Arakan

The outflows have already been exhausted; there are no more afflictions; one attains one's own benefit and exhausts all bonds of existence, the mind attaining autonomy. This is the great arhat; it is the ultimate fruit for one who learns the Buddha's Way. It is called the fourth fruit; there is the Buddha-arhat. The outflows are a broken wooden ladle with its handle gone. Although it is said to have been used for a long time, "already exhausted" is the whole body of the ladle leaping out. "Attaining one's own benefit" is entering and exiting at the crown of the head. "Exhausting all bonds of existence" is exhausting the entire ten-direction world, never concealing.

The form and stage of "the mind attaining autonomy" are investigated as "the high place is naturally high and level, the low place is naturally low and level." Therefore, there are walls, tiles, and pebbles. "Autonomy" means the mind is fully manifest as the complete mechanism. "No more afflictions" means afflictions have not yet arisen; it speaks of afflictions being obstructed by afflictions.

The spiritual powers, wisdom, dhyāna concentration, expounding of the Dharma, transforming and guiding, emitting light, and so on of an arhat should not be equated with the theories of non-Buddhists and celestial demons. The theories of seeing a hundred Buddha-worlds, and so on, must not be measured by the understanding of ordinary people. It is the principle of "thinking the barbarian's beard is red, but there is also a red-bearded barbarian." Entering nirvāṇa is the activity of an arhat entering inside a fist. Therefore, it is the wondrous mind of nirvāṇa; it is a place with no escape.

The arhat who enters the nostrils is a true arhat; one who has not yet entered and exited the nostrils is not an arhat. An ancient said, "We, today, are true arhats; with the sound of the Buddha's Way, we cause all to hear." Now, the essential meaning of "cause all to hear" is to cause all dharmas to hear the Buddha's sound. How could it only raise up the Buddhas and disciples? It causes all—those with consciousness and knowledge, those with skin and flesh, those with bones and marrow—to hear.

"Those with consciousness and knowledge" are the lands, plants, trees, walls, tiles, and pebbles. Swaying and falling, flourishing and decaying, birth and death, coming and going—all are hearing and apprehending. The origin of "with the sound of the Buddha's Way, cause all to hear" is not merely studying the whole world as the ear faculty.

The Buddha Śākyamuni says, "If any of my disciples, claiming to be an arhat or a pratyekabuddha, neither hears nor knows that all buddhas, the tathāgatas, teach and transform only bodhisattvas, such a one is not a disciple of the Buddha, is not an arhat, is not a pratyekabuddha." The Buddha's statement, "teach and transform only bodhisattvas," means that I and the buddhas of the ten directions alone can know this matter. Only buddha with buddha can exhaustively realize the true reality of all dharmas. It is anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Therefore, the self-proclamation of bodhisattvas and all buddhas must be identical with the self-proclamation of those who claim to be arhats or pratyekabuddhas. Why is that? To proclaim oneself is precisely to hear and know that all buddhas, the tathāgatas, teach and transform only bodhisattvas. An ancient said, "In the śrāvaka sūtras, the arhat is called the buddha-ground." The present statement of the Way is a verification of the buddha-way. It is not merely a theory from a scholar's personal opinion; there is a universal standard of the buddha-way. You should study the principle of calling an arhat the buddha-ground.

You should also study the principle of calling the buddha-ground an arhat. Outside the fruit of arhatship, there is not a single speck, not a single dharma left over; how much less could there be samyak-saṃbodhi? Outside anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, there is not a single speck, not a single dharma left over; how much less could there be the four fruits and four stages? When the arhat carries forth all dharmas at just such a time, these dharmas are truly not eight ounces, not half a pound. They are not mind, not buddha, not thing. Even the buddha-eye cannot see them. One should not discuss what came before or after eighty thousand kalpas. You should study the power that plucks out the eye. The leftover dharmas are entirely leftover dharmas.

The Buddha Śākyamuni said: "These monks and nuns, claiming to have already attained arhatship, saying this is their final body, their ultimate nirvāṇa, and therefore no longer aspiring to anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi—know that these people are all arrogant. Why? If there were a monk who truly attained arhatship yet did not believe in this Dharma, there would be no such case." To be able to believe in anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi is to verify arhatship. To necessarily believe this Dharma is to be entrusted with this Dharma, to singly transmit this Dharma, to practice and verify this Dharma.

Truly attaining arhatship is not being in the final body or ultimate nirvāṇa; it is because one aspires to anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. To aspire to anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi is to play with the eye, to sit facing the wall, to open the eye facing the wall. Though it fills the whole world, it is the mysterious appearing and disappearing of spirits. Though it pervades all time, it is the mutual exchange and meeting of minds. Such is what is called aspiring to anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. Therefore, it is to aspire to arhatship. To aspire to arhatship is to have enough gruel, enough rice.

Master Yuanwu of Jiashan said, "After the ancients attained the essence, they would go to deep mountains, to thatched huts or stone chambers, and for ten or twenty years cook their meals and eat using a broken-legged pot, greatly forgetting the human world and forever leaving behind the dusty realm. In our present time, we dare not hope for such a way. Yet we should merely conceal our name and obscure our traces, guard our fundamental role, and become an old monk who is a backbone, an awl, to accord with our own realization and, according to our own capacity, make use of it. We dispel old karma and melt away ingrained habits.

If we have any strength to spare, we extend it to others, forming connections through prajñā, tempering and polishing our own foothold until it is pure and ripe. It is precisely like picking out one or two from within a field of wild grass. Together we know there is, together we escape birth and death, further we benefit the future, thereby repaying the profound kindness of the Buddhas and Ancestors.

Should it become unavoidable, when the frost and dew have ripened the fruit, we are urged to emerge into the world, responding to conditions and adapting suitably, opening up and guiding humans and gods, yet never troubling our minds over having desires. How much less would we rely on noble power, become a master of vulgar customs, in behavior deceiving the ordinary and deluding the sage, carelessly seeking profit and scheming for fame, creating the karma of uninterrupted hell.

Even if no opportunity arises, simply living out one's life in this way also has no karmic result—is this not a true arhat who has left the dust?" Therefore, a monk of genuine character now is precisely this true arhat who has left the dust. To know the characteristics of an arhat, one should understand them in this way. Do not recklessly speculate using the words of the scholastics of western India. The Ancestor Yuanwu of the eastern land is a Buddha-Ancestor who possesses the authentic transmission, the direct heir.

The Great Master Dahui of Mount Baizhang in Hongzhou said, “When the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind each do not greedily cling to any of the myriad dharmas, whether existent or nonexistent, this is called upholding the four-line verse; it is also called the four fruits.” Now, the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, which are not bound by self or other, are themselves utterly upright from head to tail, beyond all measurement. Therefore, the whole body itself is without greedy clinging; it is entirely without greedy clinging to all the myriad dharmas of existence and nonexistence.

To uphold the four-line verse is to call the very totality of oneself “without greedy clinging”; this is also named the four fruits. The four fruits are arhatship. Thus, the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, just as they are presently manifest, are precisely arhatship. The fundamental and the branches, of themselves, must be thoroughly penetrated. To first arrive at the firm barrier is to uphold the four-line verse; it is precisely the four fruits. Utterly penetrating from top to bottom, the whole body is fully manifest, without the slightest omission.

After all, how shall we express it? It is said: When the arhat is in the ordinary, the myriad dharmas cause others to be obstructed. When the arhat is in the sagehood, the myriad dharmas cause others to be liberated. You must know that the arhat and the myriad dharmas practice together. Having realized arhatship, one is obstructed by arhatship. Therefore, it is the old fist from before the time of the King of Emptiness.