Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings (152 page)

Foyan said, “The great practice must be apart from thought. And within the gate of this practice the emphasis is on giving up effort. If only a person can give up emotional thoughts and recognize that the three worlds are empty, then he can realize this practice. Any other practice besides this will be terribly difficult.

“Have you heard the old story of the Vinaya monk? He upheld all the precepts all of his life. When he was walking at night he stepped on something that made a loud noise. He thought it was a toad, and inside of this toad were countless toad eggs. The monk was scared out of his wits and passed out from fright. He dreamed that hundreds of toads were coming after him, demanding their lives. The monk was utterly terrified. When dawn came around he saw that he had just stepped on a dried-out eggplant. The monk, realizing the unreliable nature of his thoughts, then ceased such thinking, and realized the empty nature of the three realms. After this he could begin doing genuine practice.

“Now, I ask you all, was the thing that the monk stepped on in the night a toad? Or was it an eggplant? If it was a toad, then in the morning how was it an eggplant? And if it was an eggplant, there still seemed to be toads who demanded their lives. Have you rid yourself of all these visions? I’ll check to see if you understand. If you’ve gotten rid of the fear of the toads, do you still have the eggplant there? You must have no eggplant either!

“The noon bell has been struck. You’ve stood here long enough!”

The following selections are from
The Record of Zen Master Foyan
.

Foyan entered the hall and said, “To realize the Dharma of all the sages, just recognize that their Dharma is none other than the Dharma of ordinary people. Completely understand that mundane and holy are not two different things. If you get to the bottom of enlightenment right now, then you have gotten to the bottom of all future delusion. If you get to the bottom of delusion right now, then you have reached the bottom of all future enlightenment. Completely understand that enlightenment and delusion are not two different things. Why should delusion go on being covered up?

“So what is it that all the enlightened ones have realized? It’s that when you penetrate ‘common,’ ‘sacred,’ ‘enlightenment,’ and ‘delusion,’ then you clearly see the source. I dare to ask you all, what is the original person? Teachers and monks everywhere have said, ‘Where can the original person not be seen? Mr. Donkey Lips is a great holy man from Si Province.’ They have also said, ‘It doesn’t have a face, so where would you meet it?’ Distant water won’t put out a nearby fire!

“Apart from these two paths, what is the original person?”

After a long pause, Foyan said, “But even if you understand what I’m saying, how do you realize it yourself?”

Foyan entered the hall. He nodded his head to the assembly.

A monk came forward and said, “Today I encountered something…”

Foyan said, “Don’t speak foolishness!”

Foyan also said, “Every day all of you do a thousand or ten thousand things. There’s nothing you don’t try to do. So why is it you don’t understand? It’s because your faith isn’t sufficient. If your faith were sufficient, then even if you did nothing, you’d arrive at it. If you don’t give a thought to all the affairs of the world in the ten directions, then you’ll realize it.

“Every day you all say a thousand or ten thousand things. There’s nothing you don’t say. So why is it you don’t yet understand? It’s because your faith isn’t sufficient. If your faith were sufficient, then you’d need say nothing at all. If you didn’t give a thought to what has been said by all the tathagatas of the three worlds, then you’d understand in a moment.

“Everyone! Have you reached the field of which I speak? This gate of mine can only be spoken of in terms of authentic realization, not in terms of understanding. If it is to be for the sake of those who experience life and death, then it must be intimately realized. If you are someone who studies self and other, then you won’t suffer ridicule. But if you go seeking some special understanding, looking for it in form or words, then you will substitute form for the authentic seal. The result will be, ‘If you try to exterminate the tribes, they will arise in rebellion.’ If you teach others you’ll just harm them!

“In this gate of mine there are no affairs. Do you understand? When a deaf person plays the reed flute, good and evil are nowhere heard!”

One day in [the year 1120], Foyan finished eating, then sat upright in a cross-legged posture and addressed his disciples, saying, “All of the ancient worthies, when they were about to leave the world, composed a verse. May I bid the world goodbye and just quietly go on?”

He then placed his palms together and peacefully passed away.

KAIFU DAONING

KAIFU DAONING (1053–1113) was a disciple of Wuzu Fayan. He came from ancient Wuyuan (located near the border between modern Anwei and Jiangxi Provinces). According to the
Wudeng Huiyuan
, as a young man he visited a temple to bathe and happened to hear a recitation of the Diamond Sutra. Momentarily forgetting where he was, his foot slipped into boiling water, the sensation giving him insight about the nature of self. He left home and entered a temple on Mt. Jiang near Nanjing to study under a Zen master named Xuedou Laoliang. Later, Kaifu went traveling and studied under various noted Zen masters of the day.

Finally, Kaifu came to study under Wuzu. It is recorded that Kaifu awakened to the source of Dharma upon hearing Wuzu expound on the two famous kōans “Zhaozhou’s Wu” and “Nanyang’s Water Pitcher” at the White Lotus Temple.

In the year 1109, the governor of Tanzhou invited Kaifu to assume the abbacy of Kaifu Temple. Students were said to follow him there “like a shadow.”

Through Kaifu Daoning the Linji transmission followed a path leading to the great teacher Wumen Huikai, compiler of the
Gateless Gate
, and then on to Japan by way of the Japanese monk Shinchi Kakushin.

Kaifu entered the hall and addressed the monks, saying, “All the worlds have never been concealed. The entire Buddha body is formless. Meet with the great, undisturbed ignorance. For endless kalpas up to the present there has been no artifice. No artifice. Few people know. The great give up their flesh and bones. Why stand close to the mirror and paint the eyebrows?”