Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Pufeng Changming Jiong (浦峰長明炅禪師語錄)

The Master, invited by the devotees, took up residence at Pufeng Chan Temple on Tianyun Mountain in Chenzhou, and entered the temple on the first day of the ninth month in the year Kangxi Dingwei. The devotees requested him to ascend the hall. A monk asked:

"In the past, at the Vulture Peak assembly, gods and humans gathered widely, and the World-Honored One held up a flower to show the assembly. Today, at Pufeng Temple, the ocean-like assembly gathers like clouds. May I ask, what will the Master bestow upon them?"

The Master said: "Clearly evident at the tip of the staff."

The monk pressed: "This student’s heels have already touched the ground."

The Master said: "You deserve thirty blows."

Another asked: "Before the Buddha appeared in the world, and before the Patriarch came from the West, was there still Dharma to teach people?"

The Master said: "Listen carefully, listen carefully."

The monk pressed: "What is there to listen to?"

The Master said: "One who understands needs no repeated pointing; the awakened should be startled in the dark."

The monk said: "The golden rooster returns to the green peaks with its chicks; the wild crane pierces the clouds and emerges into the blue sky."

The Master said: "You too must have a discerning eye."

Then he addressed the assembly: "The monastery gates are widely opened, auspicious clouds form a canopy, the Prajna wisdom is spread, the ancestral teaching is proclaimed, performing inconceivable and extraordinary deeds, creating the supreme cause for countless Dharma gates. If one can immediately transcend hearing and seeing, penetrate through conceptual thinking, then the wind in the pines and the songs of birds express inexhaustible perfect sounds; the green waters and blue mountains reveal the ultimate true reality. Every phenomenon, every detail, merges into great function, without ever lifting a hand or harming with sharpness. You should know that within the gate of teaching, there is the capacity to silence the tongues of all under heaven."

Suddenly lifting his staff, he called to the assembly: "Now look—at Pufeng’s gate, fully bright and fully dark, fully releasing and fully gathering, every movement is free, not altering the slightest bit. Right at such a moment, how would you speak a phrase where person and environment correspond? When the dragon meets water, its spirit soars; when the tiger reaches the mountains, its fierceness grows."

On the fifteenth day of the tenth month, the local patrons of the Dharma invited the Master to open the winter meditation session. He ascended the high seat.

Pointing to the Dharma seat, he said: "This Precious Flower King is directly presented before your face—originally, it has no front or back." Striking the seat once, he continued: "Knock open the true eye, and see the back of the head from the cheeks."

Then he ascended the seat. Lifting incense, he said: "This stick of incense—its roots are nurtured in the deep earth, its trunk stands tall against the high sky. Its golden branches suspend the light of sun and moon, illuminating all phenomena; its jade leaves exude the beauty of mountains and rivers, covering the eight directions. Offered into the burner, it is reverently dedicated to wishing His Majesty the Emperor a sacred and long life—ten thousand years! Ten thousand times ten thousand years! May the imperial foundation be as firm as the Southern Mountain, and the emperor's virtue as revered as the North Star."

"This stick of incense—from beyond the beginning of time, the true essence is fully revealed; before any sign arises, the whole body is manifest. It is offered for all civil and military officials, nobles in power, scholars and gentry of the entire nation. May their merits shine like the days of Yao and Shun, their positions weighty as the Three Terraces; may their strength revive the style of Buddhas and Patriarchs, their names lofty across the Eight Seats."

"This stick of incense—forged many times in the great furnace bellows, until wisdom is exhausted and emotion withered; once realized, it comes from a fierce hand, bursting into flame whenever touched by anyone. Today it is offered to repay the kindness of the Dharma milk from Venerable Yingxiu, the thirty-third generation holder of the true Linji lineage in the Longshan Huxi Hall of Youyang. May he be, life after life, the eyes of humans and gods, and age after age, the hammer and tongs of Buddhas and Patriarchs."

Then he gathered his robe and took his seat. The Weinuo struck the wooden block and said: "All dragons and elephants of the Dharma assembly, behold the First Principle!"

The Master raised his whisk and said: "The First Principle—heard by the ear, seen by the eye. If you grasp it amid sounds and forms, you've already fallen into second or third. If you grasp it apart from sounds and forms, you've fallen into seventh or eighth. Without touching either path, how will you approach it? Let seasoned adepts come forth to stir it up."

A monk asked: "This message—no form ahead, no shadow behind—where can it be grasped?"

The Master said: "The nostrils hang down from the big head."

The monk advanced: "Head touching the blue sky, feet treading solid ground—I'm off!"

The Master said: "You must simply watch your step."

Another asked: "The sitting mat covers lands as numerous as the Ganges' sands, the staff props up the sky beyond kalpas—yet these are still scenery outside the gate. What, then, is today's true command?"

The Master struck him and said: "I'll convey this meaning for you."

The monk advanced: "The pain from the stick pierces through, the whole body feels refreshed—not falling into the ordinary second mechanism."

The Master said: "What kind of eye does the Venerable possess?"

The monk shouted. The Master struck him again.

Then the Master said: "The arena for choosing Buddhas is open; humans and gods gather universally. The gate is steep and solitary, with no steps provided. Those who undertake it beyond words have long been on the path; those who shoulder it before the mechanism still involve themselves in trifles. Yet entering the hall does not require lighting a lamp; entering the room does not need stirring the fire. All phenomena before you are originally thus—unchanging while following conditions, constantly peaceful amid noise. Rolling and stretching freely, the spirit engulfs emptiness; the precious sword is drawn sideways, fully executing the true command. Expounding the great mechanism, activating the great function—wielding the hammer and tongs of Buddhas and Patriarchs, opening the eyes of humans and gods, together assisting the transformation of non-action, repaying the unrepayable kindness."

"Assembly! Now, as the season is abundant and the Way peaceful, the seas calm and rivers clear, how shall we express the phrase for opening the hall and blessing the sage? 'Fivefold incense clouds, five-colored auspiciousness; the Son of Heaven for ten thousand years, all lands in peace.'"

Again the wooden block was struck: "Behold the Dharma of the Dharma King; the Dharma of the Dharma King is thus."

He then descended from the seat.

The Master ascended the hall. A monk asked, "What is 'taking away the person but not the environment'?" The Master said, "Two eyes gaze upon the green mountains."

The monk pressed further, "What is 'taking away the environment but not the person'?" The Master said, "The whole body is without a single thing."

The monk asked again, "What is 'taking away both person and environment'?" The Master said, "Clear sky without a wisp of cloud."

The monk continued, "What is 'taking away neither person nor environment'?" The Master said, "Sitting leisurely beneath a pine tree."

The monk then asked, "But before black and white are distinguished, with no person and no environment, where can one discern what is intimate?" The Master raised his staff and said, "Look higher."

Another monk asked, "What about when the sword is held horizontally?" The Master immediately struck him.

The monk pressed, "What about before the blade is drawn?" The Master said, "The ground is already soaked in blood."

The monk continued, "If the pain is unbearable and I do not let you off, Master, what then?" The Master said, "That is not your true function."

The Master then said, "Overturning the final barrier, sitting atop the summit of Vairocana; turning the mechanism of the highest truth, splitting open the nostrils of the Patriarchs. Seeing through the vast and distant, encompassing the ten directions—even Manjushri's great wisdom cannot fathom its origin, and Samantabhadra's majestic power loses its realm. Here, adding even a speck is like putting a thorn in the eye; subtracting even a speck is like carving a sore from the flesh. Then you see the great earth leveling, and what room is there for discussing Buddhism? Today, this mountain monk cannot avoid snatching the cub from the tiger's den and taking the pearl from the dragon's neck."

He raised his whisk and said, "All Buddhas of the three times radiate great light here—do you all see it?" Then he struck the meditation seat with his whisk and said, "All Patriarchs throughout the ages turn the great Dharma wheel here—do you all hear it? If you can see through this and hear it clearly, then past and present are all before your eyes; ordinary beings and sages return to the same source; mountains, rivers, and the great earth all reveal true constancy. When you pick it up, all phenomena rush forth together; when you put it down, the ten sages vanish without a trace. But if you neither pick it up nor put it down, whose realm is that? Do you understand? The ancient Buddha's original face is fully exposed, majestic and directly free from the slightest dust."

The master ascended the hall. A monk asked, "From the lion's roar on the seat, the ancestral style is displayed beyond convention. What is the most intimate phrase?" The master said, "The nose is straight, the eyes are horizontal."

The monk pressed further, "What is the function of the whole body?" The master struck him on the head. As the monk was about to speak, the master struck him again.

Another monk asked, "When the smoke of war is swept away and the great earth is at peace, the ancestral decree is raised high, and the great function is uniquely manifested. What is the phrase that benefits beings and raises compassion?" The master said, "Everyone witnesses this present breeze."

The monk asked, "What is the phrase that turns the ordinary into the sacred?" The master let out a thunderous shout.

The monk said, "If so, then with an empty mind, one returns having passed the exam." The master said, "I'm afraid it's not jade."

The master then said, "Free from the body, with nothing to rely on, utterly destitute to the bone—only because one affirms oneself does one become truly intimate. Vast and empty, beyond expectations, there is not a single thing; green waters and blue mountains share this very body. Thus, to know that gathering the ten thousand things as oneself—is this not the sage? Therefore, it is said: Sometimes I see a mountain and it is not a mountain, see water and it is not water, see a man and he is not a man, see a woman and she is not a woman, see form and it is not form, see emptiness and it is not emptiness. Sometimes I see a mountain and it is a mountain, see water and it is water, see a man and he is a man, see a woman and she is a woman, see form and it is form, see emptiness and it is emptiness. If you can understand here, light and dark return to the same track, gathering and releasing share a single source. All conditions have no steps to climb, the ten thousand phenomena cannot be concealed. One word, one silence, one movement, one stillness—all are the monk's handle. And what about the phrase that does not involve words, silence, movement, or stillness? The ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains are gathered in the eye; the worlds of the ten directions accord with the original truth."