7
THE PRACTICE-REALIZATION THAT buddha ancestors have guarded and maintained is called nondefilement.
Nanyue Huairang, who would later become Great Master Dahui of the Guanyin Monastery, Mount Nanyue, was once asked by Huineng, the Sixth Ancestor, “Do you depend on practice-realization?”
Nanyue said, “It is not that there is no practice-realization. It is just that it should not be defiled.”
Huineng said, “This nondefilement is what all buddhas have mindfully guarded. You are like this. I am like this. All ancestors in India were also like this.”
The Sutra of the Three Thousand Guidelines for Pure Conduct says, “To cleanse your body means to wash away the excrement and urine and to cut your ten fingernails.”
Thus, even if the body and mind are undefiled, there are methods of cleansing the body, cleansing the mind. It is not only cleansing the body and mind, but also cleansing the entire land, cleansing the places [of sitting] under trees.
Even if the land is not polluted, cleansing it is the intention of all buddhas. They do not turn their backs on it or give it up even after they reach the buddha fruit.
The essential meaning of cleansing is difficult to fathom. The method [of cleansing] is itself the essential meaning. Attaining the way is the method.
The “Pure Conduct” Chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra says:
When you defecate and urinate, vow to remove defilement and become free from sexual desire, anger, and ignorance together with all sentient beings. When you arrive at the water, vow to go toward the unsurpassable way and attain the dharma beyond worldly affairs together with all sentient beings. When you cleanse with the water, vow to embody pure patience and become fully undefiled together with all sentient beings.
Water is not necessarily pure or impure by origin. The body is not necessarily pure or impure by origin. All things are like this. Water is not sentient or insentient. The body is not sentient or insentient. All things are like this.
The teaching of the Buddha, the World-Honored One, is like this. It is not that you purify the body with water; there is a method to maintain buddha dharma with buddha dharma. This is called cleansing.
You authentically receive this cleansing in person with the single body-mind of buddha ancestors. This is to see and hear a single phrase of buddha ancestors. It is to abide clearly in a sole radiant light of buddha ancestors. This is to actualize immeasurable, boundless merit.
At the very moment of embodying the awesome presence of this practice in body-mind, the timeless original practice is fully accomplished. Thus, the body-mind of this practice is originally actualized.
Cut your ten fingernails. The ten fingernails mean all your nails. Cut your toenails in the same way. According to one sutra, if the tips of your nails are longer than a grain of barley, you are found faulty. So, do not grow your nails long. Keeping long nails is following the example of outsiders of the way. Frequently cut your nails.
Among monks in Great Song, however, many who are not equipped with the eye of study keep long nails. The tips of the nails of some of them are one or two sun long, or even three or four. This is against dharma; they do not have a body-mind of buddha dharma. They are like this because they do not follow the ancient custom of the buddha house. Masters who maintain the way are not like that.
In addition, there are those who keep their hair long. This is also against dharma. Do not mistake such behavior by some monks in Great Song for true dharma.
Rujing, my late master, Old Buddha, deeply cautioned against those monks who keep their hair and nails long, by saying, “Those who do not shave their heads are neither laity nor monks. They are animals. Among ancient buddha ancestors, who did not shave their heads? Those who do not understand cleansing hair are truly animals.”
As he taught the assembly in this way, many of those who hadn’t shaved for years shaved their heads.
When he ascended to the teaching seat [for a formal talk] or when he gave an informal talk, he would snap his fingers loudly and scold:
Those who keep long hair and nails meaninglessly without knowing the reason should be pitied for violating dharma, even if they have the body-mind of the Southern Continent, Jambudvipa.
As the ancestral way has been in decline for the last two or three hundred years, there are a number of such people. They become the heads of monasteries, being authorized to receive the titles of masters, and pretend to guide others. This does not benefit humans and devas.
In the monasteries all over China there is not a single person who has the aspiration for the way, and for a long time there has not been one who has attained the way. There are only groups of those who are decadent.
When Rujing taught the assembly in this way, none of those who were mistakenly called elders of monasteries in various directions were resentful or spoke back.
Know that keeping long hair has been cautioned against by buddha ancestors, and keeping long nails is a conduct of those outside the way. A descendant of buddha ancestors should not indulge in behavior that is against dharma. Cleanse your body-mind. Cut your nails and shave your head. Do not be negligent in washing off excrement and urine.
Shariputra once converted a person outside the way with his awesome presence [in the practice of cleansing]. This is not what the person wanted or what Shariputra tried to achieve, but where the awesome presence of a buddha ancestor was actualized, the practitioner of the crooked teaching surrendered.
When you practice under a tree or in an open field, there is no toilet, so cleanse yourself with some dirt and water from a nearby river or valley brook. You may not find ash, so use two rows of seven pellets of dirt.
The way to use two rows of seven pellets of dirt is first to take off the dharma robe, fold it, and set it to the side. Then take up brown dirt, not so dark, and make pellets as large as soybeans. Set them on a rock or something nearby in two rows, seven in each row. Also set up a stone for rubbing [for washing hands]. Then defecate, and afterward use a piece of wood or paper. When you are done, go to the water and cleanse yourself. First use three pellets of dirt. Put one on your palm, mix it with water to make it liquid, and wash off the urine. With another pellet, wash yourself of the excrement in the same way. [Repeat this a few times.] Take up another pellet and clean the place where the excrement has dropped. Finally, use another pellet to wash your hands in the same way.
Since monks started living in monasteries, a toilet house has been used. It is called the “east building.” It used to be called the “brook house.” It is sometimes called the “wash house.” This is a building essential to an abode of monks.
For going to the east building, always carry a hand towel. To do so, fold the towel in two [the long way] and hang it [folded in half again] over the left sleeve of the outer robe near the elbow.
At the east building hang the hand towel on the bamboo hanger, just as you hang it over your sleeve. If you are wearing a kashaya of nine or five strips, hang it beside the towel. Hang them carefully so that they don’t fall down. Don’t throw them. Remember the ideograph on the bamboo hanger. Ideographs are written on white sheets of paper, cut in circles like a full moon, and arrayed in a row on the bamboo hangers. By remembering the ideograph, you know where you have put your outer robe. As a number of monks use this building, do not confuse your hanging position with someone else’s.
Meanwhile, if other monks come and stand in line, greet them with your hands in shashu. You don’t necessarily stand face to face and bow to each other, but just bring your hands in shashu up to your chest and show a sign of greeting. In the east building, even if you don’t wear an outer robe, make a gesture of greeting in this way.
If you have not yet used your hands for cleansing, and if you are not holding anything in your hands, hold them in shashu for greeting. If you have already used a hand or are holding something in one hand, use the other hand for greeting. To do so, hold your palm up, slightly cup your fingers just as if you were scooping water, and lower your head. If someone else greets you in this way, return the greeting in the same way. If you greet someone else in this way, the person should do so as well.
Before using the toilet, take off and hang your upper robe and outer robe on the bamboo hanger, next to the hand towel. Put the backs of the sleeves of the outer robe together, hold the armpit part of the sleeves [with the right hand], and pull up to keep the sleeves overlapped. At that time, hold the rear neck part of the outer robe with the left hand so that the ends of the sleeves, as well as both lapels, overlap each other. Then fold the outer robe vertically to make sure that the ends of the sleeves are aligned with the lapels. Fold the outer robe again vertically and bring the top part of the outer robe over the bamboo hanger. The lower part of the outer robe and the sleeves hang on your side of the bamboo hanger, while the waist part of the outer robe touches the bamboo hanger.
Then, cross both sides of the towel, which is already hanging, pull them around the outer robe, and tie a knot two or three times to keep the outer robe from slipping down. After this, bow to the outer robe. Next, take a strap and tie the sleeves of your underclothes across your armpits over your shoulders [in the undergarment].
Then, walk to the toilet area, get water in the wooden bucket, carry it with the right hand, and step into the toilet room. When pouring water into the bucket, do not fill it—make it nine out of ten. Change your sandals in front of the toilet door. Put on the cattail sandals [provided at the toilet] and leave your own straw sandals in front of the toilet. This is called “changing sandals.”
The Guidelines for Zen Monasteries says, “When you want to go to the wash house, go early enough. Do not hurry and create accidents. Fold your kashaya and put it on the shelf, or hang it on a bamboo hanger in the wash house.”
Step inside and slide the door shut with the left hand. Pour a bit of water into the wooden barrel. Then, place the bucket in front of you where it is supposed to be. While standing, snap the fingers [of the right hand] three times [for removing impurity], while keeping the left hand in a fist on the left side of the waist.
Pull the bottom and corners of your undergarment, face the door, put your feet on both sides of the top of the barrel, squat, and defecate. Do not stain the sides. Do not soil the front and back [of the barrel top].
Be silent the entire time. Do not converse through the wall or chant aloud. Do not spit in a disturbing manner. Do not groan. Do not write on the wall. Do not draw on the earthen floor with the toilet stick.
After defecating, use the stick for wiping. Another way is to use paper. In this case, do not use paper that has been already used or has been written on.
Be aware of whether the stick is clean or dirty. The stick is triangular [made of bamboo or wood], about eight sun long, and as thick as a thumb. Some sticks are lacquered, while others are not. Dirty sticks are put into the dirty stick container. Clean sticks are found on the table close to the edge of the wooden barrel.
After the stick or paper is used, take up the bucket with the right hand, wet the left hand well, cup it, pour water into it, and first wash urine from yourself three times. Then wash off the excrement. Wash properly and make your body clean. During this process, do not tilt the bucket roughly, pour too much water, or quickly lose water by overfilling the cupped hand.
After washing your body, put the bucket back in its position. Use the stick or paper to dry both areas of your body thoroughly. Then, pull and straighten up the bottom and corners of the underclothes with your right hand. When you carry the bucket with the right hand and leave the toilet, take off the cattail sandals and put on your straw sandals. Then, go to the washing area and return the bucket to its original position.
Next, wash your hands. Pick up an ash ladle with the right hand, scoop up some ash, and place it on a tile. Add some drops of water to it with your right hand and wash the soiled [left] hand. You wash it by rubbing it on the tile, just like sharpening a rusty knife. Wash it with ash three times. Then, place dirt on the tile, add drops of water, and wash the hand three more times. After that, get some honey locust powder with the right hand, dip both hands into water in a small wooden bucket, and wash them well. Wash your hands thoroughly up to the wrist. Wash them with complete attention and sincerity. Thus, wash three times with ash, three times with dirt, and once with honey locust powder. In this way, washing seven times at each use of the toilet is the right amount. Finally, wash your hands in a large wooden bucket. At this time, don’t use herb or ash but rinse your hands with cold or warm water. After washing, put the used water into a small bucket. Get fresh water in the large bucket and rinse your hands again.
The Avatamsaka Sutra says:
Washing my hands with water,
may all sentient beings
attain excellent hands
for maintaining buddha dharma.
When you hold a dipper, always use the right hand. Do not make noise. Do not carelessly splatter water, sprinkle honey locust powder, or wet the wash area.
Dry your hands with a towel for common use or with your own towel. Then, walk to the bamboo hanger where your outer robe is hanging, untie your strap, and hang it on the hanger. Put your palms together, untie the towel, and put on the outer robe.
Then, hang the towel over the left elbow and perfume your hands. In the common area, there is a stick of aloeswood carved in the shape of a treasure jar. It is as thick as a thumb and four times as long as four fingerwidths. A string about one shaku [one foot] long is threaded through the holes on both ends of this aloeswood, which is hung on a bamboo hanger. If you rub this stick with both hands, they become fragrant.
When you hang your strap on the bamboo hanger, do not put it on top of another; keep the straps from being entangled with each other.
This procedure [for using the toilet] is to cleanse the buddha land, to beautify the buddha land. Follow this procedure thoroughly.
Do not act hastily. Do not think of getting it over with and going back quickly. Quietly think of the teaching: “In the wash house, dharma is not expounded.” Do not make observations on the monks who are on their way to the toilet.
For cleansing in the toilet room, cold water is suitable. It is said that hot water may cause stomach upset. For washing hands, it is all right to use warm water. The wash house is equipped with a kettle for this purpose.
The Guidelines for Zen Monasteries says, “Even late at night, keep water heated and oil [for the lamp] burning. Make hot water available at all times so the monks are not interrupted.” In this way we know that both hot and cold water are used in the wash room.
If the toilet gets dirty, shut the door and put up a “Dirty” sign. If the bucket is dropped by mistake, also shut the door and put up a “Wet” sign. Do not use the toilets when you see such signs. If you are entering a dirty or wet toilet and someone else signals to you by snapping their fingers, stay outside for a moment [to let the person clean the toilet].
The Guidelines for Zen Monasteries says, “Those who fail to cleanse are not allowed to sit on the meditation platform, venerate the three treasures, and receive reverence from others.”
The Sutra of the Three Thousand Guidelines for Pure Conduct says, “Those who do not cleanse themselves of urine or excrement are accountable for a dushkrita [light wrongdoing] conduct. They are not allowed to sit on the monks’ pure sitting cushions and venerate the three treasures. Even if they do so, there will be no benefit.”
Thus, in the practice place of endeavor of the way, make this cleansing procedure a priority. How can you not venerate the three treasures? How can you not receive reverence from others? How can you not revere others?
In the practice places of buddha ancestors, there is always the awesome practice of this cleansing. Among those who practice in the practice places of buddha ancestors, there is always the awesome practice of this cleansing. Cleansing is not forced by the self, but is the conduct of awesome practice itself. Cleansing is the continuous procedure of all buddhas. Cleansing is the everyday activity of all ancestors. It is the buddha procedure not only of all buddhas in this realm, but of buddhas in the ten directions. It is the buddha procedure of the pure land and impure land.
Those who hear little think that buddhas don’t have a procedure in the wash house or that the procedure for buddhas in the Saha World is different from that of buddhas in the pure land. This is not the study of the way.
Know that the matter of being clean or dirty is like drips of blood for those who have left the household. Sometimes it is gentle, and other times it is severe. Thus, be aware that all buddhas use a wash house.
Chapter 14 of the Compiled Precepts in Ten Sections for Chanting says:
Novice Rahula stayed at the Buddha’s wash house and the Buddha noticed it. Stroking Rahula’s head with the right hand, the Buddha told him in a verse:
You stay here not because of poverty,
nor because of having lost wealth,
but for the sake of seeking the way.
A home leaver should thus bear hardship.
As you see, there is a wash house in the practice place of the Buddha. The awesome practice inside the Buddha’s wash house is cleansing, which has been transmitted from ancestor to ancestor. That the buddha procedure is still being practiced is an auspicious joy for those who long for the ancient way. This is encountering what is rare to encounter.
Above all, the Tathagata graciously expounded dharma to Rahula inside the wash house. The wash house is a place of assembly for the Buddha turning the dharma wheel. The procedure in this practice place has been authentically transmitted by buddha ancestors.
Chapter 34 of the Great Sangha Precepts [Scripture] says: “The wash house should not be placed in the east or north side [of the monastery], but in the south or west side. A place for urination should be also like this.”
Follow this format, this is a plan for monasteries in India—the buildings where the Tathagata is still present. Know that this format is not only the buddha procedure of a single buddha, but of the practice places—monasteries—of the Seven Original Buddhas. This was not initiated [by Shakyamuni Buddha], but it has been the awesome practice of all buddhas.
If you build a monastery and practice buddha dharma before clarifying this matter, there may be a number of mistakes, the awesome practice may not be complete, and buddha enlightenment may not be actualized. When you construct a practice place and found a monastery, follow the dharma procedure authentically transmitted by buddha ancestors. Since this dharma procedure is of authentic heirs and of authentic transmission, its merit has been accumulated.
Without being authentically transmitted heirs of buddha ancestors, you have not yet known the body-mind of buddha dharma. Without knowing the body-mind of buddha dharma, you have not yet clarified the buddha work. That the buddha dharma of Shakyamuni Buddha has spread throughout the ten directions means that the body-mind of the Buddha is actualized. The very moment of the body-mind of the Buddha being actualized is just this.
Presented to the assembly of the Kannondori Kosho Horin Monastery, Uji County, Yamashiro Province, on the twenty-third day, the tenth month, the first year of the En’o Era [1239].