Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings (124 page)

A monk asked, “How is it before the lotus comes out of the water?”

Langye said, “The cat wears a paper hat.”

The person asked, “How about after the lotus comes out of the water?”

Langye said, “The dog runs when it sees the whip.”

Langye entered the hall and addressed the monks, saying, “Hearing about enlightenment and wisdom, these are the cause of life and death. Hearing about enlightenment and wisdom, that itself is the root of liberation. It’s as if a lion were staggering around in every direction with no place to live. If you don’t understand, don’t let yourself forsake old Shakyamuni! Hey!”

The following passage is provided from the
Book of Serenity
.

A monk asked Langye Jue, “The fundamental purity, how does it suddenly give rise to mountains, rivers, and the great earth?”

Langye said, “The fundamental purity, how does it suddenly give rise to mountains, rivers, and the great earth?”

FUSHAN FAYUAN, “YUANJIAN”

FUSHAN FAYUAN (991–1067), also known as “Yuanjian” (“Perfect Mirror”), was a disciple of Shexian Guixing. He came from ancient Dengzhou (in Henan Province). As a youth he left home to live as a novice monk in a temple headed by a teacher named Sanjiao Song. Fushan attained enlightenment upon hearing his teacher answer another monk’s question about Zhaozhou’s cypress tree in the courtyard. After taking the monk’s vows he traveled widely. A great Zen adept, Fushan received Dharma transmission from both Shexian Guixing and Fenyang Shanzhao.

Zen master Fushan Fayuan entered the hall and addressed the monks, saying, “Dead trees of the Ru Sea blossom, but they do not take on the colors of spring.”
¹⁷³

A monk asked, “What is Buddha?”

Fushan said, “The big ones are like elder brothers. The small ones are like younger brothers.”

A monk asked, “Why did the First Ancestor come from the west?”

Fushan said, “Bones piled up on a broad plain.”

Zen master Fushan entered the hall and addressed the monks, saying, “I won’t speak any more about the past and the present. I just offer the matter before you now in order for you to understand.”

A monk then asked, “What is the matter before us now?”

Fushan said, “Nostrils.”

The monk then asked, “What is the higher affair?”

Fushan said, “The pupils of the eye.”

Fushan entered the hall and addressed the monks, saying, “When heaven attains unity there is great clarity. When the earth attains unity there is great peace. When a king attains unity he rules the entire land. When a patch-robed monk attains unity, then trouble and catastrophe are at hand.”

Fushan then struck the meditation platform, got down, and left the hall.

Among his accomplishments, Fushan is remembered as the Linji lineage monk who saved the Caodong Zen line from extinction. This remarkable episode occurred when Dayang Jingxuan, at the age of eighty, could find no successor to carry on the teachings of the Caodong school. He then entrusted Dongshan’s teaching to Fushan along with the following verse:

The grass atop Wide Poplar Mountain,
Relies on you ‘til the time.
Its wayward sprouts are borne to fertile ground,
And the fathomless mystery takes ethereal root.

Fushan protected the sprouts of the Dongshan school for ten years, finally passing the Caodong Dharma to Touzi Yiqing.

In the manner of Dongshan Liangjie’s “five ranks,” Fushan used a unique metaphysical framework to expound his Dharma teaching. This framework contained nine principles and was called “Fushan’s Nine Teachings.”