Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings (110 page)

A monk asked, “If someone is seeking an understanding of Buddha, what’s the best path to doing so?”

Fayan said, “It doesn’t pass here.”

A monk asked, “What is the thing toward which an advanced student should pay particular attention?”

Fayan said, “If the student has anything whatsoever that is particular then he can’t be called advanced.”

A monk asked, “What is a true patch of earth?”

Fayan said, “Not a single patch of earth is true.”

A monk asked, “What is the ultimate teaching of all buddhas?”

Fayan said, “You have it too.”

When Fayan became abbot of Qingliang Temple, he addressed the monks, saying, “Students of Zen need only act according to conditions to realize the Way. When it’s cold, they’re cold. When it’s hot, they’re hot. If you must understand the meaning of buddha nature then just pay attention to what’s going on. There is no shortage of old and new expedients. Haven’t you heard about Shitou? Upon reading the
Zhao Lun
he exclaimed, ‘Understanding that all things are the self. This is what all the ancient holy ones realized!’ Shitou also said, ‘The holy ones did not have a self. Nor was there anything that was not their selves.’ Shitou composed the
Cantongqi
. The first phrase in that text says, ‘The mind of the great sage of India.’ There’s no need to go beyond this phrase. Within it is what is always put forth as the teaching of our school. All of you should understand that the myriad beings are your own self, and that across the great earth there isn’t a single dharma that can be observed. Shitou also admonishes, ‘Don’t pass your days and nights in vain.’ What I have just said may be realized if you seize the opportunity before you. If you miss the opportunity, then that is ‘passing your days and nights in vain.’ If you spend your time trying to understand form in the middle of nonform, just going on in this way, you are missing your opportunity. So, do we therefore say that we should realize nonform in the midst of form? Is that right? If your understanding is like this, then you’re nowhere near it. You’re just going along with the illness of two-headed madness. Of what use is it? All of you, just do what is appropriate to the moment! Take care!”

A monk asked, “What is the first principle?”

Fayan said, “When I speak to you, that is the second principle.”

There is a story that in former times a Zen monk lived alone in a cottage. Above his door he wrote the word “mind.” Above his window he wrote the word “mind,” and on his wall he wrote the word, “mind.”

Zen master Fayan said, “Above his door he should have written, ‘door.’ Above his window he should have written ‘window,’ and on his wall he should have written the word ‘wall.’”

A monk asked, “What is the second moon?”

Fayan said, “The phenomena of the universe.”

The monk asked, “What is the first moon?”

Fayan said, “The universe of phenomena.”

Once, when sand filled in and obstructed a new spring that was being dug at the temple, Zen master Fayan said, “The mouth of the spring is obstructed by sand. When the Dharma eye is obstructed, what is it that obscures it?”

The monks were unable to answer.

Fayan said, “It’s obstructed by the eye.”

Fayan had sixty-three Dharma heirs. Though the influence of his school was widespread during and for a period after his life, the lineage died out after five generations.

After his death, Fayan received the posthumous title “Great Zen Master Dharma Eye.”

QINGXI HONGJIN, “JINSHAN”

QINGXI HONGJIN (d. 954) was the disciple of and head monk and attendant for Luohan Guichen. He first met his teacher when, with his friends Fayan and Xiushan, he sought shelter from a snowstorm at Dizang Temple. The initial story about Jinshan in the
Wudeng Huiyuan
does not follow the usual practice of describing the circumstances of his enlightenment. Instead, it contrasts Jinshan’s understanding with that of his friend Xiushan, and it is Xiushan who comes to a realization.