Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings (147 page)

One day as the monks on Mt. Xiang chanted the Lotus Sutra, Hongzhi was instantly enlightened upon hearing the phrase, “Your eye that existed before your parents’ birth sees everything in three thousand realms.” He then went to the abbot [Facheng] to declare his awakening.

Facheng pointed to a box of incense and said, “What is the thing inside?”

Hongzhi said, “What do you mean?”

Facheng said, “What is in the place of your awakening?”

Hongzhi used his hand to draw a circle in the air and then made the gesture of throwing it behind him.

Facheng said, “What limit is there for old fellows making mud balls?”

Hongzhi said, “Wrong.”

Facheng said, “You’ve attained it when you don’t see others.”

Hongzhi said, “Yes. Yes.”

Hongzhi then traveled on to practice with Danxia Zichun.

Danxia asked, “What is the self that exists before the empty kalpa?”

Hongzhi said, “A frog at the well bottom swallows the moon. Despite the night, three times the window blind was illuminated.”

Danxia said, “Don’t say any more.”

Hongzhi started to speak, but Danxia hit him with his whisk and said, “Don’t say it!”

Upon hearing these words Hongzhi was liberated. He then bowed.

Danxia said, “Can’t you say something?”

Hongzhi said, “Today I’ve been robbed and lost my money.”

Danxia said, “Without rest I’ve hit you. Now it’s finished.”

Hongzhi is remembered as the compiler and verse writer for the collection of one hundred kōans known as the
Book of Serenity
. That classic collection, which is a favorite text of the Caodong Zen school, was reedited and annotated by the monk Wansong in the thirteenth century.

Once, when Hongzhi’s Dharma brother Zhenxie Qingliao assumed the abbacy of Changlu Monastery, Hongzhi made the long trip to the opening ceremonies on foot. As he approached the temple, Zhenxie’s attendants noticed that his clothes and shoes were ragged and worn. Quickly they obtained a new pair of sandals for him, and when he arrived they welcomed him by presenting them to him as a gift.

Hongzhi said, “Did I come for shoes?”

The monks, impressed by Hongzhi’s modesty and selfless sentiment, asked him to give a lecture on Dharma and take the most honored seat at the ceremony.

The following two passages are from
The Extensive Record of Zen Master Hongzhi.

Hongzhi Zhengjue addressed the monks, saying, “If on some distant embankment you see horns, then you know for sure there’s an ox there. If on some distant mountain you see smoke, then you know for sure there’s a fire there. But what is it that all of you here know for certain? Do you understand? When the bird calls from its roost, then morning comes. When you smell the plum blossoms, it means spring has arrived.”

Hongzhi addressed the monks, saying, “When the buddhas talk about Dharma, they’re just using yellow leaves to stop babies from crying. When the ancestors transmit the teaching, they’re just making empty-handed threats. When you reach this point, you must [attain] self-cessation, self-realization, and self-clarity. The Buddha is realized in each individual person, and the Dharma can’t be passed to you by someone else. If you understand in this manner, then you are a great adept, a true patch-robed monk, and you have successfully completed the great affair.

“Brethren! How, after all, will you finally find peace? Just wait for the snow to melt and naturally spring will arrive.”

A monk asked Hongzhi, “What of the ones who have gone?”

Hongzhi said, “The white clouds rise to the top of the valleys, the blue peaks lean high into the void.”

The monk asked, “What of the ones who return?”

Hongzhi said, “Head covered in white hair, leaving the cliffs and valleys. In the dead of night descending through the clouds to the market stall.”

The monk asked, “What of the ones who neither come nor go?”

Hongzhi said, “The stone woman calls them back from the three realms dream. The wooden man sits upon and collapses the six gates. In these words the ancestors’ way is clearly seen. Understanding the ancestors’ way is difficult.”

After a long pause, Hongzhi said, “Do you understand? The frozen cock does not announce the house woods dawn.
²¹²
The hidden pilgrims traverse the snowy mountain.”

In the ninth month of [the year 1157], Hongzhi visited [various personages of the region] and bade them farewell. On the seventh day of the tenth month he returned to the mountain [Tiantong]. In the early hours of the next morning, the master bathed and changed his clothes. He then sat in an upright position and bade farewell to the monks. He asked his attendants for a brush, and then wrote a letter to [Zen master] Dahui of Ayuwang Temple, asking him to take care of his final affairs.

He then wrote a verse:

Empty flowers of an illusory dream,
Sixty-seven years,
A white bird disappears in the mist,
Autumn waters touch the sky.

He then threw down the brush and passed away. Enshrined for seven days, his complexion was still lifelike. His entire body was placed in a stupa in the eastern valley. He received the posthumous name “Vast Wisdom.” The stupa was named “Divine Light.”

Twenty-first Generation

YUANWU KEQIN, “FOGUO,” “SHAOJUE”

YUANWU KEQIN (1063–1135) was a disciple of Wuzu Fayan. He came from Chongzhu City in Pengzhou.
²¹³
A gifted youth who thoroughly studied the Confucian classics, he is said to have written one thousand words every day. During a visit to Miaoji Monastery he observed some Buddhist scriptures and was surprised by a strong feeling that he had previously possessed them. He then left home and studied under a Vinaya master named Zisheng and a scriptural teacher named Yuanming.

Foguo once became deathly ill. He realized that his scriptural study and chanting of Buddha’s name was insufficient, saying, “The true path of nirvana of all the buddhas is not found in words. I’ve used sounds to seek form, but it’s of no use for dealing with death.” After he recovered he set off to seek instruction from the Zen school.