A Bird in Flight Leaves No Trace Read online

  When people are treated with deference by others, they typically feel flattered or even arrogant, as did the Buddha’s cousin Devadatta, who showed off his supernatural powers, trying to prove that he was superior to the Buddha.35 Śrāvaka disciples who did not understand the profound meaning of the Buddhadharma were unwittingly swayed and deceived by Devadatta. In this way, it is possible both to deceive and be deceived by others.

  7. The True Dharma of the One Vehicle

  On the eighth day of the tenth month, the master said to me, Pei Xiu:

  十月八日 師謂休曰.

  Pei Xiu seems to have visited Master Huangbo about once a month. Although he was a high-ranking Chinese official, he visited the master out of his deep faith to ask about the dharma and receive his teachings. Thanks to Pei Xiu, we today have access to Master Huangbo’s teachings and can benefit from them.

  The “conjured city” [described in the Lotus Sūtra] refers to the two vehicles, and to the ten stages, virtual enlightenment, and sublime enlightenment. All of these teachings are established provisionally to guide [sentient beings]; they all comprise the conjured city.36

  言化城者 二乘及十地等覺妙覺 皆是權立接引之教 並為化城.

  The two vehicles of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, as well as Mahāyāna tenth-stage bodhisattvas and the virtual enlightenment and sublime enlightenment of the buddhas, are all manifestations of the dharma body. Thus short of having attained that consummate status of great enlightenment, you do not reach true nirvāṇa.

  The “treasury” refers to the original buddha of the true mind or the treasure of one’s own nature. Its treasures do not involve ratiocination, for nothing can be established there.

  言寶所者 乃真心本佛 自性之寶 此寶不屬情量 不可建立.

  The dharma is neither produced nor extinguished. Since it is originally perfect in and of itself, when you try to establish something, it will dissipate. It is just like empty space, in which nothing can be established.

  There are neither buddhas nor sentient beings; there is neither subject nor object. So where is that city? If you ask, “We have already reached the conjured city; so where is the treasury?” that treasury cannot be pointed to. If it could be pointed to, it would have a fixed locus and thus would not be a genuine treasury. This is why it is said, “It’s close at hand.” It is impossible to pin down its exact location. If you just comprehend it here and now, then that’s it.

  無佛無眾生 無能無所 何處有城 若問 此既是化城 何處為寶所 寶所不可指 指即有方所 非真寶所也 故云 在近而已 不可定量言之 但當體會契之即是.

  Although the treasury is said to be close at hand, it is neither close at hand nor far away, and it is also simultaneously close at hand and far away. When it is far away, it is farther away than the ends of the universe; when it is close at hand, it is closer than your own eyes. If you hear that it is within you but do not realize it, you will unwittingly look around for it everywhere.

  If you know this perfectly established fact, this fact is not about whether you find it or not. Not understanding this, you will commit the foolish act of seeking it out.

  Icchantikas [incorrigibles] are those whose faith is inadequate. All sentient beings in the six rebirth destinies, including even the two-vehicle adherents, lack faith that they possess the fruition of buddhahood; they are all called icchantikas whose wholesome roots have been eradicated.

  言闡提者 信不具也 一切六道眾生乃至二乘不信有佛果 皆謂之斷善根闡提.

  It is claimed in some Buddhist schools that icchantikas cannot attain buddhahood, but the Mahāparnirvāṇa Sūtra asserts that they can.37 The icchantikas do not believe in causality, so they say, “No matter how hard we try, we will never be able to become buddhas!” The belief that everyone has the potential to become a buddha should be developed through thorough understanding, but the icchantikas do not have such faith.

  Bodhisattvas have profound faith in the Buddhadharma and do not discriminate between the Great and Lesser Vehicles. They also believe that buddhas and sentient beings have the same identical dharma nature. Therefore they are called “icchantikas who have wholesome roots.” Those who for the most part attain awakening by hearing the teachings are called “śrāvakas.” Those who attain awakening by contemplating causes and conditions are called “pratyekabuddhas.” Even though you reach the attainment of buddhahood, if that does not derive from awakening to your own mind, you would also be called a “śrāvaka buddha.” Many of you practitioners of the Way awaken to the doctrinal teachings but have not awakened to the mind dharma. Even if you practice in this way for successive kalpas, this will never be the original buddha.

  菩薩者 深信有佛法 不見有大乘小乘 佛與眾生同一法性 乃謂之善根闡提 大抵因聲教而悟者 謂之聲聞 觀因緣而悟者 謂之緣覺 若不向自心中悟 雖至成佛 亦謂之聲聞佛. 學道人多於教法上悟 不於心法上悟 雖歷劫修行 終不是本佛.

  No matter how many dharmas you understand, if you do not realize this mind with which you are inherently endowed, you will inevitably chase something outside. A buddha does not need to practice; if he does, he is not a buddha.

  If you do not awaken to the mind and only awaken to the doctrinal teachings, you belittle the mind while prioritizing doctrine. You thus become [a dog] chasing a dirt clod because you forget the original mind. If you simply conform to the original mind, you do not need to seek the dharma, for the mind is in fact the dharma.

  若不於心悟 乃至於教法上悟 即輕心重教 遂成逐塊 忘於本心故 但契本心 不用求法 心即法也.

  The moment you attain sudden awakening, you simply realize, “This is it!” It is like a fully ripe fruit, which falls from a branch if you touch it at just the right time. However, people rush the process and tug at fruit that is not fully ripe. Therefore they always leave a trace — a fruit with a broken branch attached to it.

  As a saying goes, “A hunting dog chases the dirt clod; a lion bites the person [who threw it].”38

  Most ordinary people allow the perceptual environment to obstruct their minds and [emphemeral] phenomena to obstruct the [unchanging] principle. They always seek to flee phenomena in order to pacify their minds and to reject phenomena in order to preserve the principle.

  凡人多為境礙心 事礙理 常欲逃境以安心 屏事以存理.

  People usually think, “Since everything before my eyes is a mirage that obstructs my mind, my mind will only become peaceful if I let go of discriminative thought.” When you start to think this way, try instead to use it as an opportunity to reflect on yourself. Simply examine the fact that such mirages still remain within you. That’s it!

  People tend to think, “If my practice were mature, I would be able to set thoughts aside as they arise rather than being dragged around by them.” Or, “If I cannot remove those thoughts however hard I try, my practice must not be mature.” People generate this kind of discrimination quite often. Whether thoughts arise or not, you should just let them go, but you unwittingly let your thoughts leave traces in your mind. All these traces are imbued with the fundamental ignorance, which in turn ensnares you in the cycle of rebirth.

  They do not know that it is in fact the mind that obstructs the perceptual environment and principle that obstructs phenomena. When you just empty your mind, the perceptual environment naturally becomes empty of itself. If you allow the principle to remain tranquil, phenomena will become tranquil naturally. Do not use the mind in the opposite way!

  不知乃是心礙境理礙事 但令心空境自空 但令理寂事自寂 勿倒用心也.

  If those whose practice is still immature listen to these words, they will focus only on removing their thoughts and will not try to attain sudden awakening. Those whose practice is mature do not try to remove or empty their thoughts.

  Ordinary people by and large are unwilling to empty their minds for fear that they will fall into emptine
ss. They don’t realize that their own minds are originally empty. Ignorant people eliminate phenomena but don’t eliminate the mind. The wise eliminate the mind but don’t eliminate phenomena. Bodhisattvas’ minds are like empty space: they relinquish everything and do not cling greedily to the merit they have made.

  凡人多不肯空心 恐落於空 不知自心本空 愚人除事不除心 智者除心 不除事 菩薩心如虛空 一切俱捨 所作福德 皆不貪著.

  Since bodhisattvas advance to the level of signlessness, they know how to relinquish both phenomena and mind. If you do not know the Buddhadharma, you cannot even glimpse this quality of bodhisattva practice.

  Therefore, in the Lotus Sūtra, it says only buddhas and bodhisattvas can hear the Buddha’s sermon. Even the śrāvaka disciples whose wisdom eyes are open cannot perceive it until they also open their dharma eyes.39 If your conceptualizing consciousness is weak but your faith is strong, then the moment you hear the Buddha’s teachings, you are able to understand them and practice what you hear. If not, you simply start thinking and become confused, presuming you need to do something.

  There are three levels of relinquishment. Relinquish everything inside and outside, both physical and mental. Like empty space, cling to nothing; afterward, respond to sentient beings according to their situation while forgetting both subject and object. This is “great relinquishment.”

  If, from one standpoint, you practice the Way and disseminate merit, but from another standpoint, you have let go of hopes and aspirations, this is “medium relinquishment.”

  If you pursue vast practices of wholesome acts, hold on to hopes and aspirations, and when listening to dharma understand emptiness and in turn become free from clinging, this is “small relinquishment.”

  Great relinquishment is like a blazing torch right in front of you: there is no further delusion or awakening. Medium relinquishment is like a blazing torch at your side: sometimes it is light and sometimes dark. Small relinquishment is like a blazing torch behind you: you can’t see a hole or a pit [in the path ahead].

  Therefore bodhisattvas’ minds are like empty space that relinquishes everything. Their minds in the past were unascertainable, so this is relinquishment of the past; their minds in the present are unascertainable, so this is relinquishment of the present; their minds in the future are unascertainable, so this is relinquishment of the future. This is what is called relinquishment of everything in the three time periods.

  然捨有三等 內外身心一切俱捨 猶如虛空 無所取著 然後隨方應物 能所皆忘 是為大捨 若一邊行道布德 一邊旋捨 無希望心 是為中捨 若廣修眾善 有所希望 聞法知空 遂乃不著 是為小捨 大捨如火燭在前 更無迷悟 中捨如火燭在傍 或明或暗 小捨如火燭在後 不見坑穽 故菩薩心如虛空 一切俱捨 過去心不可得 是過去捨 現在心不可得 是現在捨 未來心不可得 是未來捨 所謂三世俱捨.

  Relinquishing doesn’t mean that you actively seek to relinquish anything; it just means that you stop clinging. If you let go of both clinging and relinquishing, what will there be either to cling to or to relinquish? By elaborating different levels of relinquishment, this account encourages you to move toward the fundamental place of neither clinging nor relinquishing — the state where you relinquish everything while relinquishing nothing.

  From the moment the Tathāgata entrusted the Dharma to Mahākāśyapa, he stamped the mind [of Mahākāśyapa] with the mind [of the Buddha], but their minds were not different from one other.

  自如來付法迦葉已來 以心印心 心心不異.

  Even though it is said that the dharma has been transmitted from mind to mind, nothing has been transmitted. For something to be transmitted, it must have shape or form. The dharma is nothing like this. Nonetheless, it cannot be said that there is nothing. The Buddha clearly understood this paradox. Mahākāśyapa was entrusted with the dharma because he also clearly understood this truth after he met the Buddha and awakened. This transmission took place through the exchange we call “holding up a flower and smiling subtly.”40 When the Buddha held up a flower, Mahākāśyapa smiled subtly. But if you cling to this story, you’ll just be chasing an unnecessary detail.

  People are born and die for a reason, but if you don’t understand why this happens, you will be confused. If you fully realize that there is not the slightest distinction between you and the buddhas, it can be said that the transmission of mind has occurred.

  By stamping empty space, that stamp could not be expressed in written texts; by stamping a thing, that stamp could not complete the dharma. Therefore he stamped the mind with the mind, but their minds are not different from one another.

  印著空即印不成文 印著物即印不成法 故以心印心 心心 不異.

  It is not that a stamp is not able to stamp: the mind may be stamped, but it is stamped on the air. Therefore it accepts something unchanging during the ceaseless process of change. It cannot be said that it changes or does not change.

  Although the Buddha’s mind and our mind are not different, they function differently because of their different karma. But regardless of their karma, each of those minds is always the same ultimately. Therefore, even though you may accumulate karma as high as Mount Sumeru, the moment you turn one thought around, the Buddha will be right there with you.

  Just as a bird in flight all day long leaves no traces in the sky, you let everything go when you attain a penetrating awakening. But still, it’s hard to do. It is like a turtle that brushes away its tracks with its tail but inevitably leaves traces behind.

  Since it is difficult to match the stamping subject and the stamped object, few have achieved it.

  能印所印 俱難契會 故得者少.

  There is in fact nothing that is matched. However many clouds appear, change, or disappear, all go through this process in the sky. Clouds have never left and will never leave the sky.

  Nevertheless, mind means no-mind and attainment means there is nothing to attain.

  然心即無心 得即無得.

  Everyone speaks of “mind,” but there is nothing that can be called “mind.” Since nothing can be called “mind,” nothing is to be attained. Therefore, the Heart Sūtra says, “There is nothing to be attained.”41 When you turn back to the original characteristic of truth, there is originally neither a subject nor an object that you can say you have attained. Although your discriminative thought creates the mind that likes attaining and dislikes losing, the nature is originally not something that you attain or lose. By thoroughly understanding this, you are not dragged around by delusive thought.

  A buddha has three bodies. The dharma body preaches the dharma of the pervasiveness of the self-nature. The reward body preaches the dharma of everything being pure. The transformation body preaches the dharma of the six perfections and the myriad practices.

  佛有三身 法身說自性虛通法 報身說一切清淨法 化身說六度萬行法.

  From the perspective of realizing the primary statement (yiju/ilgu 一句), even the word buddha is used merely as an expedient. The three bodies and four wisdoms of a buddha are in reality false. The dharma body (dharmakāya), reward body (saṃbhogakāya), and transformation body (nirmāṇakāya) are typically compared to the moon, the moonlight, and the shadows cast by the moon.

  The form of the original characteristic of truth pervades the entire dharma realm. Since that form involves nothing that is either redundant or deficient, when you illustrate it by drawing the moon, you should not misunderstand that that drawing is its actual form.

  The dharma body’s preaching of the dharma cannot be sought in language, sound, characteristics, or writing. Nothing is preached and nothing is realized. The self-nature is empty and pervasive, that’s all.

  法身說法 不可以言語音聲形相文字而求 無所說 無所證 自性虛通而已.

  Even though the dharma body fully reveals itself, it is just so. Even though it disappears, it is just so. It has been just so i
n the past and present, and will remain just so in the future. While it is just so, motion suddenly appears and it is displayed in different forms.

  Therefore, “The fact that there is no dharma to be preached is called ‘preaching the dharma.’ ”42

  故曰 無法可說 是名說法.

  The entire dharma realm is preaching the dharma. Since the true buddha’s preaching of the dharma is like an activity that suddenly arises in the place of the pristine dharma body, there is nothing that can be called “preaching the dharma.” However, since the ignorant think that verbal preaching with the mouth is the only true preaching, the true buddha sometimes assumes a physical form in order to preach. Even though a buddha opens his mouth to remove mirages, this in fact creates other mirages.

  Since the wise know that every mirage manifesting at the site of the dharma body of the pristine Vairocana Buddha is preaching the dharma, they make dharma offerings to the buddha everywhere and at all times.

  The reward body and transformation body respond and display [their teachings] according to spiritual capacity. The dharmas they preach accord with circumstances and respond to spiritual capacity in order to help and edify [their audiences]. But these are not the true dharma. Therefore, it is said,

  The reward and transformation bodies are not the true buddha.

  They are also not the ones who preach the dharma.43

  報身化身皆隨機感現 所說法亦隨事應根以為攝化 皆非真法 故曰 報化非真佛 亦非說法者.

  After Huangbo helped Pei Xiu first arouse faith through the expedient teaching of the three bodies of a buddha, the master affirmed the reality only of the dharma body, saying that the reward body and transformation body are not a buddha’s true form. The reference to the pristine Vairocana Buddha is nothing but a name that is given tentatively.

  When you have the power to see the transformations occurring in the sea of the nature, you will understand what the dharma body indicates.