Sanjūshichi-hon Bodai Bumpō

There is an ancient buddha's kōan, which is the teaching, practice, and realization of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment. The entanglements of ascending and descending through stages are themselves further entangled kōan.

They are called all buddhas; they are called all ancestors.

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness are also called the Four Stations of Mindfulness: first, to contemplate the body as impure; second, to contemplate feelings as suffering; third, to contemplate mind as impermanent; fourth, to contemplate dharmas as without self. To say "contemplate the body as impure" means this very body of contemplation, this one bag of skin, is the entire universe of the ten directions. Because it is the true and real substance, it is the "contemplate the body as impure" that leaps and dances along the living path. If it does not leap, it cannot be contemplated; if there were no body, it could not be practiced, could not be spoken of, could not be contemplated.

Since there is the actualization of attaining contemplation, know that it is the attainment of leaping and dancing. What is called attaining contemplation is the daily conduct of sweeping the ground and sweeping the bed. Raising the question of which month it is to sweep the ground, precisely because it is raising the question of the second month to sweep the ground and sweep the bed, is the "thusness" of the entire great earth.

Contemplating the body is the body's contemplation; it is the body's contemplation and not the contemplation of other things. The true and proper contemplation is the solitary, solitary coming. When the body's contemplation is actualized, all mental contemplation is not yet touched, not actualized. Because it is thus, it is the vajra-like samādhi; it is the śūraṅgama-samādhi. Both are "contemplate the body as impure." Generally speaking, the principle of seeing the morning star at midnight is called "contemplate the body as impure." It is not a comparative discussion of purity and impurity. Having a body is impurity; the manifest body is immediately impure.

In such practice, when a demon becomes Buddha, one picks up the demon to subdue the demon and becomes Buddha. When Buddha becomes Buddha, one picks up Buddha to picture Buddha and becomes Buddha. When a person becomes Buddha, one picks up the person to adjust the person and becomes Buddha. One should thoroughly investigate the principle that there is a passageway at the very point of picking up. For example, it is like the method of washing clothes.

The water is stained and dirtied by the clothes; the clothes are soaked and rinsed by the water. Although one uses this water to wash and rinse, and changes this water to wash and rinse, still one uses water, still one washes clothes. If purity is not seen in the first washing or the second washing, do not stagnate or be hindered by resting. When the water is exhausted, use water again. When the clothes are clean, wash clothes again. One uses water together with all kinds of water; it is suitable for washing clothes. One investigates the principle that "when the water is turbid, one knows there are fish." For clothes, there is washing together with all kinds of clothes.

Through such effort, the kōan of washing clothes is actualized. Yet, one sees and grasps cleanliness. This essential point does not necessarily take soaking the clothes in water as its original intent, nor does it take staining the water with the clothes as its original intent. In using stained and dirty water to wash the clothes, there is the original intent of washing clothes. Furthermore, there is a method of using fire, wind, earth, water, and space to wash clothes and things.

There is a method of using earth, water, fire, wind, and space to wash and purify earth, water, fire, wind, and space. The essential point of the present "contemplate the body as impure" is also like this. Therefore, the covering body, the covering contemplation, the covering impurity, is precisely the mother-born kaṣāya. If the kaṣāya were not the mother-born kaṣāya, the buddhas and ancestors would not yet have used it; how could it be only Śāṇavāsin? One should thoroughly concentrate the mind and exhaustively investigate this principle. To say "contemplate feelings as suffering" means suffering is these feelings.

It is not one's own feelings, not others' feelings; it is not having feelings, not lacking feelings. The born body is feelings; the born body is suffering. It means exchanging a sweet, ripe melon for a bitter gourd. This bitterness is in the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow. It is bitter equally to the sentient and the insentient. This is the singular, supreme spiritual power of practice and realization. It is the spiritual power of leaping out from the very stem, leaping out from the connected root.

Therefore, "one might think 'sentient beings suffer,' but there are further suffering sentient beings." Sentient beings are not oneself; sentient beings are not others. "There are further suffering sentient beings" ultimately cannot deceive others. Although "the sweet melon is sweet through the stem, the bitter gourd is bitter through the root," suffering is not something that can be easily groped for and grasped. One should question oneself: "What is suffering?" Regarding "contemplate mind as impermanent," the ancient Buddha of Caoxi said, "Impermanence is precisely Buddha-nature." Therefore, the impermanence understood by all beings is all Buddha-nature.

The Great Master Yongjia Zhenjue said, "All formations are impermanent, all is empty; this is precisely the Tathāgata's great perfect enlightenment." The present "contemplate mind as impermanent" is precisely the Tathāgata's great perfect enlightenment; it is the great perfect enlightenment Tathāgata. Even if the mind were not to be contemplated, because it follows and goes along with it, if there is mind, there is also contemplation.

Generally, arriving at unsurpassed bodhi, the actualization of unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment, is precisely impermanence, is contemplating mind. Mind is not necessarily permanent; because it transcends the four propositions and cuts off the hundred negations, walls, tiles, stones, large and small, this is mind, this is impermanence, and this is precisely contemplation. "Contemplate dharmas as without self" means the long one is the long Dharma-body, the short one is the short Dharma-body. Because it is living actuality, it is without self. The dog has no Buddha-nature; the dog has Buddha-nature. All sentient beings have no Buddha-nature; all Buddha-nature has no sentient beings.

All buddhas have no sentient beings; all buddhas have no buddhas. All Buddha-nature has no Buddha-nature; all sentient beings have no sentient beings. Because it is thus, one practices and investigates "all dharmas have no all dharmas" as "contemplate dharmas as without self." Know that leaping out, the whole body is its own entanglements.

Śākyamuni Buddha said, "All buddhas and bodhisattvas long abide in this Dharma as the sacred womb." Therefore, all buddhas and bodhisattvas have all taken these Four Foundations of Mindfulness as the sacred womb. Know that it is the sacred womb of equal enlightenment; it is the sacred womb of wondrous enlightenment. Since it says "all buddhas and bodhisattvas," even buddhas who are not yet at wondrous enlightenment have taken this as the sacred womb. Bodhisattvas who have transcended even before equal enlightenment and beyond wondrous enlightenment also take these Four Foundations of Mindfulness as the sacred womb. Truly, the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of all buddhas and all ancestors are solely the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

The Four Right Efforts are also called the Four Right Endeavors. The first is to prevent unarisen evil from arising. The second is to abandon evil that has already arisen. The third is to generate good that has not yet arisen. The fourth is to increase good that has already arisen. "To prevent unarisen evil from arising" means that the designation "evil" does not necessarily have a fixed form or stage. It is merely established according to the land and the realm. Nevertheless, in the Buddha-Dharma, causing the unarisen not to arise is called the Dharma and has been correctly transmitted.

In the interpretation of non-Buddhist paths, they take this unarisen as having the self as its root. In the Buddha-Dharma, it should not be like this. For a moment, one should inquire: when evil is unarisen, where does it exist? If one says it exists in the future, this is eternally the wrong view of annihilationism, a non-Buddhist path. If one says the future comes and becomes the present, this is not the discourse of the Buddha-Dharma; the three times would be confused.

If the three times are confused, all dharmas would be confused; if all dharmas are confused, true reality would be confused; if true reality is confused, only Buddha and Buddha would be confused. Therefore, one does not say the future later becomes the present. Further, one should inquire: what is called "unarisen evil"? Who has perceived and grasped this? If there is perceiving and grasping, there would be a time of being unarisen and a time of not being unarisen. If it is so, it should not be called an unarisen dharma; it should be called an already-extinguished dharma.

Without studying non-Buddhist paths and the śrāvakas of the Lesser Vehicle, one should study "preventing unarisen evil from arising." The accumulated evil filling the heavens is called unarisen evil; it is non-arising evil. "Non-arising" means yesterday speaking of the determinate dharma, today speaking of the indeterminate dharma. "To abandon evil that has already arisen" means "already arisen" is exhaustive arising; exhaustive arising is half-arising; half-arising is this very arising. This arising is being obstructed by arising; it is leaping out beyond the summit of arising.

"Causing this to be abandoned" means Devadatta's living body enters hell; Devadatta's living body receives a prediction. A living body enters a donkey's womb; a living body becomes Buddha. In this way, one should take up such principles and study the essential meaning of "causing to abandon." Abandoning is leaping out and penetrating through abandoning itself. "To generate good that has not yet arisen" is studying thoroughly the face before one's parents were born; it is clearly raising what is before the first sign; it is comprehending what is before King Vipaśyin.

"To increase good that has already arisen"—know this: it is not called "causing already-arisen good to arise," but "causing it to increase." It is, after oneself finishing seeing the morning star, further causing another to see the morning star. It is the eye-pupil becoming the morning star. It is, after the great confusion, thirty years, never lacking salt and vinegar. For example, because it increases, it is already arisen. Therefore, the valley is deep, the dipper's handle long; it is only because there is, that therefore it comes.

The four bases of spiritual power are, first, the base of desire; second, the base of mind; third, the base of diligence; fourth, the base of contemplation. The base of desire is the very body and mind that aspire to become buddha. It is the aspiration for pleasant sleep; it is "because of me, I bow to you." Generally, the base of desire is not something that depends on causes and conditions of body and mind. It is the bird flying in the boundless sky; it is the fish swimming in the utterly transparent water. The base of mind is walls, tiles, and pebbles; it is mountains, rivers, and the great earth.

It is each and every one of the three realms; it is the vivid red of the chair, bamboo, and trees. Because it is fully functional, there is the mind of buddhas and ancestors, there is the mind of ordinary beings and sages. There is the mind of grasses and trees; there is the mind of transformations. The exhaustive mind is the base of mind. The base of diligence is taking a bold step from the top of a hundred-foot pole. Where, after all, is this top of a hundred-foot pole? It is said that without being bold and direct, one does not attain it.

The bold, direct single step is not nonexistent; right here, what place is this?—speak of advance, speak of retreat. Precisely when the base of diligence is actualized, the entire ten-direction world arrives along with the spiritual power, reaches along with the spiritual power. The base of contemplation is all buddhas and ancestors, their karmic consciousness bustling and busy, with no original ground to rely upon. There is contemplation of body, there is contemplation of mind, there is contemplation of consciousness. There is contemplation of straw sandals; there is contemplation of the self before the empty eon. This is also called the four bases of miraculous power; it is without hesitation. Śākyamuni Buddha said, "Arriving without moving is called the base of miraculous power." Therefore, the moment is like the edge of a sword; having a direction is like the teeth of a saw.

The five faculties are, first, the faculty of faith; second, the faculty of diligence; third, the faculty of mindfulness; fourth, the faculty of concentration; fifth, the faculty of wisdom. The faculty of faith, know this, is not self, is not other. It is not self's forced doing, not self's construction, not other's pulling or leading, and because it is not the standard of self-establishment, east and west intimately adhere. The whole body resembling faith is called faith. It necessarily goes along with the other and goes along with the self in the stage of buddhahood. If it is not the stage of buddhahood, faith is not actualized.

Therefore it is said, "The great ocean of the buddha-dharma, faith is the means of entry." Generally, where faith is actualized is where the buddhas and ancestors are actualized. The faculty of diligence is simply sitting zazen, reflecting on the coming. It cannot be stopped, yet stopping is further stopping. It is great driving, living; it is non-driving. Great driving non-driving is one month, two months.

Śākyamuni Buddha said, "I always practiced diligence diligently; therefore I have already attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi." What is called 'always practiced' is exhausting past, present, and future, head upright, tail upright. 'I always practiced diligence' is 'I have already attained bodhi.' Because I have already attained anuttarā-saṃbodhi, I always practice diligence. If it were not so, how could it be 'always practiced'? If it were not so, how could it be 'I have already'? Doctrinal scholars and sutra masters cannot see or hear this principle, let alone have studied and practiced it. The faculty of mindfulness is the red flesh-bundle of a withered tree.

The red flesh-bundle is called withered tree. The withered tree is the faculty of mindfulness. The self that is groped for and encountered, this is mindfulness. There is mindfulness when there is a body; there is also mindfulness when there is no mind. There is mindfulness of having a mind; there is mindfulness of having no body. The mindfulness faculty of all people in the great earth is taken as the mindfulness faculty. The life faculty of all buddhas in the ten directions, this is the mindfulness faculty.

Within one thought there are many people; within one person there are many thoughts. Yet, there are people with thoughts and people without thoughts. It is not necessarily that people have thoughts; it is not necessarily that thoughts belong to people. Even so, this faculty of mindfulness, well maintained, has the merit of exhaustive investigation. The faculty of concentration is treasuring the eyebrows; it is raising the eyebrows. Therefore, it is not obscuring cause and effect; it is not falling into cause and effect. By this, one enters a donkey's womb, enters a horse's womb. It is like wrapping a jewel in stone; it cannot be said to be entirely stone or entirely jewel.

It is like the earth holding up a mountain. It cannot be said to be entirely earth or entirely mountain. Yet, it leaps out and leaps in from the top of the head. The faculty of wisdom is that all buddhas of the three times do not know there is; the wild fox and the white ox, however, do know there is. One must not ask why it is so; it is unspeakable. The nostrils have news; the fist has fingertips. The donkey maintains the donkey; the well meets with the well. Generally, a root succeeds a root.

The five powers are first, the power of faith; second, the power of exertion; third, the power of mindfulness; fourth, the power of concentration; fifth, the power of wisdom. The power of faith is that there is no place to avoid being deceived by oneself; when called by another, one necessarily turns one's head. From birth to old age, it is just this. The seven upside-downs are also let go; the eight inversions are also picked up. Therefore, faith is like the water-clearing pearl. Transmitting the dharma and transmitting the robe is faith; it is transmitting the Buddha and transmitting the ancestors.

The power of exertion is speaking of what cannot be practiced, and practicing what cannot be spoken of. Therefore, speaking of one inch is not equal to speaking of one inch. Practicing one phrase is not equal to practicing one phrase. Gaining power within power—this is the power of exertion. The power of mindfulness is pulling a person's nostrils—it is intensely killing. Therefore, it is nostrils pulling a person. It is throwing a jewel to attract a jewel; it is throwing a brick to attract a brick. Furthermore, even before throwing, it is thirty blows.

People under heaven use it without wearing it away. The power of concentration is, for some, like a child finding its mother; for some, like a mother finding her child; for some, like a child finding a child; for some, like a mother finding a mother. However, it is not exchanging the head for the face; it is not buying gold with gold. It is only singing and becoming ever higher. The power of wisdom is the age-old depths. It is like a boat meeting a ford. Therefore, anciently it is said, like a ford obtaining a boat. The meaning is, the ford is necessarily the boat. That which does not obstruct the ford's fording is called a boat. Spring ice naturally melts ice.

The seven limbs of enlightenment are: first, the limb of enlightenment that is investigation of dharmas; second, the limb of enlightenment that is exertion; third, the limb of enlightenment that is joy; fourth, the limb of enlightenment that is elimination; fifth, the limb of enlightenment that is equanimity; sixth, the limb of enlightenment that is concentration; seventh, the limb of enlightenment that is mindfulness. The limb of enlightenment that is investigation of dharmas is such that a hair's breadth of difference makes a separation as vast as between heaven and earth.

Therefore, the ultimate Way is neither difficult nor easy; it simply requires one to investigate and choose for oneself. The limb of enlightenment that is exertion is never interfering with the market's activity. In both buying for oneself and selling for oneself, there is a fixed price and a knowing of value. Though it resembles humbling oneself and esteeming others, the whole body cannot be smashed. Before one has even ceased selling a single turning phrase, one encounters a merchant buying a single turning heart for himself. Before the donkey's affair is finished, the horse's affair arrives.

The limb of enlightenment that is joy is the old woman's heart, earnest and dripping with blood. The great compassion of a thousand hands and eyes is, after all, too manifold. The plum blossoms in the winter snow first leak the secret; the news of the coming spring makes everyone cold. Yet even being so, it is lively and vibrant, laughing heartily. The limb of enlightenment that is elimination is such that if it is within oneself, it does not associate with oneself; if it is within others, it does not associate with others. I attain it, you do not attain it. Clearly stating it, it is walking among a different kind.

The limb of enlightenment that is equanimity is such that even if offered, others will not accept it. A Chinese person, barefoot, learns the Chinese walk; in the southern seas, Persia seeks ivory. The limb of enlightenment that is concentration is protecting the eye that is ahead of the pivotal moment. One's own nostrils are pierced by oneself. One grasps one's own rope and pulls it oneself. Yet even being so, furthermore, one herds a single water buffalo. The limb of enlightenment that is mindfulness is a pillar walking through the sky.

Therefore, even if it is said the mouth is like a mallet and the eyes are like eyebrows, it is still like burning sandalwood within a sandalwood forest, a lion's roar within a lion's den.

The Noble Eightfold Path is also called the Eightfold Path of the Sages: first, the path-factor of right view; second, the path-factor of right thought; third, the path-factor of right speech; fourth, the path-factor of right action; fifth, the path-factor of right livelihood; sixth, the path-factor of right effort; seventh, the path-factor of right mindfulness; eighth, the path-factor of right concentration. The path-factor of right view is hiding the body within the eye. Even so, the body must first possess the eye of the body. Although it is said to be the majestic, complete seeing of facing forward, it is the completion of seeing the kōan, it is the intimate, ancestral seeing. Generally, if one does not hide the body within the eye, one is not a Buddha or a patriarch. The path-factor of right thought is that when one thinks in this way, the buddhas of the ten directions all appear.

Therefore, the buddhas of the ten directions, all buddhas appearing, is this 'when one thinks in this way.' 'When one thinks in this way' is not oneself, it is said to transcend self and other, and yet, now too, having thought this matter, one immediately proceeds to Varanasi; the place where thought exists is Varanasi. An ancient Buddha said, 'Think of that which is beyond thinking. How does one think of that which is beyond thinking? Non-thinking.' This is right thinking, right thought. Breaking the meditation cushion—this is right thought. The path-factor of right speech is that the mute person is oneself, not a mute person.

The mute person among the many people has not yet expressed it. The many people in the realm of the mute are not mute persons. They do not admire the many sages; they do not esteem their own spirit. The mouth is the investigation of hanging on the wall. Every mouth hangs on every wall. The path-factor of right action is leaving home to practice the Way; it is entering the mountains to attain realization.

The Buddha Śākyamuni said, "The thirty-seven factors of enlightenment are the saṅgha's work." The saṅgha's work is neither Mahāyāna nor Hīnayāna. There are saṅghas of buddhas, saṅghas of bodhisattvas, and saṅghas of śrāvakas, and so on. Those who have not yet left home have not succeeded to the right work of the Buddha's Dharma, nor have they correctly transmitted the great Way of the Buddha's Dharma. Although laypeople may engage in the study of the Way as upāsakas and upāsikās, they have no precedent of attaining the Way. When one attains the Way, one necessarily leaves home. How could those unfit for leaving home ever succeed to the buddha-position?

Yet, for the past two or three hundred years in the Great Song dynasty, those who call themselves saṅgha members of the Zen school often say that the study of the Way by laypeople and the study of the Way by home-leavers are one and the same. These are merely the kind of creatures who, in order to drink and eat the excrement and urine of laypeople, have become dogs.

Some, facing kings and ministers, say, "The mind occupied with the myriad affairs of state is precisely the mind of the ancestors and buddhas; there is no other mind." The kings and ministers, not yet discerning correct teaching and true Dharma, are greatly deceived and bestow titles such as "Teacher." All saṅgha members who have such a Way are Devadatta. To eat spit, they have such childish ravings. It should be called weeping. They are not members of the families of the Seven Buddhas; they are demonic, brutish creatures. They do not yet know studying the Way with body and mind, they have not engaged in training; they do not know leaving home with body and mind.

Because they are blind to the kings' and ministers' governance by law and have never even dreamt of the great Way of the buddhas and ancestors, they are like this. Although the layman Vimalakīrti met the time of a buddha's appearance in the world, there are many whose Dharma is not yet exhausted. Those whose study has not yet reached completion are not few. Although the layman Pang visited the ancestral seat, he was not allowed into the inner quarters of Yaoshan and did not reach Jiangxi.

He merely stole the name of training, but there was no reality of training. As for the rest, like the Imperial Son-in-Law Li and Duke Yang, each may think they have fully trained, but they have not yet eaten milk-cakes, let alone painted cakes. How much less could they eat the gruel and rice of the buddhas and ancestors? They have no pātra. It is pitiable that their one-life skin-bag is in vain. I universally urge all beings of the ten directions—heaven beings, human beings, nāga beings, all beings—to yearn for the Dharma of the Tathāgata by emulating the ancients, to hasten to leave home and cultivate the Way, and to succeed to the buddha-position and ancestral position.

Do not listen to the Way not yet attained by so-called Zen teachers. Because they do not know the body and do not know the mind, they speak thus. Or, again, there are those who have no mind of compassion for all beings, no thought of seeking the Buddha's Dharma, but simply, in order to eat the excrement and feces of laypeople, have become evil dogs—human-faced dogs, human-skinned dogs—who speak thus.

Do not sit together with them, do not speak together with them, do not take refuge together with them. They have already fallen as living bodies into the animal realm. If home-leavers had abundant excrement, one might say the home-leavers are superior. Because the excrement of home-leavers does not equal that of these animals, they speak of the Way in this way. That the mind of a layperson and the mind of a home-leaver are one and the same—there is no evidence for it, no principle for it; it does not appear in the more than five thousand scrolls of texts, and there is no trace of it for over two thousand years.

The buddhas and ancestors through fifty generations and over forty lifetimes have never spoken of it thus. Even if one becomes a bhikṣu who breaks or lacks precepts, lacking Dharma and lacking wisdom, one should surpass a layperson who has wisdom and upholds precepts. This is because the saṅgha's work is wisdom, awakening, the Way, and Dharma. Although laypeople may have some measure of good roots and merit, their good roots and merit of body and mind are meager.

In all the instructional methods of the Buddha's lifetime, there is none who attained the Way as a layperson. This is because the lay condition is not yet the place for practicing the Buddha's Way. The hindrances are too great. Even if those who speak of the myriad-affairs mind and the ancestral teachers' mind being one and the same are examined, their body and mind are not yet the body and mind of the Buddha's Dharma; the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of the buddhas and ancestors have not been transmitted to them. It is pitiable that, while encountering the Buddha's true Dharma, they have become animals.

Because it is thus, the Ancient Buddha of Caoxi immediately left his parents to seek a teacher; this is the right work. When he heard the Diamond Sūtra and had not yet aroused the mind, he was at home as a woodcutter; when he heard the Diamond Sūtra and had the power of the Buddha's Dharma like a cicada shedding its skin, he put down his heavy burden and left home. Know that when body and mind have the Buddha's Dharma, they cannot remain in the home condition. All buddhas and ancestors are like this.

Those who say one should not leave home commit a sin heavier than rebellion, more violent and evil than Devadatta, it should be said. Know them as heavier than the groups of six bhikṣus, the groups of six bhikṣuṇīs, the groups of eighteen bhikṣus, and so on; do not speak with them. The lifespan of one life is not long; there is no time to speak with such demon-children and animals. Moreover, the body and mind of such people have received seeds from seeing and hearing the Buddha's Dharma in a previous life. They are like utensils for public use. They should not be made into demon tribes, nor should one become companions with demon tribes. Do not forget the profound kindness of the buddhas and ancestors; protect the virtue of the Dharma-milk; do not listen to the barking of evil dogs. Do not sit together or eat together with evil dogs.

The ancient buddha, the high ancestor of Mount Song, far removed from the buddha-land of the western heavens, came west to the land of the gods with its red cliffs, and thus the right dharma of the buddhas and ancestors was personally transmitted. Were it not for leaving home and attaining the Way, it could not be like this. Before the ancestral teacher came west, the beings, humans and gods of the eastern lands had never yet seen or heard the right dharma. Therefore, know that the right transmission of the right dharma is solely the merit of leaving home.

The great teacher, Shakyamuni, humbly abandoning his father the king's throne and not succeeding to it, was not because the royal rank was not noble, but in order to succeed to the rank of buddha, which is the most noble. The rank of buddha is the rank of leaving home; it is the rank revered and venerated by the heavenly beings and human beings of the three realms. It is not a rank shared with Brahma-king or Shakra; how much less could it be a rank shared with the various human kings and dragon kings of the lower realms! It is the rank of unsurpassed, complete awakening.

This rank skillfully expounds the dharma and liberates beings, emitting light and manifesting auspicious signs. The various activities of this rank of leaving home are right activities; they are the intimate activities of the various buddhas, the seven buddhas. They are a realm that cannot be exhaustively fathomed except by buddha with buddha. Those who have not yet left home should already serve, attend upon, revere, and make offerings with their bodies and lives to those who have left home.

The Buddha Śākyamuni said, “To leave home and receive the precepts is the seed of buddhahood; it is to be one who has already attained the crossing-over.” Therefore, know that “attaining the crossing-over” means leaving home. Those who have not left home are in the depths of delusion; they are pitiable. Throughout the entire teaching of the Buddha, the merits and virtues of leaving home are praised and extolled beyond measure. The Śākyamuni Buddha taught this truthfully, and all buddhas bear witness to it. Even a home-leaver who breaks the precepts and does not practice can attain the Way; a layperson has never attained the Way.

When emperors and kings bow to monks and nuns, the monks and nuns do not bow in return. When the various devas bow to home-leavers, the bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs do not bow back at all. This is because the merit of leaving home is superior. If a bhikṣu or bhikṣuṇī were to bow to them, the palaces, radiance, and karmic rewards of the devas would immediately be destroyed and fall; it is for this reason that it is so.

In general, since the Buddha-dharma gradually moved eastward, those who have left home and attained the Way are as numerous as rice, hemp, bamboo, and reeds. Among laypeople, not a single one has ever attained the Way. Once the Buddha-dharma reaches your eyes and ears, you should hasten to undertake leaving home. Know clearly that the household life is not the place of the Buddha-dharma. Yet, those who say that the body and mind of the myriad beings are the body and mind of the Buddha-ancestors have never seen or heard the Buddha-dharma. They are sinners in the dark prison. They are foolish people who have not even seen or heard their own speech; they are traitors to the nation. To take the mind of the myriad beings as identical to the mind of the Buddha-ancestors is a theory that is spoken because the Buddha-dharma is superior, and emperors rejoice in such talk. Know that this is said because the Buddha-dharma is superior.

Even if the mind of the myriad beings were spontaneously identical to the mind of the Buddha-ancestors, when the body and mind of the Buddha-ancestors spontaneously become the body and mind of the myriad beings, they would not be the body and mind of the myriad beings. Those Zen masters who say that the myriad beings’ mind and the Buddha-ancestors’ mind are equal are all ignorant of the path and appearance of the dharma of mind. How could they even dream of seeing the Buddha-ancestors’ mind? In general, Brahmā kings, Śakra kings, human kings, nāga kings, spirit kings, and others, each of you, do not cling to the karmic rewards of the three realms.

Quickly leave home, receive the precepts, and practice and study the Way of all buddhas and all ancestors. It will be the buddha-cause for vast kalpas. Do you not see? If old Vimalakīrti had left home, we would see a Vimalakīrti bhikṣu superior to Vimalakīrti. Today we merely see Śāriputra, Subhūti, Mañjuśrī, Maitreya, and others; we do not yet see half a Vimalakīrti. How much less do we see three, four, or five Vimalakīrtis?

If you do not see or know three, four, or five Vimalakīrtis, you have not yet seen or known a single Vimalakīrti; you have not preserved and sustained him. If you have not yet preserved and sustained a single Vimalakīrti, you do not see Vimalakīrti Buddha; if you do not see Vimalakīrti Buddha, then Vimalakīrti Mañjuśrī, Vimalakīrti Maitreya, Vimalakīrti Subhūti, Vimalakīrti Śāriputra, and others do not yet exist. How much less could there be Vimalakīrti mountains, rivers, and the great earth; Vimalakīrti plants, trees, tiles, and pebbles; Vimalakīrti wind, rain, water, and fire; Vimalakīrti past, present, and future?

That these radiances and merits of Vimalakīrti are not yet seen is because he did not leave home. If Vimalakīrti had left home, he would have these merits. The Zen masters of the Tang and Song dynasties of that time did not reach this essential point; they arbitrarily held up Vimalakīrti, thinking “This is attainment” and saying “This is expression.” These fellows are pitiable; they do not know the teachings and are blind to the Buddha-dharma. Some even go so far as to think and say that Vimalakīrti and Śākyamuni are identical in their Way.

These people also do not yet know the Buddha-dharma, do not know the ancestral Way, do not know Vimalakīrti; they are without discernment. They say, “Vimalakīrti’s silent wordlessness shown to the bodhisattvas is identical to the Tathāgata’s wordless teaching.” This greatly shows they do not know the Buddha-dharma and lack the capacity for the study of the Way. The Tathāgata’s speaking is already different from others; his silence also should not be considered identical to that of various kinds. Therefore, the Tathāgata’s single silence and Vimalakīrti’s single silence cannot even be compared as similar.

Even if fellows who imagine that while speech may differ, silence is identical were to probe their capacity, they would not even reach the level of people on the periphery of buddhahood. They are pitiable; they have not yet seen or heard form and sound; how much less could they have the radiance that leaps beyond form and sound? They do not even know that one should study the silence of silence; they have not even heard that it exists. In general, various kinds and various kinds, their movement and stillness are still different.

How could one say the Śākyamuni Buddha and the various kinds are the same, or compare them as not the same? It is those who have not studied and entered the inner sanctum of the Buddha-ancestors who speak like this. Some heretics largely think that verbal expression and moving gestures are provisional dharmas, while tranquil silence and concentrated stillness are the true reality. To speak like this is also not the Buddha-dharma. It is the view of those who have heard and transmitted the scriptural teachings of Brahmā, Īśvara, and others. How could the Buddha-dharma be concerned with movement and stillness? In the buddha-way, is there movement and stillness, or not?

Does it meet movement and stillness, or is it met by movement and stillness? You should study this carefully and minutely. Present-day late learners, do not be negligent. Looking at the present Great Song nation, those who have studied the great Way of the Buddha-ancestors seem to be extinct. There are not even two or three.

There are only fellows who think, “Vimalakīrti is thus and has a single silence; now, not having a single silence is inferior to Vimalakīrti.” There is no living path of Buddha-dharma at all. Or, there are only fellows who think, “Vimalakīrti’s single silence is precisely the World-Honored One’s single silence”; they utterly lack discerning radiance. All such fellows who think and speak thus can be said to have never yet studied through seeing and hearing the Buddha-dharma. Do not think that just because they are people of the Great Song nation, they must know the Buddha-dharma. That principle should be easy to clarify. So-called right livelihood is the livelihood of a monk.

It is not what treatise masters or sūtra masters know. “The livelihood of a monk” means the effort in the cloud hall, the bowing in the buddha hall, the washing of the face in the rear trough. Even joining the palms and bowing, burning incense, heating water—this is right livelihood. It is not only exchanging tail for head; it is exchanging head for head, exchanging mind for mind, exchanging buddha for buddha, exchanging the Way for the Way. This is precisely the limb of the path that is right livelihood.

If you mistakenly deliberate about the Buddha-dharma, your eyebrows and beard will fall off, and your face will break into a smile.

The right livelihood branch of the Way is the morning gruel and the midday meal. It is to engage with vital essence within the monastic community. It is the direct pointing upon the curved-wood seat. Old Zhaozhou's assembly of fewer than twenty is the actualization of right livelihood. Yaoshan's assembly of fewer than ten is the lifeblood of right livelihood. Fenyang's assembly of seven or eight is where right livelihood is engaged. It is because they have departed from all wrong livelihoods. Śākyamuni Buddha said, "The śrāvaka people have not attained right livelihood." Therefore, the teaching, practice, and realization of the śrāvakas are not yet right livelihood. Yet, mediocre people of recent times say that śrāvakas and bodhisattvas should not be distinguished, and that their dignified manner and precepts should be used together, thus judging the dignified conduct and movements of the bodhisattva dharma of the Great Vehicle by the dharma of the śrāvakas of the Small Vehicle.

Śākyamuni Buddha said, "Śrāvakas uphold the precepts; bodhisattvas break the precepts." Therefore, what is considered upholding the precepts by śrāvakas, if compared to the bodhisattva precepts, means all śrāvaka precepts are broken precepts. The rest, such as concentration and wisdom, are also like this. Even if the characteristics, such as not killing living beings, happen to be similar for śrāvakas and bodhisattvas, they must necessarily be distinct. One should not reach the point of discussing them as being as far apart as heaven and earth. How much less could the authentic transmission of the essential meaning of the buddhas and ancestors be the same as the śrāvakas?

It is not only right livelihood; there is also pure livelihood. Therefore, only studying under the buddhas and ancestors should be right livelihood. The views and understandings of treatise masters and the like should not be employed. Because they have not attained right livelihood, it is not the fundamental life. The right effort branch of the Way is the journeying of the whole body being extracted; it is slapping a person's face with the extracted whole body.

Because one circles riding backwards on the buddhahall once, twice, three, four, five times, it is eighty-two when calculated by nines. It is the myriad threads of "Reporting to you again." Exchanging heads is the vertical and horizontal cross; exchanging faces is the cross of vertical and horizontal. "Enter the room!" "Ascend the hall!" "Meeting completed at Wangzhou Pavilion." "Meeting completed at Black Rock Ridge." "Meeting completed in front of the sōdō." "Meeting completed inside the buddhahall." This refers to two mirrors facing each other, producing three reflections. The right mindfulness branch of the Way is being self-deceived eighty or ninety percent.

To study that wisdom arises further from mindfulness is to abandon one's father and flee. To study that wisdom arises within mindfulness is extreme entanglement. To say no-mind is right mindfulness is a non-Buddhist view. Also, one should not consider the vital spirit of earth, water, fire, and wind as mindfulness, nor call the distortions of mind, consciousness, and intellect mindfulness. Precisely "You have attained my skin, flesh, bones, and marrow" is the right mindfulness branch of the Way.

The right concentration branch of the Way is the casting off of buddhas and ancestors; it is the casting off of right concentration. It is "He is able to lift." It is "Splitting open the top of the head to make nostrils." It is picking the udumbara flower within the Shōbōgenzō. Within the udumbara flower, there are hundreds of thousands of Kāśyapas breaking into a smile. Long using this livelihood, the wooden ladle breaks. Therefore, six years of descending into the weeds, one night of flowers blooming. When the kalpa-fire blazes through and the great thousand worlds are entirely destroyed, follow him.

These thirty-seven factors of enlightenment are precisely the eyes and nostrils, the skin and flesh, the bones and marrow, the hands and feet, and the face of the buddhas and ancestors. The buddhas and ancestors, as one single sheet, have studied and mastered this as the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment. However, one thousand three hundred and sixty-nine kōan are fully present; they are the factors of enlightenment. They must be sat through and broken; they must be cast off and dropped away.

Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: The Thirty-seven Wings of Enlightenment, Number Sixty The Thus-Come One Śākyamuni Buddha says, "If one practices the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment, one practices the unsurpassed, equal, and right awakening." The place where one practices the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment is the place of unsurpassed, equal, and right awakening. The time of practicing the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment is the time of unsurpassed, equal, and right awakening. The practice of the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment is itself the unsurpassed, equal, and right awakening.

This unsurpassed, equal, and right awakening is the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment. Therefore, the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment are neither the Buddha's alone nor one's own alone; they are the very bones and marrow of the buddhas and ancestors. They are the eyeball and the body-mind of the buddhas and ancestors. They are the skin, flesh, bones, and marrow of the buddhas and ancestors. They are the taking up and the letting go of the buddhas and ancestors. The thirty-seven wings of enlightenment are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the buddhas and ancestors.

They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of all living beings. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire world. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire Dharma-realm. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of mountains, rivers, and the great earth. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the self. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the other. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the king of emptiness.

They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single particle of dust. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single thought. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single practice. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single realization. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single moment. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single thing. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single phenomenon. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single mind. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single particle.

They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single blade of grass. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single form. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire body. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire mind. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire world of phenomena. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire world of principle.

They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire world of non-obstruction between principle and phenomena. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire world of non-obstruction among phenomena. Therefore, the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment are not something that has newly appeared now; they are the original face before your parents were born. They are the original face before the Thus-Come One appeared in the world. They are the original face before the empty eon. They are the original face before the beginning. They are the original face before the primordial Buddha. They are the original face before the first thought.

They are the original face before the first practice. They are the original face before the first realization. They are the original face before the first moment. They are the original face before the first thing. They are the original face before the first phenomenon. They are the original face before the first mind. They are the original face before the first particle. They are the original face before the first blade of grass. They are the original face before the first form. They are the original face before the entire body.

They are the original face before the entire mind. They are the original face before the entire world of phenomena. They are the original face before the entire world of principle. They are the original face before the entire world of non-obstruction between principle and phenomena. They are the original face before the entire world of non-obstruction among phenomena. Therefore, the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment are the very body and mind of the Thus-Come One. They are the very body and mind of all living beings. They are the very body and mind of the entire world. They are the very body and mind of the entire Dharma-realm.

They are the very body and mind of mountains, rivers, and the great earth. They are the very body and mind of the self. They are the very body and mind of the other. They are the very body and mind of the king of emptiness. They are the very body and mind of a single particle of dust. They are the very body and mind of a single thought. They are the very body and mind of a single practice. They are the very body and mind of a single realization. They are the very body and mind of a single moment. They are the very body and mind of a single thing.

They are the very body and mind of a single phenomenon. They are the very body and mind of a single mind. They are the very body and mind of a single particle. They are the very body and mind of a single blade of grass. They are the very body and mind of a single form. They are the very body and mind of the entire body. They are the very body and mind of the entire mind. They are the very body and mind of the entire world of phenomena. They are the very body and mind of the entire world of principle. They are the very body and mind of the entire world of non-obstruction between principle and phenomena.

They are the very body and mind of the entire world of non-obstruction among phenomena. Thus, the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the buddhas and ancestors. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of all living beings. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire world. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire Dharma-realm. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of mountains, rivers, and the great earth.

They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the self. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the other. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the king of emptiness. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single particle of dust. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single thought. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single practice. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single realization. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single moment. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single thing.

They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single phenomenon. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single mind. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single particle. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single blade of grass. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of a single form. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire body. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire mind.

They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire world of phenomena. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire world of principle. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire world of non-obstruction between principle and phenomena. They are the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment of the entire world of non-obstruction among phenomena. Therefore, the practice of the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment is the unsurpassed, equal, and right awakening. The unsurpassed, equal, and right awakening is the thirty-seven wings of enlightenment.