How the Five Houses View Buddha
May 21, 2014 14:05:28 GMT 1
Post by Shi Da Dao on May 21, 2014 14:05:28 GMT 1
Kuei Yang School
The master (Kuei Shan) said to Yang Shan: “Hui Chi, speak quickly, but do not enter the dark realms.” Yang Shan replied: “I do not even set up faith.” The master replied: “(Do you mean that) after you have had faith you do not set up faith, or that having none you do not set it up?” Yang Shan replied: “In whom should I have further faith?” The master said: “If so, this is a Sravaka of settled mind.” Yang Shan said: “I do not even perceive the Buddha.” The master asked him: “How many Buddha’s words and how many demon’s words are there in the forty rolls of the Maha Parinirvana Sutra?” Yang Shan replied: “They are all the demon’s words.” The master said: “In future, no one will be able to contradict you.”
Lin Ji School
When I Hsuan (hereafter called Lin Ji, or the master) arrived at the stupa of Bodhidharma, the guardian-monk asked him: “Will you pay your reverence first to the Buddha or to the Patriarch?” Lin Ji replied: “Neither to the Patriarch nor to Buddha!” The monk asked: “What enmity is there between the Patriarch, Buddha and the Old Venerable Sir?” The master shook out his (long) sleeves and left.
Cao Dong School
On one occasion, the master (Dong Shan) said: “Only one who understands the Buddha’s transcendental plane can express it in words and phrases.” A monk asked: “What are words and phrases?” The master replied: “When words and phrases are spoken, the Venerable Friend does not hear them.” The monk asked: “Does the Venerable Master hear them?” The master replied: “I hear when they are not spoken.” The monk asked: “What is the Buddha’s transcendental Path?” The replied: “Not the Buddha’s.”
Yun Men School
The master (Yun Men) related a story (according to which): “The World Honoured One, after his birth, raised one hand to point to heaven and lowered one hand to point to earth, took seven steps forward, looked at the four quarters and said: “Above and under Heaven, I alone am the Honoured One.” The master then said: “If I had seen him at the time, I would have cut him down with my staff, and given his flesh to dogs to eat, so that peace could prevail all over the world.”
Fa Yen School
The monk asked: “Who is the man who looks up towards the Buddha?” The master (Fa Yen) replied: “Buddha is an expedient name.” The monk asked: “What is the shortest way to Buddha wisdom?” The master replied: “There is no way shorter than this question.” The monk asked: “What is the ancient Buddha’s mind?” The master replied: “That from which flow kindness, pity, joy and indifference.” The monk asked: “What is the ancient Buddha?” The master replied: “He is not objected to even now.” The monk asked: “What is the profound aim of all Buddhas?” The master replied: “You also have it.” The master asked a monk: “Where do you come from?” The monk replied: “From a holy site.” The master asked: “Would you call it light or dark?” The monk could not reply.
(Quoted from Ch’an and Zen Teaching – Second Series – Translated by Charles Luk Pages 55-228)
Histories of the Five Houses Extracted from the following Chinese source texts:
a) The Transmission of the Lamp
b) The Five Lamps Meeting at the Source
c) The Finger Pointing at the Moon
The master (Kuei Shan) said to Yang Shan: “Hui Chi, speak quickly, but do not enter the dark realms.” Yang Shan replied: “I do not even set up faith.” The master replied: “(Do you mean that) after you have had faith you do not set up faith, or that having none you do not set it up?” Yang Shan replied: “In whom should I have further faith?” The master said: “If so, this is a Sravaka of settled mind.” Yang Shan said: “I do not even perceive the Buddha.” The master asked him: “How many Buddha’s words and how many demon’s words are there in the forty rolls of the Maha Parinirvana Sutra?” Yang Shan replied: “They are all the demon’s words.” The master said: “In future, no one will be able to contradict you.”
Lin Ji School
When I Hsuan (hereafter called Lin Ji, or the master) arrived at the stupa of Bodhidharma, the guardian-monk asked him: “Will you pay your reverence first to the Buddha or to the Patriarch?” Lin Ji replied: “Neither to the Patriarch nor to Buddha!” The monk asked: “What enmity is there between the Patriarch, Buddha and the Old Venerable Sir?” The master shook out his (long) sleeves and left.
Cao Dong School
On one occasion, the master (Dong Shan) said: “Only one who understands the Buddha’s transcendental plane can express it in words and phrases.” A monk asked: “What are words and phrases?” The master replied: “When words and phrases are spoken, the Venerable Friend does not hear them.” The monk asked: “Does the Venerable Master hear them?” The master replied: “I hear when they are not spoken.” The monk asked: “What is the Buddha’s transcendental Path?” The replied: “Not the Buddha’s.”
Yun Men School
The master (Yun Men) related a story (according to which): “The World Honoured One, after his birth, raised one hand to point to heaven and lowered one hand to point to earth, took seven steps forward, looked at the four quarters and said: “Above and under Heaven, I alone am the Honoured One.” The master then said: “If I had seen him at the time, I would have cut him down with my staff, and given his flesh to dogs to eat, so that peace could prevail all over the world.”
Fa Yen School
The monk asked: “Who is the man who looks up towards the Buddha?” The master (Fa Yen) replied: “Buddha is an expedient name.” The monk asked: “What is the shortest way to Buddha wisdom?” The master replied: “There is no way shorter than this question.” The monk asked: “What is the ancient Buddha’s mind?” The master replied: “That from which flow kindness, pity, joy and indifference.” The monk asked: “What is the ancient Buddha?” The master replied: “He is not objected to even now.” The monk asked: “What is the profound aim of all Buddhas?” The master replied: “You also have it.” The master asked a monk: “Where do you come from?” The monk replied: “From a holy site.” The master asked: “Would you call it light or dark?” The monk could not reply.
(Quoted from Ch’an and Zen Teaching – Second Series – Translated by Charles Luk Pages 55-228)
Histories of the Five Houses Extracted from the following Chinese source texts:
a) The Transmission of the Lamp
b) The Five Lamps Meeting at the Source
c) The Finger Pointing at the Moon