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Post by Shi Da Dao on Oct 8, 2004 14:15:49 GMT 1
The Ch'an Sect's device is likened to the precious Vajra king sword which cuts all things touching it and destroys all that runs up against its (sharp) point. It is the highest Dharma door (through which) to attain Buddhahood at a stroke. (To give you an example, I will tell you the story of) Ch'an master Shen Tsan who travelled on foot when he was young and who became enlightened after his stay with ancestor Pai Chang. After his enlightenement, he returned to his former master and the latter asked him: 'After you left me, what (new) acquisition did you make at other places?' Shen Tsan replied: ' I made no aquisition.' He was then ordered to serve his (former) master.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Oct 8, 2004 14:24:13 GMT 1
One day, as his (former) master took a bath and ordered him to scrub his dirty back, Shen Tsan patted him on the back and said: 'A good Buddha hall but the Buddha is not saintly.' His master did not understand what he meant, turned his head and looked at the disciple who said again: Although the Buddha hall is not saintly, he sends out illuminating rays.'
Another day, as his master was reading a sutra under the window, a bee knocked against the window paper trying to get out (of the room). Shen Tsan saw the struggling bee and said: 'The universe is so vast and you do not want to get out. If you want to pierce the paper, you will get away in the (non-existent) year of the donkey!' After saying this, he sang the following poem:
'It refuses to get out through the empty door And knocks against the window stupidly. To pierce old paper will take a hundred years, Oh when will it succeed in getting out?'
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Oct 8, 2004 14:34:58 GMT 1
Thinking that Shen Tsan was insulting him, the (old) master put his sutra aside and asked him: 'You went away for so long: whom did you meet, what did you learn and what makes you so talkative now?' Shen Tsan replied: 'After I left you, I joined the Pai Chang community where master Pai Chang gave me an indication as to how to halt (thinking and discriminating). As you are now old, I have returned to pay the debt of gratitude I owe you.' Thereupon, the master informed the assembly (of the incident), ordered a vegetarian banquet (in honour of Shen Tsan) and invited him to expound the Dharma. The latter ascended to the seat and expounded the Pia Chang doctrine, saying:
Spiritual light shines on in solitude Disentangling the sense organs from sense data. Experience of true eternity Depends not just on books. Mind-nature being taintless Fundamentally is perfect. Freedom from falsehood-producing causes Is the same as absolute Buddhahood.
After hearing this, his master became awakened to the truth and said: 'I never expected that in my old age I would hear about the supreme pattern.' Then he handed over the management of the monastery to Shen Tsan and respectfully invited him to become his own master.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Oct 8, 2004 14:58:45 GMT 1
You see how free and easy this all is! We sat in this Ch'an meeting for over ten days and yet why did we not experience the truth? This is because we were not seriously determined in our training, or we took it for child's play, or we thought it required sitting quiet in meditation in a Ch'an hall. None of this is correct and men who really apply their minds to this training, do not discriminate between the mutable and immutable, or against any kind of (daily) activity. They can do it while in the street, at the noisy market place, or anywhere (they may happen to be).
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Oct 8, 2004 15:04:37 GMT 1
Formerly, there was a butcher monk who called on learned masters for instruction. One day, he arrived at a market place and passed a butcher's shop where every buyer insisted on having 'pure meat'. Suddenly, the butcher got angry and, putting down his chopper, asked them: 'Which piece of meat is not pure?' Upon hearing this, the butcher monk was instaneously enlightenend.
This shows that the ancients did not require to sit in meditation in a Ch'an hall, when they underwent their training. Today, not one of you speaks about awakening. Is this not a waste of time? I now (respectfully) request the (Venerable) Master Ying Tzu and the other masters to hold the examination.
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Post by Shi Da Dao on Oct 8, 2004 15:14:24 GMT 1
Master Hsu Yun's saying at the closing of the (two) Ch'an weeks.
After tea and cakes had been served, all the assembly stood up when the Venerable Master Hsu Yun, in formal robe (with large sleeves) entered the hall again and sat in front of the (jade) Buddha. With a strip of bamboo, he drew a circle in the air, saying:
Convocation and meditation! Opening and closing! When will all this come to an end? When (productive) causes halt abruptly. External objects will vanish. Mahaprajnaparamita!
When the mind is still, essence and function (of themselves) return to normal. Fundamentally there is nor day nor night but only complete brightness. Where's the dividing line 'twixt South and North, 'twixt East and West? Without hindrance thingsare seen to be the product of conditioning causes. While birds sing and flowers smile, the moon reaches the stream!
Now, what shall I say to close this meeting?
'When the board is stuck, the bowl springs up! Let us scrutinize the Prajnaparamita!'
Now let us close the meeting.
Extracted from: Ch'an and Zen Teaching - First Series: By Charles Luk, page 49-109.
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