Introduction to Reading the Four Masters' Records

My friend, as I finished transcribing this record, a guest knocked and asked me: "Once words are written down, they belong to the realm of verbal teaching. How can this be called the separate transmission outside the teachings?"

I replied: "That is not so. Having words is indeed teaching, but having no words is also teaching. Moreover, 'not having words,' 'not having no words,' 'not not having words,' and 'not not having no words'—all are teaching. This is what is meant by 'transcending the four propositions and cutting off all negations.'"

The guest then said: "When the spiritual tortoise drags its tail, its tracks become even more evident. Are the words of these four venerable masters not like dragging a tail?"

I replied: "That is not so. To say the four venerable masters intentionally concealed their traces is not outside the teachings. To say they unintentionally concealed their traces is also not outside the teachings. Moreover, 'not intentional,' 'not unintentional,' 'not not intentional,' and 'not not unintentional'—none of these are outside the teachings."

The guest asked: "Then what can truly be called the separate transmission?"

I said: "Wait until you break through the following text, and I will try to explain it to you."

Written on the first day of the eighth month in the autumn of the Wanli Dingwei year, by the monk Zhengchuan of Jingxi.