Upagupta

The Fourth Patriarch, Upagupta, served as attendant to the Venerable Sanavasa for three years, and then had his head shaved to become a monk. The Venerable One asked him, 'Do you leave home with the body, or with the mind?'The master replied, 'Truly, I leave home with the body.'The Venerable One said, 'The wondrous dharma of all buddhas—how could it be confined to body or mind?'At this, the master experienced great awakening.

He was a man from the country of Takshashila. He was also named Upagupta. His family name was Shudra. At fifteen, he went to study under the Venerable Sanavasa. At seventeen, he left home; at twenty-two, he realized the fruit. Traveling to teach, he arrived in the country of Mathura. Those he ordained were extremely numerous. Because of this, the demon palace trembled, and Mara became distressed and fearful.

The Venerable One asked, 'Do you leave home with the body or with the mind?'He answered, 'I came to leave home not for the sake of body or mind.'He was a man from the country of Takshashila. Also named Upagupta, also named Upatissa. Family name Shudra. Father's name Shan-yi. He left home at seventeen, realized the fruit at twenty. Traveling to teach according to place, he reached the country of Mathura. Those he ordained were very many. Because of this, the demon palace trembled. Each time he led someone to realize the fruit, he would toss a four-finger-long tally into a stone chamber. The chamber was eighteen cubits long and twelve cubits wide, and it became completely filled.

One cubit equals two feet. Using the tallies from all those he ordained during his lifetime, he was cremated. The number of people he ordained was vast, just as in the time of the Tathagata's presence in the world. Therefore, the world collectively hailed him as the 'Buddha Without Marks and Characteristics.'

Mara, generating anger, spied on the time of his entering samadhi,

and finally exhausted his demonic power in an attempt to harm the true dharma. The Venerable One then entered samadhi and contemplated the reason. Mara again spied and secretly took a jeweled necklace and hung it around his neck. At that time, the Venerable One also wished to subdue him. Rising from samadhi, he then took three corpses—of a human, a dog, and a snake—transformed them into a floral garland, and with gentle words consoled Mara, saying, 'You gave me a necklace—it is truly precious and exquisite. I have a floral garland to offer in return.'Mara, greatly pleased, stretched out his neck to receive it. It then transformed into three kinds of foul, stinking corpses, crawling with maggots, rotten and putrid. Mara, disgusted, generated great distress and anguish. Exhausting his own spiritual power, he could not discard it, could not remove it, could not move it. He then ascended to the six desire heavens and informed the various heavenly lords. He also went to Brahma Heaven seeking release from it. They each told him, 'This is the spiritual transformation wrought by a disciple of the Ten-Powered One. We are ordinary and inferior—how could we remove it?'Mara said, 'Then what should be done?'Brahma King said, 'You should take refuge in the Venerable One; then he will be able to cut it off.'He then spoke a verse for him, causing him to dedicate merit, saying, 'If one falls because of the earth, one rises again because of the earth. Seeking to rise apart from the earth—'

In the end, there is no principle. One should rely on the disciple of the Ten Powers to seek liberation. Papiyas,

having received the teaching, immediately descended from the heavenly palace, prostrated at the Venerable's feet, and sorrowfully confessed his transgressions.

The Venerable One said, 'From now on, will you ever again create disturbances in the Tathagata's true Dharma or not?'Mara said, 'I vow to turn toward the Buddha Way and forever cut off all unwholesomeness.'The Venerable One said, 'If so, you should yourself proclaim and orally declare taking refuge in the Three Jewels.'The demon king joined his palms and proclaimed it three times. The garlands were completely removed.

The *Jingde Chuandeng Lu* says: He then exhausted his demonic power to harm the true Dharma. The Venerable One immediately entered samadhi to observe its cause. Mara again waited for an opportunity, secretly took a jeweled necklace and fastened it around his neck. When the Venerable One emerged from samadhi, he took the corpses of a human, a dog, and a snake and transformed them into a garland. With gentle words, he consoled Mara, saying:

You have given me a precious and wonderful necklace. I have a flower garland to offer in return. The demon king Mara was greatly delighted and stretched out his neck to receive it. It immediately transformed into three kinds of foul-smelling corpses, worms, and decay. Mara felt disgusted and was greatly distressed. He exhausted all his divine power but could not remove it. Then he ascended to the six desire heavens and informed the heavenly kings.

He also went to the Brahma King seeking release. Each of them said, 'The spiritual transformation performed by the disciple of the Ten-Powered One is beyond our humble abilities to remove.'Mara said, 'Then what should I do?'The Brahma King said, 'You should turn your heart to the Venerable One, and he will be able to remove it.'Then he spoke a verse, instructing him to dedicate his merit: 'If you fall because of the ground, you should rise because of the ground. Seeking to rise apart from the ground will never be possible.'After receiving this teaching, Mara descended from the heavenly palace, bowed at the Venerable One's feet, and confessed his wrongdoings with remorse. Upagupta asked, 'From now on, will you no longer cause harm to the true Dharma of the Tathagata?'Mara said, 'I vow to dedicate myself to the Buddha's path and forever abandon unwholesome deeds.'Upagupta said, 'If so, you can verbally declare your refuge in the Three Jewels.'The demon king joined his palms and declared three times. The flower garland thus demonstrated the majestic power of the Buddha Dharma, just as if the Tathagata were present in the world. At the age of seventeen, he received the tonsure. Vasubandhu asked, 'Do you renounce the body or renounce the mind?'Indeed, in the Buddha's teaching, there are two types of renunciation: renunciation of body and renunciation of mind.

What is called leaving home in body means abandoning affection and leaving one's native place, shaving the head and dyeing the robes, not keeping servants or slaves, becoming a monk or a nun, and practicing the Way throughout the twelve hours. Therefore, one does not pass time idly and has no external aspirations. Thus, one does not rejoice in life nor fear death. The mind is like the clear and bright autumn moon; the eye is like a bright mirror without a speck of dust. One does not seek the mind, does not aspire to the nature, does not even create the holy truths, let alone worldly attachments. Coming in this way, one does not dwell in the state of ordinary beings nor cling to the rank of sages, but rather becomes a person of no-mind. This is what is called leaving home in body.

What is called leaving home in mind means not shaving the head nor dyeing the robes. Even if dwelling in the household, amidst worldly defilements, one is like a lotus unstained by mud, like a jade untouched by dust. Even if there are causes and conditions,

Even if one has a wife and children, one should regard them as insignificant as mustard seeds or dust, without a single thought of attachment, free from all greed and clinging. Like the moon hanging in the empty sky or a jade rolling on a tray, one sees tranquility amidst bustling markets and discerns beyond the kalpas within the three realms. One knows that eliminating afflictions is also an illness and understands that pursuing true suchness is also a deviation. Nirvana and samsara are like flowers in the sky; both enlightenment and afflictions are not grasped. This is the one whose mind has left home.

Therefore, the question arises: Is it leaving home physically or leaving home mentally? However, if leaving home is not like this, it is not true leaving home. Hence, this question is posed. Yet, Pindola answered, saying: 'Truly, this is leaving home physically.'

Do not dwell on this mind, do not speak of nature, do not discuss the profound. Only the body of the four great elements and five aggregates truly knows the act of leaving home. Without striving, one arrives; thus, the perfection of supernatural powers is clarified. Without seeking, one attains; thus, the ungraspable is clarified. Because it is thus, it is truly said that one leaves home with the body.

However, the wondrous Dharma of all buddhas should not be made into this kind of understanding. Therefore, Huixiu Zhishuo said: 'All buddhas truly do not leave home with the body, nor do they leave home with the mind. They should not be seen through the four great elements and five aggregates, nor should they be realized through the principle of nature or profound mystery. Therefore, both sage and ordinary beings are liberated; body and mind alike fall away. It is like space having no inside or outside, similar to seawater having no surface or depth. Even if there are countless wondrous principles and immeasurable Dharma gates, with a thousand distinctions and ten thousand differences, they all speak solely of this matter.'

The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment.

Shakyamuni Buddha said: 'Arriving before the movement is called the power of fulfillment.'

Therefore, one should not call 'I alone am honored'the Buddha, nor should one call 'neither coming nor going'the Buddha. Who can speak of 'before parents were born'or 'before the empty eon'? Reaching this place, one transcends birth and non-birth, liberates mind and non-mind. Like water conforming to a vessel, like space leaning on things. Grasping, yet the hand is not filled; probing, yet no trace is found. This is precisely the wondrous dharma of all buddhas. Reaching this place, there is no abiding of Upagupta, nor any arising of Vasubandhu. Thus, it is not based on movement or stillness, nor on coming or going. Even if there is right and wrong, self and other, it is like the sound at the bottom of water, resembling the endlessness within space. Yet, if not awakened to even once, the myriad dharma gates and infinite wondrous principles merely become the flowing of karmic consciousness.

The Diamond Sutra states: 'If one sees me by form, seeks me by sound, such a person walks the wrong path and cannot see the Tathagata.'Upon hearing this teaching, Venerable Upagupta suddenly attained great enlightenment. It was like a sudden thunderclap in a clear sky, like a fierce fire erupting on the great earth. The swift thunder not only severed Upagupta's ear faculty but swiftly destroyed his life root. The fierce fire suddenly burned, reducing all buddhas'dharma gates and the ancestors'heads to ashes. With such ashes revealed, he was named Venerable Upagupta. Firm as stone, black as lacquer. How many times did he lose his original face, shatter his whole body, merely casting tallies to count emptiness, burning emptiness to leave traces of emptiness?

Today, descendants of the Great Vehicle think to seek traces beyond the clouds, to attach words to the blue sky. Do you all wish to hear?

The house is broken, the person gone—no inside or outside. Where do body and mind hide their forms?