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DONGSHAN, HIGH ANCESTOR, Great Master Wuben of Mount Dong, Yun Region, is the direct heir of Yunyan, Great Master Wuzhu of Mount Yunyan, Tan Region. He is the thirty-eighth going-beyond ancestor from the Tathagata. He is the thirty-eighth ancestor going beyond himself.
Dongshan once taught the assembly, “Concerning realization-through-the-body of going beyond buddha, I would like to talk a little.”
A monk said, “What is this talk?”
Dongshan said, “When I talk, you don’t hear it.”
The monk said, “Do you hear it?”
Dongshan said, “Wait till I don’t talk, then you hear it.”
The words spoken here, going beyond buddha, originally came from Dongshan. Other buddha ancestors have studied his words and realized through-the-body going beyond buddha. Know that going beyond buddha is neither causality nor fruition. However, there is realization-through-the-body and complete attainment of you don’t hear it at the moment when I talk.
Without going beyond buddha, you do not realize through-the-body going beyond buddha. Without talking, you do not realize through-the-body going beyond buddha. Going beyond buddha and talking neither reveal each other nor hide each other, neither give to nor take from each other. This being so, talking brings forth going beyond buddha.
When going beyond buddha is actualized, you do not hear it. You do not hear it means buddha-going-beyond-buddha is not heard by the self. At the time of talking, you do not hear it. Know that talking is not stained by either hearing or not-hearing. It is not concerned with hearing or not-hearing.
You are concealed within not-hearing. You are concealed within talking. It is like meeting a person and not meeting a person; being thus and not thus. When you talk, you don’t hear it. The meaning of you don’t hear it is that you are not hindered by the tongue or ears, you are not seen through by the eyes, you are not shielded by body and mind. This is not-hearing. Do not try to take this up and regard it as talking. Not-hearing is not talking. It is just that at the time of talking you do not hear it. Dongshan’s words When I talk, you don’t hear it mean that talking, from beginning to end, is just like wisteria vines entangled with each other. Talking is entangled with talking, it is permeated by talking.
The monk said, Do you hear it? This does not mean that he is asking if the master hears the talking; he is not asking about the master or his talking. Instead, the monk is asking whether he should study direct hearing as the master talks. That is to say, he is asking whether talking is talking and hearing is hearing. Even if you can say something about it, it is beyond your speech.
Examine thoroughly the words of Dongshan, Wait till I don’t talk, then you hear it. At the very moment of talking, there is no direct hearing. Direct hearing comes forth at the moment of not-talking.
It is not that you unfortunately miss the moment of not-talking and must wait for not-talking. Direct hearing is not merely observing. It is true observation. It is not at the moment of direct hearing that talking goes away and is confined somewhere. It is not at the time of talking that direct hearing hides its body in the eye of talking and resounds like thunder. It is just that you do not hear at the time of talking; you directly hear at the time of not-talking.
This is the meaning of I would like to talk a little and realization-through-the-body of going beyond buddha. That is to realize through-the-body direct hearing at the time of talking. This being so, Dongshan said, Wait till I don’t talk, then you hear it. However, going beyond buddha is not before the Seven Original Buddhas. It is the Seven Original Buddhas going beyond.
Dongshan, High Ancestor, Great Master Wuben, taught the assembly, “You should know someone going beyond buddha.”
A monk asked, “Who is someone going beyond buddha?”
The master said, “Not-buddha.”
Later Yunmen interpreted this: “The name is unattainable, the form is unattainable, therefore the person is ‘not.’”
Baofu said, “Buddha-not.”
Fayan also said, “Provisionally, the person is called buddha.”
The buddha ancestor going beyond a buddha ancestor is Dongshan. The reason is that though there are many other buddhas and ancestors, they have never dreamed of the words “going beyond buddha.” If this were spoken to Deshan or Linji, they would not get it right. Neither Yantou nor Xuefeng would be awakened even if their bodies were crushed and shattered with the blow of a fist.
Dongshan’s words realization-through-the-body of going beyond buddha, I would like to talk a little, and You should know someone going beyond buddha cannot be fully realized merely by practice and enlightenment through one, two, three, four, five eons, or one hundred great eons. Only those who study the inconceivable road can realize it.
Know that there is someone going beyond buddha. This is the full activity of playing with the spirit. So, understand going beyond buddha by taking up an ancient buddha and raising a fist. To see through this is to know someone who goes beyond buddha and someone who goes beyond not-buddha.
The words of Dongshan do not mean that you should be someone who goes beyond buddha, or that you should meet someone who goes beyond buddha. He just means that you should know that there is someone who goes beyond buddha. The key to this barrier is not-knowing someone who goes beyond buddha, and not-knowing someone who goes beyond not-buddha.
Someone who goes beyond buddha in this way is not-buddha. When you are asked “What is not-buddha?” consider: You do not call the person not-buddha because the person precedes buddha. You do not call the person not-buddha because the person follows buddha. You do not call the person not-buddha because the person surpasses buddha.
The person is not-buddha merely because of going beyond buddha. “Not-buddha” is so called because buddha’s face is dropped away, buddha’s body and mind are dropped away.
Jingyin, Zen Master Kumu, in Dongjing, whose priest name is Facheng, an heir of Furong, taught the assembly: “As I know about going beyond buddha, I have something to say. Answer now, good students! What is going beyond buddha? Someone has a child who does not have six sense organs and lacks seven consciousnesses. He is a great icchantika, a kind of not-buddha. When he meets a buddha he kills the buddha, and when he meets an ancestor he kills the ancestor. The heavens cannot contain this person. Hell does not have a gate to let him in. All of you! Do you know this person?”
After waiting for a while he said, “If you don’t see saindhava, it’s like talking a lot in deep sleep.”
Not have six sense organs can be described as “The eyeballs have become tallow beads, the nostrils have become bamboo pipes, and the skull has turned into a shit dipper. What is the meaning of all this?”
In this way, the six sense organs are not there. Because there are no six sense organs, this person has gone through the forge and bellows and has become a metal buddha. He has gone through a great ocean and has become a clay buddha. He has gone through the fire and has become a wooden buddha.
Lacks seven consciousnesses means this person is a broken wooden dipper. Although he kills a buddha, he meets the buddha. Because he meets a buddha, he kills the buddha. If he tries to enter the heavens, the heavens are annihilated. If he goes toward hell, hell will burst immediately. If he meets face to face, his face breaks into a smile and there is no saindhava. Although he is in deep sleep, he talks a lot.
Understand that this means all the mountains and the entire land know the self. Jewels and stones are all crushed into pieces. Quietly study and pursue this teaching of Jingyin. Do not neglect it.
Yunju Daoying, who would later become Zen Master Hongjue of Mount Yunju, went to study with High Ancestor Dongshan.
Dongshan said, “What is your name?”
Yunju said, “Daoying.”
Dongshan said, “Say something beyond that.”
Yunju said, “When I say something beyond, I am not called Daoying.”
Dongshan said, “When I was with Yunyan, we spoke just like this.”
Examine in detail the words between this master and disciple. When I say something beyond, I am not called Daoying is Yunju’s going beyond. Know that in addition to the usual Yunju, there is someone beyond, who is not called Daoying. From the moment When I say something beyond, I am not called Daoying is actualized, he is truly Yunju.
However, do not say that he is Daoying when he is going beyond. When he was asked by Dongshan, Say something beyond that, even if he had replied, When I say something beyond, I am called Daoying, it would still be the words of going beyond. Why is it so? Yunju immediately leaps into the top of the head and hides his own body. Since he hides his own body, his form is revealed.
Caoshan Benji studied with Dongshan, High Ancestor. Dongshan said, “What is your name?”
Caoshan said, “Benji.”
Dongshan said, “Say something beyond that.”
Caoshan said, “I will not say.”
Dongshan asked again, “Why will you not say?”
Caoshan said, “No-name Benji.”
Dongshan approved it.
It is not that there is nothing to say in going beyond, but there is no saying. Why will you not say? Because of no-name Benji. Therefore, saying in going beyond is no-saying. No-saying in going beyond is no-name. Benji of no-name is saying going beyond. Thus, he is Benji no-name.
Thus, there is no-Benji. No-name drops away. Benji drops away.
Panshan, Zen Master Baoji, said, “The single path of going beyond—a thousand sages, no transmission.”
The single path of going beyond is the utterance of Panshan alone. He did not say “buddha going beyond” or “someone going beyond,” but he said the single path of going beyond.
It means that even if thousands of sages appear all together, the single path of going beyond is not transmitted. No transmission means a thousand sages protect that which is not transmitted. You may be able to understand in this way. But there is something further to say about this. It is not that a thousand sages or a thousand wise people do not exist, but that a single path of going beyond is not merely the realm of the sages or of the wise.
Zhimen, Zen Master Guangzuo, was once asked by a monk, “What is going beyond buddha?”
He said, “To hold up the sun and the moon on top of a staff.”
This means that you are completely covered by the sun and the moon on top of a staff. This is buddha going beyond. When you penetrate the staff that holds up the sun and the moon, the entire universe is dark. This is buddha going beyond. It is not that the sun and the moon are the staff. On top of a staff means the entire staff.
Daowu, who would later become Zen master of the Tianhuang Monastery, visited the assembly of Shitou, Great Master Wuji, and asked, “What is the fundamental meaning of buddha dharma?”
Shitou said, “Not to attain, not to know.”
Daowu said, “Is there a further turning point in going beyond?”
Shitou said, “The vast sky does not keep white clouds from flying.”
Now, Shitou is the second generation from Caoxi [Huineng]. Daowu of the Tianhuang Monastery is a younger dharma brother of Yaoshan. When Daowu asked Shitou about the fundamental meaning of buddha dharma, it is not a question asked by a beginner or someone who had recently started. Daowu asked this question when he was ready to understand the fundamental meaning if he heard it.
Shitou said, Not to attain, not to know. Understand that in buddha dharma the fundamental meaning is in the initial aspiration, as well as in the ultimate level. This fundamental meaning is not to attain. It is not that there is no aspiration, no practice, or no enlightenment. But simply, not-attaining. The fundamental meaning is not to know. Practice-enlightenment is not nonexistent or existent, but is not to know, not to attain.
Again, the fundamental meaning is not to attain, not to know. It is not that there is no sacred truth, no practice-enlightenment, but simply not to attain, not to know. It is not that there is a sacred truth and practice-enlightenment, but simply not to attain, not to know.
Daowu said, Is there a further turning point in going beyond? It means that when the turning point is actualized, going beyond is actualized. Turning point is a provisional expression. The provisional expression is all buddhas, all ancestors. In speaking of it, there is further. Even if there is further, do not neglect going beyond. Speak accordingly.
The vast sky does not hinder the white clouds from flying. These are Shitou’s words. The vast sky does not hinder the vast sky. Just as the vast sky does not hinder the vast sky from flying, white clouds do not hinder white clouds. White clouds fly with no hindrance. White clouds’ flying does not hinder the vast sky’s flying. Not hindering others is not hindering self.
It is not that self and others need or have no hindrance. None of these requires no-hindrance or remains in no-hindrance. This is the no-hindrance brought out in the phrase The vast sky does not hinder the white clouds from flying.
Right now, raise the eyebrow of the eye of study and see through the emergence of buddhas, ancestors, self, and others. This is a case of asking one question and answering ten. In asking one question and answering ten, the person who asks one question is the true person; the person who answers ten is the true person.
Huangbo said, “Those who have left the household should understand things that have come from the past. Niutou, Great Master Farong, a disciple of Fourth Ancestor Daoxin, explained vertically and horizontally but did not know the key to the barrier of going beyond. With your own eye and brain you should discern the correct school from the incorrect.”
Huangbo’s words things that have come from the past mean that which has been authentically transmitted from buddha ancestors. This is called the treasury of the true dharma eye, the wondrous heart of nirvana. Although it is in yourself, you should understand it. Although it is in yourself, it is beyond your understanding. Those who have not received authentic buddha-to-buddha transmission have never dreamed of it.
Huangbo, as the dharma heir of Baizhang, exceeds Baizhang and, as a dharma descendant of Mazu, exceeds Mazu. In three or four generations of the ancestral school, there was no one who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Huangbo. Huangbo alone made it clear that Niutou [Ox Head] did not have two horns. Other buddha ancestors had not noticed it.
Niutou, Zen Master Farong of Mount Niutou, was a respected teacher, a disciple of Dayi Daoxin, the Fourth Ancestor. When compared to that of Indian or Chinese sutra masters and treatise masters, his discourse was not inadequate. But regrettably he had not realized the key to the barrier of going beyond.
If you do not have the key to the barrier of things that have come from the past, how can you discern correct from incorrect in buddha dharma? You are merely someone who studies words and phrases. Thus, knowing, practicing, and realizing the key to the barrier of going beyond is not something ordinary people can accomplish. However, where there is true endeavor, the key is realized.
Going beyond buddha means that you reach buddha, and going further, you continue to see buddha. It is not the same as sentient beings’ seeing buddha. Therefore, if your seeing buddha is merely the same as sentient beings’ seeing buddha, it is not seeing buddha. If your seeing buddha is merely the same as sentient beings’ seeing buddha, it is seeing buddha mistakenly; how can you experience going beyond buddha?
Know that Huangbo’s words going beyond cannot be understood by careless people of these times. Their dharma discourses cannot reach that of Niutou. Even if their dharma discourses equaled that of Niutou, they would be merely Niutou’s dharma brothers. How can they have the key to the barrier of going beyond? Other bodhisattvas of the ten stages or three classes can never have the key to the barrier of going beyond. How can they open and close the barrier of going beyond? This is the eye of study. One who has the key to the barrier of going beyond goes beyond buddha, realizing through-the-body going beyond buddha.
Presented to the assembly at the Kannondori Kosho Horin Monastery on the twenty-third day, the third month, the third year of the Ninji Era [1242].