Preface to the Records of Four Masters' Sayings
When the Great Master Bodhidharma came from the West, he did not rely on written words. He directly pointed to the human mind, so that seeing one's true nature would lead to Buddhahood. Mind transmitted to mind, this continued until the Sixth Patriarch. After the Sixth Patriarch, the lineage split into the Southern Mountain and Qingyuan branches, with the Southern Mountain branch becoming the most prominent. From the Southern Mountain branch further emerged the Linji and Guiyang schools, with the Linji school flourishing most. The recorded sayings of the four masters—Mazu, Baizhang, Huangbo, and Linji—are teachings passed down from the Southern Mountain lineage, spoken in response to the needs of students. Some are as long as ten thousand words, others no less than several thousand. Are these words or not? Is the meaning brought from the West truly not contained within them?
Alas! When a finger points to the moon for the confused, the confused see only the finger and miss the moon. When a plate is used to describe the sun, the blind mistake the plate for the sun itself. Such differences are countless. Could the venerable masters have forgotten words? Did they not wish to directly point to the mind, enabling sudden awakening? It is like painting a portrait: seeking form through form captures only a fraction. This wondrous clarity cannot be grasped through form, cannot be fathomed by thought, much less expressed in words. Even if it could be spoken, entering through the door of words may not reveal the family treasure. Understanding through words is no different from hearsay. Could the venerable masters bear to speak directly? They could not bear to speak directly, nor could they speak easily, yet they also could not forget words. What, then, was in the hearts of these venerable masters?
Some may say: people possess this mind and have their own awareness—why trouble the venerable masters with their endless chatter? They do not realize that when desires arise and knowledge emerges, distinctions based on sensory experiences are mistaken for wondrous clarity. Chasing illusions and turning away from truth, the more one seeks, the farther one strays. If one clings to fixed appearances, one falls into the dark caves of demons. If left unchecked, it may lead to trampling others' fields. When the path of practice is distant, the remaining traces become vast and obscure. Without guiding words, how can one find the true lineage?
Master Yixin, deeply immersed in samadhi, skillfully transcended verbal explanations and profoundly resonated with the venerable masters. He said that for those seeking the Way, there is no other step; for the spread of the Dharma, nothing is broader than this. Together with Master Xie Jingshan of Dong'an, who has long nurtured spiritual roots and deeply cultivated virtuous strength, they contributed resources to compile and engrave these teachings. Master Yixin, fearing that readers might become attached to the words, asked me to write a preface explaining the intention. I do not claim to deeply understand the hearts of the venerable masters, but I have heard the teachings of the sages: "I wish to speak no words." Yet those who aspire to sagehood today—how can they recognize it without the words of the sages? It is essential to know that those who understand well find no separation, and all is silence. Those who do not understand well, even when cutting off words and phrases, remain separated by countless dusts. Are the words of the four venerable masters words or not? Are they direct pointing or not? There will surely be those who can discern this.
Written by Tang Hezheng of Piling.