Zazenshin

The Great Master Yaoshan Hongdao of Baolin Temple at Guanindao, while sitting, was asked by a monk, "What are you thinking of, so fixedly and intently?" The master said, "I am thinking of that which does not think." The monk said, "How can one think of that which does not think?" The master said, "It is non-thinking." Having verified that the master's Way is thus, one should study and learn this fixed sitting; one should correctly transmit this fixed sitting. The fixed sitting is the investigation transmitted in the Buddha's Way. Although the thinking of 'so fixedly and intently' is not singular, Yaoshan's Way is one instance of it.

This is what is called 'thinking of that which does not think.' There is the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of thinking; there is the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of not-thinking. The monk's saying, 'How can one think of that which does not think?'—truly, even if it is the state of not-thinking, it is still this 'how to think.' Could there be no thinking in 'so fixedly and intently'? By what means does the 'so fixedly and intent' not penetrate the upward way?

Unless one is foolishly base and shallow, one should have the capacity to inquire into 'so fixedly and intently'; one should have thinking. The master said, "It is non-thinking." Although it is said the functioning of so-called non-thinking is exquisitely clear, when thinking of that which does not think, one invariably makes use of non-thinking. Who is within non-thinking? Who sustains me? Even if 'so fixedly and intently' is me, it is not merely thinking; it is learning the head-top of 'so fixedly and intently.' Even if 'so fixedly and intently' is 'so fixedly and intently,' how could 'so fixedly and intently' think of 'so fixedly and intently'? Therefore, 'so fixedly and intently' is not Buddha-measure, not dharma-measure, not enlightenment-measure, not realization-measure. That Yaoshan transmits thus singly is already directly thirty-six generations from Shakyamuni Buddha. Seeking the upward way from Yaoshan, there is Shakyamuni Buddha in the thirty-sixth generation.

Thus correctly transmitted, there already is 'thinking of that which does not think.' Yet, in recent years, foolish and careless ones say, 'In the effort of *zazen*, when one attains a mind free of concerns, that itself is the level ground.' This view does not even reach that of the *shravaka* scholars; it is inferior even to the human and celestial vehicles. How can they be called men who study the Buddha's dharma? In the Great Song country today, there are many such men of effort; it is lamentable how the Patriarchs' Way has become desolate.

There is another type of man who says seated meditation and discernment of the Way is an essential opportunity for beginners and late learners, but it is not necessarily the conduct of the Buddhas and Patriarchs, for 'walking too is *zen*, sitting too is *zen*; in speech, silence, motion, and stillness, the essence is peace.' Do not confine yourself only to present effort. Many of those calling themselves the remaining lineage of Linji hold this view. They speak thus because the correct life of the Buddha dharma is transmitted negligently. What is this 'beginner'? Which one is not a beginner? Where is the beginner's place located?

Know that in the settled investigation of learning the Way, one practices seated meditation and discernment of the Way. The guiding principle of its model is: there is the practicing Buddha that does not seek to become a Buddha. Because the practicing Buddha is further not a becoming Buddha, the *kōan* is immediately present. The body Buddha is further not a becoming Buddha; when the basket is broken through, the sitting Buddha does not even obstruct becoming a Buddha. Precisely at such a time, for a thousand ages, ten thousand ages, there is inherently the power to enter Buddha and enter *māra*. In advancing a step and retreating a step, there intimately exists the measure filling the ditches and filling the ravines.

The Zen master Dajian of Jiangxi, having studied under the great master Nanyue and secretly received the mind-seal, constantly practiced *zazen*. Once, Nanyue went to Dajian and asked, "Virtuous one, what do you intend (*tou* 圖) in your *zazen*?" This question must be quietly investigated and studied in practice. The reason is: is there an intention that should exist beyond *zazen*? Is there a Way to be intended outside the sphere of *zazen*? Or is there nothing at all to be intended? At the very moment one is sitting, what intention manifests? This must be investigated meticulously. One should advance from loving a carved dragon to loving a true dragon.

One must learn the ability of both carved and true dragons to bring forth clouds and rain. Do not prize what is distant, do not despise what is distant; become familiar with the distant. Do not despise what is near, do not prize what is near; become familiar with the near. Do not make the eyes light, do not make the eyes heavy. Do not make the ears heavy, do not make the ears light; let the ears and eyes be clear and bright. Jiangxi said, "I intend to become a buddha (*zabutsu* 作佛)." This principle must be clearly penetrated.

What does it mean to speak of "becoming a buddha"? Does it mean to speak of a buddha being made to become a buddha? Does it mean to speak of making a buddha become a buddha? Does it mean to speak of a buddha appearing as one face or two faces? "Intending to become a buddha" is a casting off; is it an intention to become a buddha that is itself a casting off? Even if "becoming a buddha" is manifold, does speaking of "intending to become a buddha" mean being entangled and proceeding with this intention? Know this: Dajian's Way is that *zazen* is invariably intending to become a buddha; *zazen* is invariably the intention of becoming a buddha.

The intention may be before becoming a buddha, it may be after becoming a buddha, it may be precisely at the very moment of becoming a buddha. And let us ask: how many instances of "becoming a buddha" will this single intention entangle? This entanglement must further await entanglement. At this time, the entanglement of each and every instance of becoming a buddha is invariably the exact reality of each and every instance of becoming a buddha; all are equally the intention of each instance. One cannot avoid the single intention.

If one avoids the single intention, it is losing body and losing life. When losing body and losing life, it is the entanglement of the single intention. Nanyue then picked up a tile and began polishing it on a rock. Dajian finally asked, "Teacher, what are you doing?" Indeed, who would not see this as polishing a tile? Who would see it as polishing a tile? Nevertheless, polishing a tile has thus been questioned as "what are you doing?" "What are you doing" is invariably polishing a tile. Even if this land and other realms are different, there must be an enduring principle in polishing a tile.

It is not only that one's own view is not fixed as one's own view; it is that one must determine there is a principle to be studied in all activities. Know this: seeing a buddha, one does not know it is a buddha, as if one does not recognize it; seeing water, one does not know it; seeing a mountain, one does not know it. To hastily conclude that the dharma before one's eyes has no passageway is not Buddhist study. Nanyue said, "Polishing to make a mirror." This essential meaning must be clarified. "Polishing to make a mirror" must have its principle.

There is a manifest *kōan*; it cannot be empty fabrication. Even though a tile is a tile, and a mirror is a mirror, one should know that in thoroughly investigating the principle of polishing, there are many models. Both ancient mirrors and bright mirrors must be obtained from polishing a tile to make a mirror. If one does not know that all mirrors come from polishing a tile, there is no speaking of the buddhas and ancestors, no opening of the mouths of buddhas and ancestors, no seeing or hearing the exhalation of buddhas and ancestors.

Dajian said, "How can polishing a tile make a mirror?" Indeed, the iron-man of polishing a tile, though not borrowing the power of others, is not "polishing makes a mirror." Even if "makes a mirror" is like a sneeze, it should be swift. Nanyue said, "How can sitting in *zazen* make a buddha?" It is clearly understood: there is a principle that *zazen* does not await becoming a buddha; the principle that becoming a buddha is not separate from *zazen* does not hide. Dajian said, "How then is it so?" Although the present speaking seems similar to questioning this side, it is also questioning the "is so" of that side.

For example, know the occasion when intimate friends meet intimate friends. The one who is an intimate friend to me is an intimate friend to him. "How" and "is so" are the simultaneous appearance of the one time. Nanyue said, "It is like a person driving a cart. If the cart does not go, do you strike the cart, or do you strike the ox?" For a moment, "if the cart does not go"—what is this "cart goes," what is this "cart does not go"? For example, is water flowing the cart going? Is water not flowing the cart going?

"Flowing" could be called the water's "not going"; the water's "going" may sometimes not be "flowing." Therefore, to investigate the principle of "if the cart does not go," one should investigate whether there is "not going" or whether there is no "not going," because it is a matter of occasion. The principle of "if it does not go" is not merely spoken of as "does not go." "Striking the cart is so, striking the ox is so"—is there "striking the cart," is there "striking the ox"? Should striking the cart and striking the ox be the same or not the same?

In the world there is no method of striking the cart; even if ordinary people have no method of striking the cart, know that in the Buddha Way there is a method of striking the cart—this is the eye of study. Even if one learns there is a method of striking the cart, it should not be considered identical to striking the ox; investigate this meticulously. Even if the method of striking the ox is common in the world, the striking of the ox in the Buddha Way must be further inquired into and studied. Is it striking an ox that is a water-buffalo ox? Striking an ox that is an iron ox? Striking an ox that is a mud ox? Should it be a whipping strike? A strike throughout the whole world?

A strike with the whole mind? A strike that hits the marrow? A strike with the fist? There should be a fist striking a fist, an ox striking an ox. Dajian's having no reply must not be idly missed. There is "casting a brick to attract jade"; there is "turning the head, changing the face." This "no reply" should not be further snatched away.

Nanyue further instructed, saying, "If you learn sitting *zen*, you are learning sitting-buddha." By investigating this saying, one should discern the essential pivot of the ancestors. Without knowing what the exact reality of "learning sitting *zen*" is, one knows "learning sitting-buddha." Unless one is a true descendant, how could one speak of "learning sitting *zen*" as "learning sitting-buddha"? Truly know this: the *zazen* of the initial mind is the first *zazen*; the first *zazen* is the first sitting-buddha. Speaking of *zazen*, it is said, "If you learn sitting *zen*, *zen* is not sitting or lying." What is said now is that *zazen* is *zazen*; it is not sitting or lying.

Since it is singly transmitted as "not sitting or lying," the infinite sitting and lying are the self. Why seek the life-pulse of intimacy and distance? How discuss delusion and awakening? Who would seek wisdom and severance? Nanyue said, "If you learn sitting-buddha, buddha is not a fixed mark." To speak of this speaking is just so. That sitting-buddha is like one buddha or two buddhas is because "not a fixed mark" is adorned as such.

Now, speaking "buddha is not a fixed mark" is speaking of the mark of buddha. Because it is "buddha of not-a-fixed-mark," sitting-buddha is further difficult to avoid. Therefore, precisely because "buddha is not a fixed mark" is adorned, if you learn sitting *zen*, that is sitting-buddha. Who, abiding in the non-abiding dharma, would discriminate "this is not a buddha" or "this is a buddha"? It is sitting-buddha because discrimination has been cast off from the start. Nanyue said, "If you sit as a buddha, you kill the buddha." In further investigating sitting-buddha, there is the merit of killing the buddha. The very moment of sitting-buddha is killing the buddha.

The marks and splendor of killing the buddha must invariably be sought in sitting-buddha. Even if the word "kill" is the same as for ordinary people, it should not be simply equated with ordinary people. Also, that sitting-buddha is killing-buddha should be investigated: "What kind of form does it have?" By raising up that buddha-merit is already killing-buddha, we should also study our own killing-people and not-killing-people.

"If you cling to the mark of sitting, you do not penetrate its principle." What is called "clinging to the mark of sitting" is abandoning the mark of sitting and contacting the mark of sitting. This principle is that when one is sitting-buddha, it is impossible not to cling to the mark of sitting. Because it is impossible not to cling to the mark of sitting, even if clinging to the mark of sitting is exquisitely clear, it is "not penetrating its principle." This practice is called casting off body and mind. Those who have never sat do not have this Way.

There is the time of hitting-sitting, there is the person of hitting-sitting, there is the buddha of hitting-sitting, there is learning sitting-buddha. It is not merely that the sitting of a person's sitting and lying is this hitting-sitting-buddha. Although a person's sitting naturally resembles sitting-buddha / buddha-sitting, there is a person-becoming-buddha, there is a becoming-buddha-person. Although there is a becoming-buddha-person, all people are not becoming-buddha; a buddha is not all people. Because all buddhas are not merely all people, a person is not necessarily a buddha, a buddha is not necessarily a person.

Sitting-buddha is also like this. Nanyue and Jiangxi, master and disciple, were both strong, like this. The one who verified that sitting-buddha is becoming-buddha is this Jiangxi. The one who showed sitting-buddha for the sake of becoming-buddha is this Nanyue. In Nanyue's assembly there was such practice; in Yaoshan's assembly there is the speaking that has come down. Know that what the buddhas and ancestors have as their essential pivot is this "sitting-buddha." Since there are buddhas and ancestors, they have employed this essential pivot. Those who do not have it have merely not yet seen it even in a dream.

Generally, when the Buddha Dharma is transmitted in the Western Heavens and Eastern Lands, it is invariably the transmission of sitting-buddha. This is because it is the essential pivot. Where the Buddha Dharma is not transmitted, *zazen* is not transmitted; what has been authentically transmitted generation after generation is solely this principle of *zazen*. Those for whom this principle has not been singly transmitted are not buddhas and ancestors. If this one dharma is not clarified, all dharmas are not clarified, all practices are not clarified.

One who does not clarify each dharma cannot be called clear-eyed; it is not attaining the Way. How could they be buddhas and ancestors of past and present? Therefore, one must firmly determine that buddhas and ancestors invariably singly transmit *zazen*. To say "illuminated by the light of buddhas and ancestors" is to practice and investigate this *zazen*. Foolish fellows, misunderstanding buddha-light, think it is like the light of sun and moon, or the shining of a pearl or fire. The shining of sun and moon is merely the karmic appearance of the six paths of transmigration; it cannot be compared to buddha-light. "Buddha-light" means receiving and upholding one phrase, hearing it; protecting and maintaining one dharma; singly transmitting *zazen*. Unless one is illuminated by this light, there is no such protecting and upholding, no such believing and accepting.

Therefore, even though it has existed since ancient times, few truly know *zazen* as *zazen*. Among those who are now the masters of major temples in the great Song dynasty, many do not know *zazen* and have not studied it. Though there are some who understand it clearly, they are few. In the various monasteries, times for *zazen* are indeed established. From the abbot down, all monks consider practicing *zazen* together as their fundamental duty, and when exhorting students, they encourage *zazen*. However, abbots who truly know it are rare.

For this reason, from ancient times down to the recent age, there have been one or two elder masters who composed "Inscriptions on *Zazen*" and one or two elder masters who compiled "Models of *Zazen*." Among those who composed "Admonitions on *Zazen*," the "Inscriptions on *Zazen*" contain nothing worth adopting; the "Models of *Zazen*" are not yet equal to the actual practice. They are records made by fellows who do not know *zazen* and have not singly transmitted *zazen*. These are the "Admonition on *Zazen*" found in the *Jingde Chuandeng Lu* and the "Inscriptions on *Zazen*" and such found in the *Jiatai Pudeng Lu*.

It is pitiable that, though they pass through monasteries in the ten directions and spend their whole lives there, they lack the *kung-fu* of a single sitting. The seated meditation is already not you; the *kung-fu* furthermore does not meet itself. The seated meditation is already not you; the *kung-fu* furthermore does not meet itself. This is not because *zazen* rejects one's own body and mind, but because they do not aspire to true *kung-fu* and are hastily deluded and intoxicated. Their collected works are merely depictions of returning to the source and reverting to the root; they are futile endeavors of halting thought and congealing in quiescence. They do not reach the stages of contemplation, practice, and cultivation; they do not reach the见解 of the ten stages and equal enlightenment. How could they singly transmit the *zazen* of the buddhas and ancestors? The compilers of the Song dynasty records mistakenly recorded them; later students should discard them and not look.

Only the "Admonition on *Zazen*" composed by the Chan Master Hongzhi Zhengjue of the Tiantong Jingde Temple on Mount Taibai in Qingyuan Prefecture, great Song dynasty, is the buddha-ancestor; it is the "Admonition on *Zazen*"; it expresses the truth. Alone, it illuminates the surface and interior of the *dharma-dhātu*; it is the buddha-ancestor for the buddhas and ancestors of past and present. Preceding and succeeding buddhas are admonished by this admonition and proceed; present and ancient ancestors manifest and complete themselves from this admonition. That "Admonition on *Zazen*" is precisely this.

The Zazen Gatha, composed by Zen Master Hongzhi Zhengjue, who was posthumously honored with the title "Great Wisdom." The essential point for all buddhas, the pivotal essence for all ancestors. To know without contacting things, to illuminate without facing conditions. To know without contacting things—that knowing is inherently subtle. To illuminate without facing conditions—that illumination is inherently wondrous. That knowing is inherently subtle, for there has never been a thought of discrimination. That illumination is inherently wondrous, for there has never been the slightest sign or trace.

Since there has never been a thought of discrimination, that knowing is without counterpart and is singular. Since there has never been the slightest sign, that illumination apprehends nothing and is perfectly clear. The water is clear right through to the bottom—the fish swims slowly, slowly. The sky is vast without horizon—the bird flies far, far away. What is called the gatha of zazen is the great function manifesting right before you; it is dignified conduct beyond sound and form; it is the crucial point before your father and mother were born.

It is good not to slander the buddhas and ancestors, yet one still cannot avoid losing body and life. The head is three feet long, the neck two inches short. The essential point for all buddhas: buddhas invariably take buddhas as the essential point; that essential point is fully realized—this is zazen. The pivotal essence for all ancestors: the former masters had no such words. This very principle is the ancestors. There is transmission of the Dharma and transmission of the robe. Generally speaking, each and every face of turning the head and changing the face is the essential point for all buddhas.

Each and every head of changing the face and turning the head is the pivotal essence for all ancestors. To know without contacting things: this knowing is not perceptual knowing, for perceptual knowing is a small measure. It is not the knowing of complete understanding, for complete understanding is contrivance. Therefore, knowing is not contacting things; not contacting things is knowing. It cannot be measured as all-knowing, nor confined as self-knowing. This "not contacting things" means: when brightness comes, strike brightness; when darkness comes, strike darkness.

It is sitting through and breaking the skin born of your mother. To illuminate without facing conditions: this illumination is not the illumination of clear understanding, nor is it spiritual illumination; it takes "not facing conditions" as illumination. There is illumination that does not transform into conditions, because the condition itself is illumination. "Not facing" means: throughout the whole world, nothing has ever been hidden; breaking through boundaries, yet not sticking out one's head. It is subtle, it is wondrous; it is mutual interpenetration and yet not mutual interpenetration.

That knowing is inherently subtle, for there has never been a thought of discrimination: the knowing that is thought does not necessarily depend on external power. That knowing is form; form is the mountains and rivers. These mountains and rivers are subtle; this subtle is wondrous; when put to use, it is lively and vibrant. In making a dragon, it is not concerned with inside or outside the Yu Gate. The single knowing right now, when barely put to use, picks up the mountains and rivers of the whole world and exerts full effort in knowing.

If there is no "my knowing" in the intimate reality of the mountains and rivers, there cannot be even a fragment of understanding. Do not lament that discriminative thinking arrives belatedly. The buddhas, which are "already having discriminated," have already come forth fully realized. "Has never been" is "already having"; "already having" is fully realized. Thus, "has never been a discrimination" is "not meeting a single person." That illumination is inherently wondrous, for there has never been the slightest sign or trace: "the slightest" means the whole world. Yet it is inherently wondrous, inherently illuminating. Therefore, it is as if it has not yet arrived.

Do not doubt the eye; do not believe the ear. "You must directly clarify the source beyond the meaning; do not seek rules within words"—this is illumination. Therefore it is without counterpart; therefore it apprehends nothing. Having settled on calling this "singular" and having preserved and maintained this as "perfectly clear," I, however, have become doubtful and attached.

The water is clear right through to the bottom—the fish swims slowly, slowly: "Clear water" means water confined to emptiness is not water clear through to the bottom. How much less is water pooled and still in the material world the water of "clear water." That which has no bank or shore at its boundary—this is taken as water clear through to the bottom. If a fish goes in this water, it is not that there is no going. The going advances without measure of tens of thousands of leagues, yet it is unfathomable, inexhaustible. There is no shore to measure, no sky to float in, no bottom to sink to—therefore, there is no one who can measure it.

If one tries to discuss measurement, there is only the water clear through to the bottom. The merit of zazen is like that fish's going. Who can conjecture about its thousands and tens of thousands of leagues? The journey of thorough penetration is the whole body not traveling the bird's path. The sky is vast without horizon—the bird flies far, far away: "Vast sky" does not mean confined to heaven. Sky confined to heaven is not vast sky. How much less is that which pervades here and there vast sky.

That which has no front or back in concealment and revelation—this is called vast sky. If a bird flies in this sky, it is the single dharma of flying sky. The conduct of flying sky cannot be measured. Flying sky is the whole world; because the whole world is flying sky. Though one cannot say how many leagues this flying is, when expressing the expression beyond conjecture, it is expressed as "far, far away." You must directly have not a thread under your feet. When the sky flies away, the bird also flies away. When the bird flies away, the sky also flies away. In the expression that investigates this flying away, it is said: "It is only right here." This is the gatha of sitting solidly. How many tens of thousands of leagues is "only right here" practiced and spoken?

The *Zazengin* (Sitting Meditation Admonition) of Zen Master Hongzhi is as follows. Among the venerable elders of all generations, there has never been a *Zazengin* like the present one. Even if the smelly leather bags of the various quarters were to exhaust the strength of one or two lifetimes trying to express the Way like this *Zazengin*, they could not express it. It is not seen in the various quarters now; this admonition alone exists. When my late master ascended the hall, he would often say, "Hongzhi is an ancient buddha." No one else in China ever spoke like this. When one has the eye of a true knower, one can recognize even buddhas and ancestors as kindred spirits.

I truly realized that there were buddhas and ancestors at Dongshan. It is now more than eighty years since Zen Master Hongzhi. Seeing that *Zazengin*, I now compose this *Zazengin*. It is now the eighteenth day of the third month, Jinin 3, the year of the Tiger. Counting from this year back to the eighth day of the tenth month of Shaoxing 27, it is a mere eighty-five years. The *Zazengin* I now compose is this: The *Zazengin*: the essential point for every buddha, the pivotal essence for every ancestor.

(The essential point for every buddha, the pivotal essence for every ancestor.) It appears without thinking; it is accomplished without mutual reference. (Appearing without thinking, accomplished without mutual reference.) Appearing without thinking, its appearance is intimate of itself. Accomplished without mutual reference, its accomplishment is verified of itself. Its appearance intimate of itself, it has never been defiled. Its accomplishment verified of itself, it has never been correct or partial. That intimacy which has never been defiled—its intimacy, being nothing, is cast off.

That verification which has never been correct or partial—its verification, being without design, is effort. The water clear through to the bottom—the fish swims like a fish. The sky vast through to the heavens—the bird flies like a bird. Zen Master Hongzhi's *Zazengin*, though it is not yet the Way, should further be expressed like this. In general, the descendants of the buddhas and ancestors must necessarily study and practice sitting meditation as the one great matter. This is the true seal of the single transmission.

The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, Book 12: The Admonition for Zazen Therefore, zazen is the effortless practice of the Way. It is the true gate of peace and bliss. Cultivating and realizing it is not separate; it is the direct manifestation of complete enlightenment. The realm of unconditioned liberation is open wide. Why should we abandon our own seat here, to wander in foreign dust? The single vehicle is immediately revealed. Do not be suspicious of the great wagon. The entire activity of daily life is the unceasing turning of the wheel of the dharma. The entire world of phenomena is the unadorned field of enlightenment. Since it is already complete, why the need for effort? Since the Way is perfectly circulating, why must we practice? The water is clear, all the way to the bottom; fish swim, like fish. The sky is vast, without limit; birds fly, like birds.