PAI-CHANG
Translated by Thomas Cleary
Question: What is the essential method for sudden enlightenment in the great vehicle?
The master said, You all should first put an end to all involvements and lay to rest all concerns; do not remember or recollect anything at all, whether good or bad, mundane or transcendental - do not engage in thoughts. Let go of body and mind, set them free.
With mind like wood or stone, not explaining anything with the mouth, mind not going anywhere, then the mind ground becomes like space, wherein the sun of wisdom naturally appears. It is as though the clouds had opened and the sun emerged.
Just put an end to all fettering connections, and feelings of greed, hatred, craving,
defilement and purity all come to an end. Unmoved in the face of the five desires and eight
influences, not choked up by seeing, hearing, discerning or knowing, not confused by anything,
naturally endowed with all virtues and the inconceivable use of all paranormal powers, this is
someone who is free.
In the presence of all things in the environment, to have a mind neither still
nor disturbed, neither concentrated nor distracted, passing through all sound and form without
lingering or obstruction, is called being a wayfarer.
Not setting in motion good, evil, right or wrong, not clinging to a single thing, not rejecting a single thing, is called being a member of the great vehicle.
Not bound by any good or evil, emptiness or existence, defilement or purity, doing or nondoing, mundane or transcendental, virtue or knowledge, is called enlightened wisdom.
Once affirmation and negation, like and dislike, approval and disapproval, all various opinions and feelings come to an end and cannot bind you, then you are free wherever you may be; this is called a bodhisattva at the moment of inspiration immediately ascending to the stage of Buddhahood.
Question: How can one attain a mind which is like wood or stone in the presence of all situations?
The master said, All various things have never of themselves spoken of emptiness; nor do they
themselves speak of form, and they do not speak of right, wrong, defilement, or purity. Nor is there
mind which binds and fetters people; it is just because people themselves give rise to vain and
arbitrary attachments and that they create so many kinds of understanding, produce so many kinds
of opinion, and give rise to so many various loves and fears.
Just understand that the many things do not originate of themselves; all of them come into existence from one’s own single mental impulse of imagination mistakenly clinging to appearances. If you know that mind and objects fundamentally do not contact each other, you will be set free on the spot. Each of the various things is in a state of quiescence right where it is; this very place is the site of enlightenment.
Inherent nature cannot be named; originally it is not mundane, nor is it holy; it is neither defiled nor pure. Also it is neither empty nor existent, and it is neither good nor bad. When it is involved with impure things, it is called the two vehicles of divinity and humanity. When the mind of purity and impurity is ended, it does not dwell in bondage, nor does it dwell in liberation; it has no mindfulness of doing, nondoing, bondage or liberation - then, though it is within birth and death, that mind is free; ultimately it does not comingle with all the vanities, the empty illusions, sensual passions, the mortal clusters and the elements of existence, life and death, or the sense media. Transcendent and without abode, nothing at all constrains it; it goes and comes through birth and death as through an open door.
When someone who is studying the Way comes in contact with various kinds of pain or pleasure, with things agreeable or disagreeable, his mind is not wearied; he does [p80] not think at all of fame, profit, clothing or food. He does not long for the benefits of merit and virtue; he is not hindered or obstructed by the various things of the world. Nothing is dear to him, nothing lovely; he is equanimous through pain and pleasure.
Simple clothing to keep off the cold, coarse food to sustain life; by unbending and intent, as though stupid, as though deaf and mute - then you will have some fulfillment. If in your mind you widely study knowledge and interpretation, seeking merit and seeking knowledge, all this is birth and death - it is of no benefit in respect to inner reality. On the contrary, blown up and down by the winds of understanding, you will return to the sea of birth and death.
A Buddha is one who does not seek; seek this and you turn away. The principle is the principle of nonseeking; seek it and you lose it. If you cling to nonseeking, this is still the same as seeking; if you cling to nondoing, this is the same again as doing. Therefore the Diamond Cutter Scripture says, “Do not grasp truth, do not grasp untruth, and do not grasp that which is not untrue.” It also says, “The truth which those who realize thusness find has no reality or unreality.”
If you are able to spend your whole life with a mind like wood or stone, then you will not be buoyed up and submerged by the mortal clusters, the elements of conscious existence, the media of sense, the five desires and eight winds. Then the cause of birth and death is cut off, and you are free to go or stay, unhindered by any causes or effects of doing; you will not be constrained by any indulgence. At that time to make a cause of causeless bondage, to share concerns as a benefactor, to respond to all creatures with an unattached heart, to open all fetters with unhindered wisdom - this is called giving medicine according to the disease.
Question: Renunciants today, having received the precepts, are clean and pure in body and mouth; already invested with all the standards, do they attain liberation or not?
The master said, A little bit of liberation; but they have not yet attained liberation of mind and liberation in all places.
Question: What is liberation of mind and liberation in all places?
The master said, Don’t seek Buddha, don’t seek the teaching, don’t seek the community, and so forth; don’t seek virtue and knowledge, intellectual understanding and so forth. When feelings of defilement and purity are ended, still don’t hold to this non-seeking and consider it right - do not dwell at the point of ending, and do not long for heavens or fear hells. When you are unhindered by bondage or freedom, then this is called liberation of mind and body in all places.
You should not say you have a little bit of discipline, purity of body, mouth, and mind, and immediately consider that enough. You don’t know that innumerable gates of discipline, concentration, wisdom and nonindulgent liberation have never gotten involved with so much as a single hair.
Work hard! Henceforth you must take hold and investigate vigorously. Do not wait till your ears are deaf, your eyes dim, your face wrinkled and your hair white - when the pains of old age overtake your body, sadness and affection enshroud you, your eyes flow with tears, and in your heart is fear and dread. Without anything to rely upon at all, you do not know where you are going. At this time, you won’t be able to coordinate your hands and feet; even if you have merit, knowledge, name, fame, profit and support, none of them will save you.
Because your mind’s wisdom is not yet opened, you only think of various objects; you do not know how to reflect back, and you don’t see the way of enlightenment. All the good and bad active affinities of your whole life will appear before you - you may be glad, you may be afraid; the mortal clusters of the six states of being will appear before you all at once, all spread with adornments, houses, boats, carts, brilliant shining light. Everything is what is manifest of the greed and craving of your own mind; all bad visions turn into surpassingly beautiful visions, but according to the heavy weight of greed and craving, compelled by your habitual active consciousness, you experience birth accompanied by attachments - you have no freedom at all. Whether you’ll be a dragon or an animal, freeman or slave, is entirely uncertain.
Question: How is it possible to realize a share of freedom?
The master said, Right now you have it if you have it. Otherwise, in the face of the five desires and eight winds, if there is no grasping or rejection in your feelings, when feelings of possessiveness, jealousy, greed and craving, of self and possessions, all come to an end, defilement and purity are both forgotten - you will be like the sun or moon in the sky, shining independently. When mind and mental conditions are like earth, wood, or stone, moment after moment, like saving your head were it ablaze, also like the great scent-bearing elephant crossing a river, cutting off the flow as he passes, causing there to be no doubt or error, this person neither heaven nor hell can contain.
(SAYINGS AND DOINGS OF PAI-CHANG Ch'an Master of Great Wisdom
Translated by Thomas Cleary)
Translated by Thomas Cleary
Question: What is the essential method for sudden enlightenment in the great vehicle?
The master said, You all should first put an end to all involvements and lay to rest all concerns; do not remember or recollect anything at all, whether good or bad, mundane or transcendental - do not engage in thoughts. Let go of body and mind, set them free.
With mind like wood or stone, not explaining anything with the mouth, mind not going anywhere, then the mind ground becomes like space, wherein the sun of wisdom naturally appears. It is as though the clouds had opened and the sun emerged.
Just put an end to all fettering connections, and feelings of greed, hatred, craving,
defilement and purity all come to an end. Unmoved in the face of the five desires and eight
influences, not choked up by seeing, hearing, discerning or knowing, not confused by anything,
naturally endowed with all virtues and the inconceivable use of all paranormal powers, this is
someone who is free.
In the presence of all things in the environment, to have a mind neither still
nor disturbed, neither concentrated nor distracted, passing through all sound and form without
lingering or obstruction, is called being a wayfarer.
Not setting in motion good, evil, right or wrong, not clinging to a single thing, not rejecting a single thing, is called being a member of the great vehicle.
Not bound by any good or evil, emptiness or existence, defilement or purity, doing or nondoing, mundane or transcendental, virtue or knowledge, is called enlightened wisdom.
Once affirmation and negation, like and dislike, approval and disapproval, all various opinions and feelings come to an end and cannot bind you, then you are free wherever you may be; this is called a bodhisattva at the moment of inspiration immediately ascending to the stage of Buddhahood.
Question: How can one attain a mind which is like wood or stone in the presence of all situations?
The master said, All various things have never of themselves spoken of emptiness; nor do they
themselves speak of form, and they do not speak of right, wrong, defilement, or purity. Nor is there
mind which binds and fetters people; it is just because people themselves give rise to vain and
arbitrary attachments and that they create so many kinds of understanding, produce so many kinds
of opinion, and give rise to so many various loves and fears.
Just understand that the many things do not originate of themselves; all of them come into existence from one’s own single mental impulse of imagination mistakenly clinging to appearances. If you know that mind and objects fundamentally do not contact each other, you will be set free on the spot. Each of the various things is in a state of quiescence right where it is; this very place is the site of enlightenment.
Inherent nature cannot be named; originally it is not mundane, nor is it holy; it is neither defiled nor pure. Also it is neither empty nor existent, and it is neither good nor bad. When it is involved with impure things, it is called the two vehicles of divinity and humanity. When the mind of purity and impurity is ended, it does not dwell in bondage, nor does it dwell in liberation; it has no mindfulness of doing, nondoing, bondage or liberation - then, though it is within birth and death, that mind is free; ultimately it does not comingle with all the vanities, the empty illusions, sensual passions, the mortal clusters and the elements of existence, life and death, or the sense media. Transcendent and without abode, nothing at all constrains it; it goes and comes through birth and death as through an open door.
When someone who is studying the Way comes in contact with various kinds of pain or pleasure, with things agreeable or disagreeable, his mind is not wearied; he does [p80] not think at all of fame, profit, clothing or food. He does not long for the benefits of merit and virtue; he is not hindered or obstructed by the various things of the world. Nothing is dear to him, nothing lovely; he is equanimous through pain and pleasure.
Simple clothing to keep off the cold, coarse food to sustain life; by unbending and intent, as though stupid, as though deaf and mute - then you will have some fulfillment. If in your mind you widely study knowledge and interpretation, seeking merit and seeking knowledge, all this is birth and death - it is of no benefit in respect to inner reality. On the contrary, blown up and down by the winds of understanding, you will return to the sea of birth and death.
A Buddha is one who does not seek; seek this and you turn away. The principle is the principle of nonseeking; seek it and you lose it. If you cling to nonseeking, this is still the same as seeking; if you cling to nondoing, this is the same again as doing. Therefore the Diamond Cutter Scripture says, “Do not grasp truth, do not grasp untruth, and do not grasp that which is not untrue.” It also says, “The truth which those who realize thusness find has no reality or unreality.”
If you are able to spend your whole life with a mind like wood or stone, then you will not be buoyed up and submerged by the mortal clusters, the elements of conscious existence, the media of sense, the five desires and eight winds. Then the cause of birth and death is cut off, and you are free to go or stay, unhindered by any causes or effects of doing; you will not be constrained by any indulgence. At that time to make a cause of causeless bondage, to share concerns as a benefactor, to respond to all creatures with an unattached heart, to open all fetters with unhindered wisdom - this is called giving medicine according to the disease.
Question: Renunciants today, having received the precepts, are clean and pure in body and mouth; already invested with all the standards, do they attain liberation or not?
The master said, A little bit of liberation; but they have not yet attained liberation of mind and liberation in all places.
Question: What is liberation of mind and liberation in all places?
The master said, Don’t seek Buddha, don’t seek the teaching, don’t seek the community, and so forth; don’t seek virtue and knowledge, intellectual understanding and so forth. When feelings of defilement and purity are ended, still don’t hold to this non-seeking and consider it right - do not dwell at the point of ending, and do not long for heavens or fear hells. When you are unhindered by bondage or freedom, then this is called liberation of mind and body in all places.
You should not say you have a little bit of discipline, purity of body, mouth, and mind, and immediately consider that enough. You don’t know that innumerable gates of discipline, concentration, wisdom and nonindulgent liberation have never gotten involved with so much as a single hair.
Work hard! Henceforth you must take hold and investigate vigorously. Do not wait till your ears are deaf, your eyes dim, your face wrinkled and your hair white - when the pains of old age overtake your body, sadness and affection enshroud you, your eyes flow with tears, and in your heart is fear and dread. Without anything to rely upon at all, you do not know where you are going. At this time, you won’t be able to coordinate your hands and feet; even if you have merit, knowledge, name, fame, profit and support, none of them will save you.
Because your mind’s wisdom is not yet opened, you only think of various objects; you do not know how to reflect back, and you don’t see the way of enlightenment. All the good and bad active affinities of your whole life will appear before you - you may be glad, you may be afraid; the mortal clusters of the six states of being will appear before you all at once, all spread with adornments, houses, boats, carts, brilliant shining light. Everything is what is manifest of the greed and craving of your own mind; all bad visions turn into surpassingly beautiful visions, but according to the heavy weight of greed and craving, compelled by your habitual active consciousness, you experience birth accompanied by attachments - you have no freedom at all. Whether you’ll be a dragon or an animal, freeman or slave, is entirely uncertain.
Question: How is it possible to realize a share of freedom?
The master said, Right now you have it if you have it. Otherwise, in the face of the five desires and eight winds, if there is no grasping or rejection in your feelings, when feelings of possessiveness, jealousy, greed and craving, of self and possessions, all come to an end, defilement and purity are both forgotten - you will be like the sun or moon in the sky, shining independently. When mind and mental conditions are like earth, wood, or stone, moment after moment, like saving your head were it ablaze, also like the great scent-bearing elephant crossing a river, cutting off the flow as he passes, causing there to be no doubt or error, this person neither heaven nor hell can contain.
(SAYINGS AND DOINGS OF PAI-CHANG Ch'an Master of Great Wisdom
Translated by Thomas Cleary)
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