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Post by yinlizi on Sept 20, 2004 0:40:37 GMT 1
The daily lectures given by Master Hsu Yun during 2 weeks at the Jade Buddha Monastery in Shanghai in 1953 Week 1 Day 1 The Venerable Wei Fang, abbot (of this monastery) is very compassionate indeed, and the chief monks are also earnest in their efforts to spread the Dharma. In addition, all the laymen (upasakas) here are keen in their studies of the truth and have come to sit in meditation during this Ch’an week. All have asked me to preside over the meeting and this is really an unsurpassable (co-operating) cause. However for the past few years, I have been ill and am therefore, unable to give long lectures. The World Honoured One spent over 40 years in expounding the Dharma, exoterically and esoterically, and his teaching is found in the 12 divisions of the Mahayana canon in the Tripitaka. If I am asked to give lectures, the most I can do is pick up words already spoken by the Buddha and Masters. As to the Dharma of our sect, when the Buddha ascended to his seat for the last time, he held up and showed the assembly a golden flower of sandalwood, offered to him by the king of the 18 Brahmalokas (Mahabrahma Devaraja). All men and gods (devas) who were present did not understand the Buddha’s (meaning). Only Mahakasyapa (acknowledged it with a) broad smile. Thereupon the World Honoured One declared to him: ‘I have the treasure of the correct Dharma eye, Nirvana’s wonderful mind and the formless reality which I now transmit to you.’<br> This was the transmission outside of teaching, which did not make use of scriptures and was the unsurpassed Dharma door of direct realisation.
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Post by yinlizi on Sept 20, 2004 0:42:00 GMT 1
Those who came afterwards, got confused about it and (wrongly) called it Ch’an (Dhyana in Sanskrit and Zen in Japanese). We should know that over 20 kinds of Ch’an are enumerated in the Mahapajna-paramita sutra, but none of them is the final one.
The Ch’an of our sect does not set up (progressive) stages and is therefore the unsurpassed one. (Its aim) is the direct realisation leading to the perception of the (self-) nature and the attainment of Buddhahood. Therefore it has nothing to do with the sitting or not sitting in meditation during a Ch’an week. However on account of all living being’ dull roots and due to their numerous false thoughts, ancient masters devised expediencies to guide them. Since the time of Mahakasyapa up to now, there have been 60 – 70 generations. In the Tang and Sung dynasties (619-1278 CE) the Ch’an sect spread to every part of the country and how it prospered at the time! At present it has reached the bottom of its decadence (and) only those monasteries like Chin Shan, Kao Min and Pao Kuan, can still manage to present some appearance. This is why men of outstanding ability are now so rarely found and even the holding of Ch’an weeks has only a name but lacks its spirit.
The 7th Ancestor Hsing Szu of Ch’ing Yuan mountain asked the 6th Patriarch: ‘What should one do in order not to fall into the progressive stages?’
The Patriarch asked: ‘What did you practice of late?’<br> Hsing Szu replied: ‘I did not even practice the Noble Truths.’<br> The Patriarch asked: ‘Then falling into what progressive stages?’<br> Hsing Szu replied: ‘Even the Noble Truths are not practiced, where are the progressive stages?’
The 6th Patriarch has a high opinion of Hsing Szu.
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Post by yinlizi on Sept 20, 2004 1:08:53 GMT 1
Because of our inferior roots, the great masters were obliged to use expediencies and to instruct their followers to hold (and examine into) a sentence called a hua t’ou. As Buddhists (of the Pure Land School) who used to repeat the Buddha’s name (in their practice) were numerous, the great masters instructed them to hold (and examine into the Hua t’ou): ‘Who is the repeater of the Buddha’s name?’<br> Nowadays this expedient is adopted into Ch’an training all over the country. However many are not clear about it and merely repeat without interruption the sentence: ‘Who is the repeater of the Buddha’s name?’ Thus they are repeaters of the hua t’ou and are not investigators of the hua t’ou’s meaning. To investigate is to enquire into. For this reason, the 4 Chinese characters ‘chao ku hua t’ou’ are prominently exhibited in all Ch’an halls.
‘Chao’ is to turn towards the light ‘Ku’ is to care for
Together these (2 characters) mean ‘to turn inward the light on the self nature’. This is to turn inward out minds which are prone to wander outside and this is called investigation of the hua t’ou.
‘Who is the repeater of the Buddha’s name?’ is a sentence. Before this sentence is uttered, it is called a hua t’ou (literally, the sentence’s head). As soon as it is uttered, it becomes the sentence’s tail (hua wei). In our inquiry into the hua t’ou, this word “Who” should be examined: what is it before it arises?
For instance, I am repeating the Buddha’s name in this hall. Suddenly someone asks me: ‘Who is repeating the Buddha’s name?’
I reply: ‘It is I’.
The questioner asks again: ‘If you are the repeater of the Buddha’s name, do you repeat it with your mouth or with your mind? If you repeat it with your mouth, why don’t you repeat it when you sleep? If you repeat it with your mind, why don’t you repeat it after death?’<br> This question will cause a doubt to rise (in our minds) and it is here that we should inquire into this doubt. We should endeavour to know where this “Who” comes from and what it looks like. Our minute examination should be turned inward and this is also called ‘the turning inward of the hearing to hear the self-nature’.
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Post by yinlizi on Sept 20, 2004 1:09:28 GMT 1
When offering incense and circum-ambulating in the hall, one’s neck should touch the (back of the wide) collar of the robe, one’s feet should follow closely the preceding walker, one’s mind should be set at rest and one should not look to the right or to the left. With a single mind, the hua t’ou should be well cared for.
When sitting in meditation, the chest should not be pushed forward. The prajna (vital energy) should neither be brought upward nor pressed down and should be left in its natural condition. However the 6 sense organs should be brought under control and all thoughts should be brought to an end. Only the hua t’ou should be gripped and the grip should never loosen. The hua ‘t’ou should not be coarse for it will float up and cannot be brought down.. Neither should it be fine, for it will become blurred with the resultant fall into the void. In both cases, no result can be achieved.
If the hua t’ou is properly looked after, the training will become easier and all former habits will be brought automatically to an end. A beginner will not find it easy to hold the hua t’ou well (in his mind), but he should not worry about it. He should neither hope for an awakening nor seek wisdom, for the purpose of this sitting in meditation in the Ch’an week is already the attainment of awakening and wisdom. If he develops a mind in pursuit of these ends, he puts another head upon his own head.
Now we now that we should give rise only to a sentence called a hua t’ou which we should care for. If thoughts arise, let them rise and if we disregard them they will vanish. This is why it is said: ‘One should not be afraid of rising thoughts but only of the delay in being aware of them’. If thought arise, let out awareness of them nail the hua t’ou to them. If the hua t’ou escapes from our grip, we should immediately bring it back again.
The first sitting in meditation can be likened to a battle against rising thoughts. Gradually the hua t’ou will be well gripped and it will be easy to hold it uninterruptedly during the whole time an incense stick takes to burn. We can expect good results when it does not escape from our grip anymore.
The foregoing are only empty words: now let us exert our efforts in the training.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 20, 2004 10:19:03 GMT 1
Week 1 Day2
To sit in meditation during a Ch'an week is the best method which sets a time limit for realising the truth by personal experience. This method was not used in ancient times for the ancients had sharp roots (and did not require it). It has gradually been put into use since the Sung dynasty (fell in 1278). In the Ch'ing dynasty (1662-1910), it was brought into vogue and the Emperor Yung Cheng used to hold frequent Ch'an weeks in the imperial palace. He entertained the highest regard for the Sect and his own attainment of Ch'an samadhi was excellent. Over ten persons realised the truth under the imperial auspices and master T'ien Hui Ch'e of the Kao Min monastery at Yang Chou attained enlightenment during these meetings (in the palace). The emperor also revised and improved for observance the rules and regulations of the Sect, whihc flourished and produced so many men of ability. The (strict observance of) rules and regulations is, therefore, of paramount importance.
This method of setting a time limit for personal experience of the truth is likened to a scholars' examination. The candidates sit for it and write their compositions according to the subjects, for each of which a time limit is set. The subject of our Ch'an week is a Ch'an meditation. For this reason, this hall is called the Ch'an hall. Ch'an is dhyana in Sanskrit and means 'unperturbed abstraction'. There are various kinds of Ch'an, such as the Mahayana and Hinayana Ch'ans, the material and immaterial Ch'ans, the Sravakas' and the Heretics' Ch'an. Ours is the unsurpassed Ch'an. If one succeeds in seeing through the doubt (mentioned yesterday) and in sitting on an cracking a life-root, one will be similar to the Tathagatha.
For this reason, a Ch'an hall is also called a Buddha's selecting place. It is called a Prajna hall. The Dharma taught in this hall is the Wu Wei Dharma. Wu Wei means 'not doing'. In other words, not a (single) thing can be gained and not a (single) thing can be done. If there be doing (samskrta), it will produce birth and death. If there s gain, there will be loss. For this reason, the sutra says: 'There are only words and expressions which have no real meaning.' The recitation of sutras and the holding of confessional services pertain to doing (samskrta) and are only expediencies used in the teaching school.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 20, 2004 12:49:13 GMT 1
As to our Sect, its teaching consists in the direct (self-) cognizance for which words and expressions have no room. Formerly, a student called on the old master Nan Chuan and asked him: 'What is Tao?' Nan Chuan replied: 'The ordinary mind is the truth.' Every day, we wear robes and eat rice; we go out to work and return to rest; all our actions are performed according to the truth. It is because we bind ourselves in every situation that we fail to realise that the self-mind is Buddha.
When Ch'an master Fa Ch'ang of Ta Mei Mountain called for the first time on Ma Tsu, he asked the latter: 'What is Buddha?' Ma Tsu replied: 'Mind is Buddha.' Thereupon, Ta Mei was completely enlightened. He left Ma Tsu and proceded to the Szu Ming district where he lived in a hermitage formerly belonging to Mei Tsu Chen.
In the Chen Yuan reign (A.D. 785-804) of the T'ang dynasty, a monk who was a disciple of Yen Kuan and went to the mountain to collect branches of trees for making staffs, lost his way and arrived at the hut. He asked Ta Mei: 'How long have you stayed here?' Ta Mei replied: 'I see only four mountains which are blue and yellow.' The monk said: 'Please show me the mountain track so that I can get out of here.' Ta Mei replied: 'Follow the stream.'
Upon his return the monk reported what he saw in the mountains to Yen Kuan who said: 'I once saw a monk in Chiang Hsi (province) but I have had no news of him since. Is it not that monk?'
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 20, 2004 16:53:57 GMT 1
Then Yen Kuan sent the monk (to the mountain) to invite Ta Mei to come (to hs place). In reply, Ta Mei sent the following poem:
A withered log in the cold forest Does not change heart for several springs, The wood-cutter will not look at it. How can a stranger hunt it? A lotus pond yields bondless store of clothing: More fir cones drop from pines than you can eat. When worldy men discover where you live You move your thatched hut far into the hills.
Ma Tsu heard of Ta Mei's stay on the mountain and sent a monk to as him this question: 'What did you obtain when you called on the great master Ma Tsu and what prompted you to stay here?'
Ta Mei replied: 'The great master told me that mind was Buddha and that is why I came to stay here.'
The monk said: 'The great master's Buddha Dharma is different now.'
Ta Mei asked: 'what is it now?'
The monk replied: 'He says it is neither mind nor Buddha.'
Ta Mei said: 'That old man is causing confusion in the minds of others and all this will have no end. Let him say that it is neither mind nor Buddha. As far as I am concerned, Mind is Buddha.'
When the monk returned and reported the above dialogue to Ma Tsu, the latter said: 'The plum is now ripe.'
This shows how the ancients were competent and concise. Because of our inferior roots and perverted thinking, the masters taught us to hold a hua t'ou (in our minds) and they were obliged to use this expedient.
Master Yung Chia said: 'After the elimination of the ego and dharma, the attainment of reality will destroy the Avici hell in a moment (ksana). If I tell a lie to deceive living beings, I will consent to fall into the hell where the tongue is pulled-out (as punishment for my verbal sin).'
Master Yuan Miao of Kao Feng said: 'Ch'an training is like throwing into a deep pond a tile that sinks to the bottom.' When we hold a hua t'ou, we must look into it until we reach its 'bottom' and 'crack' it.
Master Yuan Miao also swore: 'If someone holding a hua t'ou without giving rise to a second thought, fails to realise the truth, I will be (ready) to fail into the hell where the tongue is pulled-out.'
The sole reason why (we do not succeed in our practice) is because our faith (in the hua t'ou) is not deep enough and because we do not put an end to our (wrong) thinking. If we are firmly determined to escape from the round or births and deaths, a sentence of the hua t'ou will never escape from our grip.
Master Kuei Shan said: 'If in every reincarnation we (can hold it firmly) without back sliding, the Buddha stage can be expected.'
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Post by yinlizi on Sept 20, 2004 21:50:22 GMT 1
All beginners are inclined to give rise to all kinds of (false) thoughts; they have a pain in their legs and do not know how to undergo training. The truth is that they should be firm in their determination to escape from the rounds of births and deaths. They should stick to the hua t'ou and no matter whether they walk, stand, sit or lie, they should grasp it. From morning to evening, they should look into this (word) "Who" until it becomes as clear as 'the autumn moon reflected in a limpid pool'. Itshould be clearly (and closely) inquired into and should be neither blurred nor unsteady. (If this can be achieved) why worry about the Buddha stage which seems unattainable?
If the hua t'ou becomes blurred, you can open your eyes wide and raise your chest gently; this will raise your spirits. At the same time, it should not be held too loosely, nor should it be too fine, because if it is too fine, it will cause a fall into emptiness and dullness. If you fall into emptiness, you will perceive only stillness and will experience liveliness.
At this moment, the hua t'ou should not be allowed to escape from your grip so that you can take a step forward after you reached 'the top of the pole'. Otherwise you will fall into dull empiness and will never attain the ultimate.
If it is loosely gripped, you will be easily assailed by false thoughts. If false thoughts arise, they will be difficult to suppress.
Therefore coarseness should be tempered with fineness, and finessness with coarseness to succeed in the training and to realise the sameness of the mutable and immutable.
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Post by yinlizi on Sept 20, 2004 22:02:56 GMT 1
Formerly I was at Chin Shan and other monasteries and when the Karmadana (the duty distributor who is 2nd in command of the monastery) received the incense sticks which he had ordered (previously), his 2 feet ran with great speed as if he flew (in the air) and the monks who followed him were also good runners. As soon as the signal was given, all of them looked like automata. (Thus) how could wrong thoughts arise (in the minds(? At present (although) we also walk (after sitting in meditation), what a great difference there is between then and now!
When you sit in meditation, you should not push up the hua t'ou for this will cause its dimness. You should not hold it in your chest for it causes pain in the chest. Neither should you press it down, for it will expand in the belly and will cause your fall into the realm of the 5 aggregates (skandhas) resulting in all kinds of defect. With serenity and self possession, only the word "Who" should be looked into with the same care with which a hen sits on her egg and the cat pounces on a mouse. When the hua t'ou is efficiently held, the life-root will automatically be cut off.
This method is obviously not an easy one for beginners, but you must exert yourselves unceasingly.
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Post by yinlizi on Sept 20, 2004 22:16:35 GMT 1
Now I give you an example. Self cultivation is likened to making fire with a piece of flint. We must know the method of producing a fire and if we do not know it, we will never light a fire even if we break the flint in pieces. The method consists in using a bit of tinder and a steel. The tinder is held under the flint and the steel strikes the upper part of the flint so as to direct the spark to the tinder which will catch it. This is the only method of starting a fire (with a flint).
Although we know quite well tha the Mind is Buddha, we are still unable to accept this as a fact. For this reason, a sentence of the hua t'ou has been used as the fire-starting-steel. It was just the same when formerly the World Honoured One became thoroughly enlightened after gazing at the stars at night. We are not clear about the self nature because we do not know how to start a fire. Our fundamental self-nature and the Buddha do not differ from each other. It is only because of our perverted thinking that we are (still) not liberated. So the Buddha is still Buddha and we are still ourselves. Now as the we know the method, if we could inquire into it, it would indeed be an unsurpassing co-operating cause! I hope that everyone here will, by exerting himself, take a step forward from the top of a hundred foot pole and will be elected (Buddha) in this hall so that he can pay the debt of gratitude he owes to the Buddha high above and deliver living beings here below.
If the Buddha Dharma does not produce men of ability, it is because no one is willing to exert himslef. Our heart is full of sadness when we talk about this (situation). If we really have deep faith in the words uttered under oath by Masters Yung Chia and Yuan Miao, we are sure we will also realise the truth.
Now it is time to exert yoursleves!
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 21, 2004 11:10:22 GMT 1
Week 1 Day 3
Time passes qucikly (indeed); we have only just opened this Ch'an week and it is already the third day. Those who have efficiently held the hua t'ou (in their minds) have (been able to) clear up their passions and wrong thoughts; they can now go straight home. For this reason, an ancient (master) said:
Self-cultivation has no other method; It requires but knowledge of the way. If the way only can be known, Birth and death at once will end.
Our way consists in laying down our baggage and our home is very near. The Sixth Patriarch said: 'If the preceding thought does not arise, it is mind. If the following thought does not end, it is Buddha.'
Fundamentally, our four elements are void and the five aggregates (skandhas) are non-existant. It is only because of (our) wrong thoughts which grasp (everything) that we like the illusion of the (impermanent) world and are thereby held in bondage. Consequently, we are unable to (perceive) the voidness of the four elements and (to realise) the non-existance of birth and death. However, if in a single thought, we can have an experience of that which is not born, there will be no need for those Dharma doors expounded by the Sakyamuni Buddha. (If so) can it still be said that birth and death cannot be brought to an end? On that account, the brightness of our Sect's Dharma really illumines the boundless space in the ten directions.
Master Teh Shan was a native of Chien Chou town in Szu Ch'uan. His lay surname was Chou. He left home at the age of twenty. After being fully ordained, he studied the Vinaya-pitaka which he mastered. He was well-versed in the teaching of the noumenal and phenomenal as expounded in the sutras. He used to teach the Diamond Prajna and was called 'Diamond Chou'.
Said he to his school mates:
When a hair swallows the ocean The nature-ocean loses naught. To hit a needle's point with mustard seed Shakes not the needle's point. (Of) saiksa and asaiksa I know and I alone.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Sept 21, 2004 13:52:00 GMT 1
When he heard that the Ch'an Sect was flourishing in the South, he could not keep his temper and said: 'All who leave home take a thousand aeons to learn the Buddha's respect-enquiring deportment and ten thousand aeons to study the Buddha's fine deed; (in spite of this) they are still unable to attain Buddhahood. How can those demons in the south dare to say that the direct indication of the mind leads to the perception of the (Self-) nature and attainment of Buddhahood? I must (go to the south,) sweep away their den and destroy their race to repay the debt of gratitude I owe the Buddha.'
He left Szu Ch'uan province with Ch'ing Lung's Commentary on his shoulders. When he reached Li Yang, he saw an old woman selling tien hsin (lit. mind-refreshment) on the roadside. He halted, laid down his load and intended to buy some pastries to refresh his mind. The old woman pointed at the load and asked him; 'What is this literature?' Teh Shan replied: 'Ch'ing Lung's Commentary.' The old woman asked: 'Commentary on what sutra?' Teh Shan replied: 'On the Diamond Sutra.' The old woman said: 'I have a question to ask you; if you can answer it, I will offer you mind-refreshment. If you cannot reply, (plese) go away. The Diamond Sutra says: "The past, present and future mind cannot be found." What do you want to refresh?'
Teh Shan remained speechless. He (left the place and) went to the Dragon Pond (Lung T'an) monastery. He entered the Dharma hall and said: 'I have long desired to see the Dragon Pond, but as I arrive here, neither is the pond seen nor does the dragon appear.' Hearing this, (Master) Lung T'an came out and said: 'You have really arrived at the Dragon Pond. Teh Shan remained speechless; he then (made up his mind to) stay at the monastery.
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Post by yinlizi on Sept 22, 2004 0:54:38 GMT 1
One night while he was standing (as an attendant) by Lung T'an, the latter said to him: 'It is late now, why don't you go back to your quarters?'
After wishing his master good night, he withdrew but returned and said: 'It is very dark outside.'
Lung T'an lit a paper torch and handed it to him. When Teh Shan was about to take the torch, Lung T'an blew out the light. Thereupon Teh Shan was completely enlightened and made his obeisance to the master (to thank him). Lung T'an asked him: 'What have you seen?'
Teh Shan replied: 'In future I will entertain no more doubt about the tips of the tongues of the old monks all over the country.'
The following day, Lung T'an ascended to his seat and said to the assembly: 'There is a fellow whose teeth are like sword leaf trees and whose mouth is like a blood bath. He receives a stroke of the staff but does not turn his head. Later he will set up my doctrine on top of a solitary peak.'
In front of the Dharma hall, Teh Shan laid on the ground all the sheets of the Ch'ing Lung Commentary in a heap and raising a torch said: 'An exhaustibe discussion of the abstruse is like a hair placed in the great void (and) the exertion to the full of all human capabilities is like a drop of water poured into the great ocean.'
Then he burned the manuscript. He bade farewell to his master and left the monastery. He went straight to Kuei Shan (monastery) and carrying his baggage under his arm, he entered the Dharma hall which he crossed from its east to its westside and then from its west to its east side. He looked at the abbott (Master Kuei Shan) and said: 'Anything? Anything?'
Kuei Shan was sitting in the hall but paid no attention to the visitor. Teh shan said: 'Nothing, nothing' and left the hall.
When he reached the front door of the monastery, he said to himself: 'Be it as it may, I should not be so careless.'
Then he turned back and again entered the hall in full ceremony. As he crossed its threshold he took out and raised his cloth rug (nisidana) calling: 'Venerable Upadhyaya!'
As Kuei Shan was about to pick up a dust whisk, Teh Shan shouted and left the hall. That evening, Kuei Shan asked the leader of the assembly: 'Is the newcomer still here?'
The leader replied: 'When he left the hall, he turned his back to it, put on his straw sandals and went away. Kuei Shan said: 'That man will later go to some lonely peak where he will erect a thatched hut; he will scold Buddhas and curse Patriarchs.'
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Post by yinlizi on Sept 22, 2004 1:03:25 GMT 1
Teh Shan stayed 30 years at Li Yang. During the persecution of Buddhists by the Emperor Wu Tsung (841-846 CE) of the T'ang dynasty, the master took refuge in a stone hut on Tu Fou mountain (in 847 CE). At the beginning of Ta Chung's reign, prefect Hsieh T'ing Wang of Wu Ling restored the veneration of Teh Shan monastery and named it Ko Teh Hall. He was looking for a man of outstanding ability to take charge of the monastery when he heard of the master's reputation.
In spite of several invitations, Teh Shan refused to descend the (Tu Fou) mountain. Finally the prefect devised a strategem and sent his men falsely to accuse him of smuggling tea and salt in defiance of the law. When the master was brought to the prefecture, the prefect paid obeisance to him and insistently invited him to take charge of the Ch'an hall where Teh Shan spread widely the Sect's teaching.
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Post by yinlizi on Sept 22, 2004 1:12:00 GMT 1
Later people talked about Teh Shan's shouting and Lin Chi's caning. If we discipline ourselves like these 2 masters, why should we be unable to put an end to birth and death? After Teh Shan, came Yen T'ou and Hsueh Feng. After Hsueh Feng came Yun Men and Fa Yen, also state master Teh Shao and ancestor Yen shou of the Yung Ming (monastery). They were all 'produced' by (Teh shan's) staff.
During the past successive dynasties, the Sect was kept going by great ancestors and masters. You are here to hold a Ch'an week and you understand very well this unsurpassed doctrine which will enable (us) without difficulty to attain direct (self-) cognisance and liberation from birth and death. However if you trifle with it and do not train seriously, or from morning to evening, you like to behold the 'demon in the bright shadow' or to make your plans inside 'the den of words and expressions', you will never escape from birth and death.
Now all of you please exert yourselves diligently.
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