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AT THE ASSEMBLY on Vulture Peak, only Mahakashyapa, through realization, received Shakyamuni Buddha’s treasury of the true dharma eye, unsurpassable enlightenment. By a direct transmission of authentic realization through twenty-eight generations, it reached venerable Bodhidharma.
Bodhidharma went to China and entrusted the treasury of the true dharma eye, unsurpassable enlightenment, to Dazu Huike, who would later become Great Master Zhengzong Pujue, and confirmed him as the Second Ancestor. Because the Twenty-eighth Ancestor in India went to China as the first teacher there, he is also called the First Chinese Ancestor. The Twenty-ninth Ancestor is called the Second Chinese Ancestor. This is the custom in China.
Bodhidharma once studied with Venerable Prajnatara and through realization directly received the admonitions of the buddha, the bones of the way. In realization he attained the source through the source and made it the root of branches and leaves.
Although there are a number of sages who try to study by cutting off the root of twining vines [expressions], they do not regard the cutting of twining vines with twining vines as “cutting through” [fully comprehending]. Also, they do not know entangling twining vines by further entangling them. Furthermore, how can they understand inheriting twining vines through twining vines? Those who notice that inheriting dharma is twining vines are rare. There is no one who has learned it, and there is no one who has spoken about it. How is it possible for many to have realized it?
Rujing, my late master, Old Buddha, said, “Gourd vines entangle with gourd vines.”
This teaching has never been seen or heard in the various directions of the past and present. Rujing alone spoke it. Gourd vines entangle with gourd vines means that buddha ancestors thoroughly experience buddha ancestors; buddha ancestors merge with buddha ancestors in realization. This is transmitting mind by mind.
Bodhidharma once said to his students, “The time has come. Can you express your understanding?”
Then one of the students, Daofu, said, “My present view is that we should neither be attached to letters nor be apart from letters, and allow the way to function freely.”
Bodhidharma said, “You have attained my skin.”
The nun Zongchi said, “My view is that it is like the joy of seeing Akshobhya Buddha’s land just once and not again.”
Bodhidharma said, “You have attained my flesh.”
Daoyu said, “The four great elements are originally empty, and the five skandhas do not exist. Therefore, I see nothing to be attained.”
Bodhidharma said, “You have attained my bones.”
Finally, Huike bowed three times, stood up, and returned to where he was.
Bodhidharma said, “You have attained my marrow.” Thus, he confirmed Huike as the Second Ancestor and transmitted dharma and the robe to him.
Investigate these words of Bodhidharma: You have attained my skin . . . flesh . . . bones . . . marrow. These are the ancestor’s words. All four students had attainment and understanding. Each one’s attainment and understanding is skin, flesh, bones, and marrow leaping out of body and mind; skin, flesh, bones, and marrow dropping away body and mind. Do not see or hear the ancestor with a limited understanding of these statements. Otherwise what was spoken and heard will not be fully grasped.
However, those who have not received authentic transmission think that Bodhidharma’s words skin . . . flesh . . . bones . . . marrow are not equal in depth, and because the views of the four students vary, one may seem to be closer than the others. They think that skin and flesh are not as close as bones and marrow. They think that Huike was acknowledged as attaining the marrow because his view was better than those of the others. People who speak in this way have not yet studied with buddha ancestors and do not have transmission of the ancestor way.
Know that skin . . . flesh . . . bones . . . marrow do not mean that one understanding is deeper than another. Even if there are superior or inferior views, in Bodhidharma’s words there is only attaining my. It means that neither the phrase You have attained my marrow nor the phrase You have attained my bones is more essential than the other for guiding a person in holding up grass [endeavor] or dropping grass [beyond endeavor]. It is like holding up a flower or transmitting a robe. From the beginning, Bodhidharma’s confirmation of each one was equal. Although his confirmation was equal, the four views were not necessarily equal. However varied the four views are, Bodhidharma’s words are just Bodhidharma’s words. In fact, words and understanding do not necessarily match.
For example, Bodhidharma said to the four students, You have attained my skin, and so forth. Had he hundreds or thousands of students after Huike, he would have spoken hundreds or thousands of words. There should be no limit. Because he had only four students he spoke of skin . . . flesh . . . bones . . . marrow. But the words not spoken, and yet to be spoken, should be many.
Know that even to Huike, Bodhidharma could have said, You have attained my skin. Even saying, You have attained my skin, he could have transmitted the treasury of the true dharma eye to Huike as the Second Ancestor. It does not go by the superiority or inferiority of attaining the flesh or attaining the marrow.
Even to Daofu, Daoyu, or Zongchi, Bodhidharma could have said, You have attained my marrow. Even though they attained the skin, he could have transmitted dharma to them. Bodhidharma’s body-and-mind is Bodhidharma’s skin, flesh, bones, and marrow. It is not that the marrow is close and the skin is far.
Now, to receive the seal of You have attained my skin by having the eye of studying is to fully attain the ancestor. There is an ancestor whose full body is skin, an ancestor whose full body is flesh, an ancestor whose full body is bones, and an ancestor whose full body is marrow. There is an ancestor whose full body is mind, an ancestor whose full body is body, an ancestor whose full mind is mind. There is an ancestor whose full ancestor is ancestor. And there is an ancestor whose full body is “attaining myself,” “attaining yourself.”
In this way, when these ancestors appear together and speak to hundreds and thousands of students, they say, You have attained my skin. Even if the ancestors in hundreds and thousands of words indicate skin, flesh, bones, and marrow in this way, people outside will think superficially about skin, flesh, bones, and marrow.
If there had been six or seven students in Bodhidharma’s community, he would have said, “You have attained my mind,” “You have attained my body,” “You have attained my buddhahood,” “You have attained my eye,” or “You have attained my realization.” This is the moment when you are now an ancestor, and this is the time when you are now Huike.
Examine thoroughly the meaning of have attained. Know that there is “You have attained me,” “I have attained you,” “[This is] attaining me and you,” and “[This is] attaining you and me.” Upon studying an ancestor’s body-and-mind, if you say that inside and outside are not one or that the entire body is not the full body, you are not in the land where the buddha ancestors appear.
To attain skin is to attain bones, flesh, and marrow. To attain bones, flesh, and marrow is to attain skin, flesh, and face. It is to understand not only that all the worlds of the ten directions are the true body, but that they are skin, flesh, bones, and marrow. In this way, “You attain my robe,” and “You attain the dharma.”
Thus, words are bits and pieces leaping out; teacher and disciple practice mutually. What is heard is bits and pieces leaping out; teacher and disciple practice mutually.
“Teacher and disciple practice mutually” is twining vines of buddha ancestors. “Twining vines of buddha ancestors” is the life stream of skin, flesh, bones, and marrow. Taking up a flower and blinking are twining vines. Breaking into a smile is skin, flesh, bones, and marrow.
Study further; the seeds of twining vines have the power of dropping away body. Branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit of twining vines do and do not interpenetrate one another. Thus, buddha ancestors appear, and the fundamental point is actualized.
Zhaozhou, Great Master Zhenji, said to his assembly, “Mahakashyapa transmitted to Ananda. Now say! To whom did Bodhidharma transmit?”
A monk said, “The Second Ancestor attained his marrow. How about it?”
Zhaozhou said, “Do not slander the Second Ancestor.” He also said, “If Bodhidharma means ‘Someone who has reached the outside attains the skin, someone who has reached the inside attains the bones,’ then tell me: What does someone who has reached even deeper inside get?”
The monk said, “What does attaining the marrow mean?”
Zhaozhou said, “Just know about skin. There is no marrow to depend upon in my body.”
The monk said, “What is marrow?”
Zhaozhou said, “At that place you don’t feel the skin.”
Thus, know: When you don’t even feel the skin, how can you feel the marrow? When you feel the skin, you can attain the marrow. Thus, study the meaning of At that place you don’t feel the skin.
A monk asked, What does attaining the marrow mean? Then, Zhaozhou said, Just know the skin. There is no marrow to depend upon in my body. When you know the skin, there is no need to search for the marrow. This is truly attaining the marrow. Being so, the question The Second Ancestor attained his marrow. How about it? appeared.
When you penetrate the moment of Mahakashyapa transmitting to Ananda, Ananda hides his body in Mahakashyapa, and Mahakashyapa hides his body in Ananda. Thus, at the moment of [teacher and student] meeting for transmission, the practice of exchanging face, skin, flesh, bones, and marrow cannot be avoided. Because of this, Zhaozhou said, Now say! To whom did Bodhidharma transmit?
When Bodhidharma gives transmission, he is Bodhidharma. When the Second Ancestor attains the marrow, he is Bodhidharma. By studying the meaning of this, buddha dharma has continued to be buddha dharma to this day. If not, buddha dharma would not have reached to this day. Quietly pursue and investigate the meaning of this point for yourself and others.
Zhaozhou said, If Bodhidharma means, “Someone who has reached the outside attains the skin, someone who has reached the inside attains the bones,” then tell me: What does someone who has reached even deeper inside get? Directly understand the meaning of outside [essential] and inside [essential]. When you discuss outside, skin, flesh, bones, and marrow are all outside. When you discuss inside, skin, flesh, bones, and marrow are all inside.
This being so, these four Bodhidharmas altogether mastered hundreds and thousands of myriad bits and pieces beyond skin, flesh, bones, and marrow. Do not suppose that you cannot go beyond the marrow. You can go threefold, fivefold beyond.
This teaching of Zhaozhou, an ancient buddha, is a buddha’s words. It is not what other masters like Linji, Deshan, Guishan, and Yunmen either reached or dreamed of. How could they talk about it? Some careless elders of recent times do not even know that it exists. If you were to tell them about it, they would be shocked.
Xuedou, Zen Master Mingjue, said, “Zhaozhou and Muzhou—both Zhous—are ancient buddhas.”
The words of Zhaozhou, an ancient buddha, are realization of buddha dharma, understanding of expressions in the past.
Xuefeng, Great Master Zhenjiao, said, “Zhaozhou is an ancient buddha.”
The former buddha ancestor admired Zhaozhou as an ancient buddha, and the latter buddha ancestor admired Zhaozhou as an ancient buddha. Thus, we know that he was an ancient buddha who went beyond buddhas of the past and present. In this way, the entanglement of skin, flesh, bones, and marrow is an essential expression by an ancient buddha of “You have attained me.” Thoroughly study and examine this expression.
It is said that Bodhidharma returned to India. I have learned that this is wrong. What Songyun saw on the road as Bodhidharma [heading west] could not have been actual. How could Songyun have discovered Bodhidharma’s destination? It is correct to learn and understand that his ashes were laid to rest in Mount Xionger after he passed away.
Presented at the assembly of the Kannondori Kosho Horin Monastery, Uji County, Yamashiro Province, on the seventh day, the seventh month, the first year of the Kangen Era [1243].