Robert Aitken<\/a><\/p>\nThere is the leisurely one,
\nWalking the Tao, beyond philosophy,
\nNot avoiding fantasy, not seeking truth.
\nThe real nature of ignorance is the Buddha-nature itself;
\nThe empty delusory body is the very body of the Dharma.<\/p>\n
When the Dharma body awakens completely,
\nThere is nothing at all.
\nThe source of our self-nature
\nIs the Buddha of innocent truth.
\nMental and physical reactions come and go
\nLike clouds in the empty sky;
\nGreed, hatred, and ignorance appear and disappear
\nLike bubbles on the surface of the sea.<\/p>\n
When we realize actuality,
\nThere is no distinction between mind and thing
\nAnd the path to hell instantly vanishes.
\nIf this is a lie to fool the world,
\nMy tongue may be cut out forever.<\/p>\n
Once we awaken to the Tathagata-Zen,
\nThe six noble deeds and the ten thousand good actions
\nAre already complete within us.
\nIn our dream we see the six levels of illusion clearly;
\nAfter we awaken the whole universe is empty.<\/p>\n
No bad fortune, no good fortune, no loss, no gain;
\nNever seek such things in eternal serenity.
\nFor years the dusty mirror has gone uncleaned,
\nNow let us polish it completely, once and for all.<\/p>\n
Who has no-thought? Who is not-born?
\nIf we are truly not-born,
\nWe are not un-born either.
\nAsk a robot if this is not so.
\nHow can we realize ourselves
\nBy virtuous deeds or by seeking the Buddha?<\/p>\n
Release your hold on earth, water, fire, wind;
\nDrink and eat as you wish in eternal serenity.
\nAll things are transient and completely empty;
\nThis is the great enlightenment of the Tathagata.<\/p>\n
Transience, emptiness and enlightenment \u2014
\nThese are the ultimate truths of Buddhism;
\nKeeping and teaching them is true Sangha devotion.
\nIf you don`t agree, please ask me about it.
\nCut out directly the root of it all, \u2014
\nThis is the very point of the Buddha-seal.
\nI can\u2019t respond to any concern about leaves and branches.<\/p>\n
People do not recognize the Mani-jewel.
\nLiving intimately within the Tathagata-garbha,
\nIt operates our sight, hearing, smell, taste, sensation, awareness;
\nAnd all of these are empty, yet not empty.<\/p>\n
The rays shining from this perfect Mani-jewel
\nHave the form of no form at all.
\nClarify the five eyes and develop the five powers;
\nThis is not intellectual work, \u2014 just realize, just know.
\nIt is not difficult to see images in a mirror,
\nBut who can take hold of the moon in the water?<\/p>\n
Always working alone, always walking alone,
\nThe enlightened one walks the free way of Nirvana
\nWith melody that is old and clear in spirit
\nAnd naturally elegant in style,
\nBut with body that is tough and bony,
\nPassing unnoticed in the world.<\/p>\n
We know that Shakya\u2019s sons and daughters
\nAre poor in body, but not in the Tao.
\nIn their poverty, they always wear ragged clothing,
\nBut they have the jewel of no price treasured within.<\/p>\n
This jewel of no price can never be used up
\nThough they spend it freely to help people they meet.
\nDharmakaya, Sambogakaya, Nirmanakaya,
\nAnd the four kinds of wisdom
\nAre all contained within.
\nThe eight kinds of emancipation and the six universal powers
\nAre all impressed on the ground of their mind.<\/p>\n
The best student goes directly to the ultimate,
\nThe others are very learned but their faith is uncertain.
\nRemove the dirty garments from your own mind;
\nWhy should you show off your outward striving?<\/p>\n
Some may slander, some may abuse;
\nThey try to set fire to the heavens with a torch
\nAnd end by merely tiring themselves out.
\nI hear their scandal as though it were ambrosial truth;
\nImmediately everything melts
\nAnd I enter the place beyond thought and words.<\/p>\n
When I consider the virtue of abusive words,
\nI find the scandal-monger is my good teacher.
\nIf we do not become angry at gossip,
\nWe have no need for powerful endurance and compassion.
\nTo be mature in Zen is to be mature in expression,
\nAnd full-moon brilliance of dhyana and prajna
\nDoes not stagnate in emptiness.
\nNot only can I take hold of complete enlightenment by myself,
\nBut all Buddha-bodies, like sands of the Ganges,
\nCan become awakened in exactly the some way.<\/p>\n
The incomparable lion-roar of doctrine
\nShatters the brains of the one hundred kinds of animals.
\nEven the king of elephants will run away, forgetting his pride;
\nOnly the heavenly dragon listens calmly, with pure delight.<\/p>\n
I wandered over rivers and seas, crossing mountains and streams,
\nVisiting teachers, asking about the Way in personal interviews;
\nSince I recognized the Sixth Founding Teacher at Ts\u2019ao Ch\u2019i,
\nI know what is beyond the relativity of birth and death.<\/p>\n
Walking is Zen, sitting is Zen;
\nSpeaking or silent, active or quiet, the essence is at peace.
\nEven facing the sword of death, our mind is unmoved;
\nEven drinking poison, our mind is quiet.<\/p>\n
Our teacher, Shakyamuni, met Dipankara Buddha
\nAnd for many eons he trained as Kshanti, the ascetic.
\nMany births, many deaths;
\nI am serene in this cycle,\u2013there is no end to it.<\/p>\n
Since I abruptly realized the unborn,
\nI have had no reason for joy or sorrow
\nAt any honor or disgrace.<\/p>\n
I have entered the deep mountains to silence and beauty;
\nIn a profound valley beneath high cliffs,
\nI sit under the old pine trees.
\nZazen in my rustic cottage
\nIs peaceful, lonely, and truly comfortable.<\/p>\n
When you truly awaken,
\nYou have no formal merit.
\nIn the multiplicity of the relative world,
\nYou cannot find such freedom.
\nSelf-centered merit brings the joy of heaven itself,
\nBut it is like shooting an arrow at the sky;
\nWhen the force is exhausted, it falls to the earth,
\nAnd then everything goes wrong.<\/p>\n
Why should this be better
\nThan the true way of the absolute,
\nDirectly penetrating the ground of Tathagata?<\/p>\n
Just take hold of the source
\nAnd never mind the branches.
\nIt is like a treasure-moon
\nEnclosed in a beautiful emerald.
\nNow I understand this Mani-jewel
\nAnd my gain is the gain of everyone endlessly.<\/p>\n
The moon shines on the river,
\nThe wind blows through the pines,\u2013
\nWhose providence is this long beautiful evening?
\nThe Buddha-nature jewel of morality
\nIs impressed on the ground of my mind,
\nAnd my robe is the dew, the fog, the cloud, and the mist.<\/p>\n
A bowl once calmed dragons
\nAnd a staff separated fighting tigers;
\nThe rings on this staff jingle musically.
\nThe form of these expressions is not to be taken lightly;
\nThe treasure-staff of the Tathagata
\nHas left traces for us to follow.<\/p>\n
The awakened one does not seek truth\u2013
\nDoes not cut off delusion.
\nTruth and delusion are both vacant and without form,
\nBut this no-form is neither empty nor not empty;
\nIt is the truly real form of the Tathagata.<\/p>\n
The mind-mirror is clear, so there are no obstacles.
\nIts brilliance illuminates the universe
\nTo the depths and in every grain of sand.
\nMultitudinous things of the cosmos
\nAre all reflected in the mind,
\nAnd this full clarity is beyond inner and outer.<\/p>\n
To live in nothingness is to ignore cause and effect;
\nThis chaos leads only to disaster.
\nThe one who clings to vacancy, rejecting the world of things,
\nEscapes from drowning but leaps into fire.<\/p>\n
Holding truth and rejecting delusion\u2013
\nThese are but skillful lies.
\nStudents who do zazen by such lies
\nLove thievery in their own children.<\/p>\n
They miss the Dharma-treasure;
\nThey lose accumulated power;
\nAnd this disaster follows directly upon dualistic thinking.
\nSo Zen is the complete realization of mind,
\nThe complete cutting off of delusion,
\nThe power of wise vision penetrating directly to the unborn.<\/p>\n
Students of vigorous will hold the sword of wisdom;
\nThe prajna edge is a diamond flame.
\nIt not only cuts off useless knowledge,
\nBut also exterminates delusions.<\/p>\n
They roar with Dharma-thunder;
\nThey strike the Dharma-drum;
\nThey spread clouds of love, and pour ambrosial rain.
\nTheir giant footsteps nourish limitless beings;
\nSravaka, Pratyeka, Bodhisattva\u2013all are enlightened;
\nFive kinds of human nature all are emancipated.<\/p>\n
High in the Himalayas, only fei-ni grass grows.
\nHere cows produce pure and delicious milk,
\nAnd this food I continually enjoy.
\nOne complete nature passes to all natures;
\nOne universal Dharma encloses all Dharmas.<\/p>\n
One moon is reflected in many waters;
\nAll the water-moons are from the one moon.
\nThe Dharma-body of all Buddhas has entered my own nature, And my nature becomes one with the Tathagata.<\/p>\n
One level completely contains all levels;
\nIt is not matter, mind nor activity.
\nIn an instant eighty-thousand teachings are fulfilled;
\nIn a twinkling the evil of eons is destroyed.<\/p>\n
All categories are no category;
\nWhat relation have have these to my insight?
\nBeyond praise, beyond blame, \u2014
\nLike space itself it has no bounds.<\/p>\n
Right here it is eternally full and serene,
\nIf you search elsewhere, you cannot see it.
\nYou cannot grasp it, you cannot reject it;
\nIn the midst of not gaining,
\nIn that condition you gain it.<\/p>\n
It speaks in silence,
\nIn speech you hear its silence.
\nThe great way has opened and there are no obstacles.
\nIf someone asks, what is your sect
\nAnd how do you understand it?
\nI reply, the power of tremendous prajna.<\/p>\n
People say it is positive;
\nPeople say it is negative;
\nBut they do not know.
\nA smooth road, a rough road \u2014
\nEven heaven cannot imagine.
\nI have continued my zazen for many eons;
\nI do not say this to confuse you.<\/p>\n
I raise the Dharma-banner and set forth our teaching;
\nIt is the clear doctrine of the Buddha
\nvWhich I found with my teacher, Hui Neng,
\nMahakashyapa became the Buddha-successor,
\nReceived the lamp and passed it on.
\nTwenty-eight generations of teachers in India,
\nThen over seas and rivers to our land
\nBodhi Dharma came as our own first founder,
\nAnd his robe, as we all know, passed through six teachers here,
\nAnd how many generations to come may gain the path,
\nNo one knows.<\/p>\n
The truth is not set forth;
\nThe false is basically vacant.
\nPut both existence and non-existence aside,
\nThen even non-vacancy is vacant,
\nThe twenty kinds of vacancy have no basis,
\nAnd the oneness of the Tathagata-being
\nIs naturally sameness.<\/p>\n
Mind is the base, phenomena are dust;
\nYet both are like a flaw in the mirror.
\nWhen the flaw is brushed aside,
\nThe light begins to shine.
\nWhen both mind and phenomena are forgotten,
\nThen we become naturally genuine.<\/p>\n
Ah, the degenerate materialistic world!
\nPeople are unhappy; they find self-control difficult.
\nIn the centuries since Shakyamuni, false views are deep,
\nDemons are strong, the Dharma is weak, disturbances are many.<\/p>\n
People hear the Buddha\u2019s doctrine of immediacy,
\nAnd if they accept it, the demons will be crushed
\nAs easily as a roofing tile.
\nBut they cannot accept, what a pity!<\/p>\n
Your mind is the source of action;
\nYour body is the agent of calamity;
\nNo pity nor blame to anyone else.
\nIf you don\u2019t seek an invitation to hell,
\nNever slander the Tathagata\u2019s true teaching.<\/p>\n
In the sandalwood forest, there is no other tree.
\nOnly the lion lives in such deep luxuriant woods,
\nWandering freely in a state of peace.
\nOther animals and birds stay far away.<\/p>\n
Just baby lions follow the parent,
\nAnd three-year-olds already roar loudly.
\nHow can the jackal pursue the king of the Dharma
\nEven with a hundred-thousand demonic arts?<\/p>\n
The Buddha\u2019s doctrine of directness
\nIs not a matter for human emotion.
\nIf you doubt this or feel uncertain,
\nThen you must discuss it with me.
\nThis is not the free rein of a mountain monk\u2019s ego.
\nI fear your training may lead to wrong views
\nOf permanent soul or complete extinction.<\/p>\n
Being is not being; non-being is not non-being;
\nMiss this rule by a hair,
\nAnd you are off by a thousand miles.
\nUnderstanding it, the dragon-child abruptly attains Buddhahood;
\nMisunderstanding it, the greatest scholar falls into hell.<\/p>\n
From my youth I piled studies upon studies,
\nIn sutras and sastras I searched and researched,
\nClassifying terms and forms, oblivious to fatigue.
\nI entered the sea to count the sands in vain
\nAnd then the Tathagata scolded me kindly
\nAs I read \u201cWhat profit in counting your neighbor\u2019s treasure?\u201d
\nMy work had been scattered and entirely useless,
\nFor years I was dust blown by the wind.<\/p>\n
If the seed-nature is wrong, misunderstandings arise,
\nAnd the Buddha\u2019s doctrine of immediacy cannot be attained.
\nShravaka and Pratyeka students may study earnestly
\nBut they lack aspiration.
\nOthers may be very clever,
\nBut they lack prajna.<\/p>\n
Stupid ones, childish ones,
\nThey suppose there is something in an empty fist.
\nThey mistake the pointing finger for the moon.
\nThey are idle dreamers lost in form and sensation.<\/p>\n
Not supposing something is the Tathagata.
\nThis is truly called Kwan-Yin, the Bodhisattva who sees freely.
\nWhen awakened we find karmic hindrances fundamentally empty.
\nBut when not awakened, we must repay all our debts.<\/p>\n
The hungry are served a king\u2019s repast,
\nAnd they cannot eat.
\nThe sick meet the king of doctors;
\nWhy don\u2019t they recover?
\nThe practice of Zen in this greedy world \u2014
\nThis is the power of wise vision.
\nThe lotus lives in the midst of the fire;
\nIt is never destroyed.<\/p>\n
Pradhanashura broke the gravest precepts;
\nBut he went on to realize the unborn.
\nThe Buddhahood he attained in that moment
\nLives with us now in our time.<\/p>\n
The incomparable lion roar of the doctrine!
\nHow sad that people are stubbornly ignorant;
\nJust knowing that crime blocks enlightenment,
\nNot seeing the secret of the Tathagata teaching.<\/p>\n
Two monks were guilty of murder and carnality.
\nTheir leader, Upali, had the light of a glow-worm;
\nHe just added to their guilt.
\nVimalakirti cleared their doubts at once
\nAs sunshine melts the frost and snow.<\/p>\n
The remarkable power of emancipation
\nWorks wonders innumerable as the sands of the Ganges.
\nTo this we offer clothing, food, bedding, medicine.
\nTen thousand pieces of gold are not sufficient;
\nThough you break your body
\nAnd your bones become powder, \u2014
\nThis is not enough for repayment.
\nOne vivid word surpasses millions of years of practice.<\/p>\n
The King of the Dharma deserves our highest respect.
\nTathagatas, innumerable as sands of the Ganges,
\nAll prove this fact by their attainment.
\nNow I know what the Mani-jewel is:
\nThose who believe this will gain it accordingly.<\/p>\n
When we see truly, there is nothing at all.
\nThere is no person; there is no Buddha.
\nInnumerable things of the universe
\nAre just bubbles on the sea.
\nWise sages are all like flashes of lightning<\/p>\n
However the burning iron ring revolves around my head,
\nWith bright completeness of dhyana and prajna
\nI never lose my equanimity.
\nIf the sun becomes cold, and the moon hot,
\nEvil cannot shatter the truth.
\nThe carriage of the elephant moves like a mountain,
\nHow can the mantis block the road?<\/p>\n
The great elephant does not loiter on the rabbit\u2019s path.
\nGreat enlightenment is not concerned with details.
\nDon\u2019t belittle the sky by looking through a pipe.
\nIf you still don\u2019t understand,
\nI will settle it for you.<\/p>\n
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