Bukkyō

The manifestation of the Way of all buddhas is itself the Buddha’s teaching. Because this is done by buddhas and ancestors for the sake of buddhas and ancestors, the authentic transmission is carried out for the sake of the teaching itself. This is turning the Dharma wheel. Within the eye of this Dharma wheel, all buddhas and ancestors are made to manifest, and all buddhas and ancestors are made to enter parinirvāṇa. For those buddhas and ancestors, there is necessarily the manifestation of a single dust-mote and the nirvāṇa of a single dust-mote. There is the manifestation of the whole realm and the nirvāṇa of the whole realm.

There is the manifestation of a single instant and the manifestation of vast kalpas like an ocean. Nevertheless, the manifestation of a single dust-mote or a single instant lacks no merit whatsoever. The manifestation of the whole realm and vast kalpas is not an operation to supplement any deficiency. Therefore, it is never said that the buddhas who attain the Way in the morning and enter nirvāṇa in the evening lack merit. If one were to say that a single day has little merit, then even eighty years of human life is not long.

When comparing eighty human years to ten or twenty kalpas, it would be like comparing a single day to eighty years. The merit of this buddha and that buddha would be impossible to distinguish. When one raises and compares the merit possessed by a long kalpa lifespan and the merit of eighty years, it does not even give rise to doubt or attachment. Therefore, the Buddha’s teaching is precisely the teaching buddha; it is the exhaustive merit of buddhas and ancestors. The buddhas are lofty and vast, and the Dharma teaching is not narrow or small. You should know that when the buddha is great, the teaching is great; when the buddha is small, the teaching is small.

Therefore, you should know that buddha and teaching are not a matter of measurements of large or small, nor are they of the nature of good, evil, or neutral, nor are they for the sake of self-teaching or teaching others. A certain fellow said: “Apart from expounding a lifetime of sutras, the old man Śākyamuni additionally transmitted the supreme vehicle one mind Dharma to Mahākāśyapa, and it has been handed down personally from ancestor to ancestor.

Therefore, the teaching is expedient discourse adapted to capacity, while mind is the true reality of inherent nature. This transmitted one mind is called the separate transmission outside the teaching. It should not be equated with what is discussed in the three vehicles and twelve divisions of scripture. Because it is the one mind supreme vehicle, it is ‘directly pointing to the human mind, seeing nature and becoming buddha.’” This kind of talk is not yet the family business of the Buddha Dharma. It has no living path of getting free of the body, nor the dignified manner of the whole body being penetrated.

Even if such a fellow were praised as a predecessor hundreds or thousands of years ago, if there is this kind of talk, you should know that he did not clarify or penetrate the Buddha Dharma and the Buddha Way. Why? Because he did not know buddha, did not know teaching, did not know mind, did not know inside, and did not know outside. The reason he did not know is that he had never heard the Buddha Dharma.

Now, not knowing what is meant by “all buddhas” from root to branch, and having never studied the ultimate limits of coming and going—such a one is unworthy of being called a disciple of the Buddha. To say that only one mind is authentically transmitted and the Buddha’s teaching is not transmitted is to not know the Buddha Dharma. One does not know the one mind of the Buddha’s teaching and has not heard the Buddha’s teaching of one mind. To say there is a Buddha’s teaching outside of one mind—your one mind is not yet one mind. To say there is a one mind outside the Buddha’s teaching—your Buddha’s teaching would not yet be the Buddha’s teaching.

Even if you claim to transmit the erroneous theory of a separate transmission outside the teaching, because you do not yet know inside and outside, your words and principles do not accord. How could the buddhas and ancestors who singly transmit the Buddha’s śīla paramitā not singly transmit the Buddha’s teaching? Moreover, why would the old man Śākyamuni establish any teaching Dharma that should not belong to the Buddha’s family business?

Since the old man Śākyamuni caused the teaching Dharma of single transmission to appear, which buddha or ancestor would not cause it to appear? Therefore, what is called the supreme vehicle one mind is precisely the three vehicles and twelve divisions of scripture; it is the great treasury and the small treasury. You should know that what is called buddha-mind is the buddha’s eye, a broken wooden ladle, all dharmas, and because it is the three realms, it is mountains, rivers, lands, sun, moon, and stars. What is called the Buddha’s teaching is the myriad forms arrayed in profusion.

What is called “outside” is right here; it is “coming here.” Authentic transmission is transmitting authentically from the self to the self; therefore, within the authentic transmission there is the self. It is transmitting authentically from one mind to one mind; within the authentic transmission there must be one mind. The supreme vehicle one mind is earth, stones, sand, and pebbles; because earth, stones, sand, and pebbles are one mind, earth, stones, sand, and pebbles are earth, stones, sand, and pebbles.

If one speaks of the authentic transmission of the supreme vehicle one mind, it should be like this. However, those fellows who talk of a separate transmission outside the teaching do not yet know this meaning. Therefore, do not mistakenly believe the erroneous theory of a separate transmission outside the teaching and go astray concerning the Buddha’s teaching. If it were as you say, should one then speak of a “separate transmission outside the mind”? If one speaks of a separate transmission outside the mind, then not a single phrase or half verse could be transmitted.

If one does not speak of a separate transmission outside the mind, then one must not speak of a separate transmission outside the teaching. Mahākāśyapa, as the true heir of the World-Honored One, is the teaching master of the Dharma treasury. He authentically transmitted the śīla paramitā and is the abiding holder of the Buddha Way. Even so, to say the Buddha’s teaching should not be transmitted authentically must be a biased and limited view of one who studies the Way. You should know that when a single phrase is transmitted authentically, a single Dharma is being transmitted authentically.

When a single phrase is transmitted authentically, there is mountain transmission and water transmission. It is “unable to leave this very place.” The World-Honored One’s śīla paramitā, unsurpassed bodhi, was transmitted authentically solely to Mahākāśyapa. It was not transmitted to others; the authentic transmission is necessarily Mahākāśyapa. Therefore, each and every one who studies the true reality of the Buddha Dharma throughout past and present, when discriminating the teaching and learning that has come down, necessarily investigates and researches through the buddhas and ancestors. They do not seek the decisive understanding from other groups.

If one does not obtain the correct understanding of the buddhas and ancestors, it is not yet correct understanding. If one wishes to determine the correctness or incorrectness of relying on the teaching, one should seek the determination from the buddhas and ancestors. The reason is that the original master of the entire Dharma wheel is the buddhas and ancestors.

Speaking of the Way as existing or not existing, as empty or as form—only the buddhas and ancestors clarify this, having authentically transmitted it down through the ages; they are ancient buddhas and present buddhas. A monk asked Baoling, “The ancestor’s meaning and the teaching’s meaning—are they the same or different?” The master said, “When cold, a chicken goes up a tree; when cold, a duck enters the water.” You should study this saying, meet the ancestral source of the Buddha Way, and see and hear the teaching Dharma of the Buddha Way.

Now, to ask about the ancestor’s meaning and the teaching’s meaning is to ask whether the ancestor’s meaning is the same as or different from the ancestor’s meaning. Now, saying “when cold, a chicken goes up a tree; when cold, a duck enters the water” speaks of sameness and difference, but the sameness and difference perceived by fellows who see sameness and difference should not be entrusted to the seeing and hearing of sameness and difference. Therefore, precisely because it is not a discussion of sameness and difference, one can speak of it as sameness and difference.

For this reason, it is as if one says one should not ask about sameness and difference.

A monk asked, "The three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teachings I do not require. What is the intention of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" The master said, "The three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teachings are entirely not required." The monk's question, "The three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teachings I do not require. What is the intention of the Patriarch's coming from the West?" is, as people ordinarily think, based on the notion that the three vehicles and twelve divisions are branching byways. He is asking if there is, apart from these, an intention of the Patriarch's coming from the West.

He does not recognize that the three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teachings are the intention of the Patriarch's coming from the West. How much less could he know that the eighty-four thousand dharma gates are precisely the intention of the Patriarch's coming from the West? We must investigate for a while: in what sense are the three vehicles and twelve divisions "not required"? If one were to require them, what standard would there be?

Is it at the point where the three vehicles and twelve divisions are "not required" that the practice of the intention of the Patriarch's coming from the West is realized? It is not for nothing that this question appears. Xuansha said, "The three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teachings are entirely not required." This saying is the dharma wheel. Where this dharma wheel turns, we must investigate how the Buddha's teaching abides as the Buddha's teaching.

Its essential meaning is that the three vehicles and twelve divisions are the dharma wheel of the Buddhas and Patriarchs; it turns in times and places where there are Buddhas and Patriarchs, and it turns in times and places where there are no Buddhas and Patriarchs. Before the Patriarch and after the Patriarch, it turns equally. Furthermore, it has the merit of turning the Buddhas and Patriarchs. The very moment of the intention of the Patriarch's coming from the West is this dharma wheel being "entirely not required." "Entirely not required" does not mean not using it, nor does it mean destroying it.

At this time, this dharma wheel is simply the turning of the "entirely not required" wheel. Do not say the three vehicles and twelve divisions do not exist; you must look directly at the season of "entirely not required." Precisely because they are entirely not required, they are the three vehicles and twelve divisions. Precisely because they are the three vehicles and twelve divisions, they are not the three vehicles and twelve divisions. Therefore, he gives the saying, "The three vehicles and twelve divisions of the teachings are entirely not required." When you lift up one corner from among those many three vehicles and twelve divisions, there it is.

The third is the One Vehicle. First, the śrāvaka vehicle attains the Way through the four noble truths. The four noble truths are: the truth of suffering, the truth of the origin of suffering, the truth of the cessation of suffering, and the truth of the path. Hearing and practicing these, one crosses beyond birth, aging, sickness, and death, and perfectly realizes parinirvāṇa. The view of certain commentators is that in practicing these four truths, suffering and its origin are mundane, while cessation and the path are the supreme meaning. However, for one who practices in accordance with the Buddha-Dharma, all four truths are solely for buddhas together with buddhas.

All four truths are the abiding of the Dharma in its Dharma-position. All four truths are true reality; all four truths are buddha-nature. Therefore, there is no need to resort to theories of non-nature or non-creation, precisely because all four truths are utterly unnecessary. Second, the pratyekabuddha vehicle realizes parinirvāṇa through the twelve links of dependent origination.

The twelve links are: first, ignorance; second, volitional formations; third, consciousness; fourth, name-and-form; fifth, the six sense bases; sixth, contact; seventh, feeling; eighth, craving; ninth, grasping; tenth, becoming; eleventh, birth; twelfth, aging-and-death. In practicing these twelve links, although one may discuss them in terms of cause and condition across past, present, and future, or posit subject and object, when one takes up each link and thoroughly investigates it, it is precisely the utterly unnecessary cycle of transmigration; it is precisely utterly unnecessary dependent origination.

Know this: since ignorance is this one mind, volitional formations and consciousness are also this one mind. Since ignorance is cessation, volitional formations and consciousness are also cessation. Since ignorance is nirvāṇa, volitional formations and consciousness are also nirvāṇa. It is said thus because birth is also cessation. Ignorance is also a phrase that hits the mark; consciousness, name-and-form, and so on are also like this.

Know that ignorance, volitional formations, and so on are, "I have an axe; I will dwell in the mountains with you." Ignorance, volitional formations, consciousness, and so on are, "When I set out, I received the master's permission for the axe; I will now take it." Third, the bodhisattva vehicle accomplishes anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi through the teaching, practice, and realization of the six pāramitās. This accomplishment is not fabrication, not non-creation, not a beginning, not a new attainment, not a long-standing attainment, not original practice, not the unconditioned. It is simply accomplishing anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

The six pāramitās are: the pāramitā of giving, the pāramitā of precepts, the pāramitā of patience, the pāramitā of vigor, the pāramitā of meditation, and the pāramitā of prajñā. These are all unsurpassed bodhi. They are not theories of non-arising or non-creation. It is not necessarily that giving is the beginning and prajñā is the end. A sutra says, "For sharp-faculty bodhisattvas, prajñā is the beginning and giving is the end.

For dull-faculty bodhisattvas, giving is the beginning and prajñā is the end." Nevertheless, patience may also be the beginning; meditation may also be the beginning. There should be the manifesting of thirty-six pāramitās. It is obtaining a winnowing basket from a winnowing basket. Pāramitā means "reaching the other shore." The other shore is not the features or traces of antiquity, yet "reaching" is manifesting; "reaching" is a kōan. Do not say that one must reach the other shore of practice. Because there is practice on the other shore, when one practices, one reaches the other shore. This practice necessarily fully possesses the power that manifests throughout the whole world.

The twelve divisions of the teachings: first, sūtra, this is called the “discourses that accord with the truth.” Second, geya, this is called “reiterative verses.” Third, vyākaraṇa, this is called “prophecies.” Fourth, gāthā, this is called “independent verses.” Fifth, udāna, this is called “unrequested teachings.” Sixth, nidāna, this is called “causes and conditions.” Seventh, avadāna, this is called “parables.” Eighth, itivṛttaka, this is called “past events.” Ninth, jātaka, this is called “past lives.” Tenth, vaipulya, this is called “expansive teachings.” Eleventh, adbhutadharma, this is called “unprecedented events.” Twelfth, upadeśa, this is called “discussions.” When the Tathāgata directly teaches the provisional and real dharmas of the aggregates, sense fields, and sense bases, this is called sūtra. Or, using verses of four, five, six, seven, eight, or nine phrases, he reiterates matters of the world, aggregates, and sense bases; this is called geya.

Or, he directly records the future matters of sentient beings, even recording how pigeons and sparrows will become buddhas; this is called vyākaraṇa. Or, with independent verses, he records matters of the world, aggregates, and sense bases; this is called gāthā. Or, with no one asking, he himself speaks of matters of the world; this is called udāna. Or, based on unwholesome matters of the world, he establishes precepts; this is called nidāna. Or, using parables, he speaks of matters of the world; this is called avadāna. Or, he speaks of past matters of the world; this is called itivṛttaka. Or, he speaks of past matters of receiving birth; this is called jātaka.

Or, he speaks of the vast, great matters of the world; this is called vaipulya. Or, he speaks of unprecedented matters of the world; this is called adbhutadharma. Or, he questions and debates matters of the world; this is called upadeśa. This is the siddhānta of the world; for the sake of guiding sentient beings, the twelve divisions of scripture are established. The names of the twelve divisions of scripture are rarely heard.

They are heard when the Buddha-Dharma spreads throughout the world; they are not heard when the Buddha-Dharma has already perished. They are also not heard when the Buddha-Dharma has not yet spread. Those who have long planted roots of goodness and will meet the Buddha hear them. Those who have already heard them will, before long, attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. These twelve are each called a scripture. They are also called the twelve divisions of the teachings and the twelve divisions of scripture. Because each of the twelve divisions fully possesses the twelve divisions, they are one hundred forty-four divisions of teachings.

Because each of the twelve divisions encompasses the twelve divisions, they are just a single division of teaching. Yet, they are not a quantity of billions before or billions after. These are all the eye of the Buddhas and Ancestors, the marrow of the Buddhas and Ancestors, the family business of the Buddhas and Ancestors, the radiance of the Buddhas and Ancestors, the adornment of the Buddhas and Ancestors, the land of the Buddhas and Ancestors.

To see the twelve divisions is to see the Buddhas and Ancestors; to express the Buddhas and Ancestors is to express the twelve divisions. Therefore, Qingyuan’s hanging down one foot is precisely the three vehicles and twelve divisions of teachings. Nanyue’s “speaking of it as one thing misses the mark” is precisely the three vehicles and twelve divisions of teachings. Now, the purport of Xuansha’s expression “totally unnecessary” is just like this. When this principle is raised, there are only the Buddhas and Ancestors. There is not even half a person, not a single thing; it is before a single event has arisen. At just such a time, how is it? It must be said: totally unnecessary.

There is what is called the nine divisions. It should be called the nine-part teaching. These nine divisions are: first, sūtra; second, gāthā; third, itivṛttaka; fourth, jātaka; fifth, adbhuta-dharma; sixth, nidāna; seventh, avadāna; eighth, geya; ninth, upadeśa. Because each of these nine divisions fully possesses the nine divisions, they are eighty-one divisions. Because each of the nine divisions fully possesses one division, they are nine divisions. Without the virtue of returning to one division, they could not be nine divisions. Because there is the virtue of returning to one division, there is the one division of return. Therefore, they are eighty-one divisions.

This is a division, my division, the whisk division, the staff division, the Shōbōgenzō division. Śākyamuni Buddha said, "I expound this ninefold dharma in accordance with living beings. It is for the purpose of entering the Great Vehicle that I preach this sūtra." Know that "I this" is the Tathāgata; features, body, and mind have appeared. This "I this" is already the ninefold dharma; the ninefold dharma should be "I this." A single phrase or verse now is the ninefold dharma.

Because it is "I this," it is expounded in accordance with living beings. Therefore, all living beings' birth from here is birth, that is precisely expounding this sūtra. Death from here is death, that is precisely expounding this sūtra. Even in every hurried movement and change of expression, that is precisely expounding this sūtra. Transforming all living beings, causing them all to enter the Buddha Way, that is precisely expounding this sūtra. These living beings are the accordance of my ninefold dharma. This accordance is following others going, following self going, following the multitude going, following birth going, following me going, following this going.

Because those living beings are necessarily "I this," they are each and every item of the ninefold dharma. "For the purpose of entering the Great Vehicle" means realizing the Great Vehicle, practicing the Great Vehicle, hearing the Great Vehicle, expounding the Great Vehicle. Therefore, it is not that living beings are naturally endowed with attaining the Way; that is but one aspect. Entering is the fundamental; the fundamental is the head upright and the tail upright. Buddha expounds dharma; dharma expounds Buddha.

Dharma is realized by Buddha; Buddha is realized by dharma. Flame expounds Buddha, expounds dharma. Buddha expounds flame; dharma expounds flame. This sūtra already has the good reason of "therefore expound"; "therefore expound" has its good reason. One must not intend not to read this sūtra. Therefore, it says "for this reason I preach this sūtra." "Therefore expound" pervades heaven; pervading heaven is "therefore expound." This Buddha and that Buddha together give one utterance as "this sūtra"; one's own realm and another's realm together "therefore expound" as "this sūtra." Therefore, it is "expound this sūtra"; this sūtra is the Buddha's teaching.

Know that the Buddha's teachings as numerous as the Ganges sands are the bamboo staff and whisk. The Ganges sands of the Buddha's teachings are the staff and the fist. In general, know that the three vehicles, the twelve divisions of teachings, and so on are the eye of the Buddhas and Ancestors. Those who do not open this eye—how could they be descendants of the Buddhas and Ancestors? Those who do not pick this up and bring it forth—how could they singly transmit the true eye of the Buddhas and Ancestors?

Those who do not fully realize the Shōbōgenzō are not Dharma heirs of the Seven Buddhas.