Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Lingyou of Mount Gui in Tanzhou

Compiled by Monk Yufeng Yuanxin of Mount Jing and Layman Guo Ningzhi of the Wudi Hermitage

The master's name was Lingyou. He was a man from the Zhao family of Changxi, Fuzhou. At fifteen, he left home to become a monk. He received the tonsure under Vinaya Master Fachang at Jianshan Temple in his hometown. At Longxing Temple in Hangzhou, he thoroughly studied the teachings of both the Mahayana and Hinayana vehicles. At twenty-three, he traveled to Jiangxi to visit Baizhang. At their first meeting, Baizhang allowed him to enter his inner chamber and placed him at the head of the assembly of students.

Once, while standing in attendance, Baizhang asked, "Who is it?" The master replied, "It's me." Baizhang said, "Check the brazier. Is there any fire?" The master checked and said, "There's no fire." Baizhang personally stood up, stirred the ashes deeply, and found a small ember. He held it up and showed it to him, saying, "You say there's none—what is this?" The master was thus awakened. He bowed in thanks and explained his understanding. Baizhang said, "This is merely a temporary bypath. The sutra says, 'If you wish to understand the meaning of Buddha-nature, you should observe the timing and conditions.' When the time arrives, it is like suddenly awakening from confusion, or suddenly remembering what was forgotten. Only then do you realize that what is yours is not obtained from another. Therefore, the Patriarch said, 'Awakened is the same as unawakened; there is no mind and no dharma. It is simply the absence of falsehood. The minds of ordinary beings and sages are equal; the original mind-dharma is inherently complete and sufficient.' Now that you are thus, take good care of it yourself."

The next day, he accompanied Baizhang into the mountains to work. Baizhang asked, "Did you bring the fire?" The master said, "I brought it." Baizhang said, "Where is it?" The master then picked up a piece of firewood, blew on it twice, and handed it to Baizhang. Baizhang said, "Like a worm boring into wood."(Jingshan Gao said: "If Baizhang hadn't added that last remark, he would have been fooled by the monastery steward.")

At that time, the master served as the monastery steward. Sima Toutuo brought up the "wild fox" koan and asked the master, "What about it?" The master shook the door three times with his hand. Sima said, "Too crude." The master said, "In the Buddha Dharma, what is there to say about crude or fine?"

One day, Sima came from Hunan and said to Baizhang, "Recently in Hunan, I found a mountain called Mount Gui. It is a place suitable for a great teacher who can guide fifteen hundred people." Baizhang asked, "Can this old monk live there?" Sima said, "It is not a place for you, Reverend." Baizhang asked, "Why not?" Sima said, "You, Reverend, are a man of bones. That is a mountain of flesh. If you lived there, your disciples would not number a thousand." Baizhang asked, "Is there anyone among my assembly who could live there?" Sima said, "Let me observe them one by one."

At that time, Hualin Jue was the head monk. Baizhang had an attendant summon him and asked, "What about this man?" Sima asked him to clear his throat and walk a few steps, then said, "Not suitable." Baizhang then had the master summoned. The master was then the monastery steward. As soon as Sima saw him, he said, "This is precisely the master of Mount Gui."

That night, Baizhang called the master into his chamber and instructed him, saying, "My teaching mission is here. Mount Gui is an excellent site. You should reside there, continue my lineage, and broadly guide later students."

When Hualin heard of this, he said, "I, though unworthy, hold the position of head monk. How can the monastery steward become the abbot?" Baizhang said, "If you can utter a single phrase before the assembly that transcends convention, I will grant you the abbotship." He then pointed to a water pitcher and asked, "Without calling it a water pitcher, what would you call it?" Hualin said, "It certainly cannot be called a wooden stand." Baizhang then asked the master. The master kicked over the water pitcher and walked out. Baizhang laughed and said, "The head monk has lost the mountain." The master then went to Mount Gui.

The mountain was steep and isolated, utterly devoid of human presence. He lived among monkeys and gibbons, eating acorns and chestnuts. For five to seven years, no one came at all. The master thought to himself, "My original purpose in taking up residence was to benefit others. Since all communication has ceased, what good is my own cultivation?" He then abandoned his hut, intending to go elsewhere.

When he reached the mountain pass, he saw snakes, tigers, wolves, and leopards crisscrossing the path. The master said, "You beasts, do not block my path. If I have a connection with this mountain, you should each disperse. If I have no connection, you need not move. I will pass along the road, and you may eat me as you please." After he spoke, the creatures and tigers scattered in all directions. The master then returned to his hut.

Before a year had passed, Venerable An(That is, Lazy An.) and several monks came from Baizhang to assist the master. An said, "I will serve as monastery steward for you, Reverend. I will continue until the assembly reaches five hundred monks, then I will resign." After this, the residents at the foot of the mountain gradually learned of him. They led the community in jointly building a temple. Regional Commander Li Jingrang petitioned for it to be named Tongqing Temple. Minister of State Pei Gongxiu often consulted him on profound mysteries. From then on, Chan students from across the land gathered there like spokes to a hub.

His foremost Dharma heir was Chan Master Yangshan Ji. Therefore, the world speaks of the Guiyang school.

The master ascended the platform and said:

The mind of one who walks the Path is straightforward and genuine, without falsehood. It has no back and no front, no deceitful or deluded thoughts. At all times, seeing and hearing are ordinary—there is nothing hidden, no need to close the eyes or block the ears. Simply do not let your emotions cling to things, and that is enough.

All the sages of the past only spoke of the faults and dangers of the muddy, defiled side. If there were not so many evil perceptions, emotional views, habitual thoughts, and conditioned patterns—it would be like autumn water, clear and still, pure and effortless, serene and unobstructed. Such a one is called a "person of the Way," also named a "person of no affairs."

At that time, a monk asked, "For someone who has a sudden awakening, is there still practice?"

The master said, "If one truly awakens to the fundamental source, they will know for themselves. 'To practice or not to practice' is dualistic language. For beginners now, even if awakening arises from conditions in a single moment, the principle within is still present. Yet the habits accumulated over countless eons cannot be purified all at once. They must be taught to purify the flowing consciousness of present karma—that is practice. There is no other separate method to teach them to cultivate and advance.

"Entering the principle through hearing, the principle heard is deep and wondrous; the mind naturally becomes perfect and bright, not abiding in confusion. Even if there are a hundred thousand subtle meanings, praised or criticized in the moment—this is like having sat down and put on robes, beginning to understand how to manage one's own livelihood.

"To put it simply: in the realm of true reality, not a single dust is accepted; within the gate of myriad practices, not a single dharma is abandoned. If you go straight in with a single sword, then ordinary and holy sentiments are exhausted, the true eternal body is revealed, principle and phenomena are not two—and you are thus, thus, a Buddha."

Deng Yinfeng arrived at Mount Wei and went straight into the hall. He placed his robe and bowl on the upper bench. The master heard that his uncle had come, so he first prepared himself with proper decorum and went down to the hall to meet him. Seeing the master approach, Yinfeng immediately lay down as if to sleep. The master then returned to his quarters, and Yinfeng left.

A short while later, the master asked his attendant, "Is my uncle still here?" The attendant replied, "He has already left." The master asked, "Did he say anything when he left?" The attendant said, "He said nothing." The master said, "Do not say he said nothing—his silence was like thunder."

Yunyan arrived at Weishan’s place. The master asked, “I’ve heard that you, Elder, play the lion at Yaoshan’s place. Is that true?”

Yunyan said, “Yes.”

The master asked, “When you’re done playing, do you ever put it away?”

Yunyan said, “If I want to play, I play. If I want to put it away, I put it away.”

The master asked, “When you put it away, where is the lion?”

Yunyan said, “Put away! Put away!” (Fachang Yu commented: “A fine lion performance, but it had a head and no tail. If I had been there when Weishan asked, ‘Where is the lion when you put it away?’ I would have let loose the golden-haired lion crouched on the ground, giving Weishan no place to hide.”)

The master asked Yunyan, "What is the seat of enlightenment?" Yunyan replied, "The seat is non-doing." Yunyan then asked the master in return, and the master said, "The seat is the emptiness of all phenomena."

The master also asked Daowu, "What about you?" Daowu said, "When sitting, let them sit. When lying down, let them lie down. But there is one person who neither sits nor lies down—tell me quickly, quickly." The master remained silent.

The Master asked Yunyan, "I heard you spent a long time at Mount Yaoshan. Is that true?" Yunyan said, "Yes."

The Master asked, "What is the great form of a fully realized person on Mount Yaoshan?" Yunyan replied, "It exists after nirvana."

The Master asked, "What does 'exist after nirvana' mean?" Yunyan said, "Water cannot sprinkle on it."

Then Yunyan asked the Master, "What is the great form of the fully realized person Baizhang?"

The Master said, "Soaring and majestic, radiant and brilliant. It is not a sound before sounds, nor a form after forms. A mosquito on an iron bull has no place to bite."

The master asked Daowu, "Where have you been?" Daowu said, "I went to see the sick." The master asked, "How many are sick?" Daowu said, "There are those who are sick, and there is one who is not sick." The master said, "The one who is not sick—could it be the wise practitioner?" Daowu said, "Sickness and no-sickness have nothing to do with him. Say it quickly, say it quickly!" The master said, "Even if I said it, it would have nothing to do with him either."

Master Deshan came for an audience. Carrying his bundle, he entered the Dharma Hall, walked from west to east, then from east to west. Glancing toward the abbot’s quarters, he asked, “Is there anyone? Is there anyone?” The master was sitting and did not even look at him. Deshan said, “No, no,” and left. (Yundou remarks: “He’s been seen through.”) At the gate he said, “Even so, I mustn’t be careless.” So he composed himself and re-entered for a formal meeting. As soon as he crossed the threshold, he raised his sitting cloth and said, “Reverend.” The master was about to reach for his whisk, but Deshan gave a shout and swept out with his sleeves. (Yundou remarks: “He’s been seen through.”) That evening the master asked the head monk, “Is the newcomer who arrived today still here?” The head monk said, “He turned his back on the Dharma Hall, put on his straw sandals, and left.” The master said, “This fellow will one day go to a solitary mountain peak, build a grass hut, and scold the Buddhas and curse the patriarchs.” (Yunmen Xian said, “Adding frost to snow.” Wuzu Jie said, “Deshan acted like a thief with a guilty conscience. Weishan was just stringing his bow after the thief had gone.”)