Foreword to the Record of Master Rujing

Among the five schools of Chan, the Caodong tradition conceals its workings, while the Linji tradition makes a clear show of blows and shouts. If you grasp their essential point, the gateway is easy to enter. Although their approaches vary slightly and their methods differ, all ultimately converge on one path.

Only Reverend Jing of Tiantai, however, neither flowed with one current nor leaned to one side, but embodied both schools—forging his own unique style that could withstand enemies from all directions. Beginning with the bamboo stick, he long understood the difference between pain and pleasure; later, through a single drop of water, his understanding gradually swelled to a flood. He cut through chasms and hanging cliffs, decisive and resolute—truly one who, when employing a method, grasped the meaning beyond the method, who "captured the fish and forgot the trap," "caught the rabbit and forgot the snare."

When he ascended the jeweled throne, he was like a fierce tiger crouching. When he beat the great Dharma drum, he roared like a lion, making gods and humans praise in admiration, and demons and spirits submit. As for his single verses, single hymns, single sayings, and single words—they summoned wind and expelled clouds, rumbled thunder and flashed lightning, assuming a thousand forms and ten thousand faces, impossible to fully fathom. Among the venerable masters of recent times, there is none quite like him. Throughout his sojourn at four great monasteries, he came and went freely like a solitary cloud or a wild crane—all of this reveals such a quality.

Thus, those who are brave and diligent gain from encountering him like entering a dark room and encountering great light, seeing all kinds of forms. Those who are timid and unenlightened fear him as a child fears a stern father or teacher, little knowing that the medicine that brings dizziness and confusion cures the disease, and ultimately yields benefits.

Where the Master found his strength—his "coming to life and coming to death"—is truly difficult to grasp through outward traces or take as a fixed teaching. But to view water, you must look at its waves; to cross the great sea, you must start from the banks. So without his words, there is no way to explore his depths.

Now, Senior Jia has brought the Master's Dharma talks and asked me to write a preface for this collection. But how could I presume? The Master and I are from the same country, and are friends in the Way. Moreover, our minds and eyes recognize each other, so I cannot remain silent. Since I am entrusted with this request, I cannot refuse to say a few words to outline the general picture. Thus, I hurriedly wrote this piece to attach to the end of the volume. As for glorifying his great virtue and ensuring that the lamp of transmission is passed on, making the Master’s name more enduring with time—this is the responsibility of the eminent scholars and great Confucians of our age.

In the second year of the Shaoding era, during the year of Jizhou, a humble official of Tongbai, Lü Xiao, respectfully inscribed this text.