Letter Fifty-One
Respectful prostrations to the Venerable Master:
I prostrate to the Buddha, prostrate to the Dharma, and prostrate to the Saṅgha.
Yesterday I received the Venerable Master’s letter, and today I went to visit Mr. Cai, the manager of Jingju Temple. He is not a Buddhist and somewhat fails to distinguish between spirits and Buddhas. His family has served the temple for generations.
Although he has little formal education, he can read simple Buddhist books. The monastics of Baofeng Temple in Hebi once gave him Buddhist books, and he was deeply moved after reading them. This may be the stirring of good roots. He promised to give me a definite reply on Saturday. Regarding this matter, you have gone to much trouble.
After hearing of this situation, the Shanghai man no longer wishes to come to your area and is planning to leave home in Wenzhou.
Thank you for your care! Miaowu has differed from ordinary people since his early years. Before studying Buddhism, he became engrossed in qigong and was therefore driven out of his home. As his mother saw him off at the roadside, the two embraced and wept bitterly. At that very moment, someone rode past on a bicycle, fell over, and scattered his belongings; Miaowu immediately helped him pick them up.
I once rode along the road with him. There was a stone in the middle of the road, and he got off his bicycle to move it away. At the time, I felt ashamed that I had seen it without taking notice. Without question, this man’s good roots from past lives are deeply planted; he will surely become a pillar of the Dharma in the future. Good things often encounter many obstacles. Miaowu will have a way forward in the future, so there is no need to worry about him. Yet the timing and conditions run contrary to human wishes.
Miaowu has always excelled in his studies, but recently his grades have fallen sharply, until he received failing marks in two subjects. His parents are very worried and will not allow him to pursue Buddhist studies any further. Since then, his actions have been restricted by his family at every turn. Miaowu had considered secretly leaving home, but I told him that this was a serious matter, not child’s play.
If I do not help you, I obstruct your gateway to awakening; if I help you, I disrupt your family. Make up your own mind before speaking of it again. He himself was indecisive and consulted his parents, which is why his movements were restricted. He is still very young and should study diligently, laying a solid foundation for his future career.
Afterward, I encouraged him to work hard at his humanities studies and strive to enter a Buddhist studies program. Once he has the ability to support himself, the road ahead will be easier. At present, he is rather depressed, and it is not something that can be remedied through persuasion in a short time. What concerns him is that he has caused us trouble, and he feels very sorry about it.
Dharma brother Zhao has also written in reply about the situation at a certain temple: its monastic discipline is quite good; it is a public monastery open to the four quarters, not a hereditary temple, and it does not accept disciples. One must first leave home and receive the precepts elsewhere before residing at that temple to practice Chan. This information is currently of no use to Miaowu. May the dragon trapped in the field take flight when conditions ripen.
A certain temple rigidly adheres to old rules, knowing only how to investigate a single rigid huatou mechanically, with no expedient means to guide people. This is deeply regrettable. Zhao is obstinately attached to spiritual powers, has fallen ill all over, and to this day remains immersed in suffering. Recently I received a mailing from Taiwan: the Foundation for the Cultivation of Chan Studies sent me issue 17 of Chinese Chan Studies.
There was a cartoon: a large mirror, with a person reflected within it; the person outside the mirror was drawn with just a few strokes and was quite different from the one within. This brought to mind that the physical body composed of the four elements and the deluded mind that is a shadow of conditions are like the person in the mirror, yet we cling to them as self. How confused we are. To break through this confusion, we must practice the Dharma. Yet practicing the Dharma is no more than the person in the mirror sitting in meditation.
To break through confusion lies not in practicing the Dharma, but in a single awakening! We sentient beings are originally Buddhas; only because we pursue circumstances and cling to things do we lose our intrinsic nature. Thus, from birth onward, deluded thoughts and inverted views have caused us to wander without cease. To bring them gradually to rest now is indeed not easy. For this reason, Buddhas and patriarchs skillfully devised all kinds of dharma gates, wishing people to cease delusion and return to the true—not so that they might take dharmas as truly existent and become attached to them.
At that moment, this suddenly arose: “When the mirror is broken, how does one see?” I immediately felt my mind and spirit tremble. A state of mind that was humorous, playful, and comforting suddenly appeared. I felt my whole body become warm and melting, rarified, higher, and larger, and I could not help laughing aloud—laughing with such ease and contentment.
After long investigation without understanding, the answer now burst from my mouth: “There is still awareness!” “When two monks shout together, who is host and who is guest?” Does the host look at the host? Does the host look at the guest? Does the guest look at the host? Does the guest look at the guest? It seems that none is right, yet it also seems that all are right.
I replied, “It greatly resembles the guest overwhelming the host!” Unfortunately, this state of mind soon vanished. Although I also thought of safeguarding realization, I found no point at which to exert myself. This is probably a “passing guest.” Though it is a “guest,” from now on this disciple will no longer fall into an annihilationist view. I submit this to the Venerable Master and respectfully await your judgment.
The weather has gradually grown warmer. The Venerable Master’s health has improved considerably, has it not? Among all dharma gates, the patriarchs’ Chan huatou, which has no discursive meaning, is the most direct and decisive. Since there is no conceptual path by which to think or discuss it, in an instant it cuts off the countless deluded thoughts you have had since birth, so that mind, intellect, and consciousness can find no way forward.
Precisely when mind, intellect, and consciousness can find no way forward—when not a single thought arises—is the time when your Original Face reveals itself, when you meet face-to-face with the Tathāgatas of the ten directions, and when the true aspect is without characteristics. If at this point you can catch a glimpse with a single glance, would that not be the greatest joy of your life? Yet students often harbor an expectation of some mysterious and miraculous state; though they reach this point, they fail to awaken. Is that not deeply unjust? You have practiced the Dharma for a long time;
surely there have been times when deluded thoughts were suddenly cut off and not a single thought arose. For example, when “When the mirror is broken, how does one see?” arose in you and you immediately felt your mind and spirit tremble—were there still deluded thoughts then? Take a close look right there: this is your Original Face, and the great matter is finished! Why entertain thoughts of further Dharma practice? Do not repeat the mistake of ordinary people who become attached to spiritual powers, imagining that without a miraculous discovery it is not the Original Face.
You should know that those are the wondrous fruits of diligently removing habitual tendencies after awakening; they are not spiritual powers that manifest as soon as one awakens. At this time, you must neither miss this crucial opportunity for awakening nor suppose that a single awakening is enough. You must constantly contemplate and closely safeguard it—when a thought arises, immediately be aware of it and do not follow it in wandering; amid all favorable and adverse circumstances, do not be moved by them.
If you practice in this way, within three to five years the skin will fall away completely, leaving only the one reality exposed. “When the mirror is broken, there is still awareness.” The principle is indeed so, but the wording is inappropriate. For if there is something that “still is,” there is a place to abide; it is not a clean and complete eradication. At that point, merely brush off your sleeves and return to the abbot’s quarters; that would be somewhat closer.
When two monks shout together, who is host and who is guest? It appears truly difficult, but if you look closely at the Original Face, it is quite easy. Since the Original Face—unmoving and unshakable, neither arising nor ceasing—is the host, while movement and shaking, arising and ceasing in their functioning, are the guest, the two monks are hosts before they shout and guests after they shout. Thus it is plainly evident.
Your disciple, Zhiming Xiuming, prostrates.
Twenty-fourth day of the third month, Buddhist Era 2536
[Yongshou Tongzi] Spiritual powers are the “wondrous fruits of diligently removing habitual tendencies.” That is to say, the extraordinary is hidden within the ordinary. This is very different from worldly ways of thinking, and it is also what makes the Buddhadharma difficult to learn.
[LVM] Spiritual powers are inherently complete; they are not obtained from outside, nor are they obtained through practice. One need only remove obscurations. “Diligently removing” is practice, and “habitual tendencies” are obscurations. It is like an ancient mirror of a thousand years: when its grime is gone, its brightness naturally appears.
[Yongshou Tongzi] After practicing the Heart-of-Heart Dharma for two years, “surely there have been times when deluded thoughts were suddenly cut off and not a single thought arose.” That is, all who practice the Heart-of-Heart Dharma have opportunities to see their nature and realize the Way. It is only that the manifestations of “the sudden cessation of deluded thoughts” differ enormously. Among them, “explosion” is the most remarkable, because it is obvious and comparatively easy to experience and recognize. ^_^
[LVM] Ha ha! Even if this most remarkable sudden manifestation appears, if one becomes attached to the appearance of “explosion,” one will mistake a donkey’s saddle bridge for one’s father’s chin. At precisely such a time, if one does not entertain a holy conception, it is a good state; if one interprets it as holy, one immediately falls prey to a host of demons.
