Jinzū

Such divine powers are the everyday tea and rice of the Buddhist house; all buddhas, even now, do not weary of them. There are six divine powers, there is one divine power. There is no divine power, there is the supreme power. Their very nature is to strike three thousand in the morning and eight hundred in the evening. Though they are born together with the Buddha, the Buddha does not know them; though they perish together with the Buddha, they do not destroy the Buddha. They are of the same lineage as the heavens above, and of the same lineage as the heavens below; practice and realization are all of the same lineage. They are the same as the Snowy Mountains, they are like wood and stone. The buddhas of the past are disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha; they come bearing the kāṣāya, they come bearing a stūpa. At this time Śākyamuni Buddha says, "The divine powers of the buddhas are inconceivable." Since it is so, know this: the present and the future are also thus.

Zen Master Guishan was the thirty-seventh generation ancestor in the direct line from Shakyamuni Buddha and the dharma heir of Baizhang Dazhi. The buddhas and ancestors manifesting throughout the ten directions today are all distant descendants of Guishan; that is to say, they are the distant descendants of Guishan. Once, when Guishan was lying down, Yangshan came to visit. Guishan then turned to face the wall, lying down. Yangshan said, "I, Huiji, am your disciple. Do not stand on formalities." Guishan made a motion as if to get up. As Yangshan was about to leave, Guishan called out, addressing him as "Jizi." Yangshan returned. Guishan said, "I will tell you a dream.

Listen." Yangshan bowed his head and assumed a listening posture. Guishan said, "Interpret the dream for me. Look." Yangshan brought a basin of water and a towel. Guishan then washed his face. Having finished washing his face, he had just sat down when Xiangyan arrived. Guishan said, "Just now, Jizi and I performed a supreme spiritual power. It is no small matter." Xiangyan said, "I, Zhixian, was below and understood it clearly." Guishan said, "You, try to express it." Xiangyan then prepared and brought a bowl of tea.

Guishan praised them, saying, "The spiritual power and wisdom of you two far surpass that of Shariputra and Maudgalyayana. If you wish to know the spiritual power of the buddha house, you must study and learn Guishan's expression. Because it is no small matter, one who engages in this learning is called a student of the buddha; one who does not engage in this learning is not called a student of the buddha." This is the spiritual power and wisdom transmitted directly from ancestor to ancestor. Furthermore, do not study the spiritual powers of the non-Buddhist paths and the two vehicles of the western land of India, nor the learning of the scholastics.

Now, to study Guishan's spiritual power, though it is unsurpassed, there is a supreme seeing and hearing. Namely, from the time he was lying down onward, there is turning to face the wall lying down, there is the motion of rising, there is calling Jizi, there is speaking of a dream, there is finishing washing his face and then sitting, there is Yangshan again bowing his head to listen, there is bringing the basin of water, bringing the towel.

Given this, Guishan said, "Just now, Jizi and I performed a supreme spiritual power." You must study this spiritual power. The ancestral teachers of the true transmission of the buddha-dharma speak thus. Do not say it is merely speaking of a dream and washing the face; you must decisively know it is a supreme spiritual power. Since it is said to be no small matter, it should not be equated with the small vehicle, small measure, or small view. It is not the same as the ten sages and three worthies and the like. They all learn small spiritual powers and attain only small bodily measures. They do not reach the great spiritual power of the buddhas and ancestors.

This is the buddha spiritual power; it is the buddha's supreme spiritual power. A person who learns this spiritual power must inevitably move beyond demons and outsiders. It is a place not yet heard by sutra masters and scholastics; even if they hear it, it is difficult for them to accept and receive it. The followers of the two vehicles, non-Buddhist paths, sutra masters, and scholastics learn small spiritual powers; they do not learn great spiritual powers.

All buddhas uphold the great spiritual power; they transmit the great spiritual power. This is the buddha spiritual power. If it were not the buddha spiritual power, there would be no bringing the basin of water, bringing the towel. There would be no turning to face the wall lying down, no finishing washing the face and then sitting. It is because they are enveloped by the power of this great spiritual power that small spiritual powers and the like also exist. The great spiritual power accommodates the small spiritual powers; the small spiritual powers do not know the great spiritual power.

What are called small spiritual powers are the so-called swallowing the great ocean in a hair, containing Mount Sumeru in a mustard seed. Also, emitting water from the upper body, emitting fire from the lower body, and so on. Furthermore, the five spiritual powers and six spiritual powers are all small spiritual powers. These fellows have not even dreamt of the buddha spiritual power. The reason the five and six spiritual powers are called small is that they are tainted by cultivation and attainment, and they obtain limitation in time and place.

They manifest in this life but not after death; they belong to oneself but not to others. They manifest in this land but not in other lands. Although they manifest in non-manifestation, they cannot manifest at the time of manifestation. This great spiritual power is not like that. It allows the teaching, practice, and realization of all buddhas to be fully manifested as spiritual power. It is not only fully manifested on the side of all buddhas; it is also fully manifested on the side of the buddha's supreme state. The transformative function of the spiritual power buddha is truly inconceivable.

It manifests before having a body; there is a manifestation not confined to the three temporal limits. If it were not the buddha spiritual power, the arousing of the aspiration for enlightenment, practice, awakening, and nirvana of all buddhas would not yet exist. The eternal and unchanging inexhaustible dharma-realm ocean of the present moment is entirely this buddha spiritual power. It is not only swallowing the great ocean in a hair; it is the hair maintaining the great ocean, the hair manifesting the great ocean, the hair expelling the great ocean, the hair employing the great ocean.

When a single hair swallows and expels the entire dharma-realm, if one entire dharma-realm is like this, you must not learn that there is yet another entire dharma-realm. Containing Mount Sumeru in a mustard seed and so on are also like this. The mustard seed expelling Mount Sumeru and the mustard seed manifesting the dharma-realm also exist within the inexhaustible storehouse ocean. When a hair expels the great ocean, a mustard seed expels the great ocean, it expels in a single thought, and it expels over ten thousand kalpas. Ten thousand kalpas and a single thought equally expel from the hair and mustard seed. From what, then, do the hair and mustard seed obtain this? That is to say, they obtain it from spiritual power. Because this obtaining is precisely spiritual power, it is solely the birth of the spiritual power of spiritual power. You must learn that there is no existence or non-existence throughout the three times. All buddhas play solely within this spiritual power.

Layman Pang Yun was a great figure in the ancestral seat. He did not only train under the two seats of Jiangxi and Shitou; he also met and encountered many enlightened ancestral teachers. On one occasion he said, "My spiritual power and marvelous function: drawing water and carrying firewood." This principle must be thoroughly investigated. What is called "drawing water" is the carrying and transporting of water. There is doing it oneself and acting for oneself; there is having others do it and teaching others, causing water to be carried and transported. This is precisely the spiritual power of buddha. Although knowing is "being-time," spiritual power is spiritual power.

That people do not know it does not mean the dharma is abandoned or the dharma perishes. Though people do not know it, the dharma is dharmata. Even if one does not know it as the spiritual power of drawing water, that drawing water is spiritual power is non-retrogression. "Carrying firewood" is transporting firewood. For example, it is as in the days of the Sixth Ancestor.

In "morning striking three thousand," one does not know it as spiritual power; in "evening striking eight hundred," one does not recognize it as spiritual power, yet spiritual power is fully manifest. Truly, to see and hear the spiritual power and marvelous function of all buddhas and tathagatas is certainly to attain the Way. Therefore, the attainment of the Way by all buddhas is necessarily accomplished by this power of spiritual power. Thus, even if the water-drawing of the lesser vehicle is called lesser spiritual power, one must learn that drawing water is great spiritual power. Wherever drawing water and carrying firewood are not yet abandoned, people do not obstruct it. Therefore, from ancient times until now, it has been transmitted from this one to that one. That it does not regress for even an instant is spiritual power and marvelous function. This is great spiritual power; it should not be considered the same as small, trivial things.

Master Dongshan Wuben, once when attending Yunyan, Yunyan asked, "What is the divine power and marvelous function of the attendant?" At that time, Dongshan folded his hands, stepped forward, and stood. Again Yunyan asked, "What is the divine power and marvelous function?" Dongshan then said "Take care" and left. This incident truly contains the divine power of receiving words and grasping the source. It contains the divine power of the affair residing in the box and lid fitting. You should know that divine power and marvelous function surely have descendants; there is that which does not retreat. It surely has ancestors; there is that which does not advance.

Do not idly think it should be equal to non-Buddhist paths or the two vehicles. In the Buddha Way, there is divine transformation and divine power above the body, below the body. Now, the entire ten-direction world is the true real body of a single monk. The nine mountains and eight seas, and even the ocean of nature, the waters of sarva-jñā, are all nevertheless the outflow of water from above the body, below the body, within the body.

And also, it is the outflow of water that is not above the body, not below the body, not within the body. Even the outflow of fire is also like this. It is not only water, fire, wind, and so on; above the body, buddhas emerge; below the body, buddhas emerge. Above the body, ancestors emerge; below the body, ancestors emerge. Above the body, innumerable asaṃkhyeya kalpas emerge; below the body, innumerable asaṃkhyeya kalpas emerge. Above the body, the ocean of the dharma-realm emerges; it is not only that above the body enters the ocean of the dharma-realm; furthermore, even spitting out seven or eight world countries and swallowing two or three world countries is also like this.

Now, the four great elements, the five great elements, the six great elements, the many great elements, the innumerable great elements are all equally the divine power of emerging and submerging. They are the divine power of swallowing and spitting. Now, the very face of the great earth and empty space is swallowing and spitting. To be turned by a mustard seed is taken as power; to be hung on a hair is taken as power.

From where knowing does not reach, they are born together; they sustain where knowing does not reach; they truly return to where knowing does not reach. Truly, the transformed appearance of the Buddha's divine power, unconcerned with short or long—can it merely be a matter of raising measurements and making comparisons?

Long ago, when the Five Powers Ascetic served the Buddha, the ascetic asked, “The Buddha has six powers; I have five powers. What is that one power?” The Buddha then called to the ascetic, “Five Powers Ascetic.” The ascetic assented. The Buddha said, “That one power—you ask me.” This kōan must be thoroughly investigated. How could the ascetic know the Buddha has six powers? The Buddha possesses immeasurable spiritual powers and wisdom; it is not only six powers. Even if one speaks of seeing only six powers, the six powers cannot be exhausted, much less could one ever dream of seeing the remaining powers.

For a moment, ask: even if the ascetic sees Old Man Śākya, has he seen the Buddha or not? Even if one speaks of seeing the Buddha, has he seen Old Man Śākya? Even if he manages to see Old Man Śākya, even if one speaks of seeing the Buddha, one must press the question: has he seen the Five Powers Ascetic? At this point of questioning, one must learn to engage the entanglements; one must learn to cut through the entanglements. How much more so—does “the Buddha has six powers” not even reach the level of counting treasures next door?

Now, what is the meaning of Old Man Śākya’s saying, “That one power—you ask me”? He does not say the ascetic has that one power; he does not say the ascetic lacks it. Even if the obstruction or passage of that one power is explained, how could the ascetic penetrate that one power? Why? Although the ascetic has five powers, they are not the five powers among the Buddha’s six powers. Even if the ascetic’s power were to penetrate and shatter the realm penetrated by the Buddha’s power, how could the ascetic’s power manage to penetrate the Buddha’s power? If the ascetic could penetrate even one of the Buddha’s powers, he should penetrate the Buddha through this power.

Seeing the ascetic, there is something resembling the Buddha’s power; seeing the Buddha’s demeanor, there is something resembling the ascetic’s power—though it is called the Buddha’s demeanor, one should know it is not the Buddha’s spiritual power. Because he does not penetrate it, the five powers are not the same as the Buddha’s. Instantly he asks about that one power—what use is it? The heart of Old Man Śākya is: one should seek even one power. He asks about that one power; one should ask about that one power.

The ascetic does not reach even one power. Therefore, although the name “spiritual power” is the same for the Buddha’s spiritual powers and the powers of others, the name “spiritual power” is vastly different. Thus,

Master Huizhao of Linji Temple says, "The ancients said, 'The Tathāgata manifests bodily forms in accordance with worldly sentiments. Fearing people would fall into the view of annihilation, he provisionally establishes empty names. He provisionally speaks of the thirty-two [marks] and the eighty [secondary characteristics]; these too are empty sounds. Having a body is not the awakened substance; having no form is the true shape.'" You should say, "That the Buddha possesses the six supernatural powers is inconceivable.

All the various devas, immortals, asuras, and powerful spirits also have supernatural powers; should they then be considered Buddhas?" Fellow practitioners, do not mistake this. Consider, for instance, when the asura fought with Śakra, lord of the devas; defeated, he led his eighty-four thousand retinue to hide inside a lotus root pore. Is this not sage-like? Such examples as I, the mountain monk, have cited are all karmic powers or dependent powers. However, the Buddha's six powers are not like that.

Entering the realm of form, he is not deluded by form; entering the realm of sound, he is not deluded by sound; entering the realm of smell, he is not deluded by smell; entering the realm of taste, he is not deluded by taste; entering the realm of touch, he is not deluded by touch; entering the realm of dharmas, he is not deluded by dharmas. Therefore, because he fully realizes that these six kinds—form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas—are all empty appearances, they cannot bind him. This person of the Way, who relies on nothing, although he is of the defiled substance of the five aggregates, is precisely an earth-traveling spirit.

Followers of the Way, the true buddha has no form, the true dharma has no appearance. You merely fashion models and shapes upon the illusory surface; even if you seek and attain something, it is all nothing but wild fox spirits and demonic apparitions. It is not at all the true buddha; it is a heretical view. Therefore, the six supernatural powers of all buddhas are not something that all the various devas, spirits, or the two vehicles can reach or fathom. The six powers of the buddha-way have been transmitted solely by disciples of the buddha-way; they are not transmitted by others. The buddha’s six powers are transmitted solely within the buddha-way; if they are not solely transmitted, one cannot know the buddha’s six powers. You should study and understand that if one does not solely transmit the buddha’s six powers, one cannot be a person of the buddha-way.

The Great Wise Zen Master Baizhang says: When the eye, ear, nose, and tongue each do not greedily cling to any dharma of being or non-being, this is called upholding the four-line verse; it is also called the four fruits. The six sense bases being traceless is also called the six spiritual powers. It is precisely as now, simply not being obstructed by any dharma of being or non-being, and also not abiding in or relying on intellectual understanding—this is called spiritual power. Not guarding this spiritual power is called having no spiritual power.

As it is said, a bodhisattva with no spiritual power—their traces cannot be sought; this is a person beyond buddha, the most inconceivable person, it is one's own heaven. Now, the spiritual power transmitted by buddha after buddha and ancestor after ancestor is like this. The spiritual powers of all buddhas are a person beyond buddha, the most inconceivable person, one's own heaven, a bodhisattva with no spiritual power. They do not abide in or rely on intellectual understanding; they do not guard this spiritual power; they are not obstructed by any dharma.

Now, in the Buddha Way there are six spiritual powers; all buddhas have transmitted and upheld them for a long time. There is not a single buddha who has not transmitted and upheld them; if they were not transmitted and upheld, they would not be all buddhas. These six spiritual powers are the clear realization of the six sense bases as traceless. 'Traceless' means, as the ancients said: 'The six kinds of spiritual function—empty, not empty; a single orb of perfect light—not inside, not outside.' 'Not inside, not outside' must be traceless.

Practicing, studying, and realizing entry within tracelessness is not moving or attaching to the six sense bases. 'Not moving or attaching' means there is a thirty-stick portion for that which moves and attaches. Therefore, the six spiritual powers should be investigated like this. Who but a true heir of the Buddha's house could hear of this principle? They merely mistake vainly rushing outward for the conduct of returning home. Furthermore, although the four fruits are the provisions of the Buddha Way, there is no true transmission of the Three Baskets. How could the kind who count sands, or the type who stumble along, ever attain this fruit?

The kind who are satisfied with small attainments have not yet reached thorough investigation. They are only what has been successively transmitted from buddha to buddha. The so-called four fruits are upholding the four-line verse. 'Upholding the four-line verse' means that regarding all dharmas of being or non-being, the eye, ear, nose, and tongue each do not greedily cling. Not greedily clinging is not being defiled. 'Not being defiled' is the ordinary mind; I am always intimate with this. That the six powers and four fruits are truly transmitted in the Buddha Way is like this. You should know that anything differing from this is not the Buddha Dharma. Therefore, the Buddha Way is always reached through spiritual power. That reaching swallows and spits out the great ocean in a single drop, and lifts up and sets down the high mountain in a speck of dust—who could manage to doubt or cling to it? This is precisely spiritual power.