Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings (133 page)

Cuiyan addressed the monks, saying, “During the Lin Chen rebellion, there were brave army commanders who did not fear life and death. There are courageous hunters who enter the mountains, unmindful of ferocious tigers. There are brave fishermen who never fear water snakes and dragons.

“What is it that Zen monks are courageous about?”

Cuiyan then raised his staff and said, “This is the staff. If you can raise it, hold it, and shake it, then the ten thousand worlds all move in the same moment. If you can’t raise it, hold it, and shake it, then for you Manjushri is just Manjushri and ‘dropping the self’ is just ‘dropping the self.’”

When Cuiyan died in the year 1066, Prime Minister Wang Gong mourned at his memorial stupa, crying out, “Truly one of great virtue!”

CHANGSHUI ZIXUAN

CHANGSHUI ZIXUAN (n.d.) was a disciple and Dharma heir of Langye Huijue. He came from Jiaxing. According to the
Wudeng Huiyuan
, as a young man he cut off his hair and continuously recited the Surangama Sutra.

Changshui gained a profound insight when he heard the Buddhist teacher Hongmin say, “The demeanor of the bodhisattva is manifestly unproduced.”

Changshui then said to Hongmin, “Tapping emptiness, [but instead] striking the bamboo, one still falls into the trap. Raising the eyes and arching the eyebrows, already there’s intent. Leaving aside these two paths, realizing the essence.” Hongmin approved this as evidence of Changshui’s understanding.

Changshui set off to “seek out the source of Zen.” Hearing that Langye Huijue’s teaching was unsurpassed, he hastened to that teacher’s congregation. According to the account in the
Wudeng Huiyuan
, Changshui is the monk who poses to Langye the question about original purity that is cited in case 100 of the
Book of Serenity
.

Changshui stepped forward and asked, “The fundamental purity, how does it suddenly give rise to mountains, rivers, and the great earth?”

Langye said, “The fundamental purity, how does it suddenly give rise to mountains, rivers, and the great earth?”

Changshui thereupon had realization. He said, “I wish to serve as towel and pitcher.”

Langye said, “This style will not be long-lived. You should resolutely safeguard it and repay Buddha’s kindness. Do not regard any other teaching as greater than this.”

Then, as he was instructed, Changshui again bowed and left.

On the day when Changshui began his appointment as abbot he addressed the monks, saying, “The Way is not attained by speech or form, nor is it known through design or deliberation. The essence can only be [directly] grasped. It has never been otherwise realized.”

Because he was respected by the two schools [Zen and scriptural], and because of his commentary on the Surangama Sutra, he became widely known.

FURONG DAOKAI

FURONG DAOKAI (1043–1118) was a disciple of Touzi Yiqing. Furong came from ancient Yizhou (now the city of Linyi in southern Shandong Province). As a young man he practiced certain Taoist arts, including fasting, with the aim of gaining immortality. He later abandoned such practices and studied with a Zen teacher at Shutai Temple, located near the old capital city of Changan. There he passed the scriptural examination to enter the clergy. He subsequently studied with Touzi, becoming his Dharma heir and a link in the historical chain of the Caodong lineage.

Furong asked Touzi, “The words of the buddhas and ancestors were about everyday things such as drinking tea or eating rice. Besides this, does the teaching have anything special for people or not?”

Touzi said, “You speak the Cosmic Emperor’s edict. Are you pretending to be Yao, Shun, Yu, and Tang or not?”
¹⁹³

Furong wanted to continue speaking but Touzi raised his whisk and placed it over Furong’s mouth, saying, “If you have some intention, then you already deserve thirty hits with the stick!”

Furong then experienced enlightenment. He bowed and turned to leave.

Touzi said, “Come back! Your Reverence!”

Furong ignored him.

Touzi said, “Have you come to the place of no doubt?”

Furong then covered his ears with his hands.

Another recorded dialogue between Furong and his teacher also shows Touzi’s deep concern about the succession question.