永覺元賢 Yuanjue Yuanxian (1578-1657)

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六十九世永覺元賢禪師
永覺元賢 Yuanjue Yuanxian (1578-1657), Patriarch of the Sixty-ninth Generation

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)
宣化上人講於一九八五年六月二十日 Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua (宣化 Xuanhua, 1918-1995) on June 20, 1985
金剛菩提海 Vajra Bodhi Sea (VBS): A Monthly Journal of Orthodox Buddhism, Nos. 310-312.

http://www.drbachinese.org/vbs/publish/310/vbs310p014.htm
http://www.drbachinese.org/vbs/publish/311/vbs311p011.htm
http://www.drbachinese.org/vbs/publish/312/vbs312p011.htm

Text:
The Master was born in Jianyang, a son of the Cai family. He had an awakening while reading the Dharma Flower Sutra, and so he went to inquire from Master Shouchang, “What is the pure, bright body like?” Master Shouchang stood up very erect. The Master asked,“Is there anything else besides this?” Master Shouchang walked away. The Master immediately felt a great sense of relief. He went to see the Abbot and reported on what he had learned. Master Shouchang struck him three times with the staff and said,”From now on, don't be so reckless.” Then he gave him a verse,”Even if you have mounted the golden-furred beast, you still need to be struck before you can turn around.” The Master wondered,“Why do I need to be struck before I can turn around?” Later, when he passed through Jianjin and heard a monk reciting,“A loud sound and a soft sound occur simultaneously,” and so forth, he thoroughly understood Master Shouchang's painstaking efforts to teach him.
In the year of jiaxu (1634) during the reign of Chongzhen, he served as the abbot of Gushan Monastery. Later he also served as the abbot at Kaiyuan Monastery, Baoshan Monastery, and Zhejiang Province's Zhenji Monastery. In the year of dingxi (1657), he passed into stillness. A pagoda was erected for him at Gushan Monastery. The Master was well-versed in both Buddhist and non-Buddhist texts. Over a hundred volumes of his writings, including The Supplement to the Lamp, The Continuation of the Lamp, and Chan Conversations, remain in the world.

Commentary:
This is Dhyana Master Yongjue Yuanxian of the sixty-ninth generation. The Master was born in Jianyang, Fujian Province, a son of the Cai family. His lay surname was Cai. He had an awakening, a small enlightenment, while reading and reciting the Dharma Flower Sutra, and so he travelled a long distance, not minding the rigors of the journey, in order to visit Dhyana Master Shouchang and request certification from him. Certification means confirming that one's views are proper. He went to inquire from Master Shouchang, “What is the pure, bright body like? What does the Dharma Flower Sutra mean by the pure and bright body?” Master Shouchang dealt with matters in an unconditioned way and practiced the wordless teaching; he stood up very erect without leaning to the front or back or bending sideways. He stood there with his chest thrust out, not saying anything, but just showing him that posture as a model. It is just like when we wanted to build the temple, and Guo Jing made a model for it. Each one of us has our own model, and we should find it. Hence, he stood upright, and that was a model.

At that point, Dhyana Master Yuanxian was still dissatisfied. He was not satisfied with Master Shouchang's symbolic gesture. He didn't understand it. The Master (Dhyana Master Yuanxian) asked, “Is there anything else besides this? Your standing posture represents the pure and bright body, but is there any other meaning?” Master Shouchang walked away without saying a single word. He didn't just stand around. Doesn't it seem like he was acting in a movie? Whether he was walking, standing, sitting, or reclining, his every move was symbolic; it was a manifestation of the pure Dharma body. If you can purify the karmas of body, mouth, and mind, that purification of the three karmas is itself the pure Dharma body. You ought to know that when the mouth utters impure speech, the body performs impure conduct, or the mind harbors impure thoughts, these are all defilement. So, you shouldn't think that it's as simple as saying “the body, mouth, and mind are pure.” It's not that simple. Only Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have purified their three karmas. It's not easy for us. You can't pretend to be someone who has real accomplishment in cultivation.

When Master Shouchang walked away, the Master immediately felt a great sense of relief. When he saw the manifestation of the pure Dharma body, all his doubts were cleared away. He went to see the Abbot and reported on what he had learned. He went into the Abbot's room and told Dhyana Master Shouchang all about himself. He felt quite smug and pleased with himself. In his extreme arrogance, he felt he was out of this world. He felt, “You are like this, and I am like this too. What you have expressed is the same as what I have seen.” He was comparing himself to the ancients, just as Zhuge Liang [a famous military strategist during the Three Kingdoms Period] in Nanyang had compared himself to the Guan and Yue [two skilled ministers for the states of Qi and Yan, respectively, in the Warring States Period]. Zhuge Liang had said, “I am equal to Guan Zhong and Yue Yi. They were skilled at deploying troops, and I am good at deploying generals. I have everything that they had.” His tone of voice was complacent. That's why he was beaten. If he hadn't had such an arrogant attitude, Master Shouchang wouldn't have beaten him. He was beating him to get rid of his arrogance and self-complacency. “You say you're enlightened? Then why are you still so attached to your ego? You keep saying, ‘I'm this and I'm that.' What's so great about you? You still need to wear clothes and take meals, so what can you say about yourself?”

You have to realize that when the Master felt that great sense of relief, he thought he was something else. He thought, “Today I've become greatly enlightened. For sure I've ended my birth and death. Now I'm the Patriarch, and you're just the Patriarch's disciple.” That's how he must have felt, and so he went to tell the Abbot. After feeling that sense of great relief, he was in high spirits. He danced for joy and didn't know what to do with himself. Like an excited little kid, he followed the Abbot into his room and blurted out, “Abbot, you know what? I'm just like you! I'm capable of being that way, too.” Then, seeing how mischievous and immature he was acting, the Abbot struck him. Master Shouchang struck him three times with the staff , catching him off guard. There was no time for him to think. He didn't realize what was going on. Master Shouchang was beating him for acting so wildly.

And Master Shouchang said to him , “From now on, don't be so reckless.” When Master Shouchang said this, what he meant was, “In the future, you should not be so foolhardy and rash. Don't be so arrogant. You ought to be a vessel that conveys the principles of the Way. The way you behaved just now was truly absurd! You don't have any self-restraint. You're carelessly exposing your brilliance. You aren't able to wait for the right time to use your ability.” All of this was implied in Master Shouchang's rebuke. He was saying, “Such behavior is impermissible. Since you understand the Dharma, you should not act like that. You're too reckless and rude. You don't even understand yourself. You acted rashly, without the least bit of samadhi power. If you think you've understood, your understanding is false. You don't have what it takes to be a vessel of the Way.” Master Shouchang scolded him roundly.

Then he gave him a verse, “Even if you have mounted the golden-furred beast, you still need to be struck before you can turn around.” The golden-furred beast refers to a lion, which represents the throne of the Dharma king. Ascending the throne of the Dharma king means becoming the Abbot. Even if you have ascended the throne of the Dharma king, you still need to be beaten before you will really understand. If I didn't beat you up, you'd still cling to your old habits and faults and you wouldn't wake up. Even if you were riding on the golden-haired lion, even if you'd become a Buddha, it wouldn't do for you to have these residual habits. I'd still want to beat you up. “You still need to be struck before you can turn around.” You won't make it unless you undergo the training.

If what I have said is not right, you can correct me. Don't think that whatever I say is the law and is correct. Sometimes, when I get crazy, I speak recklessly, and even I myself don't know what I'm talking about.

At that point, the Dhyana Master Yuanxian had a doubt in his mind. He wondered, “Why did he say that he would want to beat me up even if I'd become a Buddha and a Dharma king? Since I'm already enlightened, why do I need to be beaten? Why do I need to be struck before I can turn around?”

Later, when he passed through Jianjin in Fujian Province and heard a monk reciting, “A loud sound and a soft sound occur simultaneously,” and so forth... Although a loud sound and a soft sound are different, if they occur in the same instant, you can't tell them apart unless you listen very carefully. If you don't listen closely, you won't be able to hear them clearly as separate sounds. For example, if two people cough at the same time, you won't be able to hear the coughs distinctly. At that point, he thoroughly understood Master Shouchang's painstaking efforts to teach him. He finally recognized the Dhyana Master's compassion and care for him and his conscientious efforts to instruct him. Dhyana Master Shouchang's profound application of the principles, his ingenuity in teaching, led him to give the Master such stunning head-on blows, both physically and figuratively. He knew that Dhyana Master Shouchang had been truly compassionate toward him. “Painstaking efforts” refers to his conscientiousness and thoughtfulness. I believe the Master may even have been moved to tears when he realized this.

In the year of jiaxu (1634) during the reign of Chongzhen, he served as the abbot of Gushan Monastery. Later he also served as the abbot at Kaiyuan Monastery, Baoshan Monastery, and Zhejiang Province's Zhenji Monastery. In the year of dingxi (1657) , he passed into stillness while in a seated position. A pagoda was erected for him at Gushan Monastery. The Master was well-versed in both Buddhist scriptures and non-Buddhist texts —the doctrines of externalist religions and all worldly literature. He was like Dhyana Master Huiyuan, who had also mastered the Buddhist scriptures and those of externalists in his time. Because of Dhyana Master Huiyuan's great erudition, his teacher allowed him to study the scriptures of Taoism and of other religions as well.

Over a hundred volumes of his writings, including The Supplement to the Lamp, The Continuation of the Lamp, and Chan Conversations, remain in the world. Chan Conversations were probably fragments of casual conversations touching on Chan that occurred late at night or after meals. His works, totalling more than a hundred rolls, have been distributed in the world.

A verse in praise says:

Pervading throughout the ten directions
In all the Buddha worlds,
Thus are the two sounds,
Unimpeded, resonant, and clear.
Upon seeing Master Shouchang,
He put down his cloth sack.
One strike of the stone drum
Awakened the deaf and the muddled.

Commentary:
Pervading throughout the ten directions / In all the Buddha worlds / Thus are the two sounds / Unimpeded, resonant, and clear. No matter where one goes, there are two kinds of sounds: real and fake. The “two sounds” can be interpreted in many ways and don't necessarily mean a loud sound and a soft sound. “Unimpeded, resonant, and clear” means that one completely understands. As for the two sounds, there may be two sounds within a single sound, or one sound within two different sounds. They are dual and yet nondual. If you understand, then the one becomes limitless. If you don't, then the limitless is still one. If you understand, then the limitless is one, and the one is limitless. Whether you understand or not, it's still the same way. Within this, there is nothing subtly wonderful, and yet there is nothing that is not subtly wonderful. Within true emptiness there is wonderful existence, and within wonderful existence there is true emptiness. There is sound within the absence of sound, and absence of sound within sound. How confusing! Once you understand, you won't be confused anymore.

“Teacher, listening to you has made me more confused!"

Then the teacher is confused, and so is the disciple. One who is muddled teaches others to be muddled. Since we realize that we've been muddled, let's not be muddled anymore.

Upon seeing Master Shouchang, / He put down his cloth sack. After meeting Master Shouchang, he saw through and set down his attachments and his stinking skin bag (body).

One strike of the stone drum / Awakened the deaf and the muddled. The deaf were restored to hearing, and the muddled became clear-headed.

Another verse says:

Whether moving or still, awake or asleep, one is pure.
Wearing clothes and eating are also Bodhi.
When the teaching tallies with the potentials, nothing is attained.
Without a single word, what is wonderful?
Putting down the cloth sack, one is truly at ease.
Smashing through emptiness, one puts an end to mutual dependence.
Travelling to Buddhalands throughout the ten directions,
Who doubts that the Dharma realm can manifest at the tip of a hair?

Commentary:
Whether moving or still, awake or asleep, one is pure. What is meant by the pure and bright body? Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are all the pure and bright body. What should you do? Purify the body, mouth, and mind. Once the three karmas of body, mouth, and mind are pure, that is the pure and bright body. If you are impure in body, mouth, and mind, then you simply have the body of a living being in the evil world of the five turbidities.

Wearing clothes and eating are also Bodhi. Don't think that you are eating to nourish the body and wearing clothes to cover up the body and keep out the cold and heat. If you know how to apply your skill, then these activities are also part of cultivation; they are also Bodhi. As for eating, you shouldn't steal food to eat or eat on the sly. As for wearing clothes, you shouldn't steal clothes to wear. Then you won't violate the precepts. If you get hungry and sneak into the kitchen to eat on the sly, then you've broken the precepts. Or let's say you want to wear expensive clothes, but you don't want others to see them, so you wear them inside. You wear a rough coat on the outside, and underneath it you wear expensive furs that are soft and warm. That's what some people did in ancient times. I tell you, this is also violating the precept of stealing, because you hide something from others.

You have to know how to eat, dress, and sleep. Don't say, “I didn't get enough sleep last night, and I can hardly keep my eyes open. I feel terrible.” If you say that, it means you don't know how to do it right. If you knew how, then it would be the same whether or not you've eaten, put on clothes, slept. If your Bodhi mind is constantly present, then you will put all of these things down. You won't be attached to them. If you know how to do them right, then eating, wearing clothes, and sleeping are all within Bodhi (enlightenment). If you aren't greedy for fine food and delicious treats, then you're in accord with the Bodhi mind. If you say, “I want to eat more of this sweet stuff, but I'm going to stay away from the bitter and hot food,” then you are still far from Bodhi. “Originally, Bodhi has no tree.” It is without a mind, so eating and wearing clothes are also Bodhi.

When the teaching tallies with the potentials, nothing is attained. When one teaches living beings, the teaching and the potentials merge into one. Nothing is attained; there is no teaching and no potentials, because they have united into one. You cannot say that you have taught such and such a person and have therefore accrued merit. Nor can the person say that he is grateful to you for teaching him. Nothing is attained. Both sides are empty; there is nothing at all. You don't have to thank me, and I don't have to thank you. At the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, no one says “thank you.” This is a symbolic custom. All of you should know, when you say, “Oh, thank you, thank you so much!” you are indulging in superficial human emotions; you are applying effort at the level of the mind consciousness. Those who study the Buddhadharma should set good examples for others to follow; we should try to refrain from worldly expressions such as “thank you.”

Without a single word, what is wonderful? There's not even a single word. You may put things in writing or read what people have written and say, “What a fine essay! What a wonderful poem!” Yet not a single word is established, so what's so extraordinary? There is nothing special and nothing ordinary.

Putting down the cloth sack, one is truly at ease. Truly put down your attachments and your stinking skin bag, and stop toiling away on its behalf, stop acting as its slave. Don't let the mind be a slave to the body. Don't say, “I've got to find meals for it, buy clothes for it, feed it medicine. I've got to do this and that for my body...” With that attitude, wouldn't you say the mind is a slave to the body? The body has taken over. If you set down the cloth sack, you'll truly be at ease. How happy you'll be! You'll be relieved of all your burdens! It's like empty space or the bright moon. “The light breeze and the bright moon neither come nor go.” They neither come nor go; they are totally unimpeded, neither increasing nor decreasing. What is there then? Think it over: if you can put down the cloth sack—the stinking skin bag—your afflictions will come to an end. Nobody will lose his temper anymore. When someone scolds you and you get angry, it's because you haven't put down the cloth sack. If someone beats you or does something else to you, you become afflicted at that point. That's because you haven't put down your cloth sack. You haven't met Master Shouchang.

The previous verse said, “One strike of the stone drum / Awakened the deaf and the muddled.” The muddled are as if unconscious; they don't understand human affairs. All of you should quickly wake up. Then I wrote another simple verse, which began, “Whether moving or still, awake or asleep, one is pure.” It's all the pure Dharma body. “Wearing clothes and eating are also Bodhi. / When the teaching tallies with the potentials, nothing is attained.” Basically there's nothing at all. So I often think to myself, “If none of you listen to me, I don't need to get afflicted. Why not? I should listen to my teacher. All those who don't listen to me are my teachers.” When I think of it like that, it's sweeter than honey; all the bitterness is gone. “Without a single word, what is wonderful?” What's so strange about it? “Putting down the cloth sack, one is truly at ease.”

Smashing through emptiness, one puts an end to mutual dependence. In the world, there are the three Dharma seals. There are also the Nature of Dependent Arising, the Nature of Pervasive Discrimination and Attachment, and the Nature of Absolute Truth. When we discriminate about things, that is the Nature of Dependent Arising at work. For example, if you see a rope on the road at night, because you can't see very clearly, you might think it's a snake. The Nature of Dependent Arising begins with the rope. Then with the Nature of Pervasive Discrimination and Attachment, you think, “Oh, this black form must be a snake!” When you take a closer look, you find that it's merely a rope made of twisted hemp—nothing serious at all. This is the Nature of Absolute Truth, which returns to a state of nonattainment. “Puts an end to mutual dependence” means that the Nature of Dependent Arising is gone. If even empty space does not exist, from where could the Nature of Dependent Arising come forth? It's also gone.

Travelling to Buddhalands throughout the ten directions … If you can do away with empty space, then the Buddhalands of the ten directions will appear right in front of you. There is no coming and no going. Who doubts that the Dharma realm can manifest at the tip of a hair? Who is in doubt? You have doubts only because you haven't seen through and put things down. You're still carrying the cloth sack around. That's why you're still thinking about this and that, getting afflicted over this and being confused about that. Once you've put everything down, what's the big deal? Think it over.