Recorded Sayings at Baohua Chan Monastery on Gonggong Mountain, Qianzhou
In the year 1643, during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen, the master arrived in Ganzhou. Minister Lin Xiyou of the Forest Administration contributed his official salary to serve as the host, inviting the master to open a teaching hall. On the fourth day of the third lunar month, the master entered the temple.
Three Gates. "Clearly there is a gate, so why is it said that the gateless is the Dharma Gate? It is precisely because one enters just at the right moment." The sun wheel is directly at noon, and then one enters(On this day, the rain cleared).
In the Buddha Hall. Holding incense, he said: "The one who bows and the one being bowed to—both are ultimately oneself. When you bow to your true self, you meet face-to-face what is beyond thought." Then he bowed.
The Abbot said: "Eighty-four wise teachers of old, many emerged from this very place. Master Ma's forging had no set path, yet today we remain stripped bare. Across the five lakes and four seas, all rush about—but when pressed to the point, there is no other skill." He struck his staff and said: "This assembly has no branches or leaves—only what is true and real."
At noon, the governor sent an official to arrange a vegetarian feast and requested the master to ascend the Dharma seat. The master received the formal invitation in his hand and said: "To uphold the ancient temple's tradition, every word reveals the truth; to resolve the present case, each phrase points to the source. The matter lies with the one who is ready—it must be plainly declared."
After the head monk finished reading the invitation, the master pointed to the Dharma seat and said: "All phenomena are empty as the seat—where could it be borrowed from? Simply step directly upon it; every step is a lotus throne." He then ascended the seat.
After offering incense and praying for the emperor, he took another stick of incense and said: "This stick of incense traces its source to Caoxi, passed down through an authentic lineage; its light divided from Nanyue, personally received from master to disciple. Smelling it once makes every pore open wide; touching it brings sweat flowing all over the ground. I burn it in the incense burner to offer to my late teacher, the Great Monk Miyun, former abbot of Tiantong Chan Monastery, the thirty-fourth generation transmitter of the true Caoxi lineage, in gratitude for the nourishment of the Dharma milk."
He then took his seat. After the head monk struck the wooden block, the master said: "Opening the arena for selecting Buddhas, revealing the supreme meaning—it values only the outstanding practitioners who cut directly to the heart, thereby repaying the unrepayable kindness and aiding the transformation of non-action. If not yet so, those with doubts may now ask for resolution."
A monk asked: "As a minister, be utterly loyal; as a child, be utterly filial. Penetrating the root and exhausting the branches, one realizes the Middle Way. This alone is called the true teaching, repaying both the emperor's kindness and the Buddha's kindness at once."
The master said: "Repay parental kindness as well."
The monk bowed. The master said: "Entirely relying on the hands that mend robes and blend soup, they turn the wheel of the Tathagata's true Dharma."
Another asked: "Before residing at Baohua, what was it like?"
The master said: "In Ganzhou."
The monk pressed: "After residing at Baohua, what is it like?"
The master said: "Still not apart from Ganzhou."
The monk asked: "What is the person of Baohua?"
The master immediately struck him, then said: "A minister serves the ruler—the ultimate truth leaves behind opposition; a child obeys the mother—the great path transcends extremes. To undertake this is to be between heaven and earth; to deliberate is to drag through mud and water. Manifesting as an official to teach the Dharma, manifesting as a monk to teach the Dharma—the true eye of Vajra has no distinction between Confucian and Buddhist; the supreme vehicle is utterly separate from worldly differences. In this time when the ancestral line is sparse and the nation's affairs are full of hardship, the matter is the same track, the principle urges mutual support. Today, the great patron Lin, with a heart of loyalty and filial piety, carries out deeds as firm as metal and moats. Having donated funds as the land's host, he requests the teaching of Dharma to dispel confusion. With single-minded support for the right, he causes demons' courage to fall without reliance; tracing the source over ten thousand miles, he knows the true descendant exists. It is hoped that both the nation's fortune and the Dharma's fortune will turn together, that both parental life and wisdom life will be everlasting. Is this not an extraordinary person manifesting extraordinary wisdom, able to intimately understand what is fitting and be thoroughly acquainted with the times, carrying out this matter of utmost service and obedience in both worldly and transcendent realms? And how to speak of this phrase of service and obedience?"
After a long pause, he said: "Dedicate this profound heart to the dust-like realms; this is what is called repaying the Buddha's kindness."
He then descended from the seat.
On the Buddha's Birthday, the Master ascended the hall and said:
"Every year on the eighth day of the fourth month, we celebrate the Buddha's birth. In monasteries everywhere, water is poured in ceremony. Yet here at Baohua, our way is different from others—not a single drop is seen upon our bodies.
Why is it so? So that thirty years from now, no one will say: 'Baohua is all wet.'"
Then he descended from the seat.