T2003 The Blue Cliff Record

76. Have You Eaten?

203b The Blue Cliff Record

"Calling snakes is easy; sending snakes away is hard." Right now if I were to toot on an ocarina it would be easy to summon snakes, but when I wanted to send them away it would be hard. Similarly, it's easy to give one's staff to someone else, but to take it back from him and send him away is hard. You must have your own ability; only then will you be able to send him away.

Wujiu was an adept with the skill to call snakes and also the ability to send snakes away. This monk wasn't asleep either. When Wujiu asked, "How does Dingzhou's teaching compare to here?"— this was calling him. When Wujiu hit him, this was sending him away. When the monk said, "There are eyes on the staff; you shouldn't hit people carelessly"—this is the summoning transferred over to the monk's side. When Wujiu said, "If you want, I'll turn it over to you," and the monk grabbed the staff and hit Wujiu, this was the monk sending him away. As for the monk laughing and going out, and Wujiu saying, "That's all it comes to"—this clearly is each sending the other away appropriately.

Observe how these two exchanged action points with perfect continuity, fusing into one whole. From beginning to end guest and host are clearly distinct. Sometimes, though, host acts as guest and sometimes guest acts as host. Even Xuedou cannot praise this enough. Thus he speaks of the act of interchange and has people observe it carefully.

"The rock of ages, though solid, can still crumble." This rock of ages is eighty-four thousand leagues wide and thick; every five hundred years a goddess comes down and brushes across it with a gossamer cloth, then departs for another five hundred years. The brushing continues thus until it wears the rock away—this makes one age, an eon. Xuedou says that though the rock is solid it can still crumble—though it is strong and solid, still it can be worn away to nothing; but the action point of these two people can never be exhausted.

"When they stand in its depths the ocean must dry up." Even the ocean, with its vast swelling billows flooding the skies, even the very ocean would inevitably dry up if you had these two stand in it. At this point Xuedou has completed his verse all at once. 336

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At the end he goes on to say, "Old Wujiu, old Wujiu! / How many kinds?" Sometimes catching, sometimes letting go, sometimes killing, sometimes giving life—in the end, how many kinds is this? "There was no point in giving him the handle." This staff has been used by all the Buddhas of all times, and by the successive generations of patriarchs, and by the Chan masters, to remove fixations, attachments, obsession, and bondage. How can it be lightly given over to someone else? Xuedou means that it should be used by oneself alone. Fortunately it happened that this monk then just opened up to him—if he had suddenly stirred up thunder over dry ground, we would have observed how Wujiu met it. When Wujiu passed the handle to someone else, wasn't this indeed without reason?

76. Have You Eaten?

Introduction

Fine as powder, cold as frost, it blocks off heaven and earth and goes beyond light and dark. Observe it where it's low and there's extra; level it off where it's high and there's not enough. Holding fast and letting go are both here, but is there a way to appear or not? Story

Danxia asked a monk, "Where have you come from?" (Indeed it's impossible to have come from nowhere at all. If he wants to know where he's come from, it won't be hard.) The monk said, "From down the mountain." (He has put on his sandals and walked into your belly. It's just that you don't understand. There's an echo in his words, but he keeps it to himself. Is he ripe?) Danxia said, "Have you eaten?" (A second ladleful of foul water douses the monk. Why just the zero point of the scale? He wants to know the real truth.) The monk said, "I've eaten." (As it turns out, he's collided with a pillar. After all, he's been taken in tow by a bystander. After all it's an iron hammerhead with no hole.) Danxia said, Did the 337

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203c person who brought you the food have eyes or not?" (Though he's relying on his power to mystify the man, he is also wrapping up the case on the basis of the facts. At the time he deserved to have his meditation seat overturned. Why act without reason?) The monk was speechless. (After all he couldn't run. Had the monk been an adept he would have said, "The same as your eyes.") Changqing asked Baofu, "To give someone food is ample requital of benevolence—why wouldn't one have eyes?" (He's still only said half. Is it "throughout the body" or is it "all over the body"? One cut, two pieces. One hand lifts up, one hand presses down.) Baofu said, "Giver and receiver are both blind." (He acts according to the imperative. One statement says it all. Such a person is rarely encountered.) Changqing said, "If they fully exerted their potential, would they still turn out blind?" (What does he know of good and bad? He still isn't sure himself; what bowl is he looking for?) Baofu said, "Can you say I'm blind?" (The two of them are both in the weeds. A dragon's head but a snake's tail. At the time when he said, "If they fully exerted their potential, would they still turn out blind?" I would have just said to him, "Blind!" He only managed to say a half. Since they're both adepts, why is it that ahead they didn't reach the village and behind they didn't get to the shop?) Commentary

Danxia was Chan Master Tianran. It is not known where he was from. At first he studied Confucianism, intending to go to the capital to take the civil service examinations. While he was staying at an inn, he dreamed a white light filled the room; a diviner told him this was a good omen of understanding emptiness. There happened to be a Chanist there who asked him where he was going; he replied that he was going to be elected as an official. The Chanist said, "How can election to officialdom compare to election to Buddhahood?" Danxia asked, "Where should I go for election to Buddhahood?" The Chanist said, "The great master Mazu is now teaching in Jiangxi—that is where Buddhas are elected. You should go there."

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So then Danxia went directly to Jiangxi. The moment he saw Mazu he lifted up the edge of his turban. Mazu looked at him and said, "I am not your teacher—go to Shitou." Danxia hastened to Shitou and submitted himself to him. Shitou sent him to the mill, and Danxia bowed in thanks. He entered the workers' hall and labored along with the community for three years. One day Shitou announced, "Tomorrow we're going to clear away the weeds in front of the Buddha shrine." The next day everyone took a hoe to cut down weeds. Danxia alone took a bowl of water, washed his head, and knelt in front of Shitou. Shitou laughed and shaved his head for him. Then as Shitou began to explain the precepts to him, Danxia covered his ears and went out. Then Danxia headed for Jiangxi to call on Mazu again. Before meeting Mazu to pay his respects, he went into the monks' hall and sat astride the neck of the holy icon. Everyone was upset, and hurried to report this to Mazu. Mazu personally went to the hall to have a look; he said, "My son is so natural." Danxia then got down and said, "Thank you for giving me a religious name." Therefore he was called Tianran, "Natural." Danxia was naturally sharply outstanding like this. As said, officialdom isn't as good as Buddhahood. Danxia's words tower like a mile-high wall; every saying has the ability to remove fixations. When he asked this monk where he came from, the monk said, "From down the mountain," yet he didn't communicate where he had come from. It seemed that he had eyes and was going to reverse things and test the host. If it hadn't been Danxia, it would have been impossible to gather him in. But Danxia said, "Have you eaten?" At first he hadn't been able to see the monk, so this is the second attempt to test him. The monk said, "I've eaten." After all this confused and ignorant monk hadn't understood. Danxia said, "Did the person who brought you the food have eyes or not?" The monk was speechless. Danxia meant, "What's the use of giving food to someone like you?" Had the monk been genuine, he would have given Danxia a poke to see what he would do. Nevertheless, Danxia still didn't let him go, so the monk was blinking stupidly and speechless. 204a

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When Baofu and Changqing were together in Xuefeng's group, they would often discuss stories of the ancients. Changqing asked Baofu, "To give someone food is ample requital of benevolence; why wouldn't one have eyes?" He didn't have to inquire exhaustively into the facts of the case; he could take it all in using these words to make a point, in order to test Baofu's truth. Baofu said, "Giver and receiver are both blind." How swift! Here he just discusses the immediate circumstances—inside his house Baofu has a way of manifestation in being.

When Changqing said, "If they had fully exerted their potential, would they still turn out blind?" Baofu said, "Can you say I'm blind?" Baofu meant, "I have such eyes to have said it all to you— are you still saying I'm blind?" Nevertheless, it's half closed and half open. At that time if it had been me, when he said, "If they had fully exerted their potential, would they still turn out blind?" I would have just said, "Blind! " Too bad—had Baofu uttered this one word "blind" at that time, he would have avoided so many of Xuedou's complications. Xuedou too just uses this idea to make his verse. Verse

Fully exerting potential, not turning out blind— (They've only said a half. Each wanted to test the other. The words are still in our ears.)

Holding down an ox's head to make it eat grass. (They lose their money and incur punishment. Half south of the river, half north of the river. Without realizing it, they've ruined the point and cut their hands.) Twenty-eight and six patriarchs—

(If you have a rule, hold to the rule. Xuedou is dragging down the ancient sages; he doesn't just involve one person.) Their precious vessel is brought forth, but it turns out to be an error.

(Everyone on earth laments. Give me back my staff. They've dragged me down so that I can't even show my face.)

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The error is profound—

(Extremely profound. No Chan practitioner in the world can leap clear of it. But tell me, how profound?) There's no place to look for it.

(Though it's right at your feet, it can't be found.) Gods and humans alike sink into the earth.

(All the Chan practitioners in the world are buried in one pit. Is there anyone alive? I let my move go. Heavens!) Commentary

"Fully exerting potential, not turning out blind." Changqing said, "If they fully exerted their potential, would they still turn out blind?" Baofu said, "Can you say I'm blind?" This was like "Holding down an ox's head to make it eat grass." To get it right you must wait till it eats on its own; why push down an ox's head to make it eat? When Xuedou versifies like this, naturally we can see Danxia's meaning.

"Twenty-eight and six patriarchs— / Their precious vessel is brought forth, but it turns out to be an error." Not only does Xuedou drag down Changqing, but at the same time he buries the twentyeight Buddhist patriarchs of India and the six Chan patriarchs of China. In forty-nine years Sakyamuni expounded the teachings collected in the Buddhist canon; at the end he only transmitted this precious vessel. Yongjia said, "This is not an empty exhibition of form; it's the actual traces of the Buddha's precious staff." If you adopt Baofu's view, then even if you bring forth the precious vessel it all turns out to be an error.

"The error is profound— / There's no place to look for it. " This can't be explained for you; just go sit quietly and inquire into his lines and see. Since the error is profound, why then is there no place to look for it? This is not a small mistake; he takes the great affair of the enlightened and submerges it entirely into the earth. Hence Xuedou says, "Gods and humans alike sink into the earth." 341

204b

77. Yunmen’s Cake

77. Yunmen' Cake

Introduction

Turning upward, one can take everyone on earth in tow, like a falcon catching a pigeon. Turning downward, one is in the hands of others, like a turtle hiding in its shell. Here if someone suddenly comes forth and says, "Fundamentally there is no upward or downward—what use is turning?" I simply reply, "I know you are living inside a ghost cave." But say, how will we distinguish initiate from naive? (A silence.) "If ou have a rule, go by the rule; if here is no rule, go by the example."

Story

A monk asked Yunmen, "What is talk that goes beyond Buddhas and patriarchs?" (He opens up. Suddenly there's thunder over parched ground. He presses Yunmen.) Yunmen said, "Cake." (His tongue is pressed against the roof f his mouth. Gone by.) Commentary

A monk asked Yunmen, "What is talk that goes beyond Buddhas and atriarchs?" Yunmen said, "Cake." Do ou feel our air standing on end ith the chill? Chan students have asked bout Buddhas and about patriarchs, about Chan and about the Way, about facing upward nd about acing ownward—there' othing ore hat an be asked, yet this one posed a question and asked about talk that goes beyond Buddhas and patriarchs. Yunmen was an adept, so "When the water rises the boats ride high; when there is much clay the Buddha image is big." He answered saying "Cake." It can be said that he Way is ot arried out n vain; his effort is ot asted. Yunmen also said, "Without any understanding, when you see people talking about the intent of he patriarchs you immediately ask for theories of alk that oes beyond Buddhas and patriarchs. But hat do ou all ' uddhas,'what do ou call ' atriarchs,' that you immediately speak of alk that transcends Buddhas and 342

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patriarchs? Then you asked about escape from the world; but try to bring me the world. What perception and cognition are there to hinder you? What phenomena are there that you can be made to understand? What vessel do you know how to use? On what basis do you entertain views of differentiations? Those ancient sages can't do anything for you. Though they extend themselves to help people and say that the whole being is entirely real, that in everything we see Being—this is ungraspable. When I say to you there is no problem, this is already obfuscation." If you can understand this statement, then you can recognize the "cake." Wuzu said, "Donkey manure is like horse manure." This is what Yongjia called "Going to the root source directly, which the Buddhas have ascertained—picking through leaves and searching through twigs is something I cannot do." When you get to this point, if you want to attain intimacy, don't ask with a question. Observe how the monk asked about talk beyond Buddhas and patriarchs, and Yunmen said, "Cake." Does he know shame? Is he aware of indulging? There's a type of phony who says, "Yunmen saw a rabbit and released a hawk; thus he said, 'Cake.'" If you take such a view, that "Cake" is talk going beyond Buddhas and patriarchs, how can there be a living road? Don't understand it as cake and don't understand it as going beyond Buddhas and patriarchs—this then is the living road. This is the same as "three pounds of flax" and "knowing how to beat the drum"—though he just said "cake," its reality is hard to see.

Later people often made up rationalizations and said, "Coarse words and subtle talk all come back to ultimate truth. " If you understand in this way, just go be a professor and spend your life collecting intellectual knowledge. Chan followers today say, "When you go beyond the Buddhas and patriarchs you are trampling both Buddhas and patriarchs underfoot—that's why Yunmen just said to him, 'Cake.'" Since it's "cake," how does this explain going beyond Buddhas and patriarchs? Try to investigate thoroughly and see. There are many verses on this story, but they all go to the side of the question to comment. Xuedou alone has versified it best. 343

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78. Sixteen Bodhisattvas Bathe

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Verse

Chan students asking about transcendent talk are especially numerous.

(One after another they come forth and make up this kind of view, countless numbers of them.) The gap opens—see it?

(It's already open before anything's said. One's own excrement does not seem to smell bad.) Even the cake stuffed in doesn't stop him. (He's replaced your eyes with wooden beads.) Even now there is confusion all over the world. (I'H draw a circle and say, "Haven't you been understanding this way?" What end is there to chewing over the words of others? The whole earth is desolate, killing people with sadness. I strike.) Commentary

"Chan students asking about transcendent talk are especially numerous. Chan followers are especially fond of asking about this saying. Yunmen said, "You carry a staff across your shoulders and say you are studying Chan, studying the Way, and then go looking for a principle that goes beyond the Buddhas and patriarchs. But I ask you, during all the various activities of the twenty-four hours of the day, is there still any principle that goes beyond the Buddhas and patriarchs? Let those who can speak of it come forward. If there isn t anyone, then don't stop me from acting this way and that as I please."

Some can no longer tell right from wrong—they draw a circle, adding mud to dirt, putting on chains while wearing fetters. "The gap opens see it? What a big gap there is in this monk posing his question! Yunmen saw it open up in his question, so he used cake to block it up tight. But this monk still wouldn't agree to stop—instead he went on asking. Thus Xuedou says, "Even the cake stuffed in doesn't stop him."

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"Even now there is confusion all over the world. Chan followers these days just go to "cake" to understand, or else they go to "beyond Buddhas and patriarchs" to make up theories. Since it's not in these two places, in the end, where is it? Thirty years from now, when I've changed my bones, I'll tell you. 78. Sixteen Bodhisattvas Bathe

Story

In olden times there were sixteen bodhisattvas. (What s the use of forming a crowd? This bunch of idiots!) When it was time to wash, the bodhisattvas filed in to bathe. (They've collided with the pillars. Why be such ignoramuses?) Suddenly they awakened to the basis of water. (Suddenly their heads are soaked with foul water.) How will you understand their saying, "Subtle contact reveals illumination," (It's no longer anyone else's business. How will you understand them? "Having knocked it down, it s nothing else. ) "and we have achieved the station of offspring of the Buddha"? (Here all the Chan practitioners in the world seek but cannot find. Why two heads, three faces?) To realize this you too must be thoroughly penetrating. (Each blow leaves a welt. Better not turn your back on me. You're colliding with it, bumping into it. Have you ever seen Deshan and Linji?)

Commentary

At the Surangama assembly, Bhadrapala and sixteen bodhisattvas all practiced pure conduct, and each related the basis on which he had experienced the Dharma door of complete pervasion. This is numbered as one among twenty-five kinds of complete pervasion. When it was time to bathe they filed in to bathe and suddenly awoke to the basis of water. Since they didn't wash off dust, and they didn't wash their bodies, tell me, what did they wash? If you can understand, then, at peace within, you realize nonreification. 345

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205b Then nothing and no one will be able to get near you. As it is said, "Ncnreification of attainment is true wisdom; if there is some thing attained, this is just semblance wisdom."

Bodhidharma said to Shenguang, "Bring me your mind and I will pacify it for you." Shenguang said, "When I search for my mind I can't find it." This little bit here is the basic root of life of Chan practitioners. There's no more need for so many complications; all that's needed is to speak of suddenly awakening to the basis of water, and you spontaneously understand. Since they didn't wash off dust, and didn't wash their bodies, what did they awaken to? When you get to this realm, nothing at all is applicable —even the word "Buddha" is to be avoided. They said, "Subtle contact reveals illumination, and we have achieved the station of offspring of the Buddha." To reveal is to make apparent; the subtle contact is illumination. Once you awaken to the subtle contact and achieve the station of offspring of the Buddha, you are in the stage of enlightenment.

People these days also bathe, also wash in water and feel it this way; why then don't they awaken? They are all confused and obstructed by the objects of the senses, which stick to their skins and cling to their bones. That's why they can't wake up immediately then and there. Here, if there's nothing attained in washing, or contact, or the basis of water, then is this subtle contact revealing illumination or not? If here you can see directly, then this is subtle contact revealing illumination, achieving the station of offspring of the Buddha. People these days feel contact too, but do they perceive its subtlety? Subtle contact is not ordinary feeling and feeler, where conjunction is considered contact and separation is not.

When Xuansha stubbed his toe crossing the mountains and then awakened, when Deshan hits—isn't this subtle contact? Though it is so, to realize this you must be thoroughly penetrating. If you just search in your body, what connection is there? If you are thoroughly penetrating, then what need is there to wash? You will make the adamantine realm appear on the tip of a hair and turn the great Dharma wheel in every atom. If you can penetrate 346

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in one point, then you penetrate myriad points all at once. Don't just hold onto a single nook or den—all places are doors by which Avalokitesvara enters truth.

For the ancients too there was "awaking to the Way by hearing sound, illumining mind by seeing form. " A single person may indeed awaken, but how did the sixteen bodhisattvas awaken at the same time? Thus the ancients practiced together and witnessed together, awakened together and understood together. Xuedou picks up the meaning of their teaching to make people go to where subtle contact reveals illumination to understand. But Xuedou goes beyond the eye of their teaching to let people avoid being trapped in the net of doctrine, half-drunk and half-sober. He wants to make people directly become clean, free, and unbound. Verse

It only requires one accomplished Chan practitioner— (There's one right here. I'll strike three thousand times in the morning and eight hundred at night. Leap out of the unbreakable trap! Not even one is needed.) Stretch out your legs on the long bench and lie down. (After all a sleepyhead. He never discusses Chan.) In a dream you once spoke of awakening to complete pervasion—

(Already asleep, he goes on to speak of dreams. Yet I'll allow that you've seen it in dreams. Why the sleep talk?) Though you've washed in fragrant water, I'll spit right in your face.

(Tsk! He adds a layer of mud on dirt. Don't defecate on clean ground.)

Commentary

"It only requires one accomplished Chan practitioner." What does one accomplish? Once they hear it mentioned, adept Chanists immediately go carry it out. It just takes one such Chanist—what's the use of forming a crowd?

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"Stretch out your legs on the long bench and lie down." An ancient said, In clear illumination there is no such thing as awakening. The idea of awakening deludes people. When you stretch out and sleep, there's no false and no true—thus there isn't a single thing on your mind—when hungry you eat, when tired you sleep. " Xuedou means that if you speak of washing and awakening to subtle contact revealing illumination, from the standpoint of such a free Chanist this is like speaking of a dream in a dream. So Xuedou says, In a dream you once spoke of awakening to complete pervasion— / Though you've washed in fragrant water, I'll spit right in your face." Though it seems like fragrant water, in fact it's foul water suddenly soaking your head. What complete pervasion can you go on talking about? Xuedou says that this sort of person quite rightly gets spit in the face. I say this is adding a layer of mud on dirt.

79. All Sounds

205c Introduction

When the great function manifests it doesn't keep to patterns and rules. An adept captures you alive without exerting superfluous effort. But say, who has ever acted this way?

Story

A monk asked Touzi, "All sounds are the voice of the Buddharight or wrong?" (He knows how to grab the tiger's whiskers. A thunderclap in a clear sky. One's own feces do not seem to stink.) Touzi said, 'Right. " (He totally fools ordinary people. He's sold his body to you. He's put it over on one side. What mental activity is this?) The monk said, Don't fart." (He just sees the awl is sharp; he doesn't see the chisel is square. What is he saying? After all he suffers defeat.) Touzi hit him. (A hit. He should be hit—it won't do to let him go.) The monk also asked, "Coarse words and subtle talk all wind up at ultimate truth—right or wrong?" (Grabbing the 348

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tiger's whiskers a second time. He's clutching the loot yet crying he's been wronged—why? East, west, south, north the reflections and echoes are still present.) Touzi said, "Right." (Again he's sold his body to you. A pitfall to trap tigers. And what mental activity is this?) The monk said, "Can I call you an ass?" (He just sees the awl is sharp; he doesn't see the chisel is square. Though he has waves against the current, yet he has no horns on his head. With a mouth full of blood, he spits out at people.) Touzi hit him. (A hit. It won't do to let him go. He should be hit—why does Touzi stop before his staff is broken?)

Commentary

Touzi was plain and truthful, and he had extraordinary discernment. Whenever he was questioned, he would immediately see the heart of the matter; without expending superfluous effort, he would immediately cut off the questioner s tongue. It could be said that he set plans in motion from inside his tent that decided victory beyond a thousand miles.

This monk had taken his views of sound and form Buddhism and stuck them to his forehead; whenever he met someone, he would ask about it. But Touzi was an adept, profoundly discerning all who came to him.

Knowing Touzi was truthful, the monk was making a trap for him from the start—hence his subsequent remarks. Nevertheless it was Touzi who used the ability to trap tigers, fishing out the monk's subsequent words. This monk received Touzi s answer by saying, "Don't fart. " As it turned out, as soon as Touzi set his hook, the monk immediately climbed onto it; anyone else would have been unable to handle the monk, but Touzi had eyes and followed up and hit him. Such ability, like a hound biting a boar, is only possible for an adept. Whether he turned left or right, Touzi followed him smoothly. When the monk made a trap, wanting to grab the tiger's whiskers, he didn't yet know that Touzi was above his trap. When Touzi hit him, the monk unfortunately had a start but no finish. As soon as Touzi picked up his staff, if the monk had 349

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206a overturned his meditation seat, even if Touzi had used his full capacity he still would have had to fall back three thousand miles. The monk also asked, "Coarse words and subtle talk all wind up at ultimate truth—right or wrong?" Again Touzi said "Right." This is just like his previous answer, no different. When the monk said, Can I call you an ass?" Touzi again hit him Though the monk was making clichés, nevertheless he was still exceptional; a teacher without the eye on the forehead would have been unable to crush him. But Touzi did have room to turn around. When the monk made up a theory, he wanted to plunder Touzi's shop, but in the end, as before, he couldn't do anything to the old man. Yantou said, "In battle each one occupies a pivotal position." Touzi let go very slowly and gathered in very swiftly. At the time, had the monk known how to turn around and show some life,' wouldn't he have been able to act with overwhelming effectiveness? A Chan monk either doesn't act or doesn't quit. Since this monk was unable to spring back, he was taken in tow by Touzi. Verse

Touzi, Touzi!

(Obviously there's no one on earth like this truthful old man.

He spoils the sons and daughters of other people's families.)

The wheel of his ability is unobstructed. (What difficulty is there to handling him? There's a bit indeed.)

He releases one and gets two—

(He replaces your eyes. Where will you see Touzi?) The same for that and the same for this.

(Act this way and you get a thrashing; don't act this way and you still get a thrashing. If you take this monk's place I'll hit you.)

How pitiful the innumerable people playing in the tide; 350

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(The monasteries produce one or a half; they produced these two people. All the Chan practitioners in the world act this way.)

In the end they fall into the tide and die. (Too bad. What can they do? They can't get out of the trap. A sad person shouldn't talk to sad people.) If they suddenly came to life,

(My Chan seat shakes—he's startled me. I too fall back three thousand miles.)

The hundred rivers would reverse their flow with a roar. (Danger! It is useless to stop and think. I wouldn't dare open my mouth. Old Touzi too must break his staff before he's all right.)

Commentary

"Touzi, Touzi! / The wheel of his ability is unobstructed." Touzi often said, "You always say Touzi is truthful, but if you suddenly went three steps down the mountain and someone asked you what Touzi s truthfulness is, how would you respond? An ancient said, Where the wheel of ability turns, the actor is still deluded." The wheel of Touzi's ability turns smoothly, entirely without obstructions. Thus Xuedou says, "He releases one and gets two." Once a monk asked Touzi, "What is the Buddha?" Touzi said, "The Buddha." "What is the Way?" Touzi said, "The Way." "What is Chan?" Touzi said, "Chan." The monk also asked, "How is it when the moon is not yet full? " Touzi said, "Swallowing three or four." "How is it after the moon is full? " Touzi said, "Spitting out seven or eight. When Touzi dealt with people he always used this ability. When he answered this monk he just used the one word "Right." The monk got hit both times. Hence Xuedou says, "The same for that and the same for this." The first four lines have all at once completed Xuedou's praise of Touzi. At the end Xuedou depicts the monk, saying, "How pitiful the innumerable people playing in the tide." The monk dared to seize 351

80. A Newborn Baby

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206b Touzi's banner and drum, saying, "Don't fart," and "Can I call you an ass? This is where he played in the tide. When the monk had exhausted his clever maneuvers, as before he died in Touzi's words, so Touzi then hit him. Thus the monk "in the end falls into the tide and dies. "

Xuedou releases the monk and says that if he suddenly came to life and overturned the meditation seat, then even Touzi would have to fall back three thousand miles, and then "the hundred rivers would reverse their flow with a roar." Not only does my seat shake, but the mountains and rivers quake and heaven and earth are blacked out. If each and every one of you were like this, I'd be beating the drums of retreat. Where will you go to settle yourselves and establish your lives?

80. A Newborn Baby

Story

A monk asked Zhaozhou, "Does a newborn baby also have the sixth consciousness?" (The moment is fleeting as a lightning flash. What newborn baby is he talking about?) Zhaozhou said, "Tossing a ball on swiftly flowing water." (It's gone by. Even a hawk cannot overtake it. You still must check it.) The monk asked Touzi, "What is the meaning o f'tossing a ball on swiftly flowing water'?" (This too is adepts checking together. Understand? It's gone by.) Touzi said, Moment to moment, nonstop flow." (He creates complications.) Commentary

In the Abhidharma this sixth consciousness is set up as the true basis. Mountains, rivers, earth, sun, moon, and stars come into being because of it. It comes as the vanguard and leaves as the rearguard. The ancients say that the world is only mind, myriad things are only consciousness. In the stage of Buddhahood the eight consciousnesses are transformed into the four knowledges; in doctrinal schools this is called changing names without changing essence. 352 i

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Sense faculties, objects, and consciousnesses are three. Originally we are unable to discriminate among the sense objects before us, but the subtle inner faculties produce consciousness, and consciousness manifests discrimination of forms—this is the sixth consciousness. The seventh consciousness, manas, can take hold of all images of the world and cause people to be vexed and troubled so that they don't attain freedom. As for the eighth consciousness, called the storehouse consciousness, it contains all good and bad seeds. This monk knew the ideas of the verbal teachings, so he used them to question Zhaozhou: "Does a newborn baby also have the sixth consciousness?" Though a newborn baby is equipped with the six consciousnesses, though its eyes can see and its ears can hear, it doesn't discriminate among the six sense objects. At this time it knows nothing of good and evil, superior and inferior, right and wrong, gain and loss. A student of the Way must become again like an infant; then one cannot be moved by praise or blame, success or fame, trial or ease. Though one sees forms, one is the same as blind; though one hears sounds, one is the same as deaf. One is like a simpleton, mind immutable as the polar mountain. This is where Chan practitioners really acquire power.

An ancient said, "My patched garment over my head, myriad concerns cease; at this time I don't understand anything at all. Only if you can be like this will you have a little attainment. But though one is like this, nevertheless one can't be fooled at all—as ever, mountains are mountains, rivers are rivers. One is without artifice, without clinging thoughts. One is like the sun and moon moving through the sky without stopping, without announcing one has so many names and forms. One is like the sky everywhere covering and the earth everywhere supporting, mindlessly nurturing all beings without announcing their accomplishments. Since sky and earth are mindless, they last forever—what has mind has limits. One who has attained the Way is like this too. In the midst of effortlessness, one carries out efforts, accepting all trials and pleasures with a compassionate heart.

When they got to this point the ancient still upbraided themselves, saying, "When you've completely perfectly comprehended, 353

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there's nothing to comprehend; even the abstruse, profound mystery is still to be rebuked." They also said, "All things are thoroughly comprehended and all beings clearly understood—one who has arrived, sensing this, is startled in the dark." Again it is said, "Without making a sound one goes beyond the ordinary and enters sagehood. The reclining dragon is very wary of the blue pool's clarity." If human life can be like this always, how can a single label remain in the world? Yet even being this way, one must go on to leap out of the nest.

It says in the Flower Ornament Sutra, "Bodhisattvas in the eighth stage, Immovability, turn the Dharma Wheel in an atom, using effortless knowledge. At all times, in all activities, they don't cling to gain and loss but let themselves flow into the ocean of omniscience." When Chan practitioners get here they still must not become attached but follow the occasion freely. When they have food and drink, they partake of it; neither the word certainty nor the word uncertainty can be applied to this transcendental matter. Shandao said, "Haven't you even seen a newborn baby? Has a baby ever said, 'I know how to read the scriptures'? At that time it does not know the meaning of having the Buddha nature or not having the Buddha nature. As one grows up one learns various sorts of intellectual knowledge; then one comes to claim ability and understanding, not knowing that this is affliction by acquired defilements. Among the sixteen contemplation practices, the baby's practice is best. When it's babbling it symbolizes the student of the Way, detached from the discriminating mind that grasps and rejects. That's why I praise infants. I can make a comparison by taking the case of a baby, but if I say the baby is the Way, people of these times would misunderstand."

Nanquan said, "Eighteen times I was able to make a living. " Zhaozhou said, "Eighteen times I was able to break up the family and scatter the household. " He also said, "I was in the south for twenty years and only varied my application of mind at mealtimes. " Caoshan asked a monk, "In concentration the bodhisattva smells the musky elephant crossing the river very clearly; what 354

80. A Newborn Baby

scripture does this come from?" The monk said, "From the Nirvana scripture." Caoshan said, "Does one smell before or after concentration?" The monk said, "You're flowing." Caoshan said, "Receive it on the river bank. "

The Surangama Sutra says, "Stillness merges into stillness, going into the bounds of consciousness. "

The Lankavatara Sutra says, "Birth of signs is being obstructed by grasping. Birth of conceptions is false thinking. Birth of flows is pursuing falsehood, going round in circles. Even if you reach the state of effortlessness, you're still in the midst of the characteristics of flowing."

One must get out of the third aspect, birth of flows, in order to be joyfully alive and free. Therefore Guishan asked Yangshan, "How is it with you?" Yangshan said, "Are you asking about my perceptive understanding or my active understanding? If it's my active understanding, I don't know. If it's my perceptive understanding, it's like a pitcher of water poured into another pitcher." If you can be like this you can be the teacher of a region. When Zhaozhou said, "Tossing a ball on swiftly flowing water," he was already turning smoothly. When you toss it on swiftly flowing water, in a blink of an eye it's gone. As the Surangama Sutra says, "Looked upon from afar, swiftly flowing water seems still." An ancient said, "In fast-flowing rivers the currents of water never stop and they are unaware of each other—all things are like this too." The meaning of Zhaozhou's answer is just like these sayings. The monks also asked Touzi, "What is the meaning o f'tossing a ball on swiftly flowing water'?" Touzi said, "Moment to moment, nonstop flow, " spontaneously matching the question. The practice of Zhaozhou and Touzi was so thoroughgoing that they answered as one. They no longer make use of calculations—as soon as you question them they already know what you are getting at. Although a baby's sixth consciousness makes no effort, nevertheless from moment to moment it doesn't stop, flowing on like a hidden river. Of Touzi's answer we can say that he profoundly discerns whatever comes up.

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81. Shooting the Elk of Elks

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Verse

Sixth consciousness inactive—he puts forth a question. (Though he has eyes, he is like a blind man; though he has ears, he is like a deaf man. The clear mirror is on its stand, the bright pearl is in the palm. In one line Xuedou has said it all.)

The adepts have both discerned where he's coming from—

(What's the need? Still, one must distinguish initiate from naive. Just experience it, then you'll know.) On the boundless swiftly flowing water, tossing a ball; (Consistent from beginning to end. Gone past. What's he saying?)

Where it comes down, it doesn't stay—who can watch it?

(Watch it and you'll go blind. It's gone. "Receive it on the river bank. ")

Commentary

"Sixth consciousness inactive—he puts forth a question." When the ancients studied the Way, they brought themselves to this point; this is called achievement of nonapplication. They were the same as a newborn baby: though they had eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, they didn't discriminate among the six sense objects. In sum, they were nonactive. When you get to this realm, then you can overcome dragons and tigers, die sitting or standing. Right now people should just put the myriad phenomena before their eyes to rest at once. What need is there to get above the eighth stage before you can be like this? Although there's no activity, as ever mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers. In a previous verse Xuedou said, "In living there's an ey estill, it's the same as death. Why use antiserum to test an adept?" Since Zhaozhou and Touzi were adepts, he says, "The adepts have both discerned where he's coming from— / On the boundless swiftly flowing water, tossing a ball." Touzi said, "Moment to moment, 356

81. Shooting the Elk of Elks

nonstop flow." Do you know what this really means? At the end Xuedou has people set eyes on it for themselves and watch. Hence he says, "Where it comes down, it doesn't stay—who can watch it?" This is Xuedou's living statement. But what does it really mean? 207b

81. Shooting the Elk of Elks

Introduction

One captures the banner and seizes the drums, beyond the ken of the sages. One cuts off confusing obscurities, beyond the reach of myriad devices. This is not the wondrous functioning of spiritual powers, nor is it the suchness of the basic essence. Tell me, what does one rely on to attain such marvels?

Story

A monk asked Yaoshan, "On a level field, in the shallow grass, the elk and deer form a herd. How can one shoot the elk of elks?" (He enters enemy headquarters with his helmet off. He raises his head wearing horns. He pulls an arrow out the back of his head.) Yaoshan said, "Look—an arrow! " (He counterattacks. If you're not running downhill fast, it's hard to catch up with him. Bulls-eye!) The monk collapsed. (Obviously this monk is unusual, but once dead he doesn't revive. He's giving play to his spirit.) Yaoshan said, "Attendant, drag this dead man out." (He acts according to the imperative. He doesn't bother to test the monk again. The first arrow was still light; the second arrow is deep.) The monk then ran out. (He opens his eyes inside the coffin; he finds life in death. He still has some breath left.) Yaoshan said, "When will this guy playing with a mud ball ever be done?" (Too bad Yaoshan let him go. He acts according to the imperative, but he's adding frost to snow.) Xuedou commented, "Though he lived for three steps, after five steps he had to die." (One hand lifts up, one hand presses down. Even if he ran a hundred steps he would still have to lose his life. Watch the arrow. Where is Xuedou's meaning? If he lived the same and died 357

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207c the same, Yaoshan would stare agape. He's just like an iron hammerhead with no hole—useless.)

Commentary

In the Cao-Dong tradition this is called a question that uses things, or a question testing the host, used to clarify the present state of mind. Ordinarily deer and elk are easy to shoot. Only the elk of elks, the king among deer, is very hard to shoot. This king elk always sharpens its horns on rocks of cliffs, so they're sharp as swords. It defends the herd with its own body, so even tigers cannot get near. Likewise, this monk seems intelligent and alert as he draws on this to question Yaoshan to reveal what he would do first. Yaoshan said, "Look—an arrow!" An expert teaching master, he is indeed unusual, swift as a spark, a flash of lightning. When Sanping first called on Shigong, as soon as Shigong saw him coming, he went through the motion of bending a bow and said, "Look—an arrow!" Sanping bared his chest and said, "This is the arrow that kills—what is the arrow that brings life?" Shigong plucked the bowstring thrice, whereat Sanping bowed. Shigong said, "After thirty years with a single bow and two arrows, today I've finally managed to shoot half a sage." Then he broke his bow and arrows.

Later Sanping took this up with Datian. Datian said, "Since it is the arrow that brings life, why draw it on a bowstring?" Sanping was speechless. Datian said, "Thirty years hence it will still be hard to find someone to bring up these words. " Fadeng composed this verse:

Of old we had master Shigong;

Setting his bow and arrows, he sat.

He went on like this for thirty years;

Not a single one understood.

Sanping came and hit the target,

And father and son reached harmony.

Thinking back carefully,

All along they were shooting the mound.

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Shigong's strategy was the same as Yaoshan's. Sanping had the eye on the forehead, so he hit the target immediately given a single phrase. It was just like Yaoshan saying, "Look—an arrow!" and this monk then collapsing, playing the elk. The monk seemed to be an adept too, but he had a start but no finish. He had set his trap to make Yaoshan fall in, but Yaoshan was an adept and kept on pressing relentlessly. When Yaoshan said, "Attendant, drag this dead man out," it was as if he was extending his battle lines forward. This monk then ran out: he may have been right, but he wasn't free and clean, his hands and feet were stuck. That's why Yaoshan said, "When will this guy playing with a mud ball ever be done?" Had Yaoshan not had the last word then, he would have been criticized down through the ages.

Yaoshan said, "Look—an arrow," whereupon the monk collapsed. Was this understanding or not? If you say it was, why did Yaoshan say he was playing with a mud ball? This was extremely vicious. It was like when a monk asked Deshan, "How is it when a student with a sharp sword tries to take the master's head?" Deshan extended his neck to him and shouted; the monk said, "The master's head has fallen." Deshan lowered his head and returned to his room. Also, Yantou asked a monk, "Where have you come from?" The monk said, "From the western capital." Yantou said, "After the rebel Huangchao passed by, did you get his sword?" The monk said he did; Yantou extended his neck towards him and shouted. The monk said, "The master's head has fallen." Yantou laughed. Cases of this kind are all traps to fell tigers, just like the present story. Yaoshan wasn't taken in by this monk—since he saw through him, he just kept on pressing.

Xuedou says, "Though this monk lived for three steps, after five steps he had to die." Though the monk knew very well how to look at the arrow and immediately collapsed, when Yaoshan said, "Attendant, drag this dead man out," he ran out. Xuedou says he's afraid he won't live beyond three steps. Had the monk leaped beyond five steps at that time, no one in the world would have been able to do anything to him.

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208a In a meeting of adepts, from beginning to end there must be an uninterrupted interchange of guest and host; only then is there freedom and independence. Since the monk wasn't able to continue from beginning to end, consequently he meets with Xuedou's censure. But at the end Xuedou himself uses his words for his verse: Verse

The elk of elks—

(Look on high. He raises his head, wearing horns.) You should take a look.

(What sort of thing is it? He's running in the secondary level. If you want to shoot, then shoot, but why look?) Yaoshan releases one arrow—

(On target. You must realize Yaoshan is an expert.) The monk runs three steps.

(He's lively, but only for three steps. He's been dead a long time.)

Had he lived for five steps,

(What for? Leap a hundred steps. How is it when unexpectedly finding life in the midst of death?) He would have formed a herd and chased the tiger. (The two reflect each other. You should fall back three thousand miles. All the Chan practitioners in the world let him come forth, but he's still in a nest in the weeds.)

The correct eye has always been given to a hunter. (Yet Yaoshan doesn't consent to acknowledge these words. It's so for Yaoshan—what about Xuedou? It doesn't concern Yaoshan, it doesn't concern Xuedou, it doesn't concern me, and it doesn't concern you.) Xuedou said loudly, "Look—an arrow!" (One punishment for all the crimes. You must fall back three thousand miles from them. I hit, saying, "He's already choked you. ")

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Commentary

"The elk of elks— / You should take a look." Chan practitioners must have the eye of the elk of elks and the horns of the elk of elks; they must have devices and strategy. Even if it's a fierce winged tiger or a horned tiger, the elk of elks can still preserve itself and keep harm at a distance. At that time when this monk collapsed, he was saying of himself that he was the elk of elks. "Yaoshan releases one arrow— / The monk runs three steps." When Yaoshan said, "Look—an arrow," the monk fell down; when Yaoshan said, "Attendant, drag this dead man out," the monk ran out. He did very well, but he was only able to run three steps. "Had he lived for five steps, / He would have formed a herd and chased the tiger." Xuedou says, "I'm afraid that after five steps he had to die; had he been able to leap beyond five steps and been alive, he would have been able to gather his herd and gone to chase the tiger." The horns of the elk of elks are sharp as spears— when a tiger sees them, even it becomes afraid and flees. This elk is the king among deer, always leading the herd in driving tigers to another mountain.

Finally Xuedou praises Yaoshan for having a way to express himself in that situation. "The correct eye has always been given to a hunter." Yaoshan is like a hunter who knows how to shoot and this monk is like the elk.

Then, having related this story, Xuedou wrapped it all up in a single bundle and said loudly, "Look—an arrow!" At once those who had been sitting and standing there were unable to stir. 361

208b 82. The Stable Body of Reality

Introduction

Only those with eyes can know the fishing line. Only adepts can handle devices outside of patterns. But what is the fishing line? What are devices beyond patterns?

Story

A monk asked Dalong, "The physical body decays; what is the stable body of eality?" (His statement akes hem nto two. Still, it's all right o separate them.) Dalong said, "The ountain lowers bloom like brocade; the valley streams brim blue as indigo." (A flute with no holes striking a felt pounding board. The whole cannot be broken apart. When someone comes rom one place, he goes to another.)

Commentary

If ou search for this thing in words, it's like trying to hit the moon with a stick—you won' reach. An ancient clearly stated, "If you want to attain intimacy, don' ask with a question. Why? Because the question is in the answer and the answer is in the question." This monk, carrying a load of crudeness, exchanged it for a load of confusion; in posing this question, his defeat is not slight. How could anyone but Dalong manage to cover heaven and earth? The onk sking hus nd along answering hus s single hole. Dalong didn' move at all; it as like seeing a rabbit and eleasing a falcon, like seeing a hole and putting in a plug. Is this situation in the canon? Undeniably his answer is extraordinary, but his words have no flavor and choke people. Thus it is said, "When white clouds lie across the valley mouth, many birds returning by night can' find their nests."

Some say this was just answering glibly. Those who understand this ay are exterminators of he Buddha's ace. They don't know that with one device, one perspective, the ancients broke 362

82. The Stable Body of Reality

fetters and chains, that every word and phrase had something precious within.

If one has the eye and brain of a Chanist, sometimes one holds fast and sometimes one lets go. Illumination and function simultaneous, both subject and object removed, both sides let go and both sides taken in, facing the situation one changes accordingly. Without the great function and great capacity, how would one be able to enclose heaven and earth like this? One is like a clear mirror reflecting accurately whatever comes before it. This story is the same as that of the flowering hedge, though the meaning is not the same. Here the monk's question was unclear, so Dalong's answer was exactly appropriate. A monk asked Yunmen, "How is it when the tree withers and the leaves fall?" Yunmen said, "The body exposed in the autumn wind." This is called arrow points meeting. Here the monk asked Dalong, "The physical body decays; what is the stable body of reality?" Dalong said, "The mountain flowers bloom like brocade; the valley streams brim blue as indigo." This is just like "You go west to Qin, I go east to Lu" —since he acts this way, I don't act this way. Matching Dalong's answer with Yunmen's, they're opposites. It's easy to see Yunmen acting thus, but it's hard to see Dalong acting otherwise. Nevertheless, Dalong's speech is very subtle. Verse

Asking without knowing,

(East and west not distinguished. Playing with the thing without knowing its name. Buy the hat to fit the head.) Answered, still not understanding.

(South and north not differentiated. The skull was switched. South of the river, north of the river.) The moon is cold, the wind is high—

(What is it like? Today is precisely this time. All people have eyes but have never seen, have ears but have never heard.)

On the ancient cliff, frigid juniper.

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(Even better when it's not raining. A holeless flute hitting a felt pounding board.)

How delightful to meet an enlightened one on the road, (You must get here yourself too. Give me back my staff. They come like this, forming a crowd.) Who doesn't use speech or silence to reply. (Where will you see Dalong? What would you use to answer him properly?)

His hand grasps the white jade whip

(It's broken to pieces.)

And smashes the black dragon's pearl. (It remains for future people to look at. Too bad.) If he hadn't smashed it,

(If he let his move go, again you'd go on like this.) He would have increased its flaws.

(Why play with a mud ball? He'd seem more and more decrepit; his crimes would fill the sky.) The nation has a code of laws—

(Those who know the law fear it. "In the morning three thousand blows, at night eight hundred blows.") Three thousand articles of offenses.

(He's only told half of it. There are eighty-four thousand. Countless eons of uninterrupted hell wouldn't make up for half of it.)

Commentary

Xuedou versifies here with much skill. Before when he versified Yunmen's "The body exposed in the autumn wind," he said, "Since the question has the source, the answer too is in the same place." This case is otherwise: Xuedou instead says, "Asking without knowing, / Answered, still not understanding." Dalong's answer was a glimpse from the side that was simply outstanding. His answer was so clear that whoever questioned him this way had already incurred defeat even before asking. With his answer he was able to bend down to the monk and match him perfectly, adapting to 364

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the needs of the situation: "The mountain flowers bloom like brocade; the valley streams brim blue as indigo." How will you understand Dalong's meaning right now?

As a glimpse from the side, Dalong's answer was truly extraordinary. Thus Xuedou comes out with his verse to make people realize that the moon is cold, the wind is high and still strikes the frigid juniper on the ancient cliff. How do you understand Xuedou's meaning? Thus I just said it's a holeless flute hitting a felt pounding board.

The verse is completed with just these first four lines but Xuedou was still concerned lest people make rationalizations, so he said, "How delightful to meet an enlightened one on the road, / Who doesn't use speech or silence to reply." This matter is not perception or cognition, not discriminating thought. So it is said, "Direct and truthful, not bringing anything else, moving on alone— what is there to depend on? On the road, if you meet an enlightened one, don't use speech or silence to reply." This is a verse of Xiangyan that Xuedou has drawn on. A monk asked Zhaozhou, "How should one reply, if not with speech or silence?" Zhaozhou said, "Show your vessel." These sayings are the same as Dalong's; they don't fall within the scope of your feelings or concepts. What is this like? "His hand grasps the white jade whip / And smashes the black dragon's pearl." Thus the command of the founders must be carried out, cutting off everything in the ten directions. This is the matter of the sword's edge, for which one must have this kind of strategy. Otherwise you turn your back on the sages of all time. When you get here you must be free, then naturally you'll have the advantage. This is how transcendent people act. "If he hadn't smashed it," necessarily "he would have increased its flaws," and thus would have seemed broken down and decrepit.

But in the end, how can you be right? "The nation has a code of law— / Three thousand articles of offenses." There are three thousand subdivisions of punishments, and none is greater than that for not being respectful. This monk offended against all three 365

83. The Ancient Buddhas and the Pillars

209a The Blue Cliff Record

thousand articles at once. How so? Because he didn't deal with people on the basis of his own thing. As for Dalong, he of course was not this way.

83. The Ancient

Buddhas and the Pillars

Story

Yunmen said, "The ancient Buddhas and the pillars merge—what level of mental activity is this?" (Three thousand miles away. There's no connection. Cracked open.) He answered himself, (When someone in the eastern house dies, someone from the western house assists in the mourning. The single compounded form cannot be grasped.) "On south mountain clouds gather;" (Throughout heaven and earth, they can't be seen. A knife cannot cut through.) "on north mountain rain falls." (Not a drop falls. Half south of the river, half north of the river.)

Commentary

Great master Yunmen produced over eighty enlightened teachers. Seventeen years after he died, his tomb was opened and his body was found upright and sound as in life. His vision was clear, his mind swift. All his pointers, alternative remarks, and statements on behalf of others were direct and uncompromising. This present story is like sparks, like lightning, baffling and ungraspable. Librarian Qing said, "Is there such talk in the Canon? " People these days make their living on emotional interpretations, saying, "The Buddha is the guide of the world, the compassionate father of beings. Why then do the ancient Buddhas merge with the pillars?" If you understand this way, you'll never find it. Some call Yunmen's saying calling out from nothingness. They don't know that the talk of Chan masters cuts off conceptualization, cuts off emotional evaluation, cuts off birth and death, cuts off dogmatism, and enters the absolute without retaining anything 366

83. The Ancient Buddhas and the Pillars

at all. As soon as you rationalize and calculate, you tie your hands and feet.

But tell me, what did Yunmen mean? Just unify mind and environment; then judgments of good and bad won't be able to shake you. Then it will be all right whether you say there is or there isn't; it will be all right whether you have mental activity or not. When you get here, each clap of the hands is the true imperative. Wuzu said, "Yunmen, supposedly so great, really didn't have much guts. If it were me, I would just have told him, 'The eighth level of mental activity.'"

He said, "The ancient Buddhas and the pillars merge—what level of mental activity is this?" In that moment he wrapped it all up in front of you. When a monk asked him what this meant, Yunmen said, "A sash costs thirty cents." He had the eye to settle heaven and earth.

Since no one understood, afterward he answered himself: "On south mountain clouds gather; on north mountain rain falls." Thus he opened up a route of entry for future students. That's why Xuedou picks out the place where he settles heaven and earth to make people see. But as soon as you blunder into calculation, you stumble past and miss it, though it's right in front of you. You simply must go to the source of Yunmen's fundamental meaning to understand clearly his lofty mind.

Verse

South mountain clouds,

(Throughout heaven and earth they can't be seen. A knife cannot cut in.)

North mountain rain—

(Not a drop falls. Half south of the river, half north of the river.)

The twenty-eight and the six see it before them. (Wherever I look I can't see. Xuedou is dragging in others. The lanterns are hung on the pillars.) In Korea they've gone up into the hall;

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