Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings (72 page)

The monk then asked, “How can one avoid being deceived by the buddhas and ancestors?”

Longya said, “You must awaken on your own.”

YUEZHOU QIANFENG

YUEZHOU QIANFENG (n.d.) was a disciple of Dongshan Liangjie. Little is recorded about his life. He taught in Yuezhou (a place southeast of modern Hangzhou in northern Jiangxi Province).

Qianfeng entered the hall and said, “The dharmakaya has three types of illness and two types of light, and you must penetrate them one by one before you can return to your home and sit solidly. You must know that there is a yet more pivotal realization.”

Yunmen stepped forward and asked, “Why does one who is in the hut not know of affairs outside the hut?”

Qianfeng laughed loudly, “Ha, ha, ha.”

Yunmen said, “This is still a place of doubt for this student.”

Qianfeng said, “Where is your mind moving?”

Yunmen said, “I want the master to speak directly.”

Qianfeng said, “Then you must do as I said before you can sit solidly.”

Yunmen said, “Okay.”

Yuezhou entered the hall and addressed the monks, saying, “If you put forth the first principle, then there is no need for the second principle. Let go of the first principle and you will fall into the second principle.”

Yunmen came forward from the congregation and said, “Yesterday a person came from Mt. Tiantai. Now he’s gone on to Mt. Jing.”

Yuezhou said, “Tomorrow the chief cook does not need to do
puqing
.”
¹²³

Yuezhou then got down from the seat.

Qianfeng asked a monk, “Where did you come from?”

The monk said, “From Mt. Tiantai.”

Qianfeng said, “I’ve heard that the stone bridge there has two sections, is that so or not?”

The monk said, “Where did the master learn this news?”

Qianfeng said, “From someone called ‘the former guest of Hua Peak [a peak on Mt. Tiantai].’ Formerly he was a ‘Flat Field Village Person.’”

A monk asked Qianfeng, “How does one escape the Three Realms?”

The master said, “Call the temple director and have him chase this monk out of here!”

Qianfeng asked the monks, “The six tendencies of the turning wheel of transmigration have what eye?”

The monks didn’t answer.

A monk asked, “What is the talk that is beyond the buddhas and ancestors?”

Qianfeng said, “I ask you.”

The monk said, “Master, please don’t ask me.”

Qianfeng said, “If I ask you, it doesn’t make any difference. So I ask you, what is the talk that is beyond the buddhas and ancestors?”

A monk asked, “There are temples in the ten directions and there is a single road to the gate of nirvana. Where does this road begin?”

Qianfeng raised his staff and drew a circle in the air, saying, “Right here.” ([Later,] a monk asked Yunmen to explain this. Yunmen picked up a fan and said, “This fan leaps into heaven and blocks the nostrils of the heavenly king. Strike the fish in the Eastern Sea but once, and the rain falls in a downpour! Do you understand?”)

CAOSHAN BENJI

CAOSHAN BENJI (840–901) was a foremost disciple of Dongshan. He was so closely associated with his teacher that their names were used together to form the name of their Zen school, Caodong. Caoshan came from ancient Quanzhou (a place still called Quanzhou in modern Fujian Province). When a youth, he studied Confucianism. Leaving home at the age of nineteen, Caoshan entered Lingshi Monastery in Fuzhou. When he received ordination at the age of twenty-five, Zen Buddhism was flourishing in Tang dynasty China. Later, after becoming Dongshan’s Dharma heir, Caoshan started a new temple in Fuzhou and named it Cao Shan (Mt. Cao), after the Sixth Ancestor, whose mountain name was derived from Cao Xi (Cao Creek). Thereafter, Caoshan lived and taught at Mt. Heyu, and is said to have changed the name of that place to Cao Shan as well. Caoshan used Dongshan’s “five ranks” as a method of instruction, leading to its wide use in Zen monasteries. This helped differentiate Caodong Zen as a unique Zen school.

Caoshan’s fame spread widely after he wrote a commentary in praise of verses composed by the famous poet Hanshan. These selections are taken from the
Transmission of the Lamp
.

Upon meeting Caoshan, Dongshan said, “What is your name?”