Jinshin inga

The Seventh: Deeply Believing in Causality.

Venerable Huaihai, Chan Master Dazhi of Baizhang Mountain, whenever he gave a teaching, was accompanied by an old man who listened to the Dharma with the assembly. When the assembly withdrew, the old man also withdrew. But one day, he did not leave.

The master then asked him: "You who stand before me, who are you?"

The old man replied: "I am not a human being. In the time of the Buddha Kāśyapa in the past, I resided on this mountain. A practitioner then asked me: 'One who practices deeply, does he still fall into causality or not?' I answered: 'He does not fall into causality.' Because of this, for five hundred lifetimes, I have fallen into the body of a wild fox. I now beg you, Venerable, to utter a transformative word on my behalf, so that I may be liberated from this fox body."

He then asked: "One who practices deeply, does he still fall into causality or not?"

The master said: "He is not obscured by causality."

Upon hearing these words, the old man had a great enlightenment. He bowed and said: "I am now liberated from the fox body. I will reside behind the mountain. I dare to inform you, Venerable, and ask you to proceed according to the funeral rites for a deceased monk."

The master then ordered the attendant (weinuo) to announce to the assembly by striking the gong: "After the meal, we will accompany a deceased monk."

The assembly wondered: "Everyone here is in good health, there is no one sick in the nirvāṇa hall. Why is this?"

After the meal, they saw only the master leading the assembly behind the mountain, to the foot of a cliff. He pointed with the tip of his staff at a dead wild fox. Then, in accordance with the law, he proceeded with the cremation.

When evening came, the master ascended the seat and recounted this story.

Huangbo then asked: "The ancient one, for having wrongly answered with a transformative word, fell for five hundred lifetimes into the body of a fox. If he had not made a mistake at each transformation, what would he have done?"

The master said: "Come closer, I will tell you."

Huangbo then approached and slapped the master.

The master clapped his hands and said, laughing: "I thought the barbarian's beard was red, but there is still a barbarian with a red beard."

This anecdote is found in the Tiansheng Guangdeng Lu. Yet, fellow students who do not clearly understand the principle of causality vainly fall into the error of denying causality. It is lamentable! A corrupt wind has arisen and the way of the patriarchs declines. "Not falling into causality" is precisely denying causality; because of this, one falls into evil destinies. "Not being obscured by causality" is clearly deeply believing in causality; because of this, one who hears it is liberated from evil destinies. One must not be surprised by this, one must not doubt it. Many of those who, in modern times, claim to be Chan practitioners and students of the way, have denied causality. How do we know they have denied causality? They think that "not falling" and "not being obscured" are identical and are one and the same; it is thus that we know they have denied causality.

The nineteenth patriarch, the Honorable Kumāralāta, said: "The retributions of good and evil occur in three times. Ordinary people, seeing only that the good die young and the violent live long, that the wicked prosper and the righteous are unfortunate, immediately conclude that causality is empty and that merits and demerits are illusory. They are deeply ignorant that the shadow follows the body, without the gap of a hair. Even after hundreds of thousands of kalpas, it does not fade away."

We clearly see that the patriarchs of old did not deny causality.

causality. Latecomer practitioners today who do not clearly understand the compassionate teaching of the patriarchs and ancestors, it is due to a lack of serious study. Those who, due to a lack of serious study, lightly claim to be good friends of humans and gods, are great thieves for humans and gods, enemies for students. You, companions of earlier and later times, do not speak to latecomer and beginner students with a mind that denies causality. That is a mistaken doctrine, it is absolutely not the Dharma of the buddhas and patriarchs. It is because of your superficial study that you have fallen into this false view.

Monks in the Land of the Rising Sun today sometimes say: "We have obtained a human body and encountered the Buddha's Dharma, but we do not even know our past lives, one or two lives. That fox who was formerly Baizhang, he knew well five hundred lives." One can deduce that it was not a fall due to karma. This must be as the verse says: "Although the mysterious gate is closed by a golden lock, one cannot remain; one goes among other species and still turns in samsāra." Such is the vision of those who call themselves great good friends. This vision is difficult to place in the house of the buddhas and patriarchs.

There are beings who, whether human, wolf, or other, have naturally temporarily obtained supranormal powers due to past existences. However, these are not seeds of clear understanding, but the fruit of evil karmic actions. The Buddha has extensively expounded this principle for humans and gods. Not knowing it is the height of superficial study. Alas, even if one knows a thousand lives, ten thousand lives, that is not necessarily the Buddha's Dharma. Heretics already know eighty thousand kalpas, one does not consider that as the Buddha's Dharma. Knowing only five hundred lives, what capacity does that represent?

Practitioners of Chan in the recent Song dynasty have a dark point: they do not recognize that "not falling into causality" is a mistaken doctrine. It is lamentable! In a place where the true Dharma of the Tathāgata circulates, where it has been correctly transmitted from patriarch to patriarch, they nevertheless become heretics who deny causality. Companions in study, you must hasten to clarify the principle of causality. The principle of "not being obscured by causality" of Baizhang means: not being obscured by causality. Thus, the principle of cultivating causes and reaping their fruits is clear. This must be the way of the buddhas and patriarchs. In general, as long as you have not clearly understood the Buddha's Dharma, do not speak lightly to humans and gods.

The patriarch Nāgārjuna says: "Like heretics who destroy worldly causality, then there is neither present life nor future life. If they destroy supramundane causality, then there are neither Three Jewels, nor Four Noble Truths, nor Four Fruits of the śramaṇa."

One must understand clearly: destroying worldly and supramundane causality is to be a heretic. Saying there is no present life means: although the form is here, the nature has long since returned to awakening; the nature is the mind, and as the mind is not identical to the body. To interpret thus is to be a heretic. Some also say: "When a person dies, they necessarily return to the ocean of nature; even without practicing the Buddha's Dharma, they naturally return to the ocean of awakening, therefore there is no more revolving in life and death. That is why there is no future life." These are heretics of the view of annihilation. Even if their appearance resembles that of a bhikṣu, those who hold such false views are absolutely not disciples of the Buddha. This s

There are precisely heretics. Generally, starting from the denial of causality, one wrongly comes to say that there is neither present life nor future life. Denying causality comes from not having studied under a true master. Those who have long studied under a true master should not have false views like that of denying causality. One must deeply believe in and revere the compassionate teaching of Patriarch Nāgārjuna.

Venerable Xuánjué, Great Master Yongjia Zhenjue, was an eminent disciple of Caoxi. Originally, he had studied the Tiantai school of the Lotus Sūtra. He was from the same monastery as Great Master Zuoxi Xuánlǎng. While studying the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, a golden light filled his cell. He attained a profound awakening to non-arising. He then went to Caoxi and reported his realization to the Sixth Patriarch. The Sixth Patriarch ultimately certified it. Later, in his Song of Realizing the Way, he said:

"Taking delight in emptiness and denying causality, Vast and unrestrained, one invites calamity and disaster."

One must clearly understand: denying causality invites calamity and disaster. In ancient times, the virtuous ancients clearly understood causality; in recent times, later practitioners are all confused about it. Even in our age, those who have a resolute awakened mind and study the Buddha's Dharma for the sake of the Buddha's Dharma must, like the virtuous ancients, clarify causality. To say there is no cause and effect is precisely to be a heretic.

The ancient Buddha Hongzhi, in a poem commenting on the old anecdote, said:

"One foot of water, a fathom of waves, Five hundred lifetimes ago, nothing to do. 'Not falling,' 'not being obscured,' discussing it, Comes back as before to bump into the bramble nest. Ah, ah, ha. Understood, or not? If you are free and detached, Nothing prevents me from being expansive and harmonious. Divine songs, earth's dances form a tune by themselves, In the midst, one claps hands and sings lila."

The lines "'Not falling,' 'not being obscured,' discussing it, Comes back as before to bump into the bramble nest" mean that "not falling" and "not being obscured" would be identical. Generally, this anecdote, its reason is not yet exhausted. Why? Because if the liberation from the fox body is now manifest, after being liberated from the fox body, it is not said that he is reborn among humans, it is not said that he is reborn in heaven, and it is also not said that he is reborn in other destinies. This is a point that makes people doubt. After being liberated from the fox body, if he is to be reborn in a good destiny, it should be in heaven or among humans; if he is to be reborn in a bad destiny, it should be in the four evil destinies, etc. After being liberated from the fox body, he cannot not be reborn somewhere. To say that beings, at their death, return to the ocean of nature, return to the Great Self, these are all heretical views.

Venerable Kèqín, Chan Master Yuánwù of Jiashan, said in a poem commenting on the old anecdote:

"The fish swims, the water becomes turbid; the bird flies, feathers fall. The ultimate mirror is hard to escape, the great emptiness is vast and clear. Once and for all, distant, five hundred lifetimes, Only because of causality, a great practice. Swift lightning breaks the mountain, wind shakes the sea, Purified gold a hundred times does not change color."

This poem still has a scent of denying causality, and even a scent of eternalist view.

Venerable Zōnggǎo, Great Chan Master Dàhuì of Mount Jìngshān in Hangzhou, said in a poem:

"Not falling, not being obscured, stone, lump of earth. Meeting on the road, the silver mountain crumbles to dust. Clapping hands, ha ha, a good laugh. In Mingzhou, there is a good-for-nothing idiot."

Companion

People of the late Song dynasty regard these men as accomplished patriarchs. However, Zonggao's vision does not yet reach the principle of the Buddha's skillful adaptation of the Dharma; rather, it tends to have a scent of a naturalistic view.

In general, regarding this anecdote, there are more than thirty people who composed poems or commentaries. Not a single one doubted that "not falling into causality" is to deny causality. This is lamentable. These companions, without clarifying causality, have vainly wasted their lives in confusion. In the study of the Buddha's Dharma, the first thing is to clarify causality. Those who deny causality are strongly at risk of giving rise to acute false views and cutting off their roots of goodness.

In general, the principle of causality is evident and impersonal. Those who commit evil fall, those who cultivate goodness rise, without a hair's breadth of deviation. If causality were vain and illusory, the buddhas would not have appeared in the world, the patriarch would not have come from the West, and in general beings could not see the Buddha nor hear the Dharma. The principle of causality is not what Confucius, Laozi, and others clarified. It is solely what the buddhas and patriarchs clarified and transmitted. Students of this decadent age, of little merit, do not meet a correct teacher, do not hear the true Dharma, which is why they do not clarify causality. By denying causality, because of this fault, one attracts, vast and unrestrained, calamity and disaster. Even if, apart from denying causality, one has not yet accumulated other evils, this poison of view is already extremely grave.

Thus, companions in study, if you wish, first and foremost with the mind of awakening, to respond to the great benevolence of the buddhas and patriarchs, you must quickly clarify the various causes and the various effects.

The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Deeply Believing in Causality, seventh.

In the colophon of this manuscript, it is said: "Written during the summer retreat of the year kinoto-u of the Kenchō era [1255], based on the master's draft. Not yet reviewed or recopied neatly, there will certainly be points to rework. Nevertheless, I have copied it. Kaishō."