. He used the dharma of subduing to overcome arrogant people. If a person wasn't arrogant, he used the dharma of attracting to gather him in. He used these Dharma-doors of expedient means and clever techniques to teach and transform living beings.

Kindness and awesomeness functioned together - skillful, wonderful, and all-pervasive. He treated people with both kindness and awesomeness; the two qualities functioned together. "Skillful, wonderful, and all-pervasive": He was very clever and wonderful, and very attentive to all the details when he taught and transformed people.

Seeking treasure in the cave of ghosts, he wasted his efforts. He said to Dhyana Master Lyau Gai, "So you want to look for treasures in the ghost's cave, and search for goodies! You won't find any, and you'll waste a lot of effort."

In the burning house, he enjoyed a fool's paradise, but it was all unreal. The Triple Realm is like a burning house, with no peace. Although the house is on fire, you still think it's secure and happy there. This is all unreal. It is unreasonable.

Completely liberated from the sense organs and objects, he dwelt nowhere. He was not stuck in existence or emptiness. Nor was he attached to the six sense organs (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind) and the six sense objects (sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch, and dharmas). The Vajra Sutra says, "Produce the thought which dwells nowhere." He did not abide in any place.

Free and at ease, lie returned to his native village. Suddenly Dhyana Master Lyau Gai was greatly enlightened, so he was happy-go-lucky, without a care, and could return to his own true, inherent hometown.