A Bird in Flight Leaves No Trace Read online

  12. Mind and Realms

  Once you have understood, both the mind and realms are nonexistent. “Existence” and “nonexistence” are concepts we create. From the vantage point of truth, it cannot be said that they exist or do not exist.

  Unless you experience and digest this matter for yourself, you will be unable to grasp it. It is therefore said that you must open your own eyes.

  Pei Xiu asked, “How could the empty space right before my eyes not be a realm? How do you see the mind without pointing to its realms?”

  The master answered, “What mind is it that is instructing you to look toward its realms? Even if you were able to see something there, it is actually the mind that is illuminating its realms.

  問 秖如目前虛空 可不是境 豈無指境見心乎 師云 甚麼心教汝向境上見 設汝見得 只是個照境底心.

  The fundamental quality of what we call “empty space” is that it is a realm that involves sensory experience. Although we already are able to see our own minds, eyes, or empty space, we delude ourselves into thinking that we are unable to see.

  Just turn one thought around. It would be foolish to say that you are seeing or not seeing. As soon as you open your mouth, you will be off the mark. If you know why we describe it this way, you can definitively see what is unchanging amid change, and you will not be swayed by the changes happening right before your eyes.

  Just like reflections in the mirror, when the barbarians arrive, the barbarians appear in the mind; when the Chinese arrive, it is the Chinese who appear.

  “It is like your face reflected in a mirror: even though your eyes and eyebrows appear clearly, those are intrinsically just a reflection. How can this have anything to do with you?”

  如人以鏡照面 縱然得見眉目分明 元來秖是影像 何關汝事.

  Both seer and seen are illusions. My reflection in a mirror is not I, but what sees my reflection in a mirror is not I either. There’s no question, however, that an “I” is there.

  You must perceive this for yourself. Everything besides this is unnecessary, nothing but discursive thought. You quibble over right and wrong, but you’re simply adding to this discrimination. It has nothing to do with your original face or the true nature.

  Pei Xiu asked, “But if it is not due to the reflections, when else would we ever be able to see [our faces]?”

  The master answered, “If you are still wading through causation, you are inevitably relying on conventional things. When will you ever have a moment of understanding? Has no one ever said to you, ‘I open my hand to show it to you, but there’s nothing there’? It is a waste of effort to futilely explain it several thousand various ways.”

  云若不因照 何時得見 師云 若也涉因 常須假物 有什麼了時 汝不見他向汝道 撒手似君 無一物 徒勞謾說數千般.

  True insight does not involve either seeing or not seeing, but Pei Xiu here asked because of his discriminatory thoughts. Even though you have trained in Buddhism, conceptual understanding, like a splinter in your finger, cannot easily be removed.

  When you attain enlightenment, you see that even though people say various things about those mirages, all mirages belong to this matter of the mind.

  Pei Xiu asked, “For those who have understood clearly, is it that the reflection is of something that isn’t there?”

  The master answered, “Were nothing there, what would be reflected? Stop talking in your sleep with open eyes!”

  云 他若識了 照亦無物耶 師云 若是無物 更何用照 爾莫開眼䆿語去.

  Because something is there, it can be reflected. The difference is whether you realize this, whether you see this. If you see this but are still confused, there is nothing more to say except “give it time.” Do not try to hasten the process. Just let things go their own way, and inevitably a day will come when you will naturally understand everything. Since Pei Xiu tried to rush this understanding, Master Huangbo told him that the best course was to just kill time like a fool.

  This may seem to be turning one’s back on the buddha, but it is not. Master Huangbo, who had the power to open practitioners’ eyes, offered his teachings to Pei Xiu, who had just opened his eyes, like a mother caring for her child. Pei Xiu also demonstrated well what he had to do to fulfill his filial duty as a son.

  13. A Person without Concerns

  The master entered the hall and said, “To have hundreds of types of knowledge is not as good as to be without seeking; that is best of all. A person of the Way is a person without concerns. In reality, there are not countless types of minds, and there are no principles to be explained. Be without concerns. You’re dismissed!”

  上堂云 百種多知 不如無求 最第一也 道人是無事人 實無許多般心 亦無道理可說 無事 散去.

  According to Vimalakīrti’s Instructions, “ ‘To seek the dharma’ means that there should be no dharmas whatsoever that you seek.”58 In the Two Accesses and Four Practices Treatise (Erru sixing lun 二入四行論), Bodhidharma also talked about, “Seeking nothing is truly the gateway to practice. This is the practice that seeks nothing, which leaves behind all attachments.”59 The master Linji also referred to a “person without concerns.”

  Time cures everything. This matter being clearly revealed — nothing else is worth seeking.

  If you have lived your life perpetually seeking something and finally come upon the opportunity to change yourself all at once, be thankful. Even so, it is not easy to digest this change all at once. Your eyes may brighten, but until you attain a penetrating awakening for yourself, you will continue seeking something, just as you have always done.

  If you spend enough time with a master who can help you digest such a change, you will get better — and not just yourself: everyone around you will get better as well.

  14. Acting Effortlessly

  Pei Xiu asked, “What is conventional truth?”

  The master answered, “What’s the point of discussing such entanglements? All is originally pristine; why pursue such a dialogue using provisional language? Merely being free from all states of mind — that is ‘uncontaminated knowledge’ (anāsravajñāna).

  問如何是世諦 師云 說葛藤作什麼 本來清淨 何假言說問答 但無一切心即名無漏智.

  When people hear the words “free from all states of mind” they take this to mean, “You should be free from thoughts and conceptions.” However, these words still include the injunction “should.” Sudden awakening means you know effortlessly that you originally are free from thought. If you think you need to learn something and act according to what you have learned, you are still anchored to the Great Vehicle.

  There is nothing better than to take the conveyance of the Supreme Vehicle and offer teachings in accordance with people’s capacities.

  Conventional truth (saṃvṛtisatya) refers to mundane principles. Pei Xiu asked about mundane principles, but Master Huangbo answered from the ultimate standpoint of absolute truth (paramārthasatya).

  Pei Xiu’s practice was still not that mature; but no matter how stifling his questions, Huangbo showed him the kindness that only a great Seon master can offer.

  “Every day, whether you are walking, standing, sitting, or reclining, and whatever it is you say, if you merely stop clinging to conditioned dharmas, then every utterance and blink of your eyes will be identical to the uncontaminated (anāsrava).

  汝每日行住坐臥一切言語 但莫著有為法 出言瞬目 盡同無漏.

  If you awaken to your original face, you will know that, regardless of your efforts, the contaminants (āsrava) are originally nonexistent. But if this is not the case, you will inevitably discriminate between contaminated and uncontaminated. “I’m practicing, so why don’t these discriminations and delusions disappear from my mind?” “My mind is often obstructed by trivial matters and is far from being unobstructed. What should I do?” These types of questions all involve clinging to conditioned phenomena. The true characteristi
c of things is that they are originally unconditioned (asaṃskṛta) and uncontaminated (anāsrava). You must realize that this is how it has always been. If you make an effort to escape, it will be impossible even after three incalculable eons.

  “Nowadays, as the final age of the dharma approaches, many of those who train in the way of Seon cling to sounds and sights; why don’t they associate with their minds? Their minds are instead like empty space, like a withered tree or a stone, or like the cold ashes of an extinguished fire.

  如今末法向去 多是學禪道者皆著一切聲色 何不與我心 心同虛空去 如枯木石頭去 如寒灰死火去.

  After you attain enlightenment, your discriminations will, over time, gradually diminish. Do not practice with the intent of trying to accomplish something. See for yourself the conditions in which you can do everything without actually doing anything.

  Once you have clearly seen the fundamental source, let it all go and allow time to pass. If you have not yet seen it, quickly seek out a spiritual mentor to help you.

  “Then and only then will you have a slight correspondence [with the Way]. But if this is not the case, then one of these days you will be interrogated by old man Yama.

  方有少分相應 若不如是 他日盡被閻老子拷爾在.

  Since you leave traces behind, you can be tracked by Yama, the king of the hells. If you are an arhat or a pratyekabuddha, you will have a mind-made body (manomayakāya), which means you can choose to be reborn where you want and Yama will not be able to catch you.

  At that spot where all mirages vanish and there are no longer any distinctions between the buddhas and you, there will be nothing you need to say. But if you are not even aware of the mirages that are now appearing before you, you will just end up wandering the rebirth destinies of sentient beings and being startled by ghosts.

  “If you leave behind all dharmas that are subject to existence and nonexistence, your mind will become like the orb of the sun that is always present in the sky, its radiance shining naturally without [making any effort to] shine. Isn’t that a situation where you should conserve your strength?

  爾但離却有無諸法 心如日輪常在虛空 光明自然不照而照 不是省力底事.

  If you simply let go, everything will naturally disappear; but if you attempt to remove things intentionally, they will turn into things that deceive you. Therefore, it is said, “Where you conserve strength is where you gain strength.”60

  “When you reach this point, you will have nowhere to roost; then your actions will be the actions of the buddhas. This is what is meant by ‘You should give rise to a mind that does not abide anywhere.’61 This is your pristine dharma body; this is called anuttara[samyaksaṃ]bodhi.

  到此之時 無棲泊處 即是行諸佛行 便是應無所住而生其心 此是爾清淨法身 名為阿耨菩提.

  Anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi means “supreme, perfect enlightenment.” This is not something you develop through learning; you reach it through a penetrative awakening. It gives you the strength to never be deceived. Everywhere you go is a place of truth. Everything you do is a buddha’s actions. Although you use your mind, no trace is left behind.

  “Without understanding what this means, though you may gain much knowledge through your studies and cultivate such ascetic practices as wearing grass garments and eating tree bark, you will not recognize your own mind. These are all deviant practices, certain to make you one of Māra’s minions. If you practice in this manner, how would you benefit?

  若不會此意 縱爾學得多知 勤苦修行 草衣木食 不識自心 盡名邪行 定作天魔眷屬 如此修行 當復何益.

  Though you reach a position where everyone admires you for your extensive ascetic practices, those are all useless if you do not attain awakening.

  You must open your eyes to supreme, perfect enlightenment; then you will gain the strength that makes the impossible possible. Otherwise, you will end up deceiving yourself and others.

  “Zhigong said, ‘The buddha is originally created by your own mind; how could he be found in words and letters?’62 Even though you fill your mind by training in the three levels of sagacity, the four fruitions, and the ten stages, you will still be sitting amid the worldlings and the saints.63

  志公云 佛本是自心作 那得向文字中求 饒爾學得三賢四果十地滿心 也秖是在凡聖內坐.

  A worldling may attain the level of a saint and continue along the path toward becoming an even greater sage, but everything he or she has done is still useless. When you simultaneously hear “you should become a saint” and “becoming a saint is useless,” you will be confused if your Buddhist practice is not sufficiently clarified. However, those who begin to have some power in their practice can distinguish which words are right and which are wrong, which are deep and which are shallow.

  “Have you not heard? ‘All compounded things are impermanent. They are dharmas that are subject to production and cessation.’64

  Its velocity spent, an arrow falls back to earth,

  the future lives you have earned will not be as you hope.

  How could this compare to the unconditioned real characteristic of things,

  where in one leap you directly access the stage of the tathāgatas?65

  Since you are not this sort of person, you need to extensively study the knowledge and understanding of the gate established by the ancients that brings transformation.

  不見道 諸行無常 是生滅法 勢力盡箭還墜 招得來生不如意 爭似無為實相門 一超直入如來地 為爾不是與麼人 須要向古人建化門廣學知解.

  Since Pei Xiu had already opened his eyes, the master recommended that he mature his knowledge regarding expedients. If you expand your knowledge without having this experience of opening your eyes, then the more you practice, the more deluded you will become. But the more you train after having opened your eyes, the deeper will become your knowledge of expedients.

  The lines “All compounded things (saṃskāra) are impermanent;/ they are dharmas that are subject to production and cessation” are a part of a quatrain from the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra. This phrase is very popular and often called the “Snowy Mountains Gāthā” or the “Gāthā on the Impermanence of All Compounded Things.”66 The second half of the quatrain is: “Once production and cessation cease,/ their tranquil extinction is bliss.”67 After that verse, the master quotes from Yongjia’s “Song of Realizing the Way.”

  The gate of the “real characteristic of things” (shixiang/silsang 實相; tattvaṣya lakṣaṇaṃ / dharmatā) represents the perspective that all dharmas manifest the true principle.

  “Zhigong said, ‘If you have not yet met a supramundane bright teacher, you are ingesting in vain the dharma medicine of the Great Vehicle.’68

  志公云 不逢出世明師 枉服大乘法藥.

  You may believe you have had a breakthrough in your practice, but you should nonetheless seek out a reliable Seon teacher whose eyes are bright and ask for his or her guidance. If you arrogantly say, “I have opened my eyes and have become a spiritual mentor myself. I don’t need any more teachers,” you will fall into the so-called “malady of a spiritual mentor.” If that happens, you will inevitably become confused and lost, losing any chance of being guided toward a right path.

  “From now on, simply practice no-mind at all times, whether walking, standing, sitting, or reclining. If you continue in this way for a long time, you will definitely experience some real attainment. Because you lack strength, you cannot make a sudden leap forward. But if you simply continue for three years, five years, or ten years, by all means you will be able to make a start69 and you will naturally comprehend. But if you can’t do this and instead try to force yourself to train in Seon and train on the Way, what would this have to do with the Buddhadharma?

  爾如今一切時中行住坐臥 但學無心 久久須實得 為爾力量小 不能頓超 但得三年五年或十年 須得箇入頭處 自然會去 為爾不能如是 �
��要將心學禪學道 佛法有甚麼交涉.

  If you just have faith and are patient, your practice will naturally mature; there’s no need to hurry. Let time pass, and five or ten years hence, you will find yourself transformed. If you do not have faith and commit foolish acts, maladies will occur despite your practice. You may think you are following the Buddha’s teachings, but these conditioned dharmas, which you think you need to do something about, are in fact far from the Buddhadharma.

  “Therefore, it is said, ‘Everything the Tathāgata preached was intended to edify people. It is like distracting a child from crying by pretending that a yellow leaf is made of gold, even though that is obviously not the case.’70

  故云 如來所說 皆為化人 如將黃葉 為金止小兒啼 決定 不實.

  The Buddha’s teachings are intended as expedient explanations to help sentient beings fully realize the truth. The Buddha kindly offers explanations so that sentient beings will not give up in the middle of the journey, losing their faith. If people know this fact, they will not cling to expedients by mistaking them for true practices. This is not denying the need to learn expedients. But Master Huangbo is here guarding against wasting time by clinging to provisional means.

  Those who know nothing can sometimes be better practitioners. They meet a good teacher, experience a breakthrough, and allow time to pass, not paying too much attention to practices that are provisional.

  The story of pretending a yellow leaf is gold comes from the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra.

  “If you presume there is actually something to attain, you are not a member of our school; what will this have to do with your original essence? Therefore, a sūtra says, ‘That there is in reality not the slightest dharma that can be attained is called anuttara[samyak]saṃbodhi.’71 If you can comprehend this meaning, you then will understand that ‘the Buddha’s Way and Māra’s way are both in error.’72

  若有實得 非我宗門下客 且與爾本體有甚交涉 故經云 實無少法可得 名為阿耨菩提 若也 會得此意 方知佛道魔道俱錯.