LIN-CHI  (Rinzai)
Translated from the Chinese by Ruth Fuller Sasaki

"You belittle yourselves and modestly withdraw, saying, ‘We are but commoners; he is a sage.’ Bald idiots! What’s the frantic hurry to wrap yourselves in lions’ skins while you’re yapping like jackals!

“Resolute fellows [though you are], you do not draw the breath of the resolute. Unwilling to believe in what you have in your own house, you do nothing but seek outside, go clambering after the worthless sayings of the men of old, rely upon yin and depend upon yang and are unable to achieve [by yourselves]. On meeting [outer] circumstances, you establish relationship with them; on meeting [sense-] dusts you cling to them; wherever you are doubts arise, and you yourselves have no standard of judgment.

“Followers of the Way, don’t accept what I state. Why? Statements have no proof. They are pictures temporarily drawn in the empty sky, as in the metaphor of the painted figures.

“Followers of the Way, there is no Buddha to be obtained. Even the doctrines [including those] of the Three Vehicles, the five natures, and complete and immediate enlightenment — all these are but provisional medicines for the treatment of symptoms. In no sense do any real dharmas exist. Even if they were to exist, they would all be nothing but imitations, publicly displayed proclamations, arrangements of letters stated that way just for the time being.

“Followers of the Way, there’re a bunch of shave-pates who try to seek a transcendental dharma by directing their efforts inward. A great mistake! If you seek buddha you lose buddha, if you seek the Way you lose the Way, if you seek the patriarchs you lose the patriarchs.

“Virtuous monks, make no mistake. I don’t care whether you understand the sutras and śāstras, whether you’re a king or a high minister, whether you’re as eloquent as a rushing torrent, or whether you’re clever or wise. I only want you to have true insight.

“Followers of the Way, even if you should master a hundred sutras and śāstras, you’re not as good as a teacher with nothing to do. If you do master them, you’ll regard others with contempt. Asura-like conflict and egotistical ignorance increase the karma that leads to hell. Such was the case of Sunakṣātra bhikku—though he understood the twelve divisions of the teachings, he fell alive into hell. The great earth had no place for him.

It’s better to do nothing and take it easy.  When hunger comes I eat my rice; when sleep comes I close my eyes. Fools laugh at me, but the wise man understands.

“Followers of the Way, don’t seek within words, for when the mind is stirred you become wearied, and there’s no benefit t in gulping icy air. Its better, by the single thought that causal relations are [fundamentally] birth-less, to surpass the bodhisattvas who depend upon the provisional teaching of the Three Vehicles.

“Virtuous monks, don’t spend your days drifting along. In the past when I had as yet no understanding, all about me was utter darkness. But I wasn’t one to waste time, so with a burning belly and a turbulent mind, I ran around inquiring about the Way. Later, however, I got some help and finally today I can talk to you like this. I advise all you followers of the Way not to live for food and clothes. Look! The world passes swiftly away, and meeting a good teacher is as rare as the flowering of the Udumbara tree.

“As for the Way of ultimate truth, it is not something that seeks to arouse enthusiasm through arguments and disputes, nor that uses resounding oratory to refute heretics. As for the transmission of the buddhas and the patriarchs, it has no special purpose. Even though there are verbal teachings, they all fall into [the category of] such formulas for salvation as the Three Vehicles, the five natures, and the cause-and-effect that leads to [rebirth as] men or gods. But in the case of the teaching of the complete and immediate enlightenment this isn’t so; Sudhana did not go around seeking any of these. 

“Virtuous monks, don’t use your minds mistakenly. The great sea does not detain dead bodies, but all you do is rush about the world carrying them on your shoulders. You yourselves raise the obstructions that impede your minds. When the sun above has no clouds, the bright heavens shine everywhere. When there is no cataract on the eye, there are no [imaginary] flowers in the sky. 

“Followers of the Way, if you wish to be dharma as is, just have no doubts. ‘Spread out, it fills the entire dharma realm; gathered in, the smallest hair cannot stand upon it.’ Distinctly and radiantly shining alone, it has never lacked anything. No eye can see it, no ear can hear it—then by what name can it be called? A man of old said, ‘To speak about a thing is to miss the mark.’

“Just see for yourselves—what is there! I can keep on talking forever. Each one of you must strive individually. Take care of yourselves.